Ketchikan's New Attraction - The Road to Nowhere

Well, surprise, surprise - another wrong reason to travel to Alaska, another “attraction” that shouldn’t be! And this time it’s a road!

With all eyes (and some of them none too friendly) on Governor Sarah Palin, John McCain's running mate, it has come to the attention of the press that Ketchikan, Alaska is now the proud owner of a “Road to Nowhere” and they’re laying the blame for it right on Sarah Palin’s doorstep.

Ketchikan has always been separated from its airport by a channel of water, so the idea of a bridge to the airport, saving the need for a ferry or water taxi ride, seemed a good one - on paper.

As controversy increased about the costs involved, however, Sarah Palin killed the project and has proudly proclaimed that she told Congress "thanks but no thanks".

Trouble is, she didn’t say “thanks but no thanks” to the road leading up to the bridge, which went ahead.

Oops!

Ketchikan now has a $25 million gravel road that goes nowhere - except the dead end where the bridge was going to be.

So now Alaska has another tourist site that visitors are flocking to see.

Not quite as bad as the rusting old bus where young idealist Christopher McCandless, now the subject of the hit movie “Into the Wild”, was found dead in September 1992. But not a whole lot better either.

Check out Travel Tidings Alaska for some of the better things to see in Alaska.

Canada - Too Dangerous to Visit

I can understand issuing travel warnings for Iran, Zimbabwe and Nepal - but when did Canada join the list of frightening and dangerous places to see?

Well according to the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade - never mind that cities in Canada are routinely voted the best places to live - Canada is apparently a scary place to visit, and I quote from their website www.smarttraveller.gov.au:

"We advise you to exercise caution and monitor developments that might affect your safety in Canada because of the risk of terrorist attack."

They add: "Pay close attention to your personal security and monitor the media for information about possible new safety or security risks."

Makes you wonder if somebody in Canberra was left out of his Canadian Uncle's will ...

Maybe he needs choklit.

Send choklit!

Another bizarre reason for travel to Alaska

Back on my current favorite topic of Alaska, (see my comments about better things to see in Alaska than a rusty old bus) it appears now that journalists are flooding into Alaska in search of "the dirt" on Republican vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin. And we're not just talking about the occasional journalist lurking around the odd corner looking for a scoop - we're talking "teams" of experts here - investigative journalists and political agents.

Once again rumors are running rampant about a political figure in Alaskan politics. It wasn't so many weeks ago that Senator Ted Stevens was indicted following investigations into some "business dealings" in Alaska.

Here we go again ... and there I thought that laying a wreath at a rusty old bus was a bizarre reason for travel to Alaska...

Maybe you can find a better reason at one of my favorite sites - Travel Tidings Alaska.

Better things to see in Alaska . . .

You just have to shake your head at some of the macabre reasons people find to travel - at what draws them to obscure destinations like a rusting bus in the Alaskan interior where young idealist Christopher McCandless, now the subject of the hit movie “Into the Wild”, was found dead in September 1992.

Granted - the highly romanticized account of the young man’s escape to the wild is a fascinating one .

In 1990 he turned his back on the materialism of his upper middle-class background and started the life of a “super-tramp” pitting himself against the forces of nature and living off the land whenever and wherever he could.

Two years later he headed for Alaska and ended up not far from Fairbanks on a trail near Denali National Park where he found an abandoned bus that became his last home and where, after less than 5 months of struggling against the elements, he finally starved to death.

I can understand why the biography by Jon Krakauer was a success, and I can understand why the film and all its lavish scenery was so popularly received (I mean there are bears there - what more needs to be said...) but how did the scene of the young man’s death become such a mecca for tourists to Alaska?

What is this morbid fascination for scenes of the crime, burial plots ... ?

Alaska is all about life and the beauty and strength of mother nature – bears (of course, the bears), bald eagles, moose, wolves, living forests, rivers teeming with salmon, seas of whales and shores of seals. Why not concentrate on that if you’re headed to Alaska?

What can be so fascinating about a rusting bus where an unprepared and misguided young man met his end too soon?

Check out Travel Tidings Alaska for some of the better things to see in Alaska.

Eat Chocolate - See the World!

"Eat Chocolate - See the World!" Now there's a motto I can identify with. So too the people at The Chocolate Lovers Travel Club all men and women, and bears too presumably (we want to be politically correct here) who love chocolate and travel. By rail or by sea, they're on the noble quest for all the world's best fine chocolates, coffee and specialty teas.

Visiting the world’s top gourmet chocolate, coffee and specialty tea destinations, they're seriously dedicated to experiencing the world’s best caffeinated kicks.

You can sign up with the folks at The Chocolate Lovers Club and find out more about eating chocolate and seeing the world...

Now that is seriously kewl.

Send choklit!