Reflections: Cusco

Cusco is the main tourist destination in Peru, since it is the starting point for Machu Picchu. Cusco is thus a tourist town, and everything good and bad that can be expected from a tourist town is here.

The good: there are many people who can help in English, it has good tourist infrastructure in terms of food, accommodation and travel.

The bad: I find it somewhat overpriced, and every one assumes that the tourist has money - so there are a lot of beggars and vendors trying to sell you something at every corner. It is sometimes just frustrating to travel around the city.

Cusco has its own attractions, but except for Qorinkancha (see here), most of the attractions in Cusco itself are rather mundane. To visit Saqsaywaman and most of the other ruins, a Cusco Tourist ticket is needed - and I spent this morning going through the museums included in the ticket. While they all have something interesting, I would not have considered going to any of them if I had to pay to enter them individually.

That said, I have enjoyed my time in Cusco. In particular, I had a great Christmas Eve. The residents of Cusco really celebrate Christmas by setting off fireworks and many clubs along the main square throw big parties. It was a great night out, and would have stayed a lot longer if I did not have to get up by 6 am on 25 Dec to go to Machu Picchu.

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu was the reason I decided to come to Peru. I first came across it on a movie, and I have been facinated by both Machu Picchu and Inca history ever since. Because it was only "discovered" by the west in 1911, it is one of the best preserved Inca cities. High up in the mountains, it is a showcase of civil engineering, that I think many modern engineering works would be hard pressed to match.

Getting There

There are a number of ways to get to Machu Picchu. The best known is the Inca trail - a four day trek following the original Inca highway from Ollantaytambo (a town about 80Km from Cusco) to Machu Picchu. The trail is highly regulated, but I did manage to find a spot leaving on 23 Dec. However, that would have left me no time to acclimatise to the altitude and considering my current fitness levels (i.e. poor), I decided against it. After panting up and down to Saqsaywaman, I am glad I did not do the trek.

The tourist option to get there is to catch the expensive train (about 73 US Dollars return ticket), then a bus to the entrance. The hostel I am staying at got me a good deal for this option which included a full guided tour. Yes, it was well worth the money spent, but the train was certainly not worth 73 US dollars. While part of the journey was scenic, it was highly uncomfortable, and I think it is a complete rip off.

There is a cheaper option of getting to Machu Picchu, which involves a lot of walking and taking buses at 3 am and an overnight stay at Aguas Calientes (the town at the bottom of the mountain, which is the train stop). I did consider this option, but I could not find cheap accommodation at Aguas Calientes to make this option worth the pain ...

The Ruins

Machu Picchu is spectacular. Surrounded by mountains and spectacular views of the valley below, it is worth coming here for the views alone. Because the Incas did not have any written language, a lot of mystery remains. It was built in the mid 1400's and took about 70 odd years to get to the current state, and then the city was abandoned. The city remained incomplete, and it has been preserved pretty much as it was left. While it is clear that the city held very deep religious significance, the exact purpose of the city remains unclear.

One of the most impressive aspects of the city is its alignment to the sun. On the two solstices (June 21 and Dec 22) the sun rays (during sunrise) fall exactly through the windows of the Temple of the Sun and it is reputed to be a spectacular sight. There are other astronomical markers including a representation of the Southern Cross which creates an accurate mapping of North, South, East and West.

Personally, what I found most impressive were the terraces. The terraces were built specifically to support the town, and prevent it from sliding down the mountain. Furthermore, it provides excellent drainage and allows all the water to drain away without affecting the foundations of the city. As with other Inca constructions, there is no mortar used in the construction of the town and the town has survived earthquakes, heavy rain, was overgrown with tropical forest (and about 30% of the forest has yet to be cleared) and now a steady stream of tourists.

Returning Again

I would very much like to return to Machu Picchu. Next time, I would definitely do the classic Inca trail and then the other less traveled Inca trails around Aguas Calientes. I am thinking of a trek that would end on either 22 Dec 2008 or 21 June 2009. If anyone is interested, drop me a mail ...

