Explorer Mikael Strandberg

Why do we explore? Is there still white spots to be discovered on the global maps?

Lately I have had a lot of emails regarding, why do we explore? Is there anything left to explore? And who is an explorer? It has been a hotly debated issue. It is the second most read report I have written. I am also in favor of a new view on Exploration. Therefore I will republish this article below here as well, after receiving plenty of attention from Great Britain after this piece:

The other night I went to the monthly lecture at Travellers Club in Stockholm. I try to go there frequently. I like the surroundings at Sällskapet, the atmosphere, the lectures, but most of all the people, the members of the Travellers Club. A great lot of people with the most extra ordinary experiences from all over the world. I also go there to get inspired and maybe find an idea to what my next Expedition will be. This time it was a young fella who lectured, a great guy, very friendly and an interesting lecture. Technically. BUT, I am so fed up the attitude of todays adventurers and so called explorers. They are always the best on earth and they only talk about themselves. Incessently. And it is always the same message:

Everything is possible!

We´ve known this for the last 150 000 years, maybe even 3.2 million years back whenLucy went out for a excursion. I don´t know why it is so popular today to listen to this kind of extremely no-good-for-mankind-talk. And that lecture reminded me of the one in February 2008. Same deal. Then I remembered I did write an article about the same issue two years ago after having had the honour to lecture at Explorers Club in New York. This is what I wrote for Utemagasinet:

”…and then the mountain spoke to me, saying: ´Have faith in me, Ed, and you will reach your final 8,000-meter peak.´ And look, there I am on the mountain top!”

This is, more or less, how the famous American mountaineer Ed Viesturs closed his lecture at the Explorers Club´s 102nd Annual Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. Before him, a young guy named Andy Skurka, elected Man of the Year by Backpacker Magazine, had recounted the story of how he crossed the U.S. by foot from west to east in record time.

”Nothing is impossible! Anyone can do it!” he summarized, displaying a photo of himself posing in the sunset; his gaze fixed beyond the horizon, his muscles flexed and back held straight. An extremely traditional, male image of Adventure and Expeditions. I think I saw Buzz Aldrin, astronaut and second man on the moon, smirk. Woman kosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova simply left when the so-called adventurers entered the stage. Passionately, she had told her own story, filled with fear and amazement at the incomprehensions of life while she, as the first woman ever, rampaged round the moon 48 times.

The Annual Dinner carried the theme ”What´s Left to Explore”. And how this should be brought to an audience. I think very few of the 1,100 spectators enjoyed the adventurers´ talks. One of our neighbours at the table, the editor of a wellknown American outdoor magazine, said:

Papua New Guinea felt like one of the last places on earth I have visited, where there might at least be some white spots of discovery to be made. On the knowledge front.....

”Every day, as I receive letters and articles from people making expeditions and wanting to sell their material, I ask myself: ”Hasn´t Adventure come further than this? Is it still just white males with icicles in their beards dishing out the same old silly story?”

The reason why I´m bringing up this very important subject, is that every week I get a number of e-mails from men and women, young and old, who want to take off on an expedition or adventure. The majority want to know three things: ”What kind of equipment should I use?”, ”How do I get sponsors?” and ”How do I get the media interested in me, so I can make a living selling articles and lecturing?”

There is only one answer: Our view of Adventure and Expeditions must be renewed. Firstly, there has to be an interesting story. The times are gone when a spectator finds it interesting to listen to the hackneyed theme of ”anything is possible”; a story centered around dirty underwear, heroic struggle and white men with icicles in their beards who have managed to reach the North Pole, using a shopping cart and an oar as their only means of transport. Secondly, we need more women narrators. We need a female perspective. Men have to start thinking like women. I think this is crucial to whether the public will continue being interested in expeditions at all.

There are still considerable differences in how a story can be told. For example, I was searching the internet for stories about Swedish expeditions in the Himalayas. A couple of men report as follows:

“It´s been tough and troublesome. Our backpacks weigh about 15 kilos, but all has turned out well. Today we struggled for six hours. Tomorrow we will continue, and then we will use our final camp at 7,500 meters. We will rise at about 12 o´clock local time, put our tents up and melt snow for water. We won´t sleep much, but we are feeling all right.”

