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A Silk Road Trip Or I Gobbed In The Gobi China1992 By Philip Spires

In August 1992 myself and my wife Caroline arranged a trip to postTiananmen China. It was in the days when the London China Travel office was on Cambridge Circus opposite the Palace Theatre on Charing Cross Road. It took me at least twenty books a latenight Japanese television series and several months to plan and arrange the trip from what was then our base in Balham south London. In those days you could arrange the visit via China Travel and then as long as the itinerary was lodged in advance you could travel absolutely independently. Everything was prepaid but on setting off we had no tickets or confirmed reservations apart from our air tickets in and out of Beijing. As ever I kept a journal of the trip which ran to more than fifty pages. A few years later I condensed the experience to two sides of A4 ignoring rules of grammar and syntax and produced the following ramble a perhaps poetic impression of nearly a month of travel.

ExLondon while the Sun dissected Michael Jackson’s nose and praised Boardman’s hooterless goldmedal bicycle. Air China to Beijing where taxis cost more than Lonely Planet predicts. A Chinese character itinerary from one Tim Han of China Travel whilst fellow workers drool over televised lithe AfroAmerican sprinters at the Olympics. Then to the nolonger Forbidden City. Piles of local tourists to negotiate.

Four hours of Xinjiang Airlines to Urumqi. Signs in Chinese and Russian plus Uigur written in Arab script a recent innovation. Land lines across Inner Mongolia. Why and how so straight? Urumqi multiplepeaked. Piles of coal scruffy high rise snowcapped Bogda Shen at streetend. Pavement fortune tellers traders. Food stalls. Women washing sheeps’ stomachs in a stream tripe kebabs. Uigur town now Han Chinese populated by Shanghai overspill over 2000 miles from home. The second long march.

Uigur breakfast. Hot sheep’s milk Chinese tea flat tomato bread sugared tomato and cucumber pickled cabbage thin congee sheep’s milk butter two giant sugar lumps. Uigur market. Fruits amid a forest of hanging lamb. Chinese market. Live vegetables and meats. Tank overspilling with energetic eels unit price. Selfknotting spaghetti.

Woman losing her gold watch at an illegal ‘find the lady’. Policeman looking on. Tears when the loss hits home. Renmin Park for noodles and rocketfuel chili sauce. Bag slashers with fingerring knives on a crowded bus. Care needed.

Car to Turfan. Fertile valleys. Barren mountains. Occasional snow. Road ploughed. Kazak yurts. Semisunken shademaking rammedearth Uigur villages invisible at a distance save for chimney smoke. Steep downhill gorge spectacular river rocks white water and slategrey hills. Into Turfan depression snowcapped distance surrounding grey stone pit 100 miles across. 42 degrees at its base 200 metres below sea level. Car ahead leaving tracks on molten road. A hefty gob from the driver irrigates. Gobi means stones. Plenty here. And then green. An oasis. A giant mirage?

Turfan. Latticed vines for streetshade. Hanging raisin grapes. 15 yuan fine for casual picking. Hotel tea in galvanised buckets. Turkishstyle dancing and music. Genghizsacked rammedearth cities of Goachang and Jiaohe. Painted tombs and brick minarets. Flaming mountains. Karez underground irrigation system. 3000 kilometres of channels. 1500 years old gravityfed from mountains at the depressionedge. Uigur culture’s greatest feat and in full working order.

Bus to Daheyan. Two hours over bumpy stones to depressionedge. Dump of a railway town. Coal heaps box buildings waste land. Two women at war on station forecourt. Ramming victim’s head onto the ground. Blood. Onlookers. Inaction. A tense town of resentful postees.

500 miles to Liuyuan in Gansu. Featureless flat grey shale stone. Spectacularly unique. Snow mountains to the north. Utterly empty save for smoking coal towns. 40 above in summer 30 below in winter. Overnight by train. Dawn reveals same massive scene now in brown.

Arrive Liuyuan. Daheyan writ similar. 120 miles south across the desert black at first! past remnant ramparts of Han Dynasty GreaterGreat Wall. Camels and dunes of Taklimakan world’s largest sand desert. Near Dunhuang oasis blossoms again. Sand and scree suddenly crop and tree. Feitian Hotel with complimentary toiletries labelled Sham Poo and Foam Poo. Lunch. Fourteen dishes. Duck fooyong cucumber cabbage oyster mushroom chicken coriander pork steamed buns steamed bread rice beef broth and noodles pork and green beans pork and sweet chili chicken and squash plain noodles water melon. Then to get the essential torch for the caves. Houses huddled together. Wood stores for winter piled on top. View across the roofs like a scrap heap. Ground level claustrophobic stoneware maze.