Inca ruins around Cusco

Being the capital city of the Inca empire, Cusco has a number of Inca ruins dotted around the city. The most famous of them is the fortress of Saqsaywaman, on a hill near the city. Part military fort, part religious complex, the remains of the fort give a great overview of the incredible skill of the Inca builders.

The Incas were master stone craftsmen - shaping stones and boulders and then constructing buildings with these stones, without any cement. The stones have various interlocking angles which allowed them to have a perfect fit with adjacent stones and maintain a strong coupling. Their work is really impressive when you consider the fact that Peru has a number of small earthquakes every year, and a number of big earthquakes every century. Yet in all the earthquakes, the Inca buildings have yet to be damaged and have maintained their form.

Regrettably, most of the Inca buildings around Cusco were dismantled by the conquering Spaniards. The Spanish conquerors were one of the most destructive conquering forces in history - they not only killed the ruling and nobility classes (the nobility classes included all the scholars and priests of the Inca world) but also destroyed the artwork (melted down the gold and silver) and the buildings to make their own. In some cases they adapted Inca buildings - like the temple of Qorinkancha, which was converted into a monastery (and is still a monastery), but is now a major tourist attraction detailing the building craftsmanship of the Incas.

Another ruin, close to Saqsaywaman, is that of Qenqo - a temple that was once used for human sacrifice. Human sacrifices (usually children) were made as offers to the gods for a good harvest or for a good planting. Since I did not have a guided tour of these ruins, I do not have any more details :(

Nazca to Cusco

Peru has some really scenic routes - particularly in the Andes. The road between Nazca (on the coast) to Cusco (in the Andes) is no exception. The road is also one of the oldest routes in the Americas: Cusco was the capital city of the Inca civilisation and Nazca was one of the major trading towns for the Incas.

I will be taking a lot of busses on my trip around Peru - and there are a number of different buses in Peru. On the bottom end, are the mini buses, which rarely travel intercity. They are usually overcrowded and I have yet to take one of these buses. For intercity buses there are basically two types: there is one that is more like a commuter bus that will stop anywhere along the route, less comfortable (more like economy seats in airlines) but off course cheaper. The second type is the straight intercity buses that only stop at designated terminals. These have two types of seats: on the upper deck, the seats are like premium economy on airlines: wider and quite decent legroom, while on the lower deck, the seats are close to business class on airlines: really comfortable leather seats which recline to almost a bed. Surprisingly the price difference between the two is only about 5 US Dollars.

For my trip between Nazca and Cusco, I had no choice but to take the best seat ... as it was the only seat available. I was glad I did - 16 hours on a bus feels so much better when it is comfortable! There was only one piece of drama on the road: due to overnight rain, there was some rockfall on the road, which closed up one lane of the road. On top of that, a bus managed to get stuck on the lane that was "open". This off course backed up traffic and caused a full 2 hour stop. But it gave me time to take a few pics ...

Nazca

Due to my early start to the day (I arrived in Pisco around 5am), I had finished with the Nazca lines and was in Nazca the town by 1pm. My bus is scheduled for 9pm, and thus have a massive 8 hours to kill, in a small town, which features a number of bus companies, a number of tour companies and not much else.

In the Inca times this was a major trading town, where the Incas traded their wool (from the highlands) for the cotton (from the lowlands). The trading centre remains as an open ruin inviting anyone to wander through. It is an impressive site, and I wonder how it really looked 400 years ago.

The Inca's built other things around here: most notably a canal system to supply water to a desert town, which is still in use (and according to my guide book, more important than ever). However, my guidebook's directions to the canal system was sketchy, and I did not find it. With the heat, and general tiredness, I decided to just chill on the main square for the rest of the afternoon ... I am after all on holiday :p

Nazca Lines

The Nazca lines are huge, and best seen from a flyover. However, I am already running a bit over budget and spending 50 USD for a stomach turning spin was just not my cup of tea today. That said, I think I would love to return and do it properly.

