Can you help Caroline? Suffering from information overload, she would love some advice on round the world tickets, volunteer organisations in Australia, New Zealand, and Nepal that don't charge heaps of money to go volunteering, I'm 33 so this seems to exclude at least some of them.  Plus I have no degree or profession so that excludes some more. Anyone had any experience of Involvement Volunteers UK, or the overseas arm of BTCV. Plans are to go to Australia in November time, do some volunteer work and then carry on doing the same in New Zealand and Nepal for hopefully one year. Also anyone got any views on how much of the itinerary to plan beforehand. Thanks in advance.  Caroline cmather@care4free.net

Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a place or country – want to share something with us – why not visit our Mutual Aid section of the Website: Mutual Aid

  When on a holiday to Papua New Guinea is must-see is beautiful Rabaul, a town well known for its native Baining fire dancers, live volcanoes, pristine wreck and reef diving, caving and above all, friendly local people.

The town was half buried during a twin volcanic eruption in 1994, but today, Rabaul has re-emerged as a tourist destination with a difference. There are few places where the dramatic consequences of the contrasting moods of nature can be experienced so intimately.

Sightseeing in Rabaul is memorable. From the near airport at Tokua, the drive takes you along a narrow road winding its way around the glittering waters of the Gazelle Peninsula, through coconut plantations, villages of thatched huts surrounded by colourful flowerbeds and tropical fruit trees that look out over calm waters.

Steven was born in PNG but now lives in Sydney Australia.  He can be contacted by email to help with any queries on PNG or for ideas and help visiting the country.

In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox monastery:
YOU ARE WELCOME TO VISIT THE CEMETERY WHERE FAMOUS RUSSIAN AND SOVIET COMPOSERS, ARTISTS, AND WRITERS ARE BURIED DAILY EXCEPT THURSDAY.

Hotel catering to skiers, Austria:
NOT TO PERAMBULATE THE CORRIDORS IN THE HOURS OF REPOSE IN THE BOOTS OF ASCENSION.

Taken from a menu, Poland:
SALAD A FIRM'S OWN MAKE; LIMPID RED BEET SOUP WITH CHEESY DUMPLINGS IN THE FORM OF A FINGER; ROASTED DUCK LET LOOSE; BEEF RASHERS BEATEN IN THE COUNTRY PEOPLE'S FASHION.

Supermarket, Hong Kong:
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE, WE RECOMMEND COURTEOUS, EFFICIENT SELF-SERVICE.

From the “Soviet Weekly”:
THERE WILL BE A MOSCOW EXHIBITION OF ARTS BY 15,000 SOVIET REPUBLIC PAINTERS AND SCULPTORS. THESE WERE EXECUTED OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS.

Write in and tell us your funny sign! Drop a line to the Beetle! E-mail the Beetle.

If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell. Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section of the Website and share it with the world. Travel Sized Bites

If you want to see the Three Gorges (the Qutang, Wuxia and the Xiling) before they are lost for ever – as a result of the controversial dam project on the Yangtze, you should aim to see them before November 1^st 2002.  After this date, there will be a diversion around the Three Gorges and the Yangtze will not be navigable until after the flooding has taken place in 2003.

This is a fantastic free open air exhibition planet, a series of large scale photographs of amazing natural landscapes by Yann Arthus-Bertrand at the exhibition at the Natural History Museum, Kensington. If you can't get to London it's worth taking a look at the websites: earthfromtheair.com or yannarthusbertrand.org

Open from June 20^th to end September 2002.

Venue: Slug & Lettuce, Fulham Broadway

Date: Wednesday 7th August, 7pm

Price: £4 on the door £2 if pre-booked

Special Guest – Paul Goldstein

Tales from the Bush: An African Journey.  Come and join Paul Goldstein as he recounts tales from the dark continent. After countless visits across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia he has a wealth of knowledge on the area.  As a prize winning photographer (2nd Royal geographical Photographer of the Year 2001/2002) and guide his presentations are illustrated with dazzling images and outrageous and hilarious anecdotes.  He is not a fan of mainstream travel, especially hordes of safari-suited package holidaymakers in zebra striped minivans, nor does he care much for luxury hotels. He gauges countries on their people and wilderness areas, not by the amount of food guzzled at lunch buffets with 'untraditional' local dancing.  Don't say you weren't warned….!

