· From Naomi in Bulgaria:-
Hi Beetle – I have recently opened a restaurant in a small but very beautiful village in Beli Iskar, Bulgaria. The place itself is very picturesque with nature trails and national forest surrounding it. It is a small journey from the 7 lakes a famous glacier lake formation. Also near to Borovets ski resort, the beautiful Rila Monastery, and much more. I moved here from the UK about 9 months ago, after finishing my degree and wanting a change of scenery, I opted for Bulgaria! I would love for more people to know about the area and what it has to offer! We are based in a great apartment complex where we can organise 3/5 day activity packages where people will get a chance to experience some of what is on offer here! I don’t know whether you would be interested in including something about this in the newsletter- or whether you have any advice about getting this little gem known to travellers! I would appreciate any advice you can give ! If you would like to know anymore please get in touch! I have loads of information about the area that I would love to share!

Thanks for your time, Kind Regards, Naomi eaglerockcafe@hotmail.com

A member of Globetrotters Club and interested in winning a £1,000 travel award ? Know someone who fits these criteria ? We have up to two £1,000 awards to give out this year for the best independent travel plan, as judged by the clubÂ’s Committee.

See the legacy page on our web site, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we’ll take a look !!

· recent addition to the range of travel web sites & magazines – http://www.beyondtravelmagazine.co.uk/

· spotted by David Hock – check out these guys biking from Alaska to tip of S. America. They’re the real deal –http://ridingthespine.com/main.html

· Calcutta Walks, a walking tour company in Calcutta, India, offer many other ways of exploring the city besides walking, but specialise in walking tours. Their web site is at – www.calcuttawalks.com.

·“An interesting pair ” as spotted by Tracey Murray – http://www.3mphroundtheworld.com

· In response to a request for suggestions in finding a travelling companion I suggest clicking on this link There is a host of links to explore all about finding companions for travel – Francesca Jaggs

Need to convert a 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.

Regular contributor Mac ruminates on the world of travel & some of his adventures along the way 

This time round The Beetle is responding to his suggestion of the following top ten places to visit:-

1. Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, Zambia

2. Canals of Venice, Italy

3. Great Barrier Reef, Australia

4. Lee River, China (conical limestone peaks)

5. Suez Canal, Egypt

6. Lake Como, Italy

7. Lake Baikal, Russia

8. Nile River, Egypt

9. Bora Bora, South Pacific

10. Dead Sea, Israel

Hi Mac,

I’m at work, we are having a wall built between the main cheese waxing area and my new dairy – I will be making cheese for the first time next week!

Here’s my version of the best top 10:, with a theme of best Lakes, Canals, & Watery Wonders:-

1. The Panama Canal – an incredible piece of engineering

2. The Amazon

3. The reefs off Papua New Guinea – the Great Barrier reef is largely dead and trashed by careless divers and snorkelers

4. The Nile from Luxor to Aswan

5. Venice

6. Lake Tanganyika by the steps of the Railway Hotel, Kigoma – the most beautiful and serene sight

7. Gulin, China, with its rounded steep mountains

8. The Danube

9. Rotorua and its geysers and stinky lake

10. Lake Wanaka

What do you the readers think ? Has Mac got the inside track or does The Beetle show up the breadth of her knowledge ? The Ant

We are planning a new photobook, to be published next autumn, which will highlight unusual places, people, events and wildlife of the world. The book, to be published in conjunction with Bradt Travel Guides, will be a glossy tome with a range of images and the stories behind them.

We’ve invited readers to send us photos from their travels, showcasing anything offbeat – unusual foods, quirky art or architecture, strange or amusing transport, weird wildlife or funny signs.

I’m certain Globetrotters will have some great photos from their travels – the most interesting images will be published in the book (which will be distributed through bookshops and the Wanderlust website) and everyone who submits an image will be entered into a draw to win some fabulous prizes.

This is not a photography competition – we’re not looking for technical quality; rather, it’s the story behind the picture and the destination which is of interest.

Details of the book can be found at:

http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/weirdworld

Closing date for submission of images is 20 February 2009.

If you enjoy writing and travelling, why not write for the free Globetrotters eNewsletter! The Ant would love to hear from you: your travel stories, anecdotes, jokes, questions, hints and tips, or your hometown or somewhere of special interest to you. Over 14,000 people currently subscribe to the Globetrotter eNewsletter.

