Laos - Plain of Jars
Foto: The high wall between the residential areas (bron: Ronald van der Veer)
Northern_Ireland - While yesterday was mainly about the Titanic, today is focused on Belfast’s history. For years, Protestants and Catholics fought one another during riots. Catholics strive for unification with Ireland, while Protestants want to remain part of the United Kingdom. The conflict in working-class neighborhoods escalated in 1969 when the IRA emerged to defend Catholic interests. Violence was not shunned, provoking retaliation. We start the day with breakfast at a bakery—coffee and a Belfast bap, which turns out to be just a sausage sandwich. While we’re sitting there, a homeless woman enters the shop, trying to collect enough money for a cake. Meanwhile, she sips from her vodka bottle. She manages to get the money at the table next to us. Apparently, they know her. She leaves with the cake but soon returns to fetch her vodka. We let it be and walk to St. Peter’s Cathedral. The towers rise high above the western part of the city. It is said the Germans used them for navigation during air raids. On one of the houses along Falls Road is a massive mural of Bobby Sands, an IRA supporter who drew attention to the harsh prison conditions with a hunger strike in 1981. Her death led to increased sympathy for the IRA, both locally and internationally. Nearby is a monastery right on the dividing line. A six-meter-high wall stands behind it. In 1961, the British government decided to build this wall between rival neighborhoods to prevent attacks. The Conway Mill, a former linen factory dating from 1842, looks rather innocent in the Catholic area. The factory witnessed much of the area’s history. Today, it houses artists, cafés, and a small museum about Irish history. One cell shows where IRA activists were held for years. A guide from a Belgian tour group approaches me. When he hears I’m from the Netherlands, he immediately links it to William of Orange. “Your William started all this mess,” he says. Though he’s embraced as a hero on the other side of the wall, I smile and excuse myself. The hatred still runs deep. We continue to the gate in the Peace Wall—a double gate between the two neighborhoods that can be closed at night. Hard to believe such a thing still exists today. On the Protestant side, the wall is covered in graffiti. The terraced houses all display the Northern Irish or British flag. Nationalism is thriving here. They make it abundantly clear they have no desire to be part of predominantly Catholic Ireland.
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The Titanic Shipyard
Northern_Ireland - We cross the River Lagan and enter the Titanic Quarter. Modern apartment buildings now line the waterfront, once the site where impressive ocean liners were built. The most famous of these was the Titanic. In 1911, the 269-meter-long ship was launched ...