TRAVEL TALES
Are you an armchair traveller or a globe trotter? Chances are you are mainly armchair traveller. A globetrotter is one who travels round the world. We do occassionally travel abroad but then it is in the vacation period. Do you travel far or nearby region? Some would say that they have been to Denmark or the Hawaii, Japan or China, or nearby areas like in Thailand, Malaysia or to Batam island.
Pilgrim tales
A good story has the following qualities:
- is believable
- include a moral
- presents a surprise ending
- is enjoyable to listen to
A pilgrim’s tale need not follow strictly along these lines. Narration of the spiritual beauty of the holy place and challenges that a pilgrim undertakes in his long journey is good enough to stir the heart of the listener. As the listener absorbs the details of the travel tale, he or she wishes to go to the place and strive to purify their balance life on Earth. Pilgrimage is common because of the strong emphasis in religious books or teachings to visit holy places located in other land.
In 1017 a scholar Alberuni aka Al-Biruni travelled to India under the request of Sultan Muhmud of Persia. He learnt about religion, philosophy, literature, geography, chronology, astronomy, customs, law and astrology to under more about Indian life.
Hence travels could be associated with studying in a different place, seeking knowledge or medical treatment, having pleasure or adventure, doing a holy pilgrimage or learning new things.
Unlike the globetrotter who has to arrange for his visa, go to immigration and customs clearance, travel on foot or land transport and experience the different climate, meet people of different culture and language and experience fun and fatigue, the armchair travel is very easy – the person sits on the chair to read books, watch the television or just dream while relaxing.
Six hundred years after the death of Geoffrey Chaucer, a group of walkers follows the medieval pilgrim's route from Canterbury to Rome. During the course of the journey they agree that each will tell a tale in the spirit of the 14th Century Canterbury Tales. Their professions have medieval parallels and, like Chaucer's storytellers, they offer an insight into the attitudes and habits of the day.
A mixture of women and men, British and American, they tell stories of love, adventure, ambition, hypocrisy and revenge. Chaucer often presented moral tales of bygone heroes and villains in re-packaged form. However, conforming to today's culture, these modern travellers focus on their own lives, perceptions and feelings.
Visit to Holy places
I have travelled to Nepal and the views are scenic like Lumbini, Janakpur Sita (Mother Earth) temple, steppe plantation @ Bungmati, Bhaktapur (ancient capital of Nepal), Pokhara and Syambhunath temple in Katmandu. Sarnath, Varnasi and Shillong in India are also beautiful.
People
As you travel you encounter all sorts of people, people with different cultures and speaking different languages. English is still spoken in many parts of the world and this fact facilitates travel to make it smoother. You can enrich your vocabulary of a foreign language in some measure. In Hue you could see a man carrying so much items on his tricycle that he barely see where he is going but then he can still manage it. You witness a temple ceremony in Ubud, Bali. The crab seller in Thailand gives you a good bargain. Beach lovers swarm the beaches of the world, cherishing the sun, sea, surf and lovely food. A group of Rajasthani women in traditional costume stir your feelings for a nation that is still partially living in the past.
Food
You love the Indonesian food or the Thai delicacies serve while you were there. Yes, you remember the enjoyable grape plus mango in a hotel. You also bought a recipe book to try some foreign dishes when you are back home. The lingering memories of good food in your travels would make you seek for such food here in Singapore but then you may not get the real taste because it could be due to your travel excitement and environment. I enjoyed the strawberries in Genting and the tea in Cameron Highland but then some of which I brought home; I could find the magical taste. Hence it is the cool mountain environment and the setting of the place that gives the special flavour.
Farm life
A farmer life entails a lot of hard work and planning: buying the seeds, planting it during the right season, ensuring that crop is not attacked by insects or other pests, harvesting it and finally preparing the crop to be sold to the market or global distributors. Be it the farm in the US or in China, an R & D centre at Kranji Resort farm or a dairy farm in Australia or a fish farm in Singapore or a farm based on greenhouse heating, you will learn a lot about cultivation or animal rearing.
