Spotted by Webmaster Paul, here's a satellite photo from Google of the Stonehenge

According to a recent study, some 30% of European flights from London Heathrow were delayed in 2004.

The average delay per flight was 33 minutes.  Zurich and Vienna were the second and third most affected at 26% and 24% respectively.

The lowest number of delays was reported at Oslo, where 13% of flights were delayed more than 15 minutes, with an average delay of 38.5 minutes. Helsinki, Brussels and Copenhagen airports also reported low delays.

Worst airline performer in the survey was Turkish Airlines with 100% of flights delayed out of Paris Charles de Gaulle, with an average delay of 428 minutes

A monk has travelled from China to Ruabon, near Wrexham in Wales to help open a special temple to teach the ancient discipline of Shaolin.  Shi Xing Du will draft a syllabus for students to learn the Shaolin way, which includes kung fu, Chinese medicine, Buddhism and meditation.  The centre of the discipline's teaching is the Shaolin temple in the Henan Province of China, which is a Buddhist temple.  Shi Xing Du said he knew instinctively that north Wales was the right place to create a temple. “Wales is beautiful and I think it is the right place to set up a school,” he said.  Speaking through his disciple Pol Wong, he said the area surrounding the school in Ruabon was similar to the area around the Shaolin temple on the Song Shan Mountain.  To find out more information, see: http://www.chenloong.com/school.htm

Zimbabwe is said to be about to import four endangered Siberian tigers from China for captive breeding.  China had received zebras, elephants and impala as part of an “exchange programme”. Yes, this comes from a country that is rapidly imploding, people being displaced from their homes and land, rampaging inflation and there is not enough to eat.  A local biologist working in Bulawayo, said the plan was “a complete load of garbage”, adding that the country even lacked the resources to look after its own wildlife.

Be careful what you write whilst on-line in China.  Yahoo was accused last week of helping Chinese authorities identify and imprison a reporter who described government fears about pro-democracy activists.  Shi Tao of China's Contemporary Business News attended a meeting at which an official read a government memo warning of possible social unrest during the 15th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.  Using an Internet alias, Shi described the government memo in an email sent to a U.S.-based pro-democracy website, incurring the anger of Chinese authorities.

According to Reporters Without Borders, Yahoo's Chinese division helped local authorities crack Shi's alias, leading to his arrest, two-hour trial, and 10-year prison sentence.  Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft are all competing for a share of the Chinese internet market and all three come under criticism for lowering ethical standards when it comes to free speech.  In June, Microsoft fended off criticism for blocking Chinese bloggers on its sites from using words like “liberty,” “capitalism,” and “human rights.”

The Great Express, a luxury overnight train for rich Russians and foreign tourists is now running between Moscow and St. Petersburg.  The cost ranges from 3,150 roubles, or $110, for the nine-hour overnight trip in a first-class seat to 12,500 roubles for a luxury compartment with a bed and bathroom.  All compartments are fitted with flat-screen televisions showing satellite channels and have wireless Internet connections.

The latest in a series of setbacks for the $1.8bn (£1bn) Hong Kong Disneyland occurred after Health Inspectors were called in after three cases of food poisoning.  The two health officials were asked to take off their uniforms to avoid scaring clients.  Hong Kong officials, angered that food inspectors were asked to remove their uniforms told Disney it is “not above the law”.  Disney has apologised and has promised to comply with local laws.

An editorial in the Ming Pao Daily News says Hong Kong residents suspect Disney “wants to engineer special rights and turn the theme park into an independent kingdom that Hong Kong laws can't reach”.

The park faced criticism from animal welfare groups in July, after reports local officials had been called in to destroy at least 40 dogs roaming the site.  A month earlier, it withdrew shark fin soup from planned banquet menus after campaigners condemned the dish, a local luxury, as cruel and ecologically destructive.

In some parts of Nepal, particularly the western parts of the country, there is a tradition of keeping women in cow sheds during their menstrual cycle.  Nepal's Supreme Court has ordered the government to declare the practice as evil and have given one month to stop the practice.  Women's rights activists have said that this is a positive move but a change in the law alone is not enough, that people need to be educated against such a scourge of society.

