Comet

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Issue 5
COMET - AUGUST 1998 - ISSUE 5

For people who like their travel news down loaded, not loaded down.

Brought to you by Lonely Planet (http://www.lonelyplanet.com)

IN THIS ISSUE
The Scoop - News for the Itchy Footed
In the Spotlight - Are Return Tickets For Optimists?
Compass - Green Dreams & Taco Heaven
Two Cents Worth - Foolish Confessions
Top 5 - Travelling With Kids
Soapbox - Five Branches Worth Swinging By
Q&A - Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Ecuador We Go...
You Said it - Travellers' Tales
What's New On the LP Web Site
Talk 2 Us
How to Subscribe and Unsubscribe

***

THE SCOOP

A Handful of Headlines

Australia
A collapsed bridge between Darwin and Kakadu National Park in the Northern
Territory has closed the Arnhem Highway until further notice. Travellers
intending to visit Kakadu will need to drive via Pine Creek, south of Darwin.

France
French police have received a number of reports of attacks on motorists
driving along country roads around Lyon, in southern France. The attacks have
all taken place in the early hours of the morning and motorists have been
forced to hand over credit cards, money and other valuables. The police have
advised travellers heading to the coastal areas of France over the summer to
stay on motorways rather than use country roads.

Thailand
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has placed a ban on all sea walking
activities in Thailand's coastal waters. Sea walking - walking along the sea
floor wearing a helmet attached to an air hose - has become popular in
Thailand over the past few years, but the effect on the coastal environment
has been devastating. Attempts to completely ban sea walking around Phuket
last year failed and a number of unregistered operators continued to offer sea
walking tours.

Find out what else is happening on your planet:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/news/newsweek.htm

***

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Dying To Get Away

The statisticians say you're more likely to keel over on the local golf course
than come home from holidays in a box.

There's nothing more nerve-wracking than going on holiday. Rampant incurable
disease, undrinkable water, poisonous food, plane crashes - it's bad enough
that there's not enough room in your backpack for a pair of high heels, but
there's also the frightful probability of dying horribly far from family and
friends. Your mother is tearing her hair out and predicting disaster, your
friends are doubtless telling you that the third world is full of terrorists,
but stand firm and sleep tight - the truth is you're more than likely to
return home with nothing worse than a nasty case of itchy feet.

There aren't a whole lot of statistics available for travellers' mortality
rates, but what there is suggests that only around 0.015% of overseas
travellers come home in a box. Fact is, if you die overseas it's most likely
because you were going to die anyway - the vast majority of people who don't
come home from holidays kick the bucket because of heart disease and other
chronic illness.

If you're fit, hale and hearty, chances are you'll be using your return
ticket.

Infectious disease is much less of a worry than you might think. Of the
2,393,500 Australians who headed overseas in 1992-93, only nine died from
infection, primarily malaria and septicemia. Of course, this low rate is
probably due to the high proportion of smart travellers who get their shots
before they hit the road - if you've taken all the necessary precautions,
there's really very little to fret about.

The top cause of death among fit & sprightly travellers is nasty
traffic accidents. A study done for the Travellers' Medical & Vaccination
Centre in Australia shows that 18% of Australian travellers who died overseas
did so in accidents, mostly traffic accidents. The rate is even higher when
only young travellers are taken into account. Of US Peace Corps workers
(mostly young folk unlikely to keel over from heart disease) who died on
assignment, two out of three met their maker on the roads*.

But hitting the highway in Italy, India or Mexico doesn't necessarily equate
with signing your own death warrant. Although driving conditions might be less
than lovely in your holiday destination, you can do a lot to minimise your
risk. If you're using buses, government-run services are often safer than
private companies keen to cut costs and raise profits. If you're driving, get
a car with a seat belt if it's at all possible; try not to drive at night and
don't drink or take drugs before you drive. If you're riding a motorbike or
bicycle, wear a helmet. Sure, it's stating the bleeding obvious, but it's easy
to feel immune to disaster when you're cruising down the lazy back roads of a
beach paradise.

