Colossal spiders, rollercoaster boat rides, fish of every shade and size - Nicholas Schoon was transfixed by Zanzibar's poor relation

LEONARDO'S BRIDE

NEW ZEALANDER Peter Gordon is head chef at the Sugar Club, Time Out's Best Modern British Restaurant of the Year in 1996

Who needs air-conditioned luxury when you can see the best of South Africa from a battered truck?

A FORMER Khmer Rouge guerrilla suspected of being responsible for the killings of three young Western tourists in 1994 has been arrested after being lured to Cambodia's capital by police.

Another story from the travellers' grapevine

With their luminous packs, backpackers seem to be taking over the world and the agencies specialising in independent travel have probably profited most from this. I've found two brochures specialising in the ultimate in international drifting: the round-the-world trip.

Sir: In her article about turning fifty (28 May) Bel Mooney bemoans the fact that she will never now backpack around India. I celebrate my 50th birthday in five week, and am doing just that: together with a friend who passes the same milestone in the same month I am backpacking round India this summer. Our route will cover over 2,000 miles from the deserts of Rajahstan to the beaches of Kerala. Pack your rucksack Bel - it's not too late to join us!

WOULD ANYONE out there like to meet an American called Jim Haynes? I am talking about the Jim Haynes who lives in Atelier A-2, at 83 Rue de la Tombe Issoire in Paris (post code 75014), and whose telephone number is 00 331 4327 1767.

It's Italian, it's leather, it's got a faux English heritage label, but opinion is divided on whether it's beautiful enough to merit the pounds 725 price tag

One day you're backpacking to China, the next you're topping up your National Insurance contributions... Fiona Mountford, reluctant ex-student, on the moment reality bites

Next week sees the start of the Independent Travellers' World tour. By Jeremy Atiyah

Gunmen ambushed a bus carrying 16 American college students and teachers in Guatemala. Marched at gunpoint to a nearby sugar cane field, all were robbed and five were raped during the 90-minute assault.

There are about 1,200 so-called coffee shops in the Netherlands where customers are able openly to buy cannabis resin - hashish - or the dried hemp "weed".