Vacation Dreams

Category: archive

  • Have you got a tale to tell??

    If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell. Then why not
    visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section of the Website and share
    it with the world. Travel Sized Bites

  • New York:

    On May 4th Mike Luongo will be giving a slide show and lecture
    about Lake Titicaca and the Border Regions of Peru and Bolivia. As well
    as touching on Venezuela. It's a story of lots of water, Incan heritage
    and South American politics. Learn about mysterious islands made only
    of woven grass that ancient people made to escape war. You'll see
    images of the highest navigable lake in the world, of colourful Carnival
    in Puno, Peru and of deadly natural disaster in La Paz, Bolivia, a city
    that thrives on laundered money. Michael is a New York based freelance
    writer and has travelled to more than 45 countries, and written on more
    than 30 of them. Latin America, with its mix of native and conquering
    cultures is among his favourite regions of the world. Best known for his
    work on gay travel destinations, he has been in Our World, Out & About
    and numerous regional publications and websites. He is also a co-editor
    of Continuum Press's Gay Tourism: Culture, Identity and Sex, the first
    academic book on the gay travel industry.

    Note: some folk have mentioned wanting to get together for drinks etc.
    after the meeting. I will bring this to everyone's attention, and
    we'll see how it goes.

    New York meetings are held at The Wings Theater, 154 Christopher Street
    (btw Greenwich St and Washington St), to the right of Crunch Fitness,
    in the Archive on the first Saturday of each month at 4 pm. $8.00 for
    members, $10.00 for non-members.

  • Music and Travel By Padmassana

    Music and travel have been synonymous since the hippies took their music
    along with them in the sixties. Certain pieces of music have the ability
    to remind of places we have been and the experiences we enjoyed there.
    Here are my top 5 that evoke cherished memories of my travels.

    Istanbul – “Mea Culpa” by Enigma, it was the first
    time I had heard this piece, as it woke us from our sleep as well pulled
    into Istanbul in a January snowstorm. It was a wonderful way to arrive
    in a place I had long wished to visit.

    Iran – “Silk Road, God is Good” from Lonely Planet.
    This haunting piece will remind anyone who has travelled in the Middle
    East, but for me particularly of Iran, of the early morning call to prayer
    resonating from the towers of the ornate mosques.

    Yangshuo – “Linger” by The Cranberries. One of my abiding
    memories of this lovely Chinese town is this song wafting out of virtually
    every Restaurant and backpacker hotel in the place. Whenever I hear this
    song on the radio at home it always evokes memories of China.

    Australia – “Highway” by Gond Wana Land from the album,
    “Let the dog out”. Our bus driver played this super album
    as we crossed Australia’s Red Centre, the didgeridoos providing
    a fitting accompaniment to the landscape that passed outside the window.

    France – “Anni Rose” by Tulka from the Buddha bar album
    by Claude Challe. This piece will always be a reminder of happy days and
    warm evenings in the south of France, while doing an Astanga course.

    Write in and tell us your musical memories and associations! the Beetle

  • London:

    6th April Kevin Morgan kicked off with a wonderful slide show
    of dolphins, whales and other marine and bird life ranging from Antarctica
    to the Bahamas! We all left feeling wiser and almost confident of being
    able to distinguish bottle nosed dolphins from spinners! His slides finished
    with an evocative tape of the sounds made by whales.

    After the break, Cass Gilbert showed us some fabulous pictures
    of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan (and other places ending in
    “stan” that the beetle cannot spell!) Amazingly, he completed
    this incredible journey by tandem, through parts of the old Silk Route,
    past ancient cities, churches, mosques, and markets, occasionally, with
    his female tandem partner cycling in veil and long trousers, much to the
    bemusement of many locals.

    London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind
    the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each
    month, except that due to public holidays, May’s meeting will be
    on Saturday 11th May at 2.30pm. June’s meeting will be held at 2.30pm
    on June 8th.

    For more information, you can contact the Globetrotter Info line on +44
    (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website: http://www.globetrotters.co.uk

  • Kenyan Proverb

    “The Earth was not give to us by our parents, it
    was lent to us by our children.”

  • MEETING NEWS

    Meeting news from our branches around the world.

  • Five Things You Didn't Know About Tourism

    (From Tourism Concern)

    1. According to the UN, 13-19 million children are working
    in the tourism sector all over the world. More than 1 million are forced
    into tourism’s sex industry.

    2. 5,200 people were given 12 days’ notice and then forcibly
    removed from their homes in Pagan, Burma to make way for a tourism development.
    The military junta said they were an eyesore to tourists.

    3. Spain’s 12 million visitors a year leave behind 100,000
    tonnes of rubbish.

    4. In destinations with beautiful beaches, especially
    the Caribbean, local people are often barred from beaches by hotel security
    and prevented from carrying on their livelihoods, such as fishing.

