I'm here with Jamie James, a former critic at The New Yorker turned author. His latest book, "The Snake Charmer", centers around a renegade herpetologist who ultimately dies in the jungles of Burma after getting bitten by a krait, one of the world's deadliest snakes. Jamie traveled to Burma to research the book.

He also writes frequently about travel and culture for The New Yorker, Condé Nast Traveler, National Geographic Adventure, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Los Angeles Times. He currently lives in Bali.

The NYT review of Snake Charmer declared the book's protagonist, herpetologist Joe Slowinski, a "Class A jerk." From all the research you've accumulated, what's your take on the guy?

The Times review presented a very shallow analysis, concentrating on one sliver of a complex character -- 5% of the book yanked out of context. It's true that Joe was ruthless in his pursuit of knowledge, and rubbed some people the wrong way; but few scientists bother with "please" and "thank you."

Joe was also widely loved and respected by his colleagues. One fascinating reflection of Joe's personality, which I never could find a place for in the book, is that no fewer than SEVEN people told me that he was their best friend. That seems truly remarkable to me -- how many people have that kind of impact on the people around them? And from his colleagues he commanded widespread respect for his brilliant mind and original thinking, more important qualities for a scientist than simple niceness. Joe Slowinski truly did not care what people thought of him, which is a key aspect of what makes him so fascinating.

Sometimes, common sense is all you need to decide if a trip is too risky. For example, a expedition to build sandcastles on Galveston Island wouldn't have worked out well during Hurricane Ike.

But at other times the decision to stay or go is a lot less clear. Do you avoid places like Thailand, where current political strife has induced demonstrations and violence? What about Indonesia, where there is always a threat of terrorism bubbling under the surface? Lebanon? Israel...?

I guess in large part, the decision depends on the kind of traveler that you are. Some people just don the pith helmet and wade into the fray, while others avoid it completely, opting for ping pong and cable TV in the safety of their basement. For those of us who are neither overly courageous (or is it reckless?) nor overly fearful, the answer to the question "to go or not to go" is a little more complicated.

So how can you weigh the odds and decide if the positive aspects of a trip are worth putting up with the risk?

As you might realize, there are certain countries that are considered "no-go's" for American travelers, be it for political or economic or other reasons. Publication Foreign Policy took a closer look at this question of prohibited places, recently creating a list of the "Top Tourist Spots Americans Can't Visit," a rundown of the top tourist attractions in otherwise "taboo" locations like Iran, Somalia, Burma and Cuba. Who knew Mogadishu had coral reefs teeming with fish just off the shore? Too bad you're likely to be kidnapped by warlords if you try to visit.

While this sort of list is a deterrent for many, others eat common sense for breakfast, bringing back some fascinating stories in the process. It's not that they can't see the danger - these countries can be violent, unstable, and often downright nasty places. But that doesn't mean they have nothing to offer. Many have distinguished histories as centers of culture, great monuments and great natural wonders. As Foreign Policy points out for instance, the vast ruins of Persepolis in Southern Iran offer a breathtaking view of the tombs and palaces of Persian rulers Xerxes I and Darius the Great. In Cuba, the settlement of Baracoa was the colonial home of Spanish Conquistadors, and also one of the first places Columbus set foot in the New World.

Check out the list. Nobody is suggesting you should/can make a visit, but these places can offer us further insight into the many subtleties that truly define a location's identity.

---

[Via MetaFilter]

Google just updated their map servers with imagery from before and after Cyclone Nargis that struck earlier this month. The resulting data are pretty shocking.

Click on the Google map to see a regular layout of the country's coast. You can see the cyclone's path and what areas were flooded by checking the "Show Path and Flooding" link, where you'll see all of the red areas that were affected.

You can see how the cyclone crushed several regions by comparing some of the pre-storm imagery against those of the post-storm. Go ahead and select post-storm, zoom way in and look at the difference among some of the homes and countryside. Scary huh?

Now would be a great time to consider donating to the relief aid going into the overburdened country. Now that the military junta is letting foreign aid in, they need everything that they can get.

If you're out of money but have extra frequent flyer miles, consider donating those instead. Several, like Northwest Airlines, have set up dedicated sites to help you give miles to a particular charity. Heck, many of you have accounts with just a few thousand miles in them that you'll never use. Take the five minutes over lunch and donate your miles.

Traveling can be political, and as reported by the BBC last September, guidebooks even more so. The current political situation in Burma is so highly charged that Britain's Trade Union Congress (TUC) is asking travelers to stop buying Lonely Planet's guide to Burma in order to encourage the company to withdraw the book from the market.

The TUC along with Tourism Concern, Burma Campaign UK and the New Internationalist launched an online petition on Thursday calling for the immediate withdrawal of the Lonely Planet guidebook because "holidaying in Burma is one of the most unethical trips you could make, given the brutality of the current regime," as New Internationalist co-editor Chris Brazier explained.

