Hipster Sao Paulo

Posted Wednesday, February 27, 2008, 5:12 PM by Lonely Planet

It's one of the largest cities on earth so it's not surprising that Brazil's Sao Paulo has a thriving arts and fashion scene.

For an insider's guide check out this recent Thorn Tree post with the latest on art and music venues as well as recommendations for little-known bars, restaurants and boutiques.

We also like Freakstyle - a street fashion blog run by a group of local photographers slash fashionistas - highlighting the looks of the city's hot and hip.

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Want A Santa Barbara Getaway? Neverland Ranch on the Block

Posted Tuesday, February 26, 2008, 4:26 PM by Lonely Planet

Looking for your own slice of Santa Barbara, the American Riviera along the California Coast? One with a dragon wagon roller coaster, super slide and private zoo no less? You're in luck! That is, if you've got roughly $24.5 mill to spare...

That's the cost county assesors claim King of Pop Michael Jackson owes on his famed Neverland Ranch, which is facing potential foreclosure and a public auction on the steps of the county courthouse.

According to Yahoo News Jackson has until March 19 to pay the outstanding balance on his nearly 2,800-acre ranch, named after the fictional island of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan. Jackson, who has owned the ranch since 1988, needs to pay a tab of $24,525,906.61 or risk losing his once-signature property.

Seems the struggling US real estate market has surely crept beyond subprime loans.

-Jay Cooke, Commissioning Editor, USA East

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Something for Mother's Day?

You may think with downcast face that Valentine's day is over and so, too, is the one good excuse for indulging yourself at the chocolate counter. But you would be wrong to be so prematurely guilt-ridden when this weekend saw the start of the annual Festival of Chocolate in Turin.

'A Festival of Chocolate,' you say, 'surely not?'

'Yes, yes', I say, but you will have to hotfoot it down to Piazza Vittorio Veneto to indulge in what they're calling a 'joyous immersion' in all things chocolate. The chock-fest continues until 22 March so there's still plenty of time to book in for one of those chocolate laboratories!

As for Top-of-the-Chocks (oh dear!), I reckon La Maison du Chocolat must be up there with the great and the good. Any other recommendations out there? Remember, Mother's Day...

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Running around the big city

Posted Monday, February 25, 2008, 4:55 AM by Lonely Planet

What do you do if you've only got an hour to see Rome, Berlin or New York?

The (UK) Observer newspaper's Expert Traveller feature, which regularly breaks new travel trends first, might have the answer. Sightjogging is, as it sounds, guided city tours which mixes discovering your destination with a leg-stretch of up to 90 minutes.

Guide or no guide, running is a cheap, fast and fun way to explore many cities which makes evening beer o'clock all the sweeter.

Anyone got any tips for a top-notch sightseeing sprint around their home town?

Tom Hall

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Fantastic faux pas

Posted Sunday, February 24, 2008, 2:27 PM by Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet took an early-morning turn on the BBC Breakfast sofa, talking about those unwitting cultural boo-boos we all make during our travels.

This story was in response to an article in the latest edition of Holiday Which? passing on tips about what not to do with chopsticks, how to avoid making rude hand gestures in Brazil and where not to write in red ink. The people of Britain should now know when not to flush the toilet in Italy and how to avoid being the only man in the women-only carriage on a Cairo metro train.

We'd love to hear if your stories of cultural misunderstandings. We find there's nothing like good intentions going astray to make a day memorable.

Tom Hall

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Is Australia getting more violent?

Posted Friday, February 22, 2008, 3:07 PM by Lonely Planet

Many folks think of Australia as a pretty relaxed place, but a China-fuelled economic boom combined with a perceived rising wealth disparity has raised the stakes. A recent poll showed that 72% of Melburnians think their city is getting more violent.

Is crime the natural flip side of prosperity , or are we seeing ominous signs for Australia? Are Australian cities just naturally going to get more dangerous?

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Art Smart

Posted Thursday, February 21, 2008, 5:17 AM by Lonely Planet

Year of Rat? That it may be, but 2008 is looking more like the year that contemporary Chinese art hits the global headlines. So we all know about the massive architecture-as-ego projects that are underway for the Beijing Olympics, but how many of us can name a single contemporary Chinese artist? No hands?

Well with major exhibitions planned at the Guggenheim New York (the first ever show devoted to a Chinese artist) and a new Saatchi Gallery in the offing in London all that is about to be put right. Check out Wang Guangyi's cool political pop art or the eerie portraiture of Zhang Xiaogang.

