tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13105780154770949742024-03-05T10:08:57.271+00:00i travel stories - roy romsey
Quirky and Amusing Stories from Around the Worldromseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-88307203208746950042021-09-01T15:33:00.000+00:002021-09-01T15:33:31.394+00:00Bath time in Japan - 2<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="RoysHeading" style="line-height: normal;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi200Q8lJFlDZ_H65c4G6Z5aHIr0JRRNyQekOlT0uP3bI-brDVcqcdFWqHHXWN0P0-7EbMP9SLHXZWJuia5ol5dART1HkQCUeSO8iQcjyjNiFJB6oZG70uwnkEsjoL-zFv0w4M8symF9nBr/s1600/Tori.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi200Q8lJFlDZ_H65c4G6Z5aHIr0JRRNyQekOlT0uP3bI-brDVcqcdFWqHHXWN0P0-7EbMP9SLHXZWJuia5ol5dART1HkQCUeSO8iQcjyjNiFJB6oZG70uwnkEsjoL-zFv0w4M8symF9nBr/s320/Tori.jpeg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Attempting to go native in Japan
was never going to be easy. It had taken a long time to find a local family who
not only had a self-contained '<i>furnished
aparto</i>' within their traditional Japanese wooden home, but were also
prepared to rent it to a <i>Gaijin Sensei</i>
– a foreign-devil teacher from ‘<i>En'grand</i>’.</span><br />
<h3>
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Home Sweet Home</span></h3>
</div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> The first-floor apartment was
minimalist to say the least. It had just a low coffee table, a large
wall-hanging scroll featuring a brush-painted floral arrangement, a sink with a
single gas ring and a screened alcove in which to store clothes and bedding in
cardboard boxes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"> My two rooms were separated by
sliding paper screens, each with soft thatched <i>tatami</i> floors, honey - coloured </span><span lang="EN-US">timber ceilings, white walls and
an 8-foot length of ill-fitting sliding wooden windows, which flooded the rooms
with enough light and air to fill a stadium. All this, to an idealistic
22-year-old ‘traventurer’ to move into during the hot humidity of summer, had
seemed just perfect – real cool!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> However, it was now the middle of
January; for months the bitingly cold dampness of Tokyo's winter had gnawed
relentlessly at my extremities. Spring seemed a long way off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> The view through my wall of
curtain-less single-glazed windows was now hidden by a set of external wooden
screens - they helped dull the wind-rattled loose panes, but added as much
warmth as a bulb in a fridge.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Keeping Warm</span></h3>
</div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAN5BbXoqL-kJnQjZSbszstkIk5PceKJGvdoW6VujHhzFZdSIN_bPRY8zmQX34Mmd9CJwZbhP6bfkXfgl3fqQtJRCXLt6Dpzy2N6bXxRHrqtw3IOwN0qLfLqawGzR-ybNfyQ3SB3gIX6e-/s320/+MIWAS+Japan.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winter scene in Roppongi Japan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAN5BbXoqL-kJnQjZSbszstkIk5PceKJGvdoW6VujHhzFZdSIN_bPRY8zmQX34Mmd9CJwZbhP6bfkXfgl3fqQtJRCXLt6Dpzy2N6bXxRHrqtw3IOwN0qLfLqawGzR-ybNfyQ3SB3gIX6e-/s1600/+MIWAS+Japan.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> My central heating entailed
being clad in a balaclava, mittens and a thick kimono, whilst sitting
cross-legged at a blanket-covered low coffee table, under which a charcoal hibachi
perched on a stone slab.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"> This fiendish saucepan-sized device was my only form of heating; it burned smoke-choking charcoal that cooked my nuts at one end, whilst I breathed clouds of vapourised </span><span lang="EN-US">Sapporo whisky at the other – all an essential part of my frostbite
prevention scheme.</span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Every discomfort has its comfort;
tonight was one of my thrice-weekly visits to the local <i>ofuro</i> bathhouse, where for two hours I would enjoy and endure its
tortuous heat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNatt_Mtl0h4F8ByUQhZviJKl8-qW-moeeCMUA6zllEZ6qMAbp6UO3wr6aBV-pUfFqAukIORc5sENiboLDvvF95oQNYgpa11_NRPWDtfuqZOF_VjTBbxj05OHn9QGtT-hTtOYK1ALdPeQk/s320/imgres-2.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Typical shoe racks in Japanese home</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNatt_Mtl0h4F8ByUQhZviJKl8-qW-moeeCMUA6zllEZ6qMAbp6UO3wr6aBV-pUfFqAukIORc5sENiboLDvvF95oQNYgpa11_NRPWDtfuqZOF_VjTBbxj05OHn9QGtT-hTtOYK1ALdPeQk/s1600/imgres-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> With nether-regions well thawed, I
donned ‘long johns’ and wrapped a thick kimono around myself and shuffled
downstairs in slippers to the Waseda family’s entrance hall. There, I scanned
the dozens of pairs of assorted shoes, clogs, rubber boots and slippers kept in
slatted racks, until among the mélange of footwear I found my pair of two-inch-high,wooden <i>geta </i>clogs.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Cold Crisp Snow</b></span></h3>
</div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> I slid open the front door and a
cold crisp silence reflected back at me: four inches of freshly fallen snow lay
outside: making the house feel positively warm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirke2zYmZSb37_4rmEd6KYLAQlDDi_3PTqnBaSmxsGMcgYfoikYWpIGNpU6D1VEc5MCRyj_ic5G8_E4vbvc9VwExSPWOdALP9YXdNAt3IyHpRpRFAN3FTmVh4vQBzAugxpkfJGooaQPr-/s200/url-3.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pair of Japanese Geta</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirke2zYmZSb37_4rmEd6KYLAQlDDi_3PTqnBaSmxsGMcgYfoikYWpIGNpU6D1VEc5MCRyj_ic5G8_E4vbvc9VwExSPWOdALP9YXdNAt3IyHpRpRFAN3FTmVh4vQBzAugxpkfJGooaQPr-/s1600/url-3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> My normal clog-clattering
quarter-mile walk to the Roppongi public bathhouse was today muffled as the
soft snow whispered a compressed crunch.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> My route took me along a labyrinth
of unlit alleys, lined with wooden homes; many doubled as laundries, noodle
shops, bars and rice stores, their doorways glowed with the yellow light of
lacquered lanterns or wooden lamps.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnmbMwgfQBKjDf1gyqO4LlxDQG55A12qr8mBwd0cNcLXXu__luYKIW9LQJe7HDWObQ8Dz7q2X5-i423Ef-8tW-hUcDWN2o0S3b85qwcjdQ-nHey8ghB1AYYazo-5qcUknSJyRs743M-Muu/s1600/kubiskiart.blogspot.co.uk+snow-Japan-+snow-Japan-2001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> A soft scrunch of snow from behind
prompted me to step to one side to allow a home-delivery boy to cycle past. He </span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">precariously</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> balanced a foot-high stack of red lacquered food trays</span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">in one
hand, and trailed an aroma of steam noodles in his wake.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> The snow-blurred sound of Tokyo's
traffic sharpened as I rounded the corner, I cautiously waited for a tram to
rattle past before carefully clomping my way across <i>Roppongi Road</i> and into <i>Yasuda
Lane</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnmbMwgfQBKjDf1gyqO4LlxDQG55A12qr8mBwd0cNcLXXu__luYKIW9LQJe7HDWObQ8Dz7q2X5-i423Ef-8tW-hUcDWN2o0S3b85qwcjdQ-nHey8ghB1AYYazo-5qcUknSJyRs743M-Muu/s320/kubiskiart.blogspot.co.uk+snow-Japan-+snow-Japan-2001.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brrr!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> I passed a drunken <i>salaryman</i> chatting happily to a
telephone pole whilst relieving himself. Ahead I saw kimono-clad families
scurrying coldly to, or sauntering warmly away from, the only building with
light spilling from its wide wooden doorway: the Roppongi <i>ofuro</i> bathhouse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> My clogs clattered noisily on the
stone entrance porch as </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I entered the curtained doorway marked ‘Male’ in large Japanese characters. I </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">exchanged my clogs for a pair of communal bath slippers
from the scores that lined the wall.</span><br />
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>The Bathhouse</b></span></h3>
</div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> The familiar</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Buddha-like form of Mrs Nakasoni greeted me in the </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">wooden changing hall, she sat on
her high rickety</span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"> perch, overseeing both the male and female changing rooms.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> She was the cashier and collected
the thirty-five yen fee, sold soap and peered owl-like through perfectly round
glasses; she kept an eager eye on everyone as they undressed on their respective
side of the dividing screen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> From my vantage height of nearly six
feet, I could glimpse the grass being greener on the other side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> I left my clothes in a locker,
tied the wooden key around my wrist, collected a three-legged stool and an
aluminum pan from the sterilizing pool, and went through to the bathing room.
As I did so, I gave Mrs Nakasoni a friendly naked smile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpqc47oDqHHzzLJfTMNYndez5twU5IZTuoZt9a2IOa57P9f8qJPKds-DE0iVBseQ8t1u3NW-_9nFpY8EEkw6zbGbGe9YH47edwymH61X5iBU1DvKPc1u-ktyAU41bLQwGnZMNTEednAlC/s320/ofuro_pubblico.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Japanese public bathhouse ofuro</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQpqc47oDqHHzzLJfTMNYndez5twU5IZTuoZt9a2IOa57P9f8qJPKds-DE0iVBseQ8t1u3NW-_9nFpY8EEkw6zbGbGe9YH47edwymH61X5iBU1DvKPc1u-ktyAU41bLQwGnZMNTEednAlC/s1600/ofuro_pubblico.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> A line of about twenty Japanese
men were already in the white-tiled washing room, each sat before low mirrors, scooping
hot water from a running channel of steaming water, each washing, lathering and
scrubbing themselves clean of their day's labour; a pleasurable cleaning ritual
that usually took a leisurely forty-five minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> The Public <i>Ofuro</i> at Roppongi is used by about eighty per cent of the local
community, so it was a great source of lively debate and exchange of gossip. I
had been going long enough to be recognized by most people and to know that a
nudge from a neighbour was a common practice to indicate they wished you to
scrub their back.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<h3>
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Not for the Faint Hearted</b></span></h3>
</div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Once the cleaning ritual was achieved,
it was time to enter the bathhouse proper and suffer the palpitating pleasures
in the brightly lit, veritable ‘Temple to Aquarians’. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> The steamy chamber had as
its altar a cascading waterfall of scalding water that fell into a small pool,
where on this particular day, the hairless head of a solitary wizen Japanese
monk floated. He unblinkingly watched his small pool overflow into a larger
pool where a dozen or so other heads floated, each grimacing with pleasure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_5fRDMbaPYx9gL8e1RV1jSLcXhtJp9lxruVM7gw3aK4054G9dwKMCggmyCVhJTKFUyqAWbNQlayIM0IqodSthB6nU8Ognsb34PhVfdXuOEj85BAXvVKG42UyWD5HmcGhfoakyvcUDTab/s1600/ofuro+1964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_5fRDMbaPYx9gL8e1RV1jSLcXhtJp9lxruVM7gw3aK4054G9dwKMCggmyCVhJTKFUyqAWbNQlayIM0IqodSthB6nU8Ognsb34PhVfdXuOEj85BAXvVKG42UyWD5HmcGhfoakyvcUDTab/s320/ofuro+1964.JPG" width="212" /></i></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Roy being cooked in traditional farmhouse wooden Ofuro -</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><i> just add carrots and onions, stir gently. </i></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i> </i> </span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US"> I knew better than to jump
straight in. I stooped my naked body beside the slightly cooler larger pool and winced with painful
bliss as I scooped its hot water over myself. Once the body temperature was
high enough, I inched myself in and slowly poached for twenty minutes until
parboiled. Few people ever ventured into the smaller but hotter pool.</span><span style="text-align: center;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: center;"> As soon as the bone marrow felt
pink and before the brain started to curdle, I retreated to the cool of the
changing hall and the lustful gaze of Mrs Nakasoni. She always gave me a small
bottle of </span><i style="text-align: center;">X-Energy</i><span style="text-align: center;"> to drink. I never did
quite fathom out what she hoped it would do for me – or her – but I hadn’t the
energy or inclination to reject her kind gesture.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: center;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: center;"></span>
<span style="text-align: center;">by Roy Romsey</span>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;"> </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/7-finland-bath-time-ii.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPq4Ckvw9zBec6FAqBBrGQmh9xEdUX6AN9N8UJGG4fnACo6NUQOs4vmA98A4tkGDDaAE58qNENmm_0anZSptv9eyZXM-0_IadNcR_rxIegtwYc92978nyamGcm1TIiu2QNH-ZHBlj-zKV-/s1600/CLICK+HERE+2.png" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">To</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> r</span><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/7-finland-bath-time-ii.html" target="_blank"><b>ead another of Roy's bath-time stories, 'Naked Encounter' in Finland</b></a><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;"> <a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html" target="_blank"> Library of Stories</a> <a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/">HOME</a></span></span>
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<!--EndFragment-->romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-23264662172343157372019-07-17T14:45:00.000+00:002019-07-17T14:50:22.649+00:00Your Comments are always welcome -romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-76688518258182537272016-07-03T11:15:00.001+00:002021-09-01T15:31:15.052+00:00Horseback across the Andes No 30<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjpBbn2ysw1iLN37_TSdXjJfwH0VhhzPAyILAPHfWj-CMsZjCHv6lOwYlCXnS9EBwfPlFZ2MIfcHHPmyBRkQnQhF5_53umYBj58qigfKGD-hzFzpvWAdWfp26wt_RcymK0Y7Xzh9K-9Fv/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-11-16+at+15.39.59.png" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 48px;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjpBbn2ysw1iLN37_TSdXjJfwH0VhhzPAyILAPHfWj-CMsZjCHv6lOwYlCXnS9EBwfPlFZ2MIfcHHPmyBRkQnQhF5_53umYBj58qigfKGD-hzFzpvWAdWfp26wt_RcymK0Y7Xzh9K-9Fv/s200/Screen+Shot+2013-11-16+at+15.39.59.png" width="198" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">El Condor</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: large; line-height: 150%;"><b>No 30<br /></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: large; line-height: 150%;"><b>Chile to Argentina </b></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">The six-hour struggle in
high seas from the island of Chiloé back to the southern mainland of Chile had
been tedious. We arrived in darkness at a small cove. The ferryboat lowered its
ramp like a huge sigh, allowing a dozen cars and a lone Japanese girl on a
small motorcycle to drive off into the night. We made our way ashore in driving
rain and joined a group of foot-passengers huddled under a solitary quayside
lamp. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">A
bedraggled teenage girl approached and touted us with an offer of accommodation.
We glanced briefly at her plastic book of wet photographs and hurriedly
accepted. A waiting van took us to her <i>hospedaje</i>
above a family laundry shop..</span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large; line-height: 36px;">The Challenge</b><b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;"> </span></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbKlog5lLMEhsDnS_TpgMlZ1jZ48ZPiB0hJyahBSnJKKydWXulVyHmPzxiBD9Owu-NeMuZ8iJOeB5uwzbrIJwBV81wSTUML76vsNl9q7VOE9MqT129f4TzuI2CHW6yh4ES0d2AqQfGk-pw/s1600/Routa+Austral.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbKlog5lLMEhsDnS_TpgMlZ1jZ48ZPiB0hJyahBSnJKKydWXulVyHmPzxiBD9Owu-NeMuZ8iJOeB5uwzbrIJwBV81wSTUML76vsNl9q7VOE9MqT129f4TzuI2CHW6yh4ES0d2AqQfGk-pw/s1600/Routa+Austral.png" width="266" /></a></div>
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to Chaitén – gateway to the </span><i style="font-family: Verdana; text-indent: 0.5in;">Ruta Austral</i><span style="font-family: "verdana"; text-indent: 0.5in;">,
southern Chile.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Our
objective was to travel to the far end of Ruta Austral, to the small pioneer
hamlet of Villa O’Higgins, where the track was blocked from further travel by huge
mountains topped with ice fields, and glaciers that plunged into the sea. We
had heard a rumour that horses could be hired from O’Higgins to cross over the
Andes into Argentina. If that was so, then it was too good a challenge to
ignore.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; text-indent: 0.5in;">But first we had almost 1,000 kilometres of narrow unpaved track ahead of us, along a narrow strip sandwiched between the mountains of the Andes and the Pacific Ocean. The route had been recently built by the Chilean corps of army engineers – an amazing feat comparable to that of the Alaskan Highway.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: medium;">It
took us eleven days to reach Villa O’Higgins, using various private minibuses
and trucks that ran unscheduled services between the sparse towns and villages.
The journey, over a packed gravel track, went through some of the most
spectacular and varied scenery in the world; past stunning mountains, hanging
glaciers, lakes and rain forests, and with frequent sightings of soaring condors.
Overnight accommodation was basic and often difficult to find.<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
further south we travelled, the colder and wetter it became. We befriended a
woman and her two children on the final minibus into the grey, soggy hamlet of
Villa O’Higgins. She confirmed that horses were occasionally available from the
Chilean border post on the far side of <i>Lago
San Martín</i>. She kindly offered to accommodate us for a few days whilst we
made enquiries. <span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaF61vWq6sHDWxkn_eCfDfN4Ox6PL5qGuqSrM3eO2IVEzznOrFKwucVkURS9ObGJdmfCQomyrPMhjGkM65oU3MMwLUhUYp_rV8M6DwaKsVQTBfQxmhh4wbxi1IgfRwyo577fXwD0-0HDAK/s1600/Mt+FitzRoy.png" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaF61vWq6sHDWxkn_eCfDfN4Ox6PL5qGuqSrM3eO2IVEzznOrFKwucVkURS9ObGJdmfCQomyrPMhjGkM65oU3MMwLUhUYp_rV8M6DwaKsVQTBfQxmhh4wbxi1IgfRwyo577fXwD0-0HDAK/s200/Mt+FitzRoy.png" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: medium;">O’Higgins
seemed an improbable Irish name to find in Chile, yet airports, streets, universities,
even naval ships, are named after him. Bernardo O’Higgins was the illegitimate
son of an Irishman, who, with José de San Martín, freed Chile from Spanish rule
in the Chilean War of Independence 1810-1821. His name has since been revered
as a famous son of Chile.<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITVu1sVEwBk203KzPpiWoYSrW-gsj6c12wqR6o8x0X_8PHVlwt4fCugBF-yVDlkh9WwDQDrNbBTyDH8Y_C56zMEvyc6oCg8523M6qL0UVzbmWrUQw5fGxZaVaswa-u4_qsEpMBNntI47s/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-11-21+at+13.27.15.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjITVu1sVEwBk203KzPpiWoYSrW-gsj6c12wqR6o8x0X_8PHVlwt4fCugBF-yVDlkh9WwDQDrNbBTyDH8Y_C56zMEvyc6oCg8523M6qL0UVzbmWrUQw5fGxZaVaswa-u4_qsEpMBNntI47s/s200/Screen+Shot+2013-11-21+at+13.27.15.png" width="173" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bernardo O'Higgins</td></tr>
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<b style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 36px;">Chilean Farewell</span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Within
two days of arrival, we had made tentative arrangements to trek across the
Andes into Argentina. We were unsure what to expect, except that a truck would
call to collect us at 5 a.m.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> It duly arrived and also stopped at other
lodgings around the village to collect an elderly French couple, a middle-aged
Chilean couple and an Argentinian girl.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Preparing the pack-ponies</td></tr>
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<br />
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<b style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: x-large; line-height: 36px;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b style="text-indent: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 36px;">International </span></span></b><b style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 36px;">Horse Trek</span><span style="font-size: x-large; line-height: 36px;"> </span></span></b></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">It
was there that we found an ancient Chilean <i>campesino</i>
waiting with eight very suspect-looking horses, and two pack ponies. He spoke a
barely intelligible dialect of Spanish, and avoided conversation by busying
himself with sorting out a ragbag of questionable looking bridles and
saddles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Although
none of our newly acquired international companions was skilled in
horsemanship, we at least had a common language of English with which to
communicate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Our
journey across the Andean continental divide was cold and wet, but unimaginably
stimulating. We rode through forests and glacial streams on stout horses using
a motley collection of saddles ranging from English and Spanish to just a
sheepskin.<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy_hdOAqurnDX2ZHg08YfAoEeeyUTwC_3JTDrDhmhXk7wTsH_lcJBSkduCA1ypU64IFtYl_jJTUc35KBwFYQr0qtbwrKQVNOuEVoj3753XhxD3ikPENQkNR90Fysbn9DVFjGVb0yjNFnOz/s1600/Chile+Horse+trek+2006+01+.jpg" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><img border="0" height="379" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy_hdOAqurnDX2ZHg08YfAoEeeyUTwC_3JTDrDhmhXk7wTsH_lcJBSkduCA1ypU64IFtYl_jJTUc35KBwFYQr0qtbwrKQVNOuEVoj3753XhxD3ikPENQkNR90Fysbn9DVFjGVb0yjNFnOz/s320/Chile+Horse+trek+2006+01+.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruta Austral</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">Unfortunately,
just one kilometre from the western end of <i>Lage
Deseado</i>, the well-chewed rope bit on Jean’s horse gave way when it got into
difficulty on a slippery 60-degree slope. Jean ended up going over the horse’s
head with one foot trapped in the stirrup. Fortunately she suffered only a slightly
sprained ankle, but horrendous bruising.
She completed the trek on foot, which required wading through two
glacial streams that had the effect of numbing the pain in her sprained ankle.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV087O_qrceE9idcOFEQcoTWwYoyk4JIX2dJOI94244JfqKYsvHQ9p9J0I9cRSg7Fth0lCeckNUIX5FTbPCl2BGESy-gmndPQlVAO-1uv7BV3jZHvsnRpRkA1fUr0KxdJthnXSRwNBEoWL/s1600/Chile+Horse+trek+2006+07+.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV087O_qrceE9idcOFEQcoTWwYoyk4JIX2dJOI94244JfqKYsvHQ9p9J0I9cRSg7Fth0lCeckNUIX5FTbPCl2BGESy-gmndPQlVAO-1uv7BV3jZHvsnRpRkA1fUr0KxdJthnXSRwNBEoWL/s320/Chile+Horse+trek+2006+07+.jpg" width="296" /></a><br />
<h4>
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Stranded without Paddle</u></b></span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="line-height: 28px;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We
had aimed to arrive at the lakeside in time to catch a small launch, which
called once a week with supplies for the six-man military border control post.
The boat was not there; it had broken down and was awaiting spare parts.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
army’s own boat was also out of action. We were stuck! No food, no tents, no
Argentinean money, but lots of camaraderie. We pooled what little food we had, set
up </span><span style="font-size: medium;">camp in a mountain refuge and made a damp smoky fire to keep warm from the
overnight snowstorm.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Meanwhile,
the army captain had radioed an S.O.S. to the nearest provincial government for
help. An inflatable rescue dingy was located at a mountaineer’s village at the
base of Mount Fitz Roy and hauled overnight to the other end of <i>Lago Deseado</i>. <span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDLN3TzosWVvK0zoVH2rqGWyFU1aKK4VY3caP4tqXNlg_twM8ogsX5NzIgAkY25-e7geljXF8MpZ35mhT7S1wSJk0VlCOY-z7O7c_I4a4kJ7GnGUQh7bMJJbC2pSvVoWeThdR34UvVKrlq/s1600/Chile+Horse+trek+2006+11+.jpg" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDLN3TzosWVvK0zoVH2rqGWyFU1aKK4VY3caP4tqXNlg_twM8ogsX5NzIgAkY25-e7geljXF8MpZ35mhT7S1wSJk0VlCOY-z7O7c_I4a4kJ7GnGUQh7bMJJbC2pSvVoWeThdR34UvVKrlq/s200/Chile+Horse+trek+2006+11+.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ouch!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Its arrival the following
afternoon was a welcome sight. However, the drama was not yet over. Two-thirds
into our fifteen-kilometre journey across the choppy glacial lake, one of the
outboard engines failed. Silent prayers were said for the remaining engine
until we finally limped cold and wet into a deserted jetty.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: large;">Happiness is a bunkhouse</span></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
Wet, but safe.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> W</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 19px; line-height: 28px;">e were cold, wet, shivery and 40 kms from the nearest town. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">To keep warm, Jean and I went walk-a-bout and happened upon a returning wilderness hiker, whom we</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 28px;"> persuaded t</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">o give us a lift along the 40 kms
of flooded track to the recently established township of El Chalten.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></div>
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romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-14857676056395429442014-08-01T17:13:00.000+00:002018-09-07T15:35:54.234+00:00Roland the Rat - 1<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhChdk7mwVXPQj0ju-PNmJDb9_4i9t2tcSOcBuBvRcDaqlBvGwUFQNN_mU_But09Z74nJUCOHHLRv5x6RaTXZ0KUOY-EgMnKsCCTgRhEs5naxFE-c-1npchR5FEjvSnRcyvGldIOV_sJXbl/s1600/Roland+the+Rat.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhChdk7mwVXPQj0ju-PNmJDb9_4i9t2tcSOcBuBvRcDaqlBvGwUFQNN_mU_But09Z74nJUCOHHLRv5x6RaTXZ0KUOY-EgMnKsCCTgRhEs5naxFE-c-1npchR5FEjvSnRcyvGldIOV_sJXbl/s320/Roland+the+Rat.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="line-height: 36.66666793823242px;"><b> </b></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">Two weeks of torrential monsoon rains had pursued
us relentlessly across the Indonesian island of Java. Finally, at township of Malang and with floodwaters up
to our thighs,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">we waded to the bus station and made haste to the port
of Ketapang to catch the ferry boat to Bali; we needed a refuge to dry
out.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifae0CVarFfA26eLcJ9KNgsvyvSqC3q0TrKhIYs1NYKcTYaMxqOW7-0iuRjdmGSZyO2C9mmGFIDmCPpBhlv22fpBh9IC4ilC0FVMSEy3TYPEFBBj-gXxWvj1M0ae-IKpUTijVM8LKGPeOf/s1600/Raindrops.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifae0CVarFfA26eLcJ9KNgsvyvSqC3q0TrKhIYs1NYKcTYaMxqOW7-0iuRjdmGSZyO2C9mmGFIDmCPpBhlv22fpBh9IC4ilC0FVMSEy3TYPEFBBj-gXxWvj1M0ae-IKpUTijVM8LKGPeOf/s320/Raindrops.jpeg" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">We discovered a perfect Balinese haven at the
picturesque artist colony of Ubud where we rested up for
a couple of weeks:</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">A well-built bamboo cottage in the garden of a local
architect was just what we needed: it had a thatched roof, elaborate carved gilded doors, cool, white tiled floors, and a </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">covered
veranda.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>The rock wall of the
enclosed, alfresco bathroom was draped with lush, tropical plants from which a
small waterfall poured forth as a shower – it was straight off the pages of <i>House & Garden</i> magazine. All
this, plus breakfast, afternoon tea and the services of a houseboy for just $7
per day. It was too good to be true!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiczGGFL60KJ59XPpSYleP0ol5HE8g1dvev3wkH4PA6HffG1nAUo5FL4vHpYZbk0hoGvCvynxrET8RqBlrEOKeuVb-PBcsj_ZaOS-8vKY7YJSWshDllPLgBm-lVnS3PLJnfsmmHavtSyKW/s1600/2-url-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiczGGFL60KJ59XPpSYleP0ol5HE8g1dvev3wkH4PA6HffG1nAUo5FL4vHpYZbk0hoGvCvynxrET8RqBlrEOKeuVb-PBcsj_ZaOS-8vKY7YJSWshDllPLgBm-lVnS3PLJnfsmmHavtSyKW/s200/2-url-1.jpg" width="200" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">We soon
settled into lazy days of reading on the veranda, painting the verdant jungle
view around our haven and generally enjoying our good fortune.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">On the
second morning, I got up and went drowsily into our designer bathroom, lifted
the lid of the rose pink toilet and felt my eyes somersault and do a double
flip. Silently, I closed the lid again.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">I stood
and stared incredulously at that throne of contemplation for </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">what seemed like several minutes, waiting for my brain and
my eyes to connect. Had I seen what I thought I had seen? or was I still drunk
with sleep?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">My eyes
were beginning to ache from not blinking. Confused, I tentatively lifted the
lid again and took another peek, then gently lowered it again.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">Zombie-like,
I walked back into the bedroom and passed Jean en route:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>“I
shouldn’t use the loo this morning if I were you.” I said as casually as
possible.<span class="apple-converted-space"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">“Why not?”</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">she asked.<span class="apple-converted-space"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">“Well, Roland the rat is taking his morning bath.”</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">I replied. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">Jean,
bless her, knows me far too well to take the slightest notice of my black sense
of </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">humour</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">, particularly first thing in the
morning.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">What
should I do? Too late! A blood-curdling scream, enough to wake the whole
village and half the cemetery, emanated from the bathroom. Jean
rushed out glaring daggers at me. We then both fell into a heap of nervous
laughter at the absurd truth of the matter … we had a rat calmly doing the dog
paddle in the toilet bowl.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">We had
a situation that obviously needed dealing with. Our options, as I saw it,
were: </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 46.2pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -17.85pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%; text-indent: -17.85pt;">1.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%; text-indent: -17.85pt;">Treat it as a
problem, complain like mad, demand our money back and leave our little
paradise. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 46.2pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -17.85pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">2.</span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">Treat it as an
inconvenience and get the houseboy to deal with it, or </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 46.2pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -17.85pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">3.</span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">Interrupt
Roland’s bathing routine, hand him a towel and tell him to sod off!</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">Being
ever the diplomat I chose the middle course, then watched our totally
bewildered houseboy spend half an hour trying unsuccessfully to fish Roland out. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">Eventually,
in desperation, he wrapped his hand in a cloth and tried to grab him, but in
doing so, found he had pulled his tail off and in the ensuing panic had pressed
the flush-lever. The now tail-less Roland had disappeared into the depths of
the sewerage system and presumably out of our lives.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">Later
that morning I completed my ablutions, during which I sat on the loo reading a
chapter of a travel book. I then washed my hands and halfway through cleaning
my teeth I heard: “<i>Squeak, squeak.</i>”<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>I thought it was Jean trying to get
her own back on me so I ignored her … <i>brush, brush …<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">“<i>Squeak, squeak.</i>”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">…<i>
splash, splash </i>… “OK Jean, I know it’s you,”</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">I said and turned around to find her, but she was not there,I could see she was outside busy painting the scenery.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">“<i>Oh, no! I don’t believe it.</i>”<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">I thought, and gingerly lifted the
lid to the toilet … there was Roland, back again as large as life doing the
breaststroke with what I swear was a silly grin on his face!</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZlTH_AS29pmyyaYkGYvx1L_ITyNdIyh9SWGTY7UemZPxuvOQ1q653JtWv7wDNXLo4Got8ypg7Gc4HY2w_LkW56iUXuauVYUmZHOL06fcAmd9hElwRe5jvRJz3JCzzt9DR0LZtQ7FaSFg/s1600/Roland+the+Rat+jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXZlTH_AS29pmyyaYkGYvx1L_ITyNdIyh9SWGTY7UemZPxuvOQ1q653JtWv7wDNXLo4Got8ypg7Gc4HY2w_LkW56iUXuauVYUmZHOL06fcAmd9hElwRe5jvRJz3JCzzt9DR0LZtQ7FaSFg/s320/Roland+the+Rat+jpg.jpg" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">“<i>My God!</i>”<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span>I
thought.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>“I have just escaped a fate worse than death.”</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Had I dallied three minutes longer on
the throne, Roland could have grabbed me by the ‘dingly-danglies’ and made his
escape. I slammed the lid shut, broke out in a cold sweat, threw myself onto
the bed and watched the room swim round and round. I swore Roland and
Jean were in collusion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">I
called Jean. She called the houseboy. He called the owner who then called a
crowd of neighbours and a passing ice-cream vendor to help solve the problem.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;">After
much debate and disagreement, we ‘solved the inconvenience’ by using a deadly
concoction of bleach and poison. Roland sensed we were up to something sinister, he did a back-flip and disappeared, never to stick his head
around the bend again, leaving us to enjoy our little paradise. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"> Mind you,
I gave up reading on the loo and took to hovering a good three inches above the
seat … just in case. One can never be too careful. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 28.35pt;"><i>Written by:- Roy Romsey</i></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-align: left; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/6-dont-mess-with-nature_11.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiyr9hp4m7b8RF8221wXbJCyqjPtVPnT_CbsXvytAMhps5E1hXMxp4xfwAGl8aru-V9LXPWLmQTwfi2Raa-1VcX4sEVINw6L26Do3Z8hrw3-M9kVyWoMFTT3_9S8jS233AW5UL61ztqi55/s1600/click+here..JPG" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "verdana"; line-height: 150%;"><b> <a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/6-dont-mess-with-nature_11.html" target="_blank"> To read about Roy's other encounter with animals when in the USA.</a></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 28.35pt;"><b><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html" target="_blank">Library of Stories </a> </b></span><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 28.35pt;">Home</a></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-20329557221284169982014-07-01T22:05:00.000+00:002018-11-21T17:14:44.343+00:00Crocodile Hunting - 23<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Working as a bush-cook in the remote outback of northern Australia had been fun and life
enhancing, but it was </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">now </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">time to move on. There were new things to see and experiences to have.</span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqYwzJ1QwxMagJSpuy6ZuCqq9URz-aFqANF_6DcE9s8SvjASpSlfmJxna8iwTPz173lET4RH42sDYeK2AUP2cRhUCAE54YipsliLgsU-0dD2pF6UwLquC-pa_qUSK4wKEhOe_mRtO7fw9/s1600/3-1-rt+aus+nt1+63.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUqYwzJ1QwxMagJSpuy6ZuCqq9URz-aFqANF_6DcE9s8SvjASpSlfmJxna8iwTPz173lET4RH42sDYeK2AUP2cRhUCAE54YipsliLgsU-0dD2pF6UwLquC-pa_qUSK4wKEhOe_mRtO7fw9/s400/3-1-rt+aus+nt1+63.JPG" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'I haven't been everywhere, but it's on my list'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> With a lightly loaded rucksack </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">and </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">high spirits</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I set off to hitchhike back to Darwin in the north. Upon arrival, I did what all good Australians do; I went
for a beer at the pub.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;">The bar was a noisy throng of colourful characters in
shorts and singlets; those wearing flip-flops were townies, whilst those wearing boots were blokes in from the bush; they were from cattle stations,
mining ventures, government survey teams, prospectors and fencers, all in
town for a few days break, to pick up supplies or look for new work. They swapped
tall stories, enjoyed the golden amber and revelled in the much-needed company
of others.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(If English is your second language, see glossary</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> of Australian terminology </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0px;">at end of story</span><span style="font-size: x-small; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">.)</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">After a beer or three I got into
conversation with Toni Christensen from Denmark, he told me of his exploits as an illegal
crocodile hunter, - it’s difficult to tell the difference between a tall tale
and the truth when you are on your fifth glass of ale, - he told me that his partner had gone south
to find a girl and get married, and that he was looking for someone to take his
place, was I interested!</span><br />
<div style="text-align: start;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;"> It was like asking a chocoholic if he would like a bar of Cadburys flake.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Of course I am,’ said I, or was it the glass of beer talking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Have you got a gun?’ he asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Yes.’ I fibbed.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘What have you got?’ he asked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘A .22’ I heard my
glass say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmO4tg_ZuOZ9KhLPJ15OflrigIGBcQycJJMKr8p4R-FWBqXQ4yoVurz64O0430qBrFphGOCTfid5-Qe1YBCeknDUMHLRhyphenhyphenofNWvjH5vF65LSYiVhKJctB7lCtr4MMGKCArID554SMlFqvD/s1600/02-Trab+and+Austr;ia+(108).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmO4tg_ZuOZ9KhLPJ15OflrigIGBcQycJJMKr8p4R-FWBqXQ4yoVurz64O0430qBrFphGOCTfid5-Qe1YBCeknDUMHLRhyphenhyphenofNWvjH5vF65LSYiVhKJctB7lCtr4MMGKCArID554SMlFqvD/s640/02-Trab+and+Austr;ia+(108).JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Enjoying the life of a <i>'Swagman camped by a billabong, under the shade of a coolibah tree</i>.'</b><br />
<b> Swag rolled out ready to sleep, my rucksack for a pillow, a billy of tea on a flickering fire; alone with just the sounds nature - the end of a perfect day.</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘That’s OK for shooting birds and stuff,
but it’s no good for taking buffalo for tucker or crocs for skins.’ He said
and then added, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘But don’t
worry mate, we can use mine. I’m heading out tomorrow, can you meet me back
here around ten in the morning?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Sure.’ I said. ‘No worries.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Let’s shake on it then.’ he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We shook hands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> With that he swayed out into the night and shouted over
his shoulder, ‘See you at ten.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The raucous din of the bar, fuelled by the banter of beer-swilling Aussies, made it difficult for me to think straight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> What had I just committed myself to? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Illegal crocodile hunting! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Trespassing in aborigine Arnhem Land! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I had a twenty two-calibre
rifle!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Since when?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I left the bar three beers later, well oiled and with a
rifle case slung over my shoulder; It containing a newly acquired twenty two-calibre
gun that some ‘bushie’ in the bar had sold me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It seemed I was half-way to becoming a crocodile hunter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Travelling the world is to experience it as well as see it.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> At ten the following day, Toni was already waiting for me at the
pub with a list of provisions needed for the trip into the bush.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXodILPo7AvvGCj_EHSmDFL6r5M_k1b2Y_uGHBG9TKlzFwJGCWiF4lHcX8lrIxrZ828nv4HlJEW7WH6WZBi92NNpMq1J8fdBC6jUA7Y5lNNaxvbT-TfsSaL13scgxbrgxtO0DKWPd4FS62/s1600/02-P1210169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXodILPo7AvvGCj_EHSmDFL6r5M_k1b2Y_uGHBG9TKlzFwJGCWiF4lHcX8lrIxrZ828nv4HlJEW7WH6WZBi92NNpMq1J8fdBC6jUA7Y5lNNaxvbT-TfsSaL13scgxbrgxtO0DKWPd4FS62/s400/02-P1210169.JPG" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The largest termite hill encountered</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> By noon we were
ready to set off in his ancient Holden Utility vehicle, it had a seven feet
long aluminium boat strapped to the back, under which were provisions, ammunition,
bags of salt, gunny bags, a swag and my rucksack. The boat looked no bigger,
nor any more stable, than the tin tub we had been bathed in as kids.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> As we drove south out of town, he said ‘I need to stop off
to pick up Winnie.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Who the heck is Winnie?’ I asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘She’s me bed-mate and cook,’ he replied. ‘didn’t I
mention her?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We picked up Winnie, who it turned out was a ‘Lubra’ or ‘Gin’; a term for an aboriginal young girl. She was
as black as a shadow at night and looked old and weathered enough to be his grandmother. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We drove about 50 kms south, then took an unmade track
east into Arnhem Land toward the Adelaide River’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">We were within an Aboriginal
Native Reserve, which was off-limit to outsiders without a government pass
from Canberra.</span> Winnie was to be our ace-in-the- hole in case a
ranger stopped us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Here! You be go here now.’ she suddenly said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPUZkMY06shWG9MdEdRSAS_gXq2OudSRIHZ5XFYRAQMvmJpJ70X3sfM7z4Rqj2mbJzj901ZWNDsHpycsnPEFyRfFNsZdWQmud45l5P-Sj2ao4rDrJtkqjZkxXSHiAw8HJelwY0XG9E_2Ge/s1600/23-1+(159).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPUZkMY06shWG9MdEdRSAS_gXq2OudSRIHZ5XFYRAQMvmJpJ70X3sfM7z4Rqj2mbJzj901ZWNDsHpycsnPEFyRfFNsZdWQmud45l5P-Sj2ao4rDrJtkqjZkxXSHiAw8HJelwY0XG9E_2Ge/s320/23-1+(159).JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winnie, Rudi and self</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Tonii swerved and slipped off
the track, down an embankment in a cloud of dust and into low scrubby trees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> He drove for almost an hour through the bush, past giant
termite hills, occasional buffalo and an array of wild birds, until we came
upon a number of billabongs (small temporary lakes) where we set up a camp.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> How we would find our way back to the Stuart Highway was a
mystery, I just hoped that Winnie would be our very own <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacagawea" target="_blank"><i>Sacajawea</i>.</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64qcf7LhtQRWYfUK5s_2KXPeIx1yMwZKhsI25_Nrvlv8DjVds5WapCI2dfCdw1iSqeoGZ-bV46dq8Iu2LASHhXIYdbGfRkLGtWZYuwcIe7zkRf01zP3J7urwUUsDVFOxkr2CnIJusv8sF/s1600/6-05-P1210172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh64qcf7LhtQRWYfUK5s_2KXPeIx1yMwZKhsI25_Nrvlv8DjVds5WapCI2dfCdw1iSqeoGZ-bV46dq8Iu2LASHhXIYdbGfRkLGtWZYuwcIe7zkRf01zP3J7urwUUsDVFOxkr2CnIJusv8sF/s400/6-05-P1210172.JPG" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_DnKaluhkH1lyU-ZOOGvUFErYfaqH86Jcb0ygkMqzoZ8_R_Ed34peHa9sAV9yqNVzFYCdfBoFKNBM3PmQ1SH5oAvqzsK1OizyH9b04IFAk1D9WLYXKBf-IAjJDbHcjqQwojd9J6XvO8R/s1600/09-P1210176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6_DnKaluhkH1lyU-ZOOGvUFErYfaqH86Jcb0ygkMqzoZ8_R_Ed34peHa9sAV9yqNVzFYCdfBoFKNBM3PmQ1SH5oAvqzsK1OizyH9b04IFAk1D9WLYXKBf-IAjJDbHcjqQwojd9J6XvO8R/s640/09-P1210176.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A couple of spoonbills for supper</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We unloaded our gear and set up camp. Toni explained that
the salt-water crocodiles swam inland during the flooded monsoonal weather and then
became trapped in billabongs as the waters retreated and the land dried out. We
were to hunt salt-water crocodiles because they were bigger and their skins
were worth more than fresh-water crocs; I was learning fast.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We
agreed that to start with and until I became experienced, Toni would be the
marksman with the .303 gun and I was to be the tailer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘What will happen,’
he said, ‘is that at night we’ll paddle very slowly out into the billabong,
sweeping the surface with torches strapped to our heads. As soon as we spot a
pair of red fiery balls reflecting back at us, we’ll keep the croc mesmerised
with the light until we come alongside it.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHDUD53_D2QSpRzmO3K-CPM8TpwXGYWjUynNqtJsMDLQhGcYGqEccy6oBm3Rmq9ckB78ueSgidzmkBoLWzXw7sK9Gpc1Qyx0eCmehkNj_HMjjpVueraEimXQ7gXEsH_sWUaFx26iyu0SuC/s1600/03-P1210170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHDUD53_D2QSpRzmO3K-CPM8TpwXGYWjUynNqtJsMDLQhGcYGqEccy6oBm3Rmq9ckB78ueSgidzmkBoLWzXw7sK9Gpc1Qyx0eCmehkNj_HMjjpVueraEimXQ7gXEsH_sWUaFx26iyu0SuC/s320/03-P1210170.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stocking up the tucker-box</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘I’ll fire off a shot straight between the eyes to avoid
damaging the skin.’ he continued, ‘Your job, is to be ready to tail it, this
means that you grab its tail, wrap the string of the balloon around it and then
let go bloody fast.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Mmm! I see. . . I have no problem with the
letting go part of the plan, but grabbing the tail to start with might be a wee
bit problematic.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘No
worries mate, she’ll be right, you’ll soon get used to it.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We
set off; It was pitch dark and deathly silent except for the occasional croak of frogs. There were plenty of crocodiles in the billabong alright, rather more than I would
care for, we picked out a pair of eyes away from the others and homed in on it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The
contents of my stomach were liquid; I wanted to break wind but was afraid to.
