worldtrip

Well, my world trip has finally come to an end.  I visited, in order, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, India, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Egypt, Greece, the Czech Republic, and Holland.  The pace was a little dizzying; there were definitely a few times when I would suddenly stop and realize that I had no idea which country I was in, the time or date, etc.  I guess compared to some of my fellow travelers, 4 months is not a long time to  spend on a trip like this.  I think I spent an average of about a week in each major stop, which is really only long enough to get a brief taste of a place.  One of the advantages, though, is that seeing such dramatic changes in culture, religions, and environments in a short period of time lets you compare things while they are still fresh in your mind.  Going from the temples of Angkor Wat to the temples of India in less than a day, for example, gives a sense of the continuity between these cultures; they were really created by different waves of the same people.  The religions and gods changed over time, but the style and magnitude of  the temples were similar.Another interesting thing about this trip was the chronology of the sites I visited.  During one part of the trip I went from the cradle of civilization at Olduvai Gorge in Africa  (about 4 mya), to the pyramids (about 3,000 yrs BC), to Greece (about 400 BC to 300 AD), to Prague (about 1400 AD and up).  Not to mention the ancient Khmer and Hindu civilizations, and all the hill tribes that still inhabit SE Asia, and the equally ancient Chinese dynasties.  Quite a lot to take in while you’re traveling- I’m just starting to read about some of the history I missed while I was taking photos.Another point regards the environment.  I’m a biologist with a particular love of the ocean, so I definitely enjoyed seeing the changes in fish species from the Gulf of Thailand, Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and Mediterranean. I’m particularly interested in evolution, and it was great seeing the similarities and differences between species from region to region.  Seeing a whale shark in Thailand was a high point, but so was kayaking out with the Arab dhows in Zanzibar to snorkel on a distant island reef, or seeing the incredible diversity of marine life in the Red Sea, just yards offshore from seaside restaurants in Dahab, Egypt.Africa was spectacular of course.  Struggling to reach the top of Kilimanjaro was something I’ll always remember and I’ll try to convey some of the beauty and magnitude of that place to my students.  Also, visiting Serengeti, Ngorongo Crater, Uganda, etc. and seeing the animals I have looked at my whole life in books, TV shows, or zoos was an incredible experience, as was meeting some of the people that have lived in that environment for ages.  Another impression I had while traveling was the extreme heat and drought of many of the places I visited.  In India, I saw people plowing bone-dry fields and waiting for the monsoon rains to arrive, while they drew muddy water from a puddle 20 feet down a community well.  In Tanzania, the corn fields were dead and brown for as far as the eye could see in some places; one person told me that the people were starving because the normal rains didn’t come this year.  I certainly agree with the majority of scientists who feel that global warming is a reality that should be addressed immediately, but seeing these kinds of scenes was something that makes a real impact.  I haven’t looked at the statistics yet, but the people I talked to definitely seemed to think that things were changing rapidly, and this year was abnormally dry.  I get the impression that things will be changing dramatically in the near future for many parts of the world. As for my own future travel plans, I definitely want to continue to visit new places for as long as I can.  I’d certainly love to go back to Thailand, maybe visiting Vietnam, which I missed this time, and possibly getting over to Myanmar and Tibet.  Now that I’ve hit some of the major “must see” sights, I’d like to check out some of the more “off the beaten track” places.  I’ll keep this blog open (hopefully) and update it the next time I travel.  Cheers,  Phil Light      

I’ve been in Europe now for 2 days - it’s nice to finally see some rain again, after almost 2 months of solid heat and sunshine.  Prague is amazing, of course - I’ll send some pictures in a day or two.  Greece was quite spectacular, as you can see, but it was also incredibly expensive, mostly due to 2 factors:  1) I went during the heart of the tourist season, without reservations and 2) I let a tour company arrange the details, without shopping around for the best price.  I’ve actually never stayed in such luxury - my last place had 5 beds just for myself!  Anyway it was good to see the islands, and if I ever do it again I might know how to do it fro a reasonable price.  It has also been great seeing all of these cultures in such a short time frame - it gives some sense of continuity among these ancient civilizations.  Right now I’m surrounded by a city of medieval Christian and Jewish monuments - a lot of it pretty grim, but still fascinating.  My next post will probably be from Amsterdam, my last stop on this world trip - will send the Prague pix then.

