The Globetrotters eNewsletter
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Meeting News from around he world

News and Reviews of our meetings in London

March Meeting News from London by Paul Roberts

The March meeting was attended by 68 members and 28 non-members, the meeting was hosted by Jeanie Copland as Dick Curtis was unavoidably detained by the London Wasps Rugby Club (happily they won).

Our first speaker was Jane Robinson who gave a talk about Mary Seacole. The talk covered Mary's early life growing up in Jamaica and her travels to many countries. Jane went on to tell the story of Mary’s journey to London to join the nursing efforts of Florence Nightingale, where she was rejected four times (due to racial discrimination), and told how Mary was determined to go to the Crimea on her own, cashing in her assets and setting out to build the British Hotel (“hotel for invalids”) close to the Balaclava front, were she provided care for injured soldiers. Jane went on to tell of Mary’s journey home across Europe overland after the war, arriving on England's shores, destitute and in poor health. You can read more about Mary Seacole in Jane’s Book

Our second speaker was Neville Shulman, OBE, who talked about Ecuador, meeting Ecuador's indigenous tribes and his attempts to climb its highest mountains including Mt. Chimborazo, (the world's tallest mountain at 6,310 m (20,697 ft) the farthest point from the Earth's centre (due to the bulge at the equator) but not the highest, as measured from sea level (http://www.scaruffi.com/travel /tallest.html)). Neville also visited the various sites for the centre of the Earth, which like the Greenwich Meridian has now moved to a corrected location due to the aid of satellites. Neville finished with some amusing stories about his time living in Hollywood below Betty Davies. for more information see http://www.shulman.co.uk/book.htm

April Meeting News from London by Padmassana

Owing to a family emergency, our first scheduled speaker Jonathan Kaplan was unable to come along, but luckily Membership Secretary Kevin Brackley was able to step in at 24 hours notice and give us a very interesting talk on the sights of South Korea. He showed us the capital Seoul with its modern bright lights and old temples before taking us south west to Gyeongju to see the old Silla dynasty capital. Across then to Cheju Island, 250km off the coast to see the natural wonders of the Manjang Lava tubes, Seongsan Sunrise Peak and the Giants Causeway like Jusangjolli rocks, before heading back to the mainland showing us the UNESCO listed old city walls of Suwon, before finishing off with the DMZ, the highlight of his trip.

Our second speaker was Anne Mustoe, as always a popular speaker at Globies, this time cyclist Anne showed us the Amber route which stretches from the Baltic down to the Mediterranean. Anne explained that the best amber comes from the Baltic. Anne's route took her from the tip of Denmark at Skaens, down into Germany and the city of Hamburg, a labyrinth of waterways as she tried to follow the Elbe. Her journey took her into the former East Germany, which she found that despite over a decade of freedom still closes down at night! In Wittenburg we saw some of Hundertwassers' quirky architecture with trees appearing to grow out of buildings. Via Leipzig, the home of Faust into the Czech Republic and Prague's spires and cobbled old town streets. Anne left the Danube and cycled through Austria and into Hungary and into Slovenia, visiting Ljubljana, where she had the chance to sample “Horse burgers” (not just the French then!), she finished her journey at Trieste on the Adriatic.

Many thanks to both speakers who gave us a very entertaining afternoon.

Coming Next: Saturday 6th May

Sam Manicon will be giving a talk entitled “Into Africa.” After 3 months motor-bike experience, Sam set off to ride the length of Africa having his share of challenges, surprises and disasters. “This year riding through Africa restored my faith in human nature.” He continued riding for 7 years and 200,000 miles around the World. After the break, Paul Harris will be speaking about “Crossing Cultures and the Art of Photography.” His audiovisual presentation draws on the experiences of a working photographer in the field, his inspirations, attention to detail, highs and lows. In 1989 three photo essays about British Explorers, Water and training Search and Rescue Dogs launched his freelance career calling on the insights, skills and tools needed for all subsequent assignments. His photography is his passport to encounters with people and places, a shaman in Mongolia, story tellers in Calcutta, and bungee jumpers in Queensland; helicoptering into Hawaii's' volcanoes, Iban longboats into Borneo's rainforests, a the nervous relationship with his camel, and Marmaduke in Niger's Tenere.

