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Visitors line the edge of the Darvaza 'Gates Of Hell' gas crater in Karakum Desert, Turkmenistan, in May, 2017.
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This week in travel, the United States declared Canada a “very high” risk destination, the world’s most powerful passports for 2022 were revealed and Turkmenistan’s president called for the country’s “Gates of Hell” to close.
Here are the biggest new stories from CNN Travel.
Say it ain’t so! After very low Covid numbers throughout the pandemic, the world’s second-largest country in terms of total area has recently seen a very steep rise in cases.
So on Monday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moved Canada to its highest-risk category for travel: Level 4.
A Middle Eastern favorite jumped two CDC rankings from Level 1 to Level 3, and an Asian city-state moved into Level 3, having previously been rated Unknown.
More US cities are adding indoor vaccine mandates, while health oversight is set to ease on cruise ships.
France lifted its weeks-long travel ban on arrivals from the United Kingdom on January 14, while in China, a snap lockdown forced a woman to stay at her blind date’s house for days on end.
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Spirit Island in Canada's Jasper National Park.
Travelers have never had it so good.
No, seriously. Pandemic restrictions aside, passport holders worldwide now enjoy visa-free entry to 107 countries, on average – nearly twice as many as in 2006.
Problem is, there’s no such thing as an average passport. A new report says two Asian nations hold the title of world’s most powerful passports in 2022, and the gap between the highest-ranking countries and those at the bottom has never been wider.
Then there are those extra-special VIP passports – diplomatic, investigative, even presidential – with rights the rest of us can only dream about. Here’s our explainer on the passports that open all doors.
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World's most powerful passports: Global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners has released its quarterly report on the world's most desirable passports. Click on to find out which passport offers the most access in 2022.
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No.10: The citizens of Lithuania (its capital, Vilnius, is pictured) Poland and Slovakia enjoy visa-free access to 182 destinations. The index does not take current temporary travel restrictions into account.
Courtesy Shutterstock
No. 9: Hungarian citizens have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 183 destinations. (Budapest is pictured).
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No. 8: Canada, Australia, Greece, Malta and the Czech Republic have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 185 countries.
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No. 7: Belgium, Norway, Switzerland, the United States and New Zealand (Te Anau on South Island is pictured) have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 186 destinations.
Associação de Turismo do Porto e Norte
No.6: Portuguese passport holders have visa-free access to 187 countries, earning it the fifth spot on the Passport Index, alongside Ireland, France and the UK. (The Portuguese city of Porto is pictured).
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No.5: Swedish passport holders have visa-free access to 188 countries, earning it the fourth spot on the Passport Index, alongside Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands.
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No. 4: The citizens of Finland (pictured), Italy and Luxembourg enjoy visa-free access to 189 countries.
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No. 3: Germany (pictured) offers its citizens visa-free/visa-on-arrival access to 190 countries, as does Spain.
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No. 2: Singapore and South Korea are in second place as 2022 enters its third quarter. Its citizens enjoy visa-free or visa-on-demand access to 192 destinations.
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No. 1: Japan holds the top place for 2022. With this travel document, 193 jurisdictions will welcome its holder to cross their borders.
In Scotland’s Orkney Islands, there’s a regular scheduled flight that takes less time than it does to take off your belt and shoes for the airport security tray.
Loganair flight LM711, between the islands of Westray and Papa Westray, covers a 1.7-mile route and takes just 53 seconds on a good day. Here’s what it’s like on the world’s shortest passenger flight.
And if you’re interested in economizing in the world of aviation, check out our story on why commercial airliners might soon be flying with just one pilot.
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Island hopping: Loganair flight LM711 is acknowledged by Guinness World Records as the world's shortest scheduled passenger flight for its below two-minute connection between two Scottish islands.
Barry Neild/CNN
Kirkwall Airport: Visitors typically board the flight at Kirkwall on Mainland Island, the capital of the Orkney Islands.
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Tiny plane: The service is operated using a Britten Norman BN-2 Islander, a twin-engine plane with seats for eight passengers.
Barry Neild/CNN
Tight fit: There's not much space inside. And no onboard facilities. Passengers are assigned seats to help evenly distribute the payload weight.
Barry Neild/CNN
Front row view: The short flight is a thrill ride with added bonus of being able to watch the pilot at work.
Courtesy Suzanne Plunkett
Papa Westray: After a brief stop en route, the plane makes its record-breaking hop to Papa Westray, a tiny island that's home to about 80 people.
Barry Neild/CNN
Multiple jobs: Many people on Papa Westray hold down more than one job to help keep the island running. Local farmers work as the airport's fire crew when the airplane comes to visit.
