What is it: decompression sickness, also called the bends, is related to great changes in environmental pressure. It is caused by nitrogen bubbles forming in the bloodstream and tissues of the body. The bubbles occur if you move from deep water towards the surface (where the surrounding pressure is lower) too quickly . It is most usually associated with divers, but can also occur in fliers in a non pressurised cabin when there is a major change in altitude. In the most serious cases decompression sickness can lead to unconsciousness or death.

What are the symptoms: the symptoms generally appear in a relatively short period after completing the dive. Almost 50 per cent of divers develop symptoms within the first hour after the dive, 90 per cent within six hours and 98 per cent within the first 24 hours. In practice this means symptoms that appear more than 24 hours after the dive are probably not decompression sickness. An exception is if the diver has travelled in an aircraft or has been travelling in the mountains. Under these circumstances, low pressure can still trigger decompression sickness more than 24 hours after the last dive. As a result, it is wise not to fly within 24 hours of a deep dive. Mild forms of decompression sickness can resolve themselves without treatment or by breathing 100 per cent oxygen at the site of the accident. The symptoms of decompression sickness vary because the nitrogen bubbles can form in different parts of the body. These can include pain in the joints “bends”. a headache or vertigo, unusual tiredness or fatigue, confusion, a rash, shortness of breath, tingling in the arms or legs, muscular weakness or paralysis, a burning chest pain with a deep breath, a cough or ear or sinus pain.

What happens if I get it: if you suspect decompression sickness, stop the dive, initiate first aid, and summon assistance from a specialist in divers' medicine. Treatment is oxygen on site and during transportation, followed by treatment in a decompression chamber.

How can I avoid decompression sickness?

· Dive within the limits set out in the diving tables.

· Keep your rate of ascent to a maximum 10m/min.

· Don't plan any dives that need a decompression stop in the water.

· Make a three-minute safety stop at a depth of 5m.

· Don't dive more than three times in one day.

· If you plan more than one dive in one day, start by making the deepest dive first.

· If you are diving for several days in a row, have a dive-free day after two to three days.

· Don't do any hard work before or after diving.

· Drink lots of liquid before diving. Lack of fluid due to heat or excess alcohol is dangerous.

· Make sure you are in good physical condition and well rested. Have regular medical checkups.

· Make sure there is an interval of at least 24 hours between diving and travel by air or climbing up mountains. If you have had decompression treatment, the recommended interval before the next dive is at least 48 hours.

Avalon Travel Publishing announces the release of the 7th edition of Moon Handbooks Fiji, the original travel guide to the 322-island Fiji archipelago.

Since 1985, Moon Handbooks Fiji has been the leading travel guidebook to Fiji. Author David Stanley began writing about the South Pacific in 1979, and over the years tens of thousands of Pacific travellers have used his guides to Fiji, Tahiti, Tonga, Samoa, and the South Pacific.

Unlike the maps in other guidebooks which contain confusing numbered keys, the 53 maps in Moon Handbooks Fiji are clearly labelled. To allow for detail, three maps of Fiji's capital Suva are included, and two of the gateway city Nadi.

In this 7th edition, all local telephone numbers are increased from six digits to seven, reflecting a recent change by Telecom Fiji. Internet and email addresses are now embedded in the listings for ease of reference.

Rob Kay of FijiGuide.com has this to say about Moon Handbooks Fiji: “Packed with great maps it also has resources such as a comprehensive bibliography, and tips on local etiquette. More importantly, Stanley excels at getting accurate information on hotels, inexpensive restaurants and tourist sites. However there is another reason why his guide is valuable. Stanley does not simply list the properties in alphabetical order and expect the reader to determine what's best. Based on personal visits and feedback from visitors, he will actually offer you an opinion and the straight facts.”

Priced at US$17.95, this book is distributed in the United States by Publishers Group West, in Canada by Publishers Group Canada, in Europe by HI Marketing, and in Australia and New Zealand by Bookwise International. For more information, visit http://www.southpacific.org/fiji.html

1. The Czech Republic has more Internet Service Providers than any other non-English speaking country.

2. Andorra has no unemployment, which is just as well because they have no broadcast TV channels either.

3. Andorrans live the longest, four years longer than in neighbouring France and Spain.

4. China's labour force stands at 706 million people, almost three times that of Europe and twice that of North and South America combined

5. China has the most workers, so it's a good thing they've also got the most TV's.

6. Clipperton Island wins our prize for the most unusual looking country.

7. Israel enjoys a GDP per capita 21 times that of the Palestinian West Bank and 33 times that of the Gaza Strip. Its military spending per capita tops the world.

