Allie's Travels

Back at Home in Terence Bay, Nova Scotia

2006-12-02T21:50:00.000+09:00

Sorry for the delayed post...but I'm back at home! I arrived into the Halifax airport on time, at 9:30 pm on Monday night, with 8 members of my family patiently waiting to give me a hug...

The weather was a shock, although they said that it was a fairly mild day. I still haven't warmed up since arriving at home 5 days ago! Hopefully I will get myself climatized before the real cold weather begins!

So, it doesn't quite feel like I've been gone as long as I have. Things seem pretty much the same, until I see my nieces or my little cousins that is. The change in any of the kids is just unbelievable! I just stare at them in awe...

Anyway, it feels good to be home, good to eat some good ol' western food, and good to start getting ready for Christmas (which it felt like I missed last year)...

Only a Little Time Left in Mumbai

2006-11-25T18:16:00.000+09:00

It's been very unfortunate that I have not been able to keep my blog updated during my month in India. It seems that the amenities that were readily available in every nook and cranny of China and Thailand, are not so available here in India...even in Mumbai! We have been in Mumbai now since Tuesday, the 21st, but most of our time has been spent looking for affordable, yet clean hotels (which doesn't exist) or looking for places to sit on the internet. The problem is that once you set out on the streets to find things, there are signs, people, and vendors everywhere, that it's very easy to walk right by the exact thing you were looking for, three times!

Mumbai has some very attractive parts, as the streets are lined with palm trees, and it is right on the water. The feel of the city is very different, as most people are a lot more western here: many people are speaking English, women work in some of the shops, and not all of the women are wearing saris. However, the city is very busy and very smelly. It's definitely the stinkiest place that we have been to yet (except for maybe the strong aroma of silk worms cooking on the streets in Korea). We wanted to be very relaxed, having a comfortable hotel for our last week in India...but we are paying quite a dime to stay here. We haven't even been staying at that great of hotels, the love hotels in Korea beat these places 20 times over...and we'd be paying half the price in Korea!!(weird, eh?) It doesn't make sense, but whatever.....We have found coffee shops, a movie theatre, and a giant bookstore. These things have allowed us to fill a lot of our time, as we are not really doing the sightseeing thing here now. We saw the James Bond movie the other day, we spent an entire day at the huge bookstore, and we've been drinking a lot of coffee! I think that we are going to try to head to another bollywood film before we head out also...

I can't believe that it is already November 25. It feels like we have been travelling for a long time, but it also doesn't seem like it is coming to an end. So, this is my last post from India. This is also my last post for my travels in Asia...at this point in time. Tomorrow night (really 2:40am Monday morning) I will be getting on a flight to London, to Toronto, then back to Halifax...for the first time in over 14 months! Ray will also be getting on a flight tomorrow night (1 1/2 hours after me), except he will be continuing on with his travels to Mauritius, the beautiful sun-filled, beachy island. I am beyond sad to leave Ray, but I am so happy that he gets to continue travelling, and onto a beach area (his favorite!), and I get to go home to see my family and friends....at Christmas time! (If only I could shove him in my backpack)

I will post again when I arrive back home, in Halifax, Nova Scotia....

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Only a Little Time Left in Mumbai

2006-11-25T18:11:00.000+09:00

I will post again when I arrive back home, in Halifax, Nova Scotia....

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Leaving Rajasthan Behind

2006-11-19T18:21:00.000+09:00

Well, we said goodbye to our driver, Ram, last night. We are in Udaipur right now, the last stop of our 'Rajasthan Tour'. Tonight, we will be getting on an overnight train to Ahmedebad, and tomorrow night, another overnight train to Mumbai. It should be an interesting and quite unpleasant couple of days, as all travelling days are always full of hassles.

Since my last post from Jaisalmer, we spent two nights in Jodhpur, which is also called the blue city. We visited the fort, which was very nice, and gave a great view of the city, where most of the rooves are painted blue. From Jodhpur, we drove to a little place called Ranakpur. This was such a nice area, as there was nothing to see but one Jain Temple. There were no shops, so crowds of people, just a whole lot of birds and monkeys! We spent one night here, and just relaxed the whole time. From Ranakpur, we arrived at our last destination, Udaipur. Here, we are staying in a really disgusting hotel, but the view is great, as it overlooks a lake and the city. There are many lakes here, and many ghats. We spent most of the day yesterday walking around the City Palace.

