Globetrotters meeting on Saturday 4th January
2003 by Padmassana
For our first meeting of the New Year we were treated to four mini talks
by club members.
First up was Gavin Fernandes who talked to us about Darjeeling,
India. Gavin showed us slides of his journey, which began on a very slow
narrow gauge steam train. The train often runs late anything up to 12
hours. Once he had arrived in Darjeeling, he showed us slides of the area
including tea plantations clinging to the sides of hills and temples on
mountaintops with their colourful prayer flags. We also saw the local
people, including porters who carry impossible loads on their heads including
massive oil drums and furniture.
Our second speaker, Kevin Brackley, gave a well received talk
on South Korea. Kevin showed us the DMZ (Demilitarised Zone, border
with North Korea) and the surrounding area including the world’s
most dangerous golf hole and the world’s tallest flagpole as well
as the hut where superpower meetings take place. We then saw pictures
of Bulguksa temple in the Southeast corner of Korea near the city of Gyeongju
and examples of the fine carpentry and paintwork that adorn the temple.
Kevin’s photos concluded at Haeinsa, another temple in the mountains
near Daegu. Haeinsa is famous for being the repository for 80,000 woodblock
texts dating from the 14th century.
After the interval our next speaker Sylvia Pullen took over and
took us to Nagaland in India, an area situated near to the Burmese
border. Sylvia explained that to visit this area you have to obtain a
special permit. Whilst Nagaland is 99% Christian, the large amount of
religious buildings are explained by the fact that services in them are
in different languages. Sylvia told us that there is little tourist accommodation
so she stayed at the Circuit House, which is normally used by visiting
judges, engineers and dignitaries. We also saw photos of local life and
even a local King.
Our last speaker was Phil Koniotes who took us to Ecuador
and the Galapagos Islands. He started on the line of the equator with
a foot in each hemisphere before boarding the world’s highest railway
to travel through the Valley of the volcanoes. Phil’s trip then
took him to the Galapagos, where he enjoyed night-time lobster fishing.
Phil showed us the creatures that inhabit the islands including giant
tortoises, Iguana, Frigate birds and Blue Footed Boobies. While diving
Phil showed us smiling fish and a seal that was intent on eating his flipper!
(By the way, congratulations, Phil! Beetle)
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 register for email updates at at our website (click here)