Musandam Dreams

 I’ve had a dream list of travel destinations filed away for many years.  It includes a standard list of countries and territories I’ve yet to visit, along with a few more obscure and unusual places that have captured my imagination.  This second, more exotic list features places like Palau’s jellyfish lake and Scotia, an island off the coast of Yemen renowned for its unusual Dragon’s Blood trees.

Another exotic locations on the list include the fjords of Musandam, Oman.  Its craggy peninsulas sit isolated from the rest of Oman by the United Arab Emirates.  They form the southern coast of the politically sensitive Strait of Hormuz.  Years ago I read a fascinating blog post by a sailor who’d wound his way along the region’s stark and rugged coastline. 

We spent a long weekend in Musandam while on our annual pilgrimage to the Nuremberg toy fair.  The break was a perfect way to celebrate an Australia Day weekend and enjoy a little fresh air before a hectic week of back to back business meetings.  The experience didn’t disappoint.  It was well worth the effort.

We were picked up by our tour operator’s transfer bus at 6:00am.  A two-hour drive north soon saw us crossing the Oman border.  At this point the road began winding and weaving its way along the shores of the Persian Gulf before finally arriving in the compact, regional capital of Khasab.  This town is home to 18,000 people nestled in a broad valley carved between the majestic hajr mountains.

Our first day was spent touring the Musandam fjords.  Our tour operator had its largest boat on the water. It included a second deck that offered an elevated, open-air viewing platform.  This gave us an opportunity to soak in the scene from every direction.  This vantage point proved invaluable for watching dolphins frolicking in the boat’s wave.

The Omani fjords are truly awe-inspiring.  Unlike those of Norway or New Zealand these waterways aren’t surrounded by lush greenery.  Instead, their crystal clear waters reflect towering peaks of barren, parched sedimentary rock.  This is the Middle East after all and this is a region where the average temperature year round never falls below 23C. 

I had worried that the lack of vegetation might make the cruise a little tedious after the first hour. However, nothing could be further from the truth.  The stark beauty of the region was truly mezmerising.  We spent most the day cruising the  Khawr Shamm. At 16 kilometers the Khawr Shamm is the longest fjord in Musandam. Its imposing – up to 1000 meter high – cliff walls, the small islands and peninsulas and five remote villages can only be reached by boat.

Perhaps the most fascinating highlight of the day was Telegraph Isaland. Located in the middle of Khawr Shamm this small, flat island’s most notable feature are crumbling walls that support a wide gravel platform.  This is all that’s left of a British telegraph station, meant to protect the new telegraph cable between India and England.

Only five years after going into service in 1864 it was abandoned. In summer, in the time before air conditioning, the hellish heat and the high humidity proved unbearable for Europeans. The local population was also hostile both to the British and to their new technology.

Our day finished on a wonderful high note.  As we cruised back to Khasab we watched other boats constantly racing at speed through the midst of dolphin pods. At first we thought local tour operators were simply abusing the wildlife in pursuit of perfect photo opportunities for the tourists onboard. 

However, we soon discovered that the boats were doing this because the dolphins actually enjoy surfing in their bow wake. The animals love jumping and frolicking in the waves, often following a boat for hundreds of metres at a time.  Our boat spent almost an hour playing with them.  At one point we witnessed a family of dolphins, including a cute little baby, leaping and torpedoing through the water as our boat barrelled down the fjord.

We ended our day with a private speedboat transfer to an overnight beach camp.  Here we slept in tents on the beach surrounded by craggy cliffs in a quiet cove of the Persian Gulf.  It was truly an escape from the pressures of modern life.  Here the only stress was caused by a cheeky herd of wild goats hell bent on finding any scrap of food left over from our fireside BBQ dinner.  However, when dawn broke the following morning they'd disappeared leaving us in blissful solitude.

Tigers in the snow

Garry and I discovered that there's more to Harbin than just buildings of snow and ice. The city is relatively young compared with many other places in China. It was founded in 1898 after the arrival of the Chinese Eastern Railway.  It initially prospered as a region increasingly dominated by immigrants from the Russian Empire including people fleeing the hardships of Tsarist Russia and later the Bolshevik revolution.

