true life planet

Something that has been on my mind lately..

Today I was my last day in France. I celebrated by going into “town”–a tiny village nearby called Syselle.

I’m sure many people would miss this sweet little charming place, or think there was nothing to see and do there. However, I had a wonderful few hours there, doing everything from eating locally made pastry to visiting a little known bird sanctuary to finding myself drinking wine at an impromtu wine tasting in the local supermarket.

I guess I’ve always been the kind of person that can make the best of it, or “make do”. Certainly this skill is incredibly useful when it comes to the art of travel. But what is probably even more important is knowing how to be resourceful when one travels.

Resourceful. I realized today that if I was asked to descibe what kind of traveler I am, I would use that word to descibe myself.

Resourcefulness and backpacking go hand in hand. Unfortunately, the word resourceful in this context generally conjures up the backpacker who is having to be resourceful because they really don’t have enough money to travel in the manner to which they are attempting. This is the backpacker who is always looking for a “connection”, a place to stay in the next city or country, or looking for a free meal.

Not that there is anything partially wrong with this scenario, but it’s not the kind of resourcefulness I’m talking about here.

I’m talking about the kind of resourcefulness that really allows one to have a fuller, deeper, and more “live like the locals” kind of travel experience. For example, being in a tiny village for several hours in the south of France, and finding out that there are alot of hidden gems in the area, just by walking around, observing people, and talking with them. Not going to the expensive tourist restaurants and sights, but choosing instead to talk with a sculptor who takes you on an impromptu tour of his studio. Finding the cemetery and listening to an old man, raking the gravel walkways, talk about how his village has changed over the years.

In attempting to be a resourceful traveler, not only do I find myself in strange situations with people I would not normally have the likelihood to meet, but I am forced to practice a degree of self reliance that is similar to inviting 10 people to dinner and starting to cook the meal 10 minutes before they are due to arrive. It feels a bit crazy, flying by the seat of my pants through one interaction or experience after another, but it’s so much more satisfying. Afterwards, I always find myself saying, “Did you really just do that?!”

This trip which started as such an organized, well thought out plan, of where I was going to where I was staying for the next few years has happily disintegrated into a trip where I hope I have no idea of what I am doing tomorrow. I love not knowing what is next because it forces me to think, to act, to make choices based on my impressions and my skills. Maybe even develop some skills right there in that moment–like when I was in Guatemala and had to row my own wooden canoe through water snakes and crocodiles. I had never rowed a canoe in my life, and I was afraid of boats, let alone crocodiles–I looked around for some gringo or guide to help me and there wasn’t one. It was just me. I learned to row a canoe in about 2 minutes! (Landing it and getting out were another story entirely!)

In a few days, I will be in an area of the world that is the gateway to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a small cluster of islands of the coast of India. It’s a place of many a traveler’s fantasies, with beautiful beaches, bamboo huts, and diving and snorkeling. But is that all there is?

The answer is no, in spite of what any guidebook will tell you. What is actually there remains to be seen, to be discovered.

I started out reading guidebooks religiously when I started this trip. I carried them around like they were the Bible, and I only went to things they suggested. Unfortunately, I soon learned that that is what most other travelers were doing too. Now I use the books as a basic guide to start out with and then give them away, preferring to get completely disoriented and figure things out by myself.

But back to the Andaman Islands..There are 6 different indigenous groups living on the islands, along with a mix of everyone else who has decided to go and live there over the years. Of these groups, some have resisted outsiders by becoming quite violent at the sight of a foreigner, while others have had their population increase dramatically due to religious conversion, amongst other reasons.

I imagine the Andaman islands full of rich tourists looking for a tropical island getaway and poorer backpackers, swinging in hammocks and taking  a diving  class or two. It’s also full of lots of displaced people who have lost their identity since losing lands and territories due to a huge tsunami that hit the islands several years ago.

I’ve been thinking about going to the islands, because they are very close to Calcutta and one can get there by boat. But I don’t want to be a rich tourist, and hire a guide…nor do I want to follow the advice to the letter of whatever Lonely Planet says about what to see and do. For me, Lonely Planet is a resource–a place to begin. But it’s not the journey.  The journey is after you give up the backpacker scene and move in with the locals.

