The Anecdote of a $100 Bill

I have talked about the up and down sides of bringing cash on trips. No matter how well you planned, unexpected things do happen from time to time. This leads to the following story.

As one of my $100 bills was first declined by a money changer in Arequipa, Peru, I did not expect the future trouble this genuine dollar bill would bring. But soon I was frustrated as the bill was refused again and again throughout the country. A hotel in Cuzco even posted a sign not to accept $100 bills with the serial number on my bill. Rumour had it that a large amount of counterfeit with that serial number had been circulating in Peru and perhaps the entire South America. Everyone was avoiding it like plague. Finally, after a careful examination, my tour guide Guido in Iquitos was willing to accept the money, with a much lower rate. I turned down the deal and put the money back to my wallet.

The next day, I followed Guido about 50km down stream from Iquitos, and entered the mosquito infested jungle in a centre island of the Amazon. He wasn’t in a good relationship with his wife, he said. So this excursion was a perfect opportunity to bring along his girlfriend, who was seemingly half of his age. In my observation, the young woman served like a cook and an improvised mistress.

In the jungle, we stayed in the home of Guido’s friends, a friendly man and his wife. The hut was built about 1.5 metres above the ground, with a few hammocks hanging in the wall-less living quarter. A few wooden planks made up a low wall of a ‘bedroom’.

It was a steamy afternoon. Guido suggested me to take a cool plunge into the Amazon. He had already got a swimming short for me, said he, so that I should leave my long pant in the hut. I wasn’t comfortable with such suggestion, since this meant my money and passport would be out of my sight. Nevertheless, persuasion prevailed. I went swimming with a short. After returning from the river, I immediately discovered my $100 bill had vanished from my wallet.

I found it utterly stupid for someone to commit such an act in an isolated environment like that. Since the jungle man was swimming with me, the only suspects left were Guido, his girlfriend and the jungle man’s wife (who was ill and having fever). What made it even more obvious was that only Guido knew I had a $100 bill in my wallet, and which pocket my wallet was located.

If I accused Guido, or anyone for that matter, for stealing the money, I had ultimately no proof of the existence of the bill, let alone its being stolen. No one would ever admit stealing things. At the end, I would never be able to retrieve the money.

My judgement was, in a totally isolated jungle, I did not want to destroy the relationship with Guido, on whom I relied to take me home safely. Moreover, I had witness the power of the trailblazer machete that day. When a person was being pressed to a corner, miscalculation overcame rationale, and I could easily be chopped into half in one hack in the middle of the night, along with the mosquito net and bed board. And the river and piranhas would help make my disappearance forever a mystery.

But I needed to act immediately.

“Guido, do you remember the $100 bill I wanted to change yesterday?”, I asked casually.

“Yes, what about it”?

“It was gone from my wallet. But it was there since I double checked it before going swimming”.

Perhaps Guido didn’t expect I discovered the fact that soon. He told me it was a shame for things like that happened to his client. But feeling shame wasn’t enough. I said, even thought I believed he wasn't the culprit, it was his responsibility as my guide to recover my money. I stressed that the case was very simple, since there were only three people could possibly have committed the act, it should not be too difficult to find out.

To provide Guido a step-down ladder, I made it clear that my goal was to recover the money, and not to find out whom. I said I trusted his skill of persuasion. I left plenty of time for him as if he needed the time to persuade people to give up the money.

Since only Guido and I spoke English, no one was aware of our conversation. The dinner went on as usual. People continued talking and laughing. Still, that night, I was very alert in the mosquito net.

The next morning, as I finished brushing my teeth, I quietly asked:

“Guido, any news”?

I couldn’t believe my eyes: he pulled out the $100, put it on my bed, and started explaining in length how a kid from distant village walked into the hut and took the money by accidence!

It was exactly the outcome I wanted. From the beginning to the end, Guido and I maintained a good relationship. In fact after the event he was even more courtesy to me. Like it or not, in a completely strange environment, a no-man land, Guido was my life line. With an unpleasant situation like this, a skilful negotiation is much better than confrontation. Of course at the end, when we returned to Iquitos, Guido did not get his much expected tips. He deserved zero.

By the way, the much troublesome $100 bill was verified by the bank and accepted in America.

Photo: Guido (right), his girlfriend and the jungle man (left) are making sugarcane juice in a jungle way.

Cash, Chaques or Credit Cards?

Cash, traveller’s cheques or credit cards? This seems to be a perennial question facing travellers every time they set off for adventures.

If you are not spending your entire holidays in Paris or London, or the Hilton in Addis Ababa, chances are at some point your credit cards would either be declined, or be having problem in verification. In certain situations, even if they were accepted, you may not want to disclose your credit card information to questionable merchants or firms.

Traveller cheques used to be a classic way of carrying money. It is definitely safe, if you don’t mind paying some percentage of commission to the banks. Personally, I find them very inconvenient because once I arrive in a strange country, I have to find my way to a bank or an exchange bureau. In many developing countries, this also means an unfavourable rate as oppose to changing money with unofficial or semi-official money changers. When I return to my home country, I have to sell them back to bank.

So the only option left is cash, with the only concern of safety. It’s particularly convenient if one is to travel to developing countries, as local merchants often readily accept Dollars or Euros, and money changers on the streets offer much more favourable rates. In Myanmar, for example, the official exchange rate for Kyat to Dollar was 1:6 (2004), while the street rate was about 1:900. A short rickshaw ride in the city goes around 300 Kyats.

Caution and common sense are your best bet to protect your cash. For instance, it would be unwise to pull out a pile of $100 bills from your back pocket to buy a small souvenir in a busy bazaar. Also, I always diverse my cash in several, including some unexpected, places. Money belt is another safety measure although I personally have never used it. On the other hand, I try not to be paranoiac about my money all the time. Ultimately, it is important to judge the situation in a case by case basis. In one case, I had more than $1,000 in my pocket, walked at night on an unlit alley in Sana’a, Yemen. But in another, I even felt necessary to slice open my backpack’s cushion and stuff some cash in.

