The end of season meeting for London means its members slide time – this year we enjoyed nine good speakers who took us to a variety of destinations around the world and for a whole host of reasons !
Zara Taylor : The face of Bangladesh. Zara headed out to Bangladesh over Christmas 2009 and was immediately struck how unlike India the country is, despite being nearly landlocked by its larger neighbour. Her tour took her to the national park near Mongia NOT to see any Bengal Tigers, to the alleged longest beach in the world at Cox’s Bazaar and into contact with the hill tribes near Chittagong. Summing up, Zara noted that the rivers of Bangladesh are its commercial lifeblood, its roads, its way of life…
Andrew Redwood : North Korea. Andrew started off talking about his twin drivers in going to North Korea – dread & curiosity ! To the chagrin of independent travellers like Andres, there is no solo travels – all tourism & visits are through strictly licensed companies and guides. As you might expect the country is virulent in its anti US propaganda and the masses & the army are always drilling in preparation… However there are brighter sights – particular aboard the train from Beijing, whereas the constant vigilance eases & time to view is more free flowing.
David Shamesh :Mediterranean cruise. David whistled us around some of the Mediterranean’s more renowned ports of call…Cadiz, Gibraltar, Sardina & Rome being his photographic highlights.
John & Roz Williams : Iceland. Entertaining duo John & Roz showed us some good photos of Iceland in June. Their itinerary treated us to the highlights of Husavik for whale watching, numerous waterfalls, Fumaroles near Myvatn bubbling sulphur laden warm waters and then across to the Western Fjords. You could almost smell the distaste as John described the locally delicacy of fermented shark ! All in all a top talk and where next for John & Roz I wonder…
Sue Baker : Hunting for Erica ! Two years ago in Capetown Sue shared time with her son & a travelling friend enjoying the landscapes & diversity of South Africa – Robben Island, mountain walking, wine tours in the Stellenbosch locality before searching for Erica… Only up in the Cederberg Mountains did the audience understand who/what Erica was…after we’d been spoilt by the Maltese Cross & ancient cave paintings along Sue’s journey.
Picture courtesy of PlantzAfrica.com : Erica plukenetii
Phil Ferguson : Assam & Nagaland. Phil’s travels were again well highlighted – this time he was off in the less well exposed north east Indian states of Assam & Nagaland…
Dan Bachmann : Albania & Kosovo. Dan continues on one of his quests – to visit every country in Europe ! This time it was Albania & Kosovo, as he sought beaches & whether there was any truth in the perception that he was supposedly heading into a land of thieves & murderers. Dan found a more relaxed nation, working through to a modern world of Italian tourists & businessmen, what to do with Enver Hoxha’s bunkers and taking excellent evening sunshine photos.
Liz Cooper :The Galungan Festival in Bali. Knowledgeable travellers Liz headed off to the Galungan Festival, where the many Indonesian peoples thank god for his creations on earth and all its content. As you might expect it was a presentation of colour, noise and fascinating people…
Jacqui Trotter : New York. Our very hardworking committee member Jacqui zipped off to NYC to help celebrate a friend’s birthday and relaxed by spending a whole day walking around Central Park and getting lost, whilst wandering around one of the busiest cities on the planet !!
Details of the London branch’s forthcoming meetings will soon be detailed at https://globetrotters.co.uk/meetings/lon10it.html
The London branch 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, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend. There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh in September. For more information, contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 7193 2586, or visit the web site: www.globetrotters.co.uk.
After the break for something completely different, Holidays at Home, Wales and Cumbria by Travel writer David Atkinson. This was a practical advice driven talk, highlighting some insider tips for visiting Wales and Cumbria. David Atkinson was talking about his Guidebook about Cumbria, especially to include children and introduce them to the pleasure of travel.
We all had a good time in the break as well, meeting others again, some had really good tips to go by, e.g. visit Poland for £2 with Easy Jet. We finished the biscuits again and by about 4.30pm we started for home again, a great day !
The next meeting is on the Saturday 18 September at the Grosvenor Museum at the usual time of 1.0pm meeting for a 1.30pm start.
For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.
The Ontario branch meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.
For a moment I understood why some would think that aliens had constructed these commanding ancient walls. Not even my site brochure would fit into the mortarless joints that separated the monstrous monoliths, whose journey to their resting place is not easily explained.
I was in Tiwanaku in western Bolivia, 44 kilometers west of La Paz and close to the border with Peru. The city was occupied between 500 and 950 AD before a drought pushed the population out of the region[1]. The residents of what would have been then an imposing city left no written record of their story, leaving the majority of their history to the conjecture of modern archaeologists and science fiction enthusiasts.
