TravelStream™ news feed for member astrophelle on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/astrophelle en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:40:14 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1249653276/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1249653276/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1249653276/tpod.html Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:40:14 -0400 African Adventures

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Bamako, Mali

...reflecting on Bamako always brings a smile to my face. 

On first look Bamako is a hot, dusty, chaotic city -  the river and the sandstone escarpments add some much needed charm but the stark and brutal poverty, grime and for lack of a better word - 'muck', continually assaults the senses. This isn't a tourist city. Living in Bamako for better part of 4 weeks however, has opened my eyes to the rich social fabric that unites the people and creates a uniquely African experience. 

For a place that is so desperately poor, Bamako had surprisingly a lot on offer in terms of great restaurants, cheap food, great music and a vibrant night life. The city's locals love to dress up and have a good time. Be warned - you will feel a tad out of place in jeans and a nice top if you go to any of the city's night spots. Women and men, strut around in long flowing dresses and full suits, without breaking into a sweat, even as temperatures hit 35 degrees in the shade. In a city where being poor is the norm, a nice dress, jewellery and some make up can separate you from the milieu and automatically indicates a certain status. This attitude manifests itself in so many ways - from the 'special vip' entrances to clubs to the way business is conducted in a stuffy, formal manner. To dress down is frowned upon - so remember to pack your best clothes if you are ever visiting Bamako! And don't forget to bring your party shoes - the city's residents love to party and clubs are open till the wee hours of the morning. The clubs are not expat dominated, as one would expect. Night time is when you really see Bamako's young middle class. Another strange quirk, considering Bamako is 96% muslim - the city is more liberal than my home town of Bangalore, where women are stoned for going to night clubs, where dancing is 'forbidden' and bars close by 1130. Bamako - you win hands down in the night life department. 

The French not only left Bamako their language but also blessed the city with the art of baking! The number of rottiseries, pattiseries and boulangeries is jaw-dropping and you can see a number of informal bread making businesses around every corner. It also means that you simply cannot find a loaf of sliced bread in Bamako. Believe me, I tried. French bread styled rolls are the way to go. 

And then there are the taxis. Machines in Mali are doomed to die. Quickly. The dust grinds everything down and it doesn't help that most cars are 30 years old (no kidding) and are put together from spare parts that have been discarded by the Europeans. I have not seen older, dirtier (yes, goats are often passengers), fly infested and more retro looking cars in my life. But guess what, not a single one of the taxis ever broke down. One can always take the pulse of a city by watching people drive - the patience and tolerance of foolhardy maneuvers is quite amazing. Cars often cut in front of one another with a simple 'thumbs up' gesture that is enough to pacify the driver. Similar moves will elicit the middle finger in any other part of the world. Road rage is non-existent and strangers talk to one another while stuck in traffic jams - in Bamako it seems that everyone is united by their daily struggles and people take it all in their stride with good humour.

Interactions between the locals are truly amusing - A long drawn out greeting is part of the social norm where you are asked about the well being of yourself, your wife, your family, your village, your goats.....before any other business is talked about! The entire exchange is done at a furious pace in Bambara or the local language, but it gives you an indication of how important relationships are to Malians. Interactions are also easily misunderstood by foreigners and often it seems that people are yelling at one another, when they are simply joking or striking up conversation. Tension is always diffused by laughter and I hardly ever saw any aggression. 

Religion is layered over a social fabric and common culture that binds people uniquely. Islam is predominant yet it's presence is only felt during the daily time of prayers. It doesn't influence social interactions like it does in some other countries. Social class, family integrity, tribe allegiances and clans are the dominant influence and religion is just another layer. Bamako is truly an inspiration to the muslim world! As a woman, I was always respected, treated fairly and never felt unsafe. Crime is virtually non-existent and the city while economically poor but socially rich. 

In the end, one word sums up my experience in Mali - Endurance. Endurance of the heat, the noise, the dirt and the grime. Endurance of the women, who are the engines of the economy, carrying babies on their back while they work in the hot sun everyday. Endurance of social workers and ngos that fight bureaucracy and corruption. Endurance of the business men that deal with incompetence and red tape. Endurance of the common people as they live a hard life where even the simplest of things are difficult to accomplish. Endurance of the machines, of mud houses, of creatures, of farmers who survive the harsh sahelian climate. Endurance thrives in Mali. It simply has to. 


