For information on Ontario meetings, please contact Svatka Hermanek: shermanek@schulich.yorku.ca or Bruce Weber: tel. 416-203-0911 or Paul Webb: tel. 416-694-8259.
Ontario meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Toronto at 8.00 p.m.
After January’s reading January’s edition of the eNewsletter, Eleanor wrote in asking a whole host of travel questions. Can you help with advice, tips and thoughts ?
ï¿Â½ With the dollar being so devalued what suggestions do you [the eNewsletter readers] have to travel to London, Scotland and Ireland ?
ï¿Â½ Where can I find places to stay in these countries that would not break my bank account? Are there home exchanges available and a list of Bed & Breakfast lodgings that are affordable ?
ï¿Â½ Do you have any suggestions on how to get to Altumura, Italy to work at the La Sabranenque Restoration site, which is south of Bari ?
ï¿Â½ Has anyone been to the Amazon ? How did you arrange the trip? By yourself or through a travel agency?
To quote Eleanor “As you can see, I am new to this world of travel, but really want to get started before time runs out !”
Send your information and replies to ehborkowski@adelphia.net
If you enjoy writing, enjoy travelling, why not write for the free Globetrotters eNewsletter! The Ant would love to hear from you: your travel stories, anecdotes, jokes, questions, hints and tips, or your hometown or somewhere of special interest to you. Over 14,000 people currently subscribe to the Globetrotter eNewsletter.
To see your story in cyber print, email The Ant, theant@globetrotters.co.uk, with your travel experiences / hints & tips / questions. Your article should be up to 750 words, feature up to 3 or 4 jpeg photos and introduce yourself with a couple of sentences and a contact e-mail address.
“I’m going travelling whether you come with me or not!” Without this ultimatum from my partner I may never have stepped off the career ladder to circumnavigate the globe. In April 2006 my girlfriend and now wife took the plunge and left our comfortable jobs to travel the world for a year. It was the best decision we have probably made in our lives, so good in fact that we came back married.
I had never really written any poetry prior to my travelling but decided it would be a great way to document our trip, so I started writing poems in the first week from our hostel in the heart of Mexico City and I carried on until the last leg of our journey on the Trans-Siberian Express across China and Mongolia to Russia. Any way, we returned to the UK in March 07 and I eventually took the advice of my many travel companions and compiled my book which I self published through a online company (author house)
345 days, 16 countries, 4 continents, 3 hospitals, 2 wedding rings, 1 police station and a day lost forever. From burping Mexicans to BBQ rat in Laos, a leap of faith in Vietnam and an irate nun in Russia, my poems follow the ups and the downs of life of two novice travellers on the backpacker trail. I hope they make you laugh ? Make you ponder ? Make you cringe ? Or make you wonder… anyone would quit a comfortable job to circumnavigate the globe.
Let me take you on a taster trip around the world with some of my observations, the serious and the funny that will inspire you to either book the next flight to somewhere new or convince you to never go on holiday again. So whether you are a globetrotter or a ‘rather-not-er’, read poetry everyday or would rather play on the motorway, just sit back, fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the experience. Will these poems give you rhyming reasons to travel the globe…or not ?
Pop culture (Mexico)
The Indian people of Chamula
Say “Kushee” instead of “Hola”
And like many other people
They worship Coca-cola
It’s part of their culture
From the workers to the Chief
More than a fizzy pop
Rather a religious belief
In the colours of the corn,
From cans and bottles they slurp
The evil spirits are released
When they belch or burp!
Slow boat
Thailand to Laos on the slow boat
Was an ordeal, not to repeat?
Crammed in like tinned sardines
Bags and people at your feet
Not much to eat, not much to do
On wooden planks you’re sat
Occasionally someone jumps on board
To sell some barbecued rat!
It may take an age to get there
Hard going to say the least
But it’s safer than the speedboats
And you’ll get there in one piece
Leap of faith
How does the traveller cross the road?
With difficulty it would seem
In Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
Motorbikes you will dream
Questions you may ask yourself…
Will I live until I’m old?
Or make it to the other side?
The future is untold
Forget what you have learnt before
Forget the ‘Green Cross Code’
Remember this survival tip
When you have to cross the road:
You must take a leap of faith
Your instincts must be ignored
Don’t try to make a dash for it
Or curl up on the floor
Keep an eye on the traffic
Don’t run, just have belief
Walk slowly as they steer around
That’s it…feel the relief!