The site sits 13,000 feet above sea level in the dry, flesh-colored Andes Mountains[2]. It is believed by archaeologists that Tiwanaku was originally inhabited by up to 30,000 people at its peak, and was sprawled out over 2.6 square kilometers[3]. Although there are other Tiwanaku sites in the area, such as Lukurmata, a ceremonial center, Tiwanaku itself was the most important, serving as a religious and administrative capital of a vast empire that pre-dated the famed Incas[4].
All that now remains for tourists to visit are the walls and foundations of a few buildings, as well as a few standing gateways, on a patch of land that occupies only a small fraction of the original expanse. The most important of these is arguably the cracked Gateway of the Sun, which has become something of an icon in Bolivia. It symbolizes the importance of the culture through images of “Staffed Gods,” anthropomorphic figures bearing staffs that were most likely ritual practitioners, according to archaeologists[5].
Although much of the city has not stood strong against the test of time, what still exists and what is known of what existed is more than enough to stir up questions about the mystery of the place.
Staring up at the walls that dwarf my 5’ 10’’ frame, my first question is: How did the enormous stones get to Tiwanaku? Great feats of strength must explain how the red sandstone blocks, which can weigh up to 130 tons each and were used for the buildings and walls, traveled 10 kilometers from the nearest quarry[6]. It is also difficult to explain how a culture without 18-wheelers could manage the transport of andesite, green stones that were used for the intricate decorative carvings. Each weighed up to 40 tons and was brought to Tiwanaku from the other side of Lake Titicaca, a distance of 90 kilometers over water and another ten over land[7].
Pointing to the remains of what appeared to be ancient canals, my Bolivian tour guide explains the popular theory, which says the blocks were transported by reed rafts on rivers and canals to Tiwanaku after being hauled on logs from their original sites. Small pools of water rest in these canals now, showing that they were once capable of holding liquid, but imagining them as them as the great tools of movement that they once were requires a stretch of my imagination.
Assuming that my tour guide is correct, and that the transportation was indeed possible, the mysteries of Tiwanaku are still far from solved. Once the giant stones arrived, how did the buildings’ architects find a way to stack these blocks with perfect precision? No mortar was used, and nor was it needed, because alone the joints seem perfectly crafted, even to a modern eye.
A creative few have clung to an imaginative theory that claims such achievements could have only been accomplished by technical advancements not known to mankind at the time. These theorists say the precision of the joints and the magnitude of the structure must have been the result of aliens and their extraterrestrial techniques.
One such theorist, Erich von Daniken, included Tiwanaku in his book, “Chariots of the Gods,” which he published in 1968. In it, he claims that many of the famous ancient structures that have fascinated the world for centuries were only possible through the technology given to these cultures by visitors from other planets who were seen as gods[8]. My guide mentioned an angular rock structure on the site, which adherents of the alien theory claim was a launching pad for spacecraft.
Von Daniken also includes the nearby Nazca lines in his theory, as well as Stonehenge and the Egyptian Pyramids[9]. The aliens, he believes, were globally influential.
Another theory came from an early 20th century Austrian astronomer, H.S. Bellamy, who didn’t believe that advanced civilizations could exist at such altitude and posited that the city was a result of the collision of the Earth with one of its former moons[10].
Even the Incas, who discovered Tiwanaku hundreds of years after it had been abandoned, had their own theories to relieve their discomfort with the idea that an advanced culture could have existed before their own. They claimed that the first Incas were created with clay from area by the deity Viracocha, and that the monoliths stand as a solemn reminder of the act[11].
I remain skeptical of the more extreme theories, though I can admit it is easier to explain the mysteries with tales of visitors from space than to imagine all of the blood, sweat, tears and probably lives that went into the construction of this amazing city.
Places like Tiwanaku remind travelers what incredible work mankind is capable of. This is one of the reasons people travel, after all; to see up close what remains of this world’s history so that we might know how we got to where we are and provide insights to where we are going.
I leave Tiwanaku still pondering my questions, but also feeling uniquely privileged to experience such a remarkable, and little understood, period of human history.
*****
Interested in making the trip yourself?
I traveled in November of 2009 and used a local guide named Rene Jaldin Andrade, who was based out of La Paz. If you decide to hire a local guide on your own rather than through a travel agency, it’s always good to make sure he or she is certified by ASOGUIATUR, the local association of tour guides.
