Mac is still not very well but is still e-mailing strong. In this month’s Globetrotter e-newsletter, he writes about postcards he sent home over the years and a trip he made over twenty years ago to Britain’s Chelsea Pensioners.
Notes from back of travel picture postcards. You may travel vicariously, but not sinfully: from notes I wrote on back of picture postcards. At least find budget places to stay. On cards I sent back from Russia, the authorities there must have written down the names and addresses of those I was sending cards to as they were later contacted to see if they wanted to subscribe to a Russian picture magazine they put out.
I also discovered my cards sent back to home were being read by those in our mail room. I addressed a card to Marlos Marr at the home calling her Marvellous Marr. She got teased about this. One trip I sent out 66 cards and I don’t know 66 people! One guy at home asked me to send him a card from every country I visited. Later I thought he must have quite a collection and asked if I could see them. Oh he said, they weren’t for me and named the one person at the home I couldn’t stand. All that waiting in line at post offices and all that writing for nothing!
2nd Dec 91: back in Bangkok. King Bhumih Aduladiz has cassette tapes (3) of his own compositions for sale here (front of card showed the Grand Palace) 150 baht each ($6 US.) Proceeds will go Royal Charity (and to buy a new reed for his saxophone.) Princess Mah ChakSinindhaar sends her best. She remembers you fondly. Leave for India Wed (by request.) Saw the King arrive here the other day. He does not live here but in a different location. His brother while King was mysteriously was shot in bed here so the new King has decided to live elsewhere. King was attending college at Harvard in the States when the incident happened. The Queen is now in Washington, D.C. receiving an award for her charity work. You no longer have to wear coat and tie to visit Palace like I did last time. The King now wears sports shirts. (King plays saxophone.)
On the back of picture of Taj Mahal, Agra, India Jan 92. Another of my budget hotels. Kitchen privileges. Have found work outside this place as as a snake charmer. Could use a couple of assistants. I may cut trip short or I might keep on going. Happy Holidays. I have said that people either hate or love India. I am in between. One minute I will be thinking, “This is the most wonderful experience of my life,” and the next I will be thinking, “Good God let me out of this place.” Ha. Happy Holidays. Bill – Bill who? Bill your brother.
One of the WWII heroes residing here at the home spent a couple nights in a jail cell in a jail in Ottawa, Canada. They were not mistreating him. It was the Hostel International Ottawa Jail Hostel. 75 Nicholas St, www.hihostels.ca You pay $23 Canadian to spent a night in a jail cell. Don’t choose the Sixth floor as that was Death Row and guests report seeing ghosts at night. You can be exposed to public scorn by sticking your head in hole in pillory outside (and have your photo taken.) The cells have been enlarged but have the original cell doors. There is no air conditioning. This way you will be quicker to confess crimes you may have committed that they don’t know about. This jail was built in 1860-1862 as Carleton County Gaol and was active for 110 years. If on good behaviour you can use their kitchen and lockers. The Wardens private room is available. There are prison stripes on over stuffed furniture. There are evening Crime and Punishment Tours and Ghost and Gallows Tours ($7.50 Canadian.) They also have tickets for local sights. It is open year around. See you in jail.
I had visited England’s Soldiers Home on my own. This was before the exchange visits were started and this was what I evidently thought our home members would like to know about their home. I wrote – the method of feeding (I am always interested in food) at England’s Soldiers Home (Chelsea Royal Hospital) is that there are no assigned seats for meals but whoever happens to be at the head of the table has to ask the others, “How many want Chump Chop? How many want Braised Ox Tongue? How many want soup?” He writes the order on a pad and hands it to a waitress. I prefer our system. I was told by one member that the only time he had ever heard of anyone getting kicked out of the Home was because of a dog. A member had taken a friend with a dog into their pub at the home. (British then could take dogs into pubs – still can, Mac.) He was politely asked to take the dog out and he refused. They called the Sgt Major and he tried to be diplomatic about it, but the man absolutely refused to remove the dog so they removed both forever.
Members are allowed 42 days leave a year and they get paid rations while on leave, one pound twelve pence a day (($l.68 US.) They can actually take as much leave as they wish and one man was going to Australia but they only get rations for 42 days. They have above their rooms date admitted, age, rank, religion and what outfit they were in. Most of their rooms were much smaller than ours but not all the same size. Because rooms are small there is an easy chair out in the hallway in front of each room. Some rooms have Dutch doors so that the top half of the door can be open enabling the occupant to look up and down the hallway and they seem to spend a lot of the time in the hallways. Each room seem to have a tea pot on a shelf.
