8am and damn hot, 8am and bloody humid, 8am in the Brazilian rainforest. Tramping through the jungle and trying to keep up the fast pace of the Indian guides, the perspiration stung as it ran into my eyes. My camera pack seemed to weigh a ton and was biting into my shoulders. Then we burst upon it. It was only a small ravine, a twenty-foot drop to a rocky bottom, where, in the wet season the tiny stream would swell into a fast flowing angry river. The streamlet travelled between large sharp rocks and seemed to be willing me to fall.

The bridge across this dangerous gap was a dripping wet tree trunk about 16 inches in diameter and 35 foot long. I had camera gear as well as my overweight body to haul across to the other side, preferably without anything too disastrous happening either to my equipment or myself! I paused and thought, “It could all end in tears before our adventure has really begun.” Adam and I had finally reached the Amazon rain forest and were following the Yawanawa guides along what, to me, seemed a non-existent trail. We brushed aside all sorts of hanging vegetation that criss-crossed in front of us.

I jammed my 'Tilley' hat hard on my head, trying to avoid the sharp Boca (that looks like bamboo but unlike the giant bamboo, has small, sharp, vicious thorns) from piercing any part of my face. The heat and humidity was making the sweat pour out of me like tiny rivers which ran all over my body, soaking me from head to toe. This trip was hard, tough and very different from anything I had imagined whilst planning my journey back in the calm of Kensington. “So isn't this what you so wanted?” I said to myself. “If you don't like it, it's too bloody late. Stop daydreaming: and cross that ravine.” When, finally and thankfully, I reached the other side, I stopped to take a breather – and said to myself, “Are you sure you haven't bitten off more than you can chew?”

Adam Baines and I first met in the Globetrotters Club. He had just cycled around Vietnam and I was not long back from doing the same in New Zealand. He had heard that I was planning a journey to somewhere in the back of beyond of the Amazon Basin and as we both like living on the edge, so we teamed up, thinking “what the hell, let's do it.” Adam was thirty something, fit, and spoke fluent Spanish; I was fifty something, not so fit and spoke fluent Portuguese.

This was not only the story of a tribe's phoenix like renaissance, but was also the tale of two independent travellers' great adventure way down the Rio Gregoria near the borders of Brazil and Peru. 'Yawanawa' – 21^st Century Warriors' was a taste of where we've been, what we have done and what's been done to us, what we enjoyed what we didn't, did it all turned out cool or did it all end up pear shaped? Like the films used to say – it all started back in the summer, when – – –

So Adam and I went off into the depths of the green rainforest and our story of frustrations and successes have been written down and seen in various articles, slide shows, for the Globetrotters Club and others. To this day we are still good friends having survived the 'Urban Jungle' as well as the 'Amazon jungle'.

A lovely lady had introduced me to the GT Club around seventeen years ago and awakened my interest not only in her lovely self but also to adventure travel around the world. We saw where the Amazon met the sea in Marajo in the north and travelled south to those magnificent falls at Foz do Iquacu as well venturing into Africa. A wonderful adventurous person, the type one could only encounter at our club.

I have met and I'm sure I will still meet some wonderful and life long friends in my time at the Globetrotters Club. So thanks to them, some good nights in the pub with Dick and with the members – Good conversation after the 'Slide Talks' have finished – My independent travelling days are not yet over, with the help of all my vitamins, I will continue to roll around this exciting world, either with or without a travelling companion from our great Globetrotters Club.

About the author Tony Annis: Have camera will travel. Over the top but not yet over the hill. Past sixty five and still alive, my get up and go has not entirely got up and gone – like good whisky, I'm still going strong. Travelling through these global villages of ours is great adventure but to me it is the people that make this wonderful world, as well as the exotic places that I love to visit. See you over the next horizon, Tony.

The first step to getting great digital photo prints is to make sure you use a good quality digital camera. Digital photos are gaining popularity over traditional film photos because of the features and convenience associated with the newer technology. In some cases it’s even more cost effective to print your own photos at home instead of taking them to a developer or sending them in.

Here are some words of wisdom for making great digital photo prints at home.

There are really 4 key components to a great printed photo: Image, Printer, Ink, and Paper. Each is part interrelated therefore equally important for success.

The image is the starting point for a good photo. There are many different camera models out there, but in general, you will need at least 3.2 mega pixel picture taking ability. Some snazzy digital SLR cameras have 8 mega pixels or more. The camera should always be set to the highest resolution while taking the shots just in case you want to make enlargements later on.

Image transfer is crucial! Do not just throw the highest pixel image at some paper, you may not be happy with the results. Sometimes, too high of a pixel count will create unsightly jagged colour transitions in your photo and waste a lot of your ink and time. Too few pixels and the photos will turn out very “grainy”. It’s usually best to stay within the 200-300 pixels per inch range.

This chart may help you determine your appropriate photo sizes.

Legend

• px = Pixels
• mpx = Mega pixels
• ppi = Pixels per inch

(data compiled from PCWorld.com)

For example, if you had a picture taken with a 1.5 Mega pixel digital camera, a 5×7 inch print is probably the largest size print that would work. Anything larger than a 5×7, may not look good. However, if you had a picture taken with a 14 Mega pixel camera, you should be able to print out an 11×14 inch print with excellent results (300ppi), or a “good” looking 16×20 inch print at 200 ppi.In addition to the digital camera image, there are a few other components that go into making good quality digital photos you’ll want to be aware of: Your printer, the ink cartridges you use, and the quality of the photo paper you use. Each component factors into your end result.

