Leaving Xi'an

Well, it has finally stopped raining here in Xi'an, and now we must
go. It has been raining here for the past 4 days which has put a
'damper' on exploring the city. We thought that we had all day and
night today to walk around, but apparently one of the people at the
hostel messed up our train information, and we are actually leaving
here in a couple of hours....

We have been spending a lot of time at our hostel, because the rain
hasn't let up at all for us. We have spent all of our evenings,
hanging out in the cafe here, watching movies with other hostel-goers.
It's been pretty fun, actually. However, it's too bad because the city
here seems really nice. It has an entirely different feel to it than
Beijing. Xi'an is the ancient capital of China, so there is a lot of
history around here. It also seems to be filled with bars, nice
stores, and many nice restaurants. I'm sure if it hadn't of rained
while we were here, we would have ended up spending too much money
anyway!

So...on Tuesday, we went on the 'Panda Tour'!! Although I was very
excited to finally see a real live panda, I was concerned that it
would have been like a zoo, or more precisely, like the zoo that we
visited in Japan. It was an hour and a half drive to the pandas, and
although it poured the entire time, I still enjoyed it so much! The
place is right next to a mountain called Qiling. There were more than
just pandas at this place that we visited. All of the animals were
harmed or sick, and were brought in from locals. There were 11 pandas
in total at this place, although most of them were inside, due to the
rain. We still got to see them, but they were sleeping and hard to
see. There was ONE panda that was outside, and not shying away from
the rain, so I ended up staying outside of his 'pen' for about an
hour. I didn't want to leave!!! He is 3 years old, his name is 'YaYa'.
His mother lives at this place also, so YaYa was born there. We got
pretty close to him, but always had to jump back when he reached his
paws through the bars. I had difficulty refraining from touching him!!
He was so adorable!!! I was quite content also, as he had lots of room
to run around and play, and also go inside to hide from the weather.
(A little fact: There are between 1000-1500 Giant pandas left in the
world, and 400 of them live on the mountain we were at).

When we finished visiting with the animals, we drove to a local
restaurant (we were far out in the country). The restaurant had
private rooms for each table, and our driver ordered 12 different
dishes for all of us to share. Some things that we ate: Noodle soup,
sweet and sour pork, omelet, fried rice, bamboo, eggplant, 'honey'
potatos, etc. The food was so delicious.

Anyway, moving on to Wednesday, the day we visited the Terracotta
Warriors. We had to take a tour to visit this place as well, as it was
an hour outisde of the city. We went to some factory to show us how to
make the army, as well as a museum, but the main thing was visiting
the pits where the army was. It was pretty unbelievable to see. There
are 3 different pits, I actually forget how long ago they were made,
but it was a lonnggg time ago. However, the pits were not found until
1974. The main pit had 6000 (I think) warriors in it! It's pretty
crazy to think that some emperor had all of these life-size stone men
made to protect him once he died. Apparently, when he died, he buried
all of the men that made the soldiers alive, and then after that, no
one else could make anything of the sort for a very long time. After
we finished looking around the pits and museums (well, Ray and I
didn't look around the museum too much, as it wasn't as exciting), we
went to eat another group meal. We had more delicious food, we were
able to try 10 different dishes, and we ended up paying like
$3.50...and we left a lot of food there because there was so much of
it...

Other than this, we spent some time walking down the Muslim Quarter,
which is right next to our hostel, and we also visited their Mosque.
It was very neat to see. I have to cut this off here, because I have
to get ready for the next part of my trip. We are getting on a 15 hour
overnight train to Chongqing, today at 5pm. From there, we will be
getting on a 3-night boat cruise on the Yangtze River. So, we will be
on the boat from Sept. 29-Oct. 2 (my birthday and our one year!). I am
really looking forward to seeing the Three Gorges before they
disappear. We will get off of the boat in Yichang.

You will hear from me again once I am back on land....

