“Your ear, soap”

“Sorry?” I say

“Soap, in your ear, let me just..” and before I had processed what he said or what was going on with my ear (maybe I did have soap in my ear, having just showered to wash the day’s sweat and grim off me) the harmless looking gentleman began digging in my ear.

After being a little heat stroked from the bicycle, taxi, and motorcycle ride in the midday heat of Mumbai, I had set out in search of dinner. Walking at a steady pace with food on my mind, I headed to a small cluster of restaurants I saw where the taxi had dropped me earlier in the evening. I passed by the cluster of restaurants, peered in the window – nothing much interested me – and I carried on. Too tired and hungry to search any more, it would be back to Café Leopold for dinner tonight. Stepping up onto another curb and dodging a few sidewalk vendors, I was passed on my right by a man who motioned and started “your ear, soap”.

I resisted, then relented, then quickly resisted again as I felt his ear tools poke and prod at the inside of my ear. As I pulled away he showed me a brown waxy ball; kneading it around the end of his finger with the ends of his very professional looking metal ear pikes. I guess the demonstration was to prove that this brown ball came from my ear and more determined, and professional assistance was needed. He offered to finish the job and do the other ear (and certainly charge me a fee). I declined… my ears were clean, so I thought. I continued along the sidewalk, and spent the time on the way to Café Leopold checking my ear; paranoid that my street ear man had planted something or removed something or penetrated something he shouldn’t have.

I had been warned of the street ear cleaners by my brother-in-law before I left Canada last week. And by others, I was warned of many other cultural and environmental differences I should expect in India. I find it fascinating to now see for myself and begin to form my own perspective on “India.” Whether it’s a street ear cleaner or the way I find that a head nod in agreement to something is more of head… bobble – India is a different place, and I have to keep my eyes (and ears!) open to these differences, and find the way that I fit into the routines, rituals, and oddities of this land… because I am the traveller, the outsider. And I am the one who needs to adapt and accept the differences and learn to make it comfortable and manageable for my time here. Really it’s the only way I know to approach it.

Feeling slightly violated, I arrived at Leopold’s and settled in. Coming in through a side entrance, I could see the café was packed with young Indian couples, friends, and businessmen, along with domestic and foreign travelers like myself. The lively and loud conversations made the room electric – dulling the generally loud noises of horns and traffic on the busy street out front. Friendly waitstaff soon brought me a Kingfisher beer and some bottled water. I watched as security at the front door checked everyone’s bag as they entered. Leopold’s had been a random victim of the Mumbai attacks of 2008 that ravaged this area of Mumbai known as Colaba. Gunmen targeted two high-end hotels including the the famous Taj (maybe famous to Westerners only since 2008, it’s a landmark many here seem quite proud of), the main railway station not far away, among other sites. As I sit enjoying my meal it’s hard not to spot the marks left from that terrible day. Bullet holes in the high ceiling and on the pillars supporting it. More bullet holes in the stained glass above the murals on the wall and in the glass in a central panel at the front. You can almost imagine the spray of bullets tearing up the room within seconds and the devastation it left behind no doubt. Then there are the commemorative plagues and paintings that speak to the resilience and enduring spirit of the place – one plague congratulating the café on opening its doors the very next day after the attack (though this point seems to be contradicted in other reports that suggest it opened a few days later).

With my meal done I walked back to my hotel and reflected on the busy day and its successes and challenges. It was a full day of activity and exploration of the vast city of Mumbai. Twelve hours of Mumbai traffic was what it took a local cyclist and myself to sort out a route for the Indian Adventure Cycling Tour to cycle into that city. We first cycled 18 km from Bandra neighbourhood (midway thru the city) to the Gateway of India, and our exit point from Mumbai next to the Taj Hotel. Then it was a motorcycle ride to the northern edges of the city and an attempt to find a way in. Unfortunately what was discovered is that it would be 60 km of city cycling to get to our hotel and not enough time in the morning hours to do this before traffic starts getting too mad for cycling, so it looks like we will bus our riders into the city instead.

There is a magical window… a morning calm in Mumbai between sun rise (about 6:30am) and 9am. The larger city streets are very cycle-able almost verging on pleasant. But at 9am the city switches on – seemingly all at once, and the traffic, noise and general congestion continue to build throughout the day… making any cycling (even on a Saturday or Sunday) next to impossible with clogged streets everywhere. Unfortunately that magic window is just a little too small for the distance to tour needs to cover.