Crooks often take advantage of travellers’ confusion on the large denominations of the local currencies. For a person like me impatient to count bill by bill, being short-changed is almost inevitable. I lost $40 in total to dishonest money changers in two occasions. Ironically, these happened in two of what I consider the safest countries – Myanmar and Yemen.

Finally, a bank card may be extremely useful in international travel. Even in developing countries, more and more ATMs with international connections have become available in these countries’ big cities. You may get local currency in demand with real-time exchange rates, although your bank may charge a few dollars of fee for each transaction.

How to Reach the Source of Amazon? - A Rough Guide

Adventurers love challenges by exploring sources of big rivers, for these rivers often originated from in some of the most desolated area in the world. The Yangtze, for example, starts from the heart of the Tibetan Plateau, which has all the characters of inaccessibility, thin air and harsh climate. The White Nile, on the other hand, emerges from the hostile jungle in the war-torn Burundi.

However, this should not discourage novice explorers, who are often lack of time, fund and logistics, to realise their ambition of reaching the ultimate head end of at least one big river - Amazon. The significance of such adventure is unquestionable, not only because the tiny stream in the high Andes gives birth to the mightiest river in the world, but also because its status was not scientifically confirmed until 2001.

Snow melts at the peak of the 5,596-metre Nevado Mismi in the Peruvian Andes. Streams of crystal water trickle down from a red vertical cliff facing a wide-open green valley, and eventually form the River of Rio Apurimac, the headstream of the Amazon. Visitors to the river source are currently very rare, except filming crews from prominent TV stations. There is still no walking trail leading to the spot.

The base city for the exploration is Arequipa, Peru’s second largest city. Although hordes of travel agents near the city centre, notably Calle Santa Catalina, advertise their adventure tours to Colca Canyon (the second deepest canyon in the world) and Mt Misti, you may not find any thing for Nevado Mismi unless you ask. Another good way to plan ahead is to search the internet and contact one of the few tour operators. The cost of a guiding tour depends on the length of time, and the transportation means. It can range from $200-600 per person.

If you are keen to do it, at least partly, by yourself, you may take a 4-hour bus ride to Chivay, a small town that serves as a springboard to all points of interests near the Colca Canyon. Tour operators would start from there anyway. The only problem is that Chivay has few, if none, travel agents. You basically have to find some taxi driver who is willing to take you up to the mountain to start the trek.

There are multiple ways to reach the source of Amazon. If you own or hire an extreme-4x4 like Hummer, you could drive all the way to the green valley near the cliff, and need no more than 1/2 hour of hike. Otherwise, you have to hike 3.5 to 5+ hours (for good physical fitness) one way depending on the starting point.

You can stay a night in Tuti, a village about 1 hour drive from Chivay by dirt road. You can start attacking the Mismi from there early in the morning. It is said to take 5 hours to reach the source. But this number may only apply to mountain guides themselves. Tuti has about the same altitude as that of Chivay - 3,700 metres. You have to almost go over the 5,596m-peak of the Mismi in order to reach the source at around 5,200+ metres. A simple math would tell you the altitude difference.

Normally, the tour operator would hire a car at Chivay to take you to the trail head (I shall call it starting point since there is no trail) via Tuti. The whole car trip takes about 4 hours, thanks to the poor 'road' condition after Tuti (see photos on the right. This is my best estimate based on my personal recollection, and may not reflect accurately the reality). A 4x4 jeep is recommended. If you could only find a 2-wheel-drive in Chivay, it is only doable in the dry season. In wet season, you would likely be stuck in the mountain, or end up pushing the car numerous times for the driver along the way. Physical activities at that kid of altitude isn't exactly fun. The advantage of such approach is its starting point at 4,900 metres as oppose to Tuti's 3,700m. The trek starts flat from an alpine swamp, then it mildly ascends all the way mainly via alpine desert. Weather can change quickly within minutes. Sunshine, rain, hails and snow are all possible. So rain gear is advised, as well as warm clothes, due to the harsh cold temperature even in the high summer.

At the highest point of the trek, you shouldn't be more than 100 metres lower than the 5,596-metre summit of the Mismi. From here, the trek sees a short but sleep descend. By now, the source of Amazon by the vertical cliff, as well as a wooden cross, should be within your sight. You are about 3.5 hours from the starting point.

The final 100 metres of the trek is very rocky, wet and full of ankle-deep snow (deeper in the winter). You should watch for the slippery rocks very carefully. The alpine weeds are as sharp as needles. Be cautious when you need to take a grasp, unless you wear gloves. The spot has not much space for sitting or even standing, let alone water flying from the cliff top would make you wet. You would soon be returning via the same route with shorter time.

As a final reminder, hiking above 5,000 metres are different from doing the same at lower altitude. Knowing yourself is better than over-estimating yourself.

Bolivia/Peru/Chile: A Brief Trip Report

Now that I have come back from my South American trip safe and sound, and resume my blog that I have not touched for a month.



The trip was by no means the toughest one I have ever had, but it definitely saw the largest altitude and climate changes - from the Amazonian basin virtually at sea level to the 5,600-metre Nevado Mismi, and from the steamy tropical jungle to the frigid Andean plateau. For those who are keen in photos, you may visit the preview page of this trip in my web site www.peace-on-earth.org.

Summary of Itinerary

The following is a day-by-day summary of the trip in chronological order:

[12/25] Rested in Lima. Visited area near the old city centre. Sampled food in Chinatown. Arrived in La Paz, Bolivia (3,600m) in mid-night.

