AT#205 - Travel to Nepal and Everest

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AT#204 - Travel to Iceland

The Amateur Traveler talks to Dave Grenewetzki about his recent trip to Iceland. Taking advantage of the weakness of the Icelandic economy Dave and his family drove the ring road around Iceland and visited places with great names like the waterfalls Svartifoss, Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss and Gulfoss, Lake Myvatn and the dark castles of Dimmuborgir, the glacial lagoon of Jokulsarlon, the geysers of Geysir and Strokkur, the geothermal activity of Namaskard pass, the university town of Akureyri, the hobbit-like town of Glaumbaer. They went bird watching at Ingolfshofdi, took in the baths at the Blue Lagoon, took the free welcome walking tour of Reykjavik with Jonas, zigzagged between icebergs, hiked to Thingvellir, and took in the tourist attraction of the Midlina bridge.

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AT#203 - Travel to the Gulf States: UAE (Dubai), Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait

The Amateur Traveler talks to Gary Arndt about his trip to the 5 different countries that make up the Gulf states: UAE (Dubai), Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait. Each of these countries is an Arab country and a muslim country but in some, like Dubai, large portions of the population are from elsewhere. These countries include the very modern emirate of Dubai with its malls, hotels and an indoor ski slope. The gulf states also include the surprising country of Oman with ancient forts and the most memorable person Gary has met in his nearly 3 years of travel. Qatar is the home to Al Jazeera and of course Kuwait was the site of the first Gulf War. Hear about the world’s tallest building, fastest ferry and longest bridge.

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AT#202 - Travel to Sri Lanka

The Amateur Traveler talks to Karl Anders who has traveled to Sri Lanka 8 times after striking up a friendship with the late author Arthur C. Clarke who settled there. Karl takes us on a vital tour of Sri Lanka from the capital of Colombo to the beautiful beaches to some of the archeological ruins at Dambulla, Sigiriya, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. Dambulla is notable for some of the cave murals. Sigiriya is particularly notable for the rock fortress, ruins of a palace high on this rock outcropping and again some of the cave murals. Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa both also have numerous stupas (a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics). The inland high mountains are home to the tea country, plentiful tea fields and numerous tea factories. Karl recommends the Galle Face Hotel and some of the other inexpensive hotels left over from the British era. He also recommends hiring a car and driver/interpreter and avoiding the traffic and public transportation. We also talk about the recent civil war.

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AT#201 - Travel to the Philippines

The Amateur Traveler talks to Ivan Hernares, an award winning Philippines travel blogger, about his home country of the Philippines. Ivan leads us on a virtual tour of the 7107 islands of the Philippines archipelago starting in Manila. Manila has the walled city of Intramuros that reflects its Spanish colonial heritage as well as its asian heritage in Binondo (its chinatown where we can pick up some Lumpia or a winter-melon cake ). There are inexpensive places for backpackers to stay in the Malate neighborhood. Polish up your layup if you want to meet locals since the unofficial national sport is basketball. Then we head south to the power white sand beaches and nightlife of Borocay, the oldest city in the Philippines which is Cebu, the chocolate hills of Bohol and the underground river of Palawan. We explore the rice terraces of Ifugao (a world heritage site) and the WWII historic sites at Corregidor and Bataan. Ivan talks about unique architecture such as the Philippine Baroque churches and the vahay na bato” stone houses. Ivan loves a good hike up Mount Pinatubo or Mount Pulag in the Cordilleras. And if you go to the Philippines don’t forget to pick up some dried mangoes.

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AT#200 - Travel to Wisconsin

The Amateur Traveler talks to Christine who comes to tell us that Wisconsin has more to offer than just visiting my relatives. She starts us on a tour of the state from the college town and capital of Madison with its street fairs, concerts and capital building. We hear about the influence of Wisconsin born architect Frank Lloyd Wright who founded his school of architecture at nearby Taliesin. We enjoy the bike paths, breweries, badgers football and burial mounds. The we move on to Milwaukee with its neighborhoods, breweries and of course baseball. We stop in Kohler and then head up Wisconsin’s “thumb” to Door county. After visiting Green Bay and the home of the Packers we head up to the north woods with its many small lakes and Lake Superior with its one very big one. We wrap up by winding down the Mississippi river. Think there is nothing to see in Wisconsin? Think again.

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AT#199 - Travel to Laos

The Amateur Traveler talks to Sam Oppenheim (who has previously been on the show talking about trekking in the Himalayas and traveling to Cuba) about travel to Laos. Sam Visited Laos as part of a year spent traveling around the world when he traveled extensively in Asia. Sam’s itinerary included the capital of Vientiane as well as Luang Prabang, trekking in the hill villages around Luang namtha and cruising on the Mekong River near Nong Khiaw. Along the way Sam photographed monks, children and little bottles of alcohol with snakes in them. Discover this beautiful country through Sam’s stories and through his lens.

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AT#198 - Travel to the Yukon Territory in Canada (and nearby Alaska)

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#197 - Travel to Sicily in Italy

The Amateur Traveler talks to Madeline Jhawar from the Italy Beyond the Obvious blog about Sicily. Madeline was a tour guide for a number of years in Italy and says that Sicily is where the tour guides vacation. This beautiful island is more intense than the rest of Italy but it is also rich in culture and history. It is sometimes an assault on the sense says Madeline who honeymooned on the island. Madeline leads us in a trip circumnavigating the island from Messina to Palermo with stops in Taormina , Siracuse, Agrigento, Villa del Casale, Erice and Palermo. We take a side trip to climb the volcano at Stromboli and we touch on the many influences on the history of Sicily.

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AT#196 - Travel to Uruguay

The Amateur Traveler talks to Lisa who has lived as student in Uruguay on two different occasions about that small South American country. Lisa talks about the capital city of Montevideo where she lived with independence plaza (and its statue to Jose Artigas), the markets, and the ramblas. She also talks about the food including the beef, chivito, mate, uruguay pizza, bizcocho, dulce de leche, and the local wine. Mostly she encourages us to visit Uruguay, meet the people and get out to the country side in Tacuarembo, Mercesdes, Colonia or Punta del Este.

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