How to get there:
Most visitors come for the day from La Paz. For the cheapest travel option, catch a bus outside of the main cemetery (“cementerio” in Spanish). The trip takes between one and one and a half hours and costs less than $2. You can also ride on a tour bus service for about $1.50. Try Transportes Tiwanaku (Tel. 7191-4889). Another option is to hire a taxi from La Paz to take you for a round trip journey. Including wait time, this will cost around $30 – $40, and most hotels can help you find a safe driver. The last option, and perhaps the most popular, is to arrange a tour with a bilingual guide from a travel agency in La Paz. Most travel agencies will offer half day or full day tours. Try Transporte Turistico Bolivia (Tel.
231-6971, http://www.transporteturisticobolivia.com/).
Getting in:
The main site costs $10 and is open from 9:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. The onsite museum, Museo Litico Monumental, also costs $10 and is open from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Where to stay:
Most travelers choose to visit Tiwanaku on a day trip from La Paz, but if you would like to stay the night, there is a small village next to the site. Try the Gran Hotel Tiwanaku (Tel. 289-8548, Bolivar 903), the nicest hotel in town, and at $30 – $40 a night per person, also a good deal. They also have a restaurant.
Footnotes:
[1]“Tiwanaku.” (Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies, University of Arkansas and the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2007). http://cast.uark.edu/projects/tiwanaku/about.html.
Previously my predecessor The Beetle requested readers help with naming her cheese, as produced on her farm in the Yorkshire Dales. Here are a couple of replies that might help other suggestions along and any marketing campaigns J
Audrey from Florida says “I vote for Dales Select. Anywhere I can buy it here ?”
Mac, our regular contributor writes that “Ribblesdale Goat is a modern vegetarian (I had never heard the vegetarian angle) hard cheese created in 1982 by Iain and Christine Hill. Ribblesdale goat is highly valued for its fresh simple flavor with its suggestion of chicory, almonds, and wild herbs from the misty Yorkshire hills. Ribblesdale Goat won a Bronze Award in the 1996 British Cheese Awards. Although normally a goats cheese it is also available from ewes milk and a smoked cheese . Ribblesdale cheese can be served as a table cheese or for grated toppings. All Ribblesdale Cheeses supplied are handmade and waxed coated giving the cheese a long shelf time of approximately 80 days. Sadly Iain Hill passed away in November 2006 but is succeeded by his niece Iona Hill who maintains the family tradition. Suitable for vegetarians, suitable for freezing…”
Mac also jokes “Groups of Americans were traveling by tour bus through Holland .. As they stopped at a cheese farm, a young guide led them through the process of cheese making, explaining that goat’s milk was used. She showed the group a lovely hillside where many goats were grazing. ‘These’ she explained, ‘Are the older goats put out to pasture when they no longer produce.’ She then asked, ‘What do you do in America with your old goats?’ A spry old gentleman answered, ‘They send us on bus tours’
Mac writes even more – “George stopped me in the hallway all excited and said Hey Mac I tasted your friends Ribblesdale cheese in Meknes Morocco in about 2003 or 2004. He said he was on a tour bus and an English lady invited him to join him for a spot of tea on the beach. He said the lady had a little wicker basket and in it some Ribblesdale Cheese.
He said he remembered it first because of its unique name, then its unique flavor and that it was made from goats milk. He liked it. Maybe you should keep the name Ripplesdale since it made such an impression on him. I do think adding Yorkshire to word Dale would add more sophistication and not have some of us ignorant Americans think it is referring to a man’s name.
He thought the cheese was in a green wrapper. Maybe the English woman just put it in a green wrapper.”
George is quoted as saying “I Summit Your Friend New International Cheese Name Is : ” World Famous Yorkshire Dales Ribblesdale Cheese ” And Below A Picture Of A Bearded Goat, And In Smaller Lettering ” The Ribblesdale Goats Do It “
“Also Had Visions Of This Cheese In Eye Catching, Wrapped Green, With White Circle, With The Black Lettering Divided By A Golden Bearded Goat Head Figure.
Welcome to June and the inescapable football World Cup being held in South Africa. I realise that football isnÂ’t enjoyed by everyone, but personally I envy all those who are out there enjoying different parts of South Africa and mixing with fans from around the world. Despite its troubled history and its various inequities there is so much to enjoy…the wild life, the geography and the people – all do mix in a superb destination !
Enough of the reminiscing otherwise IÂ’m going to sound like Mac, who as youÂ’ll read is much better at recounting tales and stories ! In this edition we have news from the London & Chester branches, the second half of travel award winner Doreen TaylerÂ’s adventures in India and Lucy Melling introducing a spectacular.