As a result, Russian influenced architecture can be found all over the city.  Perhaps the most prominent of these landmarks is St Sophia Cathedral.  This is a classic onion-dome topped Russian orthodox church in the centre of town.  However, it's no longer a place of worship.  Today the nave houses a photographic exhibition of early Harbin.  

Incredibly, a dramatic painting of the last supper still hangs over the altar's original location. Outside, locals sell satay sticks of frozen, toffee coated fruits from bicycle carts.  Garry and I had seen these everywhere the previous day at the Ice and Snow Festival. We decided we had to try one before we left Harbin.  The fruit is certainly refreshing and of course, it stays permanently frozen in the city's bitterly cold sub-zero temperatures.

We also visited the city's Siberian Tiger Park.  It runs a very successful breeding program.  Today several hundred tigers live in the park many of which are eventually released back into the wild.  The park offers two viewing experiences.  The first is slow bus ride through the park's many open range enclosures.  This gives visitors an opportunity to see these magnificent creatures up close.

Garry and I were astonished by the number of cats we saw strolling, sitting and sunning themselves.  The park separates males, females and different age groups otherwise chaos ensues.  The animals all appeared to be healthy and well-fed.  Just how well fed soon became apparent.  

Halfway through our safari the bus driver stopped the tour and began soliciting money from the passengers.  We eventually worked out that he'd offered to bring some live chickens into the enclosure if we all forked out enough money.  Before we knew it a jeep had pulled up and two live chickens were tossed from the window.  Sure enough, the tigers came running, chased the poor birds and eventually devoured them.  Only in China!

The second viewing opportunity involved a series of mesh enclosed gangways that took visitors on a walking tour through a series of smaller enclosures.  Once again feeding experiences were on offer.  However, this time we were offered chunks of steak that you then fed through the mesh using long BBQ tongs.  We couldn't resist and can now say we've hand fed "wild" tigers.

Our private guide then took us down to the shores of the Songhua River. We were amazed to discover the equivalent of the local "Easter Show" unfolding on the frozen river.  Thousands of people were enjoying all manner of ice and snow-oriented activities set up either side of a temporary boulevard that stretched across the river.  I can honestly say we saw ice activities we've never witnessed in our lives.  We eventually negotiated the hire of dune buggy and headed out for a wild ride along the frozen river.

Perhaps the most fascinating venue we visited was the 731 Unit Museum in the south of the city.  It contains a poignant exhibit documenting the sinister deeds of what was once the world's largest biological warfare research facility. The Japanese created this facility after invading Manchuria in 1937. At its peak, it was a 50-building complex covering 6 sq km.  It even had its own railway station and a small airfield. We were horrified to learn that thousands of imprisoned locals and POWs were experimented on resulting in the death of at least 600 people annually for almost a decade.

Harbin Ice Lantern Festival

The Harbin Ice Lantern Festival is held every January among the trees and ponds of Zhaolin Park.  The park is located in the centre of town and is the original location of Harbin's spectacular Snow & Ice Festival.  However, the main festival has long since relocated to a larger, grander venue.

Ice lanterns have a long history in the city. Local ice fishermen originally used them to light their favourite fishing spot.  A cavity was carved into a block of ice cut from the local river.  This was then used to cover and protect a candle.  The translucent ice also helped to scatter its light in all directions.

Today, the city continues the tradition of the ice lanterns with a spectacular multi-coloured display of ice and light.  Garry and I visited the venue on our last night in Harbin. It was the perfect way to end our brief excursion into northern China.  The park was relatively crowd-free in stark constant to the Snow & Ice Festival's main venue.  

We spent more than an hour wandering through the park admiring dozens of creative ice sculptures, iridescently lit buildings of ice and winding paths lined with row upon row of simple, colourful man-sized ice lanterns. It was also here that we paused for a moment to remember the fifth anniversary of my Dad's passing (oh yes - that's me sitting on the boat of solid ice).

Harbin Snow & Ice Festival

For more than a decade I’ve dreamed of visiting the Harbin Snow & Ice Festival in northern China.  This frontier city of more than 5 million people has been hosting this extraordinary event every Winter since 1985. Over the year its grown to become the world’s largest event of its kind.  Until now I’ve never found myself in the right place at the right time to make it north and see this jaw-dropping spectacle for myself.

