France has been ranked as the place where British holidaymakers are most likely to become victims of credit card fraud. Barclaycard’s annual world fraud index shows that France is the top credit card fraud hotspot, accounting for 43% of spending on stolen cards. Second is the USA, 3rd Spain, 4th Ireland and 5th Germany.
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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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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 about some of his travels
in 1992. Here we have thoughts and experiences on
India.
I am enjoying reading a book called Eating The Indian Air by John Morris, published by Atheneun 1969 New York. Eating the Indian Air is an Indian expression meaning to take a walk. Morris was in British Army in India and returned around 1969 to see changes. He had been on Mt Everest expeditions of 1922 and 1936 so his visit to see Tensing at the Himalayan Mountaineering School, Darjeeling, India was interesting.
Quote: “After breakfast I set off to visit the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. The world famous Tensing is the chief instructor at the Himalayan Institute. I had purposely not telephoned to let him know of my visit because I wished to give him a surprise. In 1936 as a young and inexperienced Sherpa porter he had been my personal servant on Everest and although I had seen him in England after the successful climb in 1953. By local standards he has become a wealthy man but he is quite unspoilt and still lives in a simple but comfortable manner. His appearance reminded me of the best of the Swiss guides with whom in more affluent days many of us used to climb. And he was dressed for the part, thick woollen knickerbockers, hand knitted stockings, a peacock blue sweater, Homburg hat (favourite of all men of Tibetan origin and the heaviest of climbing boots I have ever seen. I could not resist pulling his leg about his appearance but this he said with a laugh was the outfit in which American tourists expected to find him; they were disappointed if they found him more soberly dressed”.
Me, Mac speaking now. I visited this Himalayan School outside Darjeeling when I was maybe 69. There was a slight hill to get to it and I came puffing in the door and asked if I could enrol in the school. They laughed and said they did not take anyone over 18 years of age. I was sorry Tensing did not get to meet me but he was either not in that day or away climbing a mountain. They had a gift shop and I brought several kinds of key rings with picture of Mr Everest and I think some saying. They proved to be the gift the recipients enjoyed getting the most and they did not take up much room in my pack.
I stayed in a budget place and I thought they said I could see Mr Kangchenjunga, the third largest mountain in the world from my window. They suggested I get up at 5am before the clouds came in or something. What they said was that I could see this Mt perhaps at this time from the hotel but from the other side of hotel. I did later see it.
They brought hot water in something like a milk bucket at the time I told them I wanted to take a bath. The woodwork in hotel was beautiful although a budget place. They did not service meals but they told me how to get to a place friends owned and it was good. I really enjoyed Darjeeling and the little toy train to get up there. I also visited a Tibetan refugee place.
From book The Whole World Stranger by Virginia Moore, The McMillan Company New York 1957 Page 144: “In the big bazaar of Calcutta (India) amid merchandise common and exotic we saw up for sale boxes of food from America marked “Do not sell, this is a gift” and heard that many recipients mistaking cheese for soap had washed their clothes with it” (Me. The night before we were to get on troop ship at Bremerhaven, Germany (WWII) to return to the states a German POW doing kitchen duty mistook a bar of brown GI soap for butter and put it in the soup, (or so the story goes.) At three in the morning troops were wandering around with dysentery trying to find a dispensary. What a mess. I decided I was going to get on that ship in the morning even if I had to crawl up the gang plank on my hands and knees lugging my duffel bag. I did manage to stand up but had a movement on the way up the gang plank. What an exit from war torn Europe. (I think it was an honest mistake on the part of the German POW and don’t think it was sabotage. Ha!) When we got to New York there was a harbour captain that came out to guide our ship on in. I was at the side of ship watching this. He came on board and shook my hand and said “Welcome home son.” (I had cleaned my self up by then.) I get tears in my eyes just remembering him saying this.
Back to the book. “At Jjama Masjid (noble Moslem mosque) in Delhi, the guide showed them three world sights. Mohammed’s sandal, his footprint, and from his beard a long red hair.” The sandals were two inches shorter than his footprint. They had one guide that they joked needed a guide as he didn’t know what some well known sites were.
Me: I found the guides on the government sponsored tours were very good and tours were reasonable. I also found the government sponsored hotels were reasonable, clean and met my needs. You find out about them from the National Tourist offices. While I did not use them all the time it was nice to know they were there.
I am reading an article about Oil Rich Brunei a feast for eyes by Sandra Scott in today’s Washington Times Travel section. She writes: On the Royal Brunei airplane from Thailand to Bandar the capital of Brunei just before landing a flight attendant advised “The importation of drugs into Brunei is illegal and punishable by death. We are sorry for any inconvenience this may caused.”.
The sultan’s new 1,800 room palace is the largest in the world and is managed by Hyatt Corp. For three days following Ramadan the palace is open to the public, a buffet is served and the sultan and his wives- he has two greet the people.”.