Bob Stephens is director of operations for ASAP Inkjets. ASAP Inkjets offers ink cartridges & toner at up to 80% below retail. Sign-up for their free newsletter for tips & discounts at: http://www.asapinkjets.com/ or email: subscribe@asapinkjets.com

The Similan Islands can be found about one hundred kilometres northwest of Phuket, Thailand. They comprise nine granite islands covered in tropical jungle. The word Similan is said to be given by Malay fisherman who named it “The Nine Islands” (Sembilan is “nine” in Malay) and now the islands are identified by a Thai name and a number, for example, Ko Huyong (Island #1), located at the southern end of the chain or Ko Miang (Island #4) located in the middle. The Similan Islands are national parks and there is limited accommodation on them.

The Beetle has always been attracted to the idea of diving in the Similan Islands, and they are reckoned to be the second best dive site in SE Asia, after Sipadan. It is not possible to stay on the Similans and dive, so the usual arrangement is to stay on a liveaboard. These are not cheap and range from US $300 and upwards for 3 nights stay. Generally speaking with liveaboards, you get what you pay for, so the more you pay, generally, the better living accommodation you have, nicer food and so on.

This was not to be my case as I soon discovered. First, I was told that I would not be sharing my cabin with a male, and that the cabins had bunk beds on top of each other. What actually happened is that I shared my cabin with a young Canadian guy who was very nice, and the beds were about two feet apart and not bunk beds at all. Next I discovered that the boat was in fact over booked and that there was one dive passenger too many on board. There was a jumble around with the mostly male group and someone slept with the three dive masters in what can best be described as a hole under the bow, though in the end, there was a fight to sleep on top of the boat because it was so hot and damned uncomfortable. Except it rained and then there was a fight to get back down again. The food was okay, but we started to run out of food, especially items such as milk after two days. I started to feel a little bit ripped off, I’d paid a lot of money – US $600 which I couldn’t really afford, but did so because I felt it was a once in a lifetime chance, and that I was in Thailand, why not, but I came away feeling that it was extremely poor value for money and the diving wasn’t actually that good, and I would not repeat the experience.

There were 15 of us and three dive guides. Usually, you are put into groups according to experience, but this did not happen here, so we had mixed ability groups, and then I discovered that of the 15 people, 5 people were novices and had only just completed their PADI open water course, which seemed incredibly mean for them – the Similans is not easy diving, strong currents and deep. The problem with being in mixed groups is that in these conditions, you usually have to surface when the first person is low on air and needs to come up to the surface, and in this case, this was sometimes after 20 minutes. Not ideal. Having said this, the beginner divers coped extremely well with the difficult conditions, far better than I would have at their level. It wasn’t their fault, they’d just been ill advised to go to the Similan Islands. There was one couple who didn’t mix much with the rest of the group, who between them had a couple of hundred dives. It seemed to be their mission to destroy as much sea life as possible on each and every dive. Between them, they seemed to flatten and break any hard corals that came in their way. Night dives were the worst times to witness this mass destruction. The dive guides said and did nothing about this blatant lack of consideration, and bad dive manners. None of us wanted to dive with them, and after a while they were allowed to go off and do their own thing as they were also avid photographers and were usually far behind the rest of the group anyway.

Night dives were a complete fiasco. The first two sets of night dives were taken by just two of the dive masters, so picture this, 15 divers and 2 dive masters and a whole bunch of inadequate torches. They bumped, jostled, elbowed, finned each other in the face, the back, leg, you name it. It was horrible and unpleasant and if someone saw, as happened, a turtle, then everyone swooped on it and shone their feeble torches in its eyes. On the last night dive, there was only one dive master for the group as the other was ill. Each of the dive masters was very nice and interesting to talk to, and I should say that they were all safe, but it became increasingly clear that they did not get on and that this was the first time they’d all worked together. The crew were pretty lazy. They would help you if they were being watched, but if there was no-one around, they’d just sit and watch you.

What was it like? Disappointing, in a word. Very quiet, not huge amounts of aquatic life, certainly no leopard sharks which are supposed to be common there (the picture is of a leopard shark at Sipadan, about 3m long but totally harmless). Strong currents in places, a lot of surge in others, and in one case, 3m visibility. I’d done a couple of dives around the Phi Phi islands on a cattle boat (i.e. 45 divers), which whilst the visibility was not that great, the diving was far superior to all but two of the dives I did on the Similan Islands. Something was wrong, seriously wrong, it should not have been like this.

At first, I thought it was me, that maybe I had hyped the Similans up too much in my mind, especially having dived in Sipadan just two weeks earlier which was in every way far, far better than the Similans. No, I am an experienced diver, I don’t think it was a case of expecting too much, but it just didn’t hang together.

When I got back to Bangkok, I put a message on the dive board of the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree (an excellent resource) about my experience asking if other people had had a similar time. Slowly, slowly, the replies came in: who did I go with? Which sites did we dive and so on. Eventually, with input from dive instructors based in Phuket and other dissatisfied customers I pieced together what had really happened. It seems to be like this: the owner of the boat is greedy, he pays the crew including the dive masters very little, but is good at marketing. The three dive masters had never worked together before and were relatively new to the Similans and one is well known for not looking after their charges. Theï¿Â½dive sites we visited were largely not the best for diving, but more convenient for the sailing schedule. I am not pleased that given the money I paid that we didn’t even tick off some of the best sites, we just didn’t. A classic flog it and ignore the complaints scenario.

So what did I learn, and what is the motto of the story? It wasn’t all a disaster. Getting wet, i.e. any kind of diving is usually good, and there were two excellent dive sites we visited, but the rest, the remaining 12 were distinctly lack lustre, considering the Similan Island’s reputation – and the night dives were appalling. I went right at the start of the season, and this was the boat’s first trip of the season (old boat, new season). Maybe I should have waited until later in the season when operations became smoother. I’d recommend asking around, getting personal recommendations by people who have made the trip. Ask the right questions, like how many divers per dive guide? Are the groups segregated by experience? Which sites do you go to?