Cave day. Mogao Buddhist caves closed from 12 to 2 full day needed for perhaps the most stunning sight on earth. 400 ‘caves’ some cathedral size in a sandstone gorge between 400 AD to 1100 AD. Utterly dry always dark perfectly preserved. Everything painted. Tang period complex and colourful. A world of scenes by torchlight. Buddhas reclining sitting standing posing. Thirty metre seated figure with thousands of unsmoked cigarettes and coins on his lap as offerings. Shock of Qingrenovated cave with Taoist figures. Ghoulish features contorted and a face in the groin. 40 caves seen in the day archaeologist as a personal guide. Stunning. Fourteen dishes for dinner.

Desert bus back to Liuyuan. Always a fight for seats. Three dusty hours. Train to Lanzhou. 800 miles along GansuQinghai mountainous border. More black desert then yellow earth. Jaiyaguan fort at the limit of the Ming empire. Overnight by train. Country changed. Mountain pass green rolling hills and stepped fields. Wheat harvest in. Straw dollies like children at assembly. Houses still of rammed earth. Lanzhou a thriving industrial city. Thirty hours of travel. Walk by Yellow River.

Fish in hotel restaurant tank all dead. Lanzhou bus expensive. 50 fen per trip. Radios and knitting banned. Han dynasty flying horse and bronze warriors. Steamed carp with rape on menu. The fish comes first. Train to Xian through yellow loess country. Deep furrows and gorges. All flat land cropped. 500 miles overnight.

Terra cotta warriors facing east to guard Qin Shihuang’s tomb. Made in pieces. Assembled in situ. Partly excavated section where piles of dismembered limbs emerge from the earth. New terra cotta warriors for sale from the factory behind the museum. Exact replicas of originals. Wheeze at the thought of the whole thing as a sham for the tourist trade.

Xian like all Chinese cities a square. Roads straight intersecting always at right angles. Ancient centre walled Ming rebuilt. Old mosque exquisite. Xianyang nearby with Seventh century Qian tombs museum with another 3000 Han terra cottas like a football crowd. Train to Beijing. 800 miles 26 hours. Houses often caves in valley side. Later immense flat land maize everywhere.

Temple of Heaven Tiantan and then Beijing Opera. Pause for beer at wayside stall. Served by moonlighting trainee stockbroker! Breakfast pickle amazing like four year old camembert out of a shotgun. Takes the head off. Great Wall. Mucho touristico but still stunning. Like climbing a giant ladder in places. “I climbed the Great Wall” Tshirts prices lower the further you climb. Must be the air. Ming tombs dismissed by guidebook. Wrong. Amazing barrel vaulted rooms nine stories underground. Jade doors carved thrones marble marble marvel. Reminiscent of renaissance Italy. Everlasting bricks etched with names of their makers. Souvenir jade boat for 55000 pounds.

White drapes over erotic statues in Tibetan Lama Temple. Same bestial content in wall paintings. 24 metre gold Buddha through the incenseblur. No smoking signs everywhere.

Mao’s Maosoleum an emperor’s tomb. Lines for queues painted across the square. Feet pointing north towards Tiananmen Gate upsidedown feng shui. He is shiny waxy and painted about the face. Moving lines file past on either side. No pausing. Outside stalls with Mao Tshirts Mao key rings cuddly toys post cards magic lantern shows. Mao Zedong candy floss by the armful. Then Great Hall of the People. Dining room for 5000. Now fast food for tourists. Great Hall chop sticks cigarettes Tshirts. Great Hall of the People cuddly toys.

2500 miles. Three and a half weeks. 5 destinations. 50 caves. 6000 terra cotta warriors. 1 each Great Wall Forbidden City Beijing Opera Mao Zedong. Hundreds of tombs temples pagodas parks bendibuses and bicycles. 3 silk shirts on the Silk Road. One amazing trip.

