Have Uke, will Travel

Portable music access while travelling has changed over the years. The Walkman replaced the tape player in the 1990s, and was in turn replaced by the ipod/mp3 player that has now been largely superseded by the mobile phone and tablet.

But, what if you crave the company of an instrument to play on your travels? Instruments haven’t generally been miniaturised, so the issue of size remains a problem.

For my current long trip, I had hoped to pack a small guitar. However, the nice compact guitar that appealed – the Cordoba Mini – is 77.47 cm (30.5 inches) long, and too long for cabin baggage allowed by most airlines, usually 55-56cm (about 22 inches).

My mandolin, at 68.6 cm (27 inches) long, is also too long to take as cabin luggage, and I fear the hazards inflicted on checked luggage too much to endanger one of my favourites. So, a change of plan was needed.

Few sounds are more annoying than listening to someone learning a new musical instrument. I therefore avoided the temptation to pick a totally foreign instrument in recognition of the danger of antagonising neighbours in holiday accommodation, however much the bagpipes, tabla, violin, electronic keyboard and other momentarily appealing alternatives came to mind.

This Kala soprano ukulele cost AU$86, and is better than a cheaper uke by keeping reasonably in tune, courtesy of the quality of its tuning pegs and strings. I chose it because of the price and good reviews. It’s 53.5cm (26.06 inches) in length, a little longer with its soft case, but qualifies as hand luggage. Ukulele phone apps make holiday playing easy as they include tuners, chord charts, how to play instructions, and song lyrics and chords (universal, of course, regardless of instrument).

It’s time for a strum.

A note for later trips

A fellow hotel guest in Bali brought his tenor ukulele (longer than a soprano at around 66 cm) from Australia as oversized baggage. Jetstar allows any baggage including a musical instrument that exceeds 1 metre (39 inches) in length to be carried as oversized baggage at AU$25 per flight. This option (also used for sporting items like surfboards) looks like a good method for travelling with a musical instrument internationally, particularly as it seems that the item is given greater care than the rough and tumble of normal checked baggage.

 

Xi’an, China: 1993

China’s Communist Party decided to open the country to the outside world in 1978. By the early 1990s, there were only very limited observable results for a foreign visitor. To my Australian eyes, even as a reasonably seasoned Asian traveller, the country was resoundingly exotic.

I visited China in 1993 as a member of an Australian university delegation hosted by the All-China Youth Federation (the young Communist Party).  My friend and fellow delegate, Peter Snowdon, took the photo of street sweepers in Xi’an, and kindly agreed to allow me to use it in this post.

Xi’an was once the capital of China, and is now most famous for the Terracotta Warriors, constructed around 246–206 BC as a memorial for First Emperor Qin so as he could be represented in the afterlife in the same way as in life.

Of many memorable events I recollect from that first visit to China, one particularly astonished me. In Guangzhou, our delegation was hosted to yet another banquet, at a restaurant tucked away in the suburbs, and away from areas frequented by foreigners. The restaurant band provided backing for local patrons who wished to sing. As their consumption of Maotai (China’s famous hard liquor) increased into early afternoon, the accompanying toasts of ‘Maotai’ became louder, as did their singing.

Eventually, one of my fellow delegates decided to ask the band whether they knew a particular song, to which the band leader replied, in effect, ‘of course’. The band then played an excellent and note perfect version of the old Australian bush ballad Click go the Shears, a song about shearing sheep, accompanied less well by my colleague’s vocals.

This is my contribution to Tiffin’s A-Z Guidebook this month starting with the letter ‘X’.

Valparaiso Contrasts

When the Panama Canal opened in 1914, Valparaiso on Chile’s Pacific coast was transformed from being a major seaport for ships voyaging between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to something of a backwater.

UNESCO recognised Valparaiso’s old quarter and its faded glory as a World Heritage Site and the city is undergoing a resurgence in terms of art, culture, education and tourism, as well as building on its maritime strengths.

 

Attempts to describe Valparaiso promote contradictory observations. Perhaps the city is a contradiction.

Houses seem to tumble down steep slopes, literally sometimes. Those clothed in rusted corrugated iron adjoin newly painted ones of the brightest colours; faded opulent timber houses nestle ornately within very modest localities. Elegant cobbled streets and lanes join weedy and seedy ones. Locals use stairways and colourful ascensores (funiculars or elevators) to negotiate the slopes.

Colour is everywhere: painted buildings are joined by commissioned public art and random graffiti to provide a vast palette of hue, subjects and thought.

Danger hovers over Valparaiso, as the area is prone to earthquakes and tsunamis. The 1906 earthquake destroyed most of the city, four months after San Francisco was similarly razed.

My feeble attempts to encapsulate something of  Valparaiso have been saved by Pablo Neruda, Chile’s Noble Laureate in Literature, who wrote Oda a Valparaiso. Neruda was a sometime resident of the city, and a visit to his home (La Sebastiana) is a feature of experiencing Valpo.

