I tried keeping the Ramadan fast. I didn’t last long

The entry to a mosque in Fez, 2018. Photo by JANE WOOLDRIDGE.

The Fez souk was filled with the bounty of the nearby fields: crimson beets just pulled from the field, bean pods the size of scythe, basins filled with goey honey-covered pastries. Cockerels on a string, strutting smartly in ignorance of the pot that awaits them.

It was nearly halfway through Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting. And for many, the focus was on food — the delectable tagines that await them each evening when the daylight prohibition on food and liquids is lifted.

For 30 days, observant Muslims worldwide observe the fast. Our Moroccan guide explained it as a time of prayer and contemplation, when Muslims focus on self-discipline and are reminded what it is like to be poor, without the casual expectation of sustenance on demand. The muezzins loudly sing the call to prayer; the faithful head to the mosques and their prayer rugs; in between many pray in a corner. In Tangier the call resounds from minaret to minaret to minaret throughout the long dark night — more vexing to uninitiated visitors than the paucity of open bars during the weeks of observance.

“Ramadan is a state of mind,” says our guide Rachid. He’s thinking of the obsession with food that permeates the marketplace, the sense of deprivation that drives some to faintness and near-distraction. He assumes a more reasoned approach, tuning into a simple discipline that knows that in a few hours, the fast will break, and in a few weeks, the season will end. The hours between bind community with tradition and belief in a surprisingly cheerful welcome to neighbors and foreigners both.

Ramadan sweets fill the market in Fez, 2018. Photo by JANE WOOLDRIDGE.

This idea of a reset is oddly appealing. Going without coffee or water for the entire day is beyond me; I can’t imagine making it to the computer, let alone my first meeting, without a cup of joe. But to set my mind to foregoing food during daylight hours is a path to the discipline that I’ve pushed aside in the hurry-scurry world of instantaneous feedback. Reboot my hard drive Thoughtful action in lieu of gut response is a concept ready for a revival.

So I  decided to keep a modified Ramadan. While didn’t givie up liquids, I ate only during the hours of darkness. I refrained from reaching for that glass of sauvignon blanc with dinner or the Moscow Mule on Friday night. When evening comes, I told myself, I”ll try to approach each mouthful with mindful appreciation of taste and texture. I’ll avoid TJ Maxx and Amazon, and do my best to start the day with a few deep, contemplative breaths. The practice will remind me of a glorious trip and the value of cultures other than my own.

I made it four days.

Olives and pickles in the Fez market. Photo by JANE WOOLDRIDGE.

The weekends weren’t so difficult, even though I had to sit through a brunch with friends sipping only coffee. And I wasn’t even that hungry during the day. But by my second work day of going without, my brain checked out. By 4 p.m. I was slightly punch drunk. I couldn’t talk in a complete sentence — much less edit a complex story for publication.

The next morning, I was back to regular meals. Smaller, more cautiously eaten than in my usual at-the-desk shovel, but food nonetheless.

For Muslims, the fasting would last another 10 days. When it ends today at sunset, I’ll mark it with a moment of silence and a new appreciation for the rigor of a month of strict limits.

I’ll also honor the hunger of those who go without on a regular basis:  the homeless, the struggling, the students who go school hungry in winter and without school-provided breakfasts in the summer break. Food isn’t just from the palate or belly, its for the mind as well.

 

 

 

Rwanda v. Uganda: Where’s the best place to see mountain gorillas?

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In Uganda: Trekking with mountain gorillas

In Uganda: Trekking with mountain gorillas

READ MORE: TREKKING WITH GORILLAS  

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In Bwindi Impenetrable Forest,Uganda.

More than half the world’s remaining mountain gorilla families are in Uganda, concentrated in two parks, Bwindi Impenetrable National Forest and the Virunga Mountains, which shares a border with Rwanda. The mountains also spill into the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most visitors go to Uganda or Rwanda. (DRC visitors typically travel from Rwanda.)