London 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. There is no London meeting in August, but we will be back in September. For more information, you can contact the Globetrotters Info line on +44 (0) 20 8674 6229, or visit the website: www.globetrotters.co.uk

We used to have meetings in New York City and New Braunfels, Texas. Regrettably, after having done a superb job, neither organisers are able to give their time to Globetrotter meetings. If you are based in New York or New Braunfels and have the time to commit to pick up where our previous organisers left off, we'd love to hear from you – please see our FAQ or contact our the Branch Liaison Officer via our Website at Meeting FAQ. If you are based elsewhere and are interested in starting a branch of the Globetrotters, please feel free to contact us.

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.

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.

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The Beetle recently spent a couple of weeks staying with her friend Nicola in a beautiful village outside Philadelphia. Nicola wrote this article about a trip to China in 2005 that was both work and leisure related. In this article, Nicola reflects on the conditions and people she met with and gives us a fascinating insight into China's geopolitics from a travel and work perspective.

China's rising thirst for oil has long caused consternation in the geeky circles of the oil industry, as most recognized some time ago that the growing band of Shanghainese abandoning bicycles for BMW's would mean a sharp rise in global petrol demand. With the world now well aware of this dilemma, the oil industry is pondering where it will find sufficient oil to meet China's needs.

On its western border, China is flanked by the oil rich nations of the Caspian Sea – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan – and most have assumed that these countries will export to China. Beijing's attempts to cosy up to its neighbours has been eyed warily by American, European and Japanese leaders who would also like to get their hands on Caspian Sea oil. Historians have noted that similarities with the 19^th century Great Game, a land grab between the Russian and English Empires.

For its part, China has pointed out that its energy position isn't as precarious as the outside world likes to think, that it in fact has vast untapped oil and gas resources in the Tarim Basin of it's far west Xinjiang Province. As is often the case in China, the easiest way to verify claims is to go see it!

Unfortunately, 270,000 km² of the Tarim Basin is covered by the Taklamakan Desert, a vast inhospitable shifting sand desert long the preserve of adventurers and eccentrics. Culturally a part of central Asia (one of our translators planned to marry a woman from nearby Tajikistan), the majority Uighur population of the region have an uneasy relationship with the Han Chinese. Younger Uighurs are clearly torn between the economic opportunities (such as rare non-agricultural jobs) that the Han Chinese offer and the security that traditional village leaderships represent. There are also signs of rising religious tensions, for instance, in Islamic graffiti on the walls of ancient Buddhist caves.

Most journeys into the desert begin in Urumqi, a modern city indistinguishable from any other second tier Chinese city. Though it formed part of the original Silk Road, a journey through the desert was long considered a death sentence, and it wasn't until 1995 that a highway was erected. Though the highway allows access to the amenities of the region's cities to the tiniest desert village, some villages chose to remain closed and the highway was evidently rerouted and the villages excluded from maps to accommodate this. Ironically, those who put great store in recreating ancient methods of traversing the desert (donkey, rickshaw, et al) also rely heavily on the “shamo gonglu” highway.

The five-day long drive through the desert is punctuated by the odd wild camel-sighting, sand storms, and stops at oasis towns. As in much of the Islamic world, the centre of patronage in each village is the mosque and the hub of activity is the market place. There you can see dried snakes curled around washing lines at a medicine stall (see photo entitled Market), super sweet unleavened cookies at another, and mounds of ripe watermelons. With colourfully festooned donkeys still the primary mode of transport, the towns have a medieval air.