There is a lot of speculation with regards to who made the lines, why they made the lines and when they made the lines. Regardless of which theory you believe, they remain a majestic sight. There is a lookout tower built on the side of the Pan-Pacific highway (running through Chile and Peru) and you can have a look at least 4 major lines from the tower with no difficulty. And the tower costs only 1 Sole (about 33 US cent), so a much better bargain! Sadly, the really famous figure: the hummingbird is one of the more remote figures, and the ones that can be clearly seen are: Flower, Hands, Tree and Lizard together with one of the massive line complexes (that look like runways).

Traveling on public transport is quite difficult as you have to wait for the next bus to come through, and I had the luck of waiting about 50 minutes. While the wonders of who, why and when are perfectly legitimate - I have a different question: how did the lines survive. From the vantage point I found two small dust storms, and I am sure, this area gets a lot more stronger storms. How can the lines remain so visible after all this time?

Ica

I was surprised that Ica did not suffer as much damage as Pisco, given their relatively close distance. The town centre, as most other Peruvian towns, is dominated by colonial architecture. The town itself is over run with auto-rickshaws, which seem to be more popular than the 4 wheeled taxis. I did walk around a bit, but in the end, there is not really much to see in the town itself. There are well known Peruvian wineries dotted around Ica, and as it is also the start of the desert, there are some magnificent dunes visible on the route down to Ica (and further south). With my main aim of securing a bus to Cusco from Nazca complete, I decided to head on to see the Nazca lines.

Pisco

A few months ago, Peru had a massive earthquake, centred around Pisco. The aftermath of the earthquake are still visible: most of the town features broken buildings and reconstruction seems to be the major focus. I did not spend much time here, wanted a bus to Nazca, for which I was told I have to go to the town of Ica, about an hour and half away by bus. So off I went.

Out of Huancavelica

If it was not for the journey, the destination would not be worth the bother. It is a small town, of no special interest. In fact, I spent a matter of 2 or 3 hours in the town, most of it around the bus station!

Getting to Huancavelica was relatively easy. Getting out however proved to be a major challenge. In particular, I wanted to travel to the town of Ayuchocho - a mountain town about 400 Km away. However, I could not find any busses that go there, and was told that the roads were too bad at this time of the year (it is the rainy season in the Andes) and no direct routes exist. Instead I was adviced to go to another town from where I could catch a connecting bus. While the direct bus would have been a matter of 8 hours at most, the new route would be at least 16 hours of traveling ... if I got a bus. While I did buy a ticket with that intention, I changed my mind and decided to just carry on with the bus to the coastal town of Pisco and change my route of travel instead.

I am sure my route would have been similar, and I would really love to do this route during the day. A few weeks ago, BBC's Top Gear presented a segment on the "Greatest Driving Road" in the world. If they were to consider unpaved roads, the road down along the mountain after Huancavelica to Pisco should win it comfortable.

Simply put, it is the most terrifying road I have ever been on ... and I loved every moment of it (of which I was awake ... I was asleep for large parts of the journey). Basically it was an unpaved road (a smooth dirt road if that makes sense) cut against the mountain. There were very few road signs, and no guard rails. On one side: the mountain. The other side: a drop into the valley. This off course meant that passing vehicles was an adventure in itself ... luckily only happened twice. There were two other hazards, both of which required all the passengers to get out: a rockfall and a narrow bridge. I must say: the driver was amazing and drove with great skill - although he was hardly hurtling the bus down the hill.

For the moments I was awake, it was an amazing journey: moonlit, clear skies lighting up basically a black valley of tree tops. The trip must be amazing during the day! Huancavelica is not worth much as a town - but the journey to and from the town is worth a day's travel.

