Vacation Dreams

Tag: January 2005

  • MEETING NEWS

    Meeting news from our branches around the world.


  • Kashmir to Welcome Tourists

    India has decided to open Srinagar airport in disputed
    Kashmir to international flights to entice more tourists to
    the Himalayan region. Kashmir has been involved in a 15
    year dispute involving soldiers and Muslim militants who
    don’t want Indian rule in the region. Estimates
    say that around 360,000 people visited Kashmir last year,
    most of the them Indians, up from 191,000 in the previous
    year, although the figure was small compared with the
    millions who travelled to the region before the revolt in
    1989. Israelis topped the list of foreign tourists
    visiting the Muslim-majority region last year followed by
    Chinese.

  • Wilderness First Aid courses 2005

    Wilderness First Aid is different from the Red Cross or urban
    first aid. Focus is on initial and prolonged care for a
    patient in the back country. Participants will receive
    a two year certification with the Wilderness Medicine
    Institute of NOLS (http://wmi.nols.edu).

    WMI of NOLS courses are for folks who recognises the
    importance of having first aid skills if you spend time in
    the outdoors. We have climbers, trekkers, paddlers,
    blueberry-pickers, parents, teachers, outdoor guides, scout
    leaders, fishermen and hunters – all learning about how to
    care for an injured or sick friend.

    Below is the schedule for the Wilderness Medicine Institute
    of NOLS courses that Crossing Latitudes is hosting in Europe
    2005.

    WILDERNESS FIRST AID COURSES & WILDERNESS FIRST RESPONDER
    RECERTIFICATION COURSES (16-24 hours)

    London, The Castle Climbing Centre, UK January 17-18, 2005
    Course fee: US $160.00 / GBP 90.00 per person. Course taught
    in English.

    Malmö, Sweden, January 21-23, 2005 Course fee: SEK
    2100:- per person. Course taught in Swedish. Start Friday
    evening. CPR included.

    Bozeman, Montana, USA at Lindley Park Center April 30 – May
    1st, 2005 Cost: $150.00 per person. Course taught in English.

    Göteborg, Sweden, 13-15 of May, 2005 Course fee: SEK
    2100:- per person. Course taught in Swedish. Start Friday
    evening. CPR included.

    Stockholm, Sweden 20-22 of May, 2005 Course fee: SEK 2100:-
    per person. Course taught in Swedish. Start Friday evening.
    CPR included.

    Narvik, Arctic Norway 17-19 of June 2005 Cost: SEK 2500:- per
    person. Course taught in English & Swedish. This course
    is part of Crossing Latitudes Sea Kayaking Guide course. The
    first aid course is open to all.

    If you are interested in having a course just for your staff
    or organization please contact Lena Conlan at: info@crossinglatitudes.com
    or call our office in the USA +1-406-585-5356 or our office
    in Sweden +46-70-670 11 53.

    For more info, please contact: info@crossinglatitudes.com
    www.crossinglatitudes.com
    USA: 1-800-572-8747 / Fax: +1-406-585-5356 Europe: +46-70-670
    1153 Sweden: 070-670 1153

  • Meeting News from London by Padmassana December 2004

    Our original speaker Matthew Leaming unfortunately had to
    drop out at very short notice, so Dick Curtis filled
    the gap with an interesting talk on a trip he made to
    China . The talk was a bit random as Dick had 3 sets
    of slides marked A, B & C, and the audience chose the
    order! I was glad to see Dick produce photos not just of the
    Great Wall and all the other sights you would expect, but
    also photos of the people and landscapes of this vast nation.
    Well done Dick.

    Our second speaker was Amar Grover who gave us another
    talk on Pakistan. We saw the Khyber Pass near
    Peshawar, and then to the north to Gilgit to see photos of
    the spectacular mountains. As with the previous talk we saw
    the people, many are fair skinned descendents of Alexander
    the Great's army, who came through the area over 2000
    years ago. Amar also showed us rural life, including
    colourful pictures of Apricots drying in the sun.

    January 2005

    Globetrotters first meeting of 2005 got off to a great start
    as Martin Featherstone , showed us pictures of all the
    exciting places he went to during his army days, then he gave
    us a talk on Belgium! To be precise he showed us the
    battlefields and cemeteries of WW1 and told us the stories of
    some of the many allied servicemen who gave their lives. He
    then showed us the battlefields and told some of the stories
    from southern Africa, including Rourkes Drift, explaining how
    a tiny group of Dutch settlers put their carriages in a
    circle and managed to defeat more than 15,000 Zulu warriors.
    Martin has a way of bringing these stories to life with such
    as why a Zulu spear had a special name, it was supposed to be
    the sound the spear made when it was removed from its victim,
    well it made the front row wince!

