The Globetrotters eNewsletter
eNewsletter Archive

When the Beetle was a very small Beetle one of the first
books about travel she read was by Thor Heyerdahl, the world-renowned
explorer and archaeologist. He must have fired the imaginations of millions
with his exploits, trying to recreate the journeys of people from past
times.

He was born in 1914, in Larvik, Norway and from his earliest
days, he was an enthusiastic nature lover, and became a voracious explorer.
His first expedition was to Polynesia in 1937-1938 when he was studying
the origins of the island's life, that he became convinced that human
settlers had come with the ocean currents from the west just as the flora
and fauna had done. In 1947 he decided to build a replica of the aboriginal
balsa raft (named the “Kon-Tiki”) to test his theories. In 1947,
Heyerdahl and five companions left Callio, Peru and crossed 8000 km (4300
miles) in 101 days to reach Polynesia (Raroia atoll, Tuamotu Archipelago).
Thor Heyerdahl managed to demonstrate that the ancient Peruvians could
have reached Polynesia in this way.

Following the success of the Kon-Tiki Expedition, in
1952, Heyerdahl organized and led the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition
to the Galapagos Islands, where it was demonstrated that once again, the
people of South America had the means to travel much further than archaeologists
had previously believed. In 1949, he continued his research on ancient
navigation and turned his attention to the ancient reed-boats made of
papyrus. These boats were deemed insufficient to cross the Atlantic as
the reeds were believed to become water-logged after less than two weeks
on open water.

Heyerdahl believed that contemporary science underestimated
the ancient vessels and undertook to prove this by experiment. In 1969,
he bought 12 tons of papyrus and worked with experts to construct an ancient-style
vessel. The result was a 15 m boat which was launched at the old Phoenician
port of Safi, Morocco. In the spirit of cooperation, Heyerdahl embarked
under the UN flag with a crew of seven men from seven countries. The papyrus
craft, Ra, sailed 5000 km (2700 nautical miles) in 56 days until storms
and deficiencies in the construction caused the team to abandon their
target only one week short of Barbados.

Thor Heyerdahl died in June of this year, aged 88.

With thanks to "http://www.sleepinginairports.net/bestof.htm">sleepinginairports.net

Last month we had the winner, Changi airport in Singapore,
which the Beetle can wholeheartedly agree with - it is a lovely airport!
According to the website Sleeping in Airports, the runners up to the best
airport to sleep in are as follows:

Runners Up (in alphabetical order):

• Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Auckland, New Zealand
• Hong Kong
• Melbourne, Australia
• Munich, Germany
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Portland, Oregon
• Toronto (Terminal 3), Ontario
• Vancouver, British Columbia

Write in and tell us your best airport nominations! "mailto:Beetle@globetrotters.co.uk">Beetle@globetrotters.co.uk

Tina is a segment producer for a TV show called “Radical
Sabbaticals” which airs on the Fine Living Network in the United
States. The show features passionate, inspirational stories about successful,
professional people who have walked away from their careers to pursue
a dream…i.e. the CEO of a multi-million dollar company who left to become
a wine maker. They could also be on an open-ended sabbatical We are also
looking for people who have also given up their career to move to Europe
to pursue their dreams. If you could refer any people or stories to us,
it would be greatly appreciated. Your response would be greatly appreciated.
Tina can be reached at (818) 755-4800 ext. 207 or "mailto:tseiler@wellergrossman.com">click here to email Tina.

If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell.
Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section of the Website
and share it with the world. "http://www.globetrotters.co.uk/bites/">Travel Sized Bites

Not a lot of people know that John Lennon and Yoko Ono
were married in Gibraltar, or that Prince Charles started his honeymoon
there with Princess Diana. Gibraltar is, at the moment, a 3 square mile
piece of independent territory in southern Spain overlooking Morocco with
some 30,000 inhabitants.

The original settlers came from around the Mediterranean:
from Malta and Italy. Both Spanish and English is spoken in Gibraltar
and most of the population are, unlike Britain, Catholics. Back in the
18^th century, Spain ceded Gibraltar to Britain.
Spain now wants Gibraltar back! In 1969, the people of Gibraltar included
a proviso in its constitution that Gibraltar will only be returned to
Spain if is population vote for this in a national referendum.

The Gibraltarians feel very passionate about not becoming
part of Spain and Spain has been practicing all manner of restrictive
practices towards Gibraltar, including causing a 3 hour wait to make a
100m drive across the border, even bribing ferry companies to move a few
miles across into Spain to provide services to Tunis.

One has to consider the irony of this latest Anglo-Spanish
diplomatic scuffle; true, Gibraltar with its geographical position almost
at the mouth of the Med is well strategically placed, but equally, let's
not forget that Spain maintains two separate territories in Morocco, which,
strangely, Morocco wants back.

At the end of May, beginning of June, the UK was in party
mode to celebrate 50 years of the Queen on the throne. Two public holidays
added to the weekend lead to four days of celebrations. Street parties
were held across the UK and thousands went to Buckingham Palace in the
evenings for massive rock and classical concerts.

The English Tourist Council predicted that around one
third of Britons took part in a Golden Jubilee event of some kind over
the long bank holiday weekend. Also to celebrate the event there was almost
2,000 beacons lit across the UK and many more in all of the Commonwealth
countries. The fact that the jubilee coincided with the start of the World
Cup gave an extra boost to the festivities and resulted in far fewer (about
1.5 million people) people going abroad to take advantage of the 4 day
holiday.

Ever wondered who were the most corrupt countries in
the world?

The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) lists those countries
which are perceived by suppliers as requiring the most bribes of businesses.
The countries that currently do worst on this score are Russia, China,
Taiwan and South Korea, with Sweden and Australia faring the best.

Over half of Cuba's 2 million visitors come from
Europe, so it perhaps makes sense that tourists visiting Cuba's biggest
tourist beach resort, Varadero, some 3 hours east of Havana can now use
the European currency, the euro. Of course, you are still welcome to pay
for good and services in US $ or Cuban pesos. News reports say that even
small Cuban children have started to ask for euros!

Hotel brochure, Italy:

THIS HOTEL IS RENOWNED FOR ITS PEACE AND SOLITUDE. IN
FACT, CROWDS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD FLOCK HERE TO ENJOY ITS SOLITUDE.

Hotel lobby, Bucharest:

THE LIFT IS BEING FIXED FOR THE NEXT DAY. DURING THAT
TIME WE REGRET THAT YOU WILL BE UNBEARABLE.

Hotel elevator, Paris:

PLEASE LEAVE YOUR VALUES AT THE FRONT DESK.

Hotel, Yugoslavia:

THE FLATTENING OF UNDERWEAR WITH PLEASURE IS THE JOB
OF THE CHAMBERMAID.

Hotel, Japan:

YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAMBERMAID.

Write in and tell us your funny sign! Drop a line to
the Beetle! "mailto:Beetle@globetrotters.co.uk">E-mail the Beetle.

Mike is still looking for his missing friend. My missing
friend is called Bob Arthrell and he is sailing a 40 ft. yacht named Tasneem.
Four months ago he was at Nuku Hiva island in the Marquesas, and looking
for crew to help him sail to Fanning (Tabuaeran) island which is a tiny
part of the republic of Kiribati in the pacific ocean. If you can help
Mike, "mailto:rabiajthorneloe@hotmail.com">please contact him by email.

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: "http://www.globetrotters.co.uk/mutual/mutaid.html">Mutual Aid