A fool on the path

I leave in a few day's time for the Indian Himalaya. I was thinking of all the new paths I will walk and the paths I have walked. I, then thought, maybe I could become a fool on the path. I was reminded of one of Buddha Shakyamuni's sayings:

" How long is the road to the weary. How long is the wandering of the fool who cannot find the path"

Floods, storms kill 12 in Indonesia's Java

There has been heavy rain in Jakarta and other parts of Java this weekThis morning I was woken by a text message from the Indonesian Red reporting that floods triggered by heavy rain killed eight people in two districts in East Java over the past two days.

Four people died on Saturday when an electricity pole was toppled by storms, hitting a car in which they were travelling in Bekasi, east of the capital Jakarta, he said.

The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) has swung into action supporting the affected people.

At Field Level
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- PMI Bondowoso Office has a evacuation centre for communities in the vicinity
- PMI Bondowoso volunteers have evacuated communities to safer places.
- PMI Situbondo Branch providing meals through field kitchen to the survivors.

PMI Central Java Chapter
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- Monitoring the situation and supporting hranches in affected areas

PMI NHQ
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- Post command in NHQ still monitoring the situation
- Released early warning to Chapter prone area for flood and strong wind
- Updating the information from all resources through media
- Shared information to all stakeholders


Several areas in Jakarta, where flooding killed five people this month, were under water today, Subday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Indonesia suffers heavy flooding and landslides every rainy season.

Rain and floods forced about 100,000 Jakarta residents from their homes early this month and brought the city to a standstill.

Last year floods hit our house in Jakarta and we were without water and electricity for 8 days

Your disability is your opportunity

Robin Judkins left and yours truly right

Old juddy and I go back a long way. I met him first when I did my first Coast to Coast in 1987 and after that we became firm mates.

Three years ago Juddy came to visit me in India and we travelled to Nepal together and had a great time in that fabled city, Kathmandu. We're good mates and exchange emails every so often. Usually I start off with the phrase, "where are you?" and, are you still alive?"

Just over a year ago his reply was, "yes, but just. I've had a quadruple heart bypass." Juddy's determination to drink life to the lees, saw him slowly but surely recover. Some years back we talked for more than an hour about disabilities and how you need to turn them into opportunities. We marvelled at our friend Steve Maitland, who lost a leg in a motor cycle accident, and was regularly able to beat most people with normal legs on the Coast to Coast, a gruelling endurance event over the Southern Alps of New Zealand then kayaking for four to five hours down a major river. Steve Naitland did this event countless times and never saw himself as handicapped in any way. He had the guts and belief he could do anything and he did. Similarly Juddy has made a marvellous recovery after his quadruple heart bypass. Juddy, or Robin Judkins is the organiser, inventor of the Coast to Coast.

The Speight's Coast to Coast is a contest of categories – events within a grand event that allow athletes to measure themselves against those of a similar age or inclination.

There are the two-day individual competitors, those who prefer the company of teammates, and band of intrepid adventurers who challenge themselves to complete the course in a single day.

There are classifications for men and women and, within both, age-group classifications.

From the many hundreds of competitors who are unified by the event but divided by the categories, the organisers have compiled yet another list of 43 competitors who are all different but share a common bond.

They are competing with an existing medical condition. There are no dispensations for them; nor would they seek any. They are identified only so that they may be assisted, should their condition require it.

Their conditions are many and varied – allergies to bee stings, asthma of varying severities, penicillin allergies, renal impairment, a knee reconstruction, a bleeding tendency, a shoulder injury, allergy to sticking plaster.

Ali van Polanen is on the list because she has Crohn's disease, an auto-immune affliction that affects her gastric system. Ulcers form in her small intestine and they persistently recur.

"They are controlled by medication, or when they're deciding to have one of those moments, they're not controlled at all," she says.

"It's a chronic condition. Once you've got it, you've got it for ever. It's just a question of whether you're flared up or in remission. We'll give it a few more months before we say I'm in remission, but it certainly looks as if I'm that way at the moment."

When the Crohn's is rampaging, van Polanen suffers pain and fatigue. There are other nasty symptoms that accompany it too, she says.

"I take an immune suppressant to dumb down my immune system. That's not ideal when you're an athlete, because you want a good immune system, but it's what you get used to and what you deal with," she says.

"I am fortunate. There are some people with Crohn's who are very unwell. For them, an event such as the Coast to Coast would be simply out of the question.

"At times it frustrates me because you feel, `What if?' But it's what I've got and I can't change it. That's the hand I've been dealt and I have to play it the best I can."

Has the condition ever caused her to contemplate withdrawal from athletics?

"Never," she says.

