In
May 1998, Andrew and Sarah gave up their nice safe jobs and their cosy flat
in London, England and set off around the world for a year. Every now and then
they found cybercafes, often in the most unlikely places, and logged on to report
on their progress so far. What follows are more or less unedited extracts from
their emails, forming verbal snapshots of their experiences noted down in spare
moments along the way. It's haunting and fascinating stuff; read on...
May 14th 1998. Pucon, Chile
It´s quite nippy here. Although saying that there is a live volcano outside of the window. We´re having Spanish lessons (hopefully, it´ll make it a bit easier or the rest of S. America). When we´re not doing lessons or homework(!) we´wandering around the local countryside. It´s very scenic here. We took a taxi with 2 mountain bikes up the volcano & ´cycled´ down. Staying in different hostels, we´re meeting quite a range of people (Ossies, Yanks, Europeans mainly). Once we leave this hostal I´m not sure how easy it´ll be to get to an Internet session.
June 12th 1998. La Paz, Bolivia
After the vineyards and papaya trees of the lazy Spanish colonial town of La Serena (Chile) we headed to the arid north and the village of San Pedro. Like a stereotypical mexican village from a western movie it sits in the Atacama desert (driest in the world) with a backdrop of volcanoes that are a link in the Andes.
We spent a couple of days exploring the moon like landscape, climbing giant sand dunes, watching fiery desert sunsets and seeing geysers at sunrise. They were at 5000m so we felt breathless and dizzy, which added to the strange atmosphere of being in a crater of a volcano at sunrise surrounded by steam, bubbling mud and rivulets of ice. We decided to cross the Atacama desert into Bolivia. Three days in a jeep, which we had to push start a couple of times. The journey was rough: with temperatures between -15 & 30+ degrees C and altitudes of around 5,000m (made it difficult to breath at times- coca leaves help). The scenery was stunning - terracota mountains with no vegetation, rock formations like fossilized trees, green lakes which changed to blue when the wind blew, flocks of wild flamingos, wild vicuna (dainty llamas), blinding white salt lakes that stretched into the distance, looking more like an ice sheet than a desert. There's an "island" in the middle of this white expanse with chinchillas & cacti cut off from any other "land". Not far away a hotel has been built in the middle of nowhere- out of salt!
The desert is the most perfectly formed landscape I have seen.
We arrived in a small town in Bolivia. Here all the women wear bowler hats and have colourful shawls. Bolivia is a poor place but the people, colours and music are fascinating.
We stayed in Potosi, which at 4,824m is the highest city in the world (with Lhasa). From the mountain behind the city enough silver was removed by the Spanish to build a road from Bolivia to Spain. They left behind a legacy of churches, mines, poverty and a death toll of around a million.
Having passed through Sucre we're in La Paz. In a few days time we'll head off to Lake Titicaca. After that Peru and Macchu Piccu.
June 16th 1998. La Paz, Bolivia
There are several cybercafes here (at $2 an hour here it`s quite cheap. Most cities seem to be well equipped with internet (usually $10/hr- that's more than one night`s accommodation in Bolivia or 5x 3 course lunchtime meals). La Paz is one massive shopping place - the difference being that all the shops are on the street. Walk down one road and it`s bananas all the way on stalls or on bright clothes on the pavement. The next road might be popcorn street.
June 23rd 1998. La Paz, Bolivia
Well we`ve made it to paradise - just. I intended writing something short but I think the journey caused a lot of words to get thrown up.
We decided to go from the high Andean city of La Paz to the subtropical town of Coroico. The journey started off well enough. Ten of us jammed into a rickety minibus leaving the urban sprawl of La Paz on a clear blue day, heading up into the mountains. The scenery reminded me of the Lake District: except for the groups of llamas dotted over the landscape, the odd glacier and the occasional cloud below us.
