The Globetrotters eNewsletter
eNewsletter Archive

A man who shipped himself across America in an air cargo
crate to avoid paying a passenger fare was fined USD$1,500
and sentenced to 120 days of house arrest. Last September
the man, aged 25, filled out an air freight order that
charged his New York computer company for the shipping
costs, stuffed himself in a crate and sent his
5-foot-8-inch (173 cm) body in a box that was 42 inches
(107 cm) high, 36 inches (91 cm) wide and 15 inches deep
(38 cm). It was sent, without insurance, on a two-day
journey from the New York area to his parents’ home in a
Dallas suburb. He was discovered by a delivery man who
thought there was a corpse in the crate when he saw eyes
staring at him through slats in the box when he dropped it
off at McKinley’s parents’ home.

When the crate started to rattle and the apparent corpse
came to life, the delivery man called police, according to
a police report.

The USD$1,500 fine is more expensive than some airlines
charge a first class ticket from New York to Dallas.

The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) advises
against all travel to Haiti, and all British nationals in
Haiti are advised to leave the country if they can do so
safely. A highly volatile security situation prevails
throughout the country, and rebels have taken up positions
outside the capital, Port-au-Prince. The threat from
terrorism is low.

The FCO website says: Kidnapping of foreign nationals
(for ransom money) is increasingly common. Random shootings
of civilians have become more common, robbery usually being
the motive. Crime is widespread and often violent.
Pickpockets and theft of valuables are commonplace. You are
advised not to leave property in vehicles; travel with
doors locked and windows up. Armed hold-ups of vehicles
take place, even in daylight, in busy parts of
Port-au-Prince.

Some areas of Port-au-Prince should be avoided at all
times. Wherever possible you should avoid going out after
dark in the capital and do not travel outside the city
during the hours of darkness.

The political situation in Haiti is in turmoil. The
government and opposition groups are still at loggerheads
since the flawed May 2000 election. The security situation
is unpredictable, particularly in Port-au-Prince and in the
country’s other major towns. There was significant civil
unrest in the latter part of 2003, with several large
anti-government demonstrations taking place in Port au
Prince and elsewhere in the country. These intensified
either side of Haiti’s bicentennial celebrations at the
beginning of January 2004, and are continuing. Several
attacks on government facilities have been reported. The
worsening economic situation is further complicating the
security situation.

Wherever possible travel with a reliable guide. Avoid
using public transport. You should only use rented cars
with a local driver from a reliable agency (Dynamic Car
Rentals, Budget, etc). Internal flights between the capital
and some major provincial towns are available.

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The winner of last month’s Frommer’s Guidebook on
England guide is: Diana Lovelace - congratulations!

This month, win a Rother Walking Guide to the Azores.
See www.rother.de for
info on Rother.

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U. S. Soldiers Home, Washington: during a century
of travel (well 78 years!) both in and out of service I
have travelled to over 150 countries (I count both North
and South Dakota as countries) and for some reason have
jotted signs and happenings that I thought funny at the
time (and now wonder why). So here is the perfect
opportunity to share some of my anecdotes.

Sophisticated traveller that I am, I almost panicked
here at the Malaysian border coming from Thailand. The
night before on the train a man collected our passports for
processing and gave us no receipt. Mine was not at the
Malaysian border. I ran from Thai border officials to
Malaysian and neither had it. Finally one of them found it.
Later a Malaysian official came on the train to
“visit” with me. I think the many visas in my
passport made me suspect.

In Kota Tingu, Malaysia, I asked a seamstress if she
could make me a secret designed undershirt with a secret
pocket (no secret anymore) to hide valuables. I asked her
when it would be finished and when I should pick it up. I
thought she said “Today, three o clock”. When I
returned at three I discovered she had said. Two days,
three O Clock. In two days I was in another country. In
India I had a pocket made in my shorts (also a secret
pocket and again no secret) I sometimes wear athletic
soccer shorts. They have a pocket in them that has a shield
to protect your private parts. I put a plastic bag with
money in this pocket. I feel that if a robber got down to
looking in my shorts that I would be lost anyway. I also
carry valuables in many different places so as to not be
carrying all my eggs in one pocket.

Johure Bahru: a sign “Wet Market”. Wet
market means they hose down the floor in the market where
they have fish.

In my travels I have often met individuals that have
been travelling for years. Sometimes taking a job teaching
English or some part time job for a while and then moving
on. I met a Swedish man (these individuals are usually from
Australia) that had spent some time in Malaysia. He had
brought one hundred video games and was on his way to Kula
Lumpur to catch a Russian Airline Aeroflot plane to Sweden
(he says is lousy: the airline not Sweden.)

He pointed out to me in the station some transvestites -
Malaysian men dressed as women. He said to look at their
big adams apples in throat and their big feet. I asked him
what he did for a living. He said “I live.” Can
you live on reselling video games alone? He was maybe 35
and dressed respectfully.

In a Malaysian paper there was an article about a
visitor to the Philippines being drugged, robbed and left
in a cemetery. I asked the Swedish man if he had ever had
anything stolen. He replied “My wallet and a gold
chain I wore around my neck but that his girl friend might
have stolen them.”.

Next month, Mac discusses language.

If you would like to contact Mac, he can be e-mailed on:
"mailto:macsan400@yahoo.com">macsan400@yahoo.com

Ryanair have added nine new routes to its service across
Europe. Four of the routes will operate from London’s
Stansted Airport: to Linz in Austria, Bari in Italy, Erfurt
in Germany and Jerez in southern Spain. Two will link
Stockholm with Rome and Milan, two will fly from Frankfurt
to Reus, near Barcelona, and Tampere in Finland, and one
will link Brussels with the Spanish city of Valladolid.
This will take Ryanair’s total number of routes to 146 from
11 bases in Europe, the airline said in a statement. Only a
month ago, Ryanair was Europe’s biggest airline by market
value, now this title goes to German airline Lufthansa.

