Issue 8
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Links in this issue may be out of date | Issue 8 |
COMET - NOVEMBER 1998 - ISSUE 8 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 Chronically Restless In the Spotlight - Mind Your Language Did You Know - German Invasion Compass - Follow That Rickshaw Odd Spot - Club Dread Two Cents Worth - Odd Jobs Top 5 - Cheap Thrills in the Big Blue Feeding Frenzy - Did You Win? Quiz - Lights, Camera, Deception Activate - Pay Day Soapbox - Touch Downtime You Said It - Tips From Fellow Travellers What's New On the LP Web Site Talk 2 Us How to Subscribe and Unsubscribe *** THE SCOOP India The Indian Tourism Development Corporation has launched a new train package tour travelling to Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Northern India. The six day tour departs from Calcutta and travels to Varanasi, Rajgir and Gaya before returning to Calcutta. The cost per person (including food and accommodation) is US$379 for the ordinary traveller to US$799 for the luxury traveller. Tickets can be obtained from the India Tourism Development Corporation in New Delhi. Indonesia At least 12 people have died in recent days during violent student demonstrations. Although President Habibe has authorised the military to used whatever means necessary to quell the unrest, students are continuing their protests and most embassies in Jakarta have advised travellers to stay away from the city. There have also been demonstrations in regional cities. Bali remains calm and services for tourists are operating normally. Kenya The US embassy in Kenya has resumed limited consular services at its temporary location in the Nairobi suburb of Westlands. However, prospective visitors who wish to travel to the USA for business or tourism should continue to apply for a visa at a US embassy or consulate outside Kenya, as the embassy in Nairobi is currently issuing visas only to prospective students and exchange programme visitors by appointment. Passport, citizenship and related services for US citizens have also been resumed. Find out what else is happening on your planet: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/scoop *** IN THE SPOTLIGHT Come si dice...? Learning a new language is not for the faint-hearted. Road-testing your newly acquired phrasebook greetings, tortured syntax or laughable accent on an unsuspecting passerby can be excruciating for both of you. But if you wait till you're fluent before launching into conversations with locals you'll never open your mouth, which means you could stay lost, hungry or homeless for your whole trip. Besides, fluency probably isn't necessary unless you're planning to move to a new country (or you're incredibly anal). If your aim is simply to communicate with people, show them you're making an effort to learn more about their language and culture and maybe make some local friends along the way, you'll get by just fine with some basic conversational skills, plenty of sign language and a good sense of humour. Phrasebooks, tapes and courses can provide you with some useful phrases and techniques to get you started, but the key to developing your confidence and your ability is simply having a go. A good way to begin is to memorise a few key words you know you'll be saying again and again, like 'hello', 'thank you' and 'how much?', then learn a few conversational 'extras' like 'see you later' or 'lovely day, isn't it?'. Once you learn these really well and get a reply and a smile it'll boost your confidence enough to extend yourself further. And even if you can't always understand their replies, most people will give you points for trying. Everyone learns differently, so find a method that works for you and stick with it. Some people like to see the written word and remember the sound from what they see. Others like to analyse the grammar of a language and piece together words according to the rules of grammar. Visual learners like to associate the written word with symbols, illustrations or things they've seen on TV or in the street. Most people end up using a variety of techniques. Here are a few to try before you leave home: * Talk out loud to yourself in your new language (preferably not at work or around customs officials lest you be dragged off for a lie down). * Write down some key phrases and stick them up around the place - on the fridge, on your computer, by the bed. Try putting them in context ('How much is it?' could go in your wallet, for example). * Sound is an incredibly important part of language. Listen to language audio tapes, tune in to multi-lingual radio, TV and videos and see how much you can pick up when you cover the subtitles. * Try out some new phrases in your local Thai restaurant or Italian greengrocer. If your 'victim' has some time to chat with you and you build up a rapport, try to pick up some of the idiom they use. This is the stuff that no book or tape can really teach you. * Keep notes and practice, practice, practice. Some people pick up languages quicker than others but most people have to work damn hard at it. Once you've mastered one language, though, you'll find it much easier to learn others. * Be patient with yourself. Many people don't have a great grasp of grammar in their native language, so learning the nuances of another language is obviously going to be a slow process. Once you're finally on the road keep learning by striking up conversations wherever you find a willing ear: the staff at your hotel, waiters in restaurants, other travellers, locals sitting beside you in cafes. Learn the acceptable terms of address and levels of formality (or informality) expected. Listen for the colloquialisms that give a language its flavour. And when you get really confident try to spend an hour a day with someone who doesn't speak your language so you're forced to push yourself even further. These Web sites may inspire you