Ten years ago today, our friends and families were waking to some horrendous news and gut-wrenching unknowns about Claire and I. Owing to a twist of geography and who knows what else, today we are waking safe at home – thankful and perplexed.
Thinking of those who were not so lucky.
If you are sitting next to someone who irritates you follow these instructions:
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Taken in Somerset at the weekend – near Nunney. Things are starting to happen in the woods right now. Signs of new life abound. Like these guys – standing by, ready to unfurl…
What a life these fat fellows have! Lazying about all day, just soaking up the sun and going for the occasional dip, maybe catching a fish if they can be bothered…
There’s more photos of Skye here (needs password – just ask me).
Wow – that felt longer than two weeks. We’ve just returned from a different world and a very beautiful one at that. A world full of idyllic islands straight out of James Bond, with incredible diving and friendly people. The Philippines has such a bad press here in the UK and I’m almost tempted not to dispell the myths so I can keep the place all for myself… but how could I do that? Island hopping around the remote islands to the north of Palawan by banka revealed some of the most breathtaking scenery I have ever seen. Thousands of deserted islands with sheer limestone cliffs, hidden lagoons, secret beaches and turquoise blue waters.
However, it seems tourism “eco-development” and land title disputes are endemic in this area and corruption, at all levels, is rife. It’s a fine balance between tourism alleviating poverty in a place perceived by Westerners as “paradise on earth” and maintaining a pristine environment for future generations. As tourism encroaches on these small islands in this fragile ecology, I really hope this balance can be met.
Some of the people we met along the way (like the folk at Kudugman) were trying to do things the right way- pushing forward low-scale, low-impact and sustainable developments of two or three huts on islands that draw minimal resources and offer a very basic yet completely serene break from it all. However, the terms “sustainable” and “eco-tourism” are used all too rashly and I hope that recent measures to develop these small islands do not lead to their destruction.
Anyway – here’s some more photos. Not that I need to convince you of the beauty of the place!
A cold yet pleasingly steady England. To be up and out of the Tsunami zone and into a hot bath within 2 days is strangely disarming. I feel as if I am betraying the local people left behind in this tragedy. Now, more than ever, people in these regions need the income from tourism to help them get back on their feet. The areas most hit obviously need the most help. But, in the badly affected places, the infrastructure is simply too strained to be able to support any further drain on water and food resources that visitors would bring. We actually left the Andamans following our intended schedule. There were enough supplies on Havelock to support the people there and many fellow travellers were choosing to stick to their original plans. Of course, news of the wider reach of the waves and the associated images that have been in the media all around the world hasn’t quite filtered round the islands yet. Believe me – I was choked by what the news showed on the plane coming home. We were blissfully unaware just how close we were.
So, now that we are home and safe with friends and family, what can anyone do to help? GIVE MONEY. Either donate to a specific organisation, such as the Red Cross and Oxfam, that are already based in some of the affected regions and doing excellent work. Or the Disasters Emergency Committee is running an appeal where you can also donate online. How much can you afford? Double it. Incredibly, even these sites are starting to buckle under the sheer enormity of things but please keep trying.
If you are looking for information about the situation in the Andaman Islands, an Andaman-Tsunami website has been created for those seeking to post or find out news.
Chennai, India. We have just arrived from the Andaman Islands and the extent of the Tsunami’s devastation is only just starting to hit home. Sleeping in a simple hut on the beach, we were woken by a serious rumble in the morning and we certainly got a bit wet but, as there are no communications on Havelock Island, we did not know what was happening in the outside world. The lack of information and rumours just caused more panic. When we left yesterday, people were still camped out in the hills for fear of another quake. Water and food supplies were low but not desperate. When a lady from the British High Commission met us at the airport, we realised people must have been worried. I didn’t quite expect us to make the news though! Anyway – we and all the other people who were on Havelock Island (the same should go for Neil Island too) are safe; there were no casualties. As we head home, my heart goes out to all those touched by this tragedy.