By August you should have plenty of opinions to bandy around when you hit the Olympics, especially as you tour the 798 Quarter, Beijing's new backdrop for cutting edge contemporary art.

Any hot tips on Beijing's budding art scene or 798, why not post them here?



-Paula Hardy, a fan of Yue Minjun

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Cali Parks: Terminated

Posted Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 7:08 PM by Lonely Planet

With California facing a $16 billion budget shortfall for 2008-2009, thanks in no small part to a cratering real estate market, Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggar has mandated 10% across-the-board cuts to all state agencies.

Among the impacted? The California State Parks system, which will be forced to close or restict access to 48 state parks. Closures span the state and include such popular places as Tomales Bay State Park in the San Francisco Bay Area, Del Norte Redwoods State Park on the North Coast and Topanga State Park outside Los Angeles.

In total, 17% of California's state parks will be closed for the immediate future; 230 units will remain open. An additional 16 state beaches will see lifeguard reductions as well.

Hopefully, though, once Sacramento gets the budget in order, they'll be back.

-Jay Cooke, Commissioning Editor, USA East

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Farewell, Fidel

After 49 years in power Fidel Castro has announced his resignation as the president of Cuba. His younger brother, Raul Castro, is expected to be named as his successor. The younger Castro has hinted at Cuba becoming a more democratic society, and while President Bush won't be lifting the trade embargo soon, there is the possibility that the next US president could ease the ban. Could this mean that Cubans will be allowed to travel freely? That Americans may soon be able to visit Cuba legally? Time will tell.

For images and video, see what the Washington Post and the New York Times are saying.
Jennye Garibaldi, Associate Commissioning Editor, USA

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East London: the capital's rising star

Lonely Planet launches the latest edition of its guide to London today, shedding new light on previously underrated areas of the capital. If you're looking for the most creative neighbourhoods in London right now, ignore the old maxim and go east young man (or woman) . Areas like Hoxton, Shoreditch and Clerkenwell have a contemporary buzz that is unmatched anywhere else in the city. And the media have already started to pick up on this story - see here for an example.

We'd love to know what you think - would a night out in Brick Lane or a Sunday morning nosing around Spitalfields feature on your London itinerary?

Clifton Wilkinson, Commissioning Editor, Great Britain

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Mapping the City

Posted Monday, February 18, 2008, 3:03 PM by Lonely Planet

For a different online travel experience check out hitotoki, a "narrative map of the world".

This beautifully designed site maps short stories and passing moments to locations. Written and edited by locals in Tokyo, New York, London and Washington DC it's a fascinating and inspiring way to discover a city.

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Our Island Home

Posted Thursday, February 14, 2008, 8:12 PM by Lonely Planet

Dreaming of a getaway? Chances are your mind is wandering to the cliched image of silky-soft sands, swaying palms and turquoise seas of the perfect island escape.

Travel + Leisure magazine recently put together a list of hottest island destinations for 2008. It's filled with oldies like Santorini, Phuket and Mallorca - beautiful and lots of fun but not exactly "so hot right now".

A straw poll around Lonely Planet suggests they've missed out on some of our favourites. Here's where our staff day dream about during office hours:

1. San Blas Islands, Panama
2. Megisti, Greece
3. Rinca, Indonesia
4. St Martins, Bangladesh
5. Hideaway Island, Vanuatu
6. Poruma, Torres Straits
7. Zanzibar, Tanzania
8. Corn Islands, Nicuragua
9. Playa Tortuga, Galapagos Islands
10. Samoa

Have you got an island we should add to the list?

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Rio Carnaval: The Last Hurrah

Posted Tuesday, February 12, 2008, 6:06 PM by Lonely Planet

I wake up at 5pm on Tuesday - Fat Tuesday, the Last Hurrah - having already missed Heaven on Earth. The bloco favored by Rio Bohemians, Heaven on Earth processes through the hilly cobblestone streets of Santa Teresa, above Rio's downtown. I kick myself for sleeping through it.

By the time coffee and aspirin are doing their work, it's dark again, and a chill rain has begun to fall. Carnival is over, I think, at least for me, though I can hear its still-general occurrence - yips and cheers, bursts of firecrackers, the boom of a dozen street parties warring over Copacabana's rooftops.

I descend to the streets, not to join in but simply to procure more fluids. Yet as soon as I step outside, the party is once again bearing down on me. This time it's the bloco of Leme, my own neighborhood. It's named, appropriately enough, Dry Mouth. The fifty-strong drum section instantly raises the flesh on my arms. It's followed by a truck bearing singers, banjo players, and speakers of unpardonable size.

