RENT BY THE HOUR. AT ANY HOUR. Enjoy the convenience of 24/7 self-serve access to a variety of vehicles on campus anytime you need, with rates starting at just $9.50/hour. Every Hertz 24/7 rental includes fuel, insurance, 24 hour roadside assistance, in-car customer care and more. Find a car near you at Hertz247.com/BrighamYoungUniversity
Enrollment in Hertz 24/7 required. Vehicle featured may not be available at time of rental. Š 2014 The Hertz Corporation. Hertz 24/7 is a registered trademark of Hertz System, Inc
Facebook.com/Hertz247
@Hertz247
www.stowawaymag.com â—€ 3
FAL L 2 0 1 4
On the cover: The sun sets behind The Holy Family Shrine in Gretna, Nebraska.
Happenings: For the Love of Fruit
100
Escapades: Scraping Stone Giants in the Cliffs
102
Staff Essay: Rollerblading at Twilight
103
Parting Shot: Palmyra, New York
4 ▶ fall 2014
Garmisch: A Charming Winter Getaway
14
Back to the Roots: Farming Festival in Upstate New York
16 18
Rwanda Renewed
20
Follow the Acorns: Traveling the Pennine Way
Luang Prabang: The Perfect Place to Stop in Laos
26
The Maya Murals of San Bartolo
32 38
The Carnegie Legacy
44
When in Yerevan: Diverse Adventures in the Capital of Armenia
50
“Faith in America”: A Photographic Journey
ANASAZI: Smoothed by Rough Terrain
Photo by Heather Faulkner
8
12
Features
7
Editor’s Note: Through New Eyes
Getaways
Photo by Scott Jarvie
60
Zambra: The Forbidden Dance
62
Under the Light of the Moon: China’s Mid-Autumn Festival
64 68
Humans of New York
70
Sunshine after Summer Fades
Four Corners of the Kitchen: Chocolate
72
Photo Contest Winners
74 76 78
Tales from the Trip
82
Through the Eyes of the Everywhereist
84
On the Wings of Eagle Condor Humanitarian
Hit the Oregon Trail Panda Paradise: Chengdu’s Research Center
Insider
58
Unceasing Drama in London’s West End
Field Notes
Culture
Above: Fall’s bright reds, oranges, and yellows give spring plenty of colorful competition.
88 90
Hanging Out
92
“Going” Abroad: The Traveler’s Guide to International Toilets
94 95
The Better Bottle
96
Exploring the Periphery of Chiang Mai
99
Waze to Get Around
Capturing the Cliché Photo
Leave One, Take One: Umbrella Sharing in Japan
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 5
Thomas Call
Bonnie Brown
Cara Gillespie
Laura Jackson
Amanda Wind
Jill Hacking
Managing Editor
Assistant Managing Editor
Assistant Managing Editor
Copyeditor
Copyeditor
Senior Editor
Jenna Hoffman
Andy Kyle
Holly Smith
Diane Cardon
Susie Wahlquist
Senior Editor
Senior Editor
Art Director
Assistant Art Director
Assistant Art Director
Robert V. Faulkner
Senior Designer Web Team
Diane Cardon* Josh Fulton Adam Wright Social Media Team Josh Fulton
Adam Wright
Amy Carlin
Natalie Taylor
Jessica Reschke
Senior Designer
Senior Designer
Advertising Advisor
Social Media Advisor
Design Advisor
Bonnie Brown Cara Gillespie Jill Hacking Jenna Hoffman Laura Jackson* Amanda Wind Advertising Team
Robert V. Faulkner* Andy Kyle Susie Wahlquist *Team Leader
Dallin Law
Rachel Peters
Julie Ogborn
Web Advisor
Editorial Advisor
Editorial Advisor
Printed by Brigham Young University Press
6 ▶ fall 2014
Editor in Chief
Stowaway is produced as a project for English Language 430R, Editing for Publication, the capstone class of the editing minor at Brigham Young University. All staff members contributed to planning, writing, editing, designing, and advertising. The views expressed in this publication are solely the views of the authors and do not represent the views or opinions of BYU. Stowaway takes inspiration from the words of Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
Photography by Camilla Myrrha
© 2014 Marvin K. Gardner 4045 JFSB, Brigham Young University Provo, Utah 84602
Marvin K. Gardner
Photo by Tyler Smith
editor’s note
Often when we learn about other cultures through travel or some other means, we see it as an opportunity to learn about someone or something not within our previous realm of experience. However, as I’ve experienced different cultures through learning and performing their dances over the past several years with the folk dance program at BYU, I’ve come to realize that in learning about others, I learn about myself. As I’ve danced the dances of other cultures, I have come to find things that I identify with personally in different styles. I love the spirited enthusiasm in Mexican, the joy in Israeli, the strength in Hungarian, the grace in Irish, and the mystery in classical Indian. As I’ve learned these different styles, I’ve learned to access what they emphasize—joy, strength, grace, and everything else. I felt similarly when I lived in Japan—the more I came to know the people, the more they became a part of me. And when I came back to America, I retained the parts of
Japanese culture that I admired and respected. It’s also rewarding to find bits of your culture in others. Last year, I was in China on a dance study abroad, and I had the opportunity to perform a cowboy dance with a cast that included Chinese and American students. Even though I am only slightly familiar with cowboy culture, it’s still something I identify as American, and there was something deeply rewarding about seeing my new Chinese friends portraying my culture and having a blast doing it. There was no thought of inauthenticity in my mind, just gratitude that they were willing to experience my world and that I was able to experience theirs. I hope that in this issue of Stowaway, you have the opportunity to not just see someone else’s world but the opportunity to see your own world through someone else’s eyes. I’ve been able to see many such worlds as I’ve worked with my peers: the beautiful capital of Armenia (p. 44), a Rwanda different than the
one I heard about in the news years ago (p. 16), the theaters of London (p. 58), ancient Maya murals (p. 26), and more. The cultures I’ve read about while working on this issue of Stowaway have shifted my paradigm in ways that I’m sure will be more clear to me the next time I travel. But for now, it’s enough to know that my perceptions toward traveling have already changed. I hope that as you experience the cultures within Stowaway’s pages— their quirks and their charms—you will not only come to appreciate them but will also allow them to change your world. As Marcel Proust said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
Thomas Call, Managing Editor
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 7
For the Love of Fruit
Harvest Festivals
The crunch of leaves underfoot and the smell of a fresh pie in the oven can mean only one thing: autumn is here! Take a look at some of the fun fall festivals happening this season across the United States. — Holly Smith
Huckleberry Festival
The Annual Huckleberry Festival in Bingen, Washington, marks the beginning of September in this Pacific Northwest town. Bingen is a small town known for its accessibility to many outdoor activities such as skiing, windsurfing, mountain biking, fishing, hunting. Visitors will find jams, jellies, and pies featuring fresh huckleberries. Bands and other entertainers put on live shows, and activities for families with small children are also available. The Saturday morning parade features local floats made by the festival sponsors. The Huckleberry Festival also offers opportunities to participate in a variety of weekend-long service projects benefitting local charities. ▶▶
huckle-berryfest.com
• •
Mandarin Festival
The California Mandarin can be traced back to Europe, where they have grown since the time of the Greeks and Romans. Auburn, California, is home to a three-day festival celebrating mandarin oranges and other locally grown citrus. Each year, over 25,000 people head to northern California to stock up on mandarins and sample an impressive variety of foods featuring mandarins. The festival also features the Mandarin Recipe Contest, which is open to all visitors. The festival is held the weekend before Thanksgiving (November 21–23, 2014). ▶▶
mandarinfestival.com
Tontitown Grape Festival
Held mid-August in Tontitown, Arkansas, the Grape Festival celebrates the prominence and history of the grape in this community. Tontitown was settled by Italian immigrants, who initially grew apples as their main crop. Eventually, the apple market collapsed, forcing residents into farming grapes full time. This year marks the 116th year of the festival. In addition to touring the local museum and church, festival-goers can enjoy the free live performances each evening, participate in the Run for the Grapes 5K, experience a grape stomp, and see the crowning of Queen Concordia—the queen of the festival. ▶▶
tontitowngrapefestival.com
8 ▶ fall 2014
happenings
Bayfield Apple Festival
This year, the shores of Lake Superior in Bayfield, Wisconsin, will host the 53rd Annual Bayfield Apple Festival. It will take place September 26 and October 3–5. The festival celebrates apples through a parade, as well as a large pie and dessert contest. Bayfield has over 14 local orchards, where attendants can pick produce straight off the tree or vine. The carnival-like celebration culminates in a grand parade with a “Mass Band” finale you won’t want to miss. ▶▶
bayfield.org/bayfield-activities/bayfield-apple-festival/
Marshall County Blueberry Festival
This festival, held on Labor Day weekend in Marshall County, Indiana, is Indiana’s largest four-day festival. Vendors gather from across the United States to sell their products (especially food) at the massive fair. In addition, the festival provides several activities, including volleyball, tennis, horse pulls, hot air balloon rides, and a popular Blueberry Stomp 5K/15K race. The fair also provides live entertainment all weekend on multiple stages, as well as fireworks, a pageant, and a parade. Visitors can also enjoy a variety of treats highlighting fresh blueberries, such as pies, cheesecakes, ice cream, and even doughnuts. ▶▶
blueberryfestival.org
• •
• •
Chatsworth Cranberry Festival
The Annual Chatsworth Cranberry Festival is held in Chatsworth, New Jersey, in mid-October. Chatsworth was settled in the 1700s, but the farming of cranberries didn’t begin until the late 1800s. Since then, the town has expanded to an area of over 73,000 acres and is the home of the third largest cranberry harvest in the United States. The festival also showcases live music and an antique automobile show that included more than 100 automobiles last year. ▶▶
cranfest.org
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 9
JUNE 5 - OCT 17
AUG 1 - OCT 16
MAY 29 - OCT 18
SPECIAL SAVINGS ON SEASON PACKAGES! 2014 TUACAHN CONCERT SERIES ABBAMANIA
WILLIE NELSON
VINCE GILL & AMY GRANT
JOURNEY UNAUTHORIZED SAT, APR 26
FRI, MAR 21
FRI, MAR 28
$16.50 - $27.50
$59.50 - $79.50
PROFESSIONAL BULL RIDERS SAT, MAY 3
BEACH BOYS
THRILLER
FRI, MAY 9 | SAT, MAY 10 $39.50 - $69.50
OCT 24 - OCT 31
SAT, NOV 15
$18.50 - $28.50
$19.50 - $39.50
$29.50 - $39.50
ACOUSTIC SHOW
FRI, APR 11
$16.50 - $22.50
$49.50 - $69.50
AIR SUPPLY
MANY MORE CONCERTS COMING SOON! SAVE 20% on select 2014 concerts with purchase of 3-show package. Limited time only. 10 ▶ fall 2014
(866) 321-5065
Expect the Unforgettable
TUACAHN.ORG
Getaways 12
Garmisch: A Charming Winter Getaway
14
Back to the Roots: Farming Festival in Upstate New York
Ski the slopes and explore the streets of this delightful mountain resort village.
Step into the past and get your hands dirty in this traditional farming village.
16
Rwanda Renewed
18
Luang Prabang: The Perfect Place to Stop in Laos
Brady Grayson remembers his memorable trip through this African nation.
Revel in the beauty and culture of the last untouched city of Laos.
20
Follow the Acorns
Walk the Pennine way through the quiet English countryside.
Monks are an integral part of many Asian cultures. Photo by Jenna Hoffman
www.stowawaymag.com â—€ 11
Garmisch
A Charming Winter Getaway One visit to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, feels like stepping into a perfect postcard picture. During the winter holidays, this village feels like it could be home. Located near famous Neuschwanstein Castle, often referred to as Sleeping Beauty’s castle, this quaint German town is easy to miss. Many pass by without even realizing it. But on your next visit to see Sleeping Beauty’s castle draped in snow, spend the winter weekend in Garmisch and enjoy skiing, seeing stunning mountaintop views, eating traditional foods, and perusing the enchanting Christmas market. In Garmisch, stretches of snowcovered fields rest at the foot of the most majestic mountain peaks in Germany. Zugspitze, the most captivating peak, is nearly 10,000 feet in altitude. It is the highest and most popular ski area in Germany and includes Germany’s largest glaciers. Garmisch hosts three other major slopes and is well known as a ski resort town. Ski season typically begins in December, attracting skiers of all skill levels.
12 ▶ fall 2014
Seeing
If you don’t ski, there are plenty of other activities for you to enjoy. You might visit the ski jumps where the 1936 Winter Olympics were held or take a gondola lift to the top of Zugspitze Mountain. Imagine what it would feel like to stand on top of the world and look across the snowcapped peaks, the sun making the snow-covered mountains sparkle. This is what it feels like on top of the Zugspitze. You’d better be sure to bundle up though because it can be pretty cold at 10,000 feet.
Tasting
After you spend a crisp morning skiing or visiting sites, you can reenergize with some hearty German food. You might try the schnitzel (breaded veal cutlet) with fries and a hint of lemon or sample a variety of wurst (sausages) that look particularly appetizing. Each meal is bound to leave you satisfied and quite full. Garmisch is also known for creating tasty treats in its bakeries, so skip dessert at the restaurant and walk down to the closest bakery for your sugar fix. You might try the Berliner, a
Top: photo by MihiScholl
Skiing
getaways
delicious doughnut. President John F. Kennedy may have contributed to the fame of this doughnut when, on a visit to Berlin, he said, “Ich bin ein Berliner,” meaning “I am one with the people from Berlin.” Now many like to joke about the dual interpretation, claiming Kennedy admitted he was a jelly-filled doughnut!
Celebrating
From left: photography by digital cat and Poul-Werner Dam
As evening settles in, bundle up in warm clothes and take a stroll around the lit-up downtown to the Christkindlmarkt. This Christmas market typically operates from the
end of November through Christmas Eve. Listen to the sounds of jolly accordion music dancing down the street, smell the irresistible aroma of candy-coated roasted almonds wafting through the crisp air, and admire the delicate handicrafts of local vendors. It’s easy to see that the talent in this small town is impressive and that this is the place to find that perfect, one-of-a-kind souvenir. Local woodworkers carve Nativity sets, jewelry boxes, furniture, and intricate Christmas ornaments. One of the most popular German ornaments is the nutcracker, complete with a
small string or handle you can move to open its jaw and crack walnuts. You can also admire the work of local seamstresses, who hand-stitch beautiful lace tablecloths and doilies. No matter your interests, a visit to Garmisch-Partenkirchen is bound to delight. The breathtaking views, delicious meals, and magical Christmas-filled evenings will captivate you and leave you wanting more. Rather than gazing longingly at those postcard-worthy photos, plan your next December weekend in Garmisch. ▶▶
gapa.de
—Bonnie Brown
Top: Take a gondola lift to the top of the Zugspitze Mountain and enjoy breathtaking views. Left: Visit a bakery for a famous pastry. Right: Take a stroll through the Christmas market and admire the delicate handiwork of the locals.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 13
Back to the Roots Farming Festival in Upstate New York
About 200 miles from the big city, Cooperstown’s Farmers’ Museum includes a working farmstead with a re-created historic village and other agricultural attractions. Year-round, the museum displays historic collections from nineteenth-century America. One of the most interesting collections is “Plowline: Images of Rural New York.” This collection features images that chronicle the rural lives and practices of farming
14 ▶ fall 2014
families in New York beginning in the nineteenth century. In total, the museum has more than 23,000 items in its varying collections. Check out the collections to see authentic pictures and items that show what life was like for early American farmers. While there are year-round events and activities, the Harvest Festival in September is a particularly great way to experience the museum. At the Harvest Festival, you can learn about
and experience historic American farming culture and get a piece of other timeless American traditions as well. For example, at harvest time, you can get your hands dirty by handscything hay or harvesting potatoes. Experts can even show you how to press apple cider. In addition, an abundance of delicious seasonal food is grown on the farm. And if you’re looking for more than fruits and
Photo by Chiot’s Run
New York often brings to mind the big city. But much of the state considers itself, and very proudly so, to be “upstate” and vastly different from the Big Apple. Step into the past and experience the culture of the farmstead in Cooperstown, New York. Best known for housing the Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown is known locally for celebrating another decidedly American tradition just outside its city limits: Harvest Festival at The Farmers’ Museum.
Photography by Chris Evans
getaways
vegetables, you can also try the delicious pork, chili, and hot dogs sold during the festival. Other traditional American festival activities are also available during the Harvest Festival. Kids can play historic games, such as bobbing for apples, or they can make rope or learn to create other nineteenthcentury crafts. There is also a Junior Livestock Show for children around Cooperstown to show off their prized animals. Other special activities include an alpaca agility obstacle course, horse-drawn wagon rides, and the Empire State Carousel. The farm itself is a step back in time. The museum’s president, Dr. Paul D’Ambrosio, says, “The Farmers’ Museum has continued to give visitors a daily experience that allows them to step into the past and learn and enjoy ways of life that they scarcely knew existed.” Allow yourself a weekend to immerse yourself in a past way of life and take part in timeless American harvest culture. ▶▶
farmersmuseum.org
—Amanda Wind
Seasonal Events ▶▶
Summertime Weeklong Experiences for Children
▶▶
October 18, 24, and 25: Things That Go Bump in the Night
▶▶
November 28 and 29: Thanksgiving at the Farm
▶▶
December 13: Candlelight Evening
Year-Round Activities ▶▶
Group Tours of the Historic Village
▶▶
Plowline: Images of Rural New York
Top left: Ride the Empire State Carousel, which has 25 hand-carved animals and curved murals depicting New York’s monuments. Top right: Try out the corn-husking machine and other agricultural tools. Above: Visitors of all ages can get their hands dirty helping to handscythe and bale hay.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 15
Rwanda Renewed As Brady Grayson sets out for his morning run, he notices that this city is different from Kampala, Uganda, which he left the day before. Drivers of cars observe the speed limit. Motorcycle taxis have reflectors, and their drivers wear helmets. The streets are clean. As he runs through the city and toward the outskirts, he attracts the stares of many of the locals. This doesn’t surprise him. It’s not every day you see a tall, gangly white man running through the streets of Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
Kigali Memorial Centre
Nearly 20 years ago, a terrible genocide occurred in Rwanda. Over a period of nearly three months, thousands of Tutsi were brutally killed by Hutu extremists. The memories of the victims are immortalized
16 ▶ fall 2014
throughout the country, including at the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre. The centre comprises three major exhibitions: one documents the Rwanda genocide, one reviews the history of genocide around the world, and one is a children’s memorial. Visitors can enter and take pictures of the outside grounds for free, but they need to pay a fee to take pictures inside the museum or to have a guided tour.
