I
was in the neighborhood of the Mongolian Intelligence Agency (clearly
marked on my tourist map) and I had reason to be stealthy: Muggles
(ordinary civilians) were about. Its difficult to work undercover with
white skin and reddish curly hair in UB and, on top of that I had
another logistical hurdle. Even though the coordinates on my GPS had led
me to the correct place, I couldnt reach my target. I couldnt even see
it, but I was sure it was there just beyond my sight and just beyond the
tips of my fingers while I stood tippy-toed close up to the wall.
I
left the foyer and tried to clear my mind to find a solution; to think
out-of-the-box so I could achieve my objective. Maybe I could find
something to stand on such as one of the many loose cobblestones Ive
seen around that UB city dwellers use to make stepping stones across the
puddles when it rains. But then luck smiled upon me: my solution
sauntered down the sidewalk. It was a foreigner with what I needed C not
language skills, but height! He could reach the secret stash hidden up
high in the restaurant foyer behind a piece of wood paneling acting as
camouflage. Once I had that stash in hand I would complete my mission by
signing the log book and taking care of some other important business
that lay within the sealed, weatherproof plastic box. But first, I would
have to convince the approaching tall guy to cooperate with my odd
request to grope behind some dicey wood paneling for me.
The
foreigner, who revealed himself via business card as one Frdric Wils,
Advisor of the Competence Centre for Climate Change (Eschborn, Germany)
had never heard of geocaching, which is what I was up to with all of my
stealth activities. In fact, he had just arrived in UB and Im sure
helping out a geocacher was the last thing he expected to be doing. But
his much shorter companion recognized the term geocaching and so after
he assured my hero that it wasnt some sort of scam or joke (like a rat
hiding up there behind the paneling, waiting to bite his finger off),
Frederic a.k.a. (also known as) Tall Guy reached up and easily retrieved
what it was I wanted so desperately. The smile on his face was
priceless, as Im sure was mine. He handed me the plastic lock-top box
and we parted ways. The hero went to his business lunch with a good and
somewhat bizarre story to bring home from his visit to UB, and I went to
the nearby park to sit on a comfortable bench in the shade to complete
the rest of the activities required by my successful find.
But
here in UB, I had no choice but to go solo. My app didnt work because
my phone is a unique generation of the Samsung Galaxy that will not
accept a local sim card. So before I could geocache I needed to buy a
GPS unit. To do that I had to use a tourist map to find Seven Summits
where I purchased a Garmin eTrex 10 for 25,000 MNT. This is a decent
price for German technology and is not too much pricier than Stateside
for me.
Aside
from geocaching, a GPS can be handy in marking up locations (in GPS
parlay, waypoints) in a city. Afraid of losing your way back to your
hotel? No problem, mark it as a waypoint and use the Navigate To feature
on the GPS unit to find your way home. Just dont lose your GPS unit!
Businesses
could also mark their locations on maps or on their websites under
their location page to help customers find their way, and event
organizers could do the same with the location of a gathering. GPS is
becoming a popular free app on many smart phones so in a city like UB
where official addresses are not yet forthcoming universally, having a
publicly posted GPS address might prove to be the difference between a
new business venture and a flop.
I
would also not be surprised if instead of using street addresses, any
new postal system implemented by the government (or international
delivery firms such as FedEx or United Parcel Service C UPS) might
employ GPS coordinates rather than street names and numbers, if not
doing so already. This would be a practical example of so-called
leap-frog technology which occurs when a society has missed
technological developments. For instance, the absence of landline phones
in many homes is an example of leap-frog technology, as would be the
use of solar panels and composting toilets rather than electric lines
and sewage plumbing.
In a nutshell, to geocache, there are a few easy steps to follow. First,Other companies want a piece of that smartcard action consult the geocaching websites map to locate caches in your area.You must not use the plasticmoulds without
being trained. You can copy down, print out, or download the cache
information to your smart phone app or GPS unit. The details include the
latitude-longitude coordinates, the code and/or name of the cache, a
hint, and often some informative background information of the geocache
location. The locations are usually scenic and/or historical.We Engrave cleaningservicesydney for
YOU. Sometimes a business may sponsor a geocache, but it is frowned
upon to use geocaching as a venue for outright advertising. A geocache
may be placed outside of a business location and the business owner will
not even be aware of its presence. I heard that this is the case with
the cache I found placed high up in the foyer.Did you know that plasticcard chains
can be used for more than just business. You may also consult the
online log of the geocache to read what other geocachers have said about
finding the cache, and pick up additional hints besides the official
one. You can also check attributes such as the date of the last find,
difficultly rating to find, and difficulty rating of the terrain. After
you use your GPS device C or if you cannot access or afford that
technology C your geosense C to navigate to the location, you must then
finally log on to the geocaching web site to log your find, whether you
found it or not.
When you find a cache, try to be stealthy to protect its integrity.This technology allows high volume besttape production
at low cost. Sign and date the log book and replace it and, also, if
there are small trinkets, you may take one and leave one. Often a cache
will have a theme, such as only green color objects may be placed there.
Usually there are no such restrictions. Its best to carry a variety of
objects you could place in a cache. Currently, I have a flattened
souvenir penny from the Rain Forest Cafe in Burlington, Massachusetts; a
rabies dog tag from Henniker, New Hampshire (NH) where I live now; a
rabies dog tag from Dover, NH where I lived in the past; two plastic
camels; some US coins (pennies and nickels); a ring made out of an
antique style nail from Santas Village (an amusement park in Jefferson,
NH); a miniature Etch-a-Sketch on a key ring (my kids will be bummed
when they realize Ive left it in a cache in Mongolia!); some small oddly
shaped rubber items I found in a cache near Schenectady, New York which
my kids told me are erasers; and a geocaching wooden token from
geocacher Weaselboy whom I have never met. I had a pair of earrings in
the shape of small smiling moons, but I left them at the geocache where
my tall hero assisted me as they were befitting the venue. I also have a
Mongolian Red Cross pin which I took from that cache, and, more
importantly, a TravelBug with tag number R2YN9D I took from that cache. I
left off a TravelBug called UncleDons License Plates in its place.
Click on their website www.artsunlight.com for more information.
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