Argentina

Author: Guy Bristow
Date: 1 February 2004

Since the collapse of the Peso, Argentina has gone from the most expensive country in South America to one of the cheapest. This has made Argentina into a hot destination for budget travellers for the first time...

Argentina - Climbing Aconcagua

Author: Alex Stewart
Date: 1 August 2008

'Felices Navidad!' hollered the voice at the end of the distorted phone line. Irritated at having Christmas lunch disturbed, the family was instantly placated by the sound of my brother's voice coming down a satellite phone from camp one, high on the flank of Aconcagua.

Australia - Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park

Author: Marina De Santis
Date: 1 September 2002

There is nothing I can do about it now. I climbed Ayers Rock (Uluru in Aboriginal) and I wish I hadn't. The red monolith that stands today as one of the most recognisable symbols of Australia is a sacred site to the local Aboriginal people, the Anangu.

Austria – Vienna

Author: Malgorzata Ross
Date: 1 September 2008

Returning from holidays it’s nice to bring back memories of places which, whilst not in the “must-see” league, speak more to us than the better known or historically and artistically more important sights. Here are my three from Vienna.

Bangladesh

Author: Gerhard Buttner
Date: 1 July 2002

Not that I came only to drink their tea for free, but tea invitations are common in Bangladesh and no payment is allowed by the "guest to my country". The staccato questions might be repetitive: "Your country?", "Your name?", "Your job?", "You married?", "Why not?", "How many brothers and sisters?", "You like cricket?", but...

Bolivia

Author: Dan Weston
Date: 1 November 2005

I think I fell in love with Bolivia as I watched the bus I'd been travelling on from Peru being ferried across Lake Titicaca on what amounted to a glorified raft. Bolivia's landscape may initially appear harsh and its people stand-offish, but a scratch beneath the surface soon reveals these impressions untrue and this landlocked Andean country inevitably weaves its spell.

Bolivia

Author: Gerhard Buttner
Date: 1 September 2001

There is a certain appeal in entering a country by the backdoor. Especially if that backdoor is a wide open vast desert with nearly 6,000m-high peaks. The Bolivian border post, was just that, a post with a sign showing only two words on opposing sides - "Bolivia", where we were going, and if you turned round you could see "Chile". The passport stamp came only four days later in the first proper town.

Brazil - Rio de Janeiro

Author: Alex Stewart
Date: 1 September 2001

Escaping to Rio is a travel fantasy. The city is possessed of a potency which frightens many, but affects all. Its inhabitants, known as "Cariocas", personify the phrase "carpe diem", as life here is to be consumed, not observed. The solution: abandon your ideas of efficiency, rationality and timekeeping and give...

Canada - Northwest Territories

Author: James Innes Williams
Date: 22 November 2006

I first came to Canada to paddle down the Nahanni River in the Northwest Territories. We flew into our starting point, just south of the Arctic Circle, in a DeHavilland Single Otter sea-plane. Landing at Moose Ponds was almost the end of the trip, however, as the pilot nearly ran out of lake...

China - Beijing

Author: Angus Lee
Date: 6 June 2007

When I first arrived in Beijing the first thing that struck me was the pollution and the haziness of the skies. My dad and I hailed a taxi at the airport - my first chance to practice my basic Chinese.