Garry and I were in China last week for business.  By chance we discovered that our visit coincided with the opening weekend of this year’s festival.  Having travelled for business on New Year’s Day and then again the following weekend we thought it reasonable to take a little time off along the way. We eventually spent two days in Harbin while en route to Hong Kong. 

I’d booked us a private guide and driver to show us around the city.  This ensured we were able to make the most of our time rather than battle our way through the inevitable language barrier. However, getting there was half the fun.  We flew from Ningbo to Harbin arriving shortly after dark.  As we exited the plane we greeted by rather chilling -14C temperatures.  These never rose above -6C the entire time we were there.  If you look at a map you’ll see that Harbin is located at the same latitude as northern Mongolia; and is actually more than 100 kilometres north of Vladivostok.

We’re glad we made the effort. During Winter three separate venues spread across the city become temporary theme parks filled with enormous structures built from compressed snow or blocks of translucent river ice.  Literally, thousands of workers spend several months creating ice versions of globally recognised structures.  In the past this has included the pyramids, the Sphinx and the Taj Mahal. Multicoloured LED lights are also used light the ice at night creating a truly awe-inspiring technicolour spectacle.

The awe and wonder begin from the moment you enter the city. As you exit the airport expressway you’re greeted by an enormous Chinese style ice building. By night it’s a spectacular multi-coloured structure.  By day it's an imposing ice blue monument that towers over the roadway.

Its ice blocks are cut from the frozen surface of the Songhua River every winter.  This river flows through the heart of the city. In places the river is almost a kilometre wide so there’s plenty of ice to go around. Ice sculptors then use chisels, ice picks and saws to carve and construct these incredible ice buildings and sculptures. Deionised water is also be used for some ice resulting in blocks as transparent as glass.

Every year, the festive has a central theme that’s then depicted in ice and snow across the city. In 2007, the festival featured a Canadian themed sculpture, in memoriam of Canadian doctor Norman Bethune. It was awarded a Guinness Record for the world's largest snow sculpture: 250 metres long, 28 feet (8.5 m) high, using over 13,000 cubic metres of snow.

This year’s festive was themed around the Silk Road. Throughout the city dozens of frozen structures depicted buildings and monuments found along this transcontinental route. Highlights this year included the Buddhist stupas of Burma, St Basil Cathedral in Red Square, the Temple of Heaven in Beijing and the Christian cathedrals of Rome.

The largest venue literally covered acres of an enormous island located in the middle of the Songhua River.  Garry and I simply couldn't believe how huge the complex was.  We thought we'd spent an hour or so there. We ended up spending more than three hours and even then I'm sure we missed a few buildings and sculptures along the way.  In the image above the actual venue can be seen as a bright white glow in the middle of the Songhau river.

We were also lucky enough to see the festival's grand opening fireworks display.  We both agreed we saw many fireworks we've never seen before.  In fact, at one point, the spectacle unfolding in the night sky easily outshone the New Year's Eve display we witnessed the previous weekend in Sydney. All I can say is that the images I've posted here simply don't do justice to our weekend excursion.

Among the peaceful clouds

Garry and I have just returned from a business trip to Mainland China.  We flew out on 1 January so our first night of the new year was spent in Beijing.  We were in China to inspect and review the factories that make the toys we distribute; before heading to Hong Kong for its annual Toy Fair.

Our first factory visit was to the town of Yunhe.  It located in Zhejiang Province about 150kms inland from the coastal city of Wenzhou.  The town promotes itself as the wooden toy capital of China.  Visitors are left in no doubt as to its claim to fame.  As you enter the town you pass through an enormous gateway crowned by a row of giant wooden toys.

The neighbouring Yunhe County is also famous for its hills layered in rice terraces.  They're called the most beautiful terraces in all of China.  Many of them have been farmed since the early Tang Dynasty which means the oldest ones are almost 1000 years old.  They're also among the highest terraces in China.  The lower layers start around 200 metres above sea level then climb to an extraordinary to 1200 metres.  Yunhe actually translates as peaceful clouds.  The name pays tribute to these incredible structures which are often shrouded by early morning mist and low cloud.