In all areas, gorilla trekking permits are limited and date-specific. They must be arranged in advance. Uganda permits cost $600 per person per day; they also offer some low-season discounts. Rwanda recently increased its permit fee to $1,500 per person per day. The DRC charges the least, $450.

Trekking with gorillas in Uganda, 2017. Jane Wooldridge photo.

Trekking with gorillas in Uganda, 2017. Jane Wooldridge photo.

UGANDA: Our trip to Bwindi National Forest was arranged by the knowledgeable London-based firm Africa Travel Resourceafricatravelresource.com, which arranged our flights to/from the international airport in Entebbeto Bwindi National Forest, our hotel in Bwindi and a night of hotel in Entebbe, plus an ongoing flight to South Africa.

Coincidentally, ATR is owned by the same company as Mahogany Springs Lodge, mahoganysprings.com, which we had specifically requested. Lodge rates in low season (March-May, October-November) start at $240 per person per night, double occupancy and include three meals, water in the rooms and wine or beer with dinner. High season (December-February, June-September) rates start at $287 per person.

Locally, the firm Trek East Africa has been recommended, africagorillatreks.com.

To learn more about the highly regarded Bwindi Community Hospital, contact bwindihospital.com

RWANDA: Rwanda’s big advantage is proximity; the gorilla region is a two-hour drive over paved roads from the capital of Kigali. One highly recommended agent is Phoebe Weinberg of Greatways Travel, greatwaystravel.com.

More than half the world’s remaining mountain gorilla families are in Uganda, concentrated in two parks, Bwindi Impenetrable National Forest and the Virunga Mountains, which shares a border with Rwanda. The mountains also spill into the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most visitors go to Uganda or Rwanda. (DRC visitors typically travel from Rwanda.)

In all areas, gorilla trekking permits are limited and date-specific. They must be arranged in advance. Uganda permits cost $600 per person per day; they also offer some low-season discounts. Rwanda recently increased its permit fee to $1,500 per person per day. The DRC charges the least, $450.

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Farewell to faithful friends: Our rolling backpacks

You have carried us around the globe more times than we can reckon,

You were our perfect bags: Lightweight, rollable, presentable enough for a decent hotel, equipped with sturdy backpack straps that allowed us to haul you up the stairs of a Santorini cave house on our honeymoon and into a raw wood hut on our trek through Cameroon. When flights were delayed, you served as backrests, card tables, pillows. Your dusty exterior belied your value, thwarting theft.

From Irian Jaya to India, Mali to Mongolia, Uzbekistan to Alaska, you were our unfailing companions. In your caring folds you hauled eaglecreekbagstrekking boots and little black dresses, underwear and socks, dry sacks and charging chords, carpets and ceremonial crowns from Tibet and and Ethiopia. The handicraft gifts so carefully chosen from far away places came home in your canvas holds; you kept them safe despite the knowledge that the relatives who would receive them would scratch their heads and wonder, why?

Airlines did their best to rend your wheels, your straps, your handles. You held steadfast, with the aid of rare visits to the Eagle Creek infirmary. When Eagle Creek declared that your lifetime guarantee was not a warranty for our lifetimes but some arbitrary “lifetime of the bag,”  we were forced to relegate you to storage. There,  humidity and mildew wreaked the irreparable damage that no chicken plane or baggage conveyor belt ever delivered.

Today you go to rest, For decades of dreams and miles of memories, you have our enduring thanks. Fare thee well.

Tips for getting the 2016 vacation you want: No. 1

May, 2009: Canal barge cruise through Burgundy, France. Photos by Jane Wooldridge / ONE TIME USE ONLY.

May, 2009: Canal barge cruise through Burgundy, France. Photos by Jane Wooldridge / ONE TIME USE ONLY.

Tip 1: Update your 2016 travel datebook. 

Family wedding? Conference? Business trip? Get the dates and places onto the calendar.