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246791631/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246791631/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246791631/tpod.html Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:34:03 -0400 African Adventures

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Bamako, Mali

An unbelievably tasty breakfast of omelets, tomatoes, mangoes, papayas (first fresh fruits and vegetables in two weeks!), bread and coffee, sitting in a open air courtyard overlooking a beautiful sandstone escarpment.... It feels surreal. Am I really in Mali?  Can this be the fourth poorest country in the world? Last night, we landed in Bamako's airport and were welcomed by a warm 34 degree breeze, a swarm of people and general scenes of airport chaos.... I was expecting a long drawn out battle for bags and snaking queues but we got through immigration in 10 minutes, had our bags in another 10 minutes and were out of the airport in a taxi in under half an hour!  Was I in Singapore? or Mali? The roads was wide two-lane highways, lined with bright street lights and ever so often we saw large roundabouts with impressive monuments. There was no sign of the abject poverty that I was steeling myself for. 

Signs of development are everywhere - Chinese firms, French companies, Orange, Ford, Chrysler,.....I'm starting to see similar patterns of development now. First come the international telephone companies, then the car manufacturers, the DHLs...the familiar hotel chains, the infrastructure companies .... soon you will see the odd MacDonalds cropping up. Globalisation is indeed a great leveler. 

Our little taxi continued to speed through Bamako. It was 9pm and people lined the streets, sitting outdoors, chatting, food stalls were doing business and children continued to play noisily even though it was well past their bed time. I wondered why everyone was outdoors and as soon as we arrived at Jatigiya Lodge I understood why. The heat was oppressive and being indoors was almost unbearable. It is the reason why Bamako comes alive every night! 

Our hosts at Jatigiya Lodge are a Dutch lady and her Malian husband. We met Moussa and his four year old son at breakfast. We were educated about the political situation (stable and democratic) and the countries exports (Cotton, Gold, tourism...mangoes..mmmn). Tonight we meet Oussmane, the founder of Katene Kadji, the local manufacturer of efficient cook stoves in Mali. Our task, like in Ghana, is to understand his business, the macro environment, the barriers to scale and recommend a strategy for expansion given the impending influx of carbon finance revenues.
 
I'm excited to be here! I'm excited to sample some of Mali's famous music, to get outside of my sheltered hideaway and experience the real Mali. I suspect I've had a rather protected 12 hours and I'm about to experience Mali - in it's unadulterated and sweltering heat that will spare no one. 

More soon.

  
  

 
 

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246205866/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246205866/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246205866/tpod.html Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:37:16 -0400 African Adventures

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Accra, Ghana

He has a smile that lights up the room! Suraj Wahab is the founder and CEO of Toyola Energy, a company that plans to bring light to remote parts of Ghana while eradicating indoor air pollution with energy efficient stoves, one house-hold at a time. There was no trace of shyness or discomfort about him. His 6 foot Nigerian frame and powerful voice filled the small E+CO office as he explained to us how Toyola Energy started up. His business model is unique in Ghana and as he explained to us how he runs the business his passion and conviction became evident. Suraj is the man everyone in the social enterprise sector is searching for.  What luck that E+CO should have found him first!

Two days later, I found myself sitting in the back of a car speeding along a highway from Achiansa to Kumasi and listening to motivational CDs by Stephen Covey that Suraj listens to while he is 'on the road'. It became clear to me that none of this had anything to do with luck. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246205932/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246205932/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246205932/tpod.html Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:36:45 -0400 African Adventures

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Accra, Ghana

"We believe that people are good. - That is what makes us different from everyone else." Indeed, this is the founding credo of Toyola Energy. For a country in which rural customers and villagers are given absolutely no access to the formal credit or banking facilities, Toyola is truly revolutionary. They found out that rural customers hardly ever default of credit repayments, something Mohd. Yunnus has been proving with Grameen bank for the last 20 years.  Suraj has never heard of Yunus and yet the two men are uncannily similar. A highly educated man, Suraj was asked by the bank managers why he doesn't get a blue collar job instead of running around selling coalpots to rural people. His answer is simple and is always the same – He loves what he his doing.