Hotel Rwanda
The Hotel des Milles Collines, featured in the famous movie Hotel Rwanda, served as a refuge for over 1,200 people during the genocide. But now you can stay in one of its 112 rooms or eat at one of its
four restaurants. The Panorama Restaurant is on the fourth floor of the hotel, offering modern French cuisine as well as a variety of international foods. In the evenings, you can venture over to the Pool Bar & Restaurant, where live bands entertain guests with a variety of music from oldies to Afro-Fusion. “The food was great and the atmosphere was even better,” says Grayson.
Lake Kivu
About two hours west of Kigali, one of East Africa’s great lakes, Lake Kivu, is 55 miles (90 km) long and 30 miles (48 km) wide, stretching to a depth of over 1,500 feet. The lake is unique in Africa because it has no crocodiles or hippopotamuses, so visitors can
Photo by Mark Skipper
An undergraduate doing research in Uganda for the summer, Grayson had boarded a bus the day before with some of his fellow researchers. They had ridden 13 hours to reach the nearby country of Rwanda. Once there, they experienced the country’s unique mix of solemn remembrance of the past and bright hopes for the future.
getaways
From left: photography by Katie Taylor and Meaghan O’Neill
swim safely in its waters. You can hire one of the locals to take you on a boat ride and visit one of the islands, or you can rent a bicycle and tour the perimeter of the lake. While Brady enjoys these sites, his most memorable experience in
Rwanda occurs when he runs into a group of children, singing and dancing with their teacher. Clouds of dirt billow around the children’s sandals as they stomp their feet and clap their hands in rhythm. Their voices project over the valley, filling the air with
happiness and energy. A zeal for life shines in their eyes, and the future of Rwanda looks bright once again. ▶▶
www.gov.rw
—Susie Wahlquist
Top left: The luscious greenery of Rwanda is a soothing sight. Bottom left: A tour boat for Hotel Malahide Paradis docks on the shore following a routine tour of Lake Kivu. Right: Mirthful children in the Virunga Village stand ready to sing and dance some more.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 17
Luang Prabang
On all sides, blue mountains emerge from the thick emerald forest like silent stunted sentinels. Glassy gray meandering rivers reflect slivers of the sky, peppered occasionally with flocks of silhouetted birds. This is a sacred and seldom-seen corner of the world—the perfect place to stop and soak in the stunning beauty of Laos.
Nestled on a small peninsula between the Mekong and Khan Rivers, the town of Luang Prabang, Laos, looks like an illustration out of a weathered volume of fairy tales. Often called “The Last Untouched City of Southeast Asia,” Luang Prabang has been casting its veritable charm on visitors for centuries. The natural splendor of the town is complemented by its unique culture and architecture. Like the whole of Laos, Luang Prabang has been shaped by a gamut of social and political groups over the centuries, but perhaps the most noticeable outside influence has been the French. With its quaint cobblestone streets, delicious baguettes, and decorative brick buildings, Luang Prabang exhibits a unique fusion of French and Southeast Asian style and tradition that may take some visitors by surprise. “I cannot quite explain it, but I honestly was in awe the entire time I was in Luang Prabang,” says Meredith Chapman, a recent visitor
18 ▶ fall 2014
from southern California. “When the butterflies passed me by, I had to honestly consider if I had died and gone to heaven. Laos was colonized by the French, so we munched on countless baguettes while watching the locals ride their bikes with parasols in one hand. It looked quite like France and Thailand had a love child.” A week in Luang Prabang will provide plenty of time to relax in the charming boutique-style rooms and experience the must-sees. In addition to taking a dip in the waterfalls, riding elephants, and visiting the plethora of wats (Buddhist temples), here are five things you cannot miss during your stay in Luang Prabang.
Climb the Mountain At the center of town, Phousi Mountain juts into the sky to offer a breathtaking panoramic view of Luang Prabang. For a small fee, you can scale the 328 zigzag steps to the top, where you will find the beautiful and sacred Wat Chomsi. As you
look out over the town, you’ll notice the French influence in the red terracotta-style roofs and the orthogonal street system. If you get the timing right, you can witness the otherworldly sunset that bleeds over the Mekong River every evening as the monks beat out a haunting rhythm on the ritual drum.
Feed the Monks
Sai Bat, the monks’ morning procession of alms-gathering, is a unique opportunity for visitors to connect with Buddhist tradition. If you’re willing to get up before the sun does, you can catch the daily parade of orange-robed monks, who pad single file through the streets in the blue dust of dawn. Locals and visitors alike sit along the streets to watch the ritual procession. If you’d like to participate in the alms-giving, enthusiastic street vendors will gladly sell you rice or other food that you can drop in the monks’ baskets as they pass by.
getaways
Browse the Markets The streets of Luang Prabang are lined with small shops that offer an impressive array of wares. From Hmong textiles and silver jewelry to silk skirts and hand-painted canvasses, there is bound to be a shopkeeper in town who has something for you. If the day’s shopping doesn’t satiate your appetite for souvenirs, in the evenings the main road is transformed into a tunnel of crimson tents, beneath which local vendors sell provincial handicrafts. Most of the goods here are handcrafted, but there are some vendors with especially unique skills such as woodcarving, doll-making, and rug-weaving.
More Than a Tourist Destination With the shockingly blue waterfalls, sparkling gold-and-red wats, and exotic scenery in Luang Prabang, it’s easy to slip into the belief that you are so far removed from the rest of the world that your worries and cares will never find you. However, a contrived, sour mood can settle over the town during tourist season (November through May). This occurs when many travelers abandon cultural sensitivity in the name of photos and fun. When you visit, remember that Luang Prabang is more than a tourist destination. It is home to people of a rich cultural and religious heritage. Perhaps the best trip to Luang Prabang is one in which you take the time to appreciate and understand the people, rather than trying to haggle the best bargain or snap the prettiest photo. Breaking away from the typical tourist crowd will enrich your experience.
Ferry the Mekong
Photography by Jean-Michel Baud
You cannot forgo experiencing the wonders of Luang Prabang from the majesty of the Mekong River. Most boat tours offer rides to the sacred Buddhist Pak Ou caves or to one of the local weavers’ villages. But floating the Mekong is as much about the journey as it is about the destination. From the boat, you can see local fishermen on the lookout for a fresh catch as they wade through the shallows with hand-woven nets. You can see farmers tending the terraced gardens that are carefully carved into the river banks and fathers skimming by on smaller boats, trying to teach their children the ways of the water. Take this time to sit back and study the Mekong’s mirror of mountains and sky, contemplate the lifestyle of the Laotians, or simply rest your feet and dip your toes into the cool water.
Visit Big Brother Mouse
Looking for a way to contribute while in Laos? Big Brother Mouse is a nonprofit organization in Luang Prabang that offers visitors the opportunity
Rain or shine, monks line up every morning to collect alms.
to provide meaningful service. Established in an effort to encourage literacy in young adults, Big Brother Mouse welcomes tourists who want to help local Lao people with English reading and conversation. The locals are always eager to test their English skills on native English-speakers— two-hour conversation sessions are offered every morning and evening.
This is an excellent way to connect with residents of Luang Prabang and perhaps expand your cultural horizons. Donations of books in both Lao and English are also appreciated. ▶▶
tourismluangprabang.org
—Jenna Hoffman
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 19
Follow the Acorns The sun is sinking into the everlastingly green knolls of the English countryside, covering the valley in a glow that makes this picturesque landscape almost seem unreal. A trail winds through the scene, a thin line of worn land in some places and nothing more than an indentation in the grass in others. As Audrey Edholm, a BYU student from Orem, Utah, follows this trail over hills, through sheep pastures, and alongside stone walls, she can’t shake the feeling that she is in a movie. Alongside the trail is a wooden post stuck in the ground with the figure of an acorn and the words “Pennine Way” carved into its surface. Seeing this, she smiles because she knows that no matter where it is, an acorn is always a good sign—it means she’s on the right path. Acorns, the symbol of Britain’s National Trails, can be seen all along the Pennine Way. “It’s like getting little Valentines,” says Bess Hayes, a BYU graduate student from Salt Lake City, Utah, who has hiked portions of the Pennine Way multiple times on study abroad programs. Carved into the wood of a gate or painted onto a small sign, these symbols point the direction you should go. The Pennine Way is a 268-mile walking trail that extends from Edale in Derbyshire, England, all the way to Kirk Yetholm, a village near the Scottish border. This is one of Britain’s most acclaimed national trails and was the first one to be built.
20 ▶ fall 2014
It takes the average hiker 16 to 19 days to travel the entire length. But the long, winding nature of the trail makes it suitable for both long hikes and short walks, depending on what you’re up for. The Pennine winds through miles of uninterrupted countryside, passes the occasional small town, and sometimes follows meandering farm roads. “I love that the Pennine is well-trafficked enough that you can encounter other ramblers along the way, but it’s also long enough that there are long stretches where you never see anyone,” Hayes explains. “Whether it’s the Haworth moors, the brain-like Malham Cove, or the strange garlic fairyland of Janet’s Foss, it makes me feel like I’ve been sucked into a nineteenth-century novel: it’s all magical.”
The Infamous Moors If you begin your hike in Haworth, England, you can traverse the both famous and infamous moors that inspired the Brontë sisters to write their classic gothic novels Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. You can even
see the ruins of an old farmhouse, called Top Withins, nestled within blankets of heather. The house is believed to have been Emily Brontë’s inspiration for the Earnshaw family’s home in Wuthering Heights. The moors ebb and flow with rolling hills dotted in dark browns, dusty tans, and muted purples. “It has an austere beauty,” says Edholm, who hiked over 13 miles through the moors. “It’s kind of a love-hate relationship.” The occasional stream can be seen meandering through the moorlands, creating hidden bogs that you must run through quickly unless you want your boots to be sucked into the mud, the moors claiming your footwear as their own. And you need to be prepared for strong winds and unpredictable rains, regular moorland weather patterns that only add to the gothic drama of the landscape.
Malham Cove
Once you pass through the moors, you’ll enter a greener landscape full of a different kind of wonder—Malham Cove, a massive natural limestone
getaways
formation that will impress you with its sheer enormity. This formation was once a prehistoric waterfall, but now the only water that can be seen comes spouting from below the cliffs after traveling through a system of caves that lie under the cliff. If you’re up for it, you can explore these caves through scuba diving. But if you prefer to keep your head above water, you can climb the 400 stone steps to the top of Malham Cove and gaze over miles of pure English countryside. But look down, too, because the irregular cracked surface is breathtaking in itself—magical enough to be used in the filming of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.
Janet’s Foss in Fairyland
Photography by Cara Gillespie
If the smell of fresh garlic is hanging in the air, wafting over your senses in waves, then it’s likely you’ve arrived in fairyland. The garlic smell comes from the abundance of wild garlic plants growing in the area. There is
a certain mist in the air that seems full of secrets, and a soft roar can be heard through the foliage. If you continue down the trail, you’ll see a waterfall spilling into a small pool of water. This is Janet’s Foss. You wouldn’t know it unless someone told you, but behind those falls there is a secret cave where the fairy queen Janet herself is rumored to dwell. The trees surrounding Janet’s Foss are mossy, and the fallen trunks next to the trail are covered in British coins, weathered and bent after being hammered into the wooden surface for good luck. If you’re smart, you’ll hammer one in, too.
Sheep, Sheep Everywhere
As you walk through these magical landscapes, you are certain to see sheep. Large portions of the trail go through pastures and farmland, so you are bound to eventually follow the Pennine over rock walls and through sheep pastures. “Sheep are inextricable from the experience of
walking the Pennine,” Hayes says.
Harboring in Hostels
Besides seeing the acorn signs, you’ll also see signs for local Youth Hostel Association (YHA) hostels posted periodically along the way. There are YHA hostels in Haworth, Earby (a town between Haworth and Malham), and Malham, where you can stay along the way. They offer cheap rates; clean, quality rooms and community spaces; and kitchen facilities. At the hostels in Earby and Malham, you can literally walk straight from the trail into the door of the hostel to rest your tired feet. And when the morning breaks over the English hills, the acorns will be there to guide you back to the Pennine. But book your nights in advance because these places fill up quickly. You wouldn’t want to be left spending the night curled up with a sheep, would you? ▶▶
nationaltrail.co.uk/pennine-way
— Cara Gillespie
Opposite: There is an image caption that will go here. Left: Bring along a British coin and hammer it into this fallen tree trunk near Janet’s Foss for good luck. Middle: Sights like this mother sheep and her two lambs are common occurrences along the Pennine Way. Right: One of the many signposts inscribed with the iconic acorn, indicating the traveler is still on the right path.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 21
22 â–ś fall 2014
Choose learning Most of us learn in more ways than one. Experiential learning takes place outside the classroom while academic learning is typically inside the classroom. So why not put them together? With BYU Independent Study online courses, learning becomes portable. You can take your coursework with you wherever you go and experience firsthand life in Malaysia, a theatre in London, or backpacking in Nepal. Sign up for a course anytime with a full year to complete it. Set your own deadlines and create your own schedule. You can even look at the syllabus before you enroll so you know exactly what’s expected. Choose learning.
www.stowawaymag.com elearn.byu.edu • 1-800-914-8931◀ 23
You don’t have the time to think about your finances.
But we do! J. Murray Smith
Certified Public Accountant 4017 E. 7th Street Long Beach, CA 90804 Telephone: (562) 438-9991 Fax: (562) 438-4252 E-Mail: murmatic@aol.com
Tax Return Preparation, Accounting, and Estate and Financial Planning
24 â–ś fall 2014
Features 26
The Maya Murals of San Bartolo
32
The Carnegie Legacy
38
ANASAZI: Smoothed by Rough Terrain
44
When in Yerevan: Diverse Adventures in the Capital of Armenia
Discover the oldest murals found in the Maya world and glimpse the long-gone culture revealed in these works of history and art.
New York’s Carnegie Hall isn’t the only building that attests to Andrew Carnegie’s generosity. Visit several other libraries and music halls sponsored by the famous philanthropist.
This youth wilderness therapy program changes the hearts of participants and volunteers alike.
Follow the metro and experience art, culture, and history across Armenia’s capital city.
50
“Faith in America”: A Photographic Journey See how one photographer’s trek across the country is revealing hope, hearts, and communities unified through faith.
Participants at ANASAZI find peace as they walk through Arizona’s deserts and learn about more than just wilderness survival. Photo by Caitlin Regan
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 25
Photo Credit: See style guide to review credit wording before writing this.
Maya Murals The
of
26 â–ś fall 2014
Photo Credit: See style guide to review credit wording before writing this.
San Bartolo
By Jill Hacking
www.stowawaymag.com â—€ 27
Through the large gash into the darkness of the hill, jewel tones jumped to life under the flashlight beam. No, that couldn’t be right. Surely dehydration was playing tricks on him. After all, American archaeologist Dr. William Saturno, with the rest of his team of archaeological explorers and native guides, had spent the last three days in the jungle of northern Guatemala with very little food or water.
Nothing of this scope or artistry from this time period had ever been found. a flood of artistic and cultural insight into ancient Maya theology. Under the beam of his flashlight, painted Maya deities danced the world into creation.
Oldest in the Maya World
The murals at San Bartolo are a game-changer for Mayanists (scholars who study the Maya) because in the humid climate, discovering intact Maya paintings is very rare. So rare, in fact, that Saturno’s find is one of only a handful of Maya
Dr. William Saturno has dedicated his life to studying the Maya.
28 ▶ fall 2014
paintings ever discovered—the other significant set being the frescoes at Bonampak, brought to light by British photographer and filmmaker Giles Healey in 1946. The San Bartolo murals are significant beyond just their rare status, though; they are by far the oldest murals yet discovered in the Maya world. These Pre-Classic murals— circa the first century BC—outdate the Late-Classic Bonampak murals— circa AD 790—by almost nine centuries. Nothing of this scope or artistry from this earlier time period had ever been found. Dr. Allen Christenson, renowned Mayanist and translator of the ancient Maya religious text the Popol Vuh, explains, “The next significant fresco cycle would be Tikal in the 300s. San Bartolo predates this by four or five centuries.” The greatest significance of these murals, however, lies in what they depict. The murals give something visually that, up until their discovery, was known only in word: they visually depict the creation of the world in Maya theology. While carvings and other records explain the creation story, the San Bartolo murals provide a complete and concrete depiction of the creation in sequence.
Previous spread: photo by Dennis Jarvis
Their excursion in March 2001 was intended to be a one-day trip to investigate a site where carved stelae (upright monuments) had been discovered by looters. Poor road conditions and a difficult wilderness multiplied the estimated length of the journey and decimated the group’s meager provisions. After hiking 20 kilometers into San Bartolo—more than triple the estimated 6 kilometers—the group was in rough shape. They stopped at a pyramid disguised as a small hill by centuries of jungle growth. The pyramid was pierced through by a looters’ trench—an unfortunately all-toocommon sight. The group set up camp for the evening and went in search of water. Saturno walked to the rear of the pyramid and shined his flashlight into the dark trench, looking for drips down the walls of the cavernous chamber. Surprisingly, what he found was not a trickle of water but
Living Ceremony
Understanding Maya theology is essential for appreciating the theological significance of these murals. Maya theology is cyclical: the world is re-created on a daily basis as it sinks into the underworld every night and is reborn into this world at dawn. The principal creator god in Maya theology is the Maize god, who frequently appears in Maya art in the act of creation. He exists in a symbiotic relationship with mankind: as mankind worships him, he is sustained, and he then sustains mankind. In this immanent Maya theology, deity exists in a very interactive way in the lives of the Maya. This interactivity sanctifies everyday actions. Thus, the act of harvesting and eating maize is the very sacrifice of the Maize god for his people. What a Western view might see as symbolism, the Maya reality knows as active ceremony. Similarly, Maya art is not decorative—there is no Maya word for art. For the Maya, visual representation is a living, perpetually executed ceremony.
symbolic form of the Maize god. He is seen four times in the murals— recognizable by his jaguar-spotted clothing.