About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Philip Spires
Author of Mission an African novel set in Kenya
http://www.philipspires.co.uk
Michael a missionary priest has just killed Munyasya. It was an accident but Mulonzya a politician exploits the tragedy for his own ends. Boniface a church worker has just lost his child. He did not make it to the hospital in time possibly because Michael went to the Mission to retrieve a letter from Janet a teacher and the priests neighbour. It is Munyasya who has the last laugh however.

A Rich Wood Carving Tradition In Oaxaca Mexico: Spotlight On Jacobo Ngeles

Alvin Starkman M.A. LL.B.

Try searching the Americas to find creators of folk art with more form symbolism and importance to the development and sustenance of their culture than those of indigenous ancestry in Oaxaca waHAWka one of the southernmost Mexican states.

Many socalled experts in folk art have mistakenly written that the origins of Oaxacas wood carving tradition date back fifty or sixty years to a small number of carvers residing in one of the central valleys of Oaxaca a few miles from the state capital of the same name. The error has consistently been equating the recent commercialization of the artform with its origins and ignoring its preHispanic roots and subsequent development.

Jacobo ngeles lives with his wife Mara and two children in San Martn Tilcajete one of three main native Zapotec villages where most residents earn a living from carving and painting colorful figures often generically referred to as alebrijes. The others are Arrazola and La Unin Tejalapan.

At age 12 Jacobo began learning to carve from his father. Later on he was mentored by village elders. Over the past few decades our craft has without a doubt changed dramatically Jacobo explains with the use of more synthetic paints a tremendous increase in the range of figures being carved and with domestic and international demand for our carvings growing exponentially and affecting how and what we produce. But remember my ancestors were carving animals right here in this region before the Spanish arrived in the 1500s. And we were using only natural paint colors which we derived from fruits and vegetables plants and tree bark clay and even insects. In my family we still use what we find around us to make paint for our figures and our wood of choice continues to be the branches of the copal tree.

San Martn Tilcajete is located about a 40 minute drive from the city of Oaxaca along a highway leading to the states Pacific resort towns including one of the oldest ports Puerto Escondido. Puerto Escondido was a hub for the export of coffee and other cash crops during colonial times but is now a popular beach destination for Mexican and international vacationers alike. Many travelers combine their sun and sand vacation with a visit to Oaxaca a UNESCO World Heritage Site searching out unique pieces of folk art including dance masks pottery and clay figures rugs and tapestries and antiques from the colonial period forward. And of course there are the preHispanic ruins galleries impressive Dominican churches museums and renowned Oaxacan cuisine.

My ancestors used a 20day calendar Jacobo continues and each day was represented by a different creature. So every Zapotec person had an animal with whom he had a connection and each animal had certain characteristics which carried over to the individual. For example the jaguar represents power and ultimate strength the frog is characterized by honesty and openness the coyote watchful observation the turtle always a troublemaker prone to breaking the rules the eagle technical and strategic power and so on. My people used to carve figures of just these 20 animals. They started out as small whittlings for good luck that people would keep in a revered niche in the home or wear around the neck as amulets. They also carved larger figures for their children to use as toys.

After much probing an almost forgotten story emerges of the use of decoys of wood and other materials. Jacobo reveals: My people used a variety of methods to attract different kinds of game but for hunting birds of prey rabbits and deer yes they at times used decoys. A painted wooden snake would be placed on the ground in an area where ants had trampled the grasses so the snake decoy would easily be seen by eagles. To hunt rabbit my ancestors would attach a rabbit tail to one end of a straw hat and at the other end another tail with a face painted on it. For deer a crude wooden deer torso with real antlers would be placed in the tall brush. So carving was historically important to our people for not only totemic and related reasons but it was directly related to our subsistence. All the written records from the period of the conquest and not just local legend confirm the importance of woodcarving.

But look at what we now carve. While in my family we still use natural paints and still carve our totems weve transformed a simple yet important and symbolic tradition into something very different. In our villages we now carve many more than those 20 animals because of collector demand. More importantly were able to make our heritage better understood and appreciated by the world. In our own workshop our painting depicts designs and representations of our culture friezes from the ancient ruin at Mitla symbols representing waves mountains and fertility the totems and other metaphors for our culture past and present.

