YOUTH VISITED 32 COUNTRIES ON TOUR

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29716, 9 January 1962, Page 13

YOUTH VISITED 32 COUNTRIES ON TOUR

After a tour in which he spent at least a few days in 27 countries and called at 32. Timothy Dyce. of 9 Winters road, Christchurch, returned home last evening. Aged 17, he left for his tour on May 3, 1961—the day after he left St. Bede’s College. Mr Dyce spent some days in Asian countries and in Europe. Last evening he recalled some of the sights which had impressed him most.

In Bangkok he saw a religious ceremony at the beginning of the rainy season. Special prayers were offered for fertility at the ceremony which was attended by the king. The building which impressed him most was the Taj Mahal, which he saw on a day when the temperature was 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Rome is the European city he liked most. “It is living.

but has so much of the old,” he said. He saw Pope John twice. At Christmas he was in Bethlehem, but the large number of tourists "made it a rat race to get in." In Northern Bavaria Mr Dyce stood at the boarder separating it from East Germany. He learned that East Germans were not allowed closer than five kilometres from the border except for a chosen few allowed within 500 metres. West Germans were playing a football match very close to the border. Mr Dyce planned and booked his whole trip himself. It took 18 months’ planning. The purpose of his tour was educational and he spent a considerable part of his time visiting art galleries and museums. 1 He intends to train as a 'Roman Catholic priest in a .North Island seminary.