Eight Life-Changing Adventure Travel Trips

www.forbes.com

by Rebecca Ruiz

World explorers like Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus would likely balk at the modern luxuries of adventure travel. Treks through Mongolia and sea voyages across the Atlantic are now completed in mere days or weeks, and little thought is given to historic variables like invaders or starvation.

Yet, these trips still offer modern travelers a sense of accomplishment and discovery.

World explorers like Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus would likely balk at the modern luxuries of adventure travel. Treks through Mongolia and sea voyages across the Atlantic are now completed in mere days or weeks, and little thought is given to historic variables like invaders or starvation.

Yet, these trips still offer modern travelers a sense of accomplishment and discovery.

"It's one of those extreme places that's so barely touched by man," he says, "which is getting harder and harder to find."

Not all adventure travelers are like Eliades, or driven by a desire to explore an unknown landscape. Instead, most turn such vacations into learning experiences about distant cultures, histories or environments. One thing these trips have in common: immersion in a local culture and an experiential component from cooking to cruising.

Adventure Travel 101
Many adventure travel operators stress that their trips do not include bungee jumping or another type of extreme sport, which is often the common perception.

"Adventure is a big word," says George Deeb, CEO and founder of iExplore, an online adventure travel tour company. "It's different from one person to the next."

Deeb's customers are most interested in vacations that include physical and experiential components like hiking and biking or culinary tours and expedition cruising.

A feeling of immersion in the local culture or landscape is essential, he says. IExplore trips, for example, include an on-request lunch with former first lady Jehan el-Sadat while traveling in Egypt, and time spent with the Masai tribe of Kenya. Destinations like Venezuela, Jordan and Morocco have also become more common in recent years, whereas European locations have declined in popularity.

But it's often difficult for travelers to make time for such demanding trips. An October online survey of 2,027 people by Deloitte, an international consulting company, found that 49% of respondents wanted to take an adventure travel trip. The majority of those who replied affirmatively were between 18 and 29 and 45 and 60, a trend that points to the difficulty of scheduling time-intensive vacations when work or family obligations might prevent doing so.

If money were no object, where would you travel? Weigh in. Add your thoughts in the Reader Comments section below.

"In my mind," says Adam Weissenberg, Deloitte's vice chairman and U.S. tourism, hospitality and leisure leader, "the definition [of adventure travel] is doing something that is an experience as opposed to doing something that's to unwind, relax or visit a relative."

Life-Changing Trips
For Eliades, long trips in far-off places have been easier to arrange since his job as an epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control required stints of global travel. Prior to visiting Antarctica through iExplore, Eliades had already crisscrossed the globe to climb Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro, hike through Nepal and explore Vietnam.

"I get so much out of the trips," Eliades says. His memorable experiences include awakening in a Nepalese village to a 27,000-foot mountain that was not visible when he arrived the night before. "It was like something I'd never seen before."

With numerous online adventure travel tour operators available, coordinating a trip like Eliades' can be quite simple. Geographic Expeditions offers both private and group tours of destinations like Bhutan, Mongolia and Alaska. In Mongolia, travelers ride camels while exploring the Gobi Desert.

Linblad Expeditions styles its trips to places like the Atlantic Ocean and Antarctica as learning experiences. Environmental or cultural experts teach travelers about ecology and history and high-tech equipment like remote underwater vehicles, hydra-cameras and phones are utilized to fully capture the surroundings.

Sven-Olof Linblad, president of the company, says that the educational focus is designed to inspire travelers to become advocates of cultural heritage and natural beauty. He also notes that curiosity about certain destinations often correlates with news about climate change; in recent years, the number of people interested in the polar regions has doubled or tripled.

"Most people live hectic lives and they become disconnected with the natural world," says Linblad. "It's incredibly powerful to be out in the middle of nowhere where there are no buildings, nothing but raw nature."

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Шенгенийн шинэ орнууд үүдээ нээлээ

www.mongolnews.mn

Шенгенийн бүсэд саяхан нэгдсэн найман орны хил дээр паспорт, гаалийн хяналтыг 2008 оны гуравдугаар сарын 30-наас цуцаллаа.

Франс пресс мэдээлснээр, тус бүсийн орнуудын иргэдэд Польш, Чех, Эстони, Латви, Литва, Унгар, Словак, Словени тийнхүү үүдээ цэлийтэл нээжээ. Хил нээгдсэнээр зорчигчдын урсгал өмнөхөөс нэмэгдэх нь тодорхой. Эл байдлаас шалтгаалан агаарын харилцаанд хүндрэл бий болгохгүйн тулд бүсийн шинэ орнууд одоо ажиллаж байгаа нисэх онгоцны буудлуудаа өргөтгөн, зорчигчдын хүлээлгийн танхим нэмж барьжээ.

