Islamic Protests Create Uncertainty for Travelers

Islamic Protests Create Uncertainty for Travelers
From Greg Cruey, Your Guide to Asia for Visitors.
Feb 6 2006

Danes, Norwegians evacuated from Syria and Lebanon A simple cartoon could ruin your trip in the next few days if you are traveling to many parts of the Muslim world. Protests turned deadly over night in Afghanistan, according to the Associated Press, as Afghan police fired on a crowd demonstrating outside a U.S. military installation there. One protester died. Protests have now occurred in a number of Asian countries over the publication in several European newspapers of cartoon caricatures of the founder of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad. A dozen such cartoons have been published and republished in papers in Norway, France, Germany, and other countries in the past two weeks. Included in the cartoons: an image of Muhammad with a turban shaped like a bomb and a cartoon of the Prophet standing outside heaven saying to suicide bombers, "Stop! We've run out of virgins." The cartoons were first published by a Danish newspaper in September; growing indignation in the Muslim world over the cartoons and a boycott of Danish products in some Middle Eastern nations kept the issue from going away. Now protests have broken out in a number of Islamic communities. The cartoons are considered offensive by Muslims for two reasons. Much has been made of the fact that Islamic law is seen as prohibiting the making of images of the Prophet Muhammad on the grounds that it could lead to idolatry. But that conviction is held more firmly by Sunni Muslims. Most Shi'ite groups object less; and the area of the mystical sects of Sufi Islam has long featured images of the Prophet. The more potent reason for Islamic anger over the drawings is probably less theological: the cartoons are plainly intended to be derogatory and, some would say, racist. Some of the most recent protests have been violent. The Danish and Norwegian embassies in Damascus, Syria, were burnt by protesters on Saturday. The embassies of Sweden and Chile were also damaged there. Citizens or Denmark and Norway are being evacuated from the country. On Sunday protesters in neighboring Lebanon set fire to the Danish Embassy in Beirut. The government there put over 2,000 riot police and soldiers on the city streets to control demonstrators. At least 28 people were injured there. In Tehran, Iran, protesters broke windows at the Austrian Embassy and set small fires. Protests have occurred in a variety of other locations, including some outside the Middle East. The Danish flag was burned outside Denmark's embassy in Indonesia last week. The German Embassy was the target of protestors in Amman, Jordan, after a German magazine reprinted the cartoons. European Union facilities in Gaza was picketed by protestors and a German citizen in the west Bank city of Nablus was briefly kidnapped this weekend. And there have also been protests in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Few Asian destinations are unaffected by the growing crisis. Islam is a pervasive cultural force across the continent, a connecting factor between East and West Asia. Many Western observers miss the fact that Indonesia, with almost 200 million Muslims, has the world's largest Muslim population. India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, each with over 100 million Muslims, rank second, third, and fourth (though not necessarily in that order). None are in the Middle East. When the 75 million Muslims of Iran and the 70 million in Turkey are factored in, and when the Islamic communities in the Philippines, Malaysia and the Arabian Peninsula are included, we discover that the southern edge of Asia is layered with three-quarters of a billion Muslims. Nor is Islam confined to the southern or coastal portions of Asia. The interior and northern reaches of the continent from Turkey, across the Caucasus, and through the great steppes to the edge of Mongolia is populated by Turkic Muslims like Russia's Tatars and China's Uighers. The current crisis has also served to inflame historic communal violence between Muslims and Christians in some locations. Police have defused three different bombs in the last two days in Indonesia's Maluku region - bombs that would have targeted the largely Christian population of that region. The riots in Beirut resulted in damage to a Maronite church in the city, as well as to the embassies involved. It is difficult to predict where the next set of demonstrations will occur or whose embassy may be targeted - especially since republication of the cartoons seems to still be a possibility. Travelers from the Southern Philippines to Dubai should be aware that they could find themselves caught in a tense situation overseas if a newspaper from their home country reprints the offensive cartoons while they happen to be traveling for pleasure or business in a country with a large Muslim community.
Note: the information in this story was gleaned from a variety of news sources including the Associated Press, CBS, the BBC, CNN, Reuters, and the Agence France Press. 


Travel Agency

遊客愛西貢遠足 傳意牌新添日文

遊客愛西貢遠足 傳意牌新添日文10月10日 2005
【明報專訊】每天身在市區，人多車多，要靜下來欣賞山水風光可不容易，但其實在距離市區不遠處，便有一個可讓人親近大自然的地方——西貢。那?除了是港人常到的郊遊熱點，一些少見山水景色的外國遊客，更會在訪港期間到西貢走一趟，感受大自然氣息。為方便外國遊客，西貢的自然教育徑設有「傳意牌」，介紹徑上動植物，而漁護署近期更在牌上加設日文。 日本人組團西貢行山 郊野公園護理主任李英銘表示，西貢郊野公園一向有外國遊客到訪，旅發局亦有宣傳西貢區的旅遊點，印象中，外國遊客人數近年稍有增加，他說香港人要看到山水景色並不困難，但不少外國人在自己的國家則不容易看到，例如一些居住在內陸地區的日本人，多見湖泊河流，但很少機會看到汪洋大海，故專程來到西貢郊區遊玩，以前更曾有數十名日本人組團來港到西貢行山。 李英銘認為，西貢與別不同之處，在於其真正離開市區，例如荃灣、港島的郊區，行到高點時仍會看到遠方的高樓大廈，但西貢則遠望大海，令行山人士感到一片寧靜，享受真正的郊野樂趣，曾有外國的貿易代表慕名來西貢行山。 


