Travel Picks of the Week - 01/11/08

January 11, 2008

Photo:Flickr/JavierTC

Adventurer, explorer and conservationist Sir Edmund Hillary passed away on Jan 10th, 2008, at age 88. He was the first to conquer Mount Everest, along with the sherpa, Tenzing Norgay. Known for his humility and humanism, Hillary founded the Himalayan Trust in 1962 and spent decades setting up schools and health clinics in Nepal from his own fund-raising efforts. Ray Lilley writes about Edmund Hillary and his life and achievements.

Compassion is a noble and worthy cause for travel. Health volunteers from several countries travel to affected areas during times of natural disasters in an effort to alleviate the suffering. During such times, volunteers are in short supply. Flood ravaged Bangladesh is now a breeding ground for water-borne illnesses like polio. Here is an inspiring report of volunteers from the United States, Canada, Norway, and Denmark heading to Bangaladesh to immunize children against polio.

Conservation and eco-friendly are terms not usually associated with air travel. But the days of green air transportation might not be too far away as innovative methods of using battery powered light planes are being successfully tested. Range and speed are still bottlenecks, but lower costs and environmental benefits are attractive says Charles Bremner in Air Travel Switches to Electricity.

Environmental causes, warring regimes and uncontrolled tourism have led to the endangerment of ancient monuments and natural expanses. Askmen.com has put together a list of ten most endangered locales which include Babylon, affected by the Iraq conflict and Greenland where melting ice is feared to affect wildlife habitats.

Stereotypes of people from other countries is often the material for email jokes and wisecracks. It is shocking how little of those images is based on facts and how much springs from ignorance. Education and respect for diversity are key to shed judgmental attitudes and shatter stereotypes. Chris from Nomad4ever collects the perceived personality traits from 55 countries and is surprised that the negative perceptions are stronger. As the world gets smaller, we hope the interaction will leave human bonds stronger!

Photo:Flickr/rdraio

Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia attracts millions of pilgrims and rock-climbing, hiking and other adventure seekers every year. The fauna around the limestone formations range from the tiniest insects to elephants. Youtube user and traveler Worldli is fascinated by the ubiquitous monkeys as he tours the caves in Monkey See, Monkey Do