Kids
I read this article and was instantly captivated. What a great idea no? Jumping into a container ship and just going around the world to see parts which the normal tourist doesn't see. And then the solitude and silence. The sea is an amazing place kids. Specially at night. While we were on the Nemo, that's what I loved doing, going and sitting alone in the bow or in the poop deck or on the top deck.
This kind of travel isn't for everybody. I've noticed this with so many people kids. They need other people to be entertained. Not many people have the capacity to entertain themselves. What I'm happy about is that you too show the signs that you can entertain yourself. If nothing else, learn to laugh at yourself kids. As the old saying goes, learn to laugh at yourself, you will never cease to be entertained.
I'm going to try to find more about this type of travel. I like the idea of going around the Barents Sea or the route to Murmansk. That trip is on my bucket list. I think I've mentioned this to you before but one of the few books I cried reading was Alastair Maclean's HMS Ulysses, the story of a light cruiser (the same type like HMS Belfast which is moored on the Thames. When the captain died.
That Arctic convoy duty was some of the most horrendous duties ever made. Tremendous cold. Fear. Hunger. Sleep deprivation. Dripping cold steel. I'm sure it will not be like that when I go but at least I can follow in the footsteps. The same type of voyage was done by the chap who wrote about the Panama hat. He went on a cargo ship as well from guyamil (where we stopped over on the way to Galapagos) and went up to Panama and the west coast of USA. Do read that book if you can.
So that's the first one. The second trip that would be good would be around the Mediterranean Sea. Stopping at the smaller ports. Now that would be fascinating. Stepping in the footsteps (can I say that for a sea voyage?) of the Phoenicians and Carthignans and the Venetians and and and. We can do either trip in 2 weeks. The longer one will be the African port although that will not be fun. Another interesting one will be to try to replicate the route taken by Prince Henry's navigators in Portugal , starts from Lisbon and down the west coast of Africa, around the Cape of good hope and then up the east coast (searching for the mythical Christian Kingdom of Prestor John) and then cutting across to India via Yemen and Oman. Far too dangerous of course but it's fun to dream eh?
I know Kannu is thinking, baba is doing a chimneys post again! :)
Love you two, sorry this week has been a bit of nightmare at work and will keep on till end the month at least. Usual stuff this time of the year with the annual budgeting cycle. I'm forcing everybody to think about 2016 while everybody is busy about 2015. Some people can't plan worth spit but that's my job, to make sure people look months and years in front so that they have the resources when they need it. You dig a well now, not when your house is on fire next year.
Fun times.
Love
Baba
C
The Container Ship Tourism Industry
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-container-ship-tourism-industry
(via Instapaper)
Robert Rieffel was strolling with his wife and friends along River Street in Savannah, Georgia, a touristy corridor filled with trinket shops and restaurants, when he suddenly heard “this big brooooooooooo,” he says, imitating the sound of a ship’s horn. An enormous cargo ship was sailing up the river, one of many that travel international routes delivering everything from kitty litter to cars to clothes in massive stacks of metal shipping containers. Rieffel was captivated.
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