Then comes the hundreds-strong mass of revelers. They represent every social and racial hue of our little neighborhood, from its million-dollar oceanfront condos to its discreet, hillside slum. A pair of barefoot twins, not yet six, samba furiously in tiny, glittering bikinis. Old ladies watch from the safety of their windows, those that still can throwing their arms up in delight.

Heaven, it seems, isn't limited to Bohemian heights. I get a taste right here at my doorstep. As I laugh at the irony, a middle-aged woman dances by in a T-shirt that reads, "Samba e Amor." Samba is love. She's happy. Really, there's no need to further complicate matters.

- Robert Landon is co-author of Lonely Planet's Brazil guide.

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Jungle Fever

Posted Sunday, February 10, 2008, 2:08 PM by Lonely Planet

Everyone knows Alanis Morissette was talking out her hat when she claimed irony was like rain on your wedding day, but irony does go a little something like this...

According to researchers in Berlin, fatal viruses have started jumping from humans to apes, so now eco-tourists are killing the very great apes they pay thousands of dollars to see.

Tourism is one of the best ways to protect endangered species and habitats: it's a popular belief, and as a fan of travel you probably subscribe to it yourself. The money brought in by tourism is incentive enough to stop logging and poaching, and a tourism industry provides employment for locals who might otherwise rely on hunting.

In Uganda and other east African countries, there's no denying the vital role ecotourism has had in protecting chimpanzees and gorillas. But now scientists are messing with that belief. They're saying that human viruses, similar to the flu, have already killed chimpanzees at a research facility in Cote d'Ivoire, and could really threaten not only African apes, but orang-utans in Borneo. The worst bit is that you could have these viruses and not even know it, so just because you're sniffle-free doesn't mean you're all clear to get cosy with a gorilla.

So does this mean you should cancel your trip to Bohorok and donate your cash to the Sumatran Orangutan Society instead? Well maybe. Or you could just take a few simple steps to stop any viruses you have from spreading. Scientists are suggesting that if you're heading out to see orang-utans, gorillas or chimpanzees, you should disinfect yourself, your clothes and your shoes, and keep at least ten metres away from all apes. They reckon you should also wear a mask while you're in parks where great apes live; as they've never met you, this probably isn't a comment on how you look.

- Jane Rawson

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Kokoda Trail closed to tourists

Posted Wednesday, February 06, 2008, 6:38 PM by Lonely Planet

Papua New Guinea's historic Kokoda Trail has been closed to tourists until a dispute over a proposed copper mine is resolved, Australian media is reporting.

Local Koiari landowners have felled a tree across the track near the village of Naoro, 55km from Port Moresby. Villagers say they will stop travellers who try to pass until the PNG government allows the Australian company Frontier Resources to dig up 600m of the track to mine a $US5.9 billion copper and gold deposit.

The Koiari people have been offered a 5% stake in the mine that could deliver them more than $US100 million over the proposed 10-year life of the mine.

Australia, who is seeking a world heritage listing for the trail, is lobbying the PNG Government to kill the mine project in favour of the tourism dollar.

About 5000 tourists travel walk the 96km Kokoda Trail each year. One of the world's great treks, it links the southern and northern coast of PNG, and was the scene of bitter fighting between Australian soldiers and Japanese troops in 1942.

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Travel resumes in frozen China

Posted Tuesday, February 05, 2008, 3:48 PM by Lonely Planet

With central China experiencing its coldest winter in a hundred years, tens of millions of people will be seeing in the Year of the Rat, which starts on February 7th, far from home. Heavy snow and freezing temperatures across much of China have closed roads and railway lines and caused travel chaos. However as of late Tuesday transport is gradually resuming, with railways in the southern Guangdong Province finally back in action. Check the Thorn Tree Forum for more up to date information and warnings from travellers on the ground.

The worst natural disaster to hit China in decades, the severe weather has claimed the lives of at least 60 people and cost the economy 54 billion Yuan (US$7.4 billion). The timing could not be worse, with hundreds of millions of people preparing to travel home this week to spend the Spring Festival holiday, which marks Chinese New Year, with their families.

- David Eimer

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Rio Carnaval: Super Samba



It's 3am. Our taxi has run up against a strange convoy. The great floats are in their migration from the Cidade do Samba, the vast warehouses where they're constructed, to the Sambodromo, the parade grounds where they will finally have their hour. Black plastic guards their multi-storey secrets, and it takes dozens of men to push them at a speed that's the frustration of our driver. Under the pelting rain, the scene has the solemnity of a funeral procession.



