Jaunted

Cruises

Hot for Summer: Far-Eastern Russia

March 24, 2008 at 9:15 AM | 2 Comments

Man, are we ever scared of the Russian Far East. We cower in fear when we fly over the Bering Sea on our trans-Pacific flights. Apparently it's not all nuclear waste and oil-soaked deep sea creatures over there, though, because Russia's Right Coast is just on fire for the 2008 summer season!

Strangely, we mourned for a second or two when adventure cruisers Quark Expeditions canceled their 2007 trip to the Russian Far East. Yes, we were morbidly ogling the itinerary. But picking up where Quark left off, Abercrombie & Kent has added a July sailing of its Clipper Odyssey ship from Alaska to the Russian abyss and back (if you're lucky).

And for the cruise-averse, Vladivostok Air will launch non-stop flights from Anchorage, AK, to Petropavlovsk, Russia, also in July. Scheduled passenger service between Alaska and Russia has previously been offered by Alaska Airlines and the mysterious Magadan Air.

Related Stories:
· Russian Far East and Kamchatka [A&K]
· Direct flights to Russian Far East offered this summer [The Arctic Sounder]

[Photo: leolo2u]

Adventure Travel

Feeling Brave? Swing Over the Shotover

December 19, 2007 at 9:30 AM | 0 Comments

Feel like taking a gentle, relaxing swing? Then the Shotover Canyon Swing near Queenstown, New Zealand, is probably not for you.

The name itself is fantastic--the Swing is above the Shotover River--and the experience sounds pretty amazing too. After you jump off a platform built into the edge of a cliff above the river:

You'll have a pure free fall of 200 feet into the canyon before the ropes smoothly pendulum you to a giant swing arc of 650 feet at 95 mph. The free fall/swing journey is so smooth you'll barely notice when you've finished free falling and begun your swing. After a number of swings across the canyon we'll winch you swiftly back up to the platform.

The Shotover Canyon Swing gang offer ten options for your jump style, including forwards, backwards, doing a flip, the cutaway, pin drop and the intriguing Gimp Boy Goes to Hollywood jump. Each comes with a scariness rating to choose the jump that's right for you, but we'd go Gimp Boy for the name alone.

Related Stories:
· Shotover Canyon Swing [Official Site]
· Queenstown Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· Queenstown Hotels [HotelChatter]

[Photo: markc123]

Amusement Parks

The UK's Scariest Roller Coaster

June 12, 2007 at 9:14 AM | 1 Comment

Scientists in Britain have been carefully doing research that'll enhance your summer vacation: working out which is the scariest roller coaster in the UK. And the winner is: the Stealth Ride at Thorpe Park. This tall coaster thrills you with a combination of height and acceleration--so much so that riders' heartbeats usually double to 170bpm and stress hormone levels triple.

But here's the really big news for the 2007 season:

We've tweaked the nitrogen boosters on Europe's fastest launch rollercoaster for a super acceleration of 0-80 mph in under 2 seconds!

These scientists must've enjoyed their research and they actually issued a Top 10 of scary roller coasters with names like Rita Queen of Speed and Nemesis Inferno; the tenth coaster, Velocity, wins our prize for the amusement park with the funniest name:Flamingoland. Sounds almost better than the scariest roller coaster.

Related Stories:
· Amusement Park Coverage [Jaunted]
· The UK's Scariest 30 Seconds [The Sun]
· Theme Parks Tone Down the Excitement [Jaunted]

[Photo: Reynoldsclan]

Food

Bloody Soup

February 22, 2006 at 11:55 AM | 0 Comments

The Vietnam blog Noodlepie has great coverages of thevarious things you can ingest and drink there, but it's often not for babies or those with weak stomachs. That's true of the post on Tiet Canh, or blood soup. Made of fresh duck or pig blood that's been "stuck in the fridge to gently congeal," blood soup also "has the oddest texture and tastes strangely metallic." Like iron, no doubt. For extra fun, follow Noodlepie's post with a chaser of Loupiote's Flickr slideshow of this non-vegan treat.

Related Stories:

·   Tiet Canh [Noodlepie]
·   Blood soup slideshow [Noodlepie]
·   Don't Eat That! [Flickr photo pool]