BCAA Travel Blog

1. The 1974 James Bond film “The Man With the Golden Gun” made the strangely shaped limestone islands of Phang Nga Bay world famous. Where is this bay located?
A. Thailand
B. Hawaii
C. Malaysia
D. Vietnam

2. According to a recent international survey of hotel employees, which nation has the most obnoxious tourists?
A. Germany
B. China
C. France
D. The United States

3. By law, all the working gondolas in Venice, Italy must be painted what colour?
A. Red
B. Blue
C. Black
D. Purple

4. How much would you have to shell out to spend a night in the world’s most expensive hotel room?
A. $10,000
B. $15,000
C. $20,000
D. $25,000

5. Which metropolis has the world’s busiest subway system?
A. Moscow
B. New York
C. Mexico City
D. Tokyo

6. In 1987, Richard Branson, the dashing founder of the Virgin business empire, set a world record by making the first crossing of what body of water in a hot-air ballon?
A. Arctic Ocean
B. Mediterranean Sea
C. Pacific Ocean
D. Atlantic

7. Which was the first city in the world to attain a population of one million?
A. Cairo
B. Rome
C. Athens
D. London

8. You are crossing a large desert called the Rub al-Khali, which means “the Empty Quarter.” What country are you in?
A. Pakistan
B. Saudi Arabia
C. Morocco
D. Sudan

9. The world’s most expensive coffee, Kopi Luwak, sells for about $400 a pound. Which country produces this rare and exorbitantly priced roast?
A. Indonesia
B. Kenya
C. Sri Lanka
D. Jamaica

10. In which U.S. state does the old London Bridge now reside, where it serves as a popular tourist attraction?
A. Vermont
B. Arizona
C. Ohio
D. Florida

11. Which nation owns the dubious distinction of recording the highest temperature on earth?
A. India
B. Brazil
C. Libya
D. Australia

12. Angel Falls is the world’s tallest waterfall. In which country does it come tumbling down?
A. Nepal
B. South Africa
C. Venezuela
D. The United States

Answers

1. A. Thailand
The sheer limestone cliffs that jut vertically out of the emerald green waters of Thailand’s Phang Nga Bay were always beautuful, but these odd-shaped islands did not draw hordes of tourists until they were prominently featured in the 1974 James Bond film “The Man With the Golden Gun.” Today, this area near Phuket is simply known on the tourist circuit as James Bond Island, although there were in fact two islands featured in the movie. Cone-shaped Koh Khao Phing Kan in Phang-Nga Bay was Scaramanga’s base, while Koh Tapu was where he hid what we would call today a “weapon of mass destruction.”

2. B. China
A survey sponsored by the French travel website Expedia.fr, asked employees in 4,000 hotels in Germany, the UK, Italy, France, the US and Canada to rank clients by nationality according to criteria such as politeness, tendency to complain, willingness to speak local languages, interest in local cuisine, generosity, discretion, politeness, and other criteria. The Chinese ranked 21st and dead last, just ahead of Indians, while the French placed in 19th place, the worst of all Westerners. The French were said to be often unwilling to communicate in a foreign language, pinched pennies to an extreme, and had an overall unpleasant attitude while on the road.

3. C. Black
All Venetian gondolas must be black. Only government officials are allowed to have them painted in fancy colors. At one time, gondolas came in a variety hues, but in 1562 the Doge (chief magistrate) of Venice handed down a decree that from thenceforth only gondolas in the service of transporting important personages could be coloured. All others had to be black. From that point onward the seemingly simple black gondola, unable to adorn itself with colour, began to develop elegance in shape and form, becoming a beautiful object of both art and function.

4. D. $25,000
Hard as it is to believe, the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas asks for and gets $25,000 per night from people wanting to stay in its exclusive Bridge Suite. In fact, even with its monstrous price tag, the suite currently has a five-year waiting list, and the hotel requires guests to stay at least four nights in the suite, which has 10 rooms with more than 460 square metres of living space. The Bridge Suite comes with its own butler and cook, and the kitchen has its own entrance so that the staff never bothers the guest. The suite include gold chandeliers, a baby grand piano, and balconies on both sides.

5. D. Tokyo
The Tokyo subway system is infamous for its congestion. Things get so crowded that they hire men wearing white gloves to push passengers aboard its cars like sardines. During rush hour it can be a very uncomfortable place. The system transports an incredible 2.916 billion passengers per year. One of its stations, Shinjuku, was used by an average of 3.60 million people per day in 2007, making it the busiest train station in the world in number of passengers. Moscow’s subway system is only slighly less frenetic, moving 2.529 billion riders each year.