Mumbai has been fascinating. I have loved my time here. As with any travel, a place starts to become so much more in your mind than what you had first imagined it to be. Certainly there are problems in Mumbai – enormous slums fill many pockets of the city, sanitation can be more than just a little concerning. The sea all around is creeping higher as the retaining walls that surround the sea facing parts of the city seem a temporary solution to a fundamental problem with the city plans and location. Now off to Delhi, I move on to another city, and another new day of challenges and explorations to be had. One of many we expect to have over the next four weeks here in India.

Lastly, I wanted to pass along a special thanks to Bertram, who guided me through the streets of Mumbai and gave me an insiders look at what cycling is really like here – thanks Bertram! I certainly could not have done it without you.

Last week I posted the detailed reports from Slava on the situation currently unraveling in Kyrgyzstan. This post takes from those reports and adds in my personal experiences in Kyrgyzstan when I visited in 2007.

“Did you hear about Kyrgyzstan?” was the message that came across Skype from Slava Koshelev in Moscow. It was April 7, 2010 and almost three years since my time in Kyrgyzstan. Slava was the Kyrgyz tour operator that took me there. Since I met him, he had moved to Russia and was helping his company expand and find more tourists from Russia to explore the wonders of Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia.

Slava forwarded me a link to a video that showed images of the violent demonstrations that had taken place earlier that day and that were still ongoing. Crowds of angry protesters overpowering riot police. Armoured personnel carriers in the streets and live rounds being fired at the growing crowds. It would not be many days later that Slava would return home to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan where some of the most intense rioting occurred. His business, and friends back home required his attention.

***

It was late September 2007 and the trek to Saimaluu Tash would start the following morning. Slava and I had already covered considerable ground by car on seasonal roads from Djalal Abad just to reach Kazarman, and the rock carvings were still a day’s hike up into the mountains.

We woke early, and drove from Kazarman over rough tracks to the launching point of the days hike – a honey farmer’s house at the start of the trail. His farm sat on a small groomed plot of land in amongst the surrounding mountains known as Tian Shan or the Celestial Mountains.

We set out, and began hiking. I quickly shed a few layers of clothing. First my hat, then one of my long sleeve shirts, then my gloves as our body temperatures rose with our effort steadily increasing.

The route was upstream along a sharply graded yet gently flowing creek that found its way through a narrow slit between the high mountain walls. Our path was littered with rocks; presumably dragged down from higher heights by glaciers of time long past. We were headed high into the Celestial Mountains in search of the ‘decorated’ stones, rock carvings known as Saimaluu Tash and perhaps Kyrgyzstan’s most sacred place.

***

The devastation to the capital Bishkek and elsewhere in the country was massive. Both in physical damage and in the political repercussions that ensued. There were many burned out cars still lying in the street in the days that followed the riots. Many government offices destroyed or looted. President Bakiyev had fled the capital and was soon to leave the country with his family – maybe never to return. Hundreds of protesters, and police had been killed, or injured.

It was a few years earlier in 2005 that the Tulip Revolution saw popular protests across the country which resulted in Mr. Bakiyev coming to power in the first place – a hope for real democracy and future prosperity. It is now similar problems and continued dissatisfaction that led to his overthrow and the undoing of the revolution.

Slava made his way to Bishkek, relieved to find his business still intact, and his friends and family safe. Though saddened to see his city and country in such a state, he remained positive. When I asked him about the current state of things in his cities days after his first Skype message, he had this to say…

things here are getting back to normal … well, near to normal:

Shops are opening …  well some shops: those that weren’t totally destroyed …

Banks are open for business as normal … well, some banks that is, because five, that have connections with President [Bakiyev]’s family have taken under special administration

Schools and Universities are operating as usual …well, as far as I am aware, all the schools are working, although some classes are denuded as some parents have kept their children at home while they see how things develop

The current situation is still fluid. The interim government certainly has not brought the country back to any stable place yet, and the future remains uncertain.

photo of boy infront of burnt out cars by Ilya Varlamov

***

As the hours passed, our ascent continued, and our legs grew tired. With temperatures dropping incrementally with every meter higher we climbed into the mountains, the layers of clothes we were taking off earlier, were now one by one being put back on.

It was late September and it was reaching the end of the season that allowed access to Saimaluu Tash. Anytime now there would be an accumulation of snow that would stay most of the year at these altitudes.