  I’ve been here in Dahab, Egypt for about a week now - leaving tomorrow for Cairo and then to Greece the next day.  I have to say the best thing I’ve seen here has been the Red Sea, and especially the town of Dahab.  This place is the perfect antidote for the rest of Egypt; very laid back and relaxing.  I went kitesurfing all day today, watching camels walk along the beach while gliding over crystal clear waters.  The diving/snorkelling is really spectacular - the reef is about 100 ft offshore -you can sit in a bedouin style restaurant and look over the wall at the reef.  I also hiked up Mt. Sinai, the putative site where Moses received the 10 commandments and saw the sunrise -beautiful.  Also St Katherine’s Monastery, where there are parts built by Christians, Muslims, and Jews - quite an accomplishment! The gorilla and chimp pix are from a couple of treks I went on in Uganda - they were very expensive, but well worth it in my opinion. Next post will be from Greece!

 It looks like they may have given me some more space on this site, so I ‘ll try to update.  I arrived in Cairo today, and am just settling in - it’s pretty hot but not as bad as I’d imagined.  Heading to the pyramids tomorrow, and then down to Luxor and Aswan, then on to the Red Sea.  The pictures I’ve posted are just a sample of what I saw in Africa - all from my last week in Uganda. I’ll send a bunch more showing Zanzibar and Tanzania.  The wildlife is so unbelievable here it can make anyone a great photographer!  The gorillas and chimps were amazing to see in the wild, but real expensive - definitely a once/lifetime deal. We were able to get within about 15 feet of the gorillas, but the chimps stayed in the trees, and the lighting was not great, but they were still cool to watch.  The pythons (there were 2) were about 12 feet long - I wanted to catch one but the guide said no!  Also went rafting on the source of the Nile which was OK, but I guess I’m a little jaded from having done WW kayaking - rafting just can’t compare, but it was still a great experience (although expensive,of course).  Well, I’ll send a combination of Egypt pictures and older pix from Tanzania and Zanzibar in a a day or 2 - can only do this computer stuff for so long at a sitting.

Well, I made it up Kilimanjaro, but it took just about every ounce of eneergy I had.  I actually got mountain sickness on the way up (the summit is around 19,000 ft), and basically had to crawl to the top.  We went up on the fifth day of the trip, at midnight, andclimbed all night.  There was a huge procession of hikers with headlamps on, moving at a ridiculously slow speed - it took about 6.5 hrs to reach the summit, and I had to lay down on the rocks many times - I felt like I was hallucinating, and was very dizzy.  MS effects everyone differently.  It took me about 30 minutes to cover thje last 300 meters to the top.  I then had to descend rapidly, so my guide (Paul) and I shoe-skiied down a 1000 m skree slope, after which I was violently ill - then a 4 hour hike down to lower elevation. I guess I won’t be climbing Mt Everest anytime soon. Kili is the largest free standing mountain in the world and the highest in Africa - it is truly impressiv.  I’m leaving this AM for a 5 day safari to Serengeti, Ngorongo, and other spots - should be very impressive (elephants, lions, leopards etc)  - hope there is still space on this site to post pix   

Well, I’ve made it to Africa - I’m in Tanzania now and getting ready to do a 6 day trek up Mt Kilimanjaro tomorrow.  Haven’t seen any large animals yet, but I’m sure they’re lurking out there somewhere. I left the Asian continent yesterday at 1 PM, and I have to say India was a truly unusual mixture of pleasure and pain.  I took 2 consecutive overnight bus rides which just about wiped me out, but I was able to visit some pretty cool sites.  I mentioned the Ajanta caves last time, and have included some more pictures of them.  They are quite stunning, enormous temples carved out of sheer rock - I don’t think the pix really do them justice.  The next day I travelled to Ellora caves, which are reported to have the world’s oldest religious paintings- around 400 BC.  They used vegwetable fibres, natural pigments , and other substances to paint them, and the color is still very vivid.  India at the moment is incredibly hot and dry - I’ve included some pix of the people carrying jars of water from communal wells.  They would throw buckets attached to ropes down about 20 feet to a puddle of mud, and then carry them miles back to their villages - an unbelievably harsh life.  They say that the monsoon is late this year, and they are all waiting for the rains to begin planting they’re crops.  I didn’t spend long in India (5 days), but it was enough to get a glimpse of how a lot of the world lives.