The West Wall
Along the west wall, Jun Ajaw creates each of the four layers of the universe and then the fifth (the center). In each stage, he offers his own blood in sacrifice, represented in a distinctive motif of dagger-like flows that contrast with the elegant curling lines of the rest of the narrative. Along with his blood, he provides additional
offerings to generate creation. The offerings at each stage respectively are fish, from the sea; deer, from the land; turkey, from the air; and a germinating seed, symbolic of life. Behind each scene of creation is a beautiful twining tree, intricately patterned and topped with a magnificent bird. The trees are representative of the World Tree—the first tree and a symbol for creation. In the fifth and final scene, the Maize god creates the final layer of the universe: the center. The tree in this scene is different because the bird resting on its branches is the Principal
Photography by Allen Christenson
The Murals
The San Bartolo murals give a complete account of the five stages of the world’s creation and then a scene of a king’s coronation in shades of red, black, and yellow. The west wall depicts the creation process, and the north wall gives the coronation scene. The Maize god is, of course, involved in the creation depicted on the walls of the temple. But in addition, there is another significant figure: Jun Ajaw (Hoon-Ah-HOW). Jun Ajaw is one of the hero twins from the Maya theological text mentioned earlier, the Popol Vuh. He, along with his brother Yax Balam (Yahsh Ba-LAM), is a being of power because he transcended death—he went into Xibalba (She-bal-BA), the underworld, and returned to this world. Literarily, Jun Ajaw is a
Above left: A live deer is offered in sacrifice to facilitate creation. Above right: A man humbly offers water to the Maize God. Below: Jun Ajaw offers his own blood in addition to the animal sacrifice to open the portal and create the world.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 29
The North Wall
The north wall tells a more human story. Now that the universe has been created, a kingship can be established. The king sits atop a patterned scaffold, awaiting the crown carried by a bowing, well-dressed lord. The king’s coronation depicted on this much shorter north wall describes the divinity of the role of king. “The discovery completely changed our perspective on early Maya kings in the lowlands, and the use of creation mythology to justify their existence,” explains Dr. Saturno. The mural reinforces the understanding that the role of the Maya king is inexplicably linked to the role of the Maya creator god. The king has royal blood—the blood of a god—which allows him to carry on acts of creation. Where the
sprawling creation scene functions as the hearty novel, the coronation scene functions as an revelatory epilogue—maybe even a teaser trailer for the sequel, the future when the humans, through their deified kings, will be able to carry on the godly act of creation.
San Bartolo Today
Archaeologists finished excavating the actual mural chamber in 2010, but conservation is ongoing. Environmental conditions are continuously monitored to ensure the safety of the artwork. Additionally, the portions of the wall shattered by the looters were left in fragments on the ground, and archaeologists are still piecing these fragments together. It is a complicated and intricate high-stakes puzzle, but the reward is something unseen by human eyes for over a thousand years—a pretty exhilarating thought. Though the site is not open to the general public, the murals are catalogued and documented using digital
Archaeologists reconstruct the damaged sections of the murals by piecing together the fragments found in the temple.
30 ▶ fall 2014
imaging and scanning. From there, artistic reproductions are made. Artist and archaeologist Heather Hurst has drawn and painted the bulk of these recreations. Currently, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University has an exhibition called Storied Walls, which includes photographs and reproductions of the murals. The museum is open seven days a week; admission is $12 per adult.
Rare, Universal Gifts
The staggering reality of this discovery cannot be overstated. “There’s been nothing like this before,” Dr. Christenson attests. “There were little bits and pieces that you can piece together, but nothing that actually showed the entire sequence of creation with the creator gods, and it’s done in polychrome!” Maya art may seem confusing— even unintelligible—to unaccustomed eyes. But the powerful beauty Mayan artists created can be universally accessible. Dr. Saturno sees this power of connectivity as central to the art’s importance. “I think the most important aspect of the discovery for those unfamiliar with the Maya is that it instantly communicates their incredible artistry and humanity,” he explains. “You don’t need to know much about the Maya to recognize its beauty, and once you are told the story it conveys and learn how long that story has endured, you can feel a connection with a foreign people that you didn’t have before.” The discovery at San Bartolo is not just for archaeologists. As Dr. Saturno suggests, the beauty of the art is an open doorway to understanding. For the visitor who steps inside that doorway, just as Dr. Saturno stepped into the pyramid at San Bartolo, a change of perspective is guaranteed. ▶▶
sanbartolo.org
▶▶
peabody.harvard.edu
Photography by Allen Christenson
Bird Deity. Its presence alerts the viewer that the object it is associated with is charged with life-renewing power. This deity’s appearance at the last stage seals the creation.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 31
Carnegie Legacy
By Laura Jackson
Picture it. New York City. Tickets to a special concert at Carnegie Hall. You walk through the renovated main levels with a sense of awe for all the history breathing within this space. As always, the season lineup is varied—children’s concerts, local orchestras, and big-name performers. For its season opener in October 2014, the Berliner Philharmoniker will honor the hall. 32 ▶ fall 2014
Photo courtesy of Carnegie Hall, Inc.
The
New York City’s Carnegie Hall is well known not only for its history but also for its continuing role as an epicenter for cultural enhancement through its many music education programs and stellar performances. It is a shining gift and a treasure. But did you know there are other music halls and libraries around the world that also bear the name of Carnegie? Some sources say there have been up to 2,500 of them. In many of these buildings, the legacy of Andrew Carnegie lives on today. We will look at Andrew Carnegie’s legacy and then glimpse four of the buildings that bear his name.
From top: photography courtesy of Carnegie Hall Archives and by Jeff Goldberg/Esto
Building a Legacy of Carnegie Halls
Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1835 and immigrated to America with his family at the age of 12. He worked hard and became expert at whatever he tried—going from telegraph operator to one of the wealthiest men alive at the turn of the twentieth century. Carnegie’s rise to the top taught him many things. He learned that sheer determination and savvy investing could take him places. But later in his career, he also embraced the idea that his wealth would do him no good if he held onto it—and he became a legendary philanthropist, giving away through gifts and trusts every cent he made, and leaving nothing to his posterity. Andrew Carnegie knew the value of public libraries because he didn’t always have access to a private library. The first Carnegie building was a public library built in 1883 in his hometown in Scotland. Over the years, countless recipients have benefited directly from his gifts in the form of libraries and music halls built across the United States and abroad. Over the years, many of these libraries and halls have dwindled into
Opposite page: Nestled in the Allegheny Mountains, Carnegie Hall in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, serves more than 75,000 patrons annually. Above: Carnegie Hall in NYC is a timeless monument. Compare these photos taken in 1963 and in 2008.
obscurity, only to be condemned and torn down. Yet some of these cultural centers have been saved by their
communities and continue to fulfill cultural and educational needs in outstanding ways.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 33
Carnegie, Pennsylvania The Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, is best known to its patrons as the Carnegie Carnegie (see photo on page 32). It provides
the community with a library and also offers music education and performances as well as other cultural activities throughout the year. One of the unique aspects of the Carnegie Carnegie is its Civil War Room. Housing invaluable artifacts, the room itself provides a unique historical record of the first part of the century. ▶▶
carnegiecarnegie.org
Carnegie Library Ballinger, Texas
A gift of $12,500 from Andrew Carnegie to the city of Ballinger, Texas, made it possible for this beloved library to be built and opened in 1911. While it has always been used as a library, it also served as an Army-Navy Club during World War II for the cadets from the Harmon Training Center, a flight school for the United States Army Air Force located at Bruce Field. The war took its toll on the town, and the library became neglected until 1975, when the Ballinger Bicentennial Committee worked to restore it. At that time, the Carnegie Library of Ballinger was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, ensuring its future within the community and giving it a rightful place in US history. “The greatest part about the Ballinger Carnegie Library is the historical aspect of it,” says librarian Ruth McVey. “Many Carnegie libraries have been changed from their original state into offices or used for other things, but this one has always remained a library through and through. It’s in working condition. Yes, there are some things that need to be worked on, but it still stands proud and has been doing so for over 100 years.” Seeing this Carnegie library is worth the stop along the highway. From the wood flooring to the upstairs hall and the towering pillars along the front, the library shines like a beacon within the community. ▶▶
bcls.tsl.state.tx.us/carnegie_ballinger
▶▶
carnegiehall.org
Carnegie Hall
Lewisburg, West Virginia Top: The Carnegie Library in Ballinger, Texas, celebrates its 113th anniversary this year. Above: The spacious Mary Sykes Auditorium in Ballinger may be leased for weddings, banquets, and other events.
34 ▶ fall 2014
A fire destroyed the Lewisburg Female Institute in 1901. This tragedy led Dr. Robert Lee Telford, then president of the school, to contact Andrew Carnegie to ask for funding for a
From top: photography courtesy of Carnegie Hall, Inc. and Carnegie Library of Ballinger
The Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall
From top: photography courtesy of Carnegie Library of Ballinger and Dunfermline Carnegie Library
replacement. When Dr. Telford was able to get James Laing, a trustee for the school and a native of Dunfermline, Scotland, to meet Mr. Carnegie, he received funding to replace the building. No expense was spared for the new structure. A bowling alley, a laundry room, and a chapel became part of the school, in addition to the classrooms. Through the years, the building’s uses continually transformed until it was on the brink of demolition. Fortunately, the building was saved by the efforts of area residents, who organized the not-for-profit Carnegie Hall, Inc., to serve four surrounding counties in West Virginia. Visitors will find a pleasing array of art exhibits and performances to enhance their trip to the mid-Atlantic region. ▶▶
carnegiehallwv.com
Carnegie Library
Dunfermline, Scotland The Dunfermline Carnegie Library is the first Carnegie-funded free
Top: Galleries in the Carnegie Hall in Lewisberg, West Virginia, exhibit art year-round and are free to the public. Above: First opened in 1883, the Carnegie Library in Dunfermline, Scotland (Carnegie’s hometown), is still a functional facility.
library in the world and is prized within the community. Youths, teachers, and parents make frequent use of this historical yet functional facility. Judith Todd, a patron, explains that she uses the library not only to
borrow books but, more importantly, to “share stories” with her children. Another patron, Elizabeth Simpson, age 14, says she reads so much that she couldn’t afford to buy that many books. The financial efforts by the
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 35
Lottery Heritage Fund, Fife Council, and the Carnegie Dunfermline Trust contribute to keeping the Carnegie Dunfermline Library in beautiful working order. This library closed in April 2014 for renovations and for the additions of a museum and art gallery; re-opening is slated for August 2016. Efforts are being made to preserve the original woodcarvings and ironwork, among other things. Because of the historical and practical value to the community—and because of great interest from eager travelers— accommodations have been made for
local residents and visitors to retain access to library services during the transformation of this treasure’s outer surface. These four magnificent buildings and many others that bear Carnegie’s name serve their communities in unique ways and help to preserve the communities’ history. Learn more about Carnegie and his philanthropy by visiting his namesake landmarks that are still making a significant mark on the lives of patrons. ▶▶
onfife.com/venues/ carnegie-hall/overview
More Carnegie Halls Braddock Carnegie Library, Braddock, Pennsylvania ▶▶
braddockcarnegielibrary.org
Carnegie Arts Centre, Kenmare, Ireland ▶▶
kenmare.com/local-services/ carnegie-arts-centre
Carnegie Museum, Livermore, California ▶▶
livermorehistory.com
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ▶▶
carnegiemuseums.org
“The man who dies rich dies in disgrace.”
The reference department in the Carnegie Library in Dunfermline, Scotland, is both functional and beautiful.
36 ▶ fall 2014
Photo courtesy of Dunfermline Carnegie Library
—Andrew Carnegie
RELOCATION PAYS Gain your international experience. Network, apply, go abroad. Visit Viktyo.com/stowaway
TM
Jobs - Internships - Volunteer - Study Abroad - Academic Institutions
No matter where you go,
START HERE
BYU CLOTHING • BYU GIFTS • SCRIPTURES • JOURNALS • PENS/PENCILS • PLANNERS • BACKPACKS • TRAVEL TREATS BOOKS • DEVICES WITH GPS & MUSIC • TRAVEL BOOKS • LANGUAGE BOOKS • TOTES • CELL PHONES & PLANS AND MORE TO MAKE YOUR TRIP COMPLETE!
ANASAZI Smoothed by Rough Terrain By Amanda Wind
38 â–ś fall 2014
Left: photo by Matthew W. Robinson; Right: photo courtesy of ANASAZI Foundation
At ANASAZI, TrailWalkers provide help, encouragement, and knowledge of the trail for YoungWalker in their charge.
“At one point, I was standing in waistdeep, freezing-cold water, catching kids as they slid down a steep rock wall. I remember thinking, ‘I am so fired if we ever get out of here.’” For Elicia Schwendiman, a former TrailWalker from Shelley, Idaho, for ANASAZI—a youth wilderness therapy program—this was her toughest moment on the trail. Through some miscalculation, the group of youth that she and three other TrailWalkers were leading ended up in the wrong canyon, crossing more difficult terrain than they had expected. One of the other TrailWalkers had sprained her ankle, so Schwendiman led the group of youth alone as the two other TrailWalkers went back to get medical help. “There were huge cliffs and scary drop-offs,” Schwendiman explains.
“We ended up sleeping in the canyon on a pile of rocks with a mountain lion far away up on the ridge across from us.” Leading her group through unfamiliar and tricky terrain, Schwendiman realized she had to step up. “It terrified me to lead the group, but I learned I am capable and can be confident in myself.”
The Purpose in Walking
The confidence Schwendiman gained working for ANASAZI is only one of the goals of this program, both for leaders and for youth. Ultimately, their time in the wilderness is meant to facilitate healing, personal
reflection, and a change of heart— all without contrived situations or forced activities. To participate in the program, YoungWalkers (teens 12–17) and Sinagua (young adults 18 and older) spend at least seven weeks hiking through Arizona’s desert wilderness. On average, three bands of two to four TrailWalkers and one to eight YoungWalkers are hiking along the trail at any given time, year-round. Kathryn Smith, a former TrailWalker from Payson, Utah, learned about the program in a college class and decided to work for the foundation as part of her undergraduate studies. “My professor has such high praise for the foundation, saying that it is different from other wilderness therapy programs,” explains
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 39
The Role of a TrailWalker
TrailWalkers navigate from camp to camp and promote the well-being of the YoungWalkers. These responsibilities include more than just referring to the map and making sure everyone is healthy, although those are significant parts of their jobs. Smith explains, “I learned that my role as a TrailWalker was to walk alongside the YoungWalkers as their own journeys unfolded.” While the teens visit with assigned therapists in camp each
week, much more of their time is spent alongside TrailWalkers. At first, Smith says she had a hard time understanding where the kids were coming from. “They had dealt with some really serious difficulties that I had never experienced,” she says. “I learned that they needed someone to really listen to them.”
Opportunities for Reflection and Growth
YoungWalkers are given many opportunities to learn about themselves. One of these opportunities comes early in the experience: TrailWalkers give each new member of the group a trail name that represents the good qualities they have seen in the individual. They also give each new
member a letter detailing the meaning of the name. Smith’s name was Blue Bird of the Silver Wind. Wind can be a gentle influence, but it must be tempered; through her name, Smith was continually warned to measure her words so they would never be too strong. The trail name given to a YoungWalker is intended to strengthen and guide him or her in exploration of the self. Many titles and names have special significance at ANASAZI. The term “Sinagua” refers to Native American people of the same name who lived in what is now central Arizona, and the term “ANASAZI” refers to another Native American people. TrailWalkers are called such because these leaders are no better than the YoungWalkers—they just have special knowledge of the trail. This symbolic use of trail names and titles allows a
“Maybe these kids just haven’t ever had a moment to really think about what they want, what is right, what to do. In the wilderness, everything gets quiet.”
Below: photo by Panayiotis Filippou
Smith. The principles of ANASAZI emphasize how to find peace, and, like many of the youth she worked with, Smith found peace on the quiet trails in Arizona’s desert.
Right: photo courtesy of ANASAZI Foundation
participant to better understand himself or herself in the context of the surrounding world. Another chance for reflection comes in evening fire circles. Each person has a chance to talk without interruption about a specific topic chosen by any member of the group. During hikes, leaders also start discussions about a variety of topics. On other days, a silent hike allows YoungWalkers to spend time in their own minds, considering both their current situation and situations at home with friends and family. “Wilderness therapy removes kids not only from their own environment but also from the noise of the world,” explains Smith. “Maybe these kids just haven’t ever had a moment to really think about what they want, what is right, what to do. In the wilderness, everything gets quiet.” As the teens spend each day walking, they also learn from the natural decision-making processes required by their environment. “It is all about choices and natural consequences,” says Schwendiman. “For example, if a kid decides that he doesn’t want to hike, no one makes him hike.” But then the whole group can’t hike, and sitting around camp gets boring
The YoungWalkers begin to look outward as they spend time getting to know the other members of their group and sharing their thoughts and feelings along the trail.
