I haven’t been biking lately. I’m treating February as an off-season month and taking it fairly easy 
Otherwise, everything else has been fine and the trip preparations are slowly advancing… Also, regarding my recent ramblings about differences between tourists and travelers some days ago, I recently read a nice quote that summarizes it rather well: “The traveler doesn’t know where he’s going, and the tourist doesn’t know where he is.” I like it…
Over the weekend, New York City experienced a record snow fall - 26.9 inches, the highest ever since the record-keeping began in 1869. It was quite a fun as everyone, and kids especially, seemed to love it. Here are a few photos of New Yorkers enjoying it the day after in Central Park:
February 13th, 2006
Posted by
Rich |
Fun, Preparation |
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Yesterday, I have finally received my touring wheelset, custom-built by Universal Cycles. It took some time to get it but the wait was worth it. They did a fine job. I went with parts most recommended by ‘rough-road’ tourers: Shimano XT 760 series hubs, Mavic XM 719 rims, Wheelsmith 2.0 spokes and brass nipples. Altogether 36 spokes built using 3-cross pattern. It also came with extra spokes, should I need to replace broken ones later. (Hope not!!!) I have put on tubes and tires too (Schwalbe Marathons) and will install a cassette soon… After that, just to mount it and ride it;) Here is a quick shot:
February 9th, 2006
Posted by
Rich |
Cycling, Equipment |
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As unrests in Nepal continue, I’m following it closely. There has been a general ‘bandh’ (traffic strike) announced by Maoists for the whole week starting Sunday, February 5th. Moreover, tomorrow are the long-awaited municipal elections, so the whole situation could be even more volatile, see here: Nepal: Weapons loaded for tomorrow’s elections.
Plus, my favorite website to track the developments in Nepal, United We Blog!, has been hacked a couple days ago and it’s still offline:((( Someone clearly doesn’t like their unbiased way of reporting. I hope that they’ll be back online soon!
More links to news and opinions from Nepal:
Is Nepal Safe?
Nepalnews.com
International Nepal Solidarity Network
Wagle’s Web World
Deepak’s Diary
February 7th, 2006
Posted by
Rich |
Nepal |
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I have been asked this many times. It is a fairly straightforward question, the answer is anything but. And I’m sure, if you’d ask hundred people, you would get hundred different answers. In its essence, travel* is simply a way to discover multitudes of human experiences. I think, the only true way to achieve it is by traveling ‘mostly’ alone, or in a small group of like-minded fellow ‘wanderers’. It is about the only way of how to interact with locals, and see, feel, and hopefully understand better their lives, may they be happy and wonderful, or tragic and full of sorrow… This often means leaving behind the comforts that I am used to at home as it is about meeting unexpected challenges almost daily, i.e. overcoming language barriers, finding out and respecting local customs and cultural differences, or being a little bit adventurous when tasting wide variety of (sometimes highly unusual!!!) dishes, and much more… To experience it all fully, I have to let go off my ‘Western way’ of doing things. Sometimes, just a slight change in my behavior (as in “When in Rome, do as Romans do.“) will bring on many memorable, even funny, encounters with local people.I always like to quote words of Henry David Thoreau when answering the question of ‘Why do I travel?’ He said it best in Walden. His experiences of ‘going to the woods’ parallel closely mine of ‘being on the road (or, if you will, traveling)’:
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
* There is a important difference between a ‘traveler‘ and a ‘tourist‘. Tourists are keen to go to places where they can ’sight-see’ the world not far away from luxuries known to them from home. They ‘vacation’ in places that are safe and predictable. They never really venture into the unexpected and surprising world, just beyond their perfectly organized resorts and tightly scheduled itineraries. In that sense, they avoid encounters with true reality. They prefer to stay outside it, in a world of glitzy travel brochure images. Most likely, they just want to escape banalities of daily life (for a moment), relax and then go back home with a few gifts and pleasant memories. Such experiences would be shallow and suffocating for a true traveler. Not to be able to immerse yourself into the world outside this ‘tourist reality’ would be simply unbearable for him. He wants to appreciate the world with all his senses, awake emotions, or even discover his true self… And often, such intense travel changes him forever… BTW, I’ve been on both sides of the fence. I have traveled as a ‘tourist’ too, mostly at home, in the U.S. I tried to make the best out of it. But when abroad, in a culturally different environment, I prefer the traveler’s way…
February 2nd, 2006
Posted by
Rich |
Blogging, Fun |
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