From the Editor: The best from myWanderlust this week

This week myWanderlust comes with a Health & Safety warning

8 mins

Ever since Hilary Bradt blogged about the joys of risk taking, myWanderlust – and the forum in particular – has been buzzing with danger and intrigue. Daisy asked, 'What is the most frightening thing you've done?' and myWanderlust responded with answers guaranteed to give mothers the world over palpitations.

Sergeant Pluck walked up a mountain in Afghanistan covered in land mines. Liz Cleere sailed through Pirate Alley and lived to tell the tale. DrG found himself on the wrong side of a tide crack in sea ice in Antarctica.

Not surprisingly, it is travelling on public transport that has scared the most myWanderlusters witless. For satkinson it was a bus ride between Pushkar and Ajmer in India. For Kathryn, it was a three day trip from one end of Sumatra to the other. JayR, was a little more exotic – a bamboo raft down a river in northern Thailand – but no less frightening.

Personally, the only time I feared for my life was waiting for a bus near the Bullring in Birmingham. I've been to Somalia, Afghanistan and Zaire, but nothing prepared me for the perils of waiting for a bus, just after closing time, in a major city centre in Britain.

Mattyboy876 took a more considered approach to the whole concept of risk taking and asked whether it was irresponsible to put yourself and others into dangerous situations. Particularly if you expect to be 'rescued' despite government warnings about going in the first place.

Mattyboy876 singles out Syria and Iran, but his post triggered a wider debate. Treacleminer laments the way the British Foreign Office will slap a warning on an entire country after an isolated incident in an equally isolated region. Sergeant Pluck has had first-hand experience babysitting 'fat sweaty journos' in war zones. And cycleeast raises the point of people expecting to be rescued when they climb a mountain poorly prepared in Scotland. Have your say here.

A health warning of a different kind comes with Angela R's post on pancakes. Inspired by Shrove Tuesday she wanted to know where myWanderlusters had enjoyed the tastiest pancakes in the world. Surprisingly, the pancakes of Yangshou in China rate highly, with recommendations from both treacleminer and satkinson. Rhoda1 rates the pineapple pancakes in Laos. And bilbo baggins recommends the short stack at the Sugar Shack Cafe in Huntington Beach. Where did you find the world's best pancakes? Tell us here.

Before I move on from Angela R's post, I just wanted to thank Hideo for mentioning Sydney's venerable Pancakes on the Rocks. My dad used to takes us there as a treat whenever we went into town to see a movie. I was surprised to hear that it still exists – indeed, I just Googled it to make sure. They've lost their logo featuring a well dressed Victorian-era lady daintily eating a pancake, but added restaurants in Northmead, Strathfield, Darling Harbour and the Gold Coast.

Another popular post this week came from nihaoxiongmao who asked myWanderlusters to list their favourite places in the UK outside London. The Lake District rated highly. And it was no surprise to see notorious Cornwall evangelist LaurenAmelia touting the south-west. Hull wasn't mentioned. And neither was Slough. But Liz Cleere did throw in Carlisle, reportedly the happiest city in Britain. Me? I like Wigan. But I'm funny like that.

As usual, questions have been asked on the forum. Notably about TEFL courses, charities operating in Syria and the Ridgeway 40. Stayathome, going against type, wants to know about travelling to Australia to see the solar eclipse. Got answers? Post them here.

It was nice to see some new faces in just back from this week. Kristine Arndt has been hanging out with caimans, jaguars, giant anteaters and vaqueros (cowboys) in Guyana. Clarewilson86 gives us the skinny on climbing Scarfell Pike (be prepared). And Gazbo has been to Tromso where he found the Northern Lights to be especially strong. Old hands Ehalford, ttbko and Bilbo Baggins have returned with the inside scoop on Cornwall, Cumbria and San Diego, respectively. Don't forget to check out Julia69's advice on Guatemala and El Salvador, especially if you like Central American textiles.

Over experiences, myWanderlusters are also recounting tales of living on the edge, or dropping off it, in the case of DavidRoss' tale of tombstone tourism. Steve48 recounts how he risked long term damage swimming in Iceland. Lainecloud walks the mean streets of Tokyo looking for a capsule hotel. And philipjolly scales the highest peak in Bangladesh. Hmoat returns to Belfast and finds that it isn't as dangerous as it used to be. And sararevell recalls the kindness of a desert nomad in the wild steppes of Mongolia.

For a final walk on the wildside, pop over to the photo galleries where Kristine Arndt takes us deep into the heart of Guyana's wild interior and Malgosia leads us through the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan.

Just make sure you're wearing an approved fluorescent vest for that one. On second thoughts, maybe not.

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