Tag Archives: January 2002

Watching the Road in Iran

This wonderful snippet about travelling in Iran came from Kevin, near London (not Croydon!) Kevin tells us about the effect some of the girls he was travelling with had on a hapless Iranian driver.

After leaving the “Hotel Fleapit” in Neriz we were on the road to Bam, when we unfortunately broke down. While Percy, a mechanically gifted Canadian, set about fixing our truck the rest of us put the kettle on and watched the world go by. Some of the girls decided to mark out a hopscotch pitch on the roadside, and started to play, dressed from head to toe in their black chadours, which was quite an exhibition. As they played we sat transfixed as a Pykan (Iranian Renault 12) came round the corner, the driver clearly not used to seeing a bunch of girls hopping at the roadside, drove straight into the ditch.

Useless Facts: Perfume

Perfume comes from the Latin per fumus (through smoke). The smoke of incense, burning woods and spices were the most ancient scents.

Some useless facts courtesy of directcosmetics.com

When Cleopatra headed down the river to meet Mark Anthony, her ships we perfumed so that he could smell her coming.

At the court of Louis XV, etiquette decreed that a different perfume be worn every single day.

Rumour has it that en route to the guillotine, Marie Antoinette trailed drops of her favourite Houbigant perfume along the way.

Read any or have any useless facts you'd like the Beetle to publish? Then e-mail them to the Beetle

Dinner: snake, ants and scorpions … London

Ever wondered what scorpions taste like? Or cobra stew? Look no further. You can now try such delicacies at Empire, a new London restaurant where snake, kangaroo, zebra, ants and other miscellany can be found on the menu. Address: 38 Lambs Conduit Street, nearest tube, Holborn, tel: 020 7404 6835.

Want to tell us about your favourite coffee corner or watering hole? Then contact the Beetle

Lost City off Gujarat, India

Marine archaeologists in India believe they have found a sunken 'lost city' which pre-dates all previous signs of civilisation by 5,000 years. The site lies at a depth of 36m, 40 miles off the coast of Gujarat, in an area known for dangerous currents and rip tides. Most of the investigative work has been carried out using sonar scanning equipment which reveals the buried structure. Divers have retrieved a number of artefacts which have been carbon dated to 7,500BC. If these dates are correct, the city will predate the earliest known urban civilisation by 2,000 years. The discovery has been greeted with scepticism by many experts as carbon-dating is not regarded as completely reliable.

Source: www.divernet.com

Globetrotter Travel Award

Under 24? A member of Globetrotters Club? Interested in a £1,000 travel award?

Know someone who is? We have £1,000 to award each year for five years for the best submitted independent travel plan. Interested?

Then see our legacy page on our Website, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we'll take a look at it. Get those plans in!!

Travel Tips

Trying to travel light? Shampoo is not only good for washing hair and body, but clothes as well!

Got any travel tips for the Beetle? Then e-mail them to: the Beetle

Giant Grouper – Barrier Reef

A recent report from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia: a Swedish diver had a narrow escape after a giant grouper attempted to swallow his head on New Year's Eve. The diver managed to escape with only a broken mask, cuts and scratches after being spat out.

New York:

We had a great crowd to kick off the New Year! Matt Link was our speaker and he did a fabulous job telling us all about Ghana! His pictures were amazing, and he also played Ghanaian music to get us all in the mood. Matt truly immersed us in the country and its people, who are peace loving and warm. Some highlights: Ghana is 30% Muslim, and they are very pro-American. They spoke sadly of the 9/11 attacks. Ghanaians place huge importance on education, for boys and girls. Everything gets carried on their heads, even a refrigerator!! Matt showed us highlights from villages, mosques and a real voodoo ceremony!

The 2nd of February's speaker will be Helga Smith, who will be speaking and presenting a slide show to us about SERVAS. SERVAS began more than 50 years ago, and has expanded worldwide. It is now a network of over 14,000 hosts and travellers, present in 132 countries. Helga will briefly cover the history of SERVAS, its international status as an UN accredited NGO, and explain how SERVAS works. Helga has been a host in New York for more than 15 years and a traveler for at least 10 years as well as participant at national and international conferences. She has met hundreds of SERVAS people and will talk about what the SERVAS experience means to her. Helga grew up in what used to be East Germany and left that country after the Berlin Wall was built. She has been in NYC for the last 35 years.

New York meetings are held at The Wings Theater, 154 Christopher Street (btw Greenwich St and Washington St), to the right of Crunch Fitness, in the Archive on the first Saturday of each month at 4 pm.

Mutual Aid

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