Change of Heart, Not Just Behavior
The purpose at ANASAZI is not just to change a youth’s behavior. Ezekiel C. Sanchez, cofounder of ANASAZI, says real internal change is about more than outward behavior. “We don’t have levels or steps like other programs. We’re looking for a change of heart,” Sanchez explains. “A child can have a change of heart, and he owns it.” A true change of heart can bring youth and young adults back to their “places of belonging” and to a sense of unity with their family and parents. Family unity is the key at ANASAZI; the program’s mission is to prepare both parents and children to “turn their hearts to one another” and begin to “walk in harmony in the wilderness of the world.” Smith found that this harmony and confidence in moving forward came to her, too, through her time with the YoungWalkers in the wilderness. “At ANASAZI, I learned that I can do a lot more than I think I can,” she says. “I gained confidence in myself and my abilities.” And at the end of the trip across the wrong canyon, past cliffs and mountain lions, and finally into the camp at their final destination, Schwendiman didn’t get fired. In fact, she was promoted. “I was told that I had done an amazing job and that I just needed to have more confidence in my own abilities,” she says. ▶▶
A Typical Day on the Trail
Early to rise: TrailWalkers and more experienced YoungWalkers know that
an early start means less time walking in the heat of the day and more time resting at camp in the evening. Breakfast, anyone? While the rest of the band makes breakfast, the lead TrailWalker goes out of hearing distance to report to the RidgeWalker (a liaison between the trail and the office in town) and discuss the day’s route. Pack it tight: Walkers use their bedding as a pack for all of their other supplies. Each completed pack weighs about 40 pounds (about 18 kg). Walk (or bush-whack) on: Each group spends most of the day hiking across the desert terrain of creek beds full of boulders, cliffs, freezing water, thick forests of brush, and mesas. The trail can be more of an abstract concept than a physical path. The sound of silence: Most days’ journeys are filled with discussions led by a TrailWalker. Sometimes, TrailWalkers initiate a silent hike to promote peaceful introspection. Bust a coal: When the group makes camp at the end of each day’s hike, someone is responsible for starting the fire. Without matches or flint and steel, participants use a bow drill set (composed of sticks and rocks) to light the tinder on fire. With this technique, “busting a coal” requires enough friction and heat to create a small burning fiber, or coal. Making fire this way is hard work after a long day of hiking. Make a speaking from the heart: A fire circle is held each day after dinner. Someone poses a question, and each person makes a “speaking from the heart” while holding a talking stick. Standing watch: TrailWalkers take turns on night watch, keeping the fire going throughout the night on three- to four-hour shifts.
anasazi.org
Natural consequences along the trail help YoungWalkers return to their families with a clear understanding that they can face life’s challenges with confidence.
42 ▶ fall 2014
Top: photo courtesy of ANASAZI Foundation
quickly. In the end, the YoungWalker often chooses to continue hiking. Schwendiman explains that a natural consequence, like boredom or positive peer influence, “forces the kids to think about more than just themselves.”
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 43
When in
Yere 44 â–ś fall 2014
van Diverse Adventures in the Capital of Armenia
By Andy Kyle www.stowawaymag.com â—€ 45
With a history dating back as far as 783 BC, Yerevan has plenty of landmarks and hidden gems within the shadow of Mount Ararat. The city itself is surprisingly large for a country so small; almost half of Armenia’s three million residents live in its many districts (sections). You can choose from various transportation systems to travel around Yerevan. Taxis will take you
Mother Armenia has watched over Yerevan since 1967.
to the doorstep of your destination. Marshutnis (Armenian minibuses) provide a cheaper, more native-like experience. Or as Yerevan resident Erik Gasparyan recommends, you can hop onto the metro. This subway line runs near many of the city’s main attractions; it is also a quick and simple way to get you close to other great destinations outside its route.
Mother Armenia
The first stop (kangar) along the metro is located near a small
underground market, an excellent place to browse for clothes, eat food, and find souvenirs. Named for the Armenian word for friendship, Barekamutyun welcomes everyone who comes by. The true treasure near this stop, however, is still a short taxi ride away: the Mother Armenia monument in Victory Park. At the top of the hill overlooking the capital, the copper-sculpted Mother Armenia—with a sword in her hand—stands guard over the city below. The statue itself is over 20 meters tall (about 66 feet), but including the pedestal she stands on, her height reaches more than 70 meters (almost 230 feet). Since she is also built on what seems to be one of the highest elevations in Yerevan, it’s no surprise that you can see her from almost anywhere in the city. Within the monument itself is the Mother Armenia Military Museum, which honors the soldiers who served in World War II and in the NagornoKarabakh War (1988–1994, making this a truly inspiring first destination.
The City Center
The City Center attracts people from all over for a day of shopping or relaxation.
46 ▶ fall 2014
For travelers interested in the more city-like aspects of Yerevan, these metropolitan attractions are just a short ride away from the
Previous spread: Photo by Serouj Ourishian; Top: photo by Vaghinak Petrosyan; Bottom: photo by Adam Lederer
Traveling the countryside of the tiny country of Armenia seems like it should be an easy task. After all, the whole country is smaller than the state of Maryland and is utterly dwarfed by its neighbors, Turkey, Iran, and Georgia. But it is surprising how much you’ll find in such a small area. And the capital city, Yerevan, is just as fascinating as its rural surroundings.
Photo by Matt Werner
A symbol of the state religion, Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral houses three areas of worship: One main cathedral signifies “complete victory” (seating 1,700 worshippers), and two chapels are used mainly for marriages.
Barekamutyun station. After you pass through the Marshal Baghramyan subway station, the next two stops pull you into the heart of civilization. A short walk from the Yeritasardakan exit brings you to the State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, where art and entertainment abound. You can catch a performance or merely admire the building’s structure and learn about its amazing history before continuing on to see more of the city. At the exit for Hanrapetutyan Hraparak (Republic Square), what seems to be the largest flea market in all of Armenia blooms into view as you ascend from the depths of the subway station. The Vernissage market stretches for blocks, and
homemade stands are filled with a huge assortment of wares. Handcarved game boards and sculptures adorn the sidewalk, and their creators advertise every intimate detail of even the smallest curve, cut, or polish. Beautiful paintings of the Armenian landscape can transport you into a mystical forest, a mountainous terrain, or a holy place of worship.
St. Gregory’s Cathedral
Zoravar Andranik, the fifth stop along the metro, is where you will see one of the greatest feats of architecture in the city. Just up an escalator, across the street from the station,
and up a long, beautiful walkway of stairs stands the great cathedral of St. Gregory the Illuminator. Named for the founder of the Armenian Apostolic Church, St. Gregory’s Cathedral is a giant symbol of the state religion. “The cathedral is set up as a sign of the moral light and knowledge that Gregory brought to the state of Armenia,” says Ryan White, who lived in Armenia in 2009. “St. Gregory was one of my favorite churches in Armenia because the construction reflected modern Armenian architectural sensibilities, which make it clean, angular, open, and well-lit.” There is more to appreciate than just the physical structure of the building, though, as Vazgen
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 47
The Swallow’s Cage Finally, no visit to Armenia would be complete without seeing Tzitzernakaberd (the Swallow’s Cage). A quick marshutni ride away from Hanrapetutyan Hraparak or Barekamutyun, this monument and museum stands atop a summit, casting a shadow over the city and prompting the inhabitants below to remember the persecutions of the past: the Armenian Genocide. In the early 1900s, the Ottoman Empire, which ruled what is now modernday Turkey, murdered an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by torture,
starvation, and outright butchering. Paintings, sculptures, and photographs of the destruction memorialize the dead, lining the walls and filling the centers of the three indoor exhibit halls of Tzitzernakaberd. It sometimes seems as if the only light entering this dimly lit complex is from outside, through crosses carved into the stone—a representation of the Armenians’ faith in the power of their religion to bring them out of that terrible darkness. A fourth hall is best described as a courtroom, where condemnations of the genocide, as stated by prominent historical figures, are written upon the walls, evidence to the world of the horrors committed against this proud nation. Before you leave this hall, you have the opportunity to add your own words to a book as your call for justice; as you inscribe your words in the book, you leave a part of yourself in the museum. Outside the museum is a wide road that follows the hundred-meter Memorial Wall. This wall holds the engraved names of Armenian cities and populations that were destroyed
during the Armenian Genocide. At the end of the road is a split steeple, wider at the base but coming to a single point 44 meters (144 feet) high; this division of the pinnacle symbolizes an Armenian people separated physically by the diaspora resulting from the genocide but united spiritually, shown by the two parts coming together. The Memorial Sanctuary looms immediately next to the steeple, a circle of 12 stone slabs surrounding the eternal flame that forever remembers the victims of the genocide. Armenia is a small country, but from the city districts to the outlying regions around Yerevan, there is much to see. The frantic downtown rush of the city’s center, the calm and haunting aura of the great cathedrals, and the life-changing influence of historical monuments are just a few examples of the experiences this city offers. Stories and pictures cannot do justice to the significant ways each experience adds to the unique, magnificent atmosphere of the greatest city you have never heard of before. ▶▶
armenia.am
Left: Tzitzernakaberd (the Swallow’s Cage) inspires reverence in every visitor with its simple, yet powerful design and somber atmosphere. Right: The Vernissage market is full of vendors who come to the city center for the day to sell anything from food to crafts to souvenirs for visitors.
48 ▶ fall 2014
Photography by Shaun Dunphy
Grigoryan, a Yerevan native, points out. The cathedral is also a place for contemplation. “When I enter the cathedral,” Grigoryan explains, “I like to reflect on the heroes of the past, like Andranik and Baghramyan [Armenian military commanders] and Komitas [a famous Armenian composer].” The cathedral is a hangist (calm or restful) place to get away from city noise that lies just beyond the church grounds.
Khor Virap Khor Virap is a notable monastery located outside of Yerevan—it’s where the Armenian Apostolic Church was founded at the beginning of the fourth century. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official state religion. In the late third century, Armenian King Tiridates III threw St. Gregory into a deep pit, to remain there until death. However, legend says that through divine intervention and with the help of the king’s sister, Khosrovidought, Gregory was able to survive in his dungeon for 13 years. During Gregory’s final year of imprisonment, Tiridates ordered the deaths of a group of virgins because one of them, Hripsime, refused to become his concubine. King Tiridates later fell into insanity, called “pig’s illness.” Khosrovidought then had a dream that St. Gregory could heal her brother’s madness, and she ordered that he be brought from his prison. St. Gregory came forth preaching Christ’s gospel, healed the king, and baptized the king and his entire court. Christianity became the national religion of Armenia, and it has remained so for the past 1700 years. Like most Armenians, Vazgen Grigoryan knows this story well; it stands as a reminder of divine power to him: “When you Photo by Tamara Areshian
enter Khor Virap, you begin to understand the hardships Gregory faced there—and that only through the power of God was he able to rise from them, whole and willing.” Khor Virap, which literally means “deep pit,” is a monument to the triumphant efforts of St. Gregory the Illuminator and his persistence even in his darkest moments. It stands on a hilltop with the majestic Mount Ararat in the background, and visitors today can descend into the very pit where Gregory was kept. Those who bring mental burdens with them may be able to ascend from that pit renewed as well.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 49
“Faith in America” A Photographic Journey By Bonnie Brown
50 ▶ fall 2014
One Airstream trailer. One year. Fifty states. Thousands of pictures. This is the life of Scott Jarvie from September 2013 to November 2014. His goal is to instill hope in America by capturing photos that represent Americans’ faith. Prior to working on this project, Jarvie garnered thousands of admirers in his profession as a wedding and portrait photographer. Though this is a career he has loved, the day came when he was ready to try something new—something big. One day, after traveling between weddings in Utah and Arizona, he thought, “What next?” Though Jarvie didn’t want to take a break from weddings completely, he was ready to plan his next big project. A religious man, Jarvie knew he wanted his project to unite religion and photography. The result was “Faith in America,” a year-long trek across the United States to take photographs and create “a documentary look at faith through the main symbol of religious buildings.” His photography, blogging, and videos keep fans around the world in touch with every day of his trip.
The Planning
Photography by Scott Jarvie
There was a time, however, when Jarvie wasn’t sure he would have enough money to make the project
happen. In what he describes as a miraculous turn of events, he was able to reach enough backers just in the nick of time. In June 2013, he proposed his project on the popular projectfunding website, Kickstarter. This site allows people to suggest project ideas and invite interested parties to donate a small amount of money to help the project get started. Donors also receive something for their support once the project is completed. For “Faith in America,” donors receive photography discounts, workshops with Jarvie, and the pinnacle of the project—a book of his photographs. Jarvie knows that his trip would have been nearly impossible to
complete without the help of the Kickstarter supporters; his budget needed to allow for thousands of dollars in gas alone. Enthusiasm for the project has been contagious. For example, photographer Alan Shapiro, a friend of Jarvie’s, says: “I have seen the power of faith. I have studied it through history; watched as it changed the world during my lifetime; and seen it firsthand as my faith grew, then played hide and seek, and finally emerged stronger than ever. “I have also seen the work of Scott Jarvie, over time and firsthand. It is magnificent with an incredible range. I can’t wait to see how Scott shares his unique views on the powerful subject.”
Left page: Scott Jarvie documents symbols of faith, including Whiting Community Church in Whiting, Vermont. Above: Jarvie spends his year-long journey living in a vintage airstream trailer.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 51
A Day on the Road
“I typically wake up around 5:00 or 6:00 am to capture the sunrise,” says Jarvie. Then he plans where he wants to go that day, setting goals for how far he will travel and where he wants to capture the sunset. But he keeps his plans flexible so he can “leave room for wonderful things to happen,” he explains. These wonderful things come in the form of ideal
timing for the perfect shot of unique buildings off the beaten path. They also come from interactions with locals. Jarvie claims that some of his biggest followers are people he meets on the road.
Perfect Timing
One case of perfect timing happened when Jarvie was in a Nebraska town of “a dozen people,” as he humorously
Top: Jarvie captures a sunlit panorama of Saints Peter and Paul Church (left) and the Nauvoo Illinois Temple (right). Bottom: Jarvie’s philosophy was to plan the day but “leave room for wonderful things to happen.”
52 ▶ fall 2014
Photography by Scott Jarvie
Once Jarvie secured enough funding, he had to find a ride. This is where the vintage Airstream trailer came into play. After polling friends and followers, he decided to purchase this classic trailer and fix it up to meet his needs. Once the trailer was ready and Jarvie had researched the major buildings he planned to visit, he packed up his life for a year, entered the first destination in his GPS, and set off.
Top: A perfectly timed lightning storm was the primary source of light for the photo of this church near Marquette, Nebraska. Bottom left:Â Jarvie photographed churches of all types and sizes, including the tiny Calvary Wayside Chapel near Pella, Iowa. Bottom right: Jarvie made sure to include certain buildings in his itinerary, such as The Holy Family Shrine in Gretna, Nebraska.
www.stowawaymag.com â—€ 53
eerie photograph of a small church surrounded by a graveyard.
Learning from the Locals
As Jarvie travels to photograph America’s symbols of faith, he is often stopped and asked about his project. (He says that it’s often the trailer that initially grabs people’s attention.) Many are in awe that he was able to pack up his life and travel the nation, and they often ask him how this has been possible. Many times, the pastor of the church Jarvie is photographing has come out to see what he is up to. Sometimes people are suspicious since churches tend to be broken into. But once they learn about his project, he is often invited inside. He even meets celebrities, like the time he went to church and met the cast of the popular television show Duck Dynasty.
In one location, Jarvie was just leaving a church he had photographed when he saw a man walking toward him in the street. Jarvie thought this man might be another person suspecting him of suspicious behavior around the church, but the man just wanted to see the Airstream trailer. As Jarvie told him about his project, the man told his incredible story. The man had just moved into town and had started meeting with 10–15 other people for religious services. As the congregation grew, they moved to a community center for their services and began building a church. At first the only people helping to build the church were the man, his family, and members of the congregation. They cut down pine trees from their own property to build the floors, they built the table for the communion, and they even made stained-glass windows. However, as others in the community saw the church being built, they helped too,
The Stark Union Church and Stark Bridge are well-known landmarks in the village of Stark, New Hampshire.
54 ▶ fall 2014
Photography by Scott Jarvie
puts it. He calls the shot “When Fate Lights the Way.” It was taken on a night when he was short of his goal for how far he wanted to go that day. When he pulled off the road to get gas, he met a man who told him about a small church in that tiny town. As Jarvie explains the event, “it just seemed right, so I put it on the to-do list for after sunset.” Around twilight, he made it to where the church should have been, but he had a difficult time finding it because it was hidden by a cluster of trees. Almost ready to leave, he parked and walked up to where the building should have been and found it—about the same time a lightning storm hit. The photo he captured was completely lit by lightning and one streetlight. “I think the amount of lightning I saw last night equals about two decades of all the lightning I’ve seen combined,” Jarvie reported the next day. The result is a beautiful, almost
even people who weren’t members of the congregation. One church donated benches to be used in the new building. Through these experiences, this man saw how faith brings people in the community together and shows the American heart, always willing to help a neighbor. Just as building a church unified that community, Jarvie hopes his project will unite America, reminding its people of the beautiful symbols that give them hope. When Jarvie embarked on this adventure, he had plans and goals. But the trip itself has turned out to be different from—and even better than—his expectations. As he leaves room in his plans for “wonderful things to happen,” Jarvie is able to meet people from all around the nation, learn their stories, and become inspired by their acts of faith. Jarvie’s interactions with people and his beautiful photography will touch many as he showcases the hidden beauty that dots the United States and the beauty of what these religious buildings symbolize: the heart of its people—America’s faithfilled core. ▶▶
jarviedigital.com/Faith
Top: Jarvie was often invited inside churches, including Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, where he interacted with local worshippers. Above: Jarvie’s travels took him to major cities and small towns, where he photographed churches such as this one near Michigan, Indiana.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 55
#LondonTower #betterinperson
#Ecuador #thehealersart
#Taiwan #businessinaction
#Jordan #arabic #donkey
#Egypt #howdidtheybuildthem
#Uganda #changingtheworld
#Malyasia #legitinternship
#France #thisismylife
#cambridge #feelinlikeascholar
#machupicchu #worthit
Direct Enrollment @ foreign university
International Internships
Study Abroad & Field School
Expand YOUR world
Follow us on Instagram @BYUInternational, #byuabroad
56 â–ś fall 2014
#rothenburg #theworldismycampus
#hongkong #asiaisthefuture
Like us on Facebook facebook.com/BYUinternationalstudyprogram
Culture 58
Unceasing Drama in London’s West End
60
Zambra: The Forbidden Dance
62
Under the Light of the Moon: China’s Mid-Autumn Festival
Learn about the traditional and modern innovations of this mecca of theatre.
