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Overall the news is good for travelers lately. Air fares are getting cheaper in budget travel countries, it’s getting easier to swap your house with someone on another continent, and the Muslim world is rounding out with good art, good publications, and a few comics.

Dual Pricing History in Vietnam
Things were heading that direction, but now it’s confirmed: Vietnam Airlines and its subsidiary Pacific Airlines will abandon their dual pricing systems on internal flights for locals and foreigners from next year, officials said. This means that the price scale will balance out. Locals will have to pay more, but the artificially high prices for foreigners are now a thing of the past. It won’t make a huge difference, but, if the rail lines follow suit the budget traveler could be in for major savings.more >>

Low-Cost Carriers in Southeast Asia
On a related note to the item above, the low-cost airline craze that has been making domestic flights cheaper for our US travelers is spreading to Southeast Asia. Although land travel is cheap enough, sometimes, overall, it may be cheaper to fly. It may be less fun, but if you’re strapped for time or really want to spend time in only a few countries vs. breezing through many, air travel is the way to go. more >>

Mural on Islamic Center up in SF
A mural that pays homage to the Al-Hambra in Granada was unveiled recently in San Francisco on Jones and Market streets in the Tenderloin area. This is the first Islamic mural in a city famous for public wall art ranging from psychedelic-kitsch to serious graffiti pieces. The Arab Cultural and Community Center and Islamic Society of San Francisco commissioned eight Bay Area artists to work on the mural, including Salwa Nashashibi, founder and director of the International Council for Women in the Arts, and Fayeq Oweis, who lectures at San Francisco State University. more >>

US Sailors Visit Vietnam
Sailors from the USS Vandegrift, the first U.S. warship to visit Vietnam since the war ended nearly 30 years ago, spent their last day in the communist country visiting the Cu Chi tunnels, 40 miles south of Saigon. The tunnels, amazingly hot and humid, helped the soldiers appreciate the difficulties of the US forces and tenacity and sacrifice of the Vietnamese. more >>

 

 

Task Force Urges More Study Abroad for Americans
Stop the presses: “Americans are disconnected from the rest of the world at a time when anti-American sentiments run high.” The task force that discovered this suggests more study-abroad grants for college students of all economic backgrounds, sojourns longer than just one semester, more foreign language requirements, and destinations outside of Western Europe. more >>

Whistle Language “Phone” of Canary Island
Silbo—the word comes from Spanish verb silbar, meaning to whistle—features four "vowels" and four "consonants" that can be strung together to form more than 4,000 words. Early inhabitants of La Gomera, one of Spain's Canary Islands off West Africa, use the whistle language to save them treks across hilly terrain. Islanders will even act as relay stations, passing the message along until it gets to the intended recipient. Good for everything, apparently, except romance. more >>

Norwegians Ponder The "Shabana Debate"
Check out the article on the Muslim comic Shabana Rehman, who does most of her routines in Norway but is garnering international fame. While you’re at it, check out the site the story is posted on, www.altmuslim.com, a very interesting and lively take on what it means to be a Muslim in these times. As the editors put it, the site is, above all, “a community of people who want to become more informed and involved in the world around them.” Don’t forget the “check-point comedian” a Palestinian man who equally amuses Israeli soldiers and Palestinians going through check-points. more >>

 

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