Now, we are finished with Rajasthan. We have been doing a lot of looking back on some of the things we have done here, and we are so happy that this is the route that we ended up taking. I disliked both Delhi and Agra, which we saw at the beginning of our trip, but there were many neat things in Rajasthan. There were still many unpleasant places in a lot of the cities, but there were also many quiet areas. It's been interesting spending this much time exploring an animal infested, desert 'state/province' of India...a place where there's often no power...

Now, we have our fingers crossed that the trains in India will be okay. We are hoping for a hassle-free few days, although I know that's not entirely possible, as everything comes with a little extra work or struggle!

We are just waiting for the time to come when we arrive in the Mumbai train station on the morning of the 21st...well, really.... once we find a nice hotel to settle into for our last week in India.

A Night to Remember in the Great Thar Desert

2006-11-13T16:04:00.000+09:00

It's the morning after our night out in the desert. It was such an amazing little trip, it's definitely one of the biggest highlights of this trip. We started our camel safari yesterday around 3pm. Ray and I didn't ride with any other foreigners, so it was very nice and quiet. We each had our own camel, and a camel driver that walked in front. The camels were so funny, I just chuckled at them the whole time! My camel was really cute, although stinky. Ray's camel had really funny facial expressions, his bottom teeth stuck out, and were always showing!!

We rode our camels for about 2 hours, with the exception of a short break in a small village, where my camel had to go eat. We stopped on some dunes, and sat down to watch the sunset. It was definitely a beautiful sight, relaxing camels, sandy dunes, and a pink sky...

Once the sun set, we walked over to where we'd spend the night and set up camp. Ray and I thought that we'd be sleeping out on the sand at night, but they brought us little cots to sleep on...since there were a lot of beetles crawling around (which apparently don't bite...and Ray had fun kicking across the sand), and the sand got quite cold at night. So, we had a fire going for a few hours during the night, and we had water and dinner brought to us. (A few of the kid camel drivers went back to town to get all of our things for us). They fed us quite a bit of food, and gave us some pretty warm blankets. The sky was so amazing...there were so many stars out, and once the fire went down, you couldn't see anything, except the shadow of one of the camels. It was like the two of us were sleeping under a giant dome, and it was just us and the noisy, stinky camel!

We woke up this morning to the chilly air, and were able to watch the sunrise. At around 7:30am, we got on our camels, and rode for another hour to get back to the 'resort' to meet our driver. There, they fed us a pretty good breakfast with chai (the tea that EVERYONE drinks here...it's delicious).

Camel ride, sandy dunes (felt awesome sliding down on our feet), sunset, sunrise, campfire, bright stars...a good night.

A Small Update From Bikaner

2006-11-10T22:58:00.000+09:00

We have been travelling to so many places in such a small amount of time...it feels like we have been here for a long time! Since I last wrote, we visited Jaipur (capital of Rajasthan), Pushkar (a very holy little town), and now we are in a desert town called Bikaner.

It seems like we have been doing a lot more sightseeing than we have done in our other countries, but we have some days that are full driving days, some are reading and relaxing days, and then some are full sightseeing days. We've seen many beautiful hindu temples, a few really cool forts (one, where we rode an elephant to the top), and we also went to the movies with our driver to see a really awesome Bollywood film. Driving days are usually my favorite. Since we are driving in the car, we are able to see so much more, and we usually drive on back roads, where we veer around herds of goats and cows, camel carts, and random hogs or donkeys that are on the roads. We are also able to see everyone out in their 'farms' working. These farms are more like little deserts...the scenery is very different. Oh, and the last place we were in (Pushkar) was really quiet and neat. It's a very holy city full of temples, with very strict guidelines (no: meat/eggs, public affection, alcohol, or drugs)...it made for a very nice break.

Anyway, Ray and I must share the internet, so I must go. Everything is okay here, tomorrow we will be heading to Jaisalmer, where we will be taking a camel out into the Great Thar Desert!! I am looking forward to that, as I never realized how funny camels were!!! Our driver calls them dinosaurs...

From Delhi and Agra to the beginning of Rajastan

2006-11-05T16:18:00.000+09:00

Where to start? Well, I am in India now. That seems to be a good way to start. This will be a very small post as the key board is hard to type on, the internet is dial up, and there is a good chance that the power will flick out! Needless to say, it may be difficult to keep this updated while I am in Rajastan.

