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( 222 TRAVELER'S EXPLOITS ) I have observed that several Travelers Clubs in the Web have created lists of countries trying to assess, in a sort of competition, the most traveled persons. Nevertheless, those lists only reflect the quantity of countries and territories, but not the time spent in them. Thus, some members of those clubs fly to Addis Ababa, for instance, spend two days in the town visiting a museum and perhaps a cathedral, and fly back home, missing Lalibela, the Omo Valley tribes, Axum, the walled city of Harar, etc. Traveling that way is like going to the cinema, buying a ticket and, immediately, going back home without watching the movie! Some others have hired a car in Europe and "visited" ten countries or more in one day, or taken an airplane in Puerto Rico and flew, like a ping pong ball, to twenty different airports in twenty Caribbean islands, because just for touching for ten seconds an airport, even in transit, that place counts as visited, and have accumulated countries "visited" faster than we cook churros in Spain. But, how to recognize a qualitative traveler from a quantitative one? In order to answer to this question I have created a list of 222 Travelers exploits that I show below. I have tried to select the most exciting exploits and at the same time to embrace many different countries. The number will be fixed at 222 exploits because I would not like this club to be compared with "1000 Places to Visit Before You Die". Do not be afraid to join this club; it does not promote competition and has the only aim to inspire passion pointing out goals for the travelers; it is rather a Travel Lovers "Cenacle" since the exploits can't be compared. Who can say what is more valuable, climbing the Kilimanjaro or navigating during three weeks from Kinshasa to Kisangani along the Congo River, boarding the Transiberian train from Moscow to Vladivostok or making on foot El Camino from the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela, participating in the Chinese New Year in Singapore or admiring the Iguazu Falls?... The exploits are not of a Superman nature, such as crossing the Antarctica on a burro, or swimming from Buenos Aires to the Canary Islands, but at a humane dimension. To become a member (free of charge), please, send your name, nationality, year of birth, quantity of exploits and its numbers and, optionally, a picture featuring yourself performing a traveler's exploit, to my email: jorgejuansanchez(a)yahoo.es (Please, substitute (a) for @) I hope that this list will encourage travelers to discover more our beautiful and maravilloso planeta Tierra! LIST OF THE 222 TRAVELER'S EXPLOITS ------------------------------------------------------
TRAINS ----------- 1 - Have you traveled in the Transiberian, or in the Transmongolian train? 2 - Have you boarded the Shinkansen? 3 - Have you taken the Tren de la Jungla in Costa Rica? 4 - Have you traveled in the train from Chihuahua to Los Mochis via La Barranca del Cobre? 5 - Have you reached Lhasa by train? 6 - Have you taken the train from Chum to Nuadibu? 7 - Have you taken in Bolivia el Tren de la Muerte? 8 - Have you boarded the historical train Addis Ababa - Djibouti? 9 - Have you taken the train from Urumuchi to Shanghai? 10 - Have you traveled in the train from Vancouver to Quebec?
Andre Brugiroux in the Transmongolian train from Beijing to Moscow via Ulaan Bator
RIVERS ------------- 11 - Have you taken the local boat along the Amazonas from Belem to Tabatinga? 12 - Have you taken a local boat in the Yangtze to Shanghai from, at least, Woohan? 13 - Have you taken a felucca through the Nile, at least from Luxor to Aswan? 14 - Have you traveled in ex Zaire, from Kinshasa to Kisangani, along the Congo River? 15 - Have you taken a local boat along the River Madre de Dios? 16 - Have you traveled by boat between cities on the Danube? 17 - Have you boarded a canoe along the Sepik River? 18 - Have you travelled through the Garonne river following the Canal du Midi? 19 - Have you navigated along the Ganges River? 20 - Have you navigated along the Mekong River?
