Laissez les bon temps roulet, as the say in The Big Easy ... let the good times roll. This site dishes up Louisiana lingo with hot jambalaya-literally. A conglomeration of pages and information, visitors to the site (and city) can book hotel and dinner reservations, sign up for tours, learn local slang, and grab a recipe for world renowned Cajun stew. The site is obviously geared to link up sponsors, but a wide representation and original content make this venture more interesting than the average city site. A fun site for those planning to be on, or looking for a little touch of, the bayou. - Robert Capps
Before wanderlust leads you off to your next destination, plan on traveling to this site to make your trip less dangerous. Health information for every country, U.S. State Department warnings on political climates, and references for health-care providers around the globe make this a must-read for travelers-especially if you're heading off to developing countries, where health conditions can be dubious. Although a rather drab little destination itself, Travel Health Online provides invaluable health-related travel information. You won't frequent these pages for entertainment value, but if you're traveling to Senegal, Portugal, or anywhere at all, you'll definitely want to take a look. - Clary Alward
I'm not one for beastly hot, arid climes, so I'll just have to imagine I'm interested in traveling to the desert regions of the U.S. But if I was interested, Desert USA would as good a site as any to begin research for my trip. Travel writers with the personalities of cheerleaders on Prozac-perky doesn't begin to describe them-guide readers to every little deserted hole in the wall, from Joshua Tree to the Grand Canyon. Find descriptions of flora and fauna for every region, and introduce yourself to lots of wacky local color-such as Betty the Bead Lady in Oatman, Ariz. I'm still not tempted, but send me a postcard, OK? - Clary Alward
Bangladesh, one of the poorer countries in the world, has a population of 116 million; produces, among other things, jute, rayon, and matches; and calls the Royal Bengal Tiger its own. Somewhat encyclopedic in flavor, the Bangladesh Home Pages presents extensive information about the country, broken down into areas such as Facts, Sights and Scenes, Arts and Music, and Food and Recipes. Illustrations, scenic photographs, and a number of maps gives visitors a better feel of the country's character, although photos of the ongoing deaths and disease wrought by floods and famine have yet to make their way to this site. - Katherine Stevenson
At first glance Turquoise Net looks a lot like a travel service. It takes some time to recognize the money-grubbing Web site-development company within. Little things start to give it away, such as the small number of countries represented, or the fact that the only accommodations with a decent description cost hundred of dollars a night. Then a quick hit to the Turquoise Systems Group reveals that most of these "recommended" locations and accommodations are all clients. of Turquoise! Billed for the "independent traveler," the site falls so short of being a tourism guide that the only thing a traveler who uses it will be "independent" of is useful information. - Robert Capps
Roaring through India on a bunch of Bullet motorcycles, the Hell's Buddhas search for enlightenment. Or so this site claims. Supposedly, written dispatches from the trip will accompany film and audio uploads to recreate a massive excursion undertaken by people from around the globe. Sounds good to me, but that's not at all what's here now. Right now the site plays forum to self-indulgent filmmaker Lou Hawthorne and his brilliant ideas for making a Web site and film about the journey. GenXers and baby boomers alike can invest in his self-hating, half-assed Zen trip, and promote Lou's ranting with all the spending power of the first world. - Robert Capps
This site is part of Cape Town, South Africa's bid to host the 2004 Olympics, and it is exceedingly well done. The JavaScript work is outstanding, the graphics are impeccable, and everything works precisely the way it ought to work. Even the stated motives are admirable: "Cape Town recognizes the social and economic injustices wrought on its people by the apartheid system, and is committed to ensuring that every aspect of the Olympic process contributes to improving the quality of life of the people in the city, region, nation, and sub-continent." Yes, it's just an advertisement, but it's for a good cause. - Gary Barker
Visitors can tell that Get Lost Adventure Travel Magazine is genuinely adventuresome by the sheer number of exclamation points used on its site. What could be more exciting than a sentence ending with one of them! Or two!! Or even three!!! That bespeaks excitement to me, all right. So if your life is one long Mountain Dew commercial, this is definitely a place for you to hang out when you're in a full body cast, between excursions. Very interesting articles and very useful information for the intended audience more than compensate for the pedestrian design, making this a site worth visiting. But tell me, if all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump too? - Gary Barker
TravelGram is an online newsletter for bargain-hunting travelers; it leads to information about airline, ocean liner, train, hotel, and vacation package deals. It's been a long time since "Web page" has been an appropriate description for very much of what's available online, since most sites have many different pages. This really is just one page, though you could fudge a little and say there are three (one advertises a telephone service and one has a nice set of outside links), but the guts of the site are spilled on one lone page. The site offers good, daily updated information for frequent travellers. - Gary Barker