Antartica, The Expedition - On The MV Fram, crossing The Drake Passage

At 1800 hrs on the 15^th Feb as per schedule, our ship the MV FRAM set out from the ‘End of the worlds’ port, on a nine-day classic expedition to the Antarctic Peninsula. . We were promptly checked in after which each of us had to attend a safety drill that was performed by a crewmember. The crew on the Fram is interestingly all Filipino, with only the expedition guides and navigation crew being European. 

I have always been against cruise tourism, but this was Antartica and that was the only way to get there.  The first hours of sailing were easy and at times it didn’t feel as if we were moving. We had spent the last 48 hours in more or less travelling from Mumbai 20 deg above the equator to Ushuaia 56 deg below it, so after fighting sleep for about 4 hours before dinner I gave in instantly on assuming the 180 deg position in my cabin. It must be around 4 am when suddenly I realized that I was moving in bed and I knew that this it. The Drake Passage is where the three huge oceans, Pacific, Atlantic and the Antarctic start to converge. The distance between the northern tip where we must be at 4 am Argentinian time to the southern end of the passage is around 36 hours of travelling at around 15 knots per hour.

As breakfast was served I already could hear mumbles of ‘oh I don’t feel like eating’ ,or ‘I want to just go and lie in my bed’. I thought I was coping quiet well to the sea, but then I realized that we were having a very calm passage at 2 – 3 deg of danger, which meant nothing. Its good that it stayed that way mostly to the convergence. Some good lectures about Antarctica helped the passing of time. The expedition leaders kept on talking about how lucky this sailing was as they had experienced waves of 20 mtrs in the last crossing. So much so that even the staff was sick.

                                                                  The MV FRAM

                                                

The Fram has a beautiful observation deck with high-end binoculars and a not so expensive bar to give company. Sometime on the 17^th Feb in the distant fog someone shouted ‘land’ . This was it.. we had finally arrived in the continent. The GPS read 63 deg south latitude and we were somewhere on the periphery of the South Shetland Islands. The announcements that happened at regular intervals about the daily program mentioned that our first landing was going to be at 1430 hours on the half moon island. We were divided in groups for the landing to make the going out and getting in more convenient. Our group was no 2. And we were scheduled to make the landing at 1500 hours. The voice on the mic said ‘it is now + 1 deg centigrade but with a wind speed of close to 45 m/s it feels more like – 3 deg centigrade. Warm layers consumed most of the ‘bag space’,so we were quiet ready with the clothes. The footwear was assigned to us by the cruise with a minimum fee.

We were already assigned the rubber boots 2 hours before the landing. The disembarkation was to be from deck 2, the boots had to be hung next to your cabin number on the same deck.

As the landing announcements started with group 1, I started to get into the layers. It took me less time than it takes in Norway in winter. Wearing the life jacket took the same amount of time as the layers and I was out on the zodiac boat with the cold Antarctic air in my lungs.

It felt good even with my eyes closed, as I was the one directly taking the wind on my face. I didn’t look up until I heard ‘iceberg’. Somewhere in that little ride to the shore everyone including myself realized that the next few days are going to be different. Unlike anything we had done before. This land was unlike any place I had been before. It was Antarctica!

Antarctica, The Expedition - To Ushuaia first!

When I started to understand that travel is going to be ‘the thing’, it was still the continental Europe that my extremes stretched to. In September of 2010, I was asked to arrange a trip to South America, and my immediate response was, no! I am not ready yet!  I did however find myself with 7 elderly, eager tourists walking on the streets of Buenos Aires that September. Twenty days later on my departure from Sao Paolo, Brazil, there was something I realized.  The fear of venturing into an unknown country, in this case also a continent, had started to diminish.

There has been a lot that has transpired geographically and more on a psychic level since 2010. However, not in my wildest of imaginations that I ever think that the February of 2014 would get me to travel to the 7^th continent, Antarctica!

This time it was a group of fourteen that I had with me on the voyage. We had to first board the flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, the southernmost town in Argentina. The southern region of Argentina is known as Patagonia and though we travel to the centre of Patagonia in our tours to this continent, I hadn’t been this further south before. In the town of Ushuaia.