On Wednesday, 29th March 2006, the shadow of the Moon will sweep a band starting from Brazil, through Atlantic Ocean, Gold Coast of Africa, Saharan Desert, Mediterranean Sea, Turkey, Black Sea, Georgia, Russian Federation, northern shores of Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan; ending in Mongolia. The duration of totality will be less than 2 minutes near the sunrise and sunset limits, but will be as long as 4 minutes and 7 seconds in Libya, at the moment of greatest eclipse.  The partial phases will be witnessed by all of Europe. All Asia west of Yakutsk, Mongolia, central China and Myanmar, and north of the line joining Bombay and Calcutta will see some of the Moon in front of the Sun. Also, only the south eastern parts of Africa will miss the partial eclipse.

Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines, the third and fourth-largest US air carriers, both declared bankruptcy in September citing rising oil prices and low-cost competition among their reasons.

Spotted on the Globetrotter's forum: http://milvetstravel.net/virtualtours.html is a website that allows you to take virtual tours of a whole host of places – check it out, it's pretty interesting!

Ministers from 23 countries in Africa and south-east Asia have appealed for international help to save the world's great apes from extinction.

Urgent action was needed to protect the great apes and provide sustainable ways of living for local communities, the UN-backed meeting in Kinshasa agreed.

Poaching and damage to forest habitats have led gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo and orang-utan numbers to fall sharply.

Indian Railways has announced that it plans to introduce electronic tickets.  Electronic tickets can be purchased for trains between New Delhi and Kalka, in northern India.  Passengers have to show an identity card and the printout of the electronic reservation.

In the past two weeks, there have been two major armed robberies at separate hotels in Zanzibar.  The first robbery took place at the Coral Reef Hotel about 28 miles north of Stone Town.  Eight men disguised as police officers, armed with submachine-guns tied up security staff and made off with nearly £15,000 in various currencies, watches and mobile phones. 

Less than a week later, six people armed with a gun and machetes arrived after dark at the Nungwi Village Hotel, an eco-resort in northern Zanzibar (where the Beetle passed a happy 10 days a couple of years ago.)  After threatening to kill staff and guests, the gang robbed them of their laptops, mobile phones and cash before stealing nearly £9,000 from the safe.

Four people have been arrested in relation to the first incident but no arrests have been made re the second robbery.

The Beijing Municipal Traffic Administration has launched a campaign to standardise road signs to make it easier for visitors to navigate the city.  Bilingual Chinese-English signs are to be displayed on streets as well as around the city's key tourist attractions. Many would agree that getting around Beijing can be difficult when you see signs saying “export” instead of “exit” for the word chukou and “scatter” instead of “evacuate” for the word shusan.

Campaigners organising Malaria Awareness Week say that British tourists are too complacent about contracting malaria as they travel to more and more far flung locations.  In particular, last minute bargain hunters are at risk because they don't leave time to arrange medication.  Last year around 5m travelled to risk areas, but 60% did not take the right health advice before they set out. Around 2,000 Britons get malaria each year, and deaths are low but rising.

Singapore is following London's lead and plans to build a giant Ferris wheel.  Designers estimate that it will be 142 feet taller than the London Eye and say that visitors will be able to enjoy views of neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia from the 587ft-high wheel when it is completed in early 2008.

A restaurant in north east China was closed down for listing stir fried tiger meat with peppers for US $98 or a kilo of tiger meat for US $ 863.  Maybe it was the fact that the sale of tiger meat is outlawed in China or that the restaurant was less than a mile away from a Siberian Tiger Park that attracted the attention of local authorities.  Police raided the restaurant to find that actually the tiger meat was donkey marinated in tiger urine – to give it “a special flavour”.  Hhhmm, nice.

Ever worried about being able to access your cash whilst overseas?  These two websites allow you to locate Visa and Mastercard ATMs.

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!!