One of the things that nags my conscience when travelling is about being guilty of polluting. It is impossible to travel without polluting, no matter how clean you are. You spend fossil fuels and add to CO2 emissions. When you pass through a pristine region like the Himalayas, you definitely leave a footprint no matter how careful you are. These are inevitable, and only way to avoid it is not to travel. That is difficult to imagine. But there are ways to minimize the impact.
* Do not fly. Take the train instead. I am guilty again here. Though I don’t fly within South India, I look for flights to save time when I go north.
* Do not drive, take public transport. I am guilty here too. The fact that my mobility reduces at the destination if I take public transport makes me take my car out.
* Do not spoil the pristine nature. Take your garbage back. Do not cut wood. Make sure that the impact of your travel is minimal to the local environment. This is especially important in places like National Parks and remote wilderness
* Behave yourself! Don’t tempt the locals to break the law to fulfil your cravings. Any attempt to change the way of living of the locals – especially in remote regions, always has impact on the environment.
Do you have any thing to add? Are you guilty on any counts?
In my last post about Angkor Dreams, Prashanth wrote about Peru, which triggered thoughts of a few more things I have been longing for. Prashanth said
” And I’m dreaming of Peru – after reading a book from Nemichandra – Peruvina pavitra kaniveyalli..”
To give you a background on his comment, Nemichandra is a scientist, writer and obsessed traveller. And the book he is referring to describes her amazing journey into Machhu Picchu and then sailing down the Amazons into its thick evergreen forests.
Amazon is one of the dreams I have been living with for long. Infact I had even budgeted it once, worked out a plan, checked ticket prices and options of travelling – considerable homework for someone who would not really be making it! 😀 I did not make the journey, but the thought remains – Amazon is one of the regions I intend to travel into, before all those thick unpenetrated forests end up as tissues in North America’s kitchens and bathrooms!
For those who are interested, Kon-Tiki by Heyerdahl is an another interesting book to read. It is a journey that starts in the forests of South America and ends up as an adventurous sailing journey into Polynesia.
Since the days I saw McCurry’s photos of Angkor a year ago, I have been dreaming of Siem Reap. And there have been other dreams of Indo-China – to visit Vietnam along with Combodia, and may be a little bit of Malaysia too. I made a home work for this as far back as four years ago, but never really got around to kick myself up to travel that way. Reading about Angkor in a few blogs recently, the temptations are back again. But right now, a journey to these parts of the world is not visible anywhere in the horizon. Reasons are many. First, I hardly have any holidays with me and I end up spending them as quickly as they accumulate. Second, whenever I do find time, it gets spent travelling somewhere within India. Let’s admit it, there are few places as magnanimous as Angkor anywhere in India or rest of the world, but for some unknown reasons, it is India that I prefer. And I somehow don’t feel like burning my money overseas either. I know IndoChina is cheap and I can afford it, but just can’t make up my mind on it. Wish I had some sponsors!! 😀