to take the plunge. Berkeley's Foreign Language Resources aspires to be a 'quality only' listing of Web resources: http://www.itp.berkeley.edu/~thorne/HumanResources.html Hindi Language Resources contains loads of links from Hindi magazines to Sanskrit dictionaries: http://www.cs.colostate.edu/~malaiya/hindilinks.html Foreign Languages for Travelers works like a multilingual phrasebook with sound files to aid pronunciation: http://www.travlang.com/languages Mama's Learn To Speak Italian is kinda tacky but a bit of fun: http://www.eat.com/learn-italian/index.html The Ethnologue is a catalogue of more than 6,700 languages spoken in 228 countries: http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/ethnologue.html *** DID YOU KNOW? Ever feel like you bump into German tourists everywhere from Mexico to Macau? You probably do: Germans are the most enthusiastic and extravagant travellers in the world, according to a recent survey conducted for the Pacific Asia Travel Association. The survey found that Germans account for 27% of all trips abroad taken by Europeans and spend more than any other group on their travels: US$50 billion every year. *** COMPASS We've got 20 copies of 'Chasing Rickshaws', Lonely Planet's first lavishly illustrated book, to give away this month. Author Tony Wheeler and photographer Richard I'Anson chased rickshaws, trishaws, sidecars, pedicabs, cyclos and bekaks through 12 Asian cities to find out what keeps these people-powered Asian taxicabs on the road. To be in the running for a book simply tell us where the first rickshaws originated and what they were called by locals (ie name the country and the local word, not the English translation). 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 picked 'Losar', Bhutanese new year, which is celebrated according to the highly complicated Bhutanese calendar. Losar usually falls between mid-January and mid-March, although there are different dates for new year in different parts of the country. We got tough this time and only awarded prizes to people who answered 'Losar' (not just 'new year'). They were: Amy Callis, Brad Chamberlain, Rhodric Davies, Maria Carmen Erba, Luc Hernaut, Annina Lavee, Renate Mehr, M R Moutray, Thinley Namgyel, Alain Novak, Harry Pol, Ian Pollitt, Leticia Salompio, Rob Schaab, Johan Westman. A few people have written to Comet lately asking how prizes are allocated. We select 20 winners at random from the hundreds of correct entries we receive each month. We don't simply select the first 20 correct entries because we want to give folks in all time zones a fighting chance to win a prize. *** ODD SPOT Striking Club Med staff in Sainte-Anne, Martinique, held more than 370 guests hostage recently in their quest for a pay rise. When police stormed the building, injuring several workers, they found the guests unharmed and grateful to the strikers - for at least keeping the pool open. *** TWO CENTS WORTH When the money runs out in the middle of a big trip, most people will do anything to earn a quick quid. Carrot grader, specimen receptionist, snow shoveller - what's the oddest job you've done on your travels? Email us at: comet@lonelyplanet.com.au *** TOP 5 Frederic Frantz hooked himself a free guide with this list of cheap, fun dive destinations: 1. Utila, Honduras: the diving was very cheap and the island is fun - one of my favorite places in the world. 2. Dahab, Egypt: the bedouin camp, the Egyptians and the Dead Sea - this place is just great even if the diving is not as cheap as it is in Aqaba, Jordan. 3. Lovina, Bali: nice place to stay and eat, very good dive sites in the national park and about $40 for two dives including transportation, food and equipment. 4. Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka: interesting wreck, very cheap food and accomodation and about $17 for one dive. The surf is good too but I am not an expert on that. 5. Boracay, Phillipines: One dive site with sharks and barracuda that is worth the trip. The best beach I have seen. 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 *** FEEDING FRENZY WINNERS We received some great restaurant rants after the last issue of Comet, and particularly liked the serves dished up by Anthony Dean, Tim Metcalfe, Ernst Mutchnick, Betty Wheeler and Trevor Zimmer, who won a free guide and video for their trouble. Betty's round-up of Buddhist restaurants from New York to Seoul was too long to reprint in full, but here's an appetizer: 'My best food experiences have been in Buddhist-inspired restaurants that offer course after course of small dishes that are as aesthetically pleasing as they are delicious, beautiful surroundings and service that coaxes you into an extreme state of calm and well-being. Even dedicated carnivores will not mind the absence of meat, and vegans will be in nirvana. This experience is not cheap, but it is well worth the price. You are in a different world from the moment you are asked at the entry to remove your shoes. There's no temple meal like one served on temple grounds, so in Kyoto, Japan, go to Izusen, located on the grounds of the Daiji-in temple in Daitoku-ji. For about 3500 yen you can get the Ohara selection, a multi-course Zen temple meal (shojin-ryori); the priest's bowls used here are red laquered. The rooms and gardens are beautiful, and some unusual packaged foods (natto, miso) are for sale at the register for a suitable memento. Since Daitoku-ji is an extremely well-known place in Kyoto, you'll have no trouble finding this place, and you may be able to get in without reservations. Phone: 491-6665. Kampai!' - Betty Wheeler *** QUIZ Many of the movies that have inspired people to travel in search of the amazing vistas they've seen on screen were filmed far from where they were set. Test your powers of observation with this quicky quiz (and check the answers at the end of the newsletter). 