Huancayo

Thursday evening was my first venture outside Lima, with an overnight bus trip to Huancayo, a town high up (over 3000m) in the Andes. I had only one motivation to come to here: it is the stating point of the Huancayo-Huanvelica train trip, which was cited as one of the most scenic train rides in the world in both my guide book (Rough Guides to Peru) and Lonely Planet. After those recommendations, I just could not resist.

The town itself is largely unremarkable - some interesting old colonial buildings (two churches and the town centre for example), and there is a thriving craft market. But beyond that, there is no real reason to make a prolonged stop in Huancayo. Although, the air is very fresh and crisp - so I suppose that is a reason to stay ....

Huancayo to Huancavelica

Even though the train trip is cited often, it does not seem to be very popular with tourists. The start of the journey is hardly auspicious: there are no paved roads leading to the station, and while there are trains: they are not necessarily regular. I was lucky to catch the "faster train" which raises the interesting question on how slow the slow train is ...

More than scenery, the railroad (and the road between the town) is a major feat of engineering. The Incas were well known for their engineering prowess, and it is good to know that the Peruvians haven't lost it.

The route travels along a river gorge with the tracks literally carved into the sides of the mountain. The mountain route is breath taking, and so are the various villages dotted around the tracks. In particular, the hill side farming terraces are particularly impressive: a wonder that farmers actually farm here on the slopes.

Lima Reflections

I have been in Lima for about 2 and a half days, and will be leaving later tonight, in a somewhat long and protracted journey through some towns of the beaten track towards Cusco, the second biggest city in Peru. I have been staying at the Backpackers Family House in the Miraflores suburb of Lima.

The Hostel

I have been seriously impressed with the hostel, which is run by two guys: Pedro and Christian. They have been really cool hosts, and took us (as the residents) out on the town last night and cooked a traditional Peruvian dish on Monday night. The hostel is more like a temporary digs than a hostel - it is a largish house with about 6 rooms which can take a various numbers of people. The other residents have so far been two Dutch guys, a Canadian guy, John, (who I might meet up later in Cusco), an American carpenter (who was almost like a permanent resident, but left to go back), a Canadian girl who just arrived, two Brazilians and a Columbian. John and I spent quite some time exploring Lima as we arrived on the same day, but we have made various groups to explore various areas of Lima. That is one of the really cool things I like about backpacking.

I am coming back to Lima over New Year's Day, and staying here again ... definitely the best hostel I have stayed in.

Lima

Lima is a massive city - both in its population (apparently around 7 million) and area. It is a big metropolitan area, and it reminds me a lot about South Africa (taxis) and India (bad driving, smog). It is also a very fast paced city - people are always on the move, and life seems to be fast. It is not really a beautiful city; and a friend of John apparently described it as a "big ugly city that you just have to go through". It does however have its charms.

Miraflores

Miraflores is a suburb of Lima, and is actually quite far from original city centre. It is quite an affluent area, and is full of fancy shops. Built on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific, it is also sometimes quite spectacular. And nothing is more spectacular than Larco Mar, a new shopping centre built on the cliffs, offering spectacular views. But knowing Peru's reputation of earthquakes, the rationality of this building must be raised.



Right in the middle of Miraflores, is Huach Pucllana - a pre-Inca ruin, that is being slowly restored. It is quite fascinating to see restoration in progress especially considering there are apartments overlooking the ruins.

Lima Centro

The old town, built mostly by the Spanish and thus has a lot of old European architecture.

Playing Frogger

Traffic and driving in Lima is a nightmare. Drivers it seem, only respect three parts of the traffic law: one way signs, traffic police and red lights. No other traffic signs are respected - and cars just go. Pedestrians have to play frogger to cross the road as do cars!

Taxis (the South African kind) are called Collectivos and are quite weird, and everywhere. And most passenger cars are taxi cabs (NY style) and everyone seems to use them: they are pretty cheap (no fixed rates - you have to negotiate) and thus very convenient.

