Hello again, World Tour fans.
My time in Asia is coming to a close. As I reflect on my experiences here, I think, dammit, won't this bus driver stop honking?
That's actually one of the interesting but somewhat aggravating things about China. Everyone honks incessantly, and yesterday's bus driver was far and away the worst. He blew long blasts at every other vehicle we passed, whether or not they were remotely near us.
In other news, you'll be glad to know my tour here ended last night with a big karaoke session. They know how to do karaoke right here -- we got a big room where all 13 of us could sit, get confused by the Chinese on the buttons, and belt out some tunes. I did the Rick Astley dance, for those who know it.
It's been a great time in China. I believe I left off after telling you about the time in Tiger Leaping Gorge, which was pretty impressive. After that we had a little time to hang out in Zhongdian and ate at a Nepali/Tibetan/Indian restaurant. There, our leader Mill found out that the owner of the restaurant is from the same part of Nepal as her husband. This was apparently very exciting. The rest of us could do little but marvel at Mill's ability to switch freely among Nepali, Chinese, and English (and she also knows French, Spanish, and Korean).
The next day we went to take a hike around Emerald Lake, a high alpine lake located at about 12,000 feet. It was a beautiful, idyllic scene with a few horses roaming around a meadow. Unfortunately, the trail didn't go very far, so we wandered further down the road, looking at the mist-shrouded mountains and valleys. From there we went to a natural hot spring pool which was rather warm but also disturbingly green. The bottom was fuzzy, as we found. It wasn't perhaps the finest of hot spring experiences, but hey.
Our next stop was Dali, a town further south next to enormous Er'hai Lake. The group split up, with some people taking a bus tour around the area and the rest of us commencing yet another hike. After fending off the world's most persistent taxi drivers, we climbed a rather steep slope following the line of a chair lift to a temple at the top of a ridge. From there, we realized that there was a broad, paved ridge walk through the mountains.
It was yet another example of the extraodinary construction projects China is apt to do. This was a smooth, paved path that often clung to sheer cliffs. How they even built it is beyond me, but it made for a spectacular walk in and out of canyons and around the front of peaks.
At one point we hiked up to a series of waterfalls called the Seven Dragon Maidens Ponds. Here, water coursed out smooth, rounded rock features and collected in clear pools. We hiked to the top pool and admired it when Anders, my Danish roommate, started the insanity.
He stripped down to his shorts and plunged into a pool that we all knew was frigid, backing up into the waterfall. After some consideration, almost all of the rest of us stripped to our skivvies and jumped in. The water was so cold it was actually hard to breathe and painful on my legs. But we stayed in long enough to amuse nearby Chinese tourists and get some pictures...you'll have to see these.
After more walking and an aborted attempt to hike down (kind of lost the path), we took the cable car to the bottom and returned to town. After dinner that night (and buying more knock-off outdoor stuff, including a Mountain Hard Wear soft shell and Chinese-made Acme sleeping bag) some of us played the old around-the-world ping-pong at the hotel, then left to make our rounds of Dali's bars.
It was a long night out. Let me advise you not to listen when someone says, "Let's all order a drink you've never heard of," because a Green Hat is disgusting. I think we got back to our rooms around 3:30pm.
Anyway, that brings us back to the present. My next trip is off to Bulgaria. Why Bulgaria? I don't really know. But I will be off to join an ecovolunteer project trying to help save rare breeds of Karachan dogs, sheep, and horses in the remote Pirin mountains. Where do you come up with this stuff? Good question.
10 July 2007
06 July 2007
A Couple Days Almost in Tibet
Current location: Zhongdian, China, also known as Shangri-La.
I'm on a backpackers' tour with Intrepid travel, a New Zealand-based company known for responsible travel and extensive touring throughout Asia. My tourmates are mostly Brits and Aussies, but our leader is a woman originally from Chicago. Which is good, because otherwise I'd probably be saying that I need to go to the "loo" and that I'm feeling "peckish" if I there weren't another Yank around.
China has been pretty fascinating. We left Kunming and rode for more than eight hours to the city of Lijiang in the far northwest of Yunnan. There we stayed in the old city and roamed around at night, admiring the good views from up high.
The next day my roommate Anders (from Denmark) and I rose at 5am to join our leader Mills for a sunrise hike up Elephant Hill overlooking the city. When we got there we saw the gate was closed, but as numerous other Chinese came in and jumped the fence, we did like the Romans did and walked around the guardhouse to get in. Hiking up, we heard weird yelling -- apparently Chinese like to yell from hilltops. Of course I joined in.
That day we took another bus ride to Qiaoto and met Margo, our local guide through Tiger Leaping Gorge. After a short lunch, we started to hike, and things got steep quickly. The trail wended its way along one side of the gorge and rose precipitously, the whole time giving us more and more views of Jade Dragon Mountain (elevation approx. 18,000 feet) on the far side of the gorge.
It was a spectacular but actually fairly difficult hiking day. We rested for the evening at Tea Horse, a well-appointed guest house along the trail. Naturally, there was plenty of Tsingtao beer to go around.
The next day we had less of a challenge with the hiking, but more distance. Margo again led us, chatting the whole way in her Aussie twang and encouraging her two-month-old dog Baby to keep up with us. At the Halfway House we stopped for apple pie, which was ironic for me given that it was July 4th back in the US. Happy birthday, America.
