Name: Lino Bugeja
Age: 82
Occupation: Freelance journalist
A visit to Vittoriosa’s Marina Grande, with its Venetian connections, brought to mind my overwhelming fascination and admiration in my youth for old Venice, “the ancient city bright and free”, as William Wordsworth describes it in his poem On the Extinction of the Venetian Republic.
In repressive Burma I gazed in amazement at the gold and silver pagodas of Rangoon as I recalled Polo’s description of the devil dancers
As a teenager I dreamed of travelling in the fabulous footsteps of young Marco Polo who, over 700 years ago, travelled along the Old Silk Road eastwards across the Middle East, Asia, to exotic islands, then to the Far East with his long sojourn in China.
In those heady days of my turbulent youth in the mid-1940s, no self-respecting student’s carpet-bag was complete without a novel by G.A. Henty.
My irrepressible curiosity after reading The Lion of St Mark was to know more about the adventurous spirit of the intrepid Venetian explorers, particularly the days of Venetian glory when the young Marco, before his historic travels, loitered pensively in Piazza San Marco “where the Doge used to wed the sea with rings”.
Through a happy coincidence I had just studied the opium-induced poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Kublai Khan, the Chinese Emperor who heaped enormous riches on Marco Polo; a poem rich in picture language, particularly the vibrant opening lines: “In Xanadu did Kublai Khan/ A stately pleasure-dome decreed”.
Ever since those far-off Lyceum days the Far East has captivated my mind and to travel through vast geographical regions, cultures and civilisations was the stuff of my persistent dreams.
The dream of following in Marco Polo’s footsteps became an obsessive compulsion and at the first opportunity, in the late 1970s, I headed for China following an extended route to Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, South Yemen, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Burma and other exotic places on Marco’s extended itinerary.
China
My visit to China was unforgettable, a journey down the glittering centuries of China’s imperial past.
In some areas I lived in a time warp as if time had stood still while visions of 13th century China – when this vast country was unmistakably richer and more civilised than most European cities – flashed through my mind.
As I toured various localities near Beijing I was overwhelmingly impressed by their craftsmanship, reminding me when once its artisans surpassed anything produced in contemporary cultures.
The Great Wall, which Marco Polo must have visited 700 years ago, is surely one of the most breathtaking projects ever accomplished, snaking and winding up and down mountains for over 6,400 km. It is the only man-made structure visible from the moon.
During my stay in Beijing I visited the Forbidden City and on entering the expansive palace created by Kublai Khan, I visualised Marco Polo in the service of the great Khan.
I assumed that the general appearance of the Forbidden City as it stands today does not depart much from the sight that met the eyes of the stunned Venetian in 1272.
At the University of Beijing I mingled with the students eager to know about Malta-China relations and our own rich history and culture.
Jordan
My pilgrimage to China started with a pleasant stay in Amman, the capital of Jordan, once an important trading post on the Silk Road.
The ancient city of Jerash, on the outskirts of Amman is a very impressive sight with its paved and colonnaded Roman Road. In this fantastic setting I thoroughly enjoyed a son et lumière in the theatre among springs and fountains that adorn this ancient highway.
Of course, I did not miss the opportunity to visit the mysterious city of Petra with its ‘Treasury’ exquisitely carved, a worthy Unesco World Heritage Site, described as “one of the most precious cultural properties of man’s cultural heritage”.
Iraq
During my two-week stay in Baghdad, the Iraqi city made famous by the tales from Arabian Nights, I could observe that this ancient metropolis had retained some of its old charm with its narrow winding streets teeming with skillful coppersmiths and weavers.
By the river of Babylon, the historic Euphrates River, I wondered at the small remnant of the majestic Ishtar Gate
Along the banks of the historic river Tigris “there is a manufacturer of silks wrought with gold also of damasks as well as of velvets ornamented with the figures of birds and beasts”; so relate the official chronicles of Marco Polo. Undoubtedly Iraq has the richest history in the world; it’s the cradle of civilisation.
My next visit was to the legendary city of Babylon, the city that figures so prominently in the Bible and whose Hanging Gardens were among one of the Wonders of the Ancient World.
By the river of Babylon, the historic Euphrates River, I wondered at the small remnant of the majestic Ishtar Gate discovered by German archaeologists before World War I.
Regrettably, the major part of the Isthar Gate, which I visited a decade ago, adorns the famous Archaeological Museum in East Berlin.
Burma
In repressive Burma I gazed in amazement at the gold and silver pagodas of Rangoon as I recalled Marco Polo’s description of the devil dancers called in to drive away evil spirits from the bodies of people with terminal diseases.
Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka I observed a minor version of the pearling fleet and remembered the Venetian’s interest in the divers whose haul of oysters was so abundant that Marco concluded that “the quantities gathered are beyond counting …. for you must know that pearls gathered in this gulf are exported throughout the world”.
When the oysters had rotted sufficiently, the soft parts would be removed and the pearls extracted. This practice confirms how apt is D.H. Lawrence’s remark that “a pearl is the fruit of a diseased oyster”.
Yemen
My short visit to south Yemen was extremely interesting but hazardous because at that time there was considerable anti-Western feeling and I was very cautious.
However, thanks to the hospitality of my hosts I discovered ancient Yemen and the Road to Incense, as well the ancient sites and traditions on the hills around the Bay of Aden.
Maldives
Lying on the sea routes to China, the Maldives attracted my attention and my brief stay in Kurumba Village, one of the myriad of islands, reminded me of Robinson Crusoe awash on a desert island.
On the jetty at Male, the capital city, I was in for a big surprise as one of the large boats carried the name Bahaar , the equivalent of ‘sea’ in Maltese.
Only a small part of the wonders of Marco Polo’s account has been revealed to me. For the moment I should be content with the popular saying: “Only when you have climbed the Great Wall are you a noble soul. Only when you have travelled the Silk Road have you relived history’s romance”.
Marco Polo’s detailed account of what he encountered during his amazing journey to China and his 20-year odyssey has remained a popular classic of travel literature ever since he related his adventures to the ‘ghost writer’ Rustichello in a Genoa prison more than 700 years ago.
My visit to the Marina Grande in Vittoriosa on Easter Sunday made me relive my boyhood enthusiasm for China of the Kublai Khan’s dynasty, and Marco Polo’s Silk Road in his quest to discover this vast country.