VirtualTourist Member kokoryko
| Page Views: 16,178 | Nature and civilisation by kokoryko - last update: May 4, 2008  |
Back from Gondwana! | This is a travel "bear" ((((-: |
Back from a beautiful trip in a down under Island-Continent, so huge and diverse, with wonderful landscapes, amazing colours, forests, deserts, mountains, oceans, forms of life. . . . . people and VTfriends. The cities have their charm and character, but the outback and the mountains enchanted me, a visit to Ediacara was for me compulsory, nights under the galaxies, hikes on the mountains, quiet long visits to Botanical Gardens learned me again the beauty of nature; I would have liked to walk there, when Gondwana was Gondwana. . . . . . .
When there, I have been asked twice to post pages soon. . . . It will take some time, as I am packing tomorrow (April 21st) for Hercynia, old mountains from the Northern continent. In the mean time I posted a few pictures in my new Australia travelogues.
. Gondwana and old continents are my travel (and working) interests for the time ; a little bit of India (Rajasthan) has been posted, along with a Delhi page. More and more, I travel in time, not only in space. . . . . Update: a walk in Paris today (May 3rd), remembered me the story of Cupidon and the statues, which I illustrated in my Paris page. . . . . the good and the bad together! Galaxies ( © !) of "Welcome!" to all visitors! My world My world is a contrasted world, I love big crowded hectic cities and remote places in the mountains ; I like “old” and “new” as for instance the culture of the old world with its museums, cathedrals, historical places . . . and the “new” (to me!!) world, new beliefs, new people, new (but sometimes very old) civilisations, ways of thinking . I like contrasts and “opposites” like the picture of the travelogue (former opening picture) where the flowers bloom in the cold winter or is it the winter covering the flowers?, or these little flowers in front of this huge mountain in Valle de Pineta (Pyrenees, Spain) (see travelogue).
The travelogues here below display pictures of what I like, and there may be some short comments about nature, travelling, literature (French, of course) (well it is at project stage. . . ).
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| Heart or brain? (Mitoraj) |
|  | Trips, travels and stays. My pages here are of different type and origin:
There are relatively recent trips, linked to business or not (when on a business trip, I try to take advantage, even for a few hours) to see something of the place where I go; VT information, or tips are in this respect very good, there are some out of the beaten path tips which I never thought about, which I notice and then try to discover within the few free time left in a given place. So, travels related to work, from a few hours to a few days.
From the most recent to the oldest:
In December 2007, a dive in another world, in Hanoi, beautiful and hectic city, with endearing people.
Wyoming, with pages on Jackson, Yellowstone National Park, South Pass City, and about a wonderful trek in the WINDS
China with a page on Sin Jiang and a page on Beijing.
Tripoli
Bahrain
Brunei
Alberta (Canada)
Tehran
And some other small pages.
There is “old stuffs” in my pages, which when I build them, bring back lots of memories of my overseas stays. Lots of “tips” are written there, please look at them as travel accounts, and as souvenirs I share with the reader; some tips may however be still valid, others, are just for fun. There are old faded pictures, which, scanned do not look top, but is has its charm.
In order of appearance:
Uganda
Ghardaia
Gabon
Others (Kenya, Reunion, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Algeria in general, others) are on their way. . .
Then, there are travels I wanted to do (let’s call them holiday travels), which were a chosen destination. Some of them are included in the “old stuffs”, others, more recent, (with a digital camera!) may have separate pages. You will notice that in fact there are not a lot of these holidays in my pages, it is my choice. You may just find one or two pictures and travelogues telling I was there. . . .
Montreal and Niagara Falls are here, few days holidays added to an Alberta working trip.
A 2006 travel to Central Asia is for the time represented by a Uzbekistan page.
Andalucia, Morocco, may be posted one day?
And finally, the areas where I live:
, in Bearn, South West of France, in the city ofPau .
A bike tour in the Pyrenees is described in the Laruns page, and, a history of the béret is in theNay page.
