Win a Frommer’s guidebook on Spain 2003. See www.frommers.com for info on Frommer’s guidebooks.
Some people have said the quiz is difficult, we say do some research; try google.com or Ask Jeeves, if you need help with the answers.
The winner of last month's Frommer’s guide is Pippa Manley.
Police in Colombia say that eight foreign tourists have been kidnapped as they hiked near the Caribbean coast where a so-called Lost City (Ciudad Perdida) sits in the jungle built by an indigenous civilisation 500 B.C. One British tourist has managed to escape, the remaining seven tourists are from Israel, the UK, Germany and Spain. Thousands of troops have been mobilised to search for them in the high mountains of the Sierra Nevada, 750 kilometres (465 miles) north of the capital, Bogotá. Most of Colombia's 3,000-odd kidnappings every year – that is one every four hours – are carried out by FARC (Latin America's biggest guerrilla group with 17,000 fighters) who use the ransom to fund their 39-year war on the state.
The Thai authorities have announced their intention to clear Bangkok’s streets of thousands of homeless people ahead of a meeting of world leaders next month.
Where will they go? The Thai Prime Minister and officials have said that some would be sent for vocational training at army camps or shelters, and those suffering from psychiatric disorders would be taken to hospital.
But the Beetle noticed a discrepancy in what is being reported: “Arrested immigrant beggars will be deported, prostitutes will be sent to rehabilitation centres and insane homeless will be sent to mental hospitals,” said Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
“There are no excuses for being a vagabond,” Bangkok’s Governor told The Bangkok Post. “Everybody must have a place to live.”
Give them a chance to go back home first, then put (the rest) together in one place and feed them from the state budget like my previous operation against street dogs,” Mr Samak was quoted as saying by The Nation.
Globetrotters Marion Bull is having a photo exhibition at the Horniman Centre in south London, opening 4th October. The free exhibition depicts the dramatic landscape in and around the plateau and the nomadic Tuareg herders, the Kel Djanti, who once inhabited Tassili N'Ajjer, before they were driven out by drought.
There will also be a special concert of North African Berber 'N' Rai music and dance to celebrate the opening of the Sahara exhibition. With a fusion of traditional and modern Algerian music, this exciting and energetic four-piece band is guaranteed to get you out of your seats and up on your feet!
Sunday 5th Oct 2 – 2.45pm & 3 – 3.45pm. Free entrance.
Any Globetrotters reading this e-newsletter is entitled to a 20% discount staying at the Jaipur Inn, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. To claim your discount, contact: jaipurin@sancharnet.in
TrekAmerica has offered Globetrotters readers of this e-newsletter a 10% Discount on all of their tours.
TrekAmerica offers a range of over 60 adventure camping, lodging and walking tours in small groups (13 passengers maximum) in Canada, the USA (incl. Alaska) and Mexico.
In 2004 we will also be offeringfamily tours and various specialty tours (e.g.- biking and birdwatching tours).
To claim your discount, you need to book direct and mention membership of the Globetrotters Club. For more information, see www.trekamerica.co.uk or call 0870 444 8735.
The BBC recently showed a programme outlining the results of a viewer’s poll stating the top 50 things they thought everyone should do in their life.
The top 5 things were as follows:
What would your top 5 things be? Write in and tell the Beetle.
Aviation enthusiasts, get ready! Air France is set to auction 200 parts from its retired Concorde fleet at Christie’s Paris auction room in October. After 27 years of service, everything from the famous nose cone to smaller pieces of memorabilia will be for sale. The proceeds will go towards children's causes supported by Air France. As a price guide, the famous drooping nose cone is estimated at EUR10,000 (USD$11,000) to EUR15,000 but prices for other mementoes, such as photos and models are as low as EUR20. There are no reserve prices, so everything must go.
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!!
London based human rights group Amnesty International has openly criticised the government of the Maldive Islands and asked them to end what it calls systematic political repression. Amnesty says torture, unfair trials and abusive power by the security forces are endemic in the Maldives, contrasting somewhat from their image of romantic holidays on beautiful coral atoll islands with white sandy beaches.
Amnesty are asking for an urgent radical reform of the criminal justice system. One opposition website has said that the security forces detained more than 100 people, but other sources put the number lower.
A Sri Lankan teacher who spent three months in jail in the Maldives last year said it was common for inmates to be tortured – hung upside down on bars and beaten on their feet or submerged head first in water. He said after the beatings, the guards would throw sugar on the prisoners so they'd be bitten by ants in their cell, and he said political prisoners were kept in the same cells as ordinary criminals, where powerful lights would be kept on to make sleep difficult.
Our webmaster likes: the Theban Mapping Project a website that allows you to go on an interactive tour of the tombs of the Valley of the Kings, complete with film and commentary, explore the Theban necropolis and find out more about the history of the Valley of the Kings, its tombs and Thebes today.
UNESCO has hailed as “a major step forward” the pledge made by the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) – comprising 15 of the world’s largest mining and metal producing companies – not to explore or mine in World Heritage sites. The sites include Kakadu National Park (Australia), Kakadu National Park (Indonesia), Huascaràn National Park (Peru), Huascaràn National Park (Spain), and the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park (South Africa).
Three US airlines have been fined $750,000 between them over failure to offer adequate facilities to passengers with disabilities. America West, JetBlue and Southwest Airlines were found not to have provided enough space for storing wheelchairs on their flights.
Australian airline, Qantas, has denied reports that it is considering arming its planes with anti-missile devices.
Australia's second largest airline Virgin Blue has unveiled a new low cost carrier, Pacific Blue. The airline will be based at Christchurch in New Zealand and plans to start flying on February 1 next year. It aims to offer heavily reduced fares on routes to Australia and South Pacific destinations.
