STORIES
Abe Lincoln
As an outspoken opponent of the expansion of slavery, Lincoln had won the Republican Party nomination in 1860 and was elected President later that year. During a deeply troubled term, he helped preserve the United States by leading the defeat of the secessionist Confederate States under Jefferson Davis in a brutal civil war in which over 620,000 people perished. Lincoln had introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery, issuing his Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and promoting the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution in 1865. His leadership qualities were evident in his close supervision of the victorious war effort, especially in his selection of Ulysses S Grant and other top generals to the Union cause. He had handled warring factions of the Republican Party brilliantly by bringing its leaders into his cabinet and forcing them to co-operate; and he had managed his own landslide re-election in the 1864 presidential campaign.
Abraham Lincoln was born on 12 February 1809 to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks in a one-room log cabin on the Sinking Springs Farm in Nolin Creek, three miles south of Hodgenville in Hardin County, Kentucky. From the age of 9 onwards, when his own mother died of milk sickness in 1818, two years after the family moved to Perry County, Indiana, ‘Abe’ was brought up lovingly by his stepmother, Sarah Bush Johnson. It has been debated that Abraham may have had Marfan (Sampson) 
syndrome, an autosomal dominant disorder of the connective tissue characterised by long limbs and great physical stature, for when fully grown he stood over 2 metres (6’ 6 3/4”) tall. Largely self-educated, Lincoln began his political career in 1832, and in 1834 won election to the state legislature as he began to study law. He moved to Springfield, Illinois in 1837, passed his law exams and was admitted to the bar where he soon formed a formidable reputation in the state as a tough adversary during cross-examinations and closing arguments. In 1844 Lincoln entered law practice with William Herndon, a fellow Whig, and in 1854 both men joined the fledgling Republican Party. In 1842 Lincoln had married Mary Todd, ironically the daughter of a prominent slave-owning family from Kentucky. The couple had four sons but no daughters. Now as President of a bitterly divided nation, Lincoln seemed resigned
to the fact that eventually one of numerous assassination attempts would be successful. He was once quoted in the ‘Washington Chronicle’, “The only certain way to eliminate all risk to the person of the President is to imprison him in an iron box where he cannot be a target for assassins and he also cannot perform his duties for the Union.” Lincoln finished his paperwork at 11am on 14 April 1865 and then attended a cabinet meeting. When the meeting ended at 2pm, he asked General Ulysses S Grant whether he and his wife would care to accompany himself and Mrs Lincoln to Ford’s Theatre to see Laura Keene in Tom Taylor’s comedy play ‘Our American Cousin’. Grant declined, stating that he was due back in New Jersey that evening, and only later learned that this family commitment probably saved his life. Lincoln’s planned visit to Ford’s Theatre was a matter of public record and one man who noted the engagement with particular interest was a man named John Wilkes North America. John became an ardent supporter of the Confederacy and a believer in the rights of Southern planters to own slaves. Before the civil war (1861-1865) he served under General Robert E Lee and stood guard at John Brown’s execution. During the war itself, he declared himself a pacifist and returned to the stage but he continued to use his fame, charm and wealth to promote the cause of the South as he travelled through the northern territories. Finally, when General Robert E Lee’s forces surrendered to the Union in Virginia on 9 April 1865, Booth decided that propaganda was not enough and it was time for positive action. Booth had considered a number of ways to achieve an end to Lincoln’s power, including an elaborate plan to kidnap the President and hold him hostage against the release of Confederate prisoners. Finally he decided that it would be most effective and dramatic to kill the President along with his Vice-President, Andrew Johnson and also the Secretary of State, William H Seward, thus throwing the nation into total political chaos and allowing remaining members of the Confederacy to seize power.On the afternoon of 14 April Booth met four co-conspirators named George A Atzerodt, Sam Arnold, David Herold and Lewis Paine at a boarding house owned by Mary Surratt on Washington’s ‘H’ Street. Fatefully, the group drank heavily as they discussed their respective roles in the three-way murder plot. Arnold however, soon walked out, refusing to have anything to do with assassination. In the end, it was agreed that Paine should kill Seward, with Herold’s