Perceptive Travel Back Issues - 2009

Peru travel

December 2009

Fashion in Kabul - Kristin Ohlson
In the capital of war-torn Afghanistan, women join in the name of fashion to see and buy designer clothing combining traditional Afghan motifs with modern flair.

The Ride of a Lifetime on Bolivia's Most Dangerous Road - Carla Seidl
Hurtling down the hairpin turns of Bolivia's El Camino del Muerte (Road of Death) is a frightening experience in any vehicle. How about on two wheels, with no crash protection and at the mercy of the elements?

Luck, Llamas, and a Peruvian Shaman - Sharon Spence Lieb
Climbing into the clouds of Peru's Andes Mountains, a quest to meet a shaman brings new appreciation for life's overlooked fortunes.

Travel Book Reviews
Editor Tim Leffel reviews Bicycle Diaries from by David Byrne, The Darwin Experience: The Story of the Man and His Theory of Evolution by John Van Wyhe, and The Ethical Travel Guide: Your Passport to Exciting Alternative Holidays by Polly Patullo and Orely Minelli

Burma travel

November 2009

On a Slow Boat down the Irrawaddy River - Jim Johnston
Navigating the river from Mandalay to the temple city of Bagan is easier than navigating the thorny issue of traveling in a country where the rulers are self-enriching oppressors, but the regular people are glad you are there. Jim Johnston surveys it all from a $2 plastic deck chair.

The Mysterious Stone Chambers of New England - Brad Olsen
The author of the Sacred Places series looks into an archaeological enigma in New England. Are these colonial root cellars, native American sweat lodges, or prehistoric European structures?

A Marvelous Trance in the Highlands of Fiji - Bruce Northam
While hiking through the mountains of Fiji's big island, Bruce Northam finds that on the other side of fear is freedom...and a wonderful kava buzz.

Travel Book Reviews
Gillian Kendall reviews The Big Trip from Lonely Planet, Big Trips edited by Raphael Kadushin, Exposure: A Journey by Joel Magarey, and The Ramen King And I by Andy Raskin

World Music Reviews
From Paris to Cuba, some funky Latin jazz from Brownout, inventive remixes from dunkelbunt, and a siesta-inducing collection from Putumayo.

Guatemala travel

October 2009

Polar Bears in August - Amy Rosen
We associate polar bears with long stretches of endless white, but in the summer the sleepy giants chow down on the shores of Hudson Bay. Amy Rosen gets almost close enough to cuddle the half-ton beasts.

The Kite - Amy Carlson
After a year of too much heaviness and worry, the editor of Travelers' Tales Japan hikes the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage trail to refresh and begin anew.

Finding Maximón - Luke Armstrong
While working for a year in Guatemala, a young traveler visits the crafty local deity who changes houses each year while pondering the violence that wracked this population not so long ago.

Travel Book Reviews
Tim Leffel reviews Extreme Cuisine from Lonely Planet, Wanderlust and Lipstick: Traveling with Kids by Leslie Forsberg and Michelle Duffy, and Clean Breaks: 500 new ways to see the world by Jeremy Smith and Richard Hammond

World Music Reviews
An outstanding desert blues follow-up from Tinariwen; an ambitious project by a multi-instrumentalist from France; music from the outer spheres of the consciousness, and Floodplain from the Kronos Quartet.

New York Spiritualism

September 2009

A Dollar and a Dime in Vietnam - Richard Sterling
Woe to the traveler or expat who has not learned the eternal lesson of developing countries everywhere: keep your pockets full of small change.

Cliff Notes From Beyond - Rachel Dickinson
Curious about the Spritualist camp in her home town in rural New York, the author of Falconer on the Edge dives into the teachings of Spiritualism and tries to summon her dead Grandfather—without paying extra.

Signs of Alien Life Among Us - David Lee Drotar
The author of Steep Passages visits an ancient walled city and witnesses the secret rituals of what may be an alien society.