[12/26] En route to Copanabana (3,800m), a small town by the shore of the Lake Titicaca.

[12/27] Trekking in Isla del Sol (Sun Island, 4,100m) on the Lake Titicaca.

[12/28] Returned to La Paz. Visited the city centre during the day. Headed to Uyuni in the late afternoon with overnight bus.

[12/29] Arrived in Uyuni (3,650m) in early morning. Recuperation, looking for tour operator.

[12/30] Started the 3-day jeep tour to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. Crossed the Salar de Uyuni by jeep. Rested in a simple hostel in a village overlooking the Mt Ollague.

[12/31] The trip continued. Celebrated the New Year's Eve in a rudimentary shelter near the Laguna Colorada (4,800m).

[01/01] Crossed the Bolivian/Chilean border around 11am. Transferred from jeep to bus. Arrived in San Pedro (2,600m) early afternoon.

[01/02] Stayed in San Pedro. Unable to find a tour to Salar de Atacama. Left San Pedro in the evening by overnight bus.

[01/03] Arrived in Arica early morning. Immediately crossed the Chilean/Peruvian border to Tacna by private car. From Tacna continued to Arequipa by bus. Arrived in Arequipa around 4pm.

[01/04] Arranged the trekking tour to Nevado Mismi (5,596m), the source of the Amazon. Also visited the Arequipa city, the Monastery of Santa Catalina.

[01/05] 4 hours of bus ride to Chivay (3,700m) in the Colca Canyon. Stayed much of the day in the hotel due to rainy weather.

[01/06] Started the exploration to Mismi at 4am. Arrived in the altitude of 4,900m around 8am. Started trekking at 8:38am. Arrived in the source of Amazon around noon time. Backtracked after 20 minutes of lunch.

[01/07] Returned to Arequipa. Recuperation. Touring Arequipa city.

[01/08] Flew to Cuzco. Visited the nearby village of Chinchero in the afternoon. Lucky to catch a ceremony.

[01/09] A day in Cuzco planning ongoing trip.

[01/10] A day-trip to Machu Picchu, from 6am-8pm.

[01/11] Flew to Iquitos via Lima. Arrived in Iquitos around 4pm. Immediately hooked up with a local guide for a 'jungle tour'.

[01/12] Headed to an Amazonian island about 50km from Iquitos by speed boat. Stayed in a jungle-man's hut. Visited the Bora tribe in the afternoon.

[01/13] Visited the Yahuas tribe.

[01/14] Returned to Iquitos in the morning. Visited the nearby shantytown of Belen. Flew back to Lima in the afternoon to catch the home-bound flight in the evening.

The exploration of the source of Amazon was definitely the highlight of the entire trip. The place was rarely visited except a few adventurers and TV stations. There was no mark, no trail. A good local guide is absolutely needed. Our path started at 4,900m, and it mildly ascended to around 5,500m before descending to a black cliff facing a green valley at around 5,250m. The water dripping from the cliff formed the first drop of the mighty Amazon. A lonely wooden cross is the only man-made sign at the spot. Although the length and slope of the trek did not appear outstanding, it can be quite physically demanding. Trekking at 5,000m level is an entirely different game.

Another highlight was the Salar de Uyuni and the Bolivian Andean plateau (the so-called Altiplano). The 8,000-sq-km salt flat is one of the most unique and spectacular landscapes in the world. In the rainy season, salt water creates a boundless mirror reflecting the blue Andean sky. Horizon has disappeared. Jeeps prowl through the 30-cm deep water, resulting silver ripples glistering under the sun.

As expected, Cuzco wasn't a hide-away gem. It has long been a established tourist city. The nearby villages like Chinchero are also frequented by tourists. Still, if one spends long time there, pays a little more attention, with a little bit of luck, he can still discovered some genuine scenes of life.

Machu Picchu is certainly overrated and does not justify the $128 price tag. It is true that the surrounding landscape is spectacular, but this ancient ruin is overrun by local and foreign tourists alike. It is hard to savour and appreciate ancient civilisation in a hustle-bustle environment. The springboard village of Agua Caliente is fully commercialised.

I like Arequipa. This second largest city of Peru not only is the launching pad to the popular Colca Canyon, it also has the loveliest Plaza de Armas full of activities. Food and services are plenty. When the sky is clear, the snow cap of the mighty Misti adds a beautiful backdrop to the city. Fans of architecture should pay a visit to the Santa Catalina Monastery, a quaint small city by its own right. The streets, courtyards and other buildings are painted exquisitely in vermillion and indigo.

Iquitos is very unique. With a population of 400,000, it's the world's largest city without road access. You have to fly in from Lima, or take a 5-day boat trip from Pucallpa, where there still a 2-day bus ride from Lima. The city is hot and humid and VERY noisy thanks to its thousands of motor rickshaws. It also has a surprisingly large number of Chinese restaurants. The shantytown of Belen not far from the city centre helps visitors experience the life and condition of people living by the Amazon. But don't expect to see 'indigenous tribes' in a two- or three-day tour in the vicinity of the city, even if the tour guide tells you so. To see real indigenous tribes, one can spend $3,000 to hire a turboprop, fly deep into the real jungle. Five days later, the plane would return to pick up the visitors with the same amount of charge. That said, those short tours still provide first-timers some experience of the peripheral of the jungle, as well as the life of the local people like the Boras and Yahuas. Any naked body is for show to tourists only.

San Pedro de Atacama in Chile is the base for exploring the nearby Salar de Atacama and other unique landscapes. Its adobe style architecture is equally unique. The streets are intentionally kept unpaved. A visitor would typically inhale 100 grams of dust per day, more if windy. Lonely Planet guide suggests the town having the highest density of tour operators/agents in the world, and I probably have to agree. Western tourists, most of them hippies, outnumber the locals. Souvenir shops, travel agents, expensive restaurants and cafes cluster at the town centre. Prices are as high as, if not higher than, that in the US. People in the service sectors aren't exactly friendly.