We slowly crept up alongside the creature and there he was; all seven feet of deadly
death; the same length as our little tin boat, it was just waiting to grab me
in his jaws and drag me under.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Suddenly, the tense silence of the night exploded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b> BANG</b>!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtN-K2AwH8-YyAm_o9-avB4-elm70KBhPXeIfa7TxnVR0JvXDp03gxS2D4IeSEpKK7xyCIZVKAsqRUMlyKd1cevaOk1ggEZFdohME5hXqu_8CVVslm0SRytlnhArsn1uCfLr2v59Cv3XJy/s1600/32-r+t+aus+croc+62.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtN-K2AwH8-YyAm_o9-avB4-elm70KBhPXeIfa7TxnVR0JvXDp03gxS2D4IeSEpKK7xyCIZVKAsqRUMlyKd1cevaOk1ggEZFdohME5hXqu_8CVVslm0SRytlnhArsn1uCfLr2v59Cv3XJy/s320/32-r+t+aus+croc+62.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Everything
happened so fast that to this day I can’t remember grabbing the tail. But it
happened just as he had said it would,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I was soaked in sweat and on the biggest high
of my life. I was now officially a ‘Crocodile
Hunter’, perhaps ‘Poacher’ might be a more accurate description. We shot two
more that first night and many more on subsequent nights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We collected the bodies during the daytime, skinned them, then
scraped, salted and wrapped them up in wet gunny bags to preserve our haul.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spoonbill</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Small crocs were skinned lengthways along the belly,
whilst larger crocodiles were skinned from either side of their thick back spines,
which were too tough for tanning<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I got good use from my .22 rifle; hunting wild fowl to
augment our food larder, particularly the black-bill Spoon Bill (<i>Platalea regia),</i> a type of large heron; it
made a delicious meal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> On one occasion, as I knelt against a small tree to take aim
at a wallaby, I felt a slight movement next to me, I turned my head and came
eyeball to eyeball with a large goanna lizard clinging to the trunk, its messy
tongue flicking in and out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;"> Gee whiz! Its proximity scared me witless. I threw myself
sideways and shot it dead - more from fear than necessity.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib8DS_8Jpz9J47biH8I79vzlxZPg_lRL2yRJqyCdt7ufQ3Htm2_rcVmHwu0-_wlzrr8fj8Y7aqx7lS7QXztKHylPyZf8UQFrzM7_Ly3yaKvYOoA2XwO9LtUMgegOkjh-31wOGFxLK3fZpY/s1600/09-Trab+and+Austr;ia+(149).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib8DS_8Jpz9J47biH8I79vzlxZPg_lRL2yRJqyCdt7ufQ3Htm2_rcVmHwu0-_wlzrr8fj8Y7aqx7lS7QXztKHylPyZf8UQFrzM7_Ly3yaKvYOoA2XwO9LtUMgegOkjh-31wOGFxLK3fZpY/s320/09-Trab+and+Austr;ia+(149).JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My fiend the goanna</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Life was so good. In fact it couldn’t have been better. My childhood ambitions to travel had been
influenced by Mr Don Smith an inspirational geography master - Don Smith: by Sunday school tales of missionaries, and by
reading the voyage of Thor Heyerdahl. The Australian films <i>Sundowner</i> and <i>Smiley</i> had also
caused me to want to be a swagman, an international free spirit. I was living
the dream.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The wholesaler at Darwin paid us fifteen shillings an inch (75 pence and inch)as measured across the belly. It made for a very lucrative
living. I made one more hunting foray into the bush, and then decided the
penalties if caught were not worth making it into a career.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfoDR53dU-VNwcjojYUGsc1-fsO1eHBVTWbiF6jvs-nuF7q9EhWS21lvdEQIOMYn1fVqPaSkRmIG8ym3h-OuasyQbKlS_pFfcQ9JN8nOE8_VuGH3SmkreyvHJLzEXQFRhSNAzBceWET58t/s1600/04-P1210171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfoDR53dU-VNwcjojYUGsc1-fsO1eHBVTWbiF6jvs-nuF7q9EhWS21lvdEQIOMYn1fVqPaSkRmIG8ym3h-OuasyQbKlS_pFfcQ9JN8nOE8_VuGH3SmkreyvHJLzEXQFRhSNAzBceWET58t/s320/04-P1210171.JPG" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pricing the catch at Darwin skin-dealer's warehouse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was time to give up crocodile hunting whilst I still had all my fingers. It was time to travel again. Australia and the world beckoned.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><b>Go to the library for more tales of Roy's exploits.</b></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i><b><u>Australian terminology</u></b></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Golden amber - beer</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/23-crocodile-romsee.html">Tucker - food</a></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/23-crocodile-romsee.html">Bush - remote countryside</a></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/23-crocodile-romsee.html">Billabong - dead lake or pond</a></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/23-crocodile-romsee.html">Coolabah tree - large gum tree</a></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/23-crocodile-romsee.html">Swagman - itinerant worker</a></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Billy - a pot of hot water</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacagawea">Sacawajea</a></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Rucksac - back-pack</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Swag - bedroll</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Aussie - Australian</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Fibbed - lied/untruth</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Wallaby - type of small kangaroo</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i>Bluey - nickname for fair haired man</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html<a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html">http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html</a></i></b></span></div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment--><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Feel free to leave a comment if you enjoy the stories.</span><br />
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romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com1Darwin NT, Australia-12.4628271 130.84177720000002-12.9587116 130.19633020000003 -11.9669426 131.4872242tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-73451778977260503732014-01-07T18:09:00.000+00:002015-08-07T13:59:00.495+00:00Welcome<span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: 20pt;">Thanks for dropping by to read some of my short stories. </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: 20pt;">Most tales are just 5 - 6 minutes long and are based on amusing or quirky incidents encountered whilst traveling the world. </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: 20pt;">Stay a while and enjoy some of the 30 different tales.</span></b><span style="font-size: 20pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<b style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 20pt;"> Meanwhile, I'm taking a short break from writing.</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-size: x-large;"><b>Let me know which is your favourite yarn.</b></span><br />
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romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-21199190883471833892013-11-10T19:17:00.000+00:002018-09-07T15:52:57.128+00:00More fun on Route 66 - No 29<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Discovering
small-town America is always a delight, but never more so than along Route 66,
where ghost towns and hamlets from yesteryear vainly hope for a revival in the
wake of a Route 66 renaissance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYuT-UZXPVf3KXy395YSZKwOvH0x-LVBKWTv4o3oi7a2gV1juPiuf7gloeCLwuqOeKsLNTpqhbWZeclsMW3LAsXNcejJT2ZrZjuoJAlyr4HppQl76frVVM5FDMmwHI9uLxcHzZJnHHzHmY/s1600/03-Screen+Shot+2013-11-10+at+17.54.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 48px;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYuT-UZXPVf3KXy395YSZKwOvH0x-LVBKWTv4o3oi7a2gV1juPiuf7gloeCLwuqOeKsLNTpqhbWZeclsMW3LAsXNcejJT2ZrZjuoJAlyr4HppQl76frVVM5FDMmwHI9uLxcHzZJnHHzHmY/s320/03-Screen+Shot+2013-11-10+at+17.54.05.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Mother Road</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #003300; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> We </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: medium;">little suspected when we bought a campervan and named it </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;">Betsy </i><span style="font-size: medium;">that it
would be the start of a long love affair with small-town America and Canada,
and indeed with Betsy herself. She became our home for five three-month journeys.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i> <b><span style="color: blue;">Music for the Asking</span></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #336600; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> E</span><span style="color: #003300; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">rick - </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Population: 1,012 on a good
day - is the kind of place that the world is happy to bypass. We were there with
no purpose other than to look for a reason to visit. We learned that Main St,
was bisected by the 100th meridian and had been renamed <i>Roger Miller Boulevard</i> after the musician,</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX83B-daPRoubXGsMAuiIKRgCg6MDSBo6iicPrWKWhNmdNdCEqfKYJZ0_HgoapE8EToVoQ7JBDGT4fX6SWgaWTajipR94SJUS0nU4l-0IJGt7o4avFE0f_a2I4VCXDnh4_ANnrWSsktSwt/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-14+at+19.09.37.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX83B-daPRoubXGsMAuiIKRgCg6MDSBo6iicPrWKWhNmdNdCEqfKYJZ0_HgoapE8EToVoQ7JBDGT4fX6SWgaWTajipR94SJUS0nU4l-0IJGt7o4avFE0f_a2I4VCXDnh4_ANnrWSsktSwt/s320/Screen+Shot+2014-01-14+at+19.09.37.png" width="320" /></a></span></div>
</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQX8VRhPURK3JHxUf44rn6zhJUIwHqfcIzFtIakHSPSmNZ3nFqxwxmyFmwAA2mOBszbyGXG15iQT41Vu7aBdpMP9QMzj2nm1vnsceCbvYMg9_vGa5a2_sX2a9CcD-eWXEd3I-tJIrCZApa/s1600/08-BETSY+Route+66+30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQX8VRhPURK3JHxUf44rn6zhJUIwHqfcIzFtIakHSPSmNZ3nFqxwxmyFmwAA2mOBszbyGXG15iQT41Vu7aBdpMP9QMzj2nm1vnsceCbvYMg9_vGa5a2_sX2a9CcD-eWXEd3I-tJIrCZApa/s320/08-BETSY+Route+66+30.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.666666984558105px; text-align: center;">Let's make music</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> We also
discovered the happy sound of live music drifting from behind the wooden
storefront of ‘The Meat Market’. We ventured in, and found a delightful and
talented couple of singing bohemian rednecks: <i>Harley, and Annabelle Russell.</i>
Their cluttered store of musical bric-a-brac was devoid of customers, but that
did not stop them from giving us friendship, music, tall tales, music, free beer
and yet more music.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> They entertained us for two hours and then
as we were leaving, a roving CBS TV crew from New York dropped in to film the
couple as part of a Route 66 feature.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> We
often find that it‘s the nowhere places that are worthy of a sometime
visit<i>.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><i></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><i></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: blue;"><b>Cowboys
Galore</b></span> </i></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_R2hwegEdG5uyydGg129t_mhlyRBfAPKNObUqXBCrm0XZ3TnqUwqznC_svnkpPwCOp9k5BgW5PfaAwd1qPNPm4LLKFQlVGgbsUlrX3qu0r4HTi_bqA5-7nCxHahQYOyfQMd4xeeRUYom/s1600/11-BETSY+Route+66+41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_R2hwegEdG5uyydGg129t_mhlyRBfAPKNObUqXBCrm0XZ3TnqUwqznC_svnkpPwCOp9k5BgW5PfaAwd1qPNPm4LLKFQlVGgbsUlrX3qu0r4HTi_bqA5-7nCxHahQYOyfQMd4xeeRUYom/s320/11-BETSY+Route+66+41.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trail of Tears - Cowboy Museum, Oklahoma city</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;">Our westward journey on Route 66 from
Chicago to L.A took us through the heart of cowboy country: - Missouri,
Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. The magnificent Cowboy Museum at Oklahoma City
was both enlightening, and a confirmation that the myths and legends instilled
in us through films by Gene Autrey, Roy Rogers, John Wayne, and Clint Eastwood, continue
to hold a fascination, even today.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 4.8pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #336600; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">W</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">e camped in the barnyard of the
Buckmaster family on one occasion. ‘It is Mr Buckmaster’s bar-night when he
likes to get hicky’, said his lovely wife Colleen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> She also told us of an
English girl who had arrived in search of local Red Indian actor called Marvin
Thunderball. She had seen him in the films ‘<i>Horse Whisperer </i>and ‘<i>Dancing
with wolves’. </i>She had been<i> </i>so
enamoured by him that she had come to the USA, tracked him down, wooed him and
married him. How! Brave! - Life never
fails to amaze us.</span><br />
<b style="color: blue; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">These boots are made for walking</span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpIDfZGpOKrfzUllGA4OINPYsHhtg2EWtePdyTSXfpnVjpkif9ifXW08Xl5c73zi3oPmxwvimMGWlCgOZURTGSLXDdLOZziPbAe1mGO0F2Zyu7iJentFRBvS-UYOsHYkxGFFccqAGPJRjq/s1600/1-James+Owen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpIDfZGpOKrfzUllGA4OINPYsHhtg2EWtePdyTSXfpnVjpkif9ifXW08Xl5c73zi3oPmxwvimMGWlCgOZURTGSLXDdLOZziPbAe1mGO0F2Zyu7iJentFRBvS-UYOsHYkxGFFccqAGPJRjq/s320/1-James+Owen.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James Owen and his famous Cowboy Boots</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #336600; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">I</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">f </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">you need a pair of handsome
handmade cowboy boots, then the place to go is just 60 miles south of the ghost
town of Jericho, to the township of </span><span style="color: #003300; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Clarendon, Texas</span><span style="color: #003300; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">. T</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">here, tucked
away behind the old wooden storefront at the bottom of Main St, you’ll find
master craftsman James Owens, and his assistant Tracy McClensky.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> For a starting price of $600, Jimmy will
take an impression of your feet, and then in 2-3 months produce the ‘finest pair of
boots to be found west of the Mississippi’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> They will mould, stitch, glue and tool almost
anything in leather that a rancher is likely to need, saddles, chaps,
waistcoats, whips, boots, lariats etc. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> ‘Yes sir! It sure is a long time since ah last made an <i>etcetera</i>, but should the call come, you can betcha
Ah’ll be ready</span><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">.'</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Home, Home on the Range</i></b></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making Music at Patricia's home </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #336600; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">T</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">here
is nothing like a bit of ‘good ole Texan Hospitality’, especially if it is
Patricia Gardner that is doing the giving. We stumbled across Patricia halfway
to nowhere along a back road of the Texas </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;">panhandle. She was directing a
pheasant shoot, and explained that the bunch of 15 gung-ho rednecks shooting at
anything that moved were in fact a nice group of Dallas city dudes who were
college friends of her extended family of boys, and ‘Oh! By the way we are
having a BBQ and making music back at the ranch tonight. Would you care to tag
along and join us?’</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Her husband’s grandfather originally
settled the area of <span style="color: #003300; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Vigo
Park<b> </b></span>and built the ranch house in which we helped eat a mountain
of BBQ rabbit, pheasant, beef, home-baked bread, beans, and fruit pie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> It was an evening of unabashed western
songs, poetry and music from seven guitars and a host of harmonicas - a standing
testimony to ‘good ol’ Texan hospitality’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Keep them Doggies Rolling</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsA8z85h5N-0zArZSTNrhbmddmahjQehmln76R6deFeljnC_LlRkmZ6sElCuXTSODkdYUO8gac1oCpcOhTTcy6JJBWD7tSwK2IxHHov5NVVnIO-TUkD6Be9fBiWyLc9EePZhMdwSSH0i7k/s1600/07-Screen+Shot+2013-11-10+at+18.00.02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsA8z85h5N-0zArZSTNrhbmddmahjQehmln76R6deFeljnC_LlRkmZ6sElCuXTSODkdYUO8gac1oCpcOhTTcy6JJBWD7tSwK2IxHHov5NVVnIO-TUkD6Be9fBiWyLc9EePZhMdwSSH0i7k/s320/07-Screen+Shot+2013-11-10+at+18.00.02.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Time for a bit of '<i>Neighbouring'</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="color: #336600; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> A</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">
cloud of dust, far off on the deserted grasslands of northern Texas, indicated
to us that some cattle were being worked. So, we broke free from Route 66, and
diverted south along a cattle trail, which eventually led us to three cowboys
on horseback.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> They told us they were ranchers living
18 miles from each other and were doing a spot of ‘neighbouring’. They had
brought their horses along in trailers, and were helping to round up calves into
a stock-pen ready for trucking to an auction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Moon Ranch</i></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.75pt;">
<span style="color: #336600; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> T</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">he treeless New Mexico plain looked ominous, snow was
predicted, the last of the December sun dipped below the horizon. We needed to
find somewhere safe to shelter for the night.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> The only sign of habitation was
the faint twinkle of a lonesome barnyard light, two miles to the east. Betsy
instinctively turned onto a dusty track leading to <span style="color: #003300; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Moon Ranch.</span> The rancher gave us permission to
camp amongst a few cypress trees a mile behind the homestead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.75pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgASyvH939tDC8tzuWOXWMJE2Mon5ap2u4KEatuy3i4wkcis7qkaed4tku5TCz2NmVwZLKYe5jeKS0nJDoAybxj4Qt34oovKjUZhY-AgdsV7XT3gAe_UaPcvdgKaWAD1FrWF0Iuj6xHlixc/s1600/14-05-66+on+road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgASyvH939tDC8tzuWOXWMJE2Mon5ap2u4KEatuy3i4wkcis7qkaed4tku5TCz2NmVwZLKYe5jeKS0nJDoAybxj4Qt34oovKjUZhY-AgdsV7XT3gAe_UaPcvdgKaWAD1FrWF0Iuj6xHlixc/s320/14-05-66+on+road.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Go West' young man</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Sure enough, during the night it
snowed. We froze, and next morning, <i>Betsy</i> refused to start. But, the cavalry
arrived at noon in the form of cowboy ranch-boss, Robert, and his wife Marcella,
whose help and good humour gave us a welcome start to the day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3 style="margin-bottom: 2.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><i>Trivia</i></span><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #336600; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">W</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">e
frequently pick up pieces of never-to-be-used information. For example, did you
know that ranchers often protect their sheep from coyotes by mixing a few
Llamas with their flock? Or, that the old Sears Roebuck Brassiere factory at <span style="color: #333300; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Mclean, Texas,<b> </b></span>is
now the Devils Rope Museum of Barbed Wire? Not a lot of people know that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>Ain’t it the Truth</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdOju-7CLCRkA2IVbNAHyITJBpeS4O56IbycacI7XKpQ0vgqxpAaoEjjLXtZZdJSXgbm2yrCU0eVu0uKWBZykfMYNxVrdU9JmZXP80_yQ2Gbg4bu90KVe7kC8D7iUGXVPAIhOY7F9v5_h/s1600/05-Screen+Shot+2013-11-10+at+17.55.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUdOju-7CLCRkA2IVbNAHyITJBpeS4O56IbycacI7XKpQ0vgqxpAaoEjjLXtZZdJSXgbm2yrCU0eVu0uKWBZykfMYNxVrdU9JmZXP80_yQ2Gbg4bu90KVe7kC8D7iUGXVPAIhOY7F9v5_h/s320/05-Screen+Shot+2013-11-10+at+17.55.33.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adobe buildings in Santa Fe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> The
origins of Santé Fe, New Mexico, lay with the Pueblo Indians in AD 1050, but
blossomed when the Spanish came in 1598. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> We found it </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">blanketed with snow the day we
arrived. Its reputation as a centre of artistic excellence was well deserved, and its sophisticated elegance captivated
us entirely – a worthwhile 300-mile detour from Route 66.<span style="color: green; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> We were
bewildered and in wonderment with the deserts and canyons of Arizona: bewildered
when we came upon a huge paper mill in a treeless desert, where pre-chipped
wood was shipped in by railcars from 100s of miles away. In another desert, we
saw a ‘snowman’ built from tumble weed complete with a warm scarf, and in yet
another, we came across hundreds of large petrified tree trunks in the sand. At a
nearby diner, without a tree in sight, we met a travelling salesman selling
hickory axe handles… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-zFj434gwSJ5scH1m1Q9eGvw7xzgbQpEd8rf_MAXrxJW0I4TSFBDhkLjsQpeYllCBE_Fv3FsirPdOLxMUH2wr5UXvyPAntWkA5SGAgxg3BzVM1o9U8M8KQydyl7pA_yvZ3dZjdUQt4X2/s1600/02-Screen+Shot+2013-11-10+at+17.48.43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-zFj434gwSJ5scH1m1Q9eGvw7xzgbQpEd8rf_MAXrxJW0I4TSFBDhkLjsQpeYllCBE_Fv3FsirPdOLxMUH2wr5UXvyPAntWkA5SGAgxg3BzVM1o9U8M8KQydyl7pA_yvZ3dZjdUQt4X2/s320/02-Screen+Shot+2013-11-10+at+17.48.43.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> We were in wonderment at a huge meteorite crater, where from its rim we could see 110
miles to the snow capped San Francisco Peaks: but most mind blowing of all, was
the Grand Canyon, where sixteen feet of snow can fall on the rim, yet just a quarter
of a mile away and at the bottom of the mile deep canyon, it hasn’t rained in years.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><i>Sunset in Santa Monica</i></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Our journey of
nostalgia was almost at an end. we had managed to stretch a two-week tour into
a leisurely two-month journey of discovery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.75pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> We finally dropped
down from the San Bernardino Mountains
into California and made our way to Santa Monica Beach, just in time to watch the
sun as it set in a kaleidoscope of colours over the Pacific Ocean. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.75pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Tgwb2YP5AOBzQ0a7BwxihPlcuePrTa1bVbzqyWmpLo-lZU73kLqJoMW1wFk9yIa69WZbfrJebmbuq0a7MHMMQGa8x_33cchpKjBjHRDawY_kPdfnyIIwAbQmxEohTl_YLsN7QdNXG7zH/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-11-10+at+18.18.57.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Tgwb2YP5AOBzQ0a7BwxihPlcuePrTa1bVbzqyWmpLo-lZU73kLqJoMW1wFk9yIa69WZbfrJebmbuq0a7MHMMQGa8x_33cchpKjBjHRDawY_kPdfnyIIwAbQmxEohTl_YLsN7QdNXG7zH/s200/Screen+Shot+2013-11-10+at+18.18.57.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But the beginning of a new life for many who followed Rte 66</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Take the time - make the journey – ‘Get your kicks on Route 66’.<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.75pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html">Go to the <b><i>i-story library</i></b> for more stories</a></span></div>
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romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-84962654206716519722013-10-30T19:41:00.000+00:002018-09-07T16:02:57.885+00:00Get your kicks on Route 66 - story 28<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<h2>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Time to go</span><o:p></o:p></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> A cold </span><span style="color: #003300; font-size: 14pt;">Chicago</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> wind whipped off
</span><span style="color: #003300; font-size: 14pt;">Lake Michigan. It</span><span style="font-size: medium;">
reminded us that winter was around the corner. We should be on our way. We
eased Betsy, our beloved </span><span style="font-size: 19px;">camper van,</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> into the stream of traffic and headed down
the canyon of skyscrapers toward the setting sun. We were a couple of highway
hobos about to </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">‘get our kicks on Route
66’</span><span style="font-size: medium;">. </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3EjObAdmEhOfGaWh6KSsh_v08a6MxJbeuKBHXteSEptvImrlq5W8_y3fv-FdGuz5qKsOBnVH6kS0A0PmxxmC-URH7PQCAtTLP0z72g-jzowGjr_hQNww2bygIAFBKeaxg9b5MIagKBQfn/s1600/1-6622416443_b63cc75f18_z-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18.66666603088379px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3EjObAdmEhOfGaWh6KSsh_v08a6MxJbeuKBHXteSEptvImrlq5W8_y3fv-FdGuz5qKsOBnVH6kS0A0PmxxmC-URH7PQCAtTLP0z72g-jzowGjr_hQNww2bygIAFBKeaxg9b5MIagKBQfn/s320/1-6622416443_b63cc75f18_z-1.jpg" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jackson Blvd and Michigan Avenue </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We had a two-month journey of
almost 2,500 miles ahead of us, It would take us along a collection of roads
and tracks, connected together in 1926 to form Route 66, from <a href="http://www.theroadwanderer.net/66Illinois/chicago.htm">Chicago to Santa Monica California</a> - but which much has long since been abandoned in favour of
modern interstate highways. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We were anxious to </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">discover how much of it still
existed. Would the diners, motels, gas stations, and nostalgia of the 1940s and
50s still be there?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We left the suburban maze of <span style="color: #003300; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Chicago</span><span style="color: #003300;"> behind us, and found the original two-lane byway that </span>wended its way across 300
miles of black, fertile plains, through small farming and mining townships, each
with a tale to tell. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Small-town America</span><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> At the hamlet of <span style="color: #003300; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Odell,</span><span style="color: #003366; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"> </span>we camped alongside an
original <i>Standard Oil Gas Station,</i>
being renovated by John Weiss and some of his fifty volunteers who raise funds
for the continuance of Route 66.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUjzqY_hCGZ7c4p20YUCgm0YR9yUaWD9MSU_mVqOSFSQEBW4o3azO0IGlufTL0E-ARShrfYLPK6qySrLreBP6OSlnsTrWFUd8Og8_V1rkMmcOsfj2RUvcN0ZVDlnN01SEfTM13eLyXcZV_/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-14+at+19.09.37.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUjzqY_hCGZ7c4p20YUCgm0YR9yUaWD9MSU_mVqOSFSQEBW4o3azO0IGlufTL0E-ARShrfYLPK6qySrLreBP6OSlnsTrWFUd8Og8_V1rkMmcOsfj2RUvcN0ZVDlnN01SEfTM13eLyXcZV_/s320/Screen+Shot+2014-01-14+at+19.09.37.png" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ5QjY5vn6GjpImwesACHDl3j4P8D_OMxz0rkmPfte2lfdI_jRjHCbst59G24rg21ERabRMTYMagCd2nUblPCjYVfaiKWEGWFMy9qG8SAHwmrNERPGcpkCnWGEBE6pe0-ZlbHiRnDo78iH/s1600/02-BETSY+Route+66+46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ5QjY5vn6GjpImwesACHDl3j4P8D_OMxz0rkmPfte2lfdI_jRjHCbst59G24rg21ERabRMTYMagCd2nUblPCjYVfaiKWEGWFMy9qG8SAHwmrNERPGcpkCnWGEBE6pe0-ZlbHiRnDo78iH/s320/02-BETSY+Route+66+46.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Betsy camped alongside restored <i>Standard Oil Gas Station</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"> At </span><span style="color: #003300; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;">Pontiac</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;">, the original ‘Old </span><i style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://exploringroute66.com/Illinois/index.html">Log Cabin Diner</a>’</i><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"> faced the wrong way when Rte 66 was realigned, so
they simply jacked it up, and spun it around.