assistance; Atzerodt was assigned to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson and Booth was to assassinate the President himself. It was a bold plan, and Lincoln’s attendance at Ford’s Theatre that night was the ideal venue for Booth to carry out his own role in the plan. They sealed the deadly pact with handshakes and hugs, though by this time Atzerodt was hopelessly drunk and in military terms, ‘combat ineffective’. Instead of going after Johnson with a loaded pistol, he went on a pub crawl and never even approached the Vice President… The President and Mrs Lincoln, accompanied by their guests Major Henry Rathbone and his fiancée, Miss Clara Harris, arrived at the theatre shortly after 8pm. The first act was already underway, but was interrupted as the audience of almost 2,000 people stood and the orchestra played ‘Hail to the Chief’ as the President and his party settled into their box overlooking the stage. Booth rode up to the theatre on a hired mare just after 9.30pm. Dressed in black, he was disguised with theatrical make-up and a false beard. He carried two Colt revolvers and a knife in his frock coat plus a one-shot Derringer pistol in a breast pocket. When John Parker, the President’s personal body guard, inexcusably retired to the bar shortly before 10.15pm, the waiting assassin made his move. Booth stepped into the Presidential box, and muttering the words “Sic temper tyrannis” (‘this is what happens to tyrants’), fired his Derringer pistol into the back of Lincoln’s head from a few inches away. The 7/16-inch lead ball entered the back of Lincoln’s skull above his left ear, penetrated the brain and lodged behind his right eye. Major Rathbone leapt to his feet and tackled Booth, who pulled his knife and slashed the officer’s right arm to the bone. Booth then leapt from the box and onto the stage, snagging a spur on the curtain as he fell. He crashed to the boards, fracturing a leg just above the ankle. Undeterred, he pushed terrified patrons aside as he rushed from the theatre. He felled the lad who was minding his horse outside and galloped off into the night. Still in his rocking chair, the fatally wounded President was rushed from the theatre to a tailor’s house opposite. The Surgeon General, Dr Stone, was summoned but there was nothing he could do. Lincoln was alive but very weak and he died at 7.22am the following morning, 15 April 1865; the first of four American Presidents to die by assassination. Within minutes of Booth shooting the President, his fellow conspirator, Lewis Paine was bungling his assassination of the Secretary of State. He had broken into Seward’s home and wounded the old man with a knife, but Seward fought him off and survived for another eight years after the attack. Meanwhile Atzerodt, who was supposed to be killing Vice President Andrew Johnson, was so drunk that he couldn’t even pull his pistol out of his pocket as he lay slumped over a table in a Washington bar…… Several miles from Washington, Booth
met up with Herold, who had given up on helping Paine kill Seward. They headed south into Maryland on horseback, seeking refuge from a largely sympathetic population. Booth had
his leg bound up by a doctor and the two men continued their 80 miles ride, re-crossing the Potomac River into the state of Virginia.
Booth and Herold were on the run for eleven days before they were finally tracked down to their hiding place in a tobacco barn near Fort Royal, Virginia on 26 April. Soldiers surrounded the barn, and it became a standoff. The two armed men refused to surrender, so the troops set fire to their last refuge. Herold ran from the burning building and was promptly arrested, but Booth cheated the hangman. He shot himself through the mouth with a Colt revolver before the smoke and flames could engulf him. Paine, Herold, Atzerodt and Mrs Surratt were all subsequently tried, convicted of conspiracy and were hanged together in public at the Arsenal Grounds on 7 July 1865. Arnold, although he had played no part in the two assassination attempts, was sentenced to hard labour for life as was Dr Samuel Mudd, the physician who attended to Booth’s broken leg during his escape from justice. Edward Spangler, a sceneshifter at Ford’s Theatre, received a prison term of six years for aiding Booth’s escape.
Soon after came the inevitable conspiracy theories surrounding the brutal killing of the USA’s 16th President. One of the more outlandish suggestions is that Lincoln’s assassination was the brain child of Edwin Stanton, the then Secretary of State for War, and one of the President’s most trusted aides during the Civil War. But evidence to support this and other conspiracy theories remains flimsy. The truth is more likely that, like so many assassinations, this was most probably the work of a group of fanatical men, acting in their own self-interest. Andrew Johnson duly assumed the Presidency until 1869, and the popular Ulysses S Grant succeeded him as President from 1869 to 1877.
