Too little time too much to see

the last few days...and a lot of travelling

living_the_dream — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:29:00 GMT

Since I last wrote, a lot has happened, including pretty much every form of transport and entry into a whole new country! Right now I am sat in the capital city of Cambodia (Phohm Pehn) and watching children playing in the monsoon puddles in front of the mosque opposite!

From Chiang Mai we took a plane to Bangkok, and whilst on the plane we made the snap decision not to take the backpacker route to the south west (Koh Phangan etc) but instead to go east. This may have been a little hasty as we headed into the foul depths of Pattaya. For one of the first times in my life I felt ashamed to be British as we were overwhelmed by bright lights and an extremely large number of sex tourists preying on vulnerable and beautiful thai girls. We were only using the city as a point of stop off however, and found the cheapest and seediest room (sorry nana!) before consoling ourselves with a Pizza Hut meal. Without doubt this was the best, and most expensive of the trip.

In the morning we were dismayed to find we had missed the bus to Koh Chang so made a snap decision to go to Koh Samet instead, a tiny island favoured by Thai's for its beauty and isolation. Several more buses and a ferry later we arrived as dusk fell. I cannot express how incredible the beach was. The sand was literally like snow, white and powdery, and the sea was warm and aquamarine. We managed to find some beach bungalows and headed for our first meal on the beach, where we ate on mats literally metres from the sea front. The food has grown on us all, and Colin has progressed from 3 Pad Thai's a day to 3 Thai Curries a day so it is all good! We took advantage of some off season drinks offers and generally enjoyed the fire throwers, lanterns and relaxed ambience of the place.

The day after can only be described as a recovery day from all our other travelling. We sat in the sun and swam in the sea, in the scorching heat. I am horrifically sunburnt and already peeling! Danny was pretty poorly so we didn't see him for most of the day; it is very easy to get dehydrated in this climate.

The morning after it was pouring, which kind of destroyed our plans of another day on the island, so we decided to try and get across the Cambodian border. A ferry, a 4 hour taxi and some very suspicious negotiations at the border last, I officially got my Cambodian visa. Unfortunately we were stranded in Koh Kong, an utter shithole, for the night! Our hotel was called THE DUGOUT and run by a sleazy Australian who had evidentally missed Pattaya by several hundred miles! We were also fairly paranoid about the Malaria risks, so had a quick dip in the swimming pool, slathered ourselves in DEET and crammed into our double bed (come on, it saves costs!)

Not a lot to report for today. We spent 5 hours on a stinking coach and ended up in this hole, Phohm Pehn, where it is monsooning bucketloads and we are not entirely sure what to do! A 6 hour trip to Angkor Wat awaits at some stage but I am keen to have a day without travelling.

Love to everyone, may try and hit some shops here to take advantage of Cambodian prices. It very much is a third world country and feels much more like the 'Nam than good old Thailand.

The journey to Chiang Mai and today

living_the_dream — Sun, 6 Sep 2009 23:58:00 GMT

The sleeper train (or lack of sleep train as we came to know it) was actually really good fun and a real novelty experience. At 9:00 a train conductor came and converted our seats into bunk cabins, complete with privacy curtains. Whilst most of the train went to bed immediately the three of us piled into one bunk, drank lots of Chang beer, and laughed about the slow and rickety train! Later we stole the train conductor's hat for some comedy snaps. Sleeping was not particularly successful as it felt rather like being in an earthquake! Particularly as the train constantly stopped and started.

However the wake up scene was worth the bad night's sleep as we were surrounded by lush rainforest and rice paddies complete with dome hatted peasants. This was the real Thailand we had all been searching for and was Colin's first experience of jungle landscape. Danny managed to continue sleeping right the way through this, whilst the rest of the train ate breakfast! We managed to negotiate some toast and jam from a very confused train conductor, the nicest meal since being in Bangkok!

We arrived two and a half hours late, not really surprising with the speed of the train! We headed to Julie's guesthouse, recommended by a friend. It felt like walking onto the set of The Beach, with a load of dreadlocked hippies hanging about and multi-coloured walls. We were gutted to discover they had no free rooms but I do believe in fate because as we stood near the door deliberating over where to go they received a cancellation for a triple room! The place is a bit of a hole with only a fan and an ant infestation (which Danny solved with water and chewing gum) but the awesome backpacker atmosphere more than compensates!

