Bovec Holidays

The earliest mention of Bovec is from 1174, but the history of this area stretches much further back in time – to the Roman road through Predel and to the finds from the early Iron Age. In the past for Bovec was important trade route between the port of Triest and Wienna that passed the town. Later, the Bovec area was affected by the first World War battles. Today you can follow the traces from that time on the Walks of Peace.

Today, Bovec attracts especially with a wide array of sports activities, for adrenaline junkies and those who just want to relax in the nature. The town’s upbeat rhythm is maintained by numerous sports agencies, all kinds of events, and the hospitable locals.

The valleys arround Bovec are a playground for all kinds of sports all year round.
In winter time the main attraction is the Kanin – Canin ski centre, but arround Bovec there are pistes for cross country skiing, and different sports agencies can take you on snow-shoe trips and sledding.
From spring time to autumn there are several biking, hiking and mountaineering trails to be explored, horseback trips to be taken, golf games to be played and a wide array of different white-water sports on the Soča river to choose from.
The small sports airfield just by Bovec is interesting for paragliders and gliders all year round.

Holidays at Lake Garda Italy

Lake Garda is Italy's most popular and largest lake. Lake Garda sits in northern Italy and close to the city of Verona.
Holiday to Lake Garda and live the Italian way of life in the villages of Lake Garda. Capturing Italy's cosmopolitan style, simple pleasures like lingering over rich coffee, dipping into ice cream sundaes and wandering along the lakeside are the best way to spend your days, while watersports, the fantastic Gardaland theme park and trips to Verona add a little excitement.

Best of Holiday In Hong Kong

First time in Hong Kong? Be sure to check off these top ten quintessential experiences: scale Victoria Peak for spectacular city views, ride the Star Ferry, and shop the street markets. [Gadling]SeatGuru helps fliers find the optimum seats on their next flight with reviews and ratings of the seat layouts from more than 720 different planes and 100 different airlines. Get coveted extra legroom without having to pay. Plus find out the favorite seat assignments of SeatGuru's founder and general manager. [WSJ]Go retro this summer with a little outdoor entertainment. Several drive-in movie theaters are still in operation across the United States. Here's where you can catch a flick this summer.

Mega-Museum Opens in China

The National Museum of China opened on March 17th in Beijing after a $380 million "facelift." The nearly two-million-square-foot mega-museum containing over a million objects in 48 exhibition halls is purported to be the largest in the world. The revamped museum, located on Tiananmen Square, combines the former Museum of Chinese History and the Museum of the Chinese Revolution. Its centerpiece are two permanent exhibits: "Ancient China," a "mammoth survey" of Chinese history, and "The Road to Rejuvenation," an exhibit that covers the era of the Opium Wars (1840s) to the present.

The New York Times critiques the museum as sanitizing China's past and alluding to the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward's famine (during which millions lost their lives) in a scant three lines illustrated by a sole photo. The Times also notes that the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests are not mentioned. The museum, critics charge, dismisses the "shades of gray" in China's present and past and glosses over the conflicts that have come out of the country's multi-ethnic composition. A temporary exhibit on the European Enlightenment ("The Art of the Enlightenment"), curated by three German museums, is said to be more of an art exhibit than a political or historical presentation as Enlightenment ideals such as universal human rights are ignored.

Top Ten "Forgotten" National Parks

 As the days get longer and the weather improves, it's a great time to plan a trip to one the 394 sites run by the U.S. National Park Service.  And during National Park Week (April 16-24), admission to every one of these parks is FREE, with special events scheduled at many locations. 

While Yellowstone, Acadia, Grand Canyon, Yosemite and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks win the popularity contests, there are dozens of sites within the national park system that are worth visiting as well.
University of South Carolina Professor Emeritus Bob Janiskee writes in National Parks Traveler about ten national cultural-historic sites administered by the NPS that "don't get enough love." This spring and summer, consider visiting one of these hidden gems that Janiskee says "tell America's story." He puts these ten overlooked sites into chronological and thematic categories that trace our country's history from prehistory to the present day.