"If I didn't have multi- sport, which takes up so much of my time, Crohn's would become life-consuming.

"I would probably dwell on it a lot more and it would be a real problem."

While she resents the psychological burden of being dependent on medication when she considers herself to be a happy, healthy person, van Polanen views the necessity of it pragmatically.

"I guess it's like being an asthmatic. Unless they have their inhalers, they're in trouble, too. You have to adjust your schedule, and you have to be sensible, but it's what you get used to and what you deal with. It's literally what you make of it," she says.

"In the last six months, I've been ticking along happily. Then you can have periods when you can be quite unwell. It comes on slowly. You have to look for the signs and make sure you listen to your body.

"I've had to get used to managing it and managing my training around it. You can't work out patterns, but I think we've got the medication a little more sorted this year and that is a big help. I've also been seeing a nutritionist, who has been able to help both in terms of sports nutrition and with regards to Crohn's disease."

Although she wages a running war with the condition, van Polanen stoically refuses to proffer it as an excuse for poor performance. She will contest her third Coast to Coast at the weekend, and says she has improved with each one.

"This year, I've been a bit more consistent. I did a bit of strength work during winter. I've tended to drop my weaker disciplines over winter in the past and ignore them. I feel much happier about the way I've been going this year."

The 26-year-old Christchurch consents manager, employed by NZ Windfarms, says the company has been supportive by being flexible with working hours as she prepares for the event.

"I'm very fortunate to have such a great employer.

"Everyone on the staff has quite an interest in multi- sport. People's understanding has been greatly appreciated."

The Coast to Coast will be a special occasion for van Polanen and her family. Her father, John, will be celebrating his 50th birthday when he contests the Longest Day for the first time. Her sister, Claire, will also be doing the running leg in the teams competition.

"It's been great training with dad, considering it was him who encouraged me into running. Not many fathers and daughters can share a sporting interest the way we can share running. It's been good to show him kayaking, too. He only started last winter."

She will start the Coast to Coast with confidence and optimism. As she tames the course, so too will she score another win over Crohn's disease. Two victories in one day – that's success.

So whether it's Crohn's disease. heart problems or you have one leg, the Coast to Coast is a way to prove your disability is your opportunity.

Off to the Himalaya in a week

This weekend I will start packing for a trip to Himachal Pradesh, one of the most stunning parts of the Himalaya, Pir Panjal and Dhaula Dar mountain ranges. I enclose a map and photos to familiarise you with the region. I will keep friends and relatives updated regularly on the 3 week trip which has no shape or form. The only planned part is I leave Delhi for Sidhbari on 16 February with my good friend Anuj Bahri, well known Indian publisher and bookseller. The only planned part is to stop for breakfast just past Panipat for the best potato paratas in the world. Will keep you updated.

Cycling round the world to save the world

Mohammad leaving Multan and saying goodbye to his host Bashir




Mohammad Tajeran - Mountaineer and cyclist



Caption: Mohammad and his Mother on the day he left Meshad.

Every day in Jakarta is different for me. About 11 am a strong handsome guy walked quietly into the office asking for help. He had cycled from Tehran to Jakarta taking 120 days and covering 12148 km. He was having problems getting a visa to Australia and New Zealand. He had a letter from the International Committee of the Red Cross in Tehran and others verifying he was a member of the iranian Red Crescent Rescue team. Naturally I was happy to help Mohammad. What a feat. So I wrote him letters to both the Embassies asking to help a man with a mission to plant trees and publicise climate change.

Why is Mohammad cycling round the world ? Let him tell his story in his writings.

Our beautiful planet” earth ” , which is moving on the boundless space .
is the only planet that we know of with one which there is life in it and many different living creatures ,that they all need oxygen , water and food to live there .
To find some signs of life in the other planets such as Mars and Venus , the scientists have done a lot of investigations , but they all have been disappointed . The high temperature in Venus which is 445C and the low temperature in which is - 45C Mars makes it impossible to live there .
How ever , it is 12C on the earth . storage of Oxygen in other planets is another vital reason for lack of life there . But there is a nine layer combination of different gases around Earth which includes %21 of Oxygen and just %0.02 of Carbon dioxide . The amount of Oxygen and Carbon depends on the amount of trees and plants , so if they become extinct changes in temperature o pollution , then the blue pearl of space ( a nick name for the Earth which is called by the scientists ) will change into a lifeless planet with a temperature between -264C to +360C .
The harmful effects of pollution on the Ozone layer is absolutely tragic because it will destroy the jungles and pastures So we should do our best to help the environment .
Now we are going to move and go around the world and give our message to you , all of you and all people of the world without considering their race , religion or nationality .
We are going to ask all the people of the world to keep the “ world to care for and plant tree ” , because our life depends on the life of the trees .
To put it in action , we have decided to get in touch with NGO groups . then with their the cooperation , we are going to plant a tree in each city we get there to remind all of us of keeping trees as a symbol of Gods blessing . To achieve this goal , the supporting team will help us by getting contact with NGOs and they will inform them of our presence and our trip .
The cooperation of NGOs with us will help to achieve our goal .


