Lance Updates Us on His Status

Lance Armstrong released a video earlier this evening giving cycling fans an update on his progress. He underwent surgery yesterday to repair his collarbone, which he broke a few days back racing in the Vuelta in Spain.

In the video below, Lance indicates that the collarbone was more damaged than was first thought, and that he's in a bit of uncharted territory here. He's never really suffered a major injury in his career, so at this point, it's unclear when he'll be back. How soon, and how well, the bone heals will determine how quickly he can get back on the bike, and get ready for his next race. The Giro is now in doubt, and his preparations for Le Tour will also be effected.

Exclusive Post-Op Interview with Lance -- powered by http://www.livestrong.com

Shopping Spree in tour VietNam Travel

Need to find that flawless gift or blessing? Our aides know all the best shopping locales in the city! We will take you to both the most well known and most well concealed markets. Our aides can likewise help you arrange to get the best cost. This visit will effectively pay for itself!

Ben Thanh is the biggest market in Saigon, yet it not so much the best place to discover the best arrangements. Did you realize that numerous sellers in Ben Thanh check up their costs 100% or more in light of the fact that they realize that most voyagers have no clue what the "genuine" cost is? Presently that there are some "settled value" regions in Ben Thanh, its not as terrible as it once might have been, however for most things you ought to still can anticipate in any event a half markdown. The Saigon Tax Center and Saigon Square 1 & 2 has a large portion of the same things as Ben Thanh yet with to a lesser extent a markup. Continuously arrange!! It's normal! For surprisingly better arrangements, let our aides take you to the "true" Vietnamese markets. They aren't as cleaned up for visitors as the famous markets in District 1, yet this is the place you will truly spare gobs of cash.

Related post: Vietnam travel deals

Need the best fabric at the most minimal cost? We'll take you to a road in Cholon where you will have the capacity to discover practically any sort of fabric you could request. Need to discover a decent tailor? Give us a chance to acquaint you with the impressive tailors we utilize ourselves. Searching for a decent handcrafted guitar at a mind blowing cost? We'll drive you to luthier road where you can request an uniquely designed guitar intended to your details. Whatever you require, our aides can help you discover and show signs of improvement cost than you envisioned conceivable!

The Shopping Spree Tour is 3 hours in length, on the other hand you can develop it for $15/for every individual for every extra hour. We suggest booking the "Shopping Spree" visit in the morning when its not as hot.

Things to see and do Vietnam

The shorelines of Vietnam are sublime. Nha Trang is the ideal consolidation of a long sandy shoreline for unwinding days under the palm trees and a town with restaurants and bars to pass the moderate nights. Pontoon outings take you out to close-by islands and jumpers can investigate the adjacent coral reefs. On the other hand, attempt Vung Tau, southeast of Ho Chi Minh City for some heavenly snorkeling around the a lot of people seaward islands or head east of Phan Thiet to the sand rises of Mui Ne, which extend for miles. Unwind on the white-sand shorelines or have a go at large portions of the water brandishes on offer.

Take off to Tay Ninh to view the bright midday administration of the charming Cao Dai group held in an expansive sanctuary just about Disney-esque in style. The supporters wear red, blue and yellow robes and serenade to the backup of a conventional ensemble. On the way, scramble through the passages at Cu Chi, from where the Viet Cong effectively dispatched assaults against US constrains.

Related post: Vietnam travel

Focal Highlands 

Dalat is the extent that most individuals go into the Central Highlands yet head further into the mountains for dazzling perspectives and waterfalls. You are guaranteed of a warm welcome in Buon Ma Thuot, an espresso developing locale and home to the Montagnards. The Ho Chi Minh trail is effectively arrived at from Kontum.

Take in the nuances of Vietnamese cookery at a class in old Hoi An. Submerge into the rushing about of the business to purchase procurements before withdrawing to the cool of the kitchen. The best piece of the day – you get to consume what you have helped get ready!

Dalat 

To escape the high temperature of the fields, head for Dalat, a previous pioneer slope station, reminiscent of a French town, with blurred, exquisite estates suggestive of an alternate time. Homesteaders from Saigon headed to its cool climes and in addition the ruler and his escort. The sentimental lakes and snow capped view are magnets for Vietnamese honeymooners.

Indeed it is touristy, and in the event that you take a pontoon trek you'll be among a flotilla of many old changed over trashes, yet Halong Bay still stays a standout amongst the most amazing sights on the planet. Take the chance to obtain a kayak (all pontoons ought to do this) and oar through the limestone karsts significantly ascending out of the ocean. Then again use the night on one of those throws out and investigate the caverns concealed profound in the islands, pass coasting towns and around evening time appreciate a sundowner on the top deck and pay special mind to falling stars.

Hanoi 

Hanoi is a city of appears differently in relation to the wide, verdant roads lined by wonderful provincial structures in the French quarter, the maze of thin boulevards of the Old Quarter and the peaceful lakes. Wherever you are, the foundation commotion is the buzzing of the motorbikes that swarm the lanes of the capital.

An outing on the Reunification Express is an unquestionable requirement. Nonetheless, the trains in the middle of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are absolutely not express. It can take somewhere around 30 and 40 hours to go between the two urban areas so best to do one segment just. Famous is the 18-hour travel in the middle of Hanoi and Hue.

Trekking 

There are many long separation climbing trails around the nation, and a noteworthy framework for guests needing guided trekking visits. Head south from Hanoi into Cuc Phuong National Park, a wild of woods secured limestone mountains which ascend from the green rice paddies, home to numerous uncommon species and the primate salvage focus. Go through the night with a family from the Muong slope tribe in their customary stilthouse.