Return to Hua Hin
Vehicles charge swiftly southwards along Petchkasem Road, the main highway into Hua Hin. I can hear them all day and night from my condo unit, five kilometres
north of the town. ‘The cars hiss by my window / like the waves down on the beach’, as Jim Morrison (1943-71) of The Doors once sang. The building boom shows no sign of slowing down in many of Thailand’s beach resorts, and it is no different here. Many resident expats in Hua Hin have bought their houses and condos but still more units are springing up alongside newly built hotels. On many open stretches of land alongside the highway and close to the beach, bulldozers are busy, clearing the way for the men with bricks and mortar to move in and start building, building and building. In the town centre I notice still more changes. That old backpackers’ haunt, ‘Gee Cuisine’, next to the Jed Pee Nong Hotel on Dechanuchit Road is no longer there; replaced by a slick fast-food joint. Gees (open 24 hours) was a place for good cheap meals in a drowsy, relaxed atmosphere and had its’ ownsort of grubby charm. Being at ground level, Gees would flood very quickly in the rainy season, and I can recall once eating a meal with the entire restaurant ankle-deep in rainwater. I notice that now the level of the smart shops and restaurants on Dechanuchit has been raised significantly above the road to counteract future flooding: the drainage system in Hua Hin seems to have a very low tolerance level. But as in much of Thailand, there are few concessions for disabled, elderly and infirm people: wheelchair users must mount the raised pavement as best they can. This does not appear to be a problem for the throng of fit-looking Scandinavian tourists, burnt bright red from the sun under their blond mop-tops. They saunter in a large pack together towards the beach, chatting and laughing as they discuss their holiday adventure. Soi Kanjomai seems to be even more narrow than I remember it, and of course the ‘Fox and Hounds’, once owned by Margaret (of Mag’s page) is long gone, and so is a guesthouse at the southern mouth of the soi that used to serve excellent breakfasts. It all appears to be shops and residents here now. Hua Hin had its’ big break way back in 1926, when King Rama VI’s royal architect M J Ithithespan Kreudakon constructed the famous Phra Ratchawong Klai Kangwon, a seafront Summer Palace of golden teak a
few kilometres north of what was then a small but thriving fishing village. King Rama VII learned of Thailand’s first military coup d’etat in 1932 whilst playing golf on Hua Hin’s Royal course. (Like Sir Francis Drake in England in 1588, he played on). Once endorsed by the Royal Family, the town remained a favourite Thai retreat long after foreign tourists had taken over the beaches of Pattaya and Phuket. Hua Hin, like Cha Am, 25 kilometres further north, has traditionally been a defiant domain of domestic beach tourism, and the Thais are still valiantly holding their own. In 1922 the State Railway of Thailand extended the national rail network to Hua Hin to allow easier access to the resort. The town’s famous old railway station is still there at the upper end of Damnern Kasem Road, resplendent in all its 1920’s style charm, and much photographed by visitors. Just across the tracks is the Hua Hin Royal golf course and driving range. The rail company built the Hua Hin Railway Hotel in 1923, a graceful, colonial-style inn by the sea, with sweeping teak stairways and high-ceilinged rooms, which once, way back, used to cost just 90 baht per night. Now the place is Sofitel Central Hotel, set amid eight hectares of lush lawns featuring hedges shaped like animals and room rates starting at around 5,000 baht per night. In 1983 a section of the Railway Hotel was used as a stand-in for the French Embassy at Phnom Phen for Roland Joffe’s classic movie ‘The Killing Fields’. And the old Melia Hotel is now The Hilton (of course). Thankfully, some of the old favourites are still here,such as Billy’s Bar and Berny’s Inn (The Golfers’ 19th Hole) in the bazaar area. The sprightly Jaew, who co-owned the
popular ‘Little Big Horn Bar’ with Aussie Doug East until 2001, now has a karaoke style bar close to Bernie Morgan’s joint. And the old Welshman is still there, busy writing out golfing schedules for his regular patrons, all of them fanatics of the links. (He did not remember me, and was not embarrassed enough to pretend that he did). I noticed the difference in prices very quickly. A chilled bottle of Singha Light, which cost me just 35 baht in my old local in Pattaya, was 75 baht in most of the bars and restaurants along the very touristy Naresdamiri Road and also on soi Bintabat, Hua Hin’s somewhat timid ‘red light’ area. But if you shop around and do some basic research, you can find bargains. In many eating places above the beach near the Chinese Temple, chilled bottled water costs just 10 baht, compared to 35 baht in the
popular tourist food joints, which are jammed with well-dressed customers enjoying
Italian pasta and ice cream. The nationwide smoking ban, which is now being strictly enforced in Pattaya, does not seem to have registered with any of the locals or tourists in Hua Hin. They puff away happily on their cancer sticks right beside large red ‘No Smoking’ signs. The Post Office is still there on Damnern Kasem Rd almost opposite the Police Station and there appears to be more staff on duty to serve customers. Posting an airmail letter to England took under two minutes of waiting and set me back just 17 baht. The main swimming beach still has thatched umbrellas and long chairs; and vendors from the nearby food stalls will bring their lounging customers steamed crab, mussels, prawns, rice and beer at somewhat inflated prices.
