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Category Archives: archive
First Stop – Bangkok by Ingrid Styles
As I proceeded through the terminal at Bangkok's International Airport I felt the warm air greet me and a rush of excitement tickled my stomach. This was the first destination of my journey around the globe, smiling I thought to myself 'Welcome to the rest of the world!'
Cruising down the highway into the city the vast mass of buildings as far as the eye can see in all directions makes Bangkok seem a little overwhelming at first. For most jet lagged backpackers the Kho San Road is usually the first port of call, I however was lucky to have a free place to stay in Thong Lo on the other side of town.
After catching up on a few lost zeds I was taken to a Thai restaurant. I had never tasted Thai food so good. All the ingredients were so fresh and beautifully served, I am normally a fussy eater but on this occasion I wanted to try everything. If you like rice or noodles there is almost every combination to suit everybody.
Tip: Watch out for the chillies, Thai food can be very spicy!
After dinner we went to meet some of the locals. Apparently Thai people have very long names so they give nicknames to make things easier. I have a tendency to forget names at the best of times, that evening I met Jo, Bo and O. I got terribly mixed up. 'Who was who again?'
The city's name itself comes from Bang Makok meaning 'Place of Olive Plums' taken from Bangkok's original site. The Thais however call it 'Krung Thep' meaning 'City of Angels', a far more desirable name and of course why not.
Bangkok became the capital of Thailand only as recently as 1782 after the Burmese attacked the capital at Ayuthaya in 1767. Now with a population of about 10 million, spreading across 330 sq km. For such a young city you get the impression that it has learnt to run before it could walk. The natural landscape is completely flat of which little is left exposed in the protruding mass of high rise buildings and temples.
93% of the Thai population are practicing Theraveda Buddhists, so our sightseeing started at the Grand Palace home to Royalty, government offices and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Every year there are three grand ceremonies for the changing of the Emerald Buddha's seasonal costume.
Tip: When entering a temple you must always remember to remove your shoes and not point your feet towards the Buddha when sitting.
Next was the Vimanek Mansion the biggest golden teak building in the world that has traditional Thai dancing shows next to the canal. I discovered that Bangkok used to be known as the Venice of the east. Only the spectacular Temples and Royal Palaces were built on the original land. During my stay I saw little evidence left to suggest this was ever so, however during the rainy season Bangkok often floods and ironically the streets go back to being rivers once more.
Our Last stop for the day Wat Pho the temple of the largest leaning Buddha in the world (46 metres in length). Also home to the reputable Thai massage school and what better way to end the day than leaning back yourself and receiving a massage. After an hour or two with a few pops, twists and cracks you feel very refreshed. As you go back out to the bustling streets the urban metropolis hits you once more and you ask yourself 'Did that sanctuary really exist in the midst of all of this?' Nearby the Kho San Road, the backpackers' main drag, there are bars, Internet cafes, travel agents, shops, stalls and lots of cheap accommodation, all busy with travellers coming and going.
All over Bangkok there are thousands of market stalls cluttering the streets. Tables and chairs lay along the pavement under patchy homemade canopies. Often you have to dodge yourself out into the hectic traffic in order to get past these obstacle courses. And as for crossing the road it sometimes it can seem like an eternity waiting for a gap in the traffic.
At the end of the reliable Skytrain on the Sukumvit line is the enormous Chatuya weekend market. We went with the intention of buying one pair of sandals but I could not believe the bargains and ended up buying three, so much for travelling light. The designer imitations or factory seconds you find all over Bangkok are so well made that no one can tell the difference and at a fraction of the price you just got to have them.
Tip: Haggle, you will definitely not pay the original asking price.
Thai people are more than happy to help whether it is to practice their English or to make a quick buck. No matter where you are or where you are going in Bangkok there is always someone offering a cheap ride. One evening five of us squashed into the back of a tuk tuk (a small three wheeled two stroke) and of we raced to Pat Pong. Night markets fill the side streets, bars and clubs with ladies that do all sorts of things with their private parts. Out of curiosity we took a look. Ping-pong balls, razor blades, bananas, etc within five minutes we walked out our drinks barely touched, that was enough for us thanks! Hum…City of Angels?
The great thing about Bangkok is not only is it very affordable with plenty to do in the big city but also it is very easy to get out. For a day trip, there is the beach at Pattaya, the Ancient ruins at Ayuthaya or the popular boat markets near the famous River Kwai. 1-2hrs by plane or an overnight bus or train will take you to Thailand's beautiful southern beaches, northern rainforests or ancient temples. It has been recognised that Thailand is regarded as one of the safest countries to visit in Asia if not the world and for the inexperienced traveller starting out, it is probably the best place to get adjusted to an unfamiliar culture.
