Tag Archives: October 2002

Mt Etna Erupted

Where is Europe's largest and most active volcano? Answer: Mount Etna on Sicily. Mount Etna has had four major eruptions in the last 309 years and it has just erupted once again – the last time was 1992.

Although lava flows have reached the tourist areas and the airport in Catania has closed and some hotels have been evacuated, the mayor reassured Catania's 330,000 residents that they were in no danger.

“The situation in Catania is completely under control and our city is not threatened in any way,” Mayor Umberto Scapagnini said.

The heaviest lava flow descended towards Piano Provenzana, a popular area for tourists to take mountain walks in summer and for skiing in the winter. The flow pushed over ski-lift pylons, knocked down power lines before surrounding an empty mountain hotel and lodge. No one was injured. See Murray's article on Sicily in the main part of the e-newsletter to see what Sicily has to offer!

Vietnam by Mike Dodd

Mike is the winner of the Globetrotter Club £1,000 legacy available to members under 30 years of age for the best independent travel plan.

If you are under 30 and are a member, please visit our legacy page for details of how to apply. It is available to anyone in the world, as long as they are a member of the Globetrotter Club, have a great plan for independent travel and are under the age of 30. Get those plans in!!

Mike is using his travel award to visit Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Here's Part 1 of his travels:

We've been in Thailand now for about 10 days and thought I should drop you all a line to let you know we're actually alive and what we've been up to. We spent a few days in Bangkok which was very different than I expected. It was so much cleaner and more organised and the Sky train makes it feasible to get across the city quickly. There is lots of diversity across the city with huge modern skyscrapers next to slums.

The Grand Palace is incredible and so are many of the other sites but the food is by far the best aspect. You can pick up great noodles on the street for only a few pence. We've also tried Scorpion, grasshopper and loads of other things that so far our bodies are accepting. The nightlife in Bangkok is also a completely new experience and we had a couple of wild nights out. We're also getting pretty ruthless with the tuk-tuk drivers.

We caught the sleeper up to Chiang Mai the second largest city where we had our Visas for Laos and Vietnam done whilst we went off into the Jungle Trekking. The Trek lasted 3 days and was hard work but well worth it! We met some hill tribes and also did the very touristy elephant rides and white water rafting. The weather here is mixed with some rain but always very hot and within seconds of doing anything we're sweating. We then headed up by bus to Tha-ton where we are now which is a small town only a few kilometres from the Burmese boarder.

It's been really nice staying here for a couple of days away from the noise and pollution of Bangkok and Chiang Mai. The views are amazing and we've only seen two other westerners here. We've even spent an afternoon chatting with a group of young monks about philosophy. We're leaving in an hour by boat down to Chiang Rai where we'll be spending a while exploring the northern tip of the country. So far it's all gone really well (touch wood) the people are very friendly especially when you get out of the cities. The weather has been good and we've kept away from trouble and illness.

We should be getting to Laos this weekend we think but we're just taking it as it comes.

Nigerian Scams – the 419 scam

They have got to be the most annoying junk mail that the Beetle receives….ever! You must have received one at least: you know, it's a long e-mail bemoaning the death of a supposed husband, father, uncle etc. who has millions of $ trapped in a bank account. In exchange for a small investment – and you have been chosen for this very exciting opportunity (not!) to receive a commission for helping to release these funds by transferring a few thousand dollars of your own to a named bank account and in return, you receive 30%, or some variation on the theme. But have you ever wondered who these people are, that send out these blatant scams? And why? And do people really respond?

Frank from the US sent the Beetle a piece called The Nigerian Nightmare – Who's sending you all those scam e-mails by BrendanI.Koerner.lnk. In this, the author explains that the e-mailers behind these e-mails are almost always Lagos-based con artists looking for people greedy enough and stupid enough to spend thousands in pursuit of nonexistent fortunes. “They aim to lure you to Nigeria or to a nearby nation where you'll be cajoled into ponying up endless fees to secure the “riches”-$30,000 for a “chemical solvent” to disguise the money or $50,000 for “customs duties”. When you eventually wise up, faux police barge into your hotel and demand massive bribes in exchange for your freedom. Tapped out? Expect to be held for ransom or murdered”.

This is a scam known as a 419, named after the penal code making it illegal. According to the anti-spam software vendor Brightmail, 419 scams are the Web's second-most common form of junk mail, (ranking behind only those “herbal Viagra” ads). Believe it or not, an estimated 1 percent of recipients actually respond. Of that number, enough people fork over enough cash to sustain an industry that ranks in Nigeria's top five, right up there with palm oil and tin. The U.S. Secret Service has estimated-conservatively, by its own admission-that the scammers net $100 million per year.

So, just don't……..