.May 28, 2008 Hotel: Hotel Svanen, 680SEK ($115) Today Dean and I planned to pick up our rental car and go out to Öland Island. Öland is a long island just offshore of Kalmar in southeast Sweden. The southern portion of the island has been denoted a UNESCO World Heritage site for its wildflower meadows and Stone Age sites. It's a very popular place with vacationing Swedes during the summer. There are also several hundred old style windmills scattered around the island, down from a peak of several thousand. Öland is connected to the mainland by a 6km long bridge; one of the longest in Europe. We had a yummy breakfast at the hotel then set off walking to find the car rental place. It didn't look so long on the map but ended up being ... read more

"Come, watch the tones of changing light From starlit days to sun-filled nights. Refreshed from Polar Night's calm sleep, With gentle sunrays, time I keep!" So reads the 24-hour sundial in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, a land of extremes. Located at 79 degrees north, Longyearbyen is well past the Arctic circle and holds claim to several 'northernmost' records. The town of 2000 formerly was dedicated to coal mining and research but tourism is quickly grabbing hold, with several hotels and restaurants opening the past few years. Svalbard is a Norwegian territory and may also be known by the name of Spitsbergen, Svalbard being the name for the archipelago and Spitsbergen the main island. Located only 900 miles from the North Pole, it is used as a staging point for polar expeditions. Although owned by Norway, there is a ... read more

March 17, 2008 Hotel: Hotel Summerland, $45 Today we had arranged a tour to go out to the island monasteries in the morning, then in the afternoon we would go out to the Blue Nile falls. The Blue Nile starts its journey from Lake Tana, the largest in Ethiopia. There are a dozen or so monasteries scattered on islands throughout the lake. Breakfast at the hotel took forever, in general you can't be in a hurry to eat in Ethiopia. We had to ask for a bottle of water several times before finally going down to the bar and just buying one. And it turns out breakfast wasn't included for the $45. Our ride wasn't here yet so we spent a few minutes out on the street just watching people go by. They had tuk-tuks here, ... read more

I recently returned from a trip to Ethiopia, courtesy of the $0+tax companion fare mistake. I went with a travel buddy of mine during spring break, we had scheduled 4 days on the ground. Our trip would take us from Austin to IAD on United where we would spend the night, connecting to Addis Ababa on Ethiopian Airlines, all-in for $274 R/T each. I had wanted to visit Ethiopia for some time, so when this deal came up I jumped on it. We wanted to visit some other parts of the country, specifically the rock carved churches in Lalibela and monasteries of Lake Tana. I was able to book a circle trip on Ethiopian from Addis to Lalibela, Lalibela to Bahar Dar, and Bahar Dar back to Addis for $140 each. After booking the original mistake ... read more

September 2, 2007 Hotel: Yanggakdo Today was our last full day in the DPRK, but just as busy as the previous two had been. This morning we would be visiting Kim Il-Sung's mausoleum, for which we had to be presentable. Shirt+tie for men and dress for the women. The mausoleum itself is huge gray granite/marble building with no windows, just a large picture of the Great Leader. It is always busy with locals who usually visit two or three times a year. When we arrived there was a long line of workers and women in brightly colored traditional dresses, pink, blue, green, etc. The other KT tour arrived as well, this was the American group, so they had managed to get in as well despite the Mass Games being canceled. There is a large courtyard in ... read more