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The Beetle
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Fave Website: Japanese Etiquette
If you're going to visit Japan on business, or even if you are going for pleasure, this website shows you how to you bow appropriately and how to behave when you have been invited to someone’s home. There are lots of hints and tips on appropriate presents to take, how to use the washroom, and…
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The Beetle
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Iris.s Diary of An Overland Trip Through South America: Chile
After staying overnight in San Pedro, in Northern Chile, we were off again, hot footing it down the highway bound for Santiago. But on the way we discovered that Chile has the most marvellous loos (washrooms), as I’ve said earlier, every service station welcomes one with hot water, toilet paper, toilet attendants who seem to…
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The Beetle
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Peru – Volunteer as a teacher of English
Muir’s Tours have opportunities for their volunteer teaching programme in Peru. This is proving to be very popular with Gap Year students. Please note it is open to all ages, but preference is given to those with a TEFL certificate or similar, or valid experience. For more info, please see Muir’s Tours
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The Beetle
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Heat wave in Southern India
If you have plans to visit India this summer – never a good time to go – take note that around 200 people have died during the heat wave that is currently sweeping through Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Pakistan where temperatures have soared as high as 47.2C. The high temperatures have led to a shortage…
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The Beetle
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Mac.s Jottings: Border Crossings
U. S. Soldiers Home, Washington: during a century of travel (well 78 years!) both in and out of service I have travelled to over 150 countries (I count both North and South Dakota as countries) and for some reason have jotted signs and happenings that I thought funny at the time (and now wonder why).…
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The Beetle
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Hilton Hotels
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal told of how the Hilton Hotel chain, all 21,000 of them have a new customer system called OnQ. This records all customer details and preferences of those who have stayed with them, including movies watched, what and how much you drank from the mini bar and any…
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The Beetle
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Biometric Passports for UK
The UK Passport Service plans to put biometric chips into passports by 2005. The agency is to run a six-month trial to “evaluate issues around biometric capture using iris, facial recognition and fingerprints to support the passport card development programme.” An 'Omnibase' global database of all passports issued will be created, along with a global…
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The Beetle
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A visit to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens by Geoff Fairman
Cape Town has many beautiful places to visit and the Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden is one of them. It is situated on the mountainside near Constantia and covers many hectares of land. When you enter these gardens it is like entering paradise. The hustle and bustle of traffic and the city fade away and you find…
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The Beetle
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Italy Screens for SARS
Italy is to be the first EU country to introduce mandatory screening of passengers arriving from countries affected by the SARS virus and including passengers who have first made stops in other places. Any passenger showing symptoms of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which currently has killed over 500 people worldwide, will be quarantined.
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The Beetle
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Currency Conversion
The Globetrotters Club has just teamed up with Oanda.com to provide people with information about currency conversions and cheat sheets. To translate currency or make a cheat sheet, visit: The Globetrotters Currency Converter — get the exchange rates for 164 currencies The Globetrotters Currency Cheat Sheet — create and print a currency converter table for…
The Globetrotters Club
The travel club for independent travellers.