Children and adults still take pony rides along the beach, pocked with rugged black boulders (hence the name: Hua Hin translates to ‘Head Rock’, gettit?). And five kilometres further south is Khao Takiab (‘Chopstick Hill’) where the resident monkeys (‘ling’) lounge among the trees by the large Wat before scuttling down to the waterline to catch crabs for their evening meal when it begins to cool at dusk. For humans, the sea is safe for swimming year-round, although stinging jellyfish can be
an occasional problem during the rainy season (September to November). For Thais, one of Hua Hin’s major attractions has always been the colourful and inexpensive Chatchai seafood market in the centre of town close to the Temple. Here vendors gather nightly to fry, grill, steam, parboil or bake fresh gulf seafood for hordes of hungry customers, and adventurous farangs can eat here very cheaply too. During the day many of these same vendors prepare seafood snacks on the beach. Sun
worshipping couples from Hamburg or Hillingdon can order cracked crab washed
down with Singha beer without having to leave their comfortable loungers.
There is now a Thai boxing stadium near Hua Hin Grand Hotel, close to the San PauloHospital on Petchkasem soi 86 and just further south is the Market Village Shopping Centre featuring a huge Tesco’s complex. The latter stocks everything, from cups of noodles to large pick-up trucks, and it always seems to be busy. Parking space, even for motorcycles, is at a premium; and the malls are constantly jammed with shoppers and vendors; a human zoo. None of this was there when I was last here in May 2001. The old shopping mall that I used extensively on Kamnoadvitee Road close to the clock tower still seems to be a popular (if rather cramped) shopping destination, however. There is an inexpensive snack bar, and at an office on the third floor visitors intending to extend their stay can book weekly visa runs by mini-bus to Ranong. Just by the flyover south of town which heads on south to the market town of Pranburi is the world famous Chiva Som (‘Haven of Life’) International Health Spa
and Resort. Here at any of 40 ocean-view luxury rooms you can give your body a
real working out in a tranquil atmosphere next to crashing waves on the beach.
Hua Hin Sport Villa is still there close to the flyover and further down south close to the beginning of Takiab beach is a new Hyatt Regency Hotel. By the beach itself is also Baan Duang Kaew, Let’s Sea, Wora Bura, Baan Talay Dao, Rock Beach Resort, Kaban Tamor, Supatra, Anantasila and the Blue Wave condo unit. The prosperity of the current Hua Hin Hashers, who now meet every Saturday afternoon at 4pm (1600 hours), can be judged by their vehicles - large saloon cars and expensive looking Range Rovers. When four people founded the H2 H3 Hash back in July 2000, most of us turned up at the designated hash sites on motorcycles. ‘Slackbladder’ and ‘Ballbanger’, who run the H2 hash now, have a keen group of regular runners/drinkers to look after, however. Hua Hin is of course no longer a sleepy fishing village on the western side of The Gulf of Thailand; but hopefully the discerning traveller can still discover some of thetown’s old world charm.