I spend also a few weeks per year in Auvergne which is a beautiful area and I update small pages there from time to time. |
What is behind? What is behind means for me trying to have a bit understanding of what I see, what happens and how it happens; this is related to natural phenomena as well as to social or political life I discover in some places, just try to have an idea of how it was built, how it happened, what are the driving forces (natural, human, social, etc)
As I put on my title Nature and civilisation, (in a broad sense) constitute my travel interests; I am sorry for people looking for information on sunbathing, nightclubbing, mass tourism in general, they will not find a lot about their interests in my pages, but they are welcome to have a look and, may be, open their eyes and discover, as well as they may show me I can be wrong, keeping only to my interests.
Organised tours and trips are not for me, I travel only on my own; I like people, sometimes groups, but I hate to be told I have to be here and there at this or that time, do this or that, etc. . . , but I know, some things to do, can only be done in groups, but in that case, I choose the co-travellers. . . , and, its not the people, I mean all the people, it’s the stranglehold of the organisation.
I need, really need, independence, freedom of going, and I prefer to keep as a black sheep rather than going with the crowds, and there are wonderful places on this planet which I will not visit, just because I experienced tourists crowds here or there, which ashamed me, gave me the feeling I belong to such a stupid species, awful community (what do I have in common with them?), that I since always try to avoid tourist-packed areas. Well, all this seems pretentious, putting me apart or above, no, it is not, really, I just do things like I feel them, and do not judge, people do what they want (if they are able to), they just should take care not to hurt or spoil what is around them (people, nature, monuments, etc. . . ).
This short poem of F. Leclerc gives an idea of my vision of travel and vision of the world in a general sense:
Je voudrais aller loin, plus loin que les clôtures;
je voudrais prendre une route et marcher à ma fantaisie,
coucher à la belle étoile, dans des endroits inconnus;
je voudrais voyager, visiter les montagnes,
me rouler sous les sapins,
bavarder avec les lièvres,
manger des fruits que je n'ai jamais vus,
me battre avec les loups,
grimper sur les roches,
me mirer dans les lacs.
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| | Long travel in space and time. 13.000.000.000 years ago, BOOOOOOM (in fact, no noise, the universe is "empty", sound does not propagate in emptiness); Big Bang is a good and right physical model (theory) but the "Bang" is not an appropriate name 4500.000.000 years ago, the matter I am build of is amalgamating as our planet. From that time until recently, clear physical track is lost , but have records of ancestors in France, Germany, Poland, and their ancestors come from central Asia, ancestors of ancestors from East Africa, ancestors of ancestors of ancestors from Gondwana, and traces of their ancestors can be found at Ediacaraor Burgess . All our ancestors travelled a lot, we just keep the tradition, in different ways, for different purposes.The gametes which developped later as Kokoryko met in former East Germany. I was born in former West Germany, so, as a (to come) human being I had a first important travel in the womb of my mother . I had my first schoolday in France : second important travel. Here below is a summary list of most of my travels on our planet. Quiet period till 1970 1970-1978 : hitchhicking period. France, W. Germany, Denmark, Spain, Portugal. 1972:Bordeaux student until 1979 and Ph. D. completion. 1975: Morocco with friends, by car. 1973-1979 :Germany for summer jobs, France,discovery of southern Central Massif (connected with my Ph.D. Holiday in Portugal. 1979:Mexico, first travel in an aircraft ! 1980-1982 :Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, 18 month stay (of which 14month in the rain forest ). 1982:From now many of my travels (and abroad stays) are business related, but "tourism" is also part of my travels, as primary or secondary objective. 1982: Move to the capital city of France. Tunisia, Emirates 1983:Bulgaria; museum week-ends in Amsterdam, Brüssel, and around Paris. 1984: One travel to Rome 1985: First travels to South East Asia (Kuala Lumpur, Singapore) 1986-1988 : Nairobi : 2.5 years. Travels almost everywhere in Kenya, on week ends, holidays, for work. (National parks, wildlife, volcanoes, deserts, salt lakes, Mt Kenya, Rift Valley, ). Seychelles, La Réunion; Unforgettable "work safari" in Uganda (Lake Albert, Lake Edward, Mt Ruwenzori ). 