Meeting News from London

Liam D’Arcy Brown talked about his 11,000 mile journey literally the far corners of China North, South, East & West, and his talk was a riveting account of how he got there and the people he met on the way.

From the Southern most tip of Hainan Island, to the island of Zhoushan, Liam traveled on buses, trains and motorbikes wherever he went. Mixing with the locals, for better and for worse. Generally looked after by the locals, he was however robbed and spent few soul-searching days in his hotel feeling sorry for himself after being drugged on a train. Beware locals bearing free booze!

Liams book “Green Dragon, Sombre Warrior” has been described as the best autobiographical China travel book so far this year.

After the break, John Malathronas gave a digital slide show and talk about Brazil based on his book “Brazil, Life, Blood and Soul”.

John’s odyssey took us through the adrenaline-fuelled, chaotic city bars, the extravagant carnival, the lush rainforest and the destitute shanty towns of Brazil revealing the throbbing heartbeat of the country. John’s book “Brazil: Life, Blood and Soul” is published by Summersdale.

Next month, on Saturday 3^rd July is open house, an opportunity for UK Globetrotters and visitors to show their own slides (traditional or digital images form scanned prints or digital pictures) and each make a short ten minute presentation. Contact london@globetrotters.co.uk if you are interested in making a presentation.

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 in September. For more information, you can contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website: https://globetrotters.co.uk/local-meetings/london-meetings.html Admission: Members £2.00 Non-members £4.00

Ever tried to book a reasonably priced hotel room in London? Failed miserably? Well, look no further. easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou has come up with a new idea (although we’d like to know what happened to easyCruise?) – he has bought a 12-room hotel in Kensington, London and plans an easyHotel brand which is hoped to be replicated around the world.

The hotel aims to replicate the success of his budget airline with bargain prices in return for a genuinely no frills “sleep-and-shower” experience. The room is one of 25 in what will be London’s closest equivalent to Tokyo’s “capsule hotels”, though there will at least be space to stand up. The hotel’s prefabricated 9ft by 10ft rooms, probably made out of glass fibre or moulded plastic, will be slotted into the shell of the 19th century building and connected up to water and electricity.

Guests will be provided with a Japanese-style double mattress bed with clean sheets and a duvet, a shower, a lavatory, wash basin with a mirror and a rack for hanging clothes – and a roll of toilet paper. There will be no breakfast included, no restaurant, not even a reception desk, no phones, TVs, nor will there be any pictures on the wall or carpet on the floor. Towels and toiletries will have to be provided by the guests, and anyone who wants their bed made during the day will be charged extra.

Some of the rooms, which are only nine times bigger than a phone box, may not even have windows. All bookings will be made on the internet or over the phone. Those who book early for stays on the less popular nights will get the £5 bargains. However, the average price is likely to be just over £30 – the level at which Mr Haji-Ioannou says the hotel will break even. The top price will be around £50 to £60 for those taking the last few available rooms. For more info and pictures of the new hotel in Kensington, London, see: http://www.easyhotel.com/

JUNE 5^th, Amy Gissen talked about Cambodia and Thailand. There will be no New York Meetings in July and August, but we are planning a new format for the Fall, so stay tuned!

For details of forthcoming meetings email newyork@globetrotters.co.uk or register for email updates, click here at our website.

New York meetings are held at The Wings Theatre, 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. Admission: $8.00 for members and $10.00 for non-members.

What is it: Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a disease that is spread to humans by infected mosquitoes in Asia. It is one of a group of mosquito-borne virus diseases that can affect the central nervous system and cause severe complications and even death. It is a seasonal disease that usually occurs in the summer and fall in temperate regions of China, Japan, and Korea. In other places, disease patterns vary with rainy seasons and irrigation practices.

How do I get it: JE virus is transmitted chiefly by mosquitoes that live in rural rice-growing and pig-farming regions.

What happens if I get it: symptoms usually appear 6-8 days after the bite of an infected mosquito. Most infected persons develop mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. In people who develop a more severe disease, Japanese encephalitis usually starts as a flu-like illness, with fever, chills, tiredness, headache, nausea, and vomiting. Confusion and agitation can also occur in the early stage. The illness can progress to a serious infection of the brain (encephalitis) and can be fatal in 30% of cases. Among the survivors, another 30% will have serous brain damage, including paralysis.

Diagnose and treatment: diagnosis is based on tests of blood or spinal fluid. There is no specific treatment for Japanese encephalitis. A vaccine is licensed for use in travellers whose itineraries might put them at risk for Japanese encephalitis. All travellers should take the usual precautions to avoid mosquito bites to prevent Japanese encephalitis and other mosquito-borne diseases.

How can I avoid contractingJapanese encephalitis: avoid being bitten by mosquitoes. The mosquitoes that transmit Japanese encephalitis feed mainly outside during the cooler hours at dusk and dawn. Travellers should minimize outdoor activities at these times, use mosquito repellent on exposed skin, and stay in air-conditioned or well-screened rooms. Travellers to rural areas should use a bed net and aerosol room insecticides.

For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.

Meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.

Ryanair will not be offering flights to Eastern Europe, despite European Union expansion, according to chief executive Michael O’Leary. Potential growth on routes into Poland and nine other countries who joined the EU on 1 May sparked speculation of a pending sweep into the region by low cost carriers, but Ryanair are wary. O’Leary said: “I think Eastern Europe is over-fashionable at the moment. I think it’s a market that will develop slowly over the next year or two. There’ll be a lot of focus on a couple of sexy destinations like Prague and maybe Warsaw.” He added that Ryanair will open up to another six bases in Western Europe in the next two to four years before then maybe considering Eastern Europe.

If you’d like to write a review on Ryanair, then go to: http://www.ciao.co.uk where there are plenty of reviews of the service, booking on-line and the Ryanair website – some good, and some not so good. The good reviews include comments such as: “OK. FOR FLYING AT SHORT NOTICE”, “Cheap, Quick and Reliable!”, “so cheap”. The not so good reviews include the following comments: “STRAIGHTJACKET SEATING”, “NON-EXISTENT CUSTOMER SUPPORT – TOUGH LUCK IF YOU HAVE *ANY* PROBLEMS AT ALL and “hidden costs and odd dates“

If you really, really want to, you can read Ryanair’s in-flight magazine on-line. For the fascinating and scintillating read, go to:

The next meeting is on July 10th, mark your calendars now!

The Texas Branch of the Globetrotters Club meet at the New Braunfels Public Library, the meeting begins at 2 P.M. As always, there will be time for sharing and networking.

For more information about the Texas Branch: please contact texas@globetrotters.co.uk or register for email updates at our website (click here) or call Christina at 830-620-5482

If anybody would like to enquire about meetings or help Christina, please contact her on: texas@globetrotters.co.uk