Hello all,

IÂ’m back from a very enjoyable trip to the Bordeaux region of France where we managed to catch an almost a perfect week of sunshine, fine food, excellent wine tastings and some challenging mountain bike rides. Ile de Ré http://www.holidays-iledere.co.uk/ made for a relaxing weekend by the coast before we headed inland, towards St Foy le Grande and a friendÂ’s converted barn. It was an excellent escape throughout and the only mishap came as I slid off my bike as I sped too cockily round a gravel covered corner – I was very quickly reminded about the foolishness of not concentrating at all times J

Compared with my gentle trip though, eNewsletter readers & contributors have been very busy themselves during the last month or so…planning and organising travel on a wider, more adventurous scale:-

• Jennifer Barclay who first went to South Korea in 2000 and travelled around the country for three months before writing MEETING MR KIM: OR HOW I WENT TO KOREA AND LEARNED TO LOVE KIMCHI, published last year. This year, in late September, she went back and was able to visit Jeju Island (Jeju-do), south of the mainland — and had an unexpected encounter with the famous diving women – her article below, Write in (1), is an excellent & personal account.
• The club itself has new branch starting up in Chester (UK), enthusiastically organised by Hanna Bastiaansen and actively supported by the Committee…see Write in (2) for further details of its first meeting
• travel shows in London are getting ready for their busy season in the New Year and the first to come to our attention is perhaps one of the largest – DestinationsÂ’ details are listed below in Write in (3)

ThatÂ’s all for now – thank you for all your contributions this time round…IÂ’ve even been able to keep a few interesting items back for the next edition. Keep travelling & keep writing…

The Ant

theant@globetrotters.co.uk

After this year’s Annual General meeting we were straight into two very different and equally enthralling talks‚- our first at the newly refurbished Church of Scotland‚…which is now a lot more welcoming to visitors !

Lois Pryce – Lois on the Loose – Alaska to Ushuaia, Solo by motorcycle.

Lois Pryce left her job at the BBC to ride her motorcycle from Alaska to the tip of South America, alone‚- this talk was about what happened along the way and what drives her. See Lois’s web site for fuller details of this trip and what she’s been up to since – www.loisontheloose.com.

Dan Bachmann -The Karamojong: Forgotten Tribes

As the club’s winner of the first 2009 travel award, Dan spoke enthusiastically about “On a far corner of Uganda live the Karamojong – a group of people who live by a unique culture that has existed for hundreds of years, but they now face the influence of the outside world coming from multiple angles. This talk will leave you hanging about the fate of these people where the modern world is as much as a threat to existence as a key to survival.”

Details of the London branch’s forthcoming meetings, September through to December 2009, can be found at https://globetrotters.co.uk/meetings/lon10it.html

The London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend. There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh in September. For more information, contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the web site: www.globetrotters.co.uk.

For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.

The Ontario branch meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.

By Jennifer Barclay, author of Meeting Mr Kim: Or How I Went to Korea and Learned to Love Kimchi (www.authorsites.co.uk/jenniferbarclay) October 2009

The morning air is humid and salty, the sea calm, a silvery blue. The beach is so close I canÂ’t resist a swim. As I turn towards Jungmun, where dunes covered in lush green foliage trail down to a soft pale sand beach, I spot the diving women like seals in their black wetsuits, out in the ocean off the sharp black rocks, visible by the orange buoys from which they suspend the catch. They come up for air every couple of minutes, then dive back down again. One is walking up to shore, carrying a heavy net sack filled with shellfish on her back.

The haenyeo, or women divers, have been diving for abalone, sea urchins, sea snails and other seafood here on South KoreaÂ’s Jeju Island for over three centuries. While the men went to sea in fishing boats, women learned to dive, sometimes from the age of six. ItÂ’s a dying culture, however. There are still 5,000 women divers in Jeju, but their average age is 65; young women are no longer learning the skills required to dive all day without oxygen tanks to depths of ten metres or more.

Although I visited the haenyeo museum, I didn’t expect to see the female divers themselves, just around the corner from my hotel. I came to Jeju to walk in the lava tubes and up the dormant volcano of Hallasan, both UNESCO world heritage sites. The forest-covered national park covers a large part of the island and is Korea’s biggest ecological treasure. Semi-tropical Jeju, the biggest of the islands and known as the Hawaii of Korea, has a population of half a million, and has been a self-governing province since 2007. Popular with visitors from China and Japan – and Philippinos, who come here to see snow in the winter – it is barely known to the west, and yet English is widely spoken. ‘We love having you here’ say signs in English everywhere. Except for July and August, the beaches are practically empty, while activities include walking the coastal paths, golfing, horse riding and attractions such as the ‘humorous theme park’ Love Land.

Meanwhile, in spite of all this twenty-first century activity, the haenyeo divers survive mainly through their wits and the strength of their communities. In the old days they would build a shelter and a fire, and in the evenings the older women would pass on their skills to the younger women. Although wetsuits have replaced the cotton suits they used to wear (with adjustable buttons for diving when pregnant), they still dive without breathing apparatus, going down ten to twenty metres for one or two minutes. Surfacing, they let out a whistle-like shriek to exhale the carbon dioxide and take in oxygen for a minute before diving again.

These incredibly strong women haul in their catch on the rocks, then still dressed in wetsuits theyÂ’ll hustle in a good-humoured way for customers here by the beach. Go In-ho is the oldest haenyeo in this community. She started at fifteen years old, and has been diving for seventy years. She looks hale and hearty.