Like in SA, the roads are full of street hawkers selling at road crossings and the variety is a lot more than in SA. There are also guys doing all sorts of things to earn money: doing acrobatic tricks during rush hour for example (while the lane is stopped)! No wonder that most cars have dents in them!

The ANC Leadership ...

This post is really a comment to Sara's excellent blog post and an extension of my earlier comment to Marco's post.

Firstly, Zuma's election as the leader of the ANC is not a surprise. But, I don't think it is a surprise because it is Zuma that won the position, but because, Mbeki was doomed to fail in his bid for re-election. The fact of the matter is, Mbeki, as much as I like the man, is not a great leader. In fact, as my high school English teacher often commented, Shakespeare has a lot of modern day applicability; and here - this is the classic case of Brutus vs Anthony.

On one corner, we have Mbeki - the intellectual, a man of effectively royalty (Govan Mbeki was after all a defendant at the Rivonia trial) and a man of strong beliefs; i.e. Brutus. While he is well respected for his intellectual prowess, he is not really understood by the common man - and he is in fact very much removed from the concerns of the common man. Mbeki (and for that matter Brutus) may have concerns for the common man, but they are so out of touch with the common man, that they cannot really communicate their plans effectively.

On the other corner, we have Zuma - a man of the people, a man who led the wars from the front line, a man who is not dumb by any means - but certainly not an intellectual i.e. Anthony. He understands the common man on the street - he identifies with them, can speak to them and can listen to them. And because he speaks the same language as the common man, he is more popular with the common man.

And it is no surprise Zuma won - Mbeki might have the respect of the common man, but Zuma has the love of teh common man, and often the rational decision is ruled over by the heart.

But to be honest, I don't think neither Zuma nor Mbeki are good leaders. The fact is, the leadership race was not dictated by policies or visions - but personalities. Mbeki did not seem to give any vision of what it would mean to have him for another 3 years. The fact is, neither did Zuma. What does it mean now that Zuma has won? Will he move towards more social spending? Will he make ARV drugs freely available everywhere? Will he push for a stronger or weaker Rand? Will he pursue peace in other African countries?

The problem with modern democracies is that, more often than not, it is being decided by personalities and not really policies. The fact is, true political parties with really divergent policies are becoming rare.

And more worrying in my opinion ... we no longer know what a government's mandate is. COSATU wants the government to make more jobs. The homeless want free housing. Sportsmen want financial support. In my opinion, the purpose of what a government is there to do has become blurred and almost non existent. And it requires leadership to fix this ... and I don't think Zuma is the man to do the job. But neither is Mbeki.

Sao Paulo Stopover

After the Bolivian visa fiasco, I had no choice but to stay overnight in Sao Paulo before flying to Lima. And due to a morning flight, overnight either meant a hotel near the airport (no backpacker places nearby) or at the airport itself. The hotel room worked out despite the relatively high cost due to the good night's sleep after being awake for close to 24 hours and a hot shower in the morning. The cost was further increased due to the necessity of taking a taxi to the hotel after the non appearance of the scheduled hotel bus (and I waited close to an hour ... sleep called in the end).

The flight from Johannesburg was not bad, even though it was 10 hours long, during the day (so not much sleep) and no seat back entertainment units. For the first time, in a long while, I sat next to someone interesting on the plane - a pretty Brazilian lady of South African decent (father was South African who went on holiday to Brazil and sort of never returned ....). She was visiting her far flung relatives in South Africa and Mozambique and was returning home.

Can't really say too much about Sao Paulo itself other than it is massive. Whether it is from my hotel room, or from the air, it just seems to be full of people. It is one of the largest metropolitan regions in the world, and the scale is truly impressive, even though I have been to other massive metropoles: Kolkata (previously Calcutta), Mumbai (previously Bombay), New York, London and Cairo. The area around the airport seems to be quite well developed with good roads etc. although seeing cyclists on the highway to the airport this morning was quite eye catching ... especially when the were crossing the highway.

