My server was hacked at the end of last week and I lost everything as my backup files were also corrupted. I am now back up and running though and have posted everything that had gone before in one long post here. My Spot journey through Mexico shall be in the next post. You can now link to FlickR where all my photos will be uploaded on the right hand side of the page.
A Sad End To The First Adventure
by admin on Sep.19, 2009, under The Blog
Unfortunately having spent 4 days in various hospitals I shall be flying home early on doctors orders of having to rest and not do anything for at least 3 weeks. Before coming back though I did manage to visit the Lacandon and have some stories to tell of jungle trekking, fevers, razor grass, lethal swamps and much more which I shall be writing over the next few days. Sadly I lost my Dictaphone in one of the many vehicles transporting me to hospitals and so have no longer got my fevered ravings recorded, however Mark also recorded the story told to us by our guide from the Lacandon and has kindly agreed to send me a copy which I shall make available when I receive it. I shall be putting up photos as well so keep an eye out for the story of the first adventure!
Learning To Take Photographs
by admin on Sep.16, 2009, under The Blog
Having been adamant for a long time that I didn’t want to take photos I have learnt that I now really very much enjoy taking photos. There is something very satisfying about getting the right shot and Mark has been helping me with a steep learning curve. I am a little ham,pered by the poor quality lense that I have but I hope to be able to get some more in the near future. I have a number of shots already taken and will download them and make sure they look perfect before uploading. I would appreciate any comments from the many of you who are much more experienced photographers than me about them.
Testicles To Taste!
by admin on Sep.09, 2009, under The Blog
It is early morning in Mexico City and my last night in the hotel I am staying in where I have internet connection, and so before I go to sleep I felt that I had to post about my evening. Most of the night has been spent eating and drinking Tequila, snails and fried crickets. Fried crickets are surprisingly tasty when spiced with a little bit of lemon zest, although the larger ones legs can occasionally get stuck between the teeth. Dinner was at a restaurant called La Opera, one of the posher restaurants, and was the first time in my life that I have seen testicles on a restaurants menu. You did read right, there were testicles on the menu of a posh restaurant. I am not sure whose testicles they were but you could have them cooked to taste. What exactly does this mean? Is it like a steak and you can order it rare, medium-rare, medium or well done. If so then does anybody actually order rare testicles? After some serious consideration I decided that snails and crickets were enough for one night and a Corona would suit me just fine.
Mexico City Day 1 – 08/09/2009
by admin on Sep.08, 2009, under The Blog
Having got a good nights sleep in the end I opened the curtains in the hotel to the beautiful sunny Mexico shrouded in cloud and pouring with rain. What a brilliant start. Today was spent seeing the main sights of Mexico City, learning to use a camera and realising once again how shit I am at languages. A market that specialises in witchcraft was the first stop and even at 10am it seems that the various lotions, potions, scents and powders were available to anyone who was found needing. I left with my first present, a gift from Mark to me, of Rattle Viper Semen. I am not quite sure what it is meant to do but I know I am supposed to burn it and breathe in the fumes. I am likely to have a few sniffs of the magical stuff and become a man with amazing sexual prowess (at least a little bit more amazing than before anyhow!). The only question is should I actually try some of it or not? Deciding to pass on a trip in some boats that looked like someone had been taking LSD in the middle of a luminous paint factory, for anyone who is interested these boats can take you around the canals and we were told that there are 3500 of them. That’s right 3500! Now you may be forgiven for thinking that these are boats that can take 5 or 6 people, but no – they each take about20 people. They only take you 30 minutes into the park and as those of you who have ever tried punting will know, you don’t move very fast when you are punting. Quite how they found enough people to fill 3500 boats with 20 people to go not very far down a canal I am not sure but they clearly do. You cannot say that Mexico City is a city full of the most incredible sights to see, which incidentally is why we are leaving tomorrow to go to Chiapas, but Diego Rivera has painted some of the most beautiful murals I have seen. They are in the National Palace telling the story of the Mayans before, during and after the invasion of the Spanish Conquistadors and if you are ever near Mexico City you must make time to go and see them. For the next couple of days I am mainly travelling down into Chiapas so there shall not be very much exciting to report. The journey will be tracked by the messenger though and uploaded in order to show the journey. You can find all the photos (at least all the ones I want you to see) through my FlickR link on the right but I shall also be posting some into the blog as well. Not long now until we see how useful my hammock setting up skills prove to be!
