Category: Sidebar

A 200-year-old pair of French false teeth are going on display for the first time at the British Museum. The 18th century teeth, which belonged to the Archbishop of Narbonne, who died in 1806, were found in his coffin after an archaeologists' dig in London at St Pancras graveyard ahead of building work on the Channel Tunnel's new rail terminus.

The porcelain dentures, which were still sitting in the Archbishop’s mouth feature gold springs. The teeth are being put on display from the beginning of October to coincide with World Smile Day.

Noticed by Padmassana: tourists visiting Iran might be able to add an unusual stop-off on their itinerary – a trip to one of the Islamic republic's nuclear sites. Iran’s state news agency IRNA recently reported that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has given permission for tourists to visit nuclear sites as proof that Iran's atomic activities are peaceful. To date, only United Nations atomic watchdog and reporters have been allowed to visit the sites.

“Foreign tourists can visit Iranian nuclear sites, after Dr Ahmadinejad issued an authorisation ordering this organisation to study ways to do so,” the head of Iran's Tourism and Cultural Heritage Organisation Esfandyar Rahim Mashaii said.

No details were given on the nature of the visits that would be allowed or when it would become legal for tourists to take a trip to one of the facilities. Possible attractions for tourists would include the uranium conversion facility outside Isfahan, the uranium enrichment plant in Natanz or the Islamic republic's first nuclear plant being built in the southern city of Bushehr.

The world recently crowned a new King and Queen of the conker. Sounds strange? This news come from Reuters – competition ringmaster Richard Howard said: “This year we had entries from 19 countries.” Amid much revelry and competition on the village green in the town of Ashton, Chris Jones, 48, of London was declared Conker King out of an initial field of 256 entrants. Sandy Gardener, 35, from the Dordogne region of France, was likewise crowned Conker Queen for the year out of an entry of 64 women.

It goes like this – each player has a conker (from the horse chestnut tree) supplied to them by the competition organisers. It is attached to a piece of string and they take turns in trying to break their opponent's conker by swinging at it. The prize? Last year's prize was a year's supply of a brand of ice cream supplied by the sponsor, this year the new Conker King and Queen received just a trophy for their efforts.

Police in Australia are hunting for a thief caught on a Gold Coast’s pet shop's security camera stuffing a lorikeet down his underpants and running to a getaway car parked in the street outside. Hhhmm, gives a new version to the phrase budgie smuggler. Mr Westaway, the shop owner said that the theft was an act of animal abuse, “The way that man shoved that lorikeet inside his pants is animal cruelty.”

I'm thrilled to let all Globetrotter e-newsletter readers know that the Travel Writing Workshop, until now exclusively held at the Guardian Newsroom, is wandering abroad. This November, the first Paris Travel Writing Workshop will take place at the famous Shakespeare and Company bookstore, just opposite the Notre Dame.

The Paris Workshop will include a 'travel experience', where participants will wander out on to the Left Bank to gather notes to use throughout the day.

This will be a very small Workshop, maximum twelve participants, so please do let us know as soon as possible if you would like to attend by emailing me at: travelworkshops@deabirkett.com

Pattaya, the seedy resort in Thailand is home to a Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. In October, a Thai snake charmer attempted to break the Guinness Book of World Records record set in 1999 when an American kissed eleven venomous snakes by kissing nineteen extremely poisonous king cobras. The snakes were provided by Ripleys and a medical team was on stand by. Khum Chaibuddee managed to kiss all nineteen but told children and bystanders not to try this themselves. He said, “I, myself, have been bitten several times by snakes. Always bear in mind the old story about the snake charmer who died after being bitten by snakes.”

You may want to avoid travelling on Bangladesh’s state carrier, Biman Bangladesh Airlines. The airline is planning to cut down on the frequency of flights to international destinations because it cannot pay for the repair of five of its fleet of 13 aircraft. Five out of Biman's 13 aircraft are now out of service due to mechanical faults and routine maintenance. Besides lack of aircraft, Biman was losing money because of high operational costs, including soaring fuel prices, and poor management. The airline has been unable to pay for aviation fuels.

According to newly released US government statistics, lost or mishandled bags increased by nearly 25 percent in August as airlines struggled to handle an increase in checked luggage after authorities banned most liquids and gels from passenger cabins. At United Airlines, mishandled bags jumped from 5.4 per 1,000 passengers in July to 9 in August, a 66 percent increase, according to statistics tracked by the Department of Transportation. Overall mishandled bags jumped from 6.5 per 1,000 passengers in July to 8.08 in August. On Aug. 10, U.S. security officials banned most liquids and gels from the passenger cabins of aircraft, resulting in a 20 percent increase in checked baggage. At the end of September, US officials revised the ban, allowing passengers to carry-on small toiletries in a clear plastic bag.

A recent study by British insurers, the Halifax Travel Insurance says that climate change may lead to the British package holiday to the Mediterranean becoming “consigned to the scrapbook of history”. Places like Majorca may be too hot by 2030, and replaced by UK holidays, and health, sport and cultural visits. The report said more extreme weather events and higher temperatures may put tourists at greater risk abroad.

People may switch their main holiday to the winter or the spring, for example, a winter holiday to the Mediterranean and a summer holiday to Sweden might become a popular trend. By 2030, global sea levels could rise by 25cm affecting large parts of the Maldives and Seychelles which could be submerged and shorelines could retreat by as much as 1,230ft, it is claimed. As much as 90% of the world's reefs, including Australia's Great Barrier Reef could die. Long-haul destinations such as Florida could be hit by increasingly powerful hurricanes and a loss of beaches. And extreme conditions such as drought, storms and torrential rainfall could increase, according to the study.

Have international holidaymakers been put off by the recent global terror alerts? Apparently not. According to lastminute.com, late deals to the US were selling above average particularly trips to New York and business was brisk to the Mediterranean. Possible reasons cited by Lastminute’s travel director included passengers possibly feeling safer amid the tighter security measures at airports.