It was here, just along the road from the ageing but grand Italianate
Courthouse, that we discovered the pleasures of eating </span><i style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">Dad’s Frozen Custard.</i><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"> Pontiac also has the largest collection of original
1920s houses purchased through the </span><i style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">Sears
Postal Catalogue.</i><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: medium;"> These fine homes continue to be lived in, even today. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_5SvCkCBF16ckdcf8cnehmG9_0gHogqrsOwG354CAHKVFSEz1VUnuCNSiReV0u6FKuSPVAc28CvqRhxLvTJRrDDjDHtRN8FR2kNn6G6XlfMcTroLcND2vglAUd8NvESNa57G0dRQ2S29x/s1600/08-OLD+RT66.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Just south of <span style="color: #003300; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Normal,</span> there are two hamlets: <span style="color: #003300; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Shirley </span>and <o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: #003300; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">McLean.</span><span style="color: #003366; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">the latter is where the <a href="https://www.illinoisroute66.org/What-to-See/Details/ArticleID/3926/Dixie-Truck-Stop" target="_blank">‘</a></span><i style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><a href="https://www.illinoisroute66.org/What-to-See/Details/ArticleID/3926/Dixie-Truck-Stop" target="_blank">Dixie Trucker' Cafe</a></i><i style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </i><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">has fed travellers since
1928. We also called into the town of </span><span style="color: #003300; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">Lincoln, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">named after Abraham Lincoln, and christened by him </span><i style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">before</i><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">
he became President.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcsYDqmNanTPCoplmRKiDOI2ObVOMKtowRICDavb_jH0naKjraT9-gjAhQ8t3z5944a9ghFEJN1I6LXKZ_6ntMGFKI9EqD0P1rHiASGWcwTqFt6Fn-iDneS-WM99rAs6E5eDNpEMfAvlIB/s1600/07-Dixie+sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18.66666603088379px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcsYDqmNanTPCoplmRKiDOI2ObVOMKtowRICDavb_jH0naKjraT9-gjAhQ8t3z5944a9ghFEJN1I6LXKZ_6ntMGFKI9EqD0P1rHiASGWcwTqFt6Fn-iDneS-WM99rAs6E5eDNpEMfAvlIB/s200/07-Dixie+sign.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The <i>Dixie Truckers Cafe </i>at McClean</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> At the small picturesque town of <span style="color: #003300; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlinville,_Illinois" target="_blank">Carlinville,</a></span> we found
excellent examples of red brick paved roads and streets. This tiny town also
boasts the largest courthouse in the USA. it start out as a $50,000 project in
the late 1800s and ended up, 10 years later, having cost $1 million - only in
America.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;"><b>The Background</b></span><span style="color: #3366ff; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In the 1930s, Route 66</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> became a highway of dreams for
those escaping the dust bowl of the mid-west. Their story was immortalised by
John Steinbeck in his novel ‘<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grapes_of_Wrath">Grapes of Wrath</a>’. Others followed in the
1940s, fleeing from the Rust Belt of the
north-east to the Sun Belt of California. The road is often referred to as ‘Main Street USA’ or ‘The Mother Road’<i>.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit8lMp9PHST7E9RanZ9_Ad6MnRKNTJmIS1I-JpGqav7doZasW1_yeijYcpP7Uc3bgJfUNNMyaFregYhfcfXZXchmM5Yr80tKw4HhpRwFc5cuWI9OaOAC7fpQlmcQFz-zlujg1YqhxTEHg8/s1600/06-BRICKROAD1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit8lMp9PHST7E9RanZ9_Ad6MnRKNTJmIS1I-JpGqav7doZasW1_yeijYcpP7Uc3bgJfUNNMyaFregYhfcfXZXchmM5Yr80tKw4HhpRwFc5cuWI9OaOAC7fpQlmcQFz-zlujg1YqhxTEHg8/s320/06-BRICKROAD1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A brick-paved road</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It owes much of its mystique
and romance to Jazz musician, <b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLUYf6cekMA" target="_blank">Bobby Troup</a>,</b> who in 1943 penned the song, ‘<i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Route_66_(song)">Get your Kicks on Route 66</a>’</i> - since
recorded by 100s of artists, from Nat King Cole to The Rolling Stones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Email Tales</span><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #003300; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We stopped</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">
at the library in the small township of <span style="color: #003300; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Verdon,</span> to collect our emails, and were pleasantly surprised to
find a Christmas tree being decorated next to a roaring fire in the reading
room. a large tin of home-made cookies and a crock-pot of hot cider and
cinnamon was set up for anyone to help themselves. What a civilised gesture!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> At yet another
library, I sat at the computer collecting our emails, whilst the librarian
chatted to Jean. She related how a returned book had been chewed up by a dog,
that another dog had recently grabbed the throat of Mrs. So-&-so’s lover
and killed him, and how does your Queen and her lovely husband ‘Prince Charles'
rule England?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> As I half listened, a middle-aged woman
sitting at the next computer said to me in a quiet, timid voice, 'I have a
lovely snouser: would you like to see it?' I was so flummoxed, all I could
manage to say was, 'I would love to, but I’m a married man.' Only later did I
realize she had said “Schnauzer”. Being an innocent abroad has its moments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3 style="margin-bottom: 2.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Missouri and Beyond</span><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: #003300; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">B</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">efore facing the undulating
landscape of <span style="color: #003300; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Missouri</span>,
we drove through the depressing squalor of <span style="color: #003300; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">St Louis</span>’ northern suburbs. It was in stark
contrast to its remarkable ‘Gateway’ and charming downtown area. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> In
most small towns along Rte 66, we found that the local Funeral Home and the
Courthouse usually competed for pride of place and attention. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUu33OYMB1TQamjZnnuk7adrgqQy6dM__2hMkLjosHbQnrMeIUXgpiSch6zDr9qctGQp5C7_Qe-vXGnzJwT0B1JF76tEm7-qnTpP8I1EeUo3iBmwG0Z03TmTm98kXh_kIuvsD_DDnZAZ7N/s1600/04-Screen+Shot+2012-07-16+at+18.46.24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18.66666603088379px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center; text-indent: 48px;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUu33OYMB1TQamjZnnuk7adrgqQy6dM__2hMkLjosHbQnrMeIUXgpiSch6zDr9qctGQp5C7_Qe-vXGnzJwT0B1JF76tEm7-qnTpP8I1EeUo3iBmwG0Z03TmTm98kXh_kIuvsD_DDnZAZ7N/s320/04-Screen+Shot+2012-07-16+at+18.46.24.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Part of the romance of these towns is the
lonesome sound of a night train’s whistle going <i>‘Awhooo-Awhooooo’</i> as it trundles slowly along the unfenced tracks
of Main Street. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 2.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> During the
1970s, the thunder of interstate highways caused the demise of not only Route
66 but also many of the small towns that were bypassed. There is, however, still
an abundance of 1930s architecture and 1950s neon signs on motels, diners, and
drive-in cinemas to keep most enthusiasts and photographers captivated, but for
how much longer, is anybody’s guess.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">Howdy Folks</span><o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #336600; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> <span style="color: #003300; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Oklahoma</span> is much more
than images of Indian tears, wagon trains, land-rushes, dust bowl poverty and
the McVeigh bombing; it’s about being the friendliest State in the Union. Nowhere else did we find so many people wanting to help, be friendly or just
chat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> At <span style="color: #003300; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Chandler,</span> we paused to
watch a Christmas street parade. It was led by an all black school band, which
suddenly stopped in front of us and boogied to their own jazzed-up version of
Silent Night. A local 'Miss Pageant' swept by, and ageing Hells Angels in smart
leathers roared back and forth on gleaming Harley Davidsons, throwing handfuls of
candies to the crowds. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Standing next to us, was a young mother with six young
children. She struck up a conversation with Jean, and then said, ‘Ma’am, would you
care to kindly come home and share lunch with us?' We hesitated for all of one second and
said, ‘Sure, providing we can supply the
apple pie for dessert’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Her
home was a beautifully kept trailer parked in the woods 3 miles from town, she
and her husband ‘home taught’ the six best-behaved and delightfully polite
children imaginable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4YBuJoqA1uCPqMxH4vumeT1XNPBrCdyvbp6WJ7BWMFeQCxM1OWZeTS73KoJvwCsqIeR51XZTmXAGpbYjbDvOSoqBkhvpB7AGGaQO_PX8EYo_t6J0xGwhdWF4t74rpUWWWC3z0fCDS-9t3/s1600/01-BETSY+Route+66+42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18.66666603088379px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 48px;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4YBuJoqA1uCPqMxH4vumeT1XNPBrCdyvbp6WJ7BWMFeQCxM1OWZeTS73KoJvwCsqIeR51XZTmXAGpbYjbDvOSoqBkhvpB7AGGaQO_PX8EYo_t6J0xGwhdWF4t74rpUWWWC3z0fCDS-9t3/s320/01-BETSY+Route+66+42.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Midpoint Cafe for great food</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;"> They say that no matter where you go, you are
never more than halfway from home. At <span style="color: #003300; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Adrian.</span> (pop; 68 and 3 dogs!) we met the lovely Fran Houser who kept
the <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midpoint_Caf%C3%A9">Midpoint Café</a>,</i> which on the evening we arrived, was closed for
a private party ‘No problem!’ she said. ‘Y’all come in
and meet the folks.'<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">We were half way along Route 66 and had not been
disappointed. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The route is experiencing a well deserved
renaissance, and it retains a mystique that continues to captivated people
around the world. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 18.66666603088379px; text-indent: 0.5in;">More of this journey in the next Blog... </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><i>Written by Roy Romsey</i></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 20px;"><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html">Visit the itravelstories library for more travel tales</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "georgia" , "utopia" , "palatino linotype" , "palatino" , serif; font-size: 20px;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-73283129519626491782013-10-20T23:00:00.001+00:002014-01-16T18:28:42.667+00:00A taste of India - 27<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>The wonder of India </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">The world famous </span></span><i style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;">Lake Palace h</i><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;">otel</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> at Udaipur, India, sat like a beautiful white marble
wedding cake, perfectly mirrored in the still, quiet waters of Lake Pichola, For
two nights we had wallowed in </span><span style="font-size: 21.33333396911621px;">Mogul</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> opulence, enjoying its faultless service,
but it was now time to return to the reality of India and all that it had to
offer.</span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNSfhfhB_aRl-bUyv0Kwd26IdkUMXWqjl0jCpgtse8ogigFB7eB2Jew2Nm65_xszsJBX2euvg7AVZ3amlG9spKR0fLEXs6WgP8tphEoTkLl_RWcp9whnhcyDr85iHStLZVsniEYGUiS8QC/s1600/Lake+Palace+Hotel+4+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNSfhfhB_aRl-bUyv0Kwd26IdkUMXWqjl0jCpgtse8ogigFB7eB2Jew2Nm65_xszsJBX2euvg7AVZ3amlG9spKR0fLEXs6WgP8tphEoTkLl_RWcp9whnhcyDr85iHStLZVsniEYGUiS8QC/s320/Lake+Palace+Hotel+4+.png" height="160" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The splendour of Lake Palace Hotel, Udaipur.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt; tab-stops: 4.75in 477.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> A smoke and grit laden steam train swayed and
trundled its way slowly north, taking us to the bustling city of Jaipur, famous
for being India’s first planned city, for its </span><span style="background: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">astronomical
observatories, and for its nearby Amer Fort.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt; tab-stops: 4.75in 477.0pt;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> The old city is, by
law, painted pink as a sign of welcome and hospitality. At sunset, it glows
with the intensity of fire. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt; tab-stops: 4.75in 477.0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj1Ib8_fRVR2btecS7d2ZN9VBJa78c0NF5kR7Ky-5ch0DzUj1ymjUiK4nGyiYNYj2KPs0Dju3xA_aoMPWoNPJUDB8Y5f4JAyvtzWC_0He0M1swt20UumGno_TB2SZjMpolSVcjKQKgmsEC/s1600/10-Trav+8903+India+Taj+(23).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj1Ib8_fRVR2btecS7d2ZN9VBJa78c0NF5kR7Ky-5ch0DzUj1ymjUiK4nGyiYNYj2KPs0Dju3xA_aoMPWoNPJUDB8Y5f4JAyvtzWC_0He0M1swt20UumGno_TB2SZjMpolSVcjKQKgmsEC/s200/10-Trav+8903+India+Taj+(23).jpg" height="200" width="173" /></a><span style="background: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">This wonderful city of
sights, sounds, and smells leaves you with enough impressions to last a lifetime.
There are sufficient forts, palaces, and places of historical, cultural, and
religious significance to keep a visitor enthralled for weeks.</span><span style="background: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>Sights, Sounds and Smells</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> But, it is Jaipur’s street scenes that most remain in the memory. They are a
constant kaleidoscope of people, animals, vehicles, and activities unusual to
the western eye. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> Thousands of three-wheeled
auto-rickshaws, ancient charabancs and Morris taxicabs fight noisily for space
on the roads and streets, each spewing forth clouds of black diesel fumes that
stir the dust filled air.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQwqzEXcsmkIOiX3Fzsy8vvFQIe3zJcAoqSYfzttdgGzpNy4CUK07ZmS73vJRGqbE9c0lRi0yBd-rUGE64DU1vr0gfaUme7pc8_mckItaYvtdghvMV0gkDdeNC844u1rnhoURrgrTYK53x/s1600/09-Trav+8903+India+Taj+(19).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQwqzEXcsmkIOiX3Fzsy8vvFQIe3zJcAoqSYfzttdgGzpNy4CUK07ZmS73vJRGqbE9c0lRi0yBd-rUGE64DU1vr0gfaUme7pc8_mckItaYvtdghvMV0gkDdeNC844u1rnhoURrgrTYK53x/s320/09-Trav+8903+India+Taj+(19).jpg" height="220" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Horse-tongas, camels carts and cycle chaos.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> They compete with bicycles and
horse-drawn Tonga’s: with donkeys laden with panniers of sand or grain, with bullock
carts full of clay bricks or bales of cotton, and with trains of mules whose backs
are burdened with bundles of carpets or farm produce. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> Coolies fight their way along
the thoroughfares, straining and sweating in the dust and heat, pulling and
pushing their huge hand-carts from one trader’s godown to another; each laden
with as much as two ton of goods.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> Amidst all this chaos, and
completely unruffled, are oxen and camels that saunter along pulling overloaded
wagons, while ponies and elephants lead wedding or funeral processions,
followed by noisy discordant bands of musicians.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>Bizarre bazaars </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGIeZ63FOP6QugdHOEyK9lEfrZoO7nWXUt9HgCVJ7ipQtyIZHrai5iLXBppA_izVCPmeYJCwDVsbN_otq24dTGPP90DSKyQnOidjc_Sdd8CXrys98Le3LTOdM-PYccvJ-gIBivw-_kBLx-/s1600/2-Global+Lab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGIeZ63FOP6QugdHOEyK9lEfrZoO7nWXUt9HgCVJ7ipQtyIZHrai5iLXBppA_izVCPmeYJCwDVsbN_otq24dTGPP90DSKyQnOidjc_Sdd8CXrys98Le3LTOdM-PYccvJ-gIBivw-_kBLx-/s320/2-Global+Lab.jpg" height="248" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It is worse during rush hour - by<i> Global-lab</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> The
unpaved 'pavements' are awash with humanity; people are dressed in colourful garments and
costumes, each trading, bartering, and haggling over every basic commodity
imaginable, from spices to saris, paper to Primus stoves, pens to hookah pipes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> Shops are often nothing more
than an open-fronted area in front of a wall; goods compete for space and
attention by spilling out onto the sidewalks. Fruit and vegetables, which are piled
high on flat round wicker baskets, share space along the edge of the road with
snake charmers, betel nut sellers, letter writers, aphrodisiac </span><span style="font-size: 21.33333396911621px;">pedlars</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> cobblers, and ear cleaners. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYe62exQlBf44bozzF3w1T4CGSQcMTN2zBy0J6ht7rkBG9AFv0ja7Rwc02zQgc7wP4Km_kEFZrU-FDgkAZ7iilWY3UR2Ny8Ouyvm61i6w8Ye4cmY-e27Sh7dSd6Ms_0IGR59E-ofddWXdd/s1600/Robert+barnhill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYe62exQlBf44bozzF3w1T4CGSQcMTN2zBy0J6ht7rkBG9AFv0ja7Rwc02zQgc7wP4Km_kEFZrU-FDgkAZ7iilWY3UR2Ny8Ouyvm61i6w8Ye4cmY-e27Sh7dSd6Ms_0IGR59E-ofddWXdd/s320/Robert+barnhill.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fruit and vegetable sellers - by <i>Robert Barnhill</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> Goats tethered to butchers
slabs, bleat as they wait to be slaughtered as fresh meat. Buffalo stand patiently
to be milked. Monkeys scamper at random. Cats, dogs, chicken, ducks, geese, and
goats are everywhere, as are Holy Cows standing and sleeping wherever it is
most hindrance for people and traffic. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>Foul Deeds</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> The
air is heavy with heat and humidity, and thick with dust and fumes. Dirt, poverty, and squalor abound. People and
animals defecated in the streets - it all becomes part of mankind’s daily
rubbish that is pushed into the side streets at the end of each day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB6qRSotNt2n-qzjC5fHcBvhmyhXVmlJtWMMxIcfBYULu8Td5klQzAcNLwHg170TG5kKFtk9UzhTxJa_aHoBFu_DELRpt4lUYtLeFxeWnl15zihXCT6W4Z6298C8unBciSdsednDK4CkTh/s1600/02-Trav+7701+India+(13).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB6qRSotNt2n-qzjC5fHcBvhmyhXVmlJtWMMxIcfBYULu8Td5klQzAcNLwHg170TG5kKFtk9UzhTxJa_aHoBFu_DELRpt4lUYtLeFxeWnl15zihXCT6W4Z6298C8unBciSdsednDK4CkTh/s320/02-Trav+7701+India+(13).JPG" height="214" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> Certain
designated castes make their meagre living as rubbish sorters; each specialise
in collecting string, paper, plastics, metal, bags, and ashes. What is left at the
end of each day is picked over by Holy Cows, chicken and other animals. There
is little left for the city's refuse lorries to collect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> Being
a traveller in developing countries often requires one to forget - or at
least to put aside - ones previous values, and to travel with a clear mind and a blank
piece of paper, accepting everything for what it is. Travellers can seldom be
more than casual transient observers, who must suppress their own values and try
not to see things in comparative terms.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>Pause for Thought</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoM5d7npgNOqfNUyTaAlHw33m0XiKlLUDQfqSTpfUUTK15S45-LYmy6Lc60EnMZHmNSdDv0Fz15LA-HC8CTp27KT0sttrZWKyODjGSypKEj229f5WpJhvbUVXvuiIqmPwSZPKZL3a4oDQS/s1600/06-Trav+7701+India+(8).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoM5d7npgNOqfNUyTaAlHw33m0XiKlLUDQfqSTpfUUTK15S45-LYmy6Lc60EnMZHmNSdDv0Fz15LA-HC8CTp27KT0sttrZWKyODjGSypKEj229f5WpJhvbUVXvuiIqmPwSZPKZL3a4oDQS/s320/06-Trav+7701+India+(8).jpg" height="204" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> I have written of the squalor and poverty
seen in Jaipur, but I could have written similarly of New York or London. Was
it not just yesterday that the British lived with lino floors, mice, rag mats,
tin baths, coal-grates, and clothes-mangles? Or, the day before that, did we not
have unmade streets, horse and carts, spittoons, rag pickers, board beds,
outside dunnies, open drains, work houses…?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> Too often we compare our current western point
of historical development with that of another country, cultures are seldom in
step with each other; it is because of this that travel is so interesting and
worthwhile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> Our four-month Indian sojourn gradually toughened
our soft western immune systems to the vagaries of local bugs and strange
foods! Our hyper-tense and fast lane disposition slowed to a laid-back dawdle. We adjusted to the heat, humidity and dust; haggling became almost a way of life.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>The Black Hole</b></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All aboard the India school bus</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> Our arrival in Calcutta coincided with friends
passing through from their month-long trek in the Himalayas. They had just
enough time to pause and use us as tourist guides around the city. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> We took them to the Victoria Monument,
built in 1911 to commemorate Queen Vic's Jubilee and which ironically marked
the beginning of the end for British rule. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 4.5pt; margin-right: 3.1pt; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> We visited ‘Rat Corner’ near Lenin's Statue in the centre of Calcutta, - where
they spent 5 minutes, watching </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;">incredulously as hundreds of rats scampered in and
out of their burrows, chasing, fornicating, and somersaulting before the bemused
crowds, who foolishly fed the rodents with tidbits rather than rat poison.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSfNJroEbyvRx90ujxRjp56VVdDda1YeMkcXEHYY9bb7NJP52b3tqxG5CmOLUsdZT_b8ZjfCgxRcZc-Vx7eWtnHX_XojYWjqUgXkjbN0hRpHfX2Gq3wc6d-3wL7Uz5yb-jxrFbYvT-_Sb/s1600/03-securedownload.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQSfNJroEbyvRx90ujxRjp56VVdDda1YeMkcXEHYY9bb7NJP52b3tqxG5CmOLUsdZT_b8ZjfCgxRcZc-Vx7eWtnHX_XojYWjqUgXkjbN0hRpHfX2Gq3wc6d-3wL7Uz5yb-jxrFbYvT-_Sb/s200/03-securedownload.jpg" height="200" width="193" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiffin time at Rat Corner</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> We clambered aboard a slow, noisy tram that
screeched and shuddered its way across the </span><span style="font-size: 21.33333396911621px;">Hooghly</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> River by way of </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;">Howrah Bridge. Like a time
machine, it transported us back to the ancient market area of </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrabazar">Burrabazaar</a> -</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;"> a major wholesale trading
zone for the city and indeed the whole of Bengal and Eastern India. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>Centre of Commerce</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> We arrived at dusk and found the enormous market area of streets, lane, alleys, and passageways, alive with activity. Trade was being
conducted in every conceivable </span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 4.5pt; margin-right: 3.1pt; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";">commodity: nuts, oil, grain, tin, copra, jute
bags, seeds, rice, coal, brushes, pans, candles, engines, fabrics, labour, and a
thousand other things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 4.5pt; margin-right: 3.1pt; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> Traders were striking deals and showing
samples in the light of candles, oil lamps, or tilley lamps. Gold, silver and
jewel merchants ,sat cross-</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;">legged with their scales and safes inside huge iron grilled cages
for security.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4YnazmZ8_YqbSJ20dlSU5S6B2oz5XQ9mjIlUEZ23hRz8pRtny2C9fanQ5W8v1LL5ZLsjaIOmDimthmb1lTPEW5_ZN6jHsBgkPrfZhiNsmvSo2EtNgtIrgayxQLlDU8iDceUANsOk5Oq46/s1600/05-India+St+Scene.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4YnazmZ8_YqbSJ20dlSU5S6B2oz5XQ9mjIlUEZ23hRz8pRtny2C9fanQ5W8v1LL5ZLsjaIOmDimthmb1lTPEW5_ZN6jHsBgkPrfZhiNsmvSo2EtNgtIrgayxQLlDU8iDceUANsOk5Oq46/s320/05-India+St+Scene.jpg" height="208" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.666666984558105px; text-align: center;">Busy street scene in Calcutta</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> All the while, glistening bodies of hundreds of
sweating coolies rushed back and forth from one warehouse to another, transporting bales of goods on their heads, or on large handcarts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> The future markets of London seemed tame
and unreal compared with the real market place here. We came away reeling from the experience.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>A Retreat</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> I
sought relief on the cool veranda of my wife’s family home in Calcutta: a large
200-year-old ex-colonial house with high ceilings and cool airy rooms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> The slow monotonous <i>thump, thump, thump </i>of an overhead fan barely stirred the air as I sipped cool fresh
coconut juice. A blind eyeless cat was curled contentedly at my feet, and nearby, slept a balding mangy dog that twitched in its sleep, its tail being nibbled by
a pet tortoise. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> In the garden, I saw local children trying
to scrump fruit from a Guavas tree, and a monkey running along the top of wall. As
for me, I felt a little like the cat at my feet - too comfortable to let
anything bother me. All was well with the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> Travel is an unending journey of surprises
that require an occasional haven such as this to catch one’s breath.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="margin-right: 3.1pt; tab-stops: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Written by Roy Romsey</span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
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romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-11404578457234117912013-10-10T14:56:00.000+00:002014-01-16T18:37:04.992+00:00Hill Tribes of Thailand - 26<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="RoysFirstPara">
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: x-large;"><b>A Cat's quest of curiosity</b></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">Not only have I a liking for cats but I also share
their same sense of curiosity. I guess it’s my inquisitive nature that has
often landed me in interesting situations and caused me to meet so many
fascinating people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9_iUjIRY3cXicJTJDXOBy3XngTaxD7tABgdzxKS9vCYTQqvU7g-zddsk5wFGyYDd9hiWF-LxkjSvG_EUN8RVVr_q07FFNiVsuvDPid33h2NKfQevAq2bTtVyRU9hzAYZCum4oTX6_nzGS/s1600/06-04-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(28).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9_iUjIRY3cXicJTJDXOBy3XngTaxD7tABgdzxKS9vCYTQqvU7g-zddsk5wFGyYDd9hiWF-LxkjSvG_EUN8RVVr_q07FFNiVsuvDPid33h2NKfQevAq2bTtVyRU9hzAYZCum4oTX6_nzGS/s320/06-04-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(28).jpg" height="320" width="262" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poling the Pai River</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Fortunately, my wife Jean shares the same traits;
we thrive on change and relish the unusual. It’s for those reasons that we
choose to wander off the beaten track as travellers. In doing so, it often
means travelling with the minimal of baggage, on local transport, eating the
local diet, and sleeping in whatever shelter is available.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> We are often in areas where hotels are seldom found
and have to make do with whatever can be found locally. This varies from
sleeping on floors of village huts to custom-built bamboo chalets, occasionally
rooms are rented in private homes where some of life’s comforts are found.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Food can be equally surprising; we have eaten everything
from boiled chicken heads and snake soup, to roasted armadillo and deep fried
frogs. We try to do so with as much relish as tucking into a sizzling,
home-cooked steak. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Transport can be just as diverse, varying from
luxury coach travel across Patagonia, or standing many hours on rickety, dust
filled buses in Cambodia and the Philippines, to squatting
for hours in open canoes, or clinging on the back of small pick-up trucks. It
is often tiring, but never tiresome.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: white;">In search of Hill Tribes of Thailand</b></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkUwv1FBiea1VrIrQyOKAs_ku3N3HV_CuOwh2aOkruXBe6T8xOOt9dRiIXkImx70WlqH93S_2xkCjmqjrjD44up8VVUrH9tKcyi6Ju3MyT0Wf3alS9Kr8l0bSQZWhV2-csucEFUQVnGHdE/s1600/03-01-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(9).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkUwv1FBiea1VrIrQyOKAs_ku3N3HV_CuOwh2aOkruXBe6T8xOOt9dRiIXkImx70WlqH93S_2xkCjmqjrjD44up8VVUrH9tKcyi6Ju3MyT0Wf3alS9Kr8l0bSQZWhV2-csucEFUQVnGHdE/s400/03-01-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(9).jpg" height="400" width="330" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jean Precariously crosses a raging river</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Throughout the remote hills of south-west China,
Laos, Burma and northern Thailand, there are many almost forgotten tribes of
people, known variously as Lisu, Lahu, Miao, Hmong, Akha, and Karen. They
collectively number several million, each with their own language, customs,
costumes, and culture.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Over the
centuries, t</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">hese sturdy independent souls have </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">been driven south and southwest from Tibet and China by various
warring parties. They are generally referred to as Hill Tribes, or in China, as
Minority Races. They have been displaced so often, they tend not to recognise
international borders or governments.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> We were keen to visit some of these hill tribes,
and therefore enlisted a local guide to take us on a four-day trek from the
village of Pai through the steep surrounding hills in northern Thailand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">We were taken by pick-up
truck and dropped twenty miles from Pai, and then set off on foot along dusty
trails and dry riverbeds, carrying our bedrolls and a week’s supply of
provisions in our backpacks. The sparse vegetation thickened to dense forest
paths, with occasional crossings of shallow rivers and streams, before we climbed up through
hills of bamboo groves.<span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;"><b>Drug Runners</b></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbw6osww2Q6iUlkOh7U8rtoysiHvQ-roP6JY4WNj1q1LJzo0p-6BN68OISFUyZD5ydAVORa8l12tc8R0HvY-QQPxoFpTRPnbHBrg32oAfxhh9gOERCzubUFQ3RPPDzdtyfY4imrt5f4qWl/s1600/04-02-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(31).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbw6osww2Q6iUlkOh7U8rtoysiHvQ-roP6JY4WNj1q1LJzo0p-6BN68OISFUyZD5ydAVORa8l12tc8R0HvY-QQPxoFpTRPnbHBrg32oAfxhh9gOERCzubUFQ3RPPDzdtyfY4imrt5f4qWl/s320/04-02-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(31).jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A tribal convoy taking goods to market</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> At mid-afternoon, we paused on a narrow ledge to
let some intense looking tribesmen pass by. They were carrying homemade
rifles and leading a group of six sturdy packhorses laden down with
well-wrapped bundles, within which was probably contained opium or heroin, sadly,
this is the only cash crop for many of the tribes in this part of the country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> By late afternoon, we came upon a large clearing in
which sat the village of Ban Seng Nam. It was home to the proud and somewhat
aloof Lisu people - easily distinguished by the indigo blue smocks of the women,
and the short baggy blue trousers and puttees worn by the men. We approached
the village across a small stream where women were busy washing clothes by way
of pounding them on large flat stones. They eyed us cautiously. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"><b>The Lisu Tribe</b></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1uCqNRi2DVOhKSc2CIMIPFI30OUCzymASChCs-wzPunnrdSB4rgeBjLhSEmZ1gdQbsj11TpLVFyaH4x_JE7MIggZCuxSAszmRczPQkPECRF5QwqX63oEerP2ShuQZnuS3XUGK2PrvAtR/s1600/08-06-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(17).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1uCqNRi2DVOhKSc2CIMIPFI30OUCzymASChCs-wzPunnrdSB4rgeBjLhSEmZ1gdQbsj11TpLVFyaH4x_JE7MIggZCuxSAszmRczPQkPECRF5QwqX63oEerP2ShuQZnuS3XUGK2PrvAtR/s320/08-06-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(17).jpg" height="252" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Friend or foe!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> As we entered the village, we passed a number of
small bare-footed children dressed in a similar fashion to the adults, each carrying
five-metre long bamboo canes tipped with a sticky substance. They were using
the canes to catch large cicada insects that they found buzzing in the trees
and bushes. Apparently, they bake and eat them, with any surplus being sent to
market for sale. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> The village was a scant, dusty collection of stilt
houses built of split bamboo with palm-thatched roofs. There were a small
number of cattle, lots of yelping, protective dogs, and a few unsmiling people,
who stared suspiciously at us as we passed through.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Although the village showed little sign of outward
wealth, the Lisu tribes are apparently looked up to and respected by other hill
tribes. They are known to employ Karen and Lisu tribes to till the hillsides
for them, to plant poppies for the opium trade, and sweetcorn for cattle
fodder</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;">The Lahu Tribe.</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMruyjX7c_GvCY-3yqvVsE7gy7jQ_sBEwJi3YtwfT39nS_68_1vM9JTCDOcRGY8GI1GpCgbAeBpGh1W8wU700UgmrtnLX0WJ8eipvf1A0gZVBJy6fBLKcj9yDf_WrDPyepGsdeQ9fTLW2/s1600/01-800px-Lahu_girls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvMruyjX7c_GvCY-3yqvVsE7gy7jQ_sBEwJi3YtwfT39nS_68_1vM9JTCDOcRGY8GI1GpCgbAeBpGh1W8wU700UgmrtnLX0WJ8eipvf1A0gZVBJy6fBLKcj9yDf_WrDPyepGsdeQ9fTLW2/s320/01-800px-Lahu_girls.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Our presence seemed intrusive, so we continued on
our way. We climbed up through steep valleys and hills, following vague tracks
past large-leafed teak trees. It was just before nightfall when we arrived at a
village called Ban Lai Kong where our guide negotiated with the Black Lahu
tribal elders, for us to stay at the headman’s hut.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> This village had about twenty houses nestling on
the side of a small-enclosed valley. It was far more organised than the previous Lisu
village; a rustic fencing, to stop pigs and cattle from wandering away or
destroying vegetation, ringed each house.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXWbuZAHdYlEthkiC-PrGWlALElK15QThMkZJiGoyqNk2CkMfTYbvx1HJCJttjd5EZ3T90qv8vNY5sPCjmtLLNm-ZXiAjXsI0w467OPcf-KBE2V337SHFg-SNGG_EI8UrotF9UF1DVD6Ln/s1600/02-Lahu+Village.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXWbuZAHdYlEthkiC-PrGWlALElK15QThMkZJiGoyqNk2CkMfTYbvx1HJCJttjd5EZ3T90qv8vNY5sPCjmtLLNm-ZXiAjXsI0w467OPcf-KBE2V337SHFg-SNGG_EI8UrotF9UF1DVD6Ln/s640/02-Lahu+Village.jpg" height="211" width="640" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> The homes were set atop high
stilts and entered via a sloping, notched climbing pole. Each dwelling comprised
a large single room, in the centre of which was a metre-square, open-hearth fire place set on a bed of earth on top the split bamboo floor; overhead, hung an oily,
smoky, bamboo drying rack, for utensils.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> With the food we had carried with us,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> our guide prepared a meal of chicken, vegetable and noodles. Meanwhile, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Jean and I climbed
down to the river and joined the other villagers who were stripped for a cold
but invigorating bathe. Women collected drinking water in metre-long hollow
bamboo culms, and then carried them in baskets on their backs, supported by
straps around the forehead.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"><b>Village Life</b></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqQ1UXfMSA4iYLZ4-VwQfd7bNicWreRQR6qnHn-iSLtEpTMINTpMXezW-qtzgtNGbioyNjuNC6zDpOO4w5xeyVGKHz9mRBFwlbPq0LyvcNOCoXWPpWQJZM7yBtzq9WdJrGR7Kvf1pp3lcp/s1600/10-08-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(12).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqQ1UXfMSA4iYLZ4-VwQfd7bNicWreRQR6qnHn-iSLtEpTMINTpMXezW-qtzgtNGbioyNjuNC6zDpOO4w5xeyVGKHz9mRBFwlbPq0LyvcNOCoXWPpWQJZM7yBtzq9WdJrGR7Kvf1pp3lcp/s320/10-08-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(12).jpg" height="178" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lahu village</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> The Lahu villagers were curious of us - but in a
polite and friendly way. Many came to sit around the light of the open fire to
watch us eat with our knives and forks, roll out our sleeping bags, rig up our
mosquito net, smear mosquito repellent over our skin, and to view the many
other things which they no doubt thought strange of us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Our Thai guide could speak very little English and
even less Lahu, so communication was reduced to gesticulations and smiles. He
indicated that this village was one of very few Christian communities in the
area. We were shown hymn books printed in a romanised version of the Lahu
language, and produced in Burma.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> We were invited by a group of twenty-four villagers
to hear them sing hymns in a nearby house. The women sang beautifully whilst
their menfolk joined in harmony. It was a delightful concert, during which Jean
and I occasionally kept them company on our harmonicas. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjtfsc0dHZ_s3e3Z06t_-L9XZD_3F0Y-WUqlIreR8SgJICqxDlAsR9rV1DHzWuEbb5InRDekAjNyCa42C2ZH8QncFg6mjnagv49nqqTDe9T6UXMM9_6_Cd7pfXJdbtkvWF9uzyxvWA_bLL/s1600/09-07-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(10).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjtfsc0dHZ_s3e3Z06t_-L9XZD_3F0Y-WUqlIreR8SgJICqxDlAsR9rV1DHzWuEbb5InRDekAjNyCa42C2ZH8QncFg6mjnagv49nqqTDe9T6UXMM9_6_Cd7pfXJdbtkvWF9uzyxvWA_bLL/s400/09-07-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(10).jpg" height="297" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheltering from 'gun fire'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz1uCqNRi2DVOhKSc2CIMIPFI30OUCzymASChCs-wzPunnrdSB4rgeBjLhSEmZ1gdQbsj11TpLVFyaH4x_JE7MIggZCuxSAszmRczPQkPECRF5QwqX63oEerP2ShuQZnuS3XUGK2PrvAtR/s1600/08-06-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(17).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> It was quite a bizarre and surreal situation; the
open log fire crackled inside the tinder-dry thatched house; pigs and buffalo
grunted beneath the split bamboo floor; dogs yelped and howled outside, and all
the while, beautiful melodic sounds of hymnal harmonisation in the Lahu
language wafted in the night air, mixing with the croaks, chirps and other
normal night sounds of the jungle. It was a concert worthy of royal
patronage. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"><b>Snuggle up with pigs</b></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> We slept soundly on the floor of the headman’s home
to a lullaby of grunt, snuffles, and snorts, from the pigs housed beneath us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> The following days were long, exhaustive, slogs
through the hills. We occasionally passed areas that had been cleared and were
being used to grow crops of poppy, women were delicately slitting the seed pods to bleed out the white narcotic sap.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9_iUjIRY3cXicJTJDXOBy3XngTaxD7tABgdzxKS9vCYTQqvU7g-zddsk5wFGyYDd9hiWF-LxkjSvG_EUN8RVVr_q07FFNiVsuvDPid33h2NKfQevAq2bTtVyRU9hzAYZCum4oTX6_nzGS/s1600/06-04-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(28).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> At one point, we came upon a forest fire, and
almost immediately came under what we thought, was an attack from gunfire, but
it turned out to be exploding bamboo culms, overheated from the forest fire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikDrepdRCUhhx6jo-9pgKGT6rYi1ajzUswgrYBceSUVoGCcsLYPyYbt_QAvh-9uOZyVODrXxPbeQ-khGiMpMIz5h2bjfVtmzrJoiVgipI5wQKM0jT3vaYAyA-cFD1FdUpZTVBxt6QxPcju/s1600/07-05-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(26).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikDrepdRCUhhx6jo-9pgKGT6rYi1ajzUswgrYBceSUVoGCcsLYPyYbt_QAvh-9uOZyVODrXxPbeQ-khGiMpMIz5h2bjfVtmzrJoiVgipI5wQKM0jT3vaYAyA-cFD1FdUpZTVBxt6QxPcju/s640/07-05-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(26).jpg" height="640" width="451" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not quite Cleopatra on the Nile</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> We discovered just one other village, at which we
hired two elephants to carry us onto the Pai River. At the river, we found a small group of tribesmen collecting bags of fungi, they kindly constructed an
extra makeshift open-topped platform for us to sleep on, and then lashed a bamboo raft together for us to make our way down river </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">the following morning</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"><b>Rafting the River Pai</b></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> <span style="font-size: large;"> We had expected a leisurely, slow drift back to the
village of Pai, but instead it became an exhausting eight and half hours
journey on an unstable raft. The river level was so low, it meant we were
constantly battling to pole, and dragged ourselves over rocks in the scorching
sun.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"> We arrived back, sunburnt, dehydrated and
exhausted; the first two cans of beer scarcely touched the side of our throats.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"> The painful enjoyment of the four-day trek would soon wear off, but the
informative life experience would last forever.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZmIsvWtkbYnUMpiaAfQQcjj9fVjC57T-McRCrmaCEPYdtFRcuyfkFpAkTEFmf9CDRjtbe2x2ha4lybrQAI_4D_WptOhMX3wPUkUAiSD_Utd4avRph3rhv1uhbNaj5Ul6gHQvpOZg3ccJ/s1600/05-03-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(29).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZmIsvWtkbYnUMpiaAfQQcjj9fVjC57T-McRCrmaCEPYdtFRcuyfkFpAkTEFmf9CDRjtbe2x2ha4lybrQAI_4D_WptOhMX3wPUkUAiSD_Utd4avRph3rhv1uhbNaj5Ul6gHQvpOZg3ccJ/s640/05-03-Trav+8906+Thailand+Pai+(29).jpg" height="288" width="640" /></a></div>
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romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-27199215659868392642013-10-01T16:21:00.000+00:002014-01-16T18:43:41.532+00:00An Accident Waiting to Happen - 25<div class="RoysFirstPara">
