Best of Travel on the web - July 2011

There are so many excellent articles and blog posts each month that it's impossible to keep track of all. In this monthly feature we try to capture the best of the travel web in one single place. We're on the look-out for the best posts to recognise them in a special round-up post.

July 2011 has been another month of top quality posts. We have chosen three of the best in the following randomly assigned categories:

  1. Best Visit to a Non-Existant Country post 
  2. Best Dealing with a Foreign Language post
  3. Best Off the Beaten Track post

There's also an award for Best Photo of the month. There are of course many contenders for these prestigious titles, which are selected in an entirely subjective and unaccountable manner. If you have a post that you would like us to consider for the August awards just send us the link to the post via Twitter (@Tourdust) or in the comments box below. So on to the winning posts:

 

Best Visit to a Non-Existant Country Post - Deported from a country that does not exist by James H on Travellerspoint


7 Fridays

Think of the hardest places to enter (or leave) and most will be far away from the perceived  comfort and security of Europe. Yet within our continent lies a small area of disputed land that has declared independence from its official home of Moldova. Trans-Dniestr is made up mainly of exiled Russians who have the strong backing of the Russian army to protect their attempts at autonomy. In this post James makes his way in and out of this territory and finds out just how unpredictable crossing an unrecognised border can be. An excellent post. 

 

Best Dealing with a Foreign Language post - On teaching English to children in Korea by Jake Hollingsworth on Art of Backpacking

 

Korean children learning English

Arriving in a new country with no knowledge of a language is challenging enough. Imagine then being dumped in a school with a gaggle of very young children who don't know a word of English and the difficulties of communication grow exponentially. My respect therefore goes to Jack Hollingsworth who had to face exactly this situation in Korea. His account is hilarious and at the same time a powerful antidote for another who has a yearning to go abroad to teach English. Well worth a read. 

Best 'Off the beaten track' post - Svalbard – polar bear country by Sophie's World

 

Seal at Esmark Glacier

Of all the world's remote places, Svalbard must be up there as one of the most inhospitable and isolated. Home to miners and polar bears and only the occasional passing tourist this group of islands are about as close to the North Pole as all but the hardy Arctic explorers can reach.

Sophie starts her post with the wonderfully understated 'I'm here with my daughter to look at the Russian Arctic mining settlements' as if it's the most natural thing in the world to do. An excellent post and some breathtaking photography.

Best Photo - Toucan in the Amazon by Wandering Trader


Tucan in the Amazon

There are many superb photos to choose from but I was particularly struck by this wonderful character and his/her interaction with the camera. I'm sure the photographer was pleased with the resulting image but can't help wondering about the state of the lens after the toucan had finished with it. 

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