Around the World in 90 Seconds

Photo by Minnesota Historical Society

Today I’m doing something different. In searching small town news lately, I’ve come across a handful of too-good-to-pass-up stories about small towns outside of the U.S. So instead doing my piece on one small town in America, today I’m giving you snippets from around the world. Enjoy the trip.

Two Humps or One?
Did you know that two-hump camels are found only in the Ladakh region of India? The small town of Deskit has built an entire tourism industry on the backs of these dromedaries. Literally. About 50 visitors a day come to the town to see and ride the camels. But that could be coming to an end. Because of a shortage of basic amenities, the camels are dying out. Thirteen died on one safari farm last year. Deskit townspeople are worried that if something isn’t done soon, their livelihoods will become extinct along with the two-hump camel.
Read the Article ® Double-hump camels on verge of extinction in Ladakh

No Smoking. Period.
Smokers who are banned from buildings, buses, and businesses usually take to the streets to sneak a smoke, but if a small town in England has its way, those will be off limits, too. Stony Stratford (population 12,000) is the first town in England expected to ban smoking on the streets and in any public place. Nonsmokers applaud the move; smokers lament that they will have no place left to smoke. I think that was the idea.
Read the Article ® British town to ban smoking on streets

Unlikely Allies
It’s boom time in Löcknitz, Germany (population 3,027), and the town has its neighbors from Poland to thank for that. Löcknitz is in one of the poorest regions of eastern Germany and was struggling to survive, when Poles working in Szczecin, Poland discovered the town and its cheap housing. With Szczecin only twenty minutes away, Polish workers are happy to drive a few miles to save 85 percent on housing costs. And German shopkeepers are happy to have their business. They say politics makes for strange bedfellows. So does affordable housing, as it turns out.
Read the Article ® A Polish lifeline for an ailing German town

Crossed Legs
When the women in Barbacoas, Colombia (40,000) want something, they know how to get it. In this case, they want a new road. The one they’ve got is in terrible shape—it takes more than 10 hours to travel to the nearest town 35 miles away—and it’s been that way for 20 years. The women are fed up, and so last week they went on a sex strike. Called the “Crossed Legs Strike,” the men in the town aren’t “gettin’ any” until the women get a new road. Something tells me it’s not going to take another 20 years to get that road fixed.
Read the Article ® Women refuse sex until their road is fixed