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.
The Ontario branch 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 enjoying a number of different writers listing out their Top Ten Writer’s Read in recent editions of the Geographical magazine, http://www.geographical.co.uk, I thought I’d attempt my own list. Most are travel orientated and most have been reread more than a few times J I’m not sure whether there’s any other common themes – probably it’s a mix of enjoying their writing styles or having travelled to the locations talked about.
The Sinbad Voyage by Tim Severin, published by Hutchinson & Co. One of my first travel reads – a very boy’s own adventure but it fired my imagination about what travel could show me, crucially as at sixteen I had not even been out of England. Tim totally immerses himself & his team into different cultures & peoples, whilst realising a fantastic project from start to finish. His writing style depicts the joy of travelling itself – from planning, through the journey and onto a wider world that he has not seen before.
The Last Grain Race by Eric Newby, published by Picador. Newby, one of the first modern era travel writers, talks about his time spent on the four masted steel barque Moshulu’s last voyage in the Australian grain trade in the 1930s. Its sea journey feels hard, uncomfortable – as Eric stumbles his way around the globe as a novice deckhand. Whilst I found his technical sailing difficult to follow at times, I did undertake a couple of my own ship journeys…aboard the Malcolm Miller around the Canary Islands & aboard the Soren Larsen down to New Zealand. After those journey I understood more about his adventure and how other worldly being away from land for days can be and yet how much camaraderie can develop in such a confined space.
Monsignor Quixote by Graham Greene, published by The Bodley Head. Unusually a fiction that grabbed my attention and whilst not an out & out travel story, it does use travel to expand the lives of the two main characters as they cross Franco’s Spain. Eminently readable and quite intimate in the development of friendship that was freed from limitations by being on the road.
A Cook’s Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines by Anthony Bourdain, published by Bloomsbury Publishing. It is Bourdain’s account of his world travels — from the perspective of eating exotic local dishes and trying to experience life as a native in each country. The book was recommended to me by a friend and appealed to one of my reasons for travelling…the enjoyment of different tastes and foods, though many of Bourdain’s ingredients wouldn’t pass my lips !
Long Way Round by Ewan McGregor, Charley Boorman, published by Little Brown Book Group. Probably like most, I watched the TV program and then indulged in the book – their journey around the globe is a simple premise itself but I think the appeal lies in it being a motorbike journey by two friends, who despite their star studded lives, encounter similar travel ups & downs to many of us who set out on some trip. Particularly resonating is Ewan reminding himself more than once that he has to leave behind his London suspicions & scepticisms towards strangers & difference circumstances.
Annapurna, The first 8000 meter Peak by Maurice Herzog, published by Dutton. I bought this mountaineering epic at the Pilgrims Bookshop in Thamel, next door to the Kathmandu Guest house – I wanted to anticipate my forthcoming trek up to South Annapurna Base Camp. Little did I realise Herzog would cause so much controversy after he returned to France in the early 1950s…many critics and colleagues have since accused him of playing up his singular role at the expense of the other expedition members.
Jupiter’s Travels by Ted Simon, published by Penguin Books Ltd. After Long Way round I finally got round to reading this now classic…Its very intense & detailed in reflecting his experiences, particularly around his time in Africa and California – Ted manages to convey his daily life around his motorbike and their interactions through the world they pass through.
As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning by Laurie Lee, published by W. W. Norton & Company. Second time around I thoroughly enjoyed Lee’s account of travelling from his ‘Cider with Rosie’ rural upbringing on to a quite different & more complex world…his travels through England are unusual and talk of an England I’ve never known. Lee’s writing is very open and I found I recognised much in his sense of heading up to London & beyond..
A time of gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor, published by John Murray (Publishers). Another classic that I’d heard of but knew nothing about ! What fascinates me is not only his descriptions in travelling in the 1930s but the historical backdrop Patrick is passing through, as Europe heads to war. Fermor is another who leaves behind a way of life I’ll never experience and two more volumes await me as he completes his epic walk to Istanbul.
feedback & comments from eNewsletter readers, as told to The Ant
I read the article by Tony Annis and was impressed by its information and astute observations about cycle touring in New Zealand. Just one or two points. By far the best guide to cycling in New Zealand is a local, reasonably-priced, guide called Peddler’s Paradise, www.paradise-press.co.nz I also run a free non-affiliated website for cycle touring in NZ www.cycletour.co.nz
Your own website is excellent.
Cheers,
David Stillaman, New Zealand
Re article “Write in (3)…Peter Gostelow is off again !” from the August 2009 eNewsletter
Author : Henry J. Reitz
Email : shellmanhenry@sbcglobal.net
Peter. . .As we say in California, ‘You made my booty squeese’. I like your spirit and enjoyed the photography. I am also a Globetrotter with 85 countries to my credit and four circles of the globe. There were many photos I recognized as places I have been to and especially liked the ones up the Indus valley and the beauty of the inhabitants. . .Credit to Alexander.
