Category: Sidebar

Forget the romantic notion of Captain Hook and Cap'n Kidd –
piracy is alive and well in the modern world!

Just last week, coastguards in Falmouth, in the south west of
England picked up an SOS call almost 4,000 miles away from the
Princess Sarah, a Greek owned ship off the Horn of Africa. The
British alerted the French army based in Djibouti and Somalia who
had a warship in the area. The French ship, Floreal, sent a
helicopter to assist the Princess Sarah and scared the pirates off.

Incredibly, this is the second time that the Princess Sarah has
been helped by the same coastguards, only a month earlier whilst
off the coast of Somalia.

On a more positive note, contrary to popular belief, US citizens
are allowed to visit Libya! This is good news as the Beetle is
trying to persuade one to join her on a potential trip to Libya!

And on the flip side, just two days after the US government eased
its warnings to US citizens not to travel to Pakistan, following
the abduction of a US Wall Street journalist, the warnings are back
in place.

This wonderful snippet about travelling in Iran came from Kevin,
near London (not Croydon!) Kevin tells us about the effect some of
the girls he was travelling with had on a hapless Iranian driver.

After leaving the “Hotel Fleapit” in Neriz we were on the
road to Bam, when we unfortunately broke down. While Percy, a
mechanically gifted Canadian, set about fixing our truck the rest
of us put the kettle on and watched the world go by. Some of the
girls decided to mark out a hopscotch pitch on the roadside, and
started to play, dressed from head to toe in their black chadours,
which was quite an exhibition. As they played we sat transfixed as
a Pykan (Iranian Renault 12) came round the corner, the driver
clearly not used to seeing a bunch of girls hopping at the
roadside, drove straight into the ditch.

Ever wondered what scorpions taste like? Or cobra stew? Look no
further. You can now try such delicacies at Empire, a new London
restaurant where snake, kangaroo, zebra, ants and other miscellany
can be found on the menu. Address: 38 Lambs Conduit Street, nearest
tube, Holborn, tel: 020 7404 6835.

Want to tell us about your favourite coffee corner or watering
hole? Then contact the Beetle

Serious and not so serious diving news :

Great for recommendations on where to dive, equipment tests and
news about new dive sites.

www.divernet.com

Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a place or
country – want to share something with us – why not visit our
Mutual Aid section of the Website: Mutual Aid

An alert, bought to the attention of the Beetle by Frank, in the
US, about a female traveller in India who was bitten by a monkey at
Agra Fort. Frank saw a report in a Lonely Planet bulletin: the
report says that the traveller was not carrying food, was not
feeding the monkeys or trying to gain their attention, when she
received a nasty bite on the leg, quite out of the blue.

She went on to say that the “friendly” monkeys, as
described in various guide books are far from it: they have become
aggressive and are prone to attacking visitors. She then had to
spend large amounts of time (and money, and worry) ensuring that
she received all of the immunisations against diseases that the
monkeys can carry -these include rabies and a virus which can lead
to encephalitis.

Travellers – you have been warned! Animals like this are still wild
and should be treated with caution.