Santiniketan is a small town near Bolpur in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, India, and approximately 180 kilometres north of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). It was made famous by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, whose vision became what is now a university town (Visva-Bharati University ) that attracts thousands of visitors each year. Santiniketan is a…

World’s Largest Subway Systems (by rider ship) City Date system completed Number of riders (year) Length (km) Moscow 1935 3.2 bil (1997) 340 Tokyo 1927 2.6 bil (1997/98) 281+ Seoul 1974 1.4 bil (1993) 278+ Mexico City 1969 1.4 bil (1996) 202 New York City 1904 1.3 bil (2001) 371 Paris 1900 1.2 bil(1998) 211…

The South American Explorers Club are looking for new volunteers and interns in their Buenos Aires Clubhouse as they are expanding the services they offer. There are many exciting volunteer opportunities available for adventurous travellers in the Southern Cone. While Buenos Aires has razzle-dazzle nightlife and neighbourhoods made for shopping and exploring, take some time…

Mac has not been very well but is still e-mailing strong. Here is an account by Paul Haring, a US journalist writing about Mac’s exploits during WW2. The article is entitled: The ‘Greatest Generation.’ The World War II generation, called by Tom Brokaw the “Greatest Generation,” is well represented at the Soldiers and Airmen’s Home…

More news re Ryanair who have been told by the UK’s Office of Fair Trading(OFT) to remove their small print in their ticket info over their attempt to avoid paying compensation for damaged and lost baggage. Ryanair was refusing any liability for damage or delay to prams, sporting equipment, such as golf clubs, wheelchairs and…

MEETING NEWS

Our first speaker was Rory Maclean, “The magic bus”, Istanbul to India. Rory set out to visit the places along the classic overland route to India. Starting in Istanbul at the Pudding shop, visiting the spectacular Hagia Sofia, then using mainly public buses to travel through Iran and into Afghanistan, where at one point he…

For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermane@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259. Meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November, usually at the Old York Tower, 85 Esplanade (It is at the south-east corner of Church & Esplanade – 2 blocks…

The Beetle visited Thailand in September 2006 and had an opportunity to travel to the Golden Triangle, an area that refers to a large, predominantly highland a Laos, Burma and Thailand and at the point where the Ruak and Mekong Rivers merge – see picture right of the Mekhong which shows Laos to the right,…

Shortly after we arrived at our position in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico, my wife and I were invited with a youth group to tour a cave near the town of Pichucalco, Chiapas. It was a warm (read hot) clear day, and even though we did not know much Spanish as yet, we enjoyed the happy enthusiasm…