Category: Main article

DVT poses a threat to some airline travellers. In the UK, DVT used to
be called economy (or coach) class syndrome, but this is very much a misnomer.
DVT can happen to any one of us, whatever our style of air travel.

It is now possible to take a blood test to determine your vulnerability
for blood to clot.

This test examines the number, type, form of your red and white blood
cells, platelets and includes the genetic (inherited) tests including
Factor V Leiden. It is estimated that 2 million people in the UK alone
are at risk through the Leiden V Factor.

By identifying travellers who are predisposed to thrombosis they can
be given pre-travel advice or treatment in order to reduce the risks of
clot formation and it's consequences.

“We must make people everywhere understand that the AIDS crisis
is not over; that this is not about a few foreign countries, far away.
This is a threat to an entire generation, that it is a threat to an entire
civilization….” United Nations Secretary, General Kofi Annan

On May 19th, 2002, thousands of individuals in over 500 communities in
75 countries will participate in the world's largest and oldest annual
grassroots HIV/AIDS event. The International AIDS Candlelight Memorial
is designed to honour the memory of those lost to HIV/AIDS, show support
for those living with HIV/AIDS, raise awareness of HIV/AIDS, and mobilize
community involvement in the fight against HIV/AIDS. There are at least
three ways you can become involved in the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial.
We invite you to consider participating in one or more of the following
ways:

• Organize a Candlelight Memorial
• Become a Sponsor or Partner
• Attend a Candlelight Memorial

Rachel works for a non-profit conservation organization in the US, The
National Save the Sea Turtle Foundation. She is are offering Volunteer
positions at our field station in Costa Rica where we have a sea turtle
conservation project. Any volunteers would be doing nightly beach patrols
to look for turtles as well as participating in a nest protection technique
study. In the mornings we do nest surveys on horseback. The cost is $600US
per month and this includes your room and board. All transportation is
separate and must be covered by the individual. But I can help with arrangements.
This opportunity is for the hearty, as it includes a lot of walking on
soft sand late at night plus we need people for the complete month. We
also have ten-day ecotour packages; Deluxe and Economy. If any of this
sounds interesting to your group, please contact me. I hope to hear from
you soon.

Pura Vida, Rachel Silverman National Save the Sea Turtle Foundation

http://www.savetheseaturtle.org

There were five low cost airline carriers in the UK: Easyjet, Go, Buzz
(owned by KLM), Ryan Air and BMIBaby. Easyjet has just announced that
it is paying £374m ($524m) for its rival, Go, (which used to belong
to British Airways before they sold it to a Venture Capital fund).

The consolidated airline will still be called Easyjet and all Go planes
will be resprayed with the orange Easyjet livery and logo. The Chief Executive
says that prices will not rise and they expect to face more intense competition
from traditional airlines such as British Airways and Air France.

Both companies are still operating exactly as they did before the deal
was announced. They will continue to accept bookings over the phone and
via their websites. Go and Easyjet will probably continue with their separate
bookings systems until at least the end of October 2002. Between them
they fly 78 routes. Easyjet says there is little overlap and they have
no intention of dropping any of the destinations. They will also continue
to operate from their all their existing UK bases.

In early April I took a Eurail/backpacking trip solo through Western
Europe. I had the opportunity to travel throughout Switzerland. I gained
a great deal of knowledge about Swiss bank accounts and procedures for
securing greater financial privacy. I also passed through the tiny independent
Principality of Monaco on the French coast near the Italian border.

While in Spain I visited the Andorra Tourist Office in Barcelona. It
is located in the mall area of a prominent office complex at the Port
of Barcelona. Andorra is located at the very top of the Pyrenees Mountains
between Spain and France. It recently won its independence from France
and Spain and has since become a tax haven for many Spaniards and other
Europeans. Tourists often make a trek to Andorra, 2 hours by train from
Barcelona, to purchase duty free goods.

But it was the discovery of yet another tiny tax haven on the Swiss/Italian
border that really caught my attention.

Anyone who has ever flown into the Airport at Omaha, Nebraska has had
the experience of having to pass through a tiny strip of Iowa after they
leave the airport, to get to the city of Omaha. Carter Lakes, Iowa is
a geographic anomaly. The town is completely isolated from the rest of
the State of Iowa, surrounded by a lake on one side and Nebraska on the
other.

Like Iowa, Italy has its own Carter Lakes anomaly in the Alps. Campione
D'Italia is completely surrounded by the Lake of Lugano on one side,
and the Italian-speaking Swiss Canton of Ticino on the other. The closest
point on the Italian border is 11 kilometres away. But the Village has
been a part of the Italian State of Lombardy (also home to nearby Milan),
for over 7 Centuries.

It is relatively easy to get to Campione. Just take one of the wonderful
Swiss trains from Geneva, Basel, or Zurich to Lugano. From Lugano it's
just a ten minute ride in a taxi or a rent-a-car to Campione. Or, it's
a 45 minute ride – all highway – from Milan.

Its isolation from Italy has given it a very unique status. It is almost
like being in another country. It is similar to Monaco in that the town
sits on a very narrow strip of coastline surrounded by cliffs. It even
looks like Monaco with a Casino, boat docks, and a small palm-lined beach.
The population of the town is just over 3,000. The total area is 1.7 square
kilometres. Italy administers local governmental functions. However, Campione
uses the Swiss banking system, currency, and post office.

It is their system of taxation that outsiders, particularly for those
who are interested in financial privacy, may find of greatest interest.
Basically, there are no taxes. Campione's only Casino makes enough
revenue to support the town. Residents do not pay local municipal taxes,
Italian income or VAT (Value Added) taxes, nor are they subject to the
onerous taxation from Switzerland.

What's the catch?