If you'd like to get in touch with Ingrid, she's currently toiling away in a banana factory in Cairns right now, and the Beetle is sure that she would appreciate an e-mail! Ingrid's e-mail address is: ingrid_styles@hotmail.com
Heathrow Facts
· The airport handles more international passengers than any other airport in the world and offers flights to many international destinations including 33 flights to Paris and 23 flights to New York each day.
· The most popular country for flights from Heathrow is the United States of America.
· The busiest routes are New York, Paris, Amsterdam and Dublin.
· The busiest day at Heathrow recorded this year was Sunday 29 July 2001 when 213,000 passengers passed through the airport.
· The airport covers approximately 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres).
London:
There was no London meeting in August, but we will be back on Saturday 7th September when Marion Bull will be talking about her recent travels, “Travelling with the Tuareg” in the Southern Algerian Sahara and rock paintings of the Tassili N'Ajjer.
Julian Webster will be sharing his thoughts and slides: “India – a Kaleidoscope of Memories, Moments and Surprises.
London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month. There is no London meeting in August, but we will be back on Saturday 1st September. For more information, you can contact the Globetrotter Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website: www.globetrotters.co.uk
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Where do the Stars Holiday?
OK, it's silly season! Earlier in the year, we saw Prince Charles (but not Camilla!) spend a night in a £25-a-night B&B called Yew Tree Farm, an 18th century farmhouse in the Lake District village of Rosthwaite in Borrowdale. Pre-divorce, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise also used to stay in the Lake District, at Samling, a rambling Lakeland estate of stone cottages dotted across a fell overlooking Lake Windermere.
Michael Winner stays at Sandy Lane, Barbados. Kylie is known to holiday in Ibiza, staying at a £10,000 a week three-bed art deco house on top of a mountain, according to celebrity travel agent Earth. Julien MacDonald of Givenchy fame is alleged to prefer the Puri Ganesha villas on the beach at Pemuteran, a fishing village in the relatively undiscovered north-west of Bali, costing around £300 a night. Talking of fashion designers, Jean Paul Gaultier can be found at Dar Zellije, a four-suite riad said to have no frills other than its 17th century architecture where not all the bathrooms are en suite.
And last but not least, lets think about Brighton, that genteel (?), happening place and erstwhile Victorian resort on the UK's southern shore. Not only does Norman Cook, AKA Fat Boy Slim hold rather dubious free concerts on the beach, but Liam Gallagher was spotted staying on the seafront at Blanche House, described as a themed B&B costing around £100 a night.
New York:
HOLLAND BY BIKE! Rob Lewis, one of our own, will be giving a slide show and lecture about Holland and perhaps select areas of England and Ireland. Come join us for our Sept. kick off meeting! Should be amazing! Away from the tourist trail, the real Holland of dunes, rivers, dikes, canals, lowlands, windmills and castles can be reached via the Landelijk Fietsplatform (LF) routes – 3000 miles of long distance cycle routes. Robert will be giving a slide show and discussing the routes, sights, and stresses of trying to circle the Netherlands during a 7 day self guided tour. Robert Lewis is a recent arrival to NY, having spent 8 years living in Hong Kong working as an equity research analyst focusing on Asian technology companies. Robert has travelled extensively throughout Europe and Asia, and has taken his bicycle to Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
New York meetings are held at The Wings Theater, 154 Christopher Street (btw Greenwich St and Washington St), to the right of Crunch Fitness, in the Archive on the first Saturday of each month at 4 pm.
Travel Quiz
A big thank you to Moon Handbooks who have donated this months' huge and highly informative Moon handbook on the South Pacific, written by David Stanley as above. See www.moon.com for more details.
The winner of last month's Moon Handbook on Guatemala is Mike Shawcross.
Easter Island
If you are thinking of going to Santiago or Tahiti, did you know, you could take a flight to Easter Island? It's included in the famous Oneworld Explorer air pass. In addition, if you do plan a trip to Easter Island, David Stanley's piece on Easter Island is a good source of information to help you plan your trip. David's notes on Easter Island are taken from the Moon Handbook on the South Pacific.
Visit southpacific.org for full information on how to get there, what there is to see, how to get around, a brief history and other activities such as surfing and diving. David Stanley has earned his living from guidebook writing since 1979, producing guides to the South Pacific, Micronesia, Alaska-Yukon, Eastern Europe, and Cuba. His latest book, Lonely Planet Canada's Maritime Provinces, was released in July.
