Travellers' Tales

Hard on the heels of our return from a brief visit to Marrakech, I recently attended the Travellers’ Tales at The Royal Geographical Society. After our five days trawling the Moroccan souks, it was quite a contrast to tread the hallowed halls of the RGS.

Fuelled by childhood memories of explorers’ tales, it was a thrill to have full run of the RGS’s historic premises. From the map room with its wooden map drawers and vintage maps lining the walls. To the theatre, its wood paneling topped by the names of famous explorers and with pictures of Presidents past and present, including today’s Michael Palin.

In the subterranean archives, I glimpsed some real treats. A pair of Mallory’s goggles, plus his handkerchief (unused, thankfully) plus climbing rope. A fabulous Tolemae Atlas from 1460, its blue oceans coloured with ground lapis lazuli that bankrupted its publisher (do we see such self-sacrifice these days?), Shackleton’s expedition shopping list from – well, why not? – Harrods. Including Axminster carpets and Royal Doulton porcelain mugs (it makes a change from kit from George Fisher's). And Philby’s coffee pot, a crucial tool of hospitality as he travelled amongst the Bedouin people.

Shackleton, Marshall and Adams, 1907-9.
Photo courtesy of © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS on Lisa's photostream

Having recently read Three Cups of Tea, the riveting account of American Greg Mortenson’s building of fifty five schools across the forbidding mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan, it was interesting to muse how coffee and tea have always been key to the interaction of Western travellers and native peoples. As Haji Ali, Korphe village chief in the Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan told Mortenson, “Here we drink three cups of tea to do business: the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything – even die”.

Photo of K2 courtesy of reurinkjan

I’m going to spread my observations on the Festival’s talks over this blog and my next one. But suffice to say, with talks from a selection of travel writers and photographers – including, on the Sunday alone, writers Dervla Murphy and Chris Stewart, and legendary photo-journalist Don McCullin – I was not disappointed. Fantastic too to see such a wide and varied audience from across the sexes and generations, all filled with a passion for travel and recording, for learning from posterity and for working towards a better future.

My first lecture was with Dervla Murphy. In her 80’s, Dervla has travelled the globe by foot, bike and mule, writing twenty-four books in the process. If genius is indeed defined as Malcolm Gladwell reports in Outliers by 10,000 hours of learning, Dervla is the authentic article.

Authenticity is central to her writing too. Interestingly, in contrast to the poetic license in the writings of Bruce Chatwin and Paul Theroux, she stresses factual correctness and accurate research. She believes that travel fiction needs not only to entertain and inform its current readership, but also to be an accurate record about travel and cultures for future generations and research.

In contrast to Dervla’s toughness, I noted the two glamorous ladies sitting next to me in the audience, one with an American accent. As I noted down in my Moleskine:

“Two Conde Nast females next to me, seemingly lost at this festival of die-hard travellers”.

Straight after Dervla, these ladies were up onstage – award-winning African tribal photographers, Angela Fisher and Carol Beckwith. Well, there go my credentials as a seasoned observer of human nature.

Angela and Carol spoke about their passion to help preserve traditional African values through recording their many ceremonies, their own trust fund, and telling stories of their travels. And wonderful storytellers they are too. They held a captive audience in the palm of their hand with tales of the Karo, Dinka and Surma tribes and their initiation ceremonies and body-painting traditions.

Photo of tribe's woman, Ethiopia courtesy of Gujser

Just as Dervla had lamented how deeply Afghanistan, her favourite country, is currently being riven by the havoc of war, it was poignant to hear African stories of modern day encroachment, civil war and controversial missionary activity. ‘Twas probably ever thus, but no less lamentable for that.

What was heartening after I’d scanned the names of the great and good patriarchal explorers topping the theatre’s paneling was to see the mix of female travellers and octogerians who have helped change the face of modern travel writing. Paul Theroux has sometimes been accused of misogyny. No danger of that amidst most of today’s intrepid travel writers.

Next time I’ll blog about the merits and pitfalls of analog photography versus digital developments. Introduce you to a hilarious sheep-shearer and travel writer living in Spain. And to war veteran and reluctant photo-journalistic legend, Don McCullin, now cutting a very different path across the globe with his current photographic project.

But, for now, it’s worth reflecting that I left the Festival day-dreaming my way into future adventures overland, recording what we see with the aid of a camera and notes. School of Life teacher and writer on the art of living, Roman Kraznaric, has written much recently about the virtues of ‘outrospection’ in an introspective, navel-gazing age.

The Travellers’ Tales Festival reminded me of how we can all record our travels for personal remembering in future – but also how we can emerge from the limits of our established selves when we journey abroad and encounter a world as real, vital and important as anything we know at home.