Bankrupt United Airlines has announced that it intends to launch a low-cost carrier. It will be competing with Frontier, JetBlue and Southwest, in the US and Ryanair in the UK all of whom have grown quickly despite the economic downturn. The new airline, not named as yet will initially fly from its Denver hub to Reno, Nevada, Las Vegas, Phoenix, New Orleans and Tampa. Tickets will go on sale in November.
British Airways have planned 20 farewell Concorde flights between Saturday, October 18 and Friday October 24. The last flight on which customers can buy seats will be the BA001 London Heathrow to New York JFK flight on Thursday, October 23. Thinking of taking a final Concorde trip? The one way trip between London and New York costs £4,350 ($7,165) and the round trip is £8,292. ($13,658).
Fourteen of the European hostages, missing in the Sahara for over five months have been released by suspected Islamic extremist kidnappers. One woman hostage died whilst held captive in Mali. The tourists – nine Germans, four Swiss and a Dutchman are reported to be well, but exhausted. A political row has erupted over speculation that a ransom was paid. The German press has reported that the kidnappers wanted $5m for each hostage as well as security guarantees. The German press believe that the German government has paid a ransom, although others believe that Mali has put forward the money, and that Germany will then provide it with foreign aid. Also at issue is how far Germany – or indeed any country – should be responsible for its citizens when they knowingly travel to dangerous parts of the world.
1. Angola: Luanda
2. Cyprus: Nicosia
3. Laos: Vientiane
4. Nepal: Kathmandu
5. South Korea: Seoul
· 0 out of 5 – you need to get out more!
· 1-3 – not bad
· 4 – very good! You are a Globetrotter!
· 5 – are you sure you didn’t sneak a look?
The Cambodian government has has released full scale tourism plans for a small village, Anlong Veng, some 70 miles away from Angkor Watt, Cambodia’s most visited tourist attraction. Anlong Veng, however is infamous as being Pol Pot’s last refuge. Plans include opening a museum with video show, refurbishing houses belonging to Pol Pot and a villa belonging to T Mok, once home to the one legged commander nicknamed the Butcher who took over from Pol Pot. There are plans to train some of the former Khmer Rouge as guides. The Ministry of Tourism says that the project will be done in the “best possible taste.” Relatives of the victims have criticised the plans because Anlong Veng has religious significance because of the tremendous suffering and tourism would cheapen the memory.
A great website, spotted by our webmaster Paul. It contains articles from the press and magazines around the world and also headlines from events around the world. So, if you ever wondered what the headlines were in Yemen or Serbia, here’s your chance to find out. Each country’s newspaper is listed so you can select a newspaper of your choice to see that country’s news stories. The site also tells you which language the newspaper is in. Click on: worldpress
A retired Florida schoolteacher who went to Iraq to serve as a “human shield” is facing hefty fines, which she is refusing to pay. The US Treasury said that Faith Fippinger, 62, broke the law by crossing the Iraqi border before the war. Her travel to Iraq violated U.S. sanctions that prohibited American citizens from engaging in “virtually all direct or indirect commercial, financial or trade transactions with Iraq.” The government also has asked Fippinger, 62, to detail her travels to Iraq and any financial transactions she made. In her response, Fippinger wrote that the only money she spent was on food and emergency supplies and that “if it comes to fines or imprisonment, “please be aware that I will not contribute money to the United States government to continue the build-up of its arsenal of weapons.” Since she won't pay, she said, “perhaps the alternative should be considered.”
Southwest Airlines, the highly successful US low cost airline – the one that Ryanair is modelled on, has fired two pilots (both men) for allegedly taking off their clothes whilst in the cockpit, in flight.
Southwest is famous for being offbeat. When they started flying in 1971, flight attendants wore hot pants (one assumes the female ones) and were chosen for sex appeal and they are known even today for making funny in-flight announcements, sometimes even in song.
This is not the first time that pilots have behaved badly – America West fired a pair of pilots last year for being under the influence of alcohol in the cockpit after running up a $142 tab at a Miami bar the night before. A Northwest Airlines pilot was arrested in January, after a loaded gun was found in his carry-on.
In a bid to step up flight security, China plans to
use policemen disguised as crew members. The undercover police, who may
be armed, are undergoing training and are likely to be deployed in October
this year.
British Airways has suspended all flights to Saudi Arabia after receiving evidence of a planned attack on a UK jet at Riyadh airport.
Expect to get some good fares between New Zealand and
Tasmania: Air New Zealand (ANZ) is to launch a low cost service
Tasman Express on October 29th on its trans Tasman route. There is already
an Emirates service across the Tasman Sea and Virgin Blue has said
it intends to start flights between the two countries later this year.
ANZ also plans to cut the price of fares from
Auckland to Sydney by 45 percent to NZD$189 (USD$111) one way, while the
total reductions would average about 20 percent.
India’s first budget airline, Air Deccan
has just started with flights from the southern city of Bangalore. Air
Deccan aims to undercut other carriers’ fares by 50 percent, will
start with one daily service to Hubli and Mangalore, but plans to expand
quickly to 20 flights per day to destinations in the south of the country.
India’s civil aviation minister, Rajav Prat Rudy said: “The days
of flying being a symbol of only maharajas or the rich are over.”
Pilots in the US are pressing the government to train
more cockpit crews in the use of guns after new warnings about possible
terrorist hijack attempts.
The US government has put out a worldwide alert that
terrorists may be plotting more hijack attempts on commercial airliners
this summer. According to a report from CNN the targets could include
Australia, Italy, the UK or the eastern United States. However, the intelligence
is still being evaluated and some doubts have been cast on its reliability.