Oh, and there are loads of beautiful Brazilian women around ...

And so it begins ...

I am currently posting this from the OR Tambo International Airport, previously known as Johannesburg International Airport (and previous to that, known as Jan Smuts International Airport). In about an hour, I will board my plane for Sao Paulo, and start my South American adventure.

Lee had convinced me to try traveling through Bolivia, and I changed my plans accordingly. Unfortunately, the Bolivian embassy could not process my visa even though the consul gave me her assurances that she had the time to do so. So, I have reverted my plans back to the original one, which has its good and bad .... good that I may have the chance to do the Inca trail (if there are free spots), and cover more of Peru. Bad in that the flight between Sao Paulo and Lima is quite expensive, so has dented my budget a bit.

Keep an eye on the blog for updates ... and don't expect too many email replies!

Offline Blogging Tools (for the Mac)

I have been testing out Qumana, a offline blogging tool that works on Mac OS X (Leopard). Basically, I was looking for a tool that I can use to create posts offline and then upload when I have net connectivity, in particular for my South America trip. This is the only tool that seemed to work when I looked at this issue in Germany, but it has its share of problems: three major ones from my point of view.

Firstly, the title does not seem to be posted. I have tried numerous times and every time, the title is lost.

Secondly, there is no support for Blogger's labeling system. It does have tagging support - but I specifically want to use Blogger's labeling system for consistency.

Lastly, the save posts function sometimes does not work - and no error message is given. And this is the most annoying part of it all - after all, adding labels and titles are a few clicks, rewriting a post can take minutes if not hours.

The spell checker also does not seem to work ...

So all in all, I am looking for other options ... any recommendations?

Al Jazeera (English)

Al Jazeera, is most famous for the Al Qaeda tapes from Osama bin Laden. Originally, it was broadcast only in Arabic, but more recently (I think for the past 2 or 3 years) there has been an English 24 hour news channel also. I have been watching the English broadcast on DSTV for a few hours, and I must say I have been really impressed.

Firstly, being based in Qatar, it is no wonder that there does seem to be an emphasis on news from the Arabic peninsula. That said, the Arabian peninsula is one of the news hotspots of the world, so it is not such a bad thing. In fact, what is really impressive about Al Jazeera is its balance in reporting. For almost every major controversial topic, there are reports that examine the contrasting views. A report on Gaza features a report from Israel and a report from Gaza. A report on the climate change conference in Bali features reports from the developing country representatives, the US representatives, the pro-lobby groups and even environmentalists who think the Bali process is pointless.

Sometimes, I think that they seem to be trying too hard to be balanced! But their approach is refreshing, and I particularly liked some of their special segments, featuring topics that seem to be almost completely against the Arabian prejudicial views: shows focusing on women's movement, the high price of oil, human rights and Islamic extremism. The English channel is full of veterans from CNN and BBC, and it almost seems that they have a lot more freedom in their craft.

Christmas Markets

Last year Hans-Peter was rather despondent around Christmas, and remarked that Christmas was just not the same in South Africa. I did not really understand, until I went to the famous Nuremberg and Munich Christmas markets. Christmas, in fact seems to be in a completely different spirit than that of South Africa, and it is not a matter of rampant consumerism either.

Firstly, in many parts of Europe, Christmas gifts are actually not exchanged during Christmas but during St Nicholas day around 5/6 December. Yes, Santa has his own day!

But the main difference in my opinion is really the actual decorations and spirit. It is not just a matter of Gluhwein and snow - Christmas decorations in Germany did not feature fake trees and an assortment of fake presents and lights. Instead, most decorations almost tended to tell a story of sorts, and decorations went beyond just lights and tinsel. There is even a town in Germany (Rothenburg ob der Tauber) dedicated to the production of Christmas decorations, and the craftsmanship in some of the decorations (such as nutcrackers) is particularly impressive.

