Saturday, February 06, 2016

Travelling - it leaves you speechless, then...

The pyramids of Giza
The title of this post is just the first part of a quote "Travelling - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a story teller." It's from Ibn Battuta, the famous Muslim traveler from Morocco in the 14th century. He traveled for 29 years, starting at the age of 20, and covered about 120,700 kilometers. That is a lot of travel, especially during that time when mobility is so remote from the convenience of today.

Travelling is one of Nakamora's passion too, but he may not cover that far neither that long a time. In the little travels that he made, he agreed that travels broaden his perspective on life and enhance his understanding of people, culture, and past civilizations.

The thin multi-story houses in Hanoi, for instance are so to avoid paying taxes for houses that are wider than 20 feet. The seemingly incomplete houses in Cairo, are so to avoid paying taxes too, if the house is completed. Hence the exposed reinforcing bars are there on top of the buildings to show that they are still under construction. To some of Egyptians, the pyramids were built by the subjects out of love for their kings, not by forced labor. These are just a few observations and information that he gathered as examples. There will more for next time, God willing. For now,
he needs to plan for the next travel.