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| 2001 Road Journal |
MARCH
2001 FROM VENEZUELA On the road again, this time in South America taking a cruise up the Orinoco River in Venezuela and several Caribbean Islands. The journey aboard the Olympic Explorer has so far been very good, with the probably most cooperative captain I have ever encountered. He even stopped the ship in the middle of the Orinoco, so I can get some exterior shots of the ship from a tender. The flight over Angel Falls was awesome, as I flew in a little Cessna and was able to open the window. Also the visit to Canaima National Park was incredible, in terms of pictures. As to be expected in this part of the world the organization of the excursions was affected by the mañana syndrome, and things never work our as you expect them. The Caribbean Islands have been much nicer than I expected, especially Barbados and Puerto Rico (what a lovely place) fortunately our ship is small, and only half full, so the experience is quite pleasant. I have met some nice passengers and have been quite amused by a BBC crew who is also on board. |
OCTOBER
2001 FROM SHIMLA, INDIA Greetings
from Shimla. The trip is so far an unqualified success. We have plenty
of funny anecdotes, such as when I picked up Charles at the airport,
and I just walked in to the Arrivals Hall, past 3 security posts,
and no one asked a single question - Very re-assuring after September
11! |
OCTOBER 2001 FROM
AMRITSAR, INDIA Himachal Pradesh was magnificent, we took over 1000 pictures there, particularly of the remote areas with real Tibetans and Gompas. We are currently in Amritsar at the lovely Mohan International Hotel. Tomorrow we will go to the Golden Temple before dawn. The lovely people from Punjab Tourism have made ALL our arrangements for the Pathankot - Amritsar portion, including hotel and transport. More next week, as old gompas don't have email. I hope all of you are safe in that most dangerous of continents, North America. Charles sends his regards and is in high spirits. India is the best medicine at this time of fright in the less civilized parts of the world. |
NOVEMBER
2001 FROM TIBET After having spent a magical week in Nepal, Charles and I decided to take a small side trip to Tibet. We started in Kathmandu and drove to the Friendship Bridge. The formalities were actually quite simple, contrary to popular belief. The weather has been wonderful, a bit cold, but the landscapes crisp and simply put spectacular. We crossed a couple of passes which where above 5,000 meters, but didn't even get a scintilla of altitude sickness - I guess that's because we both smoke. It is actually quite a contrast to be shooting one-horned rhinos at 35 C one day and be at -10 C the next day at a little hotel without heating or showers. Let’s put it this way, we are roughing it a bit. We will be in Tibet until Nov 10, the day when we fly back to Kathmandu, to continue our Nepali sojourn (it is being extended compliments of the Nepal Tourism Board). All is well; we have not been exposed to news for the last week, and are clueless to the current global situation (how relaxing and wonderful). The general consensus in the region, however is that the American s are being extremely foolish and vicious in Afghanistan, by now everyone seems not to care a about the "New York Incident" (as it is called here). Some people here have even gone so far as to be sorry that the plane which crashed in Pennsylvania missed its intended target. The more reasonable voices however, are horrified at the violence suffered by the poor people of Afghanistan. I have Mahatma Gandhi's quote of "An eye for an eye - and the whole world goes blind" quite often. It is also what I feel. The Indians claim to have been fighting terrorism for many years, and the Nepalese also blame India for their foolish policies in Kashmir, they are still very hurt by the Indian Airlines incident from 1999, where India put the blame on Nepal. My colleagues in the tourism industry also are lamenting the tremendous loss of business they are experiencing. So far, on our journey we have NOT have had ANY negative situation in India, Nepal & Tibet WHATSOEVER. Our gracious host in Kathmandu, the owner of the amazing Dwarika's Hotel, my favourite hotel in the world and Consul of Spain, told us that her daughter in the USA had asked to find vaccines against smallpox - she was just shaking her head at the mass-psychosis which seems to have affected the country. So much for the spin. I have received several emails from some of you, and will try to reply to them as soon as a find a quick server. Oddly enough in Shigatse, a small Tibetan town, internet is faster, than in downtown Kathmandu. The trip is going very well, we are having a better time than expected, and have been quite well, mostly suffering from the Stendhal Syndrome (Oh, what beauty). Well this is all for now, all is well, and just don't listen to the frightful media and you will be well as well. |