Interestingly, Christmas markets can only operate from a certain date, and it seems that tradition has somewhat controlled rampant consumerism. In a way, I think I finally get what the fuss is all about ...

Munich

Munich is well known as a city of the rich, and numerous art galleries, the BMW factory and a relatively higher priced goods definitely enforces this view. Off course Munich is best known for Oktoberfest, and I never managed to make it to Munich during Oktoberfest.

The main highlights of Munich are centred around the old town centre, a short walk from the main train centre. While the area is interesting, especially the churches, it just did not have the same character as some of the other old towns in Germany. I am not sure why.

The BMW headquarters are one of the highlights for any car fan. Located next to the Olympic Park, you end up with two tourist highlights in one! The BMW museum chronicles the history of BMW, including its history as an aeroplane engine manufacturer, to the post war era where it was reduced to producing consumer goods and bicycles to the gloom of BMW where it was almost sold off to Daimler Benz to off course its current glory years where it is one of the foremost car manufacturers in the world. The BMW World complex is a showroom like no other ... a massive complex of restaurants and cafes together with showrooms to order your cars as well technology show cases for various cars and bikes, including the Hydrogen car project.

I have been told that Munich is best visited in the summer or during Oktoberfest. While the museums are definitely worth visiting, the city a a whole is probably only worth visiting at those times?

Barcelona

First impressions: Barcelona was a concrete jungle. Apart from the odd children's playgrounds, it was just concrete everywhere. Even the trees that lined up next to some of the trees were basically planted in holes on the concrete pavements. That said, Barcelona has some really amazing architecture, and is a very vibrant city, full of life.

My time in Barcelona was pretty short ... a matter of fly in, attend conference, fly out. So after my paper presentation, I decided to skip the last session of the day and try to see a bit of Barcelona.

Apart from the Bodies exhibition, I did not enter any of the major sights ... but Barcelona is an amazing city, and even if it is a concrete jungle, it is a beautiful city with a blend of Gothic, renaissance and modern architecture. And there is greenery ... just not in the main part of the city :p I would definitely like to come back to Barcelona!

Oh, the northern part of Barcelona (near the Royal Palace and the venue of my conference) was actually very green ...

The Bodies Exhibition

I just missed the exhibition in Washington DC, and when I saw that it had just opened in Barcelona, I decided not to miss the opportunity. If you haven't heard, Bodies is a fairly controversial exhibition where a human body parts are plasticised and put on display. So instead of just seeing the human body from the view of the skeleton and or outside, the complex muscles and organs that really make us up can be put on display.

It is a fascinating exhibition - not only because it so clearly demonstrates the complex machine that is us, but also what disease means for the body. For example, what does a cancerous lung look like as opposed to a healthy lung?

The stated goal of the exhibition is to teach us about our own bodies ... I enjoyed biology in school, and to an extent, I think exhibitions like Bodies can help teach and educate people far more effectively than textbooks or even videos and 3D computer models - it just is not as realistic and in your face. Sadly, the exhibition is pretty exclusive ... entrance was about 15 Euros, and is only available in certain cities. Ultimately, the process must be adopted by museums to truly give a wider access to the public

Reflections on AXMEDIS 2007

AXMEDIS; is a huge EU funded project, officially called Automated Production of Cross Media Content for Multi-Channel Distribution. This is the third conference ; hosted by the project, which brings together various efforts from the project itself and papers in the related fields.

To be honest, the conference was not very exciting ... many of the papers that I attended did not really promote anything new, and some were hashes of existing work. That said, I must admit that I did learn a lot about the MPEG-21 standard, and I am even more convinced that it is an almost useless piece of standardisation.

