U. S. Soldiers Home, Washington: during a century of travel (well 78 years!) both in and out of service I have travelled to over 150 countries (I count both North and South Dakota as countries) and for some reason have jotted signs and happenings that I thought funny at the time (and now wonder why). So here is the perfect opportunity to share some of my anecdotes.

In the India train schedule they have all these comments on leprosy.

1. Deformity does not mean infectivity.

2. Leprosy affects all faiths (Me. Surely not Catholics)

3. Any doctor can treat leprosy

(I have three suitcases full of notes I have taken about travel, military, yes, three suitcases. I have to get rid of some of the notes. Guess where I am sending them? Ha!

One Sign in restaurant: do not spit

Do not make nuisance

(Indians use this word nuisance often in their signs. Always reminding you to not make a nuisance of yourself (bad form)

One sign reads Deshi chicken eggs 20 rupees

English eggs 12 rupees

I was told English eggs mean the chickens were imported from England. Perhaps the eggs are smaller than Indian chickens.

They have a neat way of presenting your bill in Indian restaurants (even budget ones.) It is put in a folder that looks like a leather stationary folder which you open to look at the bill and no one else can see the amount of your bill. You then put the money in the stationary folder and close it. If you are host no one sees the bill and also they don’t see how little you leave as a tip inside the folder. I, of course like the system.

Sign in store: Vacancy for peon.

The different color turbans the Sikhs wear have no religious significance or other meaning. They can wear whatever color they wish. The man telling me this said he was wearing a black one because he was wearing a black suit.

Next month, Mac discusses Kenya. If you would like to contact Mac, he can be e-mailed on: macsan400@yahoo.com

What is it: rabies is an acute, and occasionally fatal virus almost always transmitted by dogs, jackals, foxes, skunks, cats, bats, mongooses, and farm animals. Rabies is found on all continents, except Antarctica and Australasia. Doctors have estimated that 2% of dogs in Bangkok are rabid – no, the Beetle did not know that either.

How do I get it: the rabies virus is transmitted in the saliva of an infected animal by biting or licking an open wound. The virus is usually carried by Half of all people bitten by an infected animal will develop rabies.

What happens if I get it: it can take weeks, months and sometimes years to develop, although the usual incubation time is 2 to 8 weeks. Symptoms can include loss of appetite, muscle aches, sore throat, headache, paralysis, spasms of swallowing muscles, delirium, convulsion, and, in worse cases, coma and death. Sometimes, odd behaviours manifest themselves in the form of aggression, agitation or anxiety

Diagnose and treatment: samples of saliva and blood will determine rabies. A course of rabies vaccinations will cure you. A pre-exposure vaccine is available for travelers visiting high risk countries. Seek medical help as soon as you have been bitten. The earlier you can receive rabies injections, the better, even if you have received a pre-exposure course of injections.

How can I avoid contracting rabies: if you are visiting a high risk area, arrange to have rabies vaccinations. In any case, avoid contact with all animals, whether domestic or wild. If you are bitten, wash the bite with soap and water and then with alcohol or iodine to reduce the chances of becoming infected.

After her memorable barbecue in Itaunas, Brazil, Iris and her overland group make their way to Caravelas.

We moved on to a place called Caravelas which was right by the sea, a nice little Pousada (hotel) as they call them in Brazil, with a little dip pool and nice little rooms, with the sea just seconds away. It was here that I decided to get rid of a load of outstanding postcards and so took a trip into the little town to find a post office and send them off. I do hope they all arrived safely because I was advised it might be better to wait until Salvador as rural post offices are notoriously sleepy places, but when I got to the post office, I found it very efficient and the staff of two extremely helpful, and I was able to get directions to a stationery shop so that I could buy more envelopes to post off the rest of my postcards at a later date.

I dare say recipients who receive the postcards initially noticed that the envelopes were stuck down with sellotape in a very haphazard fashion! Well, it was only after I had bought the envelopes and came to stick them down that I realized there was no sticky on them! Apparently this is the norm in Brazil and one has to either buy a glue stick to stick them down or use the facilities at the post office! We have decided that this is probably because it is so humid in Brazil that any sticky on the envelopes would soon deteriorate and stick themselves down before they were used, if you see what I mean.

