Last Carriage

I've now added Google Maps to the site, so those of you who are regular readers will notice that articles posted here will often have a map appearing at the bottom, where there were none before. Hopefully this feature will prove useful to help get people get their bearings when reading some of the articles.

Germany's most famous festival is on again in Munich and if you happen to be in the vicinity, I thoroughly recommend making a visit. For the uninitiated, it's a two week fiesta of food, socialising, fair-ground rides and of course, beer.

I was last there three years ago, arriving on the opening purely by chance, on my way back from a three week trip around the Balkans. It's well worth dropping by, just to experience some of the wonderful Bavarian food.

Much has been made of the dearth of available accomodation without booking in advance, but I found that I was able to get into a reasonable priced hotel quite easily, just by looking on the net from an internet cafe opposite Munich's main railway station. Even if it does prove problematic, Munich is served by a great public transport network, so staying in surrounding towns on the outskirts (for example Dachau) is always an option.

Jasmina Tešanović is a Serbian filmmaker and writer who became known worldwide when her diaries written during the 1999 war in Kosovo were distributed on the Internet. She has written some excellent articles on countries that were part of what was formerly known as Yugoslavia, and this month has been writing about South Korea.

Link: via BoingBoing

The Guardian explores the great outdoors, in a country that is also Europe's last remaining dictatorship.

One of the more difficult things to do, while travelling, is to eat well. As you pass through unfamiliar places, it can be very tempting to grab fast food while you're at a railway station, or even purchase the ghastly looking fried offerings from automatic machines - such as those in the Netherlands - to avoid having to deal with the not-speaking-the-language issue. After a while, eating like this can catch up with you and your body will start to react badly to sheer amount of grease and sugar you've consumed.

Even when eating at restaurants, hunger can get the better of you, and you might find yourself heading into the first place that you see, or you may find yourself gravitating towards a brand-name restaurant because it is familiar, without regard to the sort of food they sell.

I've found it handy to make extensive use of supermarkets, when I travel. The food is usually fresh, it's an easy and cheap way to have lunch and importantly, you can see what you'll be eating for making a commitment to it, unlike in a restaurant. Obviously, this won't work for cooked meals, unless you're lucky enough to have accommodation where you have access to a kitchen.

Markets, too, are a great place to buy food that is good for you, and generally they're cheaper than supermarkets.

Try to stock up on fruit. If you've got a couple of apples or oranges spare, you're less likely to find yourself handing over $5 for a single chocolate bar when a train attendant trundles through your carriage with a food trolley; keep in mind, however, that there may be country or regional areas with strict disease controls that prohibit the transport of fruit. Watch out for these, especially in Australia and the US.

Keeping small sealed packets of dry biscuits with you can also help ward off the pangs of hunger when you smell fried food.

Bear in mind that when you do have a sit-down meal at a restaurant, you don't always have to have a full meal with a huge steak and chips - there's certainly no harm in having a salad at times, although it's best to only do this in countries with strict food standards, given that salads, by their very nature, aren't cooked.

The BBC reports that the Eurostar has set a new record speed of 325km/h on the new high-speed line in the UK.

The Eurostar is easily the most convenient method of travel between London and Paris/Brussels, but has been held back for many years by the conventional tracks on the British side of the line. The new line will open to the public on November 14th, and is expected to cut 20 minutes off journeys.

Remember to book well in advance, if you're planning on taking the Eurostar - you'll get a much better deal than if you purchase tickets close to your date of travel.

The Globe and Mail writes:

"It's never looked better. From shared rooms to special deals, the industry is courting the single traveller"

Travelling solo is a great way to get out and see the world; you're left to your own devices and you have the advantage of being able to do as much (or as little) as you want. Being able to decide, on a whim, what you want to do each day can make for quite a stress-free trip.

But what do you do if you find yourself getting very sick of your own company?

It helps to pick the right time to go to certain areas: I was in Sweden in April, one year, and it was still too cold for there to be too many travellers around. Shortly after, I headed south, and there were considerably more people around to chat to.

Try to stay in hostels or backpackers' hotels. You're unlikely to meet anyone by staying on your own in a midrange hotel, shielded from the outside world in an airconditioned cocoon. If you dislike staying in dormitories - and who could blame you, there's only so long a person can stand the smell of other people's towels being hung out to air - many hostels have private rooms, these days.

Look for the hostels that have kitchens for self-caterers, and good lounge/leisure rooms; you're far more likely to meet other people in situations where you can interact with lots of people.