Greetings from Guatemala! Yes, the South Amercing Circuit is finished and our overland is finished. Hopefully everyone who left Caracas over the past few days got home to their various destinations and I just wanted to let you know that I got to mine. The last two weeks of the trip were very relaxed, except for the aquaplaning outside Maturin and the theft of my lovely hammock from a beach camp. We (passengers, drivers and truck) suffered minimal damage from the first event and the second was sheer stupidity on my part as I had been warned. Apart from these excitements the last days were spent on beaches, packing (and re-packing) my bags, getting a little sunburnt and wondering where the time had flown to. It seems no time since I was excitedly joining the truck in Quito, and 31,203kms and many tears and laughs later, I was in Caracas and waving the truck goodbye.

Moping, however, is not allowed so…yesterday I flew off to Guatemala, via Panama, and got here in one piece, tired, hungry and really excited to be on my own again. (that doesn't mean I don't miss you all!) Found a nice hotel and am spending a couple of days getting my bearings before I start some more Spanish lessons. I am hoping to go out to Lake Atitlán to do these and will let you know what I decide. Antigua is gorgeous and a real gem, if a lot touristy. As I will be here a number of times over the next couple of months I am trying not to go shopping and be sensible with the spending. Difficult for me!

So, that's the state of things. All is well and I am just enjoying being here. Get back to me if you get the chance – email is cheap and easy here.

Thanks Jacqui and keep us posted! If anyone would like to contact Jacqui, her e-mail is: jacquitrotter@yahoo.com

What have you seen on your travels? Drop a line to the Beetle!

Many travellers have their own tale to tell about Aeroflot. The Beetle has a vivid and scary memory flying from Dublin to Havana via Gander in Canada. It was December, and so cold and wintry in Gander. On final approach to Gander to refuel, the pilot decided to go around twice, which was worrying, then he decided to give landing a go, and the plane somehow missed landing on the runway and instead landed on some uncleared snow and drove the left wing through two huge snow piles. The entire Irish contingent of passengers were making signs of the cross and praying loudly.

Even Fidel Castro is said to have jokingly responded to a question asking about the most dangerous moment of his life, that it might have been one of the many CIA attempts on his life, but then again, it might have been flying Aeroflot!

According to a recent PR release, Aeroflot has hired a UK brand consultancy to give its image a lift. The consultancy are said to have remarked: the problem is one of perception….people think of Aeroflot as dangerous and unreliable, but it has one of the best safety records in the world and is value for money”

Let’s forget about the time when a pilot handed the controls to his 13 year old son, or the incident when the pilots put the plane on automatic pilot, went for a walk then realised they had accidentally locked themselves out and had to force their way back in with an axe, or the times when stewardesses served vodka actually on take off, or when a passenger cooked up a meal on his own portable gas camping stove at the back of the plane…………………

Good luck to them!

The morning was cool and fresh and immediately I knew the rest of the day would turn out perfect. From the lodge, we were looking down over the Tari Valley in Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. It was an incredible feeling. I mean, how many places on earth give you the unique opportunity of looking down on cloud formations. It was like looking down over the pages of National Geographic. The clouds looked like flat-lying cobwebs, occasionally punctuated in places by protruding mountain summits. Normally, you would be looking up to the sky and across the horizon to see incredible cloud formations in the mornings or evenings.

It was December 2001 and I was on this early morning bird watching trip with three American bird watchers, husband and wife, Bob and Penny and Sharyl, a lone traveller who later turned out to be a cross between a bird watcher and a diver. Reason – apart from being excited about seeing the birds in the wild, she couldn't stop talking about diving at her next destination – Alotau in Milne Bay Province, situated south of Port Moresby and an hour's plane ride away.

Our starting point was world famous, Ambua Lodge, a luxury bush material accommodation in the form of village huts, set on a hillside of flowering gardens with panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and rainforest.