Chennai, India. Catching a lift with an Indian family and their kitchen sink, my nose is pressed close to the window. Sacred bulls stand dazed in the heavy traffic – either mesmerised by headlights or bewildered by the neon and noise of the night market. I catch my partner’s eye and we smile. Yep – we are back in India.
Ella, Sri Lanka. We woke at 3am this morning, after only getting to bed at 1am (beers under the full moon on a beautiful beach – just too enticing!) and arrived at Uda Welawe National Park to catch the dawn troop of elephants. As the mist cleared, we stalked the odd beasties in our jeep – all that was missing was a voiceover from David Attenborough. I like elephant footprints.
Mirissa, Sri Lanka. We’ve been doing a fair bit of diving lately and, a couple of days ago, we saw a turtle. I’ve never seen one so close. He effortlessly banked round right in between us, as we made our ascent from the deep. You could even see his smile – chuckling at how clumsy we looked trying to be fish.
Mirissa Beach, Sri Lanka. Sun, sea, surf, snorkelling… Oh and a bit of diving. Nuf said really
Colombo, Sri Lanka. A busy city, yes. But a world away from the busy we’ve left behind in India. The traffic goes in the same direction, on the correct side of the road. And on tarmac roads too! With pavements and everything.
After a month of curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner it has been a welcome treat to find a place serving culinary delights such as sushi and a cool beer. This really is a little cosmopolitan heaven. Although, seeing Christmas decorated plastic palm trees in a shopping mall is perhaps stretching even my ideas of consumer utopia a little too far. And, I have to admit, I found it a little disconcerting riding the elevator up the west tower of the World Trade Centre – Colombo’s very own twin towers.
madurai, tamil nadu. i don’t believe it – we have just spent the last four days surrounded by complete mayhem and i get to an internet cafe to upload our photos and it says the data is corrupt! technology schmechnology.
last night we wandered around the spell binding temple again, taking it all in, and were duly blessed by the holy painted elephant. then, as we stepped out into the heavy evening, the sky and streets were suddenly alive with a non-stop assault of bangs, squeals and cascading colours from a second wave of diwali attack. mothers in saris lit mischievous firecrackers and dads dueled with fireworks of ever increasing size. we escaped to a rooftop and watched the beautiful battle unfold around us. the thick air becoming even thicker with gunpowder smoke and the smell of incense.
and, of course, this morning the sacred cows were out in force – happily munching on all the spent munitions littering the streets.
madurai, tamil nadu. i have sought a brief air-conditioned solace from the war zone of deepavali firecrackers out in the streets. it seems nothing is spared by kids letting off bangers – bottles, fruit, bikes, cows – all are no match for the fireworks that they are armed with.
the temple this morning was equally crazy, in a very different way; sacred painted elephants wandering about between the butter throwing, prostrating and chanting devotees. we explored the temple, through the labyrinth of corridors, shrines and ceilings – decorated with elaborate stories of various deities in fantastical detail. the noise and buzz of holy activity created a truly magical atmosphere. it felt like wandering round an indiana jones movie.
madurai, tamil nadu. we have a room on the roof of a hotel that has amazing views of the city and sunrise this morning was rather special. the huge temple towers, thought to be decorated with 3.3 million brilliantly painted sculptures, dominate the vista. while the chants, wails, toots and beeps rise from the chaotic streets of the bustling holy city below. you can feel the excited anticipation as everyone prepares for deepavali. this is a very different india to goa and kerala – and i think i’m going to enjoy it.