Overloaded ?

Information about Mohammad

From : Iran

Born : July , 15 , 1976

1992 The beginning of sports activity in bicycling for 10 years.
2002 The beginning of mount climbing for 3 years.
Climbing to some 4000 meter mountains.
Climbing to the top of Mountain Damavand with about 5671 meters high.
A member of Azadegan Mountain Club.
Being active in Tourist Bicycling for 8 years.
Having Batchelor Degree in mechanics.
Tourist cycling guide in Iran .
Single.
Interested in mount climbing , caving , Tourist cycling and photography.
mail : malan1445@yahoo.com

Weblog : www.bikaraneha.blogspot.com

Various Short Walks in the Hindu Kush

A photo kindly provided by the successful Noshaq 7492m Expedition in 2000.

My affair with the mountains of Afghanistan started in 1976 when I first visited the country to work for the International Red Cross in villages destroyed by earthquakes in the Hindu Kush. In 1993 I got the chance to work again in Afghanistan and have almost been there two years. During this time my work with refugees, displaced people and victims of natural disasters have given me the privilege of crossing many major passes and criss-crossing the Hindu Kush on numerous occasions and spending time in the lesser, but equally spectacular ranges. Most climbers have heard of Afghanistan's Hindu Kush but some of the lesser known ranges, between 6500m and 3000m, provide some of the most spectacular scenery and is home to hardy mountain people.


Mountains dominate the landscape of Afghanistan and these massive ramparts have shaped the lives, culture and the minds of the Afghans for thousands of years. People and carpets are named after mountains, poets write about them, artists paint them, legends abound and grow and conquering Kings fell homesick for their grandeur and beauty.

Mountains cover 653 000 sq. km and dominate the central and eastern parts covering 75% of the country. It is a land-locked country lying between 29o 35' and 38o 40' northern latitude and between 60o 31' and 75o 00' eastern longitude on the mountainous and desert areas where the Iranian plateau borders with the mountainous systems of central Asia.

Afghanistan is bounded on the north by the Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan (2380km), on the north-east by China (96km) and India (102)km, on the south and east by Pakistan (2310), and on the west by Iran (925 km) Afghanistan is roughly quadrilateral in shape, with the long finger called the Wakhan stretching east wards, bounded by Russia, China, Pakistan. The mountain systems are quite complex and erratic, but generally run north-east to south-west.

At the feet of these great mountains ranges civilisations were born, nurtured shaped or dramatically changed. The mountains were the birthplace of great religious thinkers and philosophers. Zoroastrianism and Brahminism owe their origion to Afghanistan and the two religious classics, the Rigveda and Avesta were written here. Buddhist monasteries, many carved out of solid rock, are scattered through the mountains. With the coming of Islam, it wasn't long before the mystical Sufi's with their Islamic-influenced spiritual and poetic philosophy, came from Iraq to the mountains of Afghanistan, where it was strengthened further.

The mountain passes of Afghanistan have echoed to the tramp of would-be conquerors on the march between the barren steppes of Asia and the fertile plains of India - Alexander, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, nineteenth-century British mule trains and twentieth- century Soviet tanks. The Hindu Kush is a land with a history of violence; a land of startling colours, strong passions, fierce independence where the mountains have shaped the people.

But it was travellers like the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims Fah-Hian and Sung-Yun in the 4th century, Marco Polo in the 12th and Ibn Battuta in the 13th century, who left behind records of their travels with quite remarkable detail of the mountain passes, the mountains and the people and popularised this ancient land.

Later came a more recent era, the 18th and 19th centuries, an era where madness was considered close to Godliness and there are plenty of examples of eccentric European travellers like the intrepid Alexander Gardiner in his tartan jacket and trousers who courted Kings, Kafirs and Khans and the English religious zealot Wolff who walked naked from Bamian to Kabul, a trip of a week or so.

No one has described this part of the world (Hindu Kush) better than W.K. Fraser-Tytler, a former British minister to Afghanistan. he wrote, "a wild desolate country of great peaks and deep valleys, of precipitous gorges and rushing grey-green rivers; a barren, beautiful country of intense sunlight, clear sparkling air and wonderful colouring, as shadows lengthen and rocks turn gold and pink and mauve in the light of the setting sun."