There are also plentiful cultural activities along the route, including the remains of the “lost city” of Subashi, well-maintained mosques, and little visited museums – we had to wake the curator from a lunchtime nap to ask him to turn the lights on for us in one.

Lodging is, naturally, pretty basic, in an area where running water and electricity remain rare, and most families live with their animals in small brick and wattle courtyard houses. Camping in the desert was icy cold at night, but glorious sun rises over the dunes more than compensated.

Even for those lacking a focus for their trip (and yes, there were oil wells aplenty), the Taklamakan Desert is a fascinating journey, a great place to challenge your assumptions about the influence of the modern on ancient cultures and to feign life as an adventurer for a little while.

About the author: Nicola Kerslake has travelled and worked in Asia, Europe and the US, and has written extensively on China's oil industry. If you would like to get in touch with Nicola, the Beetle will pass across any messages.

Stuck between two very large local ladies with a yard of wet fish draped across my legs, gave a moment to ponder on an extremely different day out that I had just enjoyed!

We had been filming a feature film (partly financed by C4) for about five months on location in Maputo, in the very lovely but battle scarred Mozambique. As happens on most features there sometimes comes a small problemette, a hiatus or in other words, 'The shit hits the fan' and the company needed 'time out'. So the Brazilian Production Manager said, “Be a good 1st Assistant Director and organise the foreign crew a fun day out and I will give the locals paid leave whilst things are sorted out”.

The total crew of 200 was very large but the foreign contingent consisted of Kenyans, Zimbabweans, French, South African, English, Irish, Brazilian, and American. The language of the 'Set' was Portuguese, French and English, but that in itself was another story!

So I set about planning a day out, away from Maputo, in a very different environment, that I hoped, would let them all enjoy themselves and forget about filming for the time being. The plan was to take a trip aboard a large public water bus that would take us down to the mouth of the river and on to an idyllic island where there were wonderful golden beaches, lovely coves and most importantly a great fish restaurant. The sun decided to make the day as perfect as possible and as I went down to the harbour, my spirit was high in spite of a few deserters. For example: the Brazilian Director of Photography said, “I don't want to be away, when the politics are flying around in three languages”!

Finally we were on our way, our multicoloured, multiracial and multilingual crew, packed like a tin of Sardines aboard the boat. This was Sunday and everyone else in Maputo seems to have had the same idea. The two hour trip ended and we dropped anchor off this fantastic island, all started to dive of the boat and swim to the golden beach, anticipating the great day of pleasure to come.

Suddenly soldiers appeared and demanded to see everybody's papers. I began to have a premonition that things might be working out a little different to my plan. So before the soldiers stopped any of the crew without their passports – I went up to the Sgt. And said in my best Portuguese, “I am looking forward to a wonderful Sunday on your lovely island”. It was as if I had dropped a bomb. “What!? No papers” said the Sgt. “Arrest them all”. “Take them to jail and I'll phone HQ”. No amount of pleading could change his mind. We tramped up the beach surrounded by an armed guard, towards the middle of the island and he explained that he had been alerted about a South African commando group that might try to infiltrate his position and take the Island. I looked at my motley crew plus French lead Alex Defcaf and the two new actor arrivals from the UK, Peter Postlethwaite and Struan Rodger. Nothing I thought could look less than a commando group. The gorgeous South African continuity girl in her bikini meanwhile whispered in my ear for me to remember she wanted me to say she was French. A soldier and the female Sound Mixer from England were having a discussion in broken Portuguese, on the merits of various famous Alto Sax players. The Sgt. Pointed at the black French Actor and demanded as to why he did not speak Portuguese – “He is a Parisian” I said, which seemed to satisfy him! I quickly got my cast and crew into a group and told the Sgt. we would not enter his dark, damp jail but would sit in a group outside in the sun, under guard while he phoned his HQ. Speaking to my group in their various languages, telling them that the company would buy them the best lunch possible in the restaurant to make up for their spoilt day! The Sgt. began to be more confused and said. “”I'm beginning to believe you, as I cannot imagine a 'guerrilla group' not being able to speak the same language”. A soldier was chatting up the black accountant from Kenya and though she only spoke English, they seemed to be getting on splendidly. All this time there had not been one whinge from any of the cast or crew even though their day out was passing by fast. All were communicating in some friendly way or other and the soldier's discipline went out the window as all started mingling outside the jail.