For more information on why you're not going to die on your holidays, see the
TMVC at http://www.tmvc.com.au/ref2.html. To make doubly sure, check out the
safety tips from the International Travel Medicine Clinic at
http://www.hsc.unt.edu/clinics/itmc/injury.htm or Travel Medicine Consultants
at http://www.thetraveldoctor.com/alt.html. If you want to find out more about
road conditions around the world, try the Association for Safe International
Road Travel at http://www.asirt.org/rtr/ and, if you're terrified of flying,
listen to the calming statistics from the folks at Airsafe (who you'll find at
http://airsafe.com/).

* This statistic is from a frightfully interesting report, 'Fatalities in the
Peace Corps', by a couple of people called SW Hargarten & SP Baker.

***

COMPASS

Name the town, state and country described below and you could win one of 20
prizes, each containing a copy of 'Green Dreams - Travels in Central America'
by Stephen Benz (a new Lonely Planet Journeys title), a guide to Mexico and a
Latin American Spanish Phrasebook.

The road from the state capital, two hours drive west, seems to climb
endlessly into the clouds before descending into the small, temperate valley
that cradles this colonial town. Travellers are lured to this place, despite
its history of periodic uprisings and protests by the local indigenous
peoples, the traditional Indian villages that surround the town and the
restorative powers of the local tacos, served with sauces called Volcano,
Desperado and Gringo Killer.

Think your internal compass is working? Email us at:
comet@lonelyplanet.com.au
And don't forget to include your name and postal address with your answer.

Last month's winners correctly identified the passage as Swahili, spoken in
East Africa, and translated it roughly as follows:
'Could you please help me?'
'Leave me alone! Go away!'
'Please, can you help me?'
'I'll lend you anything except my car.'

They were: Abu Amaal, Ali Alwahti, Leah Bateman, Natalie J Campbell, Gordon
Deboo, Elizabeth Hankey, Johnathan Haschka, Nancy J Johnson, Brett Jones,
Karin Lapping, Veerle Libberecht, Howard Lu, Najmi Nazerali, Anna Ptaszynska,
Hashit Raja, Stefania Saporetti, Helen Seeney, Beth Symonds, Charles B
Thetalanger, Mark Xenakes.

***

TWO CENTS WORTH

Tour operators in New Zealand boasted to 'The Press' newspaper a while back
about the outrageous yarns they spin to travellers to help pass the time. With
a straight face they tell tourists to exchange their North Island money to
South Island currency, show their passports and food to ferry customs officers
when they cross the Cook Strait and watch out for vicious Leaping Gibbons that
live in rainforest areas and swoop down from trees to grab people's heads. A
bus driver said he'd managed to convince travellers to the West Coast not to
kill mosquitos because the NZ mozzie is a rare and protected native species.

Have you fallen for a ridiculous lie during your travels? Email us at
comet@lonelyplanet.com.au and we'll publish some of the best gags and urban
myths in an upcoming issue.

***

TOP 5

Anna & Rolf Hedman have learned lots of tricks while travelling with their
brood: Emma, Simon, Carl Johan and Liv.

Top 5 Tips For Travelling With Kids

1. Always travel with a couple of extra air mattresses. They come in handy as
most hotels will try to sell you two rooms - nine out of 10 times you can fit
into one room if a few sleep on the floor.

2. Always ask for discounts; you will be surprised at the response. It has
helped us a lot and we have saved up to 20% of the cost.

3. When we travelled in Australia we camped. Being a big family we did not
bring our camping gear with us so we rented it. Everything was included, even
buckets and spades for the children and fishing gear for the boys. The cost
per day of an 'off-road trailer' that sleeps four and includes one bunk bed,
six sleeping bags, six pillows, table/chairs, BBQ and stove, was A$35.

4. In Fiji you should travel light and get around in the local mini buses. The
trip from Nadi to Suva cost F$8-10 instead of an ordinary taxi, which costs 10
times more.

