Matador Network's Blog, page 1294

The worst US states for bedbugs

It might not be too high on your list of travel concerns, but bedbugs can really ruin your hotel or Airbnb stay. It’s pretty unnerving to settle into your bed after a long day on the road, or on an airplane, and realize that you’re sharing the mattress with hundreds of critters. While it’d be nice if you could simply look at a lodging’s website for a convenient heads-up on the probability of encountering bedbugs, it unfortunately doesn’t work that way. Luckily, this helpful chart provided by Mattress Clarity shows you where in the US you’re most likely to encounter bedbugs, based on the number of incidents reported.

Photo: Mattress Clarity

It’s no surprise that, according to the chart, most bedbug incident reports come from major cities. San Francisco had 446 reported incidents last year, and there were 403 in Los Angeles. New York City dwarfs them both, with a whopping 4,490 bedbug incidents reported. But New York City doesn’t top the list of worst cities for bedbugs, that title belongs to Baltimore, followed closely by Washington D.C. and Chicago.

There are few surprises on the list of affected cities, as all represent densely-populated areas. If you’re looking to book a vacation with the smallest possible chance of encountering bedbugs, it looks like Alaska is your best bet.

H/T: Mattress Clarity

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Psychedelic, otherworldly landscapes

If you’re a fan of science fiction and have always wondered what it would be like to step foot into a bizarre new world, you can do so without traveling light years through zero gravity. There are countless natural phenomena on Earth with mind-bending colors and formations that look straight out of fantasy novel (or a drug trip) that are only a flight away. Here are seven of the coolest, weirdest places on Earth — from Alaska to Yemen — that are even stranger than fiction.

1. Socotra Island, Yemen

Photo: Sergey Kilin/Shutterstock

Just off the coast of Yemen, Socotra Island is the largest in a small archipelago that has been detached from the mainland for millions of years. This separation has made the island home to a surprising array of endemic biodiversity. The dragon’s blood tree, which emits bloodlike sap and looks like a flying saucer made of twigs perched on long stalks, looms over the craggy, mountainous landscape. The island’s only native mammals are bats, and there are many species of birds that are found nowhere else on earth, such as the Socotra starling. The flora and fauna of Socotra are not the only totally unique inhabitants; genetically, most of the female population of the island has DNA that can be found nowhere else on Earth. The island was visited by 1,000 tourists a year until 2014 when the looming Yemeni civil war seriously impacted Socotra’s accessibility to outsiders. There is a small airport although flights have been canceled since 2015, so the only way to get there is by cargo ship.

2. Kawah Ijen Volcano, Indonesia

Photo: Alexander Mazurkevich/Shutterstock

Within the plumes of smoke surrounding the top of this active volcano are two features that make East Java’s Kawah Ijen unbelievable: the blue flames spitting into the sulfurous air, and the deep turquoise lake that looks perfect for a swim — if it wasn’t filled with deadly acid. The blue flow looks like lava but is actually caused by gases erupting from deep inside the earth’s crust and forcing themselves to the surface under enormous pressure and heat (up to 600 degrees Celsius); when the gas hits the air, it ignites and spills over the side, sometimes condensing into liquid sulfur. The effect, only visible at night, is one of unearthly beauty. Nearby is Kawah Ijen Crater Lake, a hydrochloric acid pool that is considered to be the most acidic body of water in the world. The lake is warm from the volcanic activity, but swimming is an absolutely terrible idea: the lake is strong enough to melt clothes and human flesh, and the plumes of sulfur gas can cause a breathing hazard if you’re exposed for too long. The climb is not difficult, but all hikers must wear gas masks, and it is not recommended if you have existing breathing issues, such as asthma.

