Globetrotters meeting 7th June 2003 by
Padmassana
Simon Myers was our first speaker, who described part of his
epic motorbike trip from Beijing across to the border of Pakistan. Simon
had been living and working in China and was thus able to buy a very unreliable
motorbike and set off with some companions and a Chinese mechanic on their
trip, no licence or crash helmet required. Setting off from Beijing under
the gaze of Chairman Mao, they were soon in the countryside and breaking
down at regular intervals. But thanks to having their local mechanic along
they were soon on their way again.
Their group was often the centre of attention in the places they went
through and they were often fed along the way, one of Simon’s memorable
photographs was of a breakfast consisting of all the bits of a chicken
that you are unlikely to want to eat. Along the way he saw where the Great
Wall of China is nothing but a ruin and the Dun Huang Buddhist grottos.
Somehow they managed against the odds to cross the Taklamakan and Gobi
deserts.
At Urumqi they said goodbye to their mechanic who flew back to Beijing.
The final few weeks to the border they were on their own. They had tried
to keep their trip a secret from officialdom so as not to attract attention
and problems, but at the border the guards knew all about them from a
photograph and piece in a newspaper. The guards were surprised to see
them, as nobody in China believed they would make it!
Our second speaker was Globie committee member Jacqui Trotter.
Jacqui took a year out to travel around South America, during which time
most Globies were kept informed of her progress via regular e-mail bulletins.
Her talk covered only part of her trip, from Ecuador where she first
arrived and tried to get to grips with the language down to Chile. Jacqui
was part of an overland group, which left Ecuador in November 2001 heading
south into Peru. She showed us some wonderful pictures of Peruvian beaches
and the snow capped Andean peaks.
She braved a light aircraft flight in order to see the Nazca lines,
bravely managing to take a photo before airsickness kicked in. Jacqui
showed us Arequipa church being held up by scaffolding after one of the
many earthquakes that the area is prone to. Her other highlights of Peru
were seeing a condor after waiting a few hours and the more obvious sights
of Cuzco and the spectacular ruins of Machu Picchu. Crossing the border
into Bolivia she visited La Paz.
By this stage as she headed for Chile the rainy season was starting
and her vehicle had to make a long journey to avoid the salt flats. Jacqui
and her fellow travellers continued over the border and visited the Salar
de Uyuni, where she showed us the salt hotel, where literally everything
is made of salt including the furniture and fittings. At the end of this
section of her trip Jacqui managed to take some superb photos of ice breaking
from a glacier, right place, right time.
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
