The Globetrotters eNewsletter
eNewsletter Archive

Spotted by Webmaster Paul, here’s a satellite
photo from Google of the
Tower of London

A member of Globetrotters Club? Interested in a
£1,000 travel award?

Know someone who is? We have £1,000 to award
each year for five years for the best submitted independent travel
plan. Interested?

Then see our legacy
page on our Website, where you can apply with your plans for
a totally independent travel trip and we’ll take a look at it. Get
those plans in!!

If any Globetrotters member would like to start a
branch, whether it is in Aberdeen or Zanzibar, please see our FAQ or
contact our the Branch Liaison Officer via our Website at Meeting
FAQ.

The
British Foreign and Commonwealth Office advise caution on
Indonesia.

On 1 October 2005, at least 3 bombs exploded in Central
Kuta and Jimbaran beach in Bali. Up to 26 people have been killed and
over 90 injured. A British/Australian dual national was killed in the
attacks and at least 2 British nationals were injured, 1 seriously.

There remains a high threat from terrorism in
Indonesia. We continue to receive reports that terrorists in Indonesia
are planning further attacks on Westerners and Western interests.
Attacks could occur at any time, anywhere in Indonesia and are likely
to be directed against locations and buildings frequented by
foreigners.

If you intend to travel to Indonesia in the immediate
future or you are already in Indonesia, you should exercise caution at
all times. You should review thoroughly the latest information on the
situation, including media reports; keep in close contact with your
tour operator; and follow any advice from local authorities. If you are
travelling to, or resident in Indonesia, you should ensure that you are
comfortable with, and regularly review, your and your
family’s security arrangements.

The Indonesian Police are on a state of high alert and
have deployed extra personnel to high profile and sensitive locations
including, but not limited to, embassies, consulates outside Jakarta
and hotels.

Terrorists have shown in previous attacks, like the
attack on the Australian Embassy, the Marriott Hotel, Jakarta and both
the Bali bombings, that they have the means and the motivation to carry
out successful attacks.

We advise against all travel to Aceh, except for those
involved in post-tsunami humanitarian and reconstruction work or in
preparations for the Aceh Monitoring Mission. Parts of Aceh remain
affected by a long running internal conflict. Two aid workers were shot
and injured in separate shooting attacks on 23 June and 7 July
respectively. There is a risk that further incidents may occur. You
should exercise caution when travelling to remote areas.

We advise against travel to some parts of Maluku,
especially Ambon, and some parts of Central Sulawesi, which are
experiencing civilian unrest. At least 20 people were killed in a bomb
attack in Central Sulawesi on Saturday 28 May.

Did you know, you can change the format of this
e-newsletter? This e-newsletter is available in 4 formats:

1. This format with 2 columns.

2. A single column print friendly version available
online, see the link in every e-newsletter (or
click here).

3. The text only version, if you’d like your
e-newsletter in plain text format, just send a blank email to The
Globetrotters Webmaster with “Text+Enews”
as the subject

4. Have a link emailed to you pointing to the online
version, just send a blank email to The
Globetrotters Webmaster with “Link+Enews”
as the subject

5. Subscribe to our full text RSS feed RSS

The European Commission is investigating Ryanair’s use
of an airport in Tampere, Finland. It is believed that the
investigation is under the rules covering aid to regional airports.
Last year, Ryanair was ordered to pay €4m back to the Walloon
government in Belgium after a Commission ruling found Ryanair had
received illegal state aid at Charleroi airport. Ryanair has said that
its arrangements with Tampere are ‘legal, open and pro-competition’ and
will result in 350,000 international passengers at Tampere in the
coming year and will generate 350 jobs in the region.

Ryanair, Europe’s No. 1 low fares airline
welcomed the recent Holiday Which article, The No- Frills revolution,
which highlights the growth of low fares in Europe pioneered by
Ryanair. Peter Sherrard, Ryanair’s Head of Communications
said: “If ever evidence was needed of consumer support for
low fares airlines it was provided in August when Ryanair carried more
passengers than British Airways’ worldwide traffic for the
first time.

