Santiniketan is a small town near Bolpur in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, India, and approximately 180 kilometres north of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). It was made famous by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, whose vision became what is now a university town (Visva-Bharati University ) that attracts thousands of visitors each year. Santiniketan is a tourist attraction also because Rabindranath lived here and penned many of his literary classics (namely Tagore songs, poems, novels etc.) and his home is a place of historical importance.

Santiniketan means “abode of peace”. In 1863, a meditation centre was founded at Santiniketan by Maharshi Debendranath Tagore, the father of the world famous Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore. He had established the Brahmo Vidyalaya and in 1901 another open-air laboratory school. In 1921, it had expanded into Visva-Bharati University.

Visva-Bharati is a residential university with International body, hostels and extensive grounds. It includes separate colleges for fine arts and crafts, dance, music, teachers training, Asian Languages, technology, post graduate studies and research. “Rabindra-Sadhana” is the university’s museum and the centre for the study of Tagore. There is another institution for rural reconstruction, health, social welfare, and the revival of the folk arts at Sriniketan, which is very close to Santiniketan.

This institution also founded by Tagore in 1922. On your visit to Santiniketan you will notice yourself drawn to a place called the ashram that comprises all that Kabi Guru (Lord of Poets) Rabindranath Tagore had established. Santiniketan is the embodiment of serenity and peace, far removed from the concrete jungle. Here imposing sculptures of Ram Kinkar greet you at every turn of the road. Paintings of Nandalal, Abanindranath and Binod Bihari captivate your senses. Uttarayan is the complex where Rabindranath lived, has a museum and art gallery.

Visva Bharati University is the University at Santiniketan, 2 km from the nearest railway station Bolpur, is now a centre of international studies and culture. The university is also open to visitors. Sriniketan, a centre for traditional handicrafts like batik (on leather, cloth and silk), pottery, weaving kantha embroidery and dokra tribal handicrafts is situated three kilometres from Santiniketan. The Ashram area represents the encouragement and belief of Tagore even though it seems overshadowed by the university.

A visitor usually takes cycle rickshaw rides in and around the area. What would draw your attention would be boards that say Heritage Complex. Although the saddened state of the buildings do not have the basic paint jobs done and doesn’t fit with the image of a heritage complex, you would not really mind it. There are plenty of places to stay in Santiniketan. On reaching there, be sure to ask any of the locals. People all over Bengal are known for giving good directions. Long live Santiniketan, long live Tagore.

About the author: Arjun Mukherjee is a song writer and a musician who loves to travel and photography is also his hobby. His website can be found at : www.arjun.in and Arjun can be contacted by e-mail: arjun@123linux.com

World’s Largest Subway Systems (by rider ship)

Sources: Jane’s Urban Transport Systems, 2002–2003 edition, and individual subway websites http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0762446.html

The South American Explorers Club are looking for new volunteers and interns in their Buenos Aires Clubhouse as they are expanding the services they offer. There are many exciting volunteer opportunities available for adventurous travellers in the Southern Cone. While Buenos Aires has razzle-dazzle nightlife and neighbourhoods made for shopping and exploring, take some time to volunteer with organizations assisting the needy throughout the city. You’ll see a side of Buenos Aires that few travellers do. Helping children with schoolwork, serving food at a community kitchen, and collecting food for the hungry are just a few of the opportunities available. If you are interested, contact: explorer@saexplorers.org

Mac has not been very well but is still e-mailing strong. Here is an account by Paul Haring, a US journalist writing about Mac’s exploits during WW2. The article is entitled: The ‘Greatest Generation.’

The World War II generation, called by Tom Brokaw the “Greatest Generation,” is well represented at the Soldiers and Airmen’s Home in Washington. Now rounding out the twilight of their lives, these veterans are the last living link to history that is fast taking its place among the annals of textbook knowledge. In honour of Veterans Days, here are excerpts from the lives of four World War II veterans who live at the home. (We have produced the one about Mac.)