1. Martin Scorsese's 'Kundun' (1997) was filmed in: A. Tibet B. Morocco D. Thailand 2. Which of the following included scenes filmed in Saigon, Vietnam: A. 'Tomorrow Never Dies' (1997) B. 'Good Morning Vietnam' (1988) C. 'The Deer Hunter' (1978) 3. 'Bridge on the River Kwai' (1958) and 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' (1984) were both filmed in the same country. What was it? 4. Name a film released during the last 10 years that was filmed in Tunisia. 5. 'Dr No' (1962) was filmed in Haiti. True or False? *** ACTIVATE The International Women's Development Agency (IWDA) is an Australian-based non-government organisation that works with women and local organisations on projects that fund the world's poorest people: women. Projects range from permaculture programs and credit card schemes like pig banks to education work on female genital mutilation. Every project is devised and managed by local women. In the lead up to International Women's Day on 8 March, IWDA is asking people to get together with their workmates to donate a day's pay to its 1998 WomenShare Campaign. For more information contact: International Women's Development Agency PO Box 1680 Collingwood Victoria Australia 3066 *** SOAPBOX Airports are dull places full of tired, cranky people who want to be elsewhere. What do you do to keep yourself amused between flights, asked Fancy recently on the Thorn Tree, Lonely Planet's electronic bulletin board. Herbert plays with his yo-yo, Mike gets drunk and Gremlin goes to art exhibitions. Juha has even figured out a way to get married and take a honeymoon without clearing customs. http://www.lonelyplanet.com.au/thorntree/eurwest/dktt.htm Fly by another branch to start a topic of your own: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorn/thorn.htm *** YOU SAID IT Recent UNVERIFIED reports & tips from travellers FRANCE Those with young children should be aware of Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer's (SNCF's) new rail pass, the Carte Enfant Plus (Carte Enfant+), which we bought on our trip to France this summer. It costs 350FF and is valid anywhere in France except for Paris Metro trains. It is also valid for one-way international journeys beginning in France. The pass must be held by a child under the age of 12. It gives the child and up to four people travelling with that child 50% off fares during 'blue' periods and 25% off during 'white' (busy) periods. The pass is valid for a year and must be purchased at a railway station in France. You need to supply a 2.5 X 2.5 cm passport photo of the child. Always present the card when purchasing tickets and show it to conductors on trains when they check tickets. We only travelled during 'blue' periods and got our money back on our first journey. For those living or travelling in France for long periods of time this is a magnificent deal. - John S. Sparks, USA (Sep 98) SOUTH KOREA If you are flying out of Seoul you can check in at the downtown Korean City Air Terminal (KCAT) and go through all the formalities there. For a small fee you can also be transported to the airport by bus. The best thing about checking in at the KCAT is that when it comes to going through security at the airport, you need not stand in the long line with all the passengers! You are allowed to proceed through another gate (adjacent to the regular passenger queue) and walk straight through security. - Munindra Khaund, USA (Sep 98) ZIMBABWE One of the best things about Zimbabwean travel is the standard of National Railways Zimbabwe. We made it a policy to take the luxury of first class and almost always had the whole four person berth to ourselves. It's like riding in something from 1930s Rhodesia, down to the faded photos, glossy woodwork and Rhodesian Railways gold lettering. It's a cheap, comfortable and atmospheric way to travel and saves on accommodation costs. It costs around US$6 to US$7 per berth in first class. - Sean Wayman & Cameron Lindsay, Australia (Aug 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 Austin - it's time to eat a bellyful of BBQ in the live music capital of the world. We're pullin' on our boots and headin' down to the centre of Southwest culture: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/nam/aus.htm Destination Nigeria - rhythm aplenty this month as we shake our booties to the sound of juju, Afrobeat and reggae. If you're a masochist, we've got the place for you: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/afr/nig.htm Chasing Rickshaws - put the pedal to the metal as we head out in search of the ultimate person-pulled experience: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/journeys/rickshaws/rickshaws.htm Hitting the shelves this month - new editions of Laos and the Japanese phrasebook. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/prop/newlist.htm#out Coming soon - First editions of Bhutan and Panama. For a full list of upcoming releases: 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) *** ANSWERS TO THE MOVIE QUIZ 1. B 2. A 3. Sri Lanka 4. 'The English Patient' 5. False. It was filmed in Jamaica. *** 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 *** SUBSCRIBE & UNSUBSCRIBE Subscribing and unsubscribing to Comet is dead easy. Do it all from your desktop. To subscribe: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/comet To unsubscribe: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/comet/uncomet.htm Don't have web access? Send us an email and we'll do it for you: comet@lonelyplanet.com.au *** Lonely Planet now produces two different newsletters: Comet (monthly via email) and Planet Talk (quarterly via snail mail and bookshops). If you're currently on the mailing list for Lonely Planet's quarterly printed newsletter, Planet Talk, but would prefer to receive Comet instead, let us know: comet@lonelyplanet.com.au *** 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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