Read about the Zambra, the traditional flamenco dance native to Granada, Spain, that has been performed for centuries. Experience sweet and savory moon cakes, glowing lanterns, and serene memory-making at the Moon Festival in China.
64
Humans of New York
68
Four Corners of the Kitchen: Chocolate
70
Sunshine after Summer Fades
See what one man is doing to exhibit the scope of humanity and bring people together through a photography project that is gaining popularity and reaching far beyond New York. Travel to Cincinnati, Italy, Mexico, and Venezuela to discover these delicious recipes that take a different spin on this traditionally sweet treat.
Discover many uses of an unexpected ingredient in your yearround cooking—pansies!
Putting pansies in an already delicious drink adds elegance you can taste. Photo by Laura Jackson
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 57
Unceasing Drama
in London’s West End
Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Bridge—each of these and a thousand other landmarks make London worth seeing. But for many visitors, the most fabulous side of London is found in the west . . . the West End, that is. This side of London boasts some of Britain’s finest hotels, restaurants, cinemas—and, of course, theatres, the hallmark of West End.
In a nation that proudly boasts the name of William Shakespeare, theatrical productions are held to a higher standard than in many countries, and London’s West End certainly upholds this standard. “Theatreland,” located smack-dab in the middle of the West End, includes such iconic streets as Drury Lane, Shaftesbury Avenue, and the Strand, and offers the best in commercial theater. The 40 incredible theatres in London’s West End host many excellent, lesser-known productions such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Once, a breakout romantic musical that became a hit in 2013.
58 ▶ fall 2014
Comedies are a mainstay of the English theatrical scene. How could one ignore that British wit? Becca Barrus, a college student from West Jordan, Utah, who recently spent four months studying in London, says, “I really like English drama, and there’s nothing more English than Shakespeare. But I think I appreciate the comedy of West End theatre the most.” Theatergoers this year shouldn’t miss grand West End musical productions either, from Phantom of the Opera to The Lion King to Stomp, a popular musical where performers utilize everyday clutter.
The Stage Tradition
However, a true stage enthusiast won’t forget London’s famous noncommercial venues, such as the Royal National Theatre, the Royal Opera House, the Globe Theatre, and the Old Vic. These locations offer some of the finest classic dramas, prestigious new dramas, and Shakespearean productions available in the Western world. To Calgary native Rachel Swendsen, another student who spent time studying in London, the experience was like magic. “I felt like I had stepped into the set of a movie,” she says. “Theatres on every corner with another award-winning show everywhere you look! And the
Photo by Steve Collis
Theatreland
culture
quality of the productions could give Broadway a real run for its money. I enjoyed each of the 13 shows I went to immensely, and I would definitely recommend every single one of them to anyone who is going to London.”
Drawing a Crowd
There is a reason that England and theatre often seem connected, and the West End provides that connection. Magnificent props, elaborate stage productions, terrific directing, fantastic musical and dance numbers, and the sheer overwhelming entertainment draw tremendous crowds
every year. For example, in Matilda, a popular West End production, each of the actors, including the children, are incredibly talented, and the props and stage design are so seamless and creative that it is awe-inspiring simply to watch a scene change. While London theatre tends to draw enormous crowds of tourists, it also holds particular appeal for actors—and in recent years, quite famous ones. A-list actors and actresses, such as Jude Law, Daniel Radcliffe, Matt Damon, and Gwyneth Paltrow, have all taken their turns performing in West End theatres.
Even they cannot resist the experience that comes from the expertise and the history embedded in the very stones of West End theatre. Actor Christian Slater once said, “There’s something about doing theatre in London—it sinks a little bit deeper into your soul as an actor. It’s something about the tradition of theatre, about performing on the West End stage.” ▶▶
officiallondontheatre.co.uk/
—Josh Fulton
Although London’s West End continues to remain a popular attraction for modern tourists, the place has been around for a while, and age has a way of creeping up on you. Last December, a roof collapsed at the Apollo Theatre and injured 88 people. The Apollo has since been closed for extensive repairs. However, this event shouldn’t deter visitors from experiencing some of the greatest shows on earth. In 2013, the West End drew in Top: photo by Wally Gobetz; Bottom: photo by Trey Ratcliff
more than 14 million visitors and topped £585 million (nearly US$980 million) in sales. With numbers like these, you can bet that theatre owners and operators are taking great care to maintain these historic buildings and to prevent any future accidents.
Top: The Globe Theatre in London, a recreation of Shakespeare’s original theatre. Bottom: Versatile and detailed set design is one of the major draws for popular musicals such as Wicked.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 59
Zambra
The Forbidden Dance The lights are low in the small, whitewashed performance hall. Four men play quick, dramatic music on their guitars as five or six dancers take turns on the stage. The women wear red polka-dotted dresses flared at the calf, and the men wear black pants and frilled shirts. They lift their arms above their heads, clapping and stomping their feet to the beat. The younger dancers are quicker, more powerful, but the older performers carry the undeniable weight of experience. At one point, a middle-aged man comes to center stage, singing a heartbreaking song. At the climax of the song, he rips open his shirt to show his anguish. Romani brand of Spanish, but everyone in the room can feel the beat and the passion of the music. The dance is called the Zambra, a traditional form of flamenco danced in Sacromonte (“Sacred Mountain”), the Romani district of Granada, Spain. The Moors ruled the southern part of Spain from AD 711 to 1492, and Moorish dance, art, and music
merged with that of the locals, creating the Zambra, as well as much of the rest of Granada’s rich cultural heritage. In 1492, the Catholic Church retook Granada from the Moors and, seeing anything foreign or strange as wicked, outlawed the dance. The Romani were forced to practice the dance underground for hundreds
Above: The Venta El Gallo is one of many small performance halls where tourists can see the Zambra performed. Right: Zambra dancers often wear read dresses with frills and polka dots.
60 ▶ fall 2014
Top: photo by Clive Hicks; Bottom: photo by Jay Seedy
There are maybe 50 people in the audience, most of them tourists, slowly sipping drinks. It’s warm in the room and smoky from the woodburning stove in the next room over. Some audience members shuffle in their seats, but most pay rapt attention to the dance. Not all of them can follow the story being told, especially those unfamiliar with this particular
From left: photography by Waqa Ahmed and David Menjoulet
of years, lending it the nickname “The Forbidden Dance.” Eventually, however, laws loosened, and in the twentieth century, the dance became popular with tourists. Now the Romani are once again able to dance it freely. The hall is called the Venta El Gallo (“Rooster Market”), a combination restaurant, bar, and dance parlor. It is one of many small performance halls in the neighborhood to offer flamenco shows to tourists. Venta El Gallo is one of Sacromonte’s famous cave houses, dwellings carved into the side of the mountain. From the inside, the only indications of this are the room’s low, arched ceiling and lack of windows. The atmosphere is enhanced by the low lighting and the gleam of the copper pots hanging from the white, textured walls of the room. After two hours of dancing, the dancers all come on stage for the finale. The music builds, and the musicians’ fingers fly across the strings. The last note rings out, and the audience breaks into applause. The dancers smile and bow, breathing hard. The lights go on in the rest of the hall, and audience members chatter together excitedly. They wander out of the hall and onto the balcony, gazing across the valley at the rest of the city, lit up in the evening darkness. ▶▶
ventaelgallo.com
—Diane Cardon
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 61
Under the Light
oon
of the
China’s Mid-Autumn Festival
There are many versions of the legend of Chang’e, and the festival that sprang from it has just as many names. It is often called the Moon Festival because of the legend and because it’s always held on a full moon in September or early October. It is also called the Lantern Festival for the hordes of paper or silk lanterns (red for luck) that are put up around Chinese cities during the holiday like Christmas lights. It’s also called the Festival of Reunion because, much like Christmas or Thanksgiving in the Western world, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a time when families gather together. Zhi Wei Ma, a PhD student at Brigham Young University, says that his family in Yangquan city, China,
62 ▶ fall 2014
would always try to gather and eat together during the festival. “It wasn’t cold or hot, so we generally ate outside of the house. The moon was there up in the sky, and we would just eat and chat.” When he was a child, the food was his favorite part of the holiday. His family didn’t get to eat fruit very often, but they would buy a variety of fruits especially for the festival. Rachael Holayter from Anchorage, Alaska, experienced the Mid-Autumn Festival while teaching English in China for a semester. Holayter says her Chinese friends would “go home with their families and have a really good dinner together, spend time together.” She didn’t have any family to visit, but she and a few friends did their best to celebrate the holiday authentically. “We had our own little
Photo by Romain Pontida
Long ago in ancient China, the sky held ten suns, which shone down all together and scorched the earth. A valiant but tyrannical man named Hou Yi shot nine of the ten suns out of the sky, saving the land from the heat and receiving a potion of immortality as a reward. His wife, Chang’e, hoped to save the world from the tyranny of her husband, so she drank the potion herself and became immortal. She floated up into the sky and joined with the spirit of the moon, and the Chinese have celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival in her honor ever since.
culture
celebration where we sat outside, looked at the moon, and ate our little cakes,” Holayter says. Moon cakes, popular during the festival, are round, with scalloped edges and a thin pastry shell. Many of them have whole salted egg yolks suspended in the filling to represent the moon. “I wouldn’t say they’re an actual cake,” Holayter says, “but there’s mystery stuff inside. You bite into it; it’s super thick.” According to Zhi Wei, there are “all kinds of moon cakes, different fillings, some peanuts, some with dates, very sweet ones. I heard that there are some with meat filling, but I never tried that.” Holayter says that she likes the cakes filled with sweet red bean paste, a common desert food throughout Asia.
Supermarkets, as always, capitalize on this holiday tradition. For a full month preceding the festival, stores overflow with piles of boxes full of moon cakes for people to buy for themselves or as gifts. “Supermarkets decorate things for the customers,” Zhi Wei says. “They have lanterns and all kinds of symbols, very large signs that tell you it’s time for MidAutumn Day and you need to buy moon cakes.” Yet through the bustle of the supermarkets and the excitement of the special holiday foods, the lanterns, and the signs, the true draw of the holiday is the experience of sitting peacefully under the beauty of the full moon, surrounded by loved ones.
—Diane Cardon
Clockwise from top left: photography by Miranda1971, Diane Cardon, and sonson
Below: Supermarkets pile up boxes of moon cakes in stores to attract customers. Bottom: Moon cakes have a variety of traditional fillings, including red bean paste and salted egg yolks, shown here. Right: Red lanterns hang from the trees on a street of shops in Beijing.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 63
HUMANSOFNEWYORK Each of these unique individuals is part of a photographic census created by Brandon Stanton, a photographer who came to New York City in 2010 with a degree in history, a very thin wallet, and a goal to take 10,000 pictures of people in the vibrant and diverse city. For several months Stanton photographed people all day, every day, but not much was coming of it—no one was paying attention to his work. Then one day he created a Facebook page called “Humans of New York” (HONY). Support grew slowly at first and then, suddenly, it grew exponentially. Now his Facebook page has almost
64 ▶ fall 2014
three million likes from people all around the world. At the end of 2013, Stanton released a book of street portraits (Humans of New York, St. Martin’s Press) that quickly became a New York Times Best Seller. Stanton’s process is simple: he approaches individuals on the street and asks if he can photograph them. Then he chats with them for a minute and asks them about their day or their career or their greatest challenge or their happiest moment. The answers he receives are just as diverse as the people he photographs. He then posts each person’s photo online with a personal
observation or a quotation from this brief interview. Some responses are funny, like the girl who told the story of when her boyfriend fell down the stairs at a house party while he was looking for her. Other responses are heartbreaking, like the man who told of the recent loss of his wife and explained that sometimes he still wakes up and turns over in bed to see if she needs anything. But the stories all have something in common: they are piercingly human. While the conglomeration of faces in Stanton’s photos reflects the diversity of the Big Apple, it also
Photography by Brandon Stanton
“We met in Vienna. On a train. In the snow,” says a classy couple arm-in-arm under the city lights. “I’ve been out of rehab for three months,” explains a haggard-looking man sitting on a bench. “One day you’ll feel 18, look 60, and wonder what happened,” reports an aged man looking ahead tiredly.
culture
illustrates the universality of our humanity—one that reaches well past the city limits. As part of its 10-year anniversary, Facebook made a short video about Stanton, celebrating the connections made through the platform. “I think we walk down the street, and we see
all these people, and we do kind of wonder about their stories: the celebrations and the victories,” Stanton explains in the video. “That’s what people are engaging with.” He also adds, “What I hope to maintain is the culture of positivity, celebration, and support that these people share.”
That culture of support is also evident in the international community born from the Facebook page. Beyond the powerful emotional connections facilitated by HONY, the community has a huge physical impact as well. For example, in October 2013, Duane Watkins was working on a camera crew for a piece about HONY. Stanton struck up a conversation with Watkins, who told him about his family, explaining that he and his wife were currently saving for the adoption fees of their son in Ethiopia. “We already found him, but we aren’t financially ready yet.” As a result, Stanton set up a crowdfunding page in hopes of raising $26,000. By the end of the day, people had donated over $80,000. Stanton and his girlfriend also started a program called “HONY for the Holidays.” It matches people visiting New York City over Christmas who have no place to go and people willing to open their homes. One blogger described the guest-bringing gesture as “not just a ‘plus 1,’ but a ‘plus 10,000.’” While that was a bit of a hyperbole, he wasn’t too far off. In 2012, HONY for the Holidays matched around 20 people with hosting families. With a significantly larger audience in 2013, the number jumped to nearly 20 times that amount. Utah native Hannah Skousen has never been to New York but says the project has had a profound impact on her. “What I most appreciate about HONY are the stories that Brandon gets people to tell him,” Skousen explains. “It’s a real eye-opener to realize we may pass by hundreds or thousands of such stories in our lifetime and never realize it. This realization has prompted me to be kinder and more willing to help and listen to those around me, be they strangers or friends. HONY is a daily reminder of the brightness and diversity of humanity.” ▶▶
humansofnewyork.com
—Jill Hacking www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 65
66 â–ś fall 2014
Traditional Molé Mexico
Four Corners of the Kitchen
Chocolate
Chocolate with garlic, meat, and chilies—what is the world coming to? Don’t worry, it’s not as crazy as it sounds. In fact, chocolate has been used as a spice in savory dishes for hundreds of years. —Robert V. Faulkner and Thomas Call
Two nuns were making a rushed meal for an unexpected archbishop visiting the convent. The nuns grabbed whatever they could, including a bit of chocolate, and ground everything together in a mortar. They let the mixture simmer until it thickened into a dark sauce, and is enjoyed today as molé.
Ingredients
12 guajillo chiles, roasted, skinned, stemmed, and seeded 3 tomatoes, roasted and peeled ¼ cup lard 1 onion, peeled and sliced 8 cloves garlic, crushed 1 stick of cinnamon, in small pieces 1 tbsp Mexican oregano ¼ cup unsalted peanuts 1 clove ¼ cup masa (masa de maíz) 1 tsp cocoa powder¼ tsp thyme ¼ tsp anise seeds ¼ cup raisins, soaked in water 3 peppercorns 4 cups chicken broth
1. Heat the lard in a large saucepan. Add the onions and garlic. Cook until translucent. In a blender, puree the peanuts, then add the oregano, cinnamon, anise, peppercorns, thyme, and cloves and blend with the tomatoes. Puree to make a smooth paste. Add the onions and garlic and puree again. Add chilies to blender and puree into a smooth paste. 2. Add ¾ cup chicken broth to the pot. Make a roux by mixing the masa and ¼ cup of broth. Mix roux into the broth and whisk until smooth. Add pureed ingredients and simmer for 1 hour, covered, and then simmer uncovered, until sauce has thickened. This sauce can be used on chicken, beef, vegetables, or other molé dishes. Yield: 5–6 cups Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes
68 ▶ fall 2014
From top: photography by Dave G-H, Zsuzsanna Kilian, and Moyan Brenn
Directions
culture
Mama Call’s Cincinnati Chili United States
Unlike other chili, Cincinnati chili is eaten on spaghetti noodles or hot dogs. Though some mistake it for spaghetti sauce, the cocoa powder and cinnamon give it a distinct flavor.
Ingredients
3 lbs ground beef 2 cups water 2 tbsp cider vinegar ½ tsp salt 2 tsp beef bouillon granules (or 2 cubes) 3 tbsp chili powder 1 tsp paprika 2 tbsp powdered/minced garlic 4 tbsp powdered/minced onion ½–1 tsp cumin ¼–½ tsp cayenne 2 tbsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground allspice ½ tsp ground cloves 3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes 2 15 oz cans tomato sauce
Chocolate Chicken Venezuela
Combining chocolate and fruit with chilies and herbs, this dish is a delightful blend of savory, spicy, and sweet ingredients.
Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil 2 cloves garlic, minced ½ cup green onions, sliced ¼ inch 3 pounds chicken breasts 3 Valencia oranges, zest and juice 2–3 jalapeños, chopped and seeded 2 dried ancho chilies, seeded and chopped 1 tbsp coriander seeds 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes 1 tbsp brown sugar 3 oz 70% cacao dark chocolate, broken into pieces ¼ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Directions
1. Crumble and lightly brown 3 lbs of ground beef. Skim off all the drippings, setting them aside to cook before discarding them. 2. Move the cooked ground beef to a large stockpot. Add everything but the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce and simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. 3. Add the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 more minutes. 4. Serve on top of spaghetti noodles or on hot dogs and buns. (This recipe is enough for about 2 lbs. of spaghetti or 16 hot dogs.) Top with kidney beans, chopped onions, cheese, and oyster crackers.
1. Preheat oven to 400° F. 2. In a large heavy skillet, heat oil over medium-high for 1 minute. Cook garlic and green onions until tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Then, brown chicken breasts on each side, about 5 minutes. 3. Add Valencia orange juice and zest, jalapeños, dried chilies, coriander seeds, tomatoes, and sugar. Bring to low boil, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. 4. Place skillet in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. 5. Remove from oven and place in a bowl, covering it with aluminum foil while you finish the sauce. 6. Add chocolate pieces to the sauce in the skillet and stir until well blended. This will make a rich dark gravy. Place the chicken back in the skillet, spooning sauce over each piece. 7. Serve with rice and black beans.