Sparkling high rises sit side by side with feeble structures and disintegrating pilgrim houses. Ministers pass exclusive auto showrooms gathering charity and stroll along sun-prepared roads packed with blaring motorbikes. The Saigon River is always crossed by little vessels and ships weaving through bigger pontoons.

See a portion of the Vietnam War locates by strolling piece of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, utilized as supply courses by the North Vietnamese amid the war. You can't neglect to be charmed by the system of passages uncovered by the Viet Cong from which they propelled consistent assaults on the US drives. For a taste of life underground scramble through one of the tight shafts, extraordinarily extended for Western guests.

Wander the restricted avenues with their minor shop houses, unwind in a riverside bar and flavor delectable nearby dishes. This is the spot to purchase keepsakes, silk things, T-shirts and earthenware production. Whatever you do verify you treat yourself by having garments made at one of the numerous tailors.

Hué 

The previous supreme city of Hue is packed with magnificent sights. The Imperial Citadel, experiencing the assaults and war and the tropical climate, is gradually being carefully redesigned; riverside is the Thien Mu pagoda where amateur friars look bashfully at the guests; and the mausoleums of the Emperors, every interesting in style.

Meet local people 

The most ideal approach to meet local people is to draw up a low plastic seat in the asphalt bar request some brew, request new peanuts and quails eggs and talk to local people. Indeed with a dialect obstruction, you'll be ringing glasses long into the night.

Investigate the watery universe of the Mekong Delta where channels of the may Mekong Delta bungle the area and give a fruitful spot to develop unlimited swathes of rice and tree grown foods. Find riverine towns, skimming markets and little riverside businesses and use the night in a homestay with a cultivating crew.

Motorbiking 

It is getting to be progressively prominent to contract an engine bicycle - constantly a Russian made 125cc Minsk - and ride it from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. Filled with assorted types of dangers, not slightest the immeasurable measure of bicycles in the urban communities, it is by and by an invigorating approach to see the nation.

Waterway markets 

The stream showcases on the Mekong Delta are an unmissable sight. Life here is overwhelmed by the relentless Mekong and

Cycling: Tyler Hamilton Tests Positive, Retires!

A surprising story from the world of cycling today, as American Tyler Hamilton has tested positive for a banned substance for the second time, and has announced his retirement from the sport. VeloNews is reporting that the national road champion was using an herbal supplement to treat his clinically diagnosed depression, and the banned substance was found in that over the counter supplement.

The 38-year old Hamilton says that he was first diagnosed with depression back in 2003, and that other members of his family suffer with the same affliction. He had been using clinically prescribed drugs to treat the depression, but switch to herbal remedies, one of which contained DHEA, a banned steroid. The cyclist indicated that he knew he was taking a banned substance, but was desperate for relief.

Rather than deal with another suspension, his second for a banned substance, or face a lifetime ban, Hamilton has decided to retire from the sport so that he can deal with his health issues more directly. Personally, I wish him the best of luck in working on these issues. It's a shame his career has to end with this shadow over his head, but it is more important for him to get healthy at this point. Good luck Tyler!

Thanks to the Outside Blog for the heads up on this one.

Toufic Beyhum | Mecca

Photo © Toufic Beyhum-All Rights Reserved

"...though neither Koran or Sultan enjoin the death of Jew or Christian intruding within the columns that note the sanctuary limits, nothing could save a European detected by the populace, or one who after pilgrimage declared himself an unbeliever."-A Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Medinah and Meccah (1855)-Richard Francis Burton

Mecca...or more accurately Makkah, is the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad and a site of his first revelation of the Qur'an. It is regarded as the holiest city in Islam, and a pilgrimage to it (the Haj) is obligatory for all Muslims physically and financially able to make the journey. Mecca is home to the Kaaba, Islam's holiest site as well as being the focal point of Muslim prayer.

Photographer Toufic Beyhum had the inside view to the holy site when he undertook his own pilgrimage. While photography inside the mosque enveloping the Kaaba is forbidden, he was able to enter the site with his camera, and photograph almost at will.

A rather journalistic article in The Daily Telegraph has more background information on his photo shoot, and it may come as a surprise to some of my readers that the inside of the holiest of Islam's religious sites is the only place in Saudi Arabia where sexes are allowed to mingle freely. Yes, women and men stand, walk, pray, circumambulate the Kaaba shoulder to shoulder...with none of this ridiculous strict segregation of sexes which is currently en vogue in Islamic countries.

I had the opportunity of visiting the Kaaba some years ago while on a business trip to Jeddah, and it left a deep impression on me as a place of piety and peace. At that time, the hideous newly built monstrosities surrounding the mosque hadn't been erected, and the Meccan skyline was still unmarred by the Mecca Royal Hotel Clock Tower, which is the tallest clock tower in the world.

According to the article, there’s a hotel nearby the mosque where rooms are $500 a night, along with a mall with a Starbucks and a Paris Hilton handbag shop.

Historically, it appears that in the 5th century, the Kaaba was a place of worship for the deities of Arabia's pagan tribes, and Mecca was an important trading destination of the caravans, carrying goods from Africa and the Far East passed through it including spices, leather, medicine, cloth, and so forth.

Toufic Beyhum was born in Beirut, and moved to London at a young age. He graduated from Art College and started a successful advertising career as an Art Director for multinational advertising agencies in New York, Dubai, London and Berlin. He exhibited his work in London, Berlin, Los Angeles and Dubai. He was featured in National Geographic Shot, The Independent, Esquire Russia, WIRED, BILD, Die Zeit, Der Tagesspiegel, Zeitung, Welt Am Sonntag, Complex art+design, Exberliner, Time Out Dubai, BMI and Emirates In-flight magazine.

Currently based in London, he's isworking on a film documentary called "After Tomorrow" filmed in Petra, Jordan.