1. To learn about the Original Inhabitants of the U.S., consider Chaco Canyon National Historic Park near Albuquerque, New Mexico, site of Pueblo Bonito. It's a remote spot that provides visitors a sense of the architectural, administrative, and organizational acumen of the Pueblo people who lived here from A.D. 850-1250.

2. Go back to the days of in Early European Exploration and Settlement, at Salinas Pueblo Missions National Park, also in New Mexico. Check out the Spanish Franciscan mission churches and convents or follow the interpretive trail and go birding.

3. Review Colonial Life and the Revolutionary War at Louisiana's Cane River Creole National Historical Park and Heritage Area, site of two plantations that display frontier and French Creole influence and illustrate what life was like during the days of the "Cotton Kingdom" and slavery.

Seven more "forgotten" NPS sites after the jump.

4. Next up, reconsider Pioneer America, Western Settlement, and the Indian Wars at the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site in Montana. Tour the ranch house, numerous outbuildings, and bunkhouse of this still-operating cattle ranch.

5. As the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War kicks off this spring, Civil War sites are likely to see a rush of visitors. Try Camp Sumter, in Andersonville, Georgia, site of the Confederate-run prisoner of war camp in which 45,000 Union soldiers were imprisoned, often in dire conditions, during the war.

6. To Commemorate Famous Americans, Janiskee recommends the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Site in Vermont, former home of several members of America's early conservation movement. Visit the model farm and forest.

7. Get your geek on at parks that celebrate the U.S.Transportation System, Industrial Development, and Technological Progress,  such as the Thomas Edison National Historic Park in New Jersey, Edison's "invention factory," where work on what turned out to be 1,093 patents (including electric light and the phonograph) took place.

8. To mark 20th-Century Wars, try the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Alabama, where the base at which 992 African American fighter pilots trained for WWII combat in North Africa and Italy has been rebuilt to honor their valor.

9. To better appreciate our nation's Cultural Diversity and Religious Freedom, stop by the Roger Williams National Memorial in Rhode Island. Williams found refuge in Providence after being banished from Massachusetts in 1636 because of his religious beliefs. This urban park is small but offers a visitors center, exhibits, and introductory film.

10. And, last but not least, learn about the Struggle for Equality and Justice at the Manzanar National Historic Site in eastern California, where 10,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. A 3.2-mile driving tour traces the site's history from when it was home to Paiute Indians, a ranching and farming community, and the site of ten internment camps.

For more ideas, look on the NPS "Find A Park" map.

To celebrate National Park Week, Traveler is putting together a gallery of our favorite park photos submitted by readers. If you'd like to participate, send your best park shots, tagged #parkwk, to My Shot by May 1.

Holiday And Travel Tips: Mumbai

 Former Traveler research apprentice Stephanie Robichaux is in Mumbai, India, on a research fellowship, looking into how the Internet is used to arrange marriages. We caught up with her to see how her project is going, learn about her favorite spots and eats in India, get some India travel tips, and discover how working at a travel magazine has affected her as a traveler.

What are you doing in India? And how long have you been there?
I have been in India for about six months as a research fellow through the George Washington University. I came here to study the role of the Internet in arranging marriages, particularly the process of using an online marriage site to find a spouse.  

How has your experience been so far? Highs/lows?
I feel like the last six months has been a series of highs and lows. My first two months here were really tough.  Adjusting to a city like Mumbai is quite difficult and being a control freak, I really struggled. There is a huge expat community in Mumbai, though, and I have met so many wonderful people who helped me through the transition.
There have definitely been some highs and lows regarding the research. Although millions and millions of Indians use these marriage sites, many of them don't like to admit it, so it has been very difficult finding people willing to share their experiences with me. Those who have, though, have been very open and provided me a lot of insight into attitudes surrounding marriage in India. 

More from Stephanie about Mumbai after the jump.

What are some of your favorite spots in India?
One of the first weekend getaways from Mumbai I took was to Nasik, India's wine country. The vineyards are located in the hills overlooking a lake, and it's so peaceful and beautiful. There is no smog and no honking rickshaws out there. Just a four-hour train ride away from Mumbai and I felt like I was in a different country altogether.

Also, I have to say, the Taj Mahal is just breathtaking. No photo will ever do it justice. It is one of the only places that has exceeded my expectations on this trip.

