Adventure Toes

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Well, Europe was certainly living up to my expectations. I didn't expect a great deal and that was what I got. Spain was certainly the best place to start, but as the cash dried up, I had to flee to the UK (via France) to try and earn some much needed beer coupons. England was much as I had expected...weather, accents, crowds and attitude. However, as I soon learnt - London is not an accurate reflection of England. As time drew on and the expense of living and working in London proved to be an impossible task - I moved out into the countryside with a very noble occupation - living and working with the aged and disabled.

After my first long-term stint with a man with totally limited abilities, I decided that a break would be nice and a trip to Scotland would be interesting. My grandfather was born in the Orkney Islands, so it was there that I decided to make a beeline to. I stayed for a few weeks with distant relatives after a long bus journey (to Aberdeen) and an equally long ferry ride (To Kirkwall). The pilgrimage was well worthwhile and it was while I was on a fishing boat with a distant cousin trying to combat seasickness and come to terms with my station as an absolute "landlubber" (on a calm sea) that I was convinced to further my travel to the Shetlands.

Another ferry ride saw me enter the fogged-in town of Lerwick. This was no reflection of what I was to experience in the next 2 weeks. July in the Shetland Islands in 2006 was perfect. No rain, minimal fog and about 18 hours of daylight each day. It was peak tourist season on the islands, and outside of Lerwick, it was easy to spend a whole day walking around the natural beauty of the place without seeing more than a handful of other people.

This was heaven.

The coastline was the most scenic and stimulating I had seen anywhere. The emptiness, rugged beauty and interaction with numerous arctic birdlife was absolutely stunning. At any turn would be an unexpected surprise. Puffins would appear at massive cliff faces when I stopped to admire the scenery. They acted as if they were aware of my presence (and my camera) and decided to move closer and show off their best sides.

The hired car I drove back from some remote lighthouse passed only one or two other vehicles on the well maintained roads. As I drove - I happened to look out into the ocean and spied some dorsel fins in the distance. Hurriedly I pulled over and witnessed a pod of 4 killer whales (orcas) move in along the coastline below where I was standing to hunt seals which were playing in the crystal waters below me. The sheer power of these animals as they sped along the water in an attempt to trap a seal brought a feeling of adrenalin and absolute admiration to surface...luckily for the seals - the hunt was this time unsuccessful.

It was hard to leave the Shetlands after a few weeks of exploring and living a quiet few weeks with nature, but time soon caught up with me. I never expected or planned to go to this remote area between Scotland and Iceland, but I am far from disappointed that I did. The Shetland Islands were my absolute favourite experience of my 3 years in Europe.

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Pre-conception mishap...

May 8th 2008 13:59

Well - what can you say about a country which dominates headlines? (especially this time considering the Olympic calender) I have read the books and am still a big fan of Jung Chang... but my pre-conceptions of China were totally blown out of the water when I travelled to this mystical and wondrous country. I know this may stir some controversy, but I am somewhat offended by the fact that Mao is still a dominant and visible figure in modern China. I compare his visibility in the form of his face on every modern currency note and his image in Tiananmin Square as repulsive and similar to having a picture of Adolf Hitler on German currency.(even though they deal with Euros...) He is an evil symbol of a selfish man obsessed with his own importance and should not be held in any type of high regard.

Beijing was only known to me through news items of the cruel images relayed during democratic protests in Tiananmin Square, the historical events involving Mongol invasions, legends surrounding the Forbidden City and of course one of my favourite dishes - Peking Duck. I didn't realise that there were so many other attractions that expanded my initial 3 day blow-in to a 14 day exploration. The food was second to none in taste and presentation of any dish anywhere. (a big call!!) Sights were seemingly endless. Hospitality was exceptional and I cannot complain about the absolute beauty and charm of the local women. (Being a man - I cannot accurately judge how appealing the men of Beijing are...)

Then I ventured inland. I was cushioned by the challenges in Beijing as menus were written in English, or had pictures of each item available. A generous number of the population had some knowledge of basic English. And it was easy to get around without being fluent in the language...

It changed.

The train journey to Xi'an was quiet until the last 6 hours when all we could do was either stare at each other or try to communicate. As usual - being the odd one out in a train full of locals - I was the centre of attention. The communication barrier is easily overcome when shyness is eclipsed by curiosity. With the help of my best friend (the Chinese phrase book) - the carriage finally conquered their curiosities and found out what I was doing on the train, where I came from and what I intended to do. We also had a laugh and shared a meal and a drop of tea as we awkwardly stumbled through an entertaining and educational few hours of otherwise mindless train rattling.

One thing is now ingrained in my psyche and will never be unchanged - the average Chinese person is good-hearted, friendly and as curious as any other person. (I knew this about people anyway due to my years spent in Korea.)

I developed a beautiful platonic relationship with a Chinese girl at the reception of the hostel I stayed at in Xi'an. She could not speak English and my Chinese was at best - unidentifiable. We shared a conversation based on body language and pictures I shared from my laptop. I don't know why, but I am sure that a bond of souls was shared - even though we could not express any vocal language. (This is not the first time I have felt such an event). It is hard to describe when barriers in language do not interfere with people of noble standards.