About four hours into our journey, the walls that lined our route opened up to a grassy, rock strewn plateau. A large field, still sharply sloped, but distinctly different terrain from the previous hours we spent to get there. But after such a physical effort to reach it, the plateau was somewhat anti-climatic. A field of jagged boulders scattered across the morraine.

After spending some time catching my breath and upon closer inspection I saw the significance of this place. I slowly settled into this sacred pocket of land high in the mountains, far from civilization, and conflict.

***

I asked Slava shortly after the April 7^th riots about what his thoughts are for the future of tourism in his country.

Those of us working in tourism are worried, of course, about the effect that all of this will have on the up-coming season.

The big “clean-up” continues and the detritus remaining after the rioting and looting had been cleared away within days – … well, most of it. The city still bears signs of the damage incurred.

So, life goes on …

I am quite looking forward to getting back to dealing with run-of-the-mill everyday matters and making a dent on the pile of papers that has built up on my desk over the last ten days,

***

As I wandered around the area, I started seeing them, the petroglyphs; beautiful, ancient rock carvings of antelope, sun gods, hunting scenes and more. Carved into volcanic stone, there are estimated to be over 11,000 pieces of ancient art scattered here.

Art from not just one time period, but from as far back as (the earliest estimates) 3000 BC up until the Middle Ages.  The Bradt Travel Guide for Kyrgyzstan (1^st edition, 2007) eloquently describes the spiritual significance of the place.

The Bronze Age tradition of marking this sacred spot with rock drawings was continued by subsequent settlers in the region and one of the most fascinating things about the site is not just the sheer extent of the galleries, or the large number of petroglyphs, but the millennia-long continuity of the site as a place of spiritual activity.

We descended the mountain and ended at the old man’s humble honey farm and as part of the community based approach that Kyrgyzstan takes to tourism we were invited into his home. He served us tea, and offered us some bread, some honey of course and other snacks  – much needed fuel as our supplies from the day were depleted.

***

It might be some time before people will be able to travel to Kyrgyzstan and see sites like Saimaluu Tash, but the opportunity for more tourism is certainly there. There are certainly reasons to be positive. Saimaluu Tash is one of many memorable experiences I had while in Kyrgyzstan. It is a place I hope to be able to return to and explore further.

Upon arriving in Sudan a few weeks ago, a friend of mine joked that he had to travel halfway around the world to a country where the president is accused of war crimes to find real hospitality.

I have completed my time on the Tour d’Afrique for this year, and I am now back in Toronto. After the tour left Khartoum I had a few days before flying home, so I took one morning to visit souq Omdurman.

Omdurman is the twin city of Khartoum lying just across the River Nile. It was the site of a crucial battle in the Anglo-Sudan War. The 1898 engagement was known as the Battle of Omdurman, which saw the British reclaim control of Sudan until its eventual independence from colonial rule in 1956.

Another more recent battle in Omdurman happened on May 10 and 11, 2008 when JEM rebels made a daring advance far from their bases in Darfur to attack Sudanese government forces in what they refer to as Operation Long Arm. This major battle was deeply significant to regional politics yet it only briefly made the news in the west (more on this in a future blog post).

The Omdurman Souq, or market, is a sprawling busy place. Everything from brooms, to aluminum pots, to plastic toys, to vegetables and spices are sold here. While there I thought I would do a bit of shopping, but I also needed to find a cardboard box for my bike to transport it back home on the airplane.

As I wandered aimlessly through the corridors of the market, I was invited to sit and share tea with one of the spice sellers. His name was Mohamed. I asked if he knew where I could find a box for my bicycle. We finished our tea, and then he walked with me and he found a place and insisted on paying for the cardboard box.

I also thought it would be nice to take home a Sudanese style coffee pot I had seen many people using on the streets. Mohamed gave me one and refused to except any money for it.

Then again the following day, I sat having some tea at a sidewalk tea stop (one of many found on every street in Khartoum). Another man also sat drinking tea and greeted me as I arrived. Beyond ‘Salaam Aleykum‘ (typical arabic greeting) we exchanged no words and were not even seated next to each other. This did not stop the man from paying for his tea and mine before he finished. There was no expectation from him. I guess, he just felt it was an appropriate thing to do for a foreigner, a visitor to his city, his country.

I used to hesitate to talk positively about Sudan and its people. There is real suffering going on in Darfur and South Sudan. The government stands accused of crimes against humanity – against its own people. But being in Sudan again reminded me of something very simple… in every corner of the world, there are individuals who cannot be judged based on what we know of their country. They are only individuals and their intentions and outlook on life are often much less sinister than that of their leaders.