Indeed the world has taken notice. Jacobos work is prominently displayed in The Smithsonian Institute Chicagos National Museum of Mexican Art and elsewhere throughout the continent and further abroad in museums art colleges and galleries. Jacobo regularly traverses the U.S. promoting Oaxacan folk art and his Zapotec heritage teaching in a diversity of educational venues ranging from junior schools to university departments of fine art and as honored speaker at art exhibition openings.

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A visit to the ngeles workshop accessed by a heavily potholed narrow dirt road towards one end of the village affords an opportunity to learn about this extraordinary skillset from Jacobo Maria an excellent painter in her own right and some two dozen other members of their family who produce some of the finest quality carvings found anywhere on the continent.

The men do most of the carving while women do most of the painting but the tasks are definitely not exclusively based on gender lines. Carving is done with non mechanical handtools such as machetes chisels and knives. The only time a more sophisticated tool is used is when a chain saw is employed to cut off a branch and level a base for a proposed figure.

Except when a special order is received the woodworkers in the family are given artistic license to carve whatever figure they wish. A piece of tree trunk will speak to one of these specialists and be the inspiration for creating a particular animal: the shape thickness and bends and twists in the piece come alive. After the bark is removed a detailed outline is drawn defining the image with greater clarity and detail. The sculpting in earnest then begins.

From the female copal tree we are able to make figures out of one piece of wood often very large and intricate. This wood is soft and easy to work with. The male tree is harder and branches tend to be smaller and somewhat delicate so we use it to make animals which we assemble in the process.

The carving alone takes up to a month at times longer. The figure is then left to dry for up to 10 months depending on its overall size and thickness. Because of the properties of copal and Oaxacas semitropical climate the wood is susceptible to termite infestation. Accordingly during the drying process the piece is soaked in a gasoline / insecticide mixture for several hours. As an added assurance its then placed in an oven just in case eggs have evaded extermination. All of our pieces are guaranteed to never have a termite problem Jacobo assures.

Since the figures are fashioned while the wood is green and more easily workable the wood separates while drying. There are a couple of members of my family whose main job is to fill the cracks before the painting begins. For this remedial work they use wood shims as well as a sawdustglue mixture. But even these slivers of wood and the sawdust have been cured. Were proud of our work and never want to have any problems with any of our buyers whether someone is spending 20 or 2000.

In almost all cases in the ngeles workshop one person carves and another paints. Once a figure has left the hands of the carver all proprietary rights are released and another member of the family is entrusted with the painting. Nephew Magdaleno explains: Occasionally one of my cousins will come up to me and say what do you think about these colors or this kind of design concept for this coyote and Ill give my feedback but it doesnt happen very often and Im invariably pleased with the result. For me its the form thats most important and for whoevers painting its the imagery it captures.

One cannot help but gasp at the sculpting genius which goes into each piece: A starving dog scratching fleas a bear with its paw in a honey pot a snake constricting a wincing jaguar a winged horse on its hinds a woman with long braided locks and the body of an armadillo or a deer lifesize by Mexican standards. Theres something particularly arresting about each creation: the eversoflowing and realistic movement a fanciful stance or a familiar pose striking a chord with our popular characterization. However the painting is anything but familiar. No color goes untested and the intricacy of and variation in design is remarkable.

Theories abound regarding the beginning of the modernday manifestation of the tradition. Some say that because hallucinogenic mushrooms are native to this part of Mexico drug induced revelations caused the imaginations of some to wander ultimately becoming expressed in their carvings. The better explanation is that knowledge of colorful large papier mach alebrijes or dragonlike forms which originated in the State of Mexico eventually filtered down to Oaxaca and were the inspiration for the fathers of contemporary painted wooden carvings. You know its not accurate to refer to what we create as alebrijes because to the older generation of Mexicans and to true folk art collectors alebrijes were developed near D.F. Distrito Federal or Mexico City the nations capital and what we do is completely different.

Jacobo demonstrates how his ancestors created natural paints historically utilized for dying clothing painting buildings and ceremonially as face and body decoration used for rites of passage fiestas prayer and other important occasions. Today their primary use at least in Jacobos family is for painting the carvings. He explains with the assistance of his machete and a tree trunk how he cuts away the reddish inside part of the bark of the male copal allows it to dry then toasts and grinds it: This is a primary base that we use which allows us to create a range of colors tones and shades. Just watch.