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Leaving the Love Chalet</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">An innocent motorcycle journey through north-eastern Thailand in search of a remote Hmong hill tribe, had already involved us in attending a funeral and an overnight stay at a </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="text-align: center;">‘</span><i style="text-align: center;">Love Hotel’</i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">. What more could happen? <a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/dead-sexy.html">(see story No 24)</a></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Mareta Kusumaningrum</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Before leaving our night of reflected sleep at the multi-mirrored ‘Love chalet’, we ate an exotic breakfast of Thai fruit salad. It included ripe mango, juicy rambutan and sliced papaya on a bed of sweet sticky rice. All washed down with fresh coconut juice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We were ready to leave. I gunned the engine of our motorcycle and our Thai hostesses waved goodbye with smiles and a few sideway winks.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Monks along the Mekong</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> A gravel track wound its way northward along the western bank of the Mekong River. I kept one eye open for potholes and the other cautiously on the mud-brown waters that flowed languidly south on its 4,900 km journey from the Tibetan plateau to the South China Sea. I had good cause to fear this river from a previous near-death experience. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-qrrkWHOwYjCaNseCNJEs7u3O1v-CNlSpYkGzrQjHGGGCPP1zPWcfCcxYCRgQGX18Gmkd_lWo2PVx-lmRxRNEh-ht6KBAiBHd3caNM4ahwy_wmJ9R0FytEnbTdf9eL_vm3YAhOaAUoaI/s1600/2-Screen+Shot+2013-07-24+at+18.39.34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij-qrrkWHOwYjCaNseCNJEs7u3O1v-CNlSpYkGzrQjHGGGCPP1zPWcfCcxYCRgQGX18Gmkd_lWo2PVx-lmRxRNEh-ht6KBAiBHd3caNM4ahwy_wmJ9R0FytEnbTdf9eL_vm3YAhOaAUoaI/s320/2-Screen+Shot+2013-07-24+at+18.39.34.jpg" height="194" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span>We pause mid-morning at a village temple to cool off: its beautifully curved roof of brightly glazed red, green, and ochre tiles, cool interiors with tinkling wind chimes, was a perfect haven in which to catch our breath and to sit meditatively with the saffron-robed monks. We were heading for the Hmong village of Ban Kiewkhan, where we hoped to find Jon Boyce, an English anthropologist.</span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>An Accident Waiting to Happen</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The road became a churned-up dirt track that hugged the hilly banks of the Mekong. I came atop one rise and saw below me a small side-stream, it was bridged by a single plank of wood, beyond which was a steep rutted incline.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Hang on,’ I said to Jean, and set off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> As we came to the bottom, I aimed the bike for the plank and shot across it and up the other hill, skedaddling on the loose soil; I was almost to the top of the incline when it happened…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Ker bang! Thud! Snap! Crunch! Ouch!<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> A boulder had sprung out of the dust, twisted the steering, and sent the bike one way whilst Jean and I went in the opposite direction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Winded and surrounded by a cloud of dust, I called out, ‘Are you all right, love?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I’m not sure,’ came a faint reply.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I dragged myself over to Jean who was nursing her leg. My own leg felt numb; I had heard a snap and feared the worse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We rested awhile, got our breath back and decided that although our legs hurt, they were probably just sprained. I managed to get the bike upright but found I was unable to kick-start the engine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Within half an hour, a man pushing a bike laden with a sack of produce came along. He kick-started the engine for me and I found that by keeping my damaged leg out straight, it was possible to ride without too much pain. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Young Hmong girls celebrating New Year</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It was closer to continue to our destination than to go back, so we continued on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It was a short but painfully slow journey to our destination where, with some relief, we finally managed to track down Jon Boyce, the author whose paper on </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hmong Hill Tribes </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">we had read. </span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>The Hmong Tribe </b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Jon and his wife, Su, were very welcoming. They strapped our legs up with bandages, which eased the pain, then gave us a hobbled tour of the village.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The Hmong villagers wore a common uniform of black tunics with brightly patterned aprons and collars, which they seem to spend much of their time embroidering. Their homes were very basic with few possessions, consisting of three partitioned areas with mud floors. The cooking areas had two open fires: one for family cooking and the other for animal feed. Pigs, ducks, and buffalo, wandered freely around the village.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We met an old Chinese gentleman from Yunnan with whom Jean was able to converse. He </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">was an ex-KMT soldier who had escaped over the border and now</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> lived with the Hmong.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jean - sleeping on the job.</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We stayed overnight and discovered the next morning that our legs were badly swollen. Despite this we opted to</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">continue onto a village, which had a rudimentary medical clinic,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Jon kick-started the engine and we </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">gingerly set off.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> At the clinic a nurse told us that we had probably pulled some ligaments and should get ourselves to the hospital at Chiang Rai. In the meantime, they redressed our legs and sent us on our way.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Japanese Disease</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It took an incredible slow three-day journey through the infamous Golden Triangle drug area and an overnight stay on the Burmese border at a village of ex-Kuomintang solders before we managed to get back to Chiang Rai, fortunately it had a large, modern hospital, with 620 beds, nine operating theatres and an excellent orthopaedic department.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The doctor who inspected and X-rayed our legs, exclaimed, ‘Ah! You have Japanese disease.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Japanese disease! What is that?’ I enquired, nervously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Oh! Very common in these parts,’ he said. ‘Kawasaki, Suzuki, Honda, Mitsubishi, Yamaha. Every day, I see legs like this. You, madam, have pulled ligament, and you, sir, have torn ligament. You should return to England very quickly and have operation.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘But I am not going back to England for another four months,’ I said. ‘Can you do the operation here?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The doctor looked at his watch, and said, ‘Now lunchtime. If you wait one hour, I do for you.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> One and a half hours later, I had an epidural injection and watched intently as the doctor performed microsurgery on my ligament, he closed me up with twenty-eight stitches and sent me off to be fitted with a full-leg plaster cast. What incredible service! What incredibly instructive entertainment!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Jean, complete with crutches and in a leg cast, came daily to visit me during the eight days of recovery. As nurses only performed medical duties, wives and family were expected to sleep and stay around the patient’s bed to feed and wash them. She, however, drew a line at sleeping under the bed each night and chose to return to the guesthouse instead. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Getting Plastered in Thailand</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Once released from the hospital, we had an interesting conundrum to solve at the guest house; we had just one bed and two full-length leg-casts between us, so getting into bed and finding a comfortable position was quite a challenge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Recovery from 'Japanese disease' can increase one's sense of fun. </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> Being hot and humid, a</span>dded to the problem and what is more I felt a terrible itch inside my cast. Jean found a bamboo stick and managed to wriggle it down inside until the itch subsided.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> At breakfast the following morning, I removed a small plaster section that covered an inspection window over my operation. As I did so, the cause of my itch became obvious; a tiny spider ran out.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It seems that travels and travails go hand in hand with us, but with it come life-enhancing experiences and excellent friendships.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> This eight-day blip with all medications, leg casts and the operation cost just $160. Money well spent.</span><br />
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romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-72440963375352137922013-09-20T15:56:00.001+00:002014-01-16T18:54:41.317+00:00Dead, Sexy - No 24<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="RoysFirstPara">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>A primitive Idea</b></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We were in
Thailand again. The weather was hot and steamy; Bangkok was noisy and
oppressive. It was a good time to take a night bus to the north of the country where
it would be cooler and quieter.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheefLpCL574N5jwI6vYFtf5yQHHlLxqNZ-6XlnkOyKjYp8an30tM93mVheLX57_GHDlPhNDFWC8NJdOkS2nICdgWfuUav3vV4QPKAXHZsXYZHYEObhIbutajCfUW-jC-WvfEPXn6Ekooy-/s1600/6-Thailand+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheefLpCL574N5jwI6vYFtf5yQHHlLxqNZ-6XlnkOyKjYp8an30tM93mVheLX57_GHDlPhNDFWC8NJdOkS2nICdgWfuUav3vV4QPKAXHZsXYZHYEObhIbutajCfUW-jC-WvfEPXn6Ekooy-/s320/6-Thailand+.jpg" height="320" width="306" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">We whiled away
time in the lush tropical gardens around Chiang Rai University. At its library we happened upon a recent paper written by Jon Boyce, an Englishman living among
the Hmong hill tribes of northern Thailand.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipqYMfzLwVRXesI8jhVJaGTaBTW0x2-7bj7zg6pwfUI8tCoYOIlaVxYbS0GZnCl4jKQi74uG2q50pcqWKjJtHkLvYo19NzkBsGRYvBSjykDtgENAi1MW3Tp3E5W58kDuAOnapx0-Jwh0Wf/s1600/1-Trav+894A+Thailand+(26).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span lang="EN-US"> I wonder if he would welcome a visit from some fellow Brits. </span></i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I thought. We decided that he would and within
twenty-four hours, I had rented a motorcycle, bought a rudimentary map, packed
some provisions, and were headed northeast toward the mighty Mekong River that
separated Thailand from Laos.</span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Rural Thailand</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> The feel of hot humid air rushing through ones
hair made motor cycling an ideal form of transport in the tropics. We passed
through a rapidly changing r</span><span lang="EN-US">ural Thailand; water Buffalo in the
paddi fields were being replaced by modern water tractors, houses on wooden
stilt gave way to concrete stilts, most people had pickup trucks or small
motorcycles, and except for very remote areas, there remained few unmade roads.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBhApFMWmxTFYMloNQTQrittCf6kE2fNSWOy_nD_Va_X_uaN1gxckS5xceF_muycKxF6q_jU37qIsKl2DogxO7LqqwuEQJfQRLcR2SeMXXHL9ac1XBgvKf4JtkmLQv60hbs7lS4CWKExdO/s1600/5-Forest+Funeral.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBhApFMWmxTFYMloNQTQrittCf6kE2fNSWOy_nD_Va_X_uaN1gxckS5xceF_muycKxF6q_jU37qIsKl2DogxO7LqqwuEQJfQRLcR2SeMXXHL9ac1XBgvKf4JtkmLQv60hbs7lS4CWKExdO/s640/5-Forest+Funeral.jpg" height="419" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you go down to the woods today you are sure of a big surprise.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-large;"><b>Curiosity killed the cat</b></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Two hours into
our journey, we spotted a group of 70–80 people, gathered informally around the
edge of a clearing in the forest. Being ever inquisitive, we stopped and
hovered in the background. They seemed to be observing some religious
formality.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;"> A Buddhist monk, and two assistants, seemed to be conducting
a happy and lively meeting: a large box sat on a pair of concrete trestles,
under a very gaudy satin canopy tethered with lots of colourful streamers.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We thought it
might be a village council meeting. A few speeches were given, murmurs of approval
made by the crowd, and incense sticks handed out to the gathered assembly,
including me.</span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;"> Everyone took it in turn to go up to the canopy, light their
incense stick, place it into the thick stem of a banana plant, clap their hands
in greeting, and return to their place in the throng.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> As the last
person came back, all eyes turned to me. Good-humoured calls were made, and I
found myself being given friendly, cajoling pushes, to go up and make my
greeting too. <i>What the heck! When in
Rome…</i> I thought.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Hello and Goodbye</b></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXBUBgJceL8fUx8f4PeiSUJ1cgH8VIbJoDL8k2ecosG5UjWIOg_Itn_354PucQr_VfuCfKtEwp5ALMA923n7MyUkdw7gupvYGEn1axh3EZ__C90Ae6opkmpnKQc1u3I0ERZaARya1r9cNk/s1600/3-Thai+Funeral+pyre+in+forrest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXBUBgJceL8fUx8f4PeiSUJ1cgH8VIbJoDL8k2ecosG5UjWIOg_Itn_354PucQr_VfuCfKtEwp5ALMA923n7MyUkdw7gupvYGEn1axh3EZ__C90Ae6opkmpnKQc1u3I0ERZaARya1r9cNk/s320/3-Thai+Funeral+pyre+in+forrest.jpg" height="232" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Thai village meeting!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> At the canopy,
I realised I was standing at an alter, the box on the trestle was an open
coffin, inside of which a smiling ‘Aunt Fani’ stared benignly back at me. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> Without
skipping a beat, I winked at her, lit my incense stick, clapped my hands, bowed
my head in respect, said a quick ‘Sawatdee’ greeting, and turned around to make
my rather embarrassed way back to the edge of the clearing, whereupon everyone
broke out into smiles and spontaneous applause.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The monk said
half a dozen words, poured a bottle of spirit over the body, attached a ten-foot
fuse wire to the coffin, staked it in the ground, and set light to it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCrNMVh9WiBbzIpCgHdRnPdyHvJ3pQd36ox04asR28p6DkcwWGBV7w15-eYhqxFquRnw-o_TYd5XBwcZrfzktOdLG4vRouPjUmWXGGTQ7rP_x5r65Wnp3rqhhI7CBabgFudoiMplSWeGc/s1600/7-Thai+Funural+pyre.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCrNMVh9WiBbzIpCgHdRnPdyHvJ3pQd36ox04asR28p6DkcwWGBV7w15-eYhqxFquRnw-o_TYd5XBwcZrfzktOdLG4vRouPjUmWXGGTQ7rP_x5r65Wnp3rqhhI7CBabgFudoiMplSWeGc/s320/7-Thai+Funural+pyre.jpg" height="248" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wow! Goodbye Aunt Fani.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <i>Whoosh!</i>
The coffin, the tethered streamers, the canopy, and the pyre under the coffin were
ablaze in seconds. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Wow! I don’t know who was more surprised! Poor Aunt Fani on her way to her maker, or myself for finding I had been the last to see her before she went.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Whilst the fire raged, everyone mingled amid lively banter before
drifting off to their villages. </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I concluded
that a public cremation is not an event to attend without some kind of prior
warning. It had been a shock to the senses. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Motel on the Mekong</b></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdyHHE0XU6gbFCW1LbUsxOx_TKWX759RbnqeSvqHw8K0jhtS7e7CLV18PdNS4QRV05g_b0Q5j5CZoUUT9Sc3HD1RtzIfJyPlCnoL_7Ai_rZYMm8b_fBfZBCytkAFmnLKgm7jXIlCddUpMd/s1600/2-Thai+funeral.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdyHHE0XU6gbFCW1LbUsxOx_TKWX759RbnqeSvqHw8K0jhtS7e7CLV18PdNS4QRV05g_b0Q5j5CZoUUT9Sc3HD1RtzIfJyPlCnoL_7Ai_rZYMm8b_fBfZBCytkAFmnLKgm7jXIlCddUpMd/s320/2-Thai+funeral.jpg" height="320" width="312" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> By late
afternoon, we had reached the Mekong River. I eyed it with a certain amount of
caution. I remembered my last near-death encounter with this mighty river, and
had no wish to tempt fate again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We looked around for somewhere to stay
the night and spotted a motel sign. <i>Unusual.</i>
I thought, <i>Motels are not normally to be
found in Thailand.</i> Warning bells sounded. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We pulled into the group of chalets called the Valentine
Motel. Several young women were sitting in a group peeling and preparing vegetables. They burst into squeals of giggles when they saw me. We were well away from the
tourist routes and therefore western men were something of a curiosity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘How much is it
for a room?’ I asked.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘How long you
want?’ replied one girl in faltering English.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Just the one
night,’ I replied.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘You want room <i>all </i>night?’ she exclaimed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Yes,’ I said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipqYMfzLwVRXesI8jhVJaGTaBTW0x2-7bj7zg6pwfUI8tCoYOIlaVxYbS0GZnCl4jKQi74uG2q50pcqWKjJtHkLvYo19NzkBsGRYvBSjykDtgENAi1MW3Tp3E5W58kDuAOnapx0-Jwh0Wf/s1600/1-Trav+894A+Thailand+(26).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipqYMfzLwVRXesI8jhVJaGTaBTW0x2-7bj7zg6pwfUI8tCoYOIlaVxYbS0GZnCl4jKQi74uG2q50pcqWKjJtHkLvYo19NzkBsGRYvBSjykDtgENAi1MW3Tp3E5W58kDuAOnapx0-Jwh0Wf/s320/1-Trav+894A+Thailand+(26).JPG" height="216" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Preparing silk worms for spinning</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> There was much
chatter, laughter, and attempts to speak to Jean, whom they assumed spoke Thai
because of her oriental features<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> They gave us an
acceptable price and took us to one of the chalets, I parked the motorbike
under the carport and they immediately dropped a large bamboo roller-blind to
shield it.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Thai Love Hotel</b></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We realised as
soon as we entered the motel room that all was not as we had assumed.
Everything was pink and feminine, large mirrors covered the ceiling and walls.
This was a ‘love hotel’ where the local menfolk brought their mistresses; the
screened carport was to hide their car from prying eyes.</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibw6vCzZtR38Zn-l3LDYBjrC3GvFUNmlAaxOOCcpwn28z1fiRDzXU144mItJTeKnSoSjETKS_PPbrZZ9Mg0X-QQyi1kBxWPLAJLVpBhCpfc0HjWgToPy1Vh3i7U5rB5V9q818_7YoXD8CN/s1600/Love+Motel.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibw6vCzZtR38Zn-l3LDYBjrC3GvFUNmlAaxOOCcpwn28z1fiRDzXU144mItJTeKnSoSjETKS_PPbrZZ9Mg0X-QQyi1kBxWPLAJLVpBhCpfc0HjWgToPy1Vh3i7U5rB5V9q818_7YoXD8CN/s320/Love+Motel.png" height="320" width="204" /></a></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The room was
clean and tidy. I checked the bedding; everything was freshly laundered. They apparently
served food, which would be delivered to the room through a privacy hatch, ice cold drinks were available, what was there not to like? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We were at the
end of the bitumen road and in need of a good night’s sleep before tackling the
dirt track alongside the Mekong River. We decided to stay.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I mused at the
ease at which I had gone from being a supporting star at a funeral, to mooning at a
whorehouse, all in a single day.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Things could be
worse, I supposed. I wonder what tomorrow will bring.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Will we manage
to escape unscathed from the clutches of the Mekong River … Read more of this tale in ten days’ time - on September <o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">30th.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 20px;"><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html">Visit the itravelstories library for more travel tales</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Feel free to leave a comments.</span>romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-5670069510472489392013-08-31T10:42:00.002+00:002013-11-09T11:06:44.479+00:00G'day Australia - Safe at last - 22<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="RoysFirstPara">
<span lang="EN-US">I hate
mosquitoes. I hate them with a passion. How can something so small be the cause
of so much irritating discomfort? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3U-n1XmEtzm75UYWtXry9-h8rDtjbMG3UxfMX7TFfrUkxR1sNmLGPutQlFaxPiIFXW0hUweLHSqOYtx2EivqsAweGJZRvAzsLDLC4WTfNgshMCLNEadyal413Ca_Eq7QhSbELouxW2EQ/s1600/Roy+on+Barkley+Tablelands+Australia.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-size: 12.666666984558105px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj3U-n1XmEtzm75UYWtXry9-h8rDtjbMG3UxfMX7TFfrUkxR1sNmLGPutQlFaxPiIFXW0hUweLHSqOYtx2EivqsAweGJZRvAzsLDLC4WTfNgshMCLNEadyal413Ca_Eq7QhSbELouxW2EQ/s200/Roy+on+Barkley+Tablelands+Australia.JPG" width="128" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The earnest 'Bush Cook'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> For a few unfortunate people, malaria is the painful consequence of a single mosquito
bite. but most people suffer thousands of bites yet never contact malaria. The daily fight and suffering caused by the constant buzz, bites and sleepless nights can send a person up the wall. They make one’s life a misery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> I am not a
vengeful person, but I once spent a whole night in Alaska killing mosquitoes
with a high-powered, battery operated, zapper bat. It was payback time. Sheer
bliss! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> Night-time in
Darwin, northern Australia, is alive with mosquitos; I and my three
compatriots, with whom I had been rescued from the island of Car Nicobar, had
just landed by air from Singapore, and we were being eaten alive whilst seeking
sheltering in the Darwin Sports Pavilion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEispAsPoWC6gJvDDW3fNt-EsEgmoqYz5AyqNtTy3fprd8s_MENzDFNpx_PHgzTomfh8s2LE_NBrXSql46v0BtXqgcG1G77KPqvkGv5LZsQ3R4EMK_4hWydCBW0UcIb65jSYG5T4WhjdCsPP/s1600/20130614-224535.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEispAsPoWC6gJvDDW3fNt-EsEgmoqYz5AyqNtTy3fprd8s_MENzDFNpx_PHgzTomfh8s2LE_NBrXSql46v0BtXqgcG1G77KPqvkGv5LZsQ3R4EMK_4hWydCBW0UcIb65jSYG5T4WhjdCsPP/s320/20130614-224535.jpg" width="214" /></a><span lang="EN-US"> Our rescuers,
the NZRAF, had dropped us at Changi Air Base, Singapore had issued us
with a non-negotiable one-week permit to stay, and the British Embassy had taken
us to the <i>Toc H</i> hostel whilst they tried to figure out how best to repatriate
four Brits who were unwilling to return to the UK. Fortunately, Australia offered to accept us and we had left Singapore with just one hour
to spare. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> The sun finally
rose over Darwin and our well-satiated, night-time tormenters sought shelter in
the darker recesses of the pavilion. We were tired, penniless, and well bitten. We were without our passports; they had been confiscated on landing until such time that we could
repay the repatriation fees. The nearest city to start looking for work was
3,051 kms away at Adelaide in the south, or 4,049 kms south-west to Perth. Life did not look very rosy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> Eric and I set off to hitch-hike to Adelaide
along the only bitumen road leading south in the Northern Territory. At the small settlement of Pine Creek, we were given a sandwich and £5 to help us on our
way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> The
following day at a cafe in the township of Katherine, we were chopping wood in
exchange for a meal, when a customer </span>offered Eric a job at a garage and I met a
supervisor for the Northern Territory Department of Works who gave me a lift 700 kms south to
Tennant Creek.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC-ZZVbn2SGMLx2v-1ivrAj4XQ1lIejWcEIs0vQ1OgV9bDtst5rkceldJ4kdXlk8DWZ088XQPb070wuUdN7LablEVx7TTRAMg6vGwwlJ2fNCpMxAQcgHWk68YANoaEHoqtLZdAd7KqlRQG/s1600/11-Trab+and+Austr;ia+(182).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="89" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgC-ZZVbn2SGMLx2v-1ivrAj4XQ1lIejWcEIs0vQ1OgV9bDtst5rkceldJ4kdXlk8DWZ088XQPb070wuUdN7LablEVx7TTRAMg6vGwwlJ2fNCpMxAQcgHWk68YANoaEHoqtLZdAd7KqlRQG/s640/11-Trab+and+Austr;ia+(182).JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The pot-hole free Main Street, Tennant Creek - nearest towns - Darwin 900 kms, Alice Springs 500 kms, Adelaide 2,000 kms.</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> During the trip
southward, through endless expanses of nothing, he quizzed me on my adventures
and background and on arrival gave me a temporary job, a pay-day loan and
pointed me in the direction of an old wooden caravan in which to sleep.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> My first week
was spent filling potholes in Tennant Creek’s only street. This was followed by
a short spell as an ‘offsider’, cooking meals and being a general dogsbody at a
small roadside camp on the Stuart Highway. This ended after eight days when the
other two workers got drunk one night and crashed their vehicle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> I was
transferred 160 kms to a remote outback site to ‘offside’ for a bushie whose job
it was to grade access tracks to water pumping windmills used for cattle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_c2kzLDwsc99Hcr4pm2wKiNjj1EShYAhuggz0isSvirP3DWaYwhwvyolCxyPLn3fpoHNM5ga5W5VpcedNLiWpVwrnLGm4XILv45srea2Vz-Jn1-8N5N3OscocnkvJfPGMOXZ1ztdqnXC4/s1600/05-Trab+and+Austr;ia+(129).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_c2kzLDwsc99Hcr4pm2wKiNjj1EShYAhuggz0isSvirP3DWaYwhwvyolCxyPLn3fpoHNM5ga5W5VpcedNLiWpVwrnLGm4XILv45srea2Vz-Jn1-8N5N3OscocnkvJfPGMOXZ1ztdqnXC4/s320/05-Trab+and+Austr;ia+(129).JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">An cattle drover stopped by for a chat</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> Within three weeks, news of my culinary skills
had spread across the airwaves and I was recruited by the Department of Works
to replace the bush cook at a mobile camp just north of Alroy cattle station. They
were surveying and building a major dirt track across the Barkly Tableland.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> I was a
worldly-wise twenty years old, brimming with confidence and entrusted with
feeding a disparate group of twenty hard-working, gregarious, cussing,
non-conforming roughnecks. These colourful characters were prepared to live
under canvas, put up with primitive hardships, in order to either save enough
money to start a new life, or to celebrate their avoidance of mainstream
society with the occasional ‘bender’, whereby they would drink themselves into
a stupor for a week or four before returning to the bush to start work again.
Most camp cooks fell into the latter category, which was why I had been
recruited as his replacement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> My previous
experience of catering had been as a hotel management trainee at a five-star
hotel at Eastbourne, England; a far cry from the rustic catering wagon I was
now in charge of. It had a small kitchen with a bottled gas stove, a paraffin refrigerator,
and a table for ten people. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi08e2NZCsDrlx38Smw6VnuxcSal6DEkygCI30YHGFpJ3bF7Tk5SYIHd8KmJ7AduNxDtYZoXa1_a92893RW72PResVB2X0KWbzD9qq9khfylSEhEr0m4habr_D4tSZw2GY1NhsodTF-bPrE/s1600/Barkley+Tablelands.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi08e2NZCsDrlx38Smw6VnuxcSal6DEkygCI30YHGFpJ3bF7Tk5SYIHd8KmJ7AduNxDtYZoXa1_a92893RW72PResVB2X0KWbzD9qq9khfylSEhEr0m4habr_D4tSZw2GY1NhsodTF-bPrE/s400/Barkley+Tablelands.png" width="307" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Barkley Tablelands</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> Close to the
‘food wagon’ stood my tent, a water bowser and a walk-in collapsible meat safe,
where a side of salted beef hung and which was regularly replaced from the
nearest cattle station. It was lined with muslin to keep the flies at bay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> Nearby, were a
row of two-man tents and off in the distance stood a couple of thunder box
latrines made from 44-gallon drums with a section cut away and a plank of wood
wedged in place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> I quickly came
to terms with ordering food supplies over the radio, which were delivered once a
week, along with bread, milk, eggs and sundry engineering supplies for the
heavy plant being used. The earth-packed track would eventually stretch 488 kms
to Borroloola, on the coast of Carpentaria, and would later become known as the
Tablelands Highway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> Everyone in the
Australian outback seemed to have a nickname. Mine quickly became ‘Bluey’
because of my blonde hair, or occasionally ‘Lord Romsey’ because of my English
accent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> Another
Englishman arrived shortly after me as the Civil Engineer in Charge. He had
been recruited direct from England and arrived in freshly ironed khaki colonial
shorts, a safari jacket, carried a cane under his arm and thought he was going
to run a military style camp – big mistake. He was loathed instantly, was the
butt of much humour and cut down to size as only the Australians know how. He,
however, remained stoic and isolated in his specially commissioned caravan and
ate his meals alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKs2w_FJ_cFBB34e7mO2mxPiWtssS3hoVsUYLKI36yDrp2gq6iUMqfCEOkk1CGoL-BEdF7eKYQRheuIFTVWKO-EuSesbosfsX5C_vfgsmCytkBeIwMoyAWXNb8p0QqWMvboz8ug6TI7b5O/s1600/Elroy+Camp.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKs2w_FJ_cFBB34e7mO2mxPiWtssS3hoVsUYLKI36yDrp2gq6iUMqfCEOkk1CGoL-BEdF7eKYQRheuIFTVWKO-EuSesbosfsX5C_vfgsmCytkBeIwMoyAWXNb8p0QqWMvboz8ug6TI7b5O/s640/Elroy+Camp.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Bush Camp for the Barkley track</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> E</span>very 10–14 days, the camp was dismantled and moved forward to
a new location. It was supposedly alcohol-free with two days
off every fortnight, whereupon most workers would pile into a truck to drive 60 kms
to the nearest source of beer at the Frewena Roadhouse on the Barkly Highway,
or make a dash for Tennant Creek some 270 kms away.</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9CE-b9KOf7rIw_D-vHfrnUomzlK_cZne1IvqHK3fvV7oyk3nmZN8z_YI6a2ZE9BOCwWSz5NeZNWNTGMf98wOX6tPfuRFYkaxo1sL5xwRUgiFW27TBXhCKDxGk8bKteXQXnP6OVJQOWck5/s1600/01-Trab+and+Austr;ia+(107).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9CE-b9KOf7rIw_D-vHfrnUomzlK_cZne1IvqHK3fvV7oyk3nmZN8z_YI6a2ZE9BOCwWSz5NeZNWNTGMf98wOX6tPfuRFYkaxo1sL5xwRUgiFW27TBXhCKDxGk8bKteXQXnP6OVJQOWck5/s320/01-Trab+and+Austr;ia+(107).JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Hello and goodbye</span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> Because most men returned with hangovers that
lasted a further two days, the new English ‘<i>commandant</i>’ tried to solve the
problem by banning the use of government vehicles during time off, but relented
after a threatened mass walkout.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> Part of my job was to hitch up the water
bowser to the tractor and drive it to the nearest cattle station or water
windmill. - I didn’t drive, <o:p></o:p></span>but I soon learnt.</div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> I remained at
the camp for a number of months and because there was nothing to spend my wages
on, I soon amassed a respectable savings account. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> A few miles to
the north of us was the homestead of Brunette Downs, which was the largest
cattle station in the Northern Territory, and at that time, part of King Ranch
of Texas. Despite its isolation on the Barkly Tableland, it held its own rodeo
each year where beer was freely available. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> The annual
rodeo happened to coincide when our camp <i>‘commandant</i>’ had to return to HQ for a
meeting. Before the dust cloud from his departing Land Rover had even settled, everyone in the camp had grabbed their swag, and loaded themselves quickly into
whatever vehicles were available and drove pell-mell for Brunette Downs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhopkdGUwUGd9asnRkF4hHcu19opExVRplNnyg8U87FGeDMJTRQGlKb-gv3kUCeAQeyhsDeCV98OaE42SaUhKHL1j6fIqi2DTJdRmlUJAewzPe8aC2zX6aXGUnxEIcEvg0gB6dmoaDTeo0o/s1600/25-1+(164).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhopkdGUwUGd9asnRkF4hHcu19opExVRplNnyg8U87FGeDMJTRQGlKb-gv3kUCeAQeyhsDeCV98OaE42SaUhKHL1j6fIqi2DTJdRmlUJAewzPe8aC2zX6aXGUnxEIcEvg0gB6dmoaDTeo0o/s320/25-1+(164).JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spurs, but no boots, no feelings, and no sense.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> It was a
wonderful couple of days to remember; I learned to play and lose money at the
Australian chance game of ‘two-up’, which I was featured playing in the national magazine, <i>Pix</i>. My fellow workers got
me so drunk that my only recollection of being entered into the rodeo on a
bucking bronco was the severe bruising the next day and a photograph </span>which I still treasure, of me
parting company from the horse.<br />
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<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US"> The weekend was our undoing; I happened to be in the truck with a number of others, when it caught
fire on the way back to the camp, not something that could be easily explained
to the fuming commandant who had arrived back before us. His
glowing</span> sense of satisfaction was very palpable as he gave everyone in the truck instant dismissal.</div>
</div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> What did I
care? Not a jot. I had experienced many
new aspects of life. I had learned to drive, to be a bush cook, to play ‘two-up’,
to get along with roughnecks and to fall off a horse, all whilst being well
paid and accumulating a healthy bank balance. What a wonderful introduction to
Australian life!<b> <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> I wonder what I
should put on my c.v.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><i><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/23-crocodile-romsee.html">Read more experiences in No 23 "Australia - Job Hunting" when Crocodile hunting is featured...</a></i></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">New tales are posted on the <b>10th, 20th, and 30th</b> of each month.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/19-island-disaster.html">Have you read 'Ship wrecked" yet? CLICK HERE</a><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 20px;"><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html">Visit the itravelstories library for more travel tales</a></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
Your Comments are always welcome</div>
</div>
romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-4674496332566460532013-08-24T07:22:00.005+00:002013-11-09T11:10:19.663+00:00Rescued from Car Nicobar Island - 21<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="RoysFirstPara">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM9_a779SZO0k6tMRVyOQFg_plguWQ2pQha1lmLjYztVq0OpMz5V7YURZfkJg5IsVB4yDY9brzmqxQp6VR9t5Xd4nHPoRFKpHlLa5iTNUBGNvNtmUQg-dasWOFwIlriwqjwpJBvAMOx0VK/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-08-24+at+08.00.52.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM9_a779SZO0k6tMRVyOQFg_plguWQ2pQha1lmLjYztVq0OpMz5V7YURZfkJg5IsVB4yDY9brzmqxQp6VR9t5Xd4nHPoRFKpHlLa5iTNUBGNvNtmUQg-dasWOFwIlriwqjwpJBvAMOx0VK/s200/Screen+Shot+2013-08-24+at+08.00.52.png" width="167" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;"><i>...Continued from stories No 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20</i></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">As told in previous excerpts, our attempted voyage
in a 23 foot sampan from Bangladesh to Singapore had ended in failure. For all
intents and purposes, we were destitute, castaways on the small island of Car
Nicobar in the Indian Ocean and therefore totally in the hands of a local
Indian Administrator.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Word had been sent of our plight to the district
government office based at Port Blair on the Andaman Islands, and from there on
to the Indian Government in Delhi, then onto the British foreign office in
London and eventually to our parents.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> My mother received a short but polite letter from
the Foreign Office to say, ‘<i>Your son, and
friends, have drifted by boat to the island of Car Nicobar and is without funds.
Arrangements are in hand to get him to Calcutta and in the event of
repatriation would you be prepared to sign a legal undertaking to pay any costs
involved?</i>’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF5FjNOJetc1MgdbUJornDp7Php_6s_IS0evDFAKebTqD0AUgGhATBrzxLUiWrK1YZF4aCwRtXCdYOWgm-21XUvLNp-jXpnk5bu1ei0ix4Heb9KQ6OB3d4IZorpAE0pI2b4258uoPBAIZw/s1600/4-Screen+Shot+2013-08-20+at+19.23.31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF5FjNOJetc1MgdbUJornDp7Php_6s_IS0evDFAKebTqD0AUgGhATBrzxLUiWrK1YZF4aCwRtXCdYOWgm-21XUvLNp-jXpnk5bu1ei0ix4Heb9KQ6OB3d4IZorpAE0pI2b4258uoPBAIZw/s320/4-Screen+Shot+2013-08-20+at+19.23.31.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Preparing pandanus fruit - a staple diet</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> I later learned that my mother replied: ‘<i>No. He is twenty years old and has put a lot
of planning into his round-the-world hike, and has done very well so far. It is
for him to decide what he wants to do.</i>’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> I don’t think that was the reply they expected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By the time
messages had passed back and forth several times through various channels, some
five weeks had passed. It was finally decided to send us to the mainland of
India by way of a diverted supply ship.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"> It was surmised amongst ourselves that if we were
to go to India, we would more than likely be repatriated back to the UK – quite
the contrary to what we had wanted.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> We were aware that an old wartime Japanese airstrip
was situated on the southern end of the island. The RAF held an emergency fuel dump there. If
push came to shove it could be used to land a plane, which we hoped might take
us onto Singapore – providing we could get word to them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> In the meantime, however, a merchant supply ship
was diverted from its Madras--Port Blair route and anchored offshore with
instructions to pick us up. We were told to collect our few belongings and the
Indian Administrator ferried us out to the ship. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Village</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Once on board, we explained our plight to the
British captain and said that we were not overjoyed at the prospect of being
sent back to India and, with no disrespect to him, preferred to be rescued by
the RAF rather than by him. With a twinkle in his eye, he winked at us and
said, ‘Well, you lucky young devils, although this is my ship, no one,
including me, can force you to sail with me. If you wish to wait for the RAF
then that is your decision.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> We said, ‘In that case, we are staying here on Car
Nicobar.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> With that he gave us each a carton of cigarettes,
and said, ‘The best of luck to you.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> The Administrator and our keepers, the Jadwet
brothers, were not well please.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> During the next three and half weeks we gave little
thought to being rescued, but got on with enjoying an idyllic castaway life. Children
taught us to body surf using coconut fronds; we helped to dig a new village
well, and spent pleasant hours in the company of Bishop John Richardson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wrestling, the favourite sport of the Nicobarese</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> There were an endless number of friendly
inter-village contests and celebrations, of which we were included.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> One of the
most colourful was the racing of outrigger canoes along the shoreline. These canoes were built</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">on Nancowry and Camorta </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">islands </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">in the south east. They were the only islands with </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">access to suitable trees to build large seagoing dugout canoes called </span><i style="font-family: Verdana;">Odis</i><span style="font-family: Verdana;">. These isolated island communities </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">were</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> renowned for their sk</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">ills as canoe makers. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The people of Car
Nicobar traded wild pigs, fish, and cooked Jackfruit in exchange for their craft.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Body wrestling was another popular sport and
pastime. Eric, because of his short stocky physique, was well matched with the
Nicobarese and was frequently challenged to a friendly match. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inter-village pig wrestling contests</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Eric and I were invited to spectate a wild-pig
wrestling contest between the villages of Chuckchucha and Kinyuka. An area was
cordoned off using a form of <i>Danish
Fencing</i>. We were given the best seat in the house: a makeshift platform in
the branches of a tree within the arena. It was a highly dangerous sport
between man and beast, whereby the pig was provoked until it charged its
opponent, who would confront it face on and attempt to grab its ears and wrestle it to the ground. Not for the faint-hearted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Two mothers in the village of Chuckchucha had
insisted on my naming their newborn twins; I named one Jennifer after my
sister and the other Jacob after myself. What a rare and special honour. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLj5AwQ0N8ppF_bMk0Rq9lfFHNCeRG8P23AEsbNzhjQHACJfKYVVwmMyDLMY-4khOJoboRs0vFfJfcy-sKBzvzwWQU-AlW6NR1eu0WNcsdy0UcqcW3BEzDJ04YKD4dzIuBSwpFQVb5Fjkr/s1600/3-Screen+Shot+2013-08-20+at+19.22.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLj5AwQ0N8ppF_bMk0Rq9lfFHNCeRG8P23AEsbNzhjQHACJfKYVVwmMyDLMY-4khOJoboRs0vFfJfcy-sKBzvzwWQU-AlW6NR1eu0WNcsdy0UcqcW3BEzDJ04YKD4dzIuBSwpFQVb5Fjkr/s320/3-Screen+Shot+2013-08-20+at+19.22.47.jpg" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Everything
came to an abrupt halt one morning, when without warning, we were again told to
gather our things. I had barely enough time to contact my friend Esau Sampok to
say farewell, and give him my latest 35 mm film and log book for safekeeping.