Saving the best to last, we also have news and a competition from The Beetle…so get reading & get helping !
ThatÂ’s all for now and keep enjoying the summer & your trips…
Lois Pryce : Adventure motorcyclist Lois returned to the club to recount her latest exciting journey…”Red Tape & White Knuckles”. In a detail filled talk, Lois held us riveted with tales of bureaucratic border nightmares, roads that were little better than rivers, minefields and near culture shock at every corner ! She also filled us the vibrancy of the people, the colours of life and the geographical magic of a very misunderstood & beguiling destination. I think Lois could have spoke twice as long and yet still had many questions to answer… If you still want to know more, see Lois’s web site at http://www.loisontheloose.com/
Doreen Tayler : As in May’s edition of the eNewsletter, Doreen recounted her travel award winning adventure “In the footsteps of Rudyard Kiplin’s Kim”. Never an immediate fan of India, Doreen however found herself inspired by Kipling’s Kim, and in particular trying to retrace his many journeys across the country in pursuit of the Great Game. For a first time speaker Doreen was knowledgeable, articulate and seemingly not daunted in standing in front of the regular London branch audience. Well done and here’s hoping she’ll inspire other applicants for future awards…
The London branch 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, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend. There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh in September. For more information, contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 7193 2586, or visit the web site: www.globetrotters.co.uk.
The meeting of Chester Globetrotters on the 22nd of May was again well attended and we had two very interesting speakers on that day. First Barbara Dickinson spoke about Kiev in Ukraine, she told us about the impressive buildings and squares of the city where people parade and get together. Barbara visits Kiev on a regular basis because her son lives there so she was able to tell us about local customs and what it is like for local people there. Afterwards questions were asked and a few people are thinking of a visit there, myself included.
After the break we had a talk about Uganda from Dan Bachmann, a fascinating talk about the forgotten tribes of Karamoja who live within a unique culture that has existed like this for hundreds of years, but is threatened by modern day living. Lots of questions for Dan afterwards and everyone had enjoyed the afternoon.
There are now quite a few regulars coming back for every meeting and we all enjoy the sharing aspect as well J
The next meeting is on the Saturday 17 July at the Grosvenor Museum at the usual time of 1.0pm meeting for a 1.30pm start. There will be two lectures, with the first on Southern India by Cheron & Roger Turner, entitled ‘A Temple Trail by Taxi – Tales of a Southern India Journey through Tamil NadhuÂ’. After refreshments David Atkinson will take us on to talk about Holidays at home : Wales and Cumbria.
For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.
The Ontario branch meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.
I am currently working with Wigwam Press to promote Due South, a reportage of the worldÂ’s first helicopter flight from the North to the South Poles, documented with images taken by award-winning photographer Joanna Vestey who accompanied/co-piloted the helicopter alongside her husband, famed adventurer Steve Brooks, on the AmericaÂ’s length of the journey (from Alaska through to the southern tip of Chile).
DUE SOUTH: The epic story of the first helicopter flight from the North to South Poles. The subject of a very successful adventure documentary, premiered at the Royal Geographic Society and shown on Discovery Channel (2009).
Content Over 250 colour photos. Approx. 40,000 words.
The original idea was gloriously simple, at least in concept – to fly a helicopter from the very top of the world to the very bottom – a feat never before attempted. The journey would take in some of the planet’s most extreme wildernesses, from the polar ice sheets to mountain ranges and canyons, rainforests and deserts, river and oceans, glaciers and sand dunes, with visits to indigenous tribal groups along the way. Pilots Steve Brooks and Joanna Vestey were no strangers to adventure. Steve had already found his way into the record books as the first person to drive from America to Russia across the Bering Strait, while Joanna had worked all over the world as a photographer. This is the story of how together they flew the length of the Americas, and the story of Brooks’ further ambition to top and tail the adventure with flights to the polar extremes. Brooks’ first attempt to cross the infamous Drake Passage en route to the South Pole was to end in near fatal disaster when the helicopter suffered engine failure and he ended up in the icy waters, lucky to escape with his life. Two years later he returned and successfully crossed the Drake, flying on to the South Pole. This book is the story of a young couple’s phenomenal journey and their enduring will to succeed. Documented by Joanna Vestey’s stunning images and told in the words of Rebecca Stephens, the first British woman to climb Everest, it is both an epic adventure story and a striking testament to the power of positive thinking.
