Ramdas Iyer

This author has written 50 articles

In search of the Great Apes-Gorilla, Chimpanzee & Orangutan

In the next few weeks I will be on a journey to Galapagos where Charles Darwin laid rest to his Theory of Evolution. As a son of a Zoologist, evolution was a much discussed subject around me. Before discussing my travels in search of the great apes, I wish to dedicate a few paragraphs to Louis Leakey, the father of Paleoanthropology. The first hominid ( Apes and Humans) skeleton was discovered in 1913 by a German scientist Hans Reck ...
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Where the Elephants Rule in the Botswananian Bush

The African bush is never quiet at night. The growls of lions and the laughing cries of the hyenas are commonplace. But to hear elephants outside your humble chalet, chomp and tear barks all night is certainly an exhilarating experience . On the large tract of land between Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe and the world famous ...
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In the trail of the Persian Empire Darius the Great, Iran

Current day Iran and a part of ancient Persia sits in the cradle of civilization and a traveler may find himself deficit with time if at least 6 weeks are not budgeted to cover all its great historical sites. Persia was consolidated into one of the greatest empires man had known in antiquity between 550BC and 330 BC. In those two hundred years the statecraft employed by the Achaemenid kings ( af ...
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Crossing the legendary 80th Parallel in the High Arctic

I had just put aside the compelling and thrilling book about the first US expedition of the Arctic in 1870 on the USS Jeanette written by Hampton Sides; a detailed narration of a failed expedition to the North pole that had the attention of the entire nation. Understanding the history of polar expeditions is very important so I have made an attempt here to condense several articles into a few lines. Polar regions were little understood by scientists ...
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Trans-Siberian Journeys: The Buryat of Ulan Ude, Siberia

After my goodbyes to Ulan Bator, Mongolia I embarked on the Trans Mongolian to hook up with the Trans-Siberian train that would arrive from Vladivostok to Ulan Ude, Siberian Russia. The train ride was an adventure in itself since it was a local train heated by hot water with the conductor shoveling coal into the furnace of each compartment. Most of the travelers were ethnic Mongolian Buryat who were either liv ...
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Kashgar, Crossroads of the Silk Road, Xinjiang, China

The joy of a traveler looking for historic sites is the reward of seeing wonderful monuments and learning interesting stories of a bygone history. With an internal revolt on hand the Chinese Government has kept a tight rein on Kashgar, the spiritual home of the Islamic Turkic-Mongol Uighur people who populate Xinjiang Province of Northwestern China. In 2006 ...
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Tracking Chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda

Chimpanzees, our nearest primate relatives have been a fascination for most of us. These amazing creatures were studied by Jane Goodall in the 60's at the insistence of Louis Leakey, who had unearthed the first hominid fossils, as a path to understanding the development and evolution of man. I had recently visited the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania where the first erect hominids, Homo habilis (1.9 million years ago) were unearthed by the Leakeys, Mary and Richard ...
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With the Maasai People of Tanzania

The Maasai: A Great people trapped in a changing world. If one thinks of Tanzania or Kenya, two things come to mind; safari and the Maasai people. Anywhere you go in towns or countryside in the above mentioned countries you will meet the Maasai people. In northern Tanzania where I was traveling recently, the Maasai people can be seen everywhere. These famous warriors and herders of East-central Africa who once dominated the plains of East Africa are now confined to a ...
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Suzdal- A spectacular Russian town in winter’s splendor

I am often asked the question “What is your favorite place that you’ve visited?” It is almost akin to inquiring about the ranking of my affection for our children. My answer is to always deflect the question back by asking for more details especially with respect to seasons and their impact on sea sides, mountain-scapes, cultural experiences, historical locales and sweeping landscapes. In that vein I believe that my favorite historical winterscape is Suzdal, the quaint city ...
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My-Son, The Ancient Champa Hindu Kingdom of Vietnam

I opened the NY Times today and realized that the famous North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap who threw both the French and the Americans out of his country had passed away. Growing up in India during the Vietnam war I remember that many Indians were mostly sympathetic to the American “cause” out of ignorance and also due to the existence of strong US propaganda there. As someone who came to the US out of love for everything American I ...
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