                                                                        Ushuaia

Apart from its title ‘Fin del Mundo’ which means ‘End of the world’, it is famous for being the boarding point for the 7 – 8 cruise companies making their sailings to Antarctica every summer from November to early March.  The Andes mountain range starts from around Ushuaia and the majestic snow covered mountains promise an ideal landing setting around the Ushuaia airport.

Ushuaia has all the right elements to make it very touristy along with the travel agencies, cruise company offices, restaurants and souvenir shops. We were left to our own after being picked up from the Airport by the cruise company, Hurtigruten. Most of the restaurants around town have a crab displayed not only in their menu but also on the name board. So it was obvious what we had for lunch on our pre sailing day, CRAB!

                                                   The worlds southermost Post Office!

MS Fram, a cruise ship would be our home for the next 10 days from the 15^th Feb. The Drake Passage is some three to four hundred nautical miles area around the convergence of the Antarctic, Pacific and the Atlantic oceans where the sea gets choppy with waves rising to 50 ft at times. The ships have an index of sea waves with 1 being the lowest with normal winds wave height and 10 being a hurricane kind of a situation.  There is a lot of talk that I had heard about getting past the Drake. The next 36 hours would reveal how much of a ‘sea appetite’ I really had.

                                              The Fram(red) docked at the Ushuaia Port

Our guide on arrival in Ushuaia said, Fram is a beautiful ship. Actually a lot of people I met said the same. We boarded the ship at 1500 hours and it was true, all the things they said about the Fram. It was classy .. and very Norwegian. As I settled in one of the more comfortable chairs in the lounge deck, I looked at the sea and thought .. In 36 hours I would be in Antartica!

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The Myanmar Norway connection

In the North of Norway, way back in 2010 as I looked at the maddening scenery in front of me, I heard a voice. ‘This is like the south of New Zealand’ then one more, ‘maybe even better’. 

People, as in travelers often make comparisons in what they see when they travel. Some of them who travel a lot, often speak about a beach in Turkey being similar to the one they saw in Brazil, or a mountain in Chile similar to the one they saw in New Zealand. But, what I don’t hear and come across is the people comparison. Maybe because the travelers, who are busy ticking off the list of the places to see, find no time to talk to locals, and the only local they ever speak to is their guide.

This is my second trip to Myanmar and on my fifth day I am coming to realize that there is a strange connection between the Norwegians and the Burmese. I was in Norway just a week ago and this maybe just fueling this comparison.  

On the face of it Norway and Myanmar are poles apart! Norway is one of the most developed countries in the world. Myanmar maybe is  the most undeveloped in South East Asia. Norway is building new tunnels every year. Myanmar doesn’t even have good roads to connect its two principle cities of Yangon and Mandalay. A lot of other things like ATM’s, Internet, Medical care etc and others that come with development don’t exist in Myanmar or is very limited. I can go on and on about the opposite’s on the surface. But look underneath, get on the streets and talk to the local people and suddenly it seems that these two are not very different.

Lets say it starts with honesty and ends with being sincere. People mean what they say and say what they mean. Norway does it in a very upfront manner, while the Burmese do it with a smile.  But the tradition is alike.

            The Ticket Collector on the Kalaw - Inle Rail link who doubles up as your lugguage assistant 

When one of my travelers is trying to get his bags from his room, someone from the staff suddenly appears from nowhere and takes it over. People having their mid day meal near their store get up to offer their chair just coz they see an old Indian woman waiting for the group members to arrive. These are just a few of the many things the local’s in Myanmar do and not even make a big deal out of it. I know up north in Norway, something like this will never happen.

But I also know there are very few countries in the world where ‘genuine’ is a regular word.  Being honest is a way of life ..

I am lucky to have seen the local’s up close both in Norway and in Myanmar.

looking out of the window!

The only part of the long journey’s that I remember of my childhood is when I asked my mother, how long before we arrive? My father would then say to me, look out of the window and see how beautiful it is. To sleep in the journey was more out of boredom then out of the actual need to sleep. In short all that mattered was the destination and when I took my first 1 hr flight to Goa from Mumbai, I remember smiling all the way even with the discomfort caused due to the air pressure difference. Getting there quick is important, is what I thought back then.