Travel Book Reviews
David Farley reviews The Billionaire's Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace and Rag and Bone: A Journey Among the World's Holy Dead by Peter Manseau.

World Music Reviews
Editor Tim Leffel reviews new music from music from Brazil, Colombia, and Uruguay, including the follow-up from Céu. Plus the throat–singing group Huun Huur Tu gets the remix treatment from Carmen Rizzo.

Sardinia travel

August 2009

Running with Faith - Eliot Stein
A Quaker foreigner spending a year in Sardinia tests his feet and his faith running barefoot in a local saint's festival.

Untitled Story, from Asolo, Italy - Edward Readicker-Henderson
What do you do when you're told you may only have a year to live? Stay home and withdraw, or head to a beautiful place with a beautiful woman?

Secret Cities and Atomic Tourism - Tim Leffel
When the Manhattan Project got into full gear in the early 1940s, cities that weren't on any map became the centers in a race to build an atomic bomb. Now they make for great tourism attractions...

World Music Reviews
A new title from a well-known n'goni player, a reissue from Mali's most famous exports, and two musical soup efforts that give "songs without borders" a new twist.

Angkor monk

July 2009

The Week the Earth Shook - Carolyn B. Heller
While on assignment in China when the 2008 Sichuan earthquake struck, a guidebook writer tries to take step back and take comfort in the sights and sounds of daily life.

Picnicking at the Ruins of Angkor - Michael Buckley
The crumbling ruins of Angkor in Cambodia provide an amazing backdrop for picnic sorties: Khmer take-out and prime outdoor dining spots next to temples and monuments.

New Yorker Accepts Vermont Green Challenge - David Lee Drotar
An environmentally conscious upstate New Yorker with solar panels in his back yard accepts an invitation to Vermont to answer one burning question: are those "greenest state in the U.S." claims for real?

Travel Book Reviews
An author and comic book creator rounds up the best graphic novels that focus on travel, from Morocco to Prague to Pyongyang.

Nicaragua travel

June 2009

Pirate Chic in Honduras - Bruce Northam
On Roatan and the other former buccaneer haunts of Honduras, an anti-fashionista finds solace in a land of washed-ashore people wearing thrown-together outfits on tranquil beaches.

Granada on Haphazard Guitar Strings - Luke Armstrong
While backpacking through Central America, Luke Armstrong lands in Nicaragua and confronts the clash between carefree, idealistic youth and the melancholy of a fading revolutionary.

Travel by the Glass - Chris Epting
The author of The Birthplace Book explores the historic watering holes of America and the original homes of some of the USA's iconic cocktails.

World Music Reviews
This month we review the debut from Guatemalan American rapper/DJ Santero, a collaboration between Robert Plant's Guitarist and a musician from Gambia, plus Putumayo's new collection: Italia.

May 2009

A Technicolor Dream Cruise - Amy Rosen
Moving along the North Atlantic Coast of Norway in a ship stopping in Arctic Circle towns along the way, Amy Rosen watches gray and white give way to resilient rainbow houses and the flickering Northern Lights.

Where Queens Come for a Fight - Donald Strachan
In Italy's Valle d'Aosta, offbeat sporting passions run high, especially when it's time to gather in a stadium to watch fighting cows...

The Goddess Still Lives Here - Beebe Bahrami
While following up on tales of villages where women have always called the shots, the author of Spiritual Traveler Spain encounters surviving vestiges of Northwest Spain's matriarchal past.

Salmon and Red Cedar - Pam Mandel
Crossing the Canadian border to British Columbia, Seattle resident Pam Mandel moves from the new world to the old, seeing the local creatures through the eyes of First Nations people. The salmon are less cooperative.

