Quotation — "If ...."

Recently, I listened to a TED Talk about the meaning, or relevance, of poetry in our lives, and while reading some of the Internet commentary that followed, I noticed that someone had included the poem "If ...." by Rudyard Kipling.

Having a personal passing relationship with Rudyard Kipling (Born during World War II, I lived in one of Kipling's houses in Sussex which he permitted to be used by mothers for the safety of their new-born children from bomb-ravaged London), and the belief that he is the equal of all others that I have quoted and included in my posts, I must include this poem, written to his son, here.

Rudyard Kipling (1865  - 1936)

An English short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He was born in Bombay, and was taken by his family to England when he was five years old.  Kipling is best known for his works of fiction, including The Jungle Book.  Henry James once said: "Kipling strikes me personally as the most complete man of genius (as distinct from fine intelligence) that I have ever known."  In 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

If .... 

If you can keep your head when all about you       

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,    

But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,    

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,    

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;       

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster    

And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken    

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,    

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings    

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings    

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew    

To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you    

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,       

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,    

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute    

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,       

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

P.S.  Read to all young sons ... and daughters.

Travel 11 — On-line Reviews

From my research, it seems that when people travel, they have no idea of what to expect when they arrive at their chosen hotel, and I would really like you to tell me why you think this is.

Of course, tourists come in a variety of costumes and age groups but, in my opinion, the type of tourist should not be significant to the way they write reviews.  In fact, I wonder if there ought to be a subjective analysis of these people.

For example, let us start with a hotel search.  I believe that today most people search on the Internet, either on their own or with help from a travel agency.  There are many Websites available, for example, hotels.com, expedia.com, and booking.com, and each site permits a selection of search choices, for example, star rating, review score, etc.  Therefore, why do so many tourists, upon their arrival, become dissatisfied.

Let us look at my personal experience:  We recently stayed at the 3-star Himalayan Deurali Resort in Pokhara, Nepal.  It was chosen because we simply wished to ‘stop the world and get off’.  The Website described a resort situated remotely in the mountains and a long way from the nearest town.  The photos showed unbelievable views of the snow-capped Himalayan mountains;  the accommodation looked very comfortable, and there was a restaurant ... what more did we need?  Nothing.

Everything on the Website was accurate, but there was no mention of the national power cuts that took place more than once each day, and the resulting effects.  But the effects were understandable and, in a sense, beyond the control of the hotel.  Nevertheless, should it not affect the star rating and the review score.

For example, someone wrote, “ It is the most excellent hotel in Napal, including the view, service, food, room, and cost-effective (sic) ... (Edited) ... Even I cannot show the fact put into words. You need to know to your cost (sic).”  A rating of 10/10 was awarded, and this person was not alone.

I doubt if this Chinese person was related to the owner, therefore, what was on his mind?  There are numerous 5-star hotels in Nepal, and many better hotels in Pokhara.  The view was excellent, but only on rare cloudless days;  the service was very friendly but the effort just average, during our long stay, the carpets were never cleaned, in fact, the hotel did not own a vacuum cleaner;  the food was acceptable, considering the location;  and the room, notwithstanding the power cuts, was very good.

I awarded 7.1, but the average was 9.3.  And I guarantee disappointment if you expect perfection when you go there ... I am not saying that one should expect perfection at a 3-star hotel, but .... 

This was not the only hotel that we stayed at, and the same comments apply there too.

This leaves me wondering if people search for reviews with only a 10 score and, thus, are obviously disappointed (unless it is a 5-star hotel), or do we have a group of people who get joyful satisfaction in causing travellers to suffer during their well-earned vacation.

I have no idea.  Should I return to my place in the world?

Travel 10 - Nepal

Jet Airways B-777, Flight No. 9W229 lifts off from Pearson International Airport and my journey to Nepal begins.  A very long, tiring, journey comprising approximately 20 hours of flight time and 10 hours of stopovers.

The only flight memories are the chicken curry for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Other than that, I could be tempted to fly Jet Airways again.

An overnight stop in Kathmandu introduced me to the continual, nationwide, electricity cuts, and the concurrent loss of hot water, TV, and WiFi.

Buddha Air ATR-32 at Pokhara, Nepal

The next day, Buddha Air’s ATR-32 took me, after a couple of low cloud weather delays, to the town of Pokhara.  The flight ended with the following announcement, “Please keep seat-belts fastened until we are in the terminal”.  I imagined a fast drive-through and pondered a hamburger order with cheese.  Then, there was a 45-minute taxi-ride, via a rough dirt road, to the mountaintop hotel that was to become my home for a few weeks.