Some more photos from my last few days in Sudan…

morning soccer practice

Great Mosque next to Souq Omdurman

fresh juice in Souq Omdurman

tea stalls on the streets of Khartoum

Tour d’Afrique staff at ‘Dead Camel Camp’

photos by Shanny Hill

Rogers Park is the northernmost community in the city of Chicago. It’s a 30 minute taxi ride from downtown, and I would imagine that most visitors to the city would never make it this far north. If I was not asked by Michael James to be interviewed about our movie screening in Chicago, I would have never made my way this far north either, but I am sure glad I did.

I don’t often get interviewed and so for me there is certainly a novelty appeal to being the subject of a radio interview. As a result I was eager to meet Mr. James and happy to answer his questions about the film, about Canadian health care, or about anything else he wanted to discuss.

I arrived to Heartland Café just before  9:00am Saturday morning. My first impression of Michael is that of a warm and welcoming human being. He is the busy co-owner of the Heartland Café and host of its Saturday morning radio show. Located in ‘the Heart of Rogers Park,’ it is a little north of Uptown Chicago where Mr. James made his start in Chicago.

Over the course of the next hour I got a glimpse at the life of a fascinating individual. From the corner stage I sat answering questions while the typical sounds of a busy café whirred in the background. And along the walls I could see a photo-display of Mr. James’ activity during the 60s and 70s as a community activist alongside groups like the Black Panthers.

Michael James reached out to a poor, mixed racial community in the north of Chicago and is still there today. He was a voice for change and unity from the time he first arrived in Chicago right up to today. I felt inspired by his story and compelled to learn a little more about this man.

History of Michael James’ Chicago

“I spent the summer hanging out under the el tracks [Chicago’s elevated trains], on corners, building stoops, and back porches, and in corner restaurants… spent time with guys drinking, bullshitting, complaining, telling stories, and playing guitar… it captured my heart and changed me forever” James said in an essay he wrote about his first summer in Chicago in 1964 called Getting Ready for the Firing Line.

James spent some time in California as a grad student before being drawn back to Chicago just a few years later. He worked with JOIN Community Union which had grown out of Jobs or Income Now, which reached out to the community, mostly the the poor, and assisted with housing issues, women’s rights issues , and unemployment. As James puts it, he “stood up for the little people.”

By 1968 Michael James had roots in the community. That was also a year of great turmoil, with events that effected not only Chicago, but much of the United States. It started with the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr in April and then Robert F. Kennedy in June. Riots broke out in a number of cities following Dr. King’s death and then, in August of the same year, fierce protests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago capped off a year of division and unrest.

Certainly, these difficult times for Chicago and America were part of James’ motivation to move on and try something a little different. So Michael James’ work with JOIN ended and in 1969 he started Rising Up Angry.

The idea was to reached out to the white youth not only in Uptown but throughout Chicago and the surrounding region. Rising Up Angry would create a unique voice that it hoped would steer people away from racist forces at work in the city. Rising Up Angry also worked closely with Bobby Lee and Fred Hampton of the Black Panthers Party, with the Young Lords, and the Young Patriots. It was a newspaper, and a community voice.

Here’s an excerpt from an article explaining what Rising Up Angry was:

With profiles of figures such as Malcolm X and Fred Hampton, John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, reviews of the Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder and The Wild Bunch, Rising Up Angry mixed political and cultural commentary with cartoons, montages, discussions of motorcycles and custom cars, with histories of labor activism and guerrilla warfare.

In a interview with James Tracy, Bobby Lee explains how Mike (Michael) James and Rising Up Angry helped to make the Rainbow Coalition a reality.

When I went to Uptown Chicago, I saw some of the worst slums imaginable. Horrible slums, and poor white people lived there. However, two organizations prepared the way for the Rainbow Coalition, without them there wouldn’t have been a chance of forming one. Rising Up Angry (rua) and [JOIN] Community Union. The uptown neighborhood was prime recruiting zone for white supremacists. Most of the cats who were in the Patriots also had at least one family member in the Klan. Cats like Mike James and Jewnbug, and Tappis worked hard to fight that mentality. Mike James and rua drove a wedge in that bullshit, that white supremacist bullshit, their groundwork was just amazing, out of this world.

I had to run with those cats, break bread with them, hang out at the pool hall. I had to lay down on their couch, in their neighborhood. Then I had to invite them into mine. That was how the Rainbow Coalition was built, real slow.

