Marlin275
11-28-2008, 07:28 PM
I just saw the best travel program I have ever seen!
these two guys retraced the journey of Marco Polo.
They were the first Americans to ever travel through Iran
since the revolution. They came away with the belief that the
people of the world are basically good and you have to
follow your heart and live in the moment cause the past is gone
and the future is not yours for certain.
Denis Belliveau and Francis O'Donnell took a wild idea – retrace
Marco Polo's entire 25,000-mile, land-and-sea route from Venice
to China and back – and spent two incredible years of their lives
making their dream a reality.
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MARCO POLO captures the pair as they
survive a deadly firefight and befriend a warlord in Afghanistan,
cross the forbidding Taklamakan Desert in a Silk Road camel caravan,
endure continuous interrogations from authorities, and live among
cultures ranging from the expert horsemen of Mongolia to the
tattooed tribes of Indonesia.
"We made a pact," says O'Donnell, "that, under any conditions,
no matter what, we were only coming back to the United States
two ways – either dead or successful."
In the spirit of history's great adventurers, the two make their
way across the world's largest land mass and back, securing –
or, when necessary, forging – visas, surviving extreme temperatures,
and talking their way out of jams brought on by Tajik soldiers,
Chinese security officers, and an assortment of other bureaucrats,
border guards and armed warriors.
"We made it the 13th century in our heads," said Belliveau.
"What was this like for Marco? How would it have been for
him? We were going to try to make this whole journey like
we were living in Marco Polo's world." Without the assistance
of air travel, they made their way on foot, horseback, camelback,
in jeeps, trucks, boats and trains.
But as fascinating as the world looked through Marco Polo's eyes,
is the world and the people Belliveau and O'Donnell saw through
their own. "Travel is the enemy of bigotry," says O'Donnell.
"There's a lot more good people on the planet than bad…
Get out there, meet [people], they're good," adds Belliveau.
"It was the best-documented journey of its time, inspiring the
imaginations and ambitions of countless adventurers, including
Christopher Columbus. Now we, too, can follow in the footsteps
of Marco Polo, with guides as vividly exciting and engaging as
Marco himself. With both their film and this book Denis and Francis
have recreated what Joseph Campbell would have applauded as
'The Hero's Journey.' Come take it yourself and you'll never turn back."
- Bill Moyers
Watch the full version of "In the Footsteps of Marco Polo" now.
http://www.thirteen.org/marcopolo/video/watch-the-full-episode/324/
these two guys retraced the journey of Marco Polo.
They were the first Americans to ever travel through Iran
since the revolution. They came away with the belief that the
people of the world are basically good and you have to
follow your heart and live in the moment cause the past is gone
and the future is not yours for certain.
Denis Belliveau and Francis O'Donnell took a wild idea – retrace
Marco Polo's entire 25,000-mile, land-and-sea route from Venice
to China and back – and spent two incredible years of their lives
making their dream a reality.
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF MARCO POLO captures the pair as they
survive a deadly firefight and befriend a warlord in Afghanistan,
cross the forbidding Taklamakan Desert in a Silk Road camel caravan,
endure continuous interrogations from authorities, and live among
cultures ranging from the expert horsemen of Mongolia to the
tattooed tribes of Indonesia.
"We made a pact," says O'Donnell, "that, under any conditions,
no matter what, we were only coming back to the United States
two ways – either dead or successful."
In the spirit of history's great adventurers, the two make their
way across the world's largest land mass and back, securing –
or, when necessary, forging – visas, surviving extreme temperatures,
and talking their way out of jams brought on by Tajik soldiers,
Chinese security officers, and an assortment of other bureaucrats,
border guards and armed warriors.
"We made it the 13th century in our heads," said Belliveau.
"What was this like for Marco? How would it have been for
him? We were going to try to make this whole journey like
we were living in Marco Polo's world." Without the assistance
of air travel, they made their way on foot, horseback, camelback,
in jeeps, trucks, boats and trains.
But as fascinating as the world looked through Marco Polo's eyes,
is the world and the people Belliveau and O'Donnell saw through
their own. "Travel is the enemy of bigotry," says O'Donnell.
"There's a lot more good people on the planet than bad…
Get out there, meet [people], they're good," adds Belliveau.
"It was the best-documented journey of its time, inspiring the
imaginations and ambitions of countless adventurers, including
Christopher Columbus. Now we, too, can follow in the footsteps
of Marco Polo, with guides as vividly exciting and engaging as
Marco himself. With both their film and this book Denis and Francis
have recreated what Joseph Campbell would have applauded as
'The Hero's Journey.' Come take it yourself and you'll never turn back."
- Bill Moyers
Watch the full version of "In the Footsteps of Marco Polo" now.
http://www.thirteen.org/marcopolo/video/watch-the-full-episode/324/