3. Chocolate Hills, Philippines

Photo: ostill/Shutterstock

In the middle of the island of Bohol in the Philippines sit 1,300 strangely regular hills of practically identical shape. The local legends say the hills came from a fight between two giants who threw rocks at each other for days until they were exhausted. For most of the year, these pillowy hills match the rest of the verdant jungle landscape, but in the dry season, the lawn-like vegetation turns brown and looks like an expanse of Toblerone bars. There is a viewing platform on one of the taller hills, but you can also get a habal-habal driver to take you on a motorcycle tour through the mounds to other viewing locations, as well to a less-well-known attraction called the Eight Sisters Hillocks — eight hills of similar size in an almost perfectly straight line. Sunrise paints the hills in a dramatic light, so get up early (5:00 AM in the summer months) and climb to the viewing platform. There are few places to stay near the hills, but the newly built adventure park with its campsite — as well as a bicycle zipline, butterfly garden, and zorbing — is a good option.

4. Lake Khiluk, British Columbia

Photo: Carlo Alcos

Known as “Spotted Lake,” Lake Khiluk in northern British Columbia dries up over the summer, leaving heavily mineralized pools, each with a different mineral content. The variety and concentration of minerals are what gives the “spots” their unusual colors. At the height of the dry season, the lake’s high concentration of magnesium sulfate crystallizes and forms natural walkways between the pools (although walking through the area is not allowed for environmental preservation reasons and as a form of respect to the local First Nations people). In 2012, a planetary geologist discovered that the mineral composition of the water was similar to deposits found on Mars; this otherworldly lake might be additional evidence that life could exist on other planets. The area is sacred to First Nations people in both Canada and the United States who believe the minerals of the lake can cure different diseases. Although the land was privately owned for some time, it was returned to the Okanagan Syilx First Nations in 2001.

5. Vinicunca Mountain, Peru

Photo: David Ionut/Shutterstock

Vinicunca, also known as “Rainbow Mountain,” is a peak located deep in the Peruvian Andes. Striped in vibrant blues, reds, and yellows, the mountain culminates at 16,000 feet above sea level. There is a road that winds up the peak, making the summit accessible in only a few hours, but the altitude can seriously impact anyone who isn’t prepared for it. For many years, this unusual formation was hidden under snowpack and ice; however, as the global climate slowly warmed, that ice thawed and revealed the magical landscape beneath. Local Peruvians believe the mountain is holy, and every May, thousands of indigenous Quechua pilgrims visit it to celebrate Qoyllur Rit’i, or the Snow Star Festival, which according to the Atlantic “celebrates the stars, notes the reappearance of the Pleiades star cluster marking the start of the harvest season, honors Jesus Christ, and also honors the local glacier, which is held to be sacred.” Several local guides offer packages to assist individuals and groups on guided ascents. It is highly recommended to bring someone who knows the terrain with you on the climb.

6. Mendenhall Ice Caves, Alaska

Photo: saraporn/Shutterstock

The Mendenhall Glacier (originally called Sitaantaagu by the Tlingit people) is only 12 miles from downtown Juneau, Alaska, but is accessible primarily by kayak. The caves inside can only be reached by ice climbing over the glacier itself and slipping into its interior. The Juneau Ice Field from which Sitaantaagu emerges is a sheet of white from the outside, but inside the caves, everything is a thousand shades of blue. This happens because the surrounding ice absorbs all light wavelengths except blue, leaving an unearthly glow to the rounded caverns. The bad news is that the caves were caused by the melting of the glacier. Meltwater continues to reshape the caves, and visitors may find that the layout of tunnels and passageways has completely changed from previous maps or visits. In fact, as global temperatures increase, the caves are likely to disappear entirely in the next ten years.

7. Great Rann of Kutch, India

Photo: Shikha a/Shutterstock

Almost 3,000 square miles in size, this vast salt flat in the middle of India’s Gujarat region is pure white — except for the occasional touch of pink from the flocks of flamingos that nest in the rare pockets of thorny scrub. In the monsoon season, the flat fills with standing water, but the beating sun of the summer months dries it to flakes rapidly — temperatures in this region can go as high as 50 degrees Celsius during the day. The remote landscape is surprisingly well populated by migratory birds and other animals, including desert foxes and hyenas, and hosts the Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary, home of an endangered species of wild donkey. To the west of the Rann (which means “desert”) is a 5,000-year-old Indus Valley civilization site called Dholavira with fossilized artifacts that you can explore before heading into the desert’s expanse.