I should have known that things were going to change when, at a fork in the road, we took the route marked PELIGROSO! (means dangerous in Spanish). We started to descend and were quickly into the cloud layer. The route changed from a two lane tarmac road into a white rutted track perhaps 1.5 minibuses wide (with the occasional passing point). On our right, vegetation disappeared up into the cloud. On our left, a wall of mist. The driver was driving remarkably carefully; above his head swung a cross and a picture of Jesus. We got to a clearing in the cloud: large orange and brown butterflies danced lazily in the sun. To our left I could see - well- nothing. To be more precise: in the distance were mountains coated with green cloud forests. Next to the road there was a sheer drop. A few centimetres in the wrong direction and we would have plummeted about 1,000m to be swallowed up by the jungle below. The old women sitting behind me (wearing the traditional Bolivian derby hat and colourful shawl) crossed herself and muttered something about `muerto`.
We had an hour of this, most of it heading down in the mist- in some ways a relief.(Except when we met a truck coming in the opposite direction. Vehicles going down have to drive on the "outside" (not much difference to the "inside") and give way. We had to reverse, in the mist, to a passing point).
From time to time there would be a heavy drumming on the roof as we passed under a waterfall (which didn`t help with the 'road' condition). We passed several crosses on the roadside, each one dedicated to someone who hadn't made it. (Sarah & I watched the driver's hands anxiously. We'd been told in Chile that the more devout drivers cross themselves at these points. The last thing we wanted was a driver with only one hand on the wheel). Most of the time I sat practising my rhythmic breathing, fully aware that our lives were in the driver's hands, and wondering if there was something coming from the opposite direction.
I found out later that this is Bolivia's most dangerous road and probably the most dangerous in the American continent. There is, on average, one reported accident every two weeks and accidents here are fatal. The actual figure is probably higher since anything that goes over the edge disappears. The worst occasion was 10 years ago when a lorry crammed with over 100 people in the back plunged over the edge.
As we came out of the cloud layer, having narrowly avoided a minibus coming in the opposite direction, there was a tangible release of tension and people started talking again. Another hour and we reached the safe haven of Coroico.
Looking out from our balcony at dawn, a dreamy landscape of cloud stretches out before us. Rising out of this soft sea, islands of snow capped peaks, orange with the glow of the early sun. As the sun rises and warms the air the clouds melt, revealing valleys and slopes draped in a mantle of arboreal green. Just below our balcony iridescent humming-birds flit between the branches of orange, lemon and mandarin trees. Close by: banana palms, papaya trees and limes. Glistening between the trees a crystal clear swimming pool with hammocks beneath palm roofed huts. Butterflies: orange, white and turquoise; large and small; skip and dip between the profusion of tropical flowers. And all this to a chorus of wild parrots, toucans and a myriad of other birds backed by an accompaniment of cicadas. Three days walk from here is (Bolivians claim) the original Garden Of Eden. It's easy to see why.
After the, at times, hectic travel it would be easy to just sway in a hammock contemplating the Bolivian mountains and jungle; watching the flocks of white tailed parrots and listening to the music around us (and those American brats running around the pool- still, can't have everything). The only cloud on the horizon is the journey back to La Paz.
(Later...)We made it back. The return journey was better. Any passing vehicle had to go on the outside of us and we were going very, very slowly. There wasn`t so much mist as on the way down and being by the window I had a good view. There is something very hypnotic about a sheer drop when you can`t see the edge of the road.
July 5th 1998. Cusco, Peru
Just got back from a 4 day trek through the Andes to Machu Picchu. This lost city was one of the 4 sub capitals of the Inca empire. The Inca cities were built on imaginary lines that radiated out from the capital of the sun empire, Cusco. The Spanish conquistadors didn´t discover Machu Picchu and it was 1912 before the city was ´rediscovered´by Hiram Bigham (he ´discovered´the city by asking a local if there were any old cities around and then paying him 2 day´s salary to take him to the lost city).
There are different ways of getting to Machu Picchu from Cusco: 4 days, 2 days, half a day or 25mins (helicopter). We went for the 4 day option: it´s the masochist´s option, but it´s also for those who want to enjoy the inca trail as it winds through the Andes past several other Inca sites. We´ve got acclimatised to the 4,000m altitude, but even so parts of the trail are quite strenuous. My calf muscles are reminding me of 2 stretches in particular: on the second day going up for about 7km (our guide said it could take 5hrs, though by chewing coca leaves this was cut down to just over 2hrs). The other stretch was down 3,200 Inca steps. We were travelling in a group of 16 people- mainly Londoners! with a local guide who seemed to know everything about the Incas and Peru (including the best way for illegal immigrants to get from Peru into the USA). A group of porters carried our tents and food and would arrive at stopping points, prepare a 3 course meal and set up our tents in the evening (quite a ´pampered´ trek!). I look at my boots and think of the technology behind them and how carefully I selected them. The porters were able to carry 3-4 times the weight of my rucksack and able to run along the trail wearing on their feet only sandals made from old car tyres.
