#69 - My New Posting Schedule



Due to the extensive time required for research, writing, photo editing and slide

presentation development, the Global Rambler will be posting on a less frequent schedule.  

If you are a regular subscriber, the posts will automatically arrive in your mailbox.


A partial post was released early -  Watching and Listening for the Heartbeat of God:  Rambling through Spiritual Terrain.  This post is not scheduled to be released until September at the earliest.  For anyone interested in doing some reading in advance, I have listed some books below.

 Before the Big Bang                                                                 John Gribbin
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry                                       Neil de Grasse Tyson
Sapiens - A Brief History of Humankind                             Yula Noah Harari
The Value of Species                                                                 Edward L. McCord
Your Inner Fish                                                                          Neil Shubin
Journey of the Universe                                                           Mary Evelyn Tucker
The Sacred Depths of Nature                                                   Ursula Goodenough
A God that Could be Real                                                          Nancy Ellen Abrams
God:  A Human History                                                            Resa Asian
Aristotle's Children                                                                    Richard E Rubenstein
Zealot:  The Life and Times of Jesus                                      Resa Asian
Grounded:  Finding God in the World                                   Diana Butler Bass
The Mind in the Cave                                                                 David Lewis-Williams
Origin of the Species                                                                   Charles Darwin
Atoms and Eden:  Conversations on Religion and Science Steve Paulson


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Trekking in the Shadows of Mt. Everest, Nepal

#68 - Burma (Myanmar): Balloons over Bagan (2013)


Folkways' Image Library



Folkways' Image Library


Balloons over Bagan offers a unique opportunity to see the ancient city of Bagan from a magnificent birds-eye view of the thousand year-old pagodas, temples and the mighty Irrawaddy River.  The champagne flight at sunrise last just under an hour and is guided by the gentle winds not exceeding 24 km/h.  Eight passengers plus a pilot fit into the balloon's basket.

#67 - Botswana: Traditional Tented Wildlife Safari (2016 & 2018)


Botswana is located in the center of Southern Africa and covering an estimated area of 581,730 square kilometers making it the size of France.  The country is bordered by Zambia and Zimbabwe to the northeast, Namibia to the north and west and South Africa to the south and southeast.  At Kazungula, four countries - Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia - all meet at a single point mid-stream in the Zambezi River (the shortest border in the world).

The vast Kalahari Desert, the largest continuous stretch of sand in the world, covers 84% of Botswana, extending from the Orange River in South Africa to the equator in Gabon.  With the exceptions of the Okavango and Chobe areas in the north, the country has little permanent surface water.

Early travelers to the region referred to it as a "thirstland desert," however, this is a misnomer:  Most of the Kalahari is covered with vegetation including acacia woodland and golden grasslands.  This empty and pristine terrain is occasionally interrupted by gently descending valleys, sand dunes, large numbers of pans and, int he extreme northwest, isolated hills, such as Aha, Tsodilo, Koanaka and Geqihaba.  The clay pans fill with water during the rainy season and their hard surface layer ensures that water remains in the pans and is not immediately absorbed , creating life-giving sustenance to game and bird life.

The Central Kalahari Game Reserve, extending over 50,000 square kms, was set aside in 1961 as a haven for the Bushmen in which they might continue their traditional lifestyles of hunting and gathering from the desert.  The reserve and empty lands around it support tens of thousands of desert antelope - gemsbuck and springbuck, lions, leopard and cheetah.

Bushmen were the first known inhabitants of Botswana.  They have lived in the Kalahari for at least 80,000 years, but no one can say why they chose the Kalahari as their home.  Estimated at 120,000 members, the Bushmen are not threatened as a race, but their hunter-gatherer way of life is coming to an end due to various political and socioeconomic factors.

In the northwest is the Okavango River Delta - 15,000 square kms. covered with a glistening network of crystal clear water channels, lagoons, swamps and islands.  This unique freshwater system is the pulsing heart of Northern Botswana's wilderness, growing with the dry season and shrinking as the wet weather returns.  The largest permanent inland delta system in the world, only slightly larger than Israel, it sparkles like a previous jewel in the Kalahari Desert sand, an ecosystem of a size and intricacy rivaling any on earth.

Within Botswana's wilds live some of Africa's last great free-roaming herds of Cape Buffalo, zebra, antelope and, above all, elephants.  Botswana's elephants have been the beneficiaries of the nation's stability and the national herd provides the largest concentration of elephant in the world.

In complete contrast, the northeastern region of the Kalahari Basin contains the Makgadikgadi Pans - a huge expanse of pristine, sugary white landscape larger than Switzerland.  Once a large river-fed lake, the Pans now lie saline and empty.  They are littered with stone tools and artifacts dating between 2,000 - 500,000 years old.  During the wet season, up to 75,000 zebra and wildebeest migrate into the area with regular sightings of lion, cheetah and other predators following in their wake.  Thousands of flamingo appear to feed as long as the water lasts.  It is the permanent haven for desert species such as the meerkat and the elusive brown hyena.