This brings into question what role tourism plays on the political scene. Both the Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Burmese unions have asked travelers not to visit their country as long as the military regime is in power. Lonely Planet however believes that travel choices should be left up to the tourists themselves and that publishing a guide on Burma "does not of itself represent support or otherwise for the current regime."

What do you think? Should Lonely Planet withdraw its Burma guidebook?

When I was in 8th grade, my school bus went past a house with an enormous multicolored map of the United States painted on an even more enormous flat rock in the front yard. Each state was a different color than the ones surrounding it. My bus driver thought it was the coolest artwork ever. She pointed it out each time we passed. My dad has two huge rocks in his front yard. One is as tall as the house. He lives in a region of New York where glaciers left huge boulders and crevices in their wake.

Those rocks have nothing on this collection of mega boulders posted on deputydog. From Japan to Peru, and even Kansas, the boulders have become destinations that tourists go to see. Some are left alone in their natural state. Others have been altered to direct people's interactions.

Pretend this is Friday for a moment. That's when the Gadling Take Five would have come out if it wasn't Halloween this week, my daughter's birthday and, well, whatever. Since looking back over the week at Gadling so I can throw kudos to my fellow bloggers is a highpoint for me, I wanted to not totally pass up the chance to toot a horn or two. It's really hard to pick, though.

First up is dear, dear, Leif who has such wit and charm and knowledge of Burma (Myanmar) that it can make a person's head spin. Although, I am always interested in what Leif writes, the "A Keyhole into Burma: You have something on your face" made me laugh. heartily. I just read it again and laughed.

The time of year when there is a convergence of holidays is upon us. Halloween is in less than a week away. My son couldn't wait to carve our pumpkins so, now they are rotting on our porch. And here Matthew's already brought up Christmas in his post on fuzzy breast-shaped toys, all the rage in Japan. In addition to the Halloween build-up, and the beginning hum of holidays yet to come, I've noticed a range of posts that offer up the kind of chit chat information you might toss out at a party. Did you know that. . . ?

1. You can fight global warming by eating chicken.
2. Pigs can be trained to jump through fire.
3. Chewing betel nuts does a real number on your teeth.
4. Sex is the word that is Googled the most in India, Egypt and Turkey.
5. There is a way to pee in privacy on the side of the road.

And one more...

Philadelphia has the least attractive people. (Sorry again to Philadelphia, as this can't possibly be true.)

First it was those ugly yellow rubber peace bands that became a fashionable accessory because it flaunted your inner most desire for world peace (!?), now it goes 'inner' as you can buy panties for peace, but hopefully you won't be flaunting those too many places.

Jokes apart, if panties can shudder a superstition and bring peace, why the hell not.

Mahatma Gandhi took a vow on celibacy because he believed that if you could control your sexual desire, you could control anything in the world. Perhaps the Asian belief that 'women's intimate clothes can take away your power' has some relation to that thinking(?), which is why an activist group in Burma might make some headway in their protest against the current anti-democratic regime. (See our current series, A Keyhole Into Burma for more on this topic!)

140 panties were delivered to the Burmese embassy in Geneva, but so far it seems no reactions from the embassy have surfaced. Wouldn't it be priceless candid-camera just to see the faces of Burmese officials as they open boxes of underwear!

Since anything remotely to do with intimacy gets media coverage, not to mention numerous and repeated search hits on the world wide web, the panty-flinging act might just have been a great ploy to get more exposure in the international media.

If you over analyze this mode of activism, there maybe an inspiring lesson for us to learn: if you can grab the intention of all those people who don't give a rats about peace, be it with panties or whatever tickles your fancy, you can contribute to world peace. Way better than wearing a yellow rubber band, no?

I switched to digital photography years ago, having purchased one of the old Nikon CoolPix cameras and I have since upgraded to one of the superb Nikon D70 XLRs. As happy as I am with this camera and its 6 megapixel images, the newest Nikons shoot in 10 megapixels and more. What can you do? Well, I suppose one thing you can do is improve your shooting overall. Even ten-plus megapixel images don't do you any good if they suck. So why not consider a trip dedicated entirely to learning how to shoot.

I've ALWAYS wanted to do this. While I have shot my share of photos from all over the world, I know that there is plenty of room for improvement in my own travel photography skill repertoire. And so I was looking around for Photography Expeditions, trips where you go out and get the hands-on knowledge and skill from a bona-fide professional photographer. Turns out, there are LOTS of trips and packages available.

Travelimages.com for example, offers a selection of U.S. based and international tours in 2007 including destinations like the Galapagos, Scotland, the European Alps, New Zealand, Venice, Yellowstone and Vermont (where I am now!). Another possibility is Joe Englander's Landscape and Travel Photography Workshops and Tours. With Englander, you'll head to far-off places like Bhutan, Norway, Tibet and Burma. Along the way, professional photographers will take a look at your work and critique your composition and technique. It ain't cheap, however. The trip runs $3,000, but would be the perfect way to kick your shutterbug skills up to professional levels. And who knows, if you take enough great shots, you might be able to sell them to magazines and cover your costs. .

(via Frommers)