Serves: 12–15 servings Total time: 1 hour
Serves: 4 servings Total time: 1 hour
Directions
Pasta with Sage and Chocolate Italy
Since the sixteenth century, chocolate has been used in a range of Italian cooking, from pasta to meat dishes. In a savory dish, dark chocolate is used more as a spice, and the strong flavor adds a nutty nuance that can be perceived even against flavor bullies like garlic and onion.
Ingredients
1 pound spaghetti or fettuccine 8 tbsp (1 stick) butter 4 shallots, finely minced 20 fresh sage leaves, plus more for garnish 1/3 cup grated ParmigianoReggiano cheese or other Parmesan cheese 1–2 ounces Venchi Chocaviar bits, or bittersweet chocolate, coarsely grated Freshly ground black pepper or crushed red pepper, to taste
Directions
1. Prepare the packaged or freshly made pasta. 2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, and sauté the shallots and sage leaves for about 8 minutes, or until the butter is a golden brown. 3. Toss the pasta with the sage-shallot butter and about ¼ cup of the pasta’s cooking water. Season with pepper. 4. Serve topped with the cheese and a generous sprinkling of Chocaviar or grated chocolate. Garnish with sage leaves. Serves: 6 servings Total time: 15 minutes
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 69
Sunshine After Summer Fades
When autumn arrives, the next thing on your plate is winter. You comfort yourself with warm soups and fall harvest vegetables, but don’t you sometimes wish you could bottle up the warm summer sunshine to open on the dreary days of winter? That is where the pansy comes in. Devouring Flowers?
Photography by Laura Jackson
The pansy is not only a nearly yearround-blooming flower, but it is also edible. From pancakes to cookies to warm autumn-evening soup, many delightful recipes that include pansies will brighten up autumn. Pansies are considered a coolweather bloomer, so you can enjoy their beauty for much of the year. To plant them strategically for your climate, sow seeds once the last frost hits and again in summer to ensure a
Top right: Make a splash by floating pansies in a goblet of fresh wassail. Top left: Pansies add a kick of zesty flavor and color to shortbread cookies. Above: Spruce up simple soups with with a vibrant pansy.
70 ▶ fall 2014
full fall bloom. While we might typically associate the flower with spring and summer, the pansy is happiest in spring, autumn, and mild winter— providing color and sweetness to our autumn tables in surprising ways.
Eating Dessert First
The mantra “eat dessert first” has a delightful ring to it, and the pansy falls right in line with the best of desserts. Since this flower has a mildly sweet and sometimes wintergreen flavor (depending on the variety), many use it as an ingredient in desserts. For a light dessert, pansies go nicely with pears, complementing the delicate flavor of this late-summer or earlyautumn harvest fruit. A simply delicious way to pair the two is to slice the pear thinly, arranging it as you like on a dessert plate, and to sprinkle clean, dry pansy blossoms as desired over the pear slices. Then drizzle honey lightly across the plate to create a fragrant, sweet treat. Another lovely, though not as light, dessert is the pansy shortbread cookie as seen on the blog Silver Spoon Catering. What is most surprising here is how the flower’s colors remain vibrant, shining through the glittery sugar sprinkling. Step-by-step instructions for this scrumptious treat and other pansy recipes can be found on the website. ▶▶
chefdarcysilverspooncatering.blogspot.com
Enhancing Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
If you are looking to add a few extra rays of sunshine to your morning, pansy pancakes are sweet to look at and to eat. The pansies add a soft texture and a bright splash of color to every bite. On the savory side of the plate, pansies add a cheery flair to omelets, soups, and pastas. The possibilities for these happy blossoms are nearly endless. Salads will never be the same again once graced with purples, pinks, blues, and the many other eyecatching colors of this tasty flower.
Getting Started
To begin your pansies experiment, you can look for the blossoms at local farmers’ markets, in organic sections of supermarkets, and at specialty grocery stores. But clipping pansies right from your own garden is the most reliable option for having the freshest flowers for your dish. As with any new food, it is important to add only small amounts of pansies to your diet at first, until you are able to see how your body metabolizes and reacts to them. One parting word of caution: if you make a habit of using pansies in your fall cooking, winter might sneak up on you before you even know it!
—Laura Jackson
Field Notes 72
Photo Contest Winners
74
Tales from the Trip
76
Hit the Oregon Trail
78
Panda Paradise: Chengdu’s Research Center
82
Through the Eyes of the Everywhereist
84
On the Wings of Eagle Condor Humanitarian
Enjoy the winning entries of Stowaway’s photo contest.
Read the travel stories from other Stowaway readers.
Visit historic landmarks that marked the pioneers’ westward trek across the United States. Take time to play with pandas on your next visit to China.
Prepare your next adventure with tips from a famous travel blogger as she shares her global adventures. Catch the vision of this humanitarian effort in Colombia.
Red pandas wait in Chengdu, China, to play with and delight visitors. Photo by amandaricjard421
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 71
photo contest
First Place Memory Lane
This image was taken in the Jewish Ghetto region of Rome, Italy. I loved the natural, jovial interaction among these three men in front of an Israeli flag caught in the wind.
—Stephanie Staples
Blue Springs, Missouri
72 â–ś fall 2014
photo contest
Second Place
The Best View
This photo was taken in Gapan, an island in the Philippines. While resting on his father’s tuk-tuk/taxi, the boy watches a community basketball game between young men of the village.
—Kelsie Moore
Melbourne, Australia
Third Place
On the Seine River
I took this photo while walking along the Seine River in downtown Paris toward the Louvre. I thought this boat was especially beautiful with its bright ribbons flying in the breeze.
—Alissa Holm
Nampa, Idaho
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 73
Tales from the Trip The scenic Xingping Ancient Town in China is surrounded by recreational opportunities.
I stood at the top of Mt. Victoria (now known as Mt. Tomanivi), Fiji’s highest mountain. It was consumed in cloud cover, leaving absolutely no view after hours of near-deathly climbing. I reflected on how I had ever let myself be talked into this. The way up had indeed been treacherous. Two members of my group had stepped into muddy traps that worked like quicksand, requiring our Fijian guides to save them from their would-be dooms. Another friend twisted her ankle while we were using a rope to climb a particularly steep section of the mountain. And if our trusty guides hadn’t been
74 ▶ fall 2014
with us, I am positive that at least one of us would have fallen off the mudslicked mountainside. I watched our guides in silent respect. A dozen of them had tackled the journey with us. I knew that they made this trek as often as their village has visitors seeking to “make the climb,” which could be several times a week. One of the men had brought along his five-year-old son, who was now, officially, the youngest person ever to climb Mt. Victoria. And there I was, mentally complaining about doing only once what those guides do all the time. Suddenly, someone in the group asked if it was worth it—the arduous climb, the lack of view. One guide
answered: “People want to conquer the mountain, and I want to help them defeat it.” I looked around at the gorgeous greenery that immediately surrounded me and then down at my mud-caked feet and bruised legs. I didn’t need the panoramic view. I had made it to the top. And ultimately, it wasn’t about what was waiting at the top, but the strength, determination, and endurance that was needed to get there. Sometimes, there isn’t anything for us to see, but we’ve made it—and that’s what matters.
—Katie Macdonald Mesa, Arizona
Photo by Maris Meiessaar
Climbing Mt. Victoria
field notes
Inside the Mountain Nunnery Xingping was like one of those Western towns you see in cowboy movies—except that it was Chinese. A deserted dirt road cut through the small town, past one hostel, one general store, and old Chinese ladies in traditional dress, who stared at us as if begging for a gunfight. So we should have known the hike to the nunnery would be . . . special. Our hostel’s guidebook had rugged directions: “Walk through the orchard until you see a bridge. Cross the bridge and turn left. Follow the path until you see stairs.” I felt like Dora the Explorer. So my three friends and I took off down a dirt path that cut through a beautiful pomelo orchard. There we saw shirtless men picking the pomelos, and babies and chickens wandering around outside. It felt somewhat strange, like visiting another person’s home. We crossed the bridge and followed the stairs, turning at the tree, just like the instructions said.
Suddenly, the forest opened up to reveal a monstrous cave. The cave’s mouth stretched at least 100 feet above the tree line. In front of the cave was a Chinese arch. A little man in a blue monk’s robe and black slippers walked out to greet us. He giggled and spun in circles, beckoning us to follow. We looked at each other, shrugged, and went after him before he disappeared. The monk took us up the stairs to the mouth of the cave, where air 20 degrees cooler blew out from its depths. It was so dark inside that we couldn’t see the back of the cave. He motioned again for us to follow, laughing unintelligibly. As we entered, Indiana Jones music played in my head. Then the monk handed us a flashlight and waddled his way in deeper. We crept in slowly, trying to take pictures, while he grunted at us to catch up. He showed us the Buddha statue, a large marble bust in the depths of the cave. I thought, “We’ll turn around now,” but he only beckoned
us deeper into the cave. We walked down a tunnel, and then he shone the light up to the ceiling. We craned our necks to see dozens of bats, wrapped in their wings, dangling from above. He motioned to our cameras and made slashing movements and then flying motions. The flash would disturb the bats—got it. The monk then hunched over and took the four of us still deeper. He shone the flashlight around, and we saw that one corner of the ceiling, deep in a crevice, sparkled like gold. He laughed excitedly at our wonder and clapped his hands. On our way out, he asked for a 20 yuan bill. It took some of the magic out of the whole thing, but he definitely deserved the money. So we gave him 20 yuan—about US $3.33. He bowed to us and ran away laughing. It was a fitting completion to our visit to the mountain nunnery in China.
—Mallory Siebers Canton, Connecticut
Courtesy for the Curious As I stepped out of the taxi, I whispered two “thank-yous”—one for the fact that I was still breathing after our speedy drive up wet and winding roads, and one for the scene in front of me. Several of the townspeople had lit strings of firecrackers to welcome our small group to our home for the evening: a small village nestled in the mountains of China’s Hunan province. The mists were settling over the distant trees, and a drizzle was falling on our heads. Our small band of English teachers thanked the villagers in our broken Chinese—xièxie, xièxie. Later that evening, we crowded around a table with our hosts, none of us able to communicate without
the help of our guide, a fellow teacher at the school. Regardless of our inability to express our wonder at and enjoyment of the meal and the location, we found ourselves warmly welcomed and well provided for. My experience that night represents much of my time in China. The kindness and hospitality I found in the Chinese people was matched only by the beauty of the landscapes and places I encountered there. Tourists generally have a reputation for being loud, obnoxious, and oblivious—a reputation founded on years of experience by many people in many places. I am sure my own friends and I must have seemed
intrusive and out of place during our travels throughout China. For that reason, the kindness we encountered there really surprised me. I was led to reconsider how I had treated tourists in my own country. Had I ever been frustrated by them? Was I ever unkind to them? Gathering around the table with my Chinese hosts that rainy evening, I was reminded that we humans are curious beings. What a privilege it is to share what we have with others who are simply curious too.
—Eileen Leavitt Springville, Utah
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 75
Independence Rock bears the inscribed names of thousands of pioneers who passed through the area on their journey to the West.
Hit The Oregon Trail
76 ▶ fall 2014
transportation, most would consider the Oregon Trail consigned to history books and low-resolution computer games. However, to many Americans, the Oregon Trail and its associated landmarks still represent an important part of our heritage. Although the original Oregon Trail is no more, many sites protect the legacy of those early pioneers. Here are five of the more notable historical attractions that everyone can enjoy along this route.
Independence, Missouri The departure point for many pioneers, the city of Independence is replete with historical significance. Be sure to visit the National Frontier Trail Center, a museum that specializes in the history of pioneers and pioneer treks. Independence also
happens to be the hometown of Harry S. Truman, the thirty-third president of the United States. If you stop by the Truman Presidential Library and Museum, be forewarned that the museum may be set up in a complicated maze-like construction, for Truman was known to have said, “If you can’t convince them, confuse them.”
Chimney Rock, Nebraska For American pioneers, the vast expanse of the West was occasionally marked by intriguing and (likely) mystifying natural wonders. To the east of US Route 26 in western Nebraska stands Chimney Rock, a uniquely tall and skinny rock formation surrounded by Nebraska’s famous cornfields. As prominent as ever, this geological wonder once stood as a natural signpost for pioneers as they
Photo by Julie Falk
At the mention of the Oregon Trail, many young Americans will recall fording rivers, crossing plains, and being waylaid by dysentery or broken legs in a popular game played on flickering computer screens. The real Oregon Trail, used by many American pioneers during the westward migration from Missouri to Oregon during the mid-nineteenth century, was far more remarkable. To pioneer ancestors of many modern Americans, the trail may have evoked nightmares of danger, disaster, and tragedy—including exposure to the elements in the unforgiving American wilderness. The trail also may have conjured images of fortune, opportunity, or hope—reflecting the determined American spirit of exploration, expansion, and perseverance. With the construction of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869, the trail largely fell into decline. Nowadays, with the conveniences of modern technology and
field notes
trekked westward and is now categorized as a natural historic site. Besides staring at the rock, you can enjoy other fun activities here, like taking a tour around the area and visiting the nearby museum. To pioneers, Chimney Rock served as a reminder that, yes, America is beautiful, and, yes, you’ve got a lot of plains left to see.
Independence Rock, Wyoming
From left: photography by Alex and Tarik Abdel-Monem
Another important pioneer landmark, Independence Rock, is a 130-foot-high, 850-foot-wide natural monument. Most emigrants who left Missouri in the spring attempted to reach Independence Rock by July 4, giving the rock its name and making it a very welcome sight. Accessible today via Wyoming Highway 220, the rock sits near the center of Wyoming and was a well-known milestone for pioneers because of its size and location right in the middle of the trail. Many pioneers carved their names into the rock, along with messages for the next group, earning it the title “The Register of the Desert.” Some
of the messages are imaginative and inspiring, such as “John was here.” Some historians believe that people actually set themselves up as professional carvers here and charged a fee to carve the pioneers’ names and messages in the rock.
Craters of the Moon, Idaho Characterized by an eerily alien and desolate landscape of caves and “lava forests” that were carved over millennia by very active volcanoes, the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Park is a fascinating place to hike, camp, and explore along the Oregon Trail. It is one of the best places in the world to play “hot lava” . . . or the worst, depending on how you look at it. Be sure not to get lost, though, because the park covers an area roughly the size of Rhode Island.
another important historical landmark—Fort Vancouver. Don’t let the name fool you. Fort Vancouver isn’t in Canada; it’s definitely an American city. Located on the bank of the Columbia River, Fort Vancouver was one of the destinations along the West Coast for pioneers, a frequent stop for trappers and fur traders, the western hub of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and a lone ensign of civilization in the vast and untamed wilderness. As pioneers reached this region, they would pick up supplies at the fort before settling on their own new land. At one point, the fort was the center of trade in the Pacific Northwest. Although the original Fort Vancouver burned down many years ago, a complete replica has been built in its place. You can tour the new fort, which is accessible via Interstate 5. Even if you don’t follow the complete Oregon Trail from Independence to Fort Vancouver, these sites along the way will always be reminders of the great American westward journey.
Fort Vancouver, Washington
▶▶
The jewel of the Pacific Northwest, Vancouver, Washington, is home to
—Josh Fulton
www.america101.us/trail/Sites.html
Above: Historical recreations like Fort Vancouver make learning about history vivid and real. Right: Chimney Rock is and was one of the most iconic locations on the Oregon Trail, due to its unique geographic formation.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 77
Panda Paradise Chengdu’s Research Center
Despite being naturally found only in south-central China, pandas have endeared themselves to millions throughout the world—quite a feat for an endangered species that numbers only in the lower thousands. With so many things to see in China, many visitors overlook the pandas until they get back to a zoo closer to home. But for travelers interested in the natural wonders that China has to offer, the Panda Research Center (PRC) in Chengdu (sometimes called Sichuan) should become a priority. its primary purpose is the protection of pandas; it dedicates much of its revenue to studying pandas and helping them regain lost footing in their population. The PRC is also an open nature reserve and is home to pandas, peacocks, koi, and a variety of water birds. While the PRC is a popular site for many tourist groups, the openness of
the center and the number of panda habitats it provides keeps even the hotspots of the reserve from becoming as crowded as many of China’s other wonders. This openness gives visitors adequate space to take pictures or videos of adolescent pandas stealing each other’s food, of adult pandas sunning themselves, or of the less-regulated wildlife at the PRC, like
Left: The enclosures provide log playgrounds for the pandas to enjoy. Right: Though not as well known, the red pandas are a must-see for every visit to the Panda Research Center.
