For details of forthcoming meetings e-mail newyork@globetrotters.co.uk or register for e-mail updates, click here at our website.

New York meetings are held at The Wings Theatre, 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.

Still in Argentina, after El Chalten, we journeyed on to another place called El Calafate where again we spent three nights and it was here that we saw our most spectacular glacier ever, the Perito Moreno glacier which is enormous, rising many metres in the air and looking like a massive landlocked iceberg but much more spectacular than any other iceberg.

We took a trip on a catamaran to go right up to the face of the glacier and the catamaran stayed an hour, just circling so that we saw the glacier from every angle and were able to photograph it ad infinitum. Some people used up an entire film or more just on this incredible natural phenomenon, as following the boat trip we were taken to a viewpoint on land where we could carry on gazing at the glacier from different levels. Many of our group refused to leave at the stated time as they were convinced they were going to see great chunks of ice break off. One chunk did fall off, which I didn’t see.

Then we moved on from El Calafate to the Torres El Paine National Park in Chile. Judith and I weren’t too impressed with the actual walks we went on there as they just did not match up to the 12 hour one we had done before and the glaciers we had seen then, as the weather was not good in the park, very misty and although we managed the walk (8 hours again but we did it in 7 hours), we considered it mediocre, and a lot of hard work climbing for very little reward. However, the camp site where we stayed, on Lake Pehoe was superb with the most magnificent view of the mountains with their snowcaps and this marvelous lake beneath them.

The actual facilities at the camp were atrocious, as the camp site was large and well used by an incredible number of people but there were only two loos for the women with one sink to wash at, and similar for the men, and only four communal showers in a different location which only produced out hot water from 8 to 11 in the morning and from 1900 to 2200 in the evening and very often we had to leave to go on our excursions before the showers were hot in the mornings and often arrived back too late to take advantage of the evening sessions!

The only good aspect of the camp was the tiny shop which was hardly bigger than a garden shed but sold the most amazing range of wines, beers, biscuits, snacks, cigarettes etc to suit just about every taste and did not rip us off as other places appeared to be doing. While there, we also went on a bus ride to a glacier (yes, this particular area both on the Argentine side and the Chile side is renowned for its glaciers) and although we could only see the end of the glacier at a distance we were able to walk around a beautiful lake with the most fantastically shaped and coloured blue icebergs which obviously had broken away from the glacier at some point. And this little place in the middle of nowhere had the most beautiful toilets we had seen in a long time as it had obviously just been built, was brand spanking new and had toilet paper as well as soap and hand driers and doors that actually locked and believe me that really is luxury in the public loos here!

And now I am in Ushaia, the city at the end of the world, on the little island at the base of South America called Tierra del Fuego and we discovered, Judith and I, with a visit to the little well run and very informative museum here that it was so called because when the first white men arrived they saw all these fires burning on the hills that the natives had lit, but whether this was to welcome or frighten away the intruders or just to keep the natives warm, is not known!!

It is extremely cold here all year round and 15 degrees is considered hot! The sun does shine but there is always a cold wind blowing and that gets worse in winter and spring apparently! We took a boat trip up the beagle channel yesterday and saw a colony of cormorants and a colony of sea lions and circled the lighthouse at the end of the world and yes, we took dozens of superfluous shots of everything in sight! But the boat was also a luxury as it was the first boat trip we had been on which actually served food on board and hot drinks and alcoholic drinks and for the men provided these two very attractive young ladies to serve it! And these young ladies would dress up in their navy blue topcoats with brass buttons to come out on deck and tell us all about the sights and scenes we were seeing, and informed the more ignorant of us that no, that wasn’t a colony of penguins we were viewing but cormorants! (They looked very similar with black backs and white chests and from a distance and even close to looked very penguin like).

Next month: en route to Buenos Aires and real penguins.

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

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.

Globetrotters meeting 7^th June 2003 by Padmassana

Simon Myers was our first speaker, who described part of his epic motorbike trip from Beijing across to the border of Pakistan. Simon had been living and working in China and was thus able to buy a very unreliable motorbike and set off with some companions and a Chinese mechanic on their trip, no licence or crash helmet required. Setting off from Beijing under the gaze of Chairman Mao, they were soon in the countryside and breaking down at regular intervals. But thanks to having their local mechanic along they were soon on their way again.

Their group was often the centre of attention in the places they went through and they were often fed along the way, one of Simon’s memorable photographs was of a breakfast consisting of all the bits of a chicken that you are unlikely to want to eat. Along the way he saw where the Great Wall of China is nothing but a ruin and the Dun Huang Buddhist grottos. Somehow they managed against the odds to cross the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts.

At Urumqi they said goodbye to their mechanic who flew back to Beijing. The final few weeks to the border they were on their own. They had tried to keep their trip a secret from officialdom so as not to attract attention and problems, but at the border the guards knew all about them from a photograph and piece in a newspaper. The guards were surprised to see them, as nobody in China believed they would make it!

Our second speaker was Globie committee member Jacqui Trotter. Jacqui took a year out to travel around South America, during which time most Globies were kept informed of her progress via regular e-mail bulletins.