Incredibly boring for everyone except the storyteller´s closest relatives or someone else in the know. To be compared with another account from an expedition on the same mountain, at the same time, written by a woman in the same situation:

“Why am I never satisfied? I´m thinking I should have exercised more. Actually, I´ve been exercising at least five days a week. I think I should have been more mentally prepared. Actually, I´ve been preparing for five years. I don´t think I´m a good enough climber. But that´s the way I am in everyday life as well. I could be better at cooking, decorating, fashion, my job. I could be a better wife, friend, and so on. Maybe I need the inherent power of dissatisfaction to be able to hold on and not give up my dream of climbing an 8,000-meter peak. Because it has been necessary – but now I´m going to give it a try.”

Wonderfully thrilling and dramaturgical! The fact that the men reached the top and not the woman, is utterly unimportant. What is interesting is her story. This is how tomorrow´s adventurers on expedition must think to survive. Even better is to tell a story of someone else but yourself. Which is what I did in New York. When I took the stage after Ed Viesturs, the first thing I talked about was how ridiculous all the clever white males with icicles in their beards are. I continued by informing the audience about the Siberians and their everyday life, which makes a contemporary expedition look like a school outing by comparison. The response was fairly good – a ten-minute standing ovation.

Please continue to discuss the subject here!

Please continue the debate on the meaning of exploration and how we should look at it in the future!

CuChullaine O´Reilly a.k.a Asadullah Khan

My first guest writer is a very opinionated, passionate, charismatic and knowledgeable friend, the chief of the Long Riders Guild, CuChullaine O´Reilly.  He is an equestrian explorer, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers’ Club, one of the Founders of The Long Riders’ Guild, Director of the LRG-AF, publisher of the LRG Press and author of Khyber Knights. He explored Afghanistan and Pakistan on horseback, took part in the jihad against the Soviet Union, and converted to Islam more than thirty years ago. He has since renounced all acts of warfare, especially those inspired by religiously misguided zealots.

New Year – New Hope

by

CuChullaine O’Reilly a.k.a. Asadullah Khan

As if we needed any reminders of what a murderous year 2009 has been, a few days ago another deluded fool attempted to destroy an airplane in flight. This time the destroyer was from Nigeria, not England, and he hid the explosives in his underpants, not his shoes. Nevertheless, both would-be assassins not only attempted to massacre their fellow man, they added to their sins by daring to cloak their crimes in the name of Islam.

Ironically, in a world full of instant news, one which rings out every few minutes with the words “Taliban” and “al-Qaeda,” it would serve mankind well to remember that there is a vast portion of the Muslim world which has gone largely unnoticed. Unlike the chilling Puritanism of some movements, which helped inspire and finance the forces of political poison currently disguised as religion which are at work today, the Indo-Islamic civilization created the most tolerant and pluralistic example of Islam ever known.

The most important example of this alternative vision of the oft-misunderstood religion was the great Mughal emperor, Akbar (1542-1605). The hallmark of his reign was the emphasis he placed upon Hindu-Muslim unity and the concept of individual religious tolerance. Because he was convinced that spiritual truth was not the monopoly of any particular religion, Akbar organized the first global congress of faiths, fostered the spirit of enquiry and allowed every man and community to develop in its own spiritual manner.

Faith has no caste, nor national origin, taught this powerful ruler who placed the love of God above the rituals of religion. When a theocracy of Sunni extremists condemned Akbar’s spirit of Sufi generosity, he transported the belligerent mullahs to Kandahar, and exchanged them for colts.

“You should not allow religious prejudice to influence your mind. The propagation of Islam will be better carried on with the faith of love and obligation than with the sword of oppression,” Akbar warned his fellow Muslims.

This flowering of Mughal religious tolerance reached its crescendo on April, 4^th, 1934, when the city of Lahore witnessed the creation of the greatest literary treasure ever seen in the Indo-Islamic civilisation. That was the day upon which the scholar Abdullah Yusuf Ali released the first instalment of his English language translation of the Qur’an. For the princely sum of only one rupee, the first fifty pages of the revered work could be purchased. The resultant six-hundred plus pages were published as they were completed, in twenty-nine more sections over the next three years, thanks to a remarkable gathering of enthusiastic university students, calligraphers, printers and publishers, all of whom urged, and assisted, the Allama (most learned) Yusuf Ali to commit to paper the English language translation he had spent the majority of his life creating.