8. North Korea spends the most of its GDP on its military.

9. Luxembourgers are the world's richest people – and also the most generous.

10. Indians go out to the movies 3 billion times a year.

Source:

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 Mac reminiscences including those about a hotel room with a vibrating bed and an Indian astrologer.

I am reminded in my correspondence about travel of a vibrating bed I found one time on checking into a budget hotel in Hong Kong. I discovered after I had checked in that it was a rendezvous hotel for Chinese older citizens. No young people checked in but older Chinese that wanted a romantic interlude. I was slow to catch on. There were mirrors on the ceiling and on the wall and I thought gee this is unusual for a budget hotel. I laid down and thought I was switching off the light switch and I switched on the switch that started the bed to rumbling. I at first thought it was an earthquake. I am always slow to catch on.

I one time was on a bus in Mexico City when there was an earthquake and I thought it was just a rough road and bus with bad springs. When I got to my destination everyone was out on the street from that budget hotel. I knew a lady there that had been in same hotel in San Miguel De Allende. The hotel in Mexico City was run by a religious order something like the Quakers. She volunteered there and laughed when I asked her why everyone was out in the street to greet me! Incidentally the hotel in Hong Kong was called The Hilton. They swiped the name from the more expensive Hilton Hotel. It is like calling a hotel The Ritz when it is anything but the Ritz. I really liked that hotel though. It had windows you could open and look out on very busy street. I had been on a package tour where the four or five star deluxe hotel in Hong Kong that was included had been so cold and I could never get the air conditioning off. My cheap hotel had overhead fan which I liked better. The deluxe hotel had a mat in elevator that gave you the day of the week each day woven into the mat. They had a grand piano on a float in pond but for some reason I was never comfortable there so at the end of the tour I moved into the unusual budget hotel and was happy there. It was in a less touristy part of Nathan Road at maybe in the direction of Nathan Road. Just ask for the other Hilton.

I just read that a writer wrote that Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris is a “Third World Airport” It brought out some travel memories. After getting radiation for prostrate cancer I started travelling before I was completely well. At a stop on a tour bus in southern India I started to get up from my seat when I realized I had bled from my rear end onto the seat. I didn’t want to panic the Indian tourists so decided I would sit in my seat until they were all off and then run like hell. All were off but one Indian gentleman who stopped by my seat on way out and asked if I was alright. For some strange reason I blurted out my problem. It turned out he was an Indian doctor who was a cancer specialist at Sloane Kettering Cancer Hospital in New York City and just on vacation in India. He gave me some medicine to stop the bleeding and gave me address of where he was staying in New Delhi if I needed more help.

I continued on to Paris and at Charles De Gaulle airport I started bleeding again. Although I had a ticket on Air France for security reasons they would not let me use their toilet. I went down the street to a police station and by hand motions (not an easy thing to do) asked if could use their toilet. They did not arrest me for obscenity but directed me to their toilet that they evidently had criminals use. It had no door so they at desk could watch the prisoners when in toilet I guess.

I did not want them to know I was bleeding so had to wipe myself as far as possible out of their sight. I then went to a Protestant church (closer than Catholic) and by chance there was an American Protestant minister there and I asked him if there was a military hospital or American hospital. He tried to get thorough to American Embassy but couldn’t to ask them. By this time I had stopped bleeding and went back to airport and still made flight out. On that experience I too call Charles De Gaulle airport a turd world airport.

In New Delhi at the YWCA (they took men as well as women) I had to share my room with another Indian doctor. This time a dentist. He said he could tell my fortune but had to wait until the sun came up in the morning. He told me I had cancer and that I had been in the military and some other things that I had not told him (unless I talked in my sleep) That too was a little strange.

Another experience I had with Air France was that in South America they have a cheap flight from French Guinea to France. People from all over South American go to French Guinea to catch this flight. The flight started in Peru I believe but I picked it up in Northern Brazil (the town on the Amazon I cant think of its name) There was only three of us passengers on this huge 747 and all they gave us was a stale roll. When I asked if I could have a second one I was told they did not have enough. So much for French cuisine. Maybe they picked up their food in French Guinea along with most of the passengers.