Sabino Antuna navigating along the Amazonas
TRANSPORTS ----------------------- 21 - Have you traveled by local bus more than 1000 kilometres to reach one destination? 22 - Have you traveled in trucks for over 1000 kilometres? 23 - Have you traveled on bicycle, during your journeys, over 1000 kilometres? 24 - Have you traveled on motorcycle, during your journeys, for over 1000 kilometres? 25 - Have you traveled in cargo boats? 26 - Have you hitchhicked over 1000 kilometres? 27 - Have you hitchhicked (successfully) on boats? 28 - Have you hitchhiked (successfully) on planes? 29 - Have you traveled on an elephant for over 50 kilometres? 30 - Have you traveled on camel for over 50 kilometres?
Jesus Ferro riding a camel to see the pyramids of Egypt
TREKKINGS ------------------- 31 - Have you made on foot the Camino de Santiago? 32 - Have you finished the Kokoda Track Trail? 33 - Have you made the Milford Trail? 34 - Have you crossed the Darien gap? 35 - Have you made the Sendero del Inca from the kilometre 88? 36 - Have you made the Annapurnas from Pokhara? 37 - Have you crossed on foot Zanskar? 38 - Have you trekked in the Pindos Mountains? 39 - Have you trekked around Kailas Mountain? 40 - Have you made the Kaibab Trail?
Alfonso Biescas seems lost in the Camino de Santiago
MOUNTAINS -------------------- 41 - Have you seen the Everest? 42 - Have you seen the Kilimanjaro? 43 - Have you seen the Aconcagua? 44 - Have you seen the Elbrus? 45 - Have you seen the Ararat? 46 - Have you seen the Mc Kinley? 47 - Have you seen Emei Shan? 48 - Have you seen the Fuji Yama? 49 - Have you seen Le Piton des Neiges? 50 - Have you seen the Mount Sinai?
Lee Abbamonte reached the summit of the Kilimanjaro
ISLANDS -------------- 51 - Have you been in Ithaca Island? 52 - Have you been in Jeju Island? 53 - Have you been in St Kilda Island? 54 - Have you been in Mozambique Island? 55 - Have you been in Taquile Island (inside Titicaca Lake)? 56 - Have you been in Samosir Island (inside Lake Toba)? 57 - Have you been in Valaam Island (inside Ladoga Lake)? 58 - Have you been in Isla del Maiz? 59 - Have you been in Huapi Island (inside Lago Ranco)? 60 - Have you been in Majuli island, in the middle of the Brahmaputra River?
Tania and Alan Gil (Dario Gil children) with their young friends in Taquile Island
LAKES ----------- 61 - Have you been in the Baikal? 62 - Have you been in the Lake Balaton? 63 - Have you been in Tana Lake? 64 - Have you been in Inle Lake? 65 - Have you been in the Tanganika Lake? 66 - Have you been in the Victoria Lake? 67 - Have you been in the Lake Issyk Kul? 68 - Have you seen Lake Louise, Alberta? 69 - Have you been in Lake Chad? 70 - Have you been in the Lagunas de Montebello, Chiapas?
Lars Gunnar Gardo visited Lake Balaton
WATERFALLS ---------------------- 71 - Have you admired the Iguazu Falls? 72 - Have you admired the Niagara Falls? 73 - Have you seen Victoria Falls? 74 - Have you been in Salto Angel? 75 - Have you been in Tissisat Falls? 76 - Have you seen Langfoss Falls? 77 - Have you been in Nohkalikai Fall (Cherrapunjee, Meghalaya)? 78 - Have you seen Yosemite Falls? 79 - Have you seen Les Chutes de Gavarnie? 80 - Have you seen Kaieteur Falls?
Paulo M. Raymundo in Tissisat Falls
PEOPLE ---------------- 81 - Have you visited the Kafir Kalash? 82 - Have you met the Pygmees? 83 - Have you lived with the Tukanos in the Amazonas? 84 - Have you met the Falashas? 85 - Have you visited the Ifugaos? 86 - Have you been in the Ainos villages? 87 - Have you been with the Dayak tribes? 88 - Have you met the Aborigines of Australia? 89 - Have you been with the Dani tribes in New Guinea Island? 90 - Have you met the Jarawas?