Finally, I think Udaipur is lovely; I have been there twice as well. The main tourist bazaar area is a bit nuts. The streets are narrow and there are rickshaws and cows competing for space and hawkers are trying to lure you into their shops, but all you have to do is plop yourself on one of the hotels' rooftop restaurants, and you've escaped. I could just sit on a rooftop in Udaipur and take in the view for hours, especially at sunset.  And, I have to say, if you like silver jewelry, it's the place to shop!

How has your one-year stint a researcher at Traveler prepared you (or, maybe, done you a disservice) now that you're actually out there in the world, traveling?
Love this question. That year as a researcher really has been a blessing. I mean, I think I've learned to be more resourceful and to not trust information from the first person I ask. I know it's just better to pick up the phone and call a place to ask for information than to spend an hour sifting through several websites. I also remember one of our Golden Rules of not using travel guidebooks to verify information. As I mention in several of my blog posts, I have been misled by guidebooks on this trip, and I really should not have been so surprised!  

Because you have the unique perspective having worked at a travel magazine and having traveled frequently now and during your college years, what travel tips do you have for regular folks who don't breathe travel 24/7 but want to plan a trip?
Read TripAdvisor.com for hotel reviews. Do not trust guidebook recommendations, especially if you're traveling in developing countries. It's important to keep in mind that guidebook authors don't stay in all of the places they recommend; better to trust reviews from people who have. Also, learn a few key phrases in the local language.  Before coming to India, everyone told me, "Oh, everyone speaks English. It won't be a big deal." Um, not-so-true.  Most rickshaw drivers know very limited English. After being taken to the wrong places several times, I learned enough Hindi to be able to give directions and to say, "I don't want that" and "leave me alone," when it comes to dealing with hawkers. Finally, respect the culture. Maybe this is sort of a given, but I still see foreign women walking around India in shorts and spaghetti-strap shirts. Yes, it's hot here, but showing legs and shoulders in India is not appropriate. I think respecting simple things like dress code and etiquette goes a long way in establishing a good rapport with locals.

How has your view of travel changed due to your time in India?
I remember when I first visited India during Semester at Sea in 2007, I just fell in love with it.  I was obsessed with the food, the colors, the hustle and bustle, everything that I encountered in the week I was here. And, I told myself, "I will go back and live there one day." And, now I'm doing just that and I've realized that traveling in a foreign country and living in a foreign country are two different ballgames. I think travel allows you to absorb the things about a place that you love and not dwell on the things that you don't, because you know you won't be there for a long time. Traveling does not prepare you to live in a foreign country. I do think that traveling, especially to developing countries and places different from your home country, is so important. You can't learn about the world through books alone, and you won't learn about yourself until you step out of your comfort zone.

One last question. Your blog, Eat Sweat Diarrhea, subtitled "Mumbai: From the Delicious to the Downright Dirty" brings up food. What've been some of the best dishes you've tried while in India?
We may need a separate post for this one. You are asking someone who lives to eat. Aloo tikki is my favorite
street food. It's a fried potato patty with sweet and spicy chutneys thrown on top along with some chopped onions and radishes. I have yet to find it in Mumbai, but in North India, not a problem. Also, the sweet potatoes here...I could write a whole blog post about them. They are white on the inside and are a bit sweeter than the ones in the U.S.  You will find street vendors roasting them over hot coals. Then they chop up the potato, sprinkle some lime juice and dry masala powder, and it's just...to die for.? Also, dal makhani. My favorite Indian dish. Generally, the dish consists of black lentils and kidney beans simmered for hours in butter (or cream) and spices. I mean, really, it's simmered in butter, how can you go wrong? But, on my last trip to Udaipur, my friend and I ate at Panorama Guesthouse, and their dal makhani was made with white lentils/beans. I don't know what else was in there, but it was, hands down, the BEST dal makhani I have had in India.  I had to refrain from licking the pot.

Want more India? Check out one of National Geographic's many India photo galleries: Passages Through India, Faces of India, and Indian Weddings. Also, don't forget to visit Stephanie's blog, Eat, Sweat Diarrhea.

Photos: Stephanie at Lake Palace and Stephanie, post-Holi. Courtesy of Stephanie Robichaux.