Trail Log 1998-1999 Holmes Rolston, III Summary 1998 India and Nepal Hong Kong. Madras, India, lectures, Bioethics and Environmental Ethics in India, Bangalore, National Law School of India University, Pune, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Ajanta Caves, Elora Caves. Delhi, All India Institute of Medical Sciences. Nepal. Kathmandu. Pokhara, trek in Annapurna vicinity, Machhapuchhare Peak, Gandruk, Pothana, raft trip, Royal Chitwan National Park, Mount Everest area trip, Lukla, Namche Bazaar, Kathmadu, flight to Bhairawa(h), visit to Tansen Hospital, Lumbini, birth place of Buddha. Yellowstone National Park, wolf seminar, Jim Halfpenny. Pomona, California, Southern California Academy of Sciences, Azusa and Angeles National Forest. Soledad River Canyon. Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota area. Yellowstone Institute, Wildlife Observation. Finland, Conference on Aesthetics of Mires and Peatlands, field trips, and Norway, Cruise to Norway, North Cape, Murmansk, Russia. Sawtooths and River Run, Middle Fork Salmon, Idaho. China, Harbin, Northeast Forestry University, Dailing and Liangsui Nature Reserve, Wudalianchi (Five-Joined Lakes) Nature Reserve, Jilin, Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve, Shenyang. Northeast University, Qiangshan Nature Reserve, Beijing. St. Louis. Meramec River. Missouri Botanical Gardens. 1999. Botswana and Tanzania Victoria Falls, Chobe National Park, Botswana, Okavango Delta Tanzania, Selous Game Reserve, Mikumi National Park Sawtooths and Bighorn Crags, wilderness hiking. Idaho. Snowmass, Aspen, Colorado, and Conference of International Association of Landscape Ecology. Rocky Mountain National Park, backpacking, Comanche Peak Wilderness 1998 Trail Log India and Nepal January 1 - February 12, 1998 Jan. 1, 1998, Thursday Left Ft. Collins, 4.45 a.m. The night before was Shonny and Adam's wedding. The Denver to Los Angeles plane was late, so they rushed me on an hour earlier flight, also with a scare about no visa, but I could take care of that in Los Angeles. Checked bags only to L.A., and reclaimed them there, and the agent said no visa was needed, new rules. Left at 12.00 on flight to New Delhi, with stop in Hong Kong, and shortly they announced they would refuel in Taipei, Taiwan. Plenty of spaces on the plane. Reached Taipei at 7.10 p.m. there (= 4.10 a.m. Denver time), so I've been up 24 hours, though with some good sleeping on the plane. I never saw the Pacific Ocean. Refueling stop due to strong headwinds, took about 40 minutes. Reached Hong Kong about 9.30 p.m., expecting to make a delayed New Delhi flight. This is United's Flight # 1 (!!), which flies around the world. But I got flagged for having no visa and pulled off the flight. Various confusions and ended up sleeping the night on a seat in the airport, but you could stretch out. Six or eight others were nearby, all Chinese. Jan. 2, Friday. Skipped this day (!!) when I crossed the International Date Line. Jan. 3, Saturday. Got some breakfast at a McDonalds, and made various inquiries to find the India Consulate was closed on Saturday and Sunday. So I took a bus to Wesley Hotel in Hong Kong for the weekend, which was within walking distance of where I had determined the Consulate to be. Hong Kong is about the latitude of Havana, Cuba, or Honolulu, about the Tropic of Cancer, 23 1/2 degrees North. Easy and inexpensive bus ride ($ 3) in to the hotel. The hotel is $ 107 per night and quite decent. Wesley Hotel, 22 Hennessy Road Wanchai, Hong Kong Phone 2866 6688 Fax: 2866 6633 The Wesley Foundation, Methodist Church, with bookstore, is nearby. Hotel is not run by the Methodists, but is on land they own. Jan. 4, Sunday. In the morning, I took a bus tour of Kowloon and the New Territories. The bus went under a tunnel, 2 km. long. Past Hong Kong Polytechnics University. Peninsula Hotel, the oldest in Hong Kong, once overlooked the Harbor, now filled in. Famous for British high tea. Hong Kong Cultural Centre, also a Space Center. There is a new airport under construction, to open April 1998. Now, no flights are permitted 1.00 a.m. to 6.00 a.m., on account of the noise. Lots of containerized shipping. This is the main port into China. You can tell public from private housing, because you can hang the laundry out on public housing. Public housing is much cheaper, and crowded. There are 150 McDonald's in Hong Kong. There are 300 temples, 150 Buddhist, 150 Taoist. visited Bamboo Forest Monastery (Chuk Lam Sin Yuen) with much incense, and some ancestor tablets. There was a wire vase (an incinerator) for burning paper models of what your ancestors need. People had been