Why go all the way to the other side of the world just to hang out with people just like myself? When I have done this (My first 2 months in Xela, Guatemala comes to mind) I have been so unsatisfied with my journey and my understanding of the culture. I like the challenge of being different, of being around difference, because it forces me to rely on myself and be a resourceful traveler.

I’d much rather get very much off the gringo trail, get completely lost, be with people who spoke a language I did not understand, and have one interesting adventure to talk about when I got home–paired with a deeper understanding of place.

I imagine that going to the Andaman islands would be no different than going to a small, seemingly faceless village in France. It doesn’t have to be a touristy destination–in fact, it could be a destination that becomes one of the most significant on my around the world trip, and teaches me the most about the environment and global warming.

Resourcefulness is key for the  sensitive traveler who wants to appreciate what things are actually like for the people they are seeing in the street, the shops, the market. It’s the key to understanding why one is traveling in the first place, and it requires getting off the beaten trail to do just that.

I know Calcutta will prove to be place where resourcefulness is a valuable, and even necessary, skill.  Hundreds of volunteers are attracted to coming and working there every year, and there is a strong gringo presence in some areas of the city. I know that my first few days there, that’s where I’ll be, eating my tofu burgers and swapping traveler’s tales on the rooftop of some backpacker hostel.

But after a few days of that, I hope to be living far away from that part of town, hopefully in a local’s house or a rented room in the middle of who knows where, struggling to figure out a language and customs while experiencing some serious culture shock all on my own.

Flying by the seat of my pants, and loving every minute of it.

gigi

I was in Geneva, Switzerland a few days ago. I was a little bit nervous about being there, because:

a.) I’ve been spending the last few weeks living rather monastically in an old farmhouse in France with tons of cats and a only a few people.!

and

b.) I had heard it was more expensive than Paris.

When I got there, I used up several hours in the morning spending time with protesters and other folks of similar ilk around the UN, leaving me with only 6 hours to spend in the city itself.

I had been advised to take a bus, but as buses cost 3 francs and  as my new thing is to be the frugal traveler, I decided to walk.

I usually enjoy walking, as one discovers many things you never see when taking transportation, but walking in Geneva turned out to be an exhausting experience. I resorted to using the free bikes (they have 5 free bike stations in the city) twice as my legs felt like they were in a meat grinder. I had not been feeling well for several days beforehand, and I think the walking around the city was too much for me.

That night, when I returned to the cats, farmhouse, and so forth my legs were still killing me. A few hours later, my temperature soared. Great. I apparently got some sort of flu or cold and somehow my day in Geneva made it much worse. Not entirely surprising, as I compute that I walked about 12 miles and rode a bike for about the same..in 6 hours!

I’ve been trying to get better ever since–after all, I leave for India on Wednesday.

When I wasn’t trying to bring a fever down or napping these last few days, I managed to write out this list of things I did in Geneva.

Ok, Here goes:

Before I get to my list of what I did, let me say that food in Geneva is the most expensive I have seen in Europe. For example, it was 6 dollars for a Coke, 14 dollars for single crepe.. I was beginning to think that I was going to have to go beyond my 12 dollar rule and spend some serious cash on something bland, overpriced, and unsatisfying, when I discovered Salsabel Home Food Service , a tiny grocery store and to go eatery that specializes in Indian food for the impossibly cheap people like me. It’s right past the train station (walking away from the UN towards the river) on the right at the bottom corner of the Coop building, on La Voie-Creuse. I got a bag of hot vegie pakoras for 2 dollars, and I was on my way.

1.) I was walking for what seemed like forever when I bumped into the Botanical Gardens. Strangely, they were not even mentioned in my  borrowed copy of the Rough Guide To Switzerland, so I was surprised when they turned out to be amazingly cool. In spite of several nasty tour groups of ill behaved school children, there were  several quiet spots to sit and admire the view. There were also many types of gardens, including a witches’s garden, and eco garden, a rock garden…the strangest thing they had was a oddball collection of animals, which included about 20 deer. The deer seemed to be entirely domesticated and actually barked at visitors, like dogs. Very strange indeed. They also had an very interesting free exhibit on the fractals of flowers and the mathematical equations of plants, as well as tropical greenhouses and that sort of thing. (free)

2.) I saw a glimpse of the river Rhone and so kept walking that direction, finally running into the river itself and walked along the Promenade. Scenic vistas aside, it gave me a spectacular view of the landmark of the city, the Jet d’ Eau. This jet of water goes up into the air more than 140meters, and people spend alot of money to take  a boat out to it and get drenched. I chose to look at it from afar instead. (free)

3.) I discovered that Geneva has a free bike program just like Paris. Apparently the city decided that having free bikes would make it easier for the homeless and jobless to get employment. So far, it does not seem to be working, with unemployment and homelessness at an all-time high. I hopped on a free bike and rode to the famous Old Town part of the city.