Ode to Valparaíso
by Pablo Neruda

VALPARAÍSO,
what an absurdity
you are,
how crazy:
a crazy port.
What a head
of disheveled
hills,
that you never finish
combing.
Never
did you have
time to dress yourself,
and always
you were surprised
by life.
Death woke you up,
in your nightshirt,
in your long johns
fringed with colors,
naked
with a name
tattooed on your stomach,
and with a hat.
The earthquake caught you,
and you ran
crazedly,
you broke your fingernails.
The waters and the stones
the sidewalks,
the sea,
the night,
all were shaken.
You slept
on the ground,
tired
from your navigation,
and the furious
earth
lifted its waves
more tempestuous
than a marine gale.
The dust
covered up
your eyes.
The flames
burned your shoes.
The solid houses
of the bankers
trembled
like injured whales,
while above,
the houses of the poor
jumped
into the void
like imprisoned
birds
who test their wings
and fall to the ground.

Soon,
Valparaíso,
sailor,
you forget
about your tears.
You return
to hanging your dwellings,
to painting doors
green,
and windows
yellow.
You transform
everything into a boat.
You are
the patched-up prow
of a small
brave
ship.
The foamy crown
of the tempest.
Your ropes that sing
and the ocean light
that makes the shirts
and flags tremble
with your indestructible swaying.

Dark
star
you are
from far away.
In the height of the coast
you shine
and soon
you surrender
your hidden fire.
The rocking
of your muffled alleys,
the uninhibitedness
of your movement,
the clarity
of your seamanship.
Here I conclude
this ode,
Valparaíso:
so little
like a destitute
undershirt,
hanging
raggedly in your windows
rocking
in the wind
of the ocean,
saturated
with all
the sorrows
of your land,
receiving
the dew
of the seas, the kiss
of the wide irritable ocean
that with all its strength
beats against your stones.
It couldn’t
knock you down,
because within your southern chest
are tattooed:
struggle,
hope,
solidarity
and happiness
like anchors
that withstand
the waves of the earth.

(translated by Hermitina – http://hermitina.com/oda-a-valparaiso/)

This is my contribution to Tiffin’s A-Z Guidebook, this month starting with the letter ‘V’.

It’s raining in Santiago

Santiago de Compostela, in north west Spain, has been one of the Christian world’s main pilgrimage destinations for over 1000 years, based on the belief that it is the burial site of one of the disciples, St James (Santiago in Spanish).

The old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and an intriguing, hospitable and welcoming place, with narrow winding streets to explore. The grand cathedral is the ultimate goal of the pilgrims who have travelled the Camino de Santiago from faraway places.

Santiago is the capital of Galicia, and the region is quite different from most other parts of Spain in terms of culture, music, language (Galician) and climate.

Unlike much of Spain, Galicia is wet. Santiago is said to experiences some rain on more than 300 days per year.

Galicia is considered to be one of the seven Celtic nations (along with Scotland, the Isle of Man, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany) and its music reflects this heritage. Bagpipes (called gaita gallega) are a common feature of Galician music. My favourite Galician band is Luar na Lubre. A link to their song Chove en Santiago (It’s Raining in Santiago) is here.

This is my contribution to Tiffin’s A-Z Guidebook, this month starting with the letter ‘S’.

---

 

Walking in the Grampians: Halls Gap to the Pinnacle

Halls Gap in the Grampians (Gariwerd in the local Aboriginal language) is about 260 km west of Melbourne, and a popular place to visit for bushwalking and other pastimes.

My walking friends and I visited in November, a good month for moderate temperatures and the end of the wildflower season (August to November), another Grampians attraction. The photos below were taken on the walk from Halls Gap to the Pinnacle and return, designated as moderate (for ‘fit and experienced walkers’ according to Parks Victoria), and about 10km in length.

The walk ascends about 470 metres (1560 feet), with numerous ups and downs. Many features encountered during the walk have names such as The Grand Canyon, Silent Street, Wonderland, the Pinnacle, and the Nerve Test.

 

 

Never leave home without an umbrella.

Climbing the hard way.

The pinnacle.

Halls Gap is in the valley.

 

John gets closer to the edge.

Time to descend by another loop.

 

 

On your knees in Rocamadour

Rocamadour, in south-west France, became famous in mediaeval times as a place of pilgrimage, and an important stop on the pilgrimage path to Santiago de Compostela in Spain (the Camino de Santiago, or St James’ Way). One of Rocamadour’s main religious attractions is its wooden Black Madonna.

Today, Rocamadour’s 600 residents are joined by around one million visitors yearly. Pilgrims of the past climbed the steep 216 stairs to the top of the village on their knees. Now, visitors who don’t wish to climb by stairs have the option of a lift.

This is my contribution to Tiffin’s A-Z Guidebook, this month starting with the letter ‘R’.

More Postcards from Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An is such a visual feast. Colour is everywhere.

A beautiful local in her ao dai, the traditional Vietnamese costume, contrasts with industry, commerce and history in the eclectic mix of this entrancing town.

    

 

I’ve published more on Hoi An here.