He said: passengers continue to desert high fare rip
off airlines like British Airways in favour of Ryanair because:

1) They want to avoid British Airways’ rip
off fuel surcharges of up to £60 while Ryanair guarantees no
fuel surcharge ever.

2) They prefer Ryanair’s average fare of
£27 compared to British Airways’ average fare of
£181 – over 6 times greater.

3) At Ryanair their
flights are on time while British Airways are frequently delayed.

4)
With Ryanair they will not be stranded at Heathrow without
accommodation or compensation like 100,000 of British
Airways’ customers were in August.

“Millions of passengers compare Ryanair and
British Airways on a daily basis and more passengers chose Ryanair
because of Ryanair’s lower prices, better punctuality, better
passenger service and guarantee of no fuel surcharge ever”.

July last year, a tired Ryanair pilot nose-dived his
Boeing 737 at 6,000ft a minute - twice the recommended speed - after
forgetting to descend from 30,000ft at the right time. The 38-year-old
Australian captain, who had flown from London’s Stansted Airport with
184 passengers aboard, continued to descend rapidly despite repeated
warnings from the first officer. Although he managed to bring the plane
to a halt at Stockholm’s Skavsta Airport, the Swedish air traffic
controllers reported him. This happened on the captain’s last
day before leaving Ryanair. In a statement, he admitted stress and
fatigue had caused him to become “deficient in logical
thought”. Investigators, who described the incident as
“serious”, said: “It was fortuitous the
landing was carried out safely.”

We are
sorry to say that Mac is not very well, but he is still e-mailing
strong and recently sent the Beetle a collection of travel book reviews
and things that caught his eye.

From Book Holidays In Hell by P. J. O Rourke. P. J. O
Rourke is currently the White House correspondent from Rolling Stones
magazine (l988.) Page ll: “There are worst pests than
mainland Chinese taking Frigidaires home on the plane.”

Commodore Hotel in Beirut, Lebanon where correspondents
hang out: “Get a room away from the pool. It’s
harder to hit that side of the building with artillery. Rates are about
fifty dollars a night. They’ll convert your bar bill to
laundry charges if you’re on an expense account.”

Page 15: “The wise traveller will pack shirts
or blouses with ample breast pockets. Reaching inside a jacket for your
passport looks too much like going for the draw and puts armed men out
of continence”

Page 16. “West Beirut can be toured on
foot. — “There’s a lot of jewellery and make-up
and the silliest Italian designer jeans on earth. They’re
rushing from one place to another in order to sit around drinking
hundreds of tiny cups of Turkish coffee and chat at the top of their
lungs. The entire economy is fuelled so far as I can see by everyone
selling cartons of smuggled Marlboros to each other.”

Page 17. “The Old American Embassy is here in
the same state as U.S. Middle East policy.” On kidnapping -
“If nabbed, make as much noise as possible (this is where the
whistle I carry might come in handy.) Do not get in someone’s
car. If forced in, attack the driver. At least that is what I am told.”

Page 23. “Welcome to Lebanon” said
the Israeli captain. He read my credentials and smiled.
“Tourism?” “Yes” I said,
“I’m the only tourist in Lebanon.” The
captain laughed. “Oh, no you’re not. I’m
a reservist, you know, and this is my vacation too.”

Page 29. “My answer to everyone was that
President Reagan wasn’t sure why he sent the Marines to
Lebanon. However, he was determined to keep them here until he figured
it out,
but then he forgot.”

Page 35. “The Syrian army has dozens of silly
hats, mostly berets in yellow, orange and shocking pink, but also tiny
pillbox chapeaux, peaked officer’s caps and half a foot of
gold braid up the front and lumpy Russian helmets, three sizes too
large. The paratroopers wear shiny gold jumpsuits and crack commando
units have skin-tight fatigues in a camouflage pattern of violet,
peach, flesh tone and vermilion on a background of vivid purple (good
camouflage Ha!)

