Here are links to the daily news at the places
I visited (caveate - some links change - some go down):
Impressions of my trip
Montreal, Burlington, New York, Denver, Albuquerque,
Los Angelas, Kyoto, Bangkok, Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, Dubai, Larnaca,
Athens, Paris, New York and back to Montreal
People are the same where ever you go.
Everyone loves, hates, is kind or nasty, needs the same things
and has the same problems . Cultures differ so we think people
are different.
Languages and cultures change and that
obscures the basic humane characteristics we all share, blinding
us to the shared love of children, laughter, even the evil and
good that all people are capable of. We demonize those who look
or act different, we judge the book by the cover; if we don't
understand the language, we are deaf. If we judge others by our
own culture we are blind. If we let our fear of the unknown guide
us, then we are dumb, unable to open our mouths to build bridges.
Travel can broaden the mind or close it. The unfamiliar makes
us nervous, until we become one with it. After weeks in Asia
when I met ugly people with big noses and white faces, I discovered
I could no longer identify with them - Western people were strangers
to me.
New York
City July 4th 2002
Under the protection of stealth jets, lots
of police and armed soldiers; hot and humid, I visit a deserted
ground Zero, but Times Square full of people. Denver's airport
is like a giant white tent. Albuquerque is home, dry, high and
my high school reunion - women look good, men look old. LAX airport
smoggy, fear in air. JAL flight long and tight. Every one jumps
up when we fly by Mount Fuji. Nari airport is a floating huge
bug, I finally figure out ticket for train to Kyoto train station
and then friends. A fast tour of Kyoto, beautiful and exotic,
Gion at night with Geikos and Maikos walking in rain, drink Saki
with friends. Thailand; exotic, hot, wet, all I expected and
more. China full of people everywhere. Kunming, Dali, Lijiang
all are incredible. Long flight across nighttime India on Air
Emerits, Dubai airport at night, 24 hour shopping. Athens is
sunny, beach then dinner overlooking smoggy city. Paris at last,
friends and food. Like a fish in water, I feel comfortable in
the craziness of it all.
As I looked down from the different airplanes I saw mankind's
mark on the land; it is like a spreading cancer - the roads,
and cities and even crop cultivation has changed the Earth. Flying
into Los Angeles, the air was like a thick yellow soup, and in
Thailand the two cycle engines belched black smoke, China has
terrible pollutions problems. What is the solution?
Kyoto Japan
I ran through temples and gardens, stopping
here and there to inhale the culture, sweating in the hot humid
summer air. My day started at the Kyoto Brighton Hotel, at a
traditional breakfast to exchange gifts and talk business. Then
we had coffee western style. The day ended in the Gion area of
Kyoto where the tea houses host the rich who can afford to be
entertained by Geisha. Sake at Mamma san restaurant, very Japanese.
It was an intense day, compressing so many things into a few
hours.
Japanese women are not as submissive and
exploited as they appear; they manage the money in Japan, they
buy houses, they give their husbands allowances. When Japanese
women travel outside of Japan, they are very independent and
free. The Samurai culture is like the Macho culture, all testosterone
based.
Buddhism is not a religion, though people
pray to him and other gods. Shintoism is a religion that worships
spirits.
Thailand
I have never met a more friendlier or polite
people than the Thais. If there are any loud angry words overheard,
it is usually the foreigners. What will happen when the King
dies? I tour the grounds of the palace, very hot and humid, and
meet two Japanese sisters from Kobe while admiring the Emerald
Buddha. One lives in Spain, the other in Bangkok; how long ago
did the American black ships arrive in Japan?
Oriental Hotel is a haven of peace, right
our of a James Bond movie, with quiet and efficient service;
it was voted the best hotel in the world by bankers. The old
part of hotel has been restored and has this closed courtyard
that feels like the inside of a cloud, the adjoining reading
room has photographs of all the famous writers who have visited
and stayed; a sanctuary. I have a hard time leaving, the coolness
and peace are like lotus land. The terrace overlooks the river,
I take the river ferry boat with monks in saffron cloaks. The
heat is stifling even on the river. Humid. The Royal Palace is
closed for Buddha day, till 2 pm so I ride a Tuck Tuck around
to see another temple, wild ride. Then back to Palace where I
wander around, in awe of the gold and gilding.
China
Yunnan Province. The city of Kunming. There
are a lot of people in China. It is changing from a communist
society to a capitalist one, in ten years, China will have progressed
the 100 years that the west took to industrialize; pollution
is a huge problem, as is power and politics. Where will the oil
come from to be processed for gasoline for cars that will produce
more carbon dioxide to increase global warming?
Lijiang
is the inspiration for the Novel Lost Horizons, and Shangrila
and is beautiful and full of tourists. I am also fascinated by
it and am writing a novel that takes place there. The cobble
stones are hard to walk on but you can take a dip in the many
streams that flow through the city.
Dali; where marble comes from - in Chinese
the name Dali cha means Marble. The city is walled, beautiful,
full of hawkers looking for tourists. Outside the city are the
3 pagodas, the tallest in the world. There is a lot of pollution
in the air; yellow clouds, smoke from coal fires. On the winding
road to Dali from Kunming, there are two accidents, one looks
fatal. Chinese chicken involves cars and trucks and people interweaving
on the roads. Yes, people do hawk and spit, even women. Where
did all the spittoons go in the US?
Afterthoughts
In Albuquerque I saw a rainbow the morning
I took flight to LA, a sign of good fortune, because I missed
the attack in Los Angeles airport by one day. On my flight to
Japan I sat in front of a Buddhist nun bald and dressed in white;
was she a retired Geisha? In Kyoto a typhoon chased me out of
the country. But I had a great time, though the thousand buddhas
almost did me in - a culture shock for sure. I prefer the Zen
stuff.
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