I met in Rio De Janeiro one time the son of one of the Royalty of Saudi Arabia, or he said he was. He said his father had seven wives and he was the son of the youngest one. He may have been a fake as he was staying in same budget pension I was. I know he did give Varig or whatever Brazils airline a bribe to get on flight out when it was difficult to get out and they took it. I was surprised at this little transaction.
If you would like to contact Mac, he is happy to answer e-mails: macsan400@yahoo.com
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Iran is to build a 1.7 billion euro ($2.0 billion) luxury tourism project on the Gulf island of Kish designed to rival nearby tourism hotspot Dubai. Kish is a small island with relaxed rules on women's dress and mingling of the sexes although women are still required to wear headscarves and cover their bodies when swimming, and alcohol consumption is banned.
The “Flower of the East” project , Iran’s largest tourism project since the 1979 Islamic revolution is aimed at attracting foreign money and diversifying its economy away from oil. A German company has won the bid to develop a tourism, recreational and residential complex in KishIsland which lies some 125 miles (200 km) away from Dubai to the south.
The complex will include a 7-star hotel to rival Dubai's 7-star Burj al-Arab, a marina, 27-hole golf course, sports clubs, shopping malls and 4,700 luxury apartments. The project is largely aimed at Iranian expatriates seeking a holiday home in their native land, will be completed by the end of 2009.
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Meeting news from our branches around the world.
In June, 1979, Moon Publications of Rutland, Vermont, published the 1st edition of South Pacific Handbook. A quarter century later, Moon Handbooks South Pacific is still the leading travel guide to Polynesia and Melanesia, with an 8th edition due from Avalon Travel Publishing in late 2004.
In 1973, Bill Dalton’s Indonesia Handbook launched the Moon Handbooks series, which now numbers over 100 titles. South Pacific Handbook was Moon’s second book, researched by David Stanley and put together by co-author Bill Dalton. The 1979 edition of South Pacific Handbook was printed by Colorcraft Ltd. of Hong Kong, which is still used by Moon’s successor company, Avalon Travel Publishing.
South Pacific Handbook was the first travel guide to the Pacific islands, covering the entire region including Micronesia. A few years later two Pacific territories which had full chapters in the 1st edition ceased to exist. New Hebrides achieved independence from Britain and France in 1980 and became Vanuatu, while in 1986 the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands broke into four separate entities as the United States restructured its interests in Micronesia. Early editions of South Pacific Handbook now provide source material for historians.
Bill Dalton withdrew as co-author after the 1st edition, and David Stanley has researched and written all subsequent editions. In 1985, the Micronesia chapters were made into a separate guide, and Papua New Guinea was dropped from the coverage. The 1979, 1982, and 1985 editions of South Pacific Handbook pioneered travel through the region, and it wasn’t until 1987 that the first competitors began appearing. To meet this challenge, the 1989 edition of South Pacific Handbook was expanded to include the full range of accommodations, not only the budget properties previously featured.
The 5th, 6th, and 7th editions of Moon Handbooks South Pacific appeared in 1993, 1996, and 2000, and Stanley has recently made five extensive trips to research an 8th edition. Twenty-five years after its genesis in 1979, Moon Handbooks South Pacific is still what Paul Theroux called “the most user-friendly travel guide” to the South Pacific.
About Moon Handbooks South Pacific: The 976-page 7th edition of Moon Handbooks South Pacific (ISBN 1566911729) was published by Avalon Travel Publishing of Emeryville, California, in January, 2000. An 8th edition will be released in late 2004. David Stanley is also the author of Moon Handbooks Tahiti: Including the Cook Islands (ISBN 1566914124), Moon Handbooks Fiji (ISBN 1566913365), and Moon Handbooks Tonga-Samoa (ISBN 1566911745). More information is available on http://www.southpacific.org Avalon Travel Publishing titles are distributed in the United States by Publishers Group West.
British low-cost airline easyJet will expand further into central Europe in October, adding new routes to Hungary and Poland. EasyJet said in a statement it planned to fly to Krakow and Warsaw in Poland and increase services to Budapest from October 31. The new routes add to the airline’s recently-established services to Budapest and the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, bringing its central European services to 17.
Iberia, Spain’s major airline will stop channelling its Central American flights through Miami and will instead fly direct to a limited number of destinations. From October, it will run direct flights from Spain to Guatemala and Panama and will suspend another five Central American routes it now serves via Miami. The cost of maintaining a hub in Miami is a factor, but Iberia can offer non stop flights by using a long range Airbus. Another factor is that customers have complained about the strict US security measures they are subjected to when they have to fly via Miami.
Air New Zealand is to remove first class and improve economy class on its flights. Air NZ’s existing fleet will be divided into premium, super economy, and economy classes. They are also introducing video screens to every seat, and installing a lie-flat seat in premium class. The seats in super economy and economy will also be replaced, and cabin interiors refurbished.
