Earthlings Through The Eyes Of A Wandering Biker

1246

Comments

  • DoctorItDoctorIt Administrators Posts: 11,951 moderator
    edited February 11, 2009
    If you guys like this thread, you'll love the upcoming book.
    This is worse than waiting for xmas morning as a 7 year old!! lol3.gif
    Erik
    moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]


  • strikingvikingstrikingviking Registered Users Posts: 99 Big grins
    edited February 11, 2009
    Putting you all to work...
    Thanks amigo and we are now closing in on the home stretch. Since previous titles of ONE MORE DAY EVERYWHERE and EARTH RIDE have officially rejected by the publisher's marketing department we went back to square one with the following being suggested. They still want to rephrase the subtitle--so what say the brilliant here?
    THE ROAD TO AFRICA BY WAY OF SIBERIA
    Discovering that although Governments May Not Get Along, People Do

    FIFTY TWO THOUSAND MILES TO AFRICA VIA SIBERIA
    Discovering that although Governments May Not Get Along, People Do

    We have a few more weeks to finish the editing process but for promotional purposes, we must select title and cover this week. Please rack those brains and fire away...
  • dlplumerdlplumer Registered Users Posts: 8,081 Major grins
    edited February 11, 2009
    Thanks amigo and we are now closing in on the home stretch. Since previous titles of ONE MORE DAY EVERYWHERE and EARTH RIDE have officially rejected by the publisher's marketing department we went back to square one with the following being suggested. They still want to rephrase the subtitle--so what say the brilliant here?
    THE ROAD TO AFRICA BY WAY OF SIBERIA
    Discovering that although Governments May Not Get Along, People Do

    FIFTY TWO THOUSAND MILES TO AFRICA VIA SIBERIA
    Discovering that although Governments May Not Get Along, People Do

    We have a few more weeks to finish the editing process but for promotional purposes, we must select title and cover this week. Please rack those brains and fire away...

    One gets my vote, although they are both too long in my view. They certainly are descriptive of what your work demonstrates. I will look forward to your book. wings.gifclap.gif
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,904 moderator
    edited February 11, 2009
    SV wrote:
    THE ROAD TO AFRICA BY WAY OF SIBERIA
    Discovering that although Governments May Not Get Along, People Do

    How's about "The Ride to Africa: Discovering People Along the Way" or
    "Riding to Africa: Discovering People".
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • Awais YaqubAwais Yaqub Registered Users Posts: 10,572 Major grins
    edited February 11, 2009
    Amazing job ! clap.gif
    Thine is the beauty of light; mine is the song of fire. Thy beauty exalts the heart; my song inspires the soul. Allama Iqbal

    My Gallery
  • strikingvikingstrikingviking Registered Users Posts: 99 Big grins
    edited February 11, 2009
    Thanks ya'll. Please continue the brain-storming. And I agree we need to trim the length of the titles. OK...please fire away!
  • dlplumerdlplumer Registered Users Posts: 8,081 Major grins
    edited February 11, 2009
    Thanks ya'll. Please continue the brain-storming. And I agree we need to trim the length of the titles. OK...please fire away!

    The Nature Of Human Being
    NOT Governments

    Discovering The People Of Earth

    Discovering Humanity With A Bike And A Smile

    Creating Love With A Bike And A Smile
  • DoctorItDoctorIt Administrators Posts: 11,951 moderator
    edited February 11, 2009
    I like the "fifty two thousand miles...", it bears a nice family resemblance with the number reference to "two wheels through terror", but agree it could be shorter overall. Hmmmm....
    Erik
    moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]


  • koushkoush Registered Users Posts: 66 Big grins
    edited February 12, 2009
    Compelling reading/viewing
    Glenn, may I compliment you on such a wonderful piece of writing, and the committment to bring it to life for all of us to share.thumb.gif You confirm what I have always held to be true, you gotta get out from where you are and experience the world and the extraordinary residents to be found there. If you use CNN or politicians to shape your view of the world, you are poorer as the result.