Food

South America isn't exactly a paradise for gourmets. I don't even remember what daily food I had in Bolivia. In Peru, the national dish of ceviche obviously stood out. To me, this dish of assorted raw fish (and sometimes shellfish), onion, spice served along with lime juice is akin to Japanese sashimi. I have not researched if such kinship is due to the early Japanese immigrants. In the Arequipa, the cost of a simple ceviche order around 6 Peruvian soles, while a deluxe one costs 15-17 soles ( 1 USD ~ 3.4 soles ).

Yet ceviche is only meant to be delicacy being served occasionally. Most Peruvian restaurant meals invariably include roasted or grilled pollo (chicken), and thus the existence of many polleries. A whole grilled chicken in Arequipa or Cuzco is sold for around 15 soles. The price seems to be nearly double in Iquitos.

Travellers to Peru can't afford to ignore the many chifas (Chinese restaurants) spreading everywhere in the country. One source even claims that Lima alone has around 6,000 chifas. Except a handful of them in Lima Chinatown offering relative authentic Chinese cuisines, others have to bend and fit the local taste, and double themselves as polleries. Nevertheless, chifas often offer the best value comparing to their peers. Near the Plaza de Armas in Arequipa, scores of chifas offer large plates of fried rice or chow mein cooked instantly in woks at the front doors, for 4 soles.

Coca Cola is widely available for 1 sole per bottle. This symbol of globalisation even has its own bottling factory in Iquitos. The indigenous equivalent of such is the yellowish Inca Cola, which tastes like candies dissolved in water.

Accommodation

Like everywhere in the world, the quality of accommodation varies widely depending on price paid. Decent accommodation can be found everywhere in these South American countries. 'Decent' means a clean room with a western style bathroom, with or without a TV, usually include good breakfast buffet with a lot of tropical fruits and juice. A double room in this level would normally price around 20-30USD, except in the highly touristy San Pedro, where a similar room is rated 32,000 pesos (64 USD), breakfast not included.

In Iquitos, the accommodation standard seems to be lower but also cheaper (around 30 soles). Many of them have no hot water (one doesn't really need that). In Iquitos' hotels, one may be surprised the the number of TV channels provided. In additional to the regular BBC and CNN, there are major European TV stations, Japan's NHK, China's CCTV, Korean TV, and even a porn channel.

Transportation

LAN Peru has a young fleet of A320s. Its service quality is comparable to any international airlines (and certainly far better than America's airlines). There are also some budget airlines like Star Peru (with beautiful livery on their tail fins), Aero Condor or TAM, with older planes, less punctuated schedules and often cancelled flights. Safety record is also a concern. For example, the recent incident has forced the shutdown of Aero Continente. So it's up to the travellers to trade these disadvantages with lower fares.

All three countries have good bus service, and generally use Volvo tour buses (although those in Bolivia are considerally older). Bus terminals are well constructed, even in relatively small towns. In Chile, bus companies like Tur Bus are excellent. Drivers wear uniforms and ties, and act professionally.

Peruvian highways are considered to be very dangerous. Bus drivers often drive recklessly. On the way from Tacna to Arequipa, one can spot roadside shrines for the accidental deaths every several hundred metres. For your own safefy, avoid night bus if possible (but some routes only offer night bus).

I was impressed by the quality and availability of toilets in Bolivia, given the country's standard of living. When travelling in Peru or Bolivia (or perhaps the entire South America), the number one rule is all toilets (including those in Peru) are for a fee. In Bolivia, public toilets are widely available in country and towns, and long-distance bus stops. They are usually clean compared with local conditions, even in the busiest bus terminals. Toilet paper is distributed when the fee is paid. The situation in Peru is similar, although in some places people pee in public.

Creating Black-and-White Digital Images

Although we have moved pass the sesquicentennial of photography, although colour photo technology has nearly reached its perfection, black-and-white photography, by its very own artistic merit, has firmly established itself to be a unique and irreplaceable art form. Today, as we enter the digital age, how can we unleash the power of this new technology, while maintaining the black-and-white art form?

For decades, photographers captured black-and-white images with the help of panchromatic films, whose name was derived from their response to the entire visible spectrum. Also, experienced photographers often applied colour filters to master the tonal rendition of their opuses. This is because panchromatic films respond to colours differently than do human eyes. With panchromatic films, colours on the red side tend to be underexposed, whereas those on the blue side tend to be overexposed. Since a colour filter blocks its complementary colour but letting through its own, a red filter, for example, may render a blue sky and red flowers to be dark sky and white flowers on a monochrome print.

Digital sensors capture only colour images. These images may be de-saturated to monochrome during post-processing. However, de-saturation is similar to using panchromatic films without filters. The results are often dull and unexciting (see the second photo). Fortunately, photo processing software enables us to adjust each of the red/green/blue channels. For instance, the net effect of enhancing red channel and reducing blue is exactly equivalent to applying a red filter to the pan-chromatic films (see the third photo). The potential of this technique is obvious. While film photographers can only carry a handful of filters, and use one filter at a time, digital photographers can finely adjust the ratio of each colour channel to obtain an optimal result. That is to say, they are carrying infinite number of filters, and using them in any combination. Furthermore, they are seeing real-time results in front of monitors. This is one great leap forward from film photography.

Photos:
Top: Original Color Photo, Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, Chile 2001
Middle: Desaturated Photo
Bottom: Black-and-White Photo by only selecting the red component from the original

À Une Voyageuse Qui Va Partir

Voici je commence ce blog avec un passage de Adieu à la Voyageuse de poète chilienne Gabriela Mistral (selon ma propre traduction de anglais):

Que la même vague vagabonde
qui te prenne, te renvoie,
Que le chemin ne pas s'entrelace
ton cou comme un serpent.