Sascha Grabow integrated with an African tribe
NATURE ---------------- 91 - Have you visited Yellowstone Park? 92 - Have you navigated on the Okavango Delta? 93 - Have you crossed the Salar de Uyuni? 94 - Have you visited Lake Nakuru National Park? 95 - Have you visited Manu Park? 96 - Have you climbed Ayer's Rock? 97 - Have you seen the paintings in the Tassili Najer? 98 - Have you admired Perito Moreno glacier? 99 - Have you been in the Forest of Cedars at Becharre, Lebanon? 100 - Have you seen the Great Reef Barrier in Australia?
Miguel Marchi crossing the Salar de Uyuni
ANIMALS ---------------- 101 - Have you seen gorillas in their natural milieu? 102 - Have you seen lemurs in Madagascar or Comoros islands? 103 - Have you had a koala in your arms? 104 - Have you seen the dragons of Komodo? 105 - Have you seen condors in their natural milieu? 106 - Have you ever seen polar bears in their natural milieu? 107 - Have you seen whales? 108 - Have you seen cheetahs in freedom? 109 - Have you seen bears panda in their natural milieu? 110 - Have you seen hippopotamus in their natural milieu?
Artur Anuszewski saw whales in South Georgian Islands
MYTHICAL CITIES ------------------------------- 111 - Have you been in the City of the Dead, outskirts of Cairo? 112 - Have you reached Lo Mustang? 113 - Have you reached Timbuktu? 114 - Have you been in Jericho? 115 - Have you been in Hiroshima? 116 - Have you visited Mrauk-U? 117 - Have you been in Babylonia? 118 - Have you been in Kandahar? 119 - Have you been in Isfahan? 120 - Have you been in Khiva?
Gloria James, with her mother, in the Mount of Temptation, Jericho, the oldest city in the world
MUSEUMS ----------------- 121 - Have you visited Le Louvre? 122 - Have you been in El Prado? 123 - Have you been in the Hermitage, Saint Petersburg? 124 - Have you visited the Galleria degli Uffizi? 125 - Have you visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York? 126 - Have you visited the British Museum? 127 - Have you visited the Egyptian Museum, Cairo? 128 - Have you visited the Museo de Antropologia, Mexico DF? 129 - Have you visited El Museo del Oro, in Bogota? 130 - Have you visited the National Museum, Baghdad?
Antonio Aguilar visited the Louvre Museum, in Paris
ARCHAEOLOGY ------------------------ 131 - Have you seen Persepolis? 132 - Have you been in Copan Maya ruins? 133 - Have you seen the Atlantes of Tula? 134 - Have you seen the ruins of Great Zimbabwe? 135 - Have you admired Angkor Watt? 136 - Have you seen the Nazca Lines? 137 - Have you visited Nan Madol? 138 - Have you been in Knossos? 139 - Have you seen the ruins of Merv/Mary? 140 - Have you seen San Agustin Archaeological Park?
Brian Johnson in Ta Prohm, Angkor Watt
MARKETS ----------------- 141 - Have you visited the Fetish Market, in Lome? 142 - Have you been in the Mercado Indio of Otavalo? 143 - Have you been in Djemma El Fna market, Marrakesh? 144 - Have you been in the Sunday Market of Kashgar? 145 - Have you been in the Floating Market, Bangkok? 146 - Have you been in the market of Antananarivo? 147 - Have you been in the Grand Bazaar, Istanbul? 148 - Have you visited Chicken Street market in Kabul? 149 - Have you been in Le marche des Puces, Paris? 150 - Have you been in the market of Chichicastenango?