Үүний хажуугаар Шенгенийн бүсэд мөрддөг стандартын дагуу хөгжлийн бэрхшээлтэй иргэдэд зориулсан тусгай хэсгийг нисэх онгоцны бүх буудалд гарган, зохих тоног төхөөрөмжөөр тоноглосон байна. Дээрх найман улсын Шенгенд нэгдэх үйл явц үүгээр бүрэн хэрэгжиж дууслаа гэж хэлж болно. Эхний шатанд тэд Шенгенийн бүсийн оршин суугчид болон Шенгенийн виз эзэмшигчдэд өөрийн нутгаар дамжин өнгөрөх боломж олгосон юм. Улмаар 2007 оны арванхоёрдугаар сард тэнгисийн болон хуурай замын бүх хилээ үндсэнд нь нээсэн.

Шенгенд өдгөө Европын холбооны ам бүлд багтдаг 22 улс, тус холбооны гишүүн бус хоёр орон /Исланд, Норвеги/ нэгдээд байна. Европын холбооны гишүүн таван улс одоогоор Шенгенд багтаагүй байгаа. Эдгээр нь Их Британи, Ирланд, Кипр, Болгар, Румын юм. Шенгенийн бүс нь 1985 онд Бельги, Нидерланд, Люксембург, Герман улсын төлөөлөгчдийн уулзалт болсон Люксембургийн суурингаар овоглодог. Уг уулзалтаар Европын холбооны хэд хэдэн орны дунд паспортын болон гаалийн хяналтыг цуцлах тухай хэлэлцээрт гарын үсэг зурсан юм.

How to present Mongolia (for Mongolian student studying abroad) Pt.1

It's so great you are in a foreign country!

But people know very little (almost nothing) about YOUR country!

Did they ask you if Mongolian and Chinese languages are similar?

Or whether Mongolians eat human flesh?

Well, It's time to represent your country, young grasshopper! Tell them about everything!

1. What you present; How you present

Remember to be a representative of Mongolia. People won't like it if you are too confident and proud. Always check your presentation and show it to someone for errors
before you present it.

2. Study Mongolian history

Maybe it's because there's only 3 million people; Mongolians don't know their history. Always be hungry for some more. For example, one guy asked me "why is Mongolia so big but with very few people?" I couldn't answer it. But thanks to Wikipedia, I can now talk about Inner Mongolia, Russian Buriyats, Uzbeks, and many other nations -- but that's another story! (I recommend searching Mongolian history in English Wikipedia)

Ok, I'll end here, because I have to go now. I uploaded my presentation and you are welcome to study it.

If you want to have this presentation in Powerpoint, leave your mail address.

To be continued



Please rate and comment! thank you!

Хаврын баяр

Цагийн зүү өглөөний 8 цагийг заахтай уралдан болзоондоо яарсан Монголчууд тамирын танхимд цугларч эхэллээ. Энэ бол Чех улс дахь Монголчуудын Хаврын баяр, спортын арга хэмжээ эхлэх өдөр байлаа. Чех улсын 21 хот, суурин газраас ажилчид, оюутан, сурагч, суугуул оршин суугчдын төлөөлөл болсон Монголчууд гар бөмбөг, сагсан бөмбөг, одон бөмбөг, шатарын спортын аваргуудаа шалгаруулахаар ээлжит тэмцээндээ ирцгээжээ.

Энэхүү уралдаан тэмцээнийг Чехийн нийслэл Прага хот дахь Монгол улсын Элчин Сайдын ивээл доор зохион байгуулдаг бөгөөд Монгол улсаас Чех улсад суугаа Элчин Сайд өөрийн биеэр тэмцээний 2 дах өдөр хүрэлцэн ирж сонирхжээ.

Тэмцээний эргэн тойронд маш олон сонирхолтой зүйл тохиолдсоны заримаас дурьдвал, эрэгтэй гар бөмбөгийн тэмцээнд спортын зэрэг цолтой, ахимаг насны баг тамирчид ногт ганзаглаж ирээд хоосон буцсан, худалдаа, үйлчилгээний цэгт Чех үндэсний шар айрагтай зэрэгцэн Монгол бууз, хуушуур зарагдсан, Сар шинийн баяраар золгон уулзаж амжаагүй ахан дүүс уламжлал ёсоо дээдлэн золгуут, мэндээ тавьсан гээд олон сонин содон зүйлсээр дүүрэн Хаврын баяр 2008 оны 03-р сарын 22-23-ны өдрүүдэд болж өндөрлөлөө.