Have faith (Russia)
Be careful when using a phrasebook
I found this out to my regret
I pointed to the wrong word
A moment that’s hard to forget
In a church in the middle of Russia
With a nun we couldn’t understand
I pointed to ‘atheist’ not ‘agnostic’
Ooops! The fires of hell I’d fanned
Horrified and shocked don’t come close
To describe the look of her disgrace
Thought I’d sent her to heaven early
I hurriedly tried to save face
With a lot of smiles and many nods
We tried to communicate
And patiently listened to her sermon
As it started to get late
If we hadn’t made our move
We would probably still be there
Let this be a warning to you
With your phrasebook do take care!
If you like Graham’s poems and what to read more, his recently self published book ‘Around the World in 80 Poems: Rhyming Reasons to Travel the Globe… Not!’ is available from most online book stores or directly from his publishers www.authorhouse.co.uk.
You can find out more about the book by following the link http://www.authorhouse.co.uk
10% of any profits Graham makes will be donated to environmental charities.
Graham can be contacted about his book or any travel related matter at garelton@googlemail.com
“I have just got back from nearly 8 months travelling, having visited Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia. I’ve written a little anecdote about the slow boats you take from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang in Laos…
Travelling on a local bus full of chickens in Thailand, journeying the length of Vietnam by train without another Westerner in sight, clinging on to the back of a moto-taxi in Cambodia – all great experiences to be had travelling around South East Asia. However, there is one journey to beat them all hands down – a 2-day slow boat journey in Laos! It’s an epic journey well-discussed by many a backpacker, including myself, who brave the slow boat as a means of getting from North-East Thailand (Chiang Khong) into Laos, and on to its charming former capital of Luang Prabang.
This mother of all journeys begins with an early start to beat the crowds at immigration. After a quick pay-and-stamp at Thai Immigration, everyone jumps onto long-tail boats that race you across the river to Huay Xai, Laos. After 3 attempts at a highly uncomplicated immigration form everyone is herded along to the ‘boarding platform’ (a mud-bank with wooden planks reminiscent of something out of Pirates of the Caribbean).
Now let the games begin. The boat itself is an old wooden number, apparently with a capacity of 75 people. I’m not too sure what Health & Safety would say about the boat ending up with about 110 people on it, but I guess that just makes the trip all the more ‘interesting’. As rumours swirl around about the length of the boat trip, the general consensus was about 7 hours on Day 1; the big question being whether the 2 hour loading process (yes 2 hours!) was part of those 7 hours. It wasn’t. Any images of nice, comfy seats should now be dispelled; the people last onto the boat make do with the floor whilst the early-birds have the perceived luxury of park benches big enough for half a cheek. Over the two days I had the ominous pleasure of both options, and in fact I recommend the floor!
After 7 hours meandering down the mystical Mekong taking in the beautiful scenery, muddy waters, jutting rocks and watching the people of Laos going about their daily business, you arrive in Pak Beng. What can be said about this mid-way stopover? Well I guess it can be summed up by the fact that every guesthouse owner warns you of the local thieves, then they themselves act as unorthodox chemists that offer herbal remedies not available being the counter in a town near you!
Day 2 is much the same as Day 1, with beautiful scenery becoming repetitive, jutting rocks becoming the speed-bumps of the river, and the constant drone of the engine becoming as painful as listening to a McFly record. Another 7 hours of this and the final destination is reached, albeit with a rather numb derriere.
This does indeed sound like the journey from hell, but it’s actually a rather enjoyable experience in a twisted way. The painful journey alongside random people makes conversation a must, and friendships inevitable. Also, there is definitely something about the Mekong, a vital artery that runs the length of SE Asia. Maybe it’s watching all those Vietnamese War films or something, but does have a certain charm. And then there are the blagging rights amongst travellers. Have you survived the Mekong slow boat? No? Well I have…
See Chris’s travel blog at www.travelpod.com/members/c-hampden
Regular contributor Mac had some thoughts on travel signs that he has seen or heard off during his lifetime and thought you might like to share a smile or two !
Mac goes on to reveal that “I will be 84 next month and because of health problems about the only travelling I do now is to the bathroom several times a night. I enjoy reading of others travel adventures however.”
Feel free to reach Mac at macsan400@yahoo.com with any stories…