Please enjoy Namibia, it is truly a last frontier and some of the nicest people you will ever meet…That is where I grew up and ran away from as a kid in 1958 to become a ‘Trotter’.
Be safe, my spirit is with you
Hello all,
IÂ’m back from a very enjoyable trip to the Bordeaux region of France where we managed to catch an almost a perfect week of sunshine, fine food, excellent wine tastings and some challenging mountain bike rides. Ile de Ré http://www.holidays-iledere.co.uk/ made for a relaxing weekend by the coast before we headed inland, towards St Foy le Grande and a friendÂ’s converted barn. It was an excellent escape throughout and the only mishap came as I slid off my bike as I sped too cockily round a gravel covered corner – I was very quickly reminded about the foolishness of not concentrating at all times J
Compared with my gentle trip though, eNewsletter readers & contributors have been very busy themselves during the last month or so…planning and organising travel on a wider, more adventurous scale:-
ThatÂ’s all for now – thank you for all your contributions this time round…IÂ’ve even been able to keep a few interesting items back for the next edition. Keep travelling & keep writing…
The Ant
After this year’s Annual General meeting we were straight into two very different and equally enthralling talks‚- our first at the newly refurbished Church of Scotland‚…which is now a lot more welcoming to visitors !
Lois Pryce – Lois on the Loose – Alaska to Ushuaia, Solo by motorcycle.
Lois Pryce left her job at the BBC to ride her motorcycle from Alaska to the tip of South America, alone‚- this talk was about what happened along the way and what drives her. See Lois’s web site for fuller details of this trip and what she’s been up to since – www.loisontheloose.com.
Dan Bachmann -The Karamojong: Forgotten Tribes
As the club’s winner of the first 2009 travel award, Dan spoke enthusiastically about “On a far corner of Uganda live the Karamojong – a group of people who live by a unique culture that has existed for hundreds of years, but they now face the influence of the outside world coming from multiple angles. This talk will leave you hanging about the fate of these people where the modern world is as much as a threat to existence as a key to survival.”
Details of the London branch’s forthcoming meetings, September through to December 2009, can be found at https://staging.globetrotters.co.uk/meetings/lon10it.html
The London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend. There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh in September. For more information, contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the web site: www.globetrotters.co.uk.
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.
The Ontario branch 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.
By Jennifer Barclay, author of Meeting Mr Kim: Or How I Went to Korea and Learned to Love Kimchi (www.authorsites.co.uk/jenniferbarclay) October 2009
The morning air is humid and salty, the sea calm, a silvery blue. The beach is so close I canÂ’t resist a swim. As I turn towards Jungmun, where dunes covered in lush green foliage trail down to a soft pale sand beach, I spot the diving women like seals in their black wetsuits, out in the ocean off the sharp black rocks, visible by the orange buoys from which they suspend the catch. They come up for air every couple of minutes, then dive back down again. One is walking up to shore, carrying a heavy net sack filled with shellfish on her back.
The haenyeo, or women divers, have been diving for abalone, sea urchins, sea snails and other seafood here on South KoreaÂ’s Jeju Island for over three centuries. While the men went to sea in fishing boats, women learned to dive, sometimes from the age of six. ItÂ’s a dying culture, however. There are still 5,000 women divers in Jeju, but their average age is 65; young women are no longer learning the skills required to dive all day without oxygen tanks to depths of ten metres or more.
Although I visited the haenyeo museum, I didn’t expect to see the female divers themselves, just around the corner from my hotel. I came to Jeju to walk in the lava tubes and up the dormant volcano of Hallasan, both UNESCO world heritage sites. The forest-covered national park covers a large part of the island and is Korea’s biggest ecological treasure. Semi-tropical Jeju, the biggest of the islands and known as the Hawaii of Korea, has a population of half a million, and has been a self-governing province since 2007. Popular with visitors from China and Japan – and Philippinos, who come here to see snow in the winter – it is barely known to the west, and yet English is widely spoken. ‘We love having you here’ say signs in English everywhere. Except for July and August, the beaches are practically empty, while activities include walking the coastal paths, golfing, horse riding and attractions such as the ‘humorous theme park’ Love Land.
Meanwhile, in spite of all this twenty-first century activity, the haenyeo divers survive mainly through their wits and the strength of their communities. In the old days they would build a shelter and a fire, and in the evenings the older women would pass on their skills to the younger women. Although wetsuits have replaced the cotton suits they used to wear (with adjustable buttons for diving when pregnant), they still dive without breathing apparatus, going down ten to twenty metres for one or two minutes. Surfacing, they let out a whistle-like shriek to exhale the carbon dioxide and take in oxygen for a minute before diving again.