If anyone has had any good experiences of the Similans, I’d love to hear from them.

Carlson Wagonlit Travel Associates unveiled the 2006 results of their annual Travel Trends Survey resulting from a poll of 363 of their travel associate owners, managers and front-line agents throughout the United States at the end of 2005.

Las Vegas remains top of domestic US destinations and Caribbean cruising continues to be the hottest international option for travellers. Caribbean cruising was followed by the Riviera Maya in Mexico with 51.2 per cent while Cancun in Mexico was third with 49.3 per cent. Jamaica was ranked 4th and Puerto Vallarta made a leap into the top five from its 12th position in 2005. The surge in travel to Puerto Vallarta and the western coast of Mexico has been attributed to the aftermath of Hurricane Wilma.

According to a new study by Zurich-based firm private client and business advisors Henley & Partners AG, citizens of Denmark, Finland and the United States have the greatest freedom to travel without needing visas. The study team found that Danes, Finns and Americans can travel to 130 countries or territories without a visa. Next are citizens of Germany, Ireland and Sweden whose citizens can visit 129 countries without a visa, then Britain, France, Italy and Japan (128). Canada tied with Austria, Luxembourg and New Zealand in 16th place on the list where citizens of these countries can visit 125 states without a visa.

Who came last? IN other words, citizens of which country require the most visas to travel? Afghanistan came in last place, with its citizens allowed free travel to just 12 countries. Iran was next at 14, followed by Iraq, Myanmar and Somalia at 15.

Yes, it’s a dammed nuisance when travelling in China not to be able to find an internet café. Now, you should be able to find more, but at a price.

Google, the world’s largest search engine will now be offering Google services to China’s 110 million online users. Google is the latest internet company, after Yahoo and Microsoft to go to China. Critics say that this move will effectively help the China government to block websites and access to information with politically sensitive comments that the government does not approve of.

According to one internet media insider, the main taboos are the three Ts: Tibet, Taiwan and the Tiananmen massacre, and the two Cs: cults such as Falun Gong (type “Falun Gong” in the search engine from a Beijing computer and the only results that can be accessed are official condemnations), and criticism of the Communist party, though this list is frequently updated. The China government has developed sophisticated filters have been developed to block or limit access to “unhealthy information”, which includes human rights websites, such as Amnesty, foreign news outlets, such as the BBC, references to the Tiananmen Square massacre, criticism of the politburo as well as pornography. Of the 64 internet dissidents in prison worldwide, 54 are from China.

Google, along with Yahoo and Microsoft face sever criticism from free speech advocates, internet activists and politicians, some of whom are already asking how the company’s policy in China accords with its mission statement: to make all possible information available to everyone who has a computer or mobile phone. Julian Pain of Reporters Without Borders – a group that also has its website blocked in China – accused Google of hypocrisy. “This is very bad news for the internet in China. Google were the only ones who held out. So the Chinese government had to block information themselves. But now Google will do it for them,” he said. “They have two standards. One for the US, where they resist government demands for personal information, and one for China, where they are helping the authorities block thousands of websites.”

Mac has not been very well, but is still e-mailing strong. In this edition of the Globetrotter e-newsletter, Mac sympathises with the Beetle for being given a hard time in Sydney and talks about some of his time in Japan whilst based there shortly after WW2.

A few years back I took a train to Montréal. The train on this route only went to the border and you had to get on a bus to go thorough Canadian customs and the rest of the way to Montréal. I was the oldest person on bus full of hippies. Some looked like terrorists. None of them were detained except me who was called aside into a room and questioned. I always carry not an excessive amount but enough travellers’ checks in case I get sick and have to come back by air. I had declared this on customs form. They kept asking me why I was taking so many travellers checks into Canada. I said To spend in Canada and also to have in case I need to fly back etc. I was polite and maybe even bowed although I was not in China now and I tried to be gracious but I was annoyed that I was selected for grilling although I showed them all kinds of ID, passport, military retired card, McDonalds hamburger card etc. I too got suspicious looks from fellow passengers who had been delayed because of me. I wrote the Canadian Tourist Bureau telling them I was curious as to why I had been selected for the grilling but got no answer. I have not been back to Canada since but not because of this slight inconvenience (or maybe subconsciously it has played a part.) Montreal is one of the most interesting cities in the world so I should try it again and this time I will try to look like a hippie terrorist that can hardly speak English.

If I had my life to live over I would do even more travelling than I have. I have never regretted any trips I took and relive them when looking over my travel and journal notes. I seem to have taken down more notes in Japan where I was stationed for five and one half years than anywhere else. Here are some notes from my odd travel and journals.

A German diplomat in Japan tells me that Wilfred (my name) is a German name and means “I want peace” or “I want a piece.”

Off to a bad start this morning. Someone dropped the Majors’ suitcase all the way from the plane door to the cement runway. This prompted one of the guys to say “There will be turbulence this morning.” (Weather squadron.)

I arrived in Hong Kong dirty and tired and found we could not have water in hotel except between seven and seven thirty at night as they still have water shortages. Lt Culler could not wear his orange flight suit into Bangkok as it is the same colour as the Buddhist robes. (If he had a bowl maybe he could have gotten some food offerings. Ha.)

Capt S’s little three year old boy (his wife is Swedish) goes to a Japanese school. They want him to learn Japanese, (the family has gone all out Japanese). The wife is learning Japanese dancing and she is a tall woman who even when dressed in kimono and Japanese wig etc still does not look Japanese. Sgt K in our outfit is kept busy writing notes in Japanese back and forth to the Japanese teacher – how do I say I want to go to the toilet? Say Benjo which is Japanese word for toilet. Does not apply to song I have a banjo on my knee.

