For most families, a long car journey is the bane of any trip.But for the Zapps, their 83-year-old
vehicle has been a home for the past 11 years, as the couple travel around the world on a never ending
trip of a lifetime, covering 142,000 miles over four continents.
Herman and Candelaria Zapp, who got married to each other in 1996 and to their journey in 2000,
Set off from Patagonia, Argentina, heading for Alaska. They came back to Argentina in2004,but settled
there only for a couple of weeks, before deciding the open road is the only way to live. They have been
traveling ever since, with a trip around South America between 2005 and 2007, then central America,
the U.S. and Canada until 2009.The car was shipped to Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South
Korea as they traveled those countries and they are currently in the Philippines on a tour of South East
Asia.
As a proof that life is possible in such a mobile style, the family of the two slowly grew to a number
of six.They became, over the years and while on the road, parents to four children, Pampa (eight), Tehue
(five), Paloma (three) and Wallaby (one). Remarkably, each of their kids has a different nationality.
"My grandfather knew that we wanted to travel and to never stop so he gave me the old Grdham-Paige car he used on his farm," Herman said. Each night the six Zapps either sleep in or around a tent set up
next to their car, but more often than not they find a friendly local who will put them up for the night.The
only hard rule the couple have to stick by, is the 40mph speed limit the 83-year old car is restricted to.
Their trip is supported with the money coming from selling books they write about the places they visit.
As you climb into the hill country, the roads get dustier and rougher, and fewer cars can be seen.
Phonxay is one of the poorest districts of Laos, and many of its villages are only accessible by footpath.
Our destination this hot morning is a concrete water tank that can be found just off the road. A UK
organization helped to build it six years ago, and in the nearby village of Thapho, where clean drinking
water is scarce, it has made a big difference. The tank feeds six taps which in turn give water to over 800
people---it has improved things for almost every family, from schoolchildren to grannies.
But lately, we were told, the clean water supply has come under pressure from new arrivals, people
who have come down from the hill areas, and there are concerns that there will not be enough clean water to go round.
There are also serious worries about resources in Laos. The Chinese are building a 400km railway link, which could transform the landlocked country. About 150,000 Chinese workers will be involved. What
will this do to local clean water supplies? How will the workers be fed?
The vast majority of Laotians live on farms. But with foreign investors wanting to buy up land, local
people will have to be moved to make room for them. Heavily dependent on both foreign aid and foreign
investment, Laos still falls well behind its neighbours, although its economy has grown at about 6% a year
in the last decade. Its biggest economic problem is the lack of locally trained skilled workforce.
But there are reasons to be hopeful for the future. Laos is beautiful, and foreign tourism continues to grow: fortunately so far the fast-food chains and coffee bars common elsewhere are nowhere to be seen.
Although all local media are government-run, the Internet is not controlled and the BBC and CNN are
available to those with satellite dishes.
The government has also achieved impressive results in rural development, with communities benefiting not just from cleaner water but the construction of new schools and regular visits from medical teams.
Poverty will not be history in Laos within the next decade, but with small steps forward and a bit of outside help, the country could find itself out of the UN"s least-developed category by 2020.
© 2017-2019 超级试练试题库,All Rights Reserved.