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Las
Vegas, USA 1997
Of
late I had been living a life that would make Sister Wendy look
like a party animal. Knitting and watching Heartbeat! I am only
29.
So
with squinted eyes I made my pin jammily land in Las Vegas. I was
heading for the land of temptation and the seven deadly sins聟
It's
tacky, it's crass, it's Viva Las Vegas.
Vegas
is greedy, glitzy, dirty and full of sin, but as Byron once wrote
"Pleasure's a sin, and sometimes sin's a pleasure".
Driving
through the Nevada desert, I intended to take Bryon's advice.
Gluttony:
I find myself in one of the many all-you-can-eat restaurants. So
full was my plate, I couldn't carry my tray! But I did make sure
I ordered diet cola.
If
I stayed in this town I would soon be in elastic-top jeans - just
look
what happened to Elvis.
Pride:
People cruising down the Vegas Strip聟 "With my ragtop
down so my hair can blow,girlies on standby waving just to say hi,
did you stop? Hell no I just drove by. Ice, ice baby"
Lust:
Vegas has more porn than Peter Stringfellow's bedroom, like hotels
you can rent for the hour. Not nice, especially with flash backs
to Leaving Las Vegas running through my mind.
Envy:
Everyone wants what everybody else has, money, looks, everything.
Wrath:
Underneath the polished fa莽ade of Vegas lies a belly of people
who are waiting in the wings to rip you off, nick your money and
spend it.
Sloth : There is only one speed in Vegas. Situated in the
middle of a desert, at 35 degrees and rising without shade, no one
does anything at speed (except take it!).
Avarice:
The strip may sparkle and the neon may shine, but nowhere in Vegas
dazzles like the Liberace Museum, crammed with glittering costumes.
Two
elastic-topped jean clad Americans, after reading the plaque Liberace
died of AIDS and walking through room upon room of diamonds,
capes, pink pianos and feather boas, said "I didn't know Liberace
was gay."
The
clues were there ladies.
Jakarta, Java 2003
Summer
term in a secondary school is like being in a zoo without the bars
- and God only knows how much I needed a bar.
I had
to get away. In went the pin. The destination was set. I was off
to Jakarta.
Back
in 1883 Krakatoa erupted in Java: the explosion was heard 3500 km
away in Australia.
Two
days before I leave the Marriott hotel is blasted by a car bomb.
Not a comforting thought as I head off on my journey.
I decide
that fate is fate and I have more chance of being knocked over by
a bus in Sheffield.
My
aim is to climb a volcano, see some temples and eat Mei Goreng (that's
fried noodles to you).
My
city of focus was Yogyakarta, city of culture. Here I saw shadow
puppet plays, carnivals and visited two of the grandest temples
in South East Asia, Borobadur and Prambanan.
Both
were built around the ninth century and are crammed with stonecarvings
telling stories from Hinduism and Buddhism.
The
highlight of the trip was climbing the crater wall of the Tengger
Massif area, looking across at active volcanoes Bromo and Semeru,
smoking in the distance.
Arriving
at the summit at sunrise, the view is apocalyptic and empty, but
completely overwhelming.
They
say things come in threes: Krakatoa, the Marriott, I am just hoping
that Semeru doesn't choose today to explode.
Having
said that, death by erupting volcano sounds slightly more exciting
than being knocked down by the No. 52.
So
go on, stick a pin in it. Go to the places you dreamed of going
to, now!
-
Ali Davies
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places: Damascus and Varanasi
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