Arrival in Mexico City 07/09/2009
by admin on Sep.08, 2009, under The Blog
The flight to Mexico was rather uneventful for which I am grateful, you do not really want to have an eventful flight. We arrived and dropped our bags in a hotel which is basic but comfortable. There is the peeling paint and toilet/shower combo but we also have hot water and clean sheets so can’t complain. A Mojito and two beers later it is definitely time to catch up on some sleep. With my great concept of not getting jet lag I stayed awake for most of the flight (I say most because I am a great sleeper when in a vehicle that is moving, which is usual for vehicles of course, and I think I did doze off into a nice lull for an hour or two). I have discovered that my tracking device does not work greatly in the cities due to buildings interfering, at first I was slightly disappointed but in retrospect I am unlikely to ever need an emergency call out while in a city (which, although the google maps is great, is its primary purpose). Tomorrow we are spending the day in the city before getting the bus 12 hours down to Palenque where I shall write another update. But for now it is 5.15am UK time and 1.15am Mexican time which is about time for sleep. Goodnight.
Where Is Mikey?
by admin on Sep.06, 2009, under The Blog
As I am off tomorrow then I thought I would test my tracking device. This SPOT messenger has a main purpose of allowing me to get rescue if I find myself injured in the middle of a jungle using satellite tracking. It also means that you can track me using the button to the right. If you click this button then a Google Map will open and show where abouts I am in the world and you can zoom into the local areas I am in. You will see a help message on there, this was just me testing that it was working but if you see it from now on then HELP!! I must be honest, I am not planning on using it. The next update will be from Mexico City or Palenque, looking forward to it.
The Kit List and Journey Plan
by admin on Sep.05, 2009, under The Blog
In just a few days, well two to be precise, I shall be embarking on my way for the most treacherous part of the journey to Terminal 5. I have got all my kit together and am rather pleased with it.
What is included in this kit is:
5 t-shirts
2 shirts with roll down sleeves (for mozzies)
2 zip-off trousers (not particularly stylish but means less to carry)
1 pair jeans
1 pair nice shorts
1 pair walking shoes
1 pair converse (my relaxing shoes)
1 swimming costume
Underwear
Towel/Sarong
2 Bandannas
Hammock and mozzie net
Tarp
Extra cording (para-c0rd etc…)
Roll Top Bag (to keep everything dry)
Water Bottle with Gaffa around it
Knife
Mug
Bowl
Fork
Mozzie Repellent
First Aid Kit
Water Purifying Tablets
Plug Converter and Extra Batteries
Head Torch
Dictaphone
Spot Messenger (safety device and tracker)
Plastic bags to protect things against water
Storm lighter (which I currently can’t get to work but hopefully will have by the end of the day)
I also of course have my camera and laptop.
This is everything that should be needed (I hope as I won’t be getting any more now!). The journey is as follows:
Fly into Mexico City and stay the night on Monday
Bus down to Palenque on Tuesday
Over the next few days walk through and stay with various Lancandon villages.
Meet guide and begun trekking through the more dense rainforest than previously across the Guatemalan border and ending up in Flores.
Mark leaves me (AHHHHHGGGggggghhhhhhhh)
I decide what to do, possibly visit Belize or find some stories in Guatemal before somehow finding my way back through the rainforest and into Mexico again.
I meet up with Lucas who (I hope) is going to teach me about bee keeping and honey collection as well as introducing me to members of the Zapatista revolutionary families whose stories I shall record. (thank you very much to Jon for organsing this for me).
This is the itinary (which is liable to change at a moments notice of course) for the first journey. Very excited and think I had better go and pack this stuff that is lounging around on my floor.
Hammock Setup Attempt 2
by admin on Sep.01, 2009, under The Blog
So my second attempt at setting up a hammock proved to be a lot more fruitful. It took me just ten minutes and I felt like I had accomplished it. I have since tried setting it up in the dark as well and every time I get quicker and quicker. I have put an unedited video below of me setting it up, just in case any of you are as lost as I was when I first did it then this may help a bit. I have also changed the design of the blog, what do you think? Still not sure if it is right but there are so many to go through and I don’t have the time, let me know if you know of any good WordPress themes that I could use on the blog.
