WORLD FAMOUS EXPLORER JOINS KENSINGTON TOURS
AS EXPLORER-IN-RESIDENCE

Mikael Strandberg to support launch of Kensington’s new Expedition Series

“Kensington Tours' mission,” says Willner “is to provide private guided experiences to every corner of our world. For every budget, every schedule, every group size, and every interest, we can tailor a perfect tour. Our collaboration with Mikael and our Explorer-in-Residence program is another example of our commitment to truly special travel experiences – whatever your travel style.”

A professional explorer for the past quarter century, Mikael Strandberg is considered one of the 50 most important explorers on earth and The Explorers Club has called him “the best contemporary explorer in the world.” Strandberg will collaborate with Kensington founder and CEO Jeff Willner to design and develop this new product offering for intrepid travelers.  Strandberg will also be available to guide these expeditions as well as tailor-made expeditions, upon request.

“Kensington Tours’ mission,” says Willner “is to provide private guided experiences to every corner of our world. For every budget, every schedule, every group size, and every interest, we can tailor a perfect tour. Our collaboration with Mikael and our Explorer-in-Residence program is another example of our commitment to truly special travel experiences – whatever your travel style.”

Willner and Strandberg recently undertook a scouting mission to The Democratic Republic of the Congo to assess its potential and readiness as a destination for intrepid travelers.  Congo itineraries – featuring endangered Eastern Lowland Gorillas, Pygmy tribes and the Nyiragongo volcano – are the first in the Expedition Series.  Other itineraries under development include Antarctica exploration with polar explorers, motorcycle safaris in Kenya, Tanzania and Russia, deep dive submarine into the Cayman Trench and cultural discoveries in Yemen, Oman and North Korea. These itineraries will appeal to intrepid global explorers and will complement Kensington’s complete collection of affordable private guided tours to the world’s must-see destinations.

“It’s the places that people believe that they cannot go, these are the places where the hidden wonders of the world and breathtaking experiences await,” said Strandberg. “The Expedition Series will highlight many of these destinations.  I am indeed honored to be an Explorer-in-Residence for this brave company. Brave makes a difference, helps a country, builds bridges and creates trips which open people’s minds. With a visionary and a lover of humanity like Jeff Willner at its helm, Kensington Tours is really in the forefront of what good tourism should be today.”

“Some of the Expedition itineraries may require hard work, some may be expensive and some will feature unconventional destinations, but all promise a unique experience,” confirms Willner.  “Whether escorted by an Explorer-in-Residence or not, all of our tours will be carefully managed by our local offices and local expert guides to ensure a safe and supported adventure.”

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“It’s the places that people believe that they cannot go, these are the places where the hidden wonders of the world and breathtaking experiences await,” said Strandberg. “The Expedition Series will highlight many of these destinations. I am indeed honored to be an Explorer-in-Residence for this brave company. Brave makes a difference, helps a country, builds bridges and creates trips which open people’s minds. With a visionary and a lover of humanity like Jeff Willner at its helm, Kensington Tours is really in the forefront of what good tourism should be today.”

About Kensington Tours
Kensington Tours offers custom private guided tours to over 80 countries around the world. The flexibility of Kensington’s offerings allows for personalization of every tour at a wide range of price points – resulting in a handcrafted vacation experience at an unbeatable value. The company’s private tours are regularly benchmarked at 30% less than identical tours from premium group operators. Kensington Tours was named one of the ‘Best Adventure Travel Companies on Earth’ in 2008 & 2009 by the editors of National Geographic Adventure magazine.

About Mikael Standberg:
He started his professional career as an explorer 23 years ago. Strandberg is currently working as an explorer, a lecturer and a writer. He has also produced three internationally renowned documentaries for television Patagonia – 3,000 Kilometres by Horse and The Masaai People – 1,000 Kilometres by Foot and his much awarded 58 Degrees – Exploring Siberia on Skies.  Frequently appearing in travel and adventure programmes, Swedish Television SVT and National Geographic have both made documentaries about his life. Voted Explorer Hero by the National Geographic 2002, Strandberg is an Honorary Ambassador of his native district Älvdalen and Cappadocia, Turkey. In 2005 he was awarded The Determination in the Face of Adversity Medal by the Explorers Club. The Travellers Club of Sweden awarded him the prestigious Silver Medal in 2006. The Travellers Club of Finland awarded Mikael the prestigious Mannerheim Medal at a ceremony in October, 2006.