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Muay Thai fighter protects tradition

Thanks to commercialization and bastardization around the world, Muay Thai has earned a bit of seedy reputation. Mention the sport and most people think of bikini-clad girls in a touristy bar in Bangkok or white guys on Tinder posing shirtless in the ring. But traditional Muay Thai actually has real, historic roots (dating back to 18th-century warfare) and cultural significance in Thailand, which is now in danger of being erased. One retired fighter, though, is making major strides to preserve it.

Wisarut Wat Suksiriwararak is an old Muay Thai fighter from Pai in Northern Thailand. Up until his retirement in 1992, he fought in bouts all over the country. Today, he runs his own gym in Pai, serving as a Mr. Miyagi-like figure, passing down his knowledge of Thailand’s traditional martial art to both locals and visitors from around the world.

Wisarut grew up in a humble household in Pai. He worked as a mechanic fixing bikes, cars, and tractors. He started fighting Muay Thai, like most young boys in Thailand, as an opportunity to make a little money. Over the years, he fought in different championships around Thailand, mostly in Chiang Mai.

Photo: David Miller

Since his retirement, the authentic practices of Muay Thai have been slowly fading away, particularly in the south of Thailand, which is more dense with tourists. There, Muay Thai rings are in many of the bars and clubs, specifically designed for entertainment purposes — a little like WWE, which Wisarut sees as an insult to this traditional martial art.

To help combat this, Wisarut trains not just locals but also foreigners — many of them travelers passing through — in the traditional art of the sport. In the Matador Originals film Fighter: The Legend of a Thai Boxer, filmmaker Marko Randelovic found, “Some of the foreigners were incredibly out of shape and just sought the strict fitness regime that Muay Thai offers. Others were seasoned martial artists who were looking to expand their fighting abilities through learning Muay Thai from its spiritual home.”

Photo: David Miller

In the film, Randelovic spoke to several travelers who revealed how much harder the training was in Wisarut’s gym than in their gyms back home — but that the payoff of learning from Wisarut was huge.

Randelovic says this was one of his most challenging projects to date. “Filming the fight scenes in Chiang Mai stadium,” he explains, “I was running around like a lunatic trying to get as many different shots as possible — from close-ups of the fight, wide shots, crowd reactions, etc. It felt like I’d been in a fight myself by the time it ended!”

You can watch the full film below:

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Guy Fieri restaurant at Disney World

They say that Disney is the happiest place on earth, but celebrity chef Guy Fieri would most likely disagree and say that place is Flavortown. But now, he won’t have to choose between the two. Disney World is about to become a little more magical with the opening of Guy Fieri’s new restaurant, Chicken Guy! Yes, the exclamation point is part of the official title.

Chicken Guy! will be a fast-casual restaurant at Disney Springs in Orlando, functioning as the flagship location of what will eventually be a chain of chicken restaurants. They will serve chicken grilled, fried, in a sandwich, on a skewer, or in a salad and offer 22 different sauce options, presumably including Donkey Sauce. The restaurant will also offer sides like loaded fries with SMC (super melty cheese) and mac n’ cheese, along with a host of indulgent desserts. For maximum accessibility, a “sauce slinger” will roam the restaurant with a holster full of condiments.

Disney Springs, a shopping hub right outside the theme parks, has seen an increase in chef-driven restaurants recently with celebrity chefs Masaharu Morimoto, Rick Bayless, and Art Smith all getting in on the action. Fieri, however, is offering diners a more affordable option (by Disney standards) with quick counter service. Chicken Guy! will be unique in other ways too, featuring a selfie wall with a huge image of Fieri, as well as employees who give customers the famous chef’s signature fist bump.

“It’s all about the real deal, all-natural chicken,” said Fieri in a statement, “but lemme tell you, our sauce game is on point.”

Chicken lovers won’t have to wait too long to try the restaurant for themselves as Chicken Guy! officially opens for business in August.

H/T: Food & Wine

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The post A Guy Fieri chicken restaurant is coming to Disney World and it’s insane appeared first on Matador Network.

