Tag: dangerous travel

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Surviving a Trip to Mount Everest's Super Dangerous Lukla Airport

Where: Lukla, Nepal
December 21, 2011 at 12:32 PM | by | Comments (0)

You've heard of Tenzing-Hillary/Lukla Airport (LUA) before. Everyone has. As the airport for Mount Everest, it's not only top of our list of World's Most Dangerous Airports, but it's one that's proved killer in the past. Landing here and taking off from here, if the weather allows for it, means braving an uneven runway and old, tiny airplanes. Needless to say, it scares the bejeezus out of us.

That said, day in and day out, Lukla Airport flies tourists and trekkers to the remote location. One such recent visitor (who survived her ordeal) is friend of Jaunted Farryn Weiner. Farryn, formerly of Jetsetter.com and presently at Michael Kors, just returned from a few weeks of going native around India and Nepal. She cobbled together her photos and video shot on the trip into the inspiring mini-film above, which kind of reminds us of a series of GIFs.

The first few seconds of the video feature her view from the plane on the way to Lukla Airport, but we've also got some words from her on the experience:

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Right Now is Not the Best Time to Day Trip to the DMZ

December 19, 2011 at 8:15 AM | by | Comments (0)

So, North Korea's "Dear Leader" Kim Jong Il died this weekend—at 8:30am local time on Saturday, to be specific. According to NK state media and CNN, the cause of death is heart attack. The sudden news will start this week with uncertainty, as North Korea enters a period of mourning (until December 29) and South Korea holds emergency government meetings.

Naturally we're thinking about how all this will impact travel, and while weekending in Pyongyang isn't exactly around the corner, the tense situation between North and South Korea will almost certainly end visits to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), at least temporarily.

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The Three Most Dangerous Shark Attack Beaches of Summer 2011

August 19, 2011 at 11:19 AM | by | Comments (3)

Remember the summer of 2008? It's okay, we don't either. Regardless, some are finding that summer hard to forget as it was Shark Attack Fest '08 or something; climate change and swimmer naivete meant record numbers of shark attacks were reported, and we even mapped all the most dangerous beaches for you.

Then 2009's jellyfish invasion happened, and 2010 had that whole Gulf Coast oil issue...but the sharks are back with a vengeance in 2011. Make no doubt about it. Here are the three latest shark attack hotspots:

· Zheltukhina Island, Russia
Who the heck goes swimming off Russia's east cost, near North Korea? Well, Russian vacationers...and sharks. In the last few days, two men have been attacked in separate incidents, the first losing his arms after doing hand-to-fin combat with the maneater, and the second suffering series bites all over his legs. Both survived, but that hasn't stopped Russian authorities from posting signs at the beach with tips for fighting back (like you can fight back with a determined shark).

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Travel Channel's New Show 'Off Limits' Promises Visits to 'Secret' America

May 13, 2011 at 9:55 AM | by | Comments (0)

It's almost the beginning of summer and you know what that means? Some TV shows will end and others will begin; in the case of the latter, we can hope for some one-off series and experimental new concepts, like a few coming soon to The Travel Channel. Premiering this upcoming Monday, May 16th at 9pm, is "Off Limits," an hour-long show that follows "explorer and history buff" Don Wildman into "forbiden, hidden and unseen spaces across America."

The first episode's destinations? Oh, just a secret Nazi compound in Los Angeles as well as clandestine oil rigs. He's also due to feature some abandoned hospitals, POW camps and steamboats in Seattle and San Fran; the show's premise kinda sounds like "Ghost Adventures" in the daylight with a bit of History Channel documentary mixed in.

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Don't Be Fooled in Haiti: Unlikely Tourist Sites for Unlikely Tourists

Where: Haiti
April 22, 2011 at 12:02 PM | by | Comments (0)


The National Palace, collapsed and abandoned after the quake

In the wake of Japan's tragic events, the world has been quick to forget Haiti's 7.0 earthquake, which ruled the headlines through 2010. As the country continues to rebuild, the tourists slowly trickle back. Jaunted special correspondent Soo Ah M. Lee recently returned from a medical volunteering mission in Port-au-Prince, and will share her Haiti travel stories and voluntourism tips all this week. This is her story:

As I've said in this series before, I traveled around Haiti in a small group, and this is how most foreigners will also experience it. Occasionally, between volunteering, we'd drive to experience some leisure. Since the earthquake, Haiti hasn't exactly been a tourist destination but when I finally opened up my eyes a bit, I saw that it can be a hidden gem.