    I look forward to your book wih gustowings.gif

    new title perhaps??....
    Humanity Experienced
    People , Our Greatest Treasure

    thanks so much for the vicarious experience.

    Tim
    don't get your knickers ina twist, it doesn't feel good and makes you walk funny
  • strikingvikingstrikingviking Registered Users Posts: 99 Big grins
    edited March 18, 2009
  • dlplumerdlplumer Registered Users Posts: 8,081 Major grins
    edited March 18, 2009
    1. I love the subtitle

    2. Not crazy about the main title (it's OK)

    3. Your name, in my opinion, ought to be less prominent

    4. The image of you on the bike is too small

    I'm a big fan of yours clap.gif
  • PrezwoodzPrezwoodz Registered Users Posts: 1,147 Major grins
    edited March 18, 2009
    Howdy!

    I just went through this same process! So I am going to give my own personal view.

    1. I think your name is alright although it does seem to stick out a lot. At first I thought maybe it was the title of the book until I scrolled down. Have you tried it on the bottom? My main complaint was that my name was to small! So I had to make it bigger.


    2. I like the picture on the top although not so much the picture on the bottom right. I feel like I would enjoy it more if the photo was of someone looking at the person. Making them feel more in touch with your book, getting eye contact right on the front page.

    3. Also the title is okay for me to. Not great but okay. Although I couldn't think of anything else and it feels like something I would write for a title to.


    I like it, very colorful and I look forward to reading it!

    Kelsey
  • asteeloasteelo Registered Users Posts: 5 Beginner grinner
    edited August 22, 2009
    As an avid motorcyclist I picked up a copy of Two Wheels Through Terror a couple years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Fast forward 2 years and my buddy turned me on to this forum and today I decided to browse through the journeys section and i find this thread. The photos seemed strangely familiar, and then it hit me. I pulled my copy of the book and lo and behold, its Glen Heggstad! Now i can keep up with even more of his adventures.
  • strikingvikingstrikingviking Registered Users Posts: 99 Big grins
    edited September 24, 2009
    Hola mis amigos! Sorry that I have been away so long but I've been sidetracked with other projects--and also because of contractual obligations, unable to post further text. But I can load a few images taken during the remainder of that journey. And the good news is that the book has been printed and at this moment, is being distributed to stores and online companies like amazon and so forth.

    Here are a few more shots of riding around Borneo. There were many twelve hour days of spinning through so much mud that by nightfall my odometer had barely spun fifty miles.

    196943867_drUua-L.jpg

    196943837_xwDbN-L.jpg

    196943926_x9zVs-L.jpg

    196943959_5o9nz-L.jpg

    196943974_znmZF-L.jpg

    196944001_HR3Yh-L.jpg

    196944118_RDgcm-L.jpg

    196944161_RpTWN-L.jpg

    470279604_Ezb3n-L.jpg

    167227538_wDoFX-L.jpg

    167226838_BYA6w-L.jpg

    470281627_nCMmx-L.jpg

    470281460_mwJVs-L.jpg

    470281710_9yok3-L.jpg

    470281337_eJrdV-L.jpg

    470281109_tLwUz-L.jpg

    470281382_jagiR-L.jpg

    470281492_niFpw-L.jpg

    470281228_D3sjK-L.jpg

    470281204_deHMK-L.jpg

    470281176_5r95V-L.jpg

    470274693_GYeeq-L.jpg

    470276160_bh3MD-L.jpg
  • strikingvikingstrikingviking Registered Users Posts: 99 Big grins
    edited September 24, 2009
    asteelo wrote:
    As an avid motorcyclist I picked up a copy of Two Wheels Through Terror a couple years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Fast forward 2 years and my buddy turned me on to this forum and today I decided to browse through the journeys section and i find this thread. The photos seemed strangely familiar, and then it hit me. I pulled my copy of the book and lo and behold, its Glen Heggstad! Now i can keep up with even more of his adventures.