Every day Suraj Wahab, wakes up and jumps into his car, talking into the phone all the time and making the wheels of his business go around. Between visiting his customers, buying roofing off newly erected construction buildings and dreaming up new expansion ideas he controls a fleet of trucks, productions centers and over 50 agents. He uses a decentralized model that ingeniously builds in the incentives needed to make it work.  Cash is king in Ghana and Suraj astutely uses it to motivate his sales agents, evangelists and retailers. Magically, raw materials end up where they need to be, so that eager hands can skillfully shape scrap sheet metal into Toyola coalpots. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246206523/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246206523/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246206523/tpod.html Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:29:29 -0400 African Adventures

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Accra, Ghana


It finally hit me last night while I was sitting on the beach with a couple of beers, surrounded by African rastafarians beating drums that I was actually in Africa!!! It has been a week since I landed in Accra last Saturday, and things sure have been interesting :) 

I spent most of last week on the road with the entrepreneur of a cook stove business, Toyola Energy that I’m working with in Ghana. The company makes cook stoves from scrap metal and distributes them using a microfinance model which is very unique in Ghana. We traveled across three regions in Ghana last week visiting his customers, his ‘evangelists’, the production and assembly centers and the kiln manufacturing plant too. It sounds very legit, but the reality in Ghana is that all business interactions suffer from lack of credit and most business operates in the informal sector. His value chain encompasses atleast 50-100 persons but he doesn’t have anyone on his payroll. Instead he uses a really innovative incentive structure of commissions and credit that makes the wheels of his business go around. Suraj, the CEO is pretty awesome – A 6 foot tall Nigerian - he operates more like a mafia don than a CEO. He’s constantly on the phone, barking out orders and moving stuff around on his trucks. This one time, we were passing by a big construction site along the highway and he just pulled over, walked up to the construction manager and negotiated a scrap metal deal! That is how business is done here  - constant improv! 

The other day we were speeding (rather bumpily) through African semi-forested country side listening to motivational CDs by Stephen Covey, that Suraj insisted on listening to. It was hilarious – this guy is what every social enterprise fund is searching for – The ‘elusive’ entrepreneur. It was getting dark and suddenly he remembered that he wanted to visit an old customer. SO we veered off the road, into the bush for atleast 15 minutes until we found this village. (we did this atleast 3 more times!) His friend was the only one in the village with a light – and it came from a solar power lamp that Suraj sold him a year ago. It was dark by then, so when we brought out a case of solar lanterns, the entire village surrounded us like months to a flame. It was awesome watching Suraj work the crowd. In 20 minutes, the entire case of 22 lanterns were gone! The one thing I have come to realize is that the hurdle renewable energy faces here in Africa is so much lower than it is in the US – I watched solar powered battery chargers and lanterns virtually sell themselves here. And they are really expensive. At 20 USD, one wouldn’t expect people here to be able to afford this technology – yet they sell - like hotcakes! They say necessity is the mother of invention – and this is so true. People NEED renewable energy here. They don’t have the alternative of flicking a light switch like we do. They don’t have cash. But if you trust them with credit or allow for barter financing, the sale becomes possible. 

And then, there was the rather sobering visit to the Ministry of Energy on Friday. Once you visit an African government office, a lot of things fall into place. I had called for an appointment with the Renewable Energy Minister in the morning and was shocked when he answered the phone himself! I must have sounded like an idiot. It was funny, we walked into without so much as a bag check! And the guy – his name is Wisdom. He is super knowledgeable and seemed very enterprising but we couldn’t talk to him for more than 20 minutes, which was disappointing. 

Getting used to living in Africa has been pretty easy. It’s like India 20 years ago. Being vegetarian is super hard tho – I’m surviving right now but might become desparate in Mali. Local food is very unappetizing. It’s incredible how hard it is here to get food to an edible form. Music and the sound of people celebrating funerals is a constant, as are the smiles on peoples faces. I visited a local market yesterday which was a real eye opener. Constant assault of smells and faces. Just being there was tiring!  

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246191419/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246191419/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246191419/tpod.html Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:24:06 -0400 African Adventures

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Accra, Ghana

A gust of warm, humid air greeted me as I stepped off the airplane. The words, 'Akwaaba' were splashed colorfully across the façade of the Accra Kotoka Airport terminal, welcoming passengers to Africa.  I took a deep breath, allowed myself a smile and got ready to face immigration. As it would turn out the past 48 hours of worrying proved unnecessary. I breezed past immigration, customs and a baggage check without so much as a question about a visa.  Sometimes the Singaporean passport feels like a key to the doors of heaven!

