According to a recent UN report, more women are now infected with HIV/Aids than men and more than 40 million people, globally are now living with the disease. Around the world, 5m people were newly infected with the virus in the past year and almost 25% of these were children under the age of 15.

Southern Africa remains at the epicentre of the Aids disaster: an estimated 30% of the adult population in four countries – Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe are infected with HIV/AIDS. The UNAids states: “In four southern African countries, national adult HIV prevalence has risen higher than thought possible. The food crises faced in three of these are linked to the toll of their longstanding HIV/Aids epidemics, especially on the lives of young, productive adults.” The report, entitled Aids Epidemic Update 2002, warns that worse is still to come.

Officials have also warned of major epidemics in Eastern Europe, China and India unless action is taken to tackle the disease.

However, among the growing tally of HIV infections, there have been some success stories – in Brazil, for example, where prevention programmes have had a massive impact, and in African countries such as Ethiopia and South Africa.

The following is an extract from Henry’s website which has lots of interesting links and provides much background to this memorable trip to Molokai. To find out more info, take a look at: Just for background, one of Molokai’s famous past residents, Father Damien, was a Belgium priest who dedicated a large part of his life caring for and helping people suffering from leprosy.

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The Knights of Columbus, Kamiano (Damien) Council 11743 of Waikiki had arranged a round trip flight from Honolulu to Molokai for a nostalgic exploration of Father Damien’s Settlement. One can normally expect to be quoted a fare in excess of $200 for a Kalaupapa tour but the Knights of Columbus chartered a plane to fly round trip Honolulu to Molokai and that resulted in a savings which also included a bonus flight seeing air tour of the spectacular Molokai cliffs all the way to the east end of the island and back.

The weather was good after nearly a week of heavy rain and overcast skies. The trade winds were back with winds ENE at 15-25mph and it was now visibility unlimited.

We boarded our 9-passenger, twin engine Piper Chieftain for a 1200 departure and a fifty-minute flight that not only took us past downtown Honolulu and over the Norwegian Star, Waikiki and Diamond Head but over Koko Head and across the 22-mile wide Molokai Channel to the west end of Molokai and past Papohaku Beach, the longest sand beach in Hawaii. Then its along the north shore of Molokai until we see the low-lying Kalaupapa Peninsula jutting due north from a cliffed coast midway along the north shore. We pass the peninsula and continue east another fifteen miles past some of the highest sea cliffs (2,000′ asl) in the world. We turn around at Cape Halawa with a peek at Halawa Valley at the easternmost end of Molokai (the northwest coast of Maui can be seen nine miles away) and we then retraced our route so that persons on the left side of the aircraft might have a good view of the pali coast. We finally land at the state-owned and operated Kalaupapa Airport (LUP) with its 2700-ft runway scenically perched right along the rocky shoreline and abreast of the historic Kalaupapa Lighthouse.

At Kalaupapa Airport, located about two miles north of the settlement, we were met by Fr. Joe Hendricks, the pastor of Kalaupapa Parish and driven, by yours truly, to the settlement. Fr. Joe, who also founded the Damien Museum in Honolulu, said a mass for us at Fr. Damien’s old St. Philomena Church in Kalawao and then graciously gave us his insight into Blessed Fr. Damien’s life and labours. His story is universally known and a timeless one. We viewed his and Brother Dutton’s grave and were sure to see Mother Marianne’s last resting place, heroes all.

We drove everywhere we could and then some. Things were so quiet that we even saw deer and wild pigs in the middle of the day. The views are outstanding and the peninsula is, at least now, neat and pleasant. Re-supply is heavily by air since the barge visits but once in February each year. There are currently 43 residents who are living out their days in the settlement and one of them, Paul Harada who has been there since 1945, even gave one of our Tongan members (Zco who tells me he was named for the Tongan radio station that started operations on the day he was born) some good-looking fresh fish which were just right for sashimi. This special visit took us four hours and afterwards we reboarded our chartered plane for the return flight to Honolulu.

We flew along the northwest coast of Molokai and headed for Honolulu direct. The flight path was somewhat similar to the outgoing leg but provided interesting views, such as downtown Honolulu (photo 12), from another angle. We landed at Honolulu International Airport (HNL) and taxied back to our starting point to complete an extremely memorable experience!

The Knights of Columbus will sponsor other trips to Kalaupapa so if you are interested then click here to request further details and a schedule. Note: Passengers must be sixteen years of age as a minimum. Although the entrance to the Kalaupapa National Historical Park is free, admittance is limited to either those taking the Damien Tour or those personally invited by a resident.

