Sweet Pain: Global Adventures of a Frugal Photographer
By Eero Sorila
()
About this ebook
Mr. Sorila also reveals his basic philosophy of travel, namely that willpower is more important than monetary power, that relationships are more important than comfortable accommodations, and that the experience of Providence is more than just sheer luck.
The book is a page-turner since at the conclusion of almost every episode he leaves us with the question, “How can you top that?” or with the exclamation, “That’s incredible!”
These gripping narratives of raw adventure are accompanied by 128 photos of nature and human interest.
Sven Soderlund
Professor Emeritus
Regent College
Vancouver, Canada
Eero Sorila
Eero Sorila was twelve years old in 1957 when he and his parents immigrated from Finland to Canada. His parents, the late Henry and Alice Sorila faced many challenges, like other immigrants, in adapting to a new life in a new land. Their faith in God was foundational, providing strength in hard times, as it had been in Finland. Initial hardships eventually turned into blessings. Eero, the eldest son, thankfully admits that he also has been a recipient of the blessings. Eero maintains that it has been a profound privilege for him to photograph every province and territory of this great nation. CANADA Photographic Gallery of a Great Nation, is the author’s token of gratitude to God, his parents and Canada.
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Sweet Pain - Eero Sorila
Copyright © 2021 by Eero Sorila.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
Cover Photo: Eero Sorila
View from the cottage I rented in the Island of Peleliu, Palau.
Cover design: Xlibris
All photographs in this book are by Eero Sorila unless otherwise noted.
Rev. date: 12/22/2020
Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
822974
CONTENTS
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
1: CONQUERING ORIZABA IN MEXICO 1990
2: CYCLING MIRACLES IN JAPAN 1991-1992
3: HILL OF CROSSES IN LITHUANIA 1998
4: SALT AND WHALES IN MEXICO 2000
5: ON TABLE TOP, SOUTH AFRICA 2001
6: MYSTERY ISLAND IN SOUTH KOREA 2004
7: RUINS TALK, LEBANON 2005
8: CAPTIVE CAPTIVATES, ST HELENA 2005
9: SWAN AND ORKNEYS UK. 2007
10: FIJI CHALLENGES PHOTOGRAPHER, 2007
11: SPECTACULAR ROCK IN AUSTRALIA 2009
12: FOOTSEPS OF ANSEL ADAMS 2009
13: MADAGASCAR PHOTO SAFARI 2018
14: BENIN MOTORCYCLE ADVENTURE 2019
15: TASHKENT-ALMATY TRAIN TRIP 2019
16: BRUNEI, LOTUS LAND fOR CITIZENS 2019
17: OMAN ADVENTURE ON A TIGHT BUDGET 2019
18: QATAR TO DISCOVER 2019
19: UNFORGETTABLE DAYS IN KUWAIT 2019
20: Palau Calling 2020
EPILOGUE
DEDICATION
In memory of my parents, Alice and Henry Sorila.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am very thankful to Mirjam Rand, Robert Grey, Mark
Sillanpää and Sven Söderlund whose literary and technical
professionalism was vital in the birth of this book.
INTRODUCTION
Photography is such sweet pain.
To wait hours for the right quality of light, and then have someone step into the composed picture at the wrong moment is painful. When all has gone well in taking a picture, a branch in a jungle hits the camera causing the plate film to slide out and ruin the picture. That is very painful. Almost every photo trip brings frustration and pain. Yet after forty years I keep photographing. Why? I don’t have a definite answer, but to capture a moment on film, usually through a difficult process brings me unspeakable satisfaction. If anything, that is the SWEET PAIN that keeps me going.
In praise of frugality I cannot say enough. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) one of the founding fathers of the United States condensed frugality into one sentence of good advice; Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship
. In my travels I have tried to save money even with small expenses. This frugal travel style has allowed me to travel much more than I would have by being wasteful. There have been times when sleeping in frugal ways have been challenging to a point of pain, but the savings have been sweet. I like the observation by the sociologist Elise Boulding (1920-2010) Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language, and yet one that we are culturally cut off from. The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things
. When I started travelling I almost fainted on a mountain hike carrying a duffle bag full of things. That experience thought me to travel lightly, by carrying the bare necessities which basically are, a toothbrush, notepad and a camera. The most important and expensive among these three items is my view camera, but even that was used when I bought it for $ 125.00. The same camera has served me for decades and I have no need for a new one. The cost of using large format sheet film to do my work is expensive. At $ 20.00 for taking one picture I need to be careful before exposing a film in order not to waste. I would have gone broke in the beginning of my career had I followed the advice, Take many pictures and choose the best
, That is a guideline which I cannot afford to follow.
Admittedly I belong to a diminishing minority of eccentrics
still using film and archaic photographic equipment, but I am very happy to be there. After trying to capture the perfect picture for forty years I still chase that illusive image. If you dare, come along to a challenging journey during which many desperate situations are rewarded by SWEET PAIN.
