By Mark | Published:
May 27, 2009
Well, maybe not the absolute worst, but a catalogue of experiences around the world which explain why a taxi is always my last resort for getting from A to B, and why I’d rather walk, take public transport or a bike just about anywhere.
Disclaimer: Many taxi drivers are polite, courteous, professional and very honest. It’s the others that give you a bad rap, which are the ones I am complaining about..
Bangkok
Don’t expect taxi drivers to know the way – particularly if there has been a bad crop recently in the countryside, since in these times your taxi driver is likely to be an out of work farmer who is unlikely to find his way home, let alone that restaurant you just asked for. In fact, it may take 2 or 3 different attempts before you find a taxi driver that knows where your destination is, let alone how to get there.
If you are lucky the driver will tell you that he has no idea where the destination is in advance, otherwise he’ll just drive you around for a little while. Read More »
Posted in Life of Travel | Tagged bangkok, cairo, china, india, london, moscow, new york, paris, rome, taxis, warsaw, zurich |
By Mark | Published:
May 26, 2009
In case it’s not in your mailbox, here it is!
In this Month’s edition:
Win $1,000 in our competition, featured journeys and travelers, our web-tips, news from the team and more.
By Mark | Published:
May 21, 2009
Help support your favourite on-line travel site (hopefully that’s us, right?) by voting for MapVivo in this year’s TravelMole Web Awards.
MapVivo has already been nominated, so all you need to do is visit our nomination page and give us your rating. Any comments and feedback left there are also much appreciated.
Voting closes on June 10th. Thanks so much for your support!
PS. Don’t forget to enter our travel journals competition and win $1,000 for your next trip!
By Mark | Published:
May 18, 2009
Got the traveling bug and want to see more of the world?
Entry is simple: To enter our competition, sign-up via our competition entry page, then go ahead and create your MapVivo travel journal. On June 15th we’ll take the 10 most popular journals created and our panel of judges will award the $1,000 travel voucher for the most inspiring journey. Five runners up will receive a free Bradt travel journal of their choice.
You can stay up to date with the competition’s progress by subscribing to our blog where we will be posting regular updates.
Want to know how to win?
We’re not looking for exotic or highly adventurous journeys, just for images and descriptions that capture the essence of travel and the rewards it brings - the excitement and experiences you’ve encountered on your journeys are more important to us than where you’ve been.
Remember that finalists will be chosen from the 10 most popular journeys - the popularity of a journey is determined by the number of times it has been viewed, and the average rating that it receives. Journeys can be rated by clicking on the globe icons at the top right of the journey view page.
You can help make your journey popular by sharing it with friends. View your journey and use the ‘Share’ menu at the top of the page to share your journey with friends via email, Facebook or Twitter. - all of these things drive views and votes!
The most popular journeys of the last month are displayed on the MapVivo front page under “Most Popular Journeys”
Good luck!
Sign-up for our competition now
By Mark | Published:
May 16, 2009
The Times Online reports today that hotels in Mexico are offering free holidays to people who catch swine flu:
Hotels in Mexico are offering free holidays to tourists who catch swine flu in their resorts in a bid to restore confidence in the destination.
The initiative, which involves three hotel chains, is being led by Real Resorts, which owns three hotels in Cancun and Playa del Carmen.
The company’s guarantee offers three years of free holidays to any guest who contracts the (H1N1) flu virus within 14 days of visiting its resorts in Cancun or Playa del Carmen.
Hmm. Is that going to work? Reminds me of the time last year when I collapsed two days after returning from Thailand and ended up in hospital with the suspicion of having caught something nasty due to the hundreds of insect bites I’d gotten.
I was fine a few days later, and visited Thailand again just a couple of months after, but for a while there I was absolutely not considering a return to the same place…
By Mark | Published:
May 14, 2009
..is the question some people are asking today. Christoph Reharge has posted a YouTube video of his “The Longest Way” journey during which he spends a year walking across China, and grows a massive beard in the process.
You can check out Christoph’s amazing journey on his The Longest Way site, and shortly you’ll be able to see the full journey mapped out here on MapVivo – watch this space.
Update: Some people have since asked “Who the hell is Matt?”. Answer.
By Mark | Published:
May 12, 2009
From Buckinghamshire, England, down the East coast of Africa to Die Hel near Cape Town in South Africa. And then back again, via the far less travelled West Coast, whilst also scaling Kilimanjaro, the continent’s highest mountain. 11 months, 30 countries, 20,000 miles.
That’s the journey Carl James and Tom Picton will embark upon this September (which you’ll be able to follow on MapVivo), circumnavigating Africa using the toughest route possible to raise money for Link Ethiopia and Alzheimer’s Research Trust.
Tom and Carl will be funding their expedition from their own pockets, and are currently looking for sponsors or other support with the myriad of logistical issues involved in such an epic road trip, and of course direct donations to their chosen charities. Any support will obviously be appreciated!
You can read more about their plans on their website ToHel&Back. Meanwhile, to give you some idea of the logistics involved, here is a small sample from their equipment list:
- High Lift Jack
- Shovel
- Sand Ladders
- Axe
- Hammer
- Work Lamp
- Torches
- Head torches
- String
- Rope
- Jerry Cans (Water, Diesel, Paraffin)
- Fridge
- Water Purification Filter
- Roof Tent
- 2 fuel stoves
- Air Compressor
- Duct Tape
- Sleeping bags
- Pillows
- First aid box
- Fly, mosquito, snake and scorpion spray
- Sun cream – Factor 95 for Tom
- Battery recharger
- Folding chairs
- Table
- Fire extinguisher
- Assorted tools
- As many car spares as we can fit, principally fluids, filters and belts.
- Cutlery Box, containing all things food and cooking!
By Mark | Published:
May 4, 2009
With breathtaking scenery and some fascinating tales of adventure this MapVivo journey is the ideal armchair adventure and well worth following:
From the trip:
Gosain Kunda was not to be the highest point of our trek – in order to start the descent back to Kathmandu, we first had to make it over Laurebina Pass, a whopping 3,610 metres. Mistakenly I thought that getting over the pass would be the most challenging part of day. The excitement of having made it so far and so high certainly did put a spring in my step for the first part of the day.
But the spring soon faded on the way down due to the steep drop and aching knees. The descent back into the low(er) lands was grueling, though refreshing at the same time. It was nice to get back down where the landscape of barren boulders has transformed into lush forests, but also nice to get back down to where I could breath!
Follow this journey on MapVivo
Selected images:
By Mark | Published:
May 2, 2009
MapVivo, dein online Reisetagebuch, ist jetzt verfügbar in Deutsch! Zwar gibt es zur Zeit noch nicht sehr viele deutschsprachige Reiseberichte, aber Dank deiner Hilfe werden es hoffentlich bald ganz viele sein! Wir freuen uns auf deine Reiseberichte und Kommentare in Deutsch!
Would you like to see MapVivo in your language? We’d be over the moon if you would like to translate it for us – drop me an email at mark [at] mapvivo [dot] com
Gute Reise!
By Mark | Published:
April 30, 2009
We love Maps, and so we were intrigued by this project – Rhett Dashwood has spent several months building a Maps Alphabet.
Several MapVivo team members are now re-planning vacations in order to spell rude words with their subsequent travel maps…
