Skytrax have conducted the world's “largest” passenger survey, was conducted over an 11 month period (June 2004 – May 2005) to find the world's Airline of the Year. The results are as follows:
AIRLINE OF THE YEAR 2005
Beetle: I don't see Ryanair in this list.
Meeting news from our branches.
The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise against all travel to central, southern and Western Mindanao, and the Sulu archipelago including Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and Jolo, where military and police operations against terrorist and rebel groups are continuing and where kidnappings and bombings have taken place.
There is a threat of kidnapping throughout the Philippines. We believe that terrorists and criminal elements are continuing with plans to kidnap foreign tourists from islands and coastal areas in the southern Philippines – ie Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago. Kidnappings from other parts of the Philippines cannot be discounted. Boats travelling to and from offshore islands and dive sites are possible targets.
There is a high threat from terrorism throughout the Philippines. On 28 August 2005, an explosion on board a passenger ferry in Basilan, Mindanao killed 2 people and injured at least 30. On 10 August, two bombs exploded in Zamboanga City, western Mindanao when at least 25 people were injured. In February 2005, bombs in Manila and Mindanao killed at least nine people and injured over 130 others. We believe that terrorist groups have the capacity to mount attacks at any time and anywhere in the Philippines
You should also be alert to the risk of street crime.
China has announced the completion of the first railway line from Golmud in China's north-western province of Qinghai to Lhasa, in Tibet. The line is expected to start taking passengers in 2006. This is one of the world's highest train routes, at 5,072m (16,640ft) above sea level. Trains travelling on the line will have to have carriages that are sealed like aircraft to protect passengers from altitude sickness. The workers who built the line had to breathe bottled oxygen in order to deal with the high altitudes.
Hong Kong International Airport is named Best Airport worldwide in 2005 passenger survey. For the 5th consecutive year, passengers have rated Hong Kong International Airport as the world's Best Airport. Singapore Changi Airport takes the Silver Award, rated 2nd in the world.
The November meeting took place back at The Church of Scotland, now that most of the building work has been completed.
Our first speaker was Tom Fremantle who endeavoured to follow in the footsteps of Scottish explorer Mungo Park down the Niger river. Tom's excellent talk took in some of the sights of Senegal, Mali, Niger and Nigeria including amazing African markets complete with Fetish stalls selling monkey skulls. We also saw the mud mosque at Djenne, which unfortunately non muslims are no longer allowed to visit the inside of. Tom was there while the African Nations cup was taking place, in small villages he would find hundreds of people crowded around a TV set, often cheering not for a particular team, but just because a goal had been scored! From Niger he showed us the Arbredu Tenere, a tree in the middle of nowhere that was once shown on the Michelin map, it has been replaced by a metal one after a driver managed to hit it. Tom crossed into Nigeria with some trepidation as the country has a reputation for lawlessness, bribery and corruption. Few tourists visit Nigeria, when Tom had collected his visa from the Embassy, he was told he would be the only tourist in Nigeria! He probably was, despite having to give the odd “present” he had a great trip.
After the break it was Amar Grover who gave an interesting talk with great photos of the Minorities in China. Amar explained that there are around 60 recognised minority groups in China and he began with the one known best in the west, the Tibetans. We saw Lhasa with the wonderful Jokang Temple, to which Tibetans travel for hundreds of miles to visit. We also saw the Stupas and Potala Palace. Amar explained that the Chinese are trying to change the make up of the populations in minority areas with more chinese, giving them tax breaks and other incentives to move to these regions. We saw Kazakhs and Uigars who are certainly more central asian than chinese, not only in looks, dress and customs but also in religion. Many still live a nomadic existence using Yurts. Amar showed us Uigar markets at places like Kashgar where old customs prevail. China now recognises many of its minority peoples, but cynics will say it has more to do with the income they generate from western visitors.
By Padmassana
3rd December, Terry Richardson will be talking about “The St.Paul's Trail, following St.Paul's footsteps through Turkey's Taurus Mountains. Visit peaks, canyons, lakes and ancient sites linked by a newly way-marked 500km trail.
co-author of Lycian Way and St. Paul Trail guides and Rough Guide to Turkey. See : http://www.stpaultrail.com/StPaulContent/aboutthewalk.html
After the break, Jonny Bealby will be giving a talk about Northern Pakistan. See: http://www.wildfrontiers.co.uk
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
A member of Globetrotters Club? Interested in a £1,000 travel award?
Know someone who is? We have £1,000 to award each year for five years for the best submitted independent travel plan. Interested?
Then see our legacy page on our Website, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we'll take a look at it. Get those plans in!!
Transparency International recently published its new index on the world's most countries. At the top of the list, i.e. the least corrupt country is Iceland, followed by Finland and New Zealand in joint second place, Denmark in fourth place and Singapore in fifth place. In sixth to tenth position are Sweden, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, and Austria respectively.
Lying at the bottom of the league in joint 158th position is Bangladesh and Chad, in joint 155th place are Haiti, Myanmar and Turkmenistan, in joint 152nd position are Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria. Angola comes in at no 151 and there are seven countries at joint 144 th position: the DRC, Kenya, Pakistan, Paraguay, Somalia, Sudan and Tajikistan.
A 9-year-old boy, wanting to help Hurricane Katrina victims, swam from Alcatraz to San Francisco, raising $30,000 in donations in the process.
Fourth-grader Johnny Wilson made the mile-and-a-half swim in the choppy, 53-degree water of San Francisco Bay in under two hours.
Wilson called the swim tiring, but said he kept telling himself, “I'm almost there, I'm almost there.” The 9-year-old boy said the beginning was the hardest because that's when he was the coldest. His classmates on the shore, cheered: “Go, Johnny! Go, Johnny!”
Alcatraz prison closed in 1963 and is now a tourist attraction and not a single inmate ever successfully escaped.
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.