No foreigners have climbed in Afghanistan since the Soviets arrived in late 1978. I had heard about the passes and valleys strewn with land mines so it was with some trepidation I embarked from Kabul in October 1994 on what was probably the first expedition into the Hindu Kush for at least 17 years. I travelled with two British climbers, Ian Clarke and John Tinker, to the Chamar valley for an attempt Mir Samir, a peak made famous by Eric Newby in his book, A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush. Tinker was fresh off an ascent of Everest by a new route on the north side and Clarke was head of a British Mine clearance organisation in Afghanistan and was a necessary companion as the area had received large amounts of small scatterable mines, dropped from Soviet aircrafts to prevent the freedom fighters crossing the mountain passes. Our safety was dependent on his knowledge of mines and where battles had taken place. Tinker and Clarke attempted an unclimbed face on Mir Samir and got surprising high considering the unseasonably soft snow that had fallen. While the others were attempting Mir Samir, I climbed an unnamed peak around 5000 metres and looked over to the enticing mountains of Nuristan, formerly Kafirstan. We explored a number of neighbouring regions with the hope of returning to do further climbing. .In June 1995 I did another trip was Clarke, crossing from the Panjcher valley to southern Badakshan by way of the 4260 m Anjuman Pass. It was a unique opportunity to explore this spectacular part of the Hindu Kush and check routes on the major peaks in the area ranging from 5900 to 6500 metres. One of the best peaks in the area in Kohi Bandak. The highlight of the trip was when returning back over the Anjuman Pass when at about 3400 metres in high alpine pastures we met about 50 Kuchi (nomad) families on their annual journey to this area. Some were on the move, other camping in their black, low-slung goat hair tents. We passed strings of camels with babies and young children with intricately embroidered bonnets, tied on the backs. Young girls with page-boy style hair cuts, flashed their shy blue eyes at us as we passed. We stopped in tents to share pots of tea and watched how they cared for their animals. Young goats were inside the tent, sheltering from the hot sun, women tenderly carried young lambs in their arms, and an old lame sheep, rode past on the back of a camel. Over the hillsides women and children were gathering alpine herbs, wood, leaves and wild vegetables. Nearby an old women was weaving a carpet. This is what the mountains of Afghanistan are about, tough friendly mountain people who have a symbiotic relations with the hills. They name their children after the mountains, names such as ‘Kohzad’, meaning of the mountains.

Despite the warmth of the people, many disasters befall them. Thousands are killed annually by avalanches and landslides. In late March word reached Kabul that a massive landslides had hit the village of Qarluk, situated high in the mountains of Badakhshan.
I was part of a Red Cross survey team that walked and rode by horse to the site. The whole village had been engulfed killing 350 people, all women and children. The landslide occurred at 11 am when the men and boys were out in the fields and the women. We arrived to find only one female survivor, 11 year old Gulnesa Beg, her arm broken in two places and with her good arm, hugging her father. A whole village wiped out by nature. Here we spent weeks running a relief operation to assist during the emergency phase and started helping these rugged Hazara people put their lives back together again.

In August this year, the highlight of my time in Afghanistan was a trip to Nuristan, the legendary 'land of light'. The Afghan Red Cross is establishing a medical clinic in the Parun valley and I went with our medical staff. Nuristan hugs the southern side of the Hindu Kush and is been isolated from the rest of the country. Six main valleys make up Nuristan each with their own language and for four to five months of the year, the mountain passes in and out of Nuristan are blocked. In is an area where snow panthers, wolves and fox thrive in forests almost untouched by human hand, this is paradise on earth. These blue-eyed and sometimes blond haired people claim they are either descendants of the original Aryans, while others say they are descendants of Alexander the Great. In 1895 they were forcibly converted to Islam and even today their are remnants of their former pagan past. Nuristani villages cling to mountain sides, sometimes perched on peak-tops. a legacy of the past to avoid invaders. Like the mountain Ta
jiks, the Nuristanis are true mountaineers. In 1889 George Robertson the author of the book ‘Kafirs of the Hindu Kush’, described the Nuristanis as" 'magnificent mountaineers<-"' because of their mountain skills, fitness and agility.
In my office is in Kabul, situated at 1800 metres I am so often distracted from my work by the surrounding mountain ranges that soar to just over 4000 metres. On Friday, the only day off during the week, it is possible to climb among the various 4000 metres peaks in the Paghman range from where you get spectacular views of the Hindu Kush and Hazarajat area. Climbing 4000 metre peaks in a day makes living in Kabul a joy. Also for the enthusiastic skier, a two hour drive takes you to the Salang Pass at 3,878 metres an excellent ski-mountaineering area. My good friend Ian Clarke the mine clearance expert gives the opinion that when the area is likely to have land-mines, if it is covered with snow, and you are on skis, it is almost impossible to trigger of a mine as the body-weight is evenly distributed. Clarke did a lot of telemark skiing in the area between 1993 and 1995 in the Salang Pass are before taking up a ski-instructors job at Cadrona, near Wanaka, for the New Zealand winter of 1995.