The Japanese are so polite. I have in my notes a Japanese word that means Thank you for insulting me. The Japanese girl at the travel bureau phoning for reservations for me used the following phonetic system to spell my name. M Mike, C China, c Small China, A American, R Room, T Tokyo, Y Yamagata: McCarty.

The Japanese nuns teaching American community had a bazaar to raise money. Each foreign Embassy had a booth. The Columbia one had a sign “Cleopatra and Mark Anthony went for coffee. Romeo and Juliet went for coffee. Now lets all go for coffee”. I asked one of the nuns if she was going to buy one of the $100 high style dresses donated to the bazaar. (I am always hard up for conversation) She with a grin Oh yes, two of them. Not for myself of course.

They had a little farewell party for the Chaplains wife (Protestant) who is returning to the States. A Japanese employee wrote a farewell poem to her in tribute in Japanese They asked another Japanese to translate the tribute. She read “Homeward the old goose goes.” The wife laughed the hardest of all.

Nov 10 was the Shiri-taume festival or pinching buttocks festival at Atenashi Shrine kin Usami, Ite Shizucka Prefecture. Sunday I was at Wedding Centre, Nihaenkaku. 1760 couples were married in two months, Oct and Nov being the months for weddings. On one day alone, 145 couples were married – this was before Rev Moon in Korea started mass weddings. The reason why so many people get married on same day is that they are lucky days. There are also unlucky days to get married, some claim they are all unlucky days.

At the Miyako Hotel in Kyoto they have a “right away” button for urgent service. They also have another button to be used for routine service. In our mess hall at Hickam, they seem to have stew every day but under different names.

If you would like to get in touch with Mac, he is happy to correspond by e-mail when he is well. His e-mail address is: macsan400@yahoo.com

The French Transport Ministry has instructed its civil aviation authority to discuss the security practices of the low-cost airline Ryanair with regulators in Ireland and Britain. The ministry issued a statement after the broadcasting of a television documentary in Britain in January 2006 that alleged that security practices were occasionally flouted by the Ireland-based airline.

The documentary, screened by Channel 4 in the UK alleged that passport checks before boarding were not carried out properly, trainee employees were not given necessary training and planes were not cleaned adequately between flights.

meeting news from around the world

The new year kicked off with the usual 4 mini talks from club members. Dan Bachmann who took us to rural Romania and showed us horses still being used to bring wood out of the forests, how sheep are one of the mainstays of the economy, producing not just meat but also milk, which is so abundant that they even use it to do the washing up.

Neil Harris took us into Myanmar to show us wonders such as Pagan, now a UNESCO site because of its 200 pyres. Neil showed us pictures of monks, doing building work and listening to a walkman and another monastery that had cats jumping through hoops. We also saw the more expected sites including Inlay lake and the city of Mandalay.

After the break we headed further east as Steve Golding and Francesca Jaggs took us to Japan, they showed us the beauty of Miyajima and its floating Torri, Kamakura with its massive Buddha, the “Medicine Buddha” of Nara. On Shikoku we saw two sides of the island, pilgrims doing the 88 temples in a week and the very graphic Sex museum!

Last up was Globetrotters Legacy winner Marcin Dabek, who showed us his trip to South America. Not only did he see the sights but also worked on Organic farms staying with local families. Marcin also showed us Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, the wonder of Iguasu falls and the rugged beauty of the Torres del Paine national park in Chile.

By Padmassana

Forthcoming meetings: Saturday 4th February 2006, Gavin Fernandes – Life and Death at Varanasi, a talk/slide show about this holy Indian city on the Ganges in 2001 shortly after the record breaking Khumb Mela Festival that year, where Gavin took the shot that won the TPOTY award and Alistair Humphreys – Round the World by Bike ( http://www.roundtheworldbybike.com ) 4 years, 46,000 miles, 60 countries, 5 continents in support of ” Hope and Homes for Children ”

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

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.

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.

Saturday December 3 saw the Globetrotters Club celebrate the 60th anniversary of its founding, shortly after the end of the Second World War. In order to mark the occasion a party was held after the monthly London meeting at the Church of Scotland venue in Covent Garden.

During the interval, as well as the usual mutual aid session, club President and media personality Janet Street-Porter said a few words before blowing out the candles on a brightly coloured birthday cake. Janet, a keen walker herself, had clearly enjoyed Terry Richardson’s talk on the St. Paul Trail (see December meeting news), and is always keen to get off the well beaten track. She also made it clear that she was proud to be President of the club, and congratulated it heartily on reaching 60 years.

During the course of the talks, members and guests were given the opportunity to complete a 60 question travel quiz compiled by Gavin Fernandes, the highest scorers receiving prizes for their efforts. Overall the level of knowledge was very impressive, with the top score, a staggering 57 out of 60.

A quick makeover then took place as the Church Hall was converted from lecture theatre to party venue and the wonderful culinary creations of Jacqui Trotter were laid out on the trestle tables. Globies were just about able to contain themselves until this process was complete, though seconds later the tables were all but stripped bare as plates were rapidly filled, over-filled and refilled! Thankfully, however, Jacqui had judged things perfectly and there was plenty to go around.

As well as food, a number of people had brought along wine (with the blessing of the Church!) and the party soon became a little livelier, with committee member Jeanie Copland cutting a fine rug to the music that had by now replaced the slide show.

Congratulations once again then to the Globetrotters Club and all its members.

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When based in Asmara , Eritrea and off-duty , I was determined to research as much of the history of the country. One of the fascinating facets is readily available on the Internet – just search for “steam-trains. ” But finding the restored trains proved more difficult.

I was extremely fortunate to discover the whereabouts of the old Asmara Railway Station being tucked away off the main eastern entrance road that itself meanders up the fearsome passes that connects to the coastal port of Massawa. No locals were able to direct me, especially given the language barrier. I spoke a few words of Tigrinia and most spoke little if any English.

