Destination Earth
"It's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
-- Abraham Lincoln
HAVE you been to the Mountains of the Moon? Or the Forest Above the Clouds? Or the Island of Death from Behind? No, I've not been to the Moon, yet, but I intend to visit the Mountains of the Moon and the Cloud Forest this year or the next. As for the Island of Death from Behind or Pulau Blakang Mati, the Singapore government has long since renamed it Sentosa, and in the process changing the mysterious island into a meaningless, colourless, touristy spot.
In the 1960s and 1970s, a weekend of fun and thrill for many Singaporeans was to take a 10-minute sampan ride from Jardine Steps to Blakang Mati, walk through the old British army compound and spend an afternoon at the grey-white beach swimming or fishing. There were hills and ravines thick with shrubs and trees, and a winding path from the jetty to the interior that was huanted by seductive voices in the darkness.
Those who had cars would drive out of this 600sq km island into the Malay peninsula for an afternoon beach outing at Port Dickson or for an overnight getaway in Penang. The more adventurous would sign up with Nam Ho or SA Travel to ride elephants in Chengmai or wiggle their hips with Alishan girls in Hualien.
When travelling in those days, almost all Singapore aunties and uncles and fresh honeymoon couples went in groups of 20-30, shepherded by a guide who took care of all details from airport check-in to booking a restaurant for mandatory Chinese meals in the evening. ("Singaporeans die-die must eat rice and toufoo wherever they go," was what tour guides used to say.)
Times have changed...
Today, Singaporeans with a bit more cash and spirit, want to savour some of the adventure places that they only read in Henry Rider Haggard's novels. Now they want to go on safari, but not to the sanitised one at night in Mandai forest. They want to fly to Kenya or Tanzania to shoot lions and hippos with their 12.1-megapixel digital SLR and powered zoom lenses. They want to race camels in the sand dunes of Outer Mongolia, and swim with manta rays in the Maldives. Or trek between lava fire and glacier in Iceland, or paddle a canoe on the piranha-infested Amazon River, or dig for diamonds in King Solomon's Mines.
Today, you can camp under hazy clouds either at the East Coast Park (30 minutes taxi ride from most housing estates) or a bit further away, under the Milky Way at the Grampian forest park (five hours plane ride to Melbourne). Camping in the Grampian is more convenient than in East Coast because the Grampian offers camping gear, hot water showers and restaurants.
As one seasoned traveller observes in her adventure travel Web site, "Adventures come in all sizes; big ones and little ones, daring adventures or passive escapes to moonlit beaches and romantic encounters in paradise."
Adventure travel should be defined as a trip to a destination (it doesn't matter how far or exotic) that is completely different from your daily habitat, where you are immersed in activities that you have not done before or that you would normally not have the opportunity to do.
So, flying off for a weekend shopping at Causeway Bay in Hong Kong, while exciting and expensive, doesn't count as adventure travel. Neither is it to travel by coach up the mountains of Sichuan and then wait in a snaking queue to gape at some rainbowed lake.
Adventure travel starts with your imagination
And your imagination starts with the adventure books you have read. HR Haggard's adventure series featuring the hero Allan Quatermain, are among the most exciting. Zulu warriors, witch doctors, King Solomon's Mines, and of course the mysterious, beautiful She Who Must Be Obeyed.
I'm not sure if Solomon's mines exist. Meanwhile, here are some suggestions of real adrenalin-pumping places to camp out, trek or swim or sail:
THE 800km Camino or Pilgrim's Walk in the Pyrenees mountains between Spain and France, the same area where Lance Armstrong cycled to win the Tour de France. Give yourself five weeks to walk the Camino.
THE mist-shrouded Lake District in the north of England that has inspired memorable lyrical poetry in English.
THE Valley of the Kings where golden Tutankhamun was buried and where a new, intact Pharaonic tomb was discovered on Feb 10, 2006, that could possibly be that of Queen Nefertiti, the most beautiful woman in history (not scheming ol' Cleopatra).
THE Khyber Pass between Pakistan and Afghanistan, that Alexander the Great passed through to conquer India.
THE city of Benares where Lord Buddha preached his first sermon that changed the course of human destinty. From Benares, fly over to neighbouring Burma and check into one of the many Vipassana Meditation Centres for a month-long meditation and mindfulness retreat.
THE pristine Cloud Forest of Costa Rica.
THE magical Bioluminescent Bay in Vieques Island, off Puerto Rico. Swim and snorkel there, and nowhere else will satisfy you.
THE 4,380km Congo River, described in Joseph Conrad's novel, Heart of Darkness. Unfortunately it is far more dangerous travelling there today than in Conrad's days.
THE surreal Mountains of the Moon, officially the Ruwenzori Mountains between Uganda and Congo, a seven-hour bus ride from Kampala.
TIERRA DEL FEUGO at the bottom of the world, first explored by the intrepid Ferdinand Magellan in 1520.