These incredibly strong women haul in their catch on the rocks, then still dressed in wetsuits theyÂ’ll hustle in a good-humoured way for customers here by the beach. Go In-ho is the oldest haenyeo in this community. She started at fifteen years old, and has been diving for seventy years. She looks hale and hearty.
‘If my health stays good,’ she says, ‘I’ll keep going for another five years.’ For eight days she works here, and for eight days she works in the barley fields. Jeju-do cannot grow rice and its fields are protected from fierce storms by dry-stone walls built with volcanic rocks. The island is known for its ‘three plenties’: wind, rock and women. The men didn’t always come home from fishing on the treacherous seas around Japan and Russia.
Tables are set out right by the water’s edge, and several customers are already eating and drinking at 10 a.m. One of the haenyeo in a heavily patched and darned wetsuit takes a fish from a bucket, de-scales it and slices it up with a sharp knife, cleaning the board with a hose. She pulls out an octopus, hacks off the black ink sack and puts it in a pot on a little stove. Here’s your locally sourced food, freshly prepared – it doesn’t get much fresher. The chef’s kitchen is right here at your feet. Having served the food she takes the banknotes and stuffs them into the diving mask on her head.
We sit down, and Go In-ho gives us a plate of whelks, which Dami shows me how to wind out of their shells using a toothpick.
In the UK weÂ’ve got perfectly accustomed to eating sashimi when itÂ’s cut into soft pink and white squares, but Korean raw fish restaurants always look more like pet shops, piled with bubbling tanks where odd-looking creatures lurk and writhe. The fish in the tubs here, meanwhile, barely notice theyÂ’re out of the water before theyÂ’re chopped up and on a plate. We take a small snapper, which comes still with skin and a few little bones, but Koreans arenÂ’t fussy about that. And we eat white slices of raw squid head with sesame oil.
I’ve vowed to be adventurous on this trip. I look into the tank and can’t bear to ask for the octopus, although I love it. Koreans eat baby octopus while it’s still alive, which seems unnecessarily cruel to me (‘Yes, but very tasty,’ according my guide). No, it’s time to conquer my fear of one of Korea’s favourite seafoods: sea cucumber, which looks like a big fat spiky caterpillar.
I try not to watch as In-ho squats on her haunches, grabs a sharp knife and firmly chops up the little black creature, removing its white insides. And suddenly there it is, plated up on the table. I daub a piece liberally with hot sauce. ItÂ’s a bit like oyster, really. Once you get over the idea of it, itÂ’s like eating a raw taste of the ocean. Not bad at all. And when you think itÂ’s been caught by a woman whoÂ’s been free-diving for seventy years, you feel like a bit of a wuss being squeamish.
According to the folk rites, Yeongdeung Halmang, the guardian goddess, visits Jeju-do on the first day of the second lunar month to sow the seeds of the sea creatures, and every year shamans still perform ceremonies here. Although in many ways South Korea is more advanced and prosperous than much of Europe (the most connected country in the world with the fastest broadband, a subway system in Seoul where you can use your mobile phone), they are fiercely proud of their traditional heritage. So it is sad that women are no longer learning to dive, although IÂ’m sure there are easier ways to earn a living. I go for my swim and wonder what itÂ’s like in a wintry storm.
Destinations, the UKÂ’s favourite holiday and travel show is back at Earls Court (4-7 February 2010). Now in its 16th year, the Show provides travel inspiration and a wealth of choice for those looking to plan their next escape. Whether looking to venture a little further off the beaten track, or simply after inspiration on new ways to discover new places, Destinations offers everything from short breaks to awe-inspiring holidays such as round-the-world trips and life-changing career breaks.
Those tired of being armchair adventurers – viewing the world through the television, books or the internet –can head down to the event to meet travel companies face to face, have a chat with expert advisers and even tailor-make their next trip.
There are hundreds of travel ideas for all tastes and budgets, many with exclusive show offers. Is it time to do something different? Why not experience the spirituality in the mountains of ItalyÂ’s Valle dÂ’Aosta, trek up Kilimanjaro, or lounge on a tropical Thai beach? Whether travelling solo, as a couple, family or group, thereÂ’s something to suit everyone at the Show.
Highlights include the Meet the Expert Theatres. The theatres feature travel personalities including: top explorers, adventurers, writers and photographers giving first-hand accounts of legendary journeys of adventure that will fire the imagination.
