Cut price rooms in London do, really exist. Take a look at: www.laterooms.com and also www.lastminute.com do London hotel rooms.
Travel Inn www.travelinn.com have rooms at £74.95 and there is one next to the London Eye – the huge Ferris wheel or tel: 08702 383300.
Win a Moon Handbook on Guatemala – see www.moon.com by answering these questions.
The winner of last month's Moon Handbook on Vancouver is Dian Anderson from Canada.
The Red Cross in Kenya has mobilised 1,000 volunteers to help cope with an outbreak of malaria, which has killed nearly 300 people. The outbreak has affected eight districts in the Rift Valley and the west of the country and follows a period of very heavy rains.
The Red Cross says that more than 150,000 people have contracted malaria since June. Young and old alike have been affected, with the death toll standing at 298. Most of those who have died have simply been unable to reach a hospital quickly enough to get treatment. The outbreak follows several weeks of very heavy rains, but quite why it has turned so deadly is not really known.
Can you help Caroline? Suffering from information overload, she would love some advice on round the world tickets, volunteer organisations in Australia, New Zealand, and Nepal that don't charge heaps of money to go volunteering, I'm 33 so this seems to exclude at least some of them. Plus I have no degree or profession so that excludes some more. Anyone had any experience of Involvement Volunteers UK, or the overseas arm of BTCV. Plans are to go to Australia in November time, do some volunteer work and then carry on doing the same in New Zealand and Nepal for hopefully one year. Also anyone got any views on how much of the itinerary to plan beforehand. Thanks in advance. Caroline cmather@care4free.net
Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a place or country – want to share something with us – why not visit our Mutual Aid section of the Website: Mutual Aid
When on a holiday to Papua New Guinea is must-see is beautiful Rabaul, a town well known for its native Baining fire dancers, live volcanoes, pristine wreck and reef diving, caving and above all, friendly local people.
The town was half buried during a twin volcanic eruption in 1994, but today, Rabaul has re-emerged as a tourist destination with a difference. There are few places where the dramatic consequences of the contrasting moods of nature can be experienced so intimately.
Sightseeing in Rabaul is memorable. From the near airport at Tokua, the drive takes you along a narrow road winding its way around the glittering waters of the Gazelle Peninsula, through coconut plantations, villages of thatched huts surrounded by colourful flowerbeds and tropical fruit trees that look out over calm waters.
Steven was born in PNG but now lives in Sydney Australia. He can be contacted by email to help with any queries on PNG or for ideas and help visiting the country.
In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across
from a Russian Orthodox monastery:
YOU ARE WELCOME TO VISIT THE CEMETERY WHERE FAMOUS RUSSIAN
AND SOVIET COMPOSERS, ARTISTS, AND WRITERS ARE BURIED DAILY
EXCEPT THURSDAY.
Hotel catering to skiers, Austria:
NOT TO PERAMBULATE THE CORRIDORS IN THE HOURS OF
REPOSE IN THE BOOTS OF ASCENSION.
Taken from a menu, Poland:
SALAD A FIRM'S OWN MAKE; LIMPID RED BEET SOUP
WITH CHEESY DUMPLINGS IN THE FORM OF A FINGER; ROASTED DUCK
LET LOOSE; BEEF RASHERS BEATEN IN THE COUNTRY PEOPLE'S
FASHION.
Supermarket, Hong Kong:
FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE, WE RECOMMEND COURTEOUS,
EFFICIENT SELF-SERVICE.
From the “Soviet Weekly”:
THERE WILL BE A MOSCOW EXHIBITION OF ARTS BY
15,000 SOVIET REPUBLIC PAINTERS AND SCULPTORS. THESE WERE
EXECUTED OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS.
Write in and tell us your funny sign! Drop a line to the Beetle! E-mail the Beetle.
If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell. Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section of the Website and share it with the world. Travel Sized Bites
If you want to see the Three Gorges (the Qutang, Wuxia and the Xiling) before they are lost for ever – as a result of the controversial dam project on the Yangtze, you should aim to see them before November 1st 2002. After this date, there will be a diversion around the Three Gorges and the Yangtze will not be navigable until after the flooding has taken place in 2003.
This is a fantastic free open air exhibition planet, a series of large scale photographs of amazing natural landscapes by Yann Arthus-Bertrand at the exhibition at the Natural History Museum, Kensington. If you can't get to London it's worth taking a look at the websites: earthfromtheair.com or yannarthusbertrand.org
Open from June 20th to end September 2002.
Venue: Slug & Lettuce, Fulham Broadway
Date: Wednesday 7th August, 7pm
Price: £4 on the door £2 if pre-booked
Special Guest – Paul Goldstein
Tales from the Bush: An African Journey. Come and join Paul Goldstein as he recounts tales from the dark continent. After countless visits across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Botswana and Namibia he has a wealth of knowledge on the area. As a prize winning photographer (2nd Royal geographical Photographer of the Year 2001/2002) and guide his presentations are illustrated with dazzling images and outrageous and hilarious anecdotes. He is not a fan of mainstream travel, especially hordes of safari-suited package holidaymakers in zebra striped minivans, nor does he care much for luxury hotels. He gauges countries on their people and wilderness areas, not by the amount of food guzzled at lunch buffets with 'untraditional' local dancing. Don't say you weren't warned….!
Also representatives from EXODUS, SNOW & ROCK, and other Africa experts.
To book or for more information see www.itchyfeet-uk.com or email info@itchyfeet-uk.com or call Dave on 07900 975 413