We spent the afternoon having a look around yet more temples, but were generally fairly exhausted and the heat here is surreal! 5 minutes in the sun left us all feeling literally drained! We then went for an incredible 1 hour Thai Massage, for around three quid! It took place in an incredible teak room, where we were given white linen clothes to wear.

In the evening we met some other cool backpackers in the chilled garden, smoked some cherry cigars, and headed into town to discover the local nightlife. I was once again apalled to be British as we were surrounded by the sex industry, fuelled by middle class white men. I was particularly upset by the children who are no doubt doomed to a life of prostitution, and earn money by selling wreaths of flowers to tourists. We also chatted with some ladyboys and got a late night foot massage! The good news is the my foot wound is healing pretty well despite all the adventures!

We woke up this morning with sore heads! We rented mopeds and headed up into the mountains (don't worry, I was not driving!) It really was spectacular, with the dense, lush rainforest and the beautiful sunshine. We had a view over the whole city. We stopped for lunch at a hilltribe village near the top, and the good news is the food here is nice and so far so good on the hygiene! Although Colin has eaten Pad Thai noodles (the national dish) 4 times today, which we think is somewhat excessive! He bought a beautiful traditional parasol and we headed down the mountain to stop at a waterfall. Here we swam and sunbathed in the surreal landscape before heading back down into the city.

We had a funny dinner experience as we attempted to go off the beaten track and dine with the locals; another pad thai as it is the only thai words we know! Very entertaining as they looked horrified to see us in such a random place in town. All good though for 50p!

We have just come back from the night market here in Chiang Mai as it started tropical raining, actually a great relief to all of us! Polly would have loved it, I found a stall of Mac makeup (evidently stolen from a truck somewhere!) and bought 2 eyeliners for a quid!

So all in all things are looking up bigstyle! Off to chill out at the hostel now and tomorrow we are hiring the mopeds again to go check out some tigers and hot springs. Jealous, anyone?!

P.S No particularly grotty beds to report yet, but today we saw several shockingly huge stag beetles and after escaping the filth of the city there has been a substantial increase in the wildlife of a creepy, crawly kind!

Day 2! Bangkok city cente

living_the_dream — Fri, 4 Sep 2009 13:28:00 GMT

I managed to meet the boys yesterday (thank goodness)and it was time to take on Bangkok city centre. We managed to find a good youth hostel (Siam Oriental); well, it has beds and a/c at least!

The hostel is located on Khao San Road, which can only really be described as a caricature of backpackers fare, with streets lined with henna artists, travelling style clothes, and people trying to persuade you to buy every tour and service under the sun.

To explore the rest of the city we hired a tuk tuk - one of the brightly painted, three wheeled 'cardboard boxes' which fill the streets here. Our driver took us around the city (which really is not that much to write home about, actually!) and showed us several pretty impressive golden buddhas. It then became clear that he was trying to get us to buy things in the shops he took us to visit in return for petroleum coupons from them. We ended up in China town (again, nothing to write home about)and headed back here for a Thai massage. Possibly one of the most brutal experiences of my life, I think nana has a contender for strongest hands! For about two quid you really cannot complain!

The food and the filth are really staggering. Colin has not really travelled before and if there was such a thing as culture shock, he has a nasty case of it! I had pretty bad stomach ache last night so def going to take it easy today. It is very difficult to find things which are safe and hygenic to eat, we were brave and tried some noodles yesterday but think mcdonalds breakfast lunch and dinner are in order!

Today we are going to check out downtown Bangkok, hopefully nicer than uptown Bngkok, and go in search of some hardcore amulets!

Anyhow we hope to escape the humidity, the filth and the seedy life tonight and catch the overnight train to Chiang Mai, for elephants, mountains and more temples!

Having a fab time, lots of long time love to everyone!

P.S Mum this will make you laugh, I found my white poppy dress on sale on a street corner for about four quid!!!

Day 1: The adventure begins!

living_the_dream — Thu, 3 Sep 2009 00:22:00 GMT

Well my trip to South East Asia took a typical Lucy turn as I leapt down the stairs and onto my sisters laptop plug...ouch! My grandma immediately began to freak out with the possibility of gangrene in an open wound, and it was down to mum to raid her first aid cupboard for some appropriate plasters.

As I am writing this I am sat in Kuala Lumpur LCCT Tune Hotel. That basically means I have completed the first leg of my journey; a gruelly 18 hour stint from outer Yorkshire to...well, I can see the KL LCCT airport from the window right now. This does mean, however, that I have survived not only a 12 hour flight but also the horrors of Air Asia (or Scare Asia as it should be known). I have also concluded that I am not going to die from starvation as there are an abundance of pot noodles about.