One of my favourite moments during the walk was when we were walking along a relatively flat stretch of the trail carved into the side of a mountain. Below us we could hear the rumbling of the Urubamba river; in the distance the snow capped peaks of the high Andes and circling around our valley was a condor. The Incas thought of the condor as the god of peace who carried the spirits of the dead to the snow capped peaks for the next stage of life.
The moment that was etched into everyone´s mind was watching the sun rise over the ruins of Machu Picchu. We had walked for 1.5hrs in the cold darkness to get to the sungate by dawn. Below us, like a nest carved into the top of a mountain lay Machu Picchu. As the sun rose the energy and light of the sun god crept down the side of the facing mountain until it reached the sun temple and sacrificial mound, finally bathing the city in glorious golden glow.
PS I think the altitude got to our heads because we've just signed up for an 8 day camping trip to the Amazon basin. Must dash, we've got to get to the restaurant before it closes.
July 17th 1998. Cusco, Peru
(must finish in 1 hr since we´re off dancing this evening, so the end might be a bit rushed).
Amazon Rainforest - the most memorable bits:
We saw a lot of wildlife in all, over 50 types of birds, large & small but most of them brightly coloured; turtles lined up along branches sticking out of the water, sometimes 7 on 1 short branch; families of capybaras (very large rodents); swarms of brilliantly coloured butterflies and a lot of mosquitos! Anyway, we fly on towards Ecuador on Sunday. Time for food and dance.
July 24th 1998. Cuenca, Ecuador
After crossing the Peru/Ecuador border by motorised rickshaw we headed north by bus through 4hrs of banana plantations to the port of Guayaquil, Ecuador's 2nd largest city. There's even a Pizzahut & MacDonalds here! (the second one we've seen in South America. Here, though, it's the well off who eat at MacDonalds). Disconcertingly most shops have armed guards, many with machine guns. (Even Pizzahut has a guard with a bullet proof vest and what looks like a sawn-off shotgun). This morning we sipped milkshakes as we watched soldiers storm a shop opposite us. Later, we found ourselves running away from the city centre with hundreds of other people trying to escape tear gas that the Police had released outside MacDonalds (it's pretty nasty stuff- tear gas that is). Apart from the guns, gas & hot humidity it's not that bad here (we have another day before our flight to the Galapagos).
July 29th 1998. Galapagos
The country nearest to my heart (so far) is Bolivia. However, if you have any interest in wildlife the Galapagos Islands is the place to come. I am amazed at how unperturbed the animals are by people. This morning 10 of us stood a couple of metres from a large Galapagos hawk as it perched on a rock on the path ahead of us, watching us without concern. Here you can see how the same species has evolved differently on each of the islands according to its specific conditions. It's easy to see how the Galapagos helped give birth to Darwin's theory of Natural Selection.
We're on a 5 day cruise with 8 others and a crew of 6 to look after us and the boat. We spend most of our time investigating the wildlife, snorkelling or relaxing in the sun as we sail towards another volcanic island.
There have been so many highlights. Most of all I've enjoyed being in the water: Swimming with a sealion, imitating it as it did backflips and somersaults around me: Snorkelling through shoals of brightly coloured tropical fish, some 2 feet long. All the colours of the rainbow and so many of them. Most fascinating to watch are the stingrays, which beat their wings like albatrosses as they fly through the water: Walking through a colony of a couple of hundred sealions. Some lazing on the hot, white sand, bleating occasionally like sheep or honking loudly. Others playing in the sea, surfing in with the waves in groups, doing somersaults or leaping clear of the water.