4.) Speaking of homelessness, I should say that the homeless people in Europe are so well dressed that it takes me a moment to realize that they are homeless. In Paris I noticed bag ladies fully accessorized with earrings and Hermes scarves–and  Geneva is no different is this regard. The homeless of Geneva look a bit worn down, with scuffed shoes and uncombed hair..but then, so do I. There are alot of homeless in the Old Town area, especially around the Parc des Bastions, which features an enormous life size chess game.(free)

5.) One thing I definitely wanted to see is anything associated with the Calvinist Movement–a Protestant movement that changed the Western world. Geneva is where it really took off. I head to the wall called the  Wall of the Reformation, which has four statues that are 5 meters tall of Calvin and his main supporters. These are de Beze, who took Calvin’s role up as spiritual father of the city after Calvin died; Farel, the first person to even talk of a Reformation in Geneva; and Knox, a Scotsman who was a colorful character in his own right, publishing  a book which has made him unpopular with women everywhere ever since, called,      “The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Montrous Regiment of Women”. (free)

6.) All this Reformation stuff gets me interested in finding out more on this group of men and what kind of effect their beliefs had in Geneva. So I head to the enormous Cathedrale de St. Pierre, which at first looks completely unappealing–but then, that’s just when I’m looking at the outside of the place. It looks like someone has not been able to make up their mind about how the church should look, and so they have added on all kinds of bits and pieces which make the outside of it quite unattractive. Inside, however, it took my breath away. It’s simplicity and beauty are worth a visit alone. But this simplicity came at a pretty high price–back in 1535 the people of Geneva went wild and stripped the place bare, whitewashed the walls, destroyed the paintings, altar, and so forth as a demonstration of their support for the Reformation. (free)

7.) In spite of the fact that the Reformation did cause the cathedral to lose some it’s glory, I had to look at Calvin and his friends with a certain degree of admiration. They all showed up to Geneva because no one else would take them–they were, in a sense, asking for religious asylum from Switzerland. Once they got it, they brought everyone from ministers to printers to bookbinders to the city to support their cause. Across from the Cathedral is the little- visited Auditorium Calvin, which now is home to the Presbyterian Church that Knox started back in Scotland. Inside is a very well done exhibit on Knox and the refugees that came to the city, starting in 1555, due to religious persecution (at the time Queen Mary in England was executing them right and left). Most interesting was the exhibit on the famous Geneva Bible, a Bible that was created by the leaders of the Reformation in 1560. It revolutionized religion for the masses because it was put together in a way that simple people could understand, with illustrations and numbered verses. (free)

8.)  I decide I need to know a bit more about the city’s history. Luckily for me I was  right next door to the Mason Tavel Museum, which turns out to be a rather odd place full of wacky pieces of Geneva’s history. What strikes me as odd about the place is that upon entering, I notice that I am the only one there. Other than a woman at a desk, who sends me to the elevator with a wave of her hand, there does not seem to be soul in the place. She sends me some underworld realm to put my daypack in a locker, and somehow I end up in the employee lounge. Somehow I manage to find my way out of the lounge and back onto the ground floor, deciding to keep my backpack with me instead. The museum turns out to be full of strange interesting stuff, like guillotines (which have very blunt blades, by the way); guns; armor; rooms set up as they would have been in the past; and a vast array of..wallpaper samples. Sound humdrum? Strangely, it was all put together so well that it wasn’t boring. It gave me a very accurate picture of what life was like back then. The best part of the museum I found entirely by accident–a big relief map of the city, on the very top floor. It took my breath away.(free)

