If you have plans to visit India this summer – never a good time to go – take note that around 200 people have died during the heat wave that is currently sweeping through Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Pakistan where temperatures have soared as high as 47.2C. The high temperatures have led to a shortage of drinking water and deaths through dehydration and sunstroke. Last year, a heat wave killed more than 1,000 people in the state and caused devastating drought. The situation should improve with the approaching monsoon rains, which usually reach the south coast in the first week of June.
Category Archives: Sidebar
Being Careful: Terrorist Alerts
Terror alerts are in force around the world; Australia and New Zealand have just warned their nationals to be on their guard in South East Asia: Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, East Timor and Brunei.
The US has issued warnings of possible terrorist attacks throughout East Africa and parts of South East Asia in the wake of the triple suicide bombing in Saudi Arabia.
The US state department also warned of a “continuing concern” of attacks against Americans in Malaysia, particularly in the state of Sabah.
Thailand has dismissed travel warnings by Australia and New Zealand, which say the country is at risk of an attack by Islamic militants. Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Sinawatra said that there was “nothing to worry about” in Thailand and that he “was confident that his country was not a terrorist target, since it was not an enemy of any particular terrorist group. I will ask the foreign ministry to notify the Australian embassy that they should not overreact”.
Malaysia has also hit back at its inclusion in a travel warning issued by the US. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that insecurity resulting from the Iraq war had made the United States “afraid of its own shadow”.
The US state department has recommended that Americans defer non-essential travel to Kenya and to carefully review plans to visit East Africa in general. All flights between the UK and Kenya have been suspended after warnings of new terrorist threats in the east African country. It is thought that Al Qaeda, who are believed to be responsible for the bombings in Saudi Arabia this month may be preparing an attack. All US and UK bases in Kenya have been given added security by the country's government.
Biometric Passports for UK
The UK Passport Service plans to put biometric chips into passports by 2005. The agency is to run a six-month trial to “evaluate issues around biometric capture using iris, facial recognition and fingerprints to support the passport card development programme.” An 'Omnibase' global database of all passports issued will be created, along with a global lost, stolen and recovered passport database which is due by the end of this year.
London Museums: Titanic Exhibition, Science Museum
An exhibition of objects recovered from the wreck of the Titanic, including a chunk of the ship itself is on show at the Science Museum in London.
Visitors can see crockery from the ship, papers, money and personal effects preserved for decades in baggage, and one of the liner's bells.
The display also includes mock-ups of Titanic's first and third class cabins and an exhibit which demonstrates the terrible cold encountered by those trying to escape the ship after it hit an iceberg and began to sink.
Each visitor receives a boarding pass bearing the name of one of the passengers. At the end of the exhibition you discover whether the holder of their ticket survived.
For more information, see: The Titanic Exhibition
Currency Conversion
The Globetrotters Club has just teamed up with Oanda.com to provide people with information about currency conversions and cheat sheets. To translate currency or make a cheat sheet, visit:
The Globetrotters Currency Converter — get the exchange rates for 164 currencies The Globetrotters Currency Cheat Sheet — create and print a currency converter table for your next trip.
UK's Longest Coastal Trail marks 25 years
Britain’s longest national walking trail, from Minehead in Somerset to South Haven Point near Poole in Dorset, will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year.
The 630-mile South West Coast Path takes in steep, ‘hog’s back’ cliffs rising to 800 feet, fishing harbours, pretty villages and unspoilt countryside.
There will be a wide variety of events between April and October, including guided walks, talks and displays of works by local artists, writers, musicians and other performers who have been inspired by the path. For more information, see http://www.swcp.org.uk/
Source: Britain Express
The End of Concorde
British Airways and Air France have both announced that Concorde will be grounded permanently as from the end of November 2003. Passenger demand has fallen significantly since the Concorde crash near Paris in 2000. BA justified their decision by saying that maintenance costs have become too high for them to continue the service and the global downturn in demand for all forms of premium travel in the airline industry. France said “the deterioration of business results from the transatlantic service”, the aircraft’s only scheduled route.
Airline News
Air Canada, the world’s 11th largest carrier has filed for bankruptcyprotection. They say they will continue to fly while it reorganises its operations. The company says that Air Canada customers around the world can continue booking with confidence that their travel plans will not be disrupted.
Want to fly to Kuwait? While most of the world’s large carriers are reducing their services in line with a down turn in demand, mainly due to the Iraq conflict, Dubai-based carrier Emirates is introducing extra flights between now and July. They plan to increase services to the Middle East by increasing frequency of flights to Doha, Tehran, Sanaa, Dammam and Kuwait.
Air Wales are planning to start a 50 seat daily flight between south Wales and London, the first for 40 years on April 28th. The service will run up to three times a day between Swansea and London City Airport, stopping off in Cardiff. The journey time will be 80 minutes – half the time of the train and will cost as little as £19 each way.
Singapore Airlines, who are celebrating their 21st birthday this year, have been named Airline of the Year at the prestigious OAG Awards. Changi airport also won the best airport title for the eighth year running.
US budget carrier Southwest Airlines topped the Best Low Cost Airline category, a title it has held for three years.
Midwest Airlines was named Best Airline based in North America and Canada.
A Czech woman, Hana Peskova of CSA Czech Airlines won the Outstanding Service Award an award given to airline or airport staff who have acted above and beyond the call of duty for her efforts to help the people of Prague during the floods of August last year.
Discount for Globetrotters In Mallorca
We have been contacted by Felisa Forteza who tells us about her new small and charming hotel in the very heart of Mallorca. Sa Rota d´en Palerm is an 18th Century house that has been lovingly restored and converted into a countryside hotel. They are offering a special 10% discount to readers of this e-newsletter on stays with them in Mallorca. For more details, take a look at: Sa-Rota website
Similarly, a French barge company approached the Globetrotters Club with some large discounts available on hiring luxury French barge boats. See www.bargefrance.com for more info.
Charity Cycle Ride, Sri Lanka, September 2003
International Childcare Trust (ICT) is organising a coast to coast cycle across Sri Lanka 19-28 September 2003 to raise funds to help support programmes in Africa and Asia with some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable children.
ICT is taking advantage of the long held peace process in Sri Lanka and cycling up into the north of the tropical island, an area which only very recently opened to tourism. As far as we know, ICT will be the first charity to cycle up into this virtually unexplored part of the island, where elephants roam free! We will unwind after the cycle by snorkelling near Trincomalee, at one of the most beautiful beaches in the world.
The cycle offers keen travellers the chance to tour Sri Lanka whilst keeping fit. Those who sign up will also be granted the opportunity to meet other travellers and visit two of ICT’s projects to see how the money raised will benefit some of the world’s most disadvantaged children.
Since the north of the island has opened to tourism, Sri Lanka is being written up in all the UK national papers as the new ‘hot spot’ to travel before it becomes too tourist driven. Over the next couple of years, it is anticipated that the tourist industry will grow and that the prices for travel in Sri Lanka will rise considerably.
Therefore, an entry fee of £250 for the cycle (which covers flight on Sri Lankan Airlines, hotel accommodation, provision of bike, etc) seems to good to be true.
The challenge for people is: can you get fit enough? And can you raise enough for ICT? We think that every individual is capable and it is a memory that you will have with you for the rest of your life.
If you have any further queries or questions please visit http://www.international-childcare-trust.org/cycle-and-trek-challenges