notes and images
Seven years ago, the Space Shuttle was still flying, though not for much longer. China had yet to fly its multi-crew Shenzhou missions to the Tiangong orbital space laboratory, or land the Yutu “Jade Rabbit” rover on the moon, in each case becoming just the first nation after the US and USSR to achieve the feat. I wrote these impressions of the 14 May 2010 launch before I knew much about the Chinese program, and before I’d processed the black and white images included below.
Fresh air, fresh water, green grass and alpine flowers. Friendly shepherds, spectacular lakes, nightly storms and hot springs. High altitudes and glaciers. And a seemingly inexhaustible supply of delicious chocolate.
Switzerland?
Kyrgyzstan. Pronounced with a hard “g”, as we discovered on our first day.
A little slice of God’s own country (they call him Allah) wedged between China’s imposing Heavenly Mountains and the vast steppes to the north.
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The darkness fell over our bus and the high Bolivian plateau south of La Paz. We’d ground to a halt an hour ago, along with every other truck and bus for two kilometres ahead and four behind, their motionless headlights tracing a smooth arc through the blackness. Suddenly everyone leaped to the left side of the bus, as blinking red lights told us we were about to see what had held us up.
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“Hola chicos!”
From Horiol’s very first friendly greeting as we opened the gate of his tiny hotel in equally tiny Putre, Chile, we knew we were in for a good time. This was a welcome omen, even more so once we discovered we’d been robbed in the Chilean frontier town of Arica. Boo! But it was our fault – a real beginner’s mistake. And it was just cash, and not too much, and Horiol’s big smile washed away the memory very quickly.
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Arequipa was once a very long drive over a bumpy road from Lima. By 2010, and presumably still today, you could ride a modern road on a comfortable overnight bus with reclining seats, a hot meal served by the cabin crew, movies to watch and breakfast with coffee the next morning. Some might sneer at this level of comfort but we’ve done enough really tough bus rides in our time that we were happy to kick back and enjoy the service.
High up from the dry and sandy desert coast, Arequipa is visually dramatic. Surrounded by conical volcanos and bathed in lovely sunlight streaming from a clear blue sky, it was a welcome change from grey and gritty Lima.
This was good, because we ended up staying a long time…
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I learned a few things about birdwatching on the Faroe Islands. First, it’s pretty cool. Second, you don’t need an enormous lens to get some nice photos. I also discovered I can actually go on a boat without instantly getting seasick.
But what was really awesome about this leg of our Faroes trip was the dizzying sea cliffs at Vestmanna – the Vestmannabjørgini. (No, I have no idea how to pronounce that). Hundreds of meters of black volcanic sea cliffs, speckled green with outlandish tufts of bright turf, itself munched on by even more outlandishly surefooted sheep. Though we were late in the season, still scores of seabirds swooped and swirled around the cliffs, our boat, and us. Add a salty fresh sea breeze off the North Atlantic and one of the very few appearances of the sun, and the island of Streymoy gave us a few of our most memorable Faroes days.
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Peru, 2010. Not as mysterious as it once was. We had the feeling we had missed the boat by about ten years. But every country is interesting in its own time. I would have loved to visit China in 1967, but it was also extremely interesting in 2007, and 2017. So too I hoped that Peru – discovered, modernising, and easy to travel around – would still inspire. We were making two trips. This first one was a quick run down the coast to get to Chile and into Bolivia, trying to avoid peak season. The second, in October 2010, would take us back north through the classic sites like Macchu Picchu and, we thought, the Nazca Lines. So for now, we were the 2 in 20 travellers who have visited Peru and not seen Macchu Picchu. But there was actually more to the country than just that…
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Last light. Last day of the trip, summer 2015. Despite the rain, it’s been a good one. So why was I running full speed away from the splendid view and back to the hotel? Because of something that happened ten years ago. Or, rather, didn’t. I saw a puffin.
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