It is my 5th day in India, and already I have seen so many things that I never imagined seeing. I can't really get into it right now, but I will mention a few of the funny things I have seen: carts pulled by donkeys, horses, buffalos, cows(ox?), camels, elephants, and I have also seen lots of monkeys, goats, boars, everything imaginable. There are animals everywhere!

So, we have spent two nights in Delhi, and one night in Agra (where we saw the sun come up at the Taj Mahal!). We have rented a car/driver so we could experience Rajastan in a different way, road-trip style. We are going to spend most of our time between cities and towns in this 'state'. We are now in a place called Ranthaborne (spelling?). This afternoon we will be going on a 3 hour tiger safari, where it is sort of unlikely to spot a tiger, but it will still be cool.

This is all for now. India is very polluted, there are people everywhere, and the people do stare a lot, and they do come up to bang on your windows. This place is unlike any other. It may take a bit of getting used to...but it sure is definitely going to be quite a 'cultural' experience....

Happy Halloween from Bangkok

2006-10-31T16:17:00.000+09:00

I am back in the oh-so busy city of Bangkok. We unfortunately had to get up Sunday
morning and leave the lovliness of the beach. I was not enjoying the idea
of leaving Koh Chang, or Thailand for that matter, but now I am back in
exhaust-filled Bangkok...with my Indian visa...and I'm ready to move onto
the next step. I guess it's good that people have to come back through
Bangkok in order to leave Thailand, because it gives you a little necessary
'shove' in the direction that you must go.

It's pretty crazy around here now, as it's Halloween. There are decorations
up, and loud music (louder than usual), and masked people around on Ko Sahn
at night. Yesterday, we had to spend our entire day waiting around the area
of Bangkok where the Indian Embassy is. It was good to walk around another
part of the city, but it's so hard to walk anywhere where there is traffic,
because the exhaust smell is horrible!!...Not to mention that all of the
sidewalks are very ripped up, and you are fighting motorcycles for a spot to
walk!

On this note, I am very sad to leave the nice people of Thailand. I am also
sad to leave the yummy pad thai, banana pancakes, and the sound of Black
Eyed Peas in every bar/restaurant. Thailand has truly been the land of
yummy street food (aside from the cart of cooked insects we saw last night),
dogs, the 'third sex' (as I saw on a book today, describing the
transvestites of Thailand), and last but not least....beautiful water. I
hope to come back again some day, and really get a chance to explore the
prettiest of Thailand's islands in the south....

Now, we have the rest of the day to pass here, probably reading in a coffee
shop. We leave for India tonight, around 2:40 am. Tomorrow, I will wake up
on the plane, and I will be in Delhi!!

Ayuthaya, Khorat, Pattaya, and Koh Chang

2006-10-26T15:57:00.000+09:00

Well, like I said in my last post, we have been moving around a lot. We have less than a week left in Thailand, so I figure I should attempt to give a brief update on everything that we have been up to....

Like I have already said, we were able to walk across the Bridge over River Kwai in Kanchanaburi. It was pretty neat to see, and even neater that we got to walk all the way across it. I'm pretty sure that nobody would ever come to Kanchanaburi if it wasn't for this bridge, which makes it nice because there really isn't much of anything going on in this town. We really enjoyed it here, and would go back again just for the nice atmosphere (great people) and our cute bungalow.

Ayuthaya (not sure about the spelling)...This is the ancient capital of Thailand. I was really interested in coming here because it's full of ancient ruins, well, what is left of temples due to wars and aging. The place itself I didn't care for as much, things were pretty overpriced, but the temples were really beautiful, because they all seemed so natural compared to what we saw in Bangkok! We paid a taxi (taxis here were 3-wheeled trucks, where you sit on the back) to take us around to all of the important 'wats' (temples). It was extremely hot here, so it was definitely a good decision to do this. We went to see like 6 different wats, we saw giant sleeping buddhas, hundreds of sitting buddhas, we saw a bat infested temple, and we walked amongst all of the crumbled buildings. Many parts of Ayuthaya was actually flooded while we were there, so we actually had to take a boat to get up on one of the temples!