A timely foreword by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, who says: “…an extraordinary journey told in words and pictures that capture a unique, and quite literal, cross-section of the world we live in from the frozen Poles to the steaming rainforests of the Amazon. With its dramatic and near-fatal ditching in the Drake Passage on the final leg of the journey, it was a story that picked me up and swept me on to what I am relieved to say was a successful and happy conclusion. It will not disappoint!”
Biography Joanna Vestey is an award-winning photographer whose work has been published widely both nationally and internationally. Steve Brooks is an avid adventurer, record-breaking helicopter pilot and joint founder of one of EuropeÂ’s largest property investment companies. Rebecca Stephens was the first British woman to climb Everest and the seven summits, and is the author of several books.
Member and Globetrotters Club travel award winner in 2009, Doreen Tayler recounts the second half of her journey of a lifetime…to follow in the footsteps of Kim, Rudyard Kipling’s most famous character. Enjoy her very readable writing and be inspired to submit your own proposal for the 2010 award The Ant
To recap: Kim set off from Lahore to look for his heritage, while acting as a disciple (chela) to a lama who is searching for Buddha’s River of the Arrow. I picked up Kim’s trail at Amritsar station, en route to Ambala (then Umballa), which was his first stop.
During the British Raj, Umballa was an important garrison town. It was the permanent headquarters of the British military in India and of strategic importance being on the Grand Trunk Road, which stretches from the Khyber Pass to Calcutta. It is still a military cantonment, but of little significance, – a bustling, extremely dusty town and I soon had to ditch my contact lenses and resort to glasses. There is little of interest for foreigners here, and I met none, but there was an excellent English Book Shop with everything from John Grisham to Freud. Browsing for hours one afternoon, the manager to my delight asked me, ‘Would ma’am care for tiffin?’
‘Jains’ Sodawater Factory. Estd. 1940’ was a real find. Located on the main street, a bouncer guarded the entrance – that was weird! Why? Frequented mainly by parents and their offspring, I had visions of children rioting if they ran out of Hot Chocolate Fudges or Munchurian Pizza. Just inside the door and above the cashier’s head, smiling benignly down at the customers, are the Jain family portraits: the founder grandfather, his son, and grandson, the current owner, who graciously advised me on the dishes. Tough call, but I would recommend ‘Jain’s special Thali’ and ‘Jain’s Special Dream Boat’ – after having tried to munch my way through the American style menu.
Kim’s (and now my) mission in Ambala was to locate a certain Colonel Creighton’s bungalow. Here Kim delivered an encoded (espionage) letter, en route to Varanasi (then Benares). I managed to locate a bungalow of the right age and description, but who knows? In the same vicinity near the station, is the bomb-damaged remains of the church of St. Paul’s which was built in 1857 – a victim, and a memorial of the Pakistan- India war of 1965-6 (now standing in the grounds of a posh private school). It was built in 1857, and although photographs were not allowed, I managed to take some by saying my father married there in 1930. I doubt Kim paid much attention to St Paul’s as British churches were commonplace. He did though, inadvertently stumble on his father’s old regiment, and as a result lost his freedom and was sent off to be schooled at St Xavier’s (in reality La Martiniere) in Lucknow, temporarily parting company with his lama.
So next stop was Lucknow, and as with Ambala, I was a viewed as a curiosity, and instantly helped when I was lost or looked anxious. I hired a cycle rickshaw to take in the town’s many ancient sites, before exploring La Martiniere. The building was originally a Gothic chateau with four enormous octagonal towers and was built by a French soldier of fortune in 1793. He left instructions that he wanted it was converted after his death into a school for the rich and well connected. During my visit, a Bollywood version of St Trinians was being filmed and they were shooting a scene with nubile youngsters dressed in school uniform, who sang, and danced, with the girls provocatively sashaying through the many quads. Kim missed out there.
Not far away is The Residency, where the Indian Mutiny began resulting in a five month bloody siege in1857, which cost the lives of two thousand British and saw much hardship as well as acts of great sacrifice and bravery. The museum and cemetery are haunting and well kept. However, the complex is preserved to celebrate the verve and expertise of the rebelling Indians who overcame the cornered British residents. Nevertheless, within seven months the British had resumed power. Many boys from nearby La Martiniere (which closed temporarily) helped run dangerous missions for the besieged Brits – events not much before Kipling’s time. Kim did not though spend his school holidays in Lucknow, he roamed the country, and frequently was sent to Simla for extra-curricular schooling in the art of espionage.