C'est pour toi, oui, la voyageuse qui partira pour la terre complètement étrange dans un jour.

Il y a un mois, je n'aurais jamais cru que je dise au revoir à toi comme ça. C'était un voyage à nous, un voyage nous avons rêvé et avons projeté ensemble pendant six mois. Mais aujourd’hui, tristement, c'est vrai. Moi, je suis laissé, je suis dévasté. Comment peux je m’asseoir fermement, pendant que je pense à ta randonnée aux Andes et à l’Amazone? C’est tant amer.

Rappelles-toi l’histoire de la boîte de peintures que tu m’as dit? Faudrait-il que nous priions Dieu ensemble? On peut l’émouvoir, et il puisse nous permettre de nous réunir à partout où que il soit.

Bon Voyage et Bisous

Photo: Seul, dans la chambre de l'hotel à Puerto Natales, Chili 2001

Toilets of the World - A Mini Ethnography (III)

[Continued from "Toilets of the World - A Mini Ethnography (II)]

How Did You Clean Yourself Today?

When a friend read about the second part of this ‘mini ethnography’, she sent me an email and told a story about the use of cobblestones in Africa as a means of ‘post-toilet cleanup’. It evoked my memory about a number of not-so-conventional cleaning methods after toileting. Wikipedia lists a series of materials as alternatives to toilet paper, ranging from leaves, hay, sand, snow to maize husks and seashells, depending upon the availability of a specific material and social customs of the region.

In places where deluxe toilet paper enriched with aloe and vitamin E is not available, either due to economic reason or by circumstance, newspapers and phonebooks are still viable solutions. In southern China where I grew up, bamboos were good substitutions of toilet paper in some poor villages, including their leaves and husks. It was not uncommon to see in local latrines shaving sticks made of bamboo stems, and long, pliable strips of bamboos skins. These strips could be as sharp as a razor, and truly required handling with care. Of course this was the situation in late 1970s. I doubt but would not be surprised if they still exist today.

Water cleaning is popular in Indian subcontinent and many Muslim countries. It usually involves a lotah, a brass or stainless-steel jug without a lid, resembling a teapot. In public toilets where a nice lotah may not be available, a plastic cup is often provided conveniently near the water tap reachable by users. Since a left hand is always used during the cleaning, it is more than just a social etiquette to use right hand for eating or greetings (like handshakes).

Water cleaning with bidets, hand-free or otherwise, is probably more convenient to say at least, or perhaps more hygienic. But bidets are only limited to those more affluent households or societies. After all, an air-dried toilet seat with electronic-controlled supersonic nozzles is not something that every family can afford, even in an industrial society.

There is no statistics, but I would estimate 2 billion people world-wide use such bathroom practice with water. In a well written article “Our Little Secrets”, published in ColorLines Magazine, Bushra Rehman tells a story about making a transition from lotah to toilet paper for South Asian immigrants. Some make the change, others refuse to cross over, leaving them no choice but using lotahs-in-disguise, hiding the fact from roommates or even lovers. Personally, I have seen a similar circumstance in real life.

I am sure by now some readers would find it disgusting for this blog article to discuss the anus-cleaning topic first, and followed by that of the lotah practice. In reality, toilet practice is on one hand a social taboo everyone is trying to avoid, and something we have to do daily on the other. One must first accept that no defecation is clean and graceful. Although the toilet paper was first introduced in 14th century in China (for the Emperor’s use), according to Wikipedia, it was not made and sold in the US until as late as 1857, replacing razors or knifes. But civilisation did not start in 1857. How disgusting then, for Cleopatra, Queen Victoria, or George Washington to clean up their mess daily?

If one argues that the use of toilet paper is inherently more ‘civilised’ than the lotah practice, he then has to realise that washing any of our body parts with water is the most reliable cleaning practice. We don’t wipe our bodies with soft tissues, we take showers. Think about how many types of materials our hands have handled during our life. Every time we wash them instead of wiping them. With toilet paper, we leave our hands relatively clean (provided that the toilet paper is thick enough) and our anus relatively dirty. With a lotah and our left hands, it is roughly the other way around. There seems to be no perfect solution, especially for stools come with wide range of fluidity and viscosity. In this sense, no one in this world is ‘civilised’, not the queen, the princess, the president or the Hollywood stars. Until the entire world is equipped with smart jet stream toilet seats, the only way to be ‘civilised’ is wash our hands thoroughly with soap (should condition allow), no matter what cleaning method we practice. g

Photo: Rippled Cottonelle toilet papers with aloe and vitamin E, available in Amazon.com for $5.99, eligible for free shipping. It is rated 4.5 stars (out of 5) based on 13 customer on-line reviews.

Where is SEX?

If one travels by air a few times per years, he would definitely notice the three bold letters on his luggage tags, something like

YYZ

This is widely known as airport code, designated by IATA, International Air Transport Association in Montreal. Frequent travellers may recognise the actual cities of these codes. Still, some codes leave everyone completely clueless about their destinations. Having travelled for a number of years, dissecting airport codes have become my hobby especially when I loiter in departure terminals for my next flights.

The most sensible and understandable code designation is using the abbreviation of the city. For example, BOS for Boston, SYD for Sydney and DUB for Dublin. Since many airports are named after celebrities or politicians, they can also be identified without problem. New York's JFK (John F Kennedy) and Paris' CDG (Charles de Gaulle) fall into this category.

Most of us are unfamiliar with the codes based on the places the airports were built, not the cities they serve. For example, LHR (London Heathrow) and EZE (Ezeiza is a suburb of Buenos Aires). Although they might be obvious to locals, they might not at all for foreigners.

