Burma's military government has released the pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest in Rangoon for the past 20 months. A government spokesman told the Reuters news agency she was “at liberty to carry out all activities, including her party's” from Monday 6^th May.

Aung San Suu Kyi has not had an easy time in her native country, Burma. She is the daughter of assassinated independence hero Aung San, and was held under house arrest from 1989 to 1995. She was placed back under house arrest in 2000 when she tried to travel by train to Mandalay in defiance of restrictions put on her. As a result of this, and Burma's human rights record, Burma has faced international isolation and economic sanctions. Aung San Suu Kyi returned to Burma to nurse her dying mother in 1988 and in 1990 her party was elected to power, but this was ignored by the ruling army. In 1991, she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. She was not allowed to return to Oxford, England, where her husband, an Oxford don was dying of prostrate cancer as she knew that she would not be allowed to re-enter the country.

If anyone would like to read more about Burma and what has been happening, the Beetle recommends reading a fantastic book by a Burmese writer called Pascal Khoo Thwe, From the Land of Green Ghosts – A Burmese Odyssey, published by Harper Collins. It is an amazing read – see www.fireandwater.com for details.

Saturday 8^th 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 11^th, 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 1^st 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

Sunrise. A paw-paw coloured ball makes the sky smoky mauve and the tiny clouds burnt pink. The land and sea are the same temperature. There is no wind. The water is still. This is a place of two skies, the modest orange sun and its paint box sky reflected in the floodwaters of Tonle Sap Lake. The birds are hardly awake, but at the water's edge there is a frenzy.

Most of the tourists here at this time have only one motive, to run the gauntlet of locals selling everything from egg baguettes to anti land mine t-shirts and climb onto the roof of a floating aeroplane fuselage without wings that will blast them across the lake and down the river to Phnom Penh. As they are shepherded past the merchants in their chequered krama they might get the idea that this part of Siem Reap is different from the Angkor temples they have clambered over for the last few days. As the boat engines roar to leave the floating village in its wake, a few photos of an upturned boat in a bamboo dry dock or a saffron robed monk under a black umbrella in a canoe are rattled off.

Thirty minutes south of Siem Reap and Angkor is Tonle Sap Lake. The lake provides not only an antidote to temple fatigue; it also gives extra insight for travellers into the strength and tradition of the Khmer empire. The Tonle Sap monsoon cycles had particular significance within the religion of the ancient Khmer. New Year is celebrated in the spring equinox. In March when the sun rises over Angkor's central tower, the flows begin to fill the Tonle Sap, bringing rich fishing harvests that supported the Khmer. The ancient Bayon and Angkor temples depict in exquisite bas-relief how the life along the lake affected all walks of life.

To ensure access to the lake no matter where the shoreline is, the houses of the fishermen, who depend on the waters for their livelihood, are designed to float on the lake's surface. Chong Khneas provides an excellent opportunity to experience the way these lakeside dwellers live. The village is home to 200 Khmer families, 250 Vietnamese families and another 200 who are Muslim. In the still morning, the call to prayer sounds over loudspeakers scattering dozing cormorants.

Everything floats. Students tie their canoes to the rail alongside the floating school. The campaign headquarters for the local politicians, the barber's shop, the gambling dens and boat builders float. The floating barge markets sell local delicacies like Elephant fish, which has developed the ability to last for several hours out of water, in case the fast receding waters leave it stranded in the mud. The boats hang a sample of their wares on a pole to indicate what they are selling.

For US$ 10 you can get on a boat to putter through the impromptu gaps between houses. The boat moves slowly, a bit too fast to take decent photos, but it feels right to see a floating village this way. You can make up your own mind about getting off the boat at the tourist fish farm to see specially bred catfish, as well as a collared gibbon a caged porcupine and a python around a smiling girl's neck. A few sick looking pelicans are chained in the sun for visitors to photograph here too.

Some of the village can be explored on foot via thin roads that are inches above the waterline so ask your motorbike or car driver to give you some time to walk around. While you are strolling, drop in at the Gecko Environment Centre for further information about the environment, people and culture of the Tonle Sap.

