This may be the map Faulkner had with him when he was arrested

Faulkner, a construction worker from California, planned the ultimate immersion travel trip in order to hunt down Osama bin Laden (yeah, you forgot about him, didn’t you?).

Faulkner arrived in Northern Pakistan on June 3rd and checked into a local hotel. He was assigned a body guard by local officials who didn’t notice when Faulkner snuck out of his hotel room with a pistol, sword, dagger and night vision goggles. Faulkner’s mission, the one he choose, to kill bin Laden who he heard was residing in the Chitral region of Pakistan.

If you pick a destination that automatically gives you a body guard, you may want to rethink the trip. If you get a body guard that doesn’t pay attention to what is going on (you can leave him in the dust as you’re juggling a pistol, sword and dagger) then you really need to question the hiring and training of said bodyguard.

Faulkner didn’t get too far as he was arrested by Pakistani officials near the Afghan boarder. He is currently being held and is most likely charged with not thinking clearly. The American Embassy has been notified and will probably have to drop everything to save Faulkner from any further self harm.

What did we learn from this? Your vacation time is precious and you don’t want to spend time in a Pakistani jail. Jail is not fun and I suspect a jail in Pakistan is pretty horrible.

Of course, Faulkner is going to have quite a story to tell when he gets home.

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Now the men in Dubai have proved why they wear robes and not pants by creating the newest biggest building ever: The Burj Khalif, a building so tall that it is actually 11 degrees cooler at the top than it is at the bottom.

This building is not merely huge, it is the John Holmes of construction. It dwarfs everything else and juts obscenely out of the Dubai skyline. It is truly  a man of buildings among boys.

The tower opened in January after four years of construction and spans a 2,716 feet 6-inches tall or 828 meters — 320 meters or more than 1,000 feet taller than the previous tallest building in the world, Taiwan’s Taipei 101, which was completed in 2004.

The fun facts, according to Wikipedia, include:

• Tallest skyscraper to top of spire: 828 m (2,717 ft)
• Tallest structure ever built: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously Warsaw radio mast – 646.38 m/2,121 ft)
• Tallest extant structure: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously KVLY-TV mast – 628.8 m/2,063 ft)
• Tallest freestanding structure: 828 m (2,717 ft) (previously CN Tower – 553.3 m/1,815 ft)
• Building with most floors: 160 (previously Willis Tower – 108)
• World’s highest elevator installation,situated inside a rod at the very top of the building
• World’s fastest elevators at speed of 64 km/h (40 mph) or 18 m/s (59 ft/s) (previously Taipei 101 – 16.83 m/s)
• The first world’s tallest structure in history to include residential space
• Highest outdoor observation deck in the world (124th floor) at 442 m (1,450 ft)
• World’s highest mosque (located on the 158th floor)
• World’s highest installation of an aluminum and glass facade, at a height of 512 m (1,680 ft)

With a pool on the 76th Floor, people can still haven’t gone half way up the tower before they can grab a quick swim.

The building cost more than $1.5 billion to build and is part of the Dubai’s remaking of its downtown.

It just shows you what you can do with a few barrels of oil and the desire to bigger, taller and longer than any other man in the world.

According to tower officials, more than 90 percent of the offices and residents have already been sold.

The figures are simply staggering on the amount of materials used, setting records for everything from concrete pumped to the highest altitude to amount of glass used for a single building (with more than 24,000 windows).

Check out some of the pictures we got from the tower people in Dubai.

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Authorities have already recovered 21 bodies of the 83 passengers and 7 crew members aboard the plane headed to Addis Ababa from Beirut. However, rough seas and heavy thunderstorms, which may have contributed to the crash, have hampered efforts.

An investigation is underway as nations around the world report on the incident. No Americans were on board and terrorism was not suspected.

Other nations were less fortunate: According to reports 54 people were Lebanese, 22 Ethiopian, 2 British, 1 Canadian, Russian, French, Iraqi and Syrian.

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But Travelzoo has found a deal for a package tour of the pyramids, a Nile river cruise and a few more surprises during the eight day trip for $1,299 — including round trip airfare from New York City.

Package plans always come with a little risk — because if the package sucks, you’re stuck with it for a week. And hopping onto a boat to float down the Nile for three of those days may leave you feeling a little ill as well.  (Our tip, don’t drink the water in the river out of a rusty can, which we once saw a man do.)

Then again, all of the hassles are taken care of — you don’t have to worry about finding a hotel, figure out how to get from Cairo to Luxor or much of anything else. (Though, one could argue that’s the best part of traveling.)

There’s always that risk that you’ll be in that group with the annoying tour guide holding up a giant blue umbrella as you speed through King Tut’s tomb and then hurry over to the guide’s brother’s shop.

So whether or not you book a package deal is a matter of  taste.

In either case, you’re still not at home complaining about how you want to see the world but just can’t find the time.

