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The Beetle
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Plymouth – Banjul Rally
You may have heard of the Paris – Dakar car rally, well, here's a slightly different take on the idea of driving a car across deserts and getting lost, but for those with less cash. The aim is to drive the route from Plymouth in the south west of the UK to Banjul in The…
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The Beetle
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Mac's Travel Reminiscences
We are sorry to say that Mac is not very well, but he is still e-mailing strong and recently sent the Beetle a collection of travel reminiscences. Scotland. Inch is Gallic for island. Firth is a mouth of a river. Brae is a hill. Haggis is in a shape of a ball but you don't…
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The Beetle
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HK Airport Best 2005
Hong Kong International Airport is named Best Airport worldwide in 2005 passenger survey. For the 5th consecutive year, passengers have rated Hong Kong International Airport as the world's Best Airport. Singapore Changi Airport takes the Silver Award, rated 2nd in the world.
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The Beetle
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Get In Print
Europe From a Backpack travel book series are now accepting submissions for Italy From a Backpack and Spain From a Backpack. They are looking for first-person must-tell stories. If you have a story to tell, visit www.EuropeBackpack.com for details. Length: Stories average 800-2,000 words. While we will accept stories up to 3,000 words, shorter stories…
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The Beetle
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London Palaces: Hampton Court
The Hampton Court Estate dates back to before the 15th Century. The estate was originally formed by merging of the manors of Hampton Richard and Hampton Mappenor. It was granted by Henry IV to Sir Rowland Lenthall at the time of his marriage to Margaret Fitzalan, daughter of the Earl of Arundel and a cousin…
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The Beetle
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9 Yr Old Boy Swims From Alcatraz
A 9-year-old boy, wanting to help Hurricane Katrina victims, swam from Alcatraz to San Francisco, raising $30,000 in donations in the process. Fourth-grader Johnny Wilson made the mile-and-a-half swim in the choppy, 53-degree water of San Francisco Bay in under two hours. Wilson called the swim tiring, but said he kept telling himself, “I'm almost…
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The Beetle
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Ice Kingdom of Animals
If you happen to be near Lubeck in Germany, there is a huge ice and snow sculpture festival opening 9th December. Forty ice sculptors will create sculptures for the “Kingdom of Animals” under supervision of Dave Willé. Artists from the United States, Canada Great Britain Belgium, Russia and the Netherlands carve icy animals within the…
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The Beetle
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The World's Largest Islands
The World’s Largest Islands Rank Island (location) Area in mi² Area in km² 1. Greenland 822,700 2,130,800 2. Papua (New Guinea) (Papua New Guinea-Indonesia) 309,000 800,000 3. Borneo (Indonesia-Malaysia-Brunei) 283,400 734,000 4. Madagascar 226,658 587,041 5. Baffin (Canada) 195,928 507,451 6. Sumatera (Sumatra)(Indonesia) 167,600 434,000 7. Honshu (Japan) 87,805 227,414 8. Victoria (Canada) 83,897 217,291…
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The Beetle
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Travel Facts
Travel Facts One in three adults aged 15-49 are infected with HIV/AIDS in Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Swaziland. If you thought Antarctica was inhospitable, think again – its land area is only 98% ice. Reassuringly, the other 2% is categorised as 'barren rock'. The Mall in Washington, D.C. is 1.4 times larger than Vatican City. Moldova…
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The Beetle
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Red Light Tours
The UK's longest-running holiday operator Thomas Cook is offering family tours of Amsterdam's red-light district. The package costs £12, though half-price for children. Thomas Cook claims the tour, which is free to under threes, offers a 'fascinating insight into the oldest profession in the world'. A press release on the two-hour tour says it leaves…
The Globetrotters Club
The travel club for independent travellers.