My friend Leland isn't sure he wants to go to the Sambodromo. He hesitates at the price - US$170 for bleacher seats. Then there's his aversion both to large crowds and the percussive cheer of the samba-enredo - the samba particular to Rio's Carnaval. I felt all these things too, before I finally went myself. I promise it'll all make sense once he hears the hundreds-strong drum blocks, sees the mad floats without their shrouds.



The next night, his doubts are completely dispelled. He's gawking at the river of color that floods the Sambodromo's narrow "avenida," the sheer audacity of it all. But what's bursting his heart, he tells me, is the fact a people can come together not to wage war or worship a favored god, but in the cultivation of a collective "alegria". English doesn't have its equivalent, though it might be loosely translated as collective happiness, even jubilation. It must be consciously cultivated and generously shared. It's the fruit of that funeral march we'd seen the night before - and the aim of Carnaval.


- Robert Landon is co-author of Lonely Planet's Brazil guide.

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Rio Carnaval: Banda from the balcony

Posted Monday, February 04, 2008, 2:49 PM by Lonely Planet



Our invitation comes through an emissary, a handsome medical student named Vinicius. We're to be at Rogerio's apartment at four in the afternoon, in time for a glass of cold prosecco before the confusao of Banda de Ipanema, with its tens of thousands of fans, passes along the legendary beachfront.

Sometime after five, the Banda de Ipanema comes in sight, and soon the drums and brass nearly manage to drown out the blasting of Rogerio's Beyonce DVD. Founded as a protest against the military dictatorship of the 1960s, the banda has become the rallying ground for Rio's gay carnaval-goers.



Last year I marched with the band, looking up with envy at those who waved from luxurious apartments as I fought back both claustrophobia and heat stroke. Within minutes, my wallet was picked, and when looked down, still hoping I'd perhaps just dropped it, I saw dozens of other wallets like so many discarded pelts littering the ground. Depressed, I told my dear companion Ricky I was calling it a day. But sulking during Carnaval is simply not done. In the end, we got home at 8am with burns from the early-rising sun.

After the banda has passed, I ask my host for a pen to note some of the things I've seen, but he tells me he's at a party and can't be bothered. This seals it. Next year, if I'm lucky enough to be in Rio on the Saturday of Carnaval, I'll be there in the middle of confusao rather than looking down on it.

- Robert Landon is co-author of Lonely Planet's Brazil guide.

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Carnaval Step One: Dancing til Dawn

Posted Sunday, February 03, 2008, 3:11 PM by Lonely Planet

Shoppers enter the local supermarket barefoot. Water from the tap bears a jungle tang. After sunset, air from the sea settles into something milder than a breeze. Right now it's midnight and Rio de Janeiro has gone quiet, trying to get its last, solid night of shuteye before the epic party begins.

I hope to join the others soon in sleep, but after five nights of "preparing" for Carnaval - i.e drinking, dancing, talking until four, five, seven in the morning - my body's clock is out of joint.

On Saturday, neighbors in the next apartment took me to an escola de samba called Salgueiro. These escolas aren't, as the name implies, "schools" where gringos learn to samba, but rather a peculiar combination of dance hall, practice grounds, social club and benevolent society. Their highest function, though, is to mount their portion of the parade in the city's Sambodromo on Sunday and Monday of Carnaval.

Not everyone in Brazil likes samba, including my neighbor Anadeia. But neither does she want to miss the party. So she packs her MP3 player, hoping to drown out both the remarkable fifty-member-strong bateria (percussion section) as well as the half-dozen singers who, as a group, possess more enthusiasm than excellence, and who hold the microphone piercingly close to their mouths.

Outside Salgueiro, the streets are crowded with those who, tonight at least, cannot afford the entrance price (about US$17). Still they've come to drink beer, eat sausages from improvised grill, and catch the particular high of those lucky enough to be coming and going through the turnstiles.

Inside, Salgueiro's hall is immense. Built in a kind of Portuguese version of Victorian plain style, it's a single space ringed by arcaded boxes for the escola's complex hierarchy - and their wealthy patrons.

As soon as we enter, it's clear Anadeia's headphones are not up to their task. The music, relentlessly jubilant and inexorably amplified, colonizes the whole body. Earphones come off and soon our little posse merges with the hundreds, the thousands, on the vast dance floor.

- Robert Landon is co-author of Lonely Planet's Brazil guide.

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