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La “noche porteña”. Buenos Aires at night. If you are planning to come to Buenos Aires, and you think to go out during the day and rest at night. Please, forget it!!!!!!!.

First, make an early visit to some museums, do a city tour, go shopping in your spare time. After a quick lunch, visit a market, historical places (a lot in Buenos Aires). But you come back before it gets dark to have a bath, change clothes, have dinner and go out again. Don’t try to schedule your return, it will be quite useless: you just won’t make it.

Below are just some of the options available:

Bars and pubs, Concerts, Discos, Cinema and Theatre, Tango shows (unforgettable!!!)

In Buenos Aires, you know how the activity begins but never when it ends. Alternative options for bars and pubs can be with live concerts, Tango, Flamenco, jazz and blues, or attend castings, having a theatre play or watch a bizarre cinema, some offering table games, billiards, different sports, karaoke, office bars, literary, design and astrological pubs, cybercafes, tapas and Irish pubs, others (this is an important tip) the famous Argentine wineries (wine bars are spread all over the city).

If you want be active, you can keep on dancing at after hours, go to the cinema or theatre or visit our traditional book stores, located in the famous Corrientes Avenue. La Boca, Palermo, San Telmo, Downtown, Recoleta, Barrio Norte, Retiro, Monserrat neighboorhoods are all good for these kinds of activities.

And before coming back your hotel (about 4, 5 or maybe 8 in the morning,) you have to imitate one of our customs: for young people and not that young, is to have a delicious breakfast in a pub, in a bar or in a gas station.

SAFETY: Buenos Aires has experienced increased muggings and thefts in the past two years. Visitors should only take taxis marked “Radio Taxi.” Be extra cautious when travelling in Abasto.

LANGUAGE: English is not widely spoken. Basic Spanish, like the ability to ask for directions, is very useful. The Evita Museum has signs in English and Spanish but other museums do not.

SEASONS: Expect hot and muggy weather and higher prices December through March, which is Argentina’s summer. The best times to visit, both in terms of weather and cost, are spring (September to November) and fall (April to June).

Nélida G. Vilais the General Coordinator and Spanish teacher at the Buenos Aires Centre – Learn Spanish in Argentina. They can organise programs of immersion in language and culture in Buenos Aires & Patagonia. For more information, see:

http://www.buenosairescentre.com.ar

1 France 75,500,000

2 United States 50,900,000

3 Spain 48,200,000

4 Italy 41,200,000

5 China 31,200,000

6 United Kingdom 25,200,000

7 Russia 21,200,000

8 Mexico 20,600,000

9 Canada 20,400,000

10 Germany 19,000,000

What is it: cholera is an acute, diarrhoea illness caused by infection of the intestine with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae via contaminated drink or shellfish. Transmission happens through contaminated water and food.

How do I get it: cholera often occurs in epidemic areas where there is poor sanitation and occurs regularly after natural disasters and war. Outbreaks are known to occur along the Ganges river and in Bangladesh.

What happens if I get it: around 90% of cases are mild to moderate and hard to distinguish from the usual sort of traveller’s diarrhoea. In more sever cases, cholera is characterised by profuse watery diarrhoea, vomiting, leg cramps, rapid loss of body fluids, dehydration, shock. Without treatment, death can occur within hours.

Diagnosis and treatment: a stool sample will show whether you have cholera. It can be simply and successfully treated by immediate replacement of the fluid and salts lost through diarrhoea. Patients can be treated with oral rehydration solution, a pre-packaged mixture of sugar and salts to be mixed with water and drunk in large amounts. This solution is commonly used to treat diarrhoea. Severe cases may also require an intravenous drip with fluid replacement. With prompt rehydration, less than 1% of cholera patients die. A 6 day course of the antibiotic tetracycline can clear things up very quickly, although rehydration is the more important course of action.

How can I avoid contracting cholera: the usual advice as per traveller’s diarrhoea – drink water that you have boiled or treated with chlorine or iodine, avoid ice, eat food that has been thoroughly cooked and is still hot, only eat fruit that you have peeled yourself, avoid undercooked or raw fish or shellfish. Avoid salads and be careful with foods and beverages from street vendors. There is a vaccine, but this is no longer available in the UK because health authorities believe that it is ineffective.

