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Top 10 "Worst Polluted Places" of 2007 {Gadling}
Oct 5th 2008 3:52PM Sumgayit, Azerbaijan's pollution is a left over legacy from the days of the Soviet Union. Apparently an appalling amount of the chemicals used in the USSR were made there. What is left are these eerie rusted out skeletons of industry. They have been left to rot since the fall, but their poisons remain just below the surface. Thanks to new found oil wealth, some of those factories are spewing yellow smoke once again.
A stroll along the Caspian there though seems idyllic, white sand and fresh breezes from Turkmenistan, that is of course until you stumble upon the carcass of a dead Caspian seal.
http://troyshouse.blogspot.com
New train route to connect Turkey with Georgia and Azerbaijan {Gadling}
Oct 5th 2008 3:29PM Azeri trains are indeed an experience. While working there I would often take the night train up to Shaki and Qax to enjoy some hiking and camping in the Caucasus. Train rides that would take all night to travel the 250kms up there.
If you do find yourself traveling in the area and taking a train, try Plastkart and get to know the locals.
Go Now before They're Gone: Conde Nast Traveler's 20 Most Threatened Places {Gadling}
Oct 5th 2008 3:24PM I took a job in Baku thinking that it would be a lovely place to walk around and enjoy the supposed UNESCO centre. I was sorely disappointed when I saw how much of the old core had been destroyed or mangled beyond recognition. The worst part of it all though is WHO is doing this destruction. Perhaps the biggest disaster is the Norwegian embassy, the very people who are telling the Azeris about the need to protect their patrimony! Then stroll over to the World Bank's office and see what a wonderful "preservation" job they have done.
A shame really.
http://troyshouse.blogspot.com
5 reasons to be outraged by the Lonely Planet fraud {Gadling}
Apr 17th 2008 6:41PM We can get surprised, we can be shocked by such admissions, but it raises some good questions. Are guidebooks so necessary when traveling? It never ceases to amaze me when I come across people actually arguing with hotel owners across the world that the price they are charging to stay is wrong, as it says differently in the LP! The LP itself has a disclaimer in the front of their books along the lines of prices change etc. Drop the guidebooks for awhile and travel deeper rather than further. www.troyshouse.blogspot.com