‘If my health stays good,’ she says, ‘I’ll keep going for another five years.’ For eight days she works here, and for eight days she works in the barley fields. Jeju-do cannot grow rice and its fields are protected from fierce storms by dry-stone walls built with volcanic rocks. The island is known for its ‘three plenties’: wind, rock and women. The men didn’t always come home from fishing on the treacherous seas around Japan and Russia.

Tables are set out right by the water’s edge, and several customers are already eating and drinking at 10 a.m. One of the haenyeo in a heavily patched and darned wetsuit takes a fish from a bucket, de-scales it and slices it up with a sharp knife, cleaning the board with a hose. She pulls out an octopus, hacks off the black ink sack and puts it in a pot on a little stove. Here’s your locally sourced food, freshly prepared – it doesn’t get much fresher. The chef’s kitchen is right here at your feet. Having served the food she takes the banknotes and stuffs them into the diving mask on her head.

We sit down, and Go In-ho gives us a plate of whelks, which Dami shows me how to wind out of their shells using a toothpick.

In the UK weÂ’ve got perfectly accustomed to eating sashimi when itÂ’s cut into soft pink and white squares, but Korean raw fish restaurants always look more like pet shops, piled with bubbling tanks where odd-looking creatures lurk and writhe. The fish in the tubs here, meanwhile, barely notice theyÂ’re out of the water before theyÂ’re chopped up and on a plate. We take a small snapper, which comes still with skin and a few little bones, but Koreans arenÂ’t fussy about that. And we eat white slices of raw squid head with sesame oil.

I’ve vowed to be adventurous on this trip. I look into the tank and can’t bear to ask for the octopus, although I love it. Koreans eat baby octopus while it’s still alive, which seems unnecessarily cruel to me (‘Yes, but very tasty,’ according my guide). No, it’s time to conquer my fear of one of Korea’s favourite seafoods: sea cucumber, which looks like a big fat spiky caterpillar.

I try not to watch as In-ho squats on her haunches, grabs a sharp knife and firmly chops up the little black creature, removing its white insides. And suddenly there it is, plated up on the table. I daub a piece liberally with hot sauce. ItÂ’s a bit like oyster, really. Once you get over the idea of it, itÂ’s like eating a raw taste of the ocean. Not bad at all. And when you think itÂ’s been caught by a woman whoÂ’s been free-diving for seventy years, you feel like a bit of a wuss being squeamish.

According to the folk rites, Yeongdeung Halmang, the guardian goddess, visits Jeju-do on the first day of the second lunar month to sow the seeds of the sea creatures, and every year shamans still perform ceremonies here. Although in many ways South Korea is more advanced and prosperous than much of Europe (the most connected country in the world with the fastest broadband, a subway system in Seoul where you can use your mobile phone), they are fiercely proud of their traditional heritage. So it is sad that women are no longer learning to dive, although IÂ’m sure there are easier ways to earn a living. I go for my swim and wonder what itÂ’s like in a wintry storm.

Destinations, the UKÂ’s favourite holiday and travel show is back at Earls Court (4-7 February 2010). Now in its 16th year, the Show provides travel inspiration and a wealth of choice for those looking to plan their next escape. Whether looking to venture a little further off the beaten track, or simply after inspiration on new ways to discover new places, Destinations offers everything from short breaks to awe-inspiring holidays such as round-the-world trips and life-changing career breaks.

Those tired of being armchair adventurers – viewing the world through the television, books or the internet –can head down to the event to meet travel companies face to face, have a chat with expert advisers and even tailor-make their next trip.

There are hundreds of travel ideas for all tastes and budgets, many with exclusive show offers. Is it time to do something different? Why not experience the spirituality in the mountains of ItalyÂ’s Valle dÂ’Aosta, trek up Kilimanjaro, or lounge on a tropical Thai beach? Whether travelling solo, as a couple, family or group, thereÂ’s something to suit everyone at the Show.

Highlights include the Meet the Expert Theatres. The theatres feature travel personalities including: top explorers, adventurers, writers and photographers giving first-hand accounts of legendary journeys of adventure that will fire the imagination.

Speakers already confirmed for Destinations London include John Simpson, BBC World Affairs Editor and Rebecca Stephens, the first British woman to climb Everest & The Seven Summits. John Simpson will be recalling how he spent the early part of 2009 taking part in the BBC programme Top Dogs: Adventures in War, Sea and Ice. Speakers at Destinations Birmingham include Mark Cawardine, zoologist, environmentalist, writer, BBC TV presenter and wildlife photographer.

London Show

Ticket Prices: £10 in advance, £12 on the door

Venue: Earls Court 1, Warwick Road, London SW5 9TA

Telephone: +44 (0)871 230 7141

Opening Times:

Thursday 4 February 2010 10am – 8.30pm (late night from 5pm)

Friday 5 February 2010 10am – 5.30pm

Saturday 6 February 2010 10am – 5.30pm

Sunday 7 February 2010 10am – 5.30pm

Birmingham Show

Ticket Prices: £8 in advance, £10 on the door

Venue: NEC, Birmingham

Telephone: +44 (0)871 230 7141

Opening Times:

Friday 5 March 2010 10am – 5pm

Saturday 6 March 2010 10am – 5pm

Sunday 7 March 2010 10am – 5pm

The Times is the official title sponsor of the shows. For further information, high resolution images or interviews, contact Laura Leveson, Smith & Monger Specialist PR and Marketing Consultants Ltd.

T: 0208 964 6744 Laura Leveson laura@smithandmonger.com or Rhona Templer rhona@smithandmonger.com