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Tags: Smuggling / Lizards / Crime / U.S. Customs / LAX / Weird Travel / Animal Smuggling / Money Belts / → All Tags
Leapin' Lizards! Cali Man Busted Smuggling Aussie Reptiles in Money Belt
Things travelers should put in a money belt: Passport, tickets, cash, emergency contact information. Things travelers should not put in a money belt: lizards. It may seem rather obvious to most readers of this blog, but there's one guy in California who somehow never picked up this basic tenet of travel wisdom. As the LA Times points out, 40-year-old Michael Plank was arrested by U.S. Customs agents at Los Angeles International Airport this week when he was found to have 15 lizards stuffed in a money belt. Plank was on his way back from Australia and apparently decided to bring 11 skinks, two monitor lizards, and two geckos with him to his LA home, where they'd be worth around $8,500.
Tags: Airport Art / Suvarnabhumi Airport / Bangkok Travel / Weird Travel / Airports / Airport News / → All Tags
Beware Of The Unlucky Demon Statues At Bangkok Airport
Checking in at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport is about to get a bit weirder, not mention more unlucky. How is this possible, you ask? Well, airport management has decided to move twelve "demon statues" from the arrivals area to the check-in area.
Officially, the airport says they are moving the statues so that passengers can "appreciate the statues' beauty". But the real reason behind the move—which will cost them around $50,000 and take three months—is that shopkeepers in the arrivals area blame the statues for the bad luck which has plagued them since the airport opened, including the protests which closed the airport for more than a week last year.
So if you end up unlucky at the check-in counter, like with no good seats left on the plane or an excess baggage charge, then at least you will know that you can blame those demon statues for it.
Related Stories:
· Bangkok Airport Moves 'Unlucky' Demon Statues [The Age]
· Thai Airport Standoff Proves World Is Indeed Flat [Jaunted]
· Bangkok Travel Guide [Jaunted]
[Photo: antwerpenR]
Tags: Animal Travel / Brachiation / Gibbons / Weird Travel / → All Tags
Alternative Methods of Travel: A Short Primer on Brachiation
Think about all the different ways there are to travel. There's flying, driving, and sailing, of course, but let's focus on the low-tech methods of locomotion, like walking, running, crawling, swimming, and brachiation. Not familiar with that last one? I wasn't either, until I wrote something about gibbons and stumbled across the term. Brachiation is a specialized form of arboreal locomotion in which primates swing from one branch to another using their arms. And while it's probably not going to help you navigate the streets of Bangkok, no self-respecting traveler should be without at least a basic understanding of it.
Tags: Wild Animal Travel / Panama Travel / Weird Travel / Monster Travel / → All Tags
New 'Montauk Monster' Crawls Out Of Cave In Panama, Freaks Everyone Out
Last summer, the world was fascinated by the mysterious corpse of the Montauk Monster, a scraggly-looking creature whose body washed up on the shores of Montauk, Long Island. it was unidentifiable as any certain species, but boy did it put Montauk back on the map.
This summer had almost ended without such a grisly discovery, until some children playing outside of Panama City came upon an odd, hairless creature crawling out from a cave. As the ugly thing crawled towards them, they "feared for their safety" and beat it to death with "sticks." They then returned shortly after to take pictures of the (now dead) creature, which of course hit the internet like gangbusters. Kids are so cruel these days, jeez.
Tags: Tourist Traps / Minnesota Travel / Weird Travel / → All Tags
A Minnesota Roadside Tourist Trap To Get Full Fish-Lift
For 16 years, the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota has released a list of the ten most endangered historic places in the state. On this year’s list are obvious choices like historic hotels, classic ballparks, old buildings, and bridges. However, there’s one endangered species on the list as well, and it’s The Big Fish in Bena, Minnesota. Don’t worry if you haven’t seen it, because with a little love, and probably a lot of worms, local residents are bringing it back to its original beauty.
The giant critter was created back in the 1950s, and is made up of wood and roofing material—no taking the easy way and using fiberglass here. Originally designed to be an ice cream and hamburger stand, the 65-foot long fish has just been hanging out on the side of US Highway 2 ever since. Fans of the National Lampoon's Vacation film may recognize the structure, as it appeared in the postcard photo montage to start the comedy classic.
Tags: Weird Travel / Lists / Travel Boycotts / Dangerous Travel / Arthur Frommer / → All Tags
Top Five States Travelers Should Avoid Due To Crazy Laws
Topless shenanigans in New York City's Washington Square Park fountain
Last week, travel guru Arthur Frommer announced that he's boycotting travel to the state of Arizona on account of their lax gun laws.
Because of such (lack of) laws, protestors at an Obama speech were allowed to carry guns, including assault rifles, and Frommer worried about safety. Even some commenters piped in to talk about machete spotting in Arizona and another boycott of a rude and scam-ridden town in France.
Inspired and equally creeped out, we've compiled a Top Five list of some other states you can add to the boycott list on account of their crazy rules. While they might not be as disturbing as Arizona, there are nude boobs (SFW) and dead Senators involved. Enjoy and be sure to let us know if you've got a few more juicy ones to add.
Top Five States Travelers Should Avoid Due To Crazy Laws, after the jump.
Tags: Sperm Travel / Medical Tourism / Weird Travel / Sex Travel / New York City / Los Angeles Travel / → All Tags
Who Knew That Shopping In New York Could Include Brett Favre's Sperm?
You've heard about plastic surgery travel and medical tourism, and maybe even about how sex travel morphs into pregnancy travel, but are you ready for sperm tourism? That's what we're predicting for New York with the upcoming opening of California Cryobank's "Celebrity Look-a-Like" service on Park Avenue.
Of course this began in Los Angeles, and the idea is simple: sperm donors are categorized by what celebrity they most resemble. Women looking to patronize the sperm bank's Look-A-Like program simply pick out the celebrity they'd ideally like their artificially inseminated child to resemble, pay $350 to $500 for a vial and information like facial features details, and the transaction is done.
Tags: Travel Guides / New York Curiosities / Weird Travel / → All Tags
Weird Travel: Uncover the Empire State's Oddities with New York Curiosities
Journalist Cindy Perman's new book, New York Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, and Other Offbeat Stuff, probably has a lot of area travel writers smacking their foreheads and wishing they'd thought of it first. After all, she got to spend the better part of a year crisscrossing the state and checking out some of the most interesting and unusual people, places, and things it has to offer.
Tags: Weird Travel / → All Tags
Vending machines take over Japan
Photo Mann provides a helpful service by documenting the numerous vending machines (and we are talking numerous) scattered throughout Japan. Have an urgent and irrepressible need for fishing bait? Toilet paper? Eggs? Kerosene? Porn? Water salad? (Whatever that is.) Japan has got it covered. Frankly, we're surprised there isn't a sperm bank vending machine anywhere. Then again...maybe there is, and they just haven't photographed it yet. Things to ponder.
Related Stories
· Vending Machines of Japan [Photo Mann Travel Photography]