The little station looks exactly like any old movie, as do the little narrow-gauge rolling stock. There are several steam-engines reposing in a shed. They were built in the Italian city of Breda and some date back to 1937. On my first visit there, I learned that a group of German tourists were due to visit there on the next Saturday. I was luckily off-duty that day, so naturally made my way to the station.

The Germans, an all male group were enthralled and clicked away with every description of cameras and also whirring away with a multitude of video cameras. Fortunately they made no objection to my discreet presence as I too clicked away.

The steam engine puffed up to the carriages with much tooting and then left the station down the mountain passes. At every stone bridge and tunnel, the engine driver obligingly reversed back and forth so that many photos could be taken. At some old halts en route, the tourists were able to disembark in order to take photos at ground level. A fruitful day for them indeed.

Due to the Ethiopian/ Eritrean wars, the railway system got into a serious state of disrepair. Rails and sleepers were used elsewhere for road bridges, buildings or fortifications.

Since the last war ended in 2000, the Eritrean Railway Company got restarted with State assistance. Many aged artisans came out of retirement to show the younger generation exactly how to restore, rebuild and maintain the steam engines and rolling stock.

Many parts of the rail-bed had to be repaired using bulldozers, front-end loaders, graders and labourers, before rejuvenated rails and sleepers could be re-laid.

The Eritrean railway system had originally been built by the Italians during the ’20’s when they occupied Abyssinia (later renamed Ethiopia) and the meticulous stone bridges and tunnels are a lasting tribute to their artisans. Mines had also to be cleared from many places like bridges, tunnels and roadbeds.

It was envisaged that steam-train enthusiasts from all over the world would flock to Eritrea to view the unique narrow-gauge system. This of course depends on the fragile peace between Eritrea and Ethiopia, which lately has seen much rhetoric and sabre rattling between the two sides. The UN-presence has been instrumental since 2000 to preserve the peace.

The Practicalities of Getting to Eritrea

Travelling into Eritrea has for years been extremely difficult. They have had many years of wars with their neighbour and former ruler Ethiopia, so thus have become extremely careful of any new arrivals.

As far as is known, genuine tourists that have booked Red Sea dives will obtain visas. In our flying staff’s case, getting a visa was “easy ” provided one followed the UN procedure. This required :

1. Obtaining a fax/e-mail copy of the arriving crew-member’s passport ;

2. Writing a letter to the UN in Asmara [capital of Eritrea] to which one then attached the copy of the incoming crew-member’s passport;

3. I used to visit the Head of the Travel Dept , who in turn dictated another letter addressed to the relevant Colonel of the Eritrean Army;

4. When this letter was typed and signed, one was ready for the next steps;

5. Make 3 photo-copies in advance of everything, as the army & immigration dept photocopy machines were not serviceable.

6. It was found expedient to phone ahead to the Colonel’s office for an appointment but one often found him out, away or busy.

7. When finally seated face-to-face with a very pleasant Colonel, getting the approval letter was usually done quickly, especially as I used to take along a bottle of South African liqueur or a old novel

8. The final step was to the Immigration Department where there invariably a long queue. Of course they too had an application form requiring to be filled in, so I learned to pre-enter it having made photocopies of that as well, beforehand. Visa periods could go to 6 months, but usually they were valid for 30 days.

If one was lucky enough to get to the counter that day, then the wad of letters and visa application form were handed in and a suitable fee was to be paid in US $ notes-[about $150 was the usual. ] More queues – one at the cashier’s office and another queue back at the Immigration’s Visa counter, to hand over the receipt. It also was not a good idea to have to visit the toilet whilst in the queue.

Now came the wait for the Visa to be issued. If the issuing person was in his office, then the Visa would be typed & signed within a few hours, but often it was best to return the next day. More queuing for your turn to find out if the latest wad of visas, brought down from a upstairs office, contained the one you handed in.

On the next day, after patiently waiting in a long queue, one invariably found a semi-literate clerk who could hardly understand English or even Italian, who could not find any of one’s documents. Knowing a few words of the local language, Tigrinya certainly helps. Thus back to one’s own office to start again. The answer was to present him/her with a spare set of photo-copied letters with passport copy and application form, so that they could compare the person’s picture, name and locate the Visa and hand it over.

Once in possession of the Incoming Crew’s Visa, it was best to scan it, e-mail it to them so as to present it on arrival at Asmara Airport. It was possible for the Immigration department to have the visa on hand on arrival but that took a lengthy wait in yet another queue there.

It was not possible to apply for a Visa at the airport of arrival. Anyone arriving without a visa was summarily deported; being put back onto the aircraft that brought you there was the usual procedure. Thus there were of course additional flight and accommodation costs. This happened once to an incoming crew-member required urgently. Nobody realized in time that the Eritrean Army & Immigration Offices would be closed for public holidays on a Tuesday and the next day as well. So although armed with all application forms, UN and Army letters, and presented to Immigration Officials at the Asmara Airport by me beforehand, that incoming crew-member found himself deported! When flying from Nairobi to Eritrea on Eritrean Airlines Boeing 767, they positioned an officious clerk at the aircraft door to expressly check every passenger to make sure they held valid visas.

Yet another method of visa acquisition was possible; by applying at the Eritrean Embassy. In our case this was in Pretoria but it took a week and cost plenty more than when obtained in Eritrea.

So good luck!

Theo Truter has been a light aircraft pilot all his life, flying all over Africa for the past 5 years doing UN-Contracts and other Contract flying – and before that a mixture of executive flights, safari flights, air charters, flying training and Consulting. That’s how he came to be in Eritrea, from whence his article’s research was made.

