Answers to: So
You Think You’re Well Travelled?
0 out of 5 - you need to get out more!
1-3 - not bad
4 - very good! You are a Globetrotter!
5 - are you sure you didn’t sneak a look?
The winner of last month's Trailblazer Guidebook on Tibet is:
Gavin Fernandez congratulations, Gavin!
This month, win a Rough Guide guidebook on Peru. See
for travel info.
Some people have said the quiz is difficult, we say do some
research: try google.com or
the answers.
1. How many countries border Peru?
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2. Which empire inhabited Cusco from 1200 to 1532?
3. Ceviche is a cold spicy dish eaten on the Peruvian coast -
what is its principle ingredient?
4. Which Spanish conquistador is said to have founded Lima in
1535?
5. Maria Reiche is held to be the expert on what land features?
Your Name:
Your e-mail address:
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.
Here’s a little Beetle quiz based on capital cities. See how many
you get right! Go on, have a guess!
What is the capital city of the following countries:
For the answers, see at the end of the e-newsletter.
This is my first request to your excellent newsletter. I'd like
to know if anyone knows of anywhere in Tibet where a young (23)
year old guy could go to learn overtone chanting. Have you any
ideas/sources/reports of young people. I'd love to know, and I
can then pass the message on:
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 Forum section of the Website:
Need to convert currency?
Take a look at
Globetrotters Currency Converter - get the exchange rates for
164 currencies
Globetrotters Currency Cheat Sheet - create and print a
currency converter table for your next trip.
Seven people have died and hundreds have lost their homes in Fiji
after severe storms hit the main island of Viti Levu in the South
Pacific. Nine people are still missing. In one of the
worst incidents, five people died when their bus was swept away by
a landslide.
According to a recent poll, Brazilians appear to approve of
measures to photograph and fingerprint US tourists entering the
country, a move that sparked a diplomatic tiff between the
nations. Of 2,000 people surveyed, 74.4 percent said they
agreed with the immigration procedures, which were enacted at the
start of the year in a tit-for-tat retaliation for similar security
checks by the United States. The measures sparked a
diplomatic row between the two countries and have been widely
criticized by US travellers, including an American Airlines pilot
and a retired US banker who showed their displeasure by giving
their middle finger while being photographed. Although some
Brazilians worried the measures would deter US visitors at the
height of the tourist season, the system has revealed resentment
among Brazilians over what they consider to be costly and
humiliating procedures to get a US visa or enter the United
States. Visitors from other countries need not worry,
however, as only 3.2 percent of those polled thought the procedures
should be extended to other foreigners entering Brazil.
Continental Airlines have announced that they plan to
eliminate paper tickets by the end of 2004 in a bid to cut costs,
theft and paperwork. 95 percent of its domestic customers and
88 percent system wide use electronic tickets. The move
includes tickets for international travel and those that involve
other carriers. Continental said it has terminated 50
interline ticketing and baggage agreements with carriers that do
not have electronic ticketing capabilities. Customers will
still be able to make reservations through travel agents or on the
phone, as well as on the Internet, but they will not receive paper
tickets. Instead, the reservations will be stored
electronically. Passengers who check in either via their
computers at home or at airport kiosks will still receive the paper
boarding passes that allow them to board planes.
Singapore has announced that it will build a new terminal at
Changi Airport to cater for low-cost airlines once the
carriers agree on its design. Budget airlines are
proliferating in Asia, challenging the dominance of full-service
carriers such as Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines. In
the meantime, low-cost airlines may use Changi Airport's two
existing terminals, though charges for no-frills airlines would not
be lower than those imposed on their traditional competitors.
Singapore based Valuair has become the first budget carrier
to get official approval to fly from Changi Airport. Valuair,
set up mostly by former Singapore Airlines plans to start flying in
May to Bangkok, Jakarta and Hong Kong.
Singapore Airlines, the world's second-largest airline
by market value, has teamed up with the founder of Irish discount
airline Ryanair, Europe's biggest carrier by value, to launch
Tiger Airways. Tiger will compete with Singapore's
Valuair, set up mainly by ex-Singapore Airlines staff, and is
gearing up to launch in the second quarter of 2004. Both will
also be pitted against Malaysia's Air Asia, which is setting up
an airline joint venture in Singapore and has applied for an
airline license.
Toronto Pearson Airport opened one of the world's most
expensive airport terminal. The new CAD$3.6 billion (USD$2.7
billion) Terminal 1, whose price tag has enraged the airlines
around the world that will have to help pay for it is the first
stage of an overall redevelopment project for Toronto's Pearson
International Airport. Terminal 1 will eventually expand to
take over the functions of two existing terminals, which will be
bulldozed. The capacity of the airport, which is currently 25
million passengers a year, is expected to double by 2015.
Pearson is Air Canada's busiest hub, with 50,000 passengers
flying to, from and through Toronto on its flights everyday.
The new terminal's sophisticated technology is complete with
automatic check-in counters, multiple baggage claim kiosks, and
even a parking guidance system that points drivers to available
spaces.
According to a survey of US airline quality, three of the top four
performing airlines last year were low-cost carriers. The
survey measures on-time performance, customer complaints,
mishandled baggage rates, denied boardings and other criteria from
the Transportation Department's monthly consumer reports.
JetBlue was the top-rated airline for fewest denied
boardings and was second for on-time performance and fewest
customer complaints. Alaska Airlines ranked second,
followed by Southwest Airlines, America West and US
Airways, which is struggling in the face of low-cost
competition. Bankrupt United Airlines ranked ninth,
while the biggest carrier, American Airlines was 11th.
Delta Air Lines ranked 12th.
State-owned Air Malta is setting up a base in Manchester,
north-west England, to operate charter flights to Greece, Spain and
other European destinations. The first flights will start in
May 2004, just days after Malta joins the European Union on
Saturday, May 1. Services will also operate between Catania
in Sicily to London.
Malaysian low-fare carrier AirAsia said it would offer air
tickets to Macau, known for its casinos, from Bangkok for as little
as USD$25 from June 15. AirAsia is an aggressive player in
Asia's budding no-frills market where competition is heating up
with entrants such as Singapore-based Valuair and Tiger Airways, a
venture between Singapore Airlines and the founder of Irish
no-frills airline Ryanair.
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