Khorat...Ray's dad spent one year near here during the Vietnam War, so we wanted to make a stop in here to see if there was anything left of Camp Friendship. We were only here for a short period of time, but we were actually able to find out that the Thai soldiers are currently using the camp (which meant that we couldn't go)...however, as Ray was at a bank machine, I met a Thai man that wanted to speak English to me. It turns out that he also worked at Camp Friendship, so we talked to him for quite awhile...well, really it was him telling us numerous funny stories, while we attempted to listen. It was so good that we found him!

Pattaya...We only stayed here because we needed to. The place seemed to be party central, but not for people our age, more for middle aged foreign men that were there with their Thai girlfriends (or...maybe not?!). It was interesting here. We took a bus from Khorat to here, and stayed the night so we could get up early and take a mini bus to Koh Chang.

Koh Chang...we are finally here! There isn't much of a beach. The 'white sand' is actually under the water, so laying out kind of sucks...but the swimming in amazing! Everytime I look in the water, I want to jump in! It's so blue and clear, and the sand is so soft...and rock and creature-free! I haven't had any encounters with any jellyfish yet which is good, although I still have my fingers crossed! We are staying in another cute bungalow, on the beach, called Sang Arun. We have a tv which actually plays English movies...so it's definitely a bonus for us to have that and news! Most of our time has been spent playing in the water (we bought a beach ball which escaped, but came back to us today), eating breakfast on the beach, eating street pad thai (I'm obsessed with it!) on our little deck, and drinking delicious coconut smoothies as the sun goes down. We also went elephant trekking which was so awesome! We went through a company that is located in the jungle, so the elephants get to live in a good place. There were 10 elephants. The one that we rode was 20, and it was 'playful'. I don't think it liked to follow instructions, and it pooped a lot! We got to feed her when we finished the trek. During the trek, I luckily didn't see any snakes, just lots of big and funny looking bugs and spiders. My favorite part of the whole thing was at the beginning when we were able to feed and touch a 50 year old elephant. I think that she really liked me. I fed her so many bananas and she wrapped her trunk around me...I was with her for awhile....

So, it's Thursday now. There are lots of touristy things to do on the island, but because it's touristy, everything costs quite a bit of money (not really, but for us backpackers it does). So, the rest of our days will be spent doing some more swimming, reading, and relaxing. We leave to go back to Bangkok on Sunday, where we have to pick up our Indian Visas......

Some observations about Thailand: 1. There are dogs EVERYWHERE. I mean, you walk somewhere, you will see at least 7 dogs. The monks do not believe in putting animals down, so unfortunately very injured or sick dogs walk around, and then because they don't belong to anyone, they multiply...like mad! 2. There are many, many transvestites. Again, I mean...MANY. It's a very common way to live here...the guys that are dressed as girls really look like pretty girls, good thing I am not a single guy! (HA) 3. They love the party scene here! 4. Everyone wears yellow collared shirts to show their respect for their King. 4. There are geckos everywhere!

Okay, that's all for now. I feel that my brain may be a little fried from the sun. This is all that I could think of at the moment...sorry if it wasn't a very interesting post! Hopefully, I can get a few pictures up for you.

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2006-10-26T15:25:00.000+09:00

Sunset, Koh Chang

2006-10-26T15:23:00.000+09:00

Me, as the sun goes down

2006-10-26T15:19:00.000+09:00

Ray and the elephants!!

2006-10-26T15:16:00.000+09:00

Walking aroud a Wat, Ayuthaya

2006-10-26T15:14:00.000+09:00

Bridge over River Kwai, Kanchanaburi

2006-10-26T15:08:00.000+09:00

Wat Phra Kaew, Bangkok

A Quick Note From Koh Chang

2006-10-23T19:31:00.000+09:00

We've finally made it to the beach! This is just a quick post to touch base, as we have been doing a whole lot of travelling and not staying put! I will post another blog with more details of what we have been up to in the next few days.

For now, I can say this: Since I last wrote, we spent 2 nights in Kanchanaburi, where we walked across the Bridge over River Kwai. We took 2 buses, and arrived in Ayutthaya (the ancient capital), here we stayed one night and explored temple ruins. From Ayutthaya, we took a train to Khorat, and stayed one night. From Khorat, we took a long bus to Pattaya, where we also stayed one night, then got up early and took a mini bus and ferry to Koh Chang.