It is equally difficult to decipher codes result from abbreviations of airports' full name. If not explained, few would recognise DIA and IAH are airports for Washington DC and Houston respectively (not WDC or HOU). They are abbreviations of Dulles International Airport and International Airport of Houston.

Interestingly, letter 'X' is often used to stuff to make a three-letter code, like LAX for Los Angeles, SEX for Sembach, Germany. As the number of airports in the world increases rapidly, the three-letter codes are running out sooner than expected. Some airports have no choice but picking three letters that remotely resemble, if they do at all, the city names. So Newark (New Jersey) has become EWR, and ILM Wilmington (Delaware).

It is both easy and difficult to recognise an airport code starting with a Y, because it almost always represent an aiport in Canada (with few exceptions). However, there is often no meaning at all for Canadian airport codes. For example, YYA can be Big Bay Yatch Club, YYG is Charlottetown, while YYZ is Toronto's Pearson International.



I have never kept track of the airports I visited. Today, I summarise all airports I have been so far, and list them in this table:

Codes	Full Names	Airlines
ASIA
AMM	Amman, Jordan (Queen Aria)	Royal Jordanian
ASR	Kayseri, Turkey	Turkish
BKK	Bangkok, Thailand (Don Muang)	Cathay Pacific Druk, Royal Bhutan
CAN	Guangzhou, China (Baiyun)	China Southern
CTU	Chengdu, China (Shuangliu)	China Southern Sichuan
DEL	New Delhi, India (Indira Ghandi)	Air India
DXB	Dubai, UAE	Lufthansa
GXF	Seyoun, Yemen	Yemeni
HEH	Heho, Myanmar	Air Mandalay
HKG	Hong Kong, China (Chek Lap Kok)	Cathay, Korean Air Canadian
ICN	Souel, South Korea (Incheon)	Korean Air
ISB	Islamabad, Pakistan	PIA, Aero Asia
KHI	Karachi, Pakistan	Lufthansa, PIA Areo Asia
KWE	Guiyang, China (Longdongbao)	Sichuan
MDL	Mandalay, Myanmar	Air Mandalay
RGN	Yangon, Myanmar	Myanmar Int'l Druk, Royal Bhutan
SAH	Sana'a, Yemen (el Rahaba)	Royal Jordanian Yemeni
EUROPE
AMS	Amsterdam, the Netherlands (Schipol)	Northwest
CDG	Paris, France (Roissy / Charles de Gaulle)	Citybird
DUB	Dublin, Ireland	Aer Ligus
FCO	Rome, Italy (Fiumicino/Leonardo da Vinci)	British Midland
FRA	Frankfurt, Germany (Rhein-Main)	Lufthansa
GLA	Glasgow, UK	Icelandic
IST	Istanbul, Turkey (Ataturk)	Turkish
KEF	Reykjavik, Iceland (Keflavik)	Icelandic
LHR	London, UK (Heathow)	British Airway Virgin Atlantic
WAW	Warsaw, Poland (Okecie/Fryderyka Chopina)	LOT
ZRH	Zurich, Switzerland (Zurich-Kloten)	Continental
AFRICA
ADD	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (Bole)	Ethiopian, British Midland
AXU	Axum, Ethiopia	Ethiopian
BJR	Bahar Dar, Ethiopia	Ethiopian
BKO	Bamako, Mali (Senou)	Citybird
CMN	Casablanca, Morocco (Mohammed V)	British Airways
GDQ	Gondar, Ethiopia (Azezo)	Ethiopian
LLI	Lalibela, Ethiopia	Ethiopian
NORTH AMERICA
ATL	Atlanta, Georgia, USA (Hartsfield)	Delta, US Air Continental
BOS	Boston, Mass. USA (Logan)	Continental
CVG	Cincinnati, Ohio, USA (Cincinnati/North Kentucky)	United
DEN	Denver, Colorado, USA (Stapleton)	United, Frontier
DFW	Dallas/Fort Worth, TX, USA	American
EWR	Newark, New Jersey, USA (Liberty)	Continental, United American
JFK	New York, USA (John Fitzgerald Kennedy)	Many
LAS	Las Vegas, Nevada, USA McCarran	American West
LGA	New York, USA (La Guardia)	Air Canada Frontier
LGB	Long Beach, California, USA (Daugherty)	Jet Blue
MHT	Manchester, N. Hamp., USA	United
MLB	Melbourne, Florida, USA	Continental
MIA	Miami, Florida, USA	American
MSP	Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA (Wold-Chamberlain)	Northwest
OAK	Oakland, California, USA	Jet Blue North American
ORD	Chicago, Illinois, USA (O'Hare)	United, Northwest
PDX	Portland, Oregon, USA	United
PHL	Philadephia, Penn. USA	US Air, United
SFO	San Francisco, Calif. USA	United
SJC	San Jose, Calif. USA (Norman Mineta)	United, Northwest
STL	St. Louis, Missouri, USA	Northwest
YMX	Montreal, Quebec, Canada (Mirabel)	British Airways
YOW	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (MacDonald-Cartier)	Air Canada, Canadian
YVR	Vancouver, BC, Canada	Cathay, Canadian Air Canada
YXS	Prince George, BC, Canada	Air BC
YYC	Calgary, Alberta, Canada	Air Canada
YYZ	Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Lester B Pearson)	Air Canada Korean Air, Cubana
CENTRAL AMERICA & CARIBBEAN
HAV	Havana, Cuba (Jose Marti)	Cubana
MEX	Mexico City, Mexico (Benito Juarez)	American
SOUTH AMERICA
SCL	Santiago, Chile (Arturo Merino Benitez)	Delta, LAN Chile
PUQ	Punta Arenas, Chile (Presidente del Campo)	Lan Chile
OCEANIA
IPC	Easter Island, Chile (Mataveri)	Lan Chile
HNL	Honolulu, Hawaii, USA	North American
LIH	Lihue, Hawaii, USA	North American

So, have I seen you before?