Obscure Tour - Djibouti
So you have been everywhere have you? you have faced up
to missing luggage, dodgy taxi drivers, kids using the back of your seat for football practice, boring in-flight movies and connecting flights that do not connect. you sit back wi th a smug look on your face comparingm destinations wi th other grizzled, seasoned travellers. been there, there...and there! well we are delving into those last few destinations left on the planet you may not have been to, fasten you seat belt for your journey to... djibouti. Djibouti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in eastern Africa. Djibouti is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. On the other side of the Red Sea, on the Arabian Peninsula, 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the coast of Djibouti, is Yemen. The history of Djibouti as recordedin poetry and songs of its nomadic peoples, goes back thousands of years to a time when Djiboutians traded hides and skins for the perfumes and spices of ancient Egypt, India, and China. Through close contacts with
the Arabian peninsula for more than 1,000 years, the Somali and Afar tribes in this region became among the first on the African continent to accept Islam. The Republic of Djibouti gained its independence from France on June 27, 1977. Djibouti is an Islamic country that regularly takes part in Islamic affairs as well as Arab
meetings.Djibouti is a semi-presidential republic, with executive power in the central government, an
d legislative power in both the government and parliament. Djibouti lies in northeast Africa on the Gulf of Aden at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. Djibouti has 314 km (195 mi) of coastline and shares a 113 km (70 mi) border
with Eritrea, 337 km (209 mi) with Ethiopia and 58 km (36 mi) with Somalia (total 506 km/314 mi). The country is mainly a volcanic desert, with scattered plateaus and highlands. Djibouti has amazing and unique landscapes such as Lac Abbé and Lac Assal, which is the lowest point of Africa (150m below sea level). There are minor mountain ranges from the coastal plain to the Ethiopian highlands, where the highest point in the country, Mount Moussa of 2063m, is located. Marine life is very rich and Djibouti is known for its great diving possibilities. There are several beaches in Djibouti, among the better is the Sables Blancs with its fine white sand and clear, blue water. Djibouti has a semi-arid climate that is very hot and dry. There are two seasons, a dry season from May to October and a relatively cool season from November to April. The rainfall on the coast usually occurs between November to March, whereas in the
interior it falls between April to October. Because of the low annual rainfall and its irregular distribution there are no perennial or permanent rivers and surface runoff takes place during one or two days only after
relatively heavy rainfall. In Djibouti, the rains are distributed approximately over 26 days during an entire year. The economy of Djibouti is mainly in providing services as both a transit port for the region and an international transhipment and refuelling centre. It has few natural resources and little industry. The nation is, therefore, heavily dependent on foreign assistance to help support its balance of payments and to finance development projects. An unemployment rate of 40% to 50% continues to be a major problem. Inflation is not a concern, however, because of the fixed tie of the franc to the U.S. dollar. Per capita consumption dropped an estimated 35% over the last seven years because of recession, civil war, and a high population growth rate (including immigrants and refugees). Renewed fighting between Ethiopia and Eritrea has been beneficial to Djibouti, the Port of Djibouti now serving as landlocked Ethiopia’s primary link to the sea. The bulk of Djibouti’s people are urban residents; the remainder are herders. Health, sanitary, and education services are relatively poor in both urban and rural areas. The prevalence of AIDS/HIV has had a significant impact on the population of Djibouti. The United Nations estimated that 7.1% of adults between the ages of 15–49 were living with HIV/AIDS in 2001. Djibouti’s main religion is Islam. Just like Islam in other countries, every town and
village in Djibouti has a mosque, to which people go to worship. The most famous sacred space for Islam in Djibouti is the tomb of Sheikh Abu Yazid, found in the Goda Mountains. Djiboutian attire evinces the hot, arid climate. Men wear a loosely wrapped piece of cloth that goes down to about the knee, along with a cotton robe over the shoulder, much like a Roman toga. Women wear long skirts, typically dyed brown. A lot of Djibouti’s original art is passed on and preserved orally, mainly through song. Using their native language, these people can sing or dance a story, acting it out. Many examples of French and Islamic influences can be noted in their buildings, which contain plasterwork, carefully constructed motifs and calligraphy. All nationals except those of France require visas to visit the country. Transit visas are valid for 10 days and are available on arrival to nationals of the European Union, Scandinavian countries and the USA. Visas can be obtained from neighbouring countries and where no Djibouti embassy exists, they can often be obtained from the French embassy. Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport (JIB) connects Djibouti with Paris and Londonin Europe. It also has flights to Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Somaliland, Tanzania,