8.) After taking  a quick look at the Hotel de Ville, a famous building where lots of politicians have met over the past 100plus years to sign various agreements and make deals, I decided to head to the Museum of Art and History, which is supposedly the country’s crowning achievement as far as museums go. Well, I’ve seen lots of museums on this trip and it was..okay. There were so many kinds of art, that it was impossible to see it all properly; and the collection itself was seemly eccentric, so it was hard to stick with it. I finally escaped into the archeology section of the museum, and found that worthwhile.(free)

9.) Feeling somewhat disappointed by the large museum, I figured that another museum I had already heard about from a friend would not disappoint. And it didn’t. The huge, well thought out Museum of Ethnography was spectacular. It had a huge collection of “primitive art” but it also had a large collection of war weapons, particularly from the Orient. Normally I wouldn’t be interested in that sort of thing, but here they seemed to be displayed to invite the viewer to look at them more as pieces of art. (free)

10.) Feeling like I needed some fresh air, I headed over to Place de Volontaires, a big square that has a wonderful vibe and feels a bit more interesting than the rest of the squeaky-clean city. I sat on a bench and ate my lunch of vegetable pakora while doing some serious people watching. After listening to a few street musicians play some great Turkish music, I hopped on a free bike again, this time with the destination of Carouge. (free)

11.) You’d think riding a bike around a city like this would be dangerous, but it’s not. I have never been in a city–or anywhere, for that matter–where everyone is so polite to both cyclists and walkers. It’s a jaywalker’s dream city.. Anyway, Carouge is a bit outside of the city. I wanted to go there because I had read it was full of artsy type people and galleries. It did not disappoint. The streets were not only full of interesting people, art studios, and shops, but the place itself was warm and inviting. People’s gardens ran out to the street, and garden gates were open. Many gardens were full of sculptures and garden art. I loved it. (free)

12.) It was getting late and I had a few more things I wanted to see, so I rode the free bike over to Les Grottes, a famous public housing project that is modeled on a combination of Gaudi-esque design and a cartoon-like sensibility. The people who lived in the project turned out to be the most ethnically diverse of all the people I had seen in this very white city. I enjoyed sitting in the park with the many Muslim women out enjoying the park with their children. It was a relief to be around more than just people like myself.  I breathed in the culture and enjoyed the view–weird mushroom doorways and candy-like balconies…kids must love growing up there. (free)

13.) Next on my list was the Museum Voltaire, which was one of my favorite things I got to see in Geneva. It’s full of his books and scribblings, and if you are a fan of Voltaire it’s a must see. It’s in  a beautiful mansion and is surprisingly romantic in feeling..his personal collection of objects’de art are impressive, too. (free)

14.) I turn the bike in and walk all the way to the Red Cross Museum. I was saving this museum for last, in part because I knew going there was going to be a heady, somewhat emotional experience. It also has a hefty pricetag of 10 francs,  which is alot for me but I figured it would  be worth it. It was. The museum itself is inside the Red Cross building, and it’s quite small. But what they have managed to create within that small space is a very moving testament to both the Red Cross and humanity. It’s difficult to describe, but it hits you, like a load of bricks. It was a little like walking into a sliding glass door–over and over again. So, it’s unpleasant in that sense, but in another sense it’s something you have to do to learn, so you don’t do it anymore. I suppose the question here is, how many times do you have to walk into it?

The museum is full of photographs and large scale video and interactive displays. It gave me the sense that I was a part of what I was looking at, not just observing it.

Some of the exhibits I found most moving:

-A video of surgeons and doctors talking about working as humanitarian aid workers during wars, and how they have learned which weapons have what kind of interaction with the human body. The question they were asking was : “What type of interaction is permissible?”

-Videos of the typhoid epidemic in Poland and the Plague epidemic in Manchuria. Hard to watch, but I watched them anyway.

-A room which one had to walk into carefully, full of prosthetic legs, posters warning children to be careful around landmines, and a video of people in Cambodia and Columbia being fitted for artificial limbs.

-A huge exhibit on art made by prisoners of war.

A very full day, with the best museum saved for last. I’m not sure I could have walked around the rest of the city if I had gone to the Red Cross museum first, as it was very heavy and it made me very sad. In spite of this, I was content that for my one single day in the city, I managed to get a feel for the place. And on 12 dollars, too.

gigi