Shimla is a real joy. I took the sleeper train back to Ambala for the journey to Shimla. Then at nearby Kalka I changed trains and took the little toy town train that climbs the sixty-five miles up to the hill station – and takes six hours! Honeymooners thronged my train, the giveaway being the brides’ hands decorated with henna. Shimla is where the British Raj spent seven months of the year escaping the heat of the plains. No traffic is permitted in the Mall, nor is spitting or littering. Bliss. Peeing wherever though still proliferates.
I loved Shimla: it was cool, fresh and compact and despite the profusion of concrete, still retains its colonial aura. The stately English Renaissance Vice regal Lodge atop Observatory Hill, shows how our viceroys lived in splendour. The ghostly reminiscence of Victorian grandeur seeped out of the town’s ‘Ridge’ area, wandering round the British built library and the Gaiety theatre at Scandal Point (named after the reputed abduction of a British lady by a Maharaja in the nineteenth century), I envisaged the thrill of amateur dramatics and state balls with the ladies being ferried from their bungalows by manual rickshaws, wearing all their finery and bedecked in jewels. Kim spent much time here at Lurgan Sahib’s (really A M Jacob’s) antique shop, learning camouflage and observation techniques, and although I could not find the shop, I found Belvedere where Jacob lived, by asking a lady in the street if she knew its location. ‘You mean Jacob the magician’s house?’ she responded, ‘Belvedere is just further on from the library and is now a girls’ school. I’m the headmistress!’ Maybe he was working his magic again, for most characters in Kipling’s book were based on real characters.
It was with reluctance I dragged myself away from Shimla, which is surrounded by hills and houses precariously atop houses, is running alive with mischievous monkeys. Kim too enjoyed its refreshing atmosphere, and every autumn returned reluctantly to school. When Colonel Creighton deemed him ready to leave and join the Great Game – (spying), he rushed off to meet up with the lama in nearby Benares, (now Varanasi), and so that was where I now headed.
‘Varanasi is fruitcake’ said an American tourist I met in Delhi, and he wasn’t far wrong. I did not get to the hostel I intended, I was back in the tourist nightmare of being a walking wallet, but no matter, my rickshaw driver’s choice was just fine – the food was watered down and de-spiced somewhat but that is apparently to suit foreigners’ taste. Western bakeries abounded and most people who approached me were trying to lead me to silk shops, assuring me they gave any commission they made to charities! I had not even put my bag down before I was booked into a river trip to see the burning gnats and the nightly river ‘show’ following on from my hostel’s ‘temple tour’. At less than £5, excellent value I figured.
Eyes followed wallets and rickshaw drivers followed tourists, with holy bolies everywhere. The craziness of Varanasi has to be experienced to be believed. Kim does not mention much about the oldest city in the world but met up with his lama at a Jain temple. However, it was not clear if it was the one in Varanasi or Sarnath so I visited both. Sarnath is greener and less manic than Varanasi but full of coaches waiting for Indian tourists to return after visiting the many temples and interesting museums in this holy old enclave where Buddha was purported to preach under a tree.
My trip ended with Kim and his lama at Saharanpore after travelling up to the hill station of Missorie via Dehradun. Saharanpore is an industrial town surrounded by fruit farms. I stayed just one night. On walkabout, it seemed full of drunks and rough sleepers. I had been warned several times by well-wishers not to stop there, but I felt totally unthreatened and again spent much time in an English bookshop. The short train ride to Dehradun, famous for its public schools (Gandhi went to one), is where I caught the bus up to Missoorie, which is situated in the foothills of the Himalayas.
Missorie does not ban but does limit traffic driving through its centre. It is a magical place surrounded by woods and snow-capped mountains. You only have to walk some half hour out of the small town and you are in a trekkers’ delight. This area again attracts honeymooners and weekenders from the plains. Unlike Shimla though, there is no civil service industry. The shops just sell souvenirs, most from Tibet and Kashmir. The British presence can still be felt: there are Christian churches, polo schools and private schools. Kim went further into the mountains in search of foreign spies, nowadays if he did the same, he would meet mainly Tibetan refugees and the occasional foreigner who attends one of the several language schools at nearby Landes. Next to the clock tower (the British built many, as the locals did not own watches) is the fabulous Clock-house Cafe which caters mainly to the language students. It is not quite up to Jain’s Sodawater Factory, but their homemade cheesecake, brownies and apple pie take some beating. Kim missed out there as he loved his ‘sweetmeats’, but he thwarted the foreign spies; his lama found the River of the Arrow back at Saharunapore and we leave Kim poised on the cusp of being a latter day 007, albeit alone.
