RAJ Revisited - Final Issue
Over the past 4 years or so, of creating and publishing Ripcord Adventure Journal, the team involved in bringing it to print and digital editions has been on a marvellous journey of discovery and adventure in their own right. None of us had prior experience in publishing an international periodical before, our strength was derived from the unstinting support given by our adventurers and explorers who have written and photographed their journeys for us. Furthermore, our delight has grown as our readership and audience have rocketed to unexpected but very welcome heights, particularly on our digital platform: www.yumpu.com/user/worldexplorers where we have reached almost 8 million views. In this period we have published so many great articles that we felt it timely to pick a single article from each issue and present them here in a 2014-2018 Revisited issue, the eight articles which follow have been chosen by the editorial team to reflect the broad interests of Ripcord Adventure Journal and I hope, will serve to introduce our many new readers to previous issues, all of which, continue to be available for free on our digital platform. We aimed to be the home of authentic, adventurous travel, which serves as a starting point for personal reflection, study and new journeys; we hope that you enjoy reading this free digital Journal and encourage you to share it widely. As this will be the final issue of Ripcord Adventure Journal, we hope that you took inspiration from our amazing contributors and that you may follow their adventures into the future. On behalf of the editorial, writing and design team, I wish to acknowledge our outstanding sponsors from day one, the World Explorers Bureau (Charlotte Baker Weinert) and Redpoint Resolutions (Mark Cohon, Thomas Bochnowski, Ted Muhlner, Martha Marin, John Moretti and all the team).
Over the past 4 years or so, of creating and publishing Ripcord Adventure Journal, the team involved in bringing it to print and digital editions has been on a marvellous journey of discovery and adventure in their own right. None of us had prior experience in publishing an international periodical before, our strength was derived from the unstinting support given by our adventurers and explorers who have written and photographed their journeys for us. Furthermore, our delight has grown as our readership and audience have rocketed to unexpected but very welcome heights, particularly on our digital platform: www.yumpu.com/user/worldexplorers where we have reached almost 8 million views.
In this period we have published so many great articles that we felt it timely to pick a single article from each issue and present them here in a 2014-2018 Revisited issue, the eight articles which follow have been chosen by the editorial team to reflect the broad interests of Ripcord Adventure Journal and I hope, will serve to introduce our many new readers to previous issues, all of which, continue to be available for free on our digital platform.
We aimed to be the home of authentic, adventurous travel, which serves as a starting point for personal reflection, study and new journeys; we hope that you enjoy reading this free digital Journal and encourage you to share it widely. As this will be the final issue of Ripcord Adventure Journal, we hope that you took inspiration from our amazing contributors and that you may follow their adventures into the future.
On behalf of the editorial, writing and design team, I wish to acknowledge our outstanding sponsors from day one, the World Explorers Bureau (Charlotte Baker Weinert) and Redpoint Resolutions (Mark Cohon, Thomas Bochnowski, Ted Muhlner, Martha Marin, John Moretti and all the team).
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Monlam Cham Festival<br />
By Francis O' Donnell<br />
After months of making our way through the Silk Roads deserts,<br />
dry and bleak, every hue of brown did I see. Tawny was the sky, at<br />
night, five shades of beige, sand our constant delight. When the<br />
shadows of dusk were finally cast, dark brown, sienna, and umber<br />
came out at last. The color flowing into this town could astound.<br />
Red, yellow, and blue were just a few there to be found. There were<br />
secondaries, too, a kaleidoscopic mix of all, a majestic vision to<br />
behold. The primaries were in force, in the form of coral, amber,<br />
and turquoise, of course. Precious stones held in place with facets<br />
of silver and golden lace.<br />
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA<br />
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA<br />
Fortunes attached to headdresses, heavy and long, with tails that<br />
hung behind beautiful maiden's derrieres. Rings and bracelets, for<br />
men and boys, items that not only the women did enjoy. Paupers,<br />
peasants, and princes all stopped at crowded market stalls, that had<br />
sprung up along the way, to separate pilgrims from their pay. There<br />
was a magic in the air. The tension of anticipation without despair,<br />
the past was the past, for soon New Year's day would be here.<br />
Riders, at breakneck speed, parted the human tide. Birds of prey<br />
swooped down with the swiftness of a whirlwind. Warrior Monks,<br />
whose wings were of crimson cloaks, flew through the crowding<br />
sky, as they took flight to roost amongst the monasteries main flock.<br />
Quarters of the Lampo Lama and home of the living Buddha.<br />
We came to stay at a chamber run by the monastery. Our cell was<br />
small and dark with shutters shut, a profusion of oil lamps lit the<br />
space. It was freezing cold, in what was once Amdo Provence, in<br />
late January. The coal burning stove was just being lit by one of the<br />
monks that oversees the residences. We threw our packs down on<br />
the horse hair mattress. The bed consisted of several planks of<br />
wood nailed together and stretched across chairs at either end.<br />
Exhausted we collapsed, our coma seemed to last forever. Shivering<br />
terribly, my teeth were chattering as I awoke, it was only 11 pm and<br />
our fire was out. It was going to be a long night.<br />
Up with the sun, over the next few days, we explored the town and<br />
made ourselves known. With still two weeks before the main<br />
festivities we had a chance to make friends with many of the monks,<br />
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