Here are few conventional and non-conventional places to visit in and around Port-au-Prince, places that I didn't truly discover until I experienced them myself:

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Don't Be Fooled in Haiti: How to Be Charitable When Everyone is in Need

Where: Haiti
April 21, 2011 at 12:28 PM | by | Comments (0)


Being chased by children asking for help

In the wake of Japan's tragic events, the world has been quick to forget Haiti's 7.0 earthquake, which ruled the headlines through 2010. As the country continues to rebuild, the tourists slowly trickle back. Jaunted special correspondent Soo Ah M. Lee recently returned from a medical volunteering mission in Port-Au-Prince, and will share her Haiti travel stories and voluntourism tips all this week. This is her story:

Before I begin this fourth article in the series, I just want to clarify that I am not a doctor. My main role in my team was providing medical services in the role of assistant. Basically I helped with passing out medicine and giving gifts to all the patients seen by the actual doctors. In this role, I accompanied volunteers to two churches, three orphanages, several home visits and some communal areas to provide services. Most of the visits were in Cité Soleil—one of the biggest and poorest slums in this side of the world, with a known population of about 300,000 people. Other times were spent in Canaan—also known as "Tent City," because some 200,000 here are still living in tents.

I felt mentally, emotionally, and spiritually drained after visiting such heart breaking locations. I felt even worse upon seeing children suffering from malnutrition, diseases and bacterial issues. As a volunteer and a foreigner here, you feel compelled to do something, anything to help. Charity is a delicate issue, however, and visitors quickly learn the right and wrong ways to provide help.

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Don't Be Fooled in Haiti: Tap-Tap Trucks, Translators and Tropical Beaches

Where: Haiti
April 20, 2011 at 1:09 PM | by | Comment (1)


In the wake of Japan's tragic events, the world has been quick to forget Haiti's 7.0 earthquake, which ruled the headlines through 2010. As the country continues to rebuild, the tourists slowly trickle back. Jaunted special correspondent Soo Ah M. Lee recently returned from a medical volunteering mission in Port-Au-Prince, and will share her Haiti travel stories and voluntourism tips all this week. This is her story:

During my trip, I spent most of the time traveling on a Tap-Tap truck, which is basically a pick-up truck with seats and a hood on the trunk. As for public transportation, there are these Tap-Taps and then there is the bus. The latter is easy for locals and near impossible for visitors, since bus stop signs at stop locations are nonexistent. You will however notice them coming from a ways away, since these buses are often colorful and painted with Bible verses in French or Creole.

I really wanted to try out the bus, but was advised not to. I stuck to the Tap-Tap trucks. As in other day-to-day things in Haiti, foreigners can easily be cheated out of money or detoured. Of course both of these situations should be avoided as much as possible, so here are some tips for transportation in Haiti:

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Don't Be Fooled in Haiti: Avoiding the Mafia and The Trials of Finding Food

Where: Haiti
April 19, 2011 at 10:51 AM | by | Comment (1)


A rental property for volunteers

In the wake of Japan's tragic events, the world has been quick to forget Haiti's 7.0 earthquake, which ruled the headlines through 2010. As the country continues to rebuild, the tourists slowly trickle back. Jaunted special correspondent Soo Ah M. Lee recently returned from a medical volunteering mission in Port-Au-Prince, and will share her Haiti travel stories and voluntourism tips all this week. This is her story:

I went to Haiti with a non-profit that gives 100% of their proceeds to those in need. When I paid $300 for my stay in Port-au-Prince, I thought this was quite a lot since Haiti is a developing country. Alas, I came to discover that it was spent on lodging, dining, transportation, translators, and admittance to a private beach. Everything was covered with $300. Regardless, I realized later that I was misled in many ways that could not be helped.

The place I slept was a house rented by missionaries supported by the non-profit with whom I traveled to Haiti. We were lucky; it had a full kitchen (refrigerator and a stove/oven) with a dining area, 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms (the two bathroom I saw had bathtubs in them), 1 storage room, and two communal areas; some rooms even had their own balcony. There was one big downside to this nice place, however...

