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As you read this, I'll either be on a plane in what is an 11 hour series of flights or I'll be on the ground, starting a two and a half week trip through the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is not to be confused with the Republic of Congo just to the north of it. For those not up on the last ten years of geographic shift in Africa, this is the country that used to be known as Zaire and was run by Mobutu (the guy with the leopard skin hat) for 30 years.       This is my first trip in to Africa and is probably one of the more odd choices in initial African landings seeing how this has been a country in Africa with one of the most storied histories. A more obvious choice would have been Kenya prior to the riots (I mean, even Virgin Atlantic flies there) or South Africa, which a good numbers of whities "venture" to.       Beyond the fact that I've never gone to Africa, the other big strike against me is that I don't speak Lingala, Swahili, or French. Thankfully, I have a very able guide in #1 Fan, who not only speaks French, but lived in Congo for two years. This should make the trip considerably easier. Even still, how in the hell do you prepare for a place that has rampant diseases, endemic unemployment, next to no ATMs, undrinkable water, and no reliable airlines? Well, first of all, you fly on glorious Air France (which only takes you to the capital of Kinshasa) and secondly, you hit the books.       DR Congo is not Croatia and there aren't 25 guidebooks on the country or many articles about the country in general. Lonely Planet had one, but it was from about nearly 20 years ago and yes, things have most definitely changed. There is a book that documents these changes exceedingly well, which is In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz. It's not a travel guide at all, but a book that documents the downfall of Mobutu. It prepares a visitor for the general cultural sense of DR Congo and might make a great many change their minds about going. Nonetheless, it's a great book to read even for those who have no intention of ever setting a foot in the country.       With a relatively stable peace established in 2003, this has brought about a couple of travel guides to actually pop up. One of the earliest was the one from, Petit Futé. It's big downside is that it happens to be written in French. But, it is a good entry to the country, especially if one is of the French speaking mindset. The other book which has only just come out in the UK and is set to be released in the US in May is from, Bradt. I love Bradt not necessarily because they're always the best guides, but because they publish guides on places like Congo (in this case both DR and R). This guide is in English and I have been reading it intently since getting an advanced copy of it. it's quite well written and based upon what prior knowledge I have of DR Congo, it is very accurate. The author pulls no punches and doesn't gloss over any of the ugliness of traveling there, showing the would be traveler what they are going to be up against, but at the same time showing the rewards of the trip. Things do change quickly in DR Congo and one of things that's already out of date is that Hewa Bora should not be flown on. That was the only Congolese airline that the author recommended and they've just been added to the EU's no-fly blacklist, which brings the total number of Congolese airlines not on the blacklist to a whopping zero.       But, this is how it is and I am going. This will be one of the tougher chunks of travel I've done and in the end I'm sure all will turn out fine. We'll just have to see what direction the path of the next two and a half weeks takes. I have no idea how often I'll be online, since internet is scarce, so if you see no posts here for some time, just remember that I am now in what I call Deep Travels.

Last year, I merely celebrated Saint Jordi's Day in the fashion that one should when one's household is half Catalan. But this year, through amazingly skillful planning I was actually in the heart of Catalonia to see the celebration at its fullest in Barcelona, Girona, and Figueres.       My original post last year talked about how this is the Catalan equivalent of Valentine's Day in the US. This was mostly true, but I discovered that there is another angle to it as well. Since it is just a Catalan holiday, it is also a time for Catalan pride and nationalism to come out and shine for the day. The best way to put this in terms that Americans would understand is to say that Saint Jordi's (George in English) is a blend between Valentine's Day and the 4th of July. Probably an odd concept to wrap your head around initially, but when you're in the thick of it, it makes a great deal of sense.       It isn't a celebration that's just in Barcelona, although that is the center of it. You see celebrations of one degree or another through every town throughout Catalonia. You see roses and books everywhere. I have to say that despite seeing some guys walking around with a pile of roses to give to all the women in their families, the guys get off easy. They only have to get the flowers. Women have the harder part in trying to figure out what book to get the guys. After all, that is the exchange; a rose for a book. But, this is changing these days and there are those couples who both give each other books.       Of course, much like you can find all things "stars and stripes" in preparation for the 4th of July for the US, you can find all things roses and red/gold (the Catalan colors.) We had lunch in a place with a special St. Jordi's menu with the red and gold colors splayed across the dishes. There was a tea shop we went to where they can "red" and "gold" teas with rose petals. And absolutely, of course, there are Catalan flags everywhere, both displayed and to buy. One small thing to note for those visiting Catalonia on this day is that beyond the fact that it's one of the few days when locals outnumber tourists on Las Ramblas, there are different Calatan flags one will see and there a reason for this. There is the standard one of red and gold stripes, which is the official flag. Then there is another one with a red star at the top of it, which is the flag for an independent Catalonia. A small thing that most might overlook, but it is a definitive statement. The only Spanish flags you'll see out during the day are the ones for the old republic, which Franco overthrew in his coup that consist of a flag of red, yellow, and purple. A salute to what could have been better times 60 years ago I suppose.       It's a fun holiday and a shame that April 23rd never really gets that much coverage in guidebooks to Spain for some reason, as it's a cool to witness and you don't have to be Catalan to do the whole rose and book exchange.

