(CNN) — This week in travel, the United States declared Canada a “very high” risk destination, the world’s most powerful passports for 2022 were revealed and Turkmenistan’s president called for the country’s “Gates of Hell” to close.
Canada deemed ‘very high’ risk
Say it ain’t so! After very low Covid numbers throughout the pandemic, the world’s second-largest country in terms of total area has recently seen a very steep rise in cases.
Spirit Island in Canada’s Jasper National Park.
Jeff Penner/Adobe Stock
Passport envy
Travelers have never had it so good.
No, seriously. Pandemic restrictions aside, passport holders worldwide now enjoy visa-free entry to 107 countries, on average — nearly twice as many as in 2006.
The world’s shortest flight
In Scotland’s Orkney Islands, there’s a regular scheduled flight that takes less time than it does to take off your belt and shoes for the airport security tray.
2021: Year of the Unruly Airline Passenger
Assaults on crew members. Public intoxication. Verbal abuse. 2021 was the worst on record for unruly passenger behavior on US planes, according to data from the Federal Aviation Administration.
‘Gates of Hell’ may soon shut
Turkmenistan’s Darvaza gas crater is celebrated around the world as the closest thing on Earth to an honest-to-goodness portal to the Underworld.
The crater was formed in the early 1970s, when the ground collapsed during a Soviet gas drilling expedition, and it’s been burning off natural gas ever since.
Precious family letters arrive home
In case you missed it
The Soviet Union built one of the world’s most incredible flying machines.
Is there anything more curvaceously carbalicious than the humble potato?