So with community activism now part of his life for over 11 years, and while running a successful magazine, and a Rainbow Coalition taking root, what was next on the horizon for Michael James?

He saw a new challenge and a new way to strengthen the community. The progression saw Michael create the Heartland Café. Opening its doors in 1975 the Café served “Good Wholesome Food for the Mind and Body,” it grew into a community focused hub for art, music, food, and celebration. With a Saturday morning radio show – broadcast right in the Café – a general store, a bar, a theatre, an athletic organization, and much more.

In the words of Jessica Herman of Centerstage “Heartland Cafe is more a lifestyle than simply a restaurant, bar or music venue: Entering this haven of color, cornbread and community spirit feels like taking a trip to Berkeley for the price of an [el] ride north to Rogers Park.

A Few Questions for Michael

I asked Michael some questions in a follow up email a short time after we had met:

What has been the most rewarding thing for you with Heartland Café?

Well, I would say keeping it open, having up to three generations of families coming through, and the rally for mayoral candidate Harold Washington, who two days later won the primary and went on to be Chicago’s first African American mayor. He was a wonderful man; too bad he didn’t eat at the Heartland more that two times – his health would have been better.

(Washington died of a massive heart attack early into his second term as mayor.)

What were the most memorable interviews you have had?

Barack Obama (Feb. 4, 2004), and Studs Terkel.

(He also interviewed Gary Fisher in 2008 and ME.)

What’s next big plan on the horizon for Heartland Café?

We started a substantial gardening project on the roof. Want to really develop that over the next couple of years: We have 8000 sq. feet up top with lots of sun.

How’s the cycling in Rogers Park?

There are a lot of bike riders, increasing bike parking, designated routes after the lake front parks stop to the south, though the routes don’t hook back into the lakefront in Rogers Park (& 49th ward). Only one bike shop, Roberts, though several in Evanston, and some to the south of us. A co-op bike group was going to open a place. not sure where that’s at.

Strong Community Activism Still Needed Today

In Michael James’ own words…

1968, and the consciousness symbolized by Chicago’s Rainbow Coalition saw the emergence of a movement in Chicago and beyond that forged a generation whose actions, beliefs, and spirit is coming to fruition, whose involvement in politics and government is emerging today. There is a direct line, a direct link, from 1968 through the election of Chicago Mayor Harold Washington all the way to the Obama for President campaign.  Perhaps more than ever We the People are in a position to help create a politics of affirmation, of unity and inclusion, that is about justice, fairness, and peace, hopefully playing a part in bringing people everywhere to that place where we can share one heart.  All Power to the People!

Some time had past after meeting Mr. James, when I was reading through a Rogers Park neighbourhood newspaper that I had grabbed when I left the Heartland Café called the Urban Coaster. One of the cover stories was of an extremist Christian group called the Westboro Baptist Church that had made a stop in Rogers Park to protest in front of a Jewish Synagogue.

This hate group I remember first came to my attention when members had tried to cross into Canada to protest at the funeral of a man brutally beheaded on a Greyhound bus, saying that it “was God’s response to Canadian policies enabling abortion, homosexuality and divorce and remarriage.”

A few haters were out on Sheridan Road in Chicago, but from the article it appeared that the community was out in force too. Refusing to stand for this; Jews, Christians and regular old activists alike lined the street in front of the Synagogue, while a few haters occupied the opposite sidewalk – it was peaceful, but forceful in the numbers of citizens who would not let this pass quietly . The article states that the haters “were confronted by 10-deep phalanx of citizens who stood quietly in front of the Synagogue”

Though I don’t know for sure, I suspect a guy like Michael James would not have been able to resist the urge to be at such a protest. Though if he weren’t there in body, the spirit of resistance by groups like the Black Panther Party, Rising Up Angry, and the forming of the Rainbow Coalition and other movements and community groups James was involved with made this community stronger and intolerant of such hate.

photos by Shanny Hill

Ahhhh, what a great way to experience the New York Marathon. Phew, but I am exhausted. Transiting around the city to find the best vantage point is no easy task. And in between I must have covered well over 2 miles on foot.

The marathon started in 1970 with a mere 127 runners. It has grown to become one of the most prestigious marathons in the world, attracting over 40,000 participants this year. Unlike the Boston marathon, most participants in New York enter through a lottery system instead of trying to meet the very high qualifying time. This means NY Marathon is open to anyone willing to take up the 26.2 mile challenge.

