Lonely Planet

PHOTOCREDITOctober 2017 Lonely Planet Traveller 19``````Where has been the most satisfyingplace to play the bagpipes?So far, the Middle East has been thegreatest place to play the pipes. Everyoneseems to absolutely love it – it’s probablysomething to do with the fact thatbagpipes come from that part of theworld. Oman, Jordan and many otherMiddle Eastern nations have their ownadaptations of bagpipes, so it’s fairlyingrained in their folk culture and modernpop culture too. I was piping at the InlandSea in Qatar, which marks its border withSaudi Arabia, when a ginormous 4WDlaunched over a dune behind me. The carskidded to a stop and out popped a Qatariman. He shouted ‘Yalla! Again!’ I piped upagain and he calmly said, ‘They’re slightlyout of tune.’ It turns out he was part of theQatari pipe band. He then proceeded totune the drones as I played again.``````Have you had to make any changesto your usual approach?The bagpipes (and kilts) aren’t suited for allclimates, so I do have to mix it up. In SouthAfrica we went shark diving and I’d beengiven the go-ahead to pipe on board –(apparently loud noises are great forattracting great white sharks). I hadalready suited up, so I decided I’d justthrow on my kilt over the top and pipeaway. Not the easiest! When I visitedLatvia midwinter, it was so bloody coldthat my pipes totally seized up. It wasmade even worse by the fact that I hadworked up a bit of crowd after takinga few cheesy snaps in Riga’s Old Town.My fingers were frozen and my face wasso numb I could barely feel it, so when Istarted to pipe I just couldn’t get anythingout. I scuttled away to shouts of ,‘You’renot Scottish!’ Next time I visited a countryin midwinter (Slovakia in January this year)I was prepped with a ski-suit and all meansof wintery kit.``````What’s the most ambitious place onyour short-term must-visit list?Hands down, the Democratic Republicof the Congo. Despite online advice andmedia coverage, it’s not totally off limits,but it’s a fairly volatile place. I toed theborder with my brogues and kilt whenI visited Rwanda in 2014, and I’ve wantedto visit the DRC ever since.``````Find out more at thefirstpiper.comor follow Ross’s adventures on@thefirstpiper``````Few people include bagpipes on theirpacking list, but for Ross OC Jenningsthey have been a mainstay of histravels to more than 60 countries. Wecaught up with the man who has a planto pipe in every country of the world:‘Piping at the Old Man of Storr inScotland was out of this world. The weatherwas pretty bleak (classic Scotland), but itcleared up for a bit and I was able to playa few tunes. The ring around the Storr formeda natural amphitheatre, so you could hearme all the way down the valley.’PHOTOGRAPHS: CHRIS PARKES, ROSS OC JENNINGS Ross with his bagpipes on the Isle of Skye. ABOVE^ FROM^ LEFT Singapore, Laos and Armenia