Botswana
A Traditional Tented Wildlife Safari 



  

Folkways' Image Library

YouTube

https://youtu.be/laVLuQuQGvw

 
If you are interested in a Botswana Safari

 The.Global.Rambler@gmail.com

Folkways.Travel@gmail.com

#66 - Bhutan: Chorten Kora - Trashiyangtse (2015)



Chorten Kora - Trashiyangtse, Bhutan (2015)

Long ago, there was a fierce demon that terrorized the Trashi Yangtsi valley.  Many locals and travelers were killed and , no matter what magic or prayers the local lamas and people did, they could not appease or destroy the demon.  One day, they consulted an astrologer who predicted the birth of a female whose sacrifice would subdue the demon.  But at the appointed time and place, the only child that could be found was the daughter of the king of Arunachal Pradesh of India.  The locals implored the king for his daughter, but he refused and for years the demon continued to take his toll.  When it came time for the daughter to marry, the king held a competition to find the most able suitor, which resulted in a horse race that a Bhutanese man won.  He had made a supreme effort to win the race and asked for the princess to appease the demon, but again the king refused.  The suitor explained his story to the princess who agreed to sacrifice herself.  To prevent further suffering, she begged her father to let her go.  Finally, the King relented and she went into a spiritual retreat while the locals of Trashiyangtse built a giant stupa.  Artisans came from Nepal with a model of Boudhanath and prepared a special room inside the dome.  When the stupa was ready, the princess was bricked into the dome with her possessions, and so the demon was subdued and the people of Trashiyangtse have lived peacefully ever since.

#65 - Tibet Pilgrimage: The Solace of Sacred Terrain (2000)


Isolated by formidable geographic barriers and guarded by its government, Tibet used to be a truly forbidden place. By avoiding influence from the Western world, this country developed its unique culture and religion independently. Hidden behind the Himalayas and rising nearly five kilometers above sea level, Tibet is a land unlike any other, a magical realm of vast open spaces, clear light and pure color, dominated by an intensely blue sky. Since the 8th century, Tibet has been devoutly Buddhist, merging influences from Indian Buddhism, Tantra, and the indigenous religion called "Bon" into a complex synthesis of beliefs. Tibetan Buddhism has inspired centuries of splendid art and architecture and has served as the cornerstone of Tibet's unique and highly developed culture. Deeply religious, Tibetans are open, spontaneous, admirably good-humored and quick to joke.

The Tibetan Autonomous Region is nestled between India and the Chinese provinces of Xinjiang and Qinghai. In China, 3.9 million Tibetans live as citizens of People's Republic of China, though only 2 million people live in Tibet - at least 150,000 of which are Han Chinese. In India and Nepal, 120,000 Tibetan refugees are currently experiencing a renaissance of Tibetan culture. Tibet is a land of overpowering scenery. Sparsely populated, this high plateau offers unforgettable vistas with a barren, surrealistic quality. The landscape has a sense of high mountain spirit that has earned Tibet the distinctive title "Roof of the World." The traditional cultures of this region have a rich heritage and are struggling to survive in a complex world of global politics and national priorities.
Lhasa, the capital of the sparsely populated autonomous region of Tibet, has a population of roughly 150,000. The city is situated on the river Lhasa, a tributary of the Yarlung Zangbo which transverses Tibet from west to east before swinging south and flowing into the Gulf of Bengal as the Brahmaputra. 

The Tibetan King Songtsan Gampo, who was responsible for unifying the kingdom, ordered a palace to be built on Marpori, the Red Mountain, in the 7th century. He called it the "Palace of Immortality", now known as Potala Palace. The Tibetans were living as they had for centuries, until Tibet was taken over by the Chinese in 1949. The initial welcome of change by the Tibetans was very short lived. The confiscation of monastic lands and the collectivization of traditional ethnic boundaries soon proved that the Chinese concept of governing was very different from the Tibetan concept. The Tibetans are unhappy with the Chinese rule, but the Chinese government chooses to ignore them, believing the transition to socialism has been smooth and successful. 

The following presentation will allow you to enjoy some sights and sounds from our Tibet Pilgrimage.  It is best viewed if you do not show in full screen, since the camera had a low pixel count.
I believe that I have advanced my presentation sophistication and would appreciate your thoughts and comments  -  The.Global.Rambler@gmail.com. 


Tibet Pilgrimage
The Solace of Sacred Terrain 

 

Folkways' Image Library
Music: Bruno Coulais, Himalaya, L'enfance D'un Chef


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