The videos weren’t working very well and I have re-uploaded them with better quality. I have had to cut the second video down to 10 minutes as YouTube won’t let any video longer than this be put on their site. It actually took me twelve minutes to put everything up on this second every attempt and the only parts I have cut from the video are unwinding things and putting pegs into the ground. This isn’t saying you should put up a hammock like this but just the way I found of doing it and hopefully it will help some other people. After a few days staying in the jungles in it then I am sure I will have found a much better way to put it up, especially as it is rainy season.
Hammock Setup Attempt 1
by admin on Sep.01, 2009, under The Blog
It is now only a week until I leave for Mexico and all the preparations are coming to a close for the first trip. I am very excited and cannot wait. Not having much money a lot of my equipment has been purchased online with a few things having come from Ebay. Whether it is wise to walk into a jungle using equipment that I have aquired through Ebay is a question I have decided to pass over. One of the items purchased on Ebay is my jungle hammock and I have to say that I am so far very impressed with the quality. Having never set a hammock up I thought that rather than look like a fool in the middle of a downpour in the jungle trying to setup a hammock while everyone else finished an hour ago and are sleeping peacefully, I would do a test run. Holly very patiently filmed me doing this test run (which took just under 2 hours) and I have edited it down into the video below for your viewing pleasure.
Groundhog Day 2
by admin on Jul.30, 2009, under The Blog
Wednesday saw me back in the hospital for the second round of vaccinations injections. I sat down with my usual cheerfulness and enthusiasm and it was only after I had been there for about 10 minutes that I realised we were having exactly the same conversation that we had the last time I was there. It was a strangely creepy experience sitting in a room with a woman (who seems to be perfectly pleasant) that was chatting away as if we had known each other for years but having a conversation that was almost word for word the same as two weeks ago. I took my 7 injections in silence and left as quickly as possible to get some fresh air and normality back into me.
After a stressful week getting my first footwear collection launched I am now looking forward to going to Turkey next week with my girlfriend. I must point out that we have delayed our holiday by a few days as she decided a couple of weeks ago that it was time to try some magnificent dance move and promptly fell over and broke her wrist. Still I am certainly looking forward to a break and designing the next seasons footwear collection before launching into gathering stories in September. Hopefully the next time I will update you I shall be sitting on a pristine beach with white sands and the sea lapping at my feet (if not it is likely to be a hospital room with a variety of plaster casts!).
Beer
by admin on Jul.23, 2009, under The Blog
I met Mark again the other day as he flew into the UK for a couple of days between varying exotic countries. We met in London to catch up and make sure that everything was sorted for September. It was 11.30am as we strolled into a pub in the city for an early morning pint. Everything is now in place (except the remaining 10 injections in my arm) and I can’t wait to go. What amazed me was that the finest of London’s city seemed to be in this pub at 11.30am drinking pints as fast as they could. I understand a journalist and a shoe designer (about to embark on travels) having a quiet drink at this time in the morning, but surely upstanding members of London’s financial institution should have better things to do! After leaving the pub at around 2.30pm I once again discovered that my tolerance for alcohol seems to be less than I remembered it and after only a few pints I enjoyed a happy train journey home before realising that there was no way I could now drive to my vaccination appointment. A few moments later it was cancelled and I was asleep on my sofa enjoying sweet dreams of Mexico.
Pin Cushion
by admin on Jul.14, 2009, under The Blog
This afternoon, after a hectic day, was my first appointment for my vaccinations. I am lucky as injections do not bother me. What does bother me a little is the huge price that it now costs to have them. My required vaccinations will be nearing £600 by the time I have finished. Maybe I am out of touch but that seems like a lot of money! Still it is better to have them than to come down with one of the many dreaded diseases that the nurse took a slight (I believe) sadistic pleasure informing me about. Having managed to find a car parking space outside of the hospital, quite why in a hospital that is large enough to have a small shopping centre they only have around 10 car parking spaces I am still trying to fathom, I ran in to find myself in an underground maze not to dissimilar from a nightmare. I eventually stopped one of the many blue clothed cleaners and attempted to find the way to reception to find they didn’t speak English and I needed to start looking for someone who did. As you can imagine I wasn’t in the best state when I turned up dishelved, 5 minutes late for my appointment (the last of the day and they were clearly wanting to go home). I left not long after having had 4 injections out of a mammoth 16 that will be going into my arms over the next few weeks and feeling a little sorry for myself.