London: Saturday 6th July 2002 – London Meeting by Padmassana
This month we had the annual member's slides show. We were treated to eight mini talks from club members, covering three continents. I have described them below in a geographical order and not the actual sequence in which they were presented.
We will start with the Americas. The Seattle suburb of Freemont took us on a tour of the strange public art on display there. This ranged from a wall decorated with gunshot to a gigantic troll who “lives” underneath a bridge. We then moved down into Mexico for a look at the less touristy areas west and north of Mexico City, taking in Guadalajara and Oaxaca. Cuzco in Peru was our last port of call in the Americas, we saw weavers in traditional garb and a saline river that helps the local people to a living.
Across the Atlantic Ocean to the Cape Verde islands off the coast of Senegal. We saw some excellent slides of this remote set of islands and its stark landscapes. Into southern Europe we stopped off at the Spanish City of Barcelona, to see some exciting pictures of a festival that included devils and fire breathing dragons as well as giants and human pyramids. Across the channel via Paris we saw some of Britain and France's architecture. We saw London's Millennium wobbly bridge, the glass pyramid of Paris' Louvre and the pyramid in Bedford!
In Asia we called in at Rajastan in India, from the Far West City of Jaisalmeer, with its spectacular hill top fortress and it's camels, then across to Udaipur on Lake Pichola, where we saw the washing ghats and the Lake Palace Hotel. Our final stop is in Cambodia at Siem Reap. We saw some of the spectacular temples at Angkor Wat, before seeing some of the local villages, which are accessible only by boat.
Thank you to all the members who spoke to us.
There is no London meeting in August, but we will be back on Saturday 7th September when Marion Bull will be talking about her recent travels, “Travelling with the Tuareg” in the Southern Algerian Sahara and rock paintings of the Tassili N'Ajjer. Julian Webster will be sharing his thoughts and slides: “India – a Kaleidoscope of Memories, Moments and Surprises.
London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month.
For more information, you can contact the Globetrotter Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website: www.globetrotters.co.uk
House Votes to Lift Ban on Cuba Travel by Susan Milligan / Boston Globe (via Common Dreams News Center)
The US House voted last night to lift the ban on US citizens travelling to communist Cuba, stunning hard-liners and defying a plea by the Bush administration to retain harsh, 40-year-old sanctions against a nation it sees as a terrorist state. In an unexpectedly lopsided and bipartisan 262-167 vote, the House approved an amendment by Representative Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, to prohibit funds from being used to enforce the travel ban, effectively lifting it.
Since the amendment was attached to a Treasury Department and Postal Service appropriations bill, it had to pertain to spending to be considered in order.
“Americans can travel to North Korea and Iran, two-thirds of the axis of evil, but not to Cuba,” said Representative William Delahunt, Democrat of Quincy, MA. “That makes no sense, I would suggest.”
Inuit Web Site
One of the oldest indigenous peoples, the Inuit, have turned to one of the most modern forms of communication to tell the world about their culture.
The Inuit are a founding people of Canada. Inuit hunters and their families started crossing the 320-kilometres-wide (200 miles) Bering Land Bridge from Siberia perhaps 30,000 years ago, then wandered slowly across the Polar north, reaching Greenland 50 centuries ago.
The Inuit were an entirely nomadic, hunting people until about 50 years ago, when the central government began an effort to bring them into mainstream Canadian life. They now live across the Arctic reaches of northern Canada, where they are struggling to decrease high rates of alcoholism, suicide, teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
They have launched a website detailing their 5,000-year-old history, cataloguing their origins, when they first came into contact with white explorers and their struggle for land rights. Part of the reason for setting up the website was to tell the story of the Inuit in their own words, as until now, most of the research on Inuit culture and history has been done by others. http://www.tapirisat.ca/
New York:
Hello Globies! I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! I have been told that a lot of you will be travelling and exploring the world, so I am going to CANCEL the August meeting as well. WE WILL HAVE A SEPTEMBER MEETING – STAY TUNED FOR GUEST SPEAKER INFORMATION!! Enjoy the summer and see you all in September! Laurie
New York meetings are held at The Wings Theater, 154 Christopher Street (btw Greenwich St and Washington St), to the right of Crunch Fitness, in the Archive on the first Saturday of each month at 4 pm.
Fave Websites of the Month
Cut price rooms in London do, really exist. Take a look at: www.laterooms.com and also www.lastminute.com do London hotel rooms.
Travel Inn www.travelinn.com have rooms at £74.95 and there is one next to the London Eye – the huge Ferris wheel or tel: 08702 383300.