Now, we are staying in a bungalow on the beach. It's very cute, and we are treating ourselves to a nice one with television! Tomorrow, we are going elephant trekking through the jungle, so I will write again soon.....

Moving on From Bangkok to Kanchanaburi

2006-10-17T19:59:00.000+09:00

We are now in Kanchanaburi, an area about 2 1/2 hours and a little northwest of Bangkok. We left this morning and hopped on a bus (that took longer than it was supposed to) and landed in Kanchanaburi around 2pm this afternoon.

Bangkok...
Well, a lot of it was just as people have described it: traffic-jammed streets; lined with tuk-tuks and taxis, gold framed pictures of the King (I presume), people on the streets selling anything from fresh fruit and dried, stinky fish to sun glasses and a couple of broken cameras. The area of Bangkok, also known as the backpacker's stopover, was exactly that. Our street (Koh Sahn Road) was lined with shops and vendors, all competing against eachother, selling the same sort of stuff: skirts, shoes, bathing suits, bags, jewellery, books, cds, pad thai, banana pancakes (which are the most delicious things that I have EVER had I think!), etc. It actually seems like quite the 'hippy' hangout, as every 10 feet you could stop to get your hair put into dreads, and every 20th person was sportin' them or braids... This may sound like a lot to handle to some, but this, I quite enjoyed. I enjoyed the shopping (these vendors did not harass you like in China), I enjoyed some of the chaos that came with pushing through the people in the night to get across the street...because it all felt different than the chaos similar to this in China.

Having said this, I definitely am fine with leaving Bangkok, and moving to some more remote areas. Most of our time in Bangkok was spent either catching up on sleep from our 'all nighter', getting our Indian Embassy/Visa stuff figured out, or just walking around. We did, however, visit the notorious Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew. It was a ridiculously hot day, and the place was packed with so many people...but it was definitely worth the visit. The only way I think that I can describe this temple (the 'Wat') to anyone is...."OH MY GOLD!!". There was gold everywhere, and on everything...and in great detail. It was shining like mad in the sun!! The dress code is quite strict also, so we had to have pants and sleeves (short sleeves were okay) on the entire time...we were scorched. This is also the reason that this is the only temple/toursit attraction that we did.

Everything has been really cheap here. We are able to eat Pad Thai from the street for only 20B ($0.5), or get a meal for a couple of dollars in a restaurant. Our lovely hostel was only $9 for a double private...and we stayed at a more expensive one (it was very clean and friendly!). It also only cost us $2 to get here, and we were on the bus for at least 3 hours...so it's looking good!

So, now we are staying in a cute little bungalow, in what appears to be a marsh. It's so green and peaceful! We have to walk over a mini bridge to get on our own little private deck and bungalow. We were only going to stay for one night, but will be staying another. We have already visited the 'Thailand-Burma Railway Centre' which is a museum dedicated to the history of the railway, the bridge over River Kwai, and all of the people who died in the making of the railroad. We also visited the cemetery, which is just across the road from the museum. It was a very nice and informative museum (since I usually am not the most interested in museums), but there were some pretty sad/intense photos and displays...

Tomorrow, we will visit the bridge over River Kwai...and maybe get some Thai massages...?!!

In the Heart of Bangkok

2006-10-14T21:00:00.000+09:00

I am finally in Thailand! Ray and I pulled an all-nighter last night, so this morning was rough trying to find the hostel that we had booked. In the end, we cancelled our reservation and took a 'tuk-tuk' (a motorcycle/taxi) to Kho Shan Road...the backpacker locale in Bangkok. We're here, we're happy (although still pretty tired), and I think I will be doing a lot of shopping tonight, as I am located on a road lined on both sides with items screaming my name....

Oh, and if you ever have the choice, fly Emirate Air. It was the most amazing flight that I have ever been on. We had a delicious meal, personal tvs (with movies, shows, and games), comfy pillows and blankets, clean bathrooms, etc. etc...the list can go on. I felt like I was in a fancy hotel, and neither of us wanted to get off of the plane!!!!