5. Don't travel without a sarong. We used it as a sheet on hot nights, a beach
towel (it dries quickly), a table cloth, a dress, a skirt, shorts, shade (tied
with some string to poles) and to help carry the baby when walking.

Send us your Top 5 and if we REALLY like it we'll send you a free LP guide and
publish it in an up-coming issue of Comet.

Email us at: comet@lonelyplanet.com.au

***

Q&A


Elizabeth wrote to Lonely Planet recently asking for help finding
organisations that require animal health volunteers.

The Belgium-based Veterinaires sans Frontiers (Veterinarians without Borders)
is a great starting point for people with relevant formal qualifications. This
network of European organisations sends vets and animal health volunteers to
work in developing countries helping local farmers with animal health and herd
management. Projects are currently under way in South Sudan, Kenya, Comoros
Islands and Mali.
http://www.segi.be/cemu/vsf/home.htm

For travellers who are a bit short on veterinary qualifications, there are a
number of worldwide volunteer organisations which ask only that you are
healthy, enjoy hard work and care about animal welfare. Projects last anywhere
between three weeks and two years. On some projects you work for your food,
while on others the cost of your food and accommodation is covered but you are
required to contribute towards the cost of the project.

http://www.ecovolunteer.org/ is a good source of animal welfare volunteer
programs worldwide. In Thailand volunteers can work in a rescue shelter for
gibbons, macaques and bears, and in Sierra Leone in West Africa a sanctuary
needs workers to care for confiscated and abandoned pet chimpanzees.

http://www.ciee.org/vol/index.htm is a site for volunteers required for
humanitarian projects which include some animal welfare programs (particularly
in Latin America). Volunteers are needed to help build a sea turtle nursery
and camp structures at a sea turtle protection camp on the coast of Mexico.

http://gaia.earthwatch.org/ has a number of projects requiring paying
volunteers. These are generally short-term projects (usually around three
weeks). In Gujurat, India, volunteers are required to help tag and track
wolves, and in Tobago in the Caribbean volunteers are needed to help catch and
count manicou crabs in their natural environment.

If you've been toying with the idea of doing some volunteer work for a while,
now is the time to organise it. The United Nations has proclaimed 2001 the
International Year of Volunteers, and the choice of projects, locations and
work options available is amazing: some organisations pay you for your work
while others charge you to participate, and you can work as far from home or
as close to it as you please. If you think you'd make a brilliant butterfly
counter in Ecuador or a champion fence builder in Sarawak, start doing your
homework:

The Council on International Educational Exchange sends volunteers to
construction, renovation, nature conservation, cultural, social and
archaeological projects worldwide: http://www.ciee.org/index.htm

The International Study and Travel Centre has a list of more than 150
organisations worldwide which require volunteers:
http://www.istc.umn.edu/Work/Volunteer.html

United National Volunteers places volunteer and field workers in most
developing countries: http://www.unv.org/

Action without Borders has opportunities for volunteers worldwide in
non-profit jobs and internships: http://www.idealist.org/

Teams coordinated by Global Volunteers work under the direction of local
people to teach English, assist with building and construction projects,
provide health care and tutor in community development:
http://www.globalvlntrs.org/

***

SOAPBOX

Five branches worth a peek on the Thorn Tree this month:

1. Le Frog's tongue-in-cheek travel advisory for US citizens travelling to
France has everyone arguing about who missed the point:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/eurwest/dztt.htm

2. Tourist's shaggy dog story has inspired some great yarns about train travel
in India: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/ind/ggtt.htm

3. Is 30 too old to travel? Jonno may regret asking:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/ind/cttt.htm

4. Rocket's post about the most romantic place in Australia to propose to his
girlfriend has the TT pretty much evenly divided - the gals think he's
adorable and the guys think he's a complete suck:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/aust/autt.htm

