Airplanes Annoyances

I was having a think about my top 5 airline annoyances. These are the things that really grate on my nerves when it comes to air travel.

Trolley in the aisle

Airplanes were clearly not designed for trolleys. The aisles are narrow enough as it is without someone having the bright idea of getting a trolley to plug the gap. Everyone has been in the position where the drinks trolley has just passed your seat and the loo is inconveniently positioned at the other end of the plane to you. You then have the moral dilemma of asking the stewardesses to pull the trolley out of the aisle and irritate the remaining passengers or taking one for the team and waiting 15 minutes for the blockage to clear. Which person are you?

The domino effect

Ever been on a plane journey where as soon as the seat belt light goes off the chair in front of you falls right back into your face? I have. The problem is that it creates a dominos effect of seats all down the plane to compensate. One after one the seats falls back until you get to the back row where the poor blighter has to suffer on an 11 hour journey from the UK to Japan without being able to recline their seat more than two inches. I have been this guy too. Serves me right for checking in late.

Shoulder snoozers

Dribble on the shoulder is pretty grim but even more so when it is from the fat guy sitting next to you. You can sit there for hours conscious that the guy may lean on you as he teases you with his sleepy head bob motion. Why do attractive ladies never fall asleep on your shoulder? The world is just never that kind.

TVs in the aisle

I think this rant may be outdated now on many long haul flights but still exists in strength on budget and short flights. If you have a window seat under on a row with a TV your are officially in the worst position to view the onboard “entertainment”. You have to peer over the seat in front to try and get a glimpse of the 15 inch monitor that is behind the air stewardesses’ head. Things we do you a bit of TV.

Kids and the loo

The toilet really does create the most tension on flights. If there is a child in the window seat you know from the word go you will be having to stand up one hundred times for the kid to empty his or hers bladder. Its like go before you left!! Making sure you are the person asking others to let you out for the loo. That way you never get disturbed and this is the key to a good flight.

Is The Grand Canyon Really That “Grand”?

Well yes and no. To say the Grand Canyon is large is and understatement but the name does imply, and many people believe, it is the largest. At the maximum depth the Grand Canyon measures in at 1800m (6000ft) and 440km long, but the Colca and Cotahuasi Canyons in Peru are almost twice the depth at around 3000m (11,800ft). So why is the Grand Canyon generally regarded as the biggest?

I guess it depends how you measure the size of a canyon. You could go by depth but does that really describe the entire size of the Canyon? Some may say width or length but I think the fairest way is to measure the volume but this is generally not the metric used as it would be nearly impossible to measure accurately. Interestingly, some of the largest (by that I mean deepest) canyons can actually be found in the Himalayas but because of their extreme locations and lack of visitors, they are generally not recognized for their size and are disregarded.

After some research these are some of the “biggest” canyons in the world by depth.

1) The Yarlung Tsangpo Canyon (Tibet, China) 5382m (17657 ft), 496.3km long. The undisputed largest canyon in the world.

2) Kali Gandaki Gorge in Nepal,

3) Polung Tsangpo Canyon in Tibet,

4) Cotahuasi Canyon

It seems as though because the Grand Canyon gets so much publicity and is accessible to people, it is generally accepted as the largest. When I visited the Grand Canyon I was blown away by the vast size of it but I do think other canyons do get overlooked. I for one would like to visit some of the canyons in Peru so leave a comment if you have visited either the Colca or Cotahuasi canyons please.

Which Country Is First To See In New Years?

It is always fun watching the TV to see different countries across the globe welcome in the New Year. Generally only the larger cities get a mention such as Auckland, Sydney, Tokyo, Athens, London, New York and LA but I wanted to know who celebrates the New Year before everyone else.

I did some research online and my findings were that Kiritimati (or the Christmas Islands to you or me) is generally considered the first place in the world to see the dawn of the New Year. It appears that with GMT daylight savings adjustments, the Christmas Islands can be as much as UTC/GMT +14 hours. Someone please correct me if I am wrong about this as it is a tricky subject. For example, it seems Australia has vertical and horizontal time zones which only exist in the summer, and other countries such as India and Nepal are UTC/GMT +5:30 and UTC/GMT +5:45 respectively, which do not conform to the standard integral numbers.

Following the New Years theme, it seemed appropriate to research the last country to welcome the New Year too. It seems Samoa takes this title as they are UTC/GMT -11 hours. Interestingly, as Samoa and the Christmas Islands have a 26 hour difference, the 2nd of January has arrived in the Christmas Islands before New Years day has in Samoa! There are two land masses in a separate UTC/GMT -12 hour zone, but as they are uninhabited there is nobody to see in the New Year after the Samoans. I would like to go and live on these land masses and rule my own time zone. Anyone is welcome to join me.

More interesting time zone facts
New Years celebrations around the world

"Statues" Of Liberty

When you think of the Statue of Liberty your mind immediately turns to New York City and the towering statue off the coast of Manhattan. However, this is not the only place in the world you can see this famous monument. Before I took the ferry out to climb the statue I had already seen it twice before on my travels in two other countries. Can you guess where they were?


The first one I saw was standing in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris. I caught a glimpse of it while traveling past on the Metro and have since learnt there is another in Paris on an island in the Seine called the Île des Cygnes. It was given to France as a gift in return for the original built and placed in New York to commemorate 100 years of American independence, and as recognition of their new government. They are both relatively small compared to the monster in the USA but still worth a photo.

The second one I spotted took me a bit by surprise. It was standing in Tokyo on the riverside near to the Rainbow Bridge. It was placed there in commemoration of "The French year in Japan" in the late 1990’s and has stood there ever since (see the photo on the left). Apparently this is one of the larger replicas overshadowing those in Norway, Peru, Argentina and Oklahoma.

Another interesting fact is that the reason why you cannot climb right to the top of the Statue of Liberty in New York is because of fire regulations. Apparently to adhere to the regulations only 5 people would be able to climb every hour and it would not be profitable to maintain or provide support staff for this experience. According to the security guard it will never be climbed by a tourist again.

Let me know if you have seen any other replicas by leaving a comment below.

What Is The Flattest Country In The World?

Everyone enjoys an interesting fact or two so I thought I would do some research into the flattest country in the world. After a Google search, it did not take me long to discover the country with the lowest high point (the flattest) is The Republic of Maldives with a maximum elevation of 2.4 meters ! This really surprised me. How can an entire 300 sq km country be so flat? If I went to the sandy beaches of The Maldives and built a 2.5 meter high sand castle I would probably create quite a stir.

However the lack of gradient in the country is a great concern especially with rising sea levels widely thought to be caused by global warming. If the water raised only a couple of feet we could see a large number of the islands disappear. As it stands it is estimated that the sea level will rise by 59 cm by the year 2100 offering an uncertain fate for future generations. The Tsunami in 2005 did offer a glimmer of the damage rising sea water could do to this small nation. Although the wave only reached 9 feet in The Maldives (relatively small compared to elsewhere), it was enough to submerge the islands and cause lasting structural damage and contaminate the freshwater stores with salt. Many of the islands may have been partially protected by their coral reefs acting as a break water but these could be slowly disappearing.

If anyone has any travel related interesting facts or questions post a comment and I will look into the answer.