Annapurna and Machhapuhhre mountains, etc. of the Himalayas, Nepal

My first impression was fantastic.  The view from my room, of the snow capped Himalayas, was worth five stars.  But, by the next day, star value began to erode.  Although, water was heated by a solar panel, together with battery backup, only a cold shower was available.  The floor was carpeted, but during my whole stay, a vacuum cleaner was neither seen or heard.

View from our balcony

The arrival of my partner from Dhaka was delayed for the first week, and this resulted in putting many kilometres under my shoes.  But it seemed that finding a remote place to stay in which sleeping was easy was, initially, difficult because of the total silence, also meant there wasn’t even another cafe within walking distance.  Nevertheless, foreign trekkers and a few Tibetan refugees made things interesting and less boring.

Island Hindu Temple in Pokhara, Nepal

Mindy arrived in the second week, and life took a turn for the better.  We took a few expensive (US$50 return) taxi rides into town, and discovered a great restaurant with rainbow trout on the menu (Cooked three different ways).

Downtown Pokhara, Nepal

Additionally, the hotel arranged some horses for us, which were the ideal way to trek in the area and, especially, an excitement for Mindy to sit on a horse for the first time of her life.

Nice Horses (as far as Mountain ponies go)

But even meditation and contemplation must end, and my return to Canada became necessary.  Unfortunately, I have nothing good to say about the return journey.  My companions were two Nepali locals having their first flight (it seemed) displaying their enjoyment by loudly mouth-slapping their chicken curry (Yes, three more chicken curry meals) and being quite unaware that they were shouting at each other due to wearing headphones.  Finally, I really wish that an airlines pre-boarding requirement would be the education of underdeveloped parents.

Nevertheless, all was worthwhile.

Click each photo to enlarge.

Quotation - A strong friendship ....

Tenzin Gyatso (Dalai Lama)

"A strong friendship doesn't need daily conversation, doesn't always need togetherness, as long as the relationship lives in the heart, true friends will never part ...."

Travel 9 - International Retirement

Recently, a close friend told me of her wish to retire to a country other than her own, with only one requirement;  the English language.  Now, that requirement needs a definition which, from my understanding, means any country where knowledge of the English language by the local population would be sufficient to permit reasonable communication.

A source of information ① provided one list of more than 90 countries using the language formally.  Of course, many of these countries use a form of English greatly modified by localization (other languages, dialect, and accent) that affect one’s ability to communicate.  In fact, there are only eight countries where English is the majority language, as a proportion of the native English population;  U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, Nigeria, Ireland, South Africa, and New Zealand.

Of those countries, the Canadian government ② cautions against any non-essential travel to Nigeria.  Thus, from the few remaining countries, a Chinese citizen faces a difficult immigration hurdle to jump over.

Therefore, I looked elsewhere, and discovered 'International Living' ③, that appears to offer a treasure trove of information.  Unfortunately, some of the information appears to be out of date or in conflict with other destination information found elsewhere.  Nevertheless, it is a useful initial source.  For example, they provided me with a list of “Top Ten Retirement Havens” comprising the following;  Ecuador, Mexico, Brazil, France, Panama, Nicaragua, Italy, Costa Rica, Uruguay, and Belize.  Unfortunately, only three of these countries (France, Italy, and Uruguay) avoid the Canadian caution advisory against all forms of travel.  Therefore, to avoid strict European immigration rules, I concluded that Uruguay should be investigated.

Montevideo, Uruguay, has been named as the "second least expensive city in the world" ④ and, certainly, seems to show good value against the dollar.  It has a low poverty level, the second lowest level of corruption, and is the most developed and prosperous country in Latin America.  Between the years 2007 and 2009, Uruguay was the only country in the Americas that did not technically experience a recession.  Aesthetically, it is a very old-world European city, mainly as a result of the Spanish history, with minor British and Italian influences, and 85% of the population are of European origin.

Located within a temperate zone, Uruguay has a climate that is relatively mild and fairly constant nationwide.  Seasonal variations are pronounced, but extremes in temperature are rare.  Therefore, one may assume a closer investigation into our search for a haven is required.

To be continued, perhaps.

① wikipedia.com
② voyage.gc.ca
③ internationalliving.com
④ mercer.com