Speakers already confirmed for Destinations London include John Simpson, BBC World Affairs Editor and Rebecca Stephens, the first British woman to climb Everest & The Seven Summits. John Simpson will be recalling how he spent the early part of 2009 taking part in the BBC programme Top Dogs: Adventures in War, Sea and Ice. Speakers at Destinations Birmingham include Mark Cawardine, zoologist, environmentalist, writer, BBC TV presenter and wildlife photographer.
London Show
Ticket Prices: £10 in advance, £12 on the door
Venue: Earls Court 1, Warwick Road, London SW5 9TA
Telephone: +44 (0)871 230 7141
Opening Times:
Thursday 4 February 2010 10am – 8.30pm (late night from 5pm)
Friday 5 February 2010 10am – 5.30pm
Saturday 6 February 2010 10am – 5.30pm
Sunday 7 February 2010 10am – 5.30pm
Birmingham Show
Ticket Prices: £8 in advance, £10 on the door
Venue: NEC, Birmingham
Telephone: +44 (0)871 230 7141
Opening Times:
Friday 5 March 2010 10am – 5pm
Saturday 6 March 2010 10am – 5pm
Sunday 7 March 2010 10am – 5pm
The Times is the official title sponsor of the shows. For further information, high resolution images or interviews, contact Laura Leveson, Smith & Monger Specialist PR and Marketing Consultants Ltd.
T: 0208 964 6744 Laura Leveson laura@smithandmonger.com or Rhona Templer rhona@smithandmonger.com
Hello all,
Now that weÂ’re into a new season of the London GlobetrotterÂ’s branch meetings, its time for quite a catch up as thereÂ’s plenty happening travel wise at the moment. In the articles below you can see who our first speakers were at the London September meeting, you can enjoy feedback readers, you can enter a competition, you can learn more about the Cook Islands and Mac takes us on a shopping trip for those on a budget ! You can also log on to the clubÂ’s web site, www.globetrotters.co.uk, to discover the forthcoming program of speakers in 2009/2010.
Hot off the press – for those of you that might be interested & inspired there are two items of news regarding round the world cyclist Mark Beaumont. The first is that Mark is off on a new adventureÂ…this time heÂ’s journeying across the Americas –see http://www.markbeaumontonline.com/ for details. And secondly it seems that Mark no longer holds the record for cycling round the worldÂ…Londoner James Bowthorpe has claimed that honour – see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8264580.stm for further details !
That’s all for now as I’m trying to get ready for a brief trip to south west France – we’re off looking for some late autumn sun and a chance to ride mountain bikes in new surroundings. I’ll see you in October, hopefully with some interesting tales & no mishaps. In the meantime keep sending me your articles, feedback and general comments…I tried to read and work with them all.
The Ant
Emily Ainsworth – 2008 RGS/BBC Journey of Lifetime winner – The Romance of Reality: An Exploration of Mexico from the Inside Out, Travelling with a Family Circus
In 2008, Emily Ainsworth, a 22-year-old Oxford graduate in English, ran away to the circus in Mexico. “No tigers here, because Humberto’s niece got eaten by one of them, but they do have an elephant which plays the harmonica. She’s decided that she doesn’t like me. She picked me up with her trunk, just like they do in cartoons, but instead of putting me on her head, she threw me in the mud and tried to stamp on me. I was very unimpressed. But I think she’s behaving badly because her tamer ran away the other night…” As Emily and the circus hopped from city to city, working through the night to pitch on the scrubby hinterlands, she learnt more about the role of transformation in the circus and the people who worked there. Characters included the female circus performer who danced her way through the evening shows, and then worked for her mothers’ quesadilla stall until the early hours, to fund her degree in international relations. For five generations audiences have paid their pesos to watch performers under the patched canvas of the Circo Padilla family’s tent. Emily was lucky enough to see what went on when the curtain fell and the lights went off.
See more details via http://www.rgs.org
Tracey Murray – From Bauhaus to Bastei, Travels in the former East Germany
Globetrotter’s very own Committee member Tracey Murray took us on a trip around the former Eastern Germany to visit a number of World Heritages sites and parks. Tracey described how easy it was to use buses, trains & cycles to view the many sites and showed us some excellent photos. I think we got to hear more interesting aspects about that region than we expected – Tracey obviously enjoyed the architecture, the surprisingly stunning national park scenery and even managed to sneak in references to local breweries & public houses. The audience were also impressed that Tracey put together this excellent talk at very short notice, as one of the booked speakers had to pull out at very short notice !
Details of the forth coming meetings at the London branch, September to December 2009, can be found at https://staging.globetrotters.co.uk/meetings/lon10it.html
The London branch meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, behind the Fortune Theatre in Covent Garden at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a UK public holiday that weekend. There is no London meeting in August, but we start afresh in September. For more information, contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the web site: www.globetrotters.co.uk.