Travel Quiz
Win a Moon Handbook on Guatemala – see www.moon.com by answering these questions.
The winner of last month's Moon Handbook on Vancouver is Dian Anderson from Canada.
Ontario:
As soon as we get information on the annual barbecue we will let you know what happened!
For information on Ontario meetings, please contact: Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@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 Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.
Outbreak of Malaria in Kenya
The Red Cross in Kenya has mobilised 1,000 volunteers to help cope with an outbreak of malaria, which has killed nearly 300 people. The outbreak has affected eight districts in the Rift Valley and the west of the country and follows a period of very heavy rains.
The Red Cross says that more than 150,000 people have contracted malaria since June. Young and old alike have been affected, with the death toll standing at 298. Most of those who have died have simply been unable to reach a hospital quickly enough to get treatment. The outbreak follows several weeks of very heavy rains, but quite why it has turned so deadly is not really known.
Texas:
Texas meetings are usually held at the New Braunfels library, which was recently flooded. Almost all the TV news coverage in New Braunfels took place at the bridge on Common St and the library could be seen, high and dry at the top of the hill. July 13th's meeting saw Mary Ann Hollmig, local coordinator for Elderhostel, as our guest speaker.
The July meeting marked our one-year anniversary here in Texas! (Yippee!) Our group has grown from 6 folks to almost 100!! We are putting together a questionnaire for our members in order to develop a travel information directory that will enhance networking among us “Texas Globies”.
Next meeting: August 10th, A reminder that Texas meetings will start one hour earlier, at 2pm and not 3pm.
Meetings are held at 2pm at the New Braunfels Public Library, 700 E. Common Street in New Braunfels, Texas. The meeting ends at 5 p.m. If you would like to continue travel talk on a more informal basis, we plan to adjourn to the Hoity-Toit, a local New Braunfels establishment. If anybody would like to enquire about meetings or help Christina, please contact her on: texas@globetrotters.co.uk
Mutual Aid
Can you help Caroline? Suffering from information overload, she would love some advice on round the world tickets, volunteer organisations in Australia, New Zealand, and Nepal that don't charge heaps of money to go volunteering, I'm 33 so this seems to exclude at least some of them. Plus I have no degree or profession so that excludes some more. Anyone had any experience of Involvement Volunteers UK, or the overseas arm of BTCV. Plans are to go to Australia in November time, do some volunteer work and then carry on doing the same in New Zealand and Nepal for hopefully one year. Also anyone got any views on how much of the itinerary to plan beforehand. Thanks in advance. Caroline cmather@care4free.net
Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a place or country – want to share something with us – why not visit our Mutual Aid section of the Website: Mutual Aid
London Markets: Brixton
Since the arrival of the West Indian population in London, in the 1950s and 1960s, Brixton Market has been the place for Afro-Caribbean foodstuffs especially along Electric Avenue, while the African and Asian fabrics are also worth a look. Check out the biggest Ghana Yams in London – they're the size of a small child. They say it's Europe's biggest Caribbean foods market and they could be right.
Brixton Market is mainly for ethnic foods, fruits and vegetables. You can find odd merchandise, from wigs, rare records, homeopathic root cures, to plantains and hair extensions. Fish is fresh and well priced, as are flowers and fruits. You can find the latest R&B CDs for a tenner each and fill up your toiletries cabinet for £1 per item.
The market covers several areas of Brixton: Reliance Avenue – a short and narrow covered market running between Brixton Rd and Electric Avenue. Stalls include children's clothes, camera/watch shop and a vacuum cleaner spare parts store! Brixton Station Rd – big outdoor market mainly selling second hand clothes and bric-a-brac with some electric goods of uncertain origin. Electric Avenue – the original market that was once protected by extended awnings running the length of the street. Mainly fruit and veg and clothes stores. Granville Arcade – large covered market with an eclectic mix of shops including a tattoo studio, cafes, Caribbean bakery, several fishmongers and all kinds of unsavoury trays of animal produce. Not for sensitive veggies! Station Arcade – small selection of stores leading up the druggies favourite haunt, Brixton railway station. Market Row – Another big covered market with a large selection of stores including the superb Eco Pizzas and Cafe Pushkar. Tunstall Rd – New art market opposite Brixton tube.
Just a word of warning, Brixton is a great and lively place during the day, but late at night, it can be a little scary. Be careful with your possessions at all times whilst in any market.
Open Monday to Saturday 9am to 6pm, except Wednesday when it's open 9am to 3pm.
Next month: Covent Garden market