We stayed in Caravelas for just two nights and then moved on to Caraiva, which is a small island just the most incredibly small boat journey from the shore, it took the boatsmen all of two minutes, I would think to row us across. And this again was an unspoilt place with no built up roads, and the island itself was on a coast line which was reached only by a very basic mud track road which sent us all lurching and bumping around inside the truck as it negotiated potholes, ruts and ridges in the road and at times had difficulty getting through narrow openings and sharp bends and some bridges that looked as if they wouldn't take a horse and cart, let alone an enormous truck!

Anyway, we spent an enjoyable three nights there. I wasn't prepared to enjoy it to begin with because we had such a trek round the island to find our accommodation only to find the place we were supposed to stay at was inexplicably closed, and so it was a race to find the best accommodation available and as usual, Judith and I got left behind in the crush and rush by the younger members of the group to get themselves sorted (there’s no concession on this trip for the aged among them) and so in the end it meant that we were housed in a small Pousada across the road from the rest of the group, but we did pay Reais 5 less than they did per night and got a really nice two-bedded (one double bed and one single bed) room and it took us quite some time to assure our landlord that Martin, who had come to act as interpreter for us, didn't want to share the double bed with one or both of us!)

We also found our landlord had donkeys who came by to spend the night just outside the grounds of the Pousada in a square area formed between two buildings. During the evening, we went to the landlord’s restaurant for a meal and noticed the gate to the Pousada and its grounds had been shut, so we carefully closed it behind us. We met a Brazilian lady at the restaurant, who seeing our difficulty with the menu, came to assist us. It turned out she had spent time in USA and spoke really good English and she turned out to be an artist of sorts, her speciality being designing patterns for materials, and her husband’s speciality was making jewellery and they travelled around on public transport selling their wares. We spent a pleasant evening with them before going back to bed, and then as I looked out over the grounds, once we had got to our room, I noticed we had inadvertently left the gate open and the donkeys, who had arrived to spend the night in the lee of the buildings, had entered the garden and were about to feed off the plants! Well, some of my friends and family know I am not too happy dealing with large animals, but without thinking I went straight down and shooed these three big animals out of the garden and they obeyed me so willingly, I felt quite proud of myself as I closed the gate behind them. (I didn't want to have to pay for all the plants they might have eaten and that spurred me on, I think)

We spent a pleasant couple of days in Caraiva, exploring the beaches and finding everyone so friendly and helpful. Most of the group descended on a particular restaurant for breakfast and to spend the day there while they frolicked on the beach and in the sea, and I just wandered from place to place, studying my Spanish and just contemplating the ocean. There were plenty of places to eat in the evening, mostly serving fish, and we met our Brazilian friends each evening and spent some pleasant times with them. They were in Caraiva to display their wares, and weren't too hopeful of selling much as they were relatively expensive compared to the normal tourist junk, but the lady was just pleased to practice her English and we were relieved because we weren't too keen to learn Portuguese. I had studied it a year or so ago, but I had then decided to concentrate on Spanish and so forgot most of what I had tried to learn!

We then went on to a place called Porto Seguro, which is in the middle of the mining area of Brazil where many precious stones and metals are found and whilst there visited their museum with exhibits from all over the world depicting stones in their raw state and in their polished state, and showing all the various minerals and metals extracted in the region together with the machinery etc to do it with and it truly was a very fascinating exhibition and I spent a couple of hours there. Porto Seguro is an unspoilt town with narrow streets and colonial buildings, unfortunately many of them in bad need of renovation, but it also made a pleasant stopping point for us on the way to Salvador.

Plenty of news about our friends Ryanair.

Despite their difficulties with court cases with the European Union about state aid, (whether Ryanair received unfair state subsidies at its Belgian hub of Charleroi) Ryanair has announced two new European bases in Rome and Barcelona. The new bases would start from January 28 and February 5 2004 respectively, adding 12 routes to its rapidly expanding network.

And the bad news: Ryanair is to close all its recently-opened intra-Nordic routes due to weak demand and switch capacity to destinations outside the region. They plan to end flights from Sweden’s Skavsta to Oslo in Norway, Tampere in Finland and Arhus in Denmark from January 14 2004. Ryanair added in a statement it was also shutting its flights from London to Ostend in Belgium, Maastricht in the Netherlands and to the French destinations of Reims and Clermont.

The good news: new routes will be from London Stansted to Linz in Austria, Bari in Italy, Erfurt in Germany, Jerez in Spain, and from France’s Charleroi to Calladolid in Spain.