Email The Ant at theant@globetrotters.co.uk with your travel experiences / hints & tips / questions. Your article should be approximately 1000 words, feature up to 3 or 4 jpeg photos and introduce yourself with a couple of sentences and a contact e-mail address.

Help needed…

• Dear Globetrotters Club,

  I have just become a new member.

  I’m planning a tour in my Landrover through Middle East and Africa. I cannot go through Sudan because of visa problem. Could you or some of your members give advise of how to get around Sudan. I thing it is very difficult on a western route and through Central Africa to Uganda. An alternative is to take a boat from Egypt or Saudi/Dubai to Mombasa, but as I would like to go to Ethiopia, I would like to know how it is to go to Djibouti and from there to Ethiopia.

  Best regards

  Hugo Gaarden

  hugo.gaarden@gmail.com

• …to ask if anyone can give a quick help with information on cheap accommodation in India. [I’m] going to be travelling in India and in China and would like to have some advice before departing. If any of you can give some feedback…it would be most appreciated. Don’t really know much about plans, so I guess any tip would do.

  Many thanks !

  onder.gultekin@gmail.com

• From Krys:-

  Hi Guys,

  I need to organize some more space so I would like to give away four year copies of the Wanderlust magazine 2000 – 2004. If you happen to know someone interested in collecting them (London E17), please forward my e-mail address.

  Thank you

  Krys

A member of Globetrotters Club and interested in winning a £1,000 travel award ? Know someone who fits these criteria ? We have up to two £1,000 awards to give out this year for the best independent travel plan, as judged by the club’s Committee.

See the legacy page on our web site, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we’ll take a look !!

Web sites to muse about travel to

• From Hector Christie for travel, culture, arts, photography – www.hectorchristie.co.uk

• Girl Solo in Arabia – Carolyn McIntyre is traveling from the Moroccan City of Tangiers through 46 countries as she attempts to recreate an epic journey made 700 years ago by the famed Islamic scholar and traveler Ibn Battuta http://girlsoloinarabia.typepad.com/

• For an update to the magazine and more travel ideas read – http://www.realtravelmag.com/

• Has anyone heard of “Couch Surfing”, as discussed on Radio 4 recently ? http://www.couchsurfing.com/

Need to convert a 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.

Regular contributor Mac ruminates on the world of travel & some of his adventures along the way  This time round he’s spotted this WorldHum.com list of top travel books:-

No. 1: “Arabian Sands” by Wilfred Thesiger

No. 2: “The Road to Oxiana” by Robert Byron

No. 3: “The Great Railway Bazaar” by Paul Theroux

No. 4: “The Soccer War” by Ryszard Kapuściński

No. 5: “No Mercy” by Redmond O’Hanlon

No. 6: “North of South” by Shiva Naipaul

No. 7: “Golden Earth” by Norman Lewis

No. 8: “Video Night in Kathmandu” by Pico Iyer

No. 9: “The Innocents Abroad” by Mark Twain

No. 10: “In A Sunburned Country” by Bill Bryson

No. 11: “The Snow Leopard” by Peter Matthiessen

No. 12: “The Songlines” by Bruce Chatwin

No. 13: “Travels with Charley” by John Steinbeck

No. 14: “Riding to the Tigris” by Freya Stark

No. 15: “Europe, Europe” by Hans Magnus Enzensberger

No. 16: “City of Djinns” by William Dalrymple

No. 17: “A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush” by Eric Newby

No. 18: “All the Wrong Places” by James Fenton

No. 19: “Hunting Mister Heartbreak” by Jonathan Raban

No. 20: “River Town” by Peter Hessler

No. 21: “Road Fever” by Tim Cahill

No. 22: “When the Going was Good” by Evelyn Waugh

No. 23: “Behind the Wall” by Colin Thubron

No. 24: “Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere” by Jan Morris

No. 25: “A Time of Gifts” by Patrick Leigh Fermor

No. 26: “Baghdad Without a Map” by Tony Horwitz

No. 27: “The Size of the World” by Jeff Greenwald

No. 28: “Facing the Congo” by Jeffrey Tayler

No. 29: “Venture to the Interior” by Laurens van der Post

No. 30: “A Turn in the South” by V.S. Naipaul

What do you think – do you agree with this list or are there some must reads missing ? Feel free to express your opinions to The Ant…

From readers of the October edition we received the following feedback which I thought IÂ’d share with youÂ… The Ant