Yesterday we walked along the black volcanic shoreline- occasionally finding little grottos, with walls lined with fur seals, sheltering from the hot sun. Black marine iguanas, difficult to see at times, pose motionless on the black rocks as hundreds of small red crabs scurry busily around them. There are birds everywhere: huge ungainly pelicans skimming over the surface of the sea; red necked figates hanging motionless in the air, waiting for other birds to catch fish and then attacking those birds. They look like prehistoric pterodactyls with the same menacing outline. On the cliff blue footed boobies- looking like seagulls with bright blue feet. Every so often one lauches itself off the cliff face; circles, looking for fish and then drops downwards, 15m, like a missile streaking into the water.
There have been lots of other animals: dolphins, penguins, flamingos, land iguanas, albatrosses, snakes and the occasional giant tortoise plodding slowly through the cactus forests.
August 3rd 1998. Cuenca, Ecuador
Cuenca is Ecuador's 3rd largest city. Once one of the most important cities in the Inca Empire, it was destroyed before the Spanish could take it. Now it has the feel of a small but friendly city with clean, cobblestoned streets; white marble churches and flower markets bursting with colour and scent. Later this morning we head north by bus towards Quito, stopping off at several smaller towns and villages. We've discovered that fllights to Havanna are quite reasonable so, since we're pretty much on budget, we're exploring the possibility of Cuba.
August 12th 1998. Quito, Ecuador
(In response to a question about budgets) We're spending about $335 per week (for both of us). This excludes tours (but has included a couple of flights). We initially budgeted:
Most of these have been quite accurate (though Ecuador is a bit more). Last week (after 3 months) we were $26 each over budget (we have also bought presents & sent things back DHL). It would be possible to do it cheaper if really pushed but it's nice to enjoy the time. Tours vary in cost: 4 days hike to Macchupicchu $70 all inclusive. 8 days jungle trip $450 each. Galapagos is difficult to get cheap- 5days economy boat $400pp+ $334pp flight +$100pp park entrance.
We're a bit behind schedule so we have now started on Mexico budget- $40 per day, so we can live it up if we really want to. Prices do vary. We averaged about $400 in Chile and about $340 in the rest of S.America. Here in Quito we're paying $14 for a room- a couple of days ago we were up in a small mountain village where we paid $4 for a room. I'd thoroughly recommend S.America. It's been a lot easier & safer to travel than we thought before we set off (although Peru is a bit more dodgy- we've avoided overnight travel except in Chile and in Peru in many of the larger towns there's almost a 9.30 curfew.
August 20th 1998. Quito, Ecuador
After Cuenca we headed north to Banos. Surrounded by rich green mountains, this small town is popular with gingos because of its relaxed atomosphere & the variety of things to do (horse riding, jungle trips, river rafting, thermal baths, spanish lessons & excellent, cheap food). Eventually, we managed to tear ourselves away & head onto the pleasant city of Quito- though I've often found the smaller places more interesting.
From Quito north to the market town of Otavalo. The Otavalano weavers are famous throughout Ecuador. The women are very striking wearing what look like folded black towels on their heads, white blouses embroided with intricate patterns and ankle length black skirts. Around their necks several golden necklaces. The men have long black plaits and traditionally wear long blue ponchos, white trousers & dark felt hats (though, unlike the women, they have the option of western clothes!).
The following day we took a rickety bus to some waterfalls. Walking along the river we came to a group of Otavaleno women washing clothes in the river and laying them out to dry on the grassy banks. We passed cowherders & sheppards, eventually reaching a small village where people greeted us & shook our hands. As we passed through the village it started to rain- an Otavaleno woman came after us and asked if we'd like to see her & her family weaving fabrics. In a small wooden room, with chickens climbing over a wooden loom we saw how she and her 6 young children produced woven tapestries.
The following day we went to the largest indigenous market in Ecuador where we watched people from different areas buying & selling pigs, llamas, cows, chickens, guinea pigs (local delicacy fried on a stick)... Each area has its own combination of hats, ponchos, shawls and jewellery. The women from one region wear bright green shawls, lots of bright gold necklaces & bracelets and straw hats that look like something from St Trinians.
Our time in S.America has passed so quickly. It's been a fascinating experience, culturally, historically & ecologically. We've met so many people- some of the travellers we bumped into after 100's even 1000's of miles. Next stop Mexico.
September 1st 1998. San Cristobel, Mexico
We made it to Mexico. I'm sitting in a cybercafe in San Cristobel in the heart of the Chiapas (occupied by the Zapatistas in 1994).
