Globetrotters meeting on March 1st by Padmassana

Two old friends of Globetrotters gave this month’s talks. First off was Geoffrey Roy, who talked about The Great Wall of China. Geoff started off by dispelling a few myths that surround this ancient construction – that it cannot be seen from outer space, it is not a continuous structure and that there are no bodies entombed in the wall (they would have decomposed and would have weakened the structure). Many sections of the wall have been repaired for the benefit of the 89 million tourists who visit China each year. Of the parts tourists do not generally visit, many are falling down through weathering and the occasional earthquake, or have been bulldozed to make way for roads or to use the stones for new building. Where the stones have been taken Geoff showed us that the mortar still remains, this is because it was made with a kind of rice that sets as hard as concrete. Geoff’s super photos of the wall and surrounding countryside gave us a more accurate view of what the wall looks like today, not just the tourist sections that we see on TV travel shows. Geoff also showed us the China we expect to see such as Mao’s picture outside the Forbidden city in Beijing and people doing Tai chi in the parks. (Find out more about Geoffrey http://www.kaaphotos.co.uk)

Our second speaker was Lesley Downer, who spoke to us about Sadayyako and her journey around the world. Sadayyako was born in central Tokyo and was sent by her family to train as a Geisha (“arts person”). She was in the top echelon of Geisha’s and was soon noticed by Ito, Japan’s first Prime Minister and subsequently became his mistress. Lesley compared them to today’s Posh and Beck’s (for any non UK readers they are a footballer and ex pop singer). As Sadayyako got older she realised that her Geisha work would slow down. Sadayyako then married the equivalent of a pop star, Together they formed a theatre troupe and went to tour America, performing abridged versions of Japanese Kabuki. Lesley explained that Kabuki is traditionally performed by men, with men taking women’s parts, however this would not go down well in 19^th Century America, so Sadayyako stepped in and with her Geisha training soon became the star of the show. After America they took a boat to Liverpool and played to audiences at the Coronet theatre in London. Europe beckoned and they travelled to Paris for the 1900 Expo, then other European capitals including Berlin and Bucharest and onto Moscow. They eventually returned to Japan where they performed abridged versions of Shakespeare. Lesley’s last pictures were of Sadayyako’s house in Nagoya, where she died aged 75. If you want to read more about Sadayyako Lesley Downer’s new book is called, Madame Sadayakko: The Geisha Who Seduced the West.(see http://www.madamesadayakko.com for more information.)

Next month, on April 5^th:

SIMON MYERS talks about China. Simon spent five years in China before riding a Chinese motorbike and sidecar back from Beijing to London. His first book “Adrift in China” has recently been published. ANNE MUSTOE talks of “Two Wheels in the Dust” – a cycle journey from Kathmandu to Kandy. Anne’s journey followed the paths of the Ramayana’s characters Rama, Sita, and Hanuman, in a lone cycle journey crossing the Indian sub-continent from Nepal to Sri-Lanka. Her two previous epic journeys have circled the world following historical routes – the first made travelling westwards “A Cycle Ride” following the Romans then the Greeks to India and finally across the States following the “settlement” in reverse. “Lone Traveller” follows the Conquistadors from Lisbon across South America, pursues Captain Cook over the Pacific to Australia, Indonesia, before following a caravan Silk Road from Xian to Rome.

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

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Spotted by eagle eyed Kevin, the Membership Secretary: a new low cost airline is being launched at Luton, called “NOW”. The new airline will offer fixed fares according to the season, so that all passengers on the same flight will have paid the same amount. Now’s flights will be priced in zones, e.g. Manchester is in Zone A, a one way flight will start from £35. Whereas Lisbon in Zone E will have one way fares starting from £65 + tax.

Now is scheduled to begin services in June 2003, using 2 aircraft flying to

Manchester, Lisbon, Tenerife, Jersey and Rome. After 3 months there are plans to add an aircraft to the fleet add Valencia and Dusseldorf to the list of destinations serviced.

This will add another 30 flights/week at Luton providing another 650,000

seats in the first year.

Now expect to sell around 80% of the tickets via their website

www.fly-now.com

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Next month on April 5^th 2003:

Ladakh: the last Shangri-la? “In the forbidding terrain of the Himalayas, a robust people embellish their frugal lives with rich endowments of faith” (Thomas J. Abercrombie, National Geographic). Experience the beauty of this exotic land through a slide show 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 click here at our website.

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.

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Tour operators are worried: the Greek Islands are beginning to lose that golden reputation as the place in the Med to chill out and explore the ancient historical sites. Recently, there have been some high profile sex attacks, reports of dirty beaches, racism and incidents in some of the noisy rave type resorts. According to Noel Josephides, managing director of Sunvil Holidays, a Greek holiday specialist, “the number of British holidaymakers to Greece levelled off this summer, and the country cannot afford to be complacent. This was the first summer in 30 years that we did not have a single incident of hotel overbooking. Nothing is ever full now.”

Other tour operators have criticised Greece as a holiday destination. Abhi Dighé, a director of Kosmar Holidays, the biggest operator to Greece said: “In Portugal and Spain, the beaches are raked overnight. People there still leave cans and rubbish — but in the morning they come back to a clean beach. This has to happen in Greece as well. People don’t want to clear away rubbish and take it to an overflowing bin before they put their towels down. It is not luxury that people are looking for, just quality and safety.”

And yet, the Greek government recently announced that it would be building more large resorts.

So what is there to do in Greece? Interestingly, most tourists view Greece as a comparatively inexpensive sun-and-sea destination, rather than for its classical sites. The number of visitors to the major ancient sites and museums declined during the 1990s. On the other hand, there were more visitors to archaeological sites on islands that have become tourist destinations. Alternative tourism, including ecological and special interest holidays is gaining ground, but remains a small segment of the overall market.

Who will I be sharing my plot of beach with? The latest figures that the Beetle could get hold of show that 12.8 million visitors went to Greece in 1999. The Germans and the British account for about an astonishing 50% of all arrivals. They are followed by other western Europeans, mainly French, Scandinavians and Italians. There are comparatively few high-spending US and Japanese visitors. The number of tourists from the former communist countries of eastern and central Europe is increasing at a steady pace. There was an estimated 15% increase in visitor numbers in 2000, mainly of people going to Crete, and Rhodes.

So where should I go? More than 50% of visitors to Greece stay on half-a-dozen resort islands – Crete, Rhodes, Cos, Corfu, Mykonos and Santorini. – with airports equipped to handle international charter flights. In northern Greece, the main destination is the Halkidiki peninsula.

And how long is long enough? Most tourists come on package holidays, flying directly to a resort destination aboard an international charter flight. While the number of arrivals increased by over 30% during the 1990s, the average stay declined in length from over two weeks to about 10 days.

Is it posh? Um, well, no. If you go by the figures, Greece has an estimated 1.5 million beds in hotels and rooms for rent. Of these, only 30,000 are in luxury and first-class hotels – that’s 2%, and about a third of these are business hotels in Athens!

Greek officials predict that tourist arrivals will peak in 2004, when the http://www.athens2004.comOlympic Games will be staged in Athens.

Statistics provided by the Greek Tourism Services

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The March meeting of the Ontario Globetrotters was held on March 21st. Jim Low presented “Chasing the Midnight Sun,” a slide documentary and personal commentary of his recent motor trip up the Dempster Highway through the Yukon and NWT to Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk.

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.

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PLEASE NOTE NEW 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.

Mark your calendars – Dates of future meetings: 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.

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

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

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