5. Concerned is on the trail of the infamous Drop Bear, the Australian cousin
of the Leaping Gibbon: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/aust/stt.htm

If none of these do it for you, feel free to create a post of your own:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorn/thorn.htm

***

YOU SAID IT

Some of the latest UNVERIFIED reports & tips from travellers

Costa Rica
If youÆre interested in seeing turtles and canÆt afford the exorbitant prices
in Tortuguero, we made an amazing find. The Pacuare Reserve near the mouth of
the Pacuare River is a private reserve that needs volunteers to patrol beaches
to help save the leatherback turtles. You pay a minimal cost of US$100, which
includes food and board - well within a backpackerÆs budget - and they ask
that you stay a minimum of one week. Responsibilities include walking a 4km
stretch of beach at night to deter poachers, tagging turtles and moving nests.
Days are your own to lie in hammocks, paddle in the lagoon, swim in the
Caribbean or go exploring. This is a hands-on, once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Contact Carlos or Maggie in San Jose on Tel 233-0451, 391-9975 or 233-0508, or
stop by Av 8 & 10, Calle 19 no 837.
Erin Pass, USA & Adrian Miller, Australia (Apr 98)

Netherlands
If you want to go beyond Amsterdam into the country, one of the cheapest ways
is with the Euro-Domino pass. You can pick them up at any international train
ticket window and if you plan on doing cross-country voyages, they will almost
always save you money (especially if you are under 26). It allows three, five
or 10 days unlimited travel. The three-day pass is most useful and only costs
f65 (US$32.50). Compare this to a one way ticket to Groningen at f48. A
passport is required for purchase.
John King (Jun 98)

Turkey
For a real Turkish æfootballmaniaÆ experience, go to the bars of Turkeli
Caddesi, where hundreds of Turkish men gather to watch football on TV on
Sunday evenings. Each bar supports one of IstanbulÆs teams and the scene
includes people crying, singing, jumping on the tables, insulting the referee
and provoking supporters of æenemyÆ teams while consuming litres of beer. It
is a very male world though, so women should be careful. The area is five
streets south of Beyazit tramway station.
Christina Carrasco & Manel Roca (May 98)

Take me to your reader. For more travellers' tales:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/postcards.htm

***

WHAT'S NEW ON THE LP WEB SITE


Destination Monaco - we're slipping into our cocktail gear and betting it all
on red. Get ready to lose the lot at
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/eur/mon.htm

Destination New York - is there anything left to say about the city that's got
the lot? Find out at http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/nam/nyc.htm.

Other hot new destination profiles include San Francisco, Chicago, Syria,
Ukraine and Namibia.

Martin Hughes discovers that all-night drinking sessions never end when you're
north of the 60th parallel. How much Guinness can one man drink? The answer's
in 'Breaking the Ice in Reykjavik', the adventures of an Irishman in Iceland:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/journeys/ice/ice.htm

In new books this month, we're singing the praises of the Canary Islands,
musing at murals in Mexico City and speaking in tongues with new Swahili and
Hindi & Urdu Phrasebooks. You'll find these and other new releases at
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/prop/newlist.htm#out

Keep your eyes on the bookshelves next month when new editions of Australia,
New Zealand and China will be hitting the stores. Find out what else is coming
up at http://www.lonelyplanet.com/prop/newlist.htm#soon.

You can find Lonely Planet on the Web:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com
On AOL (keyword: lp)
And on Minitel (3615 lonelyplanet)

***

TALK 2 US
Is Comet the greatest thing to happen to travellers since a broke Swiss
soldier decided to hock his knife, or about as useful as a backpack full of
wet matches? Let us know how we're doing:

talk2us@lonelyplanet.com.au

***

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COPYRIGHT
All material in Comet is copyright (c) 1998 Lonely Planet Publications. All
rights reserved.

Although we have tried to make the information in Comet as accurate as
possible, the authors and publishers accept no responsibility for any loss,
injury or inconvenience sustained by any person using this newsletter.
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