Also, you can buy an original kafiyah scarf for year-round fashionable use — and every time someone compliments you on it — and they will compliment you on it, you can say, “Oh, really? Thanks so much? It’s something I picked up in Egypt in this little kiosk sitting in the shade of the Great Pyramid.”

And can you really put a price on that?

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It appears, no one paid much attention to him. There may have even been a couple crude jokes and snickering through a burka or two. But this 26 year old budding terrorist would not be deterred. Grabbing a flight attendant and holding the plastic cutlery to her neck, he demanded once again to have the plan head to Jerusalem.

Two Egyptian air marshalls sitting in the back quickly got up, beat the man into submission and then let the flight continue on to Cairo. It landed on time. That’s the kind of Middle Eastern efficiency rarely found. No word on when the hijacker will be executed.

The ultimate insult to this entire episode is that our own TSA will use this incident to ban plastic cutlery from American flights. The same thing happened after the shoe bomber incident, which involved a Middle Eastern man boarding a flight in France. Today, Americans still fumble with their loafers and everyone else around the world, just board the plane.

Who’s really having the last laugh?

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So when my guide pointed out a few pock marks near the Jaffa Gate, I knew I was seeing some history. (They come from the Six Days War when Israel invaded the West Bank on a Sunday and wrapped up the whole war before sunset Friday night, so everyone could enjoy a good Shabbat dinner.

Welcome to the Old City: Jerusalem. Thousands of years of history and important religious and cultural landmarks are crammed in the .35 square miles, including the Wailing Wall, the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions all see this city as a major stopping point. Christ was killed here, Mohammad rose to heaven here and King Solomon built a temple on the same ground.

Walking narrow stone streets through the Armenian, Jewish, Christian and Muslim quarters is equally fascinating. Shopkeepers sell everything from trinkets and souvenirs to rosaries and hamsa pendants. There’s a sense of history everywhere you walk.

Wandering through the Jewish quarter, rebuilt by the Israelis following the 1967 war, I passed a slight, gray-haired man walking with a cane. “Arab and Jew, all of us end up in the earth,” he announced, to no one in particular, continuing on his way.

On my final night in Jerusalem, I met up with a Shlomo Gensler, an American studying in Jerusalem whom I met on the flight to Tel Aviv. Before we grabbed a beer at an outdoor café along Alrov Mamilla Avenue, an upscale shopping district connecting old and new Jerusalem, he offered to show me some sites not on any official itinerary. The tourism board may not have approved, but citizens of this ancient city would.

Amid a nearby complex of municipal buildings, Gensler pointed out the site of a car bombing several years ago. The area was once the site of frequent mortar and sniper attacks, and the indention in a wall from the bombing remained visible.

As we sipped beers on Alvov Mamilla, it become clear, even along this new, trendy street made of Jerusalem stone, that the past is never far away here.

This is the final part of Greg’s three-part series on Israel.

Read Part I here.

Read Part II here.

Greg Tasker was one of 3 million tourists to return safely from Israel. There’s some cool, religious and morbid sights to see there.

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Israel’s second largest city pulses with energy, and the blend of cultures give Tel Aviv a cool vibe that needs no translation. Cafés, restaurants and markets are crowded, and the seaside city boasts fascinating neighborhoods, galleries, theaters and museums (in case you’re looking for a bit of culture). You can see why it’s the city of choice for late-night club hopping and suicide bombers.

Finding your bearings is easy. Use the water. If the Mediterranean is to your left, you’re walking north; to your right, you’re heading south; behind you, you’re moving east; and if it’s in front of you, you’re on the beach.

The paths skirting along the beach are busy with joggers, walkers, bicyclists and in-line skaters. Israel is very fit. Every morning groups of men and women practice yoga or Tai Chai on the sand. Kayakers paddle along the calm waters of the shoreline. Jewish hipsters stand nearby smoking cheap cigarettes.

Also worth checking out is the Carmel Market, the city’s largest outdoor market, teeming with fresh fruit and vegetables – how about pomegranates from Galilee or figs from the Golan Heights? Stalls and shops selling spices, herbs, meat, bread and sundries crowd the market’s narrow streets. The busiest times are Thursday afternoons and Fridays before sunset, when Jewish shoppers are preparing for the Sabbath.

Morning runs along the beach led me south to Jaffa, once the port for Jerusalem, about 40 miles east. The ancient hillside city offers panoramic views of the Mediterranean and Tel Aviv. I wandered through the restored old section, browsing artisan galleries, museums and shops. Beyond the old city, I ducked into an expansive flea market and devoured the signature dish – eggs cooked in a spicy tomato sauce and served in a frying pan – at Dr. Shakshuka’s. I don’t know if he was a real doctor.

The holy and historic sites beckoned, of course, and I eventually made my way to the Sea of Galilee, Masada, the Dead Sea and Old Jerusalem, but leaving seductive Tel Aviv was difficult.

This is the second installment of a three part package on Israel.

Read part I here.

Read part III tomorrow.

Greg Tasker often stayed out very late while working on these stories, though it took him a while to sober up before he could start writing.