If you would like any further information, please contact Henry by email: Nowicki@webtv.net

Our organization, Save the Earth Network, an entirely self funded organization (generating its income from the participation fees of our volunteers, visitors and eco-tourists) makes donations to humanitarian projects. Our partner organizations are orphanages, foster homes and a construction/ renovation organizations in Ghana. Churches, other organizations and individuals make donations to our partner organizations.

We have many volunteer opportunities and also eco-tourism opportunities to travel around Ghana. Also, in March this year we plan to start our own HIV/AIDS prevention education projects/programs in Ghana and are looking for volunteers to help in this too

People who would like to participate in any of our programs should please contact: Edgar Asare or Eben Mensah at Save the Earth Network, P.O. Box CT 3635, Cantonments, Accra, Ghana. West Africa. Tel: 233-21-667791, Fax: 233-21-669625 or e-mail Eben on: ebensten@yahoo.com.

If you would like to get in touch with some of our former volunteers from all over the world, they are happy to provide testimonials. Please contact WonHye Chung from the USA on wchung@wellesley.edu , Jane from England at dodgytie@hotmail.com, Kim from New Zealand at kimbaker73@hotmail.com or Waahida from the USA at waahida@hotmail.com

Meeting news from our branches around the world.

Iris, a British lady of considerable character and pluck, is on a 23 week overland truck expedition from Quito in Ecuador to Caracas in Venezuela. After this, she plans to do a 3-month voluntary placement in Ecuador, and then visit Central America for another overland trip between Panama City and Mexico City, ending up with perhaps another 2-month voluntary placement somewhere in South America again. This amazing journey will take Iris one year. Here is an extract from Iris’ journey notebook.

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27^th November 2002

Arrived in Quito at 1730 local time. Met 4 people from Madrid, 4 more from the UK and 4 others at the hotel and today 7 of them plus me went to the Equator. It was really hot, sun beating down and some had no hats and were getting burnt up! On the way back, we had taxi race but my taxi lost! All told good flight and meeting some great people. Hotel okay – no spiders or cockroaches in sight! Everything very clean.

Pre-expedition meeting tonight – there are only 41 of us instead of 44 – I am on a truck with 20 others – does that mean I’m on my own in a tent? Will have to see! (Beetle: we’ll hear a lot more about this particular aspect of Iris’ trip!)

Left Quito at 1100 hrs after a frenetic time trying to get everything packed into that locker! 77cm x 40cm x 30cm seems a large space until you find it is made of hard wood! Everyone had similar problems to me, but I got mine in with little problems compared to others and some still haven’t managed to transfer their stuff to their lockers!! It’s 5 hours down to Baños, out first stop (still in Ecuador and we’ll be here in Baños for 4 nights.

Am sharing with an Australian lady, Judith – 3 yrs older than me but a kindred spirit. We did our exercises together this morning! Everyone on the trip is so friendly and we really enjoyed the trip down here together. The hotel is fine. It appears we will be staying in hotels most of the time at the moment. We’ve been given a programme for the next 8 weeks (54 nights) and are staying in hotels for 37 of those. Apparently we start camping after we’ve dropped people off in Santiago in Chile. We are all longing for the camping to start.

Weather here is changeable at the moment however as it is the rainy season and today we had our first real rain, which lasted all morning, but now the sun is out. However, Baños is nestled below an active volcano, which as I write is spewing forth steam! We saw it from all sorts of aspects as we approached Baños – I wrote in my journal that it looks so “innocently menacing”! Black and brooding above this small town. In the church there are countless paintings depicting disasters in the past, and when one looked at the earth in the banks on the way down to the town, it was black earth, obviously from previous laval deposits. We are chilling out here – all of us, recovering from the journey to South America and some of us had really fraught times getting here – Judith, my room-mate came from Australia via London and took four days of constant travel to get here hours before we were due to leave Quito! She is really jet-lagged and needs this time to recover.

Activities here are walking (I’ll participate); canyoning (abseiling, sliding down ropes and swimming) planned for tomorrow (definitely not for me – as Judith said, if it was the last week of the trip we might risk it, but this early in? No way!); mountain bike riding (ditto for canyoning!); rafting (ditto again). Most people, I think, just want to chill out and renew energy for the remaining 22½ weeks!

