Hinking in Andorra

The objective of the trip was first hiking in the south of Andorra for 4 days, following by a quick 2/3 days visit of Barcelona.

It was a trip with full blessing, I begin my journey with a cheap discount train ticket, in lieu of 90eu, I paid 35eu, to my surprise, I had bed wagon on top of that.

Arriving in Andorra, the first challenge was called the pic

of Pessons, it is about 2870 meter high, I am proud to say that I “conquered” it twice; the first time I descended to the wrong side. It took me about 7 hours to make the journey, only realized next day that I should stay in the Refuge de l'Illa, situates on the other side of the mountain, of 2870 meter altitude.

However, it was not that bad, a mistake turned lucky. I landed in a refugee, le Refuge de Ensagents, in the middle of pin trees, with a fireplace, and free Chocolate and other foodstuff on the table. Whilst preparing dinner, I realized like a stupid I forgot to buy dry meat (sauccison, Jambon or Ham) in Pas de la Casa, all I have was dry noodles, and neither I had fork!!!

But fortunately I found a plastic fork and a bag of dry chicken curry rice for dinner. I spent my night in front of the fire while drinking a good and tax-free whisky.

Next morning, I was dumbfounded to see light snow on the ground and water froze. It was only mid September, indeed, “we cannot joke with mountains,” according to a Biru proverb of Peru, or a Swiss proverb, who knows ... As a result, I had no choice but to stay in the area, 2.420m altitude, which is like the heaven on earth, lakes, fish, births, trees, blue sky, warm weather and no humans around.


Subsequently, I stayed at two other Refuges, Pla de l'Estany, where I found free ham hang on the wall (so I had meat, see the movie section), and Riu dels Orris, the other refuge. Both extremely clean and beautifully located.





After 4 days of hiking, I headed to the noble capital of Catalonia, Barcelona. To my full surprise, it was a period of local festival, la Merce, a Catalunian Princess, protectorship of the city.



I stayed in Kabul Hostel next to the famous Ramblas, for the third time in my life. I must say I was truly a lucky bastard during this trip because the hostel was fully booked with no free bed left, indeed many hostels in Barcelona were full, but I was able to get a mattress for 15 euro to sleep on the floor.


Finally, an anecdote that I would like to share.

I was wondering in the poor neighborhood of the old town Barcelona, where reside people of Sub Asian Continent, Maghrib and other Muslim countries, by accident I bumped into the Barcelona Modern Art Museum or Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA), it was exhibiting the winning work of World Press Photo of 05.

It was at first sight an ordinary show of shocking pictures. I walked through the exhibition with careful attention paid to side notes and details. Those extremely diversified pictures covered many aspects of human existence, mostly about societies in turmoil and momentous social political events in both developing and post-industrial worlds. A Sri Lankan woman crying on the beach next to her drowned relative, a US soldier being the only survivor of an ambush of his unit only be killed 3 days later on the same road. An Iranian, in order to change his live course, sewed up his lips and eyelids and went on hunger strike, for he is about to be deported back to Iran.

At first, I thought he was a victim of torture of the Iranian regime, but he did it to himself in order to stay in Holland.*

At any rate, after I exit from the Museum, realizing it was such a sunny Indian summer afternoon, insouciant young Europeans seating on light yellow sofas in the Museum’s cosy court, laughing, smoking, on couples or on groups, suddenly I could no longer hold, I cried. Human existence is an irony, it is in sum solely determinated by the geographic locality.

As a political scientist by training, the shocking contrast of human existence reminds me the famous phase of Churchill’s dictum on the nature of a democratic regime. Indeed, that democracy is certainly not the best form of political system, but it is the best form we know so far; on the other words, democratic regime is the least bad of all forms of government that have been tried.

Take the experience of Spanish nation for instance; twenty years ago it is still a developing countries, emerging from the shadow of Franco. Ten years ago, when I was in town for the first time, Barcelona was an old, dirty and exotic travel destination. Today’s Barcelona is the one of the most dynamic city in Europe, attracting migrants around the global, including young American graduates.

Now, I believe we have a moral obligation to help other suffering souls, a noble thinking perhaps. Nonetheless, I become increasingly reluctant to believe that that should be carried out by a state government. The reason is simple. Such political action is too controversial on both political as well as moral ground. For the role of a state is first of all protecting national interests, each action of a state has to have a political agenda behind it (or we were told so), relating to the interests of that state. Therefore, it is perhaps not imprudent, but certainly unwise for a state to intervene in external affairs, especially on a moral ground. This is equally true for American Messianism, which is only an extension of American hands to the rest of the world, as many “cynically” argued.

Yet, the critic of American foreign policy is not entirely wrong. The primary objective for the US government is to protect its national interests, its global dominance and its superiority through enforcement of its overseas interests around the globe. This policy or slogan has been unfortunately repeated publicly in numerous times by the leading members of the US administration since 2001.

So the question is, if we have a moral obligation to help other, how and who has that fundamental responsibility to do so? By NGOs that take 50% of funding into paychecks, by volunteers who are ideologists and/or fanatics of diverse opinions and agendas, or by the UN which has no mandate in overthrowing tyrants.

I think it is about time to end my thought. Anyhow, the moral of the history is, hiking is good, because it clears your brain, traveling is recommended because it gives you fresh ideas.

PS. Let's see where I go next time.


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*
Indian photographer Arko Datta of Reuters is the winner of this year’s World Press Photo of the Year award.His picture of an Indian woman mourning a relative killed in the Asian tsunami was taken in Tamil Nadu on 28 December.

Kathy Ryan, photo editor for the New York Times Magazine and one of the competition's judges, described Datta's image as "graphic, historical and starkly emotional".

Private Eric Ayon of Echo Company of the Second Battalion, Fourth Regiment of the US Marines stares through the bullet-riddled windshield of a Humvee ambushed at Ar Ramadi in Iraq on April 6. Eight out of the nine marines on board were killed, and Ayon himself died in an ambush at the same intersection three days later. During its tour of Iraq, Echo Company suffered the worst casualties of any US company since Vietnam.

Iranian asylum-seeker Mehdy Kavousi sewed up his lips and eyelids and went on hunger strike to protest against his threatened deportation from the Netherlands, in February.

More description:

BBC News.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/in_pictures_world_press_photo_award_2004/html/1.stm

World Press Photo
The official web site.