I really don't get it. Who exactly is the, Fodor's Hawaii for?       I asked this question repeatedly as this thing let us down repeatedly in Hawaii. Usually I stick to the Rough Guides as they are full of the history of a place and slightly snarky in tone due to their "British edge". But, I thought, hey, let's branch out and try a different one, which ended up being Fodor's.       Most guidebooks tend to have a focus audience. Rough Guides are good for Europeans and the slightly adventurous type. Lonely Planet are all around good, but I tend to not prefer them as they don't travel the way I like. Moon used to be for the hippies, although I don't know their true focus anymore. Let's Go are strictly for students and those on a budget who want to party wherever they go. Bradt are just awesome for those that want to adventure and see the unseen. I mean, who else has a Kosovo (a contested region), Democratic Republic of Congo (a conflict region), and Iraq (a flat-out war zone) guide? Bradt, that's who.       So, I didn't really know where Fodor's fit in. I thought it was something like Lonely Planet with a definite angle about catering to Americans. I was wrong, but I wasn't completely wrong. In fact, I don't know where I sit and I have no idea who Fodor's is for.       If you're an adventurer, it is crap. We had to find a good number of things on out own and it never points out hole in the wall places to eat that can be great and cheap. Also, we had to find most of our own accommodations online because they seem to like to show the midrange places and up.       If you're a beachgoer, it sucks. We found that the best, cleanest and most enjoyable beaches were in Kauai, which were hardly covered. They seemed to like to pick the dirty, crowded beaches. Maybe some people like these as they feel safe and at home on them? I don't know.       If you're a Lazy Fat Pale Scared American (LFPSA) the book is bad as well. While parts of it seemed to cater to the LFPSA crowd, they would flippantly mention things like the Haleakala Crater hike as an outing and not point out that LFPSA's would die doing that hike. It also doesn't really give very good layouts of itineraries because LFPSA's need to have everything planned for them, although maybe they do this through package deals to the islands. Again, I don't know.       Lastly, it's inaccurate. The pass you get for Haleakala National Park is not good for a week as they say in the book, but three days, making it rather hard to reuse for Oheo Gulch and the Crater. Also, the beach at Polihale is correctly labeled as one of their choice beaches in the guide, the information about the are is dead wrong. For one, that beach is officially closed. Two, the road is not just rough on a car, it's damned near impassable. Spots really require a vehicle with a solid eight to ten inches of clearance to make. You can do it in a rental car, but it's very, very rough. Lastly, there are no facilities out there due to a broekn water pump. All the bathrooms and showers are closed. This information has been known online since mid last year, yet they went to press with it like this.       In general, I got the feeling that the guide was lazy and places hadn't been visited for awhile. This is sad, seeing as how Hawaii isn't Croatia. Things aren't changing from year to year. It's the US and it's been a continuous tourist destination for decades.       So, from know on, I'm sticking to my Rough Guides and Bradt books. One alternative that is good for this region about the books from Wizard. Despite the cheesy name, their Maui Revealed and Kauai Revealed guides are extremely in depth and detailed. A friend loaned them to me and they were good resources to balance out the craptacularness of the Fodor's. Dog Eared Books, a very unused Fodor's is soon coming your way!

It's not the most well-known holiday outside of Catalonia, but it should be. You see, today is Diada de Sant Jordi, otherwise known as Saint George's Day in English. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, Saint George is an English saint. Well, regardless of that, he's mighty big in Catalonia and they celebrate the day in a pretty cool way.       You can read all the details on the almighty Wikipedia, but the crux of it is that it's a lot like American Valentine's Day, but without the gross consumerism because all they give are roses and books to each other. Actually, historically, men gave the women a rose and women gave the men a book, but many people seem to give books and roses now. It's certainly not without its profitability though, seeing as how it pulled in $90 million dollars just for this one day, in just Catalonia, a region that has 7.1 million people. That's a lot of books and roses (5.5 million roses to be exact)!       But, it's a very smart and very cool holiday as well as a good time to be in Barcelona (no, not Barthelona) with all of the streets filled with makeshift book and rose sellers for the day. If interested, you can see some coverage in photos. You'll notice that there are some famous Spanish authors there who are signing their books for the day.