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[jordlevinson]

The Good Old Travel Guide Days

Tony Wheeler, co-founder of Lonely Planet Publications, remembers the fun early days of travel guide writing, but says they're not over yet.

"'No problem...the train goes through the station very slowly, so you can jump off.'" An old school guidebook author waxes nostalgic about tripping through Burma...and makes us Biplaners dream of recruiting YOU to submit cool tidbits about cool places in our forthcoming Locations section...soon soon soon!

[jordlevinson]

So, Biplaners, we are launching our first real-live-human-beings-on-the-site-TEST. THIS. WEEK!! Stay tuned for details and how to get involved. It's about to jump off.

But, to tide you over, here are some shots of Cote d'Ivoire's freaky...and oh-so-slightly larger...copy of St. Peter's Basilica. According to Messy Nessy Chic, one of my all-time favorite purveyors of internet weirdness:

"Basilique Notre-Dame de la Paix de Yamoussoukro, also known as the “basilica of the bush”, is the estimated $300 million indulgence of President Félix Houphouët-Boigny, the Ivory Coast’s first President and third longest-serving leader in the world at the time of his death (after Fidel Castro and Kim Il-sung of North Korea). Perhaps you see where this is going."

For more eerie footage of the misplaced monument, and of some uppity travelers enjoying the briefly-prosperous pre-Civil-War Cote d'Ivoire, check out this video. 

And stick around...(taps mic)...testing...testing...

[jordlevinson]

ON OUR WAY! Biplane is getting ready to take on some test users in mid-February...stay tuned!!!