Using his hands as palettes Jacobo begins by placing a small amount of the powdered bark in one hand squeezes juice from a lime creating a brown which he then places on an unpainted wooden owl. Yes the owl is also one of our sacred creatures the great healer quiet and humble. He reveals: Now over time and in the sun this color will change or fade and be absorbed into the wood. So what our ancestors learned to do was take the dried sap from the copal tree and heat it up with honey. The resulting liquid is then mixed with the paint changing the color a little; see it becomes a deep orange but most importantly it acts as a mordent making the color permanent and a little shiny. He adds powdered limestone and the color changes to black. With the addition of baking soda and more lime juice it becomes a deep yellow and with more chemical it miraculously becomes magenta. A new base is then started with crushed pomegranate seeds. Magically the pulverized pink is transformed into green with the addition of limestone powder. Mixed with the magenta it becomes navy blue. With the addition of zinc it becomes grey and with more zinc white. Blue from the ail tree indigo is altered with the addition of bicarbonate zinc lime juice or the powdered lime mineral. Corn mold a black gooey culinary delicacy known as huitlacoche when fermented and then powdered yields ochre. The red of the dried and then crushed minute insect the cochineal which feeds off its host nopal cactus becomes orange with the addition of the juice of any of a number of acidic fruits.

The demonstration terminates with Jacobo asking whats your favorite animal following which he finger paints a rabbit from the rainbow of colors on his palms as only Alice could have imagined.

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With approximately 150 families now producing painted wooden figures in these and a couple of other smaller villages the questions left unanswered remain: What facilitated and drove more carvers to adopt the papier mach style of using brilliant color combinations and how can everyone in these villages make a living from this solitary artform?

As with other crafts in the central valleys of Oaxaca their production wasnt always the primary means of sustenance for the populace. Traditionally handicrafts were a hobby or parttime trade beginning with very few items being sold to the odd passerby adventurer or traveler. In the case of rugs from nearby Teotitln del Valle there were trade routes that producers followed in order to effect more sales in other regions of the state and in some cases beyond. But the primary means of family survival was working the land and smallscale ranching. And in the case of the carving villages there never was a broader market although in San Martn Tilcajete embroidered shirts blouses and dresses were an extremely wellreceived craft throughout the 1960s and into the 80s.

Dramatic change in production and marketing of wooden carvings had its genesis in the 1940s. The panAmerican highway cut through the Sierra Madre del Sur mountains reaching Oaxaca opening up the region to the north in particular Mexico City and the border states. Until then Oaxaca was relatively isolated notwithstanding a rail connection. By the 1950s and early 60s Americans and Canadians were prospering from the postwar boom credit cards had been mailed to virtually everyone and word spread of a new kind of vacation in a third world country Mexico. Jet air travel facilitated the transformation. The womens movement meant more two income families resulting in more disposable income for traveling. Mexicana Airlines and Oaxacan travel agents partnered to begin offering tour packages which further facilitated tourism to the region.

The hippie movement of the 1960s and early 70s brought Oaxaca to the forefront of the alternative lifestyle with throngs of youth and their pop idols traveling to Huautla de Jimnez then a tiny Oaxacan village to eat hallucinogenic mushrooms with the now infamous healer Mara Sabina. North American youth saw and purchased the first generation of contemporary wood carvings.

By the 1980s as a consequence of multiple factors Oaxacan alebrijes had become wellestablished as folk art with the market continuing to grow. The economic implication was that farmers and ranchers were able to spend more time carving and painting and less time in the countryside and in marketplaces vending their produce and animals. With a new tollroad opening from Mexico City to Oaxaca in 1995 access to the southern state became even quicker and easier and safe. In good conscience travel writers were no longer able to warn tourists about driving the switchbacks backroad banditos or cars overheating on secondary roads without service stations.

The future market for the artistry? While the odd visitor to a Oaxacan coastal resort such as Puerto Escondido or the more popular Huatulco does visit the state capital and the workshops of carvers like Jacobo most do not. Within the next four years a new highway to the coast will open cutting road travel time by at least a third. Even more sun worshipers will visit Oaxaca and marvel at the art of Jacobo and Mara ngeles.

Since opening their family workshop in 1996 without a doubt Jacobo and Mara have singularly raised the quality bar for other villagers who aspire to mirror their success. With Oaxacan wood carvings of superior quality now well established on the world stage and access no longer an impediment the challenge for others in San Martn Tilcajete will be to achieve the success of the ngeles family through production of like quality until now eluding most.