Using his camera he’s indulged in a bit of photo-journalism whenever possible & now has also added to his duties being the Editor for a worldwide weekly newsletter called South Africans Worldwide at www. saw. co. za

My arrival into Sydney at 5. 30am on a June Sunday morning did not bode well as a sign of enjoying my week long stay in Australia. After waiting patiently in a queue to get through immigration, I went down to the baggage claim. No sooner had I got there when I got taken aside by Customs and frisked – arms and legs splayed and repeatedly asked what I had in my luggage though it had not arrived. I noticed other arrivals from the same plane look me up and down and give me a wide berth. Did I have alcohol, cigarettes, perfume, or anything else over the limit or anything else that I should have declared?

I had none of these items and the aggressive questioning really irritated me, even more so because I was sitting next to 2 lovely men from Croatia on the plane from Singapore, and they were both carrying about 12 bottles of plum brandy each, from their family trip home to Zagreb, and I was carrying absolutely nothing incriminating whatsoever! The woman asked to see my passport and took an inordinate amount of time flipping each page over and an almost audible tut could be heard as she flicked through. My Customs card was in my passport and she took it out and wrote something on it. I could not quite make out what, but it looked like a number. Talk about having your card marked. She handed my passport back to me and left me without saying a word so I went over to the luggage carousel and waited.

Whilst waiting for my luggage to arrive, I got talking to a lady in a wheel chair and helped her with her luggage when I caught the same Customs woman watching me with a beady look in her eye. I then realised I was in for the long run here at Sydney airport and thought back about why she had descended on me, why she was being so rude and aggressive and why she had picked me out. Maybe because I looked slightly dishevelled after the overnight flight, maybe because my passport has a lot of stamps in it or maybe she just doesn’t like Beetles – who knows, I will never find out.

My luggage arrived, just a small suitcase (with a suit, shoes, couple of books, jeans, jumpers and that really was about it), and when I got to the Customs post, the inspector looked at my Customs form, I noticed the same Customs woman walking towards me and then I was promptly handed back to her with no words, no explanation and taken away into a side area. The whole thing had an Orwellian feel to it.

I was instructed to open my own luggage, but not to touch anything inside. If I hadn’t been so tired, it would have been quite funny, because she was so dramatic, barking orders like I’d just arrived in prison and had to obey without question. Back pack first, then luggage. Item no 1 in my day pack: yummy biscuits from Singapore for the journey I’d planned to make to the Blue Mountains. The female customs official tried to confiscate my chocolate chip shortbread biscuits bought in Singapore for the long airport wait and I’d forgotten to eat them, by claiming them to be ‘food’ – I agreed and said yes, shortbread is food, but they are unopened and totally allowed. I asked her if she wanted one and she sourly said that she could not accept food because it might be poisoned. My day dreaming got slightly the better of me, I’d taken the seven hour overnight flight from Singapore, had no sleep and was far from best form but some childish notion inside me propelled me to an alternate universe where I was watching the Customs woman writhing on the ground having eaten a poisoned biscuit.

The female customs official then got slightly hysterical because I have been to Indonesia not once but twice (and now three times) and she would not listen to my answers. Diving, I kept saying, for diving. She kept telling me that I had been to Bali in December 2004, and I kept saying no, it was 2 years ago in December i. e. 2003, it was like a pantomime act – oh yes you have, oh no, I haven’t. I started to wonder – are you supposed to argue with Customs officials? What happens if they think you are being argumentative, what powers do they have next, even though I am only telling the truth because this woman is mistaken. Then she saw the recent US stamp and then the Myanmar stamp and this sent her into a whole line about why, why, why, why without bothering to listen to my responses which were polite and succinct.

I have no idea whether I was being accused of being an international terrorist or a drug dealer or what, but the woman was fast gathering speed in her distrust of me and there seemed to be some unspoken accusation hanging in the air. I asked the woman, why did you stop me, what is it that you suspect me of? She told me in very snotty and superior tones that she was not at liberty to tell me. So not a good start! And what was so ironic about this whole episode – I was after another 30 minutes dismissed – when I got out of the airport and later picked up a newspaper, I discovered that the whole of Australia was up in arms about the Queensland woman who got caught smuggling 4 ½ kgs of cannabis in her boogie board in Bali, and the suspicion that they had been put there by a Brisbane airport based gang of airport based dug dealer baggage handlers.

It was winter in Oz back then, in June 2005 when I made this trip, so it was like an early autumn day in the UK, cold and windy, briskly chilly but sunny at the same time, if that makes sense. I spent only a week in Australia and visited the Blue Mountains for a few days and spent the rest of my week in Sydney; did the usual touristy kind of things, Darling Harbour, Opera House, the Botanical gardens. I especially liked Darling Harbour which is really lovely to wander around. There are some very nice sculptures in a tranquil area bordered by the sea on one side and tall high rise buildings on the other. It felt a little bit like being in Manhattan. There’s one lovely huge spiral pond type of thing, a bit like an Escher drawing that consists of lots of downward spirals like a snail shell each carrying dribbles of water. That had me fascinated.

I have been to Sydney three times before and have never been carried away by it, and I hope that my airport experience did not colour my view, but I came to the conclusion that the area from Liverpool st upwards to circular quay – about half a km – is architecturally interesting, with a mix of early 20th century buildings and modern high rise, and it too has character. But there are some pretty hideous modern buildings when they could be so amazing – there are so many cities, London included, where modern architecture, in my opinion anyway is done so well. I found the rest of metropolitan Sydney to be pretty dull (sorry Australian readers!) and samey and decidedly lacking character, though found a nice suburb, Surrey Hills, just to the right of central Station which has lots of nice cafes and restaurants and those colonial types of narrow terraced houses with pretty wrought iron balconies. I also kept being ripped off with change, this happened every single day when I would be short changed in shops. I was also over charged by the hotel I stayed in in the Blue Mountains, which again didn’t feel too good; I guess this thing happens everywhere where you are noticeably from out of town, but this is the first time in any country this has happened to me.