You really wanted to know this, didn’t you: you can now buy Ryanair gift vouchers: for more info, see: http://www.ryanairvouchers.com/They say you can choose from 135 routes across 16 different countries (does that include flying into the wrong country – Beetle?) and that for every voucher bought Ryanair will make a £1/€1 donation to charity

Rank Country (GDP per capita)

1. Luxembourg ($36,400)
2. United States ($36,200)
3. Bermuda ($33,000)
4. San Marino ($32,000)
5. Switzerland ($28,600)
6. Aruba ($28,000)
7. Norway ($27,700)
8. Monaco ($27,000)
9. Singapore ($26,500)
10. Denmark ($25,500)

Trevor from the UK writes to tell us of his experience booking flights through the internet based travel company lastminute.com. He says:

Be very careful before booking flights through lastminute.com. I recently booked two flights a week or two in advance of travelling and elected to collect my tickets via the e-ticket mechanism. My account was duly debited for two tickets and I received confirmation to the effect that the e-tickets had been issued. So far so good. We then arrived at the airline check-in desk on the morning we were due to fly only to be told by the airline that they only had one e-ticket on the system and had no record of a second e-ticket ever being issued.

We were unable to contact lastminute.com (the only obvious way of contacting anyone at lastminute.com seems to be via an online web form) and we were faced with the choice of either;

A] Abandon our holiday

B] Pay the airline to issue the other e-ticket

C] Go by myself and leave my wife in England [ just kidding… 🙂 ]

We took option [B] and I contacted lastminute.com to obtain an explanation and a refund for the second e-ticket that we were charged for but never received. I received an email informing me that my wife’s name was too long (longer than a piece of string, presumably) and so they hadn't issued the second e-ticket. No explanation as to why I hadn't been informed of a problem prior to turning up at the airport, or even an apology. The best they could offer was to “request a refund via the airline on [our] behalf”.

We're still waiting for our money, and I'm now considering legal action.

Caveat emptor, as they say.

If you want to contact Trevor, he can be e-mailed on: trev_gs@blueyonder.co.uk

Mac has been reading and researching again! The following travel tips are a culmination of his recent reading.

Luggage tags: these can easily be lost. One potential solution is to put your address inside your suitcase or to put some distinctive marking with a permanent marking pen on the side of the suitcase, such as a circle, or triangle. On that advice, I have put a big cross on each area of my baggage. I hope someone will think maybe there is religious stuff inside, that I am a missionary or something and won’t steal my naughty magazines inside. (Only kidding!)

Getting lost – directions: one person suggested when you go to theme parks or such like, he goes to the right, then to the left and so on and return in reverse. Now why didn’t I think of that! (Globetrotters membership Secretary Kevin takes his compass with him on his trips to Japan to ensure that he exits subways in the right direction.)

Showers: if you don’t have shower clogs, one person suggests putting a hand towel on the bottom of shower tray and standing on it . Another person suggests that when you enter your hotel room you should turn on the shower for a few minutes which will get rid of the build up of spores that cause Legionnaires disease.

Taxis: one person suggested on leaving a taxi, to leave the door open while you are getting your bags out of the boot/trunk., this way the taxi can’t drive off before you have had a chance to make sure you haven’t left anything behind.

Travel on Sundays: I often travel on Sunday but one person recommends not travelling on Sundays as most train and bus times are infrequent or destinations are limited and many stores and businesses close early or are not open, such as money changers.

If you would like to contact Mac, he is happy to answer e-mails: macsan400@yahoo.com

Sally is British and has lived in the UK all her life. International travel as part of her work took her to many countries, including Portugal. She fell in love with the place and decided to sell her beautiful cottage in Malmsbury, Wiltshire, and relocate to Lisbon. In this article, she tells us of getting her first job.

I have started work (about time most of you are probably saying!) this month. I am teaching at a local international school (20 minutes by car) which is great fun. The headmistress has decided that the playground assistants, gardener, porter, cleaners and security staff should all learn English so that they can communicate better with the kids and parents. I have two classes each Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. The age range is between mid twenties to late fifties. Two cannot read or write! I have one Romanian (who doesn’t read or write), and three Ukrainians (one is a qualified engineer working as the gardener, and one is an Economist working as a cleaner). It is great fun and very challenging as I don’t use a text book because I have to verbalise and visualise everything due to the non reading and writing element. On Monday I took them all around the grounds of the school identifying objects – they love “small wheelie bin” and “shed”.

