Sliding Off the Map

Sliding Off the Map

Our planet is hopelessly trodden upon. There is hardly a spot untrampled by human feet or unclaimed by human greed. Even in the remotest jungles of the Amazon or Borneo, or the wastelands of Patagonia, our insatiable race is digging for buried riches – oil, metals, minerals.  The remotest corners of the planet are now linked by some form of transport, to ferry these riches to civilization. Conflict and terrorism, realities of our times, have rendered vast swathes inaccessible.

Yet, the curious traveller does venture into uncharted territory, even if it entails multiple modes of transport and/or interminable waits and peering over national borders.  Not all these places are on the edge of the earth or hidden in the interiors of the landmass. They could be right in your midst, except that you scarcely notice them.

Would you care to accompany me to some of these less-frequented places? Pontianak or Mitad del Mundo, both on the equator, but on opposite sides of the planet, Uluru and Alice Springs in the Australian outback, Ramallah and Jericho in conflict-ridden Palestine, Bastar in our very own heartland, mesmerising Issyk-kul in the folds of Kyrgyz Tien Shan ranges, Khorgos in the godforsaken deserts of Xinjiang, Tuting where the mighty Brahmaputra enters India and many more.



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