Interview with Ahmed Shah Massoud

Interview with Ahmed Shah Masoud: Tuesday 30 July 1996

Ahmad Shah Massoud (l) and Bob McKerrow (r) taken in Wazir Akbar Khan. Kabul.  30 July 1996



I lived in Afghanistan for almost four years. First in 1976 and again from 1993 to late 1996. After explaining in detail the book I was writing at the time called the Mountains of our Mind - Afghanistan, I asked Commander Massoud if he would answer some questions which would assist me with my book. He gladly agreed. Here are extracts from the interview. The book is available at http://www.indiaresearchpress.com/

Where did get your knowledge of using the mountains as a place to fight the Soviets from ?

The failed uprising in 1973 ( a coup against Doud in 1973) helped me understand the mountain terrain of Kunar and Laghman. I left the Panjcher when I was 20, and about 24 during the failed uprising. Living in the Panjcher as a boy I walked in the mountains a lot and gained much experience.

You frequently crossed passes in winter. Did you see people die of exposure, avalanches etc ?
I saw many peple die of cold, exhaustion and avalanches. Frostbite was common.

Did you use the mountains as a weapon, a friend or what ?

The mountains are the best base to fight from. They are both a stronghold and a shelter. It is the best terrain for Guerilla fighting.



I have noticed that when I travel in the mountains most of the people are uneducated and most know little or can quote little from the Koran, but can quote from memory for hours or days the poems written by the Afghan/Persian poets who were clearly Sufic influenced . Do you think I am right ?
You have discovered something unique there, (laughter) you are probably right.

In most cultures people worship mountains, such as the annual Nauroz festival in Mazar which worships the snow. What feeling do you get when you look at the mountains ?

Mountains remind me of the past. When I see the mountains I have love in my heart. When I am in Kabul I feel surrounded and bored. But when I see the Hindu Kush a new horizon opens up.

If you could choose to live anywhere in Afghanistan, where would it be ?


The Panchjer.


When Ahmed Shah Durrani was living an Delhi he wrote a very moving poem about missing the mountains of Afghanistan. When you travel do you miss the mountains ?

Yes, I have the same feeling as Ahmed Shah Durrani expressed in his poem.


There is a saying in Latin, Montana Semperi Libre, Mountaineers are always free. Perhaps it could equally be applied to Afghanistan ?
I like that expression. We have a saying in Dari that if there is a dispute in the city between Afghans, the weaker is killed. If one is in the mountains no one can catch him.

Let me tell you a story said Masoud. One of my body guards, Miraj, was a tough man of the mountains. He died in Takhar during a major offensive. Sandy Gall filmed him die. The film was called Agony of a Nation. Well Miraj used to walk from the Panjchir, over a pass to Nejrab, buy a 70 kg bag of wheat and walk back home over the mountains with it on his back. This was more than a 20 hour journey and he never stopped to rest. I doubt is a professional mountaineers is able to walk on the mountains like we do because we know them so well. Often, Afghan mountaineers wake up in the middle of the night and walk over the mountains

One thing Dari and Pashtu speaking poets have in common is their poems express that same intense love of the mountains. Do you agree ?
Yes there is a common love of the mountains by all Afghan, regardless of race.


During my writing I have discovered that Afghanistan has had three great mountain men. The first was Alexander the Great, the Babur, who wrote a chapter in his book Babur Nama on the mountains of Afghanistan, and yourself. What is your view ?


They all knew the mounatins intimately.I have read Babur Nama, and agree he knew the mountains well.


One of the great factors for a leader is how to use the mountains as a strong hold, as a shelter. During the war against the Soviets we needed to capture the Hindu Kush from the Pamirs to the Kohi Baba and all the mountains north and south of the range. The mountains were useful, we needed to know them well.



Before you leave, I want to thank you. The Red Cross, led by you, has done great work for the people of Afghanistan. When the UN closed its offices during the heavy fighting in Kabul, the Red Cross stayed here. I tell people of the UN you should have stayed here like the Red Cross.

Our allies admired the country when we fought against the Soviets but the same countries give us negative publicity.


Thank you for writing your book on Afghanistan. I urge you to translate in into Dari.