That the combined age of our two oldest Globetrotter members is 174 years!

Sanjay, one of our regular readers in India is justifiably proud of Puri, the area in which he lives. He wants to tell us about the Chariot Festival: Puri, on the shores of the bay of Bengal is one of the holiest places in India. It was “discovered” by pot smoking backpackers in the early 1960s. The Jagannath Temple at Puri comprises one of the four dhams (holy places) for Hindus and is on India’s pilgrimage circuit. The temple, built in the 12th century stands 65m high and is in the heart of the town. The temple complex contains over 100 other smaller temples of different Gods and Goddesses. You can also find one of the finest beaches in India in Puri where beautiful and complex sand statues are constructed from sand, on the beach.

The chariot festival is an annual event, attracting many thousands of pilgrims and tourists and takes place during the early monsoon season. This year, it fell on June 23rd. It is an amazing spectacle: the God of the Universe, together with his brother and sister ride along the road in a chariot in three chariots. The procession starts from the Jagannath Temple and continues to another temple where it stays for eight days before setting off back to their own temples.

Puri is connected by train and by road. There are also flights from Delhi, Calcutta, Bombay and Bangalore. There is accommodation for everyone, ranging from $4 a night to over $100 a night. Sanjay in Puri tells us that he has recently formed a backpackers community club in Puri called Rangers where rooms/dorms cost from US $ 4 a night.To get in touch with Sanjay, contact the Beetle:Beetle@globetrotters.co.uk

Next month: hiking in the Grand Canyon

Norway , in a cocktail lounge: LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE BAR.

Hungary , at a Budapest zoo, PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS. IF YOU HAVE ANY SUITABLE FOOD, GIVE IT TO THE GUARD ON DUTY.

Italy , in a doctor’s office, Rome: SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES.

Mexico , in a hotel in Acapulco: THE MANAGER HAS PERSONALLY PASSED ALL THE WATER SERVED HERE.

Japan , in an information booklet about using a hotel air conditioner: COOLES AND HEATES: IF YOU WANT CONDITION OF WARM AIR IN YOUR ROOM, PLEASE CONTROL YOURSELF.

If you have seen any funny signs, let the Beetle know! Beetle@globetrotters.co.uk

Regents Park

Now that the Summer is almost upon us here in the UK, the Beetle thought she would share her favourite London park: Regents Park – an oasis of green and tranquility in the heart of London. Architect John Nash landscaped the park and designed many of the buildings in the area (also worth a stroll around) in the 18^thCentury. The park is within walking distance of the following tubes: Marylebone, Baker St, Regents Park and Camden Town up in the North. Within Regent’s Park, you have Queen Mary’s Flower Gardens, where there are often band concerts in the Summer months, the Boating Lake, the Zoological Gardens, one of the oldest zoos in the world and the Open Air Theatre which often stages Shakespeare in the Summer months. A nice day out could be to visit the weekend market at Camden Lock then head south to the park, have a picnic and watch a play in the evening. The cafes are surprisingly good and not too expensive either.

Greenwich Park

Greenwich Park is probably most famous for having the Greenwich Meridian passing through it, and being home to Greenwich Meantime (GMT). The Beetle’s favourite scuttling route to get to Greenwich is to take the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to Island River Gardens, and to walk to the river and take the path that goes under the Thames to the other side. Before you take the footpath, stop to admire the view across the river of Greenwich and the fabulous stately buildings including the Old Royal Observatory, designed by Sir Christopher Wren (he of St Pauls), the National Maritime Museum and the Queens House, and not least the Cutty Sark. A good day out would be to take the DLR to Island River Gardens, cross over to Greenwich, take a picnic lunch, wander around and then take a boat back to West London – to Blackfriars or Embankment or Westminster.

Hyde Park

The convenient thing about Hyde park is that is it close to some of the best shopping areas in London. The park is within walking distance of the following tubes: South Kensington, Knightsbridge, Hyde Park Corner in the South and Marble Arch in the north East and Lancaster Gate in the North West. Henry VIII used Hyde Park for hunting in the 16^th Century! In 1851, Prince Albert redesigned it for the Great Exhibition. An absolute must is Speaker’s Corner, especially on a Sunday is an example of freedom of speech, where you can witness impassioned individuals, literally on their soapboxes in some cases, espousing some cause close to their own heart!

For the hardy, there’s the Serpentine Lake where you can hire a boat or even go swimming! There’s also a very good art gallery at the Serpentine. Close by is the Lido, a place to have a drink or snack and in Summer months, there is often a jazz band or a poetry reading. A good day out would be to visit the shops in Knightsbridge, then on to the Victoria and Albert Museum and then over to Hyde park with a picnic lunch.

Next month: Iceland

Please contactBeetle@globetrotters.co.uk for your suggested country itinerary

Let’s talk about the first of the really well known explorers: Christopher Columbus, whose name can be seen all around Central and South America as Cristóbal Colón. Although Columbus was born an Italian, in Genoa, he obtained sponsorship from the rulers of both Portugal and Spain and made four trips to the New World. He was amongst those who believed that the world was round – not a widely held view at the time – and he longed to sail west to the Azores and further, to the legendary lands described by Marco Polo.

As every schoolchild in the UK knows, “In fourteen hundred and ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue”. Even though the Scandinavians had reached North America a long time before Columbus, Columbus’ trip was important in that he was amongst the first Europeans to set foot on so many islands in the Caribbean, and land masses in Central and the northern part of South America. The sad thing is that Columbus thought he had reached the East Indies and that the islands of the Caribbean were in islands off mainland China.

Of course, there were commercial motives in all these great ocean-going trips, which often took years to undertake and in dreadful conditions on board. These lay in buying new and exotic spices, although Columbus was not too successful in this – he found capsicums and is also attributed as having bought back tobacco, known locally as a “bewitching vegetable” from the West Indies in 1496. On the one hand, he is believed to have possessed great courage and explored parts of the world that were completely chartered territory – his crew were in constant fear of toppling over the edge of the world. On the other, historians reckon that he was really quite greedy, constantly looking for increased wealth and a terrible administrator (although a fearless explorer) and was cruel to the local people he found in these new territories.

Next month: Vasco da Gama