We arrived in Mexico City last Sunday. It's the most impressive city we've visited so far- most definitely a CAPITAL city (and the biggest in the world). The heart of the city is a huge square surrounded by the Cathedral, the Presidential Palace & Aztec ruins that were only uncovered fairly recently. There are excellent museums dotted around the city, covering everything from pre-Colombian cultures Mexico to modern art (the "Children's" museum is also great fun). At the weekend we headed to the canals of Xochimilco in the south of the city. We sat eating tachos & barbecued sweetcorn in our own roof covered punt (about 6ft wide & 30ft long) as were gently pushed along. Around us lots of other punts- some with sightseers or people celebrating special occasions, others with Maraichi bands (dressed in black, wearing big sombreros and complete with string & brass sections playing traditional Mexican music). Also near to the city Teotihuacan, a 20km sq site with 2 massive pyramids (pre Aztec) dedicated to the Sun & Moon.
To put it simply Mexico city has a a huge amount to offer (and the music & night life is pretty good too). We're going to head back there but at the moment we're on our way to the Mayan temples of Palenque. The Chiapas region is fascinating- in the smaller towns people wear clothes suprisingly similar to the indigenous people in South America. We went to a small town today which still follows some of the Mayan traditions infused with Catholicism. The Mexican government do not attempt to interfere directly with most of the villages around here. The people exercise their own system of justice (the police equivalent wear black ponchos & straw sombreros and carry long black wooden sticks to enforce law & order (makes a refreshing change from guns)). In the local church people sit on a grass covered floor surrounded by thousands of candles dedicated to numerous saints. They bring chickens into the church -to which they transfer their own illnesses (the chickens are later killed and buried at home). Also in the church people drink 'Posh' (a spirit from sugar cane) and coca-cola. (Somehow coca-cola has found it's way into local religion/medicine. The belif is that the burping caused by the coke helps rid the body of bad spirits/substances. The consumption of coca-cola (& Pepsi) is astronomical here- Coca-cola have even built a plant nearby). The clergy are thin on the ground (the priests were killed a long time ago when they tried to change too many of the Mayan traditions- now the only service is for baptisms. Some of the statues of the saints are looked after in people's homes for a year. It's an expensive honour and it was strange to see shrines in the middle of one-room houses (sometimes occupied by 12 people or more). It's an 'unusual' form of Christianity!!
Anyway, time for dinner (perhaps some more mole sauce (chocolate & chillis)).
September 14th 1998. Mexico City, Mexico
(Postcard) This is one of the most enjoyable cities I've been to. The history of Mexico and the Aztecs (Mexicas) & other cultures is fascinating. It's a shame the Spanish destroyed so much. Food in Mexico has been excellent (not so good for people who don't like chilis - on one market stall we counted 25 different types of chilis)
October 29th 1998. Queenstown, New Zealand
After Las Vegas & the Grand Canyon we headed onto Fiji & did our PADI SCUBA courses. Spent most of the time diving, snorkelling, sitting on sandy white beaches. After that onto New Zealand. The scenery is beautiful- a bit like Switzerland. We've also been whale watching & swimming with dolphins which was fantastic.
December 16th 1998. Bangkok, Thailand
Here are a few things that stand out from our time in SE Asia so far:
SINGAPORE: An excellent place to start travelling in the Far East. It's modern, clean & efficient yet has aspects of other Asian countries. A bit antiseptic perhaps, but the variety & quality of food is superb.
MALAYSIA: A hot, humid blend of Islam, Indian & Chinese. Some of the things that stick out:
Anyway, that's it for now- a hot & spicy thai curry is waiting for me somewhere out there.
Postcard received December 29th 1998 from Bangkok, Thailand
The food is great here. Bangkok is a bit of a crush but the temples are more OTT than Las Vegas: glittering, multicoloured spires and rooves and so many Buddhas (long 32m, tall 50m, gold 5 tonnes, jade...). The people, particularly outside of Bangkok, are incredibly friendly and smiling. We've picked up a couple of basic Thai phrases, but off the beaten track signs are almost impossible to decipher. There's usually a helpful local who speaks a few words of English. PS These long-tail boats move very quickly!