西貢的遠足路線甚多，有難有易，其中北潭涌自然教育徑是適合一家大小認識郊野的好去處，教育徑上設有「傳意牌」，以中、英文介紹動植物資料，為了吸引更多外國人前來欣賞郊野景色，漁護署在新一批共12個「傳意牌」上加設日文。行畢教育徑全程只需30分鐘，起點位於北潭路，近遊客中心﹔終點位於上?民俗文化館。


http://ramsss.com/hk/sports/hiking

攀爬石澗小技巧

玩澗小技巧 


最近見到好多新人學習玩澗，十分高興見到o甘多多參與這項富有挑戰性o既運動，但挑戰性背後其實隱藏很大的危險，我初初玩澗o既時候就係吾識死所以受過嚴重o既傷，雖然我玩澗吾係好勁，但希望以我有限o既經驗去帶大家認識多少少這項運動，等大家玩得開心，亞媽放心，我就如願矣足o拉！ :D 以我自己理解，玩澗可以分為三部份： 1) 睇位 2) 步法 3) 攀爬 現在我試解說每項。 


1) 睇位 可以再分為辨別濕位同判斷手腳位 a) 辦別濕位 好多見到濕o既石都會避開，其實當你見得多濕石之後，你就能夠分辦出邊一舊石跣，邊一舊吾跣，練習方法可以多d o係平澗用腳去感受濕石，當你試得多之後你就會掌握到濕石過澗o既方法。 b) 判斷手腳位 當你要爬過險位o既時候，最先要做o既野就係計算o西由底到頂你會用手拉邊個o位，隻腳會踏邊個位，再諗埋如果吾掂可以停係邊個位，再叫人o黎幫你。記往，所有險位都要有八成以上把握才好試，要知道你係玩，吾係搏命！ 


2) 步法 我個人並不鼓勵跳，雖則你已經練到好好o既睇位，你都有機會錯，如果你跳到一舊吾穩o既石，你可以受好大o既傷！ 步法最主要幫助你o係石澗?可以好平穩o甘前進，當你睇位準確既時候，每一步盡量落o係石罅或者凹凸不平既地方，因為o甘樣可以增加鞋同石之間摩擦o黎達到平穩o既目的。在濕o既石面就更加實用。 如果想快，只要大大步o甘行就可以增加速度，跑只會o西力同增加受傷o既機會。


3) 攀爬 當爬險位既時候，最重要係保持到平衡，所以初學者一定要掌握到自已重心係邊，熟習當自已爬動時重心既移動，用三肢去做成三腳架效應去將重心保持在自己與山壁之間而吾係後面。 當攀爬時很多人喜歡用拉o既方法借力而上，呢個方法最大風險係拉到碎石，其實係吾確定o既情況下可以試下o禁住石頭借力上，因為就算o禁住o既係碎石都吾會連人帶石跌落o黎！ 石澗o既走勢通都起伏不定，行石澗一般都好容易跟住起伏而行，其實十步之內自己可以判斷需吾需要上高走底，盡可能都向低而行，因為除可以省力外，亦可以減低因爬高而受傷o既機會。 以上所講就係玩澗最基本o既技巧，如果想練習最好搵d一兩粒星o既石澗，吾好睇少呢d石澗，因為你可以係一個位重複練習好多次而吾受傷，如果去五星o既澗練，失手一次就可能要長休！ 香港有好多石澗，最多人玩既要算九大石澗，在玩完九大石澗大家都會想試試其他石澗，不過九澗以外大家可能會面一d新o既危機，我諗祁前輩選九澗既準則應該係以澗容大，乾澗同少碎石為本，但係九澗以外大家都要面對以上風險。 以下我嘗試將一d石澗分類等大家心目中有個準則。 初學 大城，屏南，橫涌，蓮花，燕岩溪，猴塘溪，田尾坑，馬大石澗 , 雙鹿 進階 萬丈布，昂深，黃龍，藏龍，東龍，北天門，南天門 高級 西馬肚，龍顎，臥龍，降龍 以上石澗，由進階開始就要不少於三個有經驗領隊帶領，一定要好小心玩避免意外發生。 至於香港最險o既三澗鳳壁，懸龍同東馬肚我就吾提議大家玩，因為似玩命！ 希望以上能夠幫到大家，記住玩得安全，大家開心！ :) 如有錯漏，請各界指正。 


 --------------------------- 


最險o既三澗未及最險o既三地。 
1)象額脊(馬鞍山) 
2)彌天壁(都係馬鞍山) 
3)鳳羽壁(鳳凰山)

http://ramsss.com/hk/sports/hiking