A Few Days in Hong Kong

2006-10-14T20:55:00.000+09:00

The last time that I had a chance to write was in Yangshuo. It was an interesting and grilling time getting from there to Hong Kong, and once we got into Hong Kong, internet was quite expensive (as was absolutely everything else). We left Yangshuo at around 9pm on the 9th, after lots of hollaring at a few workers, we got on our sleeper bus, and nestled into our two beds (poorest on the bus, I might add). Our first sleeper bus was a normal bus with three aisles of mini little bunk beds, and a bathroom. This sleeper bus was basically like three aisles of reclined seats, somewhat like beds, although your feet went under the person's bed/seat in front of you...so you in fact couldn't fit in it properly (well, I couldn't, and I'm pretty sure most people are not shorter than me), and we didn't have a bathroom....for a 12 hour ride...

Anyway, I just wanted to explain what a sleeper bus is like and could be like. It was fine, we made it through the night...accepting the fact that we didn't need to sleep, and we were just basically riding some very long and horrible ride!! Our bus went to a place called Shenzhen, which is an hour from Hong Kong, so from there we had to take a local bus to the border, where we then 'departed' China and 'entered' Hong Kong. We then took another train to Kowloon Island, the part of Hong Kong that we would be staying in. So, as you can see, we had quite the time getting to where we wanted to be, but really, after we got off of the sleeper bus, everything was very clean, organized, and easy to do. However, it was interesting again once we got to our hostel: We were staying in a 'mansion' that has many floors of hostels, pretty much the only thing anyone says that you can afford to stay at in in Hong Kong, so we had to do it. This place was the 'Itaewon' of Hong Kong, lined with watch, suit, and sex shops...sidewalks lined with men selling watches and suits, and also lined with a few very unattractive women that were 'supposed' to be prostitutes...but no worries, the hostel that we stayed in had a very clear sign stating: "No outsides or prostitutes may enter" (LOL).

Needless to say, Ray and I really didn't like this area of town too much. We did sleep here for two nights though, because we needed a bed to sleep in, and it was fairly cheap ($12 each a night for dirty rooms, but that's all you could get!). Anyway, this is how our Hong Kong travels started out. I was not entirely fond of the place at first, but once we got passed all of this, things picked up.....

After some much needed rest, we got up nice and early on our second day and took the Star Ferry (a very popular little ferry) to Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong Island is exactly what I pictured Hong Kong to be....tall, modern buildings, a nice harbour...and very clean roads! We then took the Victoria Peak Tram up to Victoria Peak, a very popular spot to view the water and all of the sky scrapers. We spent the entire day at the peak, walking around the mall, a walking trail, and the rooftop terraces. We stayed there until dark, so that we could see the city light up at night. All of the really tall buildings have fancy little light shows at night...it was really pretty.

On our next day, we got up early and took all of our things on the ferry to Lantau Island (where the airport is located). We heard that this place was much quieter...so we spent a little bit more money and got a private room in a cute little hotel right by the beach. Lantau Island was fantastic. There were no people around, it was clean, pretty, and safe. We basically had a huge beach to ourselves! We took a local bus on our first day there to a place called Ngong Ping, where the "Wolrd's Largest Outdoor Sitting Bronze Buddha Statue" is located. It was actually a very large buddha, so it was cool to see. We walked up many steps to get closer to it, and got a better view of the mountains. The drives on the buses around Lantau are pretty insane, as most of the roads are as wide as one vehicle, and they wrap around the mountains through the island....

Our last day in Hong Kong, and the China region was spent solely relaxing on the beach. We literally sat in the sand or at a picnic table for the entire day, except for a short hour break to check our emails at the public library. It was definitely a good way to end this part of our trip...and it's so good that we switched locations so that we could really enjoy what I think is the real aspects of Hong Kong!!!!!!

So, China and Hong Kong has treated us well, but it's time to move on...and I'm happy to be moving to the next step!

2006-10-09T14:40:00.000+09:00

The scenery on our Li River boat ride, Yangshuo

2006-10-09T14:37:00.000+09:00

Biking through the countryside of Yangshuo

2006-10-09T14:32:00.000+09:00

Cruising through the Lesser Three Gorges

2006-10-09T14:31:00.000+09:00

The enormous pit of Terracotta Warriors

2006-10-09T14:26:00.000+09:00

YaYa, my friend the Giant Panda

2006-10-09T14:25:00.000+09:00

Ray and I on the Great Wall of China

Last Day in Yangshuo

2006-10-09T14:18:00.000+09:00

Well, we've had a pretty relaxing 6 days here in Yangshuo. It was the perfect place to come and avoid the busy sounds of the cities. It was still pretty hectic here for awhile, since we were here during 'Golden Week', but as each day passed, the streets got quieter...