Finally the Sgt. got word: HQ asked “Were the people very strange? Yes” said the Sgt. “Then it really is a film crew “said HQ. From then on things got better and better. The Soldiers escorted us to the best beach via the restaurant for us to place our order for a magnificent lunch courtesy of the film company.

So after a rather strange start, we had some great swimming in that clear blue water, followed by an awesome fish lunch, washed down by very good white wine. Then back to boat, sailing homewards as a fantastic African sunset spread across sky. The motley band were all over the boat, enjoying themselves in their different ways ; while I was sitting quietly in the stern surrounded by a group of large local women. They squashed all around me, and I of course, had to help when one of them needed to feed her baby – So that's how I came to have a large fish across my knees as the boat docked. The cast and crew went passed me, as I held the fish and the baby and I heard a voice remark; “I'd say that was definitely a different day out”.

About the author Tony Annis: Have camera will travel. Over the top but not yet over the hill. Past sixty five and still alive, my get up and go has not entirely got up and gone – like good whisky, I'm still going strong. Travelling through these global villages of ours is great adventure but to me it is the people that make this wonderful world, as well as the exotic places that I love to visit. See you over the next horizon, Tony.

The Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage to the sacred tomb of Saint James located in the Northwest corner of Spain. Over a thousand years separate those first faithful footsteps and the steady stream of 21st-century pilgrims that currently wander the streets of Santiago de Compostela. The key to survival is adapting to change and over the last millennium the Camino and pilgrims have transformed in many ways.

In 1993, UNESCO declared the Camino de Santiago a world heritage site. It starts from the boarder of France and works it way west to the city of Santiago de Compostela covering some 750 kilometres. Originally, pilgrims had to navigate their way using the sun, moon, stars, and even the Milky Way. Getting lost was part of the journey. Today, the trail is so clearly marked that losing your way is not really an option. With shiny traffic signs, brass and tile scallop shells, and the distinct yellow arrows you'll always be pointed to Santiago.

The oldest documentation of the Compostelana, the official certificate of having completed the pilgrimage, was delivered to André le Breton in the Capilla del Rey de Francia and dates back to 1321. Almost 700 years later, you can still request the Compostelana certificate, complete with your name in Latin. To be eligible you must have either walked or ridden a horse for the last 100 kilometres or bicycled the last 200 kilometres. The demand for this document has grown such that there is now a special Pilgrim's Office that will attend to your petition.

In the 12th Century, a French Monk named Aymeric Picaud wrote a comprehensive book detailing the route from the French border to Santiago de Compostela. This was actually the first guidebook ever written and recommended safe havens to sleep and eat, warned of potential dangers, such as thieves and bandits, and described the various monuments, relics, and holy sites that were along the way. The Codex Calixtinus broke up the Camino into 13 convenient stages that covered the entire 750 kilometres in less than 2 weeks. Today, you still see pilgrims thumbing through their guidebooks looking for all sorts of practical information regarding accommodations, restaurants and explanations of the countless sights. The books are also filled with more modern conveniences, such as Internet cafes, pharmacies, and swimming pools! However, the biggest difference now is that most books recommend the crossing of Spain in a less exhausting 30 days to reach Santiago.