78 ▶ fall 2014
From left: photography by George Lu and Marie and Alistair Knock
Whether people love pandas because of their human-like mannerisms and expressions or their humorous pop-culture associations in things such as the book Eats, Shoots, and Leaves or the “Never Say No to Panda” European cheese commercials, this love for pandas leads many people to zoos in hopes of seeing them. But the PRC differs from zoos in that
From top: photography by Lightningboy2000 and fortherock
field notes
the swarming koi, fighting over food from visitors. While some travelers do stop at the lake to feed the koi and enjoy the surrounding gardens, the real reason they go to the PRC is to see the pandas. The PRC keeps its pandas in several openair enclosures, rather than cages, that are separated from guests by moats and short walls, making the atmosphere much friendlier than in typical zoos. The pandas are divided by age, though at least one adult is usually left with each age group, making each enclosure feel more like a family room or nursery than anything else. Visitors can time their arrival to see feeding time for the pandas. For the adolescents, mealtimes usually mean having a mini brawl, as the faster eaters tackle the slower ones in hopes of getting more food. The tackled pandas let out cries that most visitors would describe as adorable, and the adult pandas complete lack of concern about the growing dispute only adds to the humor of the situation. If adorable brawling adolescents don’t win you over, you’ll want to check out the home for baby pandas. Visitors can pay a couple hundred dollars to hold the babies, feed them, and take videos and pictures with them. Because the panda cubs are sensitive to crowds, it’s virtually impossible to see them without paying. But the PRC also provides “panda cams” that you can watch in PRC’s park or on their website, showing both the babies and the other pandas. So even travelers who want to save money for longer-lasting souvenirs can still enjoy baby panda cuteness. In addition to the black-and-white pandas normally associated with the name panda, the PRC is also home to red pandas, which look less like bears and more like raccoons. The PRC reduces the barriers between visitors and red pandas even further than on the other pandas’ enclosures, sometimes dispensing with the fence
Top: The red panda reserve lets the red pandas get onto the walkway, letting you get up close and personal. Above: Sometimes the pandas like to hide, but if you walk around the enclosure enough, you’re sure to find the perfect angle to take a photo.
altogether and allowing the red pandas to climb up to the walkway. Some red pandas run along the walkway and through the legs of visitors before returning to their trees; others decide to take naps right on the walkway. For visitors who are lucky enough to be there when the red pandas sleep on the walkways, the guards are okay with guests petting the pandas as long as the guests are gentle. Unfortunately, word of this spectacle travels quickly, and
masses soon descend upon the sleeping pandas, scaring them away. For visitors who are willing to take the time to venture away from China’s typical tourist sites, the PRC brings some of China’s natural wonders right up close and personal. Come discover what great creatures China has had since before its civilization even started. ▶▶
panda.org.cn/English
—Thomas Call
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 79
Orphanage Project:
Supervised • Safe • Organized LDS Standards
80 ▶ fall 2014
www.orphanagesupport.org
Service + Adventure Orphanage Support
Services Organization
International Service Experience
www.stowawaymag.com â—€ 81
info@orphanagesupport.org
Through the Eyes of the
Everywhereist Geraldine DeRuiter was in Italy when she got the text message from her coworker: “We’re all out of a job.” It was 2008, and the toy company where she worked as a copywriter had been acquired by a larger company. At that time, DeRuiter’s husband was traveling a lot for work, and he suggested that DeRuiter tag along on his trips. She did, and one day a friend suggested that she document her experiences.
What was your most meaningful trip and why?
I think my favorite trip was when we went to South Africa for a conference. We went to a resort in the middle of a wildlife reserve called Bushmans Kloof. There were animals all over, but they weren’t predatory animals. Every morning the tour guides took us on a nature walk; sometimes it had a horticultural aspect, and sometimes we saw very old cave paintings. In the evening, the guides
82 ▶ fall 2014
drove us around in jeeps, and we saw tons of beautiful animals that I didn’t even know existed. We had two more days in Cape Town after that, and I told my husband, “We are losing perspective because we literally have had people waiting on us.” So we did a township tour. It was a good trip. It did what travel is supposed to do.
What about the townships?
Fifteen minutes from the amazing mansions in Cape Town, there are people living without running water, toilets, even electricity. We went into one room and it looked like a dorm— there were three twin beds. A guy who lived there said, “Three families live here.” I was confused, so I asked him what he meant. He said, “I sleep on this bed with my wife and three children.” Then he pointed to the other two beds and said, “There’s a family of five there and a family of six there.” During the township tours, we saw people who had been oppressed
by their government for much of the last century. It was amazing to see the contrasts. I think it was one of the more eye-opening trips I’ve ever had.
Do you have a favorite “hidden gem”?
Belfast, Ireland, was incredible. I was a teenager in the ‘90s and grew up with an understanding that Northern Ireland was dangerous. But the trip was a great educational experience. We found my other favorite hidden gem while on a road trip 10 years ago. We ended up in a little town and had no idea what it was. It turned out to be Ashland, Oregon, and they have one of the best Shakespeare companies in the United States. Picture yourself in Middle-of-Nowhere, Oregon, and all of a sudden there’s this cute little town with excellent theater and adorable restaurants. My husband and I actually got married there.
Photo by Geraldine DeRuiter
DeRuiter began writing about her travels as “the Everywhereist.” Almost five years later, she continues to share her adventures and lessons learned with her increasing number of readers. She now receives over 3,000 visits to her blog each day. Stowaway caught up with DeRuiter recently and asked her about this process and how documenting her experiences abroad has changed her perspective on travel.
field notes
What was your biggest culture shock?
I would say South Africa and the townships. I mean, you have poverty in the United States, but it’s not quite like that. There’s a degree of deprivation. You have that moment of, “Gosh, we live in a country where we have everything and so much of it.” The roads are clean, and there aren’t animal carcasses clogging up our water supply.
How do you know what to pack?
The first thing I do is check the weather. That dictates footwear, and footwear dictates clothing. No more than three pairs of shoes: one completely comfortable walking pair, usually my Converse; one slightly dressier pair that I can still walk through a city in, so a pair of boots or nice flats; and one slightly impractical pair, like sandals or heels. Then I determine the clothes. My rule is— and this is kind of ridiculous—I make every top match every bottom.
Do you have other packing tips? Top: photo by Iker Merodio; Bottom: photo by Rand DeRuiter
When you get something new, and you’re really excited about it, and
you think, “I really want to take this,” sometimes you have to accept that you can’t. That’s one of the hardest things for me. Another really important thing is to never take something on a trip that you haven’t worn before. You’ll find out it’s a size too small or it’s not comfortable or—and this is the worst—it’s not actually a waterproof coat like it was supposed to be.
What do you wish you had known before about traveling that you know now? Something isn’t bad just because it’s strange and different. Sometimes it’s good to feel uncomfortable because
that’s when we learn and new experiences happen. Also, try to be amazing to everyone you meet, even if they’re horrible to you. My husband is just a good person, so he’s way better at it than I am. I always joke that it’s my “Bill and Ted’s” philosophy: “Be excellent to each other.”
Do you have any last bits of travel advice for our readers?
The last bit of advice is something that my husband told me because I have a terrible sense of direction and was afraid to venture out. He said, “Let’s imagine that you go and spend the whole day walking in the wrong direction, and you get incredibly lost. The hotel is always at most a cab ride away. So what if it’s a really expensive cab ride?” That security blanket made me a lot more comfortable. ▶▶
everywhereist.com
—Susie Wahlquist
Top: A sunny day in Belfast draws everyone outside. Many relax on the grounds of Belfast City Hall and soak in the sunshine. Left: DeRuiter sits in a pub in Belfast, enjoying the food and the atmosphere with her husband.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 83
“The best parts by far were the relationships we were able to form,” says Mary Baum, who recently served in Colombia with Eagle Condor Humanitarian. “A part of my heart will always be in Colombia with the people there.”
Eagle Condor’s mission is described in an ancient South American prophecy: The people of the condor and the people of the eagle were once one people. After a long separation, the eagle will come to assist the periled condor,
Top:This port of call—Cartagena, Colombia—invites the world to walk its cobblestone streets and enjoy its beautiful beaches. Bottom: Festive, bright buildings add to the colonial-Hispanic architecture.
84 ▶ fall 2014
so they both can soar through the sky together, wing tip to wing tip. This inspiring prophecy and the Chakana—an Incan cross symbolizing bridges between heaven, earth, and the underworld (used in the Eagle Condor logo)—represent the vision of Eagle Condor Humanitarian: to bridge cultures through meaningful, barrier-breaking service. At Eagle Condor, volunteers reach out to local humanitarian groups in communities that struggle with poverty in Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador and that would otherwise lack the resources or personnel necessary to achieve long-term, sustainable change. Together with these local humanitarian groups, Eagle Condor is helping improve living conditions. The organization looks beyond quick fixes; the group’s stated goal is to bridge “cultures to empower children and families by providing opportunities for self-reliance.” In other words, this organization helps people find long-lasting solutions to current distresses. Many of the founding members of Eagle Condor have lived in countries with large impoverished populations. Upon returning to their comfortable lives in the United States, they
Top: photo by N. Karim; Bottom: photo by David Shankbone
on the wings of
field notes
Photo by Peter Blapps
eagle condor humanitarian have felt the need to do something to help individuals in those nations. For example, while living in Chile for two years, Chris Jensen reaslized that there was a great need for service and education to lift the hopes of those around him. Upon returning home, he decided to find a way to reach out to people living in countries with disparaging differences between the working class and the excluded poor. Now Jensen serves as a project director for Eagle Condor Humanitarian. The focus of Eagle Condor, he says, is not to westernize communities but to empower families and communities to hope and work for what the local population defines as a “better life.” Jensen has worked with local humanitarian groups to give them a boost in volunteer workers, funds, and materials, so these local groups can continue the important work they are already doing. For example, a local organization called “Semillas de Amor” (Seeds of Love) reaches out to people who have been affected by displacement. They have held domestic-violence workshops for mothers and a nutrition program for local youth, feeding up to 100 children each day. Their
Though poverty affects all ethnic groups, Afro-Latino citizens seem to be the most marginalized.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 85
▶▶
eagle-condor.org
—Robert V. Faulkner
Concentrations of buildings that are typical of Spanish colonies fill the historic districts of Cartagena, Colombia.
Is Colombia Safe?
efforts. While the rural areas and
In recent years, safety has greatly
still experience those problems,
improved in Colombia. But many
visitors just need to take standard
people still associate Colombia with
precautionary measures, as in
things like drug trades and kidnap-
most countries. The US State Department has
pings. During the worst years of the conflict, Colombians were largely
updated Colombia’s status on its
left to fend for themselves because
list of country travel warnings to
of the dangerous conflicts in their
reflect these improvements: “Tens
nation. Even after major changes
of thousands of US citizens safely
have improved security in Colombia,
visit Colombia each year for tour-
people still seem to hesitate to offer
ism, business, university studies, and
outside help to Colombians.
volunteer work. Security in Colombia
However, while some conflicts
has improved significantly in recent
remain, President Álvaro Uribe, who
years, including in tourist and busi-
served as president of Colombia
ness travel destinations such as
(2002–2010), was a catalyst for
Bogota and Cartagena.” Because of improvements in
improving the security of the nation. He cracked down on drug trade,
security, airlines now have direct
removed key individuals from power,
flights to Cartagena from New York,
and caused leadership within drug
Miami, and Panama, and Caribbean
cartels to begin to crumble.
cruise liners often stop in this beauti-
Juan Manuel Santos, Uribe’s successor and the current president of Colombia, has continued these
86 ▶ fall 2014
borders of Colombia occasionally
ful port city. ▶▶
travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/ colombia-travel-warning.html
Photo by Pedro Szelely
resources, however, are quickly exhausted, so Eagle Condor helps to bridge that gap. Interns serve for three to six months, during which time they live with a local family, assist in the expeditions, and otherwise help with local needs. Volunteers such as Jensen and Baum help on expeditions that typically last 10-14 days, working on local infrastructure, providing workshops, or helping with other local partners. In many cases, these volunteers and interns have life-changing experiences. “The love that the people in Colombia shared with me impacted me in a permanent way,” says Baum. “Uris Segovia, the mother who started Semillas de Amor, is an inspiration. She grew up in the poor refugee neighborhood that we worked in. After she made it out of the area, she decided to start a foundation to help those who could not leave.” When asked why he served in a foreign country, Jensen says, “Although we can have multicultural experiences in our native country, you get these cultural experiences in a more raw form when you go abroad.” For volunteers looking simply to “wipe a tear off a child’s cheek” as a photo op, he says, these raw experiences may not be what they want. But for those who want to make a lasting change in the world. Eagle Condor is a great organization to help them achieve that goal. “The whole experience was beautiful,” explains Baum. “It was wonderful to serve and to meet those people. I feel like I was able to help a little bit, but I was—and continue to be—the main beneficiary of the whole experience.”
Insider 88
Hanging Out
90
Capturing the Cliché Photo
92
“Going” Abroad: The Traveler’s Guide to International Toilets
See the difference a travel hammock can make on your next trip.
Master the techniques for taking the kitschy travel photos we all laugh at but can’t resist taking.
Here are a few things you can expect when “going” away from home.
94
The Better Bottle
95
Leave One, Take One: Umbrella Sharing in Japan
96
Exploring the Periphery of Chiang Mai
99
Waze to Get Around
Which filtered water bottle is best for your level of adventure?
Take a look inside Japan’s unique umbrella-sharing system.
Find tranquility and connect with traditional Thai culture outside the city.
Use this app to find the fastest and easiest way to get where you need to go.
Because hammocks come in a variety of sizes and materials, they can be customized to fit your ideal relaxation experience. Photo by Becky Lai
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 87
Hanging Out
Why hammocks are the travel companion you can’t live without. The next time you’re trying to decide what makes it into your suitcase and what gets left behind, there’s one thing you should definitely take with you: a hammock. Seriously. Hammocks weigh next to nothing—many weigh in at barely over a pound. And they’re also the ideal relaxation mechanism, enabling you to soak in your surroundings in complete comfort. “They make already great moments even greater,” says Sam Dearden from Boston, Massachusetts, and longtime lover of travel and hammocks. For example, Dearden says he didn’t shy away from using his hammock in public during his internship in Madrid, Spain. But he was met with mixed responses. “Some people were like, ‘Hey, did they punish you?’” Dearden says. “And other people said, ‘Hey, that’s really cool. It looks like you’re living the life.’”
Aside from unadulterated lounging, hammocks, are ideal for reading, taking short naps, and even cuddling. “Hammocks are surprisingly social because you can fit more than one person in them,” Dearden says. But the fun doesn’t end there. Hammocks can also be used as a blanket or a pillow in times of need. The night Dearden got stuck in the Dublin Airport in Ireland, he
88 ▶ fall 2014
Photo by Carol Blyberg
One Pound of Extreme Versatility
insider found a spot to lie down, rolled up his hammock as a pillow, and fell sound asleep.
The Freedom to Lounge
Hammocks can be attached to anything from the trees surrounding your campground to the porch of your cabin. You can take your hammock with you to the park, to the beach, or even to the canyon. Many take hammocks rock climbing, finding them to be the ideal seat to rest on while watching their friends scale the cliffs. “While everyone else was terrified climbing the mountain, I was the most relaxed down in the hammock,” explains BYU student Jill Smyth from Pleasant Grove, Utah. They also make for an excellent camping companion and are great to
take backpacking for when you find that perfect place to stop.
Finding the Right One
From private outdoor spaces to public hangouts, hammocks can adapt to wherever you may be. Now the only question remaining is which hammock will you choose? Hammocks can be purchased new or used, and many outdoor companies sell hammocks designed specifically for traveling. Depending on the brand, size, and weight capacity, hammocks run anywhere from $15 to $200, and most hammocks come with a convenient stuff sack for easy transport.
—Cara Gillespie
Below: Despite being incredibly lightweight, many hammocks are strong enough to hold multiple people.
Is your home ready for winter?
Aaerow Forced
Air
Systems
•servicing/inspection •new installation •licensed & bonded •30+ years experience
call 801.766.9866 for your fall inspection (Utah County area only)
Try It Out Here are a few options you may want to consider: Grand Trunk Ultralight Hammock, $19.80 ▶▶
ENO DoubleNest Hammock, $69.95
▶▶
Byer of Maine Traveller Lite Hammock, $14.95
You can find these and more hammocks at these websites: ▶▶
rei.com
▶▶
sierratradingpost.com
▶▶
eaglesnestoutfit-
photo by Philip Bouchard
From top: photography by Guillame and Andrew Hall
▶▶
tersinc.com
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 89
Capturing the Cliché Photo
Everyone’s seen them—those groan-worthy photos in your uncle’s photo album. You may think they are silly. But if you go all the way to Italy and don’t pretend to hold up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, you may feel like you missed out. Even if you never show them to anyone, these may end up being the pictures you’re secretly proud of. Do not be afraid to take your time. You traveled thousands of miles to create this picture—you can afford to spend ten minutes getting it right.
Forced perspective is the name of the game in this photo op. Use a wide-angle lens and take the photo during clear weather. Using a tripod certainly couldn’t hurt. Popular illusions include holding the monument in a hand or between fingers, pushing against it, climbing it, kissing it, or breaking it (but only if it’s already destroyed or damaged). Of course, if you have the time, you might as well do all of the above.
Be ready to take several shots.
Photo Op 2: Iconic Re-creation
When re-creating a famous photo, the two most important things to consider are the pose and the wardrobe. Plan ahead and bring a copy of the picture so you won’t need to do it from memory. If you can’t wear the same outfit seen in the famous photo, try to wear an outfit that follows a similar theme. Sometimes you don’t even need the exact location.
90 ▶ fall 2014
Top: photo by Marty Portier; Bottom: photo courtesy of North Carolina Digital Heritage Center
Photo Op 1: Monumental Manipulation
insider
Photo Op 3: Borderline Intersection
Well-known borders and other transitions can also make for ideal photo ops—with you and a friend standing on either side of a border. There are many moods you may want to portray: friendliness, animosity, or even just separation. Hug or shake hands or try using props, such as rival sports team jerseys.
Sometimes you only need yourself.
Photo Op 4: Statuesque Imitation
Communication is the key to getting this picture right. You may think you know what the statue is doing, but often your back is turned to it. Your photographer should help you adjust your pose until it is accurate. Costumes or props are optional but encouraged.
From top: photography by Ken Lund, Niko Vermeer, and Christian Mehlfuehrer
Photo Op 5: Cultural Appropriation Don’t fret too much about proportions.
Most travel destinations have iconic local foods or pastimes. The goal in this photo op is to show that you participated in the local customs. You can try being either completely subtle or completely over the top. To be subtle, observe the locals. Pay attention to how they dance or ride the bus and do likewise. To be over the top, try exaggerating your unfamiliarity with the activity or your inability to blend in with the crowd. Perhaps you could overreact to the spicy food or wear your tackiest tourist gear at a public gathering. ▶▶
skift.com/2013/08/25/the-22-mostcliched-tourist-photos-everand-why-they-matter/#1
—Adam Wright Find ways to photograph iconic scenes in your travel destination.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 91
“Going” Abroad
The Traveler’s Guide to International Toilets We all have to go sometime. But while many travel locations pander to their tourists’ wishes, it is almost inevitable that you will have to use local styles of toilets at some point. Here are a few things you can expect while “going” away from home.