Our factory hosts took Garry and I see the terraces before our first meetings of the day.  The drive itself was an incredible experience.  We had no idea we'd end up winding higher and higher along narrow country roads. We certainly got to see rural China up close. It was extraordinary to see entire hillsides covered in cascading terrace layers literally descending from the clouds.

It also a rather confusing and often nerve-wracking drive. I don't think we'd have ever had made it not been for our hosts.  Apparently, during the peak tourist season, you can catch a dedicated bus into the mountains from Yunhe.  However, it's fair to say that driving this route felt a heck of lot safer in a car than tackling it in a local bus.  As we climbed the road progressively narrowed to a single lane, only widening again briefly on blind, hair-raising hairpin turns.

Entrepreneurial locals have established a view platform along the edge of one of the area's more scenic spots.  A modest $15 entry fee (80RMB) gave us access to a series of well-maintained facilities.  A well-paved walking track traced a hill ridge for several hundred metres before finishing at a series of stepping stone pavers that led you down to the terraces themselves.  Along the way we watched ducks foraging in the mud and saw the stream that feeds water into the area.  It was fun to trace the water's journey from this entry point along numerous channels and pipes that direct its flow down the hillside into individual terraces.

Unfortunately, our visit coincided with the least scenic time of year.  At this time of year everything is looking rather drab, brown and muddy. However, the spectacle itself was still rather breath-taking.  It also meant that we had the entire viewing area to ourselves.  Apparently, in Summer the area is often overwhelmed by traffic and people; effectively ruining its refreshing rural vibe and serenity.

A land that time forgot

There’s a lot about modern politics that disappoints me. I vividly recall the euphoria and optimism that followed the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of communism in Eastern Europe. Sadly, in the decades since, the progressive values and economic benefits of liberal democracy have slowly eroded. Those early years of hope and rising aspirations are long gone.

Instead, hope for a better life has been replaced by "self-sabotaging events" (to quote one recent commentator), such as Brexit and the rise of populist leaders like Donald Trump in the USA and
Viktor Orbán in Hungary. In China, Xi Jinping has turned his back on the liberalising reforms of Deng Xiaoping. In Russia, Vladimir Putin is restoring the oppressive Soviet levers of state control dismantled by Mikhail Gorbachev.

These trends certainly don’t operate in a vacuum. Liberal democrats haven’t done enough to support those impacted by global trade liberalisation. Equally, they’ve failed to explain how liberalisation has improved the lot of millions, including those voting for leaders like Trump. It's frustrating to see the very people protesting globalisation enjoying a higher standard of living made possible by all those cheap goods and foodstuffs they buy at Walmart and Primark. Likewise, the material economic benefits of the European Union were cynically ignored or downplayed by leave campaigners.

Protesters we encountered in New York in January

The truth is that globalisation hasn’t let them down. Rather, failures in policy have. There’s absolutely no reason why the world’s wealthiest nation cannot afford universal healthcare and deliver it without the burden of a profit motive. Equally, the USA, of all nations, can afford to pay its people a living minimum wage. It's no wonder populists are having a field day. History will inevitably demonstrate that many of these men (and most of them are men) ultimately leveraged the disenfranchisement of working-class citizens for little more than personal gain, self-aggrandisement and political power.

Why this rant? Sadly, Australia hasn’t been immune to this depressing trend. For the last three months, we’ve been enduring a fractious debate about legalising same-sex marriage. For more than a decade, public opinion polls report a clear and growing majority of voting-age Australians support same sex marriage. However, despite this clear and unequivocal message, the current Government lacked the courage to legislate this change without a divisive national plebiscite.

Instead, in an attempt to appease (or more likely, neutralise) the far right of the current Coalition Government, we’ve endured months of debate about a matter most Australians have no issue with. Since 12 September, the Australian Electoral Commission has been conducting a national postal survey, although most people call it a postal vote. Voting ended on 7 November.

The survey results were announced on 15 November. 61.6% of those responding expressed support for legislating same-sex marriage. 38.4% voted no. In every state and territory, a majority of votes also supported the change. Within hours of the results being announced, the Marriage Amendment Bill was tabled in Parliament. This bill was passed into law a few weeks later with an overwhelming majority. As of 7 December, same sex couples are finally free to marry. 

This article in the Sydney Morning Herald pretty much sums up the last few months and years. What was all the fuss about?