Establishing residency in Campione is a little difficult. I speak fluent
Italian. So, I was able to converse with some of the locals. They are
a little suspicious of outsiders, with the exception of visitors to the
Casino. They even seem to be a bit secretive about Campione and it's
unique status. They have a good deal and they want to keep it that way.
For example, it is not easy to purchase land in Campione or even an apartment,
which is the only way to gain residency. Real estate is quite expensive.
Though, if you are able to purchase a little land you will receive automatic
residency. They say that about 1,000 foreigners now live in Campione taking
advantage of its unique opportunities for avoiding taxes and corporate
protections.

Libertarians and other financial privacy seekers have searched the world
for attractive havens such as Campione. Purchasing a plot of land in the
town could prove quite pricey. But this could be a very attractive option
for a joint venture?

Note – Eric Dondero R. is the author of the “Worldwide Multilingual
Phrase Book” – www.portsidelanguages.com. He is an interpreter in
Houston and speaks over 20 languages. He is also active in libertarian
politics and is an avid proponent of global freedom.

Young, a Korean American, living in California saw Globetrotter Kevin’s
Korean itinerary in March’s Globetrotter e-newsletter whilst visiting
Korea for a week with his wife and daughter after a trip to Tibet and
Sichuan, China.

Young has a few hints and tips he’d like to pass on to us, particularly
more interesting as Korea will see a massive influx of tourists as a result
of co-hosting the next Football (Soccer) World Cup with Japan in a few
weeks’ time:

1) Gyeongbokgung is a fine introduction to Korean “old palaces”,
a significant part of Korean cultural heritage. An advantage is that there
are museums on the grounds as you say. But if I were to pick a single
palace for someone with limited time, it would be Changdukgung Palace,
which is a beautiful place, especially the Piwon (Secret Garden) part.
There are also regularly scheduled guided tours in English. 2) In Gyeongju,
most Koreans would consider Sokuram (Stone Grotto) a must see. Last year
I had a privilege of seeing it up close (beyond the glass barrier) thorough
some contact, and it was a great experience to see the details of the
stone carvings. Certainly not as extensive or imposing as the relief in
Angkor Wat which came later, but they offer subtle and balanced beauty
that you see commonly in Korean art.

3) We took a 3-day side trip from Seoul to Busuksa Temple and Andong
in Kyungsangbuk-Do (the province where Gyeongju and also Taegu, one of
the World cup sites are located), made easier with the recent opening
of “Central Highway”. Busuksa is an old Buddhist temple dating
back to the 7th century, and contains the second oldest wooden structure
in Korea. Some people consider this temple to be in the most beautiful
mountainside setting in Korea. Andong is a traditional town with well-preserved
Korean style houses. At the nearby hamlet of Hahoe, we attended the annual
festival commemorating the visit by Queen Elizabeth II 3 years ago. The
highlight is the mask dance that started as a parody on the ruling class
600 years ago. From spring to fall, there is a performance of the dance
every Saturday and Sunday. We also visited the most celebrated of the
old private schools for Confucian scholars, Dosan Seowon, dating back
to 16th century.

4) For me, the fascination of the Korean landscape and culture can be
found in one setting – Buddhist temples. They are typically located
deep in mountains, and many of them have survived the ravage of war throughout
centuries. They are still the central repository of Korean Buddhistic
practice where meditation in the serene setting is an integral part. Try
to visit at least one Korean temple – it is vastly different from a Thai
temple, typically gaudy and metropolitan. The most famous is Bulkuksa
(often overrun with tourists), mentioned in Kevin's itinerary, not
far from Daegu and Ulsan where World Cup matches are to be held. Haeinsa
and Tongdosa in Kyonsangnamdo, near Busan are also well-known.

5) Visitors will find it difficult to communicate in English in Korea,
especially in the countryside, even though we saw the whole country gearing
up for co-hosting of the World Cup. Organized tours will be convenient
but expensive. Independent travellers will need patience and spirit of
adventure, but rewarded with memories of a unique culture, neither Chinese
nor Japanese. Korea is much cheaper than Japan, but significantly more
expensive than most third-world countries, especially in the world-class
city of Seoul.

Meeting news from our branches around the world.

The central monk body has begun teaching computer operations to monks
in its bid to electronically archive Bhutan’s rich collection of
Buddhist manuscripts, biographies and historical documents.

Twenty monks of the central monk body recently completed a two-week computer
operations course conducted by the National Technical Training Authority
under its special skills programme. Among the skills taught were using
Dzongkha (the national language) fonts with MS Word, typing, editing and
formatting in Dzongkha, typing pechas (scripts) and using templates
for pechas, printing techniques and an introduction to the internet. With
this training the monks will be able to save all the scripts on computers
using CDs as back up storage. The central monk body has already purchased
twelve computers for the project and will soon buy another eight.

This project was personally initiated and funded by His Holiness the
Je Khenpo, His Holiness contributed Nu 1.8 million (£25,289/$36,815
source http://www.xe.com) to the project.

To start with the Drukpa Kagyued text will be compiled. “Some portions
of the text have been lost”, said Karma Lhendup of the central monk
body, “but we have borrowed the text from Buddhist monasteries in
India and Nepal to fill in the missing bits and make corrections where
necessary.” He added that other rare Buddhist texts, which once
existed in Bhutan but are now lost, will also be borrowed and archived.
Important religious texts of other Buddhist lineages like the Nyingma
tradition will be compiled at a later date.

“When we complete compiling, our archive will be accessible to
the public and those interested in research” said Karma Lhendup.

Keep up to date with news from Bhutan by visiting Bhutan’s national
newspaper online at www.kuenselonline.com

This article was taken from the April 2002 newsletter of The Bhutan Society.
With thanks to Lucy Hornberger and Kevin Brackley from the UK.