On arrival at Agrigento I thought I had dropped a bad clanger. I had not booked thinking February should not present too much by way of problems. However the very first thing I noticed in Agrigento were signs of an international carnival. It was indeed the end of a two-week international festival, ‘Mandolo in fiore’ [almond blossom] but I obtained a ground floor en-suite room at the very first place I tried – at a very reasonable price! This was Concordia in the Piazza San Francesco. Another plus mark for the Concordia is that its guests get a reduction at the good restaurant next door, La Forchetta.

I headed straight for the Valley of the Temples. This is about two and a half kilometres below the town and about half way is the purpose built archaeological museum. I headed for the eastern temples. I don’t know why the Greek settlers found it necessary or desirable to build so many Doric temples so close together – perhaps to avoid spite from jealous Gods? – but I am heartily glad they did.. On the eastern side there are three wonderful buildings, the Tempio de Ércole, the Tempio de Concordia and, furthest away, the Tempio de Giunone. The one in by far the best state of repair – or reconstruction in parts – is the middle one which apparently enjoyed a spell as a Christian church from about the sixth century. However I found the slightly wooded site of the nearest to the road, the Tempio di Ércole contributed to making this a pretty alluring place. All the way along the main path, there are empty tombs and other minor remains on the left side [opposite the temples] and there is much to make it apparent that the festival of almond blossom is perfectly timed.

The following morning the final procession of the festival took place. I took the chance of a quick wander around the town itself. A set of steps led from almost opposite my hotel up to the Via Atenea but the roads up on the other side were mainly unstepped, though very steep. Although Agrigento is statistically one of the poorest cities in Italy, Via Atenea itself gives no sign of this and some of the shops are quite elegant. Eventually the procession set out and very spectacular it was. Some of the costumes were glorious and many of the little children watching were most attractively arrayed. I followed behind to get a bus back down to the temples; no such luck – that’s where the procession was heading and the buses had accordingly stopped. I walked down, stopping at the museum en route.

This is a really excellent place. The British Museum in London is the only place where I have seen a collection of Greek vase to equal the ones there. There is a sort of indoor courtyard and towering up above the height of the first floor is a ‘telemone’ reassembled from pieces, a sort of column with a sculpture of a man holding something up. It is HUGE! Anyway I headed on down for the temple area and there, where the bus had stopped, immediately under the Tempio di Ércole, they were setting up a structure for each national delegation to perform in an outdoor concert. I went to see the western temples first. These are not anywhere near the same as the others, more ruined like a vast ancient historic demolition site but it was interesting after seeing the models in the museum, to imagine just how vast the Tempio di Giove would have been, had it ever been completed. There is another telamone here, lying unattended and possibly seeming even more majestic for this reason.

Later, tired and hungry I started the walk back up the hill. I was far from beating any speed records but I made it and settled down for a rest in my hotel before eating. I woke to the most fearsome bangs and realised that they were from the festival’s final firework display. I simply had to watch and there was a space just along from the hotel which gave the best view I have ever experienced of such a display which was lighting up the sky from far below near the temples. Wow.

I had noticed an interesting place to eat up a small alley on the other side of the Via Atenea. This was La Corte degli Sfizi in Cortile Contorni and I would recommend it to anybody; I must admit to a definite weakness for antipasti and the plate given here to help yourself to the buffet type spread meant that the first course was like a full meal. However the other courses were equally good. I was sorry to be leaving Agrigento but I knew I had seen its best and I never like to stay for an anti-climax. In the morning I took the bus west for Sciacca.

David was a keen walker, particularly on mountains before he developed serious heart problems in 1995. He has now adapted his holidays to what he is able to do and we are presenting his account of 12 days in Sicily over this and the coming months. Next episode – Sciacca, Caltabellotta and Selinunte

Ryanair have added nine new routes to its service across Europe. Four of the routes will operate from London’s Stansted Airport: to Linz in Austria, Bari in Italy, Erfurt in Germany and Jerez in southern Spain. Two will link Stockholm with Rome and Milan, two will fly from Frankfurt to Reus, near Barcelona, and Tampere in Finland, and one will link Brussels with the Spanish city of Valladolid. This will take Ryanair’s total number of routes to 146 from 11 bases in Europe, the airline said in a statement. Only a month ago, Ryanair was Europe’s biggest airline by market value, now this title goes to German airline Lufthansa.