On Korea, page 46: “I was overwhelmed by the
amazing stink of kimchi, the garlic and hot pepper sauerkraut
that’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner in Korea. Its odour rises
—eyeglass fogging kimchi breath, throat searing kimchi burps and
terrible pants-splitting kimchi Farts.”

And here is a guide to frequently used hotel terms (and
their real meaning):

Guide to Hotel Terms

• All the amenities - free shower cap.
• Aristocratic - needs renovation.
• Gentle Breezes - gale-force winds.
• Picturesque - theme park or mystery house nearby.
• Carefree natives - terrible service.
• Bustling metropolis- thousands of hostile locals.
• Airy - no air conditioning.
• Brisk - freezing.
• Off the Beaten Path -people have stopped coming
  here.
• Remote- People never came.
• Standard - Substandard.
• Superior - free shower.
• Undiscovered -not worth discovering.
• Authentic native dishes- inedible but cheap.
• Playground of the stars - Regis Toomey once stayed
  here.
• If you like being pampered -you can get waited on.
• Exquisite cuisine - limited menu.

Kensington Palace stands at the western end of
Kensington Gardens. It was originally a private country house called
Nottingham House but was acquired in 1689 by William III and Mary II
(1689) because the King’s asthma improved there during the winters. Sir
Christopher Wren was engaged to design improvements to the house and
the Clock Court and the South Front, including the 96-foot Long Gallery
were added. After William III’s death in 1702, the palace became the
residence of Queen Anne. Wren designed the Orangery for her and a
30-acre garden was laid out by Henry Wise. Further extensive
alterations were carried out for George I and William Kent painted the
elaborate trompe l’oeil ceilings and staircases. The last monarch to
live at Kensington Palace was George II, whose consort, Caroline of
Ansbach helped develop Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens and the
Serpentine, Basin and Grand Vista and the Broad Walk were created for
her. The sudden death of George II in 1760 marked the end of an era.
Kensington Palace was never again to serve a reigning monarch.

Queen Victoria spent her childhood at Kensington Palace
and it was here in June 1837 that she learned of her accession to the
throne and moved to Buckingham Palace. The palace was most famously the
London home of Diana, Princess of Wales and is still home to several
other hanger-on members of the Royal Family.

Kensington Palace first opened to the public in 1912
with a display of relics and objects relating to the City of London. It
attracted 13,000 visitors in just one day. The museum pieces now form
part of the collection at the Museum of London. Visitors today can see
the State Apartments, the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection that
includes outfits from the eighteenth-century to the present day, the
Orangery and sunken gardens.

Kensington Palace opens daily. 10:00-17:00 (Nov-Feb)
10:00-18:00 (Mar-Oct). Closed 24-26 Dec. Tube:
Queensway, Notting Hill Gate or High Street Kensington. Enquiries:
020 7937 9561. Entrance: Adults £10.80,
Students and Snr Citizens £8.20, Child: £7.00 Under
5s: FREE.

Trip duration: 40 days
Trip miles to date: 5,160
Miles
since last update: 2,080

It’s been an eventful few days since
the last update. I’ve travelled over 2,000 miles, crossed 2
borders, crashed on the notorious Ruta 40, slept in the shadow of a
glacier, been interviewed by Argentine TV and met some fascinating
fellow travellers along the way.

From Puerto Natalès (last update) there is
no road route north through Chile. You can either take a 4 day ferry to
the Island of Chiloè, some 500 miles north or opt to do what
I did and head back into Argentina. First stop was a visit to the
Moreno Glacier National Park, just outside the busy tourist and
backpacker town of El Calafete. This also marked the beginning of the
notorious Ruta 40, a thin strip of dirt track that slithers down the
western side of Argentina and the subject of numerous messages of
warning and disasters from fellow travellers both prior to arrival and
after.