burning pictures of cellular phones, to send them to ancestors! banana trees. We drove up a twisted road, with lots of imitation road-cut cliffs. Reached Tao Mo Shan overlook. Drove past military base, formerly British. There are People's Republic of China soldiers there, but they keep in low profile. Hong Kong drives on the left (as the British), but mainland China drives on the right (as in the U.S.). We visited Kam Tim, Walled Village, where all the inhabitants have the surname Tang. The walls were built in the 1600's against bandits. The village goes back 700 years. There was a small derelict temple/shrine inside. Visited Lok Ma Chau, overlooking the Shenzhen River to the People's Republic of China. Past that it overlooks Shenshen, a new city built in the 1980's. Saw bones kept in jars, a burial practice. Mainland Chinese are not free to come to Hong Kong, though many do illegally. Hong Kong citizens may go to mainland China to find wives, as Hong Kong women are too choosy. Returned toward main part of city. Chinese University, one of six in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Jockey Club, a big race horse stadium. Prince of Wales Hospital. Lots of condominium towers, 3,000 people typically live in one of these condominiums. Drove past Amah Rock, shaped like a woman. Drove past Lion Rock, shaped like a lion. Bauhinia - this is a flower, purple, seen on trees in full bloom at Lok Ma Chou overlook. This flower 3 is now on the coins of Hong Kong, replacing the Queen of England. As a logo of the city, it was seen frequently. There are no bridges, only tunnels between Hong Kong and Kowloon. End of morning tour. In the afternoon, I took a bus tour of Hong Kong city proper, same guide. Hong Kong reverted to the Chinese from the British on July 1, 1997. 6.5 million people live here, half of them in the new territories. 32,000 are U.S. citizens. 26,000 are British. 200,000 are from the Philippines. Drove past Happy Valley Race Track. Drove up Victoria Peak. Galleria Shopping Center is on top, high on a hill, with an overlook. A hazy day, as, apparently, is often the case. Drove to Aberdeen, a fishing village, though I saw mostly yachts and water taxis. I declined a water taxi trip. Nearby is a jumbo floating restaurant. Visited Repulse Bay. A British naval vessel was here in World War II, though the Japanese occupied Hong Kong for over three years. Visited Stanley Market, with more Westerners and tourists than I had previously seen anywhere in town. Hong Kong was British Crown colony from 1842-1997. The British came in the early 1800's, when there was no city here, only a fishing village. They seized the island in 1841. China ceded it in 1842, and in 1860 ceded Kowloon, and in 1898 granted a 100 year lease on the New Territories. Hong Kong is now a SAR, Special Administrative Region of China. The terrain is steep, which means that the harbor is deep, and the countryside was not much used by the Chinese, since it is unsuitable for agriculture. Even modern developers still have to consult feng shui geomancers. There is a large high rise complex overlooking the sea with a mountain behind it. There is an enormous hole in the middle of it (4-5 stories of hole), so that the mountain spirit would not be offended, and still have his view to the sea!! Cantonese is the dialect of Chinese spoken here. Mandarin is spoken in North China, and is the official language of China. The written characters do not differ, only the pronunciation. This is a stable area, and the high rise office buildings, apartments and condominiums are on bedrock. Earthquakes are unknown. But there are typhoons. On the whole the land seems rather dry, though it can be well forested. This is the dry season? Jan. 5, Monday. There was a hassle at the India consulate all morning. It was crowded and confusion and hard to talk to anybody except through thick glass. They have to check with U.S. authorities, to see that 4 I am not an undesirable, and no visa until tomorrow. In the afternoon I walked around the shopping area. Businesses everywhere, markets in the side streets selling everything. There are lots of fabrication shops for steel and iron. I checked by the consulate again, and walked through three huge shopping malls in the lower 2-3 floors of skyscrapers. The shoppers are almost entirely Asians, few Westerners. As late as 1940, 40% of the people in Asia were living under colonial governments. Lots of curtains and rugs for sale. Lots of picture framing shops. Jan. 6, Tuesday. Went to the consulate at 9.30 a.m. and was told to return at 4.00 p.m. Checked out of the hotel at 1.00 p.m., and walked the shops for a whole.