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)