The design of the huts is based on traditional architecture. Just being here is an experience in itself. The crisp mountain air is perfect for taking advantage of the many guided tours, especially bird watching. You can also take moderate walks along rainforest tracks to go bird watching, see the waterfalls cascade into crystal-clear pools or drive to one of the local villages and watch a traditional singsing (group dancing and singing).

Back to birds, the rule is to set out to the forests as early as you can, in time for the morning choruses and courtship displays on tree branches and tree tops. Too, for birds in the wild like Papua New Guinea's bird of paradise species, they perch on tree tops in the morning when it's cool and where they can drink water drops from leaves and tree branches. When the sun is up, it gets a little bit hot for them, their sources of drinking water dry up and they are gone and it can be a difficult waiting game. Out of the 43 known bird of paradise species, Papua New Guinea has 38 species and Tari has ten species including the most exotic species, Brown and Black Sicklebill, Superb Bird of Paradise, Blue Bird of Paradise and its close cousins, the bower birds. After driving for about twenty minutes, our tour bus came to a stop and the guide, Joseph told us to get out. He was first out with his tripod and a pair of binoculars. Hardly had Joseph set up his tripod when Menzies, the driver jumped out of his driver's set. He looked towards us, did a hand sign, gesturing us to come to him while whispering in some English that I hardly understood. He pointed in the direction of some tall trees and said, “Look, there!.”

Without the aid of his binoculars, Joseph, being the expert that he was, looked in the same direction, nodded in agreement and said, “Yes, Princess Stephanie! Three of them”. Bob took no time catching the bird in his binoculars while Penny and Sharyl struggled. Penny, with her own pair of binoculars pointed in the same direction, slowly whispered, “I can't see anything. Can you see anything Bob?” “Mmm, mm”, came the reply. “Maybe it's my eyes or maybe it's my binoculars,” said Penny. “Stay focused, you'll see 'em. Wait until they jump,” said Bob, almost in angry tone.

Sharyl, closely following Joseph the bird guide, was having the same difficulty spotting the birds. “I can't see either.” “There, look, it's on the tree,” said Joseph. “Which tree?” “There, on the right, under the tall tree,” said Joseph, and by this time, Sharyl was about to give up, saying, “There's an awful lot of tall trees out there Joseph. What have you got double vision?” No reply from Joseph, obviously not understanding the remark. Even I was confused and it took me a while before I saw the birds.

We had left the lodge at 6.30 am and an hour later, the sun had risen and it was time to go back to the lodge. We had seen three different species of the bird of paradise and three species of parrots. It was only an hour and the observed bird list was not long enough, but for Bob, Penny and Sharyl, they had seen the exotic birds in the wild, and that was all that mattered.

Penny said to me back at the lodge, “I am satisfied seeing only three species. My God, they are wonderful creatures. Up till now, I have only seen them on books. This is why I came and I like birds. There's something special about them that I can't explain. They are such lovely creatures and they should be protected.”

I thought I would give the last word to Sharyl. She said to me over watercress soup at dinner time, “I would have loved to have seen them closer but then again, I shouldn't complain. They were where they should be, in the wild and on tree tops. At least I didn't see them in a zoo and that's the beauty of coming to a place like Papua New Guinea. You have rainforests that are still pristine. You should not let logging to come here because they destroy a lot of the habitat.

“You have such a lovely country and you still practice your culture which is great. I am really looking forward to dive in Alotau – at least there, I can see the fish and lovely corals right in front of my eyes.”

ABOUT TARI:

Tari is in fact a Basin and situated in the Centre of the island of New Guinea. Clans in the Southern Highlands have a strong and intricate social system little affected by change. The Southern Highlands is a land of lush, high valleys wedged between impressive limestone peaks.

Tari is one of the few places in Papua New Guinea where the traditional way of life can be seen in everyday living. Ceremonial rituals are strongly observed. Men and women can still be seen wearing traditional dress, tending their gardens and pigs and building their bush material huts.

