Category Archives: archive

Meeting News from New York JANUARY 10th, 2004 Rebuilding the Ruins of Afghanistan — Michael Luongo

From women who work at re-opened museums to hunky gym rats who worship Arnold Schwarzenegger, Afghanistan has changed in the 2 years since the ouster of the Taliban. A lot more work needs to be done, but new buildings rise from the rubble to punctuate the Kabul skyline, archeological initiatives are helping tourism, and wheelchair programs are giving mine victims a new chance in life. See the Afghanistan you never read about in the papers.

We looked at what there is to see as a tourist in Kabul and also touch on travel to other Islamic hotspots like Jordan, Turkey and Morocco.

For details of forthcoming meetings e-mail newyork@globetrotters.co.uk or register for e-mail updates, click here at our website.

New York meetings are held at The Wings Theatre, 154 Christopher Street (btw Greenwich St and Washington St), to the right of Crunch Fitness, in the Archive on the first Saturday of each month at 4 pm.


Iris's Diary of An Overland Trip Through South America

Iris and her group arrive in Salvador in Brazil.

What can I say about Salvador? I loved the place. It wasn’t so when I first arrived because we got there quite late at night, we were all tired and then found we had a hike across a busy main road to a dirty little side street full of rubbish over spilling on to the street and there was our hotel! I thought “What sort of a dump have we been brought to?” but it turned out to be a charming place, very helpful staff, a beautiful little garden at the rear with a miniature waterfall and a bird in a gilded cage singing its heart out for us, morning and night.

Salvador is a city of great contrasts. We were housed in the old city which is reached by climbing steep hills or by a lift from the lower level to the top. The lower level has nothing much of interest. It is commercial with docks, but there is a very interesting market housed in a round building with a restaurant overlooking the harbour. I did eventually get to it on the last day we were in Salvador and bought myself a hammock for my stay in the jungle when I shall have to sleep in a hammock on board the ferry, for the 9 days we are there. But for the most part we stayed in the old city, as it is far more interesting and has lots of old buildings and narrow streets with fascinating shops and restaurants. One restaurant we went to had the most beautiful garden and the most incredible service all for a few pounds, and it boasted a really good little trio serenading us as we ate.

We also found, courtesy of our Korean friend (who always goes off exploring on his own) the most incredible shopping centre which is about 3 times as big as most types of shopping centre in UK) but this was on our last day, we were pretty tired by then, and we were only able to explore about a quarter of it, before deciding we’d had enough and wanted to go back to the hotel!

The beaches in Salvador were really beautiful and the bus service superb. I’d really love to go back there sometime.

Since Salvador, we have been to several unspoilt places – Lencois, the centre of an area of outstanding beauty with lots of rivers, waterfalls and lakes to see, besides caves and we did go on a full day’s trip to the countryside to see the waterfalls, and caves and rock formations, in the company of a man called Issy (short for Isadoro) who was a very enthusiastic fellow who loved talking about his native Brazil and its fauna and flora.

We are now in a place called Bonito where we are for five days. We have used this time, Judith and I, to rest and take stock, especially as on the way here our truck broke down and we had to be rescued by a fellow Exodus truck which has been shadowing us all the way around South America, normally in second place, and then they came into their own as we needed to be given a lift! We spent some time in a place called Itiquira, but just two nights really and most of that was spent trying to get the truck recovered and once it was recovered, getting lots of our baggage off it, as we were probably not going to see the truck again for a week or two until it is repaired and now in Bonito. We are stuck with no truck, just the extra Exodus truck which rescued us and which can’t take us any further, and it looks as if we are going to be taking public transport to our next destination until the truck is repaired and can catch up with us!

Bonito is the first place where we have actually stayed in a Youth Hostel and it has some surprising facilities, like a swimming pool and a really good laundry, and some excellent staff who cater for our every need. We don’t need money here, we just put it all on tick! (Goodness only knows what the final bill will be, it’s amazing how the pennies mount up when you don’t have to pay as you go!) And of course it has Internet! Only two machines and I have been hogging this machine most of the afternoon, but now I have to come to a close, read it and send it off to all you people out there, wondering why I have been up to since I last wrote.

Just for completeness, we did call in briefly at Brasilia to look at the city. What a non-event. It is a manufactured city with its only claim to fame being its President Kibutschek whom they revere as a god and have produced this awful mausoleum which is pitch dark inside except for illuminated display cabinets of all his clothes and paraphernalia, books and objets d’arte, including all his wife’s clothes etc. and it was the most boring exhibit I had even been in. The only highlight was they had a cadaverous member of the Adams family popping out to give us a fright every now and again, and provided a staircase in midnight blue carpet, lit only by ambient light, to provide a place for people to have fun, falling down it and seeing who can crack their head open in the most spectacular way! One poor lady was carted off to hospital while we were there, having done just that, so I suppose she won first prize!