Egypt, Madagascar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Yemen. Djiboutibased Daallo Airlines (D3) operates flights to Paris and services to Ethiopia, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Somalia. The airport is 5km (3 miles) south of the city. There is a railway between Djibouti City and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, renovated in 2004. It is a journey of more than 700km that takes around 24 hours, with a stop about halfway in Dire Dawa. Reservations are strongly recommended. The Djibouti– Ethiopian Railway operates regular trains between Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa with one train daily connecting with Djibouti; in theory, tourists and business people can use this service (for which they should book first-class tickets only), but it is not recommended as trains are fairly unreliable and the volatile security situation in Ethiopia is causing considerable risks to all travellers. There are roads from Djibouti to Assab (Eritrea) and going west into Ethiopia via Dikhil. Travellers using them should be aware that road conditions are generally poor and personal security might be at risk when travelling - particularly to Ethiopia. Currently, there are no problems with travelling to Eritrea and no formal border posts. Most transportation in Djibouti is done by bus or four-wheel drive. Buses are usually very old, and they sometimes break down, so it is wise to make sure to have plenty of time before embarking on a trip through the country. Some of the most interesting places in Djibouti can only be reached by four-wheel drive, like Lac Abbé. When going to the best beaches in Djibouti it can be necessary to hire a boat, or take a ferry. Ferry services sail daily from L’Escale (Djibouti) to Tadjoura and Obock. The journey takes about three hours.
Taxis are available in Djibouti and from the airport to the town; also in Ali-Sabieh, Dikhil, Dorale and Arta. Fares can increase by 50 percent after dark. Bicycling is a great way to get around the small capital. It is advisable to carry water and petrol on any expedition off main routes. An International Driving Permit is recommended, although not legally required. A temporary license to drive is available from local authorities on presentation of a valid British driving license. Considering the under developed nature of the country, communications are pretty good. There were 11,100 main line telephones and 34,500 mobile phones in use in 2004, while there were 1,540 internet hosts (‘06) and 9,000 internet users. Hotels in Djibouti tend to be expensive and the few cheap hotels are somewhat rundown. There are a small number of first-class hotels. Outside Djibouti, accommodation is limited, although attention is being given to upgrading and adding to the accommodation available in the hinterland. There are only about six ATM’s in the whole country, so do not depend on them for your sole financial aid, as they are often broken. Currency can be exchanged at major banks and hotels, or at authorised bureaux de change in the capital. The bureaux de change are open all day, while the banks have limited opening hours (Sat-Thurs 07.15-11.45). Credit/Debit Cards are only accepted by airlines and some of the larger hotels. Travellers are advised to take travellers cheques in US Dollars or Euros. Euro and Sterling cheques are not accepted unless marked as ‘External Account’ or ‘Pour Compte Etranger’.
Restaurants serve Arab, Chinese, French and Vietnamese local specialities. National specialities are lentils, fried meat and unleavened bread, as well as fish from the RedSea. Drinking is not a social activity and alcohol is not widely available. You will not find shopping malls in Djibouti, but lots of small shops, markets, street stalls, streets sellers, restaurants, cafés and, in the capital Djibouti City, plenty of bars. The capital is a late 19th-century city with a distinctly Arabic feel, and the lively Central Market (Le Marché Central) near the Mosque is well worth a visit. Also worth seeing in Djibouti is the Tropical Aquarium with underwater exhibits from the Red Sea (open daily 16.00-18.30), and the Presidential Palace. The beaches at Doralé and Khor-Ambado, which are both about 15km from Djibouti, offer safe swimming. Another good beach can be found at Ghoubet al Kharab, which is about an hour’s drive from Lake Assal, and where black-lava cliffs border the beach. In addition to several little-visited sandy beaches along the Gulf of Tadjoura, tourist attractions include islands in the Gulf of Tadjoura and the Bab alMandab. Inland from this point is Lake Assal with a number of active volcanoes nearby. The Forest of the Day is a national park for rare trees on Mt. Goda. In the south, the alkaline Lake Abbé is visited by flocks of flamingos, ibis, and pelicans. Near Ali Sabieh are the famous red mountains and a national park full of various gazelles.
