The ever-expanding footprint of Airbnb and what it means for travellers
KING FEATURES SYNDICATE
As I write this, the world is cheering. After being lost for a week, a team of young soccer players has been found in the cave they wandered into in Thailand. It took ingenuity to get them out, but they’ve been saved.
Nobody yet knows why the team entered the cave despite warnings about flooding. But I think we all can understand the impulse to do so. There’s a primal excitement in exploring the “underworld.” This might be why so many people travel specifically to do so, to all corners of the globe.
To help them plan these adventures, prolific travel writer David Farley has come out with a new book called “Underground Worlds: A Guide to Spectacular Subterranean Places.”
A handsome coffee table tome with loads of photos, it starts with the startling history of man’s fascination with what lies below the soil, a history that stretches back some 43,000 years. That’s when the first mine was dug in what is today Swaziland, as archeologists discovered in the 1970s when they started digging near newly unearthed tools.
From there, Farley takes readers on a whirlwind journey to some of the most celebrated underground sites on the planet (like the Necropolis below the Vatican, and the Museum of the Terra Cotta Warriors in China) as well as some of the most obscure (like the Batu Caves in Malaysia). All are sites shaped by man in some fashion, meaning that the book becomes as much about history as it is a travel guide. So as you read along, you’ll learn about the once-secret concrete bunker from which Winston Churchill strategized troop movements during World War II (it’s now open as a museum); how the abandonment of Buddhism in favor of Hinduism in India led to the abandonment of a wondrous cave full of Boddhisatva carvings; and why the tunnels dug by the Vietcong were such a powerful weapon against American troops.
Farley also groups certain subjects together, so that one can compare and contrast the stories of how major subway systems came to be, and learn what it’s like to live in a city carved from caves and tunnels - something that’s being done to this day way Down Under in Coober Pedy, Australia; Matmata, Tunisia; and Matera, Italy. What may be most surprising to readers is how this digging impulse still is going strong today: In New York City, a new underground park is being constructed (due to open in 2020), one that uses an elaborate system of projections to grow plants underground.
Farley is a compelling storyteller, meaning that the place profiles in this book shimmer with human interest. Although it’s a bit early to be thinking about Christmas shopping, you may want to nab a copy of the book for other gifting celebrations. The avid travelers in your life will thank you.
Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip. The information in this column was accurate when it was released, but prices are competitive, sometimes limited and can always change without notice. Pauline Frommer is the Editorial Director for the Frommer Travel Guides and Frommers.com. She co-hosts the radio program The Travel Show and is the author of the best-selling Frommer’s EasyGuide to New York City.