Vancouver Canada 29.03.2021
Eero Sorila
The list of travel destinations are from the time when I was there. Some of the names may have changed later. Experiences in 20 of them are included in this book, which are marked with asterix.
1
CONQUERING ORIZABA
IN MEXICO 1990
Our trip to the Orizaba mountain in the winter of 1990 begins enthusiastically. We four mountain climbers
, Ron, Larry, Satoshi and Eric, pile into a 1972 Volkswagen Van just after 5:00 am. We leave Vancouver behind and new vistas like Mt. Shasta in northern California provide refreshing scenery along Interstate Hwy 5.
The naturalist and author John Muir (1838-1914) said of Shasta: When I first caught sight of it over the braided folds of the Sacramento Valley, I was fifty miles away and aloof, alone and weary. Yet all my blood turned to wine, and I have not been weary since.
Our goal is to climb 4,521 feet higher than Mt Shasta. Hopefully our blood will turn to wine upon seeing Mt Orizaba.
1_Vancouver%20Flag.jpgOur starting point for the Mt. Orizaba trip, Vancouver BC is a city of two million
people which gained city status with a population of 5000 in 1886.
After a 14 hour drive from Vancouver we come to an abrupt halt. Once the smoke from the engine clears we push the vehicle three miles to Redding, California. A good morning workout is the only solution to an event like this. The city has a population of eighty thousand and luckily we manage to find an automobile repair shop near the highway. The mechanic inspects the engine. The repair work will take a long time and it will be expensive. These stark realities are very disturbing to us.
After pondering the situation, I walk to the local post office and put up a small notice on the announcement board. "Four mountain climbers on our way to Mexico are stranded because our car broke down. We want to purchase an old car for about
2_Mt%20Shasta%20in%20Northern%20California.jpgMt. Shasta in Northern California is an inspiring sight as we are
driving south. It rises to an altitude of 14,179 feet.
three hundred dollars. You can find us at a red Volkswagen Van in the yard of the Redding Automobile Repair Shop. We also look for old cars in the back lanes. A suitable vehicle is not found. Then Larry, who has been guarding the Van comes running towards us and tells us,
the post office notice has worked. The owner of a car has left his phone number but we have to hurry as he and his wife are leaving town shortly for the weekend". Fortunately we find enough coins to make a phone call to the car owner.
The California lady picks us up in her Ford and drives us out to their farm. Soon we are gathered like bees around honey looking at the Dodge that is for sale. It seems that the car was last used to haul hay and chicken droppings, but the main thing is that the motor runs well. The lady rakes out the remaining hay from the back seat and vacuums the chicken poop while her husband looks for the spare tire behind the compost pile. We make a deal and buy the 1976 Dodge Brougham for two hundred and fifty dollars without test driven it. Posting the wanted notice and completing our purchase has taken us about three hours.
We drive off. At least the radio seems to work well and Willie Nelson so appropriately sings On the Road Again
. Tickled to death we are laughing and happily back on the road again.
We drive to the garage and transfer our gear from the broken Volkswagen Van into our new vehicle
. I have more luggage than anyone else because of an old view camera and a 16mm movie camera. The cameras to go are more important than any of my other luggage and therefore are among the precious items to be taken into our new car
.
The broken Van can remain waiting in the yard of the Redding repair shop until we return from Mexico. Hopefully we can tow it back to Canada with our Dodge, but for now we are heading south and to Orizaba!
On California’s highways the Dodge flies like the wind as it has a big engine. It guzzles gas like crazy and at every stop we have to add engine oil, but no worry––in California gas and oil are cheap. Our least expensive gas price is found in Anaheim near Disneyland.
Fortunately Satoshi who is from Japan is used to hot baths and we Finns to sauna, as the car’s heater is stuck in the on position and no knob will turn it off. The seat next to the driver is the hottest spot especially during the day when the outdoor temperature is close to 90 F. We all take turns at the sauna seat
in front so that no one has to suffer too long in the scorching heat.
The heater in our $250.00 new car? is stuck and it feels like a sauna, but there
is nothing wrong with the engine. On the way to Mt Orizaba we take a break
and get some fresh air. From left to right; Ron, Satoshi, Eric and Larry.
We forgot the map of Mexico at home. I have drawn a roadmap into my journal with help from a Mexican man.
When we cross the border to Mexico, a nation of almost one hundred million people, it would take only one Mexican official at the border to ask if we have car insurance to ruin our trip. We are relieved when such question does not come up as indeed we have no such insurance.
After stopping in one Mexican town along the way we cannot get the car started and discover that the battery does not have an iota of energy. We have not even thought of checking the battery along the way. Now we hope someone comes along to give us a jump-start to get the Dodge going. We dangle our jumper cables in front of incoming traffic. A Mexican driver stops and gives us a boost, but we are reluctant to continue our trip in the dark.