I was only going as far at French Guinea. They had French Foreign Legion at their airport as guards. They wanted each of us three to go in separate taxis into town. I showed them my retired military ID and they let us all go then in same taxi. Maybe they thought I was an official. The hotels were full so we had to stay in a French whore house. People from British guinea would come over to use it. It was a hotel but the girls were upstairs. We could not get a room until three AM when night’s activities were over. I got to my room and I got a phone call and I was told I had to go to a doctor. I was told that the girl from that room was sick. I said there has been no girl in this room. They apologized. I went down stairs as it was now about six Am and there was the other two from airplane and we decided to walk into town to see if we could find open cafe. The other passengers were a European that ran a taxi in New York City. He would work long enough until he had enough money to travel and then he and his wife would travel. The other passenger was a European writer for Mad Magazine. He was delighted with our unusual hotel and said: “this is just like in the movies!” Travel can be fun, well, at least interesting!

If you would like to contact Mac, he is happy to answer e-mails: macsan400@yahoo.com

This is the first in a series of trip reports sent to the Beetle by Globetrotter Steve who is travelling around South America and Easter Island, the lucky chap! So, if you are planning trip to South America or are interested in knowing more about it, you may find Steve’s trip reports of interest.

The bus to La Serena was comfortable and the road a paved dual carriageway so the journey wasn’t bad. The countryside became slowly drier. Near Santiago roadside stalls were selling bags of oranges, lemons and avocados which looked very colourful. Nearer La Serena the countryside was very dry and the stalls were selling goat cheese.

La Serena is Chile’s second oldest city. It’s quite a small place with lots of old stone churches. They often have towers or spires that don’t match the rest of the building, a consequence of earthquakes I imagine. A mile away is a big sandy bay developing as a sea side resort with high rise buildings but it isn't the season so the beach is empty.

The weather has been cloudy and cool with a cold breeze from the sea. Yesterday I caught a local bus up the Elqui Valley to Pisco Elqui. The valley floor was covered with irrigated vineyards with the vines supported on a lattice of steel wires to keep the grapes about six foot above the ground. The leaves are fresh and green at the moment as they are just starting to grow after Winter. The steep valley sides were bare rock rising to rugged mountains. There was little vegetation and you could see the strata in the rock faces.

At Pisco Elqui the distillery was closed to visitors so I wandered round, had a lunch and caught the bus back. It filled with school children and agricultural labourers going home and I was a bit of a curiosity. Tomorrow I fly to Arica and then head for the altiplano.

Three days in Arica! It is the most Northern town in Chile and is surrounded by the Atacama Desert where it never rains. The driest place on earth.

The flight here went smoothly. After leaving La Serena I had to change in Santiago, which meant backtracking a bit. The Santiago – Arica flight called in at Iquique on the way here which made it quite a long flight. I had a window seat on the right side which meant I had views of the snow-capped Andes all the way here. On the left was the Pacific, and beneath for most of the journey was desert with occasional green valleys in the early stages of the journey. When the plane landed at Iquique I realised my reading glasses were missing. I’d worn them to look at the newspaper earlier in the flight but they had disappeared. I started to panic when they couldn’t be found but then they were recovered from about four rows in front. They had slid off the seat during the landing. It acted as an icebreaker as a group of elderly Chileans bound for Arica on holiday (The city of Permanent Spring) started to joke and chat, which was fun.

The next day in Arica, being a Sunday, everything was closed except the archaeological museum where they had an excellent display including four Chinchero mummies, the oldest ones ever found in the world. The dry conditions have also preserved textiles buried in graves and they are some of the oldest existing textiles in the world – knitting, weaving, braids and knotted items. It’s remarkable how skilful they were.

Today, Monday, turns out to be a Bank Holiday so again nothing is open. Am I ever going to be able to leave here? Having seen most things in town I’ve had time at the beach. It’s warm and sunny in the afternoon although mornings have been cool and overcast.

Arica has a lot of soldiers who stroll round town all the time in desert combat gear. If I find an army surplus store I want a pair of their desert boots. It also has a large harbour. The fishmeal plant has closed, which is a blessing, and there are several large rusting trawlers berthed at the edge of the town. When I went to the harbour there was a flock of pelicans snatching up the waste from the stalls were fish was being cleaned and in the sea were several marine mammals looking very like large sea lions, perhaps walrus. When I walked to the beach there were fish leaping in the sea. They weren't flying fish, more like mackerel, but they jumped clean out of the water. I think something below the waves was having a good feeding session.