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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!!

According to the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Bolivia is undergoing a period of social unrest. Since the start of the year there have been a number of fatalities. Roads are blockaded from time to time. You should avoid demonstrations at all times and should not attempt to pass through or go around roadblocks. Strikes and other civil actions can occur at any time and can disrupt transport locally or nationally.

Blockades intensified in mid-September and continue. Road traffic across the Altiplano from La Paz westwards, in particular up to Lake Titicaca, the Peruvian border, Oruro, and the Chilean border is subject to blockades or disruption at any time. La Paz to the Yungas is equally affected. Visitors are advised not to travel in these areas. Sorata has particular problems.

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.

If you are into airplanes, then this is the place for you: Britain's National Museum of aviation features over 70 full-sized aircraft including a unique collection of British, German and Italian planes.

The Museum also houses a flight simulator, 'Touch and Try' Jet Provost Trainer and Sunderland Flying Boat 'walk through' experience.

Address: Grahame Park Way, NW9.

Open: Daily, 1000-1800

Tube: Colindale Rail: Mill Hill Broadway.

Enquiries: 020 8205 2266 Entrance: FREE.

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.

Globetrotters Tony wrote in to tell us about the Anglo-Paraguayan Friendship Society he belongs to. He says that they hold some very enjoyable social events throughout the year. If anyone is interested in attending, they can contact Lotte Pigram, Anglo-Paraguayan Society, 93 Kingsfield Rd, Watford, Herts WD19 4TP, tel: 01923-246274 or e-mail Lotte on: lottepigram@hotmail.com

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).

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.

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).

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.

Need to convert currency?

Take a look at The Globetrotters Currency Converter — get the exchange rates for 164 currencies The Globetrotters Currency Cheat Sheet — create and print a currency converter table for your next trip.

Globetrotters Marion Bull is having a photo exhibition at the Horniman Centre in south London, opening 4^th 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.

Need help? Then write in with your question, and we’ll try and 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.