Top Sights Almaty Kazakhstan
Top Sights Almaty Kazakhstan. Almaty is not elbowing out Paris any time soon on top travel lists, but this Central Asian city should be included on your to-visit-lists. Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan (yes, that one, made famous by Borat) nearing two million people. For decades, Almaty served as Kazakhstan’s capital, until the capital was recreated in futuristic Astana, a 12 hour train to the north. Kazakhstan, today’s largest landlocked country, was formally part of the Soviet Union from 1920 to 1991 and then gained its independence when the Soviet Union withered away. Kazakhstan derives its wealth from rich resources of oil, gas, and minerals. Historically, Kazakhstan was comprised of nomadic people who roamed the steppes. The Russian Empire made their first forays into Kazakhstan in the 18th century, and by the mid-19th century, Kazakhstan was nominally ruled by the Russian Empire. Almaty is an interesting mix. It is full of Kazaks and Russians. Muslims and Christians. A smorgasbord of Russian, Soviet and modern design. Almaty sits in a valley at the foothills of the [...]
Frank Grosse-Oetringhaus … has created a list of 5,000 places in the world to visit
Frank has nearly visited the 5,000 places on his list which makes him the best traveled person in terms of quality. [Download .mp3] Frank passionately believes in what he calls quality tourism, which he defines as the opposite of checking boxes. So instead of focusing on crossing borders, he focuses on visiting places of note which he believes contributes to authentic and meaningful travel. Frank despite being listed #5 on Nomad Mania, just recently visited his 193rd country in 2016. Frank and his partner have traveled virtually non stop over the last 10 years to complete his list of 5000 places. He has a definitive travel style which does not allow for deviation of plans, since his focus is to visit 1.36 sites a day on average. Completing this list allows him to call himself the “The Best Traveled Man On Earth: Best in Quality Based On Highlights”. Frank has traveled to the far corners of the globe with visits to both the North and South Pole as well as the circumnavigation of Antarctica and the Arctic. [...]
Saving Money While Traveling Vaccines Overseas
Saving Money While Traveling Vaccines Overseas. I can’t travel, I don’t have any money. Have you ever said that? I have a couple of tricks to save money while hitting the road. I have repaired luggage zippers in Yerevan, Armenia. Timed my haircut for Granada and Bhutan. And gotten my vaccines in Bangkok. Every year or so, I check in with the Northwestern Travel Medicine in Chicago and receive a consultation. Over Christmas when I was back in Chicago I was able to do a phone consultation, where the travel nurse informed me that my Typhoid vaccine had expired. The cost of the Typhoid vaccine was going to set me back $300. Ouch. I then checked in with the Minute Clinic at CVS, and things were not that much more promising, with the cost being over $200. But I had an ace in my pocket. The Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University in Bangkok. Cost of the Typhoid vaccine under $15. Of course, this opens up a Pandora’s Box of the true cost of medicine, but that is [...]
Island Paradise Nyaung Oo Phee
Island Paradise Nyaung Oo Phee. Salt-colored sand. Translucent azure ocean waters. Tranquility and serenity. Every year it becomes more challenging to find your own secret hideaway. Between Tripadvisor, apps, and social media there are fewer and fewer undiscovered corners of the world. But I found my slice of perfection. How is this for crystal clear water? Off the west coast of Thailand is the Andaman Sea, which is dotted with dreamy islands covered with white sands and thick verdant green forests. Speedboats ferry tourists to these islands to snorkel and snap selfies. Unfortunately, upwards to a couple of thousand people can be deposited at the same time which blanket the beaches and detract from the physical perfection. In fact, the volume of visitors can be so overwhelming, that some of the Thai islands have been shut down, no longer welcoming visitors. Imagine milling around with 2,000 tourist on a single beach as 50 speedboats deliver their passengers. Snorkeling is pretty incredible here. https://youtu.be/Mkf-STwucow This octopus is amazing. Check out its camouflage capabilities. https://youtu.be/xnWkZTLRwoI But a [...]
Jeff Shea … has completed 193, summited the 7 peaks and much more!
[Download .mp3] There are tourists, travelers and then there are explorers. Jeff has an incredible travel resume, and at times when speaking with him I recalled explorers like Lewis and Clark or Shackleton during our conversation. After sailing across the Pacific in a small sailboat, he spent time in Papua New Guinea. He then began a 40 day adventure of walking and rafting across PNG. He spent months walking and exploring in South America. And Jeff shared his stories of exploration of untouched wilderness in Venezuela. These lands have been unexplored by man. Jeff hired an expedition crew of indigenous people, satellite phones, and collapsible canoes to explore this virgin land. Jeff is passionate about preserving the environment. Jeff has created World Parks Inc. whose purpose is to promote, support, facilitate the establishment of, and establish world parks, which will consist of large tracts of land on each of the continents, set aside and maintained by the international community, in the parks’ natural state, unencumbered by the inventions of modern man. We are all familiar with [...]
George Kashouh has summited six of the seven summits
Some people are chasing 193, others want to summit the seven highest summits on each continent, and some want to accomplish both. [Download .mp3] George has set two ambitious goals. First, he wants to summit the tallest mountain on each continent. Second, he intends to travel to every country in the world. He has made great progress so far, summiting six of the seven summits and has traveled to 78 UN countries. George has climbed the highest mountain on each continent, except for Mt. Vinson Massif in Antarctica, which is quite remote and expensive to climb. George has showed true grit. His first attempt at summiting Mt. Everest ended in failure, with the peak only being a couple hundred feet away. He was not deterred and the following year he successfully submitted Mt. Everest. This feat was accomplished at great monetary and time expense. George talks about his summit of Mt. Elbrus, which nearly ended in true disaster. George has an unusual list of countries he has traveled to. He has not been to Ireland or [...]