In the wet season the village lies at the base of the only hill for miles, Phenom Krom. Shooting across Tonle Sap on an express boat, the hill is the only landmark above the water level as far as the eye can see, so a climb provides great views back towards Siem Reap and Angkor and over the vast lake. Three weathered ninth century towers dedicated to the Hindu deities, Shiva Vishnu and Shiva await you at the top of your 140-metre climb. From here, as the practicing monks chant their prayers, you understand the ancient relationship between the stone towers of Angkor to the north and the life giving Tonle Sap.

David is trying to combine careers in internet, marketing and travel. Travel Writing and Photography is one of several projects he is currently working on. Information about other projects can be found at www.dmfreedom.com . David can be contacted by email at dave@dmfreedom.com

Jason Florio gave us some fabulous insights into life in Afghanistan and entertained us with some amazing stories of his time there.

We will NOT have a July meeting due to all of our summer travel plans and the July 4th holiday. Hope to see you August 3rd.

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.

Ian, a former teacher, has worked on the Mikindani project, in Tanzania, for nearly two years and was responsible for the transformation of the Education section of Trade Aid. The legacy he leaves behind is one of sound training and education structures as well as a vision for the future conservation of the Mikindani area and its natural resources. Ian was responsible for creating the enormously successful Mikindani Tree Nursery, which, in conjunction with the local primary schools, is helping to halt the massive soil erosion problems in the area, through education and replanting. The Beetle met Ian and shared a few beers when she was last in Mikindani and can vouch for the terrific job that he and the other volunteers are doing in Mikindani.

Well about a year after I intended to leave, I'm finally going to escape the grip of Mikindani. What a place and what a project. The one thing I've found here is that you exist on two levels, high as a kite, exhilarated by the place and some small achievement that has been made or deflated and worn down by the frustrations of living and working here. There is rarely a happy medium, which is annoying as that is the state that the majority of the people in Mikindani seem to be able to achieve. I have stayed this long for a number of reasons. The people at the Boma and in Mikindani are almost to a man and woman friendly and welcoming, though I would not pretend to be closely integrated into the village even after 20 months. Language aside, the cultural and economic gap is massive and I would suggest insurmountable. Mikindani has a lovely ambience and is visually quite stunning. However to the casual observer it may appear more like a malarial infested swamp, its people living in mud huts, dressed in rags with cholera a recurring problem. You have to look beyond that though.

The project and the work have been a constant source of frustration though I think many worthwhile projects have been initiated and are now producing results. The renovation of the Boma is an awesome achievement and we must continue to spread the word of its existence to a wider audience both in Tanzania and beyond. The new volunteers have been fantastic company, have managed to keep themselves more or less healthy and achieved a great deal for Trade Aid and the Boma. Our returned volunteers Len and Alex continue to provide a vital input both on the ground in Mikindani and in the UK. It's proof of the fact that this place and project does change lives. We now have a rolling three-year plan that provides some direction for Trade Aid and should keep the volunteers gainfully employed. A couple of pet projects of mine have taken off. I'm proud of the Information Room and delighted that the tree nursery will continue to run next year and hopefully for years to come. In addition, many of the staff have developed beyond all recognition learning new skills in computers, English or other vocational activities. Developments on the hotel management side also bode well for the future.

I have also had the opportunity to travel in one of my favourite parts of the world, spending plenty of time bird watching, game viewing (which on a good day surpasses anything else the World has to offer) and generally being a natural history anorak. I've met so many great people, friendly, interesting and good company. Even the less savoury characters that occasionally pass through here have on reflection provided me with an endless source of amusement.

And finally I have had the company of the canine duo, Chagga and Diablo. Everyone says they're mad, but what I've come to realise is that you have to be mad to live here for an extended period. It's Catch 22; they are in fact superbly adapted to have a long and happy life in Mikindani. I'm sure some time in the future, I'll come back and share a small piece of that life with them.

Thanks to Sherie at Trade Aid. For more information on the work carried out by Trade Aid in Tanzania, see their website www.mikindani.com