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72-year-old hiker begins 22,000km trek following in footsteps of Marco Polo

<p dir="ltr">A 72-year-old Italian hiker has begun a 22,000 kilometre trip from Venice to Beijing, following in the footsteps of her hero, Marco Polo.</p> <p dir="ltr">Vienna Cammarota started her journey from the explorer’s birthplace on Wednesday, April 27, and is planning to travel across 15 countries while following the medieval trade route.</p> <p dir="ltr">If all goes to plan, Ms Cammarota will be arriving in Beijing by December 2025, as reported by <em><a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/italian-grandmother-sets-off-on-22000km-walk-in-footsteps-of-marco-polo/VACLCVOHGBPAC4QU5OG5R5HWAE/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NZ Herald</a></em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Following the route taken by Marco Polo 750 years ago, Ms Cammarota will be supported on her trip by her three daughters and grandchildren, who will send parcels of food and clothes as she needs them.</p> <p dir="ltr">But you can’t undertake such a trip without some cash, and Ms Cammarota told local media she has saved a total of 40,000 Euros ahead of the trek.</p> <p dir="ltr">“But I will look for hospitality to save as much as I can and where I can,” she added.</p> <p dir="ltr">This historically-inspired trip isn’t the first Ms Cammarota has taken, but it’s definitely her most ambitious.</p> <p dir="ltr">The experienced hiker previously walked the length of Nepal to Everest, followed Jesus’ Biblical route through Palestine, and trekked across the Italian Alps in the footsteps of German philosopher Goethe.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I love history, culture and archaeology, and I walk in order to see and recount, but above all to listen,” she explained. </p> <p dir="ltr">To make her journey less monotonous, she told the Euro-Cities blog she would spend the time reading her copy of Marco Polo’s diary and by performing mental arithmetic.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-5590d24e-7fff-fc7f-109a-ec4e91353bc4"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Vienna Cammarota (Facebook)</em></p>

International Travel

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Modern Family star saves fainting hiker

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Julie Bowen, best known for playing Claire Dunphy on </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Modern Family</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">, recently performed an act of kindness for a stranger in need on a hiking trail in Utah.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">First reported by </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://abc7ny.com/julie-bowen-hiker-rescued-modern-family/10936019/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">ABC 7 New York</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the act occurred while Minnie John was vacationing with her family at Arches National Park, Utah.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While hiking to the top of the peak, Minnie began to feel weak and told her husband and son to continue hiking while she sat on a rock and took a break.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The last thing she remembered was holding her head in her hands. The next moment, she was being taken care of by two women.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Minnie had fainted and hit her nose on a rock when she was found by Bowen and her sister, Annie.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Minnie shared the story of her encounter with the Bowens, as well as photos.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“All I remember is sitting there with my head in my hands secure on the rock,” Minnie recounted in the post.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Next thing I hear someone with a familiar voice asking me questions. I wondered if I might be watching tv. My eyes were closed and they said I would be fine and they were cleaning my face and bandaging me up.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After the pair treated her, Minnie opened her eyes and recognised the TV star but couldn’t remember where from.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7842969/230822295_2204747043034198_6424726426102033598_n.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/00458724305944d6b9b5704cb8bdd7bc" /><img style="width: 374.99999999999994px; height: 500px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7842969/230822295_2204747043034198_6424726426102033598_n.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/00458724305944d6b9b5704cb8bdd7bc" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Minnie John / Facebook</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I asked her again if I knew her or was she famous and the doctor said yes. As my eyes started to focus more, she smiled and took her tie off and shook her hair for me to figure out,” Minnie continued.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Her sister, the doctor, asked me to guess and I told her I just hit my head, I can’t remember. She said smiling ‘Modern Family’ and I said of course!”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Bowens then explained that the guide who was with them had seen Minnie fall, before coming over to help.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 375px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7842970/226947853_2204747136367522_5436819053605672562_n.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/6325da2937a0417ebabc332d39382be8" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Minnie John / Facebook</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The pair then called Minnie’s husband, while other hikers ran ahead to find her family.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After realising she had fainted due to low blood sugar, Minnie described the sisters as “God sent”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I told my Samaritans that I was so proud of what I had achieved climbing to the top,” Minnie wrote.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Had I known it was so treacherous, I would not have done it, but I was so proud I reached the top and got to meet my good Samaritans God sent for me at the right moment.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Love you Julie and Annie and now I have become famous for one minute for my antics!”</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Images: Minnie John / Facebook</span></em></p>

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Hikers rejoice! New trails in North and South Korea are opening