We decide to spend the night in this town and park the car on a down slope so that we can push start it in the morning. We all are hungry and order Mexican food in a restaurant, but nothing too spicy. All we need is diarrhea in addition to the car trouble. In the middle of eating our tasty meal the restaurant door opens and a big man walks in, speaking in Spanish something about a car, our car.
We finally understand that our Dodge is parked too close to a street corner and the bus driver cannot make the sharp turn. Our waiter with a white apron joins us to push our car away from the corner. The bus driver is happy to make his turn onto a narrow street and we return to finish our dinner after an evening workout
.
Before heading to bed in a cheap hotel we walk through the town and knock on a door of a repair shop where the lights are on. Do you have any distilled water?
I manage to ask in Spanish. The shop owner, a stout Mexican man answers "Si––Yes", and on the floor we see a quart of distilled water in a glass bottle as though we had ordered it.
We pay the price the repair shop owner asks and top up the battery.
After sleeping well in a Hotel a stream of morning light illuminates our room in the morning and we are in high spirits.
Freya Stark (1893-1993) a British travel writer expressed her feelings about a similar situation, To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the most pleasant sensations in the world
We are not even sure if this Mexican town is Queretaro or some other town, thus it passes for a strange town. Although we are more than one, the words of Freya Stark describe our morning sensation most fittingly. Full of vigor we return to the car, hoping that the fresh distilled water will help it to start, but that is not to be.
The repair shop owner probably made his best water sale. The liquid is most likely pure rainwater. The battery remains dead as a door nail and we need many boosts on the way to Mt Orizaba. Since non of us are automobile mechanics we cannot blame the shop owner but our own ignorance for not always knowing what we are doing.
I cannot exaggerate our enthusiasm as Mt Orizaba reveals its pristine snow cap in the distance. If ever during the long drive, this is the time when our blood turns into wine. We are energized and hope that the car battery is also.
Finally after thirty two boosts along the way we reach our driving destination of Miguel de Hidalgo. In that village the Dodge engine stops in front of a whitewashed store front as though to tell us, This is where the driving ends.
We don’t worry about it now. We first need to climb to the summit of Mt Orizaba.
Orizaba, is on the far side of the Anajuac range about 80 miles west of the city of Veracruz. It is Mexico’s highest and North America’s third highest mountain. The permanently snowcapped summit is 18,700 ft high. Many climbers have lost their lives on the slopes of Mt Orizaba. Sudden unexpected snow storms, a single false step and other untold surprises have taken many climbers’ lives. The first climbing group succeeded in reaching the peak in 1848 under the leadership of an American General named Scott. Knowing that most exciting adventures in life are experienced near the thin line between life and death, we have decided to attempt the Orizaba climb.
4_Orizaba%20kiipeily.jpgThe rustic village of Miguel de Hidalgo is at the base of Mt Orizaba. It is a
potato-farming community of a few hundred people. The sight of Mt Orizaba
is a source of continuous delihgt for the hard working people.
A friendly farmer in Miguel de Hidalgo invites us into his home, just a short walking distance from where our car stopped. According to a Mexican proverb, Conversation is food for the soul
and even with limited knowledge of the Spanish language we enjoy that kind of food. We soon learn that potato growing is the main source of livelihood in this village of a few hundred people, and to become a potato picker is a dream for many of the young people here.
During coffee which is served with tasty tortillas––corn flour crepes roasted on an open fire, it becomes clear that potato-picking time is temporarily over for one picker. Carlos, the man of the house has a new job. He agrees to accompany us to a mountain hut up the hill as a guide and horseman.
5_Orizaba%20climb%20Mexico.jpgMiguel de Hidalgo is a family orientated community and one of the first questions
I’m asked is about my wife and family. When I reply that I’m single and have
never been married? I can feel shock waves reverberating from the walls which
are wall-papered with potato sacks and newspapers. In our village men of your
age are grandfathers? Is the honest comment from one of the young boys.
With some sadness we leave our new friends in this most simple but cozy home where chickens pick crumbs from the floor and the smoke from open fire renders that wonderful camping feeling.
Vast potato fields surround the village and I get a chance to be in a photo with a group of potato pickers.
6_Orizaba%20potato%20field%20extra.jpgWith potato pickers in Miguel de Hidalgo. The villagers lead an enviably
simple life far removed from the troubles of modern world. Crystal clear
water is harvested from Mt Orizaba streams, the air is free from pollution and
the good soil renders life supporting harvest from season to season.
On a tour of the village with Carlos we are able to find two unemployed donkeys and Carlos seems to know where to find a few more. You borrow what you need
seems to be an unwritten law among the villagers.
We return to our vehicle and begin packing the gear in anticipation of the ride up the mountain while Carlos arranges horses and needed gear. Within an hour he finds two horses, three donkeys, two dogs, straw hats and two young fellows to give us a hand. The temperature before midday has risen above 70 F. and it is still rising. Our resolution to climb the mountain is holding while keeping in mind the Mexican idiom, "A good resolution is like an old horse, which is often saddled but