Padmassana went travelling around Kyushu in June/July time. Here is the second of three extracts from his travel journal.

I left Beppu in more torrents of rain after a night of storms and went to Miyazaki. Miyazaki was a staging post on the way to Kagoshima and is famous for the Haniwa figures, clay statues that were found in burial mounds, similar to the Xian terracotta warriors. These were all items the Shogun would need to take with him to the other world. Some are funny, some threatening, some are mysterious, and include boats, carriages and horses. I found a local moggie asleep in one of the carriages, taking shelter from the rain!

After finding my nice hotel I decided to go to Heidawa Park and promptly got lost. There is a Peace Tower in he park, built in 1940. It started to hail so I ended up sheltering under a bridge. There was a Mini Mart near by so I went in for a sausage on a stick and found I was actually very near the park.

From Miyazaki, I did the 2 hour ride down to Kagoshima. I was immediately impressed with Kagoshima – it is a lovely city, has a very nice Ryokan, a KFC and a McDonalds all within a short walk, so I wont be starving!

It’s now lovely and warm and the sun occasionally comes out. The Nakazono Ryokan in Kagoshima was superb, tatami mat floor with futon. The owner is very knowledgeable about the city, such as knowing where the free internet cafes are and says the weather is going to be good for the next few days! Had lunch by the port looking towards the volcano Sakurajima.

I took the 24 hour ferry from Kagoshima, a 5 minute boat trip ($3.50, £2 return) across the sea between Sakurajima and the volcano. Once there, you take the tour bus that picks you up from where the ferry docks. It runs twice a day and costs 1,700 Yen, about £10 or $15. I did a tour, 10 Japanese people and me! The guide didn’t speak any English so she gave me a book with numbers. She would be gabbling away in Japanese, then she’d shout “Number 21” and I’d read the book while trying to look out of the window! Really enjoyed the island, where I saw all the different layers of lava and the lava fields which you can see from the viewing platforms is in wave shapes. The tour includes a village that has been buried and a ceramics workshop where you can buy pottery glazed with volcanic ash.

I also went to Ibusuki to try out sand bathing. You go upstairs, pay 900 yen about £6, and are given a big cotton bath robe and walk across the beach which is so hot on the feet to lie down in a body shaped hole already dug. You are then covered in this volcanic steaming sand for 20 minutes. After this, you feel nice and warm, but don’t do as I did and go and wash your toes in the sea, because it is too hot! Instead you wash yourself off under the tap carefully placed for visitors to clean off. It is supposed to be good for you!

If you would like to contact Padmassana to ask him about his time in Japan, he can be e-mailed on: Padmassana. A good web resource, says Padmassana is: http://www.seejapan.co.uk/fseedo.html

1. Tokyo, Japan

2. Osaka, Japan

3. Oslo, Norway

4. Hong Kong

5. Libreville, Gabon

London came 7^th in the list.

Source: http://www.aneki.com/lists.html

Tanzania has a multi-ethnic and multi-racial population that practices a wide variety of traditions and customs. In Mikindani, the influence of Shirazi Arabs from Persia and traders from the Indian subcontinent combined with the movement and mixture of different ethnic African groups have complemented each other to form a rich cultural heritage. This is something that is not always evident as people go about their daily tasks with invidious alacrity, but on joyous or sorrowful occasions such as weddings and funerals one realises how deep and fascinating the culture here actually is.

One of the most significant differences to European culture is how the concept of extended families and kinship works to benefit the people of Mikindani. It is common to find people living with and depending upon distant relations (“this is my brother’s wife’s uncle etc.), and kin ties through ones parents or by marriage appear to define one's rights, obligations, and opportunities. For example, educated members of the extended family are frequently held responsible for the education and welfare of younger siblings. This concept is a source of strength for the people of Mikindani, and provides a sense of belonging and togetherness that is lacking in our own society.

It is often the case that, in the face of a limited presence of science and technology, an individual person in Africa cannot achieve much without enlisting the support and efforts of others. In most aspects of Mikindani life, the role of men and women is vastly different. There is a clear and ingrained streak of gender inequality, which has dampened the potential, but definitely not the spirits, of the younger women here. Despite this, women remain by far the more jovial and animated members of the community, going about things with a grace, good humour, vigour and vitality that says much about the way in which they share their tasks.

