\n Our original speaker Matthew Leaming unfortunately had to
\n drop out at very short notice, so Dick Curtis<\/b> filled
\n the gap with an interesting talk on a trip he made to
\n China<\/b> . The talk was a bit random as Dick had 3 sets
\n of slides marked A, B & C, and the audience chose the
\n order! I was glad to see Dick produce photos not just of the
\n Great Wall and all the other sights you would expect, but
\n also photos of the people and landscapes of this vast nation.
\n Well done Dick.\n <\/p>\n
\n Our second speaker was Amar Grover<\/b> who gave us another
\n talk on Pakistan.<\/b> We saw the Khyber Pass near
\n Peshawar, and then to the north to Gilgit to see photos of
\n the spectacular mountains. As with the previous talk we saw
\n the people, many are fair skinned descendents of Alexander
\n the Great's army, who came through the area over 2000
\n years ago. Amar also showed us rural life, including
\n colourful pictures of Apricots drying in the sun.\n <\/p>\n\n January 2005
\n <\/h4>\n
\n Globetrotters first meeting of 2005 got off to a great start
\n as Martin Featherstone<\/b> , showed us pictures of all the
\n exciting places he went to during his army days, then he gave
\n us a talk on Belgium! To be precise he showed us the
\n battlefields and cemeteries of WW1 and told us the stories of
\n some of the many allied servicemen who gave their lives. He
\n then showed us the battlefields and told some of the stories
\n from southern Africa, including Rourkes Drift, explaining how
\n a tiny group of Dutch settlers put their carriages in a
\n circle and managed to defeat more than 15,000 Zulu warriors.
\n Martin has a way of bringing these stories to life with such
\n as why a Zulu spear had a special name, it was supposed to be
\n the sound the spear made when it was removed from its victim,
\n well it made the front row wince!\n <\/p>\n
\n Our second speaker was Kevin Brackley<\/b> whose talk on
\n Sinai<\/b> was hot off the press having only returned 4
\n days previously. His journey took him from Cairo, where he
\n took in the pyramids and Sphinx, under the fascinating Suez
\n canal where he watched ships in the desert and into Sinai.
\n Kevin showed us the wonderful, if chilly sunrise at Mount
\n Sinai, before he went camel trekking (KFC in Egypt stands for
\n Kentucky fried camel) and walking in the White canyon, before
\n chilling out on the Red Sea at Dahab.\n <\/p>\n
\n After the interval we had a quiz, those who only got two
\n answers correct will not be named (but for this they should
\n send a donation to the Tsunami fund or else!), the winner of
\n the Wind up radio was John Goddard<\/b> , congratulations
\n John.\n <\/p>\n
\n Jayesh Patel<\/b> was our third speaker and he took us to
\n the glaciers of Chile<\/b> . Jayesh and his party trekked
\n into the windswept landscape, camping when there was no room
\n in the Inn. Jayesh showed us the spectacular glaciers,
\n icebergs and to prove how windy it was pictures of trees bent
\n over at right angles. We saw the wonderful Torres del Paine
\n National park in Chile with its fabulous rock towers.\n <\/p>\n
\n Julian Webster<\/b> arrived in the nick of time to give us
\n a quick tour of India<\/b> , starting in the Himalayas,
\n then into warmer areas of Rajasthan, we saw some super
\n pictures of the rainy season and my favourite of all a
\n lifeguard in Kerala with a comical “Go-faster”
\n pointy hat! Julian's images brought the warmth of India
\n to a chilly London in January.\n <\/p>\n
\n Many thanks to all todays speakers who helped to make our
\n first meeting of the year a great success. The day culminated
\n with the annual New Years party, enjoyed by all, thanks to
\n Nadia<\/b> and her helpers.\n <\/p>\n
\n We cannot finish without mention of the Tsunami that struck
\n on Boxing day. The days takings at the door of £157
\n have been donated to the fund.\n <\/p>\n
\n Next month, on Saturday 5th March 2005, Matthew Leeming will
\n be giving a talk on Afghanistan and after the break, Terry
\n Richardson will be talking about Turkey's new 500km long
\n distance footpath “The St. Paul Trail”.\n <\/p>\n