Airlines forbidden to use Taiwan

It’s the latest development in the struggle between China and Taiwan. While it’s still entirely possible to fly to Taiwan, on paper you’ll now be flying to “Taipei airport.” China’s Civil Aviation Administration sent a letter earlier this year to over 40 airlines, threatening sanctions unless they removed the word “Taiwan” from their websites. In response, three major US airlines (American, Delta, and United) complied with the request. US airlines were the last of the world’s major airlines to make the change.

Taiwan and mainland China have operated as separate entities since the civil war in 1949. The Taiwanese view themselves as independent, but Beijing believes the self-governed, democratic state is a breakaway province that should still fall under China’s rule. Faced with sanctions from one of the world’s largest travel markets, the world’s airlines were pressured to comply with China’s request. “United abides by and respects local laws and regulations in all markets and jurisdictions where we operate and conduct business,” a United spokesperson told The Washington Post.

The White House has called China’s strict mandates “Orwellian nonsense,” and pledged to “stand up for Americans resisting efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to impose Chinese political correctness on American companies and citizens.” Earlier this year, China blocked all Marriott websites and apps for one week, because the hotel chain referred to Taiwan, Tibet, Macau, and Hong Kong as separate countries in an email.

H/T: Travel & Leisure

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The post Airlines are erasing Taiwan from their websites. Here’s why appeared first on Matador Network.

Literary map of the UK

If you’re a traveler with an obsession over British literature, we’ve got your next trip entirely planed. UK-based site QuickQuid created a map that shows the locations of where 36 of the United Kingdom’s most-celebrated literary masterpieces are based in.

Those who want to undertake such a trip will visit every corner of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland as prominent British literature traverses the countryside far and wide from central London, including the very remote Isle of Lewis and the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

Photo: QuickQuid

The map puts into vivid detail not only the depth of literary history across the United Kingdom, but also how close together vastly different storylines actually took place. Wuthering Heights is based just across Yorkshire from The Secret Garden, for example, and the stories of cynical hopeless romanticism in Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity were a mere two hours removed from the Hundred Acre Wood where Winnie the Pooh frolicked with Piglet and Eeyore.


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Mayo ice cream now exists

Food always fuels intense debates. From pineapple on pizza to activated charcoal food, everyone has an opinion and a preference that they are ready to defend ad nauseam eternam. The most controversial food of all, however, might be this new ice cream flavor developed by a small Scottish ice cream shop. Ice Falkirk is known for creating unorthodox ice creams, including Guinness and Strongbow-inspired flavors, but last week the brand might have gone one step too far when they revealed their new Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise ice cream. We don’t even have to wait for the public response to know this one will be the most polarizing of all.

Reactions to the new flavor have ranged from curious to outright disgusted. One Twitter user mused, “It probably makes the ice cream super creamy and light instead of tasting like mayonnaise?” Another was less open-minded, writing, “Mayonnaise ice cream?! GTFO, gross…Scotland, y’all can keep it.”

Whether you love it or hate it, there’s no denying the new flavor is great marketing for the little ice cream shop. Even Miracle Whip is trying to take advantage of the attention. “Mayo ice cream??? Ridiculous,” they said on their Twitter page. “Miracle Whip ice cream though…”

Even though mayonnaise is probably the least-appetizing ice cream flavor out there, you don’t have to look too far back to find some other serious contenders for the title. Cheddar cheese ice cream, Carolina Reaper pepper ice cream, and Taylor Ham ice cream were all things that, for some reason, somebody thought was a good idea.

H/T: Food & Wine

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What bartenders complain about

In the bar world, we certainly have our fair share of venting to do. From customers string ordering to missing bar tools to a queue for muddled cocktails, here are eight things bartenders love to whine about.

1. Crappy garnish

If you’re charging $15 for a cocktail, you can’t garnish it with a slimy lemon or some droopy celery stalk. So, when you get a shipment of bad fruit or it’s the end of the weekend and supplies are running low, it puts bartenders in a pickle. We don’t want to use that mushy orange, but sometimes we have to make due. We try our best to make it work, but we’re going to complain about it all night long.

2. Muddled cocktails

Muddled cocktails are not hard to make. You throw some fruit, maybe a little sugar, into a tin, grind it up for a few seconds, and you’re done. But there’s something about making a muddled cocktail (here’s looking at you, mojito), especially on a busy night, that drives bartenders mad. Go ahead, order four mojitos from your favorite bartender on a busy Saturday night, and watch the annoyance wash over their face.

