Thanks Ro, I was first introduced to the Tao by Wayne Dyyer who is sadly no longer with us. Wise words indeed from Lao-Tze, The way of the Tao is essential reading for all.
A mix of both really. The Baja trip was purely recreational, the Uganda trip had an element of work to it. I travelled out there with a friend, Dianne to visit and help out her brother, Glyn. He had started up and was running a charity to help abused wives and also to try and educate men away from the obvious maltreatment that many Ugandan women, paticularly young girls were subject to at the time. The main centre was in Kampala but they also had a school and centre in Tororo on the Kenya/Uganda border. It was really good to see the progress they had made over the years and that was brought home to me when Glyn told me about his 14 year old daughter who was now living in Bristol with his wife and doing very well. He told me how they found a new born baby girl abandoned in the forest. They took the baby to the police and were advised to throw her into the river (this of course wouldnt have been suggested if it had been a baby boy, nor does it happen these days.) They were horrified and decided there and then to adopt the baby. Apparently this was not as easy as they had hoped and it turned into a long drawn out process. Anyway, eventually all went well and like I said the girl in now 14 and living a full life in the uk. Glyn spends 6 months of the year with his family in Bristol and 6 months back at the centre in Uganda. I felt privileged to have been invited out there and help out, even if it was for a very short time.
The posts i've made on this thread, with the exception of the first one in Montreal are small extracts from my travel diarys. I may share a few more from other 'jaunts.'....
You mean like when we dropped into the 2nd division? Yep, went to every match that season. I just realised there were far more interesting things to do with my time, now it's just of passing interest to me. But, each to their own.
It sits on the northern shores of Lake Victoria next to the lower source of the Nile. My first impression was not good, but it was nightime and there was a bit of an intimidating air about the place. I had to walk from the ouskirts into the town to find a cheap hotel and I knew that being alone in such a place made me vunerable. But as it turned out, Jinja is a most welcoming place even though it's a bit rough around the edges. In the short time I was there I made some good friends, some who were travelling, some who were residents. I stayed in a hostel next to the Nile for a few days and then for the last few days move to a very nice hotel with a wonderful Dutch owner. We chatted late into the night and he told me how he had snapped up the name of his hotel befor the local mayor could use it. The Source of the Nile had already been used so he chose the name 'The Source of the Smile."... I spent time there on the lake and going into the jungle, but the highlight of the trip was a 27k white water rafting trip down the Nile on grade 5 rapids which are almost as serious as you can get. A jeep took us miles into the jungle to the launch spot where the river was completely flat and calm. Once on the raft we had to tip it over to practice getting back in. We were told the raft will flip many times during the journey so it was a good idea to learn the best way of getting back into it before we hit the falls and rapids. I remember the peace and calm of the river as we gently moved downstream, then I could hear a rumbling sound that grew into a crescendo as we got closer to the first falls. I was sat at the front of the raft and as the inflatable went over the edge the front end was suspended about 30ft from the raging torrent below and I remember thinking...I'm going to die.... The raft didn't flip at that point, it just disappeared beneath the foaming waters of the Nile for a couple of seconds then bounced back up. I soon realised after the raft had been flipped a couple of times that it wasn't the falls that were going to turn the raft over but the huge wave surges between each waterfall and with 27k of river to navigate, there was plenty of them to look forward to. I remember looking at the other seven people in the raft and thinking, they're all in their twenties, I'm in my sixties, should I be doing this?... Anyway we all survived, we eventually came out of the rapids to a beautiful calm spot in the jungle wher a permanent camp was set up for us to enjoy a well appreciated barbecue. After that a jeep took us a few mile back up river to a wonderful backpackers site overlooking the Nile where we spent the night. Retuning the next day by jeep myself and fellow 'rafters' enjoyed a good meal together back in Jinja and then said our goodbyes. Some days stay with you forever.
I've lived for adventure fella. I might have reached the age of seventy but I'm not ready to settle for a walk round the park as a day out to save a fiver. For me the Peak,, The Lakes and Snowdonia are a must as long as I'm physically capable. My van takes me out to the farther places, such as the Lake District and Snowdonia, my ebike gets me about once i'm there and I usually stay for at least a week in the summer. Walknig, climbing, cycling give me great pleasure and all of them virtually free. The fiver by the way was for the train out to Hebden Bridge, it cost my friend £21.50 because she didnt have a railcard, we cycled into Manchester to catch the train.
Almost all my cycling is off road. I cycled back from Hebdon Bridge in West Yorkshire on Thursday a journey of about 40 miles in total, all off road except for the last two miles. A great day out with total spend of £5.20. That's what I thought this thread was about...saving money.
Maybe you could explain what damage I'm doing by recharging an ebike compared to filling a petrol tank. Also while I'm out and about, some others may be at home watching tv, an activity that uses more power than an ebike charger does. You are creating negative, riduculous and argumentative discourse for the sake of it. I will not further respond to your posts.
OThat would seem strange to me also, if my intention was purely exercise, I'd walk round the block or through the country park on my doorstep. On my ebike I can get up into the Peak District and enjoy the beautiful countryside. The excercise bit is a bonus.
It's taken away the need to use the van. I would often drive out of town into the Peak District to enjoy the countryside, now I cycle there. I now cycle on the flat or downhill, uphill struggles no longer exist on an ebike.
My ebike has saved me a fair amount of money that would have been spent on fuel for my van. Last month I cycled over 300 miles and drove just 250 miles. I cycled over 100 miles last week, most of it recreational, so I'm getting the health benefits as well.
2013, I was ' holed up' in Kampala getting a bit bored when I read that. Ok, that's the place for me I thought and it just so happened that my friends were driving past Jinja in a couple of days to get to Tororo on the Uganda Kenya border. They dropped me off on the main road into Jinja and the adventure began.
Whatsapp uses end-to-end encryption which makes it more secure than most messaging services. That is of course if you dont mind sharing your phone number and are not put off by the fact that it is owned by facebook. There have been breaches of security on whatsapp, but not so many considering it has around a billion users worldwide.
bodleing2 Forum Posts (6,132)
RE: With rising costs in energy bills etc ..