This was a precaution against confiscation; the Indian authorities had already
taken my previous films and log books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpeYiDi6zrOp-oPbNe3ZZaVEv1MH_yCCPd6hV88OUmpz1hizF2y7lIn8afCWureBeJ_0gQNdWpmxngDAA91_BpdygM13mJtdtSB8fov797j3S8e8WdsBfgbxW-oXG4uZA_TEosuwa2HDOb/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-08-24+at+07.47.00.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpeYiDi6zrOp-oPbNe3ZZaVEv1MH_yCCPd6hV88OUmpz1hizF2y7lIn8afCWureBeJ_0gQNdWpmxngDAA91_BpdygM13mJtdtSB8fov797j3S8e8WdsBfgbxW-oXG4uZA_TEosuwa2HDOb/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-08-24+at+07.47.00.png" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> A Land
Rover arrived to collect us and drove along sandy trails to the southern end of
the island where we came upon the ‘Japanese airstrip’ which we had previously
heard about. We were surprised to find a large aircraft on the strip and a New
Zealand aircrew already waiting for us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> They were from a base in Singapore where news that
four Brits were stranded on Car Nicobar had been heard over the airwaves. We
were being treated as an air-rescue exercise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Our passports were returned to us, a cursory body
search made, a few farewells expressed to our Indian hosts, and then
introductions to the aircrew. Esau arrived just as we were boarding our rescue
craft; it was too late for him to get close enough to pass my film and diary
back to me. I would have to rely on the fantastic memories that would travel
with me forever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Bristol Air Freighter</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> In no time at all we were taken aboard the old
Bristol Freighter aircraft, where we were issued with leather jackets to keep
warm during the flight and earmuffs to deafen the roar of the propellers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> We took off from our paradise of Car Nicobar at 2 p.m.
on 12 April 1962. It had been ninety-three days since setting sail from
Bangladesh – thirty-three days at sea and sixty days on the island. I watched
my lush green idyll recede as we circled and headed south-east across the
Indian Ocean.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqJbA6u62ufaqaIOTk2Zx0u2TxM3fys9QKNgkXLqFRkJaM_bPosh4WunDMKLQ6qchRWOVBdW6ACiLDUetGXDbI3RdhJvgzK_lXbxWgu9R3QjFwwX-VYHvHroA44dxI5KFsWq_a9D8YNEu/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-08-24+at+07.44.58.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPqJbA6u62ufaqaIOTk2Zx0u2TxM3fys9QKNgkXLqFRkJaM_bPosh4WunDMKLQ6qchRWOVBdW6ACiLDUetGXDbI3RdhJvgzK_lXbxWgu9R3QjFwwX-VYHvHroA44dxI5KFsWq_a9D8YNEu/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-08-24+at+07.44.58.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> So many friendships. So many memories. So many
experiences. And so many more still to come.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> What happened next… see the follow-on story next
week.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><i><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/48118920@N02/sets/72157623599448614/">Photographs are from a 1954 collection, taken by and courtesy of Ian R Austin RAF retired.</a></i></span></span></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Footnote: It is believed that at least 50% of the Nicobarese people were killed by the 2004 Tsunami, when a 6m wave swept over the low lying island.</span></i><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6OeZTfFh9LVmipHml-UU6h2yRsjQzLkeQQ2sq43D2stkBdQM1pAxXAcwhDSfAQg0HUBOL9kiBK_CtE_c0tZpxAi0KirkXxwYGW7NCGCzQ1FT7ppr2vylZqgV0G8XfZGTe7DgCTgyTnKV/s1600/Screen+Shot+2012-05-20+at+18.06.22.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv6OeZTfFh9LVmipHml-UU6h2yRsjQzLkeQQ2sq43D2stkBdQM1pAxXAcwhDSfAQg0HUBOL9kiBK_CtE_c0tZpxAi0KirkXxwYGW7NCGCzQ1FT7ppr2vylZqgV0G8XfZGTe7DgCTgyTnKV/s320/Screen+Shot+2012-05-20+at+18.06.22.png" width="320" /></a><i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>DO YOU KNOW OF ANYONE WHO'S VISITED CAR NICOBAR IN THE PAST TEN YEARS? </b></span></i><br />
<i><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Please put them in contact with me.</b></span></i><br />
Your Comments are always welcome<br />
<a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/16-adrift-in-bangladesh.html">CLICK HERE to read the first episode in this series </a><br />
<a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/19-island-disaster.html">or HERE to read "Shipwrecked' when everything went wrong.</a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html">Go to the i-<i>story library</i> for more stories</a></div>
romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-2849312883423395382013-08-16T22:29:00.001+00:002013-11-09T11:13:07.205+00:00Stranded in Paradise - 20<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="RoysFirstPara">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our attempted voyage from Bangladesh to Singapore in a 23-foot Sampan fishing boat had been a brave but foolhardy venture. We had been a whisker from being wrecked on a wildly churning reef off the coast of Car Nicobar when, out of nowhere, the India patrol launch had appeared and pulled us clear. We were lucky to still be alive.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmw-Nz1GTZ8k2Cj4H4ndWqxF8Bs1hbF-OgzIgl4zdzgIuITKnvvliXMIyiH2-BhU6SqtovOpS7NHhjscWiCAJsGYrEBE_mJTTo7NxvWfmHz_MsjQrv8XDP2iS2FFZGddu1nzq4Cd4V7zo/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-08-11+at+19.34.45.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSmw-Nz1GTZ8k2Cj4H4ndWqxF8Bs1hbF-OgzIgl4zdzgIuITKnvvliXMIyiH2-BhU6SqtovOpS7NHhjscWiCAJsGYrEBE_mJTTo7NxvWfmHz_MsjQrv8XDP2iS2FFZGddu1nzq4Cd4V7zo/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-08-11+at+19.34.45.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Once the four
of us were on board the Indian naval vessel, we related how we had been lost
and without clean water and food for the past eleven days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> They
immediately supplied jugs of water and hard tack biscuits; not exactly the
wine, steak and gently sautéed potatoes we had dreamed of. However, the hard
tack biscuits caused our soft gums to bleed, so instead, we were given plates of cold,
but very spicy curry, which burned the open sores of our gums.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1mJFeIQO_ni0hoqHtUryDMZmYLgsdOIXRSkw8OlwDtJzEOq238lWUzS5Xd7RZ2Nppnhx6U_XRpWV5GsFLY5GWEh2x7nbmltwJRnpOUCDmveXsZigW4xeC3xkldZ_W11gX5HIF9CMsuPTO/s1600/+Car+Nicobar+Photo+by+Ian+Austin+1954+5+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As we struggled
to eat, the launch made its way through a channel into a small bay, where we
were transferred into a rowboat, and had to wade ashore onto a beach of
snow-white silky sand edged with towering coconut palms.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvLWyZRBoTBqWw6w4T2VM8UWo1wr-lYnMyqFqzMomjOfQNHvMOQioikuK7nld3581vWcFbN1IbHz6DDPF6xrU27m-Hf84Xxjn_8u4GqUDWPhN1pCBVpbswTslybkahvL8xkkzOM1Blabok/s1600/+Car+Nicobar+Photo+by+Ian+Austin+1954+1+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvLWyZRBoTBqWw6w4T2VM8UWo1wr-lYnMyqFqzMomjOfQNHvMOQioikuK7nld3581vWcFbN1IbHz6DDPF6xrU27m-Hf84Xxjn_8u4GqUDWPhN1pCBVpbswTslybkahvL8xkkzOM1Blabok/s320/+Car+Nicobar+Photo+by+Ian+Austin+1954+1+.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nicobari men with 'Danish' fencing in background</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <span style="text-align: center;">A group of 20–25
bronze stocky natives was seen wading out to long canoes to fetch trade goods
that had been paddled in from a larger boat at anchor off shore.</span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We were taken
in a government-issue Land Rover along a two-mile sand track and handed over to
the island’s Indian Administrator, whose role was to oversee a team of Indians
who manned and maintained a school, medical clinic and police post.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiYHPHta-7pLxWP-efvq5q48ZMUCzxmVsm4zcu4ZYevjWjTe268YFrfwVAdlKDh8ohPQn0FP420lcs_K98gU7ftp-QqhGcfbyCK0Ca71kw8MGZv60QmckzfcdpdFIQgPQVbDZ30rWurlYg/s1600/+Car+Nicobar+Photo+by+Ian+Austin+1954+2+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiYHPHta-7pLxWP-efvq5q48ZMUCzxmVsm4zcu4ZYevjWjTe268YFrfwVAdlKDh8ohPQn0FP420lcs_K98gU7ftp-QqhGcfbyCK0Ca71kw8MGZv60QmckzfcdpdFIQgPQVbDZ30rWurlYg/s320/+Car+Nicobar+Photo+by+Ian+Austin+1954+2+.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dugout fishing canoe</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> He explained
that we were in the government ‘Restricted Area’ of Car Nicobar, an island
within the Andaman and Nicobar group. The islands were officially administered
from Port Blair, formerly a British-built political penal colony, located on
Greater Andaman Island, half a day’s sail to the north.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We also learned
that apart from three very small tribes of difficult to contact ‘savages’ on
the Andaman Islands – one of who were Negroid pygmies – the only other
indigenous people were the friendly Nicobarese on this island, plus a few isolated groups scattered on remote
islands to the south-east.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVu1jeDZ0c1apUSKLtsEfooaGmgtbx9KSTFYF_9wYiQiO3P3tSi-4lHQP8-YEdT5KVMxBkc-qV4Le2joaLKhThFNBJXrb-PJlZKmv_E6oqMXBa6Lm8rI6kanfXPjKdpEvoi5oIjTESssM7/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-07-27+at+23.41.15.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVu1jeDZ0c1apUSKLtsEfooaGmgtbx9KSTFYF_9wYiQiO3P3tSi-4lHQP8-YEdT5KVMxBkc-qV4Le2joaLKhThFNBJXrb-PJlZKmv_E6oqMXBa6Lm8rI6kanfXPjKdpEvoi5oIjTESssM7/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-07-27+at+23.41.15.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beehive homes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> He arranged for
us to be given food, water and a medical check-up. We were informed that until
such time as it was decided what to do with us, we were to be put into the care
of two Muslim copra traders – the Jadwet brothers – and billeted in their
compound.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The compound
turned out to be an eight-foot high stockade, within which were several
godowns, the brothers’ bungalow and a shed in which four canvas camp beds had
been set up for us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> The indigenous
people of Nicobar had always been an isolated but self-sufficient society and
had no use for money; they lived by a barter and a friendship exchange system.
However, to earn credit from the Muslim brothers with which to exchange for bolts of cloth,
threads, metal objects and Singer sewing machines, they worked at harvesting
coconuts, and drying them in preparation for copra. A system, which we felt,
was unfairly weighted in </span>favoured<span lang="EN-US"> of the brothers. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmUEzEah_fMycN1bJFM_JlVDTtWPlFuT-bmHZjwM92MyfUvMAGDdsks_HSZZAYTwoYCrOZ4bB8ktJix3b_xxRI8J3lmOuIkgENuaVwvp-I_etstH6gfYdcXpdlvsoBrLq6JHp2cBaBBNaz/s1600/+Car+Nicobar+Photo+by+Ian+Austin+1954+4+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmUEzEah_fMycN1bJFM_JlVDTtWPlFuT-bmHZjwM92MyfUvMAGDdsks_HSZZAYTwoYCrOZ4bB8ktJix3b_xxRI8J3lmOuIkgENuaVwvp-I_etstH6gfYdcXpdlvsoBrLq6JHp2cBaBBNaz/s320/+Car+Nicobar+Photo+by+Ian+Austin+1954+4+.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chopping coconuts for copra</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Within a week,
we had eaten our way back to good health, started to put on weight, and were
generally enjoying our situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The island was
a tropical paradise ringed by a 60 meter belt of palm trees producing millions
of coconuts. It had white sandy beaches from which to swim, surf and canoe; the days were hot and sunny with occasional cooling showers, village life was i</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">nteresting to</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> observe
and the Nicobari people </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">friendly to</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> interact with. It was perfect in every way.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXG2LFpQ9xr36NQH2-YBwm8I05e1Ygbz5x0-N6xYJ4ASb52ZHL6lp8UI0Z5nXVrz9Xv_A1fncsCusRzHnhtfbwhfwShEXlMWdq-Y3bfmpV5CKHCIEu5F8mHKm7nqb_9fiC5RTEKSkr_3Ue/s1600/+Car+Nicobar+Photo+by+Ian+Austin+1954+6+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXG2LFpQ9xr36NQH2-YBwm8I05e1Ygbz5x0-N6xYJ4ASb52ZHL6lp8UI0Z5nXVrz9Xv_A1fncsCusRzHnhtfbwhfwShEXlMWdq-Y3bfmpV5CKHCIEu5F8mHKm7nqb_9fiC5RTEKSkr_3Ue/s320/+Car+Nicobar+Photo+by+Ian+Austin+1954+6+.png" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Collecting Coconuts </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> The island,
roughly twelve </span>kilometres<span lang="EN-US"> by fourteen </span>kilometres<span lang="EN-US">, had a population of approximately 15,000 who lived in twelve small
villages, there was also an Indian administration, a contingent of Indian military personnel and
a few Indian schoolteachers with their families. We learned much about Car Nicobar and its
people during the two months we remained on the island. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> The Nicobari
tribal people were a good-looking, golden-tanned, stocky-built race, full of
good </span>humour<span lang="EN-US"> and leading very contented lives in an orderly and social society.
Crime, as we in the west know it, did not exist; the police post was there
purely to keep the few Indians in order and to cope with the rare influx of
shipwrecked British mariners.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> All trade was
done on a barter system; money was as yet unknown and uncalled for. The Jadwet
brothers controlled all the copra trading and kept a general store that stocked
everything from pencils to sewing machines which they exchanged for dried coconuts
to feed their trade of copra back to mainland India.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> They were but two muslims among an Indian population of Hindus on an island full of Christian Nicobarese.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1mJFeIQO_ni0hoqHtUryDMZmYLgsdOIXRSkw8OlwDtJzEOq238lWUzS5Xd7RZ2Nppnhx6U_XRpWV5GsFLY5GWEh2x7nbmltwJRnpOUCDmveXsZigW4xeC3xkldZ_W11gX5HIF9CMsuPTO/s1600/+Car+Nicobar+Photo+by+Ian+Austin+1954+5+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1mJFeIQO_ni0hoqHtUryDMZmYLgsdOIXRSkw8OlwDtJzEOq238lWUzS5Xd7RZ2Nppnhx6U_XRpWV5GsFLY5GWEh2x7nbmltwJRnpOUCDmveXsZigW4xeC3xkldZ_W11gX5HIF9CMsuPTO/s320/+Car+Nicobar+Photo+by+Ian+Austin+1954+5+.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Always a friendly smile</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Eric and I had formed a bond of friendship from the outset; he was a couple of years
older than me and had spent two years in the army. He and ‘Captain Sam’ were
always at loggerheads and I seemed to be forever acting as a truce maker. Jim
was the quiet one of the group. I often thought of us, not as <i>three men in a boat and a dog</i>, but as <i>three Manchurians and a hog</i>. I am from Hampshire
and the saying goes: ‘If he be from Hampshire, he be an hog’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The compound,
in which we lived and were locked into at night, was close to the village of <i>Chuckchucha</i>. Eric and I became very good
friends with the people of that village. They lived in large extended families
in a group of about ten huge beehive-shaped houses; which were large robust
thatched buildings that stood upon stout eight-foot high coconut poles, and
were accessed by either notched logs or crude ladders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> They were a fun-loving,
carefree Christian people whose religious beliefs were led by a Nicobari bishop
with the western name of John Richardson. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVJ6w_Og5uGNmdO5Yj6lCyr2zkoJzMwh29T8T9fJUHUF2QNTBUfTlC6J7kIxabV3JJD_iASM5UAb_MgFZacI7j9Ns0S9zaLPagK-dl9dh-yCWFd-pzuisObk8qqeaPQya2ljVR-lHlEItC/s1600/1-Bishop+John+Richardson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVJ6w_Og5uGNmdO5Yj6lCyr2zkoJzMwh29T8T9fJUHUF2QNTBUfTlC6J7kIxabV3JJD_iASM5UAb_MgFZacI7j9Ns0S9zaLPagK-dl9dh-yCWFd-pzuisObk8qqeaPQya2ljVR-lHlEItC/s320/1-Bishop+John+Richardson.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bishop John Richardson with his cathedral</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Island life did
not appear to us to be divided into strict periods of work or play, yet they
nevertheless had an unwritten discipline in their lives, things got done and
they maintained a healthy and orderly lifestyle that was conducted for the
benefit of the community.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I became
particular friends with Esau Sampok from <i>Chuckchucha</i>;
he would take me hunting for birds and wild pigs that lived in the interior of
the island, he was always careful to hunt only on land belonging to his
village and to respect the property of others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We were asked
what we wanted to do with our boat, and it was collectively decided to donate
it to the village of Mus where it had been beached – in all the time we had had
it, we had never given it a name, it had always been referred to as, ‘<i>The Boat</i>’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfUF__2SRUg_fj-H0f4mLDF1Y3miL1w-87whdrYeivcyGOUH0Besdyu9009G7ONdQbIYQQAhE6xqLM36IT-B6gcG5TFdcsjTe6OeNza4GIOj7wjBCLZxVFH1N-KQXM_8j2GEiLjFxSuXrO/s1600/+Car+Nicobar+Photo+by+Ian+Austin+1954+7+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfUF__2SRUg_fj-H0f4mLDF1Y3miL1w-87whdrYeivcyGOUH0Besdyu9009G7ONdQbIYQQAhE6xqLM36IT-B6gcG5TFdcsjTe6OeNza4GIOj7wjBCLZxVFH1N-KQXM_8j2GEiLjFxSuXrO/s320/+Car+Nicobar+Photo+by+Ian+Austin+1954+7+.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Choristers at the Cathedral</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Life was good,
but rescue plans were underway … to be continued in story No 21<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/48118920@N02/sets/72157623599448614/">All photographs are from a 1954 collection, taken by and courtesy of Ian R Austin RAF retired.</a></i></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Your Comments are always welcome</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/19-island-disaster.html">Have you read 'Island Disaster' yet? CLICK HERE to read</a></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><i><b><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/16-adrift-in-bangladesh.html">CLICK HERE to read the first in this series of stories</a></b></i></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html">Go to the <i><b>i-story library</b></i> for more stories</a></span></div>
romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-77886394066959570192013-08-10T11:16:00.002+00:002013-11-09T11:14:04.560+00:00Help! Shipwrecked - 19<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="RoysFirstPara">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><i><span style="color: blue;">...continued from stories 16,17 and 18</span></i><span style="font-size: large;">.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;">It was on the thirty-third night of being lost at sea in a 23-foot open Sampan boat bound for Singapore,
that the stars of Life and Death fought for supremacy. We were four
inexperienced young sailors, lost at sea and without food for the past eleven
days.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4wjkNrlCmNTsap-9doStPBo2JHzDz9Xd_UwiaFBMgJ8E1fsRHMv5tYL3AmB6suVyfC2744KOpfLMTgNO8mHQOqpqqzF-9vFIYZEm7YXQdeRWbnxl_dhkd91f_fuOyiD6DpfGLDqT9gM6/s1600/Ian+R+Austin+Car+Nicobar2+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4wjkNrlCmNTsap-9doStPBo2JHzDz9Xd_UwiaFBMgJ8E1fsRHMv5tYL3AmB6suVyfC2744KOpfLMTgNO8mHQOqpqqzF-9vFIYZEm7YXQdeRWbnxl_dhkd91f_fuOyiD6DpfGLDqT9gM6/s320/Ian+R+Austin+Car+Nicobar2+.jpg" width="192" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not the expected paradise - Photo by Ian Austin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Our last landfall had been a disaster; we had
unknowingly beached the boat at high tide and then gone ashore on an
unsuccessful scavenge for food. When we returned the tide was out and the boat
sat stranded high and dry.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We waited for the next high tide but were unable to
fully re-float her before the tide dropped again. It took a full, gut-wrenching
and exhausting day of digging a channel and two further high tides before we
were re-floated again. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Things were desperate; we were sunburnt and weak.
Jim edged in and out of delirium, there appeared to be an unspoken rule not to
refer to the negative side of our predicament, instead, conversation centred
around recollections of the best meals ever eaten and what food each would like
to eat as soon as we landed at Singapore.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> On this thirty-third night, Eric and I, as was usual,
shared the dawn watch from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. It had started off uneventfully,
the weather was clear, warm and fine, a relaxed breeze blew from the north-east
and we had been steering our usual night-time course of due south, at what we
hoped was perhaps ten miles off the coast of Thailand, or if we were lucky,
perhaps Malaya.</span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqOraKnr9wEsoXZEsGOyvlUnfuigHRNZ3yyQfh_KW-P3jt1sbuCcoHJXjJ1ZSThuPGw3iSuno22-Q0TP_ofzwQ7TDw3uVISWk669nf3rkWxR3h8SaTcy3Ql0E8nULjAo39TDNgoA9PO-4p/s1600/Ian+R+Austin+Car+Nicobar3+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqOraKnr9wEsoXZEsGOyvlUnfuigHRNZ3yyQfh_KW-P3jt1sbuCcoHJXjJ1ZSThuPGw3iSuno22-Q0TP_ofzwQ7TDw3uVISWk669nf3rkWxR3h8SaTcy3Ql0E8nULjAo39TDNgoA9PO-4p/s320/Ian+R+Austin+Car+Nicobar3+.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Land but no habitation - photo Ian R Austin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Although we were both weak from lack of food, there
was no excuse for what happened; we had both – on that particular night – fallen
asleep on the tiller. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I was the first to wake, it was daybreak and I
could hear the frightening sound of crashing surf; it was coming from a reef
ahead and to the right of us, beyond which a landmass.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Did I say, to the right of us? With land behind it?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> My God! We must be heading north by mistake. I
looked at the compass, it read due south. <i>Impossible,</i>
I thought<i>. Land should always be to the
left of us, on our port-side.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I kicked Eric awake and yelled below to wake the
others. The wind was almost easterly and we were in imminent danger of being
blown straight on to the reef.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I managed to turn the boat into the wind, but it
was of little use. Eric struggled with the sail, which flapped wildly as we
pitched and yawed. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sam and Jim scrambled to fix up the oars and were
frantically pulling like demented donkeys to get some distance between the
breakers and us, but we were not making any headway.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> All eyes were permanently fixed on the reef and our
impending doom; we were being dragged closer and closer to the huge breakers. We
were weak from exhaustion and fear. ‘God help us! What to do!’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6soIGh3Wf8NdhGhA8aYzeFFu0ge_Wd_oXTjbUJPOekPduEH52v2vTcQBFCrSHsr-ZuJgmcQch181tTQvKLxAz9joK72MC8MCbFfRWCmExvv1whAIKWP3JnSG9LL8d7PosN4Ldgobp2OWU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-08-09+at+20.55.42.png" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6soIGh3Wf8NdhGhA8aYzeFFu0ge_Wd_oXTjbUJPOekPduEH52v2vTcQBFCrSHsr-ZuJgmcQch181tTQvKLxAz9joK72MC8MCbFfRWCmExvv1whAIKWP3JnSG9LL8d7PosN4Ldgobp2OWU/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-08-09+at+20.55.42.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Similar to Indian Navel Patrol boat '<i>Saffeena'</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Then, like some great benefaction from heaven, a
calm but surreal voice came over a loud </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">tannoy</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘Ahoy there, would you be caring for a line?’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I thought I was imagining things, the voice might
just as easily have said, ‘Come in number six, your time is up!’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Again, the calm voice over the tannoy repeated the
request.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I looked in the direction of the voice. <i>My God!</i> I thought.<i> Hell’s bells and bootlaces!<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> There, not forty feet away, was a small naval
patrol vessel, called the M.V. Safeena, it was pitching and rolling as it stood by to throw us a line. In the
panic and noise of the crashing surf, we had not seen nor heard its approach to
us.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6UR-VX32pOjYRUIoQIpGQVWp1GctaDXyOs-cFRwErjnJtBzEy86IfUXTPx68doG4TVaIXPbyUrgsBq2cyZldfal-y4dESdHoEG_ElJjUH09KT4e6-5XxiK41lq0sfbCuQ0uKS9mkPI0aM/s1600/1-Screen+Shot+2013-08-12+at+19.47.42.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6UR-VX32pOjYRUIoQIpGQVWp1GctaDXyOs-cFRwErjnJtBzEy86IfUXTPx68doG4TVaIXPbyUrgsBq2cyZldfal-y4dESdHoEG_ElJjUH09KT4e6-5XxiK41lq0sfbCuQ0uKS9mkPI0aM/s1600/1-Screen+Shot+2013-08-12+at+19.47.42.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very similar construction to our sampan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> A young uniformed rating threw us a line; it fell
short and he quickly retrieved, recoiled, and re-threw it. But again it fell
short into the wildly choppy water around us. Without thinking, I leapt
overboard and grabbed it; but I found I hadn't the strength to swim back to our
boat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvcI4EUdNVGBGTSPeVYebPWoBMiTD9GR4GpFMThoj6tl7T7izZs2n_oTgfy4WICIILmNjmgcHPVz3ivzcYOb-zUxiQv9CK6S_uRDqxT04n7NWBs0CMdzP9ePE1YN_Rj-BSqPNNX8cZgHZq/s1600/Car+Nicobar+pix+to+illustrate+tale+6+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvcI4EUdNVGBGTSPeVYebPWoBMiTD9GR4GpFMThoj6tl7T7izZs2n_oTgfy4WICIILmNjmgcHPVz3ivzcYOb-zUxiQv9CK6S_uRDqxT04n7NWBs0CMdzP9ePE1YN_Rj-BSqPNNX8cZgHZq/s200/Car+Nicobar+pix+to+illustrate+tale+6+.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Throw me a rope someone!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Eric saw my difficulty and instinctively threw me
one of our lines. I seized it and hung on in desperation as he hauled me and our
rescuer’s tow line back aboard, it was quickly hitched up, and in seconds we
were being towed out to sea away from the reef.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Our rescuers came alongside us and introduced
themselves as the Indian Navy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘Indian Navy?’ I said. ‘What is the Indian Navy doing
in Malaya?’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTfY7RSv3aWaSjqEgqx2MNCHjj_kCCGI7RAfikodUUwV5Bk18jQzvhZjP8s1QWuH28Aie7J4irZfXAi1XYYjbK4a0OiIFnuS-o3n-_x2aUqkONntk5L9Pby594SPzlx4qWjzN7Sx_RZ3x/s1600/Car+Nicobar+pix+to+illustrate+tale+5+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTfY7RSv3aWaSjqEgqx2MNCHjj_kCCGI7RAfikodUUwV5Bk18jQzvhZjP8s1QWuH28Aie7J4irZfXAi1XYYjbK4a0OiIFnuS-o3n-_x2aUqkONntk5L9Pby594SPzlx4qWjzN7Sx_RZ3x/s320/Car+Nicobar+pix+to+illustrate+tale+5+.png" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘Oh my goodness me,’ said the officer. ‘I am
telling you, this is not Malaya, this is the island of <i>Car Nicobar</i>. You are in the middle of the Indian Ocean in Indian
Territory. Sumatra is to our south, and Malaya is 800 miles east from here. Please
be letting me show you on the chart.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We looked and saw that the island of <i>Car Nicobar</i> was indeed in the middle of
the Indian Ocean and what is more it was the most westerly of the Andaman and
Nicobar group of islands, many of which overlapped each other and which we had
sailed past thinking it was the mainland of Thailand.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> No wonder it had been on our right, and no wonder
we had kept losing sight of land – we were a long way off course. Had we continued
on our current bearing </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">and not come upon this island, we would have ended up a
month later, starved to death in the Antarctic.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiqz4bO09COUd7Ecy96xW7EdrzYvweaEgLiw1dENa9qbhi_ehDQHZgBBlFq69Tcr9ZDsalxStE3qH-yMtssbV7hfw5qGRJOsJehtsiejYjplhKaH5E0OXh8nFf55dRtcT8sTYX5DMNsRhK/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-08-10+at+12.05.01.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiqz4bO09COUd7Ecy96xW7EdrzYvweaEgLiw1dENa9qbhi_ehDQHZgBBlFq69Tcr9ZDsalxStE3qH-yMtssbV7hfw5qGRJOsJehtsiejYjplhKaH5E0OXh8nFf55dRtcT8sTYX5DMNsRhK/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-08-10+at+12.05.01.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A mere 800 miles off course</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> How lucky can one be? We had been without food for
eleven days and down to our last few pints of rusty water. We were 800 miles
off-course in a 23-foot sampan, with a dubious car compass, a torn sail,
navigating with a chart which didn't even cover this part of the ocean, and
about to capsize on to a reef when, out of nowhere, and to the rescue appeared
not the cavalry but the Indians!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> The tale of our life on the island of Car Nicobar and
eventual rescue will have to wait until next time. </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana;">To be continued in story No 20 …</span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><span style="font-size: large;">Your Comments are always welcome</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/16-adrift-in-bangladesh.html" target="_blank">Click Here to read the first of the four episodes in this saga</a></b></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html">Go to the <b><i>i-story Library</i></b> for more stories</a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com0Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India11.7400867 92.6586400999999573.7641087000000013 82.331491599999964 19.7160647 102.98578859999995tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-89500747252720962752013-08-03T09:03:00.000+00:002013-11-09T11:16:46.934+00:00Lost at Sea -18<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><i>...continued from Stories No 16 & 17</i></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;">The unexpected beaching of our 23-foot Sampan on
the small Burmese island of Regon and subsequent friendship with its village
community was a blessing in disguise, for we were able to enlist the help of
the local villagers to replace a broken kicking strap and repair a sail.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5uDOJyrHNhgGTjhxGmI9WcqYV-ryBFu2aDYFUFPdYwrcdjYEoM_30mIVm-GAr8Vaaz57Oj3Gbaexo726jyepZPDAkarciYDeFISNUedPmas3ODNJkJufkIwT285eTAXq9CdXHB2GZ54A0/s1600/1-J&R04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5uDOJyrHNhgGTjhxGmI9WcqYV-ryBFu2aDYFUFPdYwrcdjYEoM_30mIVm-GAr8Vaaz57Oj3Gbaexo726jyepZPDAkarciYDeFISNUedPmas3ODNJkJufkIwT285eTAXq9CdXHB2GZ54A0/s320/1-J&R04.jpg" width="243" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burmese children - by Bob Martin<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We were also given a walking tour around their
community, and a supply of fresh coconuts, before being assisted to sail out
over the surf into open water on our quest to reach Singapore from Bangladesh.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We had cause to venture into shore again a few days
later, this time to caulk some minor leaks and repair another torn sail. As we
busied ourselves with chores, we were approached by a group of tribal Burmese,
whose village was just along the beach.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Despite our non-existent linguistic communication skills, they kindly
helped us with caulking the leaks and then invited us to their village, where
we were made very welcome, and the centre of much curiosity. As far as we could
understand, we were about eight days walk from the nearest township and the
first foreigners the villagers had seen since the Japanese had passed through
during the 1939–45 world war.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjup5ppaqxARCkeSrWdHTOVrAoW3WMaxV5om4j5vVE1BN9z037ggfL1z_yzfaUfkl7kU8ZLGhjejsH6-Z9Otd7eX4OAfwG573zYDqTV6hpeQdkWkw19KH2tTUZof3vZq-GCgfRPKZP2xFFw/s1600/Sampan+similar+to+'The+Boat'.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjup5ppaqxARCkeSrWdHTOVrAoW3WMaxV5om4j5vVE1BN9z037ggfL1z_yzfaUfkl7kU8ZLGhjejsH6-Z9Otd7eX4OAfwG573zYDqTV6hpeQdkWkw19KH2tTUZof3vZq-GCgfRPKZP2xFFw/s320/Sampan+similar+to+'The+Boat'.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our sampan was similar but smaller and with a mast.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> They gave us a wonderful meal of boiled yams, duck eggs and
pork. Whilst eating, I noticed the headman's son had a badly infected finger. It
was swollen, full of pus and causing him considerable pain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I returned to the boat to fetch a razor blade and
first-aid kit, then with instructions to Eric to firmly hold the young man’s
hand flat on a table and on my command, to look him in the eye and start
talking a lot of nonsense to distract him, I quickly lanced the wound. It was a
messy business, but once dressed with plenty of antiseptic cream, the young man
smiled with obvious relief.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVdYS-yTNLsdUGK5NtrCYXcLxe9WxtNHzIHBrB8kNOdkfif-w2IYhLCgQMZLRzR6sE-KiuCGnzyS73v6Bjo4APqlo_zxWCvSxYJiDTRsxU7pVLN3yLRdAzRYPO_XzXI9Fmbm6krPL9Aanc/s1600/Burma+village+life+Bob+Martin+2013+7+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVdYS-yTNLsdUGK5NtrCYXcLxe9WxtNHzIHBrB8kNOdkfif-w2IYhLCgQMZLRzR6sE-KiuCGnzyS73v6Bjo4APqlo_zxWCvSxYJiDTRsxU7pVLN3yLRdAzRYPO_XzXI9Fmbm6krPL9Aanc/s320/Burma+village+life+Bob+Martin+2013+7+.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">by Bob Martin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Everyone had crowded around to look on in
amazement. Word must have quickly spread around the village that a doctor was
present; for I was suddenly inundated with people presenting me with all manner
of ailments. My only knowledge of medicine was from a Boy Scout first-aid
course and a smattering of old wives’ tales given by my grandmother, basic to
say the least.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> As I started dressing a few cuts and handing out
aspirin to buy myself time to think, a group of young men carrying small
crossbows implore Eric and I to follow them. They led us for two </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">kilometres</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> along a track that went deep into the
jungle, to an isolated hut on high stilts. I climbed the bamboo ladder while
Eric stayed below to keep a lookout. I was shown a man who had apparently lost
his grip whilst climbing a coconut palm and had slid down, tearing the skin off
the inside of his arms and thighs. He was obviously in a great deal of pain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvb32YNjCyp4WBUmD09f1iHJOvxK_LLvTTECCCTUwgTxC_JVH1v0KCAtfnHfPhdPW0lGPk3Xj3K22L1VW8-lzimDotrbTBoTkHj70LspeIN8NzPGmCmOQP0hATA5YGB961bboHbZANf0gX/s1600/Burma+village+life+Bob+Martin+2013+5+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvb32YNjCyp4WBUmD09f1iHJOvxK_LLvTTECCCTUwgTxC_JVH1v0KCAtfnHfPhdPW0lGPk3Xj3K22L1VW8-lzimDotrbTBoTkHj70LspeIN8NzPGmCmOQP0hATA5YGB961bboHbZANf0gX/s320/Burma+village+life+Bob+Martin+2013+5+.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burmese villagers - Bob Martin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I pulled out the shards of palm bark, dressed the
wounds as best I could, and quickly returned to the village. I was not only out
of my depth, but quickly running out of creams and aspirins, so we made our excuses
to leave, swam out to our boat and continued an offshore southerly sail.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> The most south-westerly point of Burma is called
Cape Negrais and it was there that we had problems trying to sail southeast
around it. The winds, currents, and tides were against us. After much discussion,
we decided one evening to try sailing south into the open sea of the Malacca
Strait, then attempt to sail east again the following day. It was our first
time to sail out of sight of land.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0lIYUC9FYqL5kjhgBNtPe3VVg7yy_-4iUDdhReBpc0yNICluIqupdA3C9kMg3MsxyfeZsSf9OireRw_PIr-f9Svx0eZlgenl1INqHEEH15L2Tv0oweL-fI3Ui52RVon8lUtOXxkJ-Y2SK/s1600/Indein%25202nd%2520village%25205+copy.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0lIYUC9FYqL5kjhgBNtPe3VVg7yy_-4iUDdhReBpc0yNICluIqupdA3C9kMg3MsxyfeZsSf9OireRw_PIr-f9Svx0eZlgenl1INqHEEH15L2Tv0oweL-fI3Ui52RVon8lUtOXxkJ-Y2SK/s320/Indein%25202nd%2520village%25205+copy.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Always a happy smile- by Bob Martin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> The idea seemed sound enough, but in </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">practise</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> <span lang="EN-US">it didn’t work quite as we had
hoped. A full six days passed before we sighted land again, during which we had
tried to flag down a passing ship to ask directions, but they had just waved
back at us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Spotting land was a huge relief, but we hadn’t a
clue where we were; our best guess was somewhere in the Strait of Malacca, off
the coast of Thailand.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We had, by now, been at sea about two and a half
weeks, our food store was dangerously low, and to make matters worse the
coastline disappeared again overnight. There were suggestions and
recriminations that perhaps one of the night watches had fallen asleep and
sailed off course!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLyvT9v-e7dp2Exz4oou1xjCo7aLa1MjBU1-jnAi-zzU0wuJkPCPJY5PmH0KhzTLlZTvcQttPl-7xYyILjnZ2AFN_6pK30PTOTP0v2OLo9L_I1KRi-Jpr6aE1WEFsEJSRgHXWZgI8PrXf/s1600/Burma+village+life+Bob+Martin+2013+2+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGLyvT9v-e7dp2Exz4oou1xjCo7aLa1MjBU1-jnAi-zzU0wuJkPCPJY5PmH0KhzTLlZTvcQttPl-7xYyILjnZ2AFN_6pK30PTOTP0v2OLo9L_I1KRi-Jpr6aE1WEFsEJSRgHXWZgI8PrXf/s320/Burma+village+life+Bob+Martin+2013+2+.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burmese coastal fishermen - by Bob Martin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> However, land was eventually sighted again and we
made for the shore in the hope of finding some form of habitation. Four pairs
of eyes scanned the coastline, but all that could be seen for miles was the
debris of fallen dead trees, no doubt the result of a violent storm. Beyond the
debris lay dense verdant jungle. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We spotted a tiny, protected, clear cove where we beached
on to a sharp sandy fall-off, threw the anchor over a dead tree and stood there
in the quiet heat of the day not knowing quite what to do next.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘Eh up!’ said Jim, pointing into the dense forest,
‘that there’s a deer in’t it?’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘Aye, ’tis too’ whispered Sam. ‘We’ll eat well
tonight lads.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0iYco3SpG4idA7hnsyN3JmfKljpVzFEpDA2ymmzBv5Nu4fjZ2QfWIAYFaGMck56B1mH1-5AJ20QtNNII-QLP7zKb7IXCwhTG4RPRCZ1_N47q77Ccaf9-UetyD5ZotgCgtCN8Ni1-HPg4G/s1600/1-Sampan+Bangladesh++Mamunur+6+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0iYco3SpG4idA7hnsyN3JmfKljpVzFEpDA2ymmzBv5Nu4fjZ2QfWIAYFaGMck56B1mH1-5AJ20QtNNII-QLP7zKb7IXCwhTG4RPRCZ1_N47q77Ccaf9-UetyD5ZotgCgtCN8Ni1-HPg4G/s320/1-Sampan+Bangladesh++Mamunur+6+.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By Mamunur, Bangladesh </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Excitedly, we made plans to hunt them. Sam decided
to rely on throwing his knife, Jim made a fearsome looking spear and Eric and I
decided to rig up a rope trap. We set off through the line of dead trees and
into the forest; the plan was to keep within earshot of each other to avoid
becoming lost.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Eric and I worked together setting up our trap with
bait and then hid behind a tree. For two hours we crouched in the hot, sticky
humidity of the forest, barely moving a muscle. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Two small deer were spotted moving slowly toward
our traps. We dare hardly breathe in case we frightened them, ‘Come my little
beauties,’ I murmured to myself, as they inched their way unwittingly toward us.