More news re Ryanair who have been told by the UK’s Office of Fair Trading(OFT) to remove their small print in their ticket info over their attempt to avoid paying compensation for damaged and lost baggage. Ryanair was refusing any liability for damage or delay to prams, sporting equipment, such as golf clubs, wheelchairs and musical instruments. Following the watchdog’s intervention, this get-out clause has now been dropped. The airline made passengers go through a whole host of red-tape when someone tried to make a compensation claim for lost baggage, requiring the traveller to report an item lost and then wait for 21 days to see if it turned up. They would then have to make a second claim, filling out a form, within the following 21 days or their claim would be rejected. Ryanair has now been ordered to drop the need to make the second report, which was seen as an obstacle to fair compensation. Ryanair also required passengers making a claim for damaged or delayed baggage to fill out a long and complex so-called ‘Property Irregularity Report’. This has now been dropped. Ryanair has also been told it must guarantee proper compensation and, if appropriate, overnight accommodation when it cancels or delays flights without good reason. The OFT has also put other budget operators on notice that they should not try to get out of treating customers fairly.

Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair has ordered his entire fleet to serve only Fairtrade tea and coffee, which are generally regarded as more expensive than rival brands. After a successful trial period, Ryanair has switched from Kraft’s Carte Noir to a little-known brand with the Fairtrade stamp of approval, a certification that guarantees farmers and producers in the developing world are paid a fair price for their crops. The airline’s updated menu card now bears the distinctive blue and green Fairtrade logo alongside its new supplier, Saile & Sabga. Instead of accepting some kudos for attempting to be green (apart from the climate change implications of flying, that is,) Mr O’Leary insists that the switch is designed to save money, saying, “The fact that our new tea and coffee supplier is a Fairtrade brand is a welcome bonus, but the decision was based on lowering costs. We’d change to a non-Fairtrade brand in the morning if it was cheaper.” Supporters of the Fairtrade system say Ryanair’s conversion is proof that buying Fairtrade is not only principled, but also prudent. “It’s all about the bottom line with O’Leary, so it demonstrates to other businesses that buying Fairtrade is not just an act of generosity by the well- intentioned,” said Peter Gaynor, executive director of Fairtrade Ireland. “It can also make sound financial sense.”

MEETING NEWS

Our first speaker was Rory Maclean, “The magic bus”, Istanbul to India. Rory set out to visit the places along the classic overland route to India. Starting in Istanbul at the Pudding shop, visiting the spectacular Hagia Sofia, then using mainly public buses to travel through Iran and into Afghanistan, where at one point he landed up at the now infamous Bagram airbase with a group of NGO’s. Along the way Rory bumped into a few of the people who travelled along this way in the 1960’s and never quite made the return journey. Rory’s journey took 5 months, alas “the Magic bus” no longer runs and Afghanistan is once again off limits to all but the most intrepid.

Our second Speaker was Sheila Paine, another of the intrepid bunch who does venture in Afghanistan due to her interest in embroidery and despite being hindered by having to wear a burka to get into the country and travel around managed to capture some great photos of life. Sheila took us to Kandahar, a Taliban town, where the buildings are in ruins and shops have opened inside old shipping containers. At Mazar-I- Sharif we saw some of the beautiful tiled mosques. In the capital Kabul she showed us Chicken Street, a tourist haunt, where a photographer with an old fashioned camera still managed to ply his trade. A fascinating insight into a country we hear only bad news about.

By Padmassana

Coming next: Saturday 4th November 2006

Martin Featherstone will be giving a talk entitled Morocco Off Road. Martin drives into the desert makes discoveries and has adventures. The second talk is to be arranged as David Atkinson’s talk about has been postponed until February.

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

We used to have meetings in New York City and New Braunfels, Texas. Regrettably, after having done a superb job, neither organisers are able to give their time to Globetrotter meetings. If you are based in New York or New Braunfels and have the time to commit to pick up where our previous organisers left off, we’d love to hear from you – please see our FAQ or contact our the Branch Liaison Officer via our Website at Meeting FAQ. If you are based elsewhere and are interested in starting a branch of the Globetrotters, please feel free to contact us.

For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermane@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 Old York Tower, 85 Esplanade (It is at the south-east corner of Church & Esplanade – 2 blocks east from the Hummingbird Centre at 8.00 p.m. 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.