Born in India in 1872, Yusuf Ali was an extraordinary scholar, confident horseman and traveller par excellence. Thanks to his intellectual gifts, he was the first Indian to serve on Great Britain’s Indian Civil Service. A noted jurist, a devotee of Shakespeare, an expert on Alexander the Great, and a prolific author, Yusuf Ali was also an Islamic scholar of tremendous wisdom. Thanks to Yusuf Ali’s travels between England and India, he believed there was a vital need to translate the enduring message of the Qur’an into the English language, so as to offset the same forces of religious extremism which Akbar faced and which still threaten us today.

Yusuf Ali - "Though the English language translation of the Qur'an created by the famous Indian scholar, Allama Yusuf Ali, was rightly considered to be the most beautifully written version ever seen, it was altered by unknown parties in the late 1980s so as to fall in line with the more politically rigid version of Islam as practised by the Wahhabis."

“Although I am earnestly and sincerely devoted to my own religion, I have always advocated the desirability of a better understanding between Christians and Muslims in all spheres of life. Such an understanding is likely to become a great guarantee of world peace and international understanding,” the humble scholar wrote.

Like the great Mughal, Akbar, whose religious tolerance had inspired him, Yusuf Ali believed in what he termed a “progressive Islam.” By the mid-twentieth century Muslim institutions and patterns of thinking had become moribund and obsolete. Not only should Muslims cope with the challenges of the day, he warned, they should use their faith to rise above the prejudices of race. Islam, he said, should be a way to transcend narrow political interests.

Yusuf Ali admonished the Muslims of his day, reminding them that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) had abolished any hereditary and privileged priesthood, while instituting the right of private judgment, personal responsibility, equality in brotherhood, removal of racial or caste barriers and the selection of rulers by democratic choice. It was these principles, Yusuf Ali said, which were the true basis of Islam.

After years of work, when Yusuf Ali’s English language Qur’an was released, it was acclaimed a masterpiece worldwide. This revered book, he said, was not the legacy of one nation, it was the heritage of mankind. “Each verse represents something immediately applicable,” he wrote, “and something eternal and independent of time and space.”

No sectarian views were propagated throughout the extensive commentary. On the contrary, Yusuf Ali’s emphasis was on the spiritual dimension of Islam and its message of a common humanity. This search for God within liberated the seeker from the restrictions of a narrowly orthodox version of Islam, encouraging the devotee instead to look beyond the letter of the law to its mystical essence.

Sadly, power is a jealous mistress who tolerates no rival. This is especially true of those who wield the sanctity of religious authority.

Though many other authors have attempted to emulate his efforts, Yusuf Ali’s English language translation of the Qur’an became the most widely respected, and trusted, version ever known. “In translating the Text I have aired no views of my own,” he wrote, then went on to hope that thanks to this version, “a new renaissance of Islam will sweep away cobwebs and let in the light of reason.”

Alas, the message of tolerance, as practised by Emperor Akbar and Allama Yusuf Ali, has been one of the unmarked victims of today’s climate of political hatred. In 1987 unnamed “editors” bowdlerized Yusuf Ali’s magnum opus, removing various appendices, revising the commentary, diluting its message of compassion and ignoring its apolitical tolerance.

“Nothing can be more damaging than the admission of rough and tumble politics into the serene atmosphere of religious peace and freedom,” Yusuf Ali wrote before his death in 1952. The result, he warned, would be the rise of leaders who promote dangerously simplistic creeds designed to promote a spirit of political vengeance and narrow self interest.

Sadly, as the bleak religious war between East and West goes on, Yusuf Ali’s prophecy has come true, with political hirelings in clergymen’s gowns from both sides mistaking the shell for the substance.

“A foundation of hatred or hostility can never support any edifice of national life and will be subject to sudden earthquakes when the forces of disorder are let loose,” Yusuf Ali predicted. Recent events demonstrate that he was right, as the venom of one side continues to provide the lifeblood of the other.

As the year 2009 and this decade come to a close, what a cruel mockery it is then to dispute, on the religious plane, national ambitions, tribal allegiances and the need for personal glory. The fruits of this tree are intolerance, rancour and uncompromising hostility, nestled among the leaves of barren and bigoted sectarianism.