1989: Paris 1990-1993 : Algiers : mountains, deserts, the coast, the ruins of Roman cities . (Le Grand Erg Occidental, the dunes, the oasis's, the Touareg People),Travels to Spain, Texas, UK ,Sicily. 1993-1994 : Luanda 1994-1998 : Jakarta ;many travels: Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Bali, Sulawesi, small islands, volcanoes, rain forests, Aboriginal people (Sumatra, (Orang Rimba),strange populations (Badui, on Jawa), scuba diving, etc. One regret: had to cancell a trip to Papua . During my stay in Jakarta: 2 three weeks trips to Australia (1995, 1997), one three weeks trip to New Zealand (1996). 1998-2001: Back to the Capital city of the world! Holiday travels in France, and 10's of business trips to Asia mainly and U.S : discovery of India, several trips to Mumbay, Delhi and Himalaya, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Viet-Nam, Indonesia again, Singapore, Australia, Texas. 2001:settling in SW France. 2002: Re-discovery of Pyrénées Mountains. Trips to Catalunya, Provence. 2003:!!!! Investment into a Digital Camera !!!! Travels to Indonesia, holidays in France. 2004: Travels to U.S., Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iran,Canada. Holidays in Spain, France. 2005: Travels to Mexico, US, Bahrain, Angola, Norway, Brunei, Singapore. Holidays in Morocco, France. 2006: Travels to Norway, Bahrain, Oman, Brunei, Lybia, places here and there in France; Holiday trip in Central Asia. 2007: Cameroon, China, a bit around in France, Hell(not far from), U.S.A (Mainly Wyoming), Viêt Nam. 2008: I never make plans ! 20?? : return to where I originated from. . . . . the best things on earth have an end. |
My writings and my "tips" I put here in VT as accurate and helpful tips for the recent travels; the long past travels or stays have tips also, but as I told above, they are travel accounts.
I am not English-speaking native, so forgive my poor writing style and somehow limited vocabulary and grammar. I try to describe what I see but also what I feel and sometimes what I think; I do not consider VT as a travel guide in the classical sense (there are lots in each bookstore around the corner); I try to find there personal information, even feelings or descriptions which involve the heart, not the cold anonymous impersonal style of many travel guides. I am not interested to know that this or that building is 64.3556 m long, 21.225 m wide,9.206 m high, there are that many tiles on the roof, needed that many tons of mortar for assembling the bricks, etc, or not interested to know the price of a bottle of Champagne in this or that night club, or, that in Marbella, the place to go is this or that, just because it’s hipe and fun, general tourist attractions (Eiffel tower, London Bridge, all the usual MickeyMouseland places).
NO! I am much more interested in the impressions and feelings (and thoughts) this or that building evoked, the stories that happened with or around this building, what meaning it has for the person who describes it, or for the people who live nearby, what is the ambiance and the food in this or that restaurant, if there is a real off the beaten path on Baleares Islands (like old Arabic buildings, Roman ruins, a hiking trail on the cliffs), if on Paris or London pages, there are other off the beaten paths than the Galerie des Glaces of Versailles or the 9378th picture of London Bridge.
Well, other opinions and feelings exist and I respect them, but I tell mine also, . . . and we learn to know each other and know the world, which, finally is what drives the travellers (I mean the real travellers).
So, my tips are unequal in quality, length, helpfulness; I just try to be accurate in my information, when I give, but I also give my opinion. There are certainly impersonal tips, but generally I try to put a little bit of myself in these tips and in the intro or travelogue texts, and if one of the tips or travelogues raises some interest, I am glad to have done so.
The planet is big enough to host all of us, and VT microcosm is big enough to host all sorts of travellers (sorry, tourists); so, many VTers may share the same interests as me, and many more lots may not, this is not a problem, it is the same for everybody, there is space on this planet. %f* | | | Baking bread at 4000m (Tadjikistan) |
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| Pine tree in the Pyrenees |
| | Feelings! Par les soirs bleus d'été, j'irai dans les sentiers,
Picoté par les blés, fouler l'herbe menue :
. . . . . . .