About Jeff Willner
Kensington Tours is the inspiration of intrepid explorer and Royal Geographic Society Fellow Jeff Willner begin_of_the_skype_highlightingend_of_the_skype_highlighting. His thirst for travel stems from growing up in Africa where his parents worked for most of his childhood, and where he discovered the richness of global cultures. A veteran of global expeditions to over 70 countries, he has criss-crossed the continents to experience the extraordinary. During these years, Jeff realized the vast difference between a package tour and personal discovery — where deep knowledge and personal attention of a local guide can turn a trip into an experience. It is from these roots that Jeff began building his vision for Kensington Tours. With a commitment to rethinking the way we travel, and drawing on his years with McKinsey & Company and Wharton, he recruited a strong team of destination experts (with real in-country experience) and top IT professionals to build an award winning travel company that now spans the globe.

For more information please contact:
Jeff Willner
CEO,
Kensington Tours
jeff.willner@kensingtontours.com

“Some of the Expedition itineraries may require hard work, some may be expensive and some will feature unconventional destinations, but all promise a unique experience,” confirms Willner. “Whether escorted by an Explorer-in-Residence or not, all of our tours will be carefully managed by our local offices and local expert guides to ensure a safe and supported adventure.”

Barry with twin brother, before they new much about their sexuality.

Guest writer number 14, Barry Moss, is one of my very best friends. He is pretty much good at everything he puts his heart to.  A real human being. I have begged him for ages to write about his ideas about life. Finally, he put his Sunday paper down, jumped the morning bacon and eggs and put pen to paper. Enjoy!

Planes, Volcanoes and Everything.

My name is Barry Moss and I am the Chairman of the British Chapter of the Explorers Club.

My great friend Mikael Strandberg has asked me to write something for his blog.

Having become a slave to my own computer in recent years, I realise that I have unwittingly turned into an addled junkie, trying to read, absorb and digest far too much information. How much of this information will I use? I guess very little of it, but like any drug I am drawn back into its clutches.  So, if you are like me, I hope that this short essay will only take up a few minutes of your valuable time and will be interesting enough for you to continue to read to the end of this page at least.  I promise that I will not fill you head with too much useless information.

I consider myself fortunate enough to live some days in London and other days in a small mediaeval village complete with castle on the beautiful and wild East Coast of England.

The county of Suffolk is known for its big skies. But what is a big sky?  Isn’t the sky huge everywhere?  Well, apparently not and I would agree that this part of Suffolk does have big skies, only today the sky was different.

I try to motivate myself when I am here to take a long early morning walk to observe the birds, the hares, the changes in scenery and everything.  I was not disappointed this morning but one thing was eerily missing.  The all too familiar demented white slashes across a perfect blue canvas had gone.  The picture was pristine, the big powder blue sky had been repaired; no aircraft contrails chalked across it.  Situated under one of the main east-west air corridors in Northern Europe, I realised that I was looking at a vista that has rarely been seen here since the beginning of the jet age.

I have been on the periphery of aviation industry for most of my life and it remains a technology that still manages to thrill and captivate me.  Some days I am fortunate enough to look out of my office window across the river Ore to the secretive Orford Ness with its Mayan like ruins where Britain’s atomic weapons trigger mechanisms were tested in dark, frightening, sinister laboratories.  I am at first drawn by the noise, the unmistakable sound of a Merlin aircraft engine.  I search above me and to the distance beyond and there it is, a Supermarine Spitfire diving, rolling, dancing across the big blue sky.

My interest in aviation goes back to when I was a small boy.  I vividly recall dreary, depressing and austere Saturdays in East London sitting on a red Routemaster double decker bus.  I rarely noticed that the bus ride was often mundane as I would be completely immersed in the picture on the box I had in my hands.  One Saturday it could be a Hawker Tempest firing rockets at a line of Panzer tanks the next Saturday on the bus with my father and twin brother it could be a Dassault Mirage III taking on a MiG jet of some type or another in a dog fight.

I was often too eager to bother to follow the Airfix kit assembly instructions, only to find that I had glued the two halves of the fuselage together before inserting the pilot sitting in his ejector seat or the undercarriage nose-gear.  The two halves would then be prised apart with a knife or some other blunt instrument which often resulted in the sort of destruction done by metal fatigue test rigs on real aircraft.  Corrosive glue would be unwittingly smeared across clear plastic canopies, resulting in disappointment at the irreparable blur that I had caused.  Silver paint on wings would have finger marks on it or brush hairs or dust. Transfers applied before the paint had dried.   It didn’t really matter too much because the image that these models represented was far greater than my childhood imperfections at assembling and painting them.

My father however was a talented modeller who had the patience, skill and aptitude to build model aircraft out of bits of timber completed with electric motors that turned propellers powered by tardis lookalike batteries.  His real passion however was lead soldiers and I am now at the age where I share his frustration that my eyesight is no longer any good for intricate or detailed work, even with spectacles.

