All the Ruined Places

Visit Sunny Chernobyl and Other Adventures in the World's Most Polluted Places
by Andrew Blackwell

So Andrew Blackwell wants to start a new tourist trend; that of visiting the ruined places of the world.  He is only partly facetious with this suggestion.  Still, is it likely to catch on? Well, why not? There are tours of slums and other poverty stricken areas.  Sewers, chemical ponds and radioactive wastelands don't seem that far removed. You can, in fact, arrange to tour Chernobyl. Still, as Blackwell points out, most guidebooks do not mention these places.  They are mostly off the beaten path, hidden like something embarrassing and someplace to be ignored.  Blackwell instead sees in them a hidden beauty, saying we should appreciate these ruined places for all the ways in which they aren't ruined.

Chernobyl, the archetypical ruined place, is in our minds a wasteland of abandoned civilization. That may be true, but it is also now what is essentially a vast nature preserve. Plants and animals not seen in decades prior to the accident now flourish there.  In India, a river that is more sewage than water is worshiped.  In Port Arthur, Texas, land of oil refineries, a community of long term residents still strives to live and endeavors to improve conditions.  In China, which has horrific pollution on all levels as it develops rapidly, people go about their daily lives in a very ordinary way.  In Canada and Brazil, the economic results of the use of natural resources seemingly outweigh the costs to those who participate--meaning essentially the whole world. This is the world we live in.  We are all part of this environment and have all played a part in making it this way.  Acknowledging that is part of Blackwell's point. There are no environmental rants here, no manifestos.  Instead there is a powerful look at consequences without judgement. 

This to me is the power of travel--even travel to beautiful places. If you travel with eyes open and with acceptance you learn to understand. You come to see your place in the world.  You understand connections. You can see possibilities and positives. You also can see the beauty in a place where there seems to be none.  That is a wonderful thing.

Everything is Broken

Everything is Broken
by Emma Larkin

A while back I read Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin and found myself absolutely captivated by the country and people.  Despite one of the most repressive dictatorships in the world, Larkin captured a spirit among the people, an awareness that there was goodness in the world and it would one day come to Burma.  I found myself thinking often about the country after reading the book and avidly following the news of the apparent rise of democracy in the country.

The fact is that the struggle for democracy was a very long time in coming and in this book, a follow up to George Orwell, Larkin details the increasingly active protests against the ruling junta in the 2000's and the horrifying crackdown against the true heart of the country, the Monastery's. She frames this with the utter devastation of Cyclone Nargis in May 2008 and the even more devastating aftermath.  The descriptions of how the government refused international aid but provided little of their own, stole money and supplies that were accepted, forced villagers to return to nonexistent villages...and then reported happy recovery stories in the official paper.  It simply defies understanding. Despite my awareness of what had happened, my horror grew as I turned each page. The spirit demonstrated by the Burmese people in the previous books was gone. They seemed truly defeated by the wrath of nature and of their own government. Never have I encountered a more perfectly titled book. It is an utterly absorbing and heartbreaking read.

But today, perhaps, things are under repair in Burma? The continuing stories and new open borders seem to suggest that there is real change underway.  I find myself very much hoping Larkin will share her deep insight into this country and write another book telling the continuing story of Myanmar (Burma). If she does, I will most definitely read it.