Our first speaker was Gavin Fernandes, who showed us life and death at Varanassi. Daily life including everything from bathing, praying, meditating and funerals taking place on the ghats by the side of the river. We saw ash covered saddhus and Bollywood films being made. Gavin also showed us the Kumb Mela, (a grand Hindu Festival and Ceremony, taking place every four years,) where millions of pilgrims go for a dip to cleanse their sins in the Ganges. Gavin got to know some of the Saddhus who allowed him to take photos in return for some copies for themselves.

After the break our second speaker was Alistair Humphreys, who took four and a half years to cycle round the world, covering over 46,000 miles in the process. His route taking him via Europe, Middle East, Africa, by boat to Rio, from where he took a bus down to the tip of South America so that he would be able to say he had cycled the whole way up to Alaska. He took a ship to Siberia and cycled through temperatures of minus 40 in Russia, then down through Japan and along the great wall of China, then back though central Asia, disappointingly having to miss Iran because of visa problems. 46,000 miles over four and a half years condensed into 45 minutes for Globetrotters, well done Alistair.

By Padmassana

Forthcoming meetings:

• Saturday 4th March, Jane Robinson – “The Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands” and Neville Shulman OBE –Climbing the Equator
• Saturday 1st April (no joke!), Jonathon Kaplan – “A surgical Sojourn in the Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan” and Anne Mustoe — “The Amber Route”

Full Details can be found on the website London Meeting Page.

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