munnar tea stations, high in the hills. this might have been a bit of a mistake as it has rained constantly for days. apparently the view from our hotel across the tea plantations is amazing – if only we could see through the mist. very atmospheric but very wet. considering the torrential rain and looming misty cloud, i was obviously quite happy to hear that the town in which we are staying is host to a famous old gentleman’s club where apparently one can while away the afternoon playing snooker, sipping a gin and tonic, surrounded by hunting trophies. i’m an english gentleman – i thought. so with a hop, skip and a rickshaw ride, we were there – the high range club. i confidently approached the golf sweater wearing manager and, with my best public school english, enquired as to whether we may avail of his facilities. he took a cursory glance at me and said no. i wasn’t wearing shoes. “but… but i’m english”, i thought, looking down at my flip flops. then turned around and left muttering to myself about golf clubs and jeans.
somewhere in south india. my first impressions of india were mainly the stark contrasts. old ways and new ideas sit quite happily next to each other. take this broadband internet cafe i am in – looking all swish and air conditioned – while oxen lead wooden carts in the mud roads outside. it is constantly hectic yet surprisingly easy going. though it doesn’t seem as different as i thought it might – mainly i think due to the cultural barriers that can be crossed by sharing a common language. whereas south america was constantly a battle to be understood or to understand, here it is much easier. even though the place is completely crazy at times. a particular ruse that i am becoming aware of is something we have taken to dub “the elaborate faff”. it goes something like this: 1) identify a problem that everyone knows the solution to but won’t admit; 2) create a particularly elaborate diversion – ideally involving lots of running around and people getting busy; 3) faff plenty; 4) solve original simple problem behind the elaborate smoke-screen diversion. all this is done most knowingly – with lots of smiles and yes sirs and no sirs and dippings of the head. talking of head movements – one thing that has caused a few confusions is the sideways rocking of the head that indicates agreement when it looks like a negative shake at first glance from a westerner’s perception. i think we’ve gotten used to that one though – after only a few minor mis-interpretations.
anyway – i have a few photos to share with you from the last few days.
benaulim, south goa. well we made it. rather than bore with a long winded poetic description of this place, i thought i’d let the sounds do that talking – recorded sat on a shaded terrace, in a small fishing village, just watching life.
what with all this thinking about india, i’ve been spending a little longer than i sanely should checking out various indian websites. there’s a site for everything! the indian rail site seems far more efficient than our offering and i’ve learnt a thing or too about indian cooking. it’s a little worrying that when googling for a site about british food to show an indian friend – this came up second! i just love the line “After lunch the father will smoke his pipe and read the newspaper sitting on his favourite armchair while his wife washes the dishes” – under a picture of the typical family having sunday lunch. it doesn’t mention anything about trolley teas though.
anyway – here’s some indian sounds to tease the ears. sometimes, simple everyday sounds can be the most evocative things.
this way please… go check it out, fred’s been busy.
EDIT: more here
well it’s time to get out there again. our flight is booked for mumbai – we leave in a few weeks for 3 months. time to get planning. whoop!
not sure if this deserves a blog but seeing as it has been a good 9 months since my last entry it seems as good a reason as any… had a break between projects at work today and was able to make my first fledging steps towards creating myself a fully xhtml/css playlab site. oh yes. it doesn’t get much more exciting than that.
winter is here – which means plenty of time to play with the site. check out the recent wintery photos in the album
i still haven’t scanned in all those snaps from south america. i must do that soon – before it all becomes a distant memory. *sigh* – winter hey.
After several months of travelling, I’m back in the UK – wondering what to do next…
Haven’t really been any good at this blog thing. After Peru, went to Bolivia – then made my way to Australia for another four months. It’s been fun – the photos say it all » https://www.playlab.co.uk/photos/
although, as always, a photo can never totally capture the magic of the places and people i have encountered along the way. it’s been good.