The Glacier itself was stunning (see photo below),
although the park itself was extremely busy with numerous bus trips
from Calafete. Rather than find space in the town I elected to camp in
the park, in the shadow of the glacier, allowing me to rise early and
watch the sunrise light up the face. This experience is simply not done
justice by the photo above.

Back onto the Ruta 40 north to visit El
Charltèn, an Argentine equivalent to the Torres del Paine
range in Chile. Early in the day I spotted the dust clouds and
silhouettes of 2 bikes coming towards me. Each of us slowed down and we
exchanged greetings in the middle of the road, in the middle of
nowhere! They were Kevin and Julia Sanders, a couple I had read about
and had visited their website (http://www.globebusters.com/)
before coming to South America. They were on route to Ushuaia after
starting in Vancouver, a trip not so different of my own. We parted
promising to meet again in Alaska.

El Charletèn is a pretty, almost Alpine
looking town sitting in the shadow of Mt Fitzroy, a 3,400 metre peak of
granite dominating the skyline. I was only stopping for lunch but I
bumped into Mad Marco from Germany, who was currently stuck in
Charltèn as the forks on his Honda Africa Twin had
permanently destroyed themselves.

That afternoon I headed for
Tres Largos which, according to the map, would be a seemingly sensible
place to stop for the night. I pulled into the gas station there at
about 4.30 and met a group of Germans heading south. Now, for some
reason I’m growing weary of travelling Germans. This a completely
unreasonable and irrational assumption I know, but after several
comments (all negative) about the preparation and condition of my bike
(for example “your chain sprockets are about to
expire” and “why is your seat set so
low?” and “ugh, why are you using that GPS
unit?”) I mentioned that I was going to look for somewhere to
stay the night in Tres Largos.

I grant them that Tres Largos was little more than a
gas station in the middle of a rock desert, but I wasn’t
expecting the vehement “NEIN! There is NOTHING in Tres
Largos! You MUST carry on and stay where we stayed last
night” (an estancia some 100 miles further on). I should have
taken note that by 4.30pm, they were in the same location as I was
expected to be by that evening. That alone should have warned me of the
condition of the upcoming stretch of road.

On top of this, Tres Largos represented the last
opportunity for petrol until Bajo Caracoles, some 230 miles north. This
is at the absolute maximum of the Beemer’s tank range so I
filled my spare 10 litre container in preparation. Against my better
judgement and contrary to how I felt physically after a full
days’ riding, I set out for the Estancia Angusteria. Within
50 miles I had crashed severely.

Now on dirt tracks it’s a common technique to
apply speed to even out the inconsistent surface. At slow speeds the
bike becomes nervous, twitchy and more difficult to control - a
condition that gets steadily worse from the feedback from an
increasingly nervous rider as he / she grips the controls more tightly.
This “application of speed” approach is good for 99
times out of 100, but of course, it’s the 1 time out of 100
that will bite you, and at 60 mph accidents will happen quickly and
most likely hurt more.

Up to this point of the trip I had been really enjoying
the dirt tracks and that afternoon I was travelling at about 50 to 60
mph. In reality this was about 10-20 mph too fast for the road
conditions (coupled with my weary condition.) The track had
deteriorated and I’d failed to reduce my speed. This particular stretch
was comprised of fist-sized rocks that had accumulated into deep ruts
by the heavy trucks that use this route.

I always find it interesting that accidents and crashes
take an infinitesimally small amount of time for you to pass beyond the
point of no return (otherwise you’d react and there would be no
accident, right?). However, once you’re past that point everything
slows down. My memory of what led up to the accident is therefore
slight, I suspect that the front wheel tried to rise up out of the rut,
probably following a wheel track from a previous vehicle that had
changed lane. The back wheel probably declined to follow this example
and stayed in the rut, the bike fish-tailed violently and I failed to
correct it (even if I could). Minor fish-tailing happens all the time,
and it’s part of the enjoyment of riding dirt-tracks that they usually
come back, but I distinctly remember thinking “oh shit! This
ones not coming back… the bike swapped sides a couple of
times (known as a tank slapper as the bars are violently swapped from
side to side). I was then unceremoniously spat off the top of the bike,
over the bars, as the front wheel dug into the track and the bike
flipped over frontward.