January 19th 1999. Vietnam
Getting round Vietnam independently can be a pain, roads are in bad condition and public bus schedules are a rarity. It doesn't have the colourful collection of buildings common to most other countries in SE Asia (due a Confucian past & communist present). It's more 'hassely' than the other countries in SE Asia & yet despite all this it's a fascinating, friendly place.
HO CHI MINH CITY (Saigon)
Traffic anarchy, unhindered by traffic lights, right of way, pedestrian crossings, rules of the road... to cross the road the best approach is to walk slowly & predictably letting the motorbikes, cars & bikes, which come from all directions, avoid you. The worse thing is to stop in the midst of the blaring maelstrom.
The War museum: chilling photographs of the effects of war- people with naplam burns, injuries from bomb blasts & mines; disfigured new born babies & vast areas of land desolate for years- both due to the effects of defoliants like agent orange. Impersonal statistics: the US dropped more than twice the number of bombs dropped in ALL of WW11. Estimated between 3 & 4 million dead (over half civilians). More US veterns have committed suicide since the end of the war than the 60,000 that were killed in action. 70,000,000 litres of defoliant dropped by the US to wipe out food & cover for the VietCom- but affecting non-combatants & even US troops by getting into the food chain & water supply- persisting for years after the war.(US veterans managed to get compensation from the American manufacturers). The effects of war on people's humanity are starkly apparent at Son My Village where a company of GIs slaughted 500 men, women, children & babies at close range. No shots were fired at the GIs: the only casualty was a soldier who shot himself in the foot to avoid being part of the killing. The US military managed to suppress the news for a year. At the Cu Chi tunnels, almost a city underground, examples of the types of traps used against the American & S. Vietnamese troops are displayed. Sharpened bamboo & iron nail man traps- mediaevally gruesome in appearance contrasting with the clinical, almost elegant design of the more devastating modern American & Soviet weapoons.
THE MEKONG DELTA
Driving on crumbling roads, raised above acres of waterlogged paddy fields. People with conical palm hats bending to pick or plant rice; mud grey water buffalos, huge crescent shaped horns, with wooden yoke & comb shaped plough wading knee deep through the water; flocks of pure white ducks (to eat the pests). On the Mekong river, people in little wooden boats buying & selling everything needed for daily life. Smaller, lazy waterways lined with mangroves, palm trees & wooden huts on stilts. People washing food, clothes & themselves in the mud brown river. Looking out from a Toaist shrine at the top of a lonely hill looking out across a sea of silver, shimmering paddy fields- turning to orange & then cool grey with the setting of the sun. It seems so tranquil, so peaceful. Below us the neatly arranged fields of Vietnam give way to the haphazard rice fieldss of Cambodia where over 2 million people were killed by Pol Pot's regime (until he was overthrown by the Vietnamese). Vietnamese country roads full of bicycles- women wearing white silk trouser suits- graceful and elegant. School children riding old bikes , the saddle too high for them to sit. Children everywhere waving, smiling & shouting 'HELLO' as we go past. Families of 4 crammed onto a single motorbike/moped. Motorbikes carrying tapered wickerbaskets on the back- a live pig jammed inside. Hue (near the 20yr divide between N. & S.): going down the Perfume river to visit mausoleums of an imperial past- their pagodas & dragon style reflecting 1000yrs of Chinese rule. Our own boat- just Sarah & myself, the 20yr old guide (& 3 brothers to help them improve their English, the boat driver (& his wife & 3 children)
HANOI
Hanoi with its old world charm. Near Ho Chi Minhs mausoleum wide, tree lined boulevards, graceful French mansions. In the old quarter narrow streets but everywhere bicycles, mopeds & cyclos (rickshaws). Men wearing green pith helemets & black berets. Women with their conical hats, carrying shoulder poles with large weighing scales with produce or food to heat up. The cafe at our hotel: old wooden tables 2 ft high, plastic stools 1ft high, men in their 60s dapperly dressed, chapeaus, berets, suits speaking Vietnamese & French, drinking cups of strong Vietnamese coffee from 5am in the morning- probably veterans of the war against France & America. Water puppet theatres: hilariously charming tales enacted by colourful wooden puppets swooshing round a watery stage on long bamboo poles- their masters behind bamboo curtains. In N.Vietnam, near the Chinese border, hiring a guide & russian made jeep to take us to some of the Vietnamese hill tribes. Walking through the foggy paddy fields terraced into the hillsides. Being invited to share a meal with a Tay couple who had just built their own bamboo & earth hut. Sharing cassava wine in a wooden hut with Hmong people- celebrating Tet (New Year). Sitting on the back of a motorcycle taxi going along slippery, wet & muddy tracks in zero visibility fog with a sharp drop on one side & a bamboo pole stuffed down my back.