The hotel seemed rather taken aback at my request that I use my meal voucher now, not at breakfast time, and promptly whipped up some egg and tuna sandwiches. The owner's son nearly got a beating for serving me green tea, as his father demanded that he go and dig out the English Breakfast sort instead. All in all was pretty amusing.

My bedroom is really nice. I have a queen bed, AC, a lush ensuite and all the other luxuries I'm sure I will not have for the next few weeks.

Tomorrow I have to complete the ultimate mission of another flight with Scare Asia, and trying to reunite with Danny and Colin!

My first impression of S E Asia: Hot! It's 10:30pm and I'm sweating like crazy because it is 30 degrees, and even the AC isn't really helping. The people are so nice and friendly though, and I'm totally wowed by all the anime stuff and how efficient everything is.

If I can get into the packaging of my new memory card, hopefully I will be able to take and put up pictures.

Love to everyone xxx Your favourite little traveller

Day 4 - We're going to Candy Mountain!

living_the_dream — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:29:00 GMT

For my last day in Germany Danny had a real treat planned; we were to visit the fairytale castle of every little girl's dreams, Neuschwanstein. This is the castle which features in Chitty chitty bang bang, and upon which sleeping beauty's Disney castle is based, with its ornate towers and impossibly precarious position perched on a mountainside.

The drive across from Munich was spectacular and I half expected Julie Andrews to burst from the green hills singing "The Hills are Alive". Miles of stunning mountains and clear rivers made the winding roads an attraction in themselves. On the way to the castle we stopped to visit a town near the Austrian border, Fussen. It was similiarly family Von Trapp, and looked as though it had sprung directly from a biscuit tin scene. The shops mainly contained tourist souvenirs but it was worth the stop and a good place to eat lunch, certainly less expensive than the places nearer to the castle.

There is ample car parking up at the base of the castle so we ditched the car and lazily opted to catch a bus up for a better view of Neuschwanstein, which by this point was towering over us spectacularly. It is possible to walk however, although this takes more like 45 minutes; time we were desperately trying to save to get out of the heat and into the lake!

As we crossed onto the bridge to look over to the castle Danny indignantly discovered that the entire side onto which we were looking was covered in scaffolding! However the castle still looked stunning and entirely surreal. We stood on the bridge facing it, over an impossible steep valley. We could see for miles across the green grass, trod only by cows complete with cowbells.

Heading down we took a quick dip in the lake at the bottom of the mountain, but were keen to head up to a different lake on the far side of the Austrian border. With miles of coastline we were spoilt for choice on where to park and jump into the aquamarine, icey water. Under the blue sky and towering mountains, the view could not really have been more idyllic, with the water so clean and perfect for swimming (if you are brave enough to stand the temperature!)

Gallery: Costa Rica

living_the_dream — Sat, 1 Aug 2009 22:27:00 GMT

DAY 2: A JOURNEY THROUGH MANY EMOTIONS

living_the_dream — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 23:11:00 GMT

Reliant as ever on the weather to decide on our plan of action, the scheduled rain seemed like a perfect opportunity to make the pilgrimmage to Dacau. The holocaust had always seemed so distant, told in school history lessons as a warning to all humanity of the atrocities of which mankind is capable. Seeing the site where such cruelty had occured would inevitably bring all this pain much closer to home.

The remains of the camp were suitably imposing as we approached, with the stark, pale memorial standing in contrast to the grey pathways and surviving barracks. The entire site was still surrounded by the original barbed wire and fences, enough to shoot shivers up my spine. The message on the gates was a reminder of the unthinkable acts that had occured here.

Luckily Danny knew a lot more about the war and the political events leading up to it than me, and it soon became disturbingly easy to imagine how one power hungry young man turned a despairing nation to such inhumanity. As we contemplated the rifle posts where Jews where once shot, the whole event seemed an unimaginable tragedy, but a terrifying reflection on the capabilities of mankind. Perhaps every European should visit the dark gas chambers of Dacau as a reminder of the past but also for the future. Either way, despite the sun eventually breaking through the clouds, we left Dacau feeling cold inside.

The obvious answer to all this was to head for the nearest Pizza Hut, which we did with some expert driving on Danny's behalf. Disappointly the Olympia gardens were shut, so we headed to the BMV museum next door to escape the downpour for the compulsory posed photographs with motorbikes and cars!