They were within two feet of our trap; should we take the chance and spring it
now or let them keep coming? Ah …decisions, decisions!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Suddenly their heads jerked up in fear and they
dashed off as a loud crashing noise came through the forest, of someone or
something approaching,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘I bet it’s that ruddy idiot Sam,’ growled Eric.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTb9X4fUqzICcPRD2x4_ofm3_xSgi-9WSKDNC23WGIMG7hJPkHQ4cDy7zhwZvIjxEljKdcwLgsuZGLrM9bEiQ80H9w_d0lnkk2bGWK5fYEtmZciLwUZD7X4qyvRq7V1aszwBw2HfmUDAKb/s1600/Photo+by+Adhi+Rachdian+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTb9X4fUqzICcPRD2x4_ofm3_xSgi-9WSKDNC23WGIMG7hJPkHQ4cDy7zhwZvIjxEljKdcwLgsuZGLrM9bEiQ80H9w_d0lnkk2bGWK5fYEtmZciLwUZD7X4qyvRq7V1aszwBw2HfmUDAKb/s320/Photo+by+Adhi+Rachdian+.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Komodo Dragon - by Adhi Rachdian</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> It was every man for himself. Eric and I suddenly
found ourselves high up in a tree without any recollection of having climbed
there. Meanwhile this ... this thing, which we were later told was a Komodo Dragon,
continued on its purposeful drooling way toward the beach.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We yelled for the others to join us and abandoned
the hunt. We stayed close together whilst gingerly making our way back to the
boat, en route we spotted several more of these monsters. It was with great
relief that we clambered back on board to sail out into the relative safety of
the sea and a supper of cold chapatti.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9zN-pro4W0p53PdTV0eG-Dopypw8BSaz1ZnhvHk-HHHUrMaLRfHmf9TJllktjr8hNeQseJ7TCetdeKRjLjlvD_swXVZXbCKGpTY9xI17VPVkGUdwb8Hrrb1tiIZxa_w3jkY1nZJZ659IN/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-08-01+at+21.29.09.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9zN-pro4W0p53PdTV0eG-Dopypw8BSaz1ZnhvHk-HHHUrMaLRfHmf9TJllktjr8hNeQseJ7TCetdeKRjLjlvD_swXVZXbCKGpTY9xI17VPVkGUdwb8Hrrb1tiIZxa_w3jkY1nZJZ659IN/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-08-01+at+21.29.09.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A fearsome creature - by Adhi Rachdian</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> During the next twelve days, we lost sight of land
on all but two days. On the first occasion, we ventured onto a small island in
search of food, but to no avail.</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Much of our food supplies had either gone off
or had been damaged from seawater; we were surviving on a small amount of flour
and the remains of rusty water kept in the oil drums of our ‘life raft’. For
all intents and purposes, we were out of food, and had been so for eleven days.
Our failed attempts to fish were pitiful. We were lost, hungry and exhausted...This tale continues in story No 19 </span></span><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; text-align: center;">When disaster strikes</span></span></i></div>
<!--EndFragment--><span style="font-size: large;">Your Comments are always welcome</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/16-adrift-in-bangladesh.html" target="_blank">This is the 3rd episode of this series of short stories.</a></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/16-adrift-in-bangladesh.html"><span style="color: red;">Click here to read the first on</span><span style="color: #674ea7;">e episode</span></a></b></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: #674ea7;"><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html">Go to the i-story library for more stories</a></span></b></span></div>
romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-84102852409965541612013-07-26T22:58:00.002+00:002013-11-09T11:18:32.668+00:00Indian Ocean in a Junk - 17<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="RoysFirstPara">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>...continued from story No 16</i></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">As explained
in the previous episode, the three lads from Manchester and myself were about
to steal away from Chittagong, in southeast Bangladesh, under the cover of darkness, to
sail in a 23-foot open fishing boat to Singapore. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_M_ISARJvF7q0u3LwVvS1yTigJIQNM0vJvB1fCnL_Z-Q9RMqSIrY5bYgYYOISMwwhs6ZADt16eFHMKlZoK0u4A-rjjwjB_wZ35ryqm4FQsLTVrwndJ2N9lmY-QD3n01goopXSSyfV1dnT/s1600/Sampan+Bangladesh++Mamunur+1+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_M_ISARJvF7q0u3LwVvS1yTigJIQNM0vJvB1fCnL_Z-Q9RMqSIrY5bYgYYOISMwwhs6ZADt16eFHMKlZoK0u4A-rjjwjB_wZ35ryqm4FQsLTVrwndJ2N9lmY-QD3n01goopXSSyfV1dnT/s320/Sampan+Bangladesh++Mamunur+1+.png" width="320" /></span></a><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> Despite
stocking our Sampan boat with enough provisions for three weeks and having the
enthusiasm of youth, we were nevertheless ill prepared; none of us had any
experience of sailing a boat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> Our departure
was a fiasco! It took two hours of cursing in whispers as we untangled ropes
and figured out how to haul up the huge heavy canvas sail in the dead of night,
though quite why we did so I'll never know, for there wasn't a breath of wind
anywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> By 1 am, a
river mist had descended and we finally pushed ourselves away from the
riverbank. Ahead, lay thirteen miles of congested river and backwaters to
navigate before coming to the open sea.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> Perhaps
navigate is too precise a word, for we pirouette in eddies, bouncing off unlit
moored Sampans, became entangled in the anchor ropes of fishing boats and
generally struggled to row and row, whilst drifting downriver with whatever
currents seemed to find us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> By 9 am, the
morning mist had lifted and we discovered that we were only as far as the main
port and in the main shipping channel, large cargo ships impatiently blew their
horns at us to keep out of their way.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM9etIO6AnB19-OnCnx04OngTc0QKLDTzIdDhS7eZPzsCkWY3BlYDOEyWCob2LIpy8kq198UDAG4t75qSDq1v7dDvtZTk1STOsGUMwBIzukA0eiVtMlhemisqhDkvXn6FtU32-K2Y2K9Js/s1600/Bengal+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM9etIO6AnB19-OnCnx04OngTc0QKLDTzIdDhS7eZPzsCkWY3BlYDOEyWCob2LIpy8kq198UDAG4t75qSDq1v7dDvtZTk1STOsGUMwBIzukA0eiVtMlhemisqhDkvXn6FtU32-K2Y2K9Js/s320/Bengal+.png" width="248" /></span></a><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> The day dragged
on as we continued to drift toward the open sea. Sweat from the heat of the day
streaked our blacken faces; it was like being in a bad pantomime. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> It was 5 pm, before we finally managed to sail far enough offshore to be safely in international
waters. Not once had we been challenged, despite having faces that looked more
like zebras than local fishermen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> In the days
that followed, we gradually came to terms with handling the mainsail, topsail,
ropes, and tiller. We divided ourselves into two watches: Sam and Jim were on
one watch, with Eric and myself on the <o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">other, each team alternating every four
hours during the hours of darkness, with a much freer and relaxed arrangement
during the daytime.</span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> Sam, because of
his advance years – aged twenty-five –became the self-styled captain.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> I was elected
head cook by default, because of my hotel management training. Eric became the
handyman/comedian, whilst poor Jim was too busy being seasick to have time to
do much else.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQOaHF8eKKdaK5ustT_LU87k9o6WsDEGt97QyJwihg1hAbCqGIYeMM1GXeVhPm94lsc6RHsZdCRJHJEYsIfHZKsT7jckN01Jm50YMWX5QufmaDX9BZW8-zO1FrVP3ZrH8HguNyLdZYWjEe/s1600/Diptarko.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQOaHF8eKKdaK5ustT_LU87k9o6WsDEGt97QyJwihg1hAbCqGIYeMM1GXeVhPm94lsc6RHsZdCRJHJEYsIfHZKsT7jckN01Jm50YMWX5QufmaDX9BZW8-zO1FrVP3ZrH8HguNyLdZYWjEe/s1600/Diptarko.JPG" /></span></a><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> We kept the
coast of Burma to our left and steered a steady course southward by way of our
small but very efficient oil-filled car compass. The compass was rigged onto
the rear end of our home-built life raft, which also acted as a deck and roof
to our otherwise open boat. In the event of capsizing this rather inelegant
structure was designed to float free and save us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> Over the next
couple of days we settled into a routine of keeping the boat within sight of
the coast and occasionally disentangling ourselves from fishing nets. We also mastered
the art of climbing over the aft of the boat to crouch and hang on to the
tiller, whilst our backsides did what nature intended. A task not easily
achieved without constantly being half dunked into the sea, yet at the same
time ignore the continuous barrage of quips from ones shipmates.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> One evening, at
about 10 pm, we heard the distant noise of rushing water; Sam said that it was
probably a river rushing to meet the sea.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> ‘No!’ said
Eric, ‘It’s got to be a waterfall crashing over some cliffs in t' sea.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdKVzTIMapHT8Yqc_-fnZ4RAAjYoO6bwZrX104bwvwzUZHgjx_C6-cT8zddB6pSrgls5QNBMt3PjExApQxasy3r3rSFjBxuYFesmZuHdYzAVlUEWZWM9XM-ndb1ZA6f0UfrYGhi6cLyPgf/s1600/Sampan+Bangladesh++Mamunur+6+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdKVzTIMapHT8Yqc_-fnZ4RAAjYoO6bwZrX104bwvwzUZHgjx_C6-cT8zddB6pSrgls5QNBMt3PjExApQxasy3r3rSFjBxuYFesmZuHdYzAVlUEWZWM9XM-ndb1ZA6f0UfrYGhi6cLyPgf/s320/Sampan+Bangladesh++Mamunur+6+.png" width="320" /></span></a><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> We ventured a
little closer to find out what it might be; the noise became louder and louder. Suddenly, all hell broke loose; we felt the boat being lifted and it shot
forward at a terrific rate. Bodies were thrown in all directions. Shouts of:
‘Steer away!’, ‘Bloody heck!’, ‘Hang on!’, ‘Who's on Tiller?’, ‘Put the anchor out!’,
‘Grab the oars!’, ‘Where's Jim?’, ‘Drop the topsail!’, and ‘Ooh heck!’, could
be heard.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> Then as
suddenly as it had started, it was over and the noise and waves were behind us.
A landmass, with one or two lights, could be seen just ahead. We were thirty
feet from a beach and had just had our first encounter with something called
surf.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> ‘Don't panic
lads,’ said Captain Sam. ‘I'll dive over and take a line ashore.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> With that, he
grabbed a coil of rope and did a marvelous dive off the bow, only to crumple
into a heap in two feet of water.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> The fear of
just a few moments ago was immediately dissipated as Jim, Eric, and I, fell
into convulsions of laughter at the sight of Sam in the spotlight of our torch,
in water up to the knees, rubbing his head with a look of stunned surprise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> Once our mirth
had subsided, we quickly put an anchor behind us and pulled ourselves back into
deeper water. We collectively decided to stay put until the following day
before attempting to sail back out into deep water again, but before we settled
down, we heard strange voices and saw flaming torches move along the beach.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> What should we
do? We were trapped between the fury of the surf and an unknown friend or foe.
We quickly decided that three of us should swim ashore and face the enemy. We
armed ourselves with weapons: a kitchen knife, a bamboo stick and an aluminum
saucepan.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> As we emerged
from the sea we could just make out a small group of half-naked people in the
moonlight, each of whom carried what appeared to be spears or long sticks. We
very timidly called a greeting and started to approach them, but as we did so,
they turned and fled, then turned to face us again. This happened several times
and each time we were getting further away from the beach – were they leading
us into a trap? We prepared to make a run back to the boat in case they
attacked us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> After some ten
to fifteen tense minutes, we could see by the number of flaming torches that
the group had become a crowd and we were near to a small village.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> A young man
stepped forward and said: ‘I teacher, what name?’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> It was such a
great relief to hear English spoken! The tension that had built up was suddenly
gone and everyone tried to speak at once. The young Burmese man was overwhelmed
with attempts to speak halting English and translate into Burmese at the same
time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> It transpired
that we had come ashore at a small Burmese island off the Island of Akyab. It
was just one mile long by a quarter-mile wide and became two islands at high
tide, cutting its one village in half.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> We were taken
to meet the headman and other elders in a large thatched bamboo house
that stood on short stilts; the interior was lit by oil in coconut shells. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> Being relatively
large towering foreigners, we were a strange ‘once in a lifetime’ sight. The
whole village arrived and were crowding their way in, until suddenly, the
building swayed with all the extra weight, moved sideways and collapsed in a
heap of thatch, bodies, chicken, squealing pigs and dust. There were shrieks of
laughter all round and not an angry word from anyone, least of all the headman.
It was a wonder that nothing caught fire from the flames of the open coconut
lamps.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">We were among
friends … to be continued next week.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <i>Unfortunately, no photographs survived this voyage. I would welcome any pics to help illustrate these stories,my thanks to Mamunur Rahman and Diptarki for their photos.</i></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><b><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/16-adrift-in-bangladesh.html" target="_blank">This is the second episode of six stories in this series.</a></b></i></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><b><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/16-adrift-in-bangladesh.html" target="_blank">Click Here to read the first story</a></b></i></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Go to the <b><i><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html">i-story library</a></i></b> for more stories</span></span></div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Your Comments are always welcome</span>romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com0Chittagong, Bangladesh22.330391 91.82518000000004622.0953815 91.502456500000051 22.5654005 92.147903500000041tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-10186629651217962602013-07-21T19:02:00.001+00:002013-10-30T19:56:05.370+00:00 Adrift in Bangladesh - 16<a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/plain-english.html" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Is English your second language? Click here for a simplified </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">version of the </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">English dialogue</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">An adventure-packed overland journey through nine countries had brought me to the shipping port of Chittagong; </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">a city that lies
tucked away in the southeast corner of Bangladesh close to the Burmese border. I was low on funds and in need of somewhere to sleep.</span><br />
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNsXsfIkBab9hJkfLTW0WcYQ3IShr2UwIt2_h66Bnt57ipiqIsSJYfk6M37zH0D6G-B2KHlcAJejly20ozuCPtmlw00sBNg-I9ip0vZK4GQ0ifYvnnsyaeiGlKnSGG1gGYs9xi5jzRdAs/s1600/Roy+Romsey+travels+through+Persia.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNsXsfIkBab9hJkfLTW0WcYQ3IShr2UwIt2_h66Bnt57ipiqIsSJYfk6M37zH0D6G-B2KHlcAJejly20ozuCPtmlw00sBNg-I9ip0vZK4GQ0ifYvnnsyaeiGlKnSGG1gGYs9xi5jzRdAs/s320/Roy+Romsey+travels+through+Persia.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Travelling through Persia</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggNsXsfIkBab9hJkfLTW0WcYQ3IShr2UwIt2_h66Bnt57ipiqIsSJYfk6M37zH0D6G-B2KHlcAJejly20ozuCPtmlw00sBNg-I9ip0vZK4GQ0ifYvnnsyaeiGlKnSGG1gGYs9xi5jzRdAs/s1600/Roy+Romsey+travels+through+Persia.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I traipsed the dust filled streets and
alleyways of Chittagong until I found cheap accommodation at the <i>Hotel Flushing</i>, so called because it had
what was laughingly considered a flush toilet. In fact, it was nothing more
than a pair of concrete footprints astride a long open gully into which water
from a bucket could be sluiced. However, it was a great improvement upon many
of the places I had stayed at in the months since leaving England.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I peeled the rucksack from my aching back
and dumped it at the foot of the rope-strung <i>Charpoy</i> bed, then without undressing, I stood under the cold shower
and felt the dust, perspiration and worries of the day wash away. I was in need
of a miracle; the Burmese border was closed to foreigners and I had but £9 to
get me to Singapore.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/joiseyshowaa/2433941788/%22%3Ejoiseyshowaa%3C/a%3E%20via%20%3Ca%20href=%22http://photopin.com%22%3Ephotopin%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20href=%22http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/%22%3Ecc%3C/a%3E" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb8tlbKVAujhh2KBXPYypWuawpc1vxEEy1xs4m57NJrnFP3c1_yiKam8hcH7lKA-uZkRxmbKsEiF2WlDHl3_sFY3fKDQiUrwnzMt3xr9Ose0b_Xj2HJhdmTnSkitzZ9KHh9O7zG8MuBO3a/s320/Chittagong+1+.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Chittagong rush hour</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Refreshed, and in clean but wrinkled
clothes, I sat on the window ledge, desperately hoping to catch the merest
suggestion of a breeze in order to keep the heat and humidity at bay. Below, in
the busy Betel Nut splattered street, all of humanity seemed to be passing. In
amongst the cacophony of rickshaw bells, horns, animal bleats, and general
human hubbub, I heard some familiar North Country voices, cursing and
complaining.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I scanned the crowds and spotted three
scruffy and harassed-looking Europeans, whom I recognised immediately as Sam,
Jim, and Alan; the ever-quarrelling, oddball overlanders from Manchester.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I had run into them outside the desert
township of Kerman in southeastern Persia a month before; they had been
travelling in a dilapidated second-hand army jeep, accompanied by Australian
George, who was attempting to return home on a motorcycle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVItX9S99wuIa4cfvb7s_ptUBNPQjiUSQzv0Dv5uWymEW8n43p552pAvhGKjoPTF6_8J4QP6qjRXXFPs1xrwzeVJaaWljU1L8jryA8MAPnFBbz0Pmki_mvk-pnTcqqF8suksUsGN0AcTq3/s400/rt61+persia+kerman.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Hitching a lift across Baluchistan desert</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVItX9S99wuIa4cfvb7s_ptUBNPQjiUSQzv0Dv5uWymEW8n43p552pAvhGKjoPTF6_8J4QP6qjRXXFPs1xrwzeVJaaWljU1L8jryA8MAPnFBbz0Pmki_mvk-pnTcqqF8suksUsGN0AcTq3/s1600/rt61+persia+kerman.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> On that occasion, I had managed to
persuade them to reluctantly give me a lift on the bonnet of their shared jeep.
We were all attempting to cross the desert of Baluchistan into Pakistan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Their vehicle had been weighed down with
provisions, sleeping bags, bodies, and about twenty flimsy cans of petrol tied
haphazardly in, on, and over the vehicle. Everyone smoked like troopers,
without a thought to the danger around them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Hey, Sam,’ I shouted out. ‘What’s new?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Eeh! Booody heck, luke oos ’ere? We've
sold t' jeep for £100 and bought a boat, but we've nowt cash left fer food and
ropes like. Diya want t' join us?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Without a second thought, I yelled, ‘Count
me in.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEsSowuR8krOKpxzY4bjGoS0SAZrKlVJYbTxA4YGfzQJesH521ff5V2j8nZZtll8VW5pp48GnjhcIMBWq_jbnRN2RXSfXrSKWoCRPTK7hOoMxqOrrVtXhEDqyE4H0ww9ivHIbHauxPFHfX/s320/Roy+old+trav+bw+pix+(14).JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Enjoying Tea with ditch diggers</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEsSowuR8krOKpxzY4bjGoS0SAZrKlVJYbTxA4YGfzQJesH521ff5V2j8nZZtll8VW5pp48GnjhcIMBWq_jbnRN2RXSfXrSKWoCRPTK7hOoMxqOrrVtXhEDqyE4H0ww9ivHIbHauxPFHfX/s1600/Roy+old+trav+bw+pix+(14).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I
instantly stuffed my mosquito net and metal water canteen into my rucksack and
rushed down to the street to join them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The ‘boat’ turned out to be a bare, open-topped,
23-foot locally-made <i>Sampan</i>, used for
river trade and fishing, and built of what appeared to be old railway sleepers.
Before setting sail, it would need just about everything one could think of. I
promised to obtain all the food and ropes they needed as my share of the
venture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The fact that none of us knew anything
about sailing had not really occurred to us. Surely, it was just a case of
following the coastlines of Burma, Thailand, and Malay as far as Singapore, turn
left and then, ‘Look out Australia, here we come!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> My first call was to the Bangladeshi
office of the famous Lipton tea company. There, I persuaded the local
management to donate a large wooden chest full of tea-dust.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhTp_ca21VpBKxVcC_iHHsO_ikYuz2fcPSY1PtRdTDsG1gOp4jDTbfZ8_bXP0B7DvELNWCg0RfIDfw1nitfhMrp-zV3imuMxfDqaN4tM5OGybT4EwnkGei5BxBvWK7vViHKoWKuO0fix8I/s320/Chittagong+2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Back street Bazaar</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelfoleyphotography/2511230463/%20photo%20credit:%20%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelfoleyphotography/2511230463/%22%3EMichael%20Foley%20Photography%3C/a%3E%20via%20%3Ca%20href=%22http://photopin.com%22%3Ephotopin%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20href=%22http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/%22%3Ecc%3C/a%3E" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘This is the best I can offer you,’ said
the man from Lipton. ‘You might be able to exchange some of it for other goods
in the market. In any event, I wish you every success with your sea voyage,
though rather you than me.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> And that was how I came to be squatting in
a dusty, backstreet bazaar of Chittagong selling paper bags which I had filled
with Lipton tea-dust, little realising that my as yet unknown future wife was
at that very moment across the border in Calcutta swotting for her exams. I
wonder what she might have thought, had she known that I was squatting like a <i>Chai Wallah</i> selling tea dust in
Chittagong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlY5xQfA5F7HK2GwVTSIvum-oYz4TD_KhuH6xlp_-fC2c3ynyHmep4eLbrnpfLtBBk89_h4jazZHbNW8T224ZK1HVJ42DW-7cv-N6QdIT1zwR2YGmHeZaQxfL2PzvQ5hEVzG6hpkwORzLs/s1600/Photo+by+John+Pavelka+2008.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlY5xQfA5F7HK2GwVTSIvum-oYz4TD_KhuH6xlp_-fC2c3ynyHmep4eLbrnpfLtBBk89_h4jazZHbNW8T224ZK1HVJ42DW-7cv-N6QdIT1zwR2YGmHeZaQxfL2PzvQ5hEVzG6hpkwORzLs/s320/Photo+by+John+Pavelka+2008.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>A market trader neighbour</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It was the week before Christmas and all
was well, it may not be everyone's idea of how to spend the festive
period, but for me it was pure magic. I had the best gifts of all: vim, vigour,
the ambition of youth, and the prospect of embarking on yet another adventure
in my journey of hiking around the world. I had set out with the intention of
travelling for two years, little realising that it would be seven years before
I returned home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Within a week of meeting up with the others, I
had managed to beg, borrow, and practically steal everything from food and
ropes to shackles and bamboo poles. Our greatest acquisition was the friendship
of a Mr Macdonald, a locally based Australian shipping agent. With his network
of friends we procured a lorry load of gravel to act as ballast, timber and
empty oil drums to make a life raft, ocean charts, tools, bags of rice, flour,
tins of biscuits, and sundry other items, all of which were deemed necessary
for this epic but reckless journey we were about to undertake.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS9kQnAnBRycjMu3T8CqE2m0iZotpngIft_kC_SD-2OHjtOHpj7PZ4XdfD_-7c5XKmWKqjoViA3a7Ga5C6ZDfkmSO7WLvTyCiK8hMABJfkk2iC8SqE_PTOKbWwW1ubCinWykOdIOn4wuS-/s320/Chittagong+3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Life is fun when you are young</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/monjurulhoque/3659412345/%20href=%22http://www.flickr.com/photos/monjurulhoque/3659412345/%22%3Ewww.MonjurulHoque.com%3C/a%3E%20via%20%3Ca%20href=%22http://photopin.com%22%3Ephotopin%3C/a%3E%20%3Ca%20href=%22http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/%22%3Ecc%3C/a%3E" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Australian George had meanwhile turned up
in Chittagong; he took one look at the boat and said: ‘<i>Jeez</i>! You fellas have got to be two sandwiches short of a picnic,’ and
with that, he took off to book himself a deck passage on a freight ship to
Penang.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Within three weeks, we had just about
everything we thought necessary – with the exception of experience of course,
which we would obtain as soon as we set sail. However, to do so, we required
four different export documents, none of which were forthcoming.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The longer we delayed, the more we ate
into our food stocks; we could delay no longer. In desperation, we decided to
slip surreptitiously away under the cover of darkness, disguised as Pakistani
fishermen with blackened faces and wearing loincloths.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Let the voyage commence … </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This account continues. See No 17 - Adrift in Bay of Bengal<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/floranda.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><b>Click here to read what happened the last time Roy decided to go to sea.</b></span> </a></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Your Comments are always welcome</span>romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-12954120961187022512013-07-10T09:00:00.001+00:002013-11-08T10:30:20.651+00:00Charity is a Gift - 15<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 20px;"><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/plain-english.html" target="_blank">If English your second language? click here for a simplified version of the dialogue.</a></span><br />
<div>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, Palatino Linotype, Palatino, serif;"><span style="font-size: 20px;"> </span></span><i style="font-family: Verdana;">...Continuation from</i><i style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-large;"> <a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/14-homeless-in-billings.html" target="_blank">‘Homeless in Billings’</a>.</i><br />
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Being ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ or ‘Homeless in
Billings’ had not featured in our plans when we set out to leisurely cross
America by Greyhound bus. However, on arrival at Billings, Montana, we found
that two conferences and the Montana State Rodeo had filled all available hotel
rooms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwOdS5M8Z1_zFoAA58yFowIaIBGvS0nj2VBu7xmkzTaaAoGQB6ExWTOQpK3R74UKgu2ZcbAeZyLHsT3Kh9iaMyRfnHwHFMen29ACa4hfD29LDiN9sWywVkPyNheHtS-H-98D1hydHMftAs/s1600/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+8+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwOdS5M8Z1_zFoAA58yFowIaIBGvS0nj2VBu7xmkzTaaAoGQB6ExWTOQpK3R74UKgu2ZcbAeZyLHsT3Kh9iaMyRfnHwHFMen29ACa4hfD29LDiN9sWywVkPyNheHtS-H-98D1hydHMftAs/s1600/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+8+.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Montana Rescue Mission</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> There was therefore no room at the inn for us. And
so it was, that on a cold October night, we found ourselves officially
‘Homeless in Billings.’ We could either, sleep on a cold bench at the Greyhound
Bus depot, or, ‘go with the flow Joe’ and allow ourselves to be rescued by the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">‘Montana Mission for Homeless Women and
Children.</i> We chose the latter, and were allocated a warm cot space in the
‘Bozeman Room’ at their Lincoln Inn refuge. (Read full details in previous
story, no.14)</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHEfYZdpG5jOJihrBC3iSIBwSQzsDZcx_1YDP28LtpTiuwUQPqYcRtCC_P1BJ5Qxpzx-kPX0gowquuqAvP5TlhumvcLQoWOjWo_pV4HEl48CslUw1guCh4oKdgudPnK8GXIAdxFHnGfOlk/s1600/Grey+Hound+Billings+Montana+Street+at+night+time+4+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHEfYZdpG5jOJihrBC3iSIBwSQzsDZcx_1YDP28LtpTiuwUQPqYcRtCC_P1BJ5Qxpzx-kPX0gowquuqAvP5TlhumvcLQoWOjWo_pV4HEl48CslUw1guCh4oKdgudPnK8GXIAdxFHnGfOlk/s320/Grey+Hound+Billings+Montana+Street+at+night+time+4+.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Experiencing America by Greyhound Bus </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> It seemed we had hardly closed our eyes, when the
shrill sound of a tannoy system just outside our door awoke us:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘It’s 6.30 a.m. Please rise, and git yuh rooms
cleaned and ready for inspection. Breakfast will be served in forty-five
minutes. Check your name on the chore list at the front desk,’ shrilled the
tannoy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I peered over the bedcover into the early morning
gloom, and saw a chipped washbasin, thin floral curtains, and a threadbare
carpet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> What a dump!</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> I thought. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What an awful time to be woken up! What a... what a cozy bed! Weren't
we lucky not to have slept at the Greyhound bus depot?</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTqB0CbCVmcW7qclxlSLSgUwXD-ixzV61OfoogoJpHVL9WhFZqkEv2oc2VbaipYQuXCmUuG7Iqb2chm_WFr22F2WaahcmAHewSsuxEogk6KZqkjiOWMMJiFe75P8IBmJtoVilfjDZqXeut/s1600/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+5+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTqB0CbCVmcW7qclxlSLSgUwXD-ixzV61OfoogoJpHVL9WhFZqkEv2oc2VbaipYQuXCmUuG7Iqb2chm_WFr22F2WaahcmAHewSsuxEogk6KZqkjiOWMMJiFe75P8IBmJtoVilfjDZqXeut/s320/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+5+.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Breakfast time</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> We peeled the bed from our backs, tidied the room, and
went self-consciously down to the dining room. It was heaving with eighty
homeless families busy helping themselves from large buckets of cereals, crates
of milk cartons, and trays of huge blueberry<i> </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">muffins; all donated by local
businesses. Jean and I shared a muffin, but were too embarrassed to put our
names down for the lunch and dinner, which was included in the $6 charge for
board and lodging.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIi-swb6Bhbg7KOzaX9J650pfwnuRlnkS59rPftH2SZeFt78JKdARSwxcosMYUxkSy0PuBkKar4-WH1W2gud8VM8kdweXGmXz7UJXd7qiQQOq7-LtydtGKl9TkcHJeumCyWtd94Q8AGzX/s1600/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+4+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIi-swb6Bhbg7KOzaX9J650pfwnuRlnkS59rPftH2SZeFt78JKdARSwxcosMYUxkSy0PuBkKar4-WH1W2gud8VM8kdweXGmXz7UJXd7qiQQOq7-LtydtGKl9TkcHJeumCyWtd94Q8AGzX/s320/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+4+.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Service before self</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">The Mission had arranged for us to visit the rodeo
that evening, so we were committed to staying another night. We checked the
chore list and were listed to help serve lunch the next day. We had a free day
ahead of us.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Billings proved to be a remarkable place. We
enquired at a local store for directions to catch a bus to an out-of-town
shopping mall.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘Yuh mean yuh ain’t got no car! I ain’t never met
no one who ain’t got no car. Here take my keys, but be back before 5 p.m. when
I close up shop.’ <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;">We thanked the owner for his kindness, but politely
