Location: This week's episode takes us to Saudi Arabia, where Tony is guided by the winner of the No Reservations FAN-atic contest, Danya Alhamrani. The master of strange destinations heads to the land of camels, deserts and oil to take a "peek behind the veil" of one of the world's more mysterious destinations.

Episode Rating: Three bloody meat cleavers out of five.

Summary: Last year, No Reservations put together a contest to find Anthony a co-host for one episode. After sorting through more than 1300 entries, ranging from creepy, to boring, to downright strange, Mr. Bourdain settles on his winner, Danya, who plans to take Tony on a grand tour of Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia was certainly an interesting episode - it is well off the beaten tourist path, allowing for interesting insight into a country not particuarly well-known by many Americans as anything but a source of oil and terrorism. Tony and Danya set out dispel such notions with a journey into finer points of Saudi cuisine and daily life.

The great thing about running a communist state is that you can dream up and enforce any crazy rule you want -- and the people can't do anything about it.

China, scrambling to clean up its image as the Olympics draw closer, has been making changes to the landscape left and right -- beautifying Beijing, planting flowers and cleaning up the streets.

This week, in an effort to clean up the chronically bad air conditions, the government decided to cut down on vehicle pollution by forcing half of the population to take public transportation. Odd and even ending license plates are now supposed to alternate days that they're able to drive in the city -- and violators are faced with a stiff fine.

As a result, half of the population that formerly commuted by automobile and motorcycle is now trying to cram into the city's public transportation system. The resulting load on the subway system was recently so great that authorities had to shut down several lines to prevent the suffocating crowds -- passengers were only allowed get off of the trains for a while. Perhaps the volumes are a bit larger than the Chinese had predicted.

What would happen to you if you were suddenly forced to take public transportation to work or class? Could you walk far enough to reach the bus or train stop and make it to your morning appointments? Would you let your government prevent you from driving every other day of the week?

The Dalmatian Coast and Marrakech are so 2007 -- you aren't a real hipster traveler until you've visited Iraq's newly accesible tourist destination: Najaf.

Officially opening its doors this month, Al-Hamza airport was just revamped by Kuwaiti investors and is now geared towards bringing in tourist dollars. Najaf, a southern city in Iraq, is home to the shrine of Iman Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed, and apparently attracts over nine million pilgrims each year. Their hope is that this airport will increase tourism by an additional ten percent.

Know what else might increase your tourism? Not being at war.

But perhaps this is an indication of the state of affairs in the war stricken country. As a country, when you're able to concentrate some effort on development, infrastructure and tourism instead of security and defense, perhaps things are looking a little brighter.

As a destination, Iraq has plenty to offer. Before the war, the Antiquities Museum was supposed to be among the richest in the world, while what remains of The Hanging Gardens of Babylon are allegedly in Al-Hillah.

Given the current conflict, I'm still a little hesitant to book my trip out to Iraq. Hopefully some day I'll be able to take my children to see what's left of Babylon.

One of the best parts about travel is testing out the gastronomic culture. Eating pan seared duck at Comptoir De La Gastronomie in Paris, horse sashimi in back alleys of Tokyo or terrible borscht on the streets of St. Petersburg is a great way to get in touch with a culture and society by way of your stomach instead of normal visual saturation.

Similarly drinking the popular destination beverage can bring the same experience. Caparinhia's, a sweet lime cocktail are very popular in Brazil and can be made at home by tracking down some cashaca. Thousands of varieties of sake are available in Japan and many can be found at your local liquor store.

What's most fun about being out of the country, however, is enjoying the forbidden beverages -- those that can't even be consumed in the United States.

Which brings us to the Cuba Libre with Havana Club rum. Though the Cuba Libre is quite similar to a standard "rum and coke" and can be made with any rum, the real flavor and purpose of the beverage is best brought out when consumed with Havana Club, a Cuban rum illegal to import into the States. Downing a Cuba Libre gives you that touch of rebellion and that flavor of foreign places that few other drinks can, which is why I often order it when I'm out of the country.

Next time you're outside of our borders, give it a try. Both Canadian and Mexican bars are usually stocked with Havana Club rum and you'll definitely taste a difference between that and Americanized liquors. Maybe someday (soon?) when the trade embargo falls we'll be able to enjoy a little bit of Cuba Libre at home.

Along with the tips for how to be a traveler that China would like to have back, the Hilton Hotels' be hospitableTraveler section also has a fun, interactive page that will give you a Chinese name. This is another way the hotel chain is helping people gear up for the Olympics in Beijing through its "be hospitable traveler" campaign.

It's simple. Fill in the boxes with your first name, last name, birth date-including year of birth, plus the quality you would like to bring to you, such as, wealth, or good character and, you'll be given your Chinese name.

The Chinese characters, the English spelling, and the meaning of your name are provided almost as soon as you hit the send button.

As the site points out, this is merely for fun. Acquiring an authentic Chinese name involves a more detailed process. Still, this is one way to while away some time.

The name I was given by the web site, Ran (surname) Ji Mao (first name) is sort of close to what my name was when I lived in Taiwan.

I was given a Chinese name where I worked in order to get paid.

In case you're wondering. Ji means: skill, ability, talent, and ingenuity. Mao means: thick, lush, dense and talented.

Dense?! Well, kind of.

Here is the link to the page that will give you your name. And here's a link to an article that lists the top 10 lucky symbols. The one in the picture means "blessing, good fortune and good luck."

