Speaking this meeting:
- The Black Stars of Ghana, A Motor Cycle Journey: Alan Whelan
- Travelling round Indochina, Barbara Lawther
Download the March 2013 poster
Doors open at 1pm for 1:30pm start until 4:30 pm,
25-27 Grosvenor Street, Chester, CH1 2DD. Entrance fee £3 refreshments included. We recommend you arrive early. For more information contact Hanna on 01244 383 392 or Angela on 01244 629 930
Review of talk at Chester Globetrotters
Our first speaker with: THE BLACK STARS OF GHANA – Alan Whelan
Alan gave us his first talk about Africa – African Brew Ha Ha – Lancashire to Capetown, sampling tea, as he travelled by motorbike. On his return from this trip he realised the culture shock of consumerism in the U.K., so slowly sold his possessions on e-bay and put his house on the market for sale some three months later.
One year later with ITCHY FEET to return to Africa, he broached the idea to his wife, and with her blessing off he went, but where to visit? Being 2010, the World Cup in South Africa he decided to head to Ghana, the first country to have gained Independence in 1957.
On his previous trip he found that his motorbike was too heavy and cumbersome so his decision was to fly to Accra and buy a bike there. – So a “new” bike, wrapped in bubble wrap, 150cc, no mileage on the clock, and made in China was purchased for £500. When he asked for a “test drive” the response was that it would no longer be “new”!
The journey took him to Bolgatanga in the north, through villages, the roads being generally good. As he travelled he closely watched The Black Stars of Ghana, the World Cup football team, usually on the only T.V. set in a village in the house of the village chief.
As many people believe in witchcraft, many villages have a fetish priestess whose body is scarred both back and front with a broken bottle to signify their power. Each priestess would keep symbols of their power, one such had dried snakes, another one had a coke bottle, schnapps bottle, and some “black powder”, some of which was given to Alan for good luck., – he never found out what this powder was. This was however a good luck charm for the Black Stars. Not all witches were good, and “bad witches” were sent to witchcraft camps.
One strange experience was seeing coffins, complete with windows and curtains for sale along the roadside. – The curtains opened from the inside! People purchased the coffins in readiness for when they died. These were bought with CEDI shells, – the local currency.
Local people were very friendly and in consequence Alan tried to do one good deed each day, like giving a lift on his bike wherever possible, and trying to provide one light bulb to each village. Having visited a school he appreciated that children couldn’t do school work at home after darkness.
He also visited a Stateless Persons Camp where 1400 people were living, mainly entering from Liberia. He also stayed in a fort, built by English and Dutch people, a feature of which was a “door of no return”, where slaves were taken from their cells to the beach to be loaded on to slave ships.
At the end of his trip Alan went back to the “bike shop” to sell the bike back. On passing the following day, the bike was again bubble wrapped, with no mileage on the speedo, – FOR SALE!
We all would like to thank Alan for his inpirational talk again and look forward to any forthcoming travel stories!!
Second talk 16th March 2013 :
TRAVELLING ROUND INDOCHINA with Barbara Lawther
Barbara, who had been working in a Cambodia for three months, took us on her journey through Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The journey started by taking a boat from the border of Thailand, along the Mekong river to Luang Prabang in the north of Laos. The boat was old but was fitted out with coach seats. She travelled with a small group, the eldest person being a lady of 92 years of age. Stopping at villages she learnt that the local people sold their dogs on as they did not like eating their own pets. Along the river a visit was made to the Tam Ting caves which contain hundreds of Buddha images. The finale of the boat journey was to Luang Prabang, famous for its numerous exquisite Wats. The morning saw processions of monks collecting their daily food from the local people. In the evening visits to the night markets ensured that you did not go hungry, freshly cooked food being prepared before your eyes!
Xieng Khouang province suffered more bombs than was dropped in the Second World war, consequently care was needed when visiting the Plain of Jars. These are hundreds of stone jars whose purpose if still being debated.
Last stop of the Laos sector of the journey was to the capital Vientienne where Barbara joined a cookery class and sampled local delicacies – fried cooked frog and dried banana fish.
Next stop Cambodia –
Siem Reap is now a busy tourist town, housing the temples of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom although there are numerous other temples to be visited in the area. Many of which are now in a derelict state. Transport to the temples can be made by tuc tuc,bicycle or hired moped.
In Phnom Penh the capital, she described the Central market, and Russian market, before moving on to the Royal Palace complex and the National Museum. The Killing Fields and S21 are a reminder of the not too distant history of Cambodia. Local restaurants are now training young people for work in an endeavour to rescue them from the sex trade. Again Barbara attended cookery classes (very fond of her food), local dishes included cockroaches and tarantula spiders, crispy on the outside with white meat inside, which tasted better than they looked. She finally described silk weaving on the island of Koh Dail in the Mekong. She finished her account of Cambodia with a visit to Tonle Sap, describing the life of the people who live on the lake.
And finally Vietnam.- Hanoi, City of motor bikes and pollution! Visiting the Ho Chi Min monument and the water puppet theatre. One of the most spectacular places to visit in Vietnam is Halong Bay with its limestone rock formations and sailing amongst these. Hoi An, a UNESCO heritage site with its Chinese bridge and temples and Hue where the palace was destroyed in the US/Vietnamese war, however the palace is slowly being rebuilt. This stretch of the journey was made on the Reunification Express train as far as Danang.
Barbara’s journey ended in Saigon where she visited the Chu Chi Tunnels, used by the Vietcong army to fool the U.S. and the final picture –
How many people/objects can Vietnamese get on to a motor cycle?
We would like to thank Barbara so much for her talk, Indochina is a popular place at the moment and great to have such an extensive preview!
We had a lovely drink in the pub afterwards and we all felt we had spend a very interesting and great afternoon together!