Уламжлал ёсоор хаалтын ажиллагааг Прага хотын нэгэн цэнгээний газар зохион байгуулсан ба амжиллтай оролцсон баг, тамирчидад шагналыг гардуулан, ирэх Намрын баяраар дахин уулзах болзоо тавин энэхүү Монголчуудын чуулган өндөрлөлөө.

Presentation: Temperament

Harvard Says 10,000 Applicants' Files Were Hacked

www.bloomberg.com

March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Harvard University apologized for allowing computer files to be hacked by an ``outsider,'' potentially exposing personal information of about 10,000 graduate students or applicants.

The information that may have been hijacked includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, test scores, school records, and in some cases health information, the Cambridge, Massachusetts, school said yesterday in a statement.

The hacking, discovered Feb. 16 and reported to the FBI, comes as 58 percent of U.S. colleges and universities reported at least one information security incident in the previous year, according to a 2006 survey. Nine percent reported a loss or theft of student data.

``This is really unprofessional, of course, and we're quite upset that something like this would happen at Harvard, of all places,'' said Patrick Hamm, a spokesman for Harvard's Graduate Student Council.

Harvard discovered the attack Feb. 16 after information from 19 graduate student-housing applications appeared on an Internet site called Pirate Bay that hosts anonymous information, said Daniel Moriarty, the university's chief information officer.

The posted information did not include Social Security numbers, birth dates, or other ``data elements that would be of concern for identity theft,'' he said.

Vulnerable Files

Harvard notified graduate students Feb. 20, telling them that ``no personal, private or secure information was made available in the content distributed over the Internet.''

The university later discovered that data from 10,000 admission applications to the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences for the last academic year were vulnerable to the same kind of intrusion, Moriarty said. Of the files that might have been vulnerable, 6,600 include birthdates and Social Security numbers, the school said.

The university has no evidence that the admission- application information was hacked.

``Because it can't be ruled out, the prudent thing we felt was to proceed and notify people,'' Moriarty said.

Kyle Brown, president of the Graduate Student Council, said the university's delay in realizing the extent of the hacking was troubling to him.

`No One Was Really Aware'

``No one was really aware of the scope,'' said Brown, 21. ``That, in of itself, may indicate a problem with the way Harvard goes about securing information. When someone breaks in, we need to know exactly what was compromised, soon.''

Harvard disabled the server soon after learning of the intrusion, removed the sensitive information, addressed the vulnerability and brought it back online on Feb. 21, officials said.

Harvard said it hired Kroll Inc. to provide identity theft- recovery services for people whose information might have been taken.

``Please be assured that we are taking steps to do what we can to prevent future incidents of this kind,'' said Margot Gill, administrative dean of Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, in the statement. She said Harvard was ``truly sorry for the inconvenience and concern this incident may cause.''

Kroll will help people obtain copies of their credit reports, set up credit-monitoring services and fraud alerts, and take other protective steps, Harvard said.

UCLA Data Exposed

Kroll, a provider of risk-mitigation services, is a unit of Marsh & McLennan Cos., a professional-services company based in New York.

In January 2007, the University of California, Los Angeles, said names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of 800,000 students, alumni, and staff had been exposed.

Brown, the Graduate Student Council president, said he wasn't surprised that Harvard's computers were penetrated.

``Big bureaucracies don't always do things in the most efficient way, the best way, and Harvard is probably no exception to that,'' he said.

Монголчууд өөрсдөө их асуудал үүсгэдэг

www.news.mn

Чех улсаас манай улсад суугаа ЭСЯ-ны хэргийг хамаарагч, Консул Давид Хроущекийн мэдэгдсэнээр монголчёууд өөрсдөө их асуудал үүсгэдэг гэнэ. Гадаад явах хүсэлд автсан манайхан сүүлийн үед Чехийн ЭСЯ-ны гадаа хонон өнжин дугаарлах болсон. Консул Дэвид яамныхаа баримталж байгаа бодлого, визний асуудлаар танилцуулаад сэтгүүлчдийн сонирхсон асуултанд хариуллаа.

-Манай улсын олон иргэн виз авч чадахгүй байсаар урилгынх нь хугацаа дуусаад их хэмжээний мөнгөөр хохирч байна. Энэ асуудлыг манай иргэдэд хохиролгүйгээр шийдэх ямах арга байна вэ?