With the formalities over with Bill, my American colleague and I made our way by taxi to Travella Lodge, our home for two weeks. It would turn out to be a great find and not only did we find a great steal we also found two friends – An American girl and an Indian guy. How ironic! We were quickly brought to speed on Ghanaian life and culture by our new friends who showed us around the neighborhood, reassured us that the barbed wire on the walls was common all over Accra, introduced us to the local food stalls and made our welcome complete. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246205050/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246205050/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/8/1246205050/tpod.html Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:05:05 -0400 African Adventures

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New York City, New York, United States

20th June, 2009

5 hours and 20 minutes to destination. I'm finally on my way. After 3 weeks of preparation, months of planning, and a rather unanticipated turn of events in the last 24 hours, this moment has taken a long time coming! Boy, am I tired.

 

24 hours ago, I was given a rather rude shock by the Ghana embassy in New York.  After confirming with the embassy over a month ago that I didn’t need a visa to Ghana as a Singaporean citizen, I listened in absolute disbelief to the woman on the other end of the phone. She claimed that I could not have been given this information because although I did not need a visa, I did in fact need a 'gratis’ visa, which required at least a day to process. I didn’t have a day! My flight was in less than 24 hours and the lady in the embassy said that my only other option was to try and get on the flight. If Delta airlines let me onboard, I might be able to get away with a fine of 100 dollars upon arrival in Accra. So, here I am sitting on this flight – wondering what tomorrow holds?  Thoughts of Tom Hanks in The Terminal taunt the corners of my mind…. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/australia_2006/1211400302/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/australia_2006/1211400302/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/australia_2006/1211400302/tpod.html Wed, 21 May 2008 16:05:02 -0400 To Australia - tripping on along the East Coast...coasting along solo..enjoying the ride!

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Melbourne, Australia

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12th May !Our company take an active promotion on products."One world,One
dream !" If you can buy some items from our company ,that means you donate
your heart to our victims.We will appreciate that!And you can get much benefit
for buying products from our company !Please take your time on our website:
www.pop-sell.com .Enjoy buying from our company and looking forward to doing
long-term cooperation !Please feel free to contact us .Email: popsell1@hotmail.com Msn:
popsell1@hotmail.com .we will offer you the best products and services.Thanks again !
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/7/1205582940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/7/1205582940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/7/1205582940/tpod.html Mon, 17 Mar 2008 06:41:47 -0400 Food for my soul - Bali!

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Jogyakarta, Indonesia

Salamat Malam from Jogja....What a couple of days its been!

I took a flight out of Bali on Friday morning and was absolutely breath taken as I flew over the Ring of Fire....spread out below me in terrifying splendour were atleast 8 volcanoes.....two of them were smoking!!! The sight sobered me down as I landed in Jogja, which is situated in the shadow of one of them smokin cones, (mount Merapi). I spent a pleasant hour chatting with Jackie, a lovely lady from Uganda who is going to Timor to be a nutritionist for 2 years with the VSO. Good luck to you Jackie....I thought of you today as I was eating my steamed tofu in casasava leaves :)

So here I was in Jogjakarta (jogja) at 8 in the morning with a 2 full days ahead of me....Jogja is not timid. Its one of those cities that has struggled to stay alive over the years and its sure as hell not going down without a fight. The only thing I knew about jogja before I got there was that it was home to the famous borobodur temples and also had a reallly big earthquake in 2006, which incidently I felt all that way in Singapore.

So after finding myself a room for the night, I stepped out with my Lonely Planet and my walking shoes, for one of the longest days I've had in a while. Being a traveller is not easy! So I made my way to the 'kraton' which is where the sultan lives with all his subjects and artists and horses and elephants. I walked my way around the golden pavilion extremely disappointed at how ordinary it all seemed. Perhaps I've been spoilt by palaces in India? And ofcors just as the guide book warned me, a sweet faced 'official' guide latched on to me, promising to show me around 'free of charge maam..it is my job'.....which to be fair it was. As it turned out our trusty joe was also a budding artist and he led me through the smallest and quaintest of streets, past the bird market (which had bird flu posters up ...I'm sure of it!!!) and through the dessicated walls of the Water Palace to his small house. Joe sighs as he stops outside his house and proclaims..."before the earthquake...my wall was until here...'..and he proceeded to introduce me to his mum and show me all his fine batik work. Poor Joe. So after convincing him that I was just a poor student with a 150000 dollar loan, I got away with buying a few batik post cards (look out for them in the mail!) and I continued on my journey, happy to be on my own again!

