Hey all. These are fabulous comments and I really appreciate you all joining the debate. It is very interesting to see what people think about this subject. Matthew I tend to agree on the taxi and market thing although I have to say that most of the time we are talking about haggling over a buck or two and rarely more. I remember fighting about this in Egypt and Morocco 20 years ago. It just doesnt effect me the same way anymore. Sure, I'll throw another dollar down. It doesnt hurt me. Emma, I totally agree about the traveler/tourist thing. Makes me ill.
In any case, I think it is an important discussion considering how rapidly tourism is growing world-wide. I'm not sure that there is one "best model" out there but I strongly support the idea of market segmentation. Thanks again all!
Makes me think I need to plan a road trip....
Thanks for posting this. I'd love to see what other folks come up with from their lightning shots!
These are pretty awesome. Thanks for posting it.
Matthew, thanks for the kind words. I just saw this. I totally agree on the self-indulgent nostaligia. Well put.
Thank you Ellen!
I hope it is not out of bounds to post this call for people to sign this petition. I feel it is so vitally important to protect our common cultural heritage and not allow grave robbers to be glorified.
That is fabulous! I love it. My favorite city to boot!
This is brilliant work. I love the photos and the motivations. I am always troubled however by the statements and the very idea that peoples and cultures remain unchanged for thousands of years. Of course that is wholly untrue. Culture is a process, not a static thing and these people in the photos are vastly different from their ancestors, as are we.
Stunning to be sure. These are gorgeous, artistic photographs very well executed. India is a challenging place in which to travel but the rewards - as demonstrated by these images - are huge.
Except that this is a very likely place! There are so many places around the world where you cant put a shovel in the ground without digging up the past. Mexico City, Lima, Istanbul are just a few examples. Cities that are millenia old have no choice but to weave the past in with the future.
Thank you Sonja! Such great food and drink....ack...ready for more!
Very fun to read and see. Not sure if I'm brave enough to do that anymore but what a great experience!
Thanks guys! I feel like I was incredibly lucky. Especially the second day. I'll post up those photos in the coming week or so. Really a breath-taking bird!
Thanks Sonja! I was really blown away by the wildlife down there. Talk about a bird nerd's paradise!!!
really good stuff.
Excellent article and very important stuff.
Very nice. Reintroduction efforts are going on all over Central America. I think Costa Rica has set a good example of what is possible. Panama is trailing behind but learning fast. I hope the rest learn how valuable protecting and environment can be to a small economy.
Gorgeous. I love the layout of the site.
Beautifully written. I've been to the area but didnt know about this. Thanks for the share!
I dont have terribly much to add to this very thoughtful discussion. I did not see the debate or posts that kicked this off. However I'd just like to make two points.
First, I agree with the author that history matters. This may be obvious to all of us here but I dont think it is obvious to most people. The events that we may consider "past" are not past to the people, the places and the descendants of those who encountered those events. They are not only life-changing but the impact of those events courses on through generations far into the future. The profound changes brought by things like the Holocaust, the genocide of the American Indians or the killing fields of Cambodia ripple on for literally hundreds if not thousands of years and they remain very painful for a lot of people. We live in a time when we talk about history so easily and yet we dont seem to have a deeper understanding of what the past really means to those of us alive now and those who will come after us.
"Get over it" is simply NOT an option.
The second thing I'd like to add as someone with a background in urban planning goes to what Ethan mentioned above. It shows a really piss-poor thought process on the part of the planners and designers to not imagine all the ways in which a design (memorial, plaza, etc) might be utilized - and that includes abuse.
That said, I remember the same article you've all referred to and recall thinking at the time that the design itself almost invites abuse and desecration. Or at the very least ALLOWED for it. That may be a little over the top but I couldnt help but wonder if (and still do) if there was some intent in that.
Finally Ethan&as for those shows you mention&ive watched them too and I dont see in any way how there is any intent to educate or sensitize either the viewer or the participant in history, culture or the lives of the people they encounter. Those shows just border on a kind of porn.
Really well-done and interesting article on a part of this whole mystery that has escaped the main stream media for the most part. All the sidenotes of the airliner mystery touch on the tragic human trafficking, the plight of stateless people and the stories of those seeking a better life outside the law.
Thank you both! Yes. The food I grew up on and it has so many yummy cousins!
Well come on back Ethan!
I think it will be so interesting to see 50 years in the future the way climate change might impact the very kind of wines we buy. What will be "the taste" of 2050? Radically different or much the same just more expensive?
Honestly, I get tired of the navel-gazing and the need to create an "us" v "them" mentality.
I wholeheartedly agree with foodpedia's take: "All I care about is a good read, not where it appears.or who gets paid or who doesn't or how they're paid or what it is labelled as."
If you like to travel, write and take photos then just get out there, do it and stop whining about what everyone else is doing.
Not only is this fun but I think its really important. Knowing the ecology of the places we travel is vitally important for understanding the whole place!
Depressing. I know alot of people just travel to party in "exotic" locations but I've always been turned off by that. Its a shame that these amazing places get spoiled by the "international partying elite". Matthew, I'm not particularly optimistic either.
Ron, thank you for bringing this up. I was not aware and I'm deeply troubled by this. I would like to think that travel bloggers would carve out a more ethical approach to tourism than the "traditional" tourism industry. This is not only wrong but it is exactly the direction we dont want to go. TBEX should not support this kind of abuse much less promote it. TBEX is far too much money for too little return for someone like me but if I were signed up I'd seriously reconsider going. Thank you again for this Ron.
Thats a great read. I ran in 1994. Amazing experience. Wouldnt mind doing it again some day.