-Манай ЭСЯ урт ба богино гэсэн хоёр төрлийн виз олгодог. Хугацаа нь дууслаа гэсэн гомдол гаргаж манайд олон хүмүүс хандаж байна. Манай ЭСЯ өөрийн гэсэн дүрэм журамтай болохоор түүнийгээ нарийн баримталдаг. Ийм хүмүүс санхүүгийн болооод цаг хугацаагаа их алдаж байгааг би ойлгож байна. Чехэд итгэмжлэдсэн хүндээ урилгаа өгөөд сунгуулж болдог юм. Зөвхөн энэ хүмүүсийн эрх ашигт нийцүүлэн дүрэм журмаа өөрчилнө гэж байхгүй.

-Танай ЭСЯ-ны гадуур байгаа хүмүүс их мөнгө төлсөн гэж ярьж байсан. Ер нь танайх визний төлбөрт хэдэн төгрөг авдаг вэ. Өдөрт хэдэн хүн хүлээж авдаг вэ?

-Хашааны гадна болж байгаа асуудлыг танай цагдаа болон бусад хариуцсан байгууллага шийднэ. Манай ЭСЯ-ны Дипломат ажилтаны хэлсэн үг л үнэн шүү. Манай төлбөр ямар виз авах хүсэлтэй байгаагаас шалтгаалж өөр байдаг. Ажлын виз 150 ам.доллар. Бусад нь ямар үнэтэй байгаа тухай манай вэб хуудас болон гаднах самбараас дэлгэрэнгүй мэдээлэл авч болно. Нэг зүйлийг хэлэхэд манайхан аль болох хүссэн хүн бүхэнд виз олгох бодлого барьдаг. Бид долоо хоногтоо 80-100 хүн хүлээж авдаг.

-Танай ЭСЯ-ны гадаа очоод ажиглаж байхад хаалттай, хүссэн хүн мэдээлэл авах боломж их бага юм шиг санагдсан. Түүнээс гадна танай яамны хэсэг хүмүүс манай иргэдээс мөнгө авсан тухай яригдаж байсан. Энэ үнэн үү?

- Хаалттай гэдэгтэй би санал нийлэхгүй байна. Манайх хуваарийнхаа дагуу хүмүүс хүлээн авч уулздаг. ЭСЯ-ны хаягаар бүх мэдээлэл авч болно.Ер нь манай дэг журмыг барихгүй Монголчууд өөрсдөө их асуудал үүсгэдэг. Дуудсан өдрөө ирэхгүй маргааш нь орох гэдгээс гадна нэрээ хийдэг хайрцаг руу олон удаа нэг нэрээ хийж бидэнд их чирэгдэл болгодог. Манай яамны ажилтнууд Монголчуудаас мөнгө авсан гэсэн мэдээлэл нэг ч гараагүй. Хэрвээ ийм асуудалд холбогдох юм бол бид ажлын гэрээгээ цуцалж цагдаад хандах болно.

Манай улсаас Чех улсад дөрвөөс таван мянган иргэн ажиллаж амьдардаг аж. Тэд Чехийн хөдөлмөрийн хуулийн дагуу өдөрт найман цаг хагас ажиллаад дунджаар 24 евро авдаг гэнэ. Хөнгөн үйлдвэр, оёдол, арьс ширний үйлдвэрээс гадна сүүлийн үед манай иргэд хөдөө аж ахуйн салбарт ажиллах болжээ. Чехийн ЭСЯ цаашдаа манай улын НХХЯ-наас санал болгосны дагуу Гадаадад ажиллах хүч илгээх төвтэй хамтарч ажиллах бодолтой байгаа гэдгээ хэллээ.

Natso's new blog

Cheers!

I've created a new blog named -- UTB Students. the link is simply: http://utbstudents.blogspot.com

Since I wanted to reach other people than this class, this blog will have larger content, and hopefully more discussion. :)

And don't worry! I will still write in this blog. But try to subscribe and check out my new blog, too. I need your opinions about it.

Yours,
Natso.

P.S: Don't forget to click on the poll. After all you're the one I'm trying to reach.

Mongolian University of Science and Technology signs bilateral cooperation agreement with Sung Kyun Kwan University

www.must.edu.mn

The Mongolian University of Science and Technology has celebrated its long and distinguished tradition in cooperation with Korean colleagues by signing an Agreement on bilateral cooperation with Sung Kyun Kwan University, the Republic of Korea.

The signing took place during a visit by a delegation from Sung Kyun Kwan University, led by the Vice-President at MUST during the last week of October 2006.

They met with MUST President, Prof. B. Damdinsuren and representatives from the University including academics from the School of Foreign Languages and School of Materials Science.
The Agreement between two universities seeks to foster mutual understanding between the Mongolia and the Republic of Korea and to broaden the academic exchanges of faculty staff and students.