What could I have done differently? I really don’t know, maybe it is luck of the draw, but it was not a good experience and the attitude of the Customs official was really uncalled for and quite unnecessary. Have you had any bad airport experiences? Write in and tell the Beetle!

Last year, in 2005, readers of Conde Nast Traveller magazine – the bible of the travel industry – have recently voted Glasgow as second only to London as a UK tourist destination. It was the 18th most popular city in the world for city breaks in 2003 with 3. 2 million visitors. It was also voted second only to London for its food scene. And, being a resident of this great city, it’s easy to see why Glasgow is so popular. Here’s Charlie’s internet guide of things to do and see whilst in Glasgow.

City of Culture in 1990: virtual tour of his surviving works. Glasgow is a fabulous place for retail therapy and has the glitziest and most stylish of shops, all contained within the city centre.

Glasgow International Airport is on the city doorstep – literally 10 minutes away from the centre, Glasgow West End, centred around Byres Road, is the place to be for small cafes, bars, delicatessens and interesting restaurants. This is where the celebs live! http://www.cnag.org.uk/ggc.htm

The home of Billy Connolly, Glaswegians have a style of humour all their own. It is born out of their tough, industrial history but lives on in what has become a sophisticated, vibrant city one bedroom apartment in the city centre available for short breaks He is also part of Highland Country Weddings Ltd, a Scotland based weddings agency. For free discussion about your own wedding plans and free, no obligation quote, go to http://www. highlandcountryweddings.co.uk/

Institutional Investor magazine’s recently ran its 25th annual survey of its wealthy readers. The St. Regis Hotel in New York was ranked first among the world’s top hotels by Institutional Investor magazine. Survey respondents had average annual incomes of $817,000 and spent an average of 62 nights in a hotel last year, the magazine said.

Following the St. Regis in descending rank were: Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme; Mandarin Oriental, New York; Four Seasons Milan; Four Seasons Singapore; Four Seasons George V, Paris; Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco; Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore; Peninsula Hong Kong and Four Seasons, Chicago.

World Tourism

The World Tourism Organisation announced last month that the number of tourists around the globe should climb by 4 to 5 percent in 2006 and that tourism grew strongly in 2005 year despite natural disasters and attacks.

World tourism as measured by international arrivals, rose 5. 5 percent in 2005 to a record 808 million arrivals though the pace of growth had slowed sharply from the 10 percent rise in 2004. “Gradually slowing growth is expected to continue,” the World Tourism Organisation said in a statement and that growth was likely to stay above the long-term average of 4. 1 percent thanks to a more robust global economy and an improved outlook in Europe, particularly Germany, one of the biggest groups of global tourists.

The WTO said that terrorism, the effect high energy prices could have on the economy and bird flu could yet threaten tourism. “However, experience shows that (terrorism’s) impact lately has been rather limited and short-lived. Travellers overall have assumed the risk and have been undeterred by external threats. ”

So where is tourism growing the fastest? The answer appears to lie in Africa, up by 10 percent, led by Sub-Saharan countries such as Kenya with a 26 percent rise in arrivals in the first 10 months of the year and Mozambique with 37 percent more visitors in the first 9 months of the year.

Tourism to Asia and the Pacific grew 7 percent in 2005. Countries directly affected by the tsunami which washed away hotels and beachfronts in late 2004 suffered drops; the Maldives received 39 percent fewer tourists while visitor numbers to Indonesia fell 9 percent. And Sri Lanka reported a drop of just 0. 4 percent but that figure could have been skewed by the arrival of aid workers and Sri Lankan expatriates.

Whilst a string of hurricanes hit the southern United States last year clouded the outlook for the tourist market, optimism was starting to return and despite lengthy airport security procedures cause delays on arriving in the US, the number of visitors to the United States rose 8 percent last year.

Mac has not been very well, but is still e-mailing strong. Here’s an account of a trip he made to South Africa some time ago.

In South Africa I had been cutting my own hair but was invited to some wealthy South African friends of a friend of mine home. (They had their own game reserve, plane etc. ) so I thought I better get a better haircut so as to not disgrace my friend. When I went to the barber he took one look at my hair and said. “I see you have been having a go of it yourself. ‘

At a Catholic church in Johannesburg they hear confessions in Sesotha, Padi, Tsnamia, Zulu/Xnoise, Chiceno, English, Afriken, Dutch, Spanish, Italian and French but the priest did not understand my English (thank heavens!) At Notre Dame Cathedral in Pairs they hear confessions in Esperanto. Learning Esperanto is a good way to meet Esperanto speakers all over the world. I have a friend that speaks Esperanto and he goes all around the world spending a day or two with someone he has met this way. Actually all I think he knows how to say is Hello.

A white South African priest in Cape town told me that when they had apartheid he went out to meet an American priest at the airport. He could not find him and finally found him in the black section. When he asked the priest why he was there, the American said the other waiting room read Europeans Only and he was not European. This was his way of making fun of apartheid.

When I was in South Africa, a Canadian lady went on Sabi Sabi Reserve looking for animals. They got up at 5am each morning as we did also. They had a guide who warned them to not stand up if they saw any animals. They did this for three days and all they saw were birds! We were luckier at the Kruger Game Park. Sometimes you are lucky and sometimes you aren’t. If unlucky I suggest you go to the wonderful zoo in Pretoria. I enjoyed it even after being to all the game parks.

At hotel Killarney in Durban South Africa they had a Monks Inn where they have strip shows with lunch. You often see signs Steak, Eggs and Chips. This sign read Steak, Eggs, and Strips. If you see a strip show in a Monks Inn is that a double sin?

