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Travel

For the traveler to India: film and literary preparation

The Great Books and Movies to Read and Watch Before Visiting India

A list of some of the best books and films about the subcontinent to take in before you go

At 100 Euros for 100 grams, these French black truffles had better not be from China.

Truffle Trouble in Europe: The Invader Without Flavor

If it looks like a black truffle, and if it cost you $1,500 a pound like a black truffle—-it may actually be a worthless Chinese truffle

The controversial Dutch Somali feminist Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s autobiography Infidel led to death threats from numerous Muslim organizations.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali on Protecting Women From Militant Islam

Even in democratic nations, mothers and daughters are held back from basic freedoms

The Dordogne River flows through some of the finest country of southern France. Truffles, cep mushrooms and wild pigs occur in the woods, while huge catfish and pike lurk in the slow eddies of the river.

Off the Road in the South of France

Ernest Hemingway popularized the cosmopolitan lifestyle of Paris, but he missed out every day he wasn’t walking through the forested hills of Périgord

Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen are the stars of HBO's fictionalization of the relationship between Martha Gellhorn and Ernest Hemingway.

Danger and Romance from HBO’s “Hemingway & Gellhorn”

A new made-for-television movie airing May 28 recounts the stormy love affair between the writer and the war correspondent

The deathstalker scorpion, a Middle East native shown here in captivity, kills several people each year and occasionally hammers its stinger into the hands of hobbyist collectors.

The Nastiest Critters Lurking Outside Your Tent

The bite of a Goliath bird-eater is hardly worse than a bee sting—-but it is among the nastiest things that could skitter across your face in the Amazon

Feline Face and Stylized Ornaments from Horse Tack, late 4th–early 3rd century BCE

Explore the Treasures of Kazakhstan in New York City

Artifacts from the Central Asian nation, including saddles ornamented with gold foil and cinnabar, are on display for the first time in the United States

These cyclists are enjoying another day on the trail in the Crocodile Trophy, in northeastern Australia, considered one of the most punishing bicycle races in the world.

Grueling Travel through Beautiful Places: the Madness of Extreme Races

The Crocodile Trophy mountain biking race is off-road, meaning gravel, rocks, ruts, puddles, dust and lots of crashing

Architects from around the world submitted their portfolios, and by mid-December, a jury of experts invited ten design teams to re-imagine three "dead-zones" on the National Mall.

Winners Announced for National Mall Design Competition

The area between the Lincoln Memorial and the U.S. Capitol has seen better days, but architects are vying to improve the nation’s front lawn

A freakishly cold winter coated Rome's Colosseum in snow

The Snows of…Tenerife?

The white stuff can fall at any time and almost anywhere, from the streets of Rome to the subtropical Canary Islands

The Ginger Ninjas on the move in Guadalajara, Mexico. Where buses and airplanes would provide the horsepower for other touring bands, the Ginger Ninjas go by bicycle.

Rock, Pedal and Roll: Band Tours the World by Bicycle

“I believe the bicycle is one of the best, if not the coolest, machines ever invented,” says the frontman of the Ginger Ninjas

The narrow-gauge Durango & Silverton train steams through history above the Animas River.

Smithsonian Best Small Towns 2012

The 20 Best Small Towns in America of 2012

From the Berkshires to the Cascades, we’ve crunched the numbers and pulled a list some of the most interesting spots around the country

Mandela returned in 1994 after being elected president.

A Visit to Robben Island, the Brutal Prison that Held Mandela, Is Haunting and Inspiring

To visit the brutal prison that held Mandela is haunting, yet inspiring

Off the coast of Cape Town, Robben Island is home to African penguins, whose future is by no means assured.

Make Way for the African Penguins

Few places let you get as close to the raffish birds—many of which are endangered—as South Africa’s Robben Island

In Janos, Mexico, Mormon guide John Hatch chats with a youngster at a 17thcentury Catholic church.

The Romneys’ Mexican History

Mitt Romney’s father was born in a small Mormon enclave where family members still live, surrounded by rugged beauty and violent drug cartels

When the future president journeyed to Kogelo in 1987, it was, he said, as if “a circle was beginning to close.”

A Journey to Obama’s Kenya

The dusty village where Barack Obama’s father was raised had high hopes after his son was elected president. What has happened since then?

Bottoms up: Wineglass Bay on the Freycinet Peninsula.

Nudity, Art, Sex and Death – Tasmania Awaits You

With one big bet, an art-loving professional gambler has made the Australian island into the world’s most surprising new cultural destination

Poet Mark Strand

There is No Wind in Oslo by Mark Strand

Read the new poem by the American poet and professor

The Hawaiian islands, from left to right, Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Maui and the Big Island.

Paul Theroux’s Quest to Define Hawaii

For this renowned travel writer, no place has proved harder to decipher than his home for the past 22 years

U2 was here—and so were thousands of fans who managed to find the remote Mojave Desert location of the very Joshua tree depicted in the photo series accompanying U2's 1987 album. The tree has died and now lies in brittle bits and pieces.

From the Joshua Tree to The Slaughtered Lamb: Destinations of Story and Song

Should you go to Cephalonia, bring a copy of the Odyssey—perhaps the truest guidebook to this Greek island

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