to shave the couple of days it would have taken us to get to the reserve part of the jungle (by bus and canoe), we decided to get a plane. at the airport and i was looking to see what plane it was. saw a small plane with two propellers that looked about right from the departure lounge and started getting excited about the thought of the ride. then we were led out onto the tarmac towards this plane and we walked past it, to another smaller plane that was hidden behind it. a tiny one propeller charter plane – for 8 of us. they weighed us on these ancient scales and we duly clambered aboard. i will never forget the ride – first between the snow capped peaks of the andes and then across miles and miles of lush green jungle. 45 minutes later we touched down on an airstrip in the heart of virgin rainforest (incidently, the airstrip was under the control of drug barons until the early 90s – the wreck of an overloaded smuggling plane still lays at the end of the runway). hard to comprehend where we were exactly – this is still quite unchartered territory – in ’96 they contacted a previously unknown indian tribe just a few miles from here. the entire reserve area (about half the size of switzerland) is strictly controlled and, in the last 10 years, as the drug barons have been pushed out by the government, the area has become a sanctuary from exploration and exploitation for both wildlife and indigenous people alike.
the thick and hot air hit us as soon as we stepped off the plane. so did the insects. three hours later by canoe, we arrived at the jungle lodge. this place was comparative luxury to the places we’d be staying in for the next week. showers, floorboards, mosquito nets, generator, etc. after this it was tents on wooden platforms.
the only way to get about is by river and we travelled for hours by canoe each day. little hideouts dotted around some of the paths that have been hacked out from the river provided us with excellent cover to see all the wildlife (and sitting ducks for the insects too). i could give you a blow by blow account but i think that’s better saved for when we see you. though we did spot several endangered species over the next few days – beautiful macaws (parrots), giant otters, loads of diferent monkeys, black and white caiman (crocs), several tarantulas on our night walks, and a million ants and other creepy-crawlies.
suprisingly, the insects weren’t enough to put claire or me off and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. waking and sleeping with the sun, surrounded by the hum of the jungle, in the middle of nowhere and everything at the same time. neither of us were relishing the though of sleeping in tents in the thick of it but we both loved it.
after nearly two weeks in quito, which was far too long but spanish lessons were invaluable, we visited otovalo in the north. a chilled little town set high in the andes, with a colourful market and friendly little people to boot (sounds like a tourist brochure this, doesn’t it). all in their various indo garb of felt hats and ponchos and other weirdness. to be honest the stuff they were selling was tourist tat but claire liked it all the same. went back to quito to store said acquired tat. from quito we bused to banos – a little town nicely nestled under an active volcano. we arrived in the evening to see a sky of rather heavy cloud. and it wasn’t rain. that night we watched the red ash gushing out – the whole town was out by the road side watching. like bonfire night, with guys selling stuff and so on. weird though – everyone waiting for the big one but not really wanting it to happen, seeing as they’re sat directly under it. all the windows were taped up and it looked like people were expecting it to blow. the place is on orange alert and was evacuated last year but everyone got fed up waiting around and went back. needless to say the night was spent wondering if every car horn or church bell was the final fateful evacuation signal.
so all the dust from this night of bubbling started to drift onto the surrounding fields and wildlife. the papers the next day were full of photos of rather miffed looking sheep. another effect of all this dust was it literally popped the sky and we spent the next couple of days getting pissed on by the heavens above. our plans to bike down to the rainforest were thus twarted by this sprinkling and we got a bus instead. the bus followed a now gushing and swelling river, along a very deep ravine, going under waterfalls and past some stupidly high vertical drops. the muddy path looking like it might follow along with the rest of the torrents around us. incredible mountain/ rainforest stuff though. our destination – puyo – touted in “the book” as the most important centre in the oriente (ecuador’s rainforest/amazon place) turned out to be little more than an elaborate crossroads. we turned around and got straight on the bus back to banos – along the very same muddy track, clingling onto our seats, looking and then wishing we hadn’t, once again.
getting a little pissed with the rain, we decided to head for the beach. several death defying buses later, we reached hippy happa (spelt jippijappa but we had hours of fun with that one). festival there – hmm. more like a night market and fun fair (with a token procession behind a plastic christ holding a fly swat – honestly).
next – puerto lopez. relaxed town in a national park and by a spot in the pacific where whales come to get it on. pretty cool – huge whales strutting their funky thing in this pacific pick up joint. also went to “the poor man’s galapagos” – saw lots of blue footed boobies basically.