Kolja Sport in the Fetish Market of Lome
RELIGIONS ------------------- 151 - Have you visited the Sikh Golden Temple of Amritsar? 152 - Have you been in Lumbini Buddha birth place? 153 - Have you visited at least one of the seven Bahai temples? 154 - Have you touched the Wall of the Solomon Temple, Jerusalem? 155 - Have you been in at least one of the twenty Mount Athos monasteries? 156 - Have you been in Etchmiadzin? 157 - Have you been inside the Potala Palace, Lhasa? 158 - Have you been in Mecca/Medina? 159 - Have you visited the Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican? 160 - Have you been in the site of the Kurukshetra battle?
Jose Megre reached Lhasa by car, from Portugal, and visited the Potala Palace
CONTINENTS --------------------- 161 - Have you crossed Africa overland from the Mediterranean to Cape Town? 162 - Have you crossed Africa overland from the Red Sea to the Atlantic Ocean? 163 - Have you crossed Australia overland from coast to coast (Sydney to Perth)? 164 - Have you crossed South America overland from Colombia to Tierra de Fuego? 165 - Have you crossed Central America overland from Mexico to Panama? 166 - Have you crossed North America overland from the Atlantic to the Pacific? 167 - Have you crossed South America overland from Brazil to the Pacific ocean? 168 - Have you crossed Europe overland from Finland to Spain? 169 - Have you crossed the Arabian Peninsula overland from the Red Sea to the Persian Gulf? 170 - Have you made overland the Hippy route to India?
Amador Garcia, with his wife Roser and daughter, made it overland from Spain to Finland and back
CELEBRATIONS ------------------------- 171 - Have you participated in the Brazilian Carnival in Rio, Salvador or Olinda? 172 - Have you been in any of the Kumbha Mela's (Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain or Nasik)? 173 - Have you seen the San Fermin Fiestas of bulls in Pamplona during July? 174 - Have you seen the Chinese New Year in Singapore, Taipei, Shangai or Beijing? 175 - Have you been in the Torajas celebrations with sacrifices of cebues? 176 - Have you been in the Munich Beer Festival? 177 - Have you seen the Eight Manifestations of Padmashambhava dances in Ladakh or in Sikkim? 178 - Have you seen the Arirang in North Korea? 179 - Have you been in PNG during the Sing Sing celebrations? 180 - Have you seen the whirling dervishes' dances in Konya during the Mevlana Festival?
Charles Veley enjoying the Carnival in Rio
GASTRONOMY -------------------- 181 - Have you ever tried Fugu in Japan? 182 - Have you eaten Bucaramanga ants in Colombia? 183 - Have you eaten crickets in Thailand? 184 - Have you eaten Balut in the Philippines? 185 - Have you tried dog meat in the Far East countries? 186 - Have you ever tasted whale or walrus meat during your journeys? 187 - Have you eaten Cuy in Ecuador or Peru? 188 - Have you eaten Roussette (flying fox) in New Caledonia? 189 - Have you tasted Kava in the Pacific islands? 190 - Have you tried Mate in Argentina or in Uruguay?
Cuy served in Ecuador and Peru
SLEEPING -------------- 191 - Have you slept, at least, one night in a hammock? 192 - Have you ever slept in a cave? 193 - Have you slept in a Yurt (or Yaranga)? 194 - Have you ever slept inside a telephone cabin? 195 - Have you been invited to sleep in a native house, and have you accepted? 196 - Have you spent, at least, one night in the benches of an airport? 197 - Have you slept, at least, one night in the benches of an open park? 198 - During your journeys, have you ever spent one night in a jail? 199 - Have you spent one night sleeping over the sands of a beach? 200 - During your journeys, have you ever slept under a bridge?
Samuel Santos placidly sleeps in an airport
EXPERIENCES ----------------------- 201 - Have you had to work "on the road" to finance your journey?
Victor Alonso in a sailing boat, from Cape Town to Fernando de Noronha, via St Helena, during 40 days
PAYING HOMAGE TO THE GREAT TRAVELERS 221 - Have you seen the plaque to Cabeza de Vaca in Iguazu Falls (Argentinean side)? 222 - Have you seen the monument devoted to Comte de La Pérouse in Petropavlovsk Kamchatskiy?