I got my information from Members of the home and not official sources but understood one member to say they had about six or seven hundred of which about 200 were in the infirmary. They have a Governor, garden plots for Members as we do, similar beautiful grounds and even the fence around the grounds look like ours. In fact looking into the grounds from the Thames river side I thought, “This place looks familiar.” Some of the buildings were designed by Christopher Wren who designed St Paul’s Cathedral. They have a small museum as we do. They have no golf course and of course ours is a bigger and better operation as I have found no retirement home in the world that can match ours. We feed better etc. They wear black uniforms for daily use and scarlet ones for dress. They do not like to have their red dress uniforms referred to as red. They refer to them as scarlet. The entertainers at the British Holiday Campus wear red outfits and they don’t want any confusion. This is of course twenty year old information and I understand they have enlarged their rooms but still no not allow dogs in their beautiful pub.
There is a story that Nell the mistress of Kind Charles II saw some veterans searching for food and talked King Charles into building England’s Old Soldiers Home (our equivalent) I think we should all toast Nell. One Britisher was upset that they did not have a statue of Nell on the grounds of their Old Soldiers Home. Some say this is just a story. Can anyone verify it?? Mac – the Royal Hospital is one of London’s landmarks — an exquisite building set in Chelsea, built by Sir Christopher Wren in 1685 to provide a retirement home for old soldiers. The Chelsea Pensioners, as they are known, are a distinctive sight around London with their famous scarlet uniforms, dripping with service medals and decorations.
If you would like to get in touch with Mac, he is happy to correspond by e-mail when he is well. His e-mail address is: macsan400@yahoo.com
Backpacker – The Ultimate Travel Game is a card game in which you experience all the fun and unpredictability of travelling the world as you try to outwit your opponents to be the player who has returned home with the most photos. In Backpacker you visit different countries and continents, enjoy beaches, trekking, wildlife and culture, meet other travellers and get good and bad advice, whilst trying to avoid getting sick or missing your plane. You may even have to change your plans or seek assistance to cope with problems and delays, some of which may be caused by your fellow players. You need planning, good timing, patience and a bit of luck to win and with so many scenarios, no two games are ever the same. Just like travelling, it’s fun, exciting, fast-changing and very addictive.
In Kamakura, I visited the Bamboo temple that my Tokyo friend told me about, set in a grove of bamboo, with monks chanting and green tea served in the garden. After this, I visited the giant Buddha, which used to be in a building until a tsunami removed them. 
From Kamakura, I went to Enoshima island which is near Kamakura. It takes about an hour on the train from Tokyo. Enoshima was fun and tried to do a geocache, but there were too many people about and too much rubbish around as well, so went back to Tokyo.
Another trip I made was taking the bus to Mt Zao, which despite being only 10 miles away took 90 mins to get to, thanks to the winding mountain roads and switchback hairpins. It was worth the ride to see Okama, a massive volcanic lake, fantastic place, you get to it via a chair lift. Loads of snow still, which you have to slip and slide through. Then walked up to Mt Kattadate over 5,000ft, spectacular views. Bought a mini bell for my rucksack. The Japanese all have them, they are to scare off bears! 
Eventually got the train to Hon Shiogama, this was in order to take the scenic boat trip to Matsushima (1400Yen). Nice 50 min ride through all the little islands, though absolutely freezing there and very windy. 
Ethnologists state that there are six broad hill tribe groupings: Karen, Lahu, Hmong, Lisu, Akha and Mien. Within these categories, there are sub-categories and clans that further divide the groups. Each hill tribe has its own customs, language, dress and spiritual beliefs and this is sometimes true even of the numerous sub-categories within one hill tribe. For example, the Green Hmong and White Hmong are said to speak in different and distinct dialects and dress differently. 
The main reason tourists come to visit the Paduang is because of the long-necked women. When the Beetle was in Thailand, she was told that the women in this tribe wore huge coils of metal around their necks to protect them from tigers. She asked if this tradition still held true and was assured that it did. What a load of nonsense! The women who wear these huge coils around their neck do so as a means of income generation from fees from tourists taking their photos and buying handicrafts presented at their stores. It came across, sadly, as something of a human freak show.
down to the ankles. 