Once you know when and where you’re already going, you can figure out if you want to add additional time to any of those trips, so you can leverage your travel time and airfare.

Or not. If you’re of the school that fish and family both have a three-day limit, or your annual professional conference is in West Boringsville, you can save those precious vacation days for a trip that really makes your heart sing.

 

Return from Antartica’s Big Ice

ushuaiaUshuaia appeared on the Beagle Channel, calm and lulling. Our trip ended where as all such trips should: late at night, in a raucous Irish bar.

It was barely fortification for the day to come. We know now why penguins don’t fly. And while that’s a bad joke, so was the two-hour wait in line for the sole person working the security computer at the Ushuaia airport and the additional two-hour line for check in at American Airlines in Buenos Aires, for which there is no excuse. If executives and board members had to suffer the long queues, insufficiently staffed counters and hard seats in coach that their customers are tortured with, American — and other companies — would clean up their act. It ought to be written into the FAA code.

If there was one rosy side to the frustration, it was the attention it diverted from parting with new friends. Most of those you meet along the way are simply bypassers, but a few strike close to your soul. We hope to see you again on the next journey into the unknown.

 

 

Mugged in Buenos Aires

Yes, it happens! Two blocks from our nice hotel in Recoleta, a block from the shopping center of Patio Bullwich. We of course should not have been wearing our good watches.

But there we were, wandering jet lagged on a national holiday, 10 in the morning.  But before we could blink, the robber had this arm around the husband neck and was pulling at his watch. And before I could get close enough to kick him between the legs, the band broke, the husband went down on the sidewalk and the robber was gone.

Several people stopped to help, appalled. A taxi driver took us to our hotel gratis. Luckily, injury was limited to scrapes and abrasions and sore muscles. We were lucky.

BA is still a great city. But it hasn’t been the best of times here — hence the impending change in government and rising crime.

Our incident is a reminder to keep a sharp eye when we travel, pack our brains and leave valuables behind.

What you need to know before you book a river cruise

A view of the Rhine

A decade ago, river cruising vacations weren’t even on the radar. Today they’re high on the wish list of nearly 60 percent of North American travelers, according to an industry survey. Why the shift? A fleet of sleek new ships, a growing list of itineraries – and attention-grabbing ads shown during Downtown Abbey – have brought inland sailing front of mind. Travelers who previously traveled only by land are now turning to the waterways, says A-list cruise agent Scott Kertes of Long Island’s Hartford Holidays. “The newest river cruise ships are well appointed with new amenities and levels of food and service that have come way, way up.”

Rhine river cruise

Our Emerald Waterways ship

In 2015, major river cruise companies are adding even more routes on a worldwide flotilla of more than 200 vessels. Most carry guests to the medieval villages of Germany’s Rhine, the Danube’s Imperial cities of Vienna and Budapest and the wine-producing regions of France. and Portugal. A handful navigate through the rainforests of the Peruvian Amazon, while ever-more ships are returning to the Egypt’s Nile. The newest river journeys explore the Far East, taking guests to untrammeled villages and ornate temples of Burma’s Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers, Indochina’s Mekong and India’s Ganges.

Rothenburg on the Rhine

Rothenburg, one of the towns visited on our Rhine River cruise

Wherever they travel, river voyagers sail on boutique vessels sized for narrow rivers and locks; most carry a maximum of 190 passengers, and some accommodate as few as 36.
Though prices are higher than on many ocean cruises, amenities such as city tours, onboard wifi, tips and wine and beer with meals are included in most river fares. And while multi-service spas and elaborate show lounges don’t fit onboard, most river-going ships moor within walking distance of towns. Expert local guides leave travelers raving about the experience, says Morgan Scully of McCabe World Travel in McLean, Va. – and coming back for more.

To find out more about river cruising, see my story in this month’s issue of Travel + Leisure magazine.

On the Rhine