My big day started in the early morning hours traveling with marathoners to the marathon start area on Staten Island. Did you know that the ferry to Staten Island is free and provides one of the best views of the elegant lady – the Statue of Libery – that stands infront of New York’s skyline?

Huge waves of runners and supporters pour off the ferry on the island and straight into the awaiting buses to take them to the start area.

At this point, I headed back to Manhattan and my hotel; arriving just in time to catch the start of the elite men and women runners on TV. The top male finished in a time of 2 hours 9 minutes. The average runner in the marathon (of which, all have spent months preparing) would finish in approximately twice that time. The feat of simply finishing this event is no doubt something to be proud of. Here is a brief rundown of the route from the marathon’s website:

The first New York City Marathon, in 1970, was four-plus laps of Central Park. In 1976, in celebration of the U.S. bicentennial, NYRR moved the marathon to the streets of New York’s five boroughs: Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Manhattan. The course united dozens of culturally and ethnically diverse neighborhoods, crossed five bridges, and finished at Tavern on the Green in world-famous Central Park. The course continues to challenge thousands of athletes every year and has become a model for big-city marathon courses around the world.

But enough about the runners, my day was still unfolding, and my first stop was to be mile 7 in Brooklyn. Getting there proved a challenge, with the city choosing this weekend to do extensive subway maintanence. So mile 7 became mile 15 in Queens and I watched the endless stream of runners make their left turn and start a steady run up the Queensboro Bridge back into Manhattan.

Some time passed, and my next destination was the Bronx. I hopped back on the subway and headed back to Manhattan then north on the number 6 train, getting off at 3rd Ave. and 135th St.

One a side note, most of New York’s streets are set up in an extremely logical grid system. Most streets have numbers, not names, and all the Avenues run North-South, while all the Streets run West-East. It sure makes it easy for visitors to orient themselves.

Up the steps of the subway and directly into the swarm of people and noise of mile 20. I took a quick side trip to grab a snack; a cuban sandwich – roasted chicken on a roll with lots of creamy sauce oozing out. Then it was back to the course to devour my sandwich as the fatiqued runners entered the final 1/4 of their epic run.

With the music pumping, the Bronx was welcoming the runners to a neighbourhood the residents are very proud of. From there, the marathon turns south and heads towards Central Park – a giant grenspace in the very centre of Manahattan and covering an area of 843 acres (over twice the size of High Park in Toronto).

From there it’s a short walk back to the hotel and time to reflect on my big day at the marathon, and perhaps have a nap.

Some people may not think of NBC as a place to search for interesting, off-beat travel stories, but have you ever been to their World Blog?

In their own words…

NBC News World Blog aims to provide a dynamic look at world events and trends — both big and small — from NBC News correspondents, producers, and bureaus around the world. Online entries — from text to video — will explore news events and how they are shaping our world.

Regular contributors include NBC News correspondents, producers and staff based in bureaus across the world and on assignment.

It is – in a nutshell – human interest and travel writing by staff based abroad – in the places you might least expect to find these types of stories.

Like Adrienne Mong, an NBC News Producer currently based in Kabul, sharing stories about the local culture of kite flying and the little known grave in Kabul of famous British archeologist and Silk Route explorer Sir Marc Aurel Stein – a story I had recently discussed in this previous post.

Warangkana Chomchuen is another NBC staffer based in Bangkok. One of his recent entries tells the tale of a boy born to migrant workers from Myanmar who travels to Japan to represent Thailand in the paper plane championships. He eventually wins and returns to Thailand and to a life in limbo – having no permanent status in Thailand and no other country to call home. Before that entry, Chomchuen talks of the fat traffic cops on the streets of Bangkok, being told – get in shape, or else!

The stories are wide-ranging, and unique. From the people reporting the big stories in far off places, the World Blog is perhaps more of a reflection of some of their personal interests – not something ready for the six o’clock NBC TV broadcast.

It was mid-August, and I arrived in Chicago as temperatures were skyrocketing. The shores of Lake Michigan were crowded with people soaking in the sun, watching the air show and taking a stroll along the waterfront path.

I had come to Chicago to see Where Are You Go – a documentary about our company’s epic cycling event in Africa. You can read more about the film in my post from a few weeks ago.

But the film was only half the reason I was in Chicago. It was also a chance to explore a city I had only been to once before. I rented a bike and made use of Chicago’s extensive lakefront paths to see more of the city. The network of cycling and pedestrian paths reminds me a lot of what we have in Toronto; just better.

