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

Can anyone help Jane? She is a retired college teacher with extensive international experience looking for a short-term volunteer opportunity in East Africa. (Her website is www.mystudybuddy.org) and she says she has no idea where to look, and would be grateful for your suggestions. If you can help, or have any suggestions, please contact Jane.

Can anyone help Mike, who has not heard from his friend for four months? His friend is sailing from the UK to Australia, and his last letter was from Fatu Hiva. He was looking for crew to sail to Fanning island. Can anyone suggest a web-site to help Mike find his friend? If you have any suggestions, please contact Mike Thorneloe:

Thomas from Munich offers up to date advice for anyone planning on going to Kazakhstan, as he has just returned. To contact Thomas, e-mail him

The zebra is a member of the horse family and no two zebras have the same pattern. Stripes help confuse predators chasing the zebra, making them misjudge distances.

Source: STA Travel

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

Cultural Co-operation are putting on free concerts featuring 300 musicians from 25 countries. The concerts are scheduled as follows:

• Kew Gdns on 29/30 June.
• Regents Park on 6/7 July
• Greenwich Park on 13/14 July.

For full details and a voucher to enter Kew Gdns for free on those days, you can either:

• Ring the hotline on 020 7456 0404; or
• e-mail them
• A website will soon be available.

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Thomas from Munich wrote in to say that he read the Beetle’s story about the confusion between Oman and Amman. The same thing happened to an African friend of his who went back to his home country with his family of 4 people. He booked a flight to Dakar in Senegal or so he thought, instead he received, five days before his departure, four tickets getting him to Dhaka, Bangladesh. Imagine the hassle to change the booking of four people 5 days before the intended departure. Madness!

Funded by the United Nations Development Programme, The Secretary General of the World Tourist Organisation, Francesco Frangialli, has signed agreements in North Korea, to help develop North Korea's tourism potential.

The World Tourist Organisation has been involved in projects with North Korea since 1989 – including giving the Communist state assistance in developing the Mount Kumgang, or Diamond Mountain, resort. Mt Kumgang is now open to foreign visitors, including tour cruises from neighbouring South Korea. New tourist sites, such as Mount Chilbo in the country's northeast, are likely to be earmarked this time. But the tourist organisation says its efforts will largely focus on capacity development and training.

Only about 200,000 tourists visited North Korea last year, although officials believe the country's tourism potential is huge – despite current problems with access, infrastructure, lack of training and its rigid centrally planned economy. Ecotourism and cultural tourism are two areas that experts believe could be developed, bringing the country much needed hard currency, as it opens its doors a little more to the outside world.

Voting has finished in Sierra Leone and political pundits believe that for the first time in 10 years, peace will ensue. Perhaps now, tourism will return to a country with a beautiful unspoilt coastline, mountains and national parks. Watch this space!