Letters From the Highway is a collection of observations from around the World. A sometimes distorted, sometimes niave, often gritty view from the window of a 5 star hotel or the top of a garbage pile.
6/1/13 - MELBOURNE | On the passing of Cousin Trevor, and car maintenance.
I'm fairly confident that everyone in the Western world has a cousin called Trevor. I have a cousin called Trevor, because that's his name. We only see each other at funerals. The last 5 times I have seen him have been because someone we both knew had 'passed on'. This morning I saw him again, although this time he didn't see me.
A new year, a death in the family, heat that keeps you indoors... what better way to while away the hours but spring clean. I have four filing cabinets literally crammed with job files from over 20 years of business. Under pressure, and with extreme reluctance, I managed to empty two drawers. Tomorrow I will continue to amputate my life's work and turn endeavor into garden mulch.
On a whim, and a BMW, I visited JB HiFi yesterday. This week is the 40th anniversary of Magical Mystery Tour, and I am now the proud owner of the collection of songs that The Beatles are probably least known for... and which are probably amongst their best work. The TV movie of the same name was screened on SBS a few nights ago, exactly 40 years since it was screened to a rather unimpressed BBC audience in black and white. 40 years. Where did they go?
The beginning of a new year is always a good time to get your car serviced, and change the batteries in your fire alarms. I'm not sure why that is. It just seems to be easier to remember things that need to be done when they are aligned with a season or a significant date.
"What did you do for New Year???"
"I changed the battery in my fire alarm"
"Wow. That is so out there!!!!"
I have a friend that services our cars. He is cheap, he knows what he is doing, and he is cheap. Whilst he was messing around under the bonnet, I tried to figure out how to reset the computer so that I don't get a reminder every time I start the car that it is overdue for a service. The owners' manual is 700 pages thick and is written for Asian drivers. (Every instruction lists a bold warning of what NOT to do). The manual eventually revealed to me the device I needed to operate... described as the "Multi Function Digital Reporting Access Controller" No wonder I was confused... If they had called it "the button on the dashboard" it might have saved me an hour of reading and cross referencing.
And so we embark on another year of indulgence. Gluttony for stuff... excessive energy consumption... personal space measured in hectares... and no remorse for the disaster we leave for the next generation. New Year's Eve... a fireworks extravaganza that costs as much as the collective annual Social Security liability of the 500,000 watching below. Money well spent I say! and I'll be back there again in 365 days admiring the parade of 'cellulite on Southbank'. Now there's an idea for a restaurant...
Grumpy New Year.
9/4/13 - MELBOURNE | Throwing darts
Take a look at a map of the world. Pin it to a wall... and throw darts... one of them is likely to hit land, even though 75% of the Earth's surface is wet and salty.
The chances are that your dart will land on a place that you have never been to. Being such a place suggests that you never wanted to go there in the first place... otherwise you would have already.
In fact, you, or I for that matter, whilst well traveled, have probably been to not more than 5% of 'The World' by means other than National Geographic.
Have not been to Beijing for a few years now, but for a while I was flying there on a regular basis. Beijing remains one of my favourite destinations. In summer the heat is oppressive, in winter it is cold is confronting, and in the spring and autumn it is just perfect.
One Christmas, maybe 2005, the maximum daily temperature for 5 days was a chilly -27*. A hot July summers day might be 45* with a dry Gobi Desert sandstorm blowing across the wide city streets. Everything gets covered in sand, hotel aircon can't handle the conditions.
Despite being one of the most harsh urban environments, it has a quality, character, personality unmatched in my travels. It also has Peking Duck.
Flying across China reveals a contrast of class. From 30,000 feet the landscape is spotted with tiny farming communities. Villages of villagers whose primary concern is tomorrows meals. I wonder what they think about the jet streams across their sky. Not much I guess. They will probably never travel in one, and in fact... will never leave the village in which they were born.
Wouldn't the world be a safer, less resource hungry planet... if we still all lived like that?
1/7/2013 - MELBOURNE | In contemplation of travel. The rehabilitation continues
Hi everyone,
Many of you will know that Jo Han and I will be embarking on a long road trip to Abu Dhabi, traveling for up to 2 months and passing through around 14 countries. We will be leaving Melbourne on Thursday July 11, and expect to arrive in Abu Dhabi late August, spending 2 or 3 days with Su Yin, Jo Han's sister.
At the time of writing this email, Jo Han does not know when we are leaving, or where we are going. He will discover the adventure that is about to unfold a day or so before we leave.
This 'adventure' is a very important part of his rehabilitation following his accident in November 2011. It will be an event that he remembers for the rest of his life, and will take him to places that he would probably never have dreamed of seeing.
As we travel to Abu Dhabi we will be keeping a blog of the places we have seen, our varying modes of transport, the people we meet, and the challenges we have encountered.