Well, this has to be the wierdest post yet.  I’ve been in India for 2 days w  sorry I don’t have some pictures to sedn noe (left my cable inMumbaI). I’m in Aurangabad, India and I’m almost certainly the only foreigner in this city.  I took a 12 hour overnight bus trip from Mumbai to here and checked into a hotel  about 6 am  this morning.  Tried to get some sleep before heading out, but woke up when a cockroach crawled across my chest.  Went to some rock caves in Ellora after that, and they were quite spectacular! When I send the pix you’ll see what I mean.  The caves were built for monks about 1,000 - 1,400 yrs ago.  They were carved into the mountain, and I’ve certainly never seen anything like them.  It’s kind of like they carved St. Patrick’s Cathedral from a huge piece of rock, complete with all the altars, statues, etc.  There are a great number of caves, representing the Buddist, Hindu, and, Jist periods.  I better stop now, this will make more sense when I send the pictures

 Well, it’s been a long time since my last post.  Internet access is pretty difficult in some places and I guess I’ve been a little lazy as well.  I’m in Cambodia now, and will be leaving for India tomorrow night.  I have to say I’m a little apprehensive about India - I’m only there for 5 days, and I have no clue what to do there, except I’m pretty sure it’s going to strain my patience.  SE Asia has been everything I hoped for.  Since my last post I’ve traveled through Northern Thailand, Laos, and the last few days have been visiting the famous Khmer temples and Killing Fields of Cambodia.  I had an awesome birthday in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where I met a great girl from Burma and we visited some hot springs together.  The next day I took a bus north to Chiang Saen to visit a Thai friend I met on the bus.  We toured the ancient temples there on his motorbike, I had my 2nd birthday party at a restaurant on the Mekong River, and visited the Golden Triangle.  The next day I took a harrowing 6 hour speedboat ride down the Mekong to Luang Prabang, a beautiful French town in Laos.  The scenery there was awesome - spectacular limestone karst formations and a lot of provincial charm.  I continued by bus south to Vang Vieng, which was even more unbelievable.  The main attraction there is tubing down the river, and stopping at the numerous riverside bars for BeerLao and whiskey shots, with incredible rope swings, slides. and zipline rides all along the way - kind of decadent, but very relaxing and fun.  Took an overnight bus to Vientiene, the capitol of Laos, then flew to Siem Reap, the site of the 8th wonder of the world, Angkor Wat.  The temples here date from the height of the Khmer empire, around 1,00 years ago.  AW is the largest seperate building in the world, with a height greater than Notre Dame.  There were many temples and sights, including the pink temple (Banteay Srei), and the tree-strangled temples of Ta Prohm.  Today was a more somber day - I visited the War Museum, which contains relics of the Cambodian War (approx. 1970 - 1990) during which the Khmer Rouge killed about 3 million people for the sins of not supporting the communist regime of Pol Pot.  My guide had lost an eye, leg, had multiple land mine shrapnel injuries, seen the murder of his entire family by the Khmer Rouge, and lost his wife in 2000 to a land mine.  I’ve heard many opinions about the American complicity in this sad affair, but he did not seem to blame the US (although I have my doubts).  Anyway, I then visited the Killing Fields here (there are much larger ones in Phnom Pehn), where some of the bones of people killed by the Khmer Rouge during the genocide were kept at a temple.  I find it amazing that people who have suffered so much can be so happy, but I think I would have to live here a long time to understand it.  Anyway it’s been a great trip here in SE Asia, and I will definitely be returning, but for now I have to keep moving along.  Will try to send more posts, but this site is difficult to manage from the computers I access, and appears to be running out of space.  Check back in  a week - will be in Africa then- hopefully preparing to go up Kilimanjaro.  Also look at my Facebook site, which I update more frequently (my Iphone is really easy to use compared to these old PC’s)