That’s where things really slowed down.
Flying through the air I knew that at this speed, this would be a
severe crash and things were about to get hurt. I also remember
considering the fact that I could not afford to break anything (i.e.
leg, arm or neck) as I was a long way from anywhere and this was not a
busy road.

The initial impact was HARD!!! but I realized that I
had survived it and I tucked everything in as best I could…
far, so good. The next thing to enter my head, and I remember it
vividly, was “well, the only thing that can kill me now is
the bike landing on top of me!” So as I was still rolling I
was looking back at the bike as it nosedived into the track, and
skidded to a stop about 20 feet short of me.

There must be a common 10-second rule, as the first
thing you want to do after an accident is leap straight to your feet.
I’ve watched track racers try to stand up while they are
still rolling at 20 mph (!) and I did the same. Patting myself down I
could hardly believe that I was in one-piece. I had taken the initial
impact on my shoulder and hip, both which were talking to me in
protest, but everything else was fine. RELIEF!

Looking back down the road the same could not be said
of the bike. I regret I did not have the presence of mind to take
pictures (forgive me!) but I saw a sorry sight of the bike lying on the
gravel with all the luggage spread down the trail for about 30 metres.
Time to take off the gloves, the crash helmet, the back pack and the
jacket and just take a moment or two – this was obviously
going to take a little time to fix.

From an initial appraisal, the worst issue seemed to be
the aluminium Touratech panniers. Both had been stripped from the bike
and the left hand box had completely burst - what was left was a
mangled mess. The left-hand side of the handle bars were bent down and
the foot-peg bent under. The headlight had rattled loose in the
fairing, the pannier frame was badly bent and was fouling the chain
guard, the mirrors were stripped off and the left-hand indicator
broken.

Slowly I began to reassemble the components. I pulled
the handlebars back into shape by bracing my foot against the engine
guard. Then, by grabbing several boulders from the side of the road to
use as a hammer and anvil, I began to bash things back into some sort
of shape - starting with the pannier frame. It took 2 exhausting hours
before I was fit again to move. The left-hand pannier box was held
together by tape and a strap. In that time, only 4 vehicles passed
reminding me how lucky I had been not to be hurt myself.

I still had 50 miles to the Estancia that the Germans
were so keen about, it would take me a further 2 hours to cover this
distance and the road got much worse both with the failing light of
dusk and my general feeling of depression following the crash.

I found the Estancia almost by luck, it was placed 10
miles off of the main road, signposted by a small, unlit sign. I was
greeted warmly and enthusiastically and shown a modest room and told
that if I wanted food, a cordeo (barbequed lamb) was just being served
outside. I merely dumped my bags and followed him outside, still
wearing my dusty riding gear. I found a small gathering of the family
accompanied with 3 Argentine documentary makers, interviewing the rural
locals about how the world has changed for them.

It was a charming meal – little understood by
me as my Spanish is still not good enough, but I enjoyed the food, and
shared the last of my malt whisky. It felt like a good way to finish
the day. The film crew interviewed me and seemed interested how a lone
Englishman on a motorcycle could have stumbled on this place.

I awoke incredibly stiffly. The shoulder and the hip
screaming in recognition of what they had gone through the previous
day. A couple of Ibuprofen and some strong, hot coffee saw me straight
and I was back on the road (filmed as I left).

After I re-crossed the border with Chile, the next few
days were spent in first Cochrane and then Cohyique. In the latter I
found a local mechanic to re-shape the pannier boxes into approximate
shape – and the results were remarkable. So back onto the
Carratera Austral (the spindly dirt-track road built on the
instructions of General Augustine Pinochet) and an observation that the
Chileans take far better care of their dirt-roads than the Argentines.
I stopped for the night at the luxurious fishing lodge at El Parque,
just north of Purto Puriguapi, and a welcome evening of relaxation
after a tough few days.

