Destinations show fails to inspire

North Pakistan is on my list of places I would like to visit, a Kora is an instrument played in Gambia and Ebru is a classical Turkish art form - that is what I got out of this year’s Destinations, the holiday and travel show.

I didn’t get to attend the “Meet the Expert” sessions that I wanted to go to, because not enough space had been allocated for the sessions. Most of the stands couldn’t muster enough imagination to venture beyond the boring have-a-brochure format. So to be brutally honest the entire show will need to be completely revamped, if I’m to go back next year.

But rather than focussing on the negatives, I’ll share the few bits of information I did get out of the show.

North Pakistan

Inspired by Raza Noor’s recommendation, I fought my way through the crowds to a half-hour talk by Karakorum Jeep Treks International (KJTI) about jeep treks in North Pakistan.

I’m not sure that 5-6 hours of driving a day in an open top jeep with other foreigners is my kind of travelling. I’d much prefer not to be part of a tour group. But having seen the slides of North Pakistan’s stunning nature and heard about the hospitality of the area’s people, I’m very keen on going to North Pakistan, one way or another.

We heard fascinating stories from the 1,300km Karakoram Highway, known as the Friendship Road on the Chinese side. It runs from Islamabad in Pakistan to Kashgar in China and gives you access to 8,000+ metre mountains and amazing glaciers, rivers and lakes.

But what really made me put North Pakistan on my list of places I would like to visit, was the stories about the locals and their traditions. Ranging from the fire-worshipping Kalash people to the famous Shandur Horse Polo Tournament held on top of the 3,700 metre high Shandur Pass.

The Kora - a Gambian musical instrument

As we passed the Gambian stand, one of the representatives started to play a musical instrument that I had not seen before. We were told the instrument was a Gambian Kora. The main body of the Kora is made of calabash (a gourd) with cattleskin at the front. It has a number of struts made of mahogany. Its strings are made of nylon nowadays, but used to be made of leather. According to the representative nylon strings give the instrument a deeper sound.

Ebru - a classical Turkish art form

I was quite fascinated by a demonstration of the Turkish art form, Ebru.

Ebru, or marbled paper, is made by paint floating on top of a mixture of water and kitra (gum tragacanth), which is then transferred onto paper.

Ebru was traditionally used in bookbinding and for official documents that needed a unique stamp, but the art form still exists with ebru techniques being passed down by a small number of families.

The artists at the travel show started by sprinkling different colours of paint onto the liquid contained in a shallow tray. As patterns emerged he drew a purple-petalled flower and its green stem with the wooden tip of his brush.

When he was happy with his design, he rolled a piece of paper onto the tray, left it there for a brief moment and then dragged the paper out of the liquid over the lip of the tray.

The end result was a beautiful painting of a purple flower with a marbled background.

MuslimHeritage.com has detailed information about the art of Ebru.

Free tickets to Destinations

Like I mentioned above, I was yet again not that impressed by the travel show, but that should not stop you from going. The show in London finished yesterday, but Destinations will open in Birmingham on 2 March and run till 4 March.

If you’d like to visit the show in Birmingham, I picked up two complimentary tickets, which I’m making available to readers of this site on a first come first serve basis. If you would like the two tickets, please get in touch with me either by leaving me a comment below or by sending me your details via our contact page.

Technorati Tags: travel, North Pakistan, Kora, Gambia, Ebru, Turkey, Destinations travel show, Birmingham, London

Leave a Reply