See the Amazon from you living room (or go out and see it for REAL!)

Google's next Street View project will capture 360-degree images of the Amazon to share the area's environment and culture with the world

For those who have not yet got there, the chance to explore the ecological treasure trove of the Amazon is almost upon us.

This week, the Google team began sailing down rivers and riding on bikes through villages of the world's largest rainforest for its latest project – Street View in the Amazon.

Street View in the Amazon, when completed, will give an insight into remote villages and their inhabitants, tucked along river fronts and hidden far-off the beaten track.

Google's international surveyors will travel along rivers, with 360-degree cameras, to collect panoramic images of the lush ecosystem and local communities, which few will get to experience for themselves.

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If this just all seems a little like trying to eat a photograph of a curry, why not check out the real thing, an authentic, off-the-beaten-track Amazonian experience where the only people you will meet will be the local tribespeople then check out our Amazon Adventure tour. Or if you prefer read a blog of the research trip in setting up this unique Amazon experience.

India's Tiger Population increases by 20%

Official figures reveal India's tiger population has increased by 20% in the last four years

According to India's Environment and Forests Ministry, there are now 1,706 tigers living in and around reservations, national parks and forests throughout the country, compared to 1,411 in 2006.

"The increase in tiger numbers is due to the fact that tiger populations in (the states of) Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka have shown an increase in tiger density," the Ministry has said.

"The inclusion of Sunderbans, some portions of North East and parts of Maharashtra have also contributed to the increase."

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Or why not go and see India's tigers on our Tigers & Lions of India tour. Yes, India does have lions too! Or visit Calcutta and the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve to see the famous swimming tigers.

The Birth of Religion, indeed the birth of civilisation

We used to think agriculture gave rise to cities and later to writing, art, and religion. Now the world’s oldest temple suggests the urge to worship sparked civilization.

By Charles C. Mann - Photograph by Vincent J. Musi

Every now and then the dawn of civilization is reenacted on a remote hilltop in southern Turkey.

The reenactors are busloads of tourists—usually Turkish, sometimes European. The buses (white, air-conditioned, equipped with televisions) blunder over the winding, indifferently paved road to the ridge and dock like dreadnoughts before a stone portal. Visitors flood out, fumbling with water bottles and MP3 players. Guides call out instructions and explanations. Paying no attention, the visitors straggle up the hill. When they reach the top, their mouths flop open with amazement, making a line of perfect cartoon O's.

Before them are dozens of massive stone pillars arranged into a set of rings, one mashed up against the next. Known as Göbekli Tepe (pronounced Guh-behk-LEE TEH-peh), the site is vaguely reminiscent of Stonehenge, except that Göbekli Tepe was built much earlier and is made not from roughly hewn blocks but from cleanly carved limestone pillars splashed with bas-reliefs of animals—a cavalcade of gazelles, snakes, foxes, scorpions, and ferocious wild boars. The assemblage was built some 11,600 years ago, seven millennia before the Great Pyramid of Giza. It contains the oldest known temple. Indeed, Göbekli Tepe is the oldest known example of monumental architecture—the first structure human beings put together that was bigger and more complicated than a hut. When these pillars were erected, so far as we know, nothing of comparable scale existed in the world.

Read more in National Geographic

See Travel The Unknown's tours to Göbekli Tepe

Hornbill Opens the Doors to Nagaland

The seven sister states are in deep slumber year round but this one nudges herself awake every December. Once she is awake she doesn’t waste any time yawning or stretching; she hits the track running. Come the Hornbill Festival – December 1 to 7 – and Nagaland, coyly tucked away in the north eastern tip of India bursts open in a riot of colours, shudders with dizzying shrieks of martial folk dances and gets giddy on the aromatic highs of herbed bison meat and free flowing rice beer.

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The Other Mexico: Slow food in Oaxaca

Mexican food in one form or another is enjoyed the world over. Not to discount the deliciousness of cheese nachos and mega-burritos, but finding truly authentic Mexican food can be a challenge. Indeed, first-timers in Mexico are often astonished to discover that real Mexican food is unlike anything they've grown accustomed to eating back home.

Just as cuisine varies from region to region in France, Italy and Spain, the Mexican culinary landscape takes into account climate, proximity to the sea and historical roots. It can take the form of a hearty soup of corn and beans, a martini glass full of marinated ceviche or a masterfully blended sauce served over a fine cut of meat.

When it comes to slow food, one region that steals the stage is Oaxaca (pronounced wa-HA-ka). Located in southern Mexico between the Pacific Ocean and the highlands of Chiapas, Oaxaca is a veritable foodie paradise of indigenous eats, French-style sauces and some truly amazing mescal.

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Travel The Unknown have just launched their first culinary tour - to Oaxaca, Mexico. Cook with some of the top chefs in the region, travel to the countryside to learn authentic rural cooking using fresh, seasonal ingredients, and visit some of the oldest and most impressive historical sites in all of Mexico - from Monte Alban, the oldest city in Mesoemerica to the pyramid of Mitla and the unique landscapes of Hierve El Agua. See Flavours of Oaxaca.

How will unrest in the Middle East affect tourism?

The past few months have seen great change across Northern Africa and the Middle East.

The presidents of Tunisia and Egypt have been deposed after weeks of protests, and unrest continues to spread throughout the region.

Rajan Datar looks at how the unfolding events will affect tourism in the Middle East.

Travel The Unknown director, Rahul Aggarwal, speaks about the challenges for travellers and tour operators of the current situation in the Middle East ( 2:44 and 6:10) :-)

See video here.

Zapoteca and Mixteca art together at last

MEXICO CITY.- The Bat God Mask, golden objects from Tomb 7 in Monte Alban, Atzompa ceremonial vases, and the model of a mortuary rite, are part of the great exhibition Six Ancient Cities of Mesoamerica in the National Museum of Anthropology (MNA) that opened on March 17th 2011.

Monte Alban, ancient city at the Mexican state of Oaxaca, opens the exhibition organized by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) with 2 stelae created to commemorate the first rulers of the city. The display of more than 400 objects testifies for the cultural development reached at 6 Mesoamerican cities: El Tajin, Palenque, Teotihuacan, Tenochtitlan, Tlatelolco and Monte Alban. Read more

To visit Oaxaca visit our Oaxaca tours page with both a cultural tour and a stunning hiking itinerary.