    Thanks amigo. Book two will further fill in the blanks.
  • plumchutneyplumchutney Registered Users Posts: 21 Big grins
    edited September 29, 2009
    ouch that looks like a LOT of mud - not too much fun! 50 miles would be an acheivement I reckon... :-)

    great post tho - keep up the good work :D

    Pete
    Pete
    ==================
    www.plumchutney.net
    ==================
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,904 moderator
    edited September 29, 2009
    Thanks amigo. Book two will further fill in the blanks.

    ear.gif

    Waiting for the release.
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • china ankachina anka Registered Users Posts: 28
    edited October 4, 2009
    一次伟大的旅程,致敬!clap.gif

    A great trip, salute!
  • strikingvikingstrikingviking Registered Users Posts: 99 Big grins
    edited October 6, 2009
    Hey amigos--word is that books arrived at distributors today and will be in the mail next week. Buy one today!

    671751469_bx75J-X2-1.jpg
  • dlplumerdlplumer Registered Users Posts: 8,081 Major grins
    edited October 6, 2009
  • strikingvikingstrikingviking Registered Users Posts: 99 Big grins
    edited October 6, 2009
    Sumatra

    167242279_FT5ei-L.jpg

    167224785_RUGD2-L.jpg

    167239774_sBeDM-L.jpg

    167239462_G3gHv-L.jpg

    167239907_MSHBa-L.jpg


    Entering the Aceh province during the military withdrawal

    167224409_Nrp3L-L.jpg

    Post tsunami Banda Aceh

    470346216_BrcQA-L.jpg

    470347337_SkTgz-L.jpg

    200,000 swept out to sea, 200,000 left homeless after the Tsunami crashed through Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia

    470280308_3YhAV-L.jpg

    470280022_TfrWz-L.jpg


    <link rel="File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/glenheggstad/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Template>Normal</o:Template> <o:Revision>0</o:Revision> <o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:Pages>1</o:Pages> <o:Words>635</o:Words> <o:Characters>3622</o:Characters> <o:Lines>30</o:Lines> <o:Paragraphs>7</o:Paragraphs> <o:CharactersWithSpaces>4448</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:Version>11.773</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:DoNotShowRevisions/> <w:DoNotPrintRevisions/> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:UseMarginsForDrawingGridOrigin/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> <style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} p.CM68, li.CM68, div.CM68 {mso-style-name:CM68; mso-style-next:Normal; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:27.75pt; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:none; mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;} p.CM2, li.CM2, div.CM2 {mso-style-name:CM2; mso-style-next:Normal; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:27.9pt; mso-pagination:none; mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;} p.CM3, li.CM3, div.CM3 {mso-style-name:CM3; mso-style-next:Normal; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:27.8pt; mso-pagination:none; mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;} p.CM23, li.CM23, div.CM23 {mso-style-name:CM23; mso-style-next:Normal; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; line-height:27.65pt; mso-pagination:none; mso-layout-grid-align:none; text-autospace:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Times;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <!--StartFragment--> Tsunamis <o:p></o:p>
    September 27, 2005 <o:p></o:p>
    Banda Aceh, Sumatra <o:p></o:p>

    Shortly after he turned sixty-three, my father died of a long anticipated, second heart attack. Even though I had left home as a teenager and we weren’t close, the anguishing aftermath of disbelief and denial lasted years. But since the age of sixteen, learning to cope with fending for myself without family ties fortified an independent spirit. While devastated at his funeral, I recall wondering, what is death of a loved one like for those with deeper roots? How painful is the passing of a child or spouse? <o:p></o:p>

    In developing nations, extended families are so tight-nit they often live together in one house. Elders are respected and depend on those they raised to care for them in their twilight years--the reason for overproducing offspring in countries without government safety nets. Children are Social Security; the ones that live long enough to work will feed them when no longer able to so themselves. Maybe that’s why natives smile and laugh while complaining less than Western counterparts— they might like a new color TV but know they will survive without one as long as they have each other. There is also far more open love and warmth between relatives--with that open love comes positive attitudes regarding their fate. <o:p></o:p>

