Spoilt First-World Vegan Problems
I ran into some interesting vegan problems while travelling in India last year. The one that I haven't figured out and that worries me most when it comes to travelling in the future is the issue of transport animals. There are parts of the world where the only mode of travel is by donkey/camel. I took a brief car trip out into the Thar desert on the India/Pakistan border, but if I had wanted to go further/stay out longer I would have needed to go by camel. I would love to go on a trek into the Sahara someday ...but... *camels*.
In the case of some places, there is simply no access to a particular sites except via transport animals - either because the terrain precludes vehicles, or because of environmental regulations. In other places, you can access the area you want to get to by motor vehicle, but it's an uncomfortable choice to have to make, because while motor vehicles spare transport animals from exploitation, the animals have much less negative impact on the environment than a great big exhaust-belching jeep would.
All this leads me to the uncomfotable conclusion that perhaps there are some places I just have to give up on the idea of seeing. The same way I wouldn't climb Uluru because it's culturally insensitive and shitty. Maybe I will have to content myself with watching 'Lawrence of Arabia' & ' The English Patient' (which inspired this post, btw) and making sad, spoilt/entitled Western faces.
...Somebody tell me I'm wrong about this.
Anyone?
Bueller?
In the case of some places, there is simply no access to a particular sites except via transport animals - either because the terrain precludes vehicles, or because of environmental regulations. In other places, you can access the area you want to get to by motor vehicle, but it's an uncomfortable choice to have to make, because while motor vehicles spare transport animals from exploitation, the animals have much less negative impact on the environment than a great big exhaust-belching jeep would.
All this leads me to the uncomfotable conclusion that perhaps there are some places I just have to give up on the idea of seeing. The same way I wouldn't climb Uluru because it's culturally insensitive and shitty. Maybe I will have to content myself with watching 'Lawrence of Arabia' & ' The English Patient' (which inspired this post, btw) and making sad, spoilt/entitled Western faces.
...Somebody tell me I'm wrong about this.
Anyone?
Bueller?