A Sufi once remarked, “Everyone lives on the same Earth. One reads the Vedas, the second the Qur’an. One is called a pandit, the other a mullah. They style themselves separately, though they are pots of the same earth. Neither have found God and both live in futile disputes.”

Yusuf Ali, who spent his life attempting to reconcile East and West, counselled that counting beads or wearing a hermit’s gown is no sure sign of faith. Service to our brethren is the only worship that counts. Likewise it is folly to believe that war can end war.

Before his death, this remarkable man of two worlds wrote, “Many new streams of wisdom were poured through the crucibles of noble minds and thinking men of action.”

I like to think that Yusuf Ali, the scholar and traveller, would have supported Mikael Strandberg’s idealistic goal of travelling on camelback, from one distant ocean to another, so as to draw attention to what we all share in common.

I know I do.

CuChullaine O’Reilly, a.k.a. Asadullah Khan, along with his wife, the Swiss equestrian explorer, Sayeeda Ayesha Khan, will be re-publishing Yusuf Ali’s 1934 Qur’an, complete with its original translation and unedited commentary, in early 2010. The royalties will be donated to victims of suicide bombings in Pakistan.

The ex-pat camp in the Wahiba Sands. We went here with Mark Evans and his friends over the weekend, a lovely break from Muscat-life....

Pain!

Woke up early this morning after sleeping 10 hours. Exhausted after a visit to the Wahiba Sands, the great soothing desert, but no sleep at all. Tooth-ache. I am waiting to call the dentist when he opens at 9 a.m. Another of Talib´s contacts. Thank God I have been hit by this pain now, not on an expedition. It totally cripples you. The worst part of having a tooth-ache is that you can´t really communicate as you would like!

I have always been most content with life when I am dwelling into another culture. It is a learning experience, it is fascinating, never boring, you never know what to expect, it stimulates all your senses, makes you question everything you have learned from the day you left the Western crib, but most of all, you come across a lot of fantastic people. Meeting people is for me, the elixir of life! Therefore the main theme of the upcoming Expedition is connecting cultures, meeting people and building a bridge of understanding between the West and East. But, it is the most difficult project I have embarked upon, because it is a subject that involves people with the extremest of thoughts in both ends, which really touches the soul of human kind.  The best and the worst. It is a gigantic task and at times it just feels impossible! For this reason, I really admire people who have embarked upon a road to try to connect cultures and educate. And made a success out of it!

Mark together with one of his employees trying to figure out an interesting route for the Connecting Culture group....

One of them is Mark Evans, one of our best friends here in Muscat.  Having him here, makes such a difference for us.  He is an explorer himself , a Fellow of the Explorers Club and The Royal Geographical Society, which means we can discuss all aspects of everything which deals with Expeditions with him. Everything from planning, route assessment and sponsoring. Mark works full time today with Outward Bounds and after a life of teaching in places like Kenya and Saudi-Arabia and after spending a year on Svalbard, he has made Oman his home. What Mark doesn´t know abouth the Omani outback doesn´t exist. He has just released a book about his 28 days exploring the Rub Al-Khali. He is very modest and careful when it regards himself, but he is pretty much good at anything he puts his head into, but most of all, it is another great human being I have come across, and he has set up an organisation called Connecting Cultures. An initiative where he invites, supports and encourages young people from all over the world to meet in Oman, travel by camel and at the same time connect them culturally and enhance their understanding of each other. It is genuinely a great vision he has accomplished! A new Connecting Cultures Expedition for young people is coming up the 3-10th of December and I have been honored indeed to be able to supply Mark with a very positiveminded and excellent young lady from Sweden, Julia Samuelsson who will attend it.

Julia Samuelsson, the Swedish representative at the Connecting Culture event the 3-10th of December

Mark has of course met a lot of inspiring people in his 48 year old life. The most impressive one, who started his thoughts of a Connecting Culture theme, was a speech at Hyde Park in London by a South-African named Ian Player. Mark contacted this awesome personality and during the hardest times of getting his project on board, he was encouraged by Ian himself. A thoroughly inspiring person and after reading about him on Wikipedia I think I have a new favourite role model to strive for! The same inspirational help applies for Mark who is continuously motivating me not to give up this project, which at times seems impossible. I am beginning to understand why nobody ever has traveled by camel from Arabia’s easternmost tip till its westernmost point…..it wasn´t the physical limitations, it was the red tape…..still is!