Visitors to the tribal wonderland of the Southern Highlands can stay in a variety of accommodation from basic guest houses to luxurious mountain lodges.

Tari is known all over the world for its Huli Wigmen, famous for their elaborate and colourful traditional dress, body decorations and facial paintings in vivid colours.

These proud warriors have great reverence for birds, especially the bird of paradise. They imitate the birds in ceremonial dances and decorate their mushroom-shaped human hair wigs with bird feathers, flowers and cuscus furs.

The wigs, woven from human hair, are donated by wives and children. Everlasting daisies are especially cultivated for use in the wigs, while their faces are painted with yellow and ochre. The women, by contrast wear black for their wedding and coat themselves with blue-grey clay when mourning. The women's traditional dress, like those of their men folk, has not changed over the years.

This is a letter from Nicola telling us about her time as a volunteer for Trade Aid in Mikindani, in southern Tanzania.

After eight months in Mikindani I am preparing to depart with a mild sense of apprehension about returning to cold and grey Old Blighty, finding work and somewhere to live and dealing with the fact that the Little Chef breakfast I’ll be treated to on the journey back to Norfolk will cost the same as a week’s wages here. Oh well, Qué sera sera. Homeless and jobless, but plenty of tales to tell the girls over a few glasses of wine and a pizza.

I think they’ll be surprised to learn that despite the daily toil required of rural women in Tanzania they do not appear to allow themselves to be overcome by any negative spirit of bondage. Life is incredibly hard, no doubt about it, but the ‘fairer sex’ dominates hardship by accepting it as necessary for survival and embracing friendship and humour as a way of enriching their lives.

It has been with a rather embarrassed awkwardness, so typically English, that I have donned my kanga and flip-flops and taken part in women-only activities.

Despite this, the fact that my Kiswahili is still appallingly bad and that their encouragement was largely for the entertainment value of seeing a ‘mzungu’ woman display her incompetence in performing basic tasks I definitely experienced a deeper sense of what is called ‘female bonding’.

I have learnt to cook chapattis, mandazi, ugali and coconut rice and to prepare an exquisite dish of pilau rice under the patient guidance of Mama Mohamedi, Mama Abuba and her 13-year-old daughter Fikira. Standing outside in the midday sun stirring a pot of sizzling oil over red-hot charcoal left me light-headed and parched, but whilst I fussed about the heat the others just wiped the sweat from their faces with a corner of their kangas and laughed and gossiped.

I have been to a couple of funerals, but visiting Mama Abuba as she lay swathed in a kanga in a darkened room grieving for her father on the day of his burial was an especially significant occasion as my own grandmother had died just a week earlier. Many women resplendent in a myriad of colourful kangas lined the street where the deceased had lived. Most were just chatting or reminiscing, but a group of about 12 women were standing and swaying in time to the deep, guttural mourning chant redolent of primeval times. It was International Women’s Day and being one of them felt hugely symbolic.

A morning’s work at Zainabu’s shamba caused much hilarity amongst our neighbours, but left me tired and my hands blistered. Five of us walked a kilometre to the shamba, hoed out the weeds between the maize and picked cassava leaves and pumpkins whilst being attacked by armies of ferocious ants. Zainabu had lent me her boots, but they were so badly split that my feet were filthy. So, before we headed back to the village she brought me some water and washed my feet for me, not out of deference, but friendship. Walking back we shared the load of the fruit of our morning’s work and carrying firewood on my head I (almost) felt part of one of the hundreds of thousands of small groups of women on whose labours so many people depend.

More recently I finally plucked up the courage to get my hair braided. I sat on the stone seat of a crumbling colonial house and as Mama Fatuma meticulously braided each strand of hair three or four other women took turns to hold down the rest of my unruly locks. While I enjoyed the chat of the women as they gossiped about what they’d done the night before and commented on every passer-by I realised that this was not so dissimilar from a visit to the hairdressers at home!