SOME NOTICES FROM OUR HOTELS (written in English under the Vietnamese version):
Postcards received January 26th 1999 from Xin Chao, Vietnam
Conical palm hats are everywhere and in the north many older men wear pith green helmets (berets are popular in Hanoi - a legacy of French colonialism) The food here is excellent, in fact I prefer it to Thai as it's easier to get veggie food here. The Mekong delta in the south is a beautiful rural mix of paddy fields, river boats and elegant women wearing silk trouser suits. The north is beautiful with its misty hills and hill tribe minorities (who look incredibly like the hill people of Ecuador in features and clothes).
February 20th 1999. Bangkok, Thailand
Thailand is modern, friendly & Buddhist. It's also the only country in SE Asia to have avoided colonialisation.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THAILAND
NORTHERN THAILAND
PEOPLES' DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (ie communist) OF LAOS
Laos is like I would imagine Thailand 30 years ago mixed with Vietnam. The least developed country we've been to. Most of the roads are just dust tracks and away from the cities most people live in wooden huts, built on stilts or bare earth. I've never been stared at so much , by so many people of all different ages. The French had a saying about their Indochine colonies: "The Vietnamese plant rice, the Cambodians watch it grow and the Loations listen to it grow." From what we've seen this sums up the difference in temperaments very well.
HIGHLIGHTS OF LAOS
Postcard sent March 19th 1999 from Kathmandu, Nepal
We're in Kathmandu, Nepal, having just got back from two weeks trekking in the Himalayas. The scenery was stunning: snow-clad mountains, forests of rhododendrons blood-red against the snow, tumbling rivers, caravans of donkeys with red head-plumes carrying rice and provisions to small mountain villages. Neareer to Tibet the scenery became more arid, more orange, with villages perched on huge rocks above high ravines, vultures circling overhead. There are a lot of Tibetans here in Nepal, refugees from the Chinese invasion.
Postcard sent March 30th 1999 from Khajuraho, India
We're in Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, India. It took us three days to fly from Kathmandu to Varanarsi, our first real transport problem (although to make up for it they put us up in a top class hotel). India is fascinating. Even though we've only been here a few days, it has a richness, depth and diversity that make it already one of the most interesting countries that we have visited on this trip. In Varanarsi our room looked out over the Ganges, where people bathed in the mud-brown river. On the banks, people are cremated throughout the day, and various mystics, sadhus and others sit meditating or doing yoga.
April 15th 1999. Udaipur, Rajastan, India
Udaipur is known as the Venice of India (Octopussy was filmed here). After some of the other places in India it's a beautiful, relaxing place with marble monuments, romantic palaces and cool breezes. We've nearly acclimatised to the 40 degrees C (last place 43); so much so that we've decided to head off to the desert city of Jaisalmer. The cool breezes of the Himalayas seem a long way off.
We spent 13 days trekking in the Annapurna region of the Nepalese Himalayas-the roof of the world. It is a beautiful place. A changing landscape of turquoise rivers tumbling down green valleys; blood red rhododenron forests set against pure white snowy backgrounds and marbled mountains clad with glaciers, rising above everything. As we headed north into the Mustang area, a few miles from the Tibetan border, the mountains changed to arid, desolate plateaus with windswept gorges that made walking difficult. The colourful Hindu people & villages gave way to Tibetan refugees, to Buddhist temples with monks clad in maroon robes; caravans of asses & donkeys-red headed plumes & bells that clanged as they wound their way up to the remote stone villages. One of the most memorable mornings was walking up a hill, before sunrise, through a field of long haired, long horned yaks & naks to get to a rickety wooden tower from where the two of us watched the sun rise above the Himalayas.