Some countries use sitting toilets almost exclusively. Even commodes located far off the beaten path will offer something to sit on—be it plastic, porcelain, metal, or wood. These might use a bidet or toilet paper or both. After you use the paper, you are usually supposed to put it down the drain with the rest of the waste. If not, there will be a trash can nearby for used paper. Many facilities that
expect lots of traffic or that want to promote hygiene now use motion sensors to activate everything from toilets to sinks to towel dispensers.
Squat Toilets
Minimalism is the watchword of many countries’ simple squat toilets. At first you may mistake them for oddly shaped drains, but these are in fact the receptacles. Some of these toilets lack a flushing mechanism. In these cases
there will likely be a hose or showerhead nearby for you to wash out the toilet and to use as a freestyle bidet.
Unisex Toilets
Some restrooms are unisex. At the very least, you may be directed to the section intended for the opposite sex if your side gets too crowded. The toilets themselves can be of the sitting or squatting variety.
Left: Please ensure that your back is to the wall and in full upright position when using sitting toilets. Right: Walking into an occupied toilet is not the best way to meet the locals.
92 ▶ fall 2014
Top: photo by Cyberslayer; From left: photography by Tony Alter and Flickr user mmmmmrob
Sitting Toilets
insider
Public Toilets
One thing you should not always expect is privacy. It is not unheard of for large public restrooms to have toilets separated by only a very short wall. And if you don’t bring toilet paper with you, you won’t have any.
Toilets for Hire
Remember that you may have to pay to use the restrooms. The fee is often collected by an attendant, or the restroom itself may be an automated booth. Some look like coin-operated Port-A-Potties but are in fact much cleaner than you might expect
because the inside goes through a wash cycle between each customer.
Luxury Toilets
If you treat the toilets in some countries like any other seated model, you would be missing out. In Japan, for example, standard features include heated seats and built-in bidets. And you may even find special features like white noise generators, music, deodorizers, video games, or computerized models that email your doctor about the sugar levels in your urine. ▶▶
toilet-guru.com
—Adam Wright
The Other Sink When I first saw the sink next to the toilet during my trip to Italy, I was confused. After some contemplation, I decided that it must be for hand-washing clothes. So I grabbed my running clothes and got to work. Then I pinned my clothes up to dry. I was proud because I’d figured out the purpose of the other sink by myself. At dinner that evening, I offhandedly mentioned something about it to Vito, my host, expecting him to confirm my conclusion regarding the sink. But Vito started to laugh. Uneasiness began to settle in my stomach. “So you found the bidet?” he asked. “I don’t think they have those in the States.” He laughed again before continuing. “All of the houses in Italy have them in the bathroom. It’s for—” he paused, mulling over what to say next. “When
From top: photography by Maya-Anais Yataghene and RW Sinclair
people go to the bathroom, they use the bidet afterwards to wash themselves. It’s a sanitary procedure.” And I washed my running clothes in it? “You mean they wash their hands, right?” A grin escaped the corner of his mouth. “No, no. Their bottoms.”
—Susie Wahlquist
Top: Don’t feel pressured to use all the buttons at once. Bottom: Pack your own paper— some places leave you not so high and dry.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 93
The Better Bottle International travelers are told time and time again, “It’s a beautiful country, but whatever you do, don’t drink the water!” Although in the past, travelers had to resort to buying bottled beverages in-country, the prevalence of self-filtering water bottles now allows travelers to drink local water safely. We’ve taken a look at some of the best options out there. Here’s our short list. It is important to note that these bottles should all be filled with relatively clean water, such as tap water, unless otherwise stated. ▶▶
expertvagabond.com
▶▶
outdoorgearlab.com
▶▶
parkvisitor.com
— Holly Smith
94 ▶ fall 2014
Bobble Bottles
Hydros Side Fill Bottle
Clearly Filtered Stainless Steel Bottle
CamelBak Groove
The Bobble Bottle has a sleek design and comes in a variety of colors, starting at the low cost of $8.99. Although the soft plastic body keeps the bottle from slipping out of wet hands, squeezing the bottle too hard could cause an easy spill. Water does not flow quickly through the filter, so taking a long drink of water is difficult. The Bobble Bottle is not dishwasher safe, and the filter lasts for about two months.
Although the Clearly Filtered Stainless Steel Bottle has a higher starting price of $46.95, it is capable of filtering water from lakes, rivers, or streams. The filter removes 99.99% of viruses found in the water, not just the bacteria and protozoa that other filters eliminate. The filters last up to six months, and the stainless steel body is ideal for camping or any other situation in which the bottle may be tossed around.
The Hydros Side Fill Bottle uses a coconut-based carbon filter that allows for a steady stream of water when drinking. The bottle opens from the side to allow for easy filling; however, the cap is difficult to use and to disassemble when replacing the filter. Prices start at $27.99, and the filter is good for about two months. Although the price may seem steep, users may be satisfied to know that the company donates $1 to sustainable water infrastructure projects throughout the world for every bottle purchased.
The CamelBak Groove is known for being spill proof, no matter what. Its loop handle also creates an easy way to carry the bottle or attach it to a pack. Although some users have reported mold growth, the Groove is dishwasher safe because the carbon filter can be removed from the drinking spout; this feature also makes the Groove usable for beverages other than water. Prices start at $17.99, and the filter lasts for about three months.
insider
Leave One, Take One
Umbrella Sharing in Japan
Photo by Su Yin Khoo
Seasoned travelers in Japan know to check the weather before any excursion. But they can still be caught by sudden rainstorms, especially in this country’s wet climate. Intentionally or not, Japanese locals have developed a unique way of dealing with these common, unpredictable showers: communal umbrellas—helpful companions to unprepared travelers again and again. Flanking the entrances to konbinis, or convenience stores, are racks full of umbrellas waiting for some soggy person to use them. After a person uses one of these communal umbrellas, it is deposited in another store’s umbrella rack to help the next unlucky traveler. However, not all umbrellas in the racks are communal, so learning to identify which ones are communal is a must. There’s nothing special about communal umbrellas. They’re almost always those clear plastic ones that break when the wind blows the wrong way and that can be found in the hyaku-en stores (Japan’s equivalent of American dollar stores). And while some undamaged umbrellas might
find their way into the communal realm, most communal umbrellas tend to be damaged at least slightly. The context of an umbrella’s location is critical information because not all plastic or even all damaged umbrellas are communal. That’s why konbinis are the best place to find them—the context is fast and easy to understand. Just compare how many people are in the store to how many umbrellas are in its racks. If the numbers are roughly the same, then buy an umbrella to be on the safe side. But if there are at least five more umbrellas than people, chances are there should be one available for taking. Be very careful about taking nonplastic, non-cheap, or non-damaged
umbrellas. Accidentally taking a hundred-yen (US $1) umbrella that wasn’t communal is easily forgivable, but nicer ones should be left alone, unless they absolutely have no owner (for example, if three of them are in a rack outside a closed building with no signs of anyone being present inside). Knowing these guidelines makes entering the community of communal umbrellas easy and even fun for travelers as they take and, in turn, leave or forget umbrellas at scattered locations around Japan. They won’t always get the best umbrella, but at least they’ll keep relatively dry and save some money that would be better spent on something good—like sushi.
—Thomas Call www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 95
Exploring the Periphery of
Chiang Mai Outside the city, the busy streets and crowded bars give way to miles and miles of green rice paddies that stretch earnestly into the horizon. The air clears and the sky opens, offering the most striking pink and orange sunsets. The world gets quieter, older.
96 ▶ fall 2014
This is the Chiang Mai that belongs to the locals. The homes here are simple—some of them constructed of nothing more than wooden planks and tin panels. There are gardens in the backyard and hammocks strung between trees. Villagers spend the evenings chatting and laughing in the street as chickens and dogs dart through their legs. From the bank of the canal, crickets chirp and frogs bellow. Wind chimes dangle from the eaves, clothes hang on the line, children play in the stream. Here village markets are thronged with locals who have come to buy ingredients for the evening’s meal— rice, chicken, cashews, eggs. Here weather-beaten Christian cemeteries lie silently next to modest Buddhist temples. Here the leaves of mango trees sway in the warm breeze and water buffalo graze in the fields.
This is God’s country—the kind of landscape that reaches into the core of your being and awakens a new sense of self. In the countryside, the rainclouds are not a damper on your plans but a complement to the scenery. There are bicycles rather than motorcycles, butterflies rather than street rats. It is only in these places, away from the immutable thrum of the city, that you will experience the essence of Chiang Mai— the very foundation of Thai culture and community. In the morning you will be awakened by the sunlight streaming through the window and the cry of exotic birds calling from the trees. You will shower with a bucket of water and a ladle; you will be fed chicken legs and sticky rice for breakfast. And when you step outside onto the porch, you will not hear the rumbling of engines or the shouting
Phototography by Jenna Hoffman
The tourist attractions in Chiang Mai, Thailand, are often touted as must-sees. If you know anyone who’s been to northern Thailand, you’ve probably heard tales of ziplining, tiger-petting, and elephant-riding. In the city, ardent tuk-tuk drivers rumble through the busy streets, honking their horns in search of vacationers to whisk away to tourist destinations like Doi Suthep, Tiger Kingdom, or Walking Street. Many travelers come to Chiang Mai to see these things but leave without experiencing the charm and beauty tucked away in the village countryside.
insider of street vendors but the laughter of children and the hum of insects in the reeds. You will smell the sweet scent of eucalyptus and jasmine. You will see the sunrise reflected in pools of still water.
This Chiang Mai, the whimsical countryside of the locals, stands as a reminder that Thailand is not only a place of adventure and excitement but also a place of rejuvenation and introspection. Here, outside the city
limits, the beautiful, quiet energy can be just as gratifying as the fastpaced city life if you just slow down to notice it.
—Jenna Hoffman
Leaving the City Tourists seldom visit the outskirts of the city, but the countryside of Chiang Mai is accessible to those who are willing to be a little adventurous. Local transportation is the fastest and easiest way to get there. From the city, ask a tuk-tuk driver to take you to the central market, known as Warorot or Gat Luang. Near the entrance of the market, blue, green, white, and yellow trucks converge at the truck station. Each color coincides with a province outside Chiang Mai. The yellow trucks, specifically, take passengers to Doi Saket—a small town about 45 minutes from the city. In Doi Saket, you can stay a few nights in a Thai-style bungalow and rent a bicycle to explore the winsome villages and rolling farmland. Pam Headen, an American who is a longtime resident of Chiang Mai, says: “This has been my home for 37 years, and I still feel the sense of adventure. I love the people, the food, the weather, the garlic smell when we eat, the croaking frogs keeping me up at night, the language, the marketplace. I could go on and on. Thailand will always be a part of me.”
Left: Earthenware collects rainwater outside of a villager’s home. Top: Sunset reflects off the flooded rice paddies. Above: These three sisters have lived in the same village their whole lives.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 97
BYU S TRAVEL MAGAZINE
Photo & Story Contest
See submission guidelines and read all past issues free at stowawaymag.com
Submit your photos or stories by midnight on Saturday,
NOVEMBER 1 Winter 2014 issue’s photo contest winner: “Roxana” by Anna Gleave
insider
Waze to Get Around If you’ve ever wished someone could have warned you about a traffic jam before you got stuck in it, here’s the app for you. Waze is “the world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation app” on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone. The Waze app is a free way for people to alert those around them to the unexpected happenings on the road ahead. And with over 36 million users in 110 countries, you’ll rarely be caught off guard.
Lend a Hand
Get There
Keeping the Waze app open while you’re driving will automatically send information, such as your location and speed, to other users so everyone can know how traffic is moving. If you’re approaching a slowdown, Waze will suggest an alternate route so you can always take the fastest path possible to your destination.
Stay Connected
By connecting to Waze with your Facebook or Twitter account, you can also know where your friends are and when they’ll arrive. You can even stay up-to-date with the cheapest gas prices near you and let your fellow Wazers know if the prices change. ▶▶
waze.com
—Andy Kyle
Photography by Andy Kyle
Get real-time updates on road conditions from users who are currently seeing them and alert other “Wazers” to accidents, road hazards, and even police traps. Just wave your hand in front of your mobile device and tell it what to do. As long as you know where your phone is, you don’t even need to look away from the road.
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 99
Scraping Stone
Giants in the Cliffs Stone giants reside around the world, waiting to be visited by tiny travelers. Whether in the form of an animal or a human, these giants humble their viewers. Each inspires awe for the unimaginable efforts of those who painstakingly carved these cliff colossi. —Robert V. Faulkner
Crazy Horse Memorial
South Dakota, USA In the Black Hills, just 17 miles south of Mount Rushmore, a gargantuan sculpture of the famous Sioux warrior Crazy Horse is taking shape in the mountain face. Started in 1948 by American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, the sculpting has made slow progress because it is funded only through nongovernment donations. When completed, the staggering sculpture of Crazy Horse will be 563 feet high and eventually feature an equine mount. Most famous for his participation in the Battle of Little Big Horn, this Sioux warrior fought against the American Civil War commander Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer. While the sculpture remains incomplete, Crazy Horse still gazes towards the horizon with one arm outstretched, answering the question “Where are your lands?” implicitly as well as with his reply: “My lands are where my dead lie buried.” ▶▶
100 ▶ fall 2014
http://crazyhorsememorial.org/
escapades
The Lion Monument
Lucerne, Switzerland Depicting a dying lion as a memorial for brave Swiss soldiers, the Lion Monument honors those who died while trying to protect Louis XVI during the French Revolution. Above the sculpture are found the words “Helvetiorum Fidei Ac Virtuti” (“The loyalty and bravery of the Swiss”). The lion is surrounded by beautifully manicured grounds with green trees, and a reflection pool in front of the huge reposing lion adds a ghostly effect. Under pale water lilies, the lion’s reflection appears—a haunting representation of the great beast’s transition from life to death, which can be fully appreciated only in person. In A Tramp Abroad, Mark Twain observes, “There is a subtle something about the majestic pathos of the original which the copyist cannot get. Even the sun fails to get it; both the photographer and the carver give you a dying lion, and that is all. The shape is right, the attitude is right, the proportions are right, but that indescribable something which makes the Lion of Lucerne the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world, is wanting.” Perhaps Twain was right. The only way you can be sure is to visit these stone giants yourself. ▶▶
http://travelguide.all-about-switzerland.info/lucerne-lion-monument-pictures-history.html
Leshan Giant Buddha
Sichuan Province, China Sichuan Province is known as the first major foothold of Buddhism in China, so it makes sense that it would have a giant Buddha scraped out of the cliff face. This Buddha sits at more than 230 feet tall and stares over the lowlying landscape of greenery and rivers. A monk began carving the stone giant in AD 713 with the hope that it would subdue the perilous nearby river for safer passing. As the stone Buddha took shape, the river became calm. Although skeptics may attribute this change to the way the quarried rock was put into the river, the surrounding reserve is full of Buddhist temples today, and indigenous plants and wildlife thrive in this peaceful place. ▶▶
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/779
The Penance of Arjuna
Mahabalipuram, India This 45-foot-tall, 100-foot-wide relief depicts two life-size elephants protecting their young as seemingly foreboding creatures pass overhead. These creatures are divinities, humans, and animals from the mythical descent of the Ganges, when Arjuna is visited by Shiva. Unlike many other large-scale carvings, the closer you get to this relief, the more detail you can see. It was carved where two large boulders come together; the crevice between them was carved to represent the river, where water was allowed to flow to add to the symbolism. More feats of artistry and realism depicting other stories can be found throughout the site, where additional large-scale carvings and reliefs can be seen. ▶▶
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/249
www.stowawaymag.com ◀ 101
staff essay
Photo by Mikhail Dubov
Rollerblading at Twilight My friends and I are ready to call it a night and retire to our hostel on the last night of a two-week whirlwind vacation across China. We have been to the Forbidden City and have seen the Terra-Cotta Warriors. We’ve ridden double-decker buses and have been pulled in bike-drawn rickshaws. We’ve eaten at street vendors and in tiny restaurants. Our trip seems complete. While we’re cutting through a park on the last night in Xi’an, a person whizzes past me. I look closer. Are those . . . Rollerblades? It isn’t just one person, either, but a whole park of people, zipping in counter-clockwise circles around a courtyard. Around the edges of the courtyard, women sit on stools in front of blankets piled high with skates. I look at my friends, and they have seen it too. Their faces are bright with excitement. “Duōshăo qián?” we ask one of the women. How much? “Wŭ kuài.” 5 yuan—a little less than one US dollar.
102 ▶ fall 2014
We pay her and strap the Rollerblades to our feet. Then we too are zipping around the park. We separate, moving too fast to stay together. I have been making circles for several minutes, when someone comes up beside me: a petite Chinese girl in her late teens. She looks at me, a tall, blonde foreigner having the adventure of a lifetime. Then she smiles at me and holds out her hand. I take it, and she smiles wider, giggling. We attempt to speak, her with broken English and me with broken Chinese. Her name is Juju. She likes English. No, I am not staying here very long. I will be taking a train to Guangzhou tomorrow. Mostly we smile and laugh—the universal languages. She pulls at my hand to help me stay upright when I slip, and I steady her when she loses her balance. After a few minutes, Juju calls to her friends, and they join us. I become part of a line six people long, sweeping around the park. The boy
next to me speeds up and pulls us behind him at breakneck speeds. “Tài kuài le!” Juju calls. Too fast! I laugh with the joy of it. Her friends drift off until it is just me and Juju again. I look at my watch. It is time to go. I don’t know how to explain this in Chinese, but I stumble out something, and I think she understands. “Hĕn gāoxìng jiàn dào nĭ,” I tell her. It was so good to meet you. She smiles and repeats it back. We wave and she skates off. I return to the hostel with my American friends. The next morning, we wake early and catch the train for our 30-hour journey back to Guangzhou, knowing that we will probably never return to Xi’an. On the ride home, I try to remember all the amazing things I have seen on our trip, but all I can think of is a park at twilight and a girl named Juju.
—Diane Cardon