then a massive bus journey on to a town called cuenca. some sort of festival going on. that night we watched paper hot air balloons being sent up into the stars – really rather nice. propelled by their own little fires in mini baskets they glow away – disappearing into the sky. next day i somehow got called from the crowd to take part in this game that involved bashing clay pots with a stick, blindfolded. being the only gringo in the crowd (asides from claire) they must have seen me as an obvious target for taking the piss. there i am with a blindfold on trying to hit this clay pot strung up above me – except they kept moving it didn�t they. so that i kept stumbling around with this stick in the air, poking around the darkness like a fool. of course, they all thought it was hilarious. moving swiftly on – the churches here were particularly fantastic. red neon crosses and plastic flowers, decorated with mirrors and tinsel. nice.
next – on to vilcabamba, which means sacred valley apparently. this place achieved its fame when national geographic did a report on the people who lived here. loads of them are over 100 – something in the water, according to the scientists. so people came flocking here to taste this magical acua vida. very pleasant place to be honest. the climate is permanently around 24 degrees c. loads of wildlife and lush plantage. we stayed in this eco-health-lodge-spa-drinkthewater type place. had the obligatory full body massage and spa and so on. well worth it. chilled for two days before catching a bus across the peruvian border. unfortunately, the health place didn’t make claire to healthy and two hours into our 13 hour bus ride she pukes out the window. the first thing claire does as we touch peruvian soil, having walked across the river bridge that spans the border, is to bless the land with her bile. so another 8 hours passed like this, with claire wretching her guts out, while the rest of the bus try and sleep – watching the patterns of vomit streaking down their windows. she got better once we got off the bus and the whole little episode only lasted 24 hours. anyway – by this point we had been starting to realise how much ground we had to cover in so few days. a plane was our only option. the airport was classic – not much chance of us getting the terminals confused here. plane to lima. night in a hole. plane to cusco and viola – a weeks worth of buses done in less than a day. so we are now in cusco. its old and cold (3500m high). altitude got us yesterday but back on track today (coca leaves supposed to help – not too sure myself). sunset last night was amazing. booked ourselves into a 7 day jungle trip for thursday. manu biosphere reserve – tents and stuff. look up manu on the net – most bio-diverse place on earth. roughly translated as “watch where you tread”.
what a difference to cuba…
adverts, internet, american food. i’m sitting in an internet cafe, head spinning from the height, thinking there’s little point in moving from this spot. i’m in ecuador for god’s sake and all i feel like doing in playing on the computer and munching on all this glorious food. oh – the food! no more bloody creole chicken and papas fritas for me for a while i think.
turned up last night on the plane from panama and what a welcome party. we pushed our way through these funny little people wearing hats and general weirdness to a taxi, got a bed and tried to get warm under the covers. it’s freezing compared to cuba. missing it already. the people are great – next time i go, i shall be fluent in spanish. we’re signing up for one-on-one spanish lessons for the next week. so, although i won’t be at all fluent, there’ll be something to build on.
our last night in havana was spent in somebody’s bedroom (i’ve got a feeling it was actually the owner’s bed most of the time) with no running water. the difference to here is incredible. we’ve got cable tv in our hostel!! backpacker central.
i’m surrounded by bars with signs in english. no peeling paint or crumbling masonry – just adverts and slogans galore. i think i’ll bathe in pure consumer pap for the next week or so.
so our three weeks in fidel’s beautiful country are coming to a close and what better time can there be to send out a brief account of events so far?
we{ve dived in coral reefs, danced plenty of salsa, drunk our fair share of rum, acquired a taste for cigars, and generally done all the usual cuban shinanigens. though the people are the best thing about cuba. 3 weeks just ain’t long enough.
i wish i spoke better spanish and i wish i’d brought a load of t-shirts to give to the kids here.
