Solo traveller takes token tourist shot with UBER DRIVER at Egyptian pyramids

Solo traveller takes token tourist shot with UBER DRIVER at Egyptian pyramids

SOMETIMES it can be tough travelling alone. They say that there’s no better way to find yourself than by travelling solo.

It seems this young woman has taken that advice, and set out on an adventure through Egypt all by herself.

Hotel and Tour News: Jungle Book in India; Islands in Japan

Hotel and Tour News: Jungle Book in India; Islands in Japan

AT A GHANA LODGE, WILDLIFE AND SUSTAINABILITY

Ghana isn’t the most common safari destination, but a new luxury safari lodge in the country might be an incentive to attract more travelers: Zaina Lodge opened recently in northern Ghana in Mole National Park, the country’s largest game reserve. The 25-room lodge is on a ridge overlooking the savanna and has a view of two watering holes rich with wildlife such as antelope, waterbuck, baboons and elephants.

Prague Zoo Has New Attraction - a Baby Hippo

Prague Zoo Has New Attraction - a Baby Hippo

Prague Zoo has a new star — a baby hippo.

 The baby male, still to be named, was born on Jan. 28. He now lives in an enclosure in Prague with his mother, Maruska, and father, Slavek, a couple already popular among visitors.

How to Travel More for Less in 2016

How to Travel More for Less in 2016

Follow these hotel, airfare and trip tips to save on your next adventure. Have you ever wondered how your friend can afford to be a globe-trotter? One month you see photos of her in front of the Taj Mahal and the next she’s posing at the Eiffel Tower. Four years ago, I decided to make traveling a priority. Since then I've been to over 25 countries. Trust me, rolling in money isn’t a prerequisite for either of those memorable photos. Here’s how to satisfy your wanderlust without going broke this year.

Frozen car near Lake Erie now a tourist attraction

Frozen car near Lake Erie now a tourist attraction

The combination of high winds, cold temperatures, and a still unfrozen Lake Erie spelled trouble for the owner of a car parked outside Hoak's Lakeshore restaurant on Sunday afternoon.

By Monday morning the little Mitsubishi had been turned into an ice sculpture from the spray of the water. It quickly became a bit of a tourist attraction as folks passing by stopped to snap a picture of the frozen car.

Turkey: Colours of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, the world's most visited tourist attraction

Turkey: Colours of Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, the world's most visited tourist attraction

Istanbul's Grand Bazaar is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world. There are more than 3,000 shops packed along its 61 covered streets. It is estimated that between 250,000 and 400,000 people visit the bazaar each day, making it the world's most visited tourist attraction.

Getty images photographer Chris McGrath captures the colours of the bazaar in pictures so detailed you can almost hear the haggling and hubbub of the crowds and smell the incense and spices wafting across the market.

St Petersburg in winter: Like stepping into a Russian novel

St Petersburg in winter: Like stepping into a Russian novel

St Petersburg, the setting for key scenes in the BBC's dramatisation of 'War and Peace', is at its best under a blanket of snow

On the edge of a frozen lake, somewhere outside St Petersburg, I am stretched out on the wooden racks of a rickety banya, or sauna. Clouds of steam part to reveal several lobster-pink Russians on the racks below. Some maniac has just thrown a bucket of water on to the hot stones in the corner, and the temperature – already somewhere between gas mark 8 and Dante’s Inferno – rises dramatically. I feel my bone marrow is melting. Meanwhile, my new best friend, Seva, is whipping me with birch twigs – “For improving circulation,” he grunts.

Americans find ways around Cuba travel ban

Americans find ways around Cuba travel ban

HAVANA - "Is travel to Cuba for tourist activities permitted? No." That's what the U.S. Treasury Department website says. And yet Havana is loaded with Americans, from the Floridita bar, where they pose for photos with a bust of Ernest Hemingway, to the Rum Museum, where they swig rum samples.Sure, some Americans follow the rules on sanctioned travel, bringing supplies to Cuban churches or synagogues, for example, on a religious activities license. Others come on approved group tours known as people-to-people trips with themed itineraries such as the arts.

Pope Francis is releasing a rock album called 'Wake Up!'

Pope Francis is releasing a rock album called 'Wake Up!'

The "pope of surprises" just threw another curveball: He's dropping an album later this year.

Pope Francis will spread his message via a Vatican-approved album titled "Wake Up!" It's available for pre-order on iTunes.

9 tourist attractions that are dying

9 tourist attractions that are dying

(CNN)—The dilemma is sometimes likened to a double-edged sword.

Historical and natural sites of extraordinary beauty often draw large numbers of visitors to the countries that host them, providing a healthy tourism revenue.

However, those same crowds often have a detrimental effect on the places they visit, sometimes leading to significant damage, which has in recent years sparked a debate whether tourist numbers should be capped.

Traveling to Cuba: When to go and how to get there

Traveling to Cuba: When to go and how to get there

ATLANTA — With a U.S. embassy opening soon in Cuba, people may be considering planning a vacation there, but it’s not as simple as getting online and booking a trip like they would for other destinations.

"You can't just book an all-inclusive package or rent a car and hit the beach," Collin Laverty, president of Cuba Educational Travel told Channel 2 Action News Anchor Craig Lucie in Havana.

Laverty and his company handled the logistics for the recent mission to Cuba involving Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and business and educational leaders from Metro Atlanta.