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Don't Be Fooled in Haiti: How to Ditch the Con Men of Port-Au-Prince Airport

Where: Haiti
April 18, 2011 at 10:30 AM | by | Comments (0)

In the wake of Japan's tragic events, the world has been quick to forget Haiti's 7.0 earthquake, which ruled the headlines through 2010. As the country continues to rebuild, the tourists slowly trickle back. Jaunted special correspondent Soo Ah M. Lee recently returned from a medical volunteering mission in Port-Au-Prince, and will share her Haiti travel stories and voluntourism tips all this week. This is her story:

I flew down to Haiti from Chicago, on American Airlines. When I first landed in Port-Au-Prince, my first thought after exiting the plane was, “is this really a third country in need?” You see, unlike some Caribbean Islands (ie., St. Maarten) where you walk down the portable stairs out of the airplane and load immediately into a bus, Haiti wants to show off its fancy, newly built airport.

While walking down a corridor towards customs and immigration, I felt the air conditioning running full blast; there were even escalators. All this was before customs, and based on what I have seen so far, I thought my Haiti experience wasn’t going to be so bad. Boy was I in for a rude awakening…

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The Dangers of Stepping Onboard a 'Tourist Boat'

April 4, 2011 at 12:04 PM | by | Comment (1)


The Ha Long Bay sinking

If there's something we've learned over the last year, it's never to trust an overnight "tourist" cruise in Southeast Asia. It was only a little more than a month ago that such a boat sunk in Vietnam's Ha Long Bay, killing 12 in only 30 feet of water. The safety (or lack of) in these boats is to blame, and nothing has illustrated the issue better than the story of "Adventurous Kate," who survived a shipwreck in Indonesia.

Kate is author of her own blog about traveling Southeast Asia on her own, which she has been doing continuously since October of last year. A week ago, on Monday March 28, she was enjoying a 5-day cruise to visit the famous Komodo dragons of Komodo Island when her tourist boat hit a reef and promptly sank, causing her and her fellow travelers to abandon ship and swim to the closest island—Komodo, with its dragons.

The reason they swam? Half of the life jackets onboard were unusable and both lifeboats failed. Their luggage was waterlogged and left behind, and what they did eventually reclaim had been pillaged by the boat's crew.

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Chernobyl is So Hot Right Now: Nuclear Disasters Pique Tourist Interest

Where: Ukraine
March 21, 2011 at 8:21 AM | by | Comments (0)

On April 26 this year, Ukraine will remember the 25th Anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. No one knows exactly how many died as result of the radioactive fallout and the story of what exactly happened to cause the plant's explosion is so riveting that we can easily get sucked into reading just the Wikipedia page and links for hours. Thus, it's no surprise that Ukraine has opened the Chernobyl site to tours; it's in our nature to be curious about such macabre places.

As it turns out, the recent tourist focus on Chernobyl couldn't have come at a better, if tragic, time. With the situation at Japan's earthquake- and tsunami-damaged nuclear plants (especially Fukushima) having reached frightening disaster status, the public is reading up on nuclear energy and the history thereof, including tragedies like experienced at Chernobyl.

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Japan's Nuclear Emergencies Freak Out Germany, Divert Lufthansa Flights

March 15, 2011 at 9:35 AM | by | Comments (0)

In Japan over the last few days, there's been a massive earthquake, tragic tsunamis and even a volcanic explosion, but the news gripping the world is that of their ongoing emergencies at several nuclear plants. Note the word "ongoing," as the other three big events happened and are done with.

It was reported very early this morning that Lufthansa isn't taking the nuclear crisis and release of radioactivity into the atmosphere sitting down (or rather, flying high as normal). The German airline has begun scanning their planes out of Japan for radioactivity, and though nothing above a normal level has been found, Lufthansa is taking precautions by removing the Airbus A380 from Tokyo routes and putting most Lufthansa flight crew up in South Korea rather than Japan.

In addition, the two daily Tokyo-bound Lufthansa flights from Germany will be diverted to other Japanese airports through this upcoming Sunday. Specifically, Lufthansa Flight 714 from Munich will head to Nagoya and Lufthansa Flight 710 from Frankfurt will land at Osaka-Kansai.

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