Plus Travel Book Reviews
Editor Tim Leffel reviews the vodka-soaked Murders in Mausoleums and National Geographic's 10 Best of Everything Families

and World Music Reviews
Graham Reid checks out the slick sound of Mali from its most popular export; a collection of funky Afrobeat from 1970s Lagos; a live recording of a deeply moving Italian singer-songwriter; and tango from an unexpected source.

April 2009

Breaking Frontiers - Maliha Masood
Observing weapons bazaars, smuggling routes, and endemic corruption first hand, the author of Zaatar Days, Henna Nights uses her Pakistani passport to travel the Khyber Pass to Afghanistan's border.

Unbalanced in the Sinking City - Tim Leffel
In Mexico City, all signs point to a metropolis that shouldn't even be here, much less be functional. The co-author of Traveler's Tool Kit: Mexico and Central America explores the crooked lines of buildings and the straighter lines of segregation in the world's second-largest city.

Lost in the Mangroves of Belize - Steve McNutt
It was supposed to be a simple day of fishing for Barracuda, just take the motorboat out through the mangroves of Belize to where the fish swim around the cayes. But the co-editor of Americans Do Their Business Abroad: The Peace Corps Latrine Reader should know that easy days often don't work out that way.

and World Music Reviews
New Putumayo collections from India and the world of Salsa, Indian club music from Midival Punditz, and the latest from Mexican-American singer Lila Downs.

March 2009

Showdown at the West Esplanade Canal - Darrin DuFord
Our fearless writer heads to New Orleans to try some rodent stew in the course of research. Instead he ends up riding with a SWAT team tasked with a less savory method of eradication.

Cuba's Port of Hope, on Hopeless Machinery - Luke Armstrong
Rent a decent bike, ride down a scenic roadway and back. In most countries a simple task, but this is Cuba...

Born in the USA: an Apple, a Taco, and a Doctor's Soda Syrup - Chris Epting
Our author goes in search of U.S. birthplaces that are not exactly major tourist attractions. In some cases, you'll have to work pretty hard to even find them.

Plus Travel Book Reviews
The parody book Drink, Play, F@#k and the latest from Richard Bangs, Quest for the Kasbah.

and World Music Reviews
Laurence Mitchell brings us five musical journeys abroad, from Norway to Mali and Poland to Colombia.

February 2009

Into the Heart of India's Punjab - Joel Carillet
Which is more unholy: a sausage pizza or cell phone porn? In the Punjab temple city of Amritsar, the answer can be as dense as a Sikh's beard.

Tibet, a Third Eye, and Our Journeys Through Time - Michael Buckley
Regular contributor and Tibet guidebook author Michael Buckley examines the strange case of Tibetan lama and bestselling author T. Lobsang Rampa, more accurately known as Cyril Henry Hoskins, a plumber from Devonshire.

Uluru from a Different Angle - Graham Reid
Sometimes all it takes to see a popular tourist site in a different light, Ayers Rock perhaps, is just to avoid the crowds and get a different perspective.

Plus World Music Reviews
Editor Tim Leffel reviews a foursome of interesting music: the throat-singing stars of Tuvu, the Fado diva of Portugal, Africans jamming on reggae, and a new world beat electronica trio.

January 2009

Kirkegaard in Mongolia - Edward Readicker–Henderson
Through the steppe, the desert, and across a quiet lake in Mongolia, is it possible to leave all comparisons behind and just soak up the land anew, in silence?

Sex, Lies and Desert Dust at Burning Man - Brad Olsen
At the annual Burning Man Arts Festival, it may be hard to get completely clean, but it's easy to be really dirty.

Strange Sensations in Iceland - Tim Leffel
In an isolated country where everything seems alien, unusual feelings and encounters are a regular occurrence.

Plus World Music Reviews
Graham Reid reviews the Bar Mexico double disc; Ost Klub, Kapitel 2; Cuba's Omara Portuondo; and heartbreaking songs from Savina Yannatou and Primavera en Salonico.

Travel Book Reviews
Spiral Jetta, State by State, and Lonely Planet's The Europe Book.




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