The Gulf of Tadjoura contains many species of fish and coral and is ideal for diving, snorkelling and underwater photography; in many places, the coral reefs in the Red Sea are easily accessible fromthe beaches. The best time for these activities is from September to May when the waters of the Red Sea are clear. Waterskiing and windsurfing can also be arranged. SUMMARY: Djibouti is an obscure destination for a reason - it is under developed, with no natural resources, industry or agriculture to speak of, and very little tourism focus. However, this in some ways makes it an ideal “get completely away from it all” destination for the traveller who has seen it all and done it all; anyone who ventures here will be ‘on the edge’ as far as needing to use all their travel experience to have a successful and enjoyable trip. The rewards will be to see some beautiful, stark and unspoilt scenery both on the land and in the sea, and to encounter a strange mixture of cultures and language, with French colonialism mixing with Islam and tribal ancestries. Anyone who ventures out of the capital city, which they really should do, will have to put up with uncomfortable journeys and basic accommodation, and very likely some
questionable food as well, but it will be worth it, because you will have been on one of the obscurest tours of all! You’ll probably be in desperate need of a beer when you leave though…
A COMPUTER GAME HEAD SET THAT READS MINDS
A headset that reads electrical impulses in the brain will allow gamers to interact with virtual worlds merely by ‘thinking and feeling’. The Epoc headset - which is due to go on sale later this year - works by reading a player’s facial expressions as well as
basic thoughts, such as ‘lift’ or ‘drop’, and transferring them to their character in the game. For instance if a player winks, smiles or grimaces while wearing the device, similar expressions would be seen on the person’s character - or avatar - in the game. Basic emotions, such as happiness, can also be detected, the company which makes the headset said. The headset, which has been developed by the San Francisco-based firm Emotiv, relies on a technology known as non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG), which reads neural activity within the brain. It is hoped that the device will make the emotional responses of characters to situations in games and virtual worlds more realistic. “If you laughed or felt happy after killing a character in a game then your virtual buddy could admonish you for being callous,” Tan Le, the president of
Emotiv, said. So far, the headset can detect more than 30 different expressions, actions and emotionsincluding smiling, winking, raised eyebrows, laughter and shock. It can also pick up more basic emotions such as excitement and frustration, and - perhaps the most ingenious application - can command a character to perform an action merely by the player thinking of it. Among the actions it understands are
push, pull, lift, drop, and rotate. “We’ve created a brain computer interface that reads electrical impulses in the brain and translates them into commands that a video game can accept and control the game dynamically,” Ms Le said. The Epoc, which connects with all the gaming consoles as well as PC, attaches to a player’s head at 16 sensor points, and has a wireless capability as well as a gyroscope, which measures movement much in the manner of Nintendo’s Wii handset. It will cost $299 (£153). Techniques which measure the activity of the brain’s 100 billion or so nerve cells date back nearly a century, but it is only since the 1970s that EEG has been used to enable a person to communicate with a computer using their brain. Emotiv said its headset would be the first consumer-focused EEG device to be used for gaming. “It doesn’t require a large net of electrodes, or a technician to calibrate or operate it - and it doesn’t cost tens of thousands of dollars,” Ms Le said. The company is also working with the likes of IBM to develop business applications forthe technology. The high price of iPhone$ in Ireland Some of the Irish papers are calling it the 1,200-euro (US$1,827) phone. Apple has brought its iPhone to Ireland, but the price the company will charge for the phone – particularly when the monthly service contract is added in – is raising eyebrows. The 8GB iPhone sells for 399 euros (US$607.43), including value-added taxes, while the 16GB version goes for 499 euros (US$759.68). Plus, users need to sign up for service from cellular carrier O2 for 45 euros (US$68.51) a month for a minimum of 18 months. The 45 euros (US$68.51) per month fee, by the way, is the minimum. After 175 minutes of call time and 100 text messages, the price starts to climb Thus, the 8GB phone goes for 1,209 euros (US$1,834), while the 16GB version goes for 1,309 euros (US$1993). The phones also run on slower, older networks than many other phones. To put the price in newly devalued U.S.
dollars, the 8GB equals about US$600 while the 16GB version goes for nearly US$760. With service fees, the 8GB sells for US$1,834. In England, the 16GB iPhone, when only hardware is considered, sells for about US$100 less than in Ireland.
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