At Bergkelder winery at Stellenbosch (a university town in South Africa) I leaned that sweet taste buds are at the front of your tongue and bitter taste buds are at that back of your tongue. I wonder what I will learn tomorrow? Probably that I have a headache.

I went to see the l000 hills near Durban. There are 1000 Zulus living in 1000 hills. I asked the Zulu guide if I only looked at l5 of them (the hills) could I get a discount? He jokingly ordered me off the tour bus. He told us some of the Zulu history. There was a Zulu King named “Follow Me” in Zulu. He got a young girl pregnant. He denied he was the father saying it was a false pregnancy (her imagination. ) When the baby was born the new mother named the baby boy False Pregnancy, in Zulu, “Shaka. ” Shaka grew up to be a warrior and leader of the Zulus. He trained the Zulus to walk barefoot on thorns to toughen their feet (we did the same thing in basic training. ) It was rather a long but true story and one of the lady tourists interrupted this fascinating story to announce that she was cold.

The oldest bar in Capetown is the Firemans Bar. Firemen from ships used to go there. On the wall they have listed a telephone service with charges for answering services. He’s not here: 20 cents. He’s just left: 25 cents. Haven’t seen him all day: 30 cents. Haven’t seen him all week: 35 cents. Who? 40 cents.

In Durban I wanted to go out to the Hare Krishna Centre (there are a lot of Indians that live in Durban and some are very wealthy. ) I had not been out to the Hare Krishna centre in Virginia but decided to see this one in South Africa. I was told to take the Indian bus out from the Indian market. I asked how I would know the Indian bus and was told, “It has Indians on it. ”

En route to Addo Game Reserve 90 kilometres from Port Elizabeth, the guide was telling us the farmers in the desolate area raised goats. The German along with us did not know what animal the driver was talking about. I pointed to my goatee and then he knew. They used to feed the elephants citrus fruit and apples at 4. 30 PM (there is a travel book entitled Elephants arrive at half past four. ) But they have quit doing this as they want the elephants to take care of themselves so they now issued them food stamps. The elephants are smaller at this reserve.

If you would like to get in touch with Mac, he is happy to correspond by e-mail when he is well. His e-mail address is: macsan400@yahoo. com

Ryanair will soon make passengers who wish to travel with bags that weigh over 10kg (the weight limit for bags permitted as hand luggage) pay £5 per piece of checked luggage, or £2. 50 per bag if it has been registered in advance on the airline’s website – an initiative the budget airline claims will mean only 25 per cent of its passengers losing out financially. For those who have bags that weigh more than 20kg, there will be an excess baggage fee of £5. 50 per kg.

This means that for example, two people cannot share their luggage allowance. This is a u-turn to existing policy where Ryanair used to allow passengers travelling together to pool their baggage allowance. The move will penalise families with young children in particular, as children do not have a separate baggage allowance so their belongings must be included in their parents’ allowance.

For passengers travelling with hand luggage only, the new rules could be good news, as those in possession of an EU passport will now be able to check in online at www. ryanair. com , before going to the airport and will be eligible for priority boarding.

The charges will apply to bookings made after March 16.

Also from March 16, Ryanair will allow passengers to by-pass airport check-in if they have previously checked in on the carrier’s website. This service is available to EU passport holders travelling with hand luggage only and mirrors a similar recent move by smaller low-cost rival Flybe. These passengers will be given ‘priority boarding’ which will also reduce boarding gate queues. However, passengers checking in baggage on flights booked after March 16 will now pay a fee — 2. 50 stg (3. 50 eur) per bag, per flight, if booked in advance on the website, or 5. 0 stg (7. 00 eur) per bag, per flight, if presented unbooked at the airport.

Simultaneously, Ryanair is increasing each passenger’s luggage allowance from the current 25 kgs to 30 kgs — comprising 10 kgs carry-on and 20 kgs checked in luggage, a move it reckons will substantially reduce excess baggage fees.

Passengers who check-in on the web claiming hand luggage only but then turn up at the boarding gate with baggage will be sent back to the check-in desk and ‘fined’ £25.

Our first speaker today was Terry Richardson, who showed us a new walking route in Turkey called “The St Paul’s Trail”, which starts down on the coast near Antalya and heads off up into the Taurus mountains for 500km.Terry showed us how he helped to set the walk up, which meant not only painting red and white way marks on posts etc, but also involved crossing rivers. The walk is very much geared to the people you meet along the way, there are few if any hotels, mostly walkers camp or stay with local families. The walk does take in some wonderful scenery including ancient sites, lakes and canyons, For more information you can visit www.stpaultrail.com

After the break it was Jonny Bealby’s turn to give us a wonderful talk, which although advertised as being Pakistan, turned out to be the story of how he got into the travel writing and tour business. When tragedy struck in India he was moved to ride a motorcycle from North Africa to Cape Town, which at the time took him through countries at war such as Angola, it took Jonny and his heavily laden machine just 100 days, he then rode back up again. But instead of just being a short term way to deal with his grief it mushroomed into a trip around Afghanistan, where he hired his own protection squad of mujahideen, though this didn’t stop some of the locals taking pot shots at him. Jonny now takes groups to such diverse places as Uzbekistan, Pakistan which though recently struck by the earthquake is now once again on the tourist trail. For more information you can visit www.wildfronriers.co.uk

By Padmassana

Forthcoming meetings: Saturday 7th January 4 Mini Talks and our New Year Party – Our January meeting gives four speakers to present 20 minute talks, an opportunity to introduce subjects within a tighter format. We hope that talks may include topics that couldn’t be sustained over a normal 40 minute talk or offer a launch for new speakers. By tradition we follow this meeting with a New Year Party post-meeting – everyone is invited to bring food and drink and participate!

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