We would love you to follow our progress, and to read your comments, ideas, suggestions, and observations along the way. Writing a blog is important, but much more worthwhile when you see that family and friends are actually following it.
The address for the blog is THE LONG WAY HOME
'The Long Way Home' will be our main (and sometimes only) communication with the outside world.
Please extend the invitation to participate in Jo Han's blog to any family or friends that might be interested.
16/7/2013 - TO HOME, FROM JAVA, INDONESIA | Bromo, Borobudur and the road north west
Morning Chong,
A hectic few days. We arrived in Probolinggo at around 4pm Monday on the train from Kalibaru. We were supposed to be here at 11am but we missed the stop and had to catch the train back. Don't ask... I don't know how it happened either. Anyway, the guard was kind enough to put us on the train back free.
The good news is that the camera charger has appeared so we don't need to worry about shipping it over. It was buried in his bag and appeared last night.
We are in Probolinggo tonight and are going on a sunrise tour of Mt Bromo shortly. Johan is still asleep upstairs and I will head up to wake him for our 2am breakfast in a few minutes.
He enjoyed our train ride from Kalibaru to here today. Watching the world go past, and observing the Javanese countryside.
We have no internet here so by the time I send this we will be back from the volcano and probably in Yogjakarta, halfway across Java.
To be continued......
OK. Bring you up to date...
Picked up from our hotel at 2.30am for the drive out to Mt Bromo. Stood in the freezing cold from 4.30 to 6.00 watching the most spectacular scene unfold before our eyes. 3 volcanoes inside one huge volcano. Johan was very impressed and took heaps of photos.
Then we got back in the 4 wheel drive and went down into the caldera to the base of Mt Bromo and climbed to the top. The views are amazing. The last 5% of the climb is a set of 250 steps. Johan couldn't do it, and the fact that he got as far as he did made me very happy. The steps were very steep and tough work.
Got back to the hotel at 10am, and went straight to the train station for the 400 klm trip to Yogjakarta where we are now. Arrived here at 8 ish and found a great little hotel. This is a lovely town, and the tourist precinct has a real bohemian atmosphere about it.
Johan seems quite enthusiastic and is enjoying the trip so far. We are getting along very well, and he is well aware that I am pushing him. He is asleep now... 10.30, and has been asleep early every night.
Tomorrow we might do a day trip to Borobudur, will wait and see. We are both quite tired with no sleep since 2am this morning. Johan is not sleeping on train, but rather watching the beautiful Javanese countryside role by.
I really want this to be a great event in his life, and I know we have only been on the road for a week... but all the indications are that he is really getting a lot out of this so far.
Bulldog
29/7/2013 - BANGKOK | Sunrise in the city that never sleeps
Hello avid listeners,
We arrived in Bangkok this morning after a 16 hour bus trip from southern Thailand. Both tired and grungy, hungry, and keen to settle in to our hotel for a rest. Fortunately we had booked our hotel here in advance and they let us get in to our room at 7am.
Our trip so far is on the blog, with lots of new photos. Please feel free to leave any comments, in fact it is free, so get in quick before we start a pay to view system!
Regards,
Jo Han & Mark
phone / sms : +61 [0] 4196 622 881
skype: mark.baldock.project
The Long Road Home - Melbourne to Abu Dhabi by any means
blog: www.project.com.sg/blog/
31/7/2013 - PARIS | ... problem with the GPS
Morning all
There is a problem with our GPS. Our maps had a printing error. The compass is broken, and we took the wrong turn at Albuquerque.
Read more on the exciting, riveting, unpredictable, moderately cynical 'Long Road Home' blog... the travel diary of two lost souls living in a fish bowl... year after year.
2/8/13 - PARIS | who doesn't love Paris?
What a fabulous day. We walked, and walked, and walked. Did the cruise on the river from Notre Dame, had lunch at a riverside café. Walked around the river area. Then took Metro back to hotel in Montemarte, and walked again for about 10 kms to Sacre Cour, back down the hill to Montmartre for a beautiful dinner, and walked again for another 5 kms back to hotel.
Johan loved the view from Sacre Cour. "This is fantastic... this is as good as the Eiffel Tower".
Both buggered. Tomorrow train to Riems in Champagne district, probably only one night there.
He is watching CNN news!!!!!!!!! And then talking about it during the day. He even watched the trial for Aerial Castro.
He loves Paris, but then, who doesn't?
5/8/2013 - BERN | Charley couldn't make it it!
I know you have all missed our reminders for the last week. We have been a bit busy.
Sadly, I have to report that our close personal friend Charley Boorman could not make it to our scheduled rendezvous in the Suisse Alps. Nevermind, maybe he can catch up with us after we finalise the deal for the TV series.
There have been a few updates dear followers. Whilst we have been engaged in high end adventure, we also have all the time in the world for our dedicated band of fans and blog addicts.