Herbert Goebels in Ujiji (Livingstone and Stanley met 25-XI-1871)
HOW MANY AFFIRMATIVE ANSWERS DO YOU HAVE? ----------------------------------------------- From 0 to 19 exploits: Couch Potato From 20 to 49 exploits: Beginner From 50 to 99: Determined From 100 to 149 exploits: Remarkable From 150 to 199 exploits: Master From 200 to 222 exploits: Grand Connaisseur!
TRAVELER COUNTRY BIRTH EXPLOITS -------- ------- ----- --------
GRAND CONNAISSEUR ------------------ ....... MASTER --------- 1 - Bill Altaffer....... USA 1943 159
REMARKABLE ----------- 2 - Heinz Stucke........ Germany 1940 144 3 - Andre Brugiroux..... France 1937 137 4 - Herbert Goebels..... Germany 1938 135 6 - Sabino Antuna....... Spain 1947 116 7 - Stewart Sheppard.... Canada 1939 113 8 - Artur Anuszewski... Poland 1951 112 9 - Elliot Koch......... USA 1947 110 11 - Stephen Newcomer.... USA 1957 105 15 - Juan Tino Tafao.... Spain 1941 102
DETERMINED ------------
16 - Pamela Barrus..... USA 1949 92 17 - Amador Garcia...... Spain 1925 87 18 - Roser Querol....... Spain 1927 87 19 - Alan Hogenauer..... USA 1941 86 20 - Charles Veley...... USA 1965 85 21 - Shiran de Silva.... U.K. 1968 82 22 - Larry Leventhal.... USA 1935 80 23 - Bjarne Lund-Jensen Denmark 1948 77 24 - Sergi Vega......... Spain 1975 67 25 - Jean Philippe Platroz France 1957 62 26 - Randy Getty....... USA 1951 60 27 - Merja Lunkka....... Finland 1961 59 32 - Miguel Marchi...... Uruguay 1957 54 33 - Oscar Mestre....... Spain 1971 54 34 - Francisco Zamora... Spain 1941 53 35 - Lina Jimenez....... Spain 1945 53 36 - Francky D'Hoop..... Belgium 1963 52 BEGINNER -------- 37 - Ryan Trapp......... USA 1979 49 38 - Miguel Ordoñez..... Spain 1970 48 39 - Frank Britton..... Ireland 1952 46 40 - Veikko Huhtala..... Finland 1946 45 41 - Miguel Angel Santos Spain 1959 44 42 - Xavier Tarrago..... Spain 1976 41 43 - Ray Heizer......... USA 1944 40 44 - Gary Arndt......... USA 1969 39 45 - Gloria James....... Singapore 1970 38 46 - Jose Antonio Ruiz.. Spain 1974 35 47 - Antonio Aguilar.... Spain 1986 35 48 - Jeff Ohlfs......... USA 1962 33 50 - Victor Alonso...... Spain 1976 32 49 - Richard Lovik...... Sweden 1969 33 51 - Aino Ilkkala....... Finland 1946 28 53 - Xavier Ferrandiz.. Spain 1975 24 54 - Chad Koeplinger.... USA 1976 21
COUCH POTATO ------------ 57 - Ryan Smith......... USA 1990 15 58 - Daniel Aragones.... Spain 1970 15 59 - Jesus Ferro........ Argentina 1953 15 60 - Joann Schwartz.... USA 1970 14 61 - Luis Alberto Astudillo Peru 1981 13 62 - Javier Pastor...... Spain 1990 13 64 - Alfonso Biescas.... Spain 1945 10 65 - Agustin Ruiz....... Argentina 1975 10 66 - David Cross........ U.K. 1937 10 67 - Daniel Cooke....... USA 1992 8 68 - Jason Mitchell..... USA 1981 6 69 - ................... .... .... ..
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