The Beetle visited Thailand in September 2006 and had an opportunity to travel to the Golden Triangle, an area that refers to a large, predominantly highland a Laos, Burma and Thailand and at the point where the Ruak and Mekong Rivers merge – see picture right of the Mekhong which shows Laos to the right, Burma to the left and Thailand behind.

For decades this area saw cross-border smuggling and drug production was rampant; the Golden Triangle was once the centre of all opium poppy growing in Thailand. The opium crops have long since been replaced by the small tourist village of Sob Ruak, and today the roads are flanked by countless small restaurants and vendor's souvenir stalls along the banks of the Mekhong river as well as tourist buses.

Now, the main thing to do in the Golden Triangle area is to take a boat down the Mekhong (see photo above.) There are oodles of long tail boats are available for hire here and you get to wear a life jacket. Cruising up and down the Mekong River allows visitors a glimpse of village life in the many riverside settlements – particularly in Laos where you can step off and for 15 baht visit a small market which sells bootleg cigarettes, snakes inexplicably coiled in whisky jars (see photo below right) and various items of clothing. Technically you are in Laos when on the island and can claim to have visited the country, although you are not allowed to enter into the rest of Laos from there without a visa. There is also a casino, popular with Thais on the left bank going up the Mekhong, on the Myanmar side and it is possible to visit it.

The area's legacy of opium production, usage and trading – which continued right up until the 1980's, is well documented in two museums. Opium production has been illegal in Thailand since 1959. There’s the multi-million dollar museum in Sob Ruak which looks at the history of the area’s association with opium. As you would expect, the museum focuses on opium, opiates, narcotics and drug eradication measures through ‘educational’ displays. The first part of the exhibition details the 5000-year history of opium from its first known appearance in early Egypt, through the 19th century’s opium wars, to the 20th century’s production and trafficking in South East Asia. The second half shows the effects of drugs on the mind and body, describing strategies employed throughout the world to control drugs, international cooperation, and efforts in dealing with drug addiction. The newer and more extensive museum is a little way out of town.

There are several hotels and guest houses in Sob Ruak and it is also possible to organise trekking tours to some of the many hill tribe villages that are located in the outlying areas. About nine kilometres away from Rob Suak is Chiang Saen, once the capital of Lanna which has some ancient, unspoilt temples, including Wat Pa Sak, dating from 1295, where you can see a vast stupa surrounded by smaller temples and chedis. Wat Chedi Luang is also worth visiting, with a large brick chedi that originated in the 14th century. The Chiang Saen Museum exhibits a variety of local artwork, ranging from handicrafts made by people from the surrounding hill tribes, to ancient Lanna-style artefacts.

Mae Sai (or Maesai) is the northern most district of Chiang Rai Province in northern Thailand. It is a major border crossing between Thailand and Myanmar, taking you across the Friendship Bridge to Tachileik in Myanmar (see photo left of the Friendship Bridge). Thousands of people cross the border everyday, making this small frontier town filled with people, traffic and various activities, not to mention a street lined with tacky tourist stalls of Thai, Burmese and Chinese origin. Crossing over the border into the Burmese town of Taichilek gives visitors the opportunity to renew their 30-day visa to continue staying in Thailand – though, be warned, there are noises about changing the rules as to how long you can stay in Thailand and how many times you can nip out and renew your visa. Although Taichilek is small and poor Burmese town, with a few attractions, it is popular for its shopping, with a large market offering a variety of inexpensive goods (some of very dubious quality) from China.

There are plenty of hotels and guest houses in Mae Sai for all pockets and tastes, though I would not recommend a stay there unless you are caught short by transport problems – it’s not such an interesting place.

The Golden Triangle is most easily accessed from the city of Chiang Rai where there are daily flights from Bangkok. Or you can take a tour or hire a car from Chiang Mai, but it is a long drive and the roads whilst mostly good are windy. An alternative route is via Thaton. The drive along the Mekhong river from Sob Ruak to Chiang Kong is lovely, and you can take a board boat to Luang Prabang in Laos which takes two days.