Take care, I’ll be in touch again soon, and hopefully by then we will be back on our truck. By the way, the diagnosis was a broken crankshaft.


Mac's Jottings: Kenya

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.

Nairobi, Kenya. Because of the many pick pockets in Nairobi they are thinking of renaming Nairobi, Nairobbery.

Home member Donald French (now dead) in his eighties went with a group of young people from England on a truck trip thorough Africa. Each had an assignment: get wood for fire, cook, be a guard of their possessions at night etc. One night they decided they did not need a guard and all their shoes were stolen that night! As some had big feet it was difficult to get replacements. They became native in a hurry!

The Masai in Kenya have a drink made of cow’s blood and urine. Not available at the bar in our lodge. This cow’s milk urine combination drink is suppose to cure stuttering and athletes feet. One of the Masai wearing a blanket and carrying a spear surprisingly came into the bar of our lodge leaving his spear outside and said something to the bar tender. The Masai undid his handkerchief and took out tip money made from posing for pictures and ordered a Tusker Beer. The bar tender who was in Western Dress talked with him in Masai. After the Warrior left I commented to the bartender: “You speak Masai.” He answered: “I am Masai.”

The Masai warriors put red stuff in their hair. I thought maybe it was to keep flies away. Two were looking in the rear view mirror of our Landrover and I talked with them as best as I could and asked them why they put that stuff in their hair. They relied: “To look beautiful.”

At Salt Lick Lodge in Kenya, we were told to put down at the desk before retiring what animals we wanted to be awaken for if they came to the water hole. I put down: “Everything but mosquitoes.”

In the middle of the night someone was knocking at my door and shouting: “Elephants! Elephants!” I woke up not knowing where I was and wondered why someone was at my door hollering “Elephants! Elephants!” The hotel had an underground tunnel that led to a darkened bunker. No lights allowed. No flashlights. No Flashbulbs etc. Here you could watch the animals drink. At the bar they had a sign: “don’t bother the animals while drinking and vice versa”.

When we returned to the hotel from watching the animals, one of the couples suddenly realised that their small son was missing. Father and Mother had each thought the son was with the other. The hotel staff seemed concerned and said baboons sometimes attack small children. Don’t know if this is true or if we were being told this to make our Safari more exciting. By the way, safari just means trip. They organised us to form a line and to walk out into the bush as a search party. But before we got started someone went back to the dark bunker and found the child asleep in the corner.

Salt Lick Lodge is built up on poles so animals can walk under your lodge. There is a skull of an animal where you deposit your key. Skull of an elephant. The one that had been at my door.

We would leave each morning from some of the lodges to look for animals. The guides would use directions of the clock like “Lion at three O’ clock” to alert us where the animals were, but this one morning, we saw nothing. The terrain was rough and we had been driving and driving and driving. I thought I spotted something and thought I was being real professional when I said: “there is something at five O clock”. Someone dryly replied: “yeah, tea.”.

The Parks in South Africa were better organised than in Kenya, I thought. Kruger Park in South Africa is as large as Connecticut. You could drive anywhere in your Landrover in Kenya but had to stay on the road in Kruger.

In Swahili, a giraffe is called a Twiga, a leopard a Churi, a rhinoceros a Kikaru, an elephant an Oliphant, lion is called a Simba and Jambo means Hello.

Next month, Mac discusses Malaysia.

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


Meeting News from Texas

Once again, we were honoured to have Norman Ford, founder of the Globetrotters Club, on hand presenting a slide show of his September 2003 Nordic adventure with us entitled:

Around Switzerland By Bike–On Your Own, The Globetrotter Way”.

Christina also shared stories and photographs from her Dec 2003 Santa Goodwill Tour to Asia.

Dates of future meetings: February 14th (Travelocity), March 13th (Southwest Airlines), Mark your calendars

If you like independent, adventuresome, fun, daring, exciting, “off the beaten path” travel, this club is for you. Our meeting begins at 2 P.M. Come early so you won’t be late! Enjoy handouts, travel talk time, and door prizes!

For more information about the Texas Branch: please contact texas@globetrotters.co.uk or register for e-mail updates at our website (click here) or call Christina at 830-620-5482

If anybody would like to enquire about meetings or help Christina, please contact her on: texas@globetrotters.co.uk


Burma Revisited

Derek, a retired UK diplomat, contacted the Beetle to say that all too often the controversy over whether or not to visit Burma tends to overlook the very important issue of whether the people of Burma themselves are happy to see and meet foreign tourists. Derek, who is to visit Burma again next month, has made a study of anecdotal reports of Burmese attitudes over the last five years – alas the sole source of information in the absence of credible opinion polls – and his conclusion is that the Burmese people themselves very much favour visits by tourists and travellers to their country by a margin of at least 10 to 1. We have reproduced a cut down version of his survey.

