I like maps

I've always liked maps.

As a very young boy, I used to follow the map when we went for the weekend from Inverness to visit my grandparents in Craigellachie.

When we went on caravan holidays to Gairloch or Ullapool, I used to ask for a map in order to locate on a map the islands I could see from the caravan window.

I remember in primary school we did a school project on Takoradi in Ghana, and I was fascinated by maps of the area. I resolved to go there, but unfortunately that has not yet happened.

My first visit to Russia was in 1986. We were under the strict control of Intourist but in Tbilisi (not longer in Russia of course) I resolved to slip away from their clutches. A locally-purchased map showed a tram line going to a nearby lake. On evening, I slipped away from dinner and boarded that tram. The actual route did not seem to correspond to the map. At one point, well outside Tbilisi, the tram started to go through a cornfield. Time to get out I decided. No one else did. I then walked to the edge of the field and there a mile away was the lake I sought. I walked to a village on the shore. The villagers had never encountered a tourist and I was invited to share some tea with them all in the village square. Afterwards, as dusk was falling, I went back to the field. There I was, waist high in corn, beside a rail line waiting for what I fervently hoped would be a tram. And yes it turned up. A great evening that was not in the guide book, only on the map.

On another visit to Russia, I found, on a map, a church on the shore of the Volga. Two of us took a bus and visited the church. We opened the door. There was a wedding taking place. We shut the door. It was then thrown open. Our visit apparently was deemed to be good luck and we were invited to be guests in the front row. After the ceremony, we gave our Best Wishes to the couple and went off to the water's edge. It was a hot day. I decided to go for a swim. I had no swim shorts, but there was no-one around. So there I was splashing around naked in the River Volga when suddenly the bridal party and all their guests came down to the river for the wedding photos. I hope the viewers of those photos look only at the foreground and not the background.

I remember in India finding Kanyakumari on a map and wanting to go there. Not much of a town, but at dusk we sat on the roof of a hotel watching the sun setting in the west over the Arabian Sea and the full moon rising in the east over the Gulf of Mannar. Magical.

Guide books tell you to do what others are all doing. Maps let you decide for yourself. I like maps.