A challenge for all carvers in the region is to ensure a continuous supply of copal to meet demand. A reforestation project spearheaded about 15 years ago by the late master of contemporary Mexican art Rodolfo Morales continues through his Foundation. The ngeles family with friends and other villagers spend the last Sunday of each July in the midst of the rainy season planting a part of their sustainable living effort: ensuring an ongoing supply of raw product cutting only branches for making figures so that the tree continues to grow reducing waste by utilizing the slivers and sawdust in repair work and any remaining twigs and branches as firewood for cooking and using the sap and bark in paint production. And you know Jacobo reminds for generations weve been using the hardened sap as incense mainly at religious cememonies. There are even knifemakers down the road in Ocotln who engrave their handforged blades using a special ink made with the sap. Have you visited the cuchillera of ngel Aguilar?

For high end collectors we can only encourage the success of all efforts aimed at maintaining the growth and development of the Oaxacan woodcarving tradition since it satisfies and advances our penchant for and obsession with quality handfashioned craftsmanship. For the artisans in the region aside from the obvious economic importance its part of maintaining their Zapotec heritage and illustrating the richness of the culture to the broader world.

The workshop of Jacobo and Mara ngeles is located at Calle Olvido 9 San Martn Tilcajete Ocotln Oaxaca t: 9515249047 ; w: http://www.tilcajete.org ; e: angelestilcajete.org .

About the writer:  Alvin Starkman received his Masters in Social Anthropology in 1978. After teaching for a few years he attended Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto thereafter embarking upon a career as a litigator until 2004. Alvin now resides in Oaxaca where he writes leads small group tours to the villages markets ruins and other sites is a consultant to film production companies and operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed Breakfast. http://www.oaxacadream.com .

A Magic That Is Truly South African

Faeries gnomes and ghost ships arent really things that would you associate with South Africa and its turbulent history but just go and explore little nooks and crannies and you will find a diverse spectacle of magic and wonder.

Places like Sulina Faerie santuary Ecoshrine in Hogsback Mother Hubbards shoe the goblin cove restaurant Hobbit house and much more come alive for you and it often feels like youre dwelling in lands that come straight out of fairy books.

Come and stroll through the beautiful gardens of Minky and Ian Sulin at Swellendam and acquaint yourself with the wondrous magical creatures that abide there. Here at Sulina Faerie sanctuary you will be able to meet faeries unicorns and many more. Ian and Minky are potters who display there works country wide and the most magical thing about there organization is that all proceeds got to charities around South Africa.

Ever wanted to come and eat with the Sharks then come and join the team at the Cargo hold restaurant which is set in the lower desk of the Phantom ship at UShaka world in the Durban waterfront in Kwazulu Natal. The Restaurant serves culinary delights from around the world and sources the freshest produce from in and around South Africa. It has many viewing windows of the shark infested waters and guests can enjoy a unique dinning experience in this unique set up.

Ever wonderoud what a goblin looked like? Come and dine at the Magaliesberg at the Goblins cove restaurant. A unique dinning experience which is the brainchild of artist Charles Gotthard the Goblins cove Restaurant and for those who want to stay over come and sleep in your very own beautifully revamped train Cabin.

Want to live like a hobbit then come and visit the beautiful hobbit houses in Stanford at Crystal Kloof Farm. Each house sleeps 4 and is very comfy and cozy without the modern trappings such as electricity.

Mother Hubbards shoe is a work of art which has the immensity of religious ecstasy set all around it. The creation of Ron Van Zyl who claims that 15years ago God asked him to use his talent for the betterment of man which has done in his beautiful carvings and creations of different verses in the bible. Many of his carvings which he made out of the stone in the surrounding area or carved into the hills themselves depict important verses in the bible and many also has his unique interpretation of them. Such as a statue of Esther which has the face of Michelle Pfeiffer and the breasts of Dolly Parton.

The Horse Labyrinth at Celtis Lodge in the Magaliesberg is a brainstorm of the supernatural kind. Apparently as you enter the labyrinth riding your choice of horse you start to contemplate lifes questions and by the time you exit the labyrinth you will have all the answers to these questions.

So if you are the sort that enjoy the supernatural and usual or are merely curious then come and enjoy all the magic that South Africa has to offer.

About the writer:  Travel Expert with more than 20 years of experience.