Chess around the globe

by Kraig Becker on

Wend Magazine, an outdoor adventure/travel mag with an eco-sensitive slant, has a great photo gallery on their Wend Blog today that celebrates the game of Chess and its universal appeal around the globe. In fact, the blog post compares it to soccer when it comes to international popularity, with chess boards bridging cultural and language barriers across the planet.

The classic game traces its origins back to 6th century India, and over the centuries it has evolved into an art form. Learning the moves of the various pieces is a simple affair, and yet it opens the door for complex strategies and intense battles, played out on a black and white checker-board.

Wend warns that when you play a game abroad, you not only play for yourself, but your entire country, and offers up a few things to consider before sitting down at the chess table. That advice includes such things as don’t play anyone over 60, as they are probably better than you and it’s a no win situation no matter the results, and get familiar with local rules before you play, or you may find yourself schooled by some obscure tactic.

Of course, the real highlight of this post is the photographs, and they are fascinating. There are shots from all over the planet ranging from Argentina to Uzbekistan, and plenty of places in between. The photos capture players of all ages in all kinds of settings, and really do show just what an international game chess has become. Checkmate!

Exploring a remote river in India by kayak

by Kraig Becker on

Some of the last unexplored places on the planet can only be reached by kayak, with explorers making a first descent on rivers that are wild and untamed. The video below is an example of such an expedition through the Tawang Valley located the remote Arunachal Pradesh in India. The journey was expected to take two weeks, with the team going completely self supported over 130 miles of river that, up until that point, had never been seen by man. Along the way, they experienced Class V rapids, deep canyons, perilous rocks, and plenty of adventure.

Enter Tawang Chu Part: 1 from Ben Stookesberry on Vimeo.

Can you go home again? A question for the long term traveler

by Jamie Rhein on

There’s the adage “you can’t go home again” that does bear merit, particularly if one has been gone from home for years. Perhaps you traveled back to your hometown for Thanksgiving and have a mental checklist for just how much the town has changed.

Certainly you noticed changes in yourself. Or maybe you noticed that even though you’ve changed, your trip back home was an indication that some things never change–family dynamics, perhaps? But let’s not go there. In the case of this post, let’s expand home past a person’s hometown to a person’s country.

I’ve moved out of the United States four different times for a variety of time periods. The first was on a study abroad program to Denmark for four months. The last was for four years that were split between Taiwan and India. Each time I was gone, I needed to readjust to life back in the United States. As I discovered, readjusting to ones own country can be more difficult than getting used to living in another one. Even after a short period of time of traveling, we change. Once you’ve made another country home for awhile, there is a disconnect between how you’ve changed and what your expectations are for life back home.

This disconnect is wonderfully highlighted in “Some Indians Find it Tough to Go Home Again” in the New York Times. The article looks at what happens to Indians who grew up in the U.S. and moved back to India several years later with the notion of helping out their home country. In general, what people find out is that who they have become and how they do business does not match up with India’s culture. What they expect is not at all what they get.

Interestingly, as the article points out, expats who are not from India often have an easier time fitting into Indian business culture because they are able to adjust to the Indian system more easily.

This phenomenon is not only common to India, I would guess–or to people who have lived in the United States. I have friends who have lived overseas for years who I can’t see living in the U.S. again because they have become absorbed by the cadence of living elsewhere. The U.S. would not be a great fit.

Oprah’s 10 terrific reads for 2009 showcase diversity and travel

by Jamie Rhein on

Regardless of what one thinks of Oprah, it’s hard to argue that the woman doesn’t have her thumbprint on some mighty great stuff. Her “10 Terrific Reads for 2009,” for example, is filled with suggestions that capture the flavor of travel, adventure and diversity. Many of them are about people from one country who have been brought to another by life’s circumstances or their drive to explore.

If you read these 10 books, I’d say you’ll have a thought-provoking and enlightening journey through certain parts of the world, particularly Africa. Before you head out on your next journey, pick up one of these and pass it on.

Here are the 10 books with the countries that provide the setting or settings. For a summary of each book, click each title.

  • The Bolter, Frances Osborne–Kenya (Great Britain connection)
  • Dreaming in Hindi, Katherine Russel Rich–India (U.S. connection)
  • Little Bee, Chris Cleve–Great Britain (Nigeria connection)
  • Blame, Michelle Huneven–U.S. (This one doesn’t have a cross-cultural component but is compared to Sand and Fog which is one of the best novels showing cross-cultural connections gone wrong that I’ve ever read.)
  • Losing Mum and Pup, Christopher Buckley–U.S. (Another without a cross-cultural component, but loss of parents is cross-cultural and Buckley’s dad, William F. Buckley certainly had a lot of opinions about the world.)
  • Zeitoun, Dave Eggers–U.S. (Syrian connection) I met Dave Eggers. He’s as wonderful in person as his writing reflects. Truly splendid. I’m buying this one.
  • Say You’re One of Them, Uwem Akpan–Kenya and Rwanda. Akpan is a Nigerian writer.
  • Some Things that Meant the World to Me, Joshua Mohr–U.S. Part of this novel takes place in Home Depot in San Francisco. Doesn’t the bring up an unusual mix of images?!
  • The Invisible Mountain, Carolina De Robertis–South America. The reading guide mentions Argentina.
  • Strength in What Remains:A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness, Tracy Kidder–Burundi and U.S.

Ancient Buddhist caves under threat

by Sean McLachlan on

The Archaeological Survey of India has been struggling to control water damage to ancient Buddhist paintings in the Ajanta Caves in the state of Maharashtra.

The 29 caves in this UNESCO World Heritage Site are decorated with sculptures and paintings dating back as far as the second century B.C. They depict Buddhist tales and images of the Buddha and various Bodhisattvas.

The addition of new drainage systems has stopped some of the leakage of water through tiny cracks in the stone, but recent heavy rains have made the caves develop new leaks.

Archaeological Survey officials are monitoring the situation and trying to decide what to do next. Memories of a another Buddhist cave complex, the Bagh Caves, is making them tread lightly. Bad conservation methods at that site led to their almost complete destruction by seepage in the 1950s and 60s.

India is putting new emphasis on conservation as it tries to add more sites to the World Heritage List. Hopefully the folks at the Archaeological Survey of India will win the battle to preserve India’s heritage. I met some of their archaeologists the last couple of times I went to India and they’re a dedicated bunch, despite having to struggle with bureaucracy, insufficient funds, and the sheer vastness of their task.