Pronunciation is tricky and the word “fork” does tend to sound like something else! Tomorrow they have asked for phrases to use in the playground i.e. “shut up”, “sit down”, “what have you got there?” etc etc and the cleaners want their cleaning equipment identified. They can now introduce each other, say who they are, where they live and what they live in, whether they are married or single, how many children they have and how many pets – not bad in three weeks.

I have also just had an interview with a language school in Sintra and hope something might come from that and have another one scheduled for Thursday afternoon with a school about 15 minutes from here – so things might be looking up. I am also going to advertise English conversation classes to see what comes from that.

I have joined the IWP – the International Women of Portugal. I though it might be a good way of meeting new people. I duly trotted along to one of their coffee mornings and wondered whether it had been worth bothering. Most of the ladies grabbed a coffee and bun and headed off in groups – not quite what I had been expecting.

One lady did come over and talk and it turned out that her husband worked in the power industry over here, which was a coincidence as it turns out I spoke to him about two years ago when I was headhunting with my friend Cathy! What a small world! Anyway, she invited me over to her house for coffee a few weeks later which was rather nice.

Still not too convinced it’s the right thing to belong to, but I will persevere a bit longer. I have also, via an advert in their magazine, found a brilliant library. It is run by a lady who has converted what were maids quarters at the back of her villa into this gem of a place. There are three sections, large print, hardback and paperback – over 1,000 in total! And it’s all free. She will not take any money for anything. It’s brilliant for getting rid of unwanted paperbacks, tapes, videos etc. She has also got a very good selection of audio tapes. Just listened to second Harry Potter spoken by Stephen Fry which was fabulous and the Alan Bennett “Talking Heads”. I met two very interesting ladies there and have lunch with them at weekends. One of them has lived here for 40 years – she was married to a Portuguese artist and lives in a wonderful old villa with three rescued cats and three dippy dogs. The other lady is fascinating. She used to answer the problem letters in various teenage magazines in the sixties, typed scripts for someone who made blue movies and is quite a character – very strong minded and incredibly opinionated which is a bit difficult at times!

I gave my classes homework for the first time on Wednesday and apart from about two small spelling errors, they got everything right! I am so thrilled. I have also been told by the headmistress that they love the classes – makes me feel quite proud. Our final topic of the day today (25 September) was “what are you doing at the weekend?” We had the usual things like going to the supermarket, sleeping, watching Benfica on TV, celebrating 3^rd wedding anniversary (he got a round of applause) and then with a bit of giggling and translating we had the classic: “On Saturday I am going to the supermarket to do the shopping. I am going to make love on Saturday night”. This got cheers! They really are a great bunch of ladies and gents!

That’s fine. You could also add that I am now working for Big Ben in Cacem teaching three children aged from 6-8 and two adults in their late twenties. The biggest problem with the adults is that they hate the text books they have been given because they are aimed at children. I am trying to devise something of more interest and relevance to them.

Oh and there has been a recount at the library – Jennie reckons there are now over 5,000 books!

If you’d like to contact Sally, she can be reached by e-mail on: pethybs@hotmail.com

The UK Government think-tank Commission for Integrated Transport is currently considering a plan to impose a congestion charge on flights. It warns that the number of flights is growing by five per cent annually from the present figure of 162 million a year. Ten years ago, planes caused 3.5 per cent of man-made greenhouse gases in the world. By 2050, this figure is estimated to rise to 15 per cent.

The toll, to be introduced on flights leaving at the most popular times, could double the amount travellers pay in the UK on departure tax, which currently stands at between £5 and £40. The charge is being considered to raise an extra £600 million to offset the damage aircraft is causing to the environment.

Airlines in Britain already pay £800 million to offset the damage they cause. The commission says they should be paying £1.4 billion for congestion charges on mid-morning or early evening flights. UK airlines have dismissed the proposal, saying passengers were already taxed enough. British Airways said: 'The way to relieve congestion is to meet demand and that means extra runways.' Holiday operator Thomas Cook added: 'Passengers are already being taxed enough.'

Travel with a Challenge Web Magazine is richly illustrated travel information website showcasing feature articles and fast-breaking travel news on ecological, educational, cultural and volunteer vacations around the world.

