I have a little thing for remote places. So unsurprisingly I was captivated by a piece in New Scientist which calculates the most remote location on earth based on how long it would take to travel to a city of 50,000 people. The final call on the most remote place?

It’s official, the world’s most remote place is on the Tibetan plateau (34.7°N, 85.7°E).

From here, says Andy Nelson, a former researcher at the European Commission, it is a three-week trip to the cities of Lhasa or Korla – one day by car and the remaining 20 on foot.

Rough terrain and an altitude of 5200 metres also lend it a perfect air of “Do Not Disturb”.

The article is well worth checking out, even if you aren’t exactly aching to run off to somewhere you can’t be found. They do some interesting calculations based on transportation infrastructure, population centers, and terrain. Cool stuff, with fun maps to illustrate it all.

I want to cross Eurasia, but apparently my goal of doing it in a crazy vehicle is too tame for some. For example, the team of three that is riding on horseback from Beijing to London.

A middle-aged British woman and two Chinese companions on Saturday set off on an epic horse ride that will see them cross China, Central Asia and Europe — and arrive in London for the 2012 Olympics.

Megan Lewis, a 60-year-old British pony breeder and head of the expedition, said the three-year trek from Beijing to London was a lifelong dream.

That’s pretty hard core. At 60 years of age, no less. Good luck to Ms. Lewis, Mr. Jing, and Mr. Wenchao. Hope to see you in London in a few years.

The Eiffel Tower is one of the most photogenic objects in the world. My sister and I stopped by twice while in Paris this last weekend, and I just couldn’t keep my finger off the shutter release. The problem I have is that everyone else has also taken scores of pictures of the tower. As a result I don’t feel happy taking a standard picture, I have to get funky. The resulting photos tell a odd story about how I experienced the tower.

Take the two in this post as examples. These pictures of the tower make it feel like I almost wasn’t looking at it. It happened to be a convenient prop to help make the picture interesting. Really the same problem exists for all landmarks, but I feel it especially the case for the Eiffel Tower simply by being the biggest thing in one of the most visited cities. I’m going to have to start reminding myself when I come across famous landmakrs, while I’m taking my funky photos, also take a plain one, maybe even with me in it, to simply remember the experience of being there.

I don’t typically plan my holiday’s around the “best” time to visit certain places. For example, I went to Morocco in August and Poland in February. But this last weekend in Paris I really lucked out and was there at the perfect time. Not only was there phenomenal spring weather (23 C and sunny), but I was able to wander into Easter services at Notre Dame.

The incense was spectacularly thick in the air, so it added more to the atmosphere than just the smell as the light was caught in the lingering smoke. I’ve never been to a large catholic mass, much less in the world’s most famous Gothic cathedral, and was enthralled with by the organ music and the prayers done in unison. The truly overwhelming moment came when during one of the prayers that everyone knew from memory, and while most people were saying it in French, I heard two people near me doing the same prayer at the same pace in German and English.

Of course there were crowds of tourists around Paris because it was Easter weekend, but the experience in Notre Dame alone was enough to convince me that I need to do much more traveling during culturally significant times.

If you want to dream a little bit this weekend about places that you are not, check out National Geographic’s recent post of top nature videos. Number 10 is above, and if you think that’s good, then check out the rest.