En route home we stopped at a nice bar, where the service was less nice!

We spent the night frequenting various bars and eventually a club called 'Baby' in Munich with Danny's friends.

My first encounter with the 'Fatherland'

living_the_dream — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:39:00 GMT

In an entirely uncharacteristic move Danny woke up pretty early (10ish, virtually daybreak by student standards) and we prepared to go into Munich city centre. My encounters with public transport continued as we travelled from Danny's home in Neubiberg on various forms of bus, train and underground. I realised that I had absolutely no idea where we were or how the system of stamping pre-purchased tickets worked, which is undeniably one of the many advantages of having a local host.

Crawling out of the underground into the sunlit square I was immediately shocked by the beautiful architecture of the town hall directly opposite me. Unlike British cities strict building regulations have prevented the towering monstrosities which dominate our skylines, and the inevitable modern buildings are sensitively built to compliment the surviving older ones. Bizarrely there was some mock funeral march occuring in the square in protest to some political movement or another, however this purely added to the effect of the impressive and imposing square and its historically rich past.

Ironically our first port of call was the 'Englisch Gardens', which would undoubtedly have offended beyond belief the stiff upper-lipped English with nudists sprawled across their grasses. We took a stop at the Chinese Tower Biergarten, my first experience of this German tradition. The idea was absolutely charming; rows of benches and tables, lined with stalls selling beer and all manner of Bavarian nibbles. The sight of dark suited businessmen drinking beer at eleven o clock in the morning, an elaboration of the business conference no doubt, before biking back to their offices, seemed an altogether more sensible way of living.

Walking back into town we stopped for lunch at a typically Bavarian restaurant, where I was both amused and delighted to see waiters and waitresses wearing the typical lederhosen and dirndl. To believe that Germany was Europeanised and lacking in culture had been a naive oversight on my part as the Bavarians were riotously proud of their traditions and tried honourably to keep them alive. Unsurprisingly lots of sausage and sauerkraut were on the menu, but also other lesser known dishes such as spaetzle, a kind of Bavarian pasta with cheese. The square was lively and once again there was lots of beer and laughter (if you don't like beer, don't go to Germany!)

We were joined by an Israeli couple on the shoulder to shoulder eating arrangement.

After lunch Danny demonstrated his superior biking skills as he dialled "rent a bike". This system enables the caller to pick up a bike from any designated street in the city, call for an unlocking code, and deposit it again where desired, for a ridiculously small sum of money. It is no wonder then that bikes really do take the upper hand on the city's roads. Clinging on for dear life I got to sit on the metal child seat as we pedalled around the city, taking in the beautiful rivers, previous Nazi haunts, and the university buildings.

The best way to observe the city is by climbing the tower for 1 euro 50 cents. The muscle ache is worth the climb as the city is just as beautiful from the air. This is also a useful way in which to orient yourself and devise a route upon which to travel.

MARKET

CASTLE

DVD

Arrival to Munich

living_the_dream — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:18:00 GMT

Travelling on a student budget it is always of prime importance to research the cheapest travel methods, with every penny counting towards the next trip. With the emergence of wonderful airlines such as ryanair and air asia the world has suddenly become a smaller place, and in my opinion this can only be a good thing. Even if it means paying for everything on board from food to toilets, the hardy among us shall grin and bear it.

My trip to Munich was a particular achievement in my quest to travel the globe on a budget. Aer Lingus conveniently released a flight sale allowing me to fly from London Gatwick to Munich for £25, whilst for my return flight I managed to grab a 5 euro flight from Memmingen to Stansted, totalling in at under £30 flight expenditure. Not bad. Unfortunately my rather inconsiderate parents are based in the middle of nowhere, near Wetherby in Yorkshire, which inevitably rakes up the bills in actually reaching the airport. Return trains Leeds to London were £30, train from London to Gatwick £6, and the EasyBus Stansted to London £6. Add in a couple of quid worth of tube fairs, and that is one Yorkshire bumpkin and her shockingly small hand luggage all the way from northern England to the south of Germany for only £74 return. We cannot really compain.

