According to my opinion absolutely useless book - seems that authors just "copy -paste" infomation from different sources. Also I disgaree with other reviewers that book is giving some practical information concerning participation in certian events. Having seen some of the events (places) what authors are describing I consider that information sometimes is misleading. Not to mention format and layout of the book - you really do not want to hold in hands such book, especially about travelling.
The Iditarod dog sled race might be a rewarding journey for the greedy mushers who force their dogs to participate in this grueling race, but it is certainly not rewarding for the dogs. In the Iditarod, dogs are forced to race 1,150 miles, which is the approximate distance between Miami and New York City in 8 to 15 days. The Iditarod has a long and documented history of dog deaths, illnesses and injuries. On average, 54% of the dogs who start the race do not make it across the finish line. Of those who do, 81% have lung damage. At least 120 dogs have died in the Iditarod. There is no official count of dog deaths available for the races early years. Causes of death have included strangulation in towlines, internal hemorrhaging after being gouged by a sled, liver injury, heart failure, and pneumonia. Most Iditarod dog kennels are puppy mills where on-going cruelty is the law. Dogs are beaten into submission, starved to maintain racing weight, and forced to pull ATVs, cars or trucks as part of their training. Dogs who are unwanted for any reason are normally shot in the head. The AVMA does not approve of euthanasia of dogs by gunshot, because it most often results in a painful death. USA Today sports columnist Jon Saraceno called the Iditarod "a travesty of grueling proportions" and "Ihurtadog." Fox sportscaster Jim Rome called it "I-killed-a-dog." Orlando Sentinel sports columnist George Diaz said the race is "a barbaric ritual" and "an illegal sweatshop for dogs." USA Today business columnist Bruce Horovitz said the race is a "public-relations minefield." Margery Glickman Director Sled Dog Action Coalition
You should definitely read THIS book! Take a global adventure tour, get all wound up, expand your imaginative powers. Then put this book, and just about all its recommended sites to one side- lots of people have been to these places before and the trails are well worn. Pamplona and the bulls, for instance- Hemmingway started the rush on that locale back in the 1930s with two great novels: Death In the Afternoon, and The Sun Also Rises. We visited Pamplona, traveling with Rumanian gypsies in their horse drawn caravan back in 1968 and worked for aBasque family havesting grapes. Back-breaking work, but the music and wine during the evenings around the campfires with all the gypsy clans that had come from all over Spain for this grand reunion of nomads, "la vendimia," was without comparison then or now! So, take my advice: study this book. Its a fanastic primer. THEN invent your own places and events to experience! Really stretch your consciousness here! Dont follow the crowd. California was THE place to go to in the 1960s, until ten thousand people arriving every day destroyed its beauty and its allure. Go where no one else is going. Maybe its a tiny hamlet in the jungles of Ecuador. Or an island off the coast of Costa Rica that no one lives on. Or a mountain range in Siberia that you can only reach by skidoo in late March. Who knows? If no one else knows, then THATS your spot. Your adventure. Your unique experience of a lifetime. And, youd better get a hustle on. Well run out of these places too someday. Then therell be outer space, or maybe out-of-body travel to other dimensions. In the meantime, read books by brash trekkies like Robyn Davidson in her books "Tracks" and "Desert Places,"(not that you want to travel on camels necessarily), and our newly published story: "Riding Into The Wind," about our five-years of meandering around Latin America on horseback.