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hardcore hikers are rejoicing as they now have the option to explore the hiking trails that are alongside the Korean Peninsula’s Demilitarised Zone (DMZ).</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The trails just so happen to be near the world’s most heavily armed border that divide North and South Korea, but as a part of South Korea’s Peace Trail project, there are three new trails being built.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Local government has approved three trails within the DMZ buffer, which stretches 4 kilometres wide and 240 kilometres long.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The area where the trails are looking to be built has divided the nations since 1953.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The first trail, which is inside Gangwon province on the east side of the Korean Peninsula, opened on the 28</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> of April.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"United Nations Command (UNC) and the ROK [South Korea] government have demonstrated superb teamwork, collaboration and coordination throughout the entire 'peace trail' process and will continue to do so," said General Robert Abrams, leader of the UNC, in a statement.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"The ROK military has worked extremely long hours to ensure the success of this very important initiative, while assuring visitors their safety remains paramount."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As the DMZ has been closed off to the public for more than six decades, it’s given the wildlife a chance to flourish. The area is home to endangered species, such as rare types of cranes, ducks, deer and mountain goats.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to reports from </span><a href="https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/korea-dmz-wildlife-hiking-trails/index.html"><span style="font-weight: 400;">CNN</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, there are more than 6,000 different species of flora and fauna living inside the DMZ.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, hikers will be accompanied by military personnel and be required to wear bullet-proof vests and helmets during the walks.</span></p>

Travel Trouble

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What everyone got wrong about this photo

<p>A tourist spent about 18 hours trapped on a steep, slippery aqueduct – with only a rope and tussock between him and certain death – after falling 50 metres down a sheer rocky cliff on the South Island's West Coast.</p> <p>Police have apologised for <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/102199666/man-stuck-on-ledge-for-3-hours-after-ignoring-signs-scaling-barrier-to-take-photos-on-west-coast" target="_blank">incorrectly saying the man became trapped</a></strong></span> after ignoring safety signs and scaling a look-out barrier to take photos of the Otira Gorge<a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/102199666/man-stuck-on-ledge-for-3-hours-after-ignoring-signs-scaling-barrier-to-take-photos-on-west-coast" target="_blank">,</a> where the survival tale took place. </p> <p>An NZCC Rescue Helicopter spokesman said he fell while hiking on an old "zig-zag road" about 9.30 pm on Sunday, landing in a gully above State Highway 73.</p> <p>Badly injured and unable to walk, with his car parked at a look-out back by the highway, the man crawled for about three hours to get down a gully in the hope of being found, he said. </p> <p>"He knew he was going to die if he didn't get down the cliff," the spokesman said. </p> <p>Finding a rope in the gully, the man descended onto the Reid Falls Aqueduct.</p> <p>There, he tied himself to a tussock-type plant to stop himself from falling to the rocky riverbed below.</p> <p>Tourists at a nearby lookout spotted the man just after 10.30 am on Monday.</p> <p>A Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said four fire crews, police crews and two rescue helicopters attended the scene.</p> <p>He said helicopter crews found it difficult to rescue the man due to the downdraught at the flume. </p> <p>An alpine cliff rescue and FENZ lines crew, called in from Christchurch, abseiled down to the man and secured him in a basket to be winched to safety just after 3pm. The man was then flown to Christchurch Hospital with broken bones and cuts. </p> <p>A NZCC spokesman said the man was lucky to be alive.</p> <p>"He could have been easily killed in the fall."  </p> <p>A NZCC spokesman said it was a great combined effort between the various emergency teams.  </p> <p>"It was a pretty good operation with a really good outcome," he said.  </p> <p>After the rescue, police said he was trapped for three hours and it was a "timely reminder to all people out walking or climbing to obey all warning signs near rock faces and cliffs – the signs are there for a reason, and if you ignore them, then this is what can happen".</p> <p>On Tuesday, police conceded their statement now appeared to be incorrect.</p> <p>"All we can really do at this point is apologise for the error," a spokeswoman said. </p> <p><em>Written by Jonathan Guildford. Republished with permission of <strong><a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></a>. </strong> </em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Hero cat leads lost hiker off mountain

<p>It sounds like something out of a fairytale, but footage has emerged this week of a hiker lost in the Swiss mountains, only to be led to safety by a black and white cat.</p> <p>The footage, posted by Reddit under the screenname sc4s2cg, shows a hiker who has become disoriented while exploring around the Swiss alpine town of Gimmelwald.</p> <p>sc4s2cg wrote in his post, Gimmelwald is a tiny, tiny stunningly beautiful village. I actually got ‘lost’ in the surrounding mountains. It was the end of ski season when I got to Lauterbrunnen, so the lifts weren't working and some of the trails were closed.”</p> <p>“So what I did was follow a roundabout trail up the mountain, and then follow those ski lifts further,” he continued. “Eventually I got to the top, decided to follow a train track into the middle of a totally empty town.”</p> <p>“I was checking my map to see how I can get back to the hostel, and the only official way down was through a trail that was closed. And that's how I met that handsome cat. She (?) noticed me I was eating a snack and resting my sprained ankle, and as soon as I got up she started guiding me along some path.”</p> <p>The story seems like something out of a fairytale, but the footage doesn’t lie! Have you ever encountered a hero cat? Let us know in the comments.</p> <p><em>Video credit: YouTube / AnimalsVideo</em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><a href="/news/news/2016/08/dying-cat-comforts-owners-on-last-trip-to-vet/"><strong>Dying cat comforts owners on last trip to vet</strong></a></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><a href="/news/news/2016/08/meet-samson-the-biggest-cat-in-the-world/"><strong>Meet Samson, the biggest cat in the world</strong></a></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><a href="/news/news/2016/08/can-you-see-the-cat-sleeping-among-these-logs/"><strong>Can you spot the cat taking a nap among these logs?</strong></a></em></span></p>

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