Clown Tom Bolton’s world travels

World traveler Tom in Europe

Tom with the Finnish National circus

Clown Tom Bolton relocated from USA to Europe in 1983. Since then I’ve traveled and worked throughout Western Europe. I spent my summers from 1983 to 1995 in Scandinavia. In 1984 a performer from the Kansalis Finnish circus who I had met in Spain invited me to do some shows. In those days they were strictly juggling. It took me a week to track down the circus which had changed its tour dates. I only stayed some days but it was a fun experience. I had done some circus work in the States, poorly paid and literally made to shovel elephant shit 5 minutes after having done a show. If you are not a big name act in the circus, it sucks big time.

World Traveler Tom Bolton in Latin America

Tom in Guatemala

Babaj, Guatemala highlands

Guatemala was my favorite Central American country. There is still a large Indian population many of whom still wear their colorful traditional dress which is unique to each village. The Indians were generally very shy with outsiders. In this highland village people told me they felt safer with tourists around who could be witness to the military oppression. I made a small show on the plaza in front of the church. Someone started ringing the church bells, bringing much of the village to see the spectacle. The day after I left this town there was a firefight with bullets flying in the street between soldiers and rebels.

Guatemalan man in traditional dress

In many countries it seems the woman often still wear some kind of traditional dress. But most men just basic pants and shirts. In the mid 1990’s, many men in Guatemala were still wearing traditional cloths, often as colorful as the women’s. In subtle ways, I had the feeling that there was more equality between the sexes there than amongst the Latinos of European decent and definitely more than in much of Asia.

Asthma attack

In Guatemala I did a day-trip walking from Lanquin, which is known for its spectacular cave Destination was the Cahabón gorge where the river mostly disappears underground at a point called Semuc Champey and comes back out some hundred meters further on. I went with a Canadian woman and her 3 year old daughter. My thinking was that I could also help carry the child if she got tired on the app.18 kilometer round trip. It was a beautiful day but as we started back, the air got much cooler and the stress of walking and the dust from the road aggravated my asthma.

Then I realized I had forgotten my asthma spray. I was really struggling and it started to get dark and we still had some kilometers to go. I was against it but followed this woman as she tried to follow apparent short cuts to the winding road. The way got steeper and steeper and I thought I would collapse. Suddenly, I felt a burning sensation all over my legs. I switched on my flashlight, which I had left off until then to conserve the batteries.

A trail of thousands of red ants was using the same path as us. I freaked out a bit and ran back down the path, stuck to the road and we eventually made it back. The release of adrenaline due to the ant bites possibly saved my life. Somehow this made me think of a fellow asthmatic American juggler who had also recently been working in Germany. Strangely, what I didn’t know then, Marcus had tragically died from asthma on the streets on Munich around the same time as my episode. But that’s another story.

Tom in Bolivia

In Atacama Desert

Bolivia was my favorite country in South America. There are the beautiful Andes which in the east drop into the Amazon basin. A bus wreck in these regions means you go off the side of a mountain. The result being a fall a loooong way down like something out of an old road runner cartoon. The high plateaus toward the border with Chile contain the Atacama Desert. Suppose to be the driest place on Earth but it drizzled one afternoon I was there. The nights are so clear; it is worth camping out under the stars but take a warm sleeping bag. Trips across the salt flats are popular and this high altitude lake is much saltier than the ocean. Yet it supports microscopic life which thousands of flamingos there thrive on.

There were public strikes throughout the country while I was there, stopping all public transportation. I and a bunch of other tourists got tired of being stuck in a small village. A travel agency paid a private bus to pick us up outside of town and bribed the local strikers to let us leave peacefully. But some locals didn’t go along with the plan. They chased the bus, throwing stones for kilometers. And we had to run through the desert with our heavy backpacks to catch up. Half of the tourists were young Israelis fresh from the military. A good run through the desert with a heavy load and stones flying was probably just routine for them but it was a ball breaker for me.

Tom on Thai beach

Thailand has many islands and plenty of great beaches. It was so hot that I would wait until close to sunset before training. Typically, a spectator would want to learn to juggle. When others saw that it could be learned in one lesson, they would want to try as well. A week at the beach and I would have 30 or more people all coming to train. This was back before the big raves and when juggling wasn’t so popular so it was a special experience. First time to Thailand I just enjoyed it. Second time, a year later, I started to look behind the smiling faces and recognize the distress the locals often felt by tourists breaking their taboos. This was often unintended and simply a lack of cultural knowledge rather than mere insensitivity. Still, the flood of tourism that has washed over Thailand has probably impacted their traditions as profoundly as the Tsunami which later washed over this beach.

Tom in Nepal

Street show in Katmandu

Nepal was a fantastic place. Jungle in the south, highest mountains in the world in the north. The people were truly friendly, honest and gentle who maintained many traditions of their culture yet accepted that we tourists had other ways. Even the hash dealers were respectful. When I told them I was not interested they smiled and went their way. This was a relief having come straight from Bali. There the beach vendors were like flies on shit, persistent and annoying.

But the seeds of discontent that have plagued Nepal the last decade or so were already to be seen in 1990. Many young guys who worked in the larger villages impacted by the constant stream of trekkers were getting aggressive. They seemed to long for the material wealth of the foreigners and seeing the extreme poverty, who can really blame them. Here I made shows by the temples on Durbar square in Katmandu. I did some alone, others accompanied by my good friend Steve Goetz who I just happened to run into.