Arrival in Xi'an

Apparently it's Monday, September 25 now...I am so confused with the days. We got on our train last night at 9:30 pm, and woke up as we were approaching Xi'an at 9 am this morning. The train was pretty sweet, although it is a newer train made to go straight through to Tibet, so I am sure other 'hard sleepers' that we will be taking will not be as nice. Ray and I paid more for the bottom bunks (there are 6 bunks in each cubby), so it was nice because we were able to sit up in our beds...although the cute little family that was in the cubby with us liked to occasionally sit on our beds too! The train itself was not at all sketch; very clean, secure, and safe.

Anyway, we're not sure how long we will be in Xi'an. There is a huge week-long holiday coming up on Oct. 1, so getting from place to place is extremely difficult right now. However, while we are in Xi'an, we will be going to see pandas and the Terracotta Warriors! Yes, I may actually be going to see a real live panda!!! Ray is letting me drag him on the panda tour.... :)

One last thing, apologies for having my 'comment' settings wrong. I have now changed the settings so that anyone can post a comment, even if you do not have a blog.

So, this is all for now. It's just a quick update, since internet is free for us right now...

Exploring Beijing

Well, it's Saturday already. I feel like the week is flying by! The weather has been extremely nice here, which has been perfect for seeing this...but at the same time, it has been very hot to walk around the city in.

On Thursday, we went to the Great Wall. It was definitely one of the most amazing experiences ever. I can't even begin to explain how breathtaking the view was. We got up early to catch our shuttle bus at 6:50 am, then after many stops and a whole lot of driving, we arrived at Jinshaling (a part of the wall) at noon. From there, we left our bus to walk along the wall for 4 hours, and to meet the bus on the other end. The walk itself was a pretty intense hike. I'd say we were likely walking uphill for 3 hours of the time, while we walked downhill or level for 1 hour. My knees were definiltey ready to give out on me a few times, but I did it...and in good time. We took some good breaks to take pictures, and we had a nice break in one of the old towers to eat our lunch, and we also talked to some of the local farmers.

Anyway, we hiked from Jinshaling to Simatai. There were basically no other people on the wall, other than the 20 or so people that got there at the same time as us, so we were able to get a ton of pictures, people-free! The Jinshaling part of the wall was neat to walk on because it was what I pictured the wall to look like, it was upkept, so it was in good condition. Once we got about half way along the wall, the wall started to get smaller, and in rougher condition, and the towers started to be older and fallen apart. It was really neat (although hard to walk on at times) to walk on the original parts of the wall. At a few points, we were walking on just loose rock, and very narrow walkways. The entire time that we were on the wall, all you could see was an endless amount of mountains, and it looked like the wall just went on forever...it was so beautiful.

At the end of our hike, instead of walking the rest of the way to our bus, Ray and I harnessed ourselves to a cable and slid ourselves, over the water the rest of the way. Since I am such a wimp, I was terrified...but it was so awesome! When we got to the other side of the water, we took a boat to meet our bus. It was definitely better than walking another 20 minutes....

On Friday, our bodies ached a whole lot, so we just walked around and found a park close by to sit in. The park happened to be right on the moat of the Forbidden City, so we ended up spending the day at that park, watching the paddle boats go by...and at the Forbidden City. People were definitely right when they said that it's a tourist trap. Wow - there were so many people there! We spent quite a bit of time there, but mainly because it was so immense more than anything. I was blown away with how big it was, and to think that it was closed off to the public for 500 years...it's pretty crazy. Anyway, it was really pretty, and neat to see...but it was really hard to appreciate what it was with the amount of tourist groups that were there....

Today, we went to Tianamen Square, which is an enormous public square in the middle of the city. It was very hot out, so we couldn't stand around for a long time due to the lack of shade. We went back to the park next to the Forbidden City, and hung out in the shade...people-watching and reading our books. There is so much to see in this city, but it's hard to get it all in...especially when both Ray and I have had draining weeks leading up to this. Sigh, we're just chillin' in Beijing....

