Archives for April 2011

Photo: America’s Oldest Brewery

April 29, 2011 By Jillian

We’ve been known to sample a beer or two on our travels, but there will always be a special place in my heart for Yuengling (pronounced ying-ling), an eastern Pennsylvania tradition. Opened in 1829 by a German Immigrant, Yuengling is still brewed on the same location today as it was when the factory moved after a fire in 1831 giving it the distinction as America’s Oldest Brewery. Interestingly enough, it’s still owned by the same family- each subsequent generation has had to buy it off their parents.

Going to the Yuengling factory was a fun little trip, perhaps more exciting because it had been on our list of places to visit for quite some time. Like all good brewery tours, the factory tour was short, but the tasting session was long. Fans of the regional beer, which is starting to make it’s way down the East Coast, might want to visit for a special taste of their Yuengling Premium, which is only sold within a small radius of the actual plant.

President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper bet a case of Yuengling and a case of Molson over the 2010 Men’s Ice Hockey gold metal match. I wonder how Harper enjoyed his Yuengling!

To see a few of our favorite photos from around the world check out our PHOTO PAGE. Tell us your own favorites to be included in this column!

All this talk of historical beer and brewery tours have you thinking of booking bargain holiday? My suggestion: find a place with good beer!

Photo: Chinese Goldfish

April 28, 2011 By Jillian

We were walking along a lake in Chengdu, China when we came upon a fish feeding station. As visitors dropped the food pellets into the water, the fish literally flopped on each other trying to get the treat. It was complete chaos in the five by five foot area and almost creepy to watch so many fish fight it out at once. They of course attracted a lot of attention and it wasn’t long before people were throwing entire fistfuls into the lake at once. I don’t know how many fish are in the lake, but it seemed like every single one was there to duke it out for the (delicious) food pellets.

The Chinese began domesticating carp nearly 1,000 years ago. A widely used symbol in Chinese art and culture, the goldfish represents good fortune, wealth and surplus. Now you know why you see them decorating so many walls!

This picture was taken at the Chengdu Panda Research Center in Chengdu, China. You can see our adorable panda pictures here.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

Good, Bad, Ugly: Hotels

April 27, 2011 By Jillian

Anyone who has taken a weekend away knows that lodging can make or break your travel. Get a bad hotel and the entire experience can become unpleasant.

Good: Siem Reap, Cambodia

We took a chance and followed the advice of our hotelier in Phnom Penh. We booked with his buddy hotel, $25 a night for a triple. “It’s a bit outside of town,” he told us. “There’s free shuttle service.” Needless to say I wasn’t holding my breath but low and behold there was a tuk-tuk waiting for us at the mini-bus stop. We arrived at the hotel, which was gorgeous, but definitely a bit outside of the tourist area. It was quiet, peaceful and all together perfect. Looking off our balcony we saw rice fields and the luxurious swimming pool. The place was five star by backpacker standards, and the nicest place we’d had stayed in a long time. We were treated to a delicious made to order breakfast and spent the afternoons relaxing by the pool. When we booked a car for Siem Reap, our driver ended up being the owner and our car was a Lexus SUV. The place was heaven and it didn’t blow our budget!

Bad: Marsabit, Kenya

This would have taken the cake until we got to SE Asia. Off of what little backpacker trail there is in Africa, there exists only two kinds of accommodation: first class and…local. Driving on the “road” from Kenya to Ethiopia we pulled over in the largest town, Marsabit and headed to the local place recommended by the guidebook. The basic cement rooms had seen better days, and the electricity was intermittent. Sometimes there was “hot” water, but the only food available was abysmal. Excellent. Unfortunately the shared toilets were squatters and our friend was sick, a bad combination.

Ugly: Don Det, Laos

Our bus was late to arrive at the turn off for four thousand islands in Southern Laos. We arrived at the turn off after dark, meaning it was well past dark by the time we got to the dock and took the boat across to Don Det. We were frantically searching for a place to sleep in the dark. Thankfully the island was a bit deserted, but the accommodations were abysmal or outrageous. We spent one night in a cruddy little hut and “got the heck out” the next day. Unfortunately that also back fired and we ended up spending the next night (for free) in a crummy hotel room at the bus station. Dirty sheets, walls and floor. It was gross and the buses started rolling in at 6 a.m. We had of course arrived around three, because sometimes a four hour bus ride does take 12.

This column of ishouldlogoff.com aims to answer those questions that we always get asked. What was your favorite this, or your worst that. Every week we aim to highlight a new topic and will do so until we run out of ideas. If you have an idea for a Good-Bad-Ugly post, feel free to tell us in the comment section below or send us an email. To read all of them, click here.

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Photo: Great Zimbabwe

April 27, 2011 By Jillian

Blame my Western focused education, but it wasn’t until late in my schooling that I ever heard of a large civilization existing in Africa (besides Ancient Egypt) before the Europeans arrived. To me it had always been the “Dark Continent” where awful pillaging and plundering had gone on for centuries. Of course over time my understanding and opinion on Africa and it’s politics and people has changed, but no site in all of Africa shed my Western-centric world view like Great Zimbabwe.

To be sure things are incredibly difficult in Zimbabwe at the present and have been that way for a long time. That meant we were practically alone at the important cultural site. The ruins, although heavily destroyed are of a larger scale than I had imagined and more extensive than I had pictured. The site, which means House of Big Rocks, lends it’s name to the nation and a sculpture found among the ruins, the fish eagle, serves as the country’s symbol. The ruins, despite their destruction today, prove that an extensive civilization existed in Africa well before the Europeans arrived, debunking and peeling layers away from our Western-centric world view.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

Photo: Money for the Bano

April 26, 2011 By Jillian

There’s something immoral about being forced to pay to use a bathroom. As a woman I have no other choice than to pay, but I only do so grudgingly. Unfortunately our travels seemed to always lead us to unkempt toilets that almost always lacked toilet paper and soap and more often than not, also lacked running water.

Without going into the details, these experiences were some of my least favorite of the whole trip. Ironically the cleanest public bathroom I used was in a Hutong in Beijing. Open to anyone on the street, the restroom was tucked into a residential neighborhood where traditionally people use communal facilities. It was sparkling clean thanks to a neighborhood cleaning crew. Go figure.

Perhaps we should do a Good, Bad, Ugly Bathroom edition to compliment our Signs from the Can article? What’s your experience with public bathrooms?

This photo was taken at our lodge in the Bolivian Amazon. Fortunately no one asked us to pay since we were staying there. Although I have to question their need for a sign given that we took a canoe up river for 5 hours to get there…I doubt they have any visitors besides the guests.

To see more of our favorite photos from around the world check out our travel photo page. Let us know your favorites and we’ll include them in our photo of the day series.

Photo: America’s Oldest Brewery

Photo: Chinese Goldfish

Good, Bad, Ugly: Hotels

Good: Siem Reap, Cambodia

Bad: Marsabit, Kenya

Ugly: Don Det, Laos

Photo: Great Zimbabwe

Photo: Money for the Bano

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