    Our second speaker was Kevin Brackley whose talk on
    Sinai was hot off the press having only returned 4
    days previously. His journey took him from Cairo, where he
    took in the pyramids and Sphinx, under the fascinating Suez
    canal where he watched ships in the desert and into Sinai.
    Kevin showed us the wonderful, if chilly sunrise at Mount
    Sinai, before he went camel trekking (KFC in Egypt stands for
    Kentucky fried camel) and walking in the White canyon, before
    chilling out on the Red Sea at Dahab.

    After the interval we had a quiz, those who only got two
    answers correct will not be named (but for this they should
    send a donation to the Tsunami fund or else!), the winner of
    the Wind up radio was John Goddard , congratulations
    John.

    Jayesh Patel was our third speaker and he took us to
    the glaciers of Chile . Jayesh and his party trekked
    into the windswept landscape, camping when there was no room
    in the Inn. Jayesh showed us the spectacular glaciers,
    icebergs and to prove how windy it was pictures of trees bent
    over at right angles. We saw the wonderful Torres del Paine
    National park in Chile with its fabulous rock towers.

    Julian Webster arrived in the nick of time to give us
    a quick tour of India , starting in the Himalayas,
    then into warmer areas of Rajasthan, we saw some super
    pictures of the rainy season and my favourite of all a
    lifeguard in Kerala with a comical “Go-faster”
    pointy hat! Julian's images brought the warmth of India
    to a chilly London in January.

    Many thanks to all todays speakers who helped to make our
    first meeting of the year a great success. The day culminated
    with the annual New Years party, enjoyed by all, thanks to
    Nadia and her helpers.

    We cannot finish without mention of the Tsunami that struck
    on Boxing day. The days takings at the door of £157
    have been donated to the fund.

    Next month, on Saturday 5th March 2005, Matthew Leeming will
    be giving a talk on Afghanistan and after the break, Terry
    Richardson will be talking about Turkey's new 500km long
    distance footpath “The St. Paul Trail”.

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

    Admission Members £2 Non-members £4

  • On-Line Travel Scam

    Be careful of a new online travel scam that involves bargain
    flights advertised on internet auction sites. The
    con-men advertise an amazing deal on an auction site, telling
    potential bidders that they do not need to pay until they
    have received their tickets. The winning bidder – and,
    usually, all the other bidders, are contacted under the
    pretence that the winner has dropped out for their names.
    The fraudster then buys the tickets from the airline in
    the names of each ‘winner’, but uses someone
    else's stolen credit card details. According to an
    internet fraud agency, these details are readily available
    and sold for as little as 30p a time. The winner also
    pays up once they’ve received the tickets. Most
    airlines are ok about issuing tickets to someone other than
    the cardholder, so the ‘winners’ receive their
    tickets, pay the fraudster and look forward to their holiday,
    sometimes even flying out and enjoying it. When the
    airline's bank tries to claim the money from the credit
    cardholder, however, the fraud is uncovered – and the airline
    will not let the ticket-holder travel.

  • 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

  • Meeting News from New York

    New York meetings will resume in February – subject will be
    TBD.

    Please contact me (Laurie) if you’re interesting in
    speaking or know of someone who is! For details of
    forthcoming meetings email newyork@globetrotters.co.uk
    or register for email updates, click
    here at our website.

    New York meetings are held at The Wings Theatre, 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 .

  • Driving in Spain

    Paul writes in with another piece of advice about travelling
    in Spain.

    Another word of warning to novice travellers in Spain; be
    careful at the big hypermarkets as thieves operate in the car
    parks targeting small hire cars (easily identified as they
    silly sods always put the hire company name on the vehicle
    registration plates).

    We got caught this way on our first trip and my girlfriend
    lost most of her clothes and a new digital camera, clothes
    weren't too much of a problem as we were on a naturist
    holiday but the rigmarole involved in getting a police report
    is mind blowing. I also had my passport stolen and getting
    that replaced was even worse !!. Silly to hide our stuff in
    the car I guess but a lesson well learned and often mentioned
    to fellow travellers as a word of warning.

    Couldn't rob our car or cheat us out of fuel last trip
    cos we rode all the way down on my motorcycle.

  • Answers to: So You Think You’re Well Travelled?

    Answers to: So You Think You’re Well Travelled?

    1. Congo – Brazzaville
    2. Madagascar – Antananarivo
    3. Oman – Muscat
    4. Azerbaijan – Baku
    5. Bangladesh – Dhaka

    0 out of 5 – you need to get out more!

    1-3 – not bad

    4 – very good! You are a Globetrotter!

    5 – are you sure you didn’t sneak a look?


  • Meeting News from Texas

    Globetrotter meetings have temporarily ceased until further
    notice due to a bereavement in Christina’s
    family. If you can help Christina resurrect the Texas
    meetings, as she would really appreciate some help, please
    contact Christina on texas@globetrotters.co.uk'

    For more information about the Texas Branch: please
    contact texas@globetrotters.co.uk
    or register for email updates at our website (click
    here) or call Christina at 830-620-5482

    If anybody would like to enquire about meetings or help
    Christina, please contact her on: texas@globetrotters.co.uk