If you’d like to contact Iris, whether to wish her luck with her trip or to ask questions about her itinerary and places visited, I am sure she would like to hear from you. She can be contacted on: irisej2002@yahoo.co.uk

Globetrotters meeting on Saturday 4^th January 2003 by Padmassana

For our first meeting of the New Year we were treated to four mini talks by club members.

First up was Gavin Fernandes who talked to us about Darjeeling, India. Gavin showed us slides of his journey, which began on a very slow narrow gauge steam train. The train often runs late anything up to 12 hours. Once he had arrived in Darjeeling, he showed us slides of the area including tea plantations clinging to the sides of hills and temples on mountaintops with their colourful prayer flags. We also saw the local people, including porters who carry impossible loads on their heads including massive oil drums and furniture.

Our second speaker, Kevin Brackley, gave a well received talk on South Korea. Kevin showed us the DMZ (Demilitarised Zone, border with North Korea) and the surrounding area including the world’s most dangerous golf hole and the world’s tallest flagpole as well as the hut where superpower meetings take place. We then saw pictures of Bulguksa temple in the Southeast corner of Korea near the city of Gyeongju and examples of the fine carpentry and paintwork that adorn the temple. Kevin’s photos concluded at Haeinsa, another temple in the mountains near Daegu. Haeinsa is famous for being the repository for 80,000 woodblock texts dating from the 14^th century.

After the interval our next speaker Sylvia Pullen took over and took us to Nagaland in India, an area situated near to the Burmese border. Sylvia explained that to visit this area you have to obtain a special permit. Whilst Nagaland is 99% Christian, the large amount of religious buildings are explained by the fact that services in them are in different languages. Sylvia told us that there is little tourist accommodation so she stayed at the Circuit House, which is normally used by visiting judges, engineers and dignitaries. We also saw photos of local life and even a local King.

Our last speaker was Phil Koniotes who took us to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. He started on the line of the equator with a foot in each hemisphere before boarding the world’s highest railway to travel through the Valley of the volcanoes. Phil’s trip then took him to the Galapagos, where he enjoyed night-time lobster fishing. Phil showed us the creatures that inhabit the islands including giant tortoises, Iguana, Frigate birds and Blue Footed Boobies. While diving Phil showed us smiling fish and a seal that was intent on eating his flipper! (By the way, congratulations, Phil! Beetle)

London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month. There is no London meeting in August, but we will be back in September. For more information, you can contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or register for email updates at at our website (click here)

Is there something holding you back in your personal life or your career? Is a lack of knowledge or skill causing you embarrassment at work or at home? Do you lack the confidence and expertise to pass an important test or examination? Meridian Television is looking for people who need expert help to overcome their problems and are willing to do it on television.

If you would like an application form please email emma.thomas@granadamedia.com or call her on 023 80 712568.

The next meeting will take place on February 1st: Bhutan: The Hidden Kingdom. Experience the exquisite beauty of Bhutan through images of indigenous people, Himalayan landscapes, remote monasteries, colourful markets, and lively festivals. Presented by Kenneth Axen, PhD, research scientist, graphic artist, and serious amateur photographer. For details of forthcoming meetings email newyork@globetrotters.co.uk or register for email updates at at our website. (click here)

New York meetings are held at The Wings Theater, 154 Christopher Street (btw Greenwich St and Washington St), to the right of Crunch Fitness, in the Archive on the first Saturday of each month at 4 pm.

The Beetle received an e-mail from a lady in the US who asked about good spots to learn to dive during a week’s vacation, close to the US. Below are some suggestions:

The Cayman Islands Cayman has fabulous blue water and good walls and healthy corals. So you will get excellent visibility, easy diving, good corals and some good fish life but you won't see anything “big” here. The diving is mostly walls with the odd wreck thrown in for diversity. If you learn here, you'll be spoilt for other places as Cayman really is the No 1 spot to dive in the Caribbean and the water is warm. The downside is that it is not cheap, and even more expensive are Little Cayman and Cayman Brac. North American tour operators can usually get you better deals than trying to book this independently. A good idea is to buy a copy of Sports Diver or similar magazine to look at ads for Cayman Island dive operators. Another disadvantage is that the dive boats tend to be something like cattle trucks, crammed with divers. This is not a nice way to dive. Small groups of divers are best, as you will find out!! Other things to do – well, actually, there's not really an awful lot to do apart from play golf, sit on the magnificent Seven Mile Beach, snorkel, swim and drink expensive cocktails. But it's all very pretty and safe for children.