Also representatives from EXODUS, SNOW & ROCK, and other Africa experts.

To book or for more information see www.itchyfeet-uk.com or email info@itchyfeet-uk.com or call Dave on 07900 975 413

St Helena is a British Dependent Territory; a tiny island in the Atlantic, midway between Africa and South America.  Around 5,000 people live there, bolstered by 36 births last year.  Some 40% of the population work in the UK, the Falklands or Ascension Island.  About 800 tourists visit the island each year, and the occupancy of the hotels and B&Bs averages around 15%.  At present, the only way to reach St Helena is by the Royal Mail Ship St Helena, and this only arrives six to eight times a year. 

Does all this give you the idea that not a lot happens on St Helena?  Well, you could be right, that is, until recently.  Plans are afoot for a £102 million ($163m) 10 year construction project to build an airport, runway, a five star hotel, golf course, and luxury villas.  St Helena Chief Secretary John Styles is reported to have said: “Access is crucial……St Helena will be an absolutely niche market.  We will attract the wealthy tourist who wants to stay in a superb gold estate on a far flung island, or tourists interested in the environment and history, including the legacy of Napoleon, who spent his last years here.”

BAA's expert Personal Shoppers are there to help you find exactly what you're looking for, every step of the way.  For complimentary and impartial advice on special offers and gift ideas, why not ask for guidance from one of the team.

They're available on request in each terminal, but you can also book their assistance in advance by calling 0780 000 1 000

India: the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade lifted its travel advisory for India on July 23, 2002, but maintains that Canadians should still not travel to Jammu and Kashmir and those areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Punjab close to the border, and areas of Ladakh close to the Line of Control.  Some progress has been made in reducing tensions between India and Pakistan.  However, the security situation remains unpredictable and could deteriorate at short notice.  This can be expected to continue for the foreseeable future.  Should there be an escalation of hostilities, commercial travel could be disrupted, limiting travellers' ability to depart on short notice.  All Canadian citizens are encouraged to monitor developments and to register with the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi. See the Department's Travel Reports for destination-specific information.

Following a fire that killed at least 24 and injured 13 others in one of Beijing's internet parlours, the mayor of Beijing has ordered the immediate closure of all cyber cafes in the Chinese capital.

Mayor Liu Qi also suspended new licences that are still waiting for safety inspections. An official hi-tech police – nicknamed “the great firewall of China” – keeps watch over the internet 24 hours a day. A few weeks ago, a senior figure in China's Communist government expressed concern about the amount of time young people are spending surfing the internet and called for tighter regulation of cyber cafes.

Tens of thousands of internet cafes have sprung up in China in recent years, with many people – especially the young – seizing the chance to explore life in other countries through the internet. Journalists say China's tight controls on the internet have driven many operators underground. 

The British Museum, one of the greatest museums in the world, tops the visitor charts.  Founded in 1753, it is also the oldest museum in the world and its contents catalogue over two million years of world history and culture.  With over 94 galleries and thousands of artefacts, the British Museum will have something for everyone!  The most famous exhibits include the Elgin Marbles – sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens, Egyptian mummies and the Rosetta Stone.  The Reading Room was recently incorporated into the Great Court (a huge covered courtyard) has witnessed the likes of Karl Marx, Mahatma Ghandi and George Bernard Shaw working there.  Admission is free and there are lots of events and special exhibitions taking place throughout the year.

The British Museum opens daily 10:00-17:30 Sat-Wed, 10:00-20:30 Thurs-Fri (selected galleries).  The Great Court opens 09:00-18:00 Mon-Wed, 09:00-23:00 Thurs, Fri and 09:00-18:00 Sat and Sun, closed 24-26 Dec and 1 Jan. Tube: Tottenham Court Road, Holborn or Russell Square. Enquiries: 020 7323 8299

Millionaire adventurer Steve Fossett has reached Australia and finally succeeded on his 6th attempt in becoming the first solo balloonist to circumnavigate the globe, completed after covering nearly 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometres) around the southern hemisphere.  It took 13 days in the air and his silvery balloon, often travelled along at speeds up to 200 mph (322 km/h), at an altitude more familiar to jetliners.