Photo:
Top: A stony statues stands alone by the runway of Mataveri Airport in Easter Island. The south Pacific Island provides a backup landing for the US space shuttle. 2001
Nikon FE Sigma 28-105mm/4 Fujichrome SA
Above: The simple Heho Airport viewed through a window of an Air Mandalay's turboprop Myanmar 2004
Canon 300D 17-40mm/4L

An Incidental Delight

Bad photos are often results of common mistakes, while good ones are always captured in thousands of different ways. Sometimes photographers might need much patience and a little luck. In this case the long interaction between the photographers and the subjects almost guarantees a long-lasting impression, so that photographers could visualise the outcome the moment the shutter is released. Other times, however, good works are created incidentally, unintentionally or even subconsciously, and not discovered post-review, like the picture below:

One day on a mountain trail, I came face to face with an ethnic Miao theatrical troupe. Attracted by their headgears and costumes, I couldn't help ask one of the girls to stop for a photo pose. But the troupe master shouted and urged her and the team to move on. He was apparently unhappy with a stranger taking pictures of his girl. Reluctantly she had to obey. In the split second before she rejoined to the procession, I subconsciously triggered the shutter, completely ignoring the focus or exposure.

Such brief encounter had never lingered in either party's mind after the troupe and I parted, and headed for our respective directions. But an enigmatic expression had lain latent in the silver-halide on the film. Two months later, the forgotten image was finally unearthed during an archive review, and stood out from mountains of slides.

Photo:
Dahe Village (大河村), Ziyun (紫云), China 2003
Nikon FE2 Nikkor AIS 105mm/2.5 Fujichrome RDP III

Toilets of the World - A Mini Ethnography ( II )

[continued from the previous post]

Toilet Variety

Toilets come with all kinds of style and construction. By in large, toilets in the world are devided into two camps: seating and squatting. It is difficult to evaluate the superiority of one type of toilet over another. Squatting toilets are omnipresent in most part of Asia, including Middle East, as well as many parts of other continents. In fact they grossly outnumbers seating toilets in the world. They are easier to construct and to clean, and for public use, they probably have a hygienic advantage over their mal-maintained seating counterparts. In low-end hotels, I frequently encountered seating toilets with no toilet board, leaving a bare rim of the bowl.

Bidet is closely associated with toilet. The use of bidets seems to be more cultural than economical related. Bidets are rarities in North America, even in star hotels. But they seem to be standard fixtures in hotels and households in European countries like France, Italy, as well as oil-rich Middle East. Bidets could be awkward and uncomfortable for first-timers, who are often confused about the proper position, let alone their misuse as urinals or toilets. Those who aren't brought up in the bidet culture may even mistake bidets for some other purpose .

For other varieties, domestic toilets in Yemen are as unique as the country’s high-rise architectural style, whose living quarters are located on top storeys. Toilets usually protrude slightly out of the main buildings, so that human wastes can free fall tens of metres to the ground through a small opening. During ordinary time, a stone or brick covers the hole to prevent odour into the house. The same design can be seen in the Altit Fort in Hunza Valley, Pakistan.

Every now and then, travellers have to user toilets in motion. As a young boy, I was once intrigued if a meteor shower of human waste would ever fall from sky. Today, it is all clear that such concern is totally unnecessary. Pressurised cabins make it virtually impossible for any simple tunnelling, let alone the -50 degree celcius external temperature. However, direct disposal is indeed very common for trains and river boats.

And that's why in China, train conductors would lock the toilets about ten minutes before entering and after leaving the station. One purpose is to avoid pollutions in populated areas, the other is to stop people from hiding from ticket inspection. However, during the new year season, when all trains are jam-packed with home-bound migrant workers, the filthy and smelling toilets could become heavenly shelters for those who would otherwise be squeezed out of the cars.

Toileting in river boats are certainly more relaxing. Even for small pinasses (a type of boat with one metre in width and ten meters in length) on the Niger River, an ad hoc loo is set up at the very tip of the boat. A rag symbolically separated the boat passengers and the toilet-goer, who could still enjoy the panorama of the river view, althouth it might require some balancing skill on an area barely enough for a footprint.



Ecology, Economics and Politics

Toilets with ecological mind can be found in different parts of the world. In rural southern China, rickety shacks are built above the fish ponds with bamboos and planks. Such style forms a perfect ecological food chain between human beings and fish, and perhaps parasites as well (because in some part of Guizhou Province, fish are not cooked but pickled with spice, sticky rice and spirit).

In agricultural economy, human waste not only benefits fish but is also widely used as fertiliser. In rural China, another toilet type is essentially two narrow slabs of granite bridged across a large pool of human waste - the fertiliser depot. This type of toilet is extremely dangerous. Fatal accidents do happen occasionally, like gymnasts falling over from balance beams. These toilets are definitely a no-no for children, who should better to use the nearby sorghum field, or a pot at home.

Peeing in pots could help rip economic profit. In some small Chinese townships, residents collect their urine with big jars outside their homes. Twice a week, peasants from nearby villages come and pay for the urine rich in ammonia. Their tongues are trained to detect any water dilution.

Toilets can involve in politics too. When I checked into the hotel at Gilgit, Northeastern Frontier of Pakistan, the owner asked if I was OK with a room with an "Indian toilet". Not knowing exactly the nomenclature, I hesitated. But after an on-site inspection, the "Indian toilet" turned out to be just a squatting toilet. Animosity between the two countries had started a game of words. In local people's minds, a seating toilet was supposed to be more superior to a squatting toilet for a foreign patron. Adding the rival country's name to anything inferior was then a substantial psychological victory. Unfortunately, the "Indian toilet" might just well be "Pakistani toilet" in the eyes of the foreign patron.