Cozumel – cheaper than Cayman, and the best way to get to Cozumel is probably by buying a hotel and flight package. Cozumel, in Mexico, is an island close to Cancun and is primarily known for drift diving. Don't let this put you off, there are still plenty of good dives that are not scary. If you go to Cozumel on a package, it is easy to book diving separately once you have arrived. Here, normally smaller groups of divers are taken out in dive boats than in the Cayman Islands, although the majority of divers will be from the US. Other things to do – well, you can take a day trip across to the mainland to some of the Mayan ruins such as Chichen Itza, although it is a very long day. There are also golf courses and I believe you can windsurf. Probably the second best place to dive in the Caribbean.

The Florida Keys – there are some excellent dives around the Keys with just as good fish life as in Cayman! Aquanuts and Kelly on the key in Key Largo both come highly recommended. A downside is that the dive boats can resemble cattle trucks, so ask about numbers on the boat. By going to the Keys, you can do some shopping too, in Miami! Surprisingly decent diving – be careful that you go with a good dive operator; warmish water but lots of topside attractions with car hire. But be warned, Key Largo is a good 1 1/2-2 hr slow drive from Miami.

Puerto Rico – the diving here is not that great, but if you are going to learn, this is still not a bad place to learn as the other places that you go to will have better diving, so this is not a bad place to start off. An advantage is that it is relatively cheap. To get around Puerto Rico you must hire a car (the roads can be pretty bad in places, be warned.) There are plenty of things of interest to see and good day trips, including some good night life, good bars and restaurants, forts, shopping, parks, waterfalls etc.

Bermuda – not cheap, but perfectly manicured, very green and chocolate box pretty. The diving is probably the easiest of all of these destinations as you are unlikely to be able to get below 10 metres. As it is easy diving, it is a nice, safe and steady place to learn to dive. The main attraction here is the wrecks, all in shallow water and most decomposed and in various stages of almost unrecognisable to pretty good anchors and cannons etc. Bermuda also scores high on topside attractions, but you must hire a scooter (tourists are not allowed to hire cars) and explore the island. The water is not as warm as the Caribbean and it is expensive, although, if you live on the east coast of the US, Bermuda is only a short hop away.

Bay Islands Honduras – if you are feeling adventurous, there is some pretty good diving to be had in the Bay Islands off Honduras. Any of the dive magazines have ads for the Bay Islands so it is best to buy a package. There are three main islands: Roatan is a party island and the most touristy, but not massively so, Utila is the backpacker’s island and Guanaja is still fairly quiet. I would recommend diving off Utila or Guanaja. The Posada del Sol has good write ups and usually has good deals – look them up on the web! Good diving, although not as good as Cayman, still pretty decent and considerably cheaper. There is not masses to do topside, but you'll find enough, it's a different sort of place. English is spoken in the Bay Islands is, and all of the islands are much less touristy than say Cozumel so you will meet a wider mix of people in the Bay Islands.

If you live in the UK or Europe and are looking for a cheap dive estimation to learn to dive in one week, then I recommend the Red Sea. It is cheap (around £300 or $500 – £450 or $750) for one week's hotel and flights from London) and has good diving and also extremely good and safe good dive training. The dive specialists have some extremely good deals in the Red Sea right now, but obviously this location may not be the best place to go, depending on the political situation.

For information on Ontario meetings, please contact: Svatka Hermanek:

shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.

Meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.

Mr Kishore Sinh Parmar of Milestone Holidays kindly wrote this piece as a general guide to India. It is a huge and diverse country so this quick guide is helpful to give the uninitiated a taster of where to visit.

Gujarat, situated on the western coast of India, in between Mumbai (Bombay) and Rajasthan, is a very interesting state. If you want to go beyond history than the temple of Somnath was there to witness the creation of the Universe and Lord Krishna too has many events in his life in the state. Amongst the Fairs and Festivals Gujarat has many in its Temple towns and small villages. They offer a chance to see religious festivals and celebrations and also provide an opportunity to see the finest examples of local handicrafts. For the pilgrims you have temples such as Somnath and Dwarka, amongst the most sacred for the Hindus, besides the Girnar and the architectural grandeur of Palitana. The navratri festival is the most colourful and eagerly awaited and girls & boys dance all through the night in colourful attires. The Tarnetar fair too is a very colourful fair usually celebrated in the first week of September. The Kite Festival on 14th January every year too is usually eagerly looked forward to. The State has a colourful heritage of Handicrafts. The finest handicrafts come of course from the Kutch region. The embroidery work is the most well known. The state is home to a large number of Rajput Royalties, with some of the most beautiful Palaces at Baroda, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Bhuj, Mandvi, Morvi, Dhangadra, Palitana,Chotta Udepur, Jambughoda, Bansda, Bala Sinor, Utelia, Poshina etc.

