As if Americans weren’t already envious enough of Europe’s wide selection of low cost airlines that charge less than the price of what most airlines in America tack on to check a second bag, they’ve now gone ahead and instituted a price war, driving fares even lower.

“Let’s hope there is a price war,” Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara defiantly said in response to news that British Airways and Virgin slashed prices by up to 25%. Taking the metaphor a little too literally, Mr. McNamara went on to quote Henry V. “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother. And by brothers I mean our baggage handlers, stewards, stewardesses, and dedicated airplane mechanics across Great Britain.”

Not that there aren’t a few deals that trickle their way down to us Yanks. For example, how about Barcelona from New York for under $400? Thinking somewhere warm and someplace where you can actually fly to cheaper than the Europeans, how about South America, with some round-trip tickets for under $400?

In what must be a devastating blow to the hard-scrabbled residents of the city of Duluth, Minnesota, the “Air-Conditioned City,” as the city is known to many long-time residents, was edged out this year from the top 10 places to spend New Year’s by none other than Sydney, with its 1.2 million visitors, day-long festivities, and one of the world’s largest firework shows at the stroke of midnight. Others to make the list this year include Las Vegas, Rio de Janeiro, and surprisingly, and what must be a huge blow to Duluth, New York City. To see the full list of this year’s lucky winners click here.

Not that the British media is known for avoiding sensationalizing the news every chance it gets, but what do you make of the Daily Mail’s response to the British pound’s recent flirtation with parity to the Euro (not to mention a virtual nosedive against the USD): “‘In past decades a currency crisis on this scale would have threatened governments,’ said the Daily Mail.”

I think it’s far more likely you’re going to see suddenly richer folks from the Continent roaming Oxford Street than wandering bands of pitchfork-carrying Brits looking for the head of Gordon Brown. Maybe the Mail’s implying that in years past, such disparity would cause a peaceful electoral defeat for the ruling party, but come one, which sounds like it’d be more fun to see?

Take a step back in time by about 1,000 years at Borobudur and Prambanan, some of the most spectacular sites in all of Indonesia. Borobudur, a vast monument containing 72 Buddha statues, and Prambanan, one of Indonesia’s largest temples, are both UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and oftentimes some of the region’s most popular attractions, but for good reason. Hey, it’s the world’s most crowded island, be glad you found somewhere to sleep the night before.

To answer the above question, I have to admit, zero, but I did just finish re-reading Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone, a book that achieves the rare feet of making one actually want to head to England in the dead of winter. (Come on, there are like flying ghosts, magical feasts of reappearing food, and good-old-fashioned good v. evil showdowns. When has even one of those ever happened when you were home during Christmas?)

I also just read Killing Pablo, a book I’m glad that I read after I visited Colombia, because there’s nothing in that book that makes you want to spend any time there. (An impression I was hoping to dispel with my recent trip.) Did you know they’re making a movie of the book? And that that guy from Entourage (who I saw last winter at a show in the Lower East Side) is not going to be in it.

Anyways, The Guardian rounded up a few of their favorite travel writers (or at least the ones that were around) to help compile a list of the best travel books of the year, a task that seems to beg the question: why didn’t the editors just come up with their own list? The answer, of course, is why do something when you can have someone else do it? That said, I invite all readers to start their own lively section in the comment section below and maybe I’ll cut and paste it into a future post. You know, because I can.

Here’s the list:

• Empires of the Indus by Alice Albini
• The Man in Seat 61 by Mark Smith
• The Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle
• Wizard Of The Nile by Matthew Green
• The Translator: A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari
• The Bridge by Geert Mak
• The World is What it Is by Patrick French

Seedy coffeehouses, hashish-smoking partygoers, and a long history of counterculture, Tangier may be cleaning up its act a little due to the efforts of King Mohammed VI, but it doesn’t take long to see the city like Burroughs did back when he holed up here to write Naked Lunch, or how the countless number of spies who were stationed here did when the city was in limbo and without a country.

Here it is, my Bogotá video, the first of three videos I’m doing from my trip to Colombia. Next up is Medellin, then Cartagena and the Caribbean Coast.

Bogotá, Colombia’s bustling capital city, is one of the best places to explore Colombian culture for the very reason that the city is full of Colombians from all over the country. In this video I check out the view from the top of Cerro de Monserrate, see the sights around Plaza de Bolívar, and travel to the small town of Zipaquirá, where I head deep underground to visit the famous Salt Cathedral, a cathedral carved out in the middle of a mountain.

Did you know that Belize was called British Honduras until 1971? (I didn’t even know it was ever British. Is there anywhere those Brits didn’t at least try to take over at some point in time?) Well now it’s home to some 300,000 people with British, African, and indigenous descent, as well as some of the world’s best coral for snorkeling and beaches for, well, sleeping.

But there’s a strong case to be made to not spend all your time lounging about on the Caribbean coast, and instead head inland to see this uniquely diverse country, with its reggae/african/latin musical tradition, unique towns, and massive Mayan ruins that will have you thinking, man, those Mayans were great at ruins.

Just around the corner from the Acropolis, Dimotiki Agora (or what English speakers refer to rather lamely as the Athens Central Market) is probably the best place to see modern Athens in all its chaotic glory.

