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Regular contributor Mac ruminates on the world of travel & some of his adventures along the way  This time round he’s spotted this WorldHum.com list of top travel books:-

No. 1: “Arabian Sands” by Wilfred Thesiger

No. 2: “The Road to Oxiana” by Robert Byron

No. 3: “The Great Railway Bazaar” by Paul Theroux

No. 4: “The Soccer War” by Ryszard Kapuściński

No. 5: “No Mercy” by Redmond O’Hanlon

No. 6: “North of South” by Shiva Naipaul

No. 7: “Golden Earth” by Norman Lewis

No. 8: “Video Night in Kathmandu” by Pico Iyer

No. 9: “The Innocents Abroad” by Mark Twain

No. 10: “In A Sunburned Country” by Bill Bryson

No. 11: “The Snow Leopard” by Peter Matthiessen

No. 12: “The Songlines” by Bruce Chatwin

No. 13: “Travels with Charley” by John Steinbeck

No. 14: “Riding to the Tigris” by Freya Stark

No. 15: “Europe, Europe” by Hans Magnus Enzensberger

No. 16: “City of Djinns” by William Dalrymple

No. 17: “A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush” by Eric Newby

No. 18: “All the Wrong Places” by James Fenton

No. 19: “Hunting Mister Heartbreak” by Jonathan Raban

No. 20: “River Town” by Peter Hessler

No. 21: “Road Fever” by Tim Cahill

No. 22: “When the Going was Good” by Evelyn Waugh

No. 23: “Behind the Wall” by Colin Thubron

No. 24: “Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere” by Jan Morris

No. 25: “A Time of Gifts” by Patrick Leigh Fermor

No. 26: “Baghdad Without a Map” by Tony Horwitz

No. 27: “The Size of the World” by Jeff Greenwald

No. 28: “Facing the Congo” by Jeffrey Tayler

No. 29: “Venture to the Interior” by Laurens van der Post

No. 30: “A Turn in the South” by V.S. Naipaul

What do you think – do you agree with this list or are there some must reads missing ? Feel free to express your opinions to The Ant…

From readers of the October edition we received the following feedback which I thought IÂ’d share with youÂ… The Ant

Write in (1) ¦ Bhutan a state of contentment by Neil Harris

• Hi Bugsy. Loved the Bhutan article. It could’ve been ten times as long, for my taste. I wanna go! But what’s the time period on that “minimum spend” Is it $200 / month or per year? I could afford it if it were only per year. And do they collect the money as you enter the country? Or could I live on $1 a day like I usually do, then donate anything leftover to some needy family? Like that family that got their mortgage paid off by a tourist passing thru. Harold Dunn in San Diego
• I agree with Harold when he says “I wanna go!” but meanwhile I would like to ask Neil Harris for permission to use a couple of pictures and a few lines to add to Nelisa’s travels (www.nelisa.net / “What about your trip?” section). It’s a home-made web site looking for short travel comments. Unlike Harold, in terms of travel writing, I think the shorter the better.â€Â Nelisa nelisa@nelisa.net

Write in (3) ¦ Silk Road by Sandra Reekie

• I was fascinated reading your experience on the Silk Road. Are you planning any more adventures ? How did you get enough nerve to do this on your own ? Thanks so much for writing about your wonderful dealings with a hidden part of the world. Judy Apici judy_apici@yahoo.com
• Hi Sandra – a very good article and photos – many thanks. I visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan a few years ago and want to go back to Uzbek and may be to other stans, but am more interested in north Pakistan. I was thinking of trying to travel the length of the north by public transport, stopping off for a few days at the most interesting places and doing a bit of trekking in the Karakorum. I’m a bit concerned about safety in the NW though. What do you think ?â€Â Jon jonhornbuckle@yahoo.com
• â€ÂÅ”Dear Ant. Congratulations on the excellent October newsletter, particularly Sandra Reekie’s story of her travels in Central Asia and the article on Ruanda, where I am hoping to do some travelling. A really good read Sylvia Pullen

If you enjoy writing and travelling, why not write for the free Globetrotters eNewsletter! The Ant would love to hear from you: your travel stories, anecdotes, jokes, questions, hints and tips, or your hometown or somewhere of special interest to you. Over 14,000 people currently subscribe to the Globetrotter eNewsletter.

Email The Ant at theant@globetrotters.co.uk with your travel experiences / hints & tips / questions. Your article should be approximately 1000 words, feature up to 3 or 4 jpeg photos and introduce yourself with a couple of sentences and a contact e-mail address.

A member of Globetrotters Club and interested in winning a £1,000 travel award ? Know someone who fits these criteria ? We have up to two £1,000 awards to give out this year for the best independent travel plan, as judged by the club’s Committee.

See the legacy page on our web site, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we’ll take a look !!

by Tracey Murray – after 2 years of planning launches a travel community www.iKnowaGreatplace.com – ‘local secrets from a world of travellers’

Need to convert a currency ?

Take a look at 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.

Following on from a previous report on the terrible death of Ian Hibell I received this from Eric – e-c-hayman@fsmail.net

“I see that Ian Hibell was working for Standard Telephones and Cables in Paignton, Devon in 1963 before leaving for his first odyssey. A school mate of mine – Tony Hingston – also went to work with STC when he left Totnes Grammar School in 1958. Does anyone know what school Ian went to, or where he lived in Devon?

Eric.”

Do you think you have what it takes to make the next Planet Earth?

BBC One is looking for nine people to take part in the experience of a lifetime. Encountering extraordinary animals in amazing locations and testing yourself to the limit, this series will culminate with one exceptional individual securing a year’s placement at the BBC’s award winning, world famous Natural History Unit.

Would your holiday of a lifetime involve seeing one of the big five in their natural habitat ? Maybe you long to get off that beaten tourist track ? Do you get up at dawn to hit the mountain before anyone else ? Or do you live for adventure?

Peter Salmon, Chief Creative Officer, BBC Vision, says: “This is an exciting collaboration. The first of its kind in the BBC, a marriage of two in-house centres of excellence, responsible for current hits Last Choir Standing and Lost Land Of The Jaguar. Further proof, if any were needed, that our programme-makers will go anywhere to win a commission, even To The Ends Of The Earth…”

If you are over 18 years old and can illustrate your passion for the natural world we want to hear from you. To apply, please email your name to endsoftheearth@bbc.co.uk and an application form will be emailed to you.

Successful candidates may spend up to ten weeks away from home in spring 2009.

Deadline for applications is 26^th November 2008

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