Ryanair has been ordered to repay £3million – about a third of the £9million ‘discount’ it was given from 2001 to encourage it to fly to Charleroi after complaints that Brussels Charleroi Airport made life easier for Ryanair by offering cheap fees and subsidies that were not on offer to competitors. Belgium’s Walloon region gave Ryanair EUR3.8 million euros (USD$4.8 million) in 2002 for publicity and to subsidise a few very low cost, highly publicised fares for a few seats on selected flights. The ruling stemmed from a complaint by Britair, a subsidiary of French national carrier Air France, which said it was forced to cancel its London-Strasbourg link as a result of unfair financial aid to Ryanair. Ryanair had suspended the service in September pending the outcome of the appeal.

Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, threatened to axe any loss-making routes. The airline said fares would rise by up to £12 because of the ruling. With the average Ryanair one-way ticket costing around £25, Mr O’Leary threatened: “This could double loads of fares.”’

And Ryanair’s latest initiative, just when you thought the service could get no worse… Ryanair has confirmed it is taking “no-frills” flying a stage further by ordering a fleet of planes without headrests, no seat pockets, reclining seats or window blinds. This would allow potential savings of more than £1.3m a year by removing all remaining “non-essential” items. They are also said to be looking at the possibility of asking passengers to carry on their luggage, cutting baggage handling fees.

The Inca Trail is the most famous trek in South America and rated by many to be in the top 5 treks in the world. It is 26 miles (45km) long culminating at the lost city of the Incas, Machu Picchu. The trail is usually covered in four days, and you arrive at Machu Picchu at sunrise on the fourth day. Whilst you don’t have to be super fit to do the Inca Trail, it helps to be in good shape as the highest point of the trail is 4,200m. Most people hike the trail from April to October, when it is drier. The peak tourist months are July to August, so if you are planning your trip during this time, it may be advisable to make advance bookings of both trek and hotels.

Each year, the Inca Trail is closed for one month during February. This is in the middle of the rainy season, so would normally be very quiet anyway.

The number of people allowed on the Inca Trail at any one time is limited to 500. This figure includes trekkers, guides, assistant guides, cooks and porters. Out of the 500 people, it is estimated that around 220 people are trekkers. The maximum group size is 16 people. Groups of more than 10 require a guide and an assistant guide.

Contrary to popular belief it is still possible to undertake the Inca trail without the services of a tour operator. If you have a group of less than 8 people you can hire the services of a guide. The guide must be professionally qualified and must also accept responsibility for the group. The guide will have to purchase the Inca Trail trek permits in advance for the group. The downside of this is that if you hire a guide you will have to carry all your own equipment such as tents etc and you will have to cook for yourselves since you are not allowed to hire additional trekking staff such as cooks and porters. The guide must comply with all Inca trail regulations including carrying first aid equipment and emergency oxygen. In reality making such a contract with a guide is difficult since tour operators are not interested in hiring out their guides and the majority of the best guides are contracted to work for the tour operators.

The adult Inca Trail entrance fee is US$50 which also includes entry to the ruins of Machu Picchu. Students under the age of 26 years old in possession of a valid International Student Identity Card (ISIC) receive a US$25 discount. Youths under 16 years old also receive a US$25 discount. Children under the age of 12 years old are not charged an entrance fee.

http://www.incatrailperu.com says i f you are searching the web for information about the 4 day Inca Trail you’ll find hundreds of tour companies offering this popular trek amongst their services. Many of these companies are acting only as agents for the relatively few specialist trekking companies that actually operate the trek. Prices for the 4 day trek start at US$240 per person for a basic service (including entrance fees and return on train) and can climb anywhere up to $1000 depending on the service and comfort on offer.

A good and valuable resource for anyone thinking about doing the Inca Trail says that purchasing the trek directly with a local tour operator in Cusco can often be less than half the price of buying the trek in your own country through an agent. However, great care should be taken in choosing a tour company especially using the internet. The page “Choosing a Trekking Company” has been written to help you avoid many of the pitfalls. The Beetle reckons that this is a pretty good resource to check things out with.

Source: http://www.incatrailperu.com

U. S. Soldiers Home, Washington: during a century of travel (well 78 years!) both in and out of service I have travelled to over 150 countries (I count both North and South Dakota as countries) and for some reason have jotted signs and happenings that I thought funny at the time (and now wonder why). So here is the perfect opportunity to share some of my anecdotes.

Sophisticated traveller that I am, I almost panicked here at the Malaysian border coming from Thailand. The night before on the train a man collected our passports for processing and gave us no receipt. Mine was not at the Malaysian border. I ran from Thai border officials to Malaysian and neither had it. Finally one of them found it. Later a Malaysian official came on the train to “visit” with me. I think the many visas in my passport made me suspect.