declined.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr34zk71R-2IrhkiPaN0k-xOBSNZFCmVdWcXZ6WAtlbDv0HUYivE5drgnl2DbAyRjJMRGaURY_oxhaXW2TbhaOEHukWt6rkdZVj7xGAIlHMauQAfNq9bUJOdhjMjE0dY5z3WrlrRzPl7gC/s1600/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+3+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr34zk71R-2IrhkiPaN0k-xOBSNZFCmVdWcXZ6WAtlbDv0HUYivE5drgnl2DbAyRjJMRGaURY_oxhaXW2TbhaOEHukWt6rkdZVj7xGAIlHMauQAfNq9bUJOdhjMjE0dY5z3WrlrRzPl7gC/s320/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+3+.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Always a helping hand</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Later in the day, we met the manager of the mall
who was a Rotarian. We were so busy chatting over coffee that we forgot that
our status was ‘Homeless in Billings’. It was only when he insisted on driving
us back to our hotel that we had to confess to staying at a mission for the
homeless. Why is it that the earth never opens up to swallow you when you most
want it?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Waiting at the refuge were our homeless compatriots
anxious to take six chubby waifs and us to the rodeo in a beat-up, over-loaded
Buick. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> What a wonderful evening! We sat next to a retired
rodeo rider who gave a running commentary on the finer points of bull
wrestling, calf branding and bucking broncos’ horsemanship – Billings was
indeed a remarkable place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">But it was the following morning when the best and
most remarkable incidents were to occur: I had left Jean in reception with our
bags whilst I went to pay our bill and apologise that we would not be around at
lunchtime to do our chores, but would gladly pay a full hotel rate.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘Nah! Yuh can’t do that, Ah guess yuh’ll just have
to pay yuh $6,’ the supervisor said casually. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPmqx0mbKZuHDXFCvaxLTT9oJ-1uiKO8XzbjG7QsnMXIQbMpMQ3CyF_KBR4-Lt0EG__IPvBrzjQ-sbOGMFcGyQ0lxIHfgumORis0zBIA1WE_SnHuL6eZpEDv5BQ-8uX8NaFuzwTJG9Zef/s1600/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+6+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPmqx0mbKZuHDXFCvaxLTT9oJ-1uiKO8XzbjG7QsnMXIQbMpMQ3CyF_KBR4-Lt0EG__IPvBrzjQ-sbOGMFcGyQ0lxIHfgumORis0zBIA1WE_SnHuL6eZpEDv5BQ-8uX8NaFuzwTJG9Zef/s320/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+6+.png" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our $6 receipt</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I stayed in ‘character’ and offered a $20 bill to
pay for two nights, but found they didn't have any change. Apparently, no one ever
paid; therefore, no money was kept on the premises.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘Don't worry, keep the $8 change,’ I said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘Its $14 change you need, cos your first night is
free,’ came the reply.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I could not believe it. I remained in my ‘homeless’
guise, found some smaller notes and paid up – the donation we had planned to
make needed reviewing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Just as I turned to leave, a phone call came from
Richard, the mall manager, to say that his wife Maggie was insisting that we
become their house guests for a few days and that he was already on his way to
pick us up. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Was there no end to Montana hospitality? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1on_5gYYjZBrUtCZBJksgWLOTFUOkV_19CsQb-DC7DkXw7Iauq8xfi81f36MILTM67hvyRuAp7TOMw4C2-Ou6NdChYzoQMHgyzjvQC1ADDS90NjUokcDxjbssUNu25FybLB8MYcrf5_Rz/s1600/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+7+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1on_5gYYjZBrUtCZBJksgWLOTFUOkV_19CsQb-DC7DkXw7Iauq8xfi81f36MILTM67hvyRuAp7TOMw4C2-Ou6NdChYzoQMHgyzjvQC1ADDS90NjUokcDxjbssUNu25FybLB8MYcrf5_Rz/s320/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+7+.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All Heart, but No Home</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I explained the situation to Jean, and as I did so,
an elderly, but stooped and disheveled man with glazed eyes, sidled up to me,
took one look at my bags and said: ‘Are ya goin’ ta Arabia?’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘No, I don’t think so,’ I replied affably.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘Ya oughta go to Arabia, Ah’m goin’. D'ya wanna
come with me?’ he continued. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘When are you going?’ I asked good-humouredly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘Ah’m goin’ this afternoon. If ya wanna come, Ah
can go fix it for yuh.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Seeing my opportunity to escape, I said: ‘Yes,
please.’<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘OK, you wait right here,’ he said and shuffled
off.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieB_rN6ywxON-ywwI_enBY-Jmg8XO0K6CdhBFhPSqY4-cCaDtjXqP7_-Ptjova8XIio5SpugZv1H1gwWy0-COY8sk7rlmswUPwCKJRU9dGULiDe6evgFXXZRW2QH2KcB6TcQNG4WG64Whb/s1600/Montana+Rescue+Mission+4+.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieB_rN6ywxON-ywwI_enBY-Jmg8XO0K6CdhBFhPSqY4-cCaDtjXqP7_-Ptjova8XIio5SpugZv1H1gwWy0-COY8sk7rlmswUPwCKJRU9dGULiDe6evgFXXZRW2QH2KcB6TcQNG4WG64Whb/s1600/Montana+Rescue+Mission+4+.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stop! Help the Homeless</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> Within a few minutes, Richard's car pulled up
outside.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"> Not a moment too soon</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">, I thought, as I started to quickly
load our bags into his car. But I was not quick enough, for our newfound friend
came scurrying out and grabbed hold of my arm:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> ‘There, Ah said Ah'd fix it fur yuh,’ and with that
he held out his hand with two complimentary tickets for the film, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lawrence of Arabia</i>. I felt very small
and humble, and died inwardly from a thousand lashes of shame. How well the poor
look after each other. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRkAtaWy9ui5qw_67mXODAx5AlWAVY1EIMZITvekqCRZG9qZ9qf9a6FrTTh_tyNfSWIPtgnv8wiQhFLMcgwTJUFzW8Gawh8M3Y6YWK_94BDzZutqyc4btMVu73W_xQ42BphQnt4UQL3xN8/s1600/Billings++Montana+1+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRkAtaWy9ui5qw_67mXODAx5AlWAVY1EIMZITvekqCRZG9qZ9qf9a6FrTTh_tyNfSWIPtgnv8wiQhFLMcgwTJUFzW8Gawh8M3Y6YWK_94BDzZutqyc4btMVu73W_xQ42BphQnt4UQL3xN8/s320/Billings++Montana+1+.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A Big Montana Welcome</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: large;"> I wanted to scoop him up and take him home with me;
I hugged him unashamedly and explained that we couldn't go as we were leaving
with Richard.<i> </i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"> How could we ever adequately repay all this Montana
kindness? None of the gifts or monetary donations we have since given, will
ever suffice for what had been the most memorable of American experiences. </span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"> Billings epitomizes the true <i>‘Heart of America</i>’.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/a-christmas-tale-no-4.html" target="_blank">CLICK HERE to read another tale of when they were homeless in Morocco</a></span></div>
</div>
romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-53479345322991391522013-07-02T08:09:00.000+00:002013-10-30T19:57:07.469+00:00 Homeless in Billings - 14<div class="RoysHeading">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxk4kfcuJbT2lggPZf0VLGVmntMaPZtHvmvxDMbdXUu7p7IoLx_z4lcEpahvjj-s1LpqelgdioupZMENooQCBpGAKdCVS-vyMn8XrrLmpcJ_FFzyp_8Z1JEr9IiYH6Z-qKHBNyp0f0EaJ3/s881/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+9+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span>
<br />
<div>
<a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/plain-english.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Is English your second language? click here for a simplified version of the dialogue</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A chill wind blew off the surrounding
plains of Montana, sending eddies of paper and debris along the dimly lit
streets of Billings, its principal city.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_-gj2VSFc8U14JgRbP4gWu_8zz4g68Za3NKZSFhfcqP_1ya5Q248vIH5vOuJvKv9ZTZoNYNHjIiKGei8t3DjpJ48DMr1FVF-EXrayAgkNe8ZqUUdg752BxcVfDzjV-upqSHV0JlNNEMM/s1600/Grey+Hound+Billings+Montana+Street+at+night+time+2+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_-gj2VSFc8U14JgRbP4gWu_8zz4g68Za3NKZSFhfcqP_1ya5Q248vIH5vOuJvKv9ZTZoNYNHjIiKGei8t3DjpJ48DMr1FVF-EXrayAgkNe8ZqUUdg752BxcVfDzjV-upqSHV0JlNNEMM/s240/Grey+Hound+Billings+Montana+Street+at+night+time+2+.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span> For almost two hours, I had scoured the
town by telephone and on foot, looking for a hotel or motel, but everywhere was
full with attendees for two conferences and the Montana State Rodeo.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPKqtfxy7E7LcuwkaxkYlCpi4IhLA5BOBWxb4z5nqLIoLyaeCpiEfZ-naSWkJuaivR1X54hdspO0ckyTws-YpWChk56a0loMPt3cuqLfM2aoNGk4aTX5CFXIV-03KJYJwCWm5pU4v89blD/s583/Screen+Shot+2013-07-02+at+08.10.53.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span> I shivered. It was almost midnight; time
to admit defeat. I had left Jean looking after our bags at the Greyhound bus
depot; she would be wondering what had happened to me.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I turned into a side street to make my way
back and spotted a dimly lit sign swinging in the wind. It read ‘Lincoln
Hotel’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMPZm0dLSejiZyTOXf2VQKdxdhv6Pllq_mtndNR88vGC8MkGeLLEDTEet1xHLcJy8_8GGtRQ7AZ5xCTs47JrOlhSe0UwXFPLxtt2BsPJYpu7GZFbgoubgMrcpi51QjuMIBy1EKKjukb6O/s1600/Street+at+night+time+1+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMPZm0dLSejiZyTOXf2VQKdxdhv6Pllq_mtndNR88vGC8MkGeLLEDTEet1xHLcJy8_8GGtRQ7AZ5xCTs47JrOlhSe0UwXFPLxtt2BsPJYpu7GZFbgoubgMrcpi51QjuMIBy1EKKjukb6O/s200/Street+at+night+time+1+.jpg" width="200" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> As I approached, I saw a young boy
standing in a pool of yellow light, banging on the entrance door. A tall,
gangly, grey-haired black American fumbled with the lock and bolts to let us
in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I made my way across to the reception
desk, only to be glared at by a short, round, scowling woman who snapped: ‘What
do yuh want?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Despite being cold, hungry, and tired from
two hours of fruitlessly searching the city for lodgings, I replied
optimistically, ‘I would like a room.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Why? Are yuh homeless?’ she snapped in a
throaty mid-western twang.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Cussedness from an unfriendly receptionist
was the last thing I needed at that time of night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPKqtfxy7E7LcuwkaxkYlCpi4IhLA5BOBWxb4z5nqLIoLyaeCpiEfZ-naSWkJuaivR1X54hdspO0ckyTws-YpWChk56a0loMPt3cuqLfM2aoNGk4aTX5CFXIV-03KJYJwCWm5pU4v89blD/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-07-02+at+08.10.53.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPKqtfxy7E7LcuwkaxkYlCpi4IhLA5BOBWxb4z5nqLIoLyaeCpiEfZ-naSWkJuaivR1X54hdspO0ckyTws-YpWChk56a0loMPt3cuqLfM2aoNGk4aTX5CFXIV-03KJYJwCWm5pU4v89blD/s320/Screen+Shot+2013-07-02+at+08.10.53.png" width="179" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC_-gj2VSFc8U14JgRbP4gWu_8zz4g68Za3NKZSFhfcqP_1ya5Q248vIH5vOuJvKv9ZTZoNYNHjIiKGei8t3DjpJ48DMr1FVF-EXrayAgkNe8ZqUUdg752BxcVfDzjV-upqSHV0JlNNEMM/s240/Grey+Hound+Billings+Montana+Street+at+night+time+2+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Yes, I am,’ I said, trying to be polite.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Well, yuh can't stop here,’ she growled
at me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Why not?’ I enquired. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The aroma of fresh coffee from a large,
modern coffee urn sitting on the counter smelled inviting. It contrasted
sharply with the shabby furnishings of the reception.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Cos this is for homeless women and
families,’ she snapped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Desperate for somewhere to stay, I grasped
at the only straw that came to mind:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>‘Well, my wife is homeless too,’ I quickly rejoined.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYMPZm0dLSejiZyTOXf2VQKdxdhv6Pllq_mtndNR88vGC8MkGeLLEDTEet1xHLcJy8_8GGtRQ7AZ5xCTs47JrOlhSe0UwXFPLxtt2BsPJYpu7GZFbgoubgMrcpi51QjuMIBy1EKKjukb6O/s1024/Street+at+night+time+1+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Yuh mean you're married? Have yuh got a
licence?’ she quizzed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Well, we do have passports to show that
we are married,’ I replied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Huh! Ah don't know about that. Ah’m
gettin the supervisor.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> With that, she disappeared into a back
office. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxk4kfcuJbT2lggPZf0VLGVmntMaPZtHvmvxDMbdXUu7p7IoLx_z4lcEpahvjj-s1LpqelgdioupZMENooQCBpGAKdCVS-vyMn8XrrLmpcJ_FFzyp_8Z1JEr9IiYH6Z-qKHBNyp0f0EaJ3/s881/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+9+.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="137" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxk4kfcuJbT2lggPZf0VLGVmntMaPZtHvmvxDMbdXUu7p7IoLx_z4lcEpahvjj-s1LpqelgdioupZMENooQCBpGAKdCVS-vyMn8XrrLmpcJ_FFzyp_8Z1JEr9IiYH6Z-qKHBNyp0f0EaJ3/s400/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+9+.png" width="400" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I was unsure whether she had said a room
would cost us $6 or $60. She could have said $600 and I would have gladly paid
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> A few moments later, she returned with a
kindly faced, giant of a lady who said firmly: ‘Ma name's Betty. Na, what's all this ah hear
about yuh bein homeless?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Well, yes. You see, we have just arrived
on the Greyhound bus and...’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Goddam it! You’re a Limey!’ she
interjected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Yes, I am, as a matter of fact...’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Ah got a sekin cusin that lives over
there, she comes from some place called Birdchester or somethin.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Warming to the woman, I ingratiated myself
by saying: ‘Yes, I know it; it’s a very nice place.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Yuh know it? It’s near ta London ah
guess.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘That's right,’ I fibbed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Well, ah be danged! A Limey here in
Billings,’ she mused. ‘Ah hear yuh lady’s with yuh, too. Well! Don't yuh worry
none. Yuh go fetch her and ah’ll see about fixin yuh up with a cot.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> She turned to the black doorman, and yelled, 'Chuckles! Open up and let the gent out.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I had no idea what sort of place I had
walked into, but now was not the time to question it. A warm bed and a roof
over our heads were in the offing and that had to be better than a cold hard bench
at the Greyhound bus depot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> As I crossed the street, I looked back –
on the side of the building, a large sign read: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Montana Rescue Mission for Homeless Women and Families</i>. My
traventurer’s luck had struck again!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Jean sat in the harsh light of the
Greyhound bus depot waiting my return. She looked tired and resigned. ‘Did you
find anything?’ she asked anxiously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘I’m not sure, we may be in luck, but
don’t expect the Ritz,’ I said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We gathered up our small backpacks and
plastic shopping bags, one of which contained several weeks’ collection of
brochures and maps from across America, the other with a new coat Jean had
bought. We hurried over to the Mission, exhausted and disheveled; no one could
have looked more homeless than us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijRvPC0tGLqoUq-jqe0NqBkYyyb1qf610Ist2BJl1CvUS7a8Y6YxqgpmmBtQjqPormOnc3inLGJ6S92hxUggcxvJu_kQvMj4FBM_O3JLfLCDLMKwJeaxWb_SpqbTOYbfNb3RFJUjEwdrlF/s1600/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+2+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijRvPC0tGLqoUq-jqe0NqBkYyyb1qf610Ist2BJl1CvUS7a8Y6YxqgpmmBtQjqPormOnc3inLGJ6S92hxUggcxvJu_kQvMj4FBM_O3JLfLCDLMKwJeaxWb_SpqbTOYbfNb3RFJUjEwdrlF/s320/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+2+.JPG" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Before being allocated a bed, we had to
fill in a probing registration form as to how long we had been homeless: where had
we spent the last few nights? Did we have any food stamps or social security
money? Were we claiming medi-care, and would we l</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">ike to speak to a clergyman, a
rabbi, etc?</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Firmly believing that we are all but
actors on the stage of life, we entered into the spirit of our new situation
and answered everything with as much candour as possible, without jeopardising
our potential bed for the night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAJRn4ASJByQYaTHB_lyiKdXo5x1jnieyQXiFmdnn_YE0b3n4f42tiEAit88JA9keraVyLik-Vq9qY7YeAK0I9RVykbnlHoZUd_Q-oT_gBYBs4aqvQiGMZNCbj1_2wUzZpGbu3kut_Xvb7/s800/Double-Bunk-Beds-Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAJRn4ASJByQYaTHB_lyiKdXo5x1jnieyQXiFmdnn_YE0b3n4f42tiEAit88JA9keraVyLik-Vq9qY7YeAK0I9RVykbnlHoZUd_Q-oT_gBYBs4aqvQiGMZNCbj1_2wUzZpGbu3kut_Xvb7/s320/Double-Bunk-Beds-Image.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijRvPC0tGLqoUq-jqe0NqBkYyyb1qf610Ist2BJl1CvUS7a8Y6YxqgpmmBtQjqPormOnc3inLGJ6S92hxUggcxvJu_kQvMj4FBM_O3JLfLCDLMKwJeaxWb_SpqbTOYbfNb3RFJUjEwdrlF/s800/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+2+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We were issued with freshly laundered
sheets, and pillow shams, and then taken upstairs to a rather sad looking room
with a huge, chrome, double bunk bed – big enough for the parents to sleep on
the bottom, with two or three kids on the top.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Would yuh like a comforter for the
night?’ Betty asked, with a friendly smile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘That would be real nice,’ I replied. I
had no idea what a comforter was, but knew that to allow any opportunity to
pass was a fool’s way of learning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9CMBUH5f-tYsmuxptsZqTmgpvPrcL12ohb77guqDZb23Evz1bMCZQvurmViD3vIcF5E2X9hyUOeeiWUJJJ8VHqtmQiaY69SGew6qqoJ4PM4vFKz-198hJAsdaMo7tjlCeYf5RDOuM7Ibn/s299/Billings++Montana+2+.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9CMBUH5f-tYsmuxptsZqTmgpvPrcL12ohb77guqDZb23Evz1bMCZQvurmViD3vIcF5E2X9hyUOeeiWUJJJ8VHqtmQiaY69SGew6qqoJ4PM4vFKz-198hJAsdaMo7tjlCeYf5RDOuM7Ibn/s299/Billings++Montana+2+.jpeg" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Ah guess yuh all know there's a rodeo in
town,’ she continued. ‘Do yuh wanna go?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It was because of the rodeo that we had
come to Billings, but due to an engineering seminar and a state conference for
600 teachers, we had found ourselves with no room at any inn, motel, or hotel
around the city.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘We’d love to go to the rodeo,’ I replied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ‘Ah’m working tomorrow night, so yuh can
have my ticket, and ah guess Chuckles is workin too, so I’ll see about gettin
his ticket for yuh.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcEpFfA-W9C2sq-vqxSPINLEJxJSx00GPsdiD5JNo03p0sdTsqtyyNGvsgi5_BVEA5gaUlrCvLqLkICBywU3M1E7zEky_cxJfhuDFlZeAiSuxN8ENHUP4bIM09eB1pwg9TnDGI24OY0nMG/s1600/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+1+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcEpFfA-W9C2sq-vqxSPINLEJxJSx00GPsdiD5JNo03p0sdTsqtyyNGvsgi5_BVEA5gaUlrCvLqLkICBywU3M1E7zEky_cxJfhuDFlZeAiSuxN8ENHUP4bIM09eB1pwg9TnDGI24OY0nMG/s320/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+1+.jpg" width="209" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcEpFfA-W9C2sq-vqxSPINLEJxJSx00GPsdiD5JNo03p0sdTsqtyyNGvsgi5_BVEA5gaUlrCvLqLkICBywU3M1E7zEky_cxJfhuDFlZeAiSuxN8ENHUP4bIM09eB1pwg9TnDGI24OY0nMG/s428/Montana+Rescue+Mission+Billings+1+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> With that, Betty disappeared, leaving Jean
and I standing in our new abode, clutching our sheets like a couple of ‘Orphan
Annies’, not believing our good fortune. We looked at each other, and, like two </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">children up to mischief, got a fit of the giggles. Here we were, eight years
into our life of travels and once again, ‘Lady Luck’ had stepped in to save the
day.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Betty returned with a comforter, which
turned out to be a cosy duvet, she also had two complimentary tickets to the rodeo.
Jean was so overwhelmed by her kindness that she gave a recently purchased
sweater to one of Betty’s children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It was time for bed; time to snuggle down
under our comforter, to fall asleep to a ‘zzzz’ sound buzzing from the red neon
light outside the window – or perhaps it was from Jean, who was already asleep.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/15-homeless-heroes.html" target="_blank">CLICK HERE to read the second part of this story </a> </span></div>
romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-5958685125080906852013-06-21T21:44:00.001+00:002013-11-09T11:19:56.428+00:00American Conflicts - 13<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhst5bfU49BF4qW3wyIlP3mZqBntj65M39P9OA_zdsoVz3t0Rt_Vph4Cf-Wj_ET637caR0FVt9LF0HUTuTUlC8dtkWDMDAx-W9_SDV78tnhPxq-U2OWRUu80V_9TG-AyfeG6l9OjXFC30yW/s1600/New+England+Autum+Leaves+2012+5+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">3<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhst5bfU49BF4qW3wyIlP3mZqBntj65M39P9OA_zdsoVz3t0Rt_Vph4Cf-Wj_ET637caR0FVt9LF0HUTuTUlC8dtkWDMDAx-W9_SDV78tnhPxq-U2OWRUu80V_9TG-AyfeG6l9OjXFC30yW/s1600/New+England+Autum+Leaves+2012+5+.JPG" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was late afternoon, the
sun was low and our stomachs spotted an American diner beckoning to us in the
township of Front Royal, Virginia. We were puzzled by the town’s name and asked
the waitress during dinner how it came to be so called. She replied: “I
graduated high school six years ago and I have forgot all that stuff, but I
know there's a lot of history in these parts.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">We
later discovered that during the Civil War, troops used to parade in front of a
large ‘Royal Oak’ tree with the command: "Front! Royal!" <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt9KVgOtzgvl7FVVPVzzbEurMiF93Yhq_gvsEIpxvH1J59mLUs58kPY7h1aHrstliiiDYYt4mUc6yDGaGe-Yd-Y2P8iUg9Axg8Xhf8vQzo8LOvjRUJabUQfPkPtCf8HA4mKaJenpHRVeFU/s1600/New+England+Autum+Leaves+2012+8+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt9KVgOtzgvl7FVVPVzzbEurMiF93Yhq_gvsEIpxvH1J59mLUs58kPY7h1aHrstliiiDYYt4mUc6yDGaGe-Yd-Y2P8iUg9Axg8Xhf8vQzo8LOvjRUJabUQfPkPtCf8HA4mKaJenpHRVeFU/s200/New+England+Autum+Leaves+2012+8+.JPG" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">On
another occasion, we called into the Amish township of
Intercourse, Pennsylvania, but thought it best not to ask the waitress how
that town got its name. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was
autumn 2012; what better time to drive along the colourful back-roads of North
Eastern USA! The countryside was ablaze with brilliant colours of birch and maple
trees. Restaurants and diners were decked out with quirky
and ghoulish Halloween themes, each serving delicious pumpkin or hot
cinnamon apple pies</span>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZpzeYZ3h5-P_GP8Bbs6du9-I_grvYXgluZgqZ1Or3xpg0vNmIxEX9sp4OWQSvUT1wIMwldkm1rSjesfNS7J5h5v8540pQpPuHOOT9gWQQp-ikjzBaZqOSzsxWXQJnJIOb1Dqy1C6OQVA/s1600/New+England+Autum+Leaves+2012+2+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBZpzeYZ3h5-P_GP8Bbs6du9-I_grvYXgluZgqZ1Or3xpg0vNmIxEX9sp4OWQSvUT1wIMwldkm1rSjesfNS7J5h5v8540pQpPuHOOT9gWQQp-ikjzBaZqOSzsxWXQJnJIOb1Dqy1C6OQVA/s320/New+England+Autum+Leaves+2012+2+.JPG" width="211" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At the
small historic town of Winchester, Virginia, with its beautifully
maintained white clapboard stores, and snow-white church, we
stopped to stretch our legs. And like a couple of kids, we scuffed our
way along the cobbled Main Street through large damp drifts of colourful autumn
leaves.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We found a ‘Ma and Pa’ diner serving ‘Bavarian cream
donuts’ and steaming mugs of coffee; it was just what we needed
before heading off in our search for the famous autumn colours of New
England. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7XCx5yO8VJuvmBZYaXZ4OYHhkWPii8XHCnJPZb7Hm9OKqUsxukOpk5jw7dQ0WiW0WdgJDKdER6JAjuQDz00RC6AyDJVEZnW6DegTODVAq6C6DaVFforIsWDfxjfRD-lr4XerutDwb8g5l/s1600/New+England+Autum+Leaves+2012+3+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The
once elegant city of Troy, New York, sits upon the banks of the Hudson
River. It’s renowned for two things, which I shall tell you about, thus saving
you the time of having to drive there. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7XCx5yO8VJuvmBZYaXZ4OYHhkWPii8XHCnJPZb7Hm9OKqUsxukOpk5jw7dQ0WiW0WdgJDKdER6JAjuQDz00RC6AyDJVEZnW6DegTODVAq6C6DaVFforIsWDfxjfRD-lr4XerutDwb8g5l/s1600/New+England+Autum+Leaves+2012+3+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7XCx5yO8VJuvmBZYaXZ4OYHhkWPii8XHCnJPZb7Hm9OKqUsxukOpk5jw7dQ0WiW0WdgJDKdER6JAjuQDz00RC6AyDJVEZnW6DegTODVAq6C6DaVFforIsWDfxjfRD-lr4XerutDwb8g5l/s320/New+England+Autum+Leaves+2012+3+.JPG" width="137" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">First
of all, it has scores of unmarked one-way streets and numerous large
signs pointing to a 'Visitors Centre' that doesn’t exist. It was only on our
third trip around the same block that we stopped and were informed that a
sturdy trestle table with leaflets was usually set up on days when visitors
were expected - unless it was raining. The day we arrived, it was raining and I
doubt we were expected. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Second
of all, during the American Revolution, a butcher by the name of Sam
Wilson built up a nice business as a government supplier of meat to
the American Army. He stamped the letters ‘U.S.’ on all his barrels of meat to
indicate United States, before the states were even united. People thought it meant
‘Uncle Sam'. The term stuck and passed into common usage to mean the
government. Not a lot of people know that, but then again I expect you are glad
we saved you the journey.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhto_IjHZnJv50WqKhNu4cEaysMbDZ7gru_NWN1yMAvKhbKVYN3eWkbO6WXoFWA4Lx-v5m00UIUms9d6weJ8CQT7Tt4JDNqYuviGFuBVvSypuhVyI_WqGTxZUy7wpAY8egnQ7BoBvBXupS8/s1600/New+England+Autum+Leaves+2012+7+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhto_IjHZnJv50WqKhNu4cEaysMbDZ7gru_NWN1yMAvKhbKVYN3eWkbO6WXoFWA4Lx-v5m00UIUms9d6weJ8CQT7Tt4JDNqYuviGFuBVvSypuhVyI_WqGTxZUy7wpAY8egnQ7BoBvBXupS8/s320/New+England+Autum+Leaves+2012+7+.JPG" width="167" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We also
stopped briefly at the hamlet of Bennington to view an enormous obelisk, which
commemorates the day in August 1777 when the revolutionaries fought off the
British who were trying to steal their cache of food. The locals, on hearing
our British accents, took great joy joshing with us about the day they ‘kicked
our butts’. I think the irony of their remark was lost on them, considering
they were third and fourth generation Italian, German and Swedish immigrants.
Anyway, I rebutted by pointed out that hanging onto their lunch box was hardly
justification to build a 306-foot granite obelisk, and that any further
insolence from them would be reported to the Queen when we returned from our
inspection of the colonies. We thought it best to leave before an international
incident occurred. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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return journey to Virginia we called into Berkeley </span><span style="text-indent: 28.35pt;">Springs where we had
been told an 'Apple Butter Festival' was in progress. This tiny spa town
lay in a damp hollow in the back hills of West Virginia and had once been
owned by Lord Fairfax. Its two streets overflowed with craft stalls, folk
music and people warming themselves around open fires upon which cauldrons
of Apple Butter simmered.</span></span></div>
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not sure whether it was the cold or the coffee that </span><span style="text-indent: 28.35pt;">prompted my desperate need
for a toilet. Mercifully, I spotted a row of portaloos leading off the main
street and with relief pulled open one of the doors. I had one foot
inside when I realised I was face to face with a grossly over-weight,
half-naked woman, whose body was truly wedged within the walls of the
thunder-box. </span><span style="text-indent: 28.35pt;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 28.35pt;">Fortunately for me, her
modesty was well covered by the multitudinous folds of a cascading ‘Michelin’ stomach.</span></span></div>
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Was I surprised to see her! But not half as surprised as she was to see
me! We were both speechless. The whole street seemed to be watching.
Should I wait until the ‘fat lady sings’? Or leave before she found her voice
and let rip with a rant at me? </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I
decided to forgo the formalities of an introduction and raised my cap
as I closed the door. Did I do the right thing? I wonder what ‘Miss
Manners’ would have advised? What would you have done? Answers on a postcard
please.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/6-dont-mess-with-nature_11.html" target="_blank">Click here to read about another confrontation - this time with the Gander Family. </a></b></span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html">Go to the <i><b>i-story library</b></i> for more stories</a></span></span></div>
</div>
romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-59590243274271296932013-06-11T15:54:00.003+00:002013-11-09T11:11:43.778+00:00Cycling to Prague by - 12<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Life is a series of journeys – physically
and metaphorically – all just waiting to be made. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysFirstPara" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 28.35pt;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbt74OkA2cKWA99iIjL9xjYdJOCnyKKCul_Pg4iCKdsS_-Q5m-6qKl3PwDemmgmFvv0gH-0Bnca14HHIbKcr3fKFA-wjDZ_hNR3Dgvpkb6cV05EOGY35yneueKbdsAm2BxCp7i3Ama11xS/s1600/Prague+by+Pushbike+01+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbt74OkA2cKWA99iIjL9xjYdJOCnyKKCul_Pg4iCKdsS_-Q5m-6qKl3PwDemmgmFvv0gH-0Bnca14HHIbKcr3fKFA-wjDZ_hNR3Dgvpkb6cV05EOGY35yneueKbdsAm2BxCp7i3Ama11xS/s400/Prague+by+Pushbike+01+.JPG" width="336" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every journey starts with a single step</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It matters little whether my
journeys have been a two-day sail in a 12-foot wooden dinghy, a meander by motor
cycle beside the Mekong River or a camel trek through Iran, the question always
asked is: why? The answer of course is quite simple: why not?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTW1TvphgYFP5q3UlKtvDkZcNlYIWlku4ssJr2tKjhmQLFqBq98-YKrEIUWu7hZOJaEtPR3ticZMxQRdtuTP4zTXUggf3GRpcb-c0-KRZWQ-vi19FqjfU3xjKL-2ZFaCl-cHDsqI6d6Z0Q/s1600/Prague+by+Pushbike+05+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTW1TvphgYFP5q3UlKtvDkZcNlYIWlku4ssJr2tKjhmQLFqBq98-YKrEIUWu7hZOJaEtPR3ticZMxQRdtuTP4zTXUggf3GRpcb-c0-KRZWQ-vi19FqjfU3xjKL-2ZFaCl-cHDsqI6d6Z0Q/s320/Prague+by+Pushbike+05+.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not really my colour</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Some years ago I woke one morning and thought, 'I think I'll buy a bicycle'. The objective was not so much to save the walk to the
newspaper shop, but more as a means of making another journey. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The Czech
Republic had recently opened its borders to the west, and its capital of Prague
seemed an interesting destination. It was certainly far enough away to be
called a journey. Besides, ‘<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pedalling to
Prague on a Pushbike’ </i>had a certain ring to it and therefore ought to be
done. Why not?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> As with everything in life, one needs to put
in a little training, but being a newcomer to cycling, I had no idea where to
start. A test run of four miles to a nearby village was not only painful, but
had seemed to take forever. I appeared to have an impossible task ahead of me!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1zQhPDer2T5QBE3XZWUvGUxspAAbyY-PaDOLajcv-JfsIEDt7u_cWsp5jstt2XFD7Oj0vyWZiY_9eTnjw0wx95cTzG55QL9hhXfDJotalEo5wQAvKZPmBsVn_Tgp7ah3Vl8fInosiWHJ/s1600/+france+duane+cycle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR1zQhPDer2T5QBE3XZWUvGUxspAAbyY-PaDOLajcv-JfsIEDt7u_cWsp5jstt2XFD7Oj0vyWZiY_9eTnjw0wx95cTzG55QL9hhXfDJotalEo5wQAvKZPmBsVn_Tgp7ah3Vl8fInosiWHJ/s320/+france+duane+cycle.JPG" width="228" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Duane in 'Paris-Brest-Paris Race'</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Strength and stamina, not to mention
technique, seemed to be the missing ingredients, so I armed myself with a
cycle-computer and a programme of distance and speed objectives, then progressively, but painfully, pounded the lanes and byways of southern England.