Some observations: Everyone rides a bike here, and some bikes are both pedal and motor. You can purchase crickets in little enclosed baskets, apparently they sound pretty. People do not take 'no' for an answer, they will follow you down the street (or on the Great Wall) in attempt to sell you postcards, watches...or maybe even a sketchy laptop. You can travel via subway, bus, taxi, motorcycle taxi, or bicycle taxi. People play games all of the time on the side of the street. Cats may be seen in parks just like rabbits. Men (of all sizes) walk around with no shirts on all of the time. There are a lot of trophy/medal stores, as well as musical instrument stores side by side. They have both KFC and McDonalds..as well as 'Happy Chopstick'. If someone knows any English, they WILL talk to you, and walk with you...

That's all that I have on the top of my head for now. We are leaving Beijing tomorrow night and hopping on an overnight train at 9:30pm. When we awake, we will be in Xi'an....

PS - I forgot to mention that last night, Ray and I had Peking Duck! Yummy...

First Day in Beijing

Today feels like it's moving in slow motion! We spent our day doing a whole lot of walking aroudn the bicycle/construction-filled city. It's only 4:30pm here now, but it definitely feels like it's time for bed!

We got up this morning and started our day with a delicious 'American Breakfast'. We figure, we are here for 4 weeks, we might as well eat some western food while it's readily and cheapily available. We walked amongst the 'hutongs' (aka. alleyways) where our hostel is located, and out onto the main roads. We found our way to the Temple of Heaven, and spent most of the afternoon there. It was absolutely gorgeous: set inside a giant park, hidden behind big stone walls, right in the middle of the city. During our walk in the park, we ran into a Chinese woman that took us to see an art exhibition. She spoke English really well, so she gave us in detail explanations on what each painting means, and how it all represents the Chinese culture, beliefs, and history. They were definitely some of the most beautiful paintings that I have seen.

After leaving the temple grounds, we started our long walk back, but ended up stopping at a giant pearl market, which was really a multi-level market that sold absolutely everything imagineable. There was an entire floor of just pearl necklaces!!...Intense.

Anyway, we decided to hire a bicycle/taxi for our way back. We hopped on the seat that was attached to the back of a bicycle, and the man drove us back to the hostel. Bicycles and people are very fearless here, they drive and walk in front of, and in the middle of, the busy traffic....

I must get going. Tomorrow we are getting up bright and early to do a 10 km hike along the Great Wall!!!!!!!!

We Have Arrived!

So, we're here at the Far East Hostel in Beijing. We've arrived safe and sound, although quite tired...Ray has definitely been on the go, travelling for many a days now. We will be crashing very soon in our 'cozy' little dorm. Our hostel pretty much offers everything: breakfast, tours, bike rentals, massages, foot 'therpy', perms....you know, anything.

The flight here was super quick, yet we still got a meal. It was pretty sweet. We didn't have any airport problems today, however, Ray had some major inconviences yesterday, and we had some difficulty getting here...BUT, now we're at the hostel, so all is okay.... A few glitches here and there ...I guess, what's a trip without a glitch, right? Hopefully we are getting them out of the way at the start!!

Tomorrow will be spent veggin' and wandering. More updates should come soon....

Leaving Korea

Getting ready to leave Korea has definitely been an interesting emotional rollercoaster. It's been an amazing experience, and I have so many people to thank for that. It's been quite an experience building 'my home' in a foreign country, on the opposite side of the world...

Anyway, it's now September 18. Ray will be returning tonight, and we will be heading off tomorrow to start our great adventures!

So, I guess the next time you'll hear from me...I will be in China!

In Preparation...

I have only a couple of weeks left now in Korea. With so many things left to do, I figure I should follow Ray's idea and set up the blog for my trip.

I will be leaving here in the afternoon of September 19. This blog will be a little different than my other one, as you will be able to post comments after my blogs. This blog will hopefully make it easier along the way, as I may not be able to email everyone. I will try to keep this updated throughout the trip, and before I leave, I will also send along Ray's blog of our trip.

I hope that you will enjoy reading my stories and experiences...