That said, there was one very interesting presentation, which made it all worthwhile. Richard Owens, a director from WIPO gave a long presentation on copyright and challenges on the enfocement of copyright. It was one of the most comprehensive talks I have ever been to, and he highlighted a number of interesting points; including:

• Technology should be taken as given. Copyright law needs to be applied to technology and not the other way round.


• Automatic filtering technology (based on watermarking and fingerprinting) has to be accepted as part of the deal, and groups like the EFF are coming round to accepting this position.


• Standards could have too much patents and themselves become technological barriers


• Access to education material in development countries could become a copyright exception

He also participated in a panel on rights expression languages (where I was also a panelist). The panel however was not that exciting to be honest, although my view that there is a strong need for core formal models for REL was accepted :)

Conversations with a taxi driver

For both interviews, while I took trains and planes for most of the way, the last part of the connection was always by taxi. The Swiss taxi drivers were very friendly but not very talkative. The dutch drivers were more talkative, especially the last driver (who was also the only woman taxi driver).

The last trip, my driver took some back roads, primarily to avoid traffic, and because it was apparently shorter (although I have no concrete way judging that). The trip through the back roads was also interesting because it was suburbia - she pointed out schools, different types of houses and the last, soon to be demolished, factory in the centre of Eindhoven. It was also very enlightening because it gave me an idea of what it can to rent or buy property in The Netherlands; and her opinions on why there are more renters than buyers in the property market, even though it is cheaper to buy. Apparently, it is much harder to get a mortgage, so it is difficult to finance a purchase, so even though rent could be higher than mortgage repayments, it is easier to rent than to buy.

Obviously, the dutch banks were not exposed to mortgage credit crisis in the local market ...

Amsterdan

Better late than never ...

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In many respects, I was not too happy that I only had a short time in Amsterdam (basically a day and a half). But, Amsterdam at this time of the year is not nice - it is cold, windy and grey - with the hint of an occasional drizzle. I have always wanted to visit Amsterdam, so the opportunity to visit while on my way to Eindhoven for an interview at Phillips Research was very enticing.

Above all else, some part of Amsterdam really give the sense of a medieval town - especially in the Red Light District area - cobbled stone roads, soft glow of lamps (ok, I don't think the lamps were red in most medieval towns), narrow alleyways, and small doorways.

Amsterdam does not really have a distinct skyline - there does not seem to be a particular building that dominates the skyline. It is also the first time that I have really traveled without some knowledge of what I wanted to see and do. That in itself was a very interesting and pleasant change!

In fact, one of the only attraction that I did know of, is also the one that I did not actually go to - the house (and now Museum) of Anne Frank. The queue to get in went round the block, and I just did not have enough time to actually wait in the queue, especially given the weather.

The Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museums were also other attractions I had thought of visiting - although I only found out about these after arriving in Amsterdam. The Van Gogh museum was also very crowded, and given that the entrance price was 10 Euros, I decided to only visit the Rijksmuseum.

Apart from museums and the Red Light District, one cannot mention Amsterdam without mentioning bicycles and coffee shops that sell soft drugs. For the former, the number of bicycles is absolutely staggering - I know that most people have more than one bicycle, but the number of parked bicycles and the number of cyclists on the road is simply staggering. As for the soft drugs - while I was not offered any, the number of shops selling magic mushroom and other hallucinogens is quite impressive And added to that, in some areas, some areas where there are more than one special coffee shops, the air just smells of marijuana ... I wonder if people can get high through passive breathing.

As for the interview itself - it went well, and like the previous one, I do not think I embarrassed myself. But this interview was a lot easier in some respects - there were only five interviews (although longer) plus the presentation, much of the topics of the interview was familiar as there is a lot of DRM related activities at Phillips. Unfortunately, I apparently do not fit their required profile, so did not get the job. Oh well.


Van Gogh on the Dam Square


Canals and side streets


Statue of Anne Frank (near the Museum)

Bugs Bunny

Bugs Bunny has always been one of my favourite cartoon characters ...