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October
12th, 1999
Yi jiu jiu
jiu huan you shi jie (AroundTheWorld1999)
Huan ying lai
Beijing (Welcome to Beijing)
Ni hao!
That's HELLO in Mandarin Chinese. Welcome to the daily audio broadcasts
from AroundTheWorld1999. My name is Nick C. Baggarly and I have here with
me:
- Chanda Baggarly
- Todd Borgie
- Earle Lowe
- Doug Pape
- And Jeff Okubo
Together we
make Team AroundTheWorld1999; We're a small group of travelers who hail
from the North American countries of the United States and Canada.
Over the
next three months my team of six will begin a vehicle-based overland
expedition, driving two old 1960's Land Rover Dormobiles from Beijing
westbound to San Francisco.
We begin
this 15,000 mile drive on October 14th, starting from The Great Wall of
China near Beijing.
Twenty-five
days ago, we shipped the Land Rovers in a 40 foot container from Oakland,
California to Xingang which is a sea port near the city of Tianjin which
is near Beijing. The route we have selected has us traveling westbound to
London via Mainland China, Tibet, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey,
Greece, Italy, Switzerland, France, and England. Eventually a ship in
Liverpool will take us, and the Land Rovers back to New York harbor in
the United States where they tell us Lady Liberty is waiting patiently
for our return. Then we shall begin the home stretch drive back to our
homes in Los Gatos, Santa Clara, and San Gabriel, California. If all goes
well we hope to be home for Christmas and the huge new millennium
celebration.
We are looking
forward to several highlights during this journey, including a seven day
rim-of-the-world drive through the Tibetan plateau on the highest road in
the world which reaches an elevation of 17,500 feet. We also hope to
visit to Mount Everest Base Camp in Tibet as well as monasteries in
Nepal, the Taj Majal in India, the Grand Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan, the
beautiful city of Shiraz in EAR-RAN (Iran), and the ancient Turkish city
of Istanbul.
Over the
next few days we will do our best to bring you up to speed on this event
by explaining the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, HOW, and WHY we're doing this. I
suppose I can start right now with the WHO.
---Izaak
Walton said...
Good company in a journey makes the way to seem the shorter.
Fortunately,
our team includes six of the best people a fellow could hope to travel
with.
Let's start
with Todd Borgie from San Gabriel, California. Todd is a former United
States Peace Corps volunteer. He served two years in The Gambia, West
Africa. This experience has made Todd a seasoned traveler who specializes
in diplomacy and what I like to call travel-wisdom. He delights in
quoting adages from the ages.
And then,
from Los Gatos, California, we have Doug Pape. Doug is a Carpenter and a
seasoned mountain climber who has climbed Mount McKinley twice. That's a
20.320 foot mountain peek in Alaska also known as Denali. So Doug adds
equipment and expedition-grade survival skills to our group.
My wife,
Chanda Baggarly, is the supportive element of this expedition, serving as
our medic. Chanda is a Silicon Valley Technical Writer but she also has
medical training in her background which we hope we won't need.
Next is
Earle Lowe. Earle calls Prince Edward Island in Canada his home but he
resides in Santa Clara, California because of its close proximity to the
Silicon Valley. Earle is a highly talented software engineer, temporarily
serving three months as this expedition's navigator. He's hooked us up
with the latest global positioning satellite navigation gear so he's to
blame when we get lost. Earle is a virtual encyclopedia of Canadiana.
Jeff Okubo
is also from Los Gatos, California and is here as the expedition
Photographer. Jeff is an amateur photographer who, we hope, will record
this event so you can see and experience the journey, just as we do. He
is a seasoned traveler who has been on surfing, diving, and sight seeing
adventures throughout Costa Rica, Honduras, and Japan among other places.
And finally
I am Nick C. Baggarly - A Silicon Valley Software Quality Engineer and
Land Rover enthusiast who, for the next three months, will be
moonlighting as the Expedition Leader.
Over the
next three months we invite you to tune in to this web site and get to
know us. Follow along as we travel through these fascinating countries.
Experience the ups and downs of this journey and, along the way, feel
free to ask questions or send comments through our web site at
www.aroundtheworld1999.com. As time permits we will do our best to
respond through email and through these audio journals.
AroundTheWorld1999
is benefiting the California State School System. Our daily audio
journals will be heard on the Internet by thousands of elementary school
students in the 6th and 7th grade (that's when kids learn about Asia and
the Middle-East). There's a special Ask Us A Question link on the web
site where we invite students and followers to send us questions and
comments about the team, the places, the Land Rovers, or whatever comes
to mind.
In addition
to the diligent and earnest efforts of this team, we have gotten this far
with the help of a long list of friends and sponsors. So at some point
soon we will prepare a special broadcast to thank some very special
people.
And now,
while waiting for the Land Rovers to clear Chinese customs we have spent
much of our time here in Beijing seeing many mystical sites this city has
to offer. We have seen the Tian Tan temple of the Heavens, the Forbidden
City, Of course Tianeman Square, and the Emperors Summer Palace. All
amazing places. We will attempt to share some digital photographs of
these places on the web site.
Our Chinese
hosts are representatives from the China International Sports Travel tour
service, commonly known throughout China as CIST. They have gone way out
of their way to show us a fantastic time in Beijing and they've helped
immensely with all of the details required to get this expedition off to
a good start.
A wise man
once told me, you make your plan, you work your plan. Well, I planned
this crazy expedition and now it's time to execute the plan. So, from
Beijing China, this is Team AroundTheWorld1999 saying, the Chinese words
for goodbye Zhai Jian!
Huan ying
zai lai (You're welcome to come back again)
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