Java temple ruins

Much of Indonesia was once Hindu. With the exception of Bali, Java and most of the rest of the country became Muslim. Hence the Hindu temple ruins still remaining in eastern Java. This area has a lot of geothermal activity. I went on to climb mount Marapi which was smoking cinders at the top. I got a late start and had no food. On the way down I keep losing the trail but found my way to the village below directed by the sound of the prayers being called out from the mosque.

By the time I got down to where the first farms were, I fell to my knees and ate about a kilo of carrots pulled fresh from the earth. A decade later Marapi exploded again as did the smoldering volcano I later visited outside of Rebaul in PNG. Beaches I visited in Indonesia, Thailand and Sri Lanka were destroyed by the tsunami. I guess avoiding such natural disaster is just a matter of timing determined by destiny.

Tom at the Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal, deservingly one of the man-made wonders of the world. It’s not just majestic from a distance but intricately inlayed with precious stones and fine details. Yet the banks of the river behind it are used as a garbage dump and communal toilet. But then everywhere in India is used as a toilet since there are so many people and a lack of public facilities. If you leave your seat on a long bus or train ride to take a leak, you risk losing it. Indian woman didn’t have this problem since females pissing by the side of the road would be socially inacceptable. They just have to hold it in. The bladder control of Indian woman is probably more amazing than the physical feats of most Indian yoga masters.

Kids by Ajanta caves

There are caves in Ajanta and Ellora which were intricately carved as temples over hundreds of years. Like many Indians temples, there are many erotic motifs. Supposedly the modern prudishness in India was influenced by the English. These kids came from a village near one of the caves to see the tourists. They were amused by me juggling with stones. Then one of them noticed metal in my mouth. I have a few missing teeth and use to wear partial dentures. As I pulled the „teeth“ out of my mouth they were even more amazed, as if I were a cyborg removing my own head or something.

Boy selling betel nut leafs

This young Muslim boy was selling leaves which are used to wrap up betel nut which is mixed with a lime paste and often spices. Then it is stuck in the mouth producing a mild buzz. Users are constantly spitting out the dark red juice. Many Indian kids must work or sell things to help their poor families survive. As a kid, I had a paper route and earned pocket money by doing garden work in the summers. In the winters I shoveled snow. But child labor, where kids must work full time rather than go to school is still a sad reality for many.

Bombay zoo

I took this photo in the Bombay zoo (back when it was called Bombay rather than Mumbai). Respect for animals’ lives is instituted in Hindu culture. Even snakes and rats are somehow holy. But as the population increases, the wildness that shelters many of India’s amazing animals is disappearing. The zoo seemed a rather sad replacement.

Amazingly, there is a temple in Rajasthan devoted to rats. I saw wealthy people there pass crippled beggars, without so much as a glance, on their way to feed good food to the rats. Any human’s level of reincarnation should still be above any animals’ in my understanding of Hinduism but India’s a land of paradoxes! But India was also one of the only countries where people didn’t question my vegetarianism. I’m no strict vegan but to all the people who claim it „isn’t possible“, I say, „go to India where at least half a billion people can tell you otherwise!“.

Tom in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Doing street show in Dhaka

I didn’t actually travel around Bangladesh but was in Dhaka for 2 days on a stopover. From the air it looked like half of the country was under water. I bought some oranges and made a little street show. I wondered if the people were not more curious as to who might get to eat the oranges than they were about my juggling. The markets were actually full of food. Like in India, hunger there is usually not due to a lack of food but not enough money to buy it.

I arrived from Europe hungry myself as the Bangladesh Airlines didn’t have my ordered veggie meal and I only got a little white rice. Taking the cheapest flights often lead to interesting situations. One I flew on Aeroflot with a half day stopover in Moscow airport during the Soviet times. Soldiers marching about and banners to the revolution, stewardesses who looked like weigh-lifters who scowled and gave you just half a cup of coffee. It seemed like a parody out of a cold war era „anti-commie“ film.

Marrakesh, Morocco

Marrakesh was a beautiful and wild place. I had to think of the popular song about „going to Marrakesh“ and of some of the hippy road trip novels set there. We had met up with some Moroccan friends of friends from France. They were very hospitable and showed us around. I would wander through the souvenir markets, disguised in my Jalaba pretending disinterest. Then our Moroccan friends would go back alone to buy what I wanted for a much better price. Everything in Morocco costed at least double for tourists.

Papua New Guinea highlands

PNG is simply a crazy place!!! Few world travelers make it this far off of the beaten tourists‘ routes. I passed through one area where tribal warfare with bows and arrows was still being fought. But then warfare was the basis of highland tribal culture until they made contact to the outside world less a century ago. You still see plenty of guys like this in the highlands. Having entertained people first, I dared to make some pictures but typically people would demand hundreds of dollars to take their photo. Seems they’ve heard that professional photographers sometimes get that for a good shot. My shows were also a kind of insurance. Make a show and impress the village headman and you were a lot less likely to be a target for any stress.

Teaching kids in Papua New Guinea

I met these girls in the highlands of PNG and taught them to juggle with some small fruits within a matter of minutes! Most of the hundreds of people I have taught to juggle were not this clever. Of course some tips and feedback help but determination and practice are the key.

Tom in New Zealand

Climbing glacier in New Zealand

Here I am climbing on a glacier in the south of New Zealand. I had tried to hitchhike without much success but as an exprienced world traveler I was not ready to give up easily. Then I found there was a price war going on between the bus companies. Luck me, I got a month long pass to travel both Islands for around a hundred US dollars. Rather than old ruins or traditional dress, NZ offered lots of nice nature. I wanted to go paragliding but by before it was my turn to take off, the winds had gotten too strong. One more missed chance at possibly killing myself, so I can’t say if I had good luck or bad that day.