Dairy farm is important for the supply of milk and processed products like butter, cheese and ghee. A fish farm is specialised one because of the type of fish reared in controlled condition. The poultry farm supplies fresh eggs and chickens or ducks to the market. City dwellers should be grateful to the farmers for providing them essential food which is high in nutritional value. In the third world nations, it is common to come across a long distance travelling lorry is seen laden with workers and goods. The continent of Asia is busy with peasants hard at work because modern machines are still lacking.
Sea Coast
A trip to an island or the coastal region provides different opportunities like fishing, cruising or enjoying the sea breeze and the sun or just dream watching the azure waters. The sea world is different from a mountain environment.
Animal world
No matter how tall is a tale, a travel is incomplete if we forget about the other lives like the animals and birds. You see a beetle in the desert of Kenya and take a photo of it. The Puffins are also beautiful creature.
The magic of travels
As you listen to the beautiful tale of a traveller, you yearn to travel there. The seasoned traveller shows you of some photos. You look at them with glued eyes, deeply fascinated.
You chanced to see a man selling delicious crackers in Batam. The ixora flower in Lombok fascinates you. You see a framed painting and you accept it with pleasure as a seller gives you at a cheap rate. You were at an art exhibition a few days ago. In your trouble at a foreign land, you realise there is trouble. There is a possibility of martial law being imposed. You count your blessings that you are safe and sound here in Singapore. Thanks for the national harmony and good government here.
You see the picture of a leopard in a travel magazine. The leopard spots looks like an excellent artwork to you. This is just a photo. Can you face a real leopard? You feel the shivers in your spine.
The map of Batam falls down from the album. You take a closer look. You have heard so much tales of Batam but actually you don’t know the places in Batam Island. It is said that Batam is bigger than Singapore. There are some businessmen from Singapore who have opened up shops there. Then there is the fact about getting your car repaired in Johor Baru because it is cheaper there. Before the advent of fuel check at the border, cars would move towards JB to top up full. Now the Johor petrol stations are reluctant to fill to Singapore cars because of the vicinity area limit.
Your focus shifts as you see a green car in a travel magazine. This is really revolutionary – a technological marvel. You bring your lips closer to the photo wanting to kiss the car. Who drives this car? A lady, you imagine in your mind.
However, the idea of long distance is not that easy as that of an armchair traveller. There is the question of immigration or visa arrangement, entrust the maid to take care of the house in your absence and not allow strangers at home or perhaps bring the maid along with you to make her enjoy (after all she’s a human too), having a travel bag, booking with the airline or Transport Company, having enough cash, medicine and clothing for the intended travel and etc.
So after having made the arrangements, the dream holiday becomes a reality. Many lovely moments await like watching the sunset, witness the snowy mountains, frolic at the beach, wake up late and subsequently be served breakfast, read in a travel magazine about an ancient place where Jack and the Beanstalk story came into being, visit a hideout where artists lived in a place in ancient Serbia or talk to the natives of other lands and so on.
You read a paragraph on about A Dense Fog Has Fallen in a book.
During the Ottoman occupation of the Balkans for 412 years, Serbs were denied the right to an education and the use of musical instruments. But yet - legends and tales of every kind are still here. They knew why they came in Serbia, place where you can still hear unwritten stories - (fairy) tales - which has been existing for centuries and being transferred by word of mouth from man to man. Not only stories, fairy tales and novels, but songs of every kind, unique in the world – that’s why the great poet and dramatist Goethe so loved the Serbian people, their poetry and folklore that he learned to fluently speak their language. Goethe was also the major influence in encouraging Brahms, Loewe, and Josef Maria Wolfram to create musical compositions based on Serbian folk poems and literature. Brahms’ famous lullaby is derived from a Serbian folk poem.
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You feel sleepy and then doze off. You are back in your travel again but then this time it is in your dream.
Om Nath Panday
17 JAN 2010 |
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