I wandered into Via Via, a belgian restaurant that has a chain in all the strangest parts of the world...(mozambique??!) with the most delightlful local staff and a range of facinating local tours all run with the objective of helping local artists via sustainable tourism. With 5 hours to kill,  I decided to rent meself a bicycle and get a class in silver making. So with map in hand,  I get sent off by lovely effie to 'kota gede', the silver town. After 30 mins of happy go lucky cycling I find 'Photo studio Pelangi' and am greeted by lovely 'Agus', the silversmith. And 'smithen' I was....I get taken to Agus's lil workshop in his house where I spent 5 hours designing, moulding, soldering, waxing, polishing my very own silver ring!!!! All this over profound discussions about hindusim, islam, buddhism and indian movies :) I had such a blast and have a shiny ring on my finger to show for it....(no, I"m not engaged to a silversmith maa!!!). So my ring is shaped like a heart-beat and has the word 'kehidupan' bahasa for 'LIFE' inscribed into it....and for those of you know know what my name means, you'll get the pun :) 

I cycled back to via via ....it took me double the time, no thanx to the rain and very dim road lights....but I made it and treated myself to hot coffee and a jazz band before heading over to the meusem where I watched a very possessed man play with puppets as he told the story of the ramayana. Accompanied by a 'gamelan' orchestra, which produced the most facinating sounds and a bunch of wailing women, the puppet master really went wild!!! It was strange and probably something I won't do again.

I get into a Becak ( a rickshaw which works on pedal power) and make my way home.....end of Day 1 in jogja.

Today was all about temple worshipping...I was up at 5 and am going strong after spending 9 hours in the hot  sun walking aroung gawking at bas reliefs (honestly between borodbodur and angkor, Ive had enough of these temples). I've eaten a super spicy cocnout curry with steamed eggplant, played sign language with the village kids, have had 2 cups of coffee and watched swordfish with a bunch of backpackers at 'Hedhot Resto'. I"m now surrounded by mr bedhot's crazy colourful paintings and am typing this on borrowed internet time! Sign off from Jogja.....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/7/1204870980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/7/1204870980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/astrophelle/7/1204870980/tpod.html Wed, 12 Mar 2008 01:36:28 -0400 Food for my soul - Bali!

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Bali, Indonesia

Friday (7th March) was Nyepi - The Balinese Day of Silence. A day that coincides with Shivarathri in India, Nyepi is the Balinese New Year. Its unique to the island of Bali and is the most intriguing display of Hinduism outside India. The eve of Nyepi is marked by mass processions where every locality marches through the streets proudly displaying their 'Ogoh Ogoh'. So like a good self-respecting tourist, I lined the main street with my camera and oohed and aaahed at all the nasty made-to-order ugly Ogoh-Ogoh effigies that were paraded by.. It's quite fun to watch the 3 storey tall effigies carried by little kids , who dance away the night accompanied with the head-banging beats of the gamelan (gamelan is a Balinese form of trance like music...mainly drums and symbals!) The Ogoh-Ogoh are then drowned in the sea the day after Nyepi in the symbolic victory of good over evil. On Nyepi itself Bali comes to a standstill. Every single person (yes EVERYONE) has to stay indoors and transportation, shops, offices, airports, boats ...EVERYTHING
(including 7-11!) shuts down. Lights cannot be turned on (because this will invite the evil spirits) and after dusk everything takes on an eerie hue...this confuses all the birds and animals and you can hear the cacophony of noises as they try and make sense of the silence and darkness. It's meant to be a day of meditation and reflection and honestly, it's sorely needed!

I spent Nyepi being a house guest and us girls spent the entire day lazing by the pool, fixing ourselves cocktails and food, reading and we even sneaked in one movie! On Sat we visited an art and craft village ...which had endless choices in home decoration items (read that as really pretty junk) at the most amazing prices! I have my heart set on this amazing antique bookshelf which is made from old Balinese boats.. I've decided that when I do finally buy my own home I'm going to furnish it from this secret village in Bali and from Chatuchak market in Thailand....

So that brings me to Sunday....a gorgeous hot tropical summer day without any rain (finally!) ..so I high tailed it to Kuta - Bali's throbbing core. I spent the entire day walking along the beach, and hanging out in cute little cafes that dot the coastline....I enviously watched surfers get surfing lessons and have made a secret promise to try it someday....just not today...(ugh)
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