NOVEMBER
2001 FROM NEPAL Their religious fervor was amazing to me, and at times I felt completely out of place, as I am not used to this sort of religious devotion and the customary beggaring and pleading that goes with it. In some ways it was like being confronted with beings from another planet. This was mostly evident in the rural areas and also along the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. Lhasa has become a completely Chinese city complete with shopping malls and commercial centers. To give you an idea of the extend of the "modernization” a couple of Norwegian architects have done a survey of Lhasa's historical buildings. In 1995 at the start of the survey there where 330 old religious and secular buildings. By 1999 this total had fallen to below 200. What remains of the ancient city may yet be saved by the need for tourist dollars. The
Potala Palace, once the residence of the Dalai Lamas is certainly
impressive, a sort Buddhist Vatican. Lots of golden altars and tombs,
while the people outside starve and beg, I hadn't seen this kind
of opulent display since the Baroque churches in Latin America,
where the fat priests where inside their solid gold churches, whilst
misery was begging outside. If the Dalai Lama would be serious about
compassion, he would proceed with the sale of these items and feed
his people. The religious structures are still in the When it comes to the Dalai Lama and his acolytes, to me it appears that we are just dealing with a deposed Pope. This of course has nothing to do with the humble people of Tibet, whom in their devotion are capable to travel well over 2,000 km in pilgrimage to Lhasa. Their kindness and sharing with others less fortunate then they themselves is apparent in every corner of Tibet. To watch
their pilgrimage, sacrifices and millennia-old rituals with such
a display of inner joy baffles me with amazement, as a proud member
of the cynical Western society. We are
now back in Kathmandu, enjoying the five-star luxuries provided
to Yesterday we also had the wonderful news that we are going to Bhutan for 7 days by invitation of Lingkor Tours and the Government of Bhutan. Needless to say that we are very excited and happy about this. |
DECEMBER
2001 FROM BHUTAN It has been a long time since I have had the chance to write to you all. This trip has been extremely intense, and the time has simply not permitted me to take one minute to say hello to you all. The impressions have been so intense, and it is all melting into one big blob. Bhutan was Fantastic, it really is like Shangri-La, where the king takes care of his people, his land, and his heritage! It was quite different than Nepal, Tibet, and Sikkim. The country is like a Buddhist Switzerland, clean, organized. But unlike the Swiss the Bhutanese are very friendly and honest. Some places reminded me a lot of BC as well, like Whistler with pagodas and temples. We climbed 900 m to the Tiger's Nest Dzong from 2,200 m to 3,100 in about 90 minutes, it was very exhausting but worth every moment and very drop of sweat (like the Grouse Grind, but you start at 2,200 meters and carry 10 Kg of cameras on top plus you don't have gondola for the return). If any of you has the chance to go, I would not hesitate at all to recommend Bhutan as THE place to visit! |
DECEMBER
2001 FROM
KOLKATA, INDIA After that we went to Kaziranga Park (which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for being one of only a few sanctuaries for the habitat of both the Bengal Tiger, and the One-Horned Rhino (we were able to see Rhinos from very close up... we saw a mother, and her baby (although if the 'baby' came after you you'd still be in a lamentable state! We continued to Kolkata (Calcutta), which I'd thought would be a miserable hole and it has been the opposite! I find that the place was very clean, cultured and very pleasant, of the larger cities in India it has been my favourite in spite of Mother Theresa's Catholic Soul Harvesting Centre (The Institute for the Dyeing Destitutes). Her organization claims to look after all the unwanted children of an overpopulated country in which she preached the word of her god (Just like Bin-Laden) and denounced the use of condoms... Well, I guess she had orders from above to make sure she got as many souls as possible [in the name of charity & the limelight she kept her missions, orphanages, and hospice's full to capacity and ensuring both work and fame for herself!] By the way, her missions are on property donated by Hindu temples - as our guide pointed out, she came to Kolkata as Sister Theresa - WE made her mother Theresa ...food for thought. Kolkata
is a really wonderful city, and the people here are as friendly
as they come plus they have a great sense of humour. Unfortunately
I had an accident here and injured both of my knees and have been
in great pain ever since. We had a fantastic guide here, a very
sarcastic woman o the world, and got along like a house on fire.
