Category: Sidebar

We are planning a new photobook, to be published next autumn, which will highlight unusual places, people, events and wildlife of the world. The book, to be published in conjunction with Bradt Travel Guides, will be a glossy tome with a range of images and the stories behind them.

We’ve invited readers to send us photos from their travels, showcasing anything offbeat – unusual foods, quirky art or architecture, strange or amusing transport, weird wildlife or funny signs.

I’m certain Globetrotters will have some great photos from their travels – the most interesting images will be published in the book (which will be distributed through bookshops and the Wanderlust website) and everyone who submits an image will be entered into a draw to win some fabulous prizes.

This is not a photography competition – we’re not looking for technical quality; rather, it’s the story behind the picture and the destination which is of interest.

Details of the book can be found at:

http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/weirdworld

Closing date for submission of images is 20 February 2009.

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If you enjoy writing and travelling, why not write for the free Globetrotters eNewsletter! The Ant would love to hear from you: your travel stories, anecdotes, jokes, questions, hints and tips, or your hometown or somewhere of special interest to you. Over 14,000 people currently subscribe to the Globetrotter eNewsletter.

Email The Ant at theant@globetrotters.co.uk with your travel experiences / hints & tips / questions. Your article should be approximately 1000 words, feature up to 3 or 4 jpeg photos and introduce yourself with a couple of sentences and a contact e-mail address.

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Help needed…

• Dear Globetrotters Club,

  I have just become a new member.

  I’m planning a tour in my Landrover through Middle East and Africa. I cannot go through Sudan because of visa problem. Could you or some of your members give advise of how to get around Sudan. I thing it is very difficult on a western route and through Central Africa to Uganda. An alternative is to take a boat from Egypt or Saudi/Dubai to Mombasa, but as I would like to go to Ethiopia, I would like to know how it is to go to Djibouti and from there to Ethiopia.

  Best regards

  Hugo Gaarden

  hugo.gaarden@gmail.com

• …to ask if anyone can give a quick help with information on cheap accommodation in India. [I’m] going to be travelling in India and in China and would like to have some advice before departing. If any of you can give some feedback…it would be most appreciated. Don’t really know much about plans, so I guess any tip would do.

  Many thanks !

  onder.gultekin@gmail.com

• From Krys:-

  Hi Guys,

  I need to organize some more space so I would like to give away four year copies of the Wanderlust magazine 2000 – 2004. If you happen to know someone interested in collecting them (London E17), please forward my e-mail address.

  Thank you

  Krys

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A member of Globetrotters Club and interested in winning a £1,000 travel award ? Know someone who fits these criteria ? We have up to two £1,000 awards to give out this year for the best independent travel plan, as judged by the club’s Committee.

See the legacy page on our web site, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we’ll take a look !!

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Web sites to muse about travel to

• From Hector Christie for travel, culture, arts, photography – www.hectorchristie.co.uk

• Girl Solo in Arabia – Carolyn McIntyre is traveling from the Moroccan City of Tangiers through 46 countries as she attempts to recreate an epic journey made 700 years ago by the famed Islamic scholar and traveler Ibn Battuta http://girlsoloinarabia.typepad.com/

• For an update to the magazine and more travel ideas read – http://www.realtravelmag.com/

• Has anyone heard of “Couch Surfing”, as discussed on Radio 4 recently ? http://www.couchsurfing.com/

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Regular contributor Mac ruminates on the world of travel & some of his adventures along the way  This time round he’s spotted this WorldHum.com list of top travel books:-

No. 1: “Arabian Sands” by Wilfred Thesiger

No. 2: “The Road to Oxiana” by Robert Byron

No. 3: “The Great Railway Bazaar” by Paul Theroux

No. 4: “The Soccer War” by Ryszard Kapuściński

No. 5: “No Mercy” by Redmond O’Hanlon

No. 6: “North of South” by Shiva Naipaul

No. 7: “Golden Earth” by Norman Lewis

No. 8: “Video Night in Kathmandu” by Pico Iyer

No. 9: “The Innocents Abroad” by Mark Twain

No. 10: “In A Sunburned Country” by Bill Bryson

No. 11: “The Snow Leopard” by Peter Matthiessen

No. 12: “The Songlines” by Bruce Chatwin

No. 13: “Travels with Charley” by John Steinbeck

No. 14: “Riding to the Tigris” by Freya Stark

No. 15: “Europe, Europe” by Hans Magnus Enzensberger

No. 16: “City of Djinns” by William Dalrymple

No. 17: “A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush” by Eric Newby

