The Future of this Blog?

I need some fresh ideas before I can continue with this blog. My other blogs will be active but I don’t yet know what is the fate of this travel blog. Maybe it’s time for what we Finns call a neuvoa-antava? (Turkish version in the photo).

Literally in Finnish that means something that gives you an advice but it is more often used when a group of people are undecided about something and somebody suggests that they should go to a bar for a neuvoa-antava to think it over. A neuvoa-antava can be consulted even if your decision is small – or you just want to have a beer.

The photo was taken at Istanbul airport while I was waiting for my connecting flight.

Nagasaki

It happened up there on August 9th, 1945.The bomb was detonated in the air to cause maximum damage.

Three days after Hiroshima, it was the time for the next atomic bomb. Had the weather been different, Kokura would be a world famous city but clouds and smoke meant that the bomb was delivered to a secondary target – Nagasaki.

When I arrived to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, there were also several very loud Japanese school groups going in. I was not very interested at visiting such an important place with these screaming teenagers but since new groups were arriving all the time, I had no choise but to go in myself.

The items on display where slightly rougher than the ones in similar museum in Hiroshima but I really don’t know how you could make a museum about atomic bomb without photos of injured or dead people. It would be like Olympics without athletes. Destroyed buildings, stopped watches or melted bottles are minor things compared to the human suffering.

After a few rooms I realized that the noisy kids didn’t say a word. Not a word. There are not many things in this world, especially not many museums, that can do that to a group of teenagers. The only thing I heard was the sigh of a girl who was watching a screen that showed photos of atomic bomb victims. Every time the photo changed, she gasped.

Canada Day 1999 in Ottawa

Canadians have their national day on July 1st and on that day in 1999 I happened to be in the capital Ottawa. Streets were crowded and many were talking about the expensive fireworks display but before that there was a show at Parliament Hill that was also broadcasted on tv.

There was someone singing humorously how great country Canada is and that it soon will be the largest country in the world if ex-Soviet Union still keeps falling apart. It was also the first Canada day for the Nunavut territory that earlier was part of Northwest territories. If Nunavut would be a country, it would be the 15th largest by area but there are only about 30 000 inhabitants who are mostly inuits.

People around me got clearly emotional when Canada’s greatest sport achievements were shown on the screens. At moments like these you realize you are definitely not a Canadian as it seemed just like a confusing mix of sport clips for someone who didn’t know the backgrounds. And then it started to rain. So much that they had to stop the tv broadcast. It was one of the heaviest rains I’ve experienced ever abroad. They had to cancel the fireworks as well so lot’s of disappointed wet people started to walk away from the city center.

It Started 10 Years Ago

Statue of Liberty and Manhattan in 1999.

I guess I could say that my travel hobby started in summer 1999 when I spent almost a week in New York City, two weeks in Canada and two weeks in Great Britain. I had been abroad before but I hadn’t done anything comparable.

At first it didn’t seem to be very easy. In order to book flights Helsinki-New York City-Toronto-Helsinki I called a student travel agency. It took ages to get a route like Helsinki-Brussels-Minneapolis-Buffalo-New York City-Syracusa and then my fixed-line phone fell on the floor and the call was disconnected. So I had to call again and wait for a long time to be served by another agent. That was a lucky accident as the second agent said the original routing was crazy because there were cheap direct flights between the cities with an option to have a stop-over in London.

Only some days before the departure I got a flu. The day before the departure I went to buy something to drink from a nearby shop but forgot my keys inside my appartment. On the morning of departure I took some ibuprofen to feel a bit better, took a bus to Helsinki central railway station and bought a few essential items that I was missing. Most importantly my first travel camera and some film. I really didn’t compare options but just quickly bough someting small and affordable that was recommended at the camera shop.

I rested on the plane, felt a bit shaky at JFK airport but the first full day was just as good as it is for anyone who has just had an intercontinental flight. New York City also taught me some lessons about money and reservations but that’s another story. All this was good prepration for future travels.

Robben Island – Then and Now

Same man, same place. Earlier a prisoner, today a tourist guide at notorious Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned 1964-1982.

Sama mies, sama paikka. Ennen vanki ja tänään opas Robben Islandin entisellä vankilasaarella, jossa Nelson Mandelaa pidettiin vangittuna 1964-1982.

132. Valokuvatorstaissa aiheena “Ennen – nyt.”

You Have Been Warned

Welcome to a Tourist Paradise!

Tervetuloa lomaparatiisiin!

128. valokuvatorstaissa aiheena saapuminen.

125. Valokuvatorstai: Keittiö

A shop at Kyoto train station in Japan. Keittiö is Finnish and means kitchen.

Liike Kioton juna-asemalta. Taisi olla kiire junaan kun ei ole tullut otettua kuvaa, jossa näkyisi myyjiä ja myytävää. Taisi oli vaatekauppa. Japanissa bongattuna myös mm. “Kuu&Kuu” ja “AÄLTO”

What is Obama Going to do with Bush’s Trash?

No, this is way too small.

For a long time there hasn’t been as much hope as today. Not because Barack Obama is the new U.S President but because George W. Bush is finally an ex-president. His administration did things that we’ve used to hear from banana republics but not from a country that calls itself as the leader of the free world. A more responsible U.S will mean a safer U.S and a safer world.

The photo was taken in Johannesburg, South Africa through a car window when we were stopped by a robot. The robot was not used in the war against terrorism but thats the word South Africans use for traffic lights.

You mean we came all the way here just to see a rock? And we can’t even climb it?

Uluru is big, a lot bigger than it looks. If you want to walk around it, you'll need a water bottle even if it isn't hot.

When I told an Australian that I was going to travel by land across Australia from Adelaide to Darwin, he was amazed: “Wow! You are going to see so much nothing!” This giant rock is in the middle of nothing at the center of the red continent. Several days on the beautiful Australian desert dirt tracks had turned our white Landcruiser red long before we arrived to Uluru. Other tourists came to take photos of us while we sat on the roof of our car and watched the setting sun.

Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is a sacred place for local aboriginals. They ask you not to take photographs of certain parts of the rock and that you don’t climb the rock. Both are requests that most westerners would follow in a church. Climbing is controversial as that is what many tourists expect to do there and you need a ticket to do the climb. If they sell tickets, it should be ok? Yes? No? Maybe? Too complicated, see the article at the end of the post. I decided not to climb.

At times it is unbelievable how the existence of certain groups of people is ignored. I once saw a documentary about Australia that was made probably during the late 1990’s. A guy was explaining that Sir CantRememberHisName was the first man to see the sight that was in the background. But how had he found the place? He had heard about it from the aboriginals.

Resources

• Should you climb Uluru? The Guardian
• Photos from Australian deserts. Outback Australia