There was another time in Xi'an when I totally felt the warmth that was never-ending in my Chinese experience. I was enjoying a band of 3 people of obviously poor backgrounds who were busking in the street with a primitive, yet traditional array of instruments. I was in awe of the music and the singing which could not have been anything else but of ancient Chinese origin. After the song was finished - I dipped into my pocket and dropped a few Yuan into their busking bucket. As I turned, it was then that I noticed that a vast number of the bystanders were not only observing the talent, but were in fact observing me. Large smiles and a few spontaneous bursts of applause accompanied my donations to these talented people....

4 weeks was not enough time to fully appreciate China, but I felt that my visa was utilised to its max... (Beijing and Xi'an were not the only places visited...)

All I can say is that I am not so afraid now to hand over the role of World power from the USA to China. I don't think that China could be as bad or worse than what's been going on lately. (Just remember - all we hear is what is being printed in the WESTERN media...)

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Ya Neh Govorite Po Russki....

May 8th 2008 02:28

That's right! I cannot speak Russian!

First Impressions do not usually sway my thinking in a great way. If they did - I would never have returned to Japan, or I would have fled India within hours of touching down. However- good first impressions account for a great deal. Once I have that initial favourable experience - it is bloody near impossible to sway my opinion to an adverse line of thought. This is what Russia did to me.

I flew from London to Moscow via Munich. The plane changed at Munich to a smaller one filled with only Russian passengers (with the exception of me). The guy I sat beside assisted me with my few pages of Russian lingo that I had gathered in the weeks leading up to my trip. I decided that I would treat Moscow as if I had been there before and attempt to travel around and do things as locals would. I could read the alphabet and had perfected a few phrases that should aid me in my endeavours.

The plane touched down at Moscow airport on that bleak early evening of mid November, the runway lined with walls of ice and snow. Even though the flight was smooth and the landing uneventful - the passengers broke into spontaneous applause as we taxied into the airport. Although I immensely dislike travelling by air, I did not feel that sense of relief that my fellow passengers must have felt.

My backpack must have singled me out as a visitor to this country. I was swarmed by taxi drivers inquiring in that universal word that gets hurled at tourists worldwide - "TAXI?" I ignored their charms and walked through the crowds of male taxi drivers - most with missing teeth and bloodshot eyes with the slight aroma of stale cigarettes and alcohol lingering around them like some unnatural aura.

I looked around for the subway that I had assumed linked the airport to the city. My assumptions were wrong. I walked up to a desk which was not busy and asked hopefully "Vi govorute po anglisski?" (Do you speak English?) The woman I aimed the question at seemed to shrug and look to her female companions with a sly mirth. I took this as a sign of being invisible and was about to turn away when she turned her gaze to me and held up her hand for me to wait while she picked up her phone with her other hand. She dialled a number, talked a little as her call was answered - then passed the telephone to me. The lady with the no-nonsense stare had transformed into a kind and helpful being. The person she rang was fluent in English and I asked her about getting into the city. As I spoke, the Russian lady at the desk then understood what I had wanted and wrote down the number of a bus and pointed to where it was to be found as I completed my conversation with the anonymous phone woman.

The bus was packed with Russian pasengers heading the same direction as me. 20 Roubles was not a great amount to part with and in no time the bus emptied outside of a subway station.

The grandeur of these metro stations caught me complete surprise. I had to check that I hadn't walked into some cathedral. The high ceilings, chandaliers and tastefully decorated and immacualtely clean walls was like nothing I had ever seen or expected to experience whilst in the process of catching a subway train. The rewards of understanding the Russian alphabet now came to my aid. Nothing was written in English and I had to sift through the overhead Russian signs to find the path of my destination.

Eventually I got to the nearest station to where my hostel was located. I walked out into the freezing Moscow night, unaware of my bearings. I asked a couple of university-aged gentlemen in broken Russian where I could find the address on a rough map I had printed from an email. They spoke a little English and appeared kind and trustworthy. I followed them as they guided me through backstreets, asking a local policeman and finally pointing at the entrance of my hostel. I shook their hands and they were genuinely pleased that they could offer their help.

After that initial experience of my first night in Russia, what else was I to think but "How good are these Russians?"

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A life changing experience.

May 6th 2008 02:22

Saturday, October 18th, 2003
The day my life changed forever.

[ Click here to read more ]

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Virgin blog...

May 6th 2008 02:01

It is quite a rewarding challenge to enter a new place and blend in with its charms. I have immersed myself into many diverse and alien cultures and found that the thrill of the fight within to rise above the confusion and become accepted to be both intellectually stimulating as well as a pulse racing, adrenalin charged experience. Once the barriers have been lifted somewhat, the relief is like a rush of endorphins pulsing through the body and a wave of satisfaction acts as a stimulant to search and conquer even greater challenges. Travellers who have felt the immense dread involved with "culture shock" and decided to fight the feeling rather than flee the situation will know what I mean. I have grown to love every place I have been, even though the first impressions were not always favourable. To overcome the fear and awe of such a great jolt to the system - you must meet it head-on. Once I learnt this, I found that such adverities were more easily overcome, but to find more extreme places with which to test your resolve became more scarce.

I have decided to write a blog pertaining to my initial steps along paths which I could not fathom until I started walking down those roads. Nothing can prepare you fully for the experience until you start to test the water...

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May 2008

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