In Kota Tingu, Malaysia, I asked a seamstress if she could make me a secret designed undershirt with a secret pocket (no secret anymore) to hide valuables. I asked her when it would be finished and when I should pick it up. I thought she said “Today, three o clock”. When I returned at three I discovered she had said. Two days, three O Clock. In two days I was in another country. In India I had a pocket made in my shorts (also a secret pocket and again no secret) I sometimes wear athletic soccer shorts. They have a pocket in them that has a shield to protect your private parts. I put a plastic bag with money in this pocket. I feel that if a robber got down to looking in my shorts that I would be lost anyway. I also carry valuables in many different places so as to not be carrying all my eggs in one pocket.

Johure Bahru: a sign “Wet Market”. Wet market means they hose down the floor in the market where they have fish.

In my travels I have often met individuals that have been travelling for years. Sometimes taking a job teaching English or some part time job for a while and then moving on. I met a Swedish man (these individuals are usually from Australia) that had spent some time in Malaysia. He had brought one hundred video games and was on his way to Kula Lumpur to catch a Russian Airline Aeroflot plane to Sweden (he says is lousy: the airline not Sweden.)

He pointed out to me in the station some transvestites – Malaysian men dressed as women. He said to look at their big adams apples in throat and their big feet. I asked him what he did for a living. He said “I live.” Can you live on reselling video games alone? He was maybe 35 and dressed respectfully.

In a Malaysian paper there was an article about a visitor to the Philippines being drugged, robbed and left in a cemetery. I asked the Swedish man if he had ever had anything stolen. He replied “My wallet and a gold chain I wore around my neck but that his girl friend might have stolen them.”.

Next month, Mac discusses language.

If you would like to contact Mac, he can be e-mailed on: macsan400@yahoo.com

So, what was it like? Well here is ‘the tour’ of the good, the bad and the best.

The exhibition was on three floors, dominated by trade stands selling pretty much what you’d expect, like holidays, trips, equipment, and activities for hot places, cold places, anywhere you care to mention. “Have a Go’s” included scuba diving in a large paddling pool, but there was nothing to see except blue walls and the instructors legs, and they weren’t worth getting wet for. The glider simulator was popular as was the polystyrene ‘ice’ wall. You got to wear all the gear, ice boots, picks, helmet the lot. I saw quite a few nervous women being coaxed up by young and handsome instructors. I’m pretty sure the same women went back three or four times! Kids had their own climbing wall and were all over it like demented squirrels.

Good bits were free calendars from National Geographic and an excellent photo gallery. Poor bits were coffee at £1.60 a cup and no decent end of show bargains. There was a distinct lack of ‘chill out’ space. In fact the Globetrotters stand was the only place with table and chairs where I felt you could sit, relax and chat to fellow travellers, like Dick, Iona and Matt.

There were six talk rooms and a colossal 82 were scheduled over the weekend. I was truly spoilt for choice, but concurrent sessions meant hard choices. I managed 15 talks and that was going it some. Many were ”what to see“ and “where to go”, places like Peru, Japan and others were more about the journey on two or four wheels or on foot (or with a mule) and even longer RTW on a kite or a horse. The practical talks on photography, health, travel writing, survival, gap years and volunteering were standing room only.

Overall the talks were excellent but some stood out for other reasons. One speaker sat with his back square to the audience. I was tempted to usher out the audience – he would not have noticed. Timekeeping wasn’t special either. I made a mental note to write to the organisers and ask them to brief speakers on the basics, or better still pay me to give them a lesson.

Best in show? The talk titled ‘Near Death’ by Benedict Allen, the explorer. He sported a pale blue shirt and beige trousers, the ‘relaxed, crinkled’ look. Launching straight in, without notes, he recounted anecdotes from his many expeditions. Stunning images of people, animals, scenery, claustrophobic and desolate by turn, flicked upon the screen. We lived with him being shot at, learning jungle skills from children, taking part in rituals, struggling with stubborn camels and making difficult decisions. Like having to eat his dog to stay alive. ‘He was my friend’ He added quietly. I wondered how desperate I’d have to be to eat mine and couldn’t help a huge surge of sadness.

Scary, funny, sad shocking, exciting and much more. He, in his kind and easy manner, guided and supported us through a world of experience and emotion. At the end I couldn’t work out why my eyes felt peculiar, dry, sort of. Then I realized. I hadn’t blinked.

I came away brimming with ideas, copious notes and lots of inspiration. I couldn’t ask for more than that.