No. 18: “All the Wrong Places” by James Fenton

No. 19: “Hunting Mister Heartbreak” by Jonathan Raban

No. 20: “River Town” by Peter Hessler

No. 21: “Road Fever” by Tim Cahill

No. 22: “When the Going was Good” by Evelyn Waugh

No. 23: “Behind the Wall” by Colin Thubron

No. 24: “Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere” by Jan Morris

No. 25: “A Time of Gifts” by Patrick Leigh Fermor

No. 26: “Baghdad Without a Map” by Tony Horwitz

No. 27: “The Size of the World” by Jeff Greenwald

No. 28: “Facing the Congo” by Jeffrey Tayler

No. 29: “Venture to the Interior” by Laurens van der Post

No. 30: “A Turn in the South” by V.S. Naipaul

What do you think – do you agree with this list or are there some must reads missing ? Feel free to express your opinions to The Ant…

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From readers of the October edition we received the following feedback which I thought IÂ’d share with youÂ… The Ant

Write in (1) ¦ Bhutan a state of contentment by Neil Harris

• Hi Bugsy. Loved the Bhutan article. It could’ve been ten times as long, for my taste. I wanna go! But what’s the time period on that “minimum spend” Is it $200 / month or per year? I could afford it if it were only per year. And do they collect the money as you enter the country? Or could I live on $1 a day like I usually do, then donate anything leftover to some needy family? Like that family that got their mortgage paid off by a tourist passing thru.
  Harold Dunn in San Diego
• I agree with Harold when he says “I wanna go!” but meanwhile I would like to ask Neil Harris for permission to use a couple of pictures and a few lines to add to Nelisa’s travels (www.nelisa.net / “What about your trip?” section). It’s a home-made web site looking for short travel comments. Unlike Harold, in terms of travel writing, I think the shorter the better.â€Â
  Nelisa nelisa@nelisa.net

Write in (3) ¦ Silk Road by Sandra Reekie

• I was fascinated reading your experience on the Silk Road. Are you planning any more adventures ? How did you get enough nerve to do this on your own ? Thanks so much for writing about your wonderful dealings with a hidden part of the world.
  Judy Apici judy_apici@yahoo.com
• Hi Sandra – a very good article and photos – many thanks. I visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan a few years ago and want to go back to Uzbek and may be to other stans, but am more interested in north Pakistan. I was thinking of trying to travel the length of the north by public transport, stopping off for a few days at the most interesting places and doing a bit of trekking in the Karakorum. I’m a bit concerned about safety in the NW though. What do you think ?â€Â
  Jon jonhornbuckle@yahoo.com
• â€ÂÅ”Dear Ant. Congratulations on the excellent October newsletter, particularly Sandra Reekie’s story of her travels in Central Asia and the article on Ruanda, where I am hoping to do some travelling. A really good read
  Sylvia Pullen

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If you enjoy writing and travelling, why not write for the free Globetrotters eNewsletter! The Ant would love to hear from you: your travel stories, anecdotes, jokes, questions, hints and tips, or your hometown or somewhere of special interest to you. Over 14,000 people currently subscribe to the Globetrotter eNewsletter.

Email The Ant at theant@globetrotters.co.uk with your travel experiences / hints & tips / questions. Your article should be approximately 1000 words, feature up to 3 or 4 jpeg photos and introduce yourself with a couple of sentences and a contact e-mail address.

---

A member of Globetrotters Club and interested in winning a £1,000 travel award ? Know someone who fits these criteria ? We have up to two £1,000 awards to give out this year for the best independent travel plan, as judged by the club’s Committee.

See the legacy page on our web site, where you can apply with your plans for a totally independent travel trip and we’ll take a look !!

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by Tracey Murray – after 2 years of planning launches a travel community www.iKnowaGreatplace.com – ‘local secrets from a world of travellers’