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!!

A disease which has devastated one type of Caribbean coral, Elkhorn coral, has been traced back to bacteria found in human faeces. On some reefs, 95% of Elkhorn corals, which used to be the commonest coral in the Caribbean, have been wiped out by the condition, called white pox that shows itself as white spots on the coral, which spread and kill the coral, destroying the living tissue. On average, the disease spreads at a rate of 2.5 square centimetres of coral a day.

The problem is particularly bad in the Florida Keys, where human waste is treated in septic fields rather than extensively treated to kill bacteria.  It is thought to be the first time that a human gut bacterium has been linked to coral disease.

Be careful dancing in Iran: an Iranian dancer who left Iran 22 years ago and has been living in Los Angeles has just been given a 10-year suspended prison sentence in Iran on charges of corrupting the nation's youth.  Mohammed Khordadian had been making a living giving lessons in Iranian traditional dance and performing for the large Iranian community in California. 

He returned to Iran after learning that his mother had died and spent a couple of months visiting relatives and friends but was arrested at the airport when he tried to leave.  Some of his performances were beamed into Iran by TV stations run by Iranian exiles and his videos also found their way onto the domestic Iranian market.  After several months in jail he has finally been released, following sentence by a Tehran court.  In addition to the suspended jail sentence, he was banned from leaving the country for 10 years, banned from attending weddings for three years, except for those of close relations, and banned from giving dance lessons ever again. 

Although many Iranians dance at private parties, especially weddings, the ruling clerical establishment frowns on such behaviour, especially when it involves the mingling of the sexes. For unmarried people, even to appear in public together is a punishable offence, though it is only sporadically enforced, although there are reports of alarm from young people in Tehran who have noticed the recent appearance on the streets of a tough new police unit, equipped with smart black four-wheeled drive vehicles.

The FCO has just developed a web page of advice for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender traveller.  It starts by saying: “Attitudes towards gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender travellers around the world can be very different to those in the UK. However, despite potential extra hassles, it is possible to have a very positive and enjoyable travelling experience.  One thing's for sure: the better prepared you are, the fewer problems you are likely to have. We hope the following tips will help you.”

The page then goes on to give some sensible and quite detailed advice on a range of advice about how to avoid problems, down to how to obtain a new passport with a new post operative trans-gender identity.  Visit: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender

The US House voted last night to lift the ban on US citizens travelling to communist Cuba, stunning hard-liners and defying a plea by the Bush administration to retain harsh, 40-year-old sanctions against a nation it sees as a terrorist state.  In an unexpectedly lopsided and bipartisan 262-167 vote, the House approved an amendment by Representative Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, to prohibit funds from being used to enforce the travel ban, effectively lifting it.

Since the amendment was attached to a Treasury Department and Postal Service appropriations bill, it had to pertain to spending to be considered in order.

“Americans can travel to North Korea and Iran, two-thirds of the axis of evil, but not to Cuba,” said Representative William Delahunt, Democrat of Quincy, MA. “That makes no sense, I would suggest.”

One of the oldest indigenous peoples, the Inuit, have turned to one of the most modern forms of communication to tell the world about their culture.

The Inuit are a founding people of Canada. Inuit hunters and their families started crossing the 320-kilometres-wide (200 miles) Bering Land Bridge from Siberia perhaps 30,000 years ago, then wandered slowly across the Polar north, reaching Greenland 50 centuries ago.

The Inuit were an entirely nomadic, hunting people until about 50 years ago, when the central government began an effort to bring them into mainstream Canadian life.  They now live across the Arctic reaches of northern Canada, where they are struggling to decrease high rates of alcoholism, suicide, teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

They have launched a website detailing their 5,000-year-old history, cataloguing their origins, when they first came into contact with white explorers and their struggle for land rights. Part of the reason for setting up the website was to tell the story of the Inuit in their own words, as until now, most of the research on Inuit culture and history has been done by others. http://www.tapirisat.ca/

Cut price rooms in London do, really exist.  Take a look at: www.laterooms.com and also www.lastminute.com do London hotel rooms.  

Travel Inn www.travelinn.com have rooms at £74.95 and there is one next to the London Eye – the huge Ferris wheel or tel: 08702 383300.