Five weeks later, having achieved an unbroken ride of 100 kilometres, I
declared myself ‘fit’ and ready for the assault on Europe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Before leaving England, I telephoned Duane
Hickling in America, not only was he a good friend but also an old hand at the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Paris-Brest-Paris</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ride Across
America</i> cycle races. It was thanks to his expert advice that the expected
hard slog across Europe became a dream ride. I should have consulted him
earlier.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> His words of wisdom were: ‘Treat the ride
like you treat your life, break it into short objectives, then enjoy each ten
kilometre section as if it were a day in your life, don't ruin it by worrying
about tomorrow’, and, ‘By the way, if you can't smell the cows crapping, it’ll
be because you are travelling too fast, so slow down. You will only make the
journey once, enjoy it’. He was also very generous with technical tips for cycle touring, all of which helped to make the trip enjoyable and stress free.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuY-9LTvJz-5mTXllcG3p7MsQg_aq8EjtJK5g3OpuKIcsD0v-3lZzdtftpXhx0ytQF-e9gUoo6QGqiypVS0G-mSai99XkLxSWj9Z4s52H5QIysSjIUq-pHdMHtBv4u-Y_chLlk6e3l-ARl/s320/Prague+by+Pushbike+06+.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="272" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Posting news home from Germany</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span>Within forty-eight hours of that telephone call,
and looking very much the part in Lycra shorts and an old ‘go-faster’ school
cap, I wheeled my lightly loaded Dawes ‘Back Street’ bike ashore from the ferry-ship
at Ostend, Belgium, and set off into the fast fading light to find a hostelry
for the night. I was committed!</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The route across Europe took me through
Belgium, Holland, and Northern Germany; countries that fortunately still
subscribe to the Flat Earth Society. Cyclists are actively encouraged with
dedicated cycle-routes, sign posting, and priority over vehicles from side
roads, plus respect as equal road users. Road-planners in Britain have much to
learn from our continental cousins.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6Prjfupc1JZOXUJwYaMpJ999Mbmhyphenhyphen9Un8gJOBDJ1BXD_XdkxzFq1F3uQhPH6YkCXla9AV-VLTpGhL-1V6Edq7T-e41TzhN-yE0ctKiiw02MQeXF50he0N1yvH8wYX3pPHKqLkRCIUHWW/s1600/Prague+by+Pushbike+10+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP6Prjfupc1JZOXUJwYaMpJ999Mbmhyphenhyphen9Un8gJOBDJ1BXD_XdkxzFq1F3uQhPH6YkCXla9AV-VLTpGhL-1V6Edq7T-e41TzhN-yE0ctKiiw02MQeXF50he0N1yvH8wYX3pPHKqLkRCIUHWW/s320/Prague+by+Pushbike+10+.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Family cycling in Belgium</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Cycling became a daily pleasure with
frequent stops at village bakeries for pastries and yoghurt. Well-maintained
cycle-paths took me along riverbanks, around fields of wheat, past meadows of
wild flowers, though cool forests and down country lanes, usually well away
from traffic and pollution. The weather, with the exception of one very hot day
and two of incessant rain, was ideal – comfortably cool and windless.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJCRDlYScBF_uaWWi-nv7iDHHbSWWxzbDXb4G4GSV2KsGPNBq6MPdboJus8bKtXUEyfB8wp61o-PYX2vtHLR-beQbH6A8BEs2IQ3VQXITwCUnb4OyOppjCHpfXYcxRUx4V6EGGGzkALBv/s1600/Prague+by+Pushbike+09+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJCRDlYScBF_uaWWi-nv7iDHHbSWWxzbDXb4G4GSV2KsGPNBq6MPdboJus8bKtXUEyfB8wp61o-PYX2vtHLR-beQbH6A8BEs2IQ3VQXITwCUnb4OyOppjCHpfXYcxRUx4V6EGGGzkALBv/s320/Prague+by+Pushbike+09+.JPG" width="219" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Frequent meetings with fellow cyclists</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span> Despite travelling alone, the days passed
all too quickly. I frequently came alongside other cyclists with whom I chatted,
using English or German as the common language. Evenings were spent sharing
stories with fellow hostellers, or in the company of private families who
provided overnight B & B. Only once did I fail to find accommodation and
resorted to sleeping under the stars in my Goretex Bivy Bag.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> At the beautiful and lively university city
of Munster, I quickly learned three things:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 64.35pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Finding ones bicycle in a city
where 45,000 students also have a bicycle is not easy!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 64.35pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">That it was illegal to travel
without lights fitted, even during the daytime!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 64.35pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">When using a restaurant's
facilities to rapidly change out of my cycle clothes for a luncheon
appointment, I should not have waited until I had dropped my cycle shorts
before discovering that I was in the ladies’ toilet!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> On crossing the recently opened border of
East Germany, a difference in lifestyles was immediately noticed: cycle-routes
disappeared, buildings were uncared for, </span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">colours</span><span lang="EN-US"> of grey and brown predominated, and a plethora of cobble roads
and potholes became a constant hazard, particularly on hills running down into
towns and villages.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGRnkf7PQscMd4FENxOgqn9uCN9i8lTCL-9XEeTs4n5hZ-J-eSHnxNJJRK4ZB1pVvbww5B3tjdM91Q08ITezgQ1Ckz2p0FBOXSGtwRRTctWZXgzpCPW6q9tXdnJinL9tKsl8YsW9DUU38n/s1600/Prague+by+Pushbike+01+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGRnkf7PQscMd4FENxOgqn9uCN9i8lTCL-9XEeTs4n5hZ-J-eSHnxNJJRK4ZB1pVvbww5B3tjdM91Q08ITezgQ1Ckz2p0FBOXSGtwRRTctWZXgzpCPW6q9tXdnJinL9tKsl8YsW9DUU38n/s200/Prague+by+Pushbike+01+.JPG" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">I think I prefer a unicycle</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The countryside was dotted with huge factory
chimneys and even larger communal farms. People seemed unsure whether they
preferred the fettered security of the past or the uncertain freedom of the
present. Their blank looks of disappointment showed that whichever system was preferred,
the promised Utopia was being as elusive as ever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The quiet, lonely climb up through the
Erzgebirge mountains was rewarded with a welcome into the Czech Republic by a
happy, but scruffy border control officer, who, on giving me a huge bear-hug,
said: ‘Welcome Comrade English.’ He then thrust a can of Budweiser beer into my
hand! I can't see that happening at the Port of Dover!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIwSCA1k-XVUuBtoBwhI2dCe_-hs2UvlR7PcKOfTmSHOAtouZF9rVgZpwr0qgeYmzVaWmwgJ5TKtpxjgNEh88SlP5PoRINLghStbC476IwEVj-JndtldAZxPF2FXEX77cl1_dbjIr8aNw/s1600/Prague+by+Pushbike+02+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIwSCA1k-XVUuBtoBwhI2dCe_-hs2UvlR7PcKOfTmSHOAtouZF9rVgZpwr0qgeYmzVaWmwgJ5TKtpxjgNEh88SlP5PoRINLghStbC476IwEVj-JndtldAZxPF2FXEX77cl1_dbjIr8aNw/s320/Prague+by+Pushbike+02+.JPG" width="292" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">An old cyclist counting his pennies</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The route between the border and Prague had
little traffic and even fewer signposts. I was twice forced into cycling along
new motorways as the old roads had been destroyed. Streets in the towns and
villages had an air of uncanny quietness, people spoke in hushed tones as they
queued for groceries at ‘shops’ which were little more than doorways to private
homes. They were also seen gathered in small groups to buy vegetables or ladies’
underwear from the back of trucks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzpAsDezVfVxekX8FczrG15WyWNHEvReRKPcfj0Ju23rkmeNbK2vOUvJcKXTkULZGNEQSvj3fK1zaeJeq1raXaOy0emlvlUwssrG5_5_FI5IQketyBehBb9sFd2orGRxVHhWoEkOccceO5/s1600/Prague+by+Pushbike+08+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzpAsDezVfVxekX8FczrG15WyWNHEvReRKPcfj0Ju23rkmeNbK2vOUvJcKXTkULZGNEQSvj3fK1zaeJeq1raXaOy0emlvlUwssrG5_5_FI5IQketyBehBb9sFd2orGRxVHhWoEkOccceO5/s400/Prague+by+Pushbike+08+.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">A young cyclist counting his miles</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Old ladies with headscarves and long skirts
stood with wicker baskets on street corners selling wild mushrooms collected in
the forests. Elsewhere, and in complete contrast, North Vietnamese immigrants
traded cartons of western cigarettes and transistor radios from the back of ancient Trabant
cars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It was as if in 1948 when the communists had
taken over, time had stood still whilst the rest of Europe had forged
ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Outside the capital, a drowsy awakening was
now happening, whereas in the magnificent city of Prague with its flood of
tourists, it was already awake, but had as yet not quite gotten out of bed.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxju0y80eaYb8cFqP59utIh80enyToro4BjJwsgmLEhVFG_Yr9MsBUDr602SCcMC55BamK1tRlqnyhL2-eev2wevXyTnZWzIWmWsyliYnn5CiMN4vBHeUel-4p-KEWmWHuibbAYB7Zbm8/s1600/Mushrooms.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxju0y80eaYb8cFqP59utIh80enyToro4BjJwsgmLEhVFG_Yr9MsBUDr602SCcMC55BamK1tRlqnyhL2-eev2wevXyTnZWzIWmWsyliYnn5CiMN4vBHeUel-4p-KEWmWHuibbAYB7Zbm8/s200/Mushrooms.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mushrooms galore</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> This was my third visit to Prague in as many
years and I could clearly see the changes made in that time. The clanging old
trams had been given a coat of fresh paint, a few billboards were in evidence,
cafes had sprung up like spring flowers, and service was less of a hassle and
more friendly. Some of Prague's wonderful buildings and sculptures were being
renovated. Life was becoming fun again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZarUOeKrR-RhO2k5eaQlTIjEyRhz8NDbikE29Nosb6xF7f-KcdJKVtyKTSFt-eiop_87aC2pK2uP-S6x0FBwjogaZfrxbO-rVBAL6flprbUfLudf8ZmTFogg5LiMP-FRr93k0TQRT2wYM/s1600/Prague+by+Pushbike+02+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 37.79999923706055px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZarUOeKrR-RhO2k5eaQlTIjEyRhz8NDbikE29Nosb6xF7f-KcdJKVtyKTSFt-eiop_87aC2pK2uP-S6x0FBwjogaZfrxbO-rVBAL6flprbUfLudf8ZmTFogg5LiMP-FRr93k0TQRT2wYM/s400/Prague+by+Pushbike+02+.JPG" width="377" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Journey's end on Charles Bridge Prague </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It was with a sense of sadness that I pushed
my bicycle the final few yards onto the historic Charles Bridge which crosses the Vltava
River. It was there that I met a Polish cyclist who had ridden down from Warsaw, and, like
the proverbial duck talking to a chicken without a common language, we managed
to exchange experiences and swap addresses.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I
had reached the end of my journey: It had taken </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">twenty days, 1,400 kilometres and not a single puncture</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">. I was not only fitter and infinitely richer for
the experience, but already planning to ‘</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Leg
it to Latvia’</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> through Poland, Lithuania and to the Latvian capital of Riga the following year. Why not?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/5-thailand-mekong-swimmers-club.html" target="_blank">If you enjoyed this tale, click here to read of his near death experience on the Mighty Mekong River</a>.</b></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html">Go to the <i>i-story library</i> for more stories</a></b></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com1Prague, Czech Republic50.0755381 14.4378004999999849.749331100000006 13.79235349999998 50.4017451 15.083247499999981tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-56589436378748153512013-05-30T14:22:00.002+00:002013-11-09T11:22:41.003+00:00A Jungle experience - 11<div class="RoysFirstPara" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2Km8JfmO04XaqT9Hxh-Fr9PDcbjRYdgXWqQ74gqA6kKReBZefBzIyl2JKg0r5XyeLECBJQQEAY_HFF8y2rKYXNcQYJQET5LNo-7UGqfCvpzP74Jy805i2C22v2aOkF6ih1WfAeODsCzS/s1600/3-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(7).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2Km8JfmO04XaqT9Hxh-Fr9PDcbjRYdgXWqQ74gqA6kKReBZefBzIyl2JKg0r5XyeLECBJQQEAY_HFF8y2rKYXNcQYJQET5LNo-7UGqfCvpzP74Jy805i2C22v2aOkF6ih1WfAeODsCzS/s320/3-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(7).jpg" width="189" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An Iban maiden.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was
almost midday, dense rainforests and the thick humid air of Borneo
surrounded us. We had slept the previous night with descendants of headhunters in the traditional longhouse at the village of <a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/10-sarawak-headhunters-of-borneo.html" target="_blank">Nanga Kamalee</a> and were now squatting on a sandbar jutting
into the Rajang River.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> For almost four
hours, we had roasted in the tropical sun in the hope of hitching a lift from a
passing canoe or other small craft. We needed to return down river to the
trading post of Kapit and thence to the coast of Sarawak for our onward journey
to mainland Malaysia.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">To pass the
time, <a href="http://jeanlairomsey.blogspot.co.uk/" target="_blank">Jean</a> had washed our sweat-stained clothes in the sand-</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">coloured</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;"> river and
dried them to a fine peach </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">colour</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;"> on a wash-line rigged between two sticks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_T5KMMetY2D3Ah_rAycO8HuRhSJE_TdCA53Og8l8QiqKQUoLeh6JxB2onlD7BMS0TWgpgCdSVY7K615Ay0hVJwLHprEq9RsM2dAvH-gzZHQ1IWtghX9y8BRjDS-J2PoX6980zNLScheN3/s1600/11-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(10).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_T5KMMetY2D3Ah_rAycO8HuRhSJE_TdCA53Og8l8QiqKQUoLeh6JxB2onlD7BMS0TWgpgCdSVY7K615Ay0hVJwLHprEq9RsM2dAvH-gzZHQ1IWtghX9y8BRjDS-J2PoX6980zNLScheN3/s640/11-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(10).JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Wash day on the Rajang River</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"> We had
protected our head and shoulders from the scorching sun with our most useful
item of clothing: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lungi" target="_blank"><b>a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lungi</i></b> </a>(sarong). This thin compact cotton wrap of cloth is an Indian garment used throughout south-east
Asia in place of trousers. It is so multi-purpose; we use it as a towel, a
blanket, a turban, shade shelter, a beach changing tent, </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">pyjamas</span><span lang="EN-US">, shopping bag, scarf,
and anything else that comes to mind. It’s our second most essential piece of
equipment after the mosquito net.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgro2Pj6GKEj50VuTOwuhL1SX3D5-ooRBK9xLBNitRCA5wk9Mbz1OGRKFP6p9J4f2YpJuDknl40Vh5lKK5NMRJ4RplJOpYrdbjKp02ij90YjvNQYejK9X2cdy_k2kItctPnNKHFJzgBS067/s1600/05-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(9).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgro2Pj6GKEj50VuTOwuhL1SX3D5-ooRBK9xLBNitRCA5wk9Mbz1OGRKFP6p9J4f2YpJuDknl40Vh5lKK5NMRJ4RplJOpYrdbjKp02ij90YjvNQYejK9X2cdy_k2kItctPnNKHFJzgBS067/s320/05-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(9).JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">River hitch hiking</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The first boat
to happen along was a powered launch going up river. It was heading the wrong
way for us but we accepted their offer of a lift anyway. The uncertainties of life can often have its benefits.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0CbhAfKZJMQOdTTWlpuO-O9Y36T9XlqeCzoLm5crptIPEQ0f3EHqPQkVR025lst8_AfC5Xfz6L6VgDmZcNU2btS_hiSxVzwULMtPNKq3Yi-cKdKuqXk806Yse0yeAG4Va9XP5Egvz-23/s1600/01-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(13).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0CbhAfKZJMQOdTTWlpuO-O9Y36T9XlqeCzoLm5crptIPEQ0f3EHqPQkVR025lst8_AfC5Xfz6L6VgDmZcNU2btS_hiSxVzwULMtPNKq3Yi-cKdKuqXk806Yse0yeAG4Va9XP5Egvz-23/s320/01-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(13).JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Preparing logs to float down river</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We were taken
upriver, and dropped off at a logging camp at the junction of the Baleh and Gaat
rivers. The camp was a clearing yard used for rafting logs together prior to
floating downriver and to load sinker-logs on to shallow-draft landing barges.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We watched in
amazement as an Iban worker deftly hand-cut four by two inch timber planks with
a chainsaw – a Health and Safety officer would have had a field day here.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwt1fYO3GgblIHPi8ra0tPAigktAMmmmRyhQOZ_n-BoP-Mt8YKm4gdGLRinTE1C0xLrA7ehvT_2kpgwMF_XG4-apXlqosTc91eu6axkpGs3EBi0wydS-xPHXeMMz1VfsrSs_JNk1yiU8Bi/s1600/02-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(17).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwt1fYO3GgblIHPi8ra0tPAigktAMmmmRyhQOZ_n-BoP-Mt8YKm4gdGLRinTE1C0xLrA7ehvT_2kpgwMF_XG4-apXlqosTc91eu6axkpGs3EBi0wydS-xPHXeMMz1VfsrSs_JNk1yiU8Bi/s320/02-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(17).JPG" width="272" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cutting 4x2s by chainsaw - mind your toes</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> A lone
Yorkshire man called Ross ran the logging operation on behalf of the Malaysian company,
<i>Sime Darby Forest Management</i>. His workforce of 350 Malay, Chinese and Iban
workers were spread out at a number of nearby logging camps.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> As serendipity
would have it, he and his partner made us welcome, and invited us to join them for
a few days at their ‘company house’. It was perched atop a hill overlooking
the two rivers and an endless horizon of jungle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZPStWRYvmaNSzq4YoRwAbUjKQW_knPY_PbfPsJCPZbdyKv9xrUD-4GpnEeRhciATLjIvT5HSnysu-EgcjnZBQWxXQGgMWvJQlfaymwr0TRxeLJVNp4AmtEs3qt2HhzoP3cj6oVO2In9tc/s1600/07-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(21).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZPStWRYvmaNSzq4YoRwAbUjKQW_knPY_PbfPsJCPZbdyKv9xrUD-4GpnEeRhciATLjIvT5HSnysu-EgcjnZBQWxXQGgMWvJQlfaymwr0TRxeLJVNp4AmtEs3qt2HhzoP3cj6oVO2In9tc/s320/07-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(21).JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roy and Ross</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It was an
eight-bedroom bungalow with a large central living space, which he had built on
his arrival four years previously; tastefully furnished and decorated by his
partner Suchin. It reminded us a little of the homesteads found on remote
Australian cattle ranches, or perhaps the tea and sugar plantation houses found
in Ceylon or Jamaica, or even the colonial homes found in the hill stations of
India; it belonged to another era when <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">punkah
wallahs</i> fanned <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">memsahibs</i> enjoying
a Juniper fillip, in the afternoon shade of a wide sunporch.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigLHIWvJCiucVQEWmr6GvpVf7ithuJP59aCxL72ZeuG5jefFV68BlyhxXR7Yk1kpO2nl5J3ly853SHRzIRNXjwpdprdQoVDdRvMtszb9jqbqSnU4iffRP5gj1H7Py6xeVX-WlEonoX2jlz/s1600/09-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(12).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigLHIWvJCiucVQEWmr6GvpVf7ithuJP59aCxL72ZeuG5jefFV68BlyhxXR7Yk1kpO2nl5J3ly853SHRzIRNXjwpdprdQoVDdRvMtszb9jqbqSnU4iffRP5gj1H7Py6xeVX-WlEonoX2jlz/s320/09-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(12).JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwjojmJ-UuW3Bw55XkyQ4uI7J1s3Gnnsf156R5D1z363sZRp7ENcn9idnv6-M9yewQEnmXl3Xezau4UQ8TFf3sqFaOUQDRmGqlElK21iBMEdoedsi40HwtNLAdmJB6Z95RlVEholqlLtRj/s1600/10-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(11).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwjojmJ-UuW3Bw55XkyQ4uI7J1s3Gnnsf156R5D1z363sZRp7ENcn9idnv6-M9yewQEnmXl3Xezau4UQ8TFf3sqFaOUQDRmGqlElK21iBMEdoedsi40HwtNLAdmJB6Z95RlVEholqlLtRj/s320/10-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(11).JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A great place to write notes at the end of a day's of travel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Here, however,
in the remoteness of Borneo, it was an incongruous oasis, quite unexpected of a
logging camp, but very much in keeping with one’s traditional vision of an
Englishman abroad. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We pondered this as we sat at sundown on the wide veranda, a
cold beer in hand, frogs croaking in the undergrowth, enjoying the view of
dramatic storm clouds building up over the jungle, and the prospect of a curry
supper about to be served. We didn’t like to mention it, but some aspects of
the Empire seem to linger on in far-flung corners of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4wOmvrv12qQZw_4O07d7eKU41Oiu9FFuQJc_HYu5yi-H8HNJCkurElbwliNVq_D6iDK4GAzTK62fbSQlsxN2KyG4ZxubUHe_2kZg1QvxxHmd6YQgCbpjjimlZsww5ApoP4hft2V_dwTbf/s1600/03-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(23).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4wOmvrv12qQZw_4O07d7eKU41Oiu9FFuQJc_HYu5yi-H8HNJCkurElbwliNVq_D6iDK4GAzTK62fbSQlsxN2KyG4ZxubUHe_2kZg1QvxxHmd6YQgCbpjjimlZsww5ApoP4hft2V_dwTbf/s400/03-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(23).JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Log Workers Camp</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> During our
sojourn, our host and his manager took us to view at first-hand every aspect of
their logging operation. We went by rugged four-wheel-drive vehicle on a
hair-raising expedition along muddy jungle tracks and cliff-hanging mountainous
trails to visit logging camps.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggMP9uhL21gGkmz1T7B27Kx_EaTxW_N0s5ylm0-AID8BJGrkYtYnhkBWvpOdes3fWF9XNaDhv0YpQkEIGsWE3ccv1hBZW3sPYDZArUNWNDdX5o4Bx56256JD6-NV2CgdCKvr0Rzudwkz9A/s1600/08-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(20).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggMP9uhL21gGkmz1T7B27Kx_EaTxW_N0s5ylm0-AID8BJGrkYtYnhkBWvpOdes3fWF9XNaDhv0YpQkEIGsWE3ccv1hBZW3sPYDZArUNWNDdX5o4Bx56256JD6-NV2CgdCKvr0Rzudwkz9A/s200/08-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(20).JPG" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">debarking of logs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Men worked in
appallingly humid, dank, and dangerous conditions; surveyors hand cut their way through the jungle,
bulldozers cut access tracks and men built wooden bridges, all in their quest to find and fell selected giant
trees, debark and transport them to rivers, then finally raft them together
to float downriver, where they were to be processed into thin veneers for export
to the world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz0q2vuCwjb5kEb9-jhe1si6aM3sKpYZxOOGAwMGGnTb93W9P0W6oAsdLizS8852nrGZxp-hTp2VPgLJKQD-aCdk8ER40vdA3lWA2PePD2PEBSWe0b7MkRSgOkFY-LSoTuFy8AWg8oe13f/s1600/04-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(29).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz0q2vuCwjb5kEb9-jhe1si6aM3sKpYZxOOGAwMGGnTb93W9P0W6oAsdLizS8852nrGZxp-hTp2VPgLJKQD-aCdk8ER40vdA3lWA2PePD2PEBSWe0b7MkRSgOkFY-LSoTuFy8AWg8oe13f/s320/04-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(29).JPG" width="289" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">loading logs for hauling to river</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It was a
fascinating and enlightening experience, which involved a lot of heavy
machinery to cut and forge safe jungle trails along which to haul the logs to
the rivers. Giant trees were felled not by Rambo-type lumberjacks in checked
shirts, but by small Iban men in torn khaki vests, tattered trousers and
rubber flip-flops, confidently wielding hefty chainsaws with deadly 80cm long blades.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcDUAYap1JBvv2p_xyXvtT_UiTPaMXxncjbMAfE90GrDrrG63STL8PUaE-TPn0XJEfTlBqqlW59gkRQbHoq_I8evHKRZF99qFbYe9v98s7pwR4rkLCq5PI3Hv_g8O3vHuZjHqSqP99waj3/s1600/06-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(28).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcDUAYap1JBvv2p_xyXvtT_UiTPaMXxncjbMAfE90GrDrrG63STL8PUaE-TPn0XJEfTlBqqlW59gkRQbHoq_I8evHKRZF99qFbYe9v98s7pwR4rkLCq5PI3Hv_g8O3vHuZjHqSqP99waj3/s200/06-Trav+9208+Borneo+River+Rejang+longhouse+(28).JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">loading logs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Despite the
negative images </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">portrayed on TV </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">of wholesale plundering of rainforests and jungles, the logging process at this camp was one of a controlled renewable
harvest programme. Trees were selectively cut and extracted, thus allowing the
dense canopy of foliage to open up and make way for the next generation </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">to grow in an eco-friendly manner.</span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 28.1pt;">
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPqMdXy7q9GAy4n0U2RHqWHV6jRUV7CSiJXmU7B5KfuZPSg9MbgnUitLQSsY_wUrJx9ZWfrsht_qYNdgFDE-9_B7RWWfvxITpQVbcYaOGG6JnhNyAPvHlNQ-LLDs11QtlsbKvSnlRpIvqv/s1600/13-Trav+9206+Borneo+Kuching+river+Rejang+(33).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-indent: 37.46666717529297px;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPqMdXy7q9GAy4n0U2RHqWHV6jRUV7CSiJXmU7B5KfuZPSg9MbgnUitLQSsY_wUrJx9ZWfrsht_qYNdgFDE-9_B7RWWfvxITpQVbcYaOGG6JnhNyAPvHlNQ-LLDs11QtlsbKvSnlRpIvqv/s320/13-Trav+9206+Borneo+Kuching+river+Rejang+(33).JPG" width="309" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kapit - time to walk the plank to our waiting boat.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPqMdXy7q9GAy4n0U2RHqWHV6jRUV7CSiJXmU7B5KfuZPSg9MbgnUitLQSsY_wUrJx9ZWfrsht_qYNdgFDE-9_B7RWWfvxITpQVbcYaOGG6JnhNyAPvHlNQ-LLDs11QtlsbKvSnlRpIvqv/s1600/13-Trav+9206+Borneo+Kuching+river+Rejang+(33).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">As with all things, there is a downside in that some of the land
disturbance causes a certain amount of erosion to run off into the rivers. I
guess even the best </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">omelettes</span><span lang="EN-US"> need eggs to be broken, or should we give up eating </span><span style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">omelettes</span><span lang="EN-US">?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="RoysNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What are your views on the matter?</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I am reminded
that, ‘A wise traveller should see all, hear all, and eat all, but say
nothing.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Written by Roy Romsey</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/floranda.html" target="_blank">Did you know that Roy ran away to sea at aged 16? Click here to read the full story</a>.</b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/s-e-asia.html">Go to the <i>i-story </i><i>Library</i> for more stories</a></b> <b> </b> <a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/"> <b>HOME</b></a></span></div>
</div>
</div>
romseys@yahoo.comhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02514422454057409496noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1310578015477094974.post-69806704535199064192013-05-20T13:42:00.001+00:002014-10-18T16:07:00.777+00:00Headhunters of Borneo - 10<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">There is a sense of isolation and oriental intrigue about Sarawak; its dense
jungle, swampy rain forests, humidity and prodigious </span>amounts of rain dissuade
tourists from visiting its ex-headhunting <i>Iban</i>
and <i>Dayak</i> tribes. There are very few
roads, therefore transportation of goods and people is by watercraft along a labyrinth of rivers that empty into the South China Sea.</span><br />
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu-H2bj-VaTHLxafKLCw47gNtMBSeRqBluRfZZRkJvQz7YSUOXM6jRkApFrP0WMrKh0x0Bwl8HaM26EgM02irsuErM1a9qbza_gHFU9S2PTDY9d7NO8pzauTTXCsuSSg5H2L92O_4OIP3j/s1600/03-borneo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu-H2bj-VaTHLxafKLCw47gNtMBSeRqBluRfZZRkJvQz7YSUOXM6jRkApFrP0WMrKh0x0Bwl8HaM26EgM02irsuErM1a9qbza_gHFU9S2PTDY9d7NO8pzauTTXCsuSSg5H2L92O_4OIP3j/s320/03-borneo.jpg" height="320" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An Iban tribesman dressed specially for me</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Our landing at the capital of <i>Kuching</i> was during a violent monsoonal storm.
We needed a few days to acclimatise to the overbearing heat and heavy humidity,
so we found lodgings at a local Anglican Mission <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The purpose for being in Sarawak was to take Jean to the remote village of <i>Nanga
Kamalee</i>, which I had visited as a 22-year-old traventurer, during
Indonesia's undeclared war of ‘Confrontation’ with Malaysia.</span></span><br />
<b style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-indent: 0.5in;"><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1367066/The-White-Rajahs-The-extraordinary-story-Victorian-adventurer-subjugated-vast-swathe-Borneo.html" target="_blank">Rajah Brooke</a></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5ZzYtoggjjB884qt2h6JuzimA6vXkwvOho8tB8gK-RP3tDshnv1ActDvXwtmj2Ka7PiUGkA74ZneRaCTwNVPy2lcWCCD7XJV0THLVqfu2oeJf3JPARdc3I7Dj3Y6V5fFkZacAq14ZExH/s1600/09-Trav+9206+Borneo+Kuching+river+Rejang+(31).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Despite
the country’s newfound wealth from oil and timber - much of which is remitted back to Malaya – it remains an unspoilt and fascinating country. It has a ruggedness
and mystery that no doubt first attracted British adventurer James Brooke, who in
1838 helped the local <i>Sultanate</i> of <i>Brunei</i> put down an uprising. His reward
was to have the area of <i>Sarawak</i> ceded
to him.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5ZzYtoggjjB884qt2h6JuzimA6vXkwvOho8tB8gK-RP3tDshnv1ActDvXwtmj2Ka7PiUGkA74ZneRaCTwNVPy2lcWCCD7XJV0THLVqfu2oeJf3JPARdc3I7Dj3Y6V5fFkZacAq14ZExH/s1600/09-Trav+9206+Borneo+Kuching+river+Rejang+(31).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5ZzYtoggjjB884qt2h6JuzimA6vXkwvOho8tB8gK-RP3tDshnv1ActDvXwtmj2Ka7PiUGkA74ZneRaCTwNVPy2lcWCCD7XJV0THLVqfu2oeJf3JPARdc3I7Dj3Y6V5fFkZacAq14ZExH/s320/09-Trav+9206+Borneo+Kuching+river+Rejang+(31).jpg" height="320" width="214" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The dock at Kapit Sarawak</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> By allotting himself the role of Governor and self-appointed <i>Rajah, </i>he managed to pull the area together as a country, he banned the practice of headhunting and eventually
stopped warfare between the local <i>Iban</i>
and <i>Dyak</i> tribes. The Brooke family ruled Sarawak until the late 1940s, when it then gained independence and merged with Malaysia.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span> From <i>Kuching</i>,
we set off </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">northward </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">by fast patrol boat</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"> along the coast to </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">Sarikei,</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"> then found another boat to </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">Sibu </i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">where we made an overnight stop</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;">. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">We joined a long skinny ‘river
bus’ for a two hour journey up the </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">Rajang River </i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">to the final</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"> out-post of </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">Kapit</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">. We were
hoping to obtain a Government Permit and a guide to transport us further
inland to the </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">Iban</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"> village of </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">Nanga Kamalee</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwkYAi-STXZjC5CxR91XnNk9Ru7BMKvrpavuozYKvxIfGZmlCOnwDCOks_HtJwPmlthqzrnhtPjKt2KhTsPd3eDgWZDlLYE0PSd1rVHind7g3g2BK-C6tyLrcC_MJx3-xU5ihInzL_74X/s1600/12-9207+Borneo+Kapit+River+Rejang+(11)1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.09090805053711px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihwkYAi-STXZjC5CxR91XnNk9Ru7BMKvrpavuozYKvxIfGZmlCOnwDCOks_HtJwPmlthqzrnhtPjKt2KhTsPd3eDgWZDlLYE0PSd1rVHind7g3g2BK-C6tyLrcC_MJx3-xU5ihInzL_74X/s320/12-9207+Borneo+Kapit+River+Rejang+(11)1.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Overloaded canoe on the Rejang River</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Finding a guide</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The tiny trading post of <i><a href="http://www.footprinttravelguides.com/asia/malaysia/sarawak/sibu-kapit-and-belaga/kapit/" target="_blank"><b>Kapit</b></a></i>, was originally a garrison town set up in 1880 by the Brooke
family to separate the </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;">warring </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;">Iban and Orang Ulu tribes. Despite
its primitive isolation, inaccessibility by road and few streets, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;">this small township has</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;"> an inordinate
number of BMWs and Mercedes; all of which are owned by successful Chinese traders whose wealth comes from acting as middlemen between the logging and palm-oil enterprises to be found further
along the numerous branches of the Rejang River.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> We
were fortunate to meet David Chuo, president of the local Jaycees, he and his fellow members made our few days sojourn all the more informative and enjoyable.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIA0yzd02QTruU9qtOizWOB7B7wSXflJpAEAhdm-tppa6vOukGm6QdfxhU4cf5ijjBzoP4TlCZfDuuDx0I7QzBt5vMsq9MYwjRAgrWaHfs2lzInrgd4exhYaJCNWCXViFN0Oeb2dRgCc3U/s1600/13-9207+Borneo+Kapit+River+Rejang+%252812%25291.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.09090805053711px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIA0yzd02QTruU9qtOizWOB7B7wSXflJpAEAhdm-tppa6vOukGm6QdfxhU4cf5ijjBzoP4TlCZfDuuDx0I7QzBt5vMsq9MYwjRAgrWaHfs2lzInrgd4exhYaJCNWCXViFN0Oeb2dRgCc3U/s320/13-9207+Borneo+Kapit+River+Rejang+%252812%25291.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jean feasting on Rambutan berries</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It was more by luck than judgement that we
found a guide; we went for a drink </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;">in the bar of a local market and found him</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;"> slowly getting well and truly sozzled. He was the indigenous headmaster of a primary school located close to
the village we were aiming for. He and his assistant were in town on a buying
trip for his school, they agreed to take us upriver provided we helped them load
their boat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIA0yzd02QTruU9qtOizWOB7B7wSXflJpAEAhdm-tppa6vOukGm6QdfxhU4cf5ijjBzoP4TlCZfDuuDx0I7QzBt5vMsq9MYwjRAgrWaHfs2lzInrgd4exhYaJCNWCXViFN0Oeb2dRgCc3U/s1600/13-9207+Borneo+Kapit+River+Rejang+(12)1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The ‘boat'
was a narrow, seven-metre canoe with a long-tail outboard motor, to which we
precariously had to `plank-walk' across several rolling logs to carry his
assortment of purchases: a large second-hand fridge, a one metre glass aquarium
with three live fish, two protesting ducks and boxes of foodstuff. A newly
recruited teacher with his trunk of worldly goods also joined us.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdcQHKiG-1lm-7ryXVpmGc8mq6ETDKZ_eNzqVuUi4nT_GeWz4-ISor6OH_SsYpyOgBUtTK2bAj2Uww1PGcZZ8h59CLaB7917Nk6bS81qXbc6zlwSwCp-w19Xdsg9ZCiy7eDDQ0D2_NtLPv/s1600/11-9207+Borneo+Kapit+River+Rejang+(14)1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.09090805053711px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdcQHKiG-1lm-7ryXVpmGc8mq6ETDKZ_eNzqVuUi4nT_GeWz4-ISor6OH_SsYpyOgBUtTK2bAj2Uww1PGcZZ8h59CLaB7917Nk6bS81qXbc6zlwSwCp-w19Xdsg9ZCiy7eDDQ0D2_NtLPv/s320/11-9207+Borneo+Kapit+River+Rejang+(14)1.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Resting up on the Rejang River</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;">Once loaded we set off up the fast-running
<a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/490064/Rajang-River" target="_blank">Rajang River</a> in our quest to revisit some of Borneo’s ex headhunters. It was a painfully slow journey against the flow, which took many hours of squatting,
bailing and gripping the edge of our unstable and overloaded canoe. We bounced
and battled against currents and rapids, constantly dodging around hidden rocks
and floating logs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCR4Tu2DqgDjwEtRBM3mKKGZppq0lHbQZWHNfOLEAKgwJGqux68XwE7wtAIY30DmEyMzEboaBwuFdk1X9v1EerW_DMxH7pJle4kAk86KpbKEPO8o9Nk3paV7_i8QlZJIy_PghEK42_WbUL/s1600/07-borneo+(18).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.09090805053711px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCR4Tu2DqgDjwEtRBM3mKKGZppq0lHbQZWHNfOLEAKgwJGqux68XwE7wtAIY30DmEyMzEboaBwuFdk1X9v1EerW_DMxH7pJle4kAk86KpbKEPO8o9Nk3paV7_i8QlZJIy_PghEK42_WbUL/s320/07-borneo+(18).jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Longhouse of Nanga Kamalee</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;">Occasional
rest-stops were made on sand bars infested with mosquitos and sand flies. It was time for refreshments of rambutan fruit or a shared bottle of beer to be passed around.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">By late afternoon we</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;"> arrived a</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">t </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;">our host’s school. It was </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;">a collection of
wooden huts with corrugated tin roofs perched high up in a clearing on the riverbank
away from possible flooding. It catered for <i>Iban</i> tribal children
who arrived by family canoes on a Monday </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-indent: 0.5in;">morning and were collected to return
to their villages each Friday night.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> It became dark very quickly, a storm opened up and crashed all around us, far too late to continue
upriver. Our guide’s family prepared a rice-based meal for us whilst we
unpacked our sleeping bags and mosquito net to set up camp on the floor of an
outbuilding.</span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.wandotravel.com/experiences/malaysia/iban-longhouse-experience/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large; text-indent: 0.5in;" target="_blank"><b>Nanga Kamalee Longhouse</b></a></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The following morning we were taken a short
distance upriver by canoe to the village of <i>Nanga
Kamalee</i> where we were left with neither a guide nor an interpreter.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRFnYToGFdQLC-_Hei1ijwhKWhZFE-rCE7D6M6eqJtug-_LGiAx6RiT0902nO15nDF0L48QZ7ogOsasxocQ0FD3m7zfqFexLnj8wFvq9cDkZ-GVsF2r7JeZvHjvM-l3ZoqVyCfKTo2bKxv/s1600/01-r+t+borneo2+1965.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRFnYToGFdQLC-_Hei1ijwhKWhZFE-rCE7D6M6eqJtug-_LGiAx6RiT0902nO15nDF0L48QZ7ogOsasxocQ0FD3m7zfqFexLnj8wFvq9cDkZ-GVsF2r7JeZvHjvM-l3ZoqVyCfKTo2bKxv/s320/01-r+t+borneo2+1965.jpg" height="320" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An Iban cookhouse</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">An
<i>Iban</i> village is comprised of a single communal <i>‘Longhouse’</i> built on high stilts on the bank of the river; some
are so large they can hold several hundred families. <i>Nanga Kamalee</i>, however was small and held about 40 families, each having
its own spacious self-contained single room, outside of which, running the full
length of the Longhouse, is a covered common veranda, about 7 metres wide, used
for socialising and working on crafts or net repairs.<span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu-H2bj-VaTHLxafKLCw47gNtMBSeRqBluRfZZRkJvQz7YSUOXM6jRkApFrP0WMrKh0x0Bwl8HaM26EgM02irsuErM1a9qbza_gHFU9S2PTDY9d7NO8pzauTTXCsuSSg5H2L92O_4OIP3j/s1600/03-borneo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Our unannounced visit was greeted with interest
but with guarded curiosity by the tribe.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Any barriers were soon broken down when I
produced photographs taken on a previous visit, of children from the village. These
children were now grown up and parents in their own right.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> </span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaXiemPT6lH-V5EoyEU7Nve856D4lRMiDPnQ_GpXBBagUIxvbC2xSu6LVvjYzsg12z-N_2gPc-XsyfvNp8E3hs4vXaq8kGj7JRuzZfOEl2hdWQEAVWv4lI5rnjdJBeri2O0rjWkH-FGk24/s1600/02-R.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaXiemPT6lH-V5EoyEU7Nve856D4lRMiDPnQ_GpXBBagUIxvbC2xSu6LVvjYzsg12z-N_2gPc-XsyfvNp8E3hs4vXaq8kGj7JRuzZfOEl2hdWQEAVWv4lI5rnjdJBeri2O0rjWkH-FGk24/s320/02-R.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px; text-align: center;">Bathing the kids before bed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">We were made welcome and invited to stay overnight in the headman’s
family unit; a large open-plan room used by his extended family for eating,
sleeping, food preparation and relaxation. It was in many ways much the same as
I had experienced years before, however, It was encouraging to see that conditions
of hygiene, comfort and clothing had since</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">improved greatly, I also noticed that there was less tattooing of the body and the custom of men engraving their top teeth with the four playing-card symbols; hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades was no longer evident. </span> </div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjslKlfuioVgKkD2SDLDSd5b0j12D75cfR4PEkIUOXA20cUcn31vRtDC-TuTgL3IEBCdKDdvxm11J_yHrxe8wY9GrxgymPks28MddmhfQQXKzxirB2U8uCk_y7T2zd5zJ7p3AdtwBXN_LCd/s1600/08-borneo+(19).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.09090805053711px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-indent: 48px;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjslKlfuioVgKkD2SDLDSd5b0j12D75cfR4PEkIUOXA20cUcn31vRtDC-TuTgL3IEBCdKDdvxm11J_yHrxe8wY9GrxgymPks28MddmhfQQXKzxirB2U8uCk_y7T2zd5zJ7p3AdtwBXN_LCd/s200/08-borneo+(19).jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.727272033691406px; text-align: center;">Going fishing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> </span>Despite the lack of verbal communication, we spent a wonderful evening,
hilariously entertaining the village with western party games, harmonica music
and sing-a-longs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Our
hosts were a little unsure of what to do with us the following morning, so they took
us back to the river to wait on a sandbar for a passing boat. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjYeEKd8zpEVk20oP2_aBc81KLEKGbGS1eAWe_VI4VBQUyF21G6e8_2AQz1yzPZ_tp8cciZQ42g0rWBsSwJukhRhEk-MD8vnd4X7Xaw53oYfSuhnL4f9czQRIC19k4ybqxNt2Ls8no_neD/s1600/04-borneo+(8).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjYeEKd8zpEVk20oP2_aBc81KLEKGbGS1eAWe_VI4VBQUyF21G6e8_2AQz1yzPZ_tp8cciZQ42g0rWBsSwJukhRhEk-MD8vnd4X7Xaw53oYfSuhnL4f9czQRIC19k4ybqxNt2Ls8no_neD/s320/04-borneo+(8).jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Young girl gathering firewood</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Although we were a little disappointed not to
have stayed longer at <i>Nanga Kamalee</i>,
it was perhaps very fortuitous; because despite a four hour wait, the first
boat to come along did not offer a lift down river, but headed upriver, even
further away from civilisation. We jumped aboard and soon found ourselves in another
unusual situation… to be continued next time. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho";"> <a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/p/about.html" target="_blank">Written by Roy Romsey</a></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZXUPOsaQjAl_-OGILQS3OisRS5CUZJoIFBcREqjIk_bYKT-vC0xZeOZDvsng_n7YQ8xjWLShSbW7KPBiS3obJ4tiJTdcwhM89Ats2tzQD9ESIt3i5S62mWbIxLAINXx5dqjrCpADDnA1m/s1600/10-9207+Borneo+Kapit+River+Rejang+(31)1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 19.09090805053711px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZXUPOsaQjAl_-OGILQS3OisRS5CUZJoIFBcREqjIk_bYKT-vC0xZeOZDvsng_n7YQ8xjWLShSbW7KPBiS3obJ4tiJTdcwhM89Ats2tzQD9ESIt3i5S62mWbIxLAINXx5dqjrCpADDnA1m/s320/10-9207+Borneo+Kapit+River+Rejang+(31)1.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Today's kids looking at photos of yesterday's kids</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b><a href="http://itravelstories.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/an-iban-maiden-it-wasalmost-midday-and.html" target="_blank">Read Roy's next Borneo short story - click here</a></b><br />
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