Visit http://www.travelwithachallenge.com to find out more.

Mtwara (pop:approx.100,000) is the nearest town to Mikindani, in South eastern Tanzania. It is the administrative centre of the region, was the southern ‘capital’ in Colonial times and serves as the springboard for travel south into Mozambique. It can be reached by air from Dar es Salaam to Mtwara’s own airport, by sea from Dar es Salaam on the MV Santorini or by road from north, south and west. The approach to Mtwara from Mikindani undulates along a stretch of rural country that eventually goes up a long gradual hill. Along the metalled road are the saltpans, and behind them on the right hand side is a large coconut plantation. Just before the hill begins is the turning off to the right, which takes you to the airport, and the road to the Ruvuma River & Mozambique border.

As the road goes up the hill towards Mtwara it runs along an escarpment – great view over the countryside from there – and comes to a roundabout with a monument to the Mwenge or National Torch. If you turn left you approach Ligula Hospital, built with British money in the early 1960s – turn right and it takes you to the market area (more of that later). Straight on and on the right you pass a large open area called the Showground, which seems to be both the local militia training ground and the HGV driving school site. Both activities have been seen there – the militia several times per week. A rag taggle lot of men, women and some no more that children but given a panga each, they would probably not be good to meet! I think that basic training started at about two months ago and they have progressed to the slow march – they seem to spend a lot of time on that activity. The whole platoon was seen setting off to jog down the main road towards Mikindani – some had dropped out by the time they reached the roundabout! At this point the road goes down a long straight dusty hill with acacia trees either side plus an occasional mango tree, and occasional office buildings such as the Tanzanian Revenue Authority, the local government departments, the Air Tanzania local office and Tanesco offices. 2 storeys seems to be the maximum here so nothing too big.

If you continue to the end you come to a T-junction. Opposite is the Catholic church we went to for Joyce’s wedding, turn right and it takes you to the Port from where the MV Santorini departs to Dar es Salaam – turn left and you get to Shangani – the up market part of the town where the wealthy residents live and many of the NGO’s have their offices there too. Shangani also boasts a good swimming beach. But before you get that far there are several streets on either side – none of which have good surfaces. Immediately any expected notion of being in a regional capital is dashed. One is supposed to be a metal road but the surface is dreadful, and there are 3 of the most vicious ‘sleeping policemen’ you could ever imagine. The rest are just mud/sand/dust road surfaces (depending on the season). Driving along the main shopping street feels more like being at sea it is so undulating both backwards and forwards and side to side! Nothing at all is spent on roads. Mtwara is in 2 parts really – the older part being around the tiny Aga Khan Park, mostly built in the 1950’s & 60’s.

The main shopping street in the Aga Khan Park area is mostly Indian shops – with strings of (very old and dry) mango leaves strung across the door for good luck. There is the ‘off licence’, the shop where all the Landrover spares come from that also sells hardware and bottled gas, there is another shop that sells all sorts of imported food Cornflakes, Alpen, Heinz tomato ketchup etc.

A little further on, in the Chiko Ngola area, is the market and the Bus station. Just before you turn into the main street that leads to the market there is a crossroads. On one corner there is a huge Coca Cola bottle, which marks a drinks kiosk! On the opposite corner there is a patch of open ground in front of the Mtwara football ground. On this patch of ground the cashew nut co-operative hangs out – waiting for buyers to approach them. The nuts are sold in 1 kg or ½ kg packs. It is worth pulling up the Landrover on the corner just to see the sight of the most competitive co-operative saleswomen – they are really aggressive and rush over thrusting packs of nuts into the window of the vehicle and pushing each other out of the way! So much for being a co-operative!

Another feature of Mtwara, in common with many towns and villages throughout Tanzania, is the imaginative use of old shipping containers. These are converted into shops, offices, hairdressing salons and bars. They are fitted out with electricity and some are painted with a brick effect design on the front. Mtwara reminds me a little of an American West town, sort of neglected, dusty and rather chaotic. The fuel station that we use is on one of the worst roads – and each time I have been there I have to wait for herds of cattle to be driven along the road before I can leave! It looks just like an American cattle drive! On one occasion there was also a flock of Guinea fowl wandering along the road. You are likely to find very free ranging chickens, goats and cattle wandering around all the streets – with no apparent ownership. It has been known to meet any of these in the Bank car park.