    Throughout Asia, it’s unusual to find villagers not smiling. Is it the simple life minus anxiety over stock market prices or which conniving politician has stirred more animosity toward the other? There are no worries about evaluating portfolios and counting money--there isn’t any. As long as the basics of human survival exist, natives enjoy each other. Yes, they would prefer accessible health care, everyone wants to live better and longer but the hand they are dealt doesn’t include social remedies available in the West. Yet somehow, those of lesser means navigate life’s complications with little help from corrupt governments conspiring with greedy corporations. <o:p></o:p>

    But how do the vulnerable in a developing nation contend with one of the worst natural disasters in human history? In a ruthless rush of nature’s fury, on a sunny 2004 December afternoon, enormous ocean waves previously unknown to humankind penetrated three miles inland to pummel and consume all in the unsuspecting path. In a single wicked hydraulic pulse, two hundred thousand innocent mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters were instantly crushed or swept out to sea. <o:p></o:p>

    Riding over rutted trails among the remaining concrete foundations of a city that used to exist is an eerie drift among forsaken tombstones as a silencing hell flickers with smoldering images of eternal agony. Twisted steel rebar poking from jagged brick ruins reach out as skeletal fingers toward the sky, beckoning for remembrance. A gasping scene of heartbreak brings the despair into focus watching ragged young orphan boys with filthy faces, sniffing bags of glue. Gazing into the lingering carnage is a similar experience to visiting the S-21 Torture Museum in Cambodia with the same sense of breathless horror. <o:p></o:p>

    Yet, again, the human spirit prevails. Among sun-bleached, frayed canvas tents flapping in the salty tropical breeze, splintering plywood shelters and makeshift noodle stands are being hammered into shape. Survivors too busy for pity are hauling wood, digging trenches or loading trucks with sacks of cement and homemade tools. And still, workers laboring in the sticky heat stop to smile and wave, pitching familiar questions. “Mistah wahs you name?” While reeling from the stomach-churning shock, what does one say to the humble brave who just lost what little they had and everyone they love? “Salamat siang, apa kabar?” Good afternoon, how are you? To relieve my discomfort, an elderly, crooked-tooth rickshaw driver paused roadside asks, “You have come to see Tsunami?” <o:p></o:p>

    Knowing much can be spoken with just the eyes, I touch mine, then his, “No, I have come to see you.” In a moment’s locked gaze I try to convey that the world has not forgotten the tragedy he recalls every second. Traumatic events that jolt into the mind eventually spew out—I can’t help but wonder what could these tormented ones dream of at night. Happy faces and steady smiles can’t disguise what they relive when clenching their eyes. But with two hundred thousand still homeless and hungry, maybe a world preoccupied with newer disasters, is forgetting. <o:p></o:p>
    <!--EndFragment-->
  • Village IdiotVillage Idiot Registered Users Posts: 215 Major grins
    edited October 7, 2009
    I just read through this whole thread while sitting at work. Amazing job.
    On a scale of 1 to 10, my awesomeness goes all the way to 11.
  • strikingvikingstrikingviking Registered Users Posts: 99 Big grins
    edited October 16, 2009
    I just read through this whole thread while sitting at work. Amazing job.

    Thanks. On this thread, as a teaser, I have included approximately 5% of the text from my book, but more and different photos. So if you like what you see here...
  • strikingvikingstrikingviking Registered Users Posts: 99 Big grins
    edited October 16, 2009
    Onto the West Coast Wasteland
    September 28, 2005
    Lamno, Aceh Province, Sumatra

    470280227_oWJe3-L.jpg

    Accumulating travel information for roads and places that no longer exist is difficult in Banda Aceh. Since their limited world has ended, surviving inhabitants were unsure of what was left down the next stretch of beach. Trying to convey how I wanted to ride back along the devastated west coast of Aceh province was as difficult as explaining why. Since their answer to everything was “Soo naam mee,” it was best to proceed and update along the way. By all accounts, the single lane highway on Sumatra’s northwest coast was consumed by the Tsunami and the few remaining isolated villages were being supplied by airdrop.