Be amazed at the unbelievable adventure, and fabulously scipted Blog of The Long Road Home...
17/8/2013 - TO PETER | re: Borobudur
Hi Peter,
I have not seen the Angkor complex and hopefully one day I will. I will look closely. I will crawl all over it. I will look it up, look it down, look it left and right. I may even read up about it before I go, and after I have been. And if I come to the same conclusion as I did about Borobudur... then that will be the conclusion I will express. Surprised you may well be, but I know you are the last person on Earth that would deny me the right to express MY opinion... however controversial it might be!
Borobudur was a great engineering achievement, held great significance, was archaeologically significant, culturally significant and a signature of the period in which it existed. I remain of the view that what we see now is a reconstruction, a replica, a copy.
If UNESCO reconstructed the Pyriamids, would they hold the same place in our hearts? Would they be as important as what we see now?
Sorry to say this but Borobudur is newer than Disneyland.
Open a bottle of red and let it breathe well. We will be home in a few days. I sense that we have a discussion to be had.
Ciao. Arivaderci.
13/11/2013 - TO STEPHANIE | Hard Drives and the Hume Highway
Such a contemplative email
Canberra via Gippsland and Cooma is much more interesting than Albury, Yass and the Hume Hwy. However, yesterday's conditions were lousy via any route to everywhere. Today is even worse.
Why doesn't the 'family memorabilia' include a backup of your hard drive?
Yes, it is a new world order, but that doesn't mean you have to comply. We still keep photo albums, and yes, the photos are all labelled and dated, many bearing trite comments about the trivial place or pursuit that is depicted. A tradition that MUST be kept alive because you are correct... Cyberspace is like God. It only exists if you want it to.
I still place great value on the few remaining pics that I have dating back through the last four generations, but what I don't have are the everyday pics... Because they never existed in the first place. 120 years ago people didn't walk around with a Brownie around their neck. These days we are obsessed with taking pictures that will probably be lost as soon as we buy a new phone anyway. This is an interesting phenomena, we need to discss.
Memory joggers. Is that your expression? Love it. Can I use it please?
My Grand Father made it well known that he did Not like Elvis (Presley). My father was equally disturbed by the Rolling Stones. And Me? I have never been able to come to terms with what ABBA did to our culture and musical heritage.
15/11/2013 - TO STEPHANIE | on the missing of knowledge
Question: what is the national gemstone of Australia?
The choices are Ruby, Opal and Pearl.
Lots of thinking out loud, without eliminating pearl which isn't a gemstone.
Answer: "Hmmm. I've heard of a Ruby Island. I don't know about the others. I'll go with Ruby. My answer is Ruby.
Dermot: "No. That's not the correct answer (you massive twat). Do any of the Eggheads know?
Barry: it's Opal. They mine it at COOPER PEEBY.
COOPER PEEBY ???????
OK. So I hear you say... "Well at least he sort of knew. He was close. Most people would not know that"
What is the national flower of England? Tulip? Wattle? Poppy? Volkswagen? Rose?
Well I don't thinks its a Poppy, and the only other one I've heard of is a Volkswagen. So I'll say Volkswagen Dermot. Volkswagen is my answer.
The repercussions of this degradation in common and or garden variety knowledge will be far reaching. They represent the deeper issue of social decline, the very downfall of society as we know it.
27/12/2013 - TO KERRY | lie down on this couch...
Wow. I think I need a week or two to figure out what all that means. You know that you are welcome here whenever you want, so just come on down.
In Central Laos, up in the highlands, they don't have television. Nor do they have mortgages, personal loans, mobile phones, or cars. They don't hanker for international travel, and they have no interest in international exchange rates. No-one has a passport. They aren't burdened with power bills, phone bills, gas bills or council rates. The family next door doesn't have a BMW parked in the driveway, in fact they don't even have a driveway. They don't sit around in cafés on Saturday morning comparing internet plans because they don't even know what 'internet' is. Boys wash in the river in the morning, girls in the evening. Money? Not a cent. Each family cultivates enough to swap with everybody else to provide for the community. And so it goes.
As the life cycle draws to an end they are surrounded by family. They depart with nothing more than what they started out with. And so do we.
It's not about running away. It is about assessing, understanding and comparing values. As your friend in Ecuador has found out, there is nowhere to escape too. Your baggage is your baggage, no matter where you are. I'm using the Laotion highlands merely as an example. I don't necessarily want to go and live there, nor necessarily adopt their lifestyle.
There are lessons to be learnt from observing lifestyles and cultures 'less cluttered'.
Was Douglas Mawson trying to 'run away'? Stanley Livingstone? Abel Tasman or Matthew Flinders? Did Hillary climb Everest to 'escape'? Not at all. Escaping and exploring are opposites.
So. What is it that you want to do, and what is stopping you from doing it?
Lie down on this couch and tell me all about it.