One of the guide books refers to an ‘endearingly time-warped atmosphere’. This Mtwara certainly has despite it trying to portray an air of activity and modern commercialism. There is something very appealing about it!

For more information on the work carried out by Trade Aid in Tanzania, see their websitewww.mikindani.com

Former Globetrotters Committee member Stuart was recently based in Cambodia whilst working for Voluntary Services Overseas. In this article, he gives us the benefit of his experience and tells us his top tips.

Transport

Tuk tuk (seats 2) – $8 a day (sunrise to sunset) for the central temples (Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm), $15 to go to Banteay Srei, they may want and extra $1 to go to Neak Pean but this is a bit cheeky.

I recommend Kinal as a driver – very gentle person, speaks a bit of English, drives slowly and carefully, has a nice new tuk-tuk. Tel: 012 909 730.

Alternative is to go by moto for about $5-8.

There are 2 boat options – new Japanese boat or old boat. The new one has just started and they had a promo deal on for July and Aug of $30 o/w but the normal price is $55, which is comparable to flying. It’s about the same time as the old boat. Guesthouses in Siem Reap can arrange tickets. It has an air-con downstairs with nice seats, free meal and drinks, normal volume films and a covered deck with chairs. They also pick you up and take you to/from the boat at both ends. Additional perks include life jackets and lifeboats, which are not to be found on the old boats.

The old boats are normally $25 o/w but they dropped their prices to $10-15 in the face of competition from the new one but they may well go back up again once the promo period is over. Old boats all seem to be quite similar – “bullet boats” or “express boats” or “rambo boats”. Basically a metal cylinder with cramped air-conned interior and VERY loud videos (Khmer comedy or kung fu – bring ear plugs). Trick is to get a seat away from a speaker and not too close to the back (engine noise and industrial strength aircon). Probably not for claustrophobics as the only 2 doors are small and what would happen in the event of an accident doesn’t bear thinking about.

Alternatively, sit on the roof – take plenty of sun cream, water and a scarf (2-3000 riel for a kroma – checked Khmer scarf, from any market) to cover body parts that will get roasted/soaked regardless. Once the thing gets going it is very fast and exposed. There is no barrier at the outside edge of the boat, only a ledge to walk along and a rail at shoulder height to hold onto, so if you need to go to the loo (inside) during the 5-6 hour trip (cf. drinking lots of water tip above) then don’t fall in on the way as they probably won’t stop to pick you up. Put valuables in plastic bags to avoid them being drenched.

However, if you want to take photos then the roof is the place to be. There is a Vietnamese floating village just at the Siem Reap boat boarding place which is very photogenic. Once in the lake itself the scenery is not great as the banks are far away. The stretch from Kompong Chhnang to PP is scenic as the banks are close and there are lots of other boats fishing etc.

Food & Accom

I haven’t tried too many places but can recommend Soup Dragon (run by an ex-VSO) and Blue Pumpkin (also does good bakery things). Watch the restaurants near the temples – they’re much more expensive than elsewhere (as are the drinks stands – buy in Siem Reap and leave them in the tuk-tuk). I’m not sure but I think some places have 2 menus – one for foreigners and the other for locals. The alternative is to stock up on picnic things in Siem Reap.

Top tip: you can swim in the very nice pool at the Angkor Village Hotel for free – just be discrete about it.

There are loads of places to stay in all price ranges. We stayed at the Green Garden Home guest house, which is a little out of the centre i.e. a 5-10 min walk to the market. Quiet garden setting with rooms from $10-25.

Shopping

Don’t bother buying souvenirs here as they’re much cheaper and better quality/selection in Phnom Penh. One thing you might want to get is the Angkor guide book by Dawn Rooney which gives you the detailed low down on each temple. $2-5 for a photocopied version, available everywhere. There are also 2 little visitors’ guides available in guesthouses which have up-to-date maps and listings.

Temples

This year the Government has introduced photo passes – you get taken into a little room and have your picture taken (free – or you can take a photo along if you prefer/have one to hand) for putting on your pass. $20 for 1 day; $40 for 2-3; $60 for 4-7. 3 days is nice and not rushed at all, you probably need 2 minimum if you want to get to Banteay Srei/not hang around; it probably is possible to cover most of the main sights in a day if you happen to be Japanese. Reserve one of your days for a sunrise/set visit – recommended.