To accommodate for the faithful and weary in the middle ages, albergues or shelters were created along the route and sponsored by the Church, nobles, and royalty. Here travellers could rest their tired bones on a bed of straw, perhaps warm themselves by a fire, and have a sip of wine. In the 21st century, there continues to be a network of public albergues run by the government and private associations related to the Camino. These places are in high demand in the summer and are fitted with rows and rows of bunk beds, showers (some even with hot water) and perhaps a small kitchen to receive you after a long day of walking. And, yes, you'll still find a sip of wine!

Upon arriving to the great Cathedral of Santiago, medieval pilgrims would break down with tears of joy as they finally reached their destination. Overwhelmed from surviving their journey, they would embrace the statue of Santiago and give thanks for their arrival. Today, the emotions still run high. Pilgrims, who were previously strangers, hug and cry as they make their way into the Plaza Obradoiro and share that first look of the Cathedral's ornate Baroque façade. Together they wait nervously in line to give the Apostle a hug and perform the required pilgrim, just as millions of pilgrims have done before.

Despite a thousand years, the Camino de Santiago remains and its pilgrims continue to flow into Santiago. The Camino is an unforgettable experience that creates a special bond and camaraderie among all those who have walked it. In a world where things change so quickly, the Camino de Santiago is so refreshing as things really haven't changed so much after all!

About the author: my name is Alex Chang and I first walked the Camino de Santiago in 1999. You could say it was a life changing experience. Since then, I became a tour guide and have led over 40 groups (some 500 pilgrims) along the Way with various tour companies. Year after year, it has been amazing to repeatedly see the effect the Camino has on touching people's lives. It truly is a magical experience. Born and raised in the United States, I am lucky to call two places home as I have been living in Spain for over seven years. Alex currently owns a tour company based in Bilbao, Spain that offers small group walking tours along the Camino de Santiago, the Basque Country, and Andalucia, Spain. He can be contacted by e-mail: info@frescotours.com or visit his website: www.frescotours.com

RIDDLE: What do Schultz's 1000 Places [worldwide] to See Before You Die, Villani's 100 Best Art Towns in America, the American Association of Retired Person's list of the 15 best retirement towns in the US, and Time's list of the 5 best repertoire theatres in America have in common?

ANSWER: Ashland, Oregon

EXPLANATION: Population 20,000 (6000 university students). Nine theatres and sixty art and antique galleries in a scenic valley with year-round outdoor recreational opportunities draw 500,000 tourists a year, 25 per resident compared with 4 per resident to London.

On Interstate 5, 350 miles north of San Francisco, 300 miles south of Portland, an anomaly among the dairy farms, fruit orchards, vineyards in and between the Cascade and Siskiyou mountains that forms the Rogue Valley. It began as a stage stop, became a timber, mining and railway town, and has taken on a New Age ethos. Weather is generally mild, although summer days can be hot. Precipitation averages 19″ per year almost entirely between December and February.

The downtown (all eight blocks) could serve as the set for Our Town. It centres on the block-on-a-side triangular Plaza and adjacent Lithia Park, which becomes more natural as one follows its creek into the mountains. Only one building is over three stories; it and 28 others are on the National Register of Historic Places. The town owns both a fibre optic network and a ski resort at nearby Mt. Ashland. A commission awards a bronze plaque to the “tree of the year.” There never will be a shopping mall in Ashland. McDonalds went broke.

Not that you will starve. Do not limit yourself to the Plaza, East Main and North Main. There are 90-odd restaurants (an astounding one per 225 residents): usually two or more choices for most cuisines including Chinese, Deli, English, French, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Seafood, Spanish, Thai, and Vegetarian as well as bakery, coffee, fast food, ice cream and sandwich shops and microbreweries, pubs and sports bars. Several have been featured in Gourmet Magazine.

You won't have to camp out (although you can). However, reservations are essential despite over sixty B&B's in turn-of-the-century Craftsman and Victorian homes that characterize the town and some twenty hotels and motels, including several in the downtown area.

