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Snowdon excursion, partly due to the weather and partly due
to a lack of height. However, chugging through the
countryside, crossing over the streams, entering the woods and
the little settlements along the way made for a most pleasant
morning's adventure. Refreshments were served on board by
one of the many volunteers who keep the trains running
throughout the summer season and perform the necessary
maintenance when passenger traffic ends. These volunteers
are also in the process of restoring a former South African
locomotive originally designed for crossing the deserts of
South-West Africa and now destined for the rigours of the
wet North Wales. It is due to enter service in 2015.
As mentioned earlier, the town of Porthmadog owes its
existence to its location between the mines and quarries of the
interior and the proximity to the sea. It became, not only an
export centre but also a shipbuilding hub and was renowned
for a particular type of sailing vessel able to carry heavy loads
of slate and negotiate the winding and shallow river which
flowed into the sea. This smattering of history I picked by
visiting the maritime museum in the old town. I made the
mistake of asking a simple question of a rather bored looking
curator who immediately came alive and subjected me to a
half hour's dissertation on the qualities of Welsh slate, the
detailed construction issues of ship-building and the twinges
of rheumatism he was currently experiencing. The rumbling
of my tummy allowed me to escape before he could tell me of
his other ailments and I thankfully sought out a nearby eating
establishment.
I decided to return by bus which would make a pleasant
change and allow me to see more of the countryside than you
T h e O l d S t a t i o n e r - N o 7 5
A BiG "THANK You" To JoE SYMoNS
can when driving. Interestingly, they do not accept an English
bus pass in Wales as, as pointed out to me by the driver, the
English do not accept Welsh ones. So much for the
independence movement! The journey was pleasant enough
until a few miles short of our destination, the bus turned off
the main road into a village and then into the bus garage. The
driver had a chat with his mates, then pulled over to the fuel
pump and proceeded to fill up. Mission completed, he drove
out into the main road and asked us all to dismount and take
the bus behind. Somewhat baffled by this procedure, although
the locals took it all in their stride, I complied with his request
and boarded the replacement, which soon sped away and
finally delivered us back to Caernarfon. Not quite what you
would expect from London Transport.
All good things come to an end and I set off the next morning
for the drive home. The six-hour drive gave me time to reflect
on my short visit to Wales. The most striking thing for me
was the wide use of the Welsh language among all generations.
In my ignorance, I have always believed it was only used by
older people in the more remote villages. Not so; waitresses,
young shop assistants and youths in general all seemed at ease
and had obviously been brought up bi-lingually. Similarly, all
road signs are displayed in both languages which did make it
a little difficult at busy junctions. The scenery is spectacular
provided the weather is kind and there are many options
available for the agile and not so agile. The natives were very
friendly, even if a little garrulous, but all in all, a trip well
worth taking and certainly a place to come back to.
Raymond Chew
In 1959 I chose Geography as one of my 3 "A" level subjects.
A region of the World had to be agreed on to study for a
separate section of the exam paper. I don't remember whether
it was a unanimous decision but South America was chosen.
After 2 years (and a pass in the exam) I had become fascinated
by the jungle/rainforest of the Amazon Basin. I never really
lost that feeling and desire to experience what it was really
like.
So, more than 50 years later, I decided to find out. An itinerary
was agreed with The Real Peru Co after a few e-mails and the
necessary payment made.So I set off very early on the
morning of 4th June for a "holiday of a lifetime".
TuESDAY
There don't seem to be any direct flights to Lima from
Heathrow. The options are either via anywhere in the USA or
changing planes in a European capital. On the basis of cost
and timings I chose to use KLM via Amsterdam, despite
having to start off in the wrong direction. From Amsterdam
the flight to the Peruvian capital was 12 hours, due to arrive
early evening, local time. I took advantage of my window seat
whilst we were crossing Brazil. The weather was clear and
from 6 miles high the Amazon was easy to see. As I kept
watching the Rio Negro came into view. The confluence of
this dark water river joining the white water of the Amazon
was amazingly clear. This was a memorab
WEDNESDAY
I hadn't allowed any time for sightseeing in Lima though my
2 taxi journeys did use different routes. After an overnight stay
and an early start I took an internal flight to Puerto
Maldonado in SE Peru (after crossing the Andes). This is a
small scruffy town and the last view of civilization for some
days. My Star Peru flight was an hour late with no explanation
as to why (as were both the later flights I had with them).
There was now a short time to sort out luggage. Everyone had
been asked to bring a smal1(er) bag for this part of the trip
with only the clothes etc needed for the next 6 days. I had
packed a bag inside a bigger bag and this worked remarkable
well.
There were now 16 tourists with 3 guides packed into a
20-seater bus. We were driven for about Yi hour to the Rio
Madre de Dios. We clambered aboard a long rowing boat
with a bench seat both sides and an outboard motor at the
back. With safety jackets on "the holiday starts here". The
weather was sunny, temperature upper 70s and the water not
too cold. Lunch of rice with vegetables, wrapped in banana
leaves, was quite tasty.
The journey to Refugio Lodge took 2 hours. The river was
wide (wider than the Thames) with jungle on both sides.
There was no other river traffic although the occasional small
boat indicated indigenous peoples living nearby. Apart from a
few birds the first sign of wildlife was a small group of
capybara. These are the biggest rodents in the world - and as
a part of the rat family you wouldn't want them any bigger
(certainly pig size)!
On arrival we were shown to our 3-walled rooms - the 4th
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