Write in (1) ¦ Bhutan a state of contentment by Neil Harris

• Hi Bugsy. Loved the Bhutan article. It could’ve been ten times as long, for my taste. I wanna go! But what’s the time period on that “minimum spend” Is it $200 / month or per year? I could afford it if it were only per year. And do they collect the money as you enter the country? Or could I live on $1 a day like I usually do, then donate anything leftover to some needy family? Like that family that got their mortgage paid off by a tourist passing thru. Harold Dunn in San Diego
• I agree with Harold when he says “I wanna go!” but meanwhile I would like to ask Neil Harris for permission to use a couple of pictures and a few lines to add to Nelisa’s travels (www.nelisa.net / “What about your trip?” section). It’s a home-made web site looking for short travel comments. Unlike Harold, in terms of travel writing, I think the shorter the better.â€Â Nelisa nelisa@nelisa.net

Write in (3) ¦ Silk Road by Sandra Reekie

• I was fascinated reading your experience on the Silk Road. Are you planning any more adventures ? How did you get enough nerve to do this on your own ? Thanks so much for writing about your wonderful dealings with a hidden part of the world. Judy Apici judy_apici@yahoo.com
• Hi Sandra – a very good article and photos – many thanks. I visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan a few years ago and want to go back to Uzbek and may be to other stans, but am more interested in north Pakistan. I was thinking of trying to travel the length of the north by public transport, stopping off for a few days at the most interesting places and doing a bit of trekking in the Karakorum. I’m a bit concerned about safety in the NW though. What do you think ?â€Â Jon jonhornbuckle@yahoo.com
• â€ÂÅ”Dear Ant. Congratulations on the excellent October newsletter, particularly Sandra Reekie’s story of her travels in Central Asia and the article on Ruanda, where I am hoping to do some travelling. A really good read Sylvia Pullen

If you enjoy writing and travelling, why not write for the free Globetrotters eNewsletter! The Ant would love to hear from you: your travel stories, anecdotes, jokes, questions, hints and tips, or your hometown or somewhere of special interest to you. Over 14,000 people currently subscribe to the Globetrotter eNewsletter.

Email The Ant at theant@globetrotters.co.uk with your travel experiences / hints & tips / questions. Your article should be approximately 1000 words, feature up to 3 or 4 jpeg photos and introduce yourself with a couple of sentences and a contact e-mail address.

A member of Globetrotters Club and interested in winning a £1,000 travel award ? Know someone who fits these criteria ? We have up to two £1,000 awards to give out this year for the best independent travel plan, as judged by the club’s Committee.

See the legacy page on our web site, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we’ll take a look !!

by Tracey Murray – after 2 years of planning launches a travel community www.iKnowaGreatplace.com – ‘local secrets from a world of travellers’

Need to convert a 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.

Following on from a previous report on the terrible death of Ian Hibell I received this from Eric – e-c-hayman@fsmail.net

“I see that Ian Hibell was working for Standard Telephones and Cables in Paignton, Devon in 1963 before leaving for his first odyssey. A school mate of mine – Tony Hingston – also went to work with STC when he left Totnes Grammar School in 1958. Does anyone know what school Ian went to, or where he lived in Devon?

Eric.”

Do you think you have what it takes to make the next Planet Earth?

BBC One is looking for nine people to take part in the experience of a lifetime. Encountering extraordinary animals in amazing locations and testing yourself to the limit, this series will culminate with one exceptional individual securing a year’s placement at the BBC’s award winning, world famous Natural History Unit.

Would your holiday of a lifetime involve seeing one of the big five in their natural habitat ? Maybe you long to get off that beaten tourist track ? Do you get up at dawn to hit the mountain before anyone else ? Or do you live for adventure?

Peter Salmon, Chief Creative Officer, BBC Vision, says: “This is an exciting collaboration. The first of its kind in the BBC, a marriage of two in-house centres of excellence, responsible for current hits Last Choir Standing and Lost Land Of The Jaguar. Further proof, if any were needed, that our programme-makers will go anywhere to win a commission, even To The Ends Of The Earth…”

If you are over 18 years old and can illustrate your passion for the natural world we want to hear from you. To apply, please email your name to endsoftheearth@bbc.co.uk and an application form will be emailed to you.

Successful candidates may spend up to ten weeks away from home in spring 2009.

Deadline for applications is 26^th November 2008

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