And being alone on my travels was not a problem, more a boon, and no doubt because I appeared approachable. It was flattering at one hotel where a wedding reception was taking place, to be asked my room number by several lascivious middle-aged male guests. My age, however, was a constant source of interest and when I was asked it, I always quoted Oscar Wilde, “Any woman who tells you her age will tell you anything!” This was greeted with hoots of laughter and seemed to suffice, people always wanted to chat and to ask me if I liked India. Finding a room – rarely more than £10 – was never a problem. So to those of you who have not been to India, I would merely say, ‘Just go!’ It is safe, it is cheap, it is fascinating, and the people are curious, helpful and enchanting. It has the lot. Oh yes, and the food is good too!
time for another round up of the latest articles, information and interesting anecdotes I received lately. As you will read, stalwarts Mac & Tony Annis are back with adventures from their adventurous younger days… Also we have Doreen Tayler recounting the first leg of her GT funded independent adventure – see the section GT Travel Award 2010 to work out if you could find the club helping you fulfil a dream. And to conclude we have TrailBlazers Guides and Tick Alert preparing us for the trips ahead… All in all a proper travel edition J
ThatÂ’s all for now – but keep talking…its good to read through so many fascinating trips…
Martin Featherstone: Hyenas Ate My Water Container! Return to the London branch of one of our most popular speakers…this time leading us through his adventures in East Africa and in particular Tanzania. As many of you already know Martin has lively, unique style of presenting…deliberately cheeky & yet very knowledgeable about all his subjects. As IÂ’d visited the same a few years earlier, I was more than interested in his time at Kilimanjaro & going on safari.
Francesca Jaggs: Committee member Francesca showed us a short film of her impending visit to the former Yugoslavia, as part of the Healing Hands Network – http://www.healinghandsnetwork.org.uk/ The film detailed the immense pain that many people still endure as a result of the violent wars which the country broke up as a result of and how their small ground up charity tries to assist in the healing process.
Jeanie Copland: Legacy Officer Jeanie regaled us with the first part of her epic ten week trip to Patagonia & wider South America. Yours truly started with one of the clubÂ’s most adventurous members in heading from Buenos Aires, south into the Argentine Patagonia before trekking the epic Torres del Pine W circuit. We went our separate ways on the road to Ushuaia – me up to the Chilean Lake District and Jeanie into Bolivia, Peru before…..
Jeanie Copland: continuing her odyssey through South America. Jeanie looped through the eastern side of the country, learning Spanish along the way, heading into the silver mines at Potosi and complete her circle via Brazil & Rio de Janiero.
Jacqui Trotter: Fellow Committee member and all round club stalwart Jacqui completed her own journey through the southern Americas…this time spending a number of weeks travelling by chicken bus through Central America. Armed with only two or three other travel companions plus there various talents of Wayne the driver, Jacqui headed from Mexico, through the myriad of nations to Panama and after her own year away, back to London.
Details of the London branchÂ’s forthcoming meetings, through to July 2010, can be found athttps://globetrotters.co.uk/meetings/lon10it.html
The London branch 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, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend. There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh in September. For more information, contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 7193 2586, or visit the web site: www.globetrotters.co.uk.
The next meeting is on the Saturday 22th May at the Grosvenor Museum at the usual time of 1.0pm meeting for a 1.30pm start. There will be two lectures, the first on the Ukraine given by Barbara Dickinson, followed by refreshments then a talk by Dan Bachmann on the forgotten tribes of Karamojong people in Uganda.
For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.
The Ontario branch meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.
An online device that helps travellers find out whether they might be at risk of potentially fatal Tick Borne Encephalitis (TBE) in Europe is now available at the Tick Alert website (www.tickalert.org). The ‘TBE Travel Check’ takes less than a minute to complete and asks users a sequence of simple questions about where they are going and any outdoor activities they are planning to determine their level of risk. A message at the end of the test advises whether a user should consider seeking medical advice ahead of their trip. A Tick Alert spokesperson said: “The TBE Travel Check gives people a better understanding of their risk before they travel so they can think about the need for precautions against the disease.
“Many of us heading into Europe often don’t consider seeking travel health advice so we hope this quick check will help.”
The ‘TBE Travel Check’ is one of a number of new-look features to Tick Alert’s website (www.tickalert.org), which now includes the latest updates on TBE risk, prevention measures taken by health authorities in various destinations and an interactive map showing risk areas of Europe.
TBE is a viral disease contracted via the bite of an infected tick which is endemic in 27 countries in Europe. It leads to an annual average of 10,000 cases needing hospital treatment. Two in every 100 TBE sufferers will die from the disease.
