I never knew there could be a book so thoughtful and inspiring for women as this one. Stephanie Elizondo Griest's second travel book, which lists far more than just 100 Places Every Woman Should Go, is truly an encyclopedia for women travelers. It's the kind of book that could never have existed fifty years ago, but is so refreshing that free-spirited, female travelers should feel grateful that it exists now, and fully prepared for that next trip into the wide, wonderful world.

Griest's great book is packed with helpful historical information, inspiring stories, and travel tips. It's broken up into nine sections -- my favorite being the first: "Powerful Women and Their Places in History." There's so much worth digesting in each locale described. For instance, I had no idea that the word "lesbian" came from the birthplace of Sappho (Lesbos, Greece). Griest fills each description with great travel tips that often include specific street addresses for particularly noteworthy sights.

Gambia's great, Senegal plagiarized, and Libya didn't even try. So says a fun new evaluation of the flags of every nation in the world. In an admittedly unscientific ranking of the world's flags, high marks are given for good color schemes and originality, while grades are lowered for the presence of weapons, writing, and "too many stars."

Here's the unflattering commentary on Saint Lucia's flag: "Best corporate logo. Makes me want to invest money there."

The flag of Turkmenistan is described as vomit inducing, while the lowest-ranking flag, that of the Northern Marianas Islands, "appears to have been constructed from clip art."

I've always been partial to the flag of South Africa, while I find the flag of Guam to be hideous beyond comprehension. In my book, Bhutan's flag (seen above) wins the award for most bad-ass, barely edging out Mozambique's, which features an AK-47.

Check out the highly entertaining rankings here, in order from best to worst. The ranking methodology is described here.

I decided to go waaay back for today's Photo of the Day. Far back into the deepest reaches of the Gadling Flickr site to find this lovely photo from the Gasa Dzong and Kang Bum mountain, Bhutan. I actually just read a fabulous article about Bhutan and decided to search Flickr for a photo from there. This shot by BluePeak takes us back to December 2006 and reveals the jaw-dropping scale of the peaks in a place I'm told is incredible but that most of us will never see: Bhutan.

It is always wonderful to take a peak at our Gadling Photo Pool and discover the fantastic work of a new contributor such as Bluepeak, whom we honor for the second day in a row with our Photo of the Day award. The talented photographer has some simply amazing images at his Flickr site from Bhutan, Canada, and Mongolia.

Today's shot comes from the far off kingdom of Bhutan where something as simple as a tent becomes an object of fascination for a group of kids in the Himalayas. I just love the looks on their faces. And check out that mountain in the back!

And you thought the last Harry Potter opus was large. Well, guess again.

take a look at the work of Mr. Michael Hawley, Director of Special Projects and founder of MIT's GO Expeditions program. Hawley is famous in creative/scientific circles (the Ultimate Third Culturean) and through his Friendly Planet program has created numerous educational materials that push the boundaries of technology. Among them is the largest book ever published. Called Bhutan, the book is a "visual odyssey" across the Asian kingdom.

Teams of photographers from MIT and Friendly Planet took over 40,000 photographs on four expeditions across the country. They traveled by helicopter, hoof and foot across the Bhutanese Himalaya, and took life-size pictures that were then compiled into this monstrous, but luscious tome. You really have to see it to believe it. And you can actually own it....the book will set you back $15,000 at Amazon, but just think what all your friends will say! You'll be the most popular guy on the block.

It's been a whle since we did a post on one of the most interesting countries on the globe. The Times Sunday travel section has an article on the allure of Bhutan which has recently eclipsed Cambodia as the Asia destination du jour. And why not? I love Cambodia, but man, is can get hot there. Especially around Angkor in the summertime. Whew. And so instead, hit the high road and go up to the atmosphere, up where the air is clear, oh let's go...to Bhutan!

The article hails Bhutan as the place to go "in search of a spiritual journey, a hiking adventure - or just a chance to experience a place before the rest of the world gets there". Me, I'd go in a heartbeat. Just hand me a ticket and I'm off.

This nice New York Times interactive narrated by Times' Travel Editor Stuart Emmrich lists the top places to go this year. Bhutan is near the top of the list, and is recommended in part (aside from being amazingly beautiful) because the country restricts the number of people who can come into the country...something largely unheard of other places.

Los Cabos in Mexico is big, as are dude ranches in Montana. Virgin, of Richard Branson fame, has got safaris in South Africa where you can give your digital camera a workout. And for budget-minded folks who want to avoid the sticker shock of places like Paris, Slovenia is the new Prague. All the recs are pretty solid, I think, and I added a couple, particularly Slovenia to my personal list for the year.