In the first of a number of Where in the World profiles, we look at Diego Garcia, a tiny island in The Indian Ocean, with coral beaches, turquoise waters and a vast lagoon in the centre. It is 1,600 kilometres from land in any direction, which seems to be the main attraction for the people who are allowed to go there. If you were ever thinking of visiting Diego Garcia, unless you are in the US or UK military, it might be wise to think again. But where is it, and why is it so controversial?

The Portuguese put Diego Garcia on the map in the 1500s. The island’s name is believed to have come from either the ship’s captain or the navigator. Diego Garcia was covered in plantations (copra, coconut, etc) in the 1800s. Between 1814 and 1965 it was a dependency of Mauritius. It then became part of the Chagos Archipelago, which belonged to the newly created British Indian Ocean Territory. The island remains a British dependency today but is leased to the US by the British. In 1970.

Once Diego Garcia had a small native population, known as the Ilois, or the Chagossians, many of whom were agricultural workers or fishermen. They were, however, forced to relocate (1967–1973) so that the island could be turned into a military base, much to strong protestations of other Indian Ocean islands, who objected to the island being used as a base for cruise missiles. Most of the Ilois now live in reduced circumstances in Mauritius’s shanty towns, more than 1,000 miles from their home. A smaller number were deported to the Seychelles. In 2000, a British court ruled that the order to evacuate Diego Garcia’s inhabitants was invalid, but the court also upheld the island’s military status, which permits only personnel authorized by the military to inhabit the island. The Ilois sued the British government for compensation and the right to repatriation, but in Oct. 2003 a British judge ruled that although the Ilois had been treated “shamefully” by the government, their claims were unfounded. Not much help, really. In 2004 the British government issued an “Order of Council” prohibiting islanders from ever returning to Diego Garcia.

A somewhat biased 2004 documentary by Australian journalist John Pilger called Stealing a Nation publicised the plight of the islanders. According to Mr Pilger, the islanders were tricked and intimidated into leaving until “the remaining population was loaded on to ships, allowed to take only one suitcase. They left behind their homes and furniture, and their lives. On one journey in rough seas, the copra company’s horses occupied the deck, while women and children were forced to sleep on a cargo of bird fertilizer. Arriving in the Seychelles, they were marched up the hill to a prison where they were held until they were transported to Mauritius. There, they were dumped on the docks.” Some of the Ilois are making return plans to turn Diego Garcia into a sugarcane and fishing enterprise as soon as the defense agreement expires (some see this as early as 2016). A few dozen other Ilois are still fighting to be housed in the UK.

Now, Diego Garcia is home to a military base jointly operated by the United States and the United Kingdom, although in practice it is said to be largely run as a US base, with only a small number of British forces and military police. No other economic activity is now allowed. The base serves as a naval refueling and support station. It is also equipped with airfields that have been used on missions to Iraq during the 1990 Gulf War, and to Afghanistan in the 2001 U.S. Attack on Afghanistan.

But still there is controversy. Human rights groups claim that the military base is used by the US government for the interrogation of prisoners (allegedly with methods illegal in the US). The British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said in the British parliament that the US authorities have repeatedly assured him that no detainees have passed in transit through Diego Garcia or have disembarked there. Intelligence analysts say Diego Garcia’s geographic isolation is now being exploited for other, more sinister purposes. They claim it is one of several secret detention centres being operated by the Central Intelligence Agency to interrogate high-value terrorist suspects known as “ghost detainees” or the “new disappeared,” beyond the reach of American or international law.

We are sorry to say that Mac is not very well, but he is still e-mailing strong and recently sent the Beetle a collection of travel reminiscences.

A friend of mine reading my Guam notes was also stationed in Guam whilst working in the Navy. He told me something interesting about a couple of Japanese soldiers that had hid in the jungles for many years not knowing the War was over. He said that one was something like a private and the other a Corporal and they had some kind of disagreement between them and did not speak to each other for a period of twenty years while hiding out in the jungle. Ha!

I am still enjoying reading A Sense of Place about travel writers by Michael Shapiro. I was surprised to learn that India is Rick Steves favourite country although he writes and conducts tours mostly in Europe. He said he would never take a tour group to India as it is unpredictable: “I wouldn’t want to be in charge of making twenty people happy in India”.

Me: I visited India three times taking India rail pass and loved it and found it fascinating, but like Rick Steves, I would not recommend it to others for fear they might get ill and blame me! Rick Steves says the Reichstag (new one) building in Berlin is a new glass dome that is open and free all the time so people can literally look over the shoulders of their legislators and know what’s on their desk and keep an eye on them. He has a building in Edmonds Washington where he employs sixty people. Here, I thought it was just him with a backpack on his back roughing it through Europe, well, maybe along with a photographer! He says his tour guides for his tours are the best paid in Europe. I suspect his tours would be good for someone wanting to be with a group.

