A Nomad Among the Bedouins

Urstruly bhai - Thank you for your kind words

dr sahib - thank you

Salim - Your humor is much more effective when you conceal its cheapness with revving vocabulary :)

Atif; It was a nice read and a refreshing break from stale atmosphere of chowk.

(should have written ``badbudaar atmosphere`` of Chowk)

#32 atif2 {``.... riding camel is not much different than driving a car.``}

Atif,
Do you always drive with your dick stuck in the exhaust?

#32, Atif2 {``whether there is an equivalent of car`s ``stick shift`` on camels as well...no, there is no such thing``}

Atif2,
I am sure that you looked all over for it and failed to notice that it was always inside you. :P)

salim #29 - ``So, you did manage to make it a rear-wheel drive vehicle``

no, camels are 4 wheel drive. riding camel is not much different than driving a car. its reins are like the steering wheel which you can use to turn it left or right. its belly is like a gas pedal, the more you press it the faster it walks.

and before you gleefuly and dreamily ask with drool coming out of your mouth whether there is an equivalent of car`s ``stick shift`` on camels as well...no, there is no such thing.

Nice travelogue Atif bhai.

#23 ``Certainly, Hindus, despite the obvious reluctance to leave India, did manage to reach out to Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, and even as far as Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam``

Burma, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia are all interconnected countries and come in the same geographic sphere of influence of what is today India. The exploration that made europe what it is today resulted from leaving their immediate spheres of influence and crossing seas to make colonies amongst entirely different people and in entirely different climatic regions.

#28, atif2 {``actually I was the camel driver myself``}

Atif,
Oh! I see. :) So, you did manage to make it a rear-wheel drive vehicle.

#26 - actually I was the camel driver myself. But feel free to share your personal experiences with prodding.

salim #23 - ``More and more I am noticing that desis are discovering this exciting obsession.``

I am sorry to report that that is not the case. You maybe seeing more of desis just because we are 1/3rd of the humanity. But as a percentage, we are no where near what you see from other races. Our desi culture puts strict importance on ``saving`` money. Traveling requires an investment with no tangible benefits.

I have found europeans to be the most enthusiastic travelers, much more than Americans. In fact, traveling is almost institutionalized in europe, whereby they spend a year abroad before starting their university. Nearly 60% of europeans hold a passport, compared to only 10% of americans. I have come across 18 year old europeans who have traveled from europe to east asia and back, using land route that took them through india, pakistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, china and various ethnic/religious fault lines.

Besides europeans, australians, japanese and koreans, who form bulk of the international travelers, increasingly I am also seeing middle class malaysian and indonesian tourists...

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{`` The raw energy and passion flowed through the sleeves of buyers and sellers. Human that I am, even I got caught in the frenzy and heat of the moment and the next thing I know I nearly bought myself a brand new camel. ``}

Atif,
This is the point where you appeared to be falling in love with the Safeena-e-Sahra or the ``ship of the desert.`` :)

{``#2 by rozaiba on September 21, 2006 9:52am PT
Good write up. Conclusion was what was `soft`.

``Married women put a beautiful colored mask on their faces that only covered their nose and lips.``

Perhaps this sentence needs a correction? ``}


Rozaiba,
Good catch. The incorrect dangling phrase makes it sound as if the married women`s faces only covered their nose and lips. :)

Atif,
Correct this by rephrasing:
``Married women covered their faces with beautiful colored masks that concealed only their noses and lips.``

{``We colonized people do not have the psyche to go out and explore. If we did, perhaps we would have been the colonizers.``}

Atif,
As a reincarnation of Ibn Batuta, I, like you, love to travel and explore this wonderful planet. More and more I am noticing that desis are discovering this exciting obsession. As far as Muslims and Hindus being explorers in the past - the reality is somewhat mixed and perplexing. Certainly, Hindus, despite the obvious reluctance to leave India, did manage to reach out to Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, and even as far as Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. There is strong evidence of Hindus traveling to Babylon, Egypt, and as far away as Rome itself.

The tales of Sinbad the Sailor and other legends point out the vigorous voyages of Muslim seamen from Basra to eastern Africa, Madagascar, Mozambique, India, Maldives, Ceylon, Burma, Indonesia, and even China. In the west, Spanish Muslims sailed and charted much of the coast of Western Europe and western Africa down to the Cape. There is some confusion about the origin of the word ``Brazil`` being of Arab African origin. The exploration of the Sahara all the way down to the coast of western Africa is a Moorish feat. Why these travels did not materialize into permanent colonies, except for eastern Africa and India, can be attributed to the business of defending the heartland against Crusaders and Mongols. The loss of Sicily to the newly-converted Normans (Vikings) was a precursor to the Crusades. Muslim traders had been visiting the Volga and trading with Vikings and others as far back as the 9th and 10th centuries.

Even the Ottoman Turks, who had a substantial and powerful navy in the 16th and 17th centuries, staffed with able Albanian, Tunisian, Algerian, and Greek sailors, were dominant in the Mediterranean and Black Seas, which they considered their lakes. For some curious reason, the Ottomans, under able admirals like Khairuddin ``Barbarossa`` Kapitan Pasha and Sirocco, were content with looting Spanish ships returning with the loot from the new world. As far as I know, they never ventured to find the source of this loot out west.

The Spanish and Portuguese flurry of explorations was made possible only by the final defeat of the Spanish Muslims in Granada in 1492. Both of these Christian powers used Muslim sailors and later on, converted Muslim settlers, to explore and colonize the New World. Converted Muslims, called Mozarabes, were often just too happy to leave the suffocating environment of the Spanish Inquisition. There needs to be much more research into the evaporation of the Muslim majority in the Iberian Peninsula and how it disappeared into the New World, while the surviving nobility escaped or was expelled to North Africa.

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atif payee, arabs were always merchants doing trade and travel between europe and asia far before islam..if you think of phoenicians they were big time traders. islam game them a ``special strenght`` to go beyong trading.

some chinese travelling is ok but most did not..it did not make enough economic sense to travel when the center or the universe was in the middle kingdom..untill dole formed pineapple farms in hawaii and american railroad was being built. hindians had plenty of tradition of learning, al-beruni and other travellers (e.g. chinese) before acknowledge it. they also acknowledge that food was cheap and common people wore good ``linens``.

thesis of one adventurous leader is not good enough because the leader needs follower who think its worth to go abroad only, no?

for spanish and portuguese it made economic sense to check out routes thanks to higher money to be made due to ottoman control of trading routes.