I had a map and plotted out a route down the lake, and then circling back through the city to the near north side where my hotel was. The route took me past Prez Obama’s house and into Washington Park to the DuSable Museum of African American History; which is where I got the inspiration for the title of this post.

The museum had come recommended by several sources and seemed like a good southernmost destination for the day out in the city.

It is named for Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable – a Haitian American Pioneer of French and African descent. In the early 1770s  he became the first known settler to the region that is now the metropolis of Chicago. He built a house and opened a trading post in what was known then as Eschikagou.

To native americans of that area, Eschikagou meant place of smelly waters. Jean-Baptiste no doubt would have noticed the strong smell of wild garlic growing along the banks of Lake Michigan, and could appreciate why it was given such a name.

Interestingly, I read this fact on a plaque in the foyer of the museum, but if you search Eschikagou online, you would be hard pressed to find information anywhere that connects Eschikagou to the smelly meaning.

Besides learning about the origins of the city, the museum is an excellent place for anyone to get a glimpse into the fascinating history of African Americans, like DuSable, who played such a large part in shaping the city that you find today.

My last post covered some of the sources of misconceptions that travelers inevitably start their journey with. This current post is a nice contrast. Its a  recent blog I read on some Silk Route history brought to light in modern day Afghanistan.

When we think of Afghanistan, we probably think of war. The article on the Silk Route in Kabul is a great way for us to see another side of Afghanistan, and to get a taste of what else exists in this mysterious land.

The author of this article is Adrienne Mong, an NBC producer, who wrote this from Kabul, Afghanistan though I believe she is based in Beijing. The post was written as part of MSNBC’s “World Blog” which is a collection of posts from reporters, writers, and producers, that work for NBC at bureaus, in the field, and all over the world. Its a pretty good blog, considering its from network America news channel.

Adrienne visits the British Cemeterry in Kabul, Afghanistan where Sir Marc Aurel Stein is buried. Stein was a British archeologist who explored the Silk Route in the early 1900s.

Here are a few excerpts from his post. Adrienne describes the British Cemetery in Kabul where Stein is buried:

On a dusty road, behind a great stone wall and two wooden doors, lies the British Cemetery.  It’s a lovely oasis meticulously tended to by an Afghan couple. Dozens of tombstones litter the lush green lawn, their owners reflecting the great panoply of nationalities that have converged in Afghanistan: British, Polish, South African, Chinese, American, Swiss, French, German, and so on.

Describing Stein’s expedition to Dunhuang in Western China:

The second expedition garnered him even greater fame around the world but also ill repute in China. Stein wound up near Dunhuang to investigate the largely forgotten “Caves of a Thousand Buddhas,” some 400 grottoes carved out of rock and decorated with lush paintings and sculptures. A hapless monk, Abbott Wong, was the gatekeeper for the caves as well as an enormous library of thousands of precious manuscripts and silk paintings in various languages… In an act that today raises questions of morality, Stein took possession of tens of thousands of manuscripts by flattering, cajoling, deceiving, and bribing the abbott.  In fact, he procured them “for a sum which will make our friends at the [British Museum] chuckle,” wrote Stein in a letter to a friend.

On my visit to Dunhuang while leading our companies’ Silk Route cycling expedition, I never got the chance to visit the caves – I was busy running around the city that day, with errands to keep our cycling tour ticking along.

The Silk Route is full of fascinating history. I really enjoyed Adrienne’s article as I was not aware that Sir Stein was buried there. It also makes me dream of the day when more than just journalists and media outfits will be able to visit such a site. Hopefully on the other side of this war, there will be peace and prosperity for the Afghan people.

Here are a few Silk Route Links. If you have any others you can suggest, please leave me a comment.

The Silk Road – historical and cultural info

Silk Route Race/Expedition – offered by Tour d’Afrique Ltd.

Unique Travel Destinations – Dunhuang Caves

Like everyone else, I travel with many skewed images and ideas about a place before I ever travel there and I am often happily surprised by what I find. Preconception is defined as an opinion formed beforehand without adequate evidence. As it relates to travel and tourism, all tourists who travel,  outside of the “western” comfort bubble, leave there with preconceptions. It’s impossible not to.

There are lots of reasons for this, and many of them are inter-related. I will not pretend to be an expert on the topic, but I have observed the sources of some of my own preconceptions.

The Big M

The most obvious is the media. That general term that describes the various newspapers, radio, television, film, and other outlets that feed us all sorts of information on people and places and stories all over the world. And of course online media are a huge part of this now as well – through blogs, travel forums, and booking sites.