One of my favourite writers is Jan Morris. I started reading her when he was James Morris. Morris had sex change operation in Casablanca. He had been at one time an Intelligence officer in the British Army and accompanied the 1933 Everest expedition that reached the summit for the first time. He was married with four children. His wife and he still live together in Wales. I was disappointed when I heard he had become a woman as I prefer male travel writers. I guess I will have to reread his earlier work when he was a male to see if I can notice any difference in his travel writing as a woman.

The travel writer Eric Newby spent thirteen months in POW camps in World War II. He escaped in September 1943 immediately after the Italian armistice. A sympathetic Italian commander who was later beaten to death by the Germans let the prisoners escape. Newby who had recently broke his ankle left atop a mule. A Slovenian couple with anti-Fascist sympathies sheltered Newby who became smitten with their daughter Wanda. When it became unsafe for Newby to stay with Slovenian family, he sought shelter in the maternity hospital of a nearby hospital. But as the Germans closed in father of the family risked his life to drive Newby through Parma to a mountain hideout in the Po Valley. Ultimately Newby was recaptured and returned to prison camps but survived the war. Interesting accounts (to me)!

On continuing on the theme of travel writers, I’ve been reading Fodors’ Exploring India Author Fiona Dunlop 1998. On page 14, she says, “When a desert woman in Rajasthan (the most colourful and interesting section of India to me. Mac) dons a pido, a yellow veil with a large red spot, it announces her pregnancy and acceptance by the community. Simply being fertile is however not enough. Vedic verses honour sons followed by more sons but never daughters. When a boy is born conch shells are blown in Bengal and Assam and drums are beaten in Makargshtra. When a girl is born the women of Rajasthan retreat behind their veils and wail. In traditional Hindu households throughout India an ancient rite to produce a male child is still performed over pregnant women”.

In the 1980s a survey revealed that of 8,000 abortions carried out in India after prenatal sex determination only one was a male foetus. On page 15 the author talks about Muslims, who, unlike Hindus believing in resurrection after death and in the existence of heaven and hell. It is customary for Muslims to bury rather than cremate their dead.

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

Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of Britain’s Kings and Queens since 1837. Built by George VI on the site of the King’s House, Pimlico, the shell of which was preserved by Nash, the architect. Marble Arch once stood in front, but it was later removed to the western end of Oxford Street where the famous Tyburn Gallows once stood. When Queen Victoria moved here in 1837, just 10 years after the works had been carried out, it was barely habitable. There are 600 rooms in the Palace, of which under twenty can be visited, as well as the Queen’s Picture gallery and the Mews.

It originated as a town house that was owned from the beginning of the eighteenth century by the Dukes of Buckingham. Today it is The Queen’s official residence. It is regularly on the top ten lists of worse places to visit by those that have, but still draws huge numbers of those that haven’t. Some say that it is a nice place to view from the outside, though the crowds can be horrendous. If the Royal Standard is flying over the palace then the Queen’s in residence.

Although in use for the many official events and receptions held by the Queen, areas of Buckingham Palace are opened to visitors on a regular basis. The Palace is also the venue for great Royal ceremonies, State Visits and Investitures, all of which are organised by the Royal Household. Besides being the official London residence of the Queen, it is also the administrative headquarters of the Monarchy, including the offices of those who support the day-to-day activities and duties of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh and their immediate family.

The State Rooms of the Palace are open to visitors during the Annual Summer Opening in August and September. They are lavishly furnished with items from the Royal Collection including paintings by Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Poussin, Canaletto and Claude; sculpture by Canova and Chantrey; examples of Sèvres porcelain; and some of the finest English and French furniture in the world. Visits to Buckingham Palace can be combined with visits to The Queen’s Gallery, which reopened in May 2002. The nearby Royal Mews is open from 5 March to 31 October 2005.

For those who do receive an invitation to Buckingham Palace, the first step across the threshold is into the Grand Hall and up the curving marble stairs of the Grand Staircase. Portraits are still set in the walls, as they were by Queen Victoria. The Throne Room, sometimes used during Queen Victoria’s reign for Court gatherings and as a second dancing room, is dominated by a huge arch supported by a pair of winged figures of ‘victory’ holding garlands above the ‘chairs of state’. It is in the Throne Room that the Queen, on special occasions like Jubilees, receives loyal addresses. Another use of the Throne Room has been for formal wedding photographs.

George IV’s original palace lacked a large room in which to entertain. Queen Victoria rectified that shortcoming by adding in 1853-5 what was, at the time of its construction, the largest room in London. It is 22 feet long, 60 feet wide and 45 feet high, the Ballroom is the largest multi-purpose room in Buckingham Palace. It was opened in 1856 with a ball to celebrate the end of the Crimean War. The Ballroom has been used variously as a concert hall for memorial concerts and performances of the arts and it is the regular venue for Investitures of which there are usually 21 a year – nine in spring, two in the summer and ten in the autumn. At Investitures, the Queen (or the Prince of Wales as her representative) will meet recipients of British honours and give them their awards, including knighting those who have been awarded knighthoods.