The Shakespeare Festival is the big draw. Each February through October 60-70 actors backed by 400 staff (50 costumers alone) offer about 775 performances of eleven plays in three theatres. The goal is “fresh and bold interpretations of classic and contemporary plays in repertory, shaped by the diversity of our American culture, using Shakespeare as our standard and inspiration.” It started in 1935 when Angus Bowmer, drama teacher at the then state normal school proposed using the town's abandoned Chautaqua to stage Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night. The town council stipulated boxing matches to cover the expected deficit, hoping Bowmer would not accept such an undignified linkage. Bowmer found the idea in keeping with the bawdiness of Elizabethan theatre and accepted. Ironically, the plays covered the deficit of the boxing. The Festival has continued ever since, with a few years off while Bowmer served in World War II. In 2007, the Festival will present As You Like It, On the Razzle (a variation on The Matchmaker aka Hello Dolly), The Cherry Orchard, Gem of the Ocean, and Tartuffe in the modernistic Bowmer. Three new American plays, Rabbit Hole, Tracy's Tiger, and Distracted will be in the intimate New Theatre. Romeo and Juliet, Taming of the Shrew, and Tempest will be in the half-timbered, outdoor Elizabethan.

There are half-a-dozen other theatres in town, about a dozen live music venues, and a band shell in Lithia Park where events are frequent. The Brit Festival in nearby Jacksonville features internationally known blues, folk, jazz, popular, operatic and symphonic artists. The January Blues Festival, February Nature Film Festival, March Chocolate Festival, April Independent Film Festival, May Mountain Bike Festival, June “Feast of Will,” July Independence Day celebration, August book fair for local authors, September Flea Market, October Halloween Parade, November Festival of Lights, and December Dickens dinner and carolling reflect some of Ashland's many personalities.

Ski day or night, snowboard, ice skate, skateboard, bicycle, swim, play tennis, golf, or volleyball in season. Run with the Hash House Harriers. Joust with the Society for Creative Anachronism. Take in the Schneider Art and Science Works museums. Explore antique shops, art galleries, and boutiques. Indulge yourself at one of five spas. Spend a quiet hour or two in the town or university library. There are three book publishers and half a dozen booksellers-no chains of course.

Take a backstage tour. Bring a picnic to the free “Green Show” of music and dance just before summer evening plays. Come during the June Hot Air Balloon Festival in Grants Pass, or in September for the Pendleton Rodeo, and make a day trip to Crater Lake. Visit the town's two wineries-and others in the surrounding Rogue Valley Appellation. Artisanal foods, particularly cheeses, chocolates and fruits are popular gifts. Raft, kayak, or jet boat the Rogue River, itself divided into wild, scenic, and recreational sections. Fish, sail, or swim the local lakes. Hike part of the 4400-kilometre Pacific Crest Trail that runs along the southern edge of town north to Canada or south to Mexico.

Photo credits: Photos 1 and 4 courtesy of Ashland Chamber of Commerce. Photos 2 (T. Charles Erickson) and 3 (David Cooper) courtesy Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

About the author: David is professor emeritus of Behavioural Science and of Humanities, California State University, and author of over 100 books and articles including Why We Fight: Theories of Human Aggression and Conflict (2005). He has been a Fulbright Scholar in Cyprus and Ukraine, a Malone Scholar in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, worked in Australia, Singapore, and Morocco, and visited over 100 countries. He is co-founder and treasurer emeritus of Wildlife on Wheels, which provides live wild animal education programs to 100,000 Los Angeles basin children each year. He is married and has one child. Picture was taken of David and his family in the Raffles, Singapore (which is not the place it used to be, unfortunately.)

For more information, see: www.ashland.or.us or www.ashlandchamber.com, www.abbnet.com (B&B's), www.sorc.com (hotels and theatres). www.filmsite.org/afi100films.html (film festival), and www.osfashland.org (Shakespeare Festival). Information is readily available from a booth on the Plaza during the summer and all year from the local newspaper or the Chamber of Commerce is off the Plaza.