    470280265_xcJPv-L.jpg

    Learning the road to Lamno had been cleared was encouraging. Lamno, as the site of the first major bridge collapse, is the last stop heading south along the Indian Ocean with relatively fresh food and supplies. A beat down flophouse hostel became a welcome refuge at the end of the day while gauging the terrain. An optimistic native’s suggestion that riding the waterline at low tide could connect to more intact roads on higher ground further down was the spark I needed to gamble.

    470355808_MTdjR-L.jpg

    There wasn’t much to go wrong except a time-consuming retreat to Banda Aceh if encountering solid jungle or open sea. UN relief workers insisted “It takes five hours on the good road just to reach Lamno, that’s only the first sixty miles. Then comes the hard part, finding a way around washed out bridges to reach the next organized city one hundred fifty miles south to Meulaboh.” But their five-hour ride was in convoy under military escort, mine, including photo stops was actually three and most of this was passable asphalt that ran from the seaside, twisting back through delicious, isolated coastal mountains. Without using his weapon, a BAM fighter along the way hand-signaled me aside offering tea and rice cakes. So much for rumors of Muslim guerrillas murdering civilians.

    470367888_pZTU3-L.jpg


    470357793_87yp5-L.jpg

    Investigating a variety of exaggerated tales alleviates apprehension. Two German backpackers killed for violating the curfew were actually accidentally shot by the military and much further south. Tourism has been non-existent since the fighting began and the hikers had been camping in a combat zone when a jungle army patrol stumbled upon them sleeping in their tent. Failing to communicate understandable commands to exit with their hands up, and unable to see who was inside, they were presumed rebels and wary soldiers promptly opened fire. The wounded woman survived but her husband did not. Still, hearsay panics the listeners.
    There is plenty of fuel in Sumatra but unfounded claims of supplies diminishing, caused city-block-long lines at gas stations. But as a Westerner, accommodating attendants assumed I was an NGO worker and waved me to the front.

    470361099_Py6NA-L.jpg

    Wild tales of two young un-chaperoned couples whipped and caned by religious authorities were also unfounded. They were actually caught illegally drinking beer together and as a lesson to others disregarding Islamic Law, were unceremoniously paraded around the town square in the back of a pickup truck. Even though regulations regarding male-female contact are strict, Muslim women in groups are always anxious to talk, displaying sweet, open personalities that defy their conservative dress.
    While on an after-dinner ride on the outskirts of Lamno, four young native women waved me over to warn of the 6:00PM curfew outside of villages.

    After pantomiming gestures of firing invisible pistols and rifles, they were convincing enough that staying to chat with them was a better idea. As our conversation progressed to wanting to be photographed, one in particular displayed a noticeable liking for foreigners by standing closer than normal with a longing smile. In surprising contrast to local custom, in front of the others, she invited me to sleep at her house. For wandering motorcyclists, come-ons from local girls are common, but in the past, were always in private, away from prying eyes of gossiping town folk. Yet most of those opportunities were accompanied by optimistic agendas followed by sullen faces when learning I was back on the road at dawn. It has been proven wise to avoid them.

    470367539_MRQnU-L.jpg

    Still, specific intent gets lost in translations, especially when using sign language with limited vocabulary. But this bright-eyed, olive-skinned beauty skipping and laughing in the deep silvery moonlight was persuasive. Placing clasped palms together next to her tilting head, then touching two index fingers in parallel while next pointing to her and then me, was a significant gesture too obvious to ignore.

    There may have been another meaning but recalling earlier when examining her recorded images on the camera playback screen, she had pressed a set of very firm breasts on my arm—combined with not wearing a headscarf, her gestures sure looked like a green light from here. But what may have been okay with her was likely to be reported by nosy neighbors resulting in a public caning or castration or both. In a region that just fought a bloody war to return to biblical values, no matter the lure, the very least of consequence was a machete-induced marriage in the morning.