Just back from the dentist. It will cost me 60 rial to sort out the mess I have created by not taking care off my gums and teeth….why does it all heap on to you, when not needed?

My friends at Explorers Web published this article today, sad, but true, but don´t judge to hard, people do mistakes, the need to gain some kind of success in life makes people do desperate things, we need to forgive and they will learn from their experience. Read this http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?id=18835

This piece is written in great rush and under lots of stress in between airports! But, the thing is, I love it! The stress I mean….

However, to avoid, which occurs a lot, not too loose my train of thought….A visit to London to check the possibility of any Expedition and its success, is a must! So is connections which you have built up throughout the years. Two of the most important I have is friends doing pretty much the same thing – continuously putting pressure on life!

I am talking about two of the nicest people I have ever come across, my old friend and chairman of the British Chapter of Explorers Club, Barry Moss and the new Face of Discovery Channel – Olly Steeds. They have both helped me for many years with their belief, compassion, friendship and extraordinary kind words.

Ollie had set me up for a lot of meetings with some amazing people in his range of friends. Stephen and Jamie taught me pretty much about everything about the Gulf area and the digital side of exploration. As always I went to Stanfords to pick up some maps over Rub Al-Khali and went to the Royal Geographic Society to browse thru old Expedition papers and reports in the area where I am setting up my two upcoming Expeditions….didn´t find anything I dind´t know about though, Internet has changed a lot, for the better….and went to a lecture at the Scientific Exploration Society on Wednesday evening and had a chat with Sir John Blashford-Snell and then the pub again. The London Pub scene….I like it.

I spent all Thursday meeting a lot of people, who gave me a lot of positive and negative output on my upcoming Expedition. Most think it is impossible, which I like. I need to hear these things to concentrate and focus. And Thursday evening I spent at the Polish Club with some of my London friends….I have always been an Anglophile by the way….and I believe I have a new very good friend after that meeting, old Sam from the Hebrides. Same age, exiting life, gone through many obstacles, fantastic guy!

Came back three in the morning, went to the airport at 5….well, I am extremely tired…but, once again, the adventure is on!

The Siberian Expedition made headwaves around the world. Still is. This is the latest honor. Book can be bought at http://www.amazon.com/They-Lived-Tell-Tale-Adventure/dp/1592289916

Want a glimpse of the world as few have seen it before? In They Lived to Tell the Tale, members of the world-famous Explorers Club share their spectacular journeys from the depths of the world’s oceans to the canopies of the Amazon rainforest to the dark vastness of outer space and all points in between. As we turn the book’s pages, we climb the highest mountains, slog through jungle swamps, crawl into spider-infested caves, trek across vast deserts, and gasp in astonishment at the sheer audacity of our guides. All from the comfort of our own living rooms.

I´ve been honoured to be one of these individuals mentioned below: (Book can be ordered at http://www.amazon.com/Adventurous-Dreams-Lives-Jason-Schoonover/dp/1894765915) In Adventurous Dreams, Adventurous Lives, 120 outstanding individuals representing a who s who of international exploration recall the indelible moment in their youth when the dream that launched their remarkable lives was born. As they recount the turning points to fulfilling those dreams often overcoming enormous physical, emotional or other obstacles we learn how incredibly inspirational their lives are. Included are Meave and Louise Leakey, Buzz Aldrin, Robert Ballard, balloonists Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Lucy discoverer Don Johanson, Jack Horner, Sue Hendrickson, Jean-Michel Cousteau, the Ra s Capt. Norman Baker, George Bass, Eugenie Clark, Richard Fisher, Trieste s Don Walsh and Nobel laureate Charles H. Townes. That 24 of these dynamic individuals are Canadian such as paleontologists Philip Currie and Eva Koppelhus; Survivorman Les Stroud; Sea Hunter Jim Delgado; National Geographic explorer-in-residence Wade Davis; veteran climber Pat Morrow; circumnavigators-by-human-power-alone Colin Angus and Julie Wafaei; photographers Pat and Rosemarie Keough; and naturalist Robert Bateman is testament to Canada s significant contribution to world exploration.