Wandering around the seemingly endless corridors of vendors, if one was so willing or so motivated by their OCD, one could count “some 108 butchers, 150 seafood stands and 80 fruit and vegetable stalls” that cram themselves under a giant glass roof and hawk their goods to some 30,000 locals on a daily basis. (Multiply that number by ten come Christmas, Easter, and interestingly enough, President’s Day. Seems Lincoln is huge in Greece.)

There’s also a number of restaurants that can be found underneath where it’s recommended that you sit down and try a steaming bowl of patsas soup (a tantalizing mixture of bull or lamb stomach wall and lamb feet). And you were just going to pick up a gyro? How lame.

Here’s where you can find the market next time you’re in Athens.

I got tipped off to some pretty amazing roundtrip flight deals that Travelocity is running right now, which in a nutshell are springtime flights to Central/South America for less than what it would otherwise cost you to fly somewhere way colder and far less interesting (I’m thinking of you Duluth!).

Here’s some samples: (Click through for the offer).

• Guatemala City … $179
• Lima … $349
• Buenos Aires … $524
• Rio de Janeiro … $669

Having just re-watched “Maria Full Of Grace” I’m naturally skeptical of anyone offering me free flights to anywhere, let alone to Southeast Asia. But not to worry, instead of a shady guy with a bushy mustache who works out of the back of a pool hall, this offer’s coming from the slightly more reputable AirAsia, the giant low cost airliner in Asia (whose logo looks uncomfortably close to Coke’s, don’t you think?).

Unfortunately for any of you who live anywhere where Michael Jackson is not looked upon with favor anymore, this offer’s limited to flights from Vietnam, Cambodia, Myammar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, and within Thailand. Not a bad excuse to make that last-minute trip to Asia though.

A scant five hour flight from Europe and only seven hours from the frigid, frozen Eastern Seaboard of the U.S., tropical Senegal is gaining popularity as a winter destination for those wishing to whittle away their time from the snow and ice by scuba diving, watching exotic birds, lounging on pristine beaches, and taking in the unique blend of cultures that is this former French colony.

Though five-star resorts have been built to take advantage of the natural beauty here, it’s only a short trip from pretty much anywhere in the country and you can find yourself gazing across the pink water that makes up Senegal’s Dead Sea, Lac Rose; trekking out into the bush for a safari amongst “flat-topped acacias and thousand-year-old baobab trees”; or boating through the vast Sine Saloum Delta, home to 600 species of birds and various water mammals. Or you can stay put where you are and enjoy the cool, arctic breeze blowing outside. It’s your choice.

Seen the Vatican? Done the Coliseum? Walked the . . . well you get it. From decorative crypts to Jetsons-like malls, here are the top 10 lesser known sights around Rome you’re unlikely to find in any travel guide.

By Sarah Parker

1. The Hot Air Balloon in Villa Borghese

Villa Borghese may be one of Rome’s most popular destinations during the warm summer months for locals, but not many visitors know about the giant hot air balloon located here. One of the largest in the world, this offbeat attraction allows you and 29 of your closest friends to rise 150 meters into the sky for some of the best views you can get of Rome, short of walking several thousand steps to the top of a cathedral.

2. The Capuchin Crypt

Located beneath the church of Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini on the Via Veneto, this morbid attraction, perhaps best suited for Halloween time, consists of bones from over 4,000 French monks who are said to have fled their home country for the safety of Rome during the French Revolution and whose bones can now be found decorating the walls of the church’s many chapels in intricate patterns such as crosses, flowers, arches, and other happy shapes. Wondering what time it is? Check out the large clock on the wall composed of vertebrae, foot, and finger bones. (more…)

Travel to Vietnam has been exploding during the last few years, with over 4,000,000 international travelers in 2007 alone (a 268% increase from 1998), and it’s probably fair to say that the Vietnam’s well-deserved reputation for food has helped drive this surge.

Far more the pho, Vietnam’s busting at the seams with restaurants serving muc nuong muo ot (grilled squid served with chilies and salt), oc nhoi thit (snail shells stuffed with minced pork and lemongrass), and bun thit nuong (grilled minced pork served with fresh basil and mint, shredded cucumber and carrot, bits of lettuce, and chopped peanuts).

Here’s a few suggestions when in Saigon for where to try some of the best of the above, one of the coolest sounding places being Quan An Ngon, a restaurant that recreates the chaotic and eclectic vibe of the food market, and featuring some 19 separate stalls, each providing their own in-house live cooking show for the diner.

Did I mention that entrees in Vietnam average around USD$3? Yeah, that may also help to explain it’s popularity.

I can admit that I watch way more public television than anyone under the age of 50 probably should (or should admit to), but where else would you find a documentary about two semi-unhinged guys who set out in their mid-40’s to retrace Marco Polo’s journey through some of the roughest and most dangerous parts of the world?

It turns out that they’re really not that unhinged, they’re just two guys who love to travel for most of the same reasons the rest of us love to travel: the love of adventure, the chance to meet new people, the addiction to experiencing other cultures. For my favorite part, check out around 6:25 on the second-to-last segment called “Return To Venice” where the guys look back on their epic two-year trek and remark how the trip helped them discover that the world really has more good people than bad and how “travel is the enemy of bigotry.” So true. I couldn’t put it any better.