There are loads of temples to see and they’re spread over a huge area but recommendations are:

• Angkor Wat – can’t come to Cambodia and not see this. There are 2 pools inside the grounds ideally situated for sunrise/set shots. Make sure you’ve got a guidebook that can explain the bas reliefs – the churning of the sea makes more sense once it’s been explained. Stairs to the top are precarious.
• Angkor Thom/Bayon – doesn’t look much from afar but once inside those faces really get to you – a marvel. Don’t forget to check out the bas reliefs here too – lots of apsaras in good condition.
• Ta Promh – overgrown with trees, looking a bit like it’s just been discovered. Atmospheric but difficult to photograph in the rain as it is quite dark.
• Banteay Srei – a trek from Siem Reap but well worth it. Very different from the main temples – it’s made from red stone and the carving is very intricate. It is surprisingly small.
• Pre Rup – on the way to B. Srei and it just seems to appear from nowhere. I particularly enjoyed trying to explain elementary arithmetic to the girl on the top – she wanted to sell 10 bangles for 4000 riel but refused to sell 5 for 2000!
• Preah Neak Pean – because it’s so different – it comes as a bit of a shock after all those crumbling temples. This one is a complex of 5 pools. Very little to it but a change is as good as a rest.
• Others:
• Banteay Kdei – quite similar to the others. Maybe I was getting watted out by this point.
• Srah Srang – the king’s bath but really just a set of stairs and a field!
• Preah Khan – has “enchanting walks”. Shaped liked a huge cross with many of the designs similar to other temples.

We didn’t make it to the Roulos group (the earliest temples), Phnom Kulen, the river of 1000 lingkas (apparently very good once there’s been enough rain to cover the carvings) or any of the other minor places.

Film

Film is available cheaply in Siem Reap. Not so sure about quality of processing but can recommend a place in PP which is cheap, quick and good.

If you go for a sunrise/set visit to the temples and you’ve got an SLR then underexpose to get nice silhouette shots.

Take at least 400ASA film for the temples as some of them can be surprisingly dark, especially if it is raining/cloudy – you may find yourself needing a flash at times.

For more information, visit Stuart’s website:http://uk.geocities.com/stuartincambodia

Spotted by our webmaster, Paul. If you are planning to travel in Europe by train, then the links below will take you to the English language versions of local rail journey planners. The majority of these provide timetable, ticket and booking facilities.

Alhabib is from the Tuareg people in Libya and sent us this fascinating insight into the Islamic festival of Ramadan.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. It is during this month that Muslims fast and when Muslims concentrate on their faith. It is a time of worship and contemplation. There are fairly strict rules about how one can live during the month of Ramadan: during the Fast of Ramadan, Muslims are not allowed to eat or drink during daylight hours and smoking and sexual relations are also forbidden during fasting. At the end of each day, the fast is broken with prayer and a meal called the iftar. In the evening following the iftar, it is customary for Muslims to go out visiting family and friends and the fast is resumed the next morning

As the holy time of Ramadan approaches, everyone is very happy and starts to prepare for it. The women in the home usually prepare special meals for the month of Ramadan. Everyone is happy and anticipating the coming of this holy month. Ramadan begins after watching the crescent shaped moon at midnight or even later. During this period, Muslims start their day before early dawn and eat a meal, called the Sahour. This is sufficient for fasting for the day. After that, they begin the worship and call to God for forgiveness. All Muslims must fast between the hours of dawn and dusk.

Before sunset the women prepare delicious savoury food. At sunset , when the call to prayer to Al Magreb is made, all the family gather round the feast to eat. They begin with some dates and some milk (this is the sunna of the prophet Mohamed ) and then begin the Magreb prayer. After praying they return to eat and drink. There is lots of visiting going on and much time is spent with friends and all houses are open to receive any guest from anywhere.

After eating the Iftar (breakfast), much worship and prayers take place during the month, and at night, when the call to prayer for the evening Aisha begins, people go to the mosques to pray evening prayers. They pray the Al Traweh prayer and this continues every night. On the 27^th night, the Greater Night (Alila Alkabira ) which is called (Night of Al Gadr), the holy Koran begins to descend from heaven to prophet Mohamed. On this night people recite the Koran all the night until dawn so as to be close to God.