Channel 2 Action News was the only television station in Cuba with the delegation.

While Lucie, his producer and photographer ran into logistical challenges traveling to Cuba, he learned there are ways for tourists from Georgia to visit the communist nation.

From rose farm to table: a Valentine's Day journey

Americans are expected to spend nearly $19 billion this year on their sweethearts, more than $2 billion on flowers alone. But the journey to get the flowers to America starts more than 2,000 miles away in Colombia, the country that exports the most flowers to the U.S, CBS News' Vicente Arenas reports.

An hour west of Bogota in a cool savanna along the Andes Mountains lies one of the largest flower farms in Colombia. At Passion Growers, workers busily harvest and process 30 million flowers for Valentine's Day for two weeks, and it's a 24-hour operation.

Moises Croitoru is the man in charge. He said they currently have 1,000 workers.

Discovering Russian culture in the U.S.: Feb. 6-20

Want to know where to keep up with Russian culture in the U.S.? Read the latest here. From celebrating Boris Pasternak and Abraham Lincoln, watching Alexei German’s last film and celebrating Maslenitsa, the next two weeks are full of cultural events for people of all tastes.

Today isn’t only Friday but also International Bartender's Day, celebrated in Russia (in many other countries World Bartender Day 2015 is on February 24). This profession has a relatively short history in Russia, as in Soviet times there were few places for people to go out. But since the mid-90s Russia has been catching up with bar culture. Despite this everyone knows two Russia-related cocktails – the Black Russian and White Russian. Both of these cocktails contain vodka, the official minimum price of which went down this week in Russia.

Kenner searching for new lakefront attraction developer

The city of Kenner is one step closer to having its own lakefront attraction. This month, city officials began a nationwide search to find a developer that can turn the city's ambitious plans into a reality.
At the Laketown redevelopment site, the Treasure Chest Casino sits alone at the small marina, but Mayor Mike Yenni is ready to make it the anchor of a major lakeshore destination. City officials say the opportunities are endless.
"It is very open ended. We're thinking for sure some restaurants, some type of night life," says Mike Quigley, the city's chief administration officer. "Maybe retail related to the waterfront."

10 Reasons You Should Go to a Nudist Resort (At Least Once)

When going on vacation, you want nothing more than to relax and let loose. What better way to embrace that idea fully than to not only indulge in pampering spa services and decadent dining, but also go totally nude? Forget just stumbling on to a clothing-optional beach; go all in, and let it all hang out at a nudist resort. These are the top 10 reasons why you should try one at least once in your life.

Palace Resorts set to open new luxury resort in Jamaica

Palace Resorts is preparing to open its first all-inclusive entertainment and luxury resort in Jamaica in March.

The Moon Palace Jamaica Grande, located in the northern town of Ocho Rios, will begin operations March 1, but the inaugural celebration, featuring a concert by Grammy-winner Shaggy, is set for May 7, Palace Resorts' vice president of Sales and Marketing, Kathy Halpern, told Efe Wednesday.

Russia part 12 - Moscow Summer Olympics 1980. Official Film

"Oh Sport, You Are Peace!" is the official film of the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics distributed by Mosfilm. Yuri Ozerov, director; Alexandra Pakhmutova, music; Nicholai Dobronravov, script. 1981: Mosfilm, Moscow, U.S.S.R.

O, Sport, You - the Peace (Oh, Sport - You Are Peace!)! (Russian: О спорт, ты - мир! transliterated as O sport, ty - mir!) was a 1981 documentary film directed by Yuri Ozerov. Alexandra Pahkmutova was the composer, and her husband, poet Nicholai Dobronravov, provided the script. (Wikipedia)

In addition to showing many Gold medal performances, this film shows the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow. 

The director was awarded the State Prize of the USSR in 1982.

This film was recently digitized and made publicly available, thankfully. This film was shown throughout the USSR in 1981, but was lost to posterity, until now.

Russia part 11 - Moscow Olympic Games, Opening Ceremony in 1980

Montreal, August 1, 1976. The closing ceremony of the Olympic Games. The Olympic flame has gone out. "Good-bye, Montreal! Till we meet in Moscow!", sports announcers kept saying. Yes, it is Moscow that will be the site of the 22nd Summer Olympic Games.

United Kingdom part 5 - Silverwood Colliery. Promotional Film

I uncovered this film gathering dust on VHS and can't quite remember where I got it from.

It's a corporate video produced in the late 1980s to promote Silverwood Colliery. I'm guessing it was made in around 1989 or 1990, ahead of the pit closure programme of the early 1990s that eventually saw the pit cease production and close down for good.

Once you get past the corporate speak it gives an interesting view of the pit above and below ground, and provides a nostalgic look back on the coal mining history of this area.

Russia part 10 - Suzdal Kremlin

Suzdal Kremlin - the oldest part of town, the heart of Suzdal, archaeologically exists with the X century, and on record/ chronicle- 1024 

Located in the bend of the river Kamenka, in the southern part of town.

July 2012

Entering the town on the Vladimir road we immediately meet the pair of the Virgin Blacherniotissa and the Deposition of the Robe. Walking towards the centre by the Trading Rows are the churches of the Resurrection and the Virgin of Kazan, a little further on, SS Lazarus and Antlpas, on the other side of the road, the Emperor Constantine and the Virgin of Compassion, and further on still St Nicholas and the Virgin of Smolensk.