Ryanair has been ordered to repay £3million - about a
third of the £9million ‘discount’ it was given from 2001 to
encourage it to fly to Charleroi after complaints that
Brussels Charleroi Airport made life easier for Ryanair by
offering cheap fees and subsidies that were not on offer to
competitors. Belgium’s Walloon region gave Ryanair EUR3.8
million euros (USD$4.8 million) in 2002 for publicity and
to subsidise a few very low cost, highly publicised fares
for a few seats on selected flights. The ruling stemmed
from a complaint by Britair, a subsidiary of French
national carrier Air France, which said it was forced to
cancel its London-Strasbourg link as a result of unfair
financial aid to Ryanair. Ryanair had suspended the service
in September pending the outcome of the appeal.

Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, threatened
to axe any loss-making routes. The airline said fares would
rise by up to £12 because of the ruling. With the average
Ryanair one-way ticket costing around £25, Mr O’Leary
threatened: “This could double loads of
fares.”’

And Ryanair’s latest initiative, just when you
thought the service could get no worse… Ryanair has
confirmed it is taking “no-frills” flying a
stage further by ordering a fleet of planes without
headrests, no seat pockets, reclining seats or window
blinds. This would allow potential savings of more than
£1.3m a year by removing all remaining
“non-essential” items. They are also said to be
looking at the possibility of asking passengers to carry on
their luggage, cutting baggage handling fees.

What is it: cholera is an acute, diarrhoea
illness caused by infection of the intestine with the
bacterium Vibrio cholerae via contaminated drink or
shellfish. Transmission happens through contaminated water
and food.

How do I get it: cholera often occurs in epidemic
areas where there is poor sanitation and occurs regularly
after natural disasters and war. Outbreaks are known to
occur along the Ganges river and in Bangladesh.

What happens if I get it: around 90% of cases are
mild to moderate and hard to distinguish from the usual
sort of traveller’s diarrhoea. In more sever cases,
cholera is characterised by profuse watery diarrhoea,
vomiting, leg cramps, rapid loss of body fluids,
dehydration, shock. Without treatment, death can occur
within hours.

Diagnosis and treatment: a stool sample will show
whether you have cholera. It can be simply and successfully
treated by immediate replacement of the fluid and salts
lost through diarrhoea. Patients can be treated with oral
rehydration solution, a pre-packaged mixture of sugar and
salts to be mixed with water and drunk in large amounts.
This solution is commonly used to treat diarrhoea. Severe
cases may also require an intravenous drip with fluid
replacement. With prompt rehydration, less than 1% of
cholera patients die. A 6 day course of the antibiotic
tetracycline can clear things up very quickly, although
rehydration is the more important course of action.

How can I avoid contracting cholera: the usual
advice as per traveller’s diarrhoea - drink water
that you have boiled or treated with chlorine or iodine,
avoid ice, eat food that has been thoroughly cooked and is
still hot, only eat fruit that you have peeled yourself,
avoid undercooked or raw fish or shellfish. Avoid salads
and be careful with foods and beverages from street
vendors. There is a vaccine, but this is no longer
available in the UK because health authorities believe that
it is ineffective.

La “noche porteña”. Buenos Aires at night.
If you are planning to come to Buenos Aires, and you think
to go out during the day and rest at night. Please, forget
it!!!!!!!.

First, make an early visit to some museums, do a city
tour, go shopping in your spare time. After a quick lunch,
visit a market, historical places (a lot in Buenos Aires).
But you come back before it gets dark to have a bath,
change clothes, have dinner and go out again. Don’t
try to schedule your return, it will be quite useless: you
just won’t make it.

Below are just some of the options available:

Bars and pubs, Concerts,
Discos, Cinema and Theatre, Tango shows
(unforgettable!!!)

In Buenos Aires, you know how the activity begins but
never when it ends. Alternative options for bars and pubs
can be with live concerts, Tango, Flamenco, jazz and blues,
or attend castings, having a theatre play or watch a
bizarre cinema, some offering table games, billiards,
different sports, karaoke, office bars, literary, design
and astrological pubs, cybercafes, tapas and Irish pubs,
others (this is an important tip) the famous Argentine
wineries (wine bars are spread all over the city).

If you want be active, you can keep on dancing at after
hours, go to the cinema or theatre or visit our traditional
book stores, located in the famous Corrientes Avenue. La
Boca, Palermo, San Telmo, Downtown, Recoleta, Barrio Norte,
Retiro, Monserrat neighboorhoods are all good for these
kinds of activities.

And before coming back your hotel (about 4, 5 or maybe 8
in the morning,) you have to imitate one of our customs:
for young people and not that young, is to have a delicious
breakfast in a pub, in a bar or in a gas station.

SAFETY: Buenos Aires has experienced increased
muggings and thefts in the past two years. Visitors should
only take taxis marked “Radio Taxi.” Be extra
cautious when travelling in Abasto.

LANGUAGE: English is not widely spoken. Basic
Spanish, like the ability to ask for directions, is very
useful. The Evita Museum has signs in English and Spanish
but other museums do not.

SEASONS: Expect hot and muggy weather and higher
prices December through March, which is Argentina’s summer.
The best times to visit, both in terms of weather and cost,
are spring (September to November) and fall (April to
June).

Nélida G. Vilais the General Coordinator and Spanish
teacher at the Buenos Aires Centre - Learn Spanish in
Argentina. They can organise programs of immersion in
language and culture in Buenos Aires & Patagonia. For
more information, see:

"http://www.buenosairescentre.com.ar">http://www.buenosairescentre.com.ar