Singapore Airlines began the world’s longest non-stop commercial flight – an 18-hour trip between Singapore and New York. The 16,600 km (10,310 mile) flight on an Airbus A340-500 aircraft over the Arctic shaves four hours off an existing service and marks the second non-stop flying record this year by Singapore’s flag carrier. The plane is specially fitted with business class seats that can recline into beds measuring 26 inches (66 cm) wide and 78 inches (198.1 cm) long. Economy seats are also slightly roomier than usual at 20 inches (51 cm) wide.
The US government is implementing new tough rules curtailing visits to Cuba. The rules implemented on June 16 means that thousands of Cuban-Americans visiting relatives on the island must return before June 30 or face fines of up to USD$55,000. After that date, US residents and citizens will be allowed to visit Cuba once every three years instead of annually.
Virgin Atlantic Airways is to begin flying from London to Sydney via Hong Kong on December 7, increasing competition with British Airways and its Australian partner Qantas.
Saturday 3rd July
This month was the opportunity for the clubs members to show their slides to their fellow Globies. It was also our first meeting where we could try out our new digital projector, many thanks to Paul for making the technical side of the meeting run so smoothly.
We started off with six members giving traditional slide shows, Dan Bachmann kicked off with a talk on the island of Santorini. He was followed by Mike Dodd, who was the first recipient of the Globetrotters Legacy Award, Mike’s slides showed us a small part of his trip to South East Asia. Ernest Flesch showed us his Russian trip from Moscow to St Petersburg. We headed into Asia again with Phil Ferguson’s trip to the mountain kingdom of Bhutan. Across to Africa for Jeanie Copland’s walking trip to Morocco, taking in Berber villages and Marrakech. Last before the break was Helen Barnhill, who showed us faces of Angkor Wat, both human and stone.
The second half of the meeting saw the debut of our new digital projector as Dick Curtis kicked off with a geographical quiz. Tracey Murray took us to Texas and the spectacular Big Bend National Park. Nick Preston showed us Iguaçu Falls from both the Argentinean and Brazilian sides ending with a wonderful shot of the falls during El Nino. Japan was our next destination, as Francesca Jaggs described her retreat trip to the Shinto temples near Kyoto. We stayed in Japan for our next speaker, but this time to the southern Island of Kyushu as Kevin Brackley showed us the volcanoes and towns of the island. And finally Dick Curtis showed us some of the quirky architecture of Brescia in Italy. While the second half speakers had been talking the results of the quiz had been worked out, congratulations to Anne Dodd who won first prize. Many thanks to all the Globies who took the time to prepare and give us a great afternoon.
By Padmassana
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 Admission members £2, non members £4.
What is it: altitude sickness is divided into three syndromes: acute mountain sickness (AMS), high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE), and high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). AMS is the most common form of altitude illness and, while it can occur at altitudes as low as 1,219–1,829 m (4,000–6,000 ft), most often it occurs in abrupt ascents to over 2,743 meters (over 9,000 ft).
How do I get it: travellers whose itineraries who find themselves at an altitude of 1,829–2,438 m (6,000–8,000 ft) and above should are exposed to the risk of altitude sickness. This could happen for example by flying into a high-altitude city, by driving to a high-altitude destination, or by hiking or climbing in high mountains. High-altitude cities with airports are Cuzco, Peru (3,000 m; 11,000 ft); La Paz, Bolivia (3,444 m; 11,300 ft); or Lhasa, Tibet (3,749 m; 12,500 ft).
What happens if I get it: symptoms often resemble an alcohol hangover: headache, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, and, occasionally, vomiting. The onset of the most common form, acute mountain sickness is delayed, usually beginning 6–12 hours after arrival at a higher altitude, but occasionally more than 24 hours after ascent.
Diagnosis and treatment: the three rules that travellers should be made aware of to prevent death from altitude illness are:
For most travellers, the best way to avoid altitude illness is to plan a gradual ascent, with extra rest days at intermediate altitudes. If this is not possible, prescription drugs are available to prevent or alleviate the effect of altitude sickness if taken in advance.
How can I avoid getting altitude sickness: not everyone is susceptible to altitude illness, and there are currently no screening tests that predict whether someone is at greater risk for altitude illness. Susceptibility to altitude illness appears to be inherent in some way and not affected by training or physical fitness. How a traveller has responded in the past to exposure to high altitude is the most reliable guide for future trips but is not infallible.
Weather at our destination is 50 degrees with some broken clouds, but we’ll try to have them fixed before we arrive.
Thank you, and remember, nobody loves you, or your money, more than Southwest Airlines. Our seat cushions can be used for flotation and, in the event of an emergency water landing, please paddle to shore and take them with our compliments, as you exit the plane, make sure to gather all of your belongings. Anything left behind will be distributed evenly among the flight attendants. Please do not leave children or spouses.