At home, the women work so smoothly and quietly that when you are around, you sometimes wonder how water had arrived, the fire was started, or how the food materialised. Regardless of religion, it is rare to see men and women walking together, and almost non-existent to see a couple holding hands or making displays of affection.

Walking around the dusty back streets of Mikindani, it is possible to see groups of old men playing bao, women plaiting each others hair and younger girls skipping with a piece of twine. It is, however, the talking, shouting and singing that catches my attention. A typical Swahili conversation begins with multiple greetings followed by general banter; often these discourses are held purely for enjoyment rather than purpose. Here, talk, as pure entertainment is the equivalent of the Western vices of television and games consoles.

In Swahili society, much of the knowledge is shared and passed down to descendants encoded in stories, poetry and songs. This is the literature, art, law and science of Mikindani; the libraries and museums are in peoples’ heads. The Swahili language has proven to be a unifying factor in Tanzania, uniting more than one hundred different ethnic groups and forging a common identity. There is, however, a second language spoken in Mikindani – the tribal dialect of Kimakonde. The Makonde people represent one of the five largest ethnic groups in Tanzania, with a population of around one million. The tribe originated in Northern Mozambique, from where people migrated to the higher lands of the Makonde plateau (120km inland from Mikindani).

Many people in Mikindani still use Makonde, and the Makonde culture remains an enormous influence upon the traditions, customs and lifestyles of much of the local population. It is, however, their excellent woodcarvings for which the Makonde are internationally renowned. The skill is passed through the generations from father to son and some carvings provide an insight into the culture of the artists. Inland, many Makonde still practice their traditional religion even though they have been in contact with Muslim traders for hundreds of years. Their religion centres around the veneration of their ancestors, which ties in with the family tree carvings that depict the older generation on the bottom symbolically supporting later generations.

Today, the culture of Mikindani is changing faster than ever. Western influences upon such things as fashion and music are increasingly obvious. In particular, many young men are frustrated, it seems, with the limitations of their grandparents’ culture. The poverty trap and the phenomenon of Americanisation have hit each other head on. Younger children whose parents can barely even afford to buy them a pair of flip-flops draw global brands such as the Nike tick on the walls and doors of houses. Despite this, there is still a strong bond between the people and their cultural heritage; hopefully, as living standards improve and development takes place, that will always remain the same

The UK charity Trade Aid was founded in 1996 by a group of people headed by Brian Currie, a Salisbury businessman. The aim of the charity it to create sustainable employment in a village called Mikindani, a deprived and desperately poor part of Tanzania. The first phase of the project is complete – the renovation of a badly decayed but very beautiful German fort, situated on the side of a hill and overlooking the spectacular Mikindani Lagoon. The Boma, as it is called is now open as a 6 bedroom, country-house hotel. All the staff are Tanzanian nationals and most are local people from Mikindani and Mtwara, the local town. All of the rooms have been lovingly decorated and fitted out by local craftsmen. It’s an easy flight down to the south of Tanzania from Dar es Salaam, and the Beetle can vouch for the hospitality and effort that has gone into creating and running the Boma.

For more information on the work carried out by Trade Aid in Tanzania, see their website www.mikindani.com

As a result of the item about place names, Tom from N. Carolina wrote in to add: in the US state of Georgia we have Cairo, Athens & Rome. There is also Moscow in the state of Idaho; Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Frankfort, Kentucky and Odessa, Texas. The state of Connecticut has a bunch of place names reminiscent of England – Norwich, Devon, Stratford, Manchester, Windsor Locks, New London, etc.

Crystal from California wrote in to say: “isn't the joke about Simpsons that they called the town Springfield because there's one in every state? That's the rumour, anyway. Anyone know if there is some truth about this?”

Kim from Massachusetts also spotted Moscow, Russia and Moscow, Idaho and Moscow, Vermont.

Doug from Maine e-mailed the Beetle to say that although he lived for 11 years in London, he and his family now live Maine, topmost on the east coast of the USA. Doug goes on to say that Maine residents came from all over the world over the last 3 centuries, primarily from Europe. Many of those first immigrants liked to name their new homes after their previous homes in the “Old Country.” (Many, many came from Britain and we have too many British town names to mention here.) Some of the more interesting names of Maine towns include:

Carthage Orient, China, Paris, Lebanon, Peru, Levant, Poland, Madrid, Rome, Mexico, Smyrna, Moscow, Sweden, Naples, Troy, Norway, Vienna.

Many thanks to all of those who wrote in.