    5. The UN calculates that a tourist uses as much water
    in 24 hours as a Third World villager would use to produce rice in 100
    days.

    Tourism Concern is a charity that works to ensure that
    local communities get a fair deal. Seetourismconcern.org.uk

  • London: meeting report by Padmassana

    Our first speaker was Phil Koniotes , who showed us some stunning glimpses
    of Antarctica. Phil explained that on his trip he had the great fortune
    to enjoy 4 sunny days, which is extremely rare and meant he was able to
    take some fantastic photographs. His pictures of icebergs, many of which
    come in strange shapes and spectacular proportions were breathtaking,
    particularly those of the aptly named Paradise Bay. His photo’s also covered
    the inquisitive penguins that inhabit this region, which come up to investigate
    their human visitors. Photos of the penguins included their nest building
    antics, which involves the penguins stealing pebbles from each other’s
    nests to build their own. Phil also told us about the Post Office which
    handles 40,000 cards each year, which depart with the prized Antarctic
    postmark. This was a fascinating talk with some superb photographs.

    Our second speaker Mark Elliott came to Globetrotters rescue after our
    original speaker Juliet Coombe was involved in an accident in Australia
    and was unable to return to the United Kingdom. Mark’s talk was about
    the Kilum Forest in what he described as the most corrupt country on the
    planet, Cameroon, in West Africa. Mark’s mission had been to photograph
    the elusive Bannerman’s Turaco bird, which only lives in this part of
    the world. His photos took us via a local tribal war and a photocall with
    a local Chief. He showed us a local festival where the people dress in
    costumes and actually become that person or spirit, Mark discovered how
    literally they take this when one character relieved him of his umbrella,
    his neighbour explaining that this character was called “The thief!”
    Once up into the forest Mark and his guide trekked for a day and for one
    fleeting minute espied the elusive bird. His guide was ecstatic, despite
    living there, it was the first time in seven years even he had seen one.

    London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind
    the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each
    month. There is no London meeting in August, but we will be back on Saturday
    1st September. For more information, you can
    contact the Globetrotter Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the
    website:    www.globetrotters.co.uk

  • Free London Museums: The Museum of London

    Last year, the British government announced that it would
    drop the entrance fee to many of the larger museums in London.

    The Beetle’s favourite London museum is funnily enough
    called the Museum of London. It is about 15 minutes walk from St Paul’s
    Cathedral and the closest tube is the Barbican.

    You could combine a visit starting at the Barbican, visit
    an art exhibition, grab a bite to eat or a coffee or wander around the
    Barbican complex, which is interesting in itself. Then walk down Aldersgate
    (about 5 minutes) towards St Paul’s to the large roundabout road where
    the Museum of London is situated.

    It’s a great museum which looks at the early Roman remains
    in London, all through the ages to the modern skyline of the City. And
    it’s free!

    Weekends are the busiest time since the admission fee
    has been scrapped, so try and visit during the week, if you can. Take
    a look atMuseum of London
    or tel: 020 7600 3699

  • New York:

    Hello Globies! Our next meeting will be April 6th at The Wings Theater,
    154 Christopher Street. 4:00pm sharp. We have yet, another exciting guest
    speaker. Mary Russell, an import coming over from Dublin to speak to us
    about her travel to the middle east, specificallyBaghdad and Damascus!
    Mary is a travel writer, whose latest book will be published by Simon
    and Schuster on June 1. Mary will be giving a slide talk to the London
    Globetrotters in June, and we get the sneak preview this April! Her books
    are “The Blessings of a Good Thick Skirt”, “Please Don”t
    Call it Soviet Georgia”, “Amazonian” and, in June: “Journeys
    of a Lifetime”. Mary has travelled to the Sahara and the Finnish
    Arctic, the Eastern Caribbean, Southern Africa, Moscow, Tbilisi, Dublin
    and Donegal.

    Last year, she spent three months travelling around Syria on foot, by
    bike and local transport. Last November, Mary returned to Damascus and
    from there travelled overland to Baghdad. These two cities have strong
    historical ties and her slides and talk will be about both places, with
    up-to-day descriptions of what it”s like to travel in an Arab country.
    (She was also in Israel last year, obviously she has a great interest
    in the middle east!) Mary always travels solo and by shoestring. The last
    two chapters of her next book “Journeys of a Lifetime”, are
    about Syria.

    New York meetings are held at The Wings Theater, 154 Christopher Street
    (btw Greenwich St and Washington St), to the right of Crunch Fitness,
    in the Archive on the first Saturday of each month at 4 pm. As always,
    $8.00 for members, $10.00 for non-members.