It is along the East Gallery that the Queen and her State guests process to the Ballroom for the State Banquet normally held on the first day of the visit. Around 150 guests are invited and include members of the Royal family, the government and other political leaders, High Commissioners and Ambassadors and prominent people who have trade or other associations with the visiting country. Today, it is used by the Queen for State banquets and other formal occasions such as the annual Diplomatic Reception attended by 1,500 guests. This is a very formal occasion during which The Queen will meet every head of mission accredited to the Court of St James’s. For the diplomats it is perhaps the highlight of the annual diplomatic social calendar.

From the Ballroom, the West Gallery, with its four Gobelin tapestries, leads into the first of the great rooms that overlook lawn and the formal gardens – setting for the annual Garden Parties introduced by Queen Victoria in 1868.

The State Dining Room is one of the principal State Rooms on the West side of the Palace. Many distinguished people have dined in this room including the 24 holders of the Order of Merit as well as presidents and prime ministers.

Before the Ballroom was added to the Palace in the 1850s, the first State Ball was held in the Blue Drawing Room in May 1838 as part of the celebrations leading up to Queen Victoria’s Coronation.

The Music Room was originally known as the Bow Drawing Room and is the centre of the suite of rooms on the Garden Front between the Blue and the White Drawing Rooms.

Four Royal babies – The Prince of Wales, The Princess Royal, The Duke of York and Prince William – were all christened by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Music Room. One of its more formal uses is during a State Visit when guests are presented to The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and the visiting Head of State or for receptions.

The last of the suite of rooms overlooking the gardens on the principal floor is the White Drawing Room. Originally called the North Drawing Room, it is perhaps the grandest of all the State Rooms. The Room also serves as a Royal reception room for The Queen and members of the Royal family to gather before State and official occasions.

The Bow Room is familiar to the many thousands of guests to Royal Garden Parties who pass through it on their way to the garden. It was originally intended as a part of George IV’s private apartments – to be the King’s Library – but it was never fitted up as such. Instead, it has become another room for entertaining and is where The Queen holds the arrival lunch for a visiting Head of State at the start of a State visit.

If you are looking for a job at Buckingham Palace, they are regularly advertised on the official website: https://www.rct.uk/visit/buckingham-palace

Ryanair, always on the look out from generating new sources of revenue including charging passengers for food, drinks, car hire and hotels, was also looking at gambling and property ventures for ‘other’ sources of non-ticket revenue. They recently announced that they were in talks with telecoms network operators about launching its own UK mobile phone business. Ryanair, which recently banned its staff from charging their mobile phones at work, said it may sell mobile phone connections via the Internet under the plan.

Ryanair Deputy Chief Executive Michael Cawley told reporters the carrier was talking to potential partners for the business, which may not necessarily use the airline’s branding. Ryanair had initial talks with 3UK, owned by Hutchison Whampoa, but failed to reach agreement, the source said.

EasyMobile, which is linked to Ryanair rival easyJet, launched its own-brand mobile phone service in Britain in March, while airline entrepreneur Richard Branson’s Virgin Group also has a mobile phone business.

“Currently we are looking at some gambling products. That is very much at an embryonic stage,” Cawley said.

That’s not the only way Ryanair increases its income, writes Brian from the UK. The airline charges Euro 7.00 per kilo for excess baggage. At Treviso (Italy) airport recently, the scales showed between 1.5 and 3.5 kilos when empty – before any baggage was put on. Protests to check-in personnel were in vain. Pay the excess or leave your luggage behind. When contacted, Ryanair denied responsibility claiming scales were owned and maintained by Treviso airport authorities. It was a Ryanair agent,however, who demanded payment and who issued a Ryanair receipt. The same luggage deemed overweight by Ryanair was later weighed at another low-cost airline at Gatwick and found to be 3.0 kilos below the limit.

I sent Ryanair a request for a refund of the unjustified charges by snail mail, including a copy of the receipt. Their reply came by email. When I tried to respond by email I received a message saying I would have to fax or mail my message. Deliberate effort to make communication difficult for customers, easy for them. I faxed it anyway: here is the text:

Thank you for your prompt email reply to my letter of June 4th.

I regret, however, having to inform you that the response of Ryanair is less than satisfactory. I have no objections whatsoever for being charged a fee for luggage which weighs more than the amount allowed. However, as I stated in my letter, my luggage was found on three other occasions to be well within the limit set by your airline.

The fact that the scales are owned and operated by Treviso airport authorities is really not relevant in this case. The fee was collected by Ryanair agents and was paid to Ryanair over my objections at the time. Ryanair clearly has a responsibility to its passengers to ensure that the excess baggage fees it charges are not based on inaccurate measurement, the ownership of the scales is simply immaterial.

Since I cannot accept your effective denial of responsibility for this incident, I anticipate contacting the Treviso airport authorities and the Transport Department of the Government of Ireland for their opinion on this matter and their advice on how to proceed further.

I am in contact with other passengers on the flight who had a similar experience and can confirm my account of events.

Yours sincerely,

Can anyone help me write the letter to Treviso airport in Italian? Or maybe the Guardia di Finanza if that would be appropriate – sounds promising? My hope is that it will cost Ryanair more than the 30 euros it owes me to respond to all the correspondence I will generate for them.

If you can help Brian, please let the Beetle know.