Thus I braced myself for the epic thirteen hour journey door to door. All went fairly smoothly, despite encounters with screaming children on trains and the evident swine flu panic flooding London. The nightmarish sight of whole groups of foreign school children wearing surgical masks at Gatwick airport paled into insignificance however compared to the ordeal which Aer Lingus decided to expose us to. Having herded us to the departure gate, it rapidly became quite clear that our plane was not going to depart at 18:10. It was not until 18:30 that Aer Lingus decided to announce that there did not appear to be a crew for our plane and we could expect major delays. They kindly suggested that we return to the main departure area (an epic 25 minute walk away). Dragging my loyal hand luggage behind me I treated myself to a full makeover courtesy of the duty free shop, took a spray of Anna Sui for confidence, and bravely faced the customer services desk to demand my customer rights. After queuing for over thirty minutes I was told that the plane was now in fact boarding and that I should return to the gate.

This was not entirely true and we ended up waiting for another hour before we could board. I could only hope that German efficiency would be better and my lovely chauffeur and host for the trip Danny would be waiting at the airport at the other end. Luckily he was although British efficiency meant that no details of the delay had been passed through and he had been waiting for over two hours! At last my trusty hand luggage and I had arrived and touched German soil for the first time, and it was back to his house for a good night's sleep before the trip commenced in the morning.

PUBLISHED ARTICLE FROM TRAVEL MAG- NO SILENCE IN EL SILENCIO

living_the_dream — Fri, 2 Jan 2009 21:39:00 GMT

http://www.travelmag.co.uk/article_1440.shtml

The brutish animal stamped her foot and glowered at me with resentful eyes. The humidity was stifling, with moisture rising in waves from the mud and causing my t-shirt to stick to my back. The farmer pointed at the wall and I took my cue to stand back and let him get on with the early morning milking. However he laughed and I realised he was pointing at a stool on the wall, and gesturing for me to take a seat alongside the disgruntled cow. There was no possibility that I would be leaving that stool until I had learned to milk to his perfectionist standards and it was not until two hours later, fingers aching, that I retired to eat a breakfast of rice and beans, lovingly packed in a neckerchief by my host “mami”. Looking back I am amazed myself that at 6am on an August morning, when any sensible student should have been asleep in bed at home, I was experiencing my first working morning in a tiny farming village in the middle of Costa Rica, and my day’s labours had only just begun.

I had arrived in El Silencio the night before, in an unexpected change of plan. We experienced an extremely hairy public bus journey from Quepos (bear in mind that drink driving is legal in Costa Rica) and had arrived in El Silencio in the dark. We would have missed our stop had we not noticed the congregation of people surrounding the bus stop. I have never received such an enthusiastic welcome anywhere, as whole families turned out to meet our group, excited and delighted by the prospect of English guests. I imagine we failed to live up to expectations; bedraggled and exhausted from 3 weeks of travel, we allowed ourselves to be allocated on the spot, evacuee style, and were marched off to our respective host families. I was greeted by one of the family sons. His father is chief of the Palm plantation, whilst the mother, to put it bluntly, guts chickens for a living. The sons work in the fields when not at the tiny village school, and their beautiful eight year old daughter is entrusted with the entirety of the housework. As I was soon to learn, each villager plays a significant role in the running of the co-operative, and I was expected to take my own responsibility in return for the welcome of this isolated community.

I awoke the next morning at what I would consider to be a reasonable time, covered in fresh mosquito bites (top travelling tip, use mosquito spray!). Ironically in considering the name of the village, the air was buzzing. Sound systems blasted Western and Latino music from even the humblest dwellings, dogs roamed the streets, and the clucks of hens radiated from every side of the house. However, the dwelling was entirely empty.

My “reasonable” waking hour of 9 o clock was lagging behind the 5 o clock rise employed by the rest of the village, who rise early to avoid the scorching heat, and the daily afternoon downpour of the rainy season. I met my friends, who were weary eyed from a night of poor sleep (I had fared better, a testimony to my earplugs) and we ensued on a tour of the village. The village is largely self-sufficient, with an organic vegetable garden, animal farm, chicken area and an animal rescue centre. A further source of income, the eco-lodge at the centre of the village, had been damaged badly by a hurricane and El Silencio was visibly reeling in the loss of custom in the wake of this.