If you happen to be near Helena, Montana, here's an option for an outing you probably can't find in your own back yard. I wouldn't have known about it myself if I hadn't picked up Section D of today's The Montana Standard this morning while staying at my friend's house in Butte.

The article on The Last Chance Ranch caught my attention. The ranch offers an old-fashioned wagon ride through the forest to dinner in one of two tipis. The dinner, a home-style cooked prime rib feast, includes a performance by Bruce Anfinson who is well known in these parts as the Charlie Russell of music. Charlie Russell was a western style artist whose work now fetches thousands of thousands of dollars. I mean thousands.

Anfinson says that he aims to give people a slice of the real Montana that he loves. Songs reflect Montana history and culinary traditions. Expect huckleberries. The ranch, now owned by Anfinson, is 102 years old, and according to the article, this is a well-worth it western experience.

Here's the Web site link for the ranch with info about how to register for the dinner.

Two months ago I went rappelling in the Hocking Hills State Forest with Earth, Water, Rock Adventures Ltd.

I was pretty proud of myself that all I ended up with was a scrape on my calf when I slipped on some moss on my first time down the rock face.I could have scrapped a lot more if I had followed the thrill of nude rock climbing.

There is a trend where people cast off their clothes to experience nature from high places in the buff. The trend seems to have started in California, but has been transported to Great Britain as well.

The friend who sent me the article to the naked Barbie on the dash board story sent me this article about nude rock climbing. All I could think of when I read this story was that Jerry Seinfeld episode where he had a girl friend who insisted on being nude as much as possible. Jerry wasn't too thrilled, particularly when she attempted to open a pickle jar.

Nude rock climbing would probably really set Jerry on edge. It certainly brings being naked to a higher level.

Dean Fidelman, a rock-climber and the guy who took this picture has made a calendar dedicated to this endeavor. The project is called Stone Nudes.

His work reminds me a bit of Spencer Tunick's, another artist who sees the human form as one that lends itself well to being photographed sans clothes in nature. There is a simplicity that is very alluring.

One of the best things a person can do before traveling to a new country is to find out cultural norms in order to know how to be polite. It's a great way to make friends, get the best prices when bargaining, and to not create a situation where someone is mad at you because you've made a faux pas without realizing it.

Jim Wells at behospitable traveler.com of the Hilton Hotels hooked us into travel tips to help Americans (or anyone else for that matter) know how to behave when heading to China for the Olympic games.

This is part of the Hilton Hotels' campaign to help people be the stellar travelers we love to love. Hilton Hotels is one of the sponsors of the games and have been getting involved big time. (No, I'm not being paid to say that, it's just an observation.)

Whether you're one of the athletes or a couch potato, follow these tips and you'll leave China happy and the Chinese will be happy to have had you as a visitor.

The tips are presented by athletes in videos and print form. These are a good read whether you are going to China or not since they offer a glimpse into the Chinese value system. From this link, click on the hospitableTraveler: A call to Act box. This will lead you the tips. Click on the learn more tabs to "Thoughtfulness," "Character" and "Awareness." If you have problems accessing that link, try this one. Under the heading "Dining," you'll even find rules for using chopstick rules.

There is also a link to helpful Mandarin phrases like "Where is the bathroom?" When I was in Beijing, I used the bathroom at McDonald's several times. I bet that by the time the Olympics start, Beijing will be flush in Western style toilets.

Location: This week Anthony is in Colombia, a country that finds itself the setting of one of South America's most remarkable transformations. In the 25 years since the death of Pablo Escobar, one of the world's most notorious drug lords, this once war-torn country has emerged like a phoenix from the scars of the past. Colombia offers Tony a tantalizing mix of cultures, delicious food and beautiful mountain scenery.

Episode Rating: Four bloody meat cleavers (out of five) in keeping with last week's rating system.

Summary: Cocaine. Violence. Political instability. These are the unfortunate but typical words that are associated with Colombia, South America's northern-most state. For many years the country suffered under the weight of rival drug cartels, fueled by an insatiable demand for their chief "pulse-raising" product in the United States and beyond. It is these very depictions that Tony comes armed to confront upon arriving in Colombia. Within the episode's first five minutes Bourdain has already pronounced his visit to Colombia as an unexpected delight. Colombia is literally a country-transformed and with killer food to boot.

When traveling time zones, it's a good idea to remember that TV schedules change. When I sat down to watch the 3rd episode of "I Survived a Japanese Game Show," in St. Cloud, Minnesota where were were visiting friends on our way to Montana, I forgot it was Central Time.

The show comes on ABC at 8:00 p.m. in St. Cloud and not at 9:00 like in Columbus. The show had just ended. We proceeded to watch the sunset and drink wine.

Watching online a day later in Bismarck, North Dakota at the Seven Seas Best Western was just as entertaining. To catch you up for tonight, here's the recap. If you can't head to Japan any time soon, here's one way to feel like you're there in an unusual sort of way.

What I liked so much during the first episode is back. There was more about Japan and the contestants reactions to being in the country. Everyone loves being in Japan.

There was also more footage about what it's like to be on a Japanese game show. Less time was spent on the contestants' chatter about their strategies to win, therefore the bickering was minimal which left more time for more interesting footage.

Another positive change in round three was Mamasan's increased TV time. I particularly liked observing the contestants reactions to her. The hugs, the thank-yous, the being ever so polite, even when served a gritty version of green tea that isn't what one likes is so typical of trying to be a gracious guest in another country.