A large number of them have been converted to Heritage Hotels. It is also the home to India's largest wildlife sanctuary with an area of over 5,000 square metres of the Indian Wild Ass. The Sasan Gir Lion Sanctuary is the last habitat of the Asiatic lion-a species that had become almost extinct at the beginning of the century. The Rabari tribe here still pursue a pastoral lifestyle-much in the same way as they did eons ago. It is perhaps the most colourful sate in India

Rajasthan, is India's ambassador of Art, Craft, Culture and Heritage, Rajasthan sheds its topography of lean and dry sketches of sand dunes to the golden hues of ancient citadels and a taut landscape dotted by people dressed in blazing colours. Throughout Rajasthan the forts, palaces and temples have been abundant. Lacquered brassware holds pride of place in Rajasthan handicrafts. Rajasthan jewellery is almost synonymous with precious stones and Jaipur, the capital of the state is considered the largest lapidary centre in the world. Jaipur the capital was built in 1727 and popularly known as the Pink City in reference to the pink coloured walls and roofs on the main streets in the ancient city. Among its architectural feats are the City Palace and the Palace Museum. Jodhpur belonged to the largest princely state of Rajasthan and founded in 1459. It is a sightseer’s paradise with the Mehrangadh Fort. The Umaid Bhawan is one of the grandest palaces in the country. Udaipur is better known as the City of Lakes is studded with well preserved palaces, beautiful gardens and placed blue lakes. The State offers an ” enjoy-our-royal past” experience unmatched anywhere in the world. The State has amazing palaces, havelis and forts most of which have been converted into luxury hotels. The Palace On Wheels takes you on a splendid and enchanting royal journey through the state to a bygone era of the erstwhile Maharajas. The Seven Night-Eight Day journey cruises along in a Royal style. Rajasthan is one of India's prime tourist destination, offering the travellers a potpourri of visual, culinary, spiritual and cultural experiences

Kerala,the land of green magic, is a narrow fertile strip on the southwest coast of India, sandwiched between the Lakshadweep Sea and the Western Ghats. Rice fields, mango and cashew nut trees and especially coconut palms all dominate landscape. The ” National Geographic Traveller ” after two years of research chose it as one of the 50 places of a lifetime. Kerala was listed as one of the ten destinations in the ” Paradise Found ” category. Truly Kerala is the stuff that dreams are made of. Over 5 million tourists from all over the world visited the State last year. Thanks to the 600 km long coastline that extends its entire length, 11 of the 14 districts have a beach to flaunt. Serene beaches, Emerald backwaters. Lush hill stations and exotic wildlife, breathtaking waterfalls, Ayurvedic health holidays, enchanting Art Forms, Magical Festivals, Historical and Cultural monuments, an exotic cuisine all making Kerala a unique experience. An experience that lasts a lifetime. So pack your bags and head for “God’s Own Country”.

Goa, has long been renowned for its natural beauty, palm-fringed beaches, paddy fields and dense coconut groves that form the basis of a landscape rich in variety and colour. Here you will find a State unlike any in India, where four centuries of Portuguese rule have left their mark in the form of imposing coastal forts, grand houses and whitewashed baroque churches. It is basically divided into North Goa and South Goa. Goa is a shopper’s paradise. Goa is your gastronomic oyster: Goa has enjoyed a prominent place in the travellers' lexicon for many many years

Contact : Mr Kishore Sinh Parmar, Milestone Holidays, 216 Centre Point, 2nd Floor, R C Dutt Road, Alkapuri, Baroda 390005 ( Gujarat-India ) Tel–91–265-2333366-2355383 Fax –91–265–2355383 milestoneholidays@yahoo.co.in or kishoresinhparmar@yahoo.co.in

The first meeting of 2003 for the Texas branch of the Globetrotters Club had 8 new people in attendance. What a way to start the new year off! It was especially exciting as it was a cold and rainy day, not what Texans are accustomed to.