[to be continued]
Photo:
Toilet with a View: Yuanyang, China 2003

Toilets of the World - A Mini Ethnography ( I )

Since I talked about the toilet greetings yesterday, let me today extrapolate the topic to toilet culture I have observed in the world. Interested readers are encouraged to share their experiences in this important part of human culture.

For world travellers, toilet is an interesting subject no less important than restaurant. Many travellers are often flexible in choosing a restaurant, but find it uneasy and uncomfortable using local toilets.

Toilet Wardens

In some European countries, it is not so rare to see a woman inside a men's washroom. My French friend calls such profession madame peepee, I call it toilet warden. Her main duty, of course, is to keep the washroom constantly clean and tidy, distributing toilet papers, and collecting fees. She may have a small 'office' either outside or inside the washroom. I used to peek through some of these ‘offices', which even included furniture and beds.

Toilet wardens are usually babushkas or grandmas. But in the underground washroom at the tourist centre of Krakow, Poland (2005), I encountered a warden who was apparently quite young. She was in her 'in-house office', literally supervising everyone’s action. It did require some concentration just to finish the job and walk away.

Anecdotes of Toilets

Across different countries and continents, toilets in (tourist) hotels usually maintain some standard of quality. It is the public toilets that differ widely.

Public toilets in European countries usually charge a fee. In Dresden train station, Germany (1997), a stranger came to my rescued by donating one Deutsche Mark, as the warden refused to accept my one dollar. A personal record was set when I paid a ransom 500,000 for a pee in Goreme, Turkey (2002). The currency unit, of course, was Turkish Lira (by the way, Turkish washrooms use a smoking pipe and a pair of shoe symbolise genders). In the instance I mentioned in my last post (see The Most Polite Greeting in the World), I donated one Polish Zloty (~ 1/3 dollar). Perhaps I should have donated more, just for the extra courtesy.

There is no doubt that toilets in developing countries are generally basic and less clean, to say at least. However, there are always good and bad exceptions. For example, the washroom in the Frankfurt train station (1997) was the filthiest I had ever seen in western world, while the one by the Yangoon-Mandaley road (Myanmar, 2004) was at the other end of the spectrum. Even though the hut was frequented by hundreds of bus passengers every day, a small bucket of water by every user helped keep the rudimentary toilet virtually smell-less. Similarly, I was expecting the worst when I visited the toilet in Al-Hajjarin, a sizzling desert village near the geographical centre of Yemen (1999). Surprisingly, despite the hot weather and lack of water, the toilet remained clean and free from odour, far cleaner than its counterpart in the airport in the capital Sana'a. Adding extra privilege, the government-dispatched soldier equipped with AK-47 sealed off the toilet entrance for me, for militants in the Yemeni heartland kidnapped foreigners for sports.

[To be Continued...]

Photo:
Urinals at the US Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland Ca. 1991

The Most Polite Greeting in the World

The most polite greeting in the world is found in Pułtusk, Poland.

This small and unpretending Mazovian town is 70km to the north of the capital city of Warsaw. Contrary to the hustle-bustle tourist city of Krakow, this 10th-century town is relaxed and picturesque, and has a proud history of its own. Today, the house where Napoléon Bonaparte once stayed remains intact and renovated, stands next to the equally classic police station. In 1806, he led the French troop and fought the battle of Pułtusk against the Russian imperial army.



A bell tower stands tall at the middle of the cobblestone square at the town centre. It is purportedly the longest market square in Europe. But the goods and products being sold in the Saturday market are less than impressive. Like all other Polish towns, Pułtusk boasts a magnificent church Bazylika Zwiastowania NMP at one end of the market square. At the other end, it is the Dom Polonii Hotel converted from an 800-year old castle.

Outside the castle wall it is the quiet Bugo-Narew River. In a high autumn day, I was among the few visitors at the castle’s open air café enjoying the Polish snacks as well as the perfect picture of the Mazovian landscape – the water, the boats and the bicycle bridge. I made a visit to the castle’s toilet before heading back to Warsaw. It wasn’t luxurious by any means, but was nevertheless clean and tidy. I was welcome by a middle age gentleman in suit. He politely pulled open the door, and recited calmly the following greetings:

Serdecznie witamy w toaletach w Pułtusku. Prosze sie rozgościć i zostać tyle czasu ile uzna Pan za stosowne. Czas nielimitowany.

Roughly translated into English, it is:

You are very welcome to the toilet of Pułtusk. Please feel comfortable. You can stay here as long as you want.There is no time limit.

After that, he gentlely closed the door from outside.

Photos:
Top: The Bazylika Zwiastowania of Pułtusk 2005
Above: Pułtusk's Castle Hotel 2005

Interesting links:
The official web site of Pułtusk
The Dom Polonii Castle Hotel

Years & Memories: Preamble

The weblog phenomenon has existed in internet space for a number of years, but recently it has become especially popular with an exponential growth.

I have long had an ambition to write my past experiences and thoughts in a more literary way, as oppose to use date-to-date blog that was born in fastfood culture. Unfortunately daily works and mundane make it nearly impossible to devote into such serious task. In the mean time, as years progress, many memories about my journeys, my childhood and my life path are in risk of being forgotten. Thus, a decision is made to use blog as a vehicle to collect whatever random and fragmented memory that arise in my brain. They might not necessarily be well-organised, but they may serve as supporting materials for more serious writings in the future (for more my longer essays, please visit www-peace-on-earth.org).

It must be stressed that, the main purpose of this blog is for the recollections of personal memories, rather than catering external audience. That said, readers are always welcome to visit this blog and encouraged to leave comments.