After the end of the holy month of Ramadan, the holy Bairam comes. In the Morning of the first day of the lesser Bairam, the people get out to the Plazas to pray the Feast prayer. It is two bows: after praying, each person begins to greet each other (Alsalam) happily and to wish him a merry feast. After the Feast after the holy month, the lesser Bairam continues for three days, all of it to visit friends and family and everyone is happy.

If you would like to contact Alhabib about Ramaddan or Libya, he can be reached by e-mail on: tenerecotour@yahoo.com

The pilot’s safety briefing was interrupted by a loud squeal. “Was that a pig? If it makes a mess you’ll have to clear it up when we reach Hagen” he said indignantly to the woman with a large bulge under her coat. The pig squealed repeatedly as we took off but was quiet for the rest of the 45 minute flight – another small incident in travel around Papua New Guinea, the land of the unexpected. The previous flight to Tari had been over 4 hours late: “As the weather was unusually fine, we took the opportunity of using the aircraft to visit poorly-served airstrips before sending it back towards Hagen” the fat controller eventually explained. At Tari we watched the Spirit Dancers, Huli wigmen dressed up in all their finery with head-dresses of Birds-of-paradise feathers and cloaks of Cuscus skins, performing their dance to help overcome problems such as serious illness. Higher up, in the moss-covered forest, a King-of-Saxony Bird-of-paradise performed a similar dance, bouncing up and down on a thin branch, swaying his bizarre elongated head feathers and singing just as tunelessly as the Hulis.

The Central Highlands Highway was now open to regular traffic, thanks to recent patrolling by police vehicles. It had effectively been closed for years by the presence of “rascals” who stopped and robbed any who dared to use it. Now it was possible to drive from Tari to Hagen in 8 hours instead of at least 20 on the safe route. We took part of this when we travelled from Hagen to Lake Kutubu, mainly in the back of a lorry masquerading as a Public Motor Vehicle. The “5 hour” journey took 8 hours and included another pig on board, very well behaved this time. We climbed up and down mountains, mainly through a semi-cultivated landscape, dotted with patches of forest, before dropping down through hills covered with young forest. My backside felt thoroughly tenderised after bouncing up and down on the wooden plank cum seat as we hit numerous potholes. We got off at dusk and had to wait for a boat to take us to Tubo Lodge on an island in the picturesque lake. The jovial local headmaster explained the meaning of time: “I know that if you say you will meet me at 7.00, you will be there at 7.00, not 6.59 or 7.01, but if a Papuan says 7, he will arrive at 9.”

We took a birding trip to the mainland with bare-footed Robert as guide. We had a good time until it started raining in earnest, so we returned to where the canoe had been left. “The others have taken it to the village, we will walk there.” “How long will that take?” “It depends how fast we walk” – we had heard this before. It took an hour, without stopping, as we slithered along the muddy path which looked as though it had not been used for weeks – a wrong assumption as we met four children who were walking to a village some 10 km away where the school was. They would live there during the week and walk home for the weekend. I was happy to accept Robert’s helping hand, such as when we crossed streams on slippery rocks, but my companion stubbornly refused all offers. He fell into one stream, soaking both feet – no, I didn’t say that. In the village, the men played touch-rugby and the children touch-basket ball. The men all lived in a single longhouse, each with their own fire next to their bed, and the women and children in their own family houses.

After returning to the lodge, we proceeded to the other side of the lake to see the bleached skulls and bones of the locals’ ancestors, laid out on a ledge beside a chalk cliff. Their glory had been to be killed by the Japanese in World War II. Later, we ate delicious small crayfish, speared by boys standing precariously at the front of a small wooden canoe. One of the local women had a fever, probably malaria; we gave her some pills to help – the nearest pharmacy was at least 6 hours away. In the early hours I spent a long time in the rain trying to see a very rare bird, Wallace’s Owlet-Nightjar, which called only once or twice every 10 or 15 minutes. He won, I had to leave at 05.30, to go home. The first step was to get the guys out of bed to take me by canoe to the other end of the lake, an hour’s journey in the rain. There was no sign of the vehicle to the airport: “The man allotted to arrange this forgot to do it”, said Penny in a matter of fact way. We walked it in 45 minutes, in time for the 30 minute flight to Hagen, followed by an hour in a jet to Port Moresby, 6 hours to Singapore and 12 hours to Heathrow, where my bag failed to appear, one hour to St Pancras, 3 hours to Sheffield and bus home, only to find there was no-one in and my key was in my bag still in Singapore…

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