The new year kicked off with the usual 4 mini talks from club members. Dan Bachmann who took us to rural Romania and showed us horses still being used to bring wood out of the forests, how sheep are one of the mainstays of the economy, producing not just meat but also milk, which is so abundant that they even use it to do the washing up.
Neil Harris took us into Myanmar to show us wonders such as Pagan, now a UNESCO site because of its 200 pyres. Neil showed us pictures of monks, doing building work and listening to a walkman and another monastery that had cats jumping through hoops. We also saw the more expected sites including Inlay lake and the city of Mandalay.
After the break we headed further east as Steve Golding and Francesca Jaggs took us to Japan, they showed us the beauty of Miyajima and its floating Torri, Kamakura with its massive Buddha, the “Medicine Buddha” of Nara. On Shikoku we saw two sides of the island, pilgrims doing the 88 temples in a week and the very graphic Sex museum!
Last up was Globetrotters Legacy winner Marcin Dabek, who showed us his trip to South America. Not only did he see the sights but also worked on Organic farms staying with local families. Marcin also showed us Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, the wonder of Iguasu falls and the rugged beauty of the Torres del Paine national park in Chile.
By Padmassana
Forthcoming meetings: Saturday 4th February 2006, Gavin Fernandes – Life and Death at Varanasi, a talk/slide show about this holy Indian city on the Ganges in 2001 shortly after the record breaking Khumb Mela Festival that year, where Gavin took the shot that won the TPOTY award and Alistair Humphreys – Round the World by Bike ( http://www.roundtheworldbybike.com ) 4 years, 46,000 miles, 60 countries, 5 continents in support of ” Hope and Homes for Children ”
London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2. 30pm the first Saturday of each month. There is no London meeting in August, but we will be back in September. For more information, you can contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website: www. globetrotters. co. uk