Over the years the concept of a journey has changed for me, but I never really put it in retrospective as much as I did when I first started to mention the North of Norway. ‘The journey is more important than the destination’ I said to one of the callers, explaining him about the ‘Lofoten Islands Road’. After I had kept the phone down, I thought of the ‘me’, 25 years ago and smiled.

Unlike the beauty of a destination that suddenly comes in front of you and makes you say ‘wow’, a journey takes its own time to grow on you.  That is if you look out of the window! Many train journeys are mentioned which are breathtaking, but not a lot is said about the road. The train has the advantage of a steady speed, stops at known intervals and the freedom to walk around in confines of your compartment. The road on the other hand can be bumpy, the limited space to sit can be uncomfortable and is prone to unexpected delays due to an accident etc. But then the road gives you the freedom to stop where you want and take in the surroundings. And this is where the road scores over the rail!

I have always promoted the winter in Scandinavia tour by speaking about the activities that one does on tour.  Reindeer sledging, snow mobile etc give you that excitement. I also mention the Ice Hotel, and the Santa Claus. But what I have learnt in the last two days of my trip here in Lapland is that the journey is equally important between the towns of the North.

Rovaniemi is the largest town in the north of Finland, while Kiruna is the same to Sweden. Harstad and Tromso take the title in Norway. But what is beautiful in the winter is the journey that connects these towns from Finland to Norway. The sun rises below the horizon at 11 am. This actually means that between 11 to 1pm it is the twilight zone in the North of Scandinavia above the Arctic Circle. We travel for around 650 kms in two days staying for a night in between at Kiruna. There is enough snow in the surrounding to make you feel that everything right from the roofs of the houses to the tiniest twig on a tree has all been quoted in a white paint.

Somewhere in those 650 kms you might unknowingly hear yourself saying, ‘wow’ and that’s when the journey has taken over.  The expanse of nature makes you feel small. The odd snowmobile, or a man being pulled by his dog on a home made sledge catches your sight or as the twilight begins to fade and the Christmas lights stand out even more on the houses you cant help but notice the surrounding. The light makes the white snow turn a into a shade blue and you feel peace!

Looking out of the window!

Svalbard 78 Deg N

When I first arrived in Tromso, Norway in 2010, that was the northern most point on this planet I had ever travelled to till then.  And yet the 68.5 Deg N latitude felt like any other place I had been to in Norway and so the other tags that it had earned over the years, like the worlds northernmost university town, or the world northernmost brewery etc. did not impress me much. Coz it simply didn’t feel northerly enough, even in the middle of winter with no sun at all.

I guess that was the beginning of wanting to go to a place where it felt like the extreme north.

A combination of Northern latitude and emptiness, was what I thought would really feel like ‘The North’. I knew that there is an island up there somewhere and it is called Svalbard. I knew it is the world’s northernmost place with a fully functional human settlement of more than two thousand. I knew that there on this island we have 3 months of complete darkness, where there are more snow mobiles than cars.  The thing I didn’t know was that it is not very expensive to fly there and if you plan it well you could well be on the way for less than 200 Euros return from Oslo.

All through 2012, Svalbard remained pocking at my travel mind especially through my travels in both summer and winter in Norway. It was on the last day of my Northern lights tour in the winter of 2012 on a flight from Tromso to Oslo, did I first read the words ‘LONGYEARBERN’ on the route map of Norwegian Airlines.

Longyearbearn was the airport that they flew to from Tromso. This was the northern most civil airport in the world.  I think that was the first time on that flight that I thought that it might be possible to fly to the ‘Town of the long year’ somewhere in the near future.

‘The worlds most beautiful country’, ‘the land of the mid night sun’, ‘the northern lights capital of the world’ etc are things that you may hear in relation to Norway. I have been lucky enough to go there, time and again and every time it feels a little different than earlier. The same place presents itself newly. I am talking more in terms of the North of Norway.

I believe a place should first present itself accidentally. Then it should grow in your mind. Grow like a plant from a seed .. and that’s the time when you are ready to go.

I knew in March 2013 that I was ready to go to Svalbard this July. 

Portugal is Portuuugaaaal

Slovenia is the smallest European nation I have travelled to. Portugal is maybe thrice its size but it feels small.  By small I mean it doesn’t feel European enough. In its appearance maybe yes, the streets, the traffic etc.