On another note the evening was topped off by a fabulous meal followed by Warhorse at the New London Theatre. If you haven’t seen it then you really must. It is one of the most incredible shows I have seen in a long time.
New Website
by admin on Jul.08, 2009, under The Blog
I have just moved to a new website which will be better suited to the photos and stories that will be uploaded when I begin the trip. This site is still very much under development. Every post will have its own image that relates to it but at the moment every post will have the same image until I can get myself organised I will be able to uploaded the digital recordings and translations all under the same website which will make everything much easier. I have transferred all of the posts on the previous site over to this one and put the date at the top of the post so it is clear when it was orginally posted.
You don’t have to worry about anything, if you forget this new address, which is www.thestorycollection.co.uk (in case you were wondering), you will automatically be re-directed to this website if you go to the old blog.
Flight Booked!
by admin on Jul.08, 2009, under The Blog
6th July 2009
It has been a little while since I last posted as I have been very busy getting ready for my footwear collection launch in a couple of weeks. Preparations have been continuing and are gathering momentum for the journey. There is a possibility that we will also be getting some sponsorship for the first section of the trip. Nothing confirmed yet so trying to contain the excitement but it would be incredible if we did.
I have now bought my first ticket to Mexico, unfortunately I am no longer allowed to fly with just a single ticket so I am going to have to make a plan for my flights (but can always change my tickets at a later date). What this means is that I am committed and I can’t wait. The first essential item, a new backpack, has been bought and there are many more purchases to make before the leaving date of 7th September. I will be booking my numerous jabs tomorrow which is something I will not be looking forward to getting.
I am also looking to move this blog to its own website to allow me to post up all the pictures of the journey and the stories that I collect to the same site. This will require nothing onanyones’s part as you will be re-directed from this site to the new one when it is up and running and everything will continue as normal.
In the next couple of days I shall be trying to get hold of the director of one of the major indigenous peoples conservation projects in Peru for the second part of the trip. When I have spoken to her (I will get hold of her if I have to keep phoning for 24 hours) I shall let you know what the outcome was.
Looking forward to the ever quickening departure date….
Colonel John Blashford-Snell
by admin on Jul.08, 2009, under The Blog
29th May 2009
Just yesterday I had the pleasure of talking to Colonel John Blashford-Snell, a living legend among adventurers and explorers. At the age of 72 he is still organising and going on trips into the remotest parts of the world. With my rapidly approaching departure date I thought that any extra tips I receive would be excellent and so I got in contact and was very pleasantly surprised to find that not only was he very willing to listen to me gabble on about what I plan on doing but that he was also more than willing to help in any way that he could. There are undoubtedly many things that I could have asked for but I went for advice. Thirty minutes later I am sitting on my sofa with the coffee table covered in notes from the conversation. Not only has the Colonel a vast collection of anecdotes but it also seems he has been to every part of the globe in his 72 years. My trip has now been greatly improved by the huge number of possibilities that lay before me after leaving Mexico. The locations to visit that are now on the list, all of which have tribal cultures (and many that have not yet been contacted), include:
Outer Mongolia
Siberia
India
Papa New Guinea
Paraguay
Ecuador
Dalamar
Chile
Guatemala
Borneo
Pretty much the whole of Africa
Now it is a matter of deciding in which order to do them, if indeed any order is actually necessary. I still haven’t even purchased a hammock (clearly a bare essential), in fact mentioning that I don’t have a bag either so maybe I really should start buying some of these things as I am due to be on the plane in 3 months.