The next day would get me to Chaitèn, the
stepping off point to the Isla Grande de Chiloè. To continue
north, most tourists and travellers head back into Argentina and drive
north from San Carlos de Bariloche. I, however, have always wanted to
visit Chiloè so I was excited to leave the main tourist
route. The ferry was to leave at 9am so dutifully I was sitting on the
ferry embarkation slipway at 8.45am the following morning. I was
seemingly the only person not to know that the ferry NEVER, EVER leaves
on time. After 1 hour, news filtered that it would be 12 noon, at
least, before the ferry arrived. Of more concern was the phase
“well, if not 12 noon, it will definitely be today at
least”. I decided to cut loose and ride out to the end of the
road, some 40 miles away, at Caleta Gonzalo. The ride was pretty and
the coffee from the café at the end of the road made the
trip worthy. I later found out that this was part of Doug Tompkins (the
US billionaire and philanthropist) vast nature reserve.

After racing back to catch the ferry perhaps
predictably an empty slip-way welcomed me. I took encouragement from
the fact that many locals were now attending - perhaps signifying
promise. The ferry eventually arrived at 2pm, and as a consequence we
arrived in Castro, the large port town in the middle of
Chiloè, at 9.30pm. For a change, I was let off first
(motorbikes are usually last) so I had a head start to finding a hotel
(boy, the beer tasted GOOOOD!)

I’ve decided to get to Santiago quickly and
to get the bike fixed up and better prepared for the challenge of the
Atacama Desert and the altitude and isolation of Bolivia. I’m
currently in Tecumo, about 400 miles south of Santiago and late
yesterday afternoon, having found suitable replacements, I got the
tyres replaced. Santiago is just 1 days ride from here and it’s smooth
tarmac all the way. Perhaps, after the last few weeks of intensely
rough tracks and the crash on Ruta 40 this is all the bike (and I) are
fit for at the moment.

If you want to know more about Greg’s
travels, visit his website at: http://www.unbeatentrack.com/

If, like the Beetle, you are travelling in a Muslim
country, you should be aware that it is Ramadan, which started 5^th
October. Ramadan is a special month of the year for over one billion
Muslims throughout the world. It is a time for inner reflection,
devotion to God, and self-control. Many Muslims regards Ramadan as a
kind of tune-up for their spiritual lives. Fasting in Ramadan is
obligatory for those who can do it, so people who are ill and pregnant
women for example are exempted from the fast but must make it up as
they are able.

The third “pillar” of (Sunni) Islam
is fasting and is believed to have many benefits including a means of
learning self-control and going without food and drink during the
daylight hours is felt to improve one’s spiritual nature, which becomes
a means of coming closer to God. Ramadan is also a time of intense
worship, reading the Quran, giving charity, purifying one’s behaviour,
and doing good deeds.

The daily period of fasting starts when the sun comes
up and ends when the sun sets. In between this time, Muslims do not
eat, drink, smoke or have sex. Many people to have a pre-fast meal
(suhoor) before dawn and a post-fast meal (iftar) after sunset. In
Brunei, where the Beetle has just finished working, working hours are
cut short, with people leaving at 3pm to allow the women to prepare the
evening meal. Many people have relatives and friends over during
Ramadan to share their evening meal.

The last ten days of Ramadan are a time of special
spiritual power as everyone tries to come closer to God through
devotions and good deeds. The night on which the Quran was revealed to
the Prophet, known as the Night of Power (Lailat ul-Qadr), is generally
taken to be the 27th night of the month. The Quran states that this
night is better than a thousand months. Many Muslims spend the entire
night in prayer. During the month, Muslims try to read as much of the
Quran as they can. Some spend part of their day listening to the
recitation of the Quran in a mosque. Some spend the last ten days of
Ramadan in a mosque devoting the whole ten days for worshipping God.

You should be respectful to those fasting during
Ramadan, and this includes not eating in front of a person who is
fasting or asking them to join you in food or drink during fasting
hours.