Yangshuo is a very touristy little town, but it's in the perfect location to really experience the real 'countryside' culture. The streets (really just two streets) within the town are lined with cafes (with lots of Chinese and western food) and various souvenir shops. If we were able to purchase things to bring back home, this would definitely be the place to do it. You cannot walk 5 feet without having someone approach you to buy something...it actually gets very annoying, and we have learned how to not make eye contact, and how to look very mean. I feel really bad having to turn down some of these people time and time again, especially when some of these vendors are very old, and it just seems like such a sin that this is how they have to spend the rest of their life...attempting to sell tacky little knick-knacks to foreigners. I did purchase some headbands from one little man that is just too cute to not give money too. Most people here are selling various things, but this little man sits outside everyday, wearing McDonalds slippers, a neon pink tank top, and really thick glasses...and he only sells headbands, which are sold in every store! I thought that he was just too adorable, so I had to make a few purchases...

On our second day here, the four of us (Silke, Tim, Ray, and I) rented bicycles for the day. It only cost us 10Y ($1.20) to rent a bicycle for the entire day!! So, we took our bikes, and rode along a 5 hour route. At first, we had to drive along the busy streets, nestled to the right of the road, while being passed by other bikes, motorbikes, 3-wheeled trucks, etc. It was a little stressful at first, but it was fine, as everyone just goes around because they have no problem driving on the wrong side of the road here! Anyway, as the road carried on, we got further and further away from any sort of noise, and we were then driving along dirt roads through rice fields, mountains, and very few houses. We drove through different villages, all where there were people living their normal lives...and not trying to sell us touristy things! We stopped in one village to buy a pop and relax, and another to buy some apples. It was neat to see the difference in the lifestyles here...although there was one thing that was really uncool: We saw a man holding a hen and a huge butcher knife! Silke and I rode quickly ahead, while Tim and Ray were 'fortunate' enough to see the poor thing get it's throat slit! I'm glad I passed on that one....

Anyway, the ride was very long, but it was awesome. The scenery was beautiful, and it was pretty cool that riding amongst a small herd of water buffalos became somewhat normal! Water buffalos are everywhere here. They're pretty cool animals, as they just graze in the grass, and chill out in the rivers...seems like a pretty sweet life to me! I wish I could climb on one's back and hang out in the water with it!

So, on our third day in Yangshuo, we all woke up pretty sore, so we got up and rented a boat for the day. We hired a local fisherman to take us along the river for 3 hours, which ended up being 4 1/2 hours, so we really got our moneys worth. We basically just relaxed and enjoyed more scenery on the boat for the entire time, except for when we made 2 stops at very small villages along the river. Both villages had very old stone houses, with open windows. There was nothing in these villages except for mini stores,all with no power...and a few gardens. They were cute, but because they don't have much in these villages, we were bombarded with postcards and more knick-knacks!!

Yangshuo has been really good for us. We've gotten to see the parts of the Chinese life that I really wanted to see, but we've also had a great chance to fill our bellies with tons of good food, and really rest before travelling some more. There are many things that I could write about, but these are the bigger things that we have done. We leave here tonight. Ray and I are taking a sleeper bus to Shenzhen, which is on the border of Hong Kong. We will then go into Hong Kong for the rest of our time here. It's going to be hard to leave this place, and get back into the 'fun' part of travelling (obviously as joke, because the long days and nights of getting to and from places is never fun...lol).

You will hear from me again when I am in Hong Kong....

Yangtze River to Yangshou

2006-10-04T19:44:00.000+09:00

I am now in Yangshou, a town about an hour south of where we stayed last night. You can really tell that we have travelled quite a bit south, the weather is really hot and humid now...it's giving me a little taste of what is to come in our travels!

I feel like we have been on the go quite a bit as of recent, except for the wonderful time that we had relaxing on the boat...

We travelled from Xi'an to Chongqing on an overnight soft sleeper train. It was fine, but it was definitely not near as good or clean as the first train that we took. That train was about 15 hours long, so we arrived in Chongqing early in the morning on the 29th. When we got there, there was a man waiting for us, and 6 other foreigners that were all going to be taking the boat trip together. 'The John' (our organizer) put us all together on the boat, so that we'd have people to hang out with. He put Ray and I with another couple from Germany (Tim and Silke). They are really awesome, and we are actually staying with them in Yangshou now! Anyway, we spent the whole day walking around Chongqing in the rain (of course!) and we got on the boat around 6pm on the 29th.