6. D. Atlantic Ocean
Richard Branson and his partner, Swedish pilot Per Lindstrand, crossed the Atlantic Ocean in his Branson’s hot-air balloon, “Virgin Atlantic Flyer.” This was the world’s largest balloon at 65,000 cubic metres, and it reached speeds of 209 kilometres per hour on the flight. In January 1991, Branson and Lindstrand crossed the Pacific from Japan to Canada’s Arctic (a distance of 10,800 kilometres), in a balloon of 74,000 cubic metres. This broke another world the record, with a speed of ??? Kilometres per hour. Branson, who never seems to run out of inventing new challenges for himself, is currently aiming to set a new record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a motorboat.

7. B. Rome
According to ancient census keepers, the Eternal City reached a population of one million people in 133 B.C. London reached the mark in 1810 and New York, made it in 1875. Today, there are over 300 cities in the world that boast a population in excess of one million.

8. B. Saudi Arabia
One of the driest places on earth, the Rub al-Khali is said to have the largest unbroken expanse of sand in the world. The desert covers about 250,000 square miles, making it slightly smaller than the state of Texas. This massive trackless expanse of shifting sand, with enormous dunes rising as high as 250 metres, was largely unexplored until recently. Even the Bedouins only skirt the edges of this harsh land.

9. A. Indonesia
Kopi Luwak coffee comes from the Indonesian island of Sumatra.  Also native to the area is a civet-like creature that the locals call luwaks. These little mammals live in the trees and their favorite food is the red, ripe coffee cherry. They eat the cherries, bean and all. While the bean is in the cat’s stomach, it undergoes chemical treatments and fermentations. The bean finishes its journey through the digestive system, and exits. The still-intact beans are collected from the forest floor, then are cleaned, roasted and ground just like any other coffee. The resulting coffee is said to be like no other, with a rich, heavy flavour with hints of caramel or chocolate. The body is almost syrupy and it’s very smooth. But because of the strange method of collecting, there isn’t much Kopi Luwak produced in the world. The average total annual production is only about 500 pounds of beans.

10. B. Arizona
In 1967, the Common Council of the City of London placed the aging bridge on the market and began to look for potential buyers. Council member Ivan Luckin had put forward the idea of selling the bridge, and recalled: “They all thought I was completely crazy when I suggested we should sell London Bridge when it needed replacing.” In 1968, the bridge was sold to American entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch for $2.4 million. The bridge was dismantled piece by piece and shipped overseas. During shipping, the bridge was classified by U.S. Customs as a “large antique.” It was then reconstructed at Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and re-dedicated on October 10, 1971. The reconstructed bridge spans a man-made canal that leads from Lake Havasu to Thomson Bay, and forms the centrepiece of an English theme park, complete with a mock-Tudor shopping mall. Old London Bridge has become Arizona’s second-biggest tourist attraction, after the Grand Canyon.

11. C. Libya
Sizzle! The hottest day ever measured was September 13, 1922, in El Azizia, Libya, when the mercury hit a blistering 57.8° Centigrade. El Azizia is near the Sahara desert, so it’s no wonder the place gets so hot. Temperatures have likely gotten even hotter in the actual desert, but weather stations aren’t there to record it. Extremely high temperatures have also been recorded in Death Valley, California, where temperatures reached 56.7° C on July 10, 1913, the highest recorded temperature in the U.S.

12. C. Venezuela
Angel Falls is the world’s highest free-falling waterfall at 979 metres, with a clear drop of 807 metres. The falls are located in a remote jungle region of Venezuela and were not known to the outside world until  American aviator Jimmy Angel flew over the site in 1933 while searching for a valuable ore bed. Angel, who owned a Fokker monoplane of 1930’s vintage, capable of carrying three passengers and freight, became a legendary figure in Venezuela, in his quest for gold and his daredevil flying. Returning on October 9, 1937, Angel tried to land his Flamingo monoplane “El Rio Caroni” atop the waterfall but the plane was damaged when the wheels sunk into the marshy ground and he and his three companions, including his wife Marie, were forced to descend on foot. It took them 11 days to make their way back to civilization, but news of their adventure spread and the waterfall was named “Angel Falls” in his honour.

 

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