In the other life I lead I design shoes, and will be continuing to do this on my journeys. Having just had my label taken on by a leading London agency there is every chance that you will see photos of me sitting in jungles and swampland drawing my next collection. I have always taken my inspiration from nature and ancient cultures, I am pleased to say that now I can go one step further and actually be there while I design.
Drinking Lessons
by admin on Jul.08, 2009, under The Blog
15th May 2009
It is truly incredible what you can learn over a quiet pint of beer. Last night I met a friend in my local pub and I was telling her about the journey I shall be embarking on. It turns out that she had some information on the Sami people in Lapland, a group of people that I will definitely be trying to organise some time with. In the old days they travelled to the spirit world to speak with the spirits (as did most ancient people). Do they still do this and is it more or less believable than the varying people in London and other major cities that claim they can speak to the spirits? Something I shall hope to find out, although they are now westernised and Christian they do still have strong traditions. Interestingly Father Christmas has his origins with the Sami. Have you ever wondered why Santa, in all his red glory, decides to come down a chimney when the door or at least a window would do just as well? And how do those reindeeractually fly?
The shaman’s of the Sami used to visit every family and deliver gifts at the same time each year. Traditional accommodation of the Sami in the winter is thought to be an igloo of some description with the entrance in the ceiling. Of course when the shaman came to visit it meant that he had to climb down into the igloo. As this was the only hole in the building it was also where the smoke from the fire left the home and so Santa had to come down the chimney. During the course of the night there was a lot of riding to get to all the villagers and the shaman was not the alone in his tiredness. The reindeer also felt the pressure. In order to help them stay awake the shaman would slip a magic mushroom into their mouths and then they would really ‘fly’.
Another useful tip that I learnt last night is to put your water bottle in a damp sock and hang it out the window of a car and you will have chilled water! Not sure how chilled it would get on the M25 in a summer afternoon rush hour but I expect I will find a time in the coming months.
Preparations
by admin on Jul.08, 2009, under The Blog
8th May 2009
My initial thoughts that September was a long way away are now beginning to crash down around me. It has slowly dawned on me the amount of things that I actually need to do before I go away and just to top it off I have a holiday planned three weeks before I leave which counts out most of August. This leaves me just 3 months to prepare!
The good news is that according to my man in Mexico the swine flu worry is dying down quickly so it seems like it is not going to be a problem to begin there. Once Mark, the friendly photojournalist, leaves me I shall be on my own and the beginnings of a plan are forming. Someone has very kindly offered to put in me contact with the Zapatista revolutionaries families, so get prepared for some stories of revolutionary times. Peru has held a lot of interest for me for a long time and I am really hoping to get some ideas for story hunting there so please come forward if you know of anyone or have any suggestions.
In the meantime planning is all important and a kit list is necessary. Did you know that dental floss is the best break-proof thread? or that vitamin supplements are good placebos for trading with locals who want medicine?
Swine Flu
by admin on Jul.08, 2009, under The Blog
27th April 2009
Typical! I just begin organising a trip to Mexico and swine flu appears there. We shall be keeping a close eye on it over the next couple of months but hoping that it will be fine before then. I have got in touch with Mark to get his expert opinion on whether we need to make a back up plan just in case it stays for longer. One way or another I shall be leaving in September!
Plan Making
by admin on Jul.08, 2009, under The Blog
23rd April 2009
The plans for the first trip are moving forward. I found myself at Liverpool Street Station this morning having a beer with photojournalist Mark Eveleigh. After a couple of beers he has agreed to give me a bit of guidance on how to collect these stories for the first couple of weeks in September. Having enjoyed his work I feel very privileged and am looking forward to it. We have currently got a vague outline of the first two weeks. It starts in Mexico City, from there the idea is to head down to Chiapas region, over into Guatemala and then back round into Mexico. Am going to do some research into possible stories in Belize as I have a few contacts there and that could be the next stop. Someone has also contacted me about a tribe in Chile that are having some problems and can get me a guide into them.
Lots of possibilities are beginning to appear which is great news. On a totally different note I am going to begin learning Spanish tonight. Clearly I need to have another language and since Mexico is the starting point and Spanish is a widely spoken language everywhere that is going to be the choice (I also happen to have a set of lessons to start me off). So is it possible to become understandable in a language in a few months without spending any money? We shall see.
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