Send real letters from the Internet to anywhere in the world.
# Monday, 18 February 2008

blogoftheweek This weeks travel blog of the week is China Travel. The blog covers the travels of Tom Carter who has spent 2 years backpacking in China. Focusing more on the the things you probably wouldn't see if you went on a packaged holiday.

One of the most amusing articles on the blog is titled Chinese Youth Hostels. As a veteran backpacker, hostels are essential for Tom. He quite comically recalls an extended stay in a laid back hostel in Chengdu over 7 days. Encountering several Australians, Europeans and Americans who had also got pulled into the laid back life style of the hostel. Tom likens the hostel environment to that of a Reality TV Series 'Backpackers Behaving Badly', his stay is filled with occurrences of dorm mates arriving back drunk passing out in the early hours of the morning after going out partying each night.

posted on Monday, 18 February 2008 22:55:53 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
A study has found that people living in the noisiest places around airports are more likely to develop high blood pressure. The study was carried out on 600 people who live under the Heathrow flight path. It also found that noise from flights causes immediate increases in blood pressure in sleeping people. Campaigners say that the results of the study support the argument for a ban on night flights at UK airports.

posted on Monday, 18 February 2008 18:37:01 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Sunday, 17 February 2008
The EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini has said that visitors to the EU could face biometric border checks. He says that visitors from outside the EU could face a biometric check as part of their visa whilst those not needed a permit will be checked when they arrive. Under the system travellers from within the EU would face only random checks. He also has plans to improve border surveillance. If the new measures are approved by all EU member states they would be introduced between 2010 and 2015.

posted on Sunday, 17 February 2008 14:27:33 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Saturday, 16 February 2008
Plans to redevelop Carlisle Airport have sparked protests from climate change protesters. Stobart Air Limited wants to invest £25 million in a rebranded Carlisle Lake District Airport that will increase freight and passenger flights. The plans include the construction of a new runway, passenger terminal, air traffic control centre, hangars, office building, warehouses and car parking facilities. The current runway was built in the 1940s and can only handle a limited amount of traffic. Campaigners are unhappy about the plans attracting large passenger aircraft which they say would pose a threat to the environment.

posted on Saturday, 16 February 2008 11:55:32 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Friday, 15 February 2008
A passenger jet was struck by lightening last weekend and as a result had to abandon its flight from New York to London. It happened on Saturday night after the planes took off from Newark Liberty International Airport. Passengers heard a loud bang which was followed by a flash of white light. The plane returned to the airport and landed safely. Passengers were later switched to another aircraft because the strike had left a gash in the planes nosecone.

posted on Friday, 15 February 2008 15:16:00 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
Thomas Cook have acquired a hotel booking website. Hotels4U who are based in Egham in Surrey was set up in 2003. The website supplies accommodation to the British travel industry and acts as an online booking agent. Thomas Cook have paid £21.8 million for the company.

posted on Friday, 15 February 2008 15:14:31 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Thursday, 14 February 2008
The first steam engine to be built in 50 years to run on the UK mainline will be ready for testing in April. The train called the Tornado has been built in Darlington by hundreds of volunteers from around the UK. It has cost £3 million and has taken 18 years. The train is based on the Peppercorn A1 locomotive which was withdrawn by British Railways in the 1960’s.  The train will be used for charter journeys when it is completed.

posted on Thursday, 14 February 2008 14:18:26 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Wednesday, 13 February 2008
A passenger who was on board the plane that recently crashed landed at Heathrow will sue British Airways. Paul Strafford is taking legal action because he suffered trauma as a result of the emergency landing. He says that since the incident he has been highly anxious and unable to sleep. Personal injury lawyers have said passengers who had been traumatised by their experience could claim up to £85,000 on a "no-fault basis".

posted on Wednesday, 13 February 2008 17:12:00 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Tuesday, 12 February 2008
Boris Johnson has said that Heathrow is a “planning error” and that instead of expanding the airport with a third runway and a possible sixth terminal we should instead consider phasing it out. Boris Johnson is calling on the government to look at plans which would build a new airport on artificial islands on the Thames estuary. This would mean planes could take off and land without disturbing the 2 million people who currently live under the flightpath. He says that if a airport was built away from residential areas that planes would be able to fly around the clock instead of facing the restrictions that they do currently. Mark Willingale, partner of Bluebase, the architectural practice behind the Thames Reach plans, said: “It’s a terrific opportunity. You’ve got a combination of 116,000 new homes in the Thames Gateway with new roads and rails to serve them, the location is ideal for an airport. We just wish the government had the vision to see it .”

posted on Tuesday, 12 February 2008 12:14:22 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback
# Monday, 11 February 2008
Ryanair has been ordered to pay £5,000 to a group of men they wrongly identified as terrorists. The group of black musicians were on their way to London from a festival in Sardinia when a fellow passenger thought their behaviour was suspicious. The passenger saw the men laughing and joking in the departure lounge but became suspicious when he saw them sitting separately on the plane. Two families had refused to fly if the men remained on the plane, promoting the Captain to remove them. The men were removed by armed police carrying guns. Despite the fact they were then given the all clear at security the Captain would not let the men back on the plane because the other passengers were anxious. The group of men were stranded in Sardinia overnight as a result of the incident and missed spending New Year’s Eve with their families.

posted on Monday, 11 February 2008 13:26:33 (GMT Standard Time, UTC+00:00)  #    Trackback