Her talk covered only part of her trip, from Ecuador where she first arrived and tried to get to grips with the language down to Chile. Jacqui was part of an overland group, which left Ecuador in November 2001 heading south into Peru. She showed us some wonderful pictures of Peruvian beaches and the snow capped Andean peaks.

She braved a light aircraft flight in order to see the Nazca lines, bravely managing to take a photo before airsickness kicked in. Jacqui showed us Arequipa church being held up by scaffolding after one of the many earthquakes that the area is prone to. Her other highlights of Peru were seeing a condor after waiting a few hours and the more obvious sights of Cuzco and the spectacular ruins of Machu Picchu. Crossing the border into Bolivia she visited La Paz.

By this stage as she headed for Chile the rainy season was starting and her vehicle had to make a long journey to avoid the salt flats. Jacqui and her fellow travellers continued over the border and visited the Salar de Uyuni, where she showed us the salt hotel, where literally everything is made of salt including the furniture and fittings. At the end of this section of her trip Jacqui managed to take some superb photos of ice breaking from a glacier, right place, right time.

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 visit the website: www.globetrotters.co.uk

The Beetle received this e-mail from a Globetrotters who thought it might be useful to pass on to other travellers. If you find yourself under the weather, there is almost always an alternative remedy to finding the local doctor – but if in doubt, seek proper medical advice.

Ø Drinking two glasses of Gatorade can relieve headache pain almost immediately – without the unpleasant side effects caused by traditional pain relievers.

Ø Did you know that toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns?

Ø Achy muscles from a bout of the flu? Mix 1 tablespoon of horseradish in 1/2 cup of olive oil. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes, then apply it as a massage oil, for instant relief for aching muscles.

Ø The Beetle’s own remedy for back pain is to put some powdered ginger and some water in a pan and heat until very hot; stir it all around. When the water is cool enough to handle, soak a tea towel in the water and ginger mixture, wring it out and place it over the sore area – bliss!

Globetrotters meeting on July 12^th

The Texas branch will celebrate their 2 year anniversary – 24 months of meetings – in July! Their monthly meeting participation averages around 20. People come and go. Since their first meeting in 2001, close to 200 people have attended. Thanks to Christina for keeping the meetings on track and Mary Jane for spreading the information about the meetings, the Texas branch is a definite success.

The Texas Branch of the Globetrotters Club will meet July 12th 2003 at the New Braunfels Public Library – note back to old location. Dan and Jensie will present the July program. The topic is China. As always, there will be time for sharing and networking.

If you like independent, adventuresome, fun, daring, exciting, “off the beaten path” travel, this club is for you. Our meeting begins at 2 P.M. Come early so you won't be late! Enjoy handouts, travel talk time, and door prizes!

Dates of future meetings: August 9th and September 13

For more information about the Texas Branch or if you would like to help Christina, please contact texas@globetrotters.co.uk or register for e-mail updates at our website (click here) or call Christina at 830-620-5482.

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.

In the Bangkok post office two Scandinavian girls came in with backpacks the size of a Volvo Auto on their backs. They were wearing dresses and proceeded to take them off in the middle of post office and stood there in their panties while they looked in their backpacks for jeans and blouse. Naturally, I volunteered my help. Patrons were dropping their mail at the sight of this goings on. You don’t have to go to the strip shows. You can just go to the Post Office.

Elephant School Chiang Mai, Thailand: Elephants go to school for seven years and live to be around 80. An American military retired man living in Chiang Mai, with his Thai wife told me that the elephant’s pregnancy lasts 2 years and he compared it to a U.S. Senator’s two year term of office. It is high level, there is lots of noise and it takes two years to get any results. Someone has asked me what elephants learn in their school. They learn potty training, basket weaving and how to pick up logs. I was given some bananas to feed the elephants at the elephant training school. I gave my elephant one and ate the rest myself. He has never forgotten this. I rode this elephant for an hour over mountainous hills sometimes so steep that I feared I might fall off and down he cliff with the elephant on top of me. The ride costs 480 bahts ($16.00) I kind of got roped into taking the elephant trip. A Thai girl told me that she and her husband would get a free ride on the elephant if they got eleven other people to sign up for the trip. They had just gotten married and the elephant trip was their honeymoon. (Don’t ask!) Elephants don’t eat after midday and monks don’t either. However, the elephant I was on ate everything his trunk could pull up along the road and it was about 1230 noon. Monks smoke but do not touch alcohol. If I understand correctly, Buddhism does not tell others how to live but it is within oneself to better yourself, treat others how to live and don’t steal bananas from elephants.

I met a British retired military that spends his time living in monastery guest houses in Thailand. He gives them a donation of $80 a month, which pleases them. He married a Japanese girl while in India (I don’t know what she was doing there) but she got homesick so left Thailand to return to Japan. He believes in reincarnation. He thinks it is the only way to handle the thousands of people that have died before us. He unfortunately had a stroke while revisiting England but returned here to spend out the last days of his life. He reads a book a day he rents from library in Chiang Mai, sees the sites and eats tomatoes.

A lady in a tailor shop (“our materials are the sheapest”) in Banglampor (the budget hotel section) of Bangkok claimed she knew me from when I was stationed there and said I should buy a suit from her for old times sake and the wonderful times we had together. I was never stationed in Thailand.

Next month, Mac discusses clothing.

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