    Back in the mosquito infested hotel room beneath the monotonous hum of the lopsided rotating ceiling fan, the bulk of the night was consumed pondering undergarment colors and the garden scent of a young woman’s hair. In the morning, I resisted a hormone-influenced urge to return for reconsideration—but a lesson well learned is that if turning down a woman once, you will never be given a second chance. (No matter how hard you beg)

    After a cool water-bucket shower and four greasy eggs, I repacked my gear and proceeded to the knoll where the first major bridge had been yanked out to sea. Proving once again mastery over man, aqua tinted ocean waves continued to brush against remaining fragmented pillars. Standing alone on the brim of a forbidding wasteland extending to the horizon, gazing across the gaping expanse was a sobering warning of what lay ahead.

    136375566_zfqyQ-XL.jpg
  • dadwtwinsdadwtwins Registered Users Posts: 804 Major grins
    edited October 17, 2009
    When will this thread by pinned because this is what a journey thread should look like.bowdown.gif
    My Homepage :thumb-->http://dthorp.smugmug.com
    My Photo Blog -->http://dthorpphoto.blogspot.com/
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,904 moderator
    edited October 17, 2009
    dadwtwins wrote:
    When will this thread by pinned because this is what a journey thread should look like.bowdown.gif

    Been in the collected journey thread for a while.
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • dadwtwinsdadwtwins Registered Users Posts: 804 Major grins
    edited October 17, 2009
    ian408 wrote:
    Been in the collected journey thread for a while.

    Sorry Ianrolleyes1.gif, I meant pinned all by itself:D
    My Homepage :thumb-->http://dthorp.smugmug.com
    My Photo Blog -->http://dthorpphoto.blogspot.com/
  • ian408ian408 Administrators Posts: 21,904 moderator
    edited October 18, 2009
    dadwtwins wrote:
    Sorry Ianrolleyes1.gif, I meant pinned all by itself:D
    Too many stickies. That's why there's a collected thread.
    Moderator Journeys/Sports/Big Picture :: Need some help with dgrin?
  • strikingvikingstrikingviking Registered Users Posts: 99 Big grins
    edited October 25, 2009
    Indonesia
    Coastal Drift
    <o:p></o:p> September 30, 2005 <o:p></o:p>
    Meulaboh, Aceh Province, Sumatra

    136376412_hvGbn-L.jpg

    In the summer of 1978, curious about sensational media reports of feuding Protestants and Catholics blowing each other up in Belfast, I boarded a flight to Dublin to see for myself. Was the whole country at war and were Christians, and Irish in particular, somehow more violent and dangerous than the rest of us? Backpacking through rich green farmlands and contemporary cities by thumb seemed a good method to investigate. <o:p></o:p>

    Spending a month hitchhiking cross-country doesn’t qualify anyone as an expert but while questioning the Irish kind enough to offer a lift and sleeping with families in Bed & Breakfasts, this was a decent way to catch a glimpse into the mind and soul of the people. Yet despite sensationalist US media reports, outside of certain sections of Belfast, I could only find working men and women quietly sharing their lives in white plastered cottages nestled in between sections of neat, stone fences dividing emerald green pastures. What about alcoholism and the proverbial Irish temper? <o:p></o:p>

    It’s true they love their Guinness and are better than average boxers, but while recording impromptu private interviews using a pocketsize micro-cassette, I could not find anyone who condoned sectarian violence. Instead, like a chorus of typical country folk, they all repeated a slogan hard to forget--“Aye, it tis’, it tis’ that we are all God’s creatures.” Although the Northerner’s disagreements and sometimes violent confrontations involved more politics than church, the rest of the otherwise law abiding Catholics and Protestants were being instigated by extremists. With an occupying British government stuck in the middle, violence was begetting violence, but still, only in a few counties of Northern Ireland. <o:p></o:p>

    Religious zealots killing each other is nothing new, but recently the art of mass murder in the Islamic world has been refined with car and suicide bombings. Now, instead of bloodthirsty Christians, images of fanatical terrorist Muslims dominate the media. A similar struggle within Islam between Sunni and Shiite factions rages in Iraq and on a much milder scale between moderates and fundamentalists here in Indonesia. It’s not a matter of crazies being either from Christianity or Islam; it’s ignorant people taking religious doctrine out of context to justify extremism. <o:p></o:p>

    But if nine of the finest legal scholars in America cannot interpret the carefully worded US Constitution unanimously, how can simple villagers understand difficult to read Bibles and Korans thousands of years old? No matter how clearly ideas are written, either side can manipulate them to rationalize their position. In the Bill of Rights, US gun laws underscore the point. <o:p></o:p>

    Despite the confusion, brokered settlements over regional conflicts by disinterested parties sometimes succeed. Just this month, in Indonesia’s Aceh province, optimistic Finns negotiated hard with intransigent political leaders to align government and rebel positions. And finally, thanks to the persistence of interested foreigners combined with recovery from an enormous disaster, there is a chance for peace and a return to Islamic law acceptable to all.