3. Co-workers

No one else ever sets up or closes the bar as well as we do. Why can’t anyone else restock? Who forgot to make the simple syrup last night? As in most jobs, whining about co-workers is a classic pastime.

4. Any bar guests that arrive near closing on a slow night

While slow shifts sound easier in theory, they can often be a Herculean task of endurance. Standing behind a bar for ten hours with little to do is exhausting. You never get any sense of momentum or flow. So, by the end of the night, you’re running on fumes. When you see those late-night guests walk in just in time for last call, you don’t want to be rude, but the thought of an extra hour of standing around seems unbearable.

5. When our favorite bar tools go missing

Every bartender has that one paring knife they love. Or maybe it’s a muddler that’s just the right length, or a set of tins that fit the hands perfectly. Working at a busy bar means tools will occasionally get lost or misplaced. It’s pretty surprising how upset a person can get at a missing julep strainer.

6. String ordering

When groups or tables order each new drink individually, rather than all at once, it irks the bartender. If we can build multiple cocktails at the same time, we can save time and energy. When I deliver your old-fashioned and your buddy then orders one too, it cuts efficiency down.

7. People coming behind our bar

Bartenders are notoriously territorial. We don’t like people, be it other venue staff or customers, coming behind our bar. It’s not that we’re trying to be rude — the invasion disrupts our flow. If you must, at least ask for permission first, or you’ll never hear the end of it.

8. Working on holidays

It’s not the fact that we’re working on a holiday and the rest of our friends are off work and having fun without us that bothers us. That’s a part of the job that we have accepted. It’s more that the holidays bring in the strangest crowds. Perhaps it’s an energy shift in the air, but everything feels off on holidays and we love to complain about it.


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Yosemite wildfires force mass-evac

Due to a large wildfire that’s been blazing near Yosemite National Park, disappointed tourists were ordered to vacate Yosemite by noon on Wednesday, July 25th. Yosemite Valley will be closed until at least Sunday, July 29th while firefighters battle the flames. The valley is currently under siege by a haze of smoke from the fires, obscuring the mountain and waterfall views, and creating unhealthy air quality conditions.

Over a thousand hotel bookings and campground reservations have been cancelled on account of the fire. Campers were visited individually by park rangers with evacuation orders, while hotel guests received calls and notes from hotel staff ordering them to leave. The evacuation decision is costing Yosemite valuable tourism money. “This is the prime visitor season, so this wasn’t an easy decision to make,” Yosemite spokesperson Scott Gediman told the Associated Press.

While inconvenient for visitors, the evacuations will allow firefighters to preemptively burn brush and take other measures against the blaze, without worrying about the safety of guests. Over 3,300 firefighters and 16 helicopters have been dispatched to fight the wildfire. Burning for nearly two weeks now, it has already destroyed 57 miles of wooded area and killed one firefighter.

Park officials are assisting evacuated visitors with alternate vacation plans, directing them to nearby Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

H/T: The Points Guy

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Dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts for $1

As if you needed another reason to stuff your face with junk food, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is offering a special BOGO deal this Friday. To celebrate the company’s 81st birthday, any purchase of a dozen doughnuts comes with a second dozen of the Original Glazed for just $1. That same day, Krispy Kreme will also release a new doughnut with vanilla birthday cake-inspired dough, glazed in classic Original Glaze, and topped with colorful sprinkles. Unfortunately, it’ll only be around until Thursday, August 2nd.

Since they turned 80, the company has debuted a wide range of one-off special flavors, like Reese’s Peanut Butter, Pumpkin Spice Original Glazed, Gingerbread Glazed, Hershey’s Gold, Utter Butter Cookie Twist, Chips Ahoy! Cookie, and the fan-selected Lemon Glazed, Blueberry Glazed, and Chocolate Glazed — among other tasty inventions.

Whether you’re celebrating Krispy Kreme’s birthday, or just using it as an excuse for a cheat day, this delicious deal is a no-brainer.

H/T: Travel & Leisure

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