*****

Some travel correspondents say that on their visits they found it difficult, if not impossible to find any Burmese, even rank and file members of Daw Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, who were against tourism to their country, despite Daw Suu Kyi’s strictures. A “search” on Alta Vista for “Burma Travel Boycott” any evening will produce over 3,000 “hits”. A sample selection of reported Burmese views from these “hits” confirms my conclusion that the Burmese people generally really do want tourists and travellers to visit.

It is for many their main source of income, protection against the excesses of the military and an assurance that their plight may at least be witnessed by those who are sensitive observers. Travel and tourism indeed advance the cause of democracy.

My simple conclusion is that we should primarily be guided by the wishes and advice of the Burmese people , and not that of the UK Government whose policy is to “strongly discourage tourism to Burma” – FCO Minister Bill Rammell, 25 November 2003, speech on “Why Human Rights Matter” to the Institute for Public Policy Research.

Tourism is admittedly a source, but not, as another FCO Minister, Mike O’Brien stated in a letter on 14 July 2003 to the Chief Executive of ABTA, Ian Reynolds, “an important source” of hard currency for the SPDC. Net profits pale into insignificance against the US$ 2-3 billion purchases in recent years, mostly from China, of arms and military equipment. Most hotels are barely covering their operating costs. Remittances by tourist enterprises out of Burma of some US$ 25 million annually [IMF estimates] for essential payments punch quote a hole in US$ 100 million annual revenue. Local costs swallow up much of the balance. It is not credible to argue that tourism is in any serious sense helping to prop up the regime. It would do so if numbers increased tenfold, but this isn’t likely to happen for a very long time.

There is no doubt that Daw Suu Kyi would prefer tourists to delay visiting Burma. Over the years, she has advanced numerous reasons for not visiting Burma, some of which are not all that convincing, notably arguments about giving the regime “legitimacy” (while the UK accepts Burma as Myanmar at the UN and maintains full diplomatic relations, with an Ambassador in post), about “it’s better to stay at home and read some of the many human rights reports there are” (which is not perhaps the best way to experience and witness what is going on in Burma), about “the bulk of the money goes straight into the pockets of the Generals” (when revenue clearly goes to meeting operating expenses, debt, depreciation, transfer to reserves etc.), about “Burma will still be there when the time is ripe” (but not for octogenarian veterans of the Burma Campaign, while for scholars, linguists, ethnologists, Buddhist scholars and many others with specialist interests Burma has been a hermit kingdom ever since the military took over in 1962), about “we haven’t had time to discuss it [tourism policy] properly” at a news conference in May 2002 (which might leave some of us still wondering what NLD policy really is).

The tourist trade has been hard hit by the latest indiscriminate US sanctions which have led to the suspension of all credit card transactions in Burma and restrictions on the utilisation of the US Dollar. Quite soon, thousands of postcard sellers and stall holders, tourist guides, hotel staff and drivers will be joining the 80,000 or so textile workers who have been made unemployed.

No-one in Burma is making any serious money out of tourism at present, and what is the point of allocating beach land to cronies of the regime when there is no investment capital available to develop projects? Occasionally critics point to the Shangri-La Traders Hotel as an example of a Joint Venture which must be making money for the SPDC. They might be surprised to know that Traders Hotel has been in liquidation since 1999.

Tourism is about meeting people, and in the case of Burma letting the Burmese know that the outside world has not forgotten them.

Derek Tonkin

If you would like to contact Derek, he can be reached by e-mail as follows: d.tonkin@btopenworld.com


Money in Sick Bags

When you sit on that plane and feel for the sick bag, think again. Online auctioneer eBay has a section for unused sick bags from almost ever airline around the world, described as being in “mint and very fine conditions.” There are dedicated Web sites, including the Air SicknessBag Virtual Museum, which has bags from airlines, trains and ships — and even some from outer space. American Steven Silberberg, who runs airsicknessbags.com says: “I don't use them for their intended purpose, I just leave them at home in binders… most expensive bag I've ever seen sold was for $220. It was a Court Line Aviation bag, a company that folded in 1973,” he told CNN. Scandinavian bags are highly prized for the artistic impression on the bags where US airlines have plain bags.


Global Warming Caused by Air Flights

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.'


Tourists Kidnapped in SE Iran

Three cyclists, two German, one Irish are reported missing between the city of Bam and Zahedan near the Pakistani border – a notorious opium smuggling route from Afghanistan to Western Europe. A ransom is thought to have been issued. Kidnappings there, as in the rest of the country, have been rare in recent years. A number of European tourists were abducted in southern Iran in 1999. We hope for their safe release.