    With most of the International aid workers stationed in Sumatran cities, I’ve only seen dedicated foreign AMM members out spinning their tires in the mud. An aggressive Aceh Monitoring Mission has dispersed a fleet of late model four-wheel-drives equipped with satellite communications and window stickers showing circled machine guns with lines drawn across. <o:p></o:p>

    Their mission is to scour rural strongholds collecting weapons surrendered by rebels and then trade them to military officials in exchange for repositioning troops. The results are astounding, as everyone I encountered has insisted the program is ahead of schedule. If there is a silver-lining to merciless disaster, it is in pulling sworn enemies together for the good of humanity. <o:p></o:p>

    Today is a new start and even the clear cobalt sky is empty, as a radiating mid-latitude sun holds monsoon rains at bay and soggy trails firm enough to ride. But while balancing motorcycle tires over flexing coconut tree bridges and dragging through the bog, it’s difficult to understand this need to witness devastation. As the roadway ends again in a swollen estuary requiring another backtrack, I wonder “What’s the logic of witnessing tragedy with those whom I’ll never see again?” <o:p></o:p>

    Except for AMM personnel, I have not seen any other Westerners. Foreign relief workers in larger cities coordinate from a distance but it’s the silent, surviving mothers, fathers and siblings who provide the grinding labor to reconstruct their lives. Scattered down the coast, surviving villagers stoop in the heat replanting flooded rice paddies while others hand cut timber to build new fishing boats. None are idle or complaining in a struggle to walk together for the common good—crisis has brought peace to Indonesia, though it’s a long road back. <o:p></o:p>

    Bottled water is everywhere but my stash of bananas and canned fish paste ran out yesterday. At a thatched roof noodle stand, an old woman flustered by having a customer, smiles while clearing a place to sit on sawed-off tree stump chairs. Five dollars buys a scoop of cold rice and three shriveled chicken necks refried everyday because there has been no one with money to buy them. If chewing long enough, fishy-smelling flesh cooked hard as plastic turns stringy bits soft enough to swallow. I can only imagine what mealtimes are like for locals.

    136376790_hNAQv-L.jpg
    <o:p></o:p>
    Roads along fluffy, pale beaches were long swept away but as suggested by villagers, at low tide they connected to solid tarmac on higher ground.

    136376644_rHnPN-L.jpg

    A Ritcter scale nine point zero originally triggered the main Tsunami but sporadic aftershocks of fives and sixes have continued since. Reports of yesterday’s are unnerving. With one eye on the waters edge, I constantly measure the terrain for rapid escape routes through shady palm tree groves to higher ground. <o:p></o:p>

    Once above sea level, controlled slides over mud and sand surrender their hold into a euphoric glide through a pulsating jungle reclaiming multi-mile-long strips of asphalt not used anymore.

    136376974_GwkVF-L.jpg

    Soaring beneath refreshing canopies of towering hardwoods stimulates troubling introspection as the splendor of solitude in paradise turns grimacing horror. Each time reaching another fallen bridge formally connecting villages across deltas, ghastly reality strikes hard while understanding the reason for this blissful isolation is that those who once lived here, recently perished. I shudder at the irony that it requires dreadful catastrophe to bring such peace and I wonder if this is a message. <o:p></o:p>
    136376936_UZL2D-L.jpg
    <!--EndFragment-->
  • strikingvikingstrikingviking Registered Users Posts: 99 Big grins
    edited October 26, 2009
Sign In or Register to comment.