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The Beetle
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Tourists Kidnapped in SE Iran
Three cyclists, two German, one Irish are reported missing between the city of Bam and Zahedan near the Pakistani border – a notorious opium smuggling route from Afghanistan to Western Europe. A ransom is thought to have been issued. Kidnappings there, as in the rest of the country, have been rare in recent years. A…
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The Beetle
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Lisbon: Teaching English and Joining Women’s Groups by Sally Pethybridge, Portugal
Sally is British and has lived in the UK all her life. International travel as part of her work took her to many countries, including Portugal. She fell in love with the place and decided to sell her beautiful cottage in Malmsbury, Wiltshire, and relocate to Lisbon. In this article, she tells us of getting…
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The Beetle
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Vietnam Airlines
Vietnam Airlines has announced that it will change the current two-tier price system for Vietnamese and foreigners from January 1 next year to boost tourism. Foreigners will no longer pay 20% more for domestic flights and will pay the same amount as Vietnamese nationals. A round trip ticket from capital Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh…
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The Beetle
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Mac’s Travel Tips, USA
Mac has been reading and researching again! The following travel tips are a culmination of his recent reading. Luggage tags: these can easily be lost. One potential solution is to put your address inside your suitcase or to put some distinctive marking with a permanent marking pen on the side of the suitcase, such as…
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The Beetle
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No Hunting Please – We’re Lions
A recent report from Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit says that fewer than 20,000 lions may now survive in the whole of Africa, although they do not face immediate extinction. The greatest threats to the species are sport hunting and conflict with farmers over livestock. The estimate of 20,000 lions or fewer compares with…
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The Beetle
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Warning: Lastminute.com by Trevor, UK
Trevor from the UK writes to tell us of his experience booking flights through the internet based travel company lastminute.com. He says: Be very careful before booking flights through lastminute.com. I recently booked two flights a week or two in advance of travelling and elected to collect my tickets via the e-ticket mechanism. My account…
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The Beetle
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Faliraki Club Reps
Club Reps, a bawdy real life UK TV documentary on the goings on in the town of Faliraki on the Greek island of Rhodes is blamed for an increase in drunken behaviour. A British policeman from Blackpool, (another delightful part in North-West UK), with similar issues has been dispatched to Faliraki to liaise with the…
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The Beetle
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The World’s Richest Countries
Rank Country (GDP per capita) Luxembourg ($36,400) United States ($36,200) Bermuda ($33,000) San Marino ($32,000) Switzerland ($28,600) Aruba ($28,000) Norway ($27,700) Monaco ($27,000) Singapore ($26,500) Denmark ($25,500)
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The Beetle
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Fave Website: Travel Tips
Mac spotted a website www.walkabouttravelgear.com that has a lot of good travel tips. He says: they include using empty gatoraide bottles for water instead of water bottles as the gatorade bottles are more leak proof. Another suggestion was to put duct tape around a pencil to carry duct tape that way and use less space.…
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The Beetle
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Our Friends Ryanair
Plenty of news about our friends Ryanair. Despite their difficulties with court cases with the European Union about state aid, (whether Ryanair received unfair state subsidies at its Belgian hub of Charleroi) Ryanair has announced two new European bases in Rome and Barcelona. The new bases would start from January 28 and February 5 2004…
The Globetrotters Club
The travel club for independent travellers.