Courtesy Suzanne Plunkett
Papa Westray Airport: The control tower at the island's airport is a small block house. It may be rudimentary, but it's hard to beat a 10-minute check in time.
Alamy
Runway's end: Stripes painted on a traditional dry stone wall serve as a navigational marker for one of Papa Westray's landing strips.
Barry Neild/CNN
Ancient site: First stop on a tour of Papa Westray is the Knap of Howar, an ancient site believed to be more than 5,000 years old.
Barry Neild/CNN
Older than the pyramids: The Neolithic homestead at the Knap of Howar was discovered in the 1930s. It's believed to be one of the oldest standing houses in Europe, built before the Egyptian pyramids.
Barry Neild/CNN
St. Boniface Church: This religious site dates back to the 8th century although the structure of the restored church is from the 12th century.
Courtesy Suzanne Plunkett
Mysterious grave: Papay Ranger Jonathan Ford says theories about an unusual tombstone in the church's graveyard may indicate nobility or, possibly, a witch.
Courtesy Suzanne Plunkett
Nature reserve: Papa Westray's North Hill Nature Reserve is a protected stretch of coastal heath that's home to dozens of species of birds.
Courtesy Suzanne Plunkett
Stop right there: Fulmar chicks can projectile vomit a foul-smelling substance at predators. It's best not to get too close.
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Great auk: This small monument memorializes the great auks, a large bird which was hunted to extinction in the 19th century. One of the last great auks in Britain was killed on Papa Westray.
Barry Neild/CNN
Return journey: The tiny plane on its way back to Papa Westray for the final flight of the day.
Courtesy Suzanne Plunkett
Island lifeline: The plane is a vital link to the outside world for islanders. It brings in medicines and post and carries locals to medical appointments and jobs. For older kids, it's the school bus.
Courtesy Suzanne Plunkett
Safety briefing: Senior pilot Colin McAlister gives an over-the-shoulder safety briefing to his passengers.
Barry Neild/CNN
Speedy service: Papa Westray has a slower boat service, but it's hard to beat the airplane when the fastest time for the short hop is 53 seconds. During the flight between the two islands it can reach speeds of up to 150 miles per hour.
Assaults on crew members. Public intoxication. Verbal abuse. 2021 was the worst on record for unruly passenger behavior on US planes, according to data from the Federal Aviation Administration.
And this year’s not looking much better – already American Airlines is saying a man’s been apprehended after damaging a plane during the boarding process.
Here’s what’s been going on in the unfriendly skies.
Turkmenistan’s Darvaza gas crater is celebrated around the world as the closest thing on Earth to an honest-to-goodness portal to the Underworld.
However, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has now ordered the closure of the site popularly known as the “Gates of Hell.”
The crater was formed in the early 1970s, when the ground collapsed during a Soviet gas drilling expedition, and it’s been burning off natural gas ever since.
In the world of international tourist attractions, if the Darvaza Crater is Hell, London’s much-mocked Marble Arch Mound is a sort of underwhelming Purgatory. The $8 million lumpy hillock closed January 9, just six months after opening.
Southwest Airlines
Lost and found: The folder of letters left on the Southwest plane.
Rachel DeGolia
Sibling bond: Philip and Lois Schafer -- who would later exchange letters -- as children.
Rachel DeGolia
Forever friends: Lois wrote to her brother Phil her whole life.
Rachel DeGolia
Memories forever: Rachel DeGolia and her mother Lois before she passed away in 1996.
Rachel DeGolia
Happy day: The letters tell of Lois and Frank Rosen's engagement -- here they are on their wedding day.
Rachel DeGolia
Family history: Lois and her mother Ruth on the Mississippi River.
Rachel DeGolia
Small town kids: Lois, Phil and their cousins at Lansing, which she was keen to leave.
www.alamy.com/Alamy Stock Photo
Ticket to ride: Lois dreamed of escaping small-town Lansing, Iowa, which today has a population of 968.
Rachel DeGolia
Mother love: Lois at her daughter Rachel's wedding in 1979.
Courtesy Sarah Haffner
Guardian angel: Sarah Haffner, the Southwest employee who reunited Rachel with the letters.
Rachel DeGolia
Back to her roots: Lois on the Mississippi River.
A family’s irreplaceable collection of letters from the 1940s to 1970s were accidentally left on a Southwest Airlines flight to Chicago. Against all the odds, they were reunited with their owner.
The Soviet Union built one of the world’s most incredible flying machines.
Now the “Caspian Sea Monster” has risen from the grave.
Here’s what it’s like to buy and restore a century-old home in Japan.
This “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” Tokyo podcast might help get you in the mood.
Is there anything more curvaceously carbalicious than the humble potato?
Check out our guide to the world’s greatest potato dishes.