However once you go inside a cafe and the meet the people running the place, it feel’s different. More intimate to be precise.  Eating is a different thing! Nowhere else in the world I have seen the guys who run the place so interested in recommending you, what to eat. At certain places the recommendations stretch to much more than just that.

When I first came to Portugal in December 2012, I realized that I had come closer to finding the place I want to live in if not in India. It maybe just a childish fantasy, like the way we want to be pilots or doctors when we are in our primary school. Who knows? but I have come back twice after that and the liking has only grown. Yes there are other countries in this continent, which are appealing, but Portugal is just so different.

Today I met a woman in a café who said to me, ‘all the Portuguese run shop’s are closing down being replaced by Chinese or Indian owners. She didn’t seem to be upset by it. Maybe the Portuguese don’t know how to do business? Is this the thing that pulls me towards towards this country? The non commercial attitude in the majority of people I have met. On a personal level even I get told, “you don’t know how to make money”.

There is an underlying current, which only grows stronger with every visit. I remember in East Europe when my Polish driver enters his home country from Czech republic, the smile on his face is different. Someone said the same thing about me when I entered Portugal through its southern border with Spain. Even my Spanish driver after saying, “Well, Portugal is 10 years behind Spain” was quiet happy about it.

Maybe the extreme west, geographical location helps. Maybe bordering with no other country but Spain keeps the Portuguese traditions intact. Whatever the reasons are.. I hope through its entire economical crisis, this country stays the way it is.

I hope Portugal stays as Portugal!

Where am I ?

I don’t know how many months/tours have passed since I last wrote here. In March, I had the privilege of travelling to South America; it is a privilege when it happens after 18 months! I thought I would write an entire series from there. But .. not even a word was written. Then came Spain and Portugal in April. There I wrote a few words, but I was so much in love with Portugal that words couldn’t really make up for what I felt. Then, like every year in May came Poland and surroundings, I was hopeful that some evening as I looked out into the mountains, words would automatically flow. Nothing.. or as they say in Spanish .. nada.. not even one word.

Over the past 3 months I have travelled and really travelled. So much so that I would wake up in the middle of the night and take a few minutes to realize where I was. It was a strange feeling, one that I had not experienced before. Travel is changing for me; the desire to show people that there exists a world beyond the city limits has governed the last 3 – 4 months.

                                                        St Bernard in the Andes 

I used to fondly say that East Europe is the only tour that helps me to gain weight. In other words, the food there is my all time favorite. Be it Poland, Czech or Croatia. This time however I couldn’t find the time to eat, or maybe just lost the desire to go the extra length to find a good restaurant. I remember every time I wanted to say “I hate this job“ I ended up saying “you have to do it for Slovenia”, or whichever country I was in.

                                                         Tua Railway Station - Portugal

   

Call me crazy, but the only saving grace when my spirit is down on tour is the love for the country I am in. I may eat or sleep hungry, make friends or be lonely, have fun with my tourists or absolutely hate them. But the love for the country never goes away.

Sometimes people ask me. “How come you don’t get bored coming to the same place again and again?”. I simply smile. It maybe the unbearable headache at 15000 ft in Peru or the frustration of not finding a single vegetarian option on the Menu for the tourist’s dinner in Portugal, the face may project something else, but inside I am always happy.

                                                           Plitvice Lakes - Croatia

I am one of the few lucky ones who do what they love, for a living. Travel is what I do right?!. But wait, it doesn’t end there! Travelling to the places that I love is the key. Because, only in these places can I really be myself and try and show my people what the real country feels like.  So on one hand I would love to visit every small village in Turkey, but not even look at the map of U.S.A. I don’t like it, I don’t want to know it, is what I believe in.  So travel in the micro sense for me is linked with the countries that I love. The best part about this love is that it has no reason. I don’t know why a meal in Portugal makes me cry in pleasure? Or Egypt makes me so happy that I don’t wish to come back to India. Similarly I don’t know why I absolutely have no feelings for Australia and don’t even wish to talk about U.S.A.

I believe if you have reasons to love or hate, with time that relationship might change with the reasons.  

The writing had to happen now! In air is where I often start writing after a long break. Especially if the flight is going to Scandinavia it means a little more.