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Tag Archives: June 2002
Mutual Aid
Mike is still looking for his missing friend. My missing friend is called Bob Arthrell and he is sailing a 40 ft. yacht named Tasneem. Four months ago he was at Nuku Hiva island in the Marquesas, and looking for crew to help him sail to Fanning (Tabuaeran) island which is a tiny part of the republic of Kiribati in the pacific ocean. If you can help Mike, please contact him by email.
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
Travel in Southern Africa
If you are thinking about travelling to Lesotho, Swaziland, Angola or remote parts in South Africa and Mozambique, it may be worth looking at your itinerary and possibly re-routing. The World Food Programme (WFP) recently warned at a Johannesburg conference that 12.8 million people are on the brink of starvation in southern Africa and urgently need food aid.
Crops have failed across the region due to drought, floods and political breakdown. Hundreds have already died in Malawi but Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Mozambique, Swaziland and Lesotho are also badly hit. The whole Southern African region needs 1.2 million tonnes in emergency aid and about 4 million tonnes to make it through the year, according to the WFP and the UN's food agency.
More Funny Signs
Hotel brochure, Italy:
THIS HOTEL IS RENOWNED FOR ITS PEACE AND SOLITUDE. IN FACT, CROWDS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD FLOCK HERE TO ENJOY ITS SOLITUDE.
Hotel lobby, Bucharest:
THE LIFT IS BEING FIXED FOR THE NEXT DAY. DURING THAT TIME WE REGRET THAT YOU WILL BE UNBEARABLE.
Hotel elevator, Paris:
PLEASE LEAVE YOUR VALUES AT THE FRONT DESK.
Hotel, Yugoslavia:
THE FLATTENING OF UNDERWEAR WITH PLEASURE IS THE JOB OF THE CHAMBERMAID.
Hotel, Japan:
YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAMBERMAID.
Write in and tell us your funny sign! Drop a line to the Beetle! E-mail the Beetle.
MEETING NEWS
Meeting news from our branches around the world.
New Incan Site Found
A team of explorers acting on a tip from a mule-handler have discovered the ruins of a lost city, Cota Coca, some 50 kilometres southwest of Machu Picchu in the Andes. Cota Coca is likely one of the places to which fleeing Incas retreated from the Spanish in 1532, before their total defeat about 40 years later. The team believe that the site has remained untouched for more than 500 years. British writer and explorer Hugh Thomson said the site, more of a settlement than what we would understand as a city, was in a “remarkable state of preservation”.
Mr Thomson, a co-leader of the expedition, said: “You're only going to find a new Inca site once in your life.”
Britain's Royal Geographical Society says Cota Coca's “constructed area” is more than twice as large as any found at the other Incan ruin whose discovery was announced just a few months ago. “This is an important discovery, because it is a sizeable centre of good — quality late — Inca masonry,” said John Hemming, a well — known Inca expert and former director of the Royal Geographical Society.
Use Euros in Cuba!
Over half of Cuba's 2 million visitors come from Europe, so it perhaps makes sense that tourists visiting Cuba's biggest tourist beach resort, Varadero, some 3 hours east of Havana can now use the European currency, the euro. Of course, you are still welcome to pay for good and services in US $ or Cuban pesos. News reports say that even small Cuban children have started to ask for euros!
London:
Saturday 8th June 2002 – London Meeting by Padmassana
This Saturday we were treated to two splendid talks, about two different areas of the world.
The first by Peter Eltringham entitled, “The Maya World” was on Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. Peter showed us temples from the Maya period (300-900 AD), many of which are being reclaimed by the jungle, to the extent that some even have trees growing on the top of them. We saw photos of huge Maya ceramic pots found in deep caves. We saw local life such as women weaving the colourful local textiles and the costumes being paraded during Holy Week fiestas. Peter showed us the kind of transport you can expect to have to use on a visit to the area, such as small planes, high wheeled 4WD's for negotiating the jungle and the “Chicken busses” used by the locals. Peter finished with some landscapes, turquoise coloured rivers, Fast flowing rivers that can only be negotiated using inflatable kayaks and beautiful blue coral lagoons, which are a divers delight! And once Peter had emerged from the jungles having avoided the deadly snakes, his last picture was of a hammock slung between tow trees on a beautiful tropical beach.
Our second speaker was Mary Russell, although her talk was entitled “Travelling around Syria, digressing to Baghdad”, she started with a story from the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. She told us that in order to get an extension to your visa, you have to “fall ill” the day before it runs out, but only a little bit ill! You then get a sick note from a friendly doctor stating that you are too ill to travel and lo and behold your visa gets a few more weeks added on!
Mary showed us the Syrian capital Damascus, from the plain doorways of the closely constructed buildings, the bakery with its fresh flat bread and the labyrinthine souks. She showed us one super photo of a popcorn seller, whose equipment was mounted to his bicycle complete with an exhaust pipe for the cooking gasses. On returning home from Syria Mary found on her doormat an invitation to visit Iraq. It was just after the events of September 11th, but despite the uncertainty of the time Mary flew back to Damascus and then took a taxi to the Iraqi capital. Mary explained that to enter Iraq you have to have an AID's certificate, if you don't as she didn't you have the choice of paying US $60 to have the test or US $70 not to! Needless to say she chose the latter. Mary's slides of Baghdad included Saddam Hussain's Palace which he built next to the remains of what was once Babylon, Fountains, the university which is reputedly fifty years older than England's Oxford University, the hospitals full of smiling doctors and tragically ill children. We saw one positive side to the sanctions imposed by the west, Iraq now grows its own fruit and vegetables which in former years it just bought using its oil wealth. Mary's talk was a fascinating insight into two interesting and much misunderstood countries.
London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month. There is no London meeting in August, but we will be back on Saturday 1st September. For more information, you can contact the Globetrotter Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website: www.globetrotters.co.uk
Buddha's Teeth
You may have read recently about one of Buddha's fingers being brought from Thailand to Taipei in Taiwan. This got the Beetle wondering about other parts of Buddha and where you can see them. It is possible to see the casket containing the left incisor of the Buddha in the sacred temple in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The Beetle queued up for some time to walk past this sacred relic — it was certainly an experience! It seems that there are three of Buddha's teeth in existence: one in Sri Lanka, one in China and one in Thailand.
Buddhists in Sri Lanka celebrate “Buddha Tooth Festival” which begins on 1st of August every year and lasts for twelve days. Every night during the festival, grand parades can be seen starting from 8:00pm until 11:00pm. The Chinese tooth was found by a monk in 475AD and hidden in what is today Nanking, in China. In times of war, it was taken to Beijing and placed in a stupa. In 1900 when Beijing was invaded, the stupa was destroyed, and monks found the tooth in the rubble. In 1964, the stupa was rebuilt and the tooth placed in the pagoda of Beijing. The third tooth is alleged to have passed into Tibet and transferred to India during the Cultural Revolution before its final resting place in Thailand.
Baksheesh!
Ever wondered who were the most corrupt countries in the world?
The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) lists those countries which are perceived by suppliers as requiring the most bribes of businesses. The countries that currently do worst on this score are Russia, China, Taiwan and South Korea, with Sweden and Australia faring the best.