At the risk of seeming naïve and sentimental I have to say that I am happy to have been able to break through some of the cynicism about cultural barriers with which I arrived in Mikindani and shall leave with an enduring respect for the resilience and strength of spirit of the women of Tanzania.

Thanks to Sherie at Trade Aid. For more information on the work carried out by Trade Aid in Tanzania, see their website www.mikindani.com

There were five low cost airline carriers in the UK: Easyjet, Go, Buzz (owned by KLM), Ryan Air and BMIBaby. Easyjet has just announced that it is paying £374m ($524m) for its rival, Go, (which used to belong to British Airways before they sold it to a Venture Capital fund).

The consolidated airline will still be called Easyjet and all Go planes will be resprayed with the orange Easyjet livery and logo. The Chief Executive says that prices will not rise and they expect to face more intense competition from traditional airlines such as British Airways and Air France.

Both companies are still operating exactly as they did before the deal was announced. They will continue to accept bookings over the phone and via their websites. Go and Easyjet will probably continue with their separate bookings systems until at least the end of October 2002. Between them they fly 78 routes. Easyjet says there is little overlap and they have no intention of dropping any of the destinations. They will also continue to operate from their all their existing UK bases.

In early April I took a Eurail/backpacking trip solo through Western Europe. I had the opportunity to travel throughout Switzerland. I gained a great deal of knowledge about Swiss bank accounts and procedures for securing greater financial privacy. I also passed through the tiny independent Principality of Monaco on the French coast near the Italian border.

While in Spain I visited the Andorra Tourist Office in Barcelona. It is located in the mall area of a prominent office complex at the Port of Barcelona. Andorra is located at the very top of the Pyrenees Mountains between Spain and France. It recently won its independence from France and Spain and has since become a tax haven for many Spaniards and other Europeans. Tourists often make a trek to Andorra, 2 hours by train from Barcelona, to purchase duty free goods.

But it was the discovery of yet another tiny tax haven on the Swiss/Italian border that really caught my attention.

Anyone who has ever flown into the Airport at Omaha, Nebraska has had the experience of having to pass through a tiny strip of Iowa after they leave the airport, to get to the city of Omaha. Carter Lakes, Iowa is a geographic anomaly. The town is completely isolated from the rest of the State of Iowa, surrounded by a lake on one side and Nebraska on the other.

Like Iowa, Italy has its own Carter Lakes anomaly in the Alps. Campione D'Italia is completely surrounded by the Lake of Lugano on one side, and the Italian-speaking Swiss Canton of Ticino on the other. The closest point on the Italian border is 11 kilometres away. But the Village has been a part of the Italian State of Lombardy (also home to nearby Milan), for over 7 Centuries.

It is relatively easy to get to Campione. Just take one of the wonderful Swiss trains from Geneva, Basel, or Zurich to Lugano. From Lugano it's just a ten minute ride in a taxi or a rent-a-car to Campione. Or, it's a 45 minute ride – all highway – from Milan.

Its isolation from Italy has given it a very unique status. It is almost like being in another country. It is similar to Monaco in that the town sits on a very narrow strip of coastline surrounded by cliffs. It even looks like Monaco with a Casino, boat docks, and a small palm-lined beach. The population of the town is just over 3,000. The total area is 1.7 square kilometres. Italy administers local governmental functions. However, Campione uses the Swiss banking system, currency, and post office.

It is their system of taxation that outsiders, particularly for those who are interested in financial privacy, may find of greatest interest. Basically, there are no taxes. Campione's only Casino makes enough revenue to support the town. Residents do not pay local municipal taxes, Italian income or VAT (Value Added) taxes, nor are they subject to the onerous taxation from Switzerland.

What's the catch?