The Tibetans we met were very friendly & totally dedicated to the Dalai Lama. Figures vary but conservatively 1 million Tibetans have been killed since the Chinese occupation. With the Chinese government dispossessing Tibetans of land & bringing in large numbers of Chinese farmers to populate Tibet the future doesn't look too hopeful for the Tibetan refugees. This was made worse when the Chinese government 'disappeared' the 9yr old Panchan Lama & tried to put someone else in his place. This causes problems for Tibetans since the Panchan Lama is supposed to be instrumental in selecting their next Dalai Lama.
3rd May 1999, Dharamsala, Northern India
INDIA
India is a place of contrasts & raises more contrasts in feelings than any other country we've been to.
There are a lot of things to dislike about India: the most hassely kids, the most persistent salesmen & the slickest conmen. It's the most sexist country we've been to- western women are leered at & stared at continually. Relatively few Indian women seem to go out: many of those that do keep their faces covered with their sari. The idea of litter control seems totally alien, everywhere there is rubbish (cows wander unconcerned along narrow lanes & major highways acting as refuse recyclers, happily masticating on cardboard boxes & leaving trails of cow pats (which can be used for cooking fuel)). Getting tickets or posting a parcel can take hours & requires a lot of 'jostling'. It's also the only country we've been to where smoking is permitted on buses & trains.
And despite all of these things India is a fascinating place. It's ALIVE: like it or not every sense is exercised to the full. The smells of incense & spices; of open sewers & roadside latrines. The sound of energetic 'Bollywood' hits & tabla drums; of dogs barking & rickshaw horns continually warning of their approach. The sight of women wearing beautiful saris & colourful long tunics; of beggars young & old, healthy & crippled. India has some of the most beautiful buildings in the world: impregnable fortresses, romantic palaces, and exquisite temple carvings. And the history of India with its maharajahs, Mughal emperors, philosophers, poets & religous mystics is rich, fascinating & complex.
We've also met some of the warmest, friendliest & most honest people of our travels. Like the man who climbed onto the top of a bus (where I was chaining our rucksacks to the roof) to give back my watch which I had dropped without noticing (unfortunately the bus started to move off with me still on the roof).
SOME BACKGROUND TO INDIA
Hinduism is the main religion/way of life but there are more Muslims here than any other country in the world. The Christian Church is small ('only' 23million) but founded in AD52 by Thomas the Apostle it's one of the oldest in the world. Buddhism was born in India. The Sikh gurus rejected the idea of nirvana & otherworldliness & instead focussed on the quality of actions in this world- dropping the caste system & encouraging the rights of women.
In the not too distant future India will overtake China as the most populous country in the world. Dowry can cost several years' salary, putting families into crippling debt. This has contributed to the desire to have boys rather than girls. For various reasons mortality rates for baby girls are higher here than for boys & , with sex determined abortions increasing, the male/female ratio here is among the most unbalanced in the world.
There seems to be a gulf between 'modern' westernised politicians, who seem more interested in holding onto power & the majority of people who live a life essentially unchanged for centuries in the rural villages for whom the caste system & arranged marriages provide stability & support.
HIGHLIGHTS OF INDIA (we've only seen a small part of the north)
11th May 1999, London, England
The End(?)
We've swum with dolphins, sealions & exotic fish; stroked koalas & cobras; chased skunks & giant turtles; picked up scorpions & pythons; ridden camels & elephants; watched flocks of pink flamingoes & multicoloured macaws.
We've been through deserts & jungles; past geysers & volcanoes; over glaciers & mountains; across rice fields & sand-dunes; swum in lagoons & lazed on beaches.
It's been a wonderful adventure & a great way to learn about the dynamic mosaic of human existence: the factors that shape the present and direct the future. The history of cultures & of civilisations; of different politics and belief systems. And, despite different appearences, the fundamental similarities of human thoughts, needs & emotions the world round.
Take care. Andrew & Sarah.
P.S. My first impressions on arriving back in London: it's very clean; London is rich in having a wide variety of peoples; not many bright clothes around; people don't talk very much on the underground! Have we really been away for a year?
> Reinhard Recently (Home) > Travelogues & Photos > AtoZ Club
Unless otherwise stated, all words and images are ©
Reinhard Reading
You can mail me at reinhard.reading@gmail.com