The people you meet....

One of the most fabulous things about travelling is the people that you meet on the way… A couple of days ago I encountered two Hungarians doing a very unconventional Round the World trip – in their jeep… (they drive overland where possible, but ship it where not). They are writing a blog for a hungarian newspaper and so far travelled overland through Europe, Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, India, Nepal, then shipped the car to Bangkok (initially the plan was to travel overland through Tibet, China and down through Thailand, but they met with a beauracratic nightmare at the border and were not allowed to enter the country. Their plan is to keep travelling for another twelve months, down south east asia to Indonesia, then shipping the car to Darwin and through Australia and then shipping the car again to the US before travelling around the States and then Central and South America. Their story was inspirational to me, but still I'm content to use planes and public transport.

In Huay Xai, on the border of Thailand and Laos, I met a Burmese man, who left Burma when he was 20. He was arrested multiple times for particating in demonstrations, finally escaping the regime and attaining asylum in Belgium. He now lives in Thailand and was in Huay Xai, the border town, to do a border run so he could renew his visa. He is a journalist for a magazine, also available on internet in English, called the Irrawaddy (named after the river that runs through the country) – http://www.irrawaddy.org/. It is about events in Asia but most particularly events in Burma. His father is a member of Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, who continues to work ‘on the front line’ from within Burma to fight for independence. It really made me think about what is important. Like the Tibetan Lama, he continues to have faith that there will be a change, and he keeps fighting to make a difference.

I met a man who has been travelling the world for 20 years. He started in 1988 and hasn’t stopped since. Impressive. But I only met him in passing so didn’t really get a chance to hear his story.

I also met an American, Stacey, who didn’t know the difference between the Australian flag and the British flag… When we all arrived home from the soccer, with Aussie flags on our cheeks, she looks at the dutch guy and says ‘Oh, you have the British flag on your cheek’… When he corrected her, ‘no, it’s actually the Australian flag’… I kid you not, she actually replied ‘oh, I wouldn’t know, I’m American.’ Classic moment, and very funny, in a kind of sad, pathetic way. As Jochem, the Dutch guy said, most people don’t know all the flags in the world, but there are some key ones that every English speaking person should know, and that’s the flags of other English speaking countries. Kind of indicative of the reason why most the world has little respect for America as a country and Americans in general. I know there are fantastic Americans out there, I’ve met some of them, but the sad fact is, many that I encounter in my travels are ignorant, and often a little ridiculous. I have met a couple of embarrassing Australians as well, but somehow I’m always able to rationalise them away as being the exception, rather than the rule...