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Thanks to Gaza, the West Bank and a general reputation of Middle East badness, it’s no wonder many people consider a trip to the Holy Land a suicide adventure. So given the chance to go, I couldn’t turn it down.

The truth is traveling in Israel is far more frightening from afar — something you can milk when you return home. Spend any time exploring this small Mediterranean country, and you’ll quickly realize that you’re in one of the safest most dangerous countries on the globe.

Almost everywhere you turn, from markets to malls (frequent sites of terrorist attacks), you’ll see young men and women in olive green uniforms, rifles slung over their shoulders.

Some 3 million tourists visited Israel in 2008 – a record number – and all of them, tourism officials point out, returned home safely. And chances are, any itinerary you pursue – whether a pilgrimage to a holy site or bar hopping in Elat – is not likely to include Gaza checkpoints or West Bank riots. Hey, it’s not like we don’t have our own problems. How many German tourists do you see spending time in Miami’s Liberty City?

Sure, there are suicide bombings, rocket attacks and car explosions in nearby cities — Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt are Israel’s neighbors and most are a stone’s throw away. Imagine if the United States as the size of New Jersey and surrounded by Nazi Germany, Cold War Russia, Iraq and North Korea — that’s kind of what Isreal has.

Death happens and if you’re in Israel, you’re bound to hear a story about it. Be polite, listen and then walk away. A dollmaker in Ein Hod, an artists’ village in northern Israel, shared with me the story of her daughter who was killed in a terrorist attack in Tel Aviv in 1994.

Those stories are heart wrenching, for sure, but the aura of history — religious and otherwise — and the blending of Middle Eastern and European cultures overwhelms. And although I traipsed all over Israel as tensions heightened in Gaza, I never once feared for my safety.

This is the first in a three-part series on a few spots in Israel. Greg Tasker is an accomplished traveler and writer who never gets scared. Tomorrow: Jews live in Israel or Life in Tel Aviv.

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There’s a certain dangerous romance about travelling to a war-torn region. Peace and stability is for pant suit wearing bus riders, war travel is for hipsters.

The image of bullets flying over your head, bombs blowing up in the distance, the smell or cordite in the morning can all become part of your trip regalla after the next documentry double feature.

Picture yourself, leaning up against the bar, your hand dug deep inside your tight pocket so the only thing visible is your green Support Iran wrist band, “Oh, it’s not like that at all, when I was walking along the Tigris last week, I found most of the mulah quite memorable. There was this one, it was so funny, oh my Allah, you’re not going to believe this…”  

Better yet, no one — other than the U.S. military — has been there. It’s not like you’re looking at that giant red bowling pin in Key West, this is history unfolding before your eyes — though you may realize all that unfolding is not a pretty sight.

Now here’s a potential trip you’ll remember for the rest of your life. Be the first to walk the streets of Baghdad without the comfort of a U.S. military occupation. Germans in Germany don’t even have this luxury.

The American war is over in Iraq as troops pull out of major cities, opening up a number of venues for hipsters looking for a holiday in post Hell. Now your chance to get there before the McDonald’s start popping up like corn stalks in Iowa. And what would sound cooler while sipping a martini and talking about “that time I was in Iraq just for shits and giggles.”

And there’s something for everyone:

Beaches: Iraq offers nearly 24 miles of coastline for any beach goer (though you should be warned about the possible floating mines left over from the last three decades of fighting with Iran, the U.S. and Kuwait (which was really wasn’t much of a fight.)

History: It goes wayyyyy back. Home to Mesopotamia, Iraq is credited as being the birthplace of mankind. It was also home to Babylon, which why you can visit the Hanging Gardens ruins — the current hanging gardens have a much different meaning. Check out its history at Wikipedia. If you don’t like it, change it.

Sunseekers: This place is a desert, during the summer months, that means its very hot.

Nightclubs: You can find alcohol in Iraq, though many places don’t condone it. Make sure to pick up a couple of bottles when you head through Duty Free. This will be a case where quantity should override quality. Also, don’t let the head dresses and full face coverings fool you. Iraqi women are hot. The fact many know how to build pipe bombs and shoot AK47s makes them dangerous too. And that’s simply hotter.

How to get there: You can actually fly to Baghdad right now. Royal Jordanian flies daily to Iraq’s capital — though you will probably need a connecting flight through Syria. Once you land, look for a taxi driver who can act as a tour guide and provide you with real-time information on the status of hotels. Power at said hotels may become an issue. The daily rate could cost between $50 and $100 a day — but that should help guarantee you’re not kidnapped or beheaded during your stay (however, many beheadings do come with a free video for your friends and family).

Hipster Travel Guide has not slated a trip to Iraq just yet, though we’re considering it. We’ve already been there, have you?

Other resources include:

Lufthansa

Austrian Airlines

iExplore is setting up tours as well.

as is Tours.com

Of course, if you need to go now, other tours currently underway are being offered by the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.

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