(Sensation, A. Rimbaud, 1870)
I love the wind !! and I love this tree near Lac de Gaube (French Pyrenees on the trail to Vignemale), torn by the wind. Feelings is with the senses, and with the heart.
When travelling, I try to keep all my senses awake (yes even the smell in some. . . very “smell filled” places), this helps very much to remember, and the personality of a building, a landscape is not only the colours and shapes, but also the air (the wind), the temperature, may be the rain this or that day, the taste of what I ate just before or after, all this participates to the souvenirs.
And I like what in French we call “emotions fortes” (strong emotions), being amazed by a wonderful landscape, being moved by the light in an old church, having a bit a masochist feeling, walking in the hot sun of a desert or hiking on a steep trail. I hope I am not too personal in what I write, it is not intended to, I just share a bit what I feel (and sometimes what I think ). |
Mountains and civilisation I love the mountains and human activity there, with beauty of nature sometimes spectacular sceneries. I use to go skiing on the mountains in the background of this picture. Probably because I grew up in a plain area, I am attracted by mountains, my job is in some way related with mountains and when walking, hiking in the mountains, I never stop to look at them, let my heart fill-up with all sorts of emotions, dream and possibly get into outer space with my mind.
I like also people living in the mountains; where ever in the world, they share the same life, and they are different from the people living in the plains and cities; I know people in the Pyrenees and Alps, so friendly warm and so distant in the same time, having a hard life in their environment which they love (yes, love!); I met people in mountains of Portugal or Spain, so welcoming, in the Cevennes (south Central Massif, France), giving me shelter and food for days. Shepherds in the Djurjura mountains (Kabylie, Algeria), explained me their view of the world (Kabyle or Berberic legends) when having a stop during a hike there, kids in the Moroccan Rif, trying to sell me kif, and so many more. Last summer, above Khorog, in Tadjikistan, altitude farmers very kindly invited me for lunch, when I passed by, during a day-hike, which I keep as a very good souvenir from this country.
Ah, many stories and souvenirs from mountains, even very recent ones, like my last (Oct 2006) hike in the Pyrenees where I “discovered” an ice cave, among other caves and then was in a good enough mood to climb solo a 3000m peak (El Casco) not far from there. | | | Drilling rig and mountain |
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| | Old walls Old buildings, houses, always capture my attention. I like old cities, walking in the streets and let my eyes find here or there a strange construction, a funny decoration on houses or buildings. Oh, I generally do not visit purposely well known cities, I find randomly, by chance here or there a place of interest, and if it is not on the Unesco world heritage list, at least it is in my list for places I like and where I dream. More seriously, I like architecture, like an ignorant can like it, I just look, try to understand and try to get some information on what I see, try to understand why people have built what I see, for what, how. . . and, well, if I find it beautiful or moving, I get moved, sometimes nothing more is necessary. I probably will never visit the Gizeh pyramids (I know it is a real pity, but. . . . how can I get moved, surrounded by hundreds of noisy people!), but St Roman de Tousque, or St Médard de Beauce are very big in my heart.
My photographs are not works of art, my writings are not literature.
Be kind, I posted them here, and I would appreciate you ask if you intend to use them elsewhere! |
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 Comments for kokoryko | | | | |
robertgaz Mon May 5, 2008 23:01 UTC
We're being spoilt at the moment with balmy days in the low 20's :~) | Nemorino Sat May 3, 2008 09:16 UTC
Hello Hermann, I have just quoted you in an update to one of my Paris tips: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tp/1a3639/. Hope you approve. -- Don | icunme Wed Apr 16, 2008 20:08 UTC
Good to be back here on VT. Been in the wind - AND rain - in Northern Italy. <(•¿•)> | dabidc Tue Apr 1, 2008 09:40 UTC
An eloquent message of pleasure and beauty far from the madding crowd, of tranquil places and people full of inner peace and hope. Thanks for the opportunity to share your world. |
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