Lisbon: Teaching English and Joining Women’s Groups by Sally Pethybridge, Portugal

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 3rd 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


Globetrotters Travel Award

Under 30? A member of Globetrotters Club? Interested in a £1,000 travel award?

Know someone who is? We have £1,000 to award each year for five years for the best submitted independent travel plan. Interested?

Then see our legacy page on our Website, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we'll take a look at it. Get those plans in!!


Mac’s Travel Tips, USA

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


Vietnam Airlines

Vietnam Airlines has announced that it will change the current two-tier price system for Vietnamese and foreigners from January 1 next year to boost tourism. Foreigners will no longer pay 20% more for domestic flights and will pay the same amount as Vietnamese nationals. A round trip ticket from capital Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City costs 3.3 million dong (USD$212) for foreigners while locals pay 2.7 million dong.


Warning: Lastminute.com by Trevor, UK

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


No Hunting Please – We’re Lions

A recent report from Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit says that fewer than 20,000 lions may now survive in the whole of Africa, although they do not face immediate extinction. The greatest threats to the species are sport hunting and conflict with farmers over livestock. The estimate of 20,000 lions or fewer compares with a population put at about 200,000 in the early 1980’s. The researchers studied the impact of sport or trophy hunting in Hwange national park in Zimbabwe, surrounded by hunting concessions where the parks department allocates an annual quota: the hunters traditionally target male lions. Findings suggest the levels of hunting there were not sustainable. Of the adult males the team tagged or collared, 63% were shot by hunters in the surrounding area. WildCRU estimates there are about 42 adult male lions in Hwange, where between 1998 and 2002 the hunting quota in the concessions was set at 63 lions. It says the number shot annually far exceeded the recommended sustainable level of 4-10% of the adult males. The parks department is considering lowering the quotas.


MEETING NEWS

Meeting news from our branches around the world.


The World’s Richest Countries

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)

Faliraki Club Reps

Club Reps, a bawdy real life UK TV documentary on the goings on in the town of Faliraki on the Greek island of Rhodes is blamed for an increase in drunken behaviour. A British policeman from Blackpool, (another delightful part in North-West UK), with similar issues has been dispatched to Faliraki to liaise with the Chief of Faliraki police after a British man was stabbed to death in a bar brawl and a woman jailed for baring her breasts.

Based on a successful model used in Blackpool, the UK police said the key to tackling problems is stopping the “aggressive marketing of drinks promotions” and bar crawls. Independent tour operators have sprung up which were taking 400 or 500 people on bar crawls. Suggestions have been made to install CCTV cameras on the streets, improve lighting, and increase police presence and officers are “firm but fair” early in the evening, to nip problems in the bud.


Meeting News from London by Padmassana

1st November 2003 London meeting

On November 1st, we had two very different talks this month. The first was by Amar Grover, entitled “The Hindustan Tibet road”, an old trading route used by pilgrims on their way to Mt Kailash. The area is very mountainous and picturesque, Amar showed us villages and 800 year old temples perched high on cliff tops, some only reachable by use of “Flying fox” pulley systems across the valleys, not for use by those with a nervous disposition. In this Buddhist region we saw monks who perform dances depicting parts of the Buddha’s life. We also saw how hard daily life is with yaks being used for farming. But it was the stunning scenery, which stole the show.

Our second speaker was the ever-popular Tom Freemantle, who delighted us with his talk “Mexico to Manhattan with a mule”. Tom was following once again in the footsteps of a relation who did this journey during the American civil war. Tom met “Brownie” the mule at the Mexican border and after a few tips from the owner set off in temperatures of 100 degrees. Tom’s epic journey of 2700 miles took seven months, Brownie going through seven sets of shoes. Along the way Tom showed us some of the great sights including the Alamo. But it was the hospitality of the American people that shone through. During Tom’s trip September 11th had happened and it was fitting that the last shots we saw were Tom’s photos of “Ground Zero”.

Next month, on Saturday 6th December, Paul Goldstein will talk about Africa: An Adventurous Wilderness/The Hunters and the Hunted. Paul has travelled to sub-Saharan Africa over fifty-five times guiding safaris and tours, and photographing. He has climbed Africa’s highest peaks, rafted the wildest rivers and stood toe-to-toe with charging rhino. His passion, for “conservation” for the people and wild-life, is supported by award-winning photography in both BBC and Royal Geographic Photographic competitions.

After the break, John Pilkington will give a talk entitled: Up the Mekong to Tibet about a journey up one of Asia’s longest rivers from the South China Sea to Tibet and beyond. Starting from the rice paddies of Vietnam, John follows its course through the gorges of China’s Yunnan province to where it rises at over 16,000 feet, meeting river people of six nationalities along the way.

London 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. There is no London meeting in August, but we will be back in September. For more information, you can contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website: www.globetrotters.co.uk