Establishing residency in Campione is a little difficult. I speak fluent Italian. So, I was able to converse with some of the locals. They are a little suspicious of outsiders, with the exception of visitors to the Casino. They even seem to be a bit secretive about Campione and it's unique status. They have a good deal and they want to keep it that way. For example, it is not easy to purchase land in Campione or even an apartment, which is the only way to gain residency. Real estate is quite expensive. Though, if you are able to purchase a little land you will receive automatic residency. They say that about 1,000 foreigners now live in Campione taking advantage of its unique opportunities for avoiding taxes and corporate protections.

Libertarians and other financial privacy seekers have searched the world for attractive havens such as Campione. Purchasing a plot of land in the town could prove quite pricey. But this could be a very attractive option for a joint venture?

Note – Eric Dondero R. is the author of the “Worldwide Multilingual Phrase Book” – www.portsidelanguages.com. He is an interpreter in Houston and speaks over 20 languages. He is also active in libertarian politics and is an avid proponent of global freedom.

Young, a Korean American, living in California saw Globetrotter Kevin’s Korean itinerary in March’s Globetrotter e-newsletter whilst visiting Korea for a week with his wife and daughter after a trip to Tibet and Sichuan, China.

Young has a few hints and tips he’d like to pass on to us, particularly more interesting as Korea will see a massive influx of tourists as a result of co-hosting the next Football (Soccer) World Cup with Japan in a few weeks’ time:

1) Gyeongbokgung is a fine introduction to Korean “old palaces”, a significant part of Korean cultural heritage. An advantage is that there are museums on the grounds as you say. But if I were to pick a single palace for someone with limited time, it would be Changdukgung Palace, which is a beautiful place, especially the Piwon (Secret Garden) part. There are also regularly scheduled guided tours in English. 2) In Gyeongju, most Koreans would consider Sokuram (Stone Grotto) a must see. Last year I had a privilege of seeing it up close (beyond the glass barrier) thorough some contact, and it was a great experience to see the details of the stone carvings. Certainly not as extensive or imposing as the relief in Angkor Wat which came later, but they offer subtle and balanced beauty that you see commonly in Korean art.

3) We took a 3-day side trip from Seoul to Busuksa Temple and Andong in Kyungsangbuk-Do (the province where Gyeongju and also Taegu, one of the World cup sites are located), made easier with the recent opening of “Central Highway”. Busuksa is an old Buddhist temple dating back to the 7th century, and contains the second oldest wooden structure in Korea. Some people consider this temple to be in the most beautiful mountainside setting in Korea. Andong is a traditional town with well-preserved Korean style houses. At the nearby hamlet of Hahoe, we attended the annual festival commemorating the visit by Queen Elizabeth II 3 years ago. The highlight is the mask dance that started as a parody on the ruling class 600 years ago. From spring to fall, there is a performance of the dance every Saturday and Sunday. We also visited the most celebrated of the old private schools for Confucian scholars, Dosan Seowon, dating back to 16th century.

4) For me, the fascination of the Korean landscape and culture can be found in one setting – Buddhist temples. They are typically located deep in mountains, and many of them have survived the ravage of war throughout centuries. They are still the central repository of Korean Buddhistic practice where meditation in the serene setting is an integral part. Try to visit at least one Korean temple – it is vastly different from a Thai temple, typically gaudy and metropolitan. The most famous is Bulkuksa (often overrun with tourists), mentioned in Kevin's itinerary, not far from Daegu and Ulsan where World Cup matches are to be held. Haeinsa and Tongdosa in Kyonsangnamdo, near Busan are also well-known.

5) Visitors will find it difficult to communicate in English in Korea, especially in the countryside, even though we saw the whole country gearing up for co-hosting of the World Cup. Organized tours will be convenient but expensive. Independent travellers will need patience and spirit of adventure, but rewarded with memories of a unique culture, neither Chinese nor Japanese. Korea is much cheaper than Japan, but significantly more expensive than most third-world countries, especially in the world-class city of Seoul.