TBE-infected ticks are found typically in rural and forest areas from late spring and throughout summer. At-risk groups include all visitors to rural areas of endemic countries, particularly those participating in outdoor activities such as camping, trekking, hiking, climbing and cycling/mountain biking.
time for a catch up and a chance to pass on some interesting articles and comments Ive received lately. In this edition you can read about the latest Globetrotters Club Travel Award winner, follow Mac through surviving travel emergencies and learn about life in Calabria, Italy. You can also see that the London and Chester branches have continued to busy with very interesting programs… And Ive added a couple of sections in this introduction to highlight some news and events !
Members News
Artist Karen Neale and her partner Alex Lassuss Rodriguez have given birth to a baby son and are all doing well…congratulations to all of three of them
Photographer Dan Bachmann spoke at the Royal Geographical Societys Young Members Geographical Journeys: Young Members’ Micro LecturesÂÂ evening on 9 March on London…briefly recounting his visit to Karamojong people of north east Uganda. You may recall Dan undertook this quite unique journey by being partly funded by winning the Globetrotters Travel Award in June 2009…perhaps this is the start of a new speaking career, particularly as you can catch him at the Chester branch in May.
Committee member Francesca Jaggs, the clubs Publicity and PR officer, is going to Sarajevo as a volunteer for Healing Hands Network in May 2010. If you would like to help sponsor her endeavours and raise money for charity, click here for more details http://www.mycharitypage.com/francescajaggs
Interesting Events
· As European Capital of Culture for 2010, Istanbul is hosting a plethora of events throughout the year across the city from heritage, visual arts & multimedia to film, theatre & dance, music, museums, literature & poetry. Many other projects are well underway, from restoration work on historic sites such as the Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, Suleymaniye Mosque and the Ataturk Cultural Centre to the construction of brand-new art and cultural centres, from ongoing festivals and arts events to the commissioning of new artistic works for 2010. For full calendar of events see www.en.istanbul2010.org.
Thats all for now heres to enjoying the spring and travels you might be about to start J
Mark Kalch — Solo Crossing, on foot, of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Mark was proudly born in Australia and has spent the last 12 or so years of his life working towards becoming a professional adventurer and explorer. Expeditions have taken him from Everest to North Africa, from Ethiopias Omo Valley to the mighty Amazon and from AustraIia’s outback to the forests of South-East Asia. He has run rivers in Southern Africa and trekked for weeks on end in the Andes of Peru, forged trails through dense jungles in East Africa and explored deserted tropical islands off the coast of Australia by sea-kayak. A true Globetrotter…
However this time round his plans for the club went askew an injury to Mark meant that he spent his return from Iran recuperating rather than being able to prepare for us…this meant he talked about his rowing epic down the Amazon. See http://www.expeditionamazonas.com/ from more details of that trip or more generally about Mark on http://www.markkalch.com/.
Jennifer Barclay — Return to South Korea
South Korea is often called the best-kept secret of Asia, with most westerners hearing more about the closed state to the north and the DMZ that divides them than the fascinating country to the south. Jennifer Barclay, author of Meeting Mr Kim, has been researching and writing about the country for years and went back in September 2009 to dig deeper. She was served strange fish by one of the oldest diving women of Jeju, went walking in a volcanic lava tube, got a rare view of North Korea, met a robot and watched old men playing chess. See for more details about her travel & writing career generally.
The next London Meeting will be on April 10th, this is the second Saturday of the month due to the Easter public holidays.
Details of the London branchs forthcoming meetings, through to July 2010, can be found at https://globetrotters.co.uk/meetings/lon10it.html
The London branch 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, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend. There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh in September. For more information, contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 7193 2586, or visit the web site: www.globetrotters.co.uk.
Mac, our regular contributor writes that “Ribblesdale Goat is a modern vegetarian (I had never heard the vegetarian angle) hard cheese created in 1982 by Iain and Christine Hill. Ribblesdale goat is highly valued for its fresh simple flavor with its suggestion of chicory, almonds, and wild herbs from the misty Yorkshire hills. Ribblesdale Goat won a Bronze Award in the 1996 British Cheese Awards. Although normally a goats cheese it is also available from ewes milk and a smoked cheese . Ribblesdale cheese can be served as a table cheese or for grated toppings. All Ribblesdale Cheeses supplied are handmade and waxed coated giving the cheese a long shelf time of approximately 80 days. Sadly Iain Hill passed away in November 2006 but is succeeded by his niece Iona Hill who maintains the family tradition. Suitable for vegetarians, suitable for freezing…”