One of the greatest demonstrations I can offer of the ambitious and modern outlook of these generous people was found in my encounter with the chicken farm. As one of the only Spanish speakers in the group, I took the job of translator as we visited the site. It was one of the experiences I had felt most uneasy about, being of a squeamish nature, and as we approached the image of women and children washing pimply chicken carcasses appeared to confirm my worst fears. A pretty, weathered lady greeted us with a toothless smile. She explained to me how the women of the village had started up the chicken area, desperate to feel useful in the village and secure their own source of income. They had negotiated a deal with the nearest farm to buy day old chicks from them. These they raised to one month old, before slaughtering them, as she gesticulated by pointing to the bloody slab. Each week new chicks arrived, creating a ‘conveyor belt’ effect. Grinning proudly at us, she showed me an area of wasteland, and spoke of her dream to turn it into further chicken area, and for the farm to grow from 200 to 1000 chickens within the next five years. This would allow them the chance to export chicken meat and earn some extra money for the women. My perceptions were changed and I was incredibly humbled to see female solidarity blossoming even in such a traditionally machoistic society. The chickens provide a vital source of protein to compliment the fruit and vegetables that abound in the rich climate, and ultimately improve health prospects for the many children of the village. To consider that these previously downtrodden and housebound women had achieved so much in two years was inspiring beyond words. I offered our services; anything we could do to help during our stay, we would. The woman was delighted, and turned to me. “What we would like, more than anything,” she told me, gesturing towards the simple structure the woman used for shelter whilst preparing the chickens “is for you to paint the walls white for us.” The concept that so simple an action, in the face of their incredible endeavours, brought tears to my eyes.

The nature of the people of the village can best be captured in the children of the village, beautiful, dark haired and full of joy at everything around them. My most precious experience of this was through the children in the family with whom I lived. The youngest daughter proudly presented me with her colouring book on the first day I arrived, with every picture coloured over and over a hundred times. The children have few toys, but unlike wealthy children I met in the Costa Rican cities and children in the United Kingdom, are happy to content themselves with the simple things in life, using stones as marbles, and constantly indulging in imaginative play.

They are safe to play in the street all night, and the tiny size of the village means that they can easily reach each others homes, with the phrase “it takes a whole village to raise a child” ringing true. They are friendly and very outgoing, always greeting you and trying to persuade you to teach them English, and showing none of the shyness of their older counterparts. One memorable manifestation of this was that on our third night they insisted to put on a show of Costa Rican dancing for us. Dressed in beautiful clothes for people who have so little, they danced with joy and pride in their national customs and, of course, insisted that we join in too. However, during my trip I saw a strange combination of innocence and experience. Whilst experiencing more liberty than children in the UK, they also experience more restrictions. They are expected to play their part and act like young adults, and the realities of life have to be accepted whilst they are young. I daily heard my eight year old ‘hermanita’ ask her mother how she chickens had killed that day, and woke up to see her doing the family washing and cooking.

My days in El Silencio were blissful, if physically challenging; for the first time I worked with my hands rather than with my mind. I felt a strange sense of liberation as I walked through the rainforest carrying a machete to chop trees for steps, or as a white-faced capuchin monkey hung from my neck as I washed its cage. Cultural differences, such as the boy who offered to kill a chicken for me to eat, holding it in my face, or the men who hacked a freshly slaughtered pig to pieces beside the school yard, may have been startling to deal with. I may have been laughed at by the villagers as I tried to pull out a root with my bare hands and was attacked by ants; I may have been the lucky recipient of an egg in my bed when a stray hen wandered into my room, and I may have lived off rice and beans for 15 meals straight, but to wake up every morning to a blue sky, and the exuberant warmth and generosity of El Silencio made it worth it. Even if only for a short time, I felt I was part of a real community.

However I fear for the future of this tight knit community. Globalisation forces the multinational giants closer and closer to the village like a dark shadow. The intrusion of cheap imported goods would surely destroy the future of this idealistic co-operative society. I fear also for the children; whilst the more reticent adults may persist in resisting the modern world, the children are already caught in a cultural dilemma. They worship Western culture and ideals, desperate to get their hands on anything, whether a magazine page, a phrase of English, or anything which emulates the pop stars they dream of. Whilst most have never left the village, the adolescent boys bring back tales from the town of fashion, modern culture and what lies beyond the idyllic palm forests of the village. Girls have begun to realise that not all young women are expected to stay at home and have children, and even within the family I stayed with, the two eldest teenage daughters had run away to the more urban and tourist-packed Caribbean coast. As I left, my little “hermanita” looked at me with chocolate eyes and begged me, “Please let me come to England and stay with you one day.” For now the village stays a safe two hour (and very rocky) bus ride from the modern world, but as the cities expand outwards, I wonder how long the village will stay in its current state. This is one of the reasons I feel so privileged to have been able to visit El Silencio and experience some of the ideals it safeguards.