The scheduled presenter was unable to attend, which meant lots of time for travel talk and networking. The time was very well spent. The 10 “regulars” and the 8 “newbies” all had a swell time sharing stories and getting to know each other.

Saturday February 8th, 2003, 2pm-4pm

PLEASE NOTE DIFFERENT LOCATION

We will meet at the VFW Hall on Peace Street instead of the library on Common St.

The hall is across from the entrance to Cypress Bend Park where the April 2002 picnic was held.

Peace Street is between the library and the river off Common St. Turn on Peace Street – the Fairgrounds are across the street so you can only turn one way. There is a sign for the VFW hall on the corner. Go to the dead end (cemeteries on both sides) and turn right into the parking lot for the VFW hall. Any Questions please feel free to call: 830-620-5482

We are excited to welcome this month’s speaker, Norman Ford. The founder of the Globetrotters Club and an avid cyclist and will present slides from one of his bike trips. Plans for the Copper Canyon trip will also be discussed.

Enjoy Handouts, free stuff, informative speakers, useful demonstrations, travel talk time, slide shows of exotic locales, and door prizes!

As always, the meeting will begin promptly at 2:00 p.m.

Mark your calendars – Dates of future meetings: March 8th, April 12th,

The VFW folks will open their bar so we will not go to the Hoity Toit after the meeting. If you like, bring some nibbles to share for conversation time following the meeting – since we will miss the peanuts from the Toit.

See you Sat. Feb. 8 at 2 p.m.

For more information about the Texas Branch: please Contact texas@globetrotters.co.uk or register for email updates at our website (click here) or call Christina at 830-620-5482

PLEASE NOTE DIFFERENT LOCATION

If anybody would like to enquire about meetings or help Christina, please contact her on: texas@globetrotters.co.uk

UK low-cost airline Ryanair announced recently that it has put in an offer to buy smaller rival Buzz for £15.6m; $25.7m. Buzz is currently owned by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, flying to 21 destinations in France, Germany, Holland and Spain, and, like Ryanair, who currently operate a network of 100 routes across 15 European countries is based at Stansted airport, north of London.

It looks like the UK low cost carriers are beginning to consolidate. Last year, we saw Easyjet buy Go, the British Airways owned low cost airline. So now it seems that there will only be two main low cost carriers in the UK, as opposed to the four we had last year.

The deal is expected to be completed by April 1. Details of new timetables, fares and new routes and frequencies will be announced before the end of February. If the deal is successful, Ryanair said that it would cut a number of Buzz's unprofitable routes, while increasing the frequency on 11 of its existing services from Stansted, including Frankfurt, Milan and Barcelona and reducing the cost of other routes.

Ryanair is on a bit of a high recently, as it recently announced it was to open its ninth European base at Stockholm's Skavsta airport. They also announced five new routes from London, starting at the end of April that are to include Reims and Pau in France, Maastricht in Holland, Haugesund in Norway and Dusseldorf in Germany. In addition, Ryanair are about to buy 22 Boeing 737 planes and had taken out options on a further 78 in order to meet its expansion plans.

The Beetle liked Buzz. They were the last low cost airline that had not sunk to the usual low cost “standard” of pile ‘em in, give ‘em no service. Anyone interested in starting a Save Buzz protest?

As its name suggests, Brick Lane gets its name from the local manufacture of bricks. By the early 18th Century it was a long well-paved street frequented by carts fetching bricks into Whitechapel from brick kilns. The other industry in the area was beer, which was brewed in the Truman Black Eagle Brewery, founded in 1669. The brewery building still remains today, now converted to designers/artists' studios, workshops and bars. Brick Lane Market developed in the 18th century when farmers sold livestock and produce outside the City boundary.

Today, Brick Lane is now the centre of London's Bangladeshi community and best known for a whole line of fantastic Bengali restaurants. Of interest is the London Jamme Masjid, a mosque on the corner of Fournier Street and Brick Lane. It was built in 1744 as a Huguenot church, purchased by Wesleyans, sold to a Jewish immigrant society in 1897, after which it became a synagogue.

The market is open on Sundays only, from early morning until about 14.00 – allow plenty of time to see it all as the market stretches into Cheshire Street and Sclater Street. Expect to find anything from furniture to fruits, kitchenware to kitsch and odd boots to bangles.

To get there, take the District (green) line to Aldgate East, turn left out of the station and left again into Brick Lane. Or alternatively, it is less than a 10 minute walk from Liverpool Street tube or train station.