24 more sites of “outstanding universal value” have been designated world heritage sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). These include the ancient Iraqi city of Ashur and Afghanistan's Bamiyan Valley, where towering statues of Buddha (see picture right) were destroyed by the former Taleban regime. The first eight of the…

Gary, from the US is planning to cycle 1,500 miles around the UK. He started his journey on the 16th of May 2003. Since that date he has travelled over 1,100 miles on a recumbent bike. At the time of writing, he has approximately 400 mile to go to complete the trip. Gary says: “The…

European no-frills airline Ryanair says it is to stop accepting American Express charge cards. They say Amex makes higher charges than most other companies and that they will refuse to take bookings on the cards from the end of June 2003. Ryanair emphasized that it would continue to accept other credit cards. Ryanair reported a…

Facts about the Oceans and Seas of the world Ocean Pacific Atlantic Indian Southern Arctic Area Sq Miles 60,060,700 29,637,900 26,469,500 7,848,300 5,427,000 Area Sq Km 155,557,000 76,762,000 68,556,000 20,327,000 14,056,000 Avge depth ft 13,215 12,880 13,002 14750 3,953 Avge depth m 4,028 3,926 3,963 4,500 1,205 Greatest depth ft 36,198 30,246 24,460 23,736 18,456…

Still in Argentina, after El Chalten, we journeyed on to another place called El Calafate where again we spent three nights and it was here that we saw our most spectacular glacier ever, the Perito Moreno glacier which is enormous, rising many metres in the air and looking like a massive landlocked iceberg but much…

The Beetle received this e-mail from a Globetrotters who thought it might be useful to pass on to other travellers. If you find yourself under the weather, there is almost always an alternative remedy to finding the local doctor – but if in doubt, seek proper medical advice. Ø Drinking two glasses of Gatorade can…