Easyjet one of the UK's low cost airlines has just announced flights to three new destinations: London Luton to Rijeka starting 30th June and also to Istanbul starting 29th June plus London Gatwick to Marrakesh starting 4th July. See their website.
All posts by The Beetle
Fave Website
Spotted by Tony of London: ever needed to know what the time was half way round the world? This website tells you the current time just about anywhere in the world.
In considerably bad taste, here's a website that offers tours to see Schappelle Corby in her prison cell in Bali.
Fly Me To The Moon
The Space Adventures company, the American company that arranged for multi millionaire tourists to hitch a ride into space on Russian rockets is planning to turn Singapore into the world's main centre for space tourism. The company wants to set up its own launch pad and astronaut training centre on Singapore and also make the price of a space flight more affordable. Space Adventures currently charges $20m (£11.5m) per passenger to arrange a ride into orbit on a Russian spacecraft. But it says the new service will be a comparative snip at $102,000 (£59,000) a head.
Know Your Riyals from Your Kwatcha
Need to convert 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.
Zimbabwean Mermaids
Sometimes you don't know you're being conned, but here's a scam surely to end all scams: a fake Zimbabwean traditional healer has been found guilty of scamming a businesswoman out of $30,000 to pay for “mermaids” to recover her stolen car. The healer said that money was necessary to import the mermaids from the UK and put them up in a local hotel and also to pay for a bull, whose genitals would supposedly help find the thief of her luxury vehicle. The woman healer also asked for money to buy mobile phones to contact the mermaids.
Mutual Aid
Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a place or country – want to share something with us – why not visit our Mutual Aid section of the Website: Mutual Aid
Chris needs your ideas: he is planning to travel to India buy an Enfield motorbike and ride it back to the UK. If anyone has any information or knows any websites that could help him, please contact him on: glanrid@tiscali.co.uk
Can anyone help Bob? Here is his appeal: please don't think I'm a bona fide nut but I am going daffy trying to think of the international association of people who partake of exotic and eccentric foods. It's a well known “club”, of sorts, but the name eludes my friends and I. If anyone can shed some light on our dilemma, we'd love to hear from you – many thanks, Bob. E-mail address: ching3us@yahoo.com
Lost US Luggage
At a time when if you lock your case flying from the US, it will be forcibly opened and searched, news comes in from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics that more bags were lost, damaged, delayed or pilfered by U.S. airlines last year than in at least eight years.
Reports of mishandled bags on domestic flights rose 23 percent in 2005, from 4.91 per 1,000 passengers in 2004 to 6.04 per 1,000. That's an average of about 9,700 lost or damaged bags each day.
Of the 20 carriers that reported to the Transportation Department, Atlantic Southeast Airlines had the highest rate of baggage complaints — 17.41 per 1,000 passengers — and Hawaiian Airlines had the lowest, at 2.95 per 1,000.
EU Bans 92 Airlines
The European Union has issued a blacklist banning 92 airlines from operating in the region, stating that they fail to meet international standards. Most of the airlines are African based, including 50 carriers from the Democratic Republic of Congo, 14 from Sierra Leone and seven from Swaziland. The list is available from the BBC here.
Have you got a tale to tell?
If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell. Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section of the Website and share it with the world. Travel Sized Bites
Ferry Collides with Whale
A high-speed Japanese ferry has collided with what is thought to be a whale, leaving 49 people injured, 13 of whom in a serious condition. The two-deck ferry, carrying more than 100 passengers and crew, was near the city of Kagoshima on the southern island of Kyushu when it happened. Ships in the area often collide with whales, a ferry company spokesman said.