We also had fantastic Chinese food and spend quite a bit of time
in great bookstores, as Kolkata is the cultural and |
DECEMBER
2001 FROM BANGLADESH As much as it pains me, I cannot in good conscience recommend to anybody to travel to Bangladesh, especially if this is to take place on Biman Airways. The people from Green Channel were most kind and did provide us with the best possible accommodation and transportation, all things considered. The country has NOTHING to offer in terms of attractions, not even Chittagong, nor Rangamati make it worth the time there. It is strictly an NGO destination for people who absolutely must go there. The only kind of client who might venture there is the one who wants to say been there. The hotel infrastructure is inadequate at best. The guides do not speak good English, cannot read maps, nor do they know the places, let alone try to find the main railway station in Chittagong. Good intentions are just not good enough. The cities are congested with a healthy mix of traffic and begging processions who line up by your car, if you can see them through the toxic fumes.The World heritage sites are of the magnitude of Smashed-Head-Buffalo-Jump in Alberta (This by far the worst UNESCO site I have visited). To top it all off, there is carnage on the highways, and Biman, aside from being an utterly incompetent operations, must have staff even ruder than the US carriers. We took 3 flights with them: The first one was 3 hours late, the second (domestic) flight was 30 minutes late, and our return to Kolkata was delayed by 8 hours, for 3 of which they refused to hand us our boarding passes, for no apparent reason. I took about 300 pictures there, that is all - if you consider my usual shooting rate - this is dismal. On a
happier note, my knees are slowly getting better, I can walk more
or less normally again after the accident in Kolkata. I went to
the hospital today, there is some shifting of the left knee-cap,
and some injuries to the ligaments, but I believe that journey will
continue. The last 4 days I have, however been in agony, a combination
of smashed knees with being in |
DECEMBER
2001 FROM ORISSA, INDIA Wonderful place, the temple of Konark is comparable in beauty to Khajuraho with exquisite bas-reliefs and fine erotic sculptures. The people here worship a god called Jaggernath, whose image looks something like Marvin the Martian or like one of the South Park characters. But Jaggernath is a very revered God, and I am a very irreverent person. I am
sure I have missed a lot to tell, but simply hadn't had the time,
as most of my e-mail time has been taken up by making sure our travel
arrangements were OK and dealing with the Canada 3000 bankruptcy.
I have a ticket home on Japan Airlines, but poor Charles will begin
walking after the New Year, he might be in Europe by the summer,
just in time for the Well I think that that about covers me for the past month, I hope that this finds you all doing well, healthy and staying out of trouble! Have a great food orgy at Christmas and good New Year, in which hopefully peace and sanity shall prevail. |
DECEMBER
2001 FROM MADURAI, INDIA Dear Friends, All my best wishes for 2002 to all of you! We have continued to travel through the subcontinent visiting Indore, Mandu, Bhopal & Sanchi in Madya Pradesh, continuing through Gujarat, where in Palitana I climbed the 3,500 steps to the temples in spite (or to spite) of my bad knees. Went to see Asiatic lions in Sasan Gir and saw the most amazing fort in Hyderabad. We are currently in Mysore, after having seen some of the most delicate and intricate Dravidian architecture in Hampi, Pattadakal and Belur. So it will be New Year's in Mysore, waiting for the war to begin any moment now. The people we have spoken to in South are of the opinion that Pakistan can get Kashmir and get the whole stupid thing over and done with, so peace can prevail. That is the people. The politicians and military leaders on both sides, well that is a different matter... I just hope that sane minds will prevail in all of this. Hopefully 2002 will bring much needed peace to India, Pakistan, Palestine, Israel, Zimbabwe, Argentina and the rest of our battered small planet. Love to you all Peter |