Zlin Zoo

Subscription

Hey everyone,

Click here and receive our content into your e-mail address so that you won't have to bother checking every now and then. :)
Subscribe to Diary of Mongolian students at UTB, Czech Republic by Email

Are you hungry? Feed me!

For those of you who really feel hungry, sorry for tricking ya. :)

Most of you PC owners may know about RSS feed subscribing. It's so easy to read when you're lazy and just want to read more information without wasting time. Typical feed looks like this.

So I'm putting a RSS feed for you readers now.
http://feeds.feedburner.com/ eng4bizadminstudsinczech

Click the link above and click OK. Voila! You can now read from our contents from the comfort of you computer/laptop.

Don't forget to comment and let me know what you think.

Who needs Erasmus? We've an Exchange Program!

They're from foreign countries. They party a lot. They eat out more often. They study less subjects, and you can't stop liking them. You know whom I'm talking about, the Erasmus students.

Have you ever wanted to become one of them, an exchange student? You study abroad, travel a lot and the government pays for it. (Ok, we international students are studying abroad after all, but think about the government grant :D)

Well, students from Mongolia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Ukraine are invited to participate in HESP. You can choose from these universities to study.

Length of your study is up to one semester, which is Five months.

So what's the catch?
* travel-related expenses (travel, visa, insurance);
* living expenses (stipend);
* accommodation;
* book allowance.

You can apply in any time of the year, but it should be three months before the semester you'll study.

Packing up already? You should write a letter to any school you like and find a course that is similar to yours.

That's it for now. Have a happy exchange!

You can get more information at: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/hesp/focus/mobility/grants/student

Care about Going Around? Come to Gala, Antiball

Hi,

I've seen some people complaining about how they thought college would be exciting and wild but they found it so boring. Well, I have some news to you!

Try Gala evening, or Galavecer as Czechs say, on 10th of March, because that's what I am going to do. The name sounds so familiar and HUGE!(Note to non-Mongolians, we have a girl band with the same name). It is going to be held in Assembly Hall at 7 pm.

What is it about? You might ask. Well, if you check out our university website, You'll find there isn't going to be a rock concert in Gala Evening :) But you'll like the Antiball which is free if you go there in masquerade costume.

On Gala Evening, students are going to be awarded for 5 kinds of action.

• Scientific and Creative Activities
• Sports Performance
• Contribution to the University
• Spreading a Good Reputation of the University
• Crazy Action

About the anti ball, it is going to be a huge PARTY!!!!!!!

Good luck on winning the next year's award and see you in Gala and Anti!

New Author

Ladies and Gentlemen! Allow myself to introduce myself!

This is your new author Natso speaking. As some of you might know, I am a sophomore student in the EBA course. From now on, I will be writing on this blog. I hope you'll find my posts exemplary and soon more people will be discussing things.

Enjoy!

Coming spring

During examination

Vision of Zlin

Parking place
ZlinStav - Construction company building
















Night vision of Zlin center
Cepkov-Trade center, Front view

About Schengen territory entry

Sourced: www.euroskop.cz

I am a student from Taiwan holding a Czech student visa valid till 2009. Will I be able to travel to other Schengen states after the Czech Republic's integration to Schengen? Or to the United Kingdom? Switzerland? Will I be allowed to study in these countries?

After 21 December 2007, holders of a valid residence permit (including a residence permit for the purpose of study) will be able to travel in the countries of the Schengen area (as well as Switzerland and Liechtenstein) for up to 3 months. To travel, they will only need a valid residence permit issued by the Czech Republic and a valid passport.

The United Kingdom and Ireland are not part of the Schengen area; therefore, their territories cannot be entered with a Czech residence permit. When travelling to these countries (as well as to Cyprus, Rumania or Bulgaria), you will need a national visa issued in compliance with the relevant country's legislation.

If you are a holder of a multiple long-stay visa issued by the Czech Republic for the purpose of study, you will not be allowed to stay in the territory of other Schengen states, nor the UK or Switzerland. You will only be allowed to transit the other Schengen states (but not the non-Schengen EU Member States) for a period not exceeding 5 days and only in the direction to the Czech Republic. This is due to the fact that the visa is a national visa entitling only to the entry to and stay in the territory of the Czech Republic.

Concerning the study, Schengen has no effect on the possibilities or rules of studying. The integration of the Czech Republic to Schengen itself will not make study in other Schengen states easier - neither for Czech citizens nor for third-country nationals who are holders of a visa or residence permit issued by Czech authorities. The conditions of study will continue to be governed by the rules of the relevant state.

For detailed informations visit the web page: http://www.euroskop.cz