We stayed 2nd class, on a 2nd class boat, but it was pretty nice. Our rooms had 2 bunk beds, and our own bathroom. We had to pay a fee to get access to all parts of the boat, but it was fine because not many people paid. Basically, we spent most of our time on the upperdeck of the boat, enjoying the breeze and the scenery. There were many excursions each day when the boat stopped, but we only did one thing because everything was pretty expensive, and a lot of it seemed kind of phony (like, neon-lit temples and artificial waterfalls!!). However, we did get off of the boat to peruse the areas, which was pretty neat. Each port had many vendors of food and souvenirs (all the same things at each port). Some interesting things I could have bought to eat: cow tongue, intestines, pig snout, whole baby chickens (to eat - and I mean WHOLE), BUT I passed...

Anyway, I spent my birthday (the 30th) hanging out on the upperdeck with the people that we came with. We also ate dinner together in the restaurant on the boat (we did this 2 nights). At our table of 7 people, we had people from USA, Canada, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, and Switzerland. It was pretty cool to hear everyone's different stories, and it's also pretty neat to see so many people here communicating in English, which is their second language! Everyone we were with were really awesome...Needless to say, I had a pretty sweet birthday.

On the 1st, we went on our big 5 hour excusion to the Lesser Three Gorges and the Mini Three Gorges (that's right...there are the 'Three Gorges', the 'Lesser Three Gorges', AND the 'Mini Three Gorges'!!). Basically, we had to get into a smaller boat and travel down a smaller river to see the lesser gorges, and into an even smaller boat (that was packed and required life jackets) to travel down an even smaller river to see the mini gorges. The landscape was out of this world. I took so many pictures, it's ridiculous! It was so beautful to us now, but we saw pictures of what it looked like before the dam started flooding it (it has raised 50 meters already!), and it was just out of this world. I cannot believe how many amazing things were ruined and taken away because of the dam. At one point, we were looking at a new 'city', while floating over the old city....

Regardless of how much has been ruined, the sites of this river are still phenomenal, and I kind of wish that I was back on the boat, having nothing to do but relax with great scenery...

When we got off of the boat early on the 2nd, we basically had to travel for 24 hours to get ourselves to Guilin. Four of the people that we were with were also coming to Guilin, so at least we had others to travel with. We had to take a bus from one part of the river to our final destination, Yichang. From Yichang, we had to take an express bus to Wuhan. From Wuhan, we had to deal with a bunch of people who didn't speak English, in attempt to get our tickets that we reserved, then we finally took a 12 hour sleeper bus to Guilin. The sleeper bus was definitely interesting. I fit fine, as the bed was about the width and length of my body, so everyone else had a whole lot of difficulty fitting in comfortably!!! Ah well, it's all giving us a lot of interesting experience in travelling...

So, we spent one sucky day of 'attempting' to do laundry in Guilin, and now we are in Yangshou with Tim and Silke. Everything is still pretty busy because of the holiday, but it's a lot more relaxed here, and our hotel has a great view of the river and mountains..and the four of us have a balcony to ourselves! We have another 10 days in China, so we might lay low here for awhile before heading to Hong Kong. I think that tomorrow we may rent some bikes to tour around the outskirts for a bit together...

The internet bar offers internet for only 2Y here ($0.25), so I am sure you will hear from me again soon....

Leaving Guilin

2006-10-04T10:23:00.000+09:00

I'm off of the boat, travelled to another city, and now I am leaving that city. I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm back on land, and am heading more south.

We are in Guilin right now, we spent the night here. Now, we are heading to Yangshou, which is only an hour south of here. I will write again once I have arrived, and I promise I will write tons about how great the Yangtze River Cruise was....

Leaving Xi'an

2006-09-28T16:16:00.000+09:00

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

2006-09-25T15:51:00.000+09:00

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

2006-09-23T20:45:00.000+09:00

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

2006-09-20T17:42:00.000+09:00

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!

2006-09-19T18:58:00.000+09:00

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

2006-09-18T14:58:00.000+09:00

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...

2006-09-02T11:47:00.000+09:00

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...