Suddenly!.....Barry, during this circling activity, he foundhis call of life!

Between then and now I have been fortunate enough to have worked with real aircraft manufacturers and have visited super-jumbo passenger aircraft assembly halls that are so large that it is difficult to gain a sense of perspective and scale.  I have flown in biplanes and was once fortunate enough to fly a Mig 25 interceptor at three times the speed of sound to the edge of space.

As a child I remember living on the penultimate floor of a block of council flats with my grandparents. Looking over the balcony, the immediate foreground still contained sporadic barren areas of buddleia, smashed cellar caverns and rubble thanks to Adolf Hitler, his Luftwaffe and the Nazi’s secret, terrifying V1 flying bombs and V2 guided missiles. Churchill had employed my grandfather for five years to try to shoot such things down from the rolling deck of a high octane fuel carrying tanker. He reckoned he had hit one or two before the day when a Dornier or something similar dropped a bomb on him before he could take aim. Fortunately for him, although he was wounded, it failed to explode and ignite the tonnes of aviation fuel onboard.

Looking up at the sky from the balcony, my grandfather and I watched the first generation passenger jets on their landing approaches into London Airport.  Their deafening four jet engines pierced and crackled and bellowed trails of smoke, in fact similar shades of black, grey and white as the volcanic ash presently spewing into the atmosphere.  In those days only the rich and famous flew in jet planes, a fact that didn’t seem to bother us too much then.

Now we all fly.  The rich and business people in cocooned sarcophaguses called ‘flatbed’ seats where you may not get a glimpse of the person sitting next to you for 12 hours.  That’s unless of course you need to visit the toilet in the dark and you sit there pondering for probably an hour or so how you are going to hoist yourself over your neighbour’s legs without waking him or her up and then doing the same thing in reverse. Having practiced this exercise for many years, I have concluded that even with the skill, training and dexterity of a Chinese child tightrope acrobat it is a manoeuvre that is almost impossible to perfectly execute, particularly in slight turbulence.

Meanwhile Joe public down the back have paid to have an even bigger problem with knees wedged up against seat backs like a created veal calf.  Only the super rich, famous and investment bankers have cracked the problem by flying in private jets.  However even this indulgence may not be all it seems as many smaller private jets do not have toilets.  I have a friend who shall remain nameless who has to live with a major embarrassment for the rest of her life. She had to ask her male colleagues on a tiny private jet to look away whilst she had to do what she had to do in a wine bottle.  Imagine walking into the office the next day knowing that everyone knows that’s what you did.  Surely you would prefer to have crashed in flames and never be seen again?

As I write this a 1960’s vintage Jet Provost two seat trainer has disturbed the peace and tranquillity of Orford.  One part of me rises with excitement to try to see it but it has dipped down below the rooftops.  It is like trying to find a mosquito at night in your bedroom with the lights off.  Another part of me asks is it right that someone having a good time can create so much noise or am I just getting old and cynical?   Was I concerned about the people over the Russian countryside when I was on a jolly flying one of the noisiest and most powerful jet fighter aircraft ever built?  I do recall having some sense of guilt at the time but was too captivated by the thrill of the experience.

Barry often thinks about his childhood, which put him in the right direction of life.

The eruption of the Icelandic volcano with the unpronounceable name (OK Eyjafjallajoekull if you insist) means that some of us may have to go without our Kenyan sugar snap peas for a few days and we all know of someone who is either marooned or unable to be with their families and friends. It may be that a little fissure in the Earth’s surface will change everything and make us realise that nothing it totally predictable, nor should it be.

I’m now looking out across to the present Orford Ness lighthouse that has arced its narrow white beam of light across the North Sea at night for nearly 200 years.  Because of global warming and rising sea levels, sometime in the next three years, the lighthouse is likely to be washed away into the abyss.   “Don’t worry” they say,” it was old technology that was about to be replaced by GPS anyway”.

Safe marine and air navigation has always depended on lights. Aircraft still reassuringly head towards the light of the Orfordness lighthouse whilst crossing the treacherous North Sea at night. Before the first lighthouse was erected on Orfordness, in one stormy night alone in 1637, 32 vessels were smashed aground onto Orford Ness.

Have we really become so clever and dependent on fossil fuels and addicted to computers and technology to ignore the rages of nature?  Recent events have shown how unprepared we really are.  What happens if we become too compliant on technology, flying and oil and everything?  Can we be assured that business will continue as usual or will all the lights go out everywhere?

A bit more up to date photos, see here and check his CV!

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

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!

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