For this post I will speak mostly about news media. The news media have helped us to have a glimpse into places that most of us will never go, but unfortunately through short news clips, and brief newspaper articles we often only see one small part of what a place is really like. Without any other information to the contrary, this becomes our picture of a place.

I have come to accept that this is simply a reality, and not the fault of news media (not entirely anyway). If we want to have quick, current reportage, it can’t be too in depth.

If a protest at a university in Lusaka begins to turn violent, we are not really going to know the details of why it turned violent by watching a 30 second news clip on CNN or BBC or CBC. We’ll have to dig deeper if we want more in depth info. So this is where we are at fault. If we really want more information, it is available, but we have to be willing to commit more time to the subject.

Travelers

Sometimes the most misguided information I have gotten on a place is from other travelers who have been to the place I am traveling to. When someone gives me their impression of a place, I sometimes forget that they are one single person, and even if they have spent a few months in a place, they cannot begin to truly understand it. If the thin line they tread through a different culture and a foreign land was rough, they will often make a general statement of what it is like in somewhat negative terms. We can never assume that we will have that same experience.

Government Travel Advisories

These can be one of the strongest sources of misinformation. Government travel advisories, in my opinion, purposefully paint the darkest possible picture of a place to cover their own ass. The last thing they want to do is to have their embassy in a particular country bail you out if something does go wrong.

Let’s use Canada’s current Kyrgyzstan Travel Advisory as an example. Personally, I found Kyrgyzstan to be one of the most hassle free places I have ever traveled to. I posted a brief report on it a couple years back which you can read here. It also had stunning mountain scenery, a unique cultural identity, and an interesting history. If you were heading to Kyrgyzstan having only read this travel warning – you would probably be pretty freaked out. Here’s an excerpt:

Organized gangs are common. Robbery, mugging, and pick-pocketing occur frequently near major hotels, bars, and parks, and on public transportation. Remain vigilant, and ensure personal belongings and documents are secure. Do not show signs of affluence and avoid carrying large sums of money.

Muggings are frequent? What does that mean exactly? If you were simply picking out events that have occurred in the recent past, I guess a travel warning for Canada could sound something like this:

Organized gangs are common. Robberies, muggings, and pick pocketing are frequent. Be-headings are less common, but keep your head up. If you are traveling in an automobile, there have been reports of automotive accidents, so you must remain vigilant. Do not carry large sums of money as you will be tempted to spend it at Walmart, Canadian Tire, or Mountain Equipment Co-op.

Ok, so I am being a little silly about it, but you get the point. I really do believe that these reports can have a value, but they must be read and viewed as a worst case scenario, and full of events that could just as easily happen in your home town.

Sensationalism

And so this brings me to the Top 10 List you will never see on this blog. On my meander through the web this morning I came across a blog with the “World’s 10 Most Dangerous Travel Destinations.” It was a blog post referring to a Forbes Travel article of the same subject. These sort of lists crop up from time to time, and they really bother me because they are purely sensationalism. They are purposefully focusing on negative misinformation because it’s catchy and some how alluring.

Here is the blog – take a look at some of the comments as well. You really get a sense of how everyone gets caught up in the negative sensationalized information. For some reason we are all drawn to things like “Worst Place On Earth” and “Most Dangerous Street in America” and “Poorest Countries in the World.”

Even if the Forbes list was based on some facts, it doesn’t matter. Its main purpose is to catch your attention, and not serving any higher purpose.

If this sort of list were put out by the UN or Amnesty International, we could perhaps take it more seriously and use as tool for change and improvement etc. But normally these lists and other tools of sensationalism are simply for our amusement and I believe terribly destructive by giving us a perception of the place that’s not entirely complete and sometimes false.

So those are my sources of my preconceptions. What are yours? Also, what positives can we draw from all of this?

Well all this misinformation is the opportunity to be surprised and energized by arriving to a foreign place, and experiencing a side of its culture, and land that was never properly presented to you before you arrived.

In my opinion, if you have a chance to travel to a far away place, take it. It’s important to remember that some of these sources above do contain important information for a traveler – and it’s important to be educated on the places you’re going too. Just always keep the information in perspective.

If you are not sure what to expect, and are somewhat nervous about where you’re traveling, that’s ok. Take a deep breath, open your eyes, and don’t assume the worst. Each traveler walks a different line, so let your experience unfold without letting the preconceptions slow you down.