After reaching our destination, the Tibet Guest House (with no less impressive of a view) and eating lunch, several of us chose to descend all the way down to the river. After a wrong turn through a cornfield, we found the trail but had to pay 5 yuan (about 60 cents) each to a woman who claimed it was her land. Oh well. The trail was ridiculously steep and in desparate need of some more switchbacks, but dropped quickly to the river, where we came upon some serious rapids. At some point enormous chunks of white quartz had tumbled down from the far side of the gorge, creating what were likely Class IV-V rapids. Sweet.
I led the way back up, holding a pace swift enough that we actually ascended in less time than it took to go down. Reaching the top, we found the rest of our group half-drunk at a guest house and playing the game "I never." Later that night the rest of us (with the exception of one reticent Aussie couple) joined in with the help of many Tsingtaos (not even $1 for a double-size bottle!) and found that people were incredibly forthcoming in a situation like this when they probably won't see each other again.
Today was mostly a bus ride to Zhongdian and a trip out to a huge monastery. It looked impressive from afar but upon closer inspection its only interesting feature was a very large Bhudda. Three of us went in a door marked "Ladies Stop" and found it to be monks' quarters. There a man gave us chunks of yak cheese and some other unidentifiable stuff which we nibbled before discreetly getting rid of.
Back in town, I realized that knock-off outdoor gear is incredibly cheap, so I am left to wonder whether I should get a $25 soft shell or fleece. I mean, it's so cheap...for things that would be easily $250 in the US. The quality might be questionable, as I have discovered with my North Face bags.
Until the next Internet time,
Gordo
I'm on a backpackers' tour with Intrepid travel, a New Zealand-based company known for responsible travel and extensive touring throughout Asia. My tourmates are mostly Brits and Aussies, but our leader is a woman originally from Chicago. Which is good, because otherwise I'd probably be saying that I need to go to the "loo" and that I'm feeling "peckish" if I there weren't another Yank around.
China has been pretty fascinating. We left Kunming and rode for more than eight hours to the city of Lijiang in the far northwest of Yunnan. There we stayed in the old city and roamed around at night, admiring the good views from up high.
The next day my roommate Anders (from Denmark) and I rose at 5am to join our leader Mills for a sunrise hike up Elephant Hill overlooking the city. When we got there we saw the gate was closed, but as numerous other Chinese came in and jumped the fence, we did like the Romans did and walked around the guardhouse to get in. Hiking up, we heard weird yelling -- apparently Chinese like to yell from hilltops. Of course I joined in.
That day we took another bus ride to Qiaoto and met Margo, our local guide through Tiger Leaping Gorge. After a short lunch, we started to hike, and things got steep quickly. The trail wended its way along one side of the gorge and rose precipitously, the whole time giving us more and more views of Jade Dragon Mountain (elevation approx. 18,000 feet) on the far side of the gorge.
It was a spectacular but actually fairly difficult hiking day. We rested for the evening at Tea Horse, a well-appointed guest house along the trail. Naturally, there was plenty of Tsingtao beer to go around.
The next day we had less of a challenge with the hiking, but more distance. Margo again led us, chatting the whole way in her Aussie twang and encouraging her two-month-old dog Baby to keep up with us. At the Halfway House we stopped for apple pie, which was ironic for me given that it was July 4th back in the US. Happy birthday, America.
After reaching our destination, the Tibet Guest House (with no less impressive of a view) and eating lunch, several of us chose to descend all the way down to the river. After a wrong turn through a cornfield, we found the trail but had to pay 5 yuan (about 60 cents) each to a woman who claimed it was her land. Oh well. The trail was ridiculously steep and in desparate need of some more switchbacks, but dropped quickly to the river, where we came upon some serious rapids. At some point enormous chunks of white quartz had tumbled down from the far side of the gorge, creating what were likely Class IV-V rapids. Sweet.
I led the way back up, holding a pace swift enough that we actually ascended in less time than it took to go down. Reaching the top, we found the rest of our group half-drunk at a guest house and playing the game "I never." Later that night the rest of us (with the exception of one reticent Aussie couple) joined in with the help of many Tsingtaos (not even $1 for a double-size bottle!) and found that people were incredibly forthcoming in a situation like this when they probably won't see each other again.
Today was mostly a bus ride to Zhongdian and a trip out to a huge monastery. It looked impressive from afar but upon closer inspection its only interesting feature was a very large Bhudda. Three of us went in a door marked "Ladies Stop" and found it to be monks' quarters. There a man gave us chunks of yak cheese and some other unidentifiable stuff which we nibbled before discreetly getting rid of.
Back in town, I realized that knock-off outdoor gear is incredibly cheap, so I am left to wonder whether I should get a $25 soft shell or fleece. I mean, it's so cheap...for things that would be easily $250 in the US. The quality might be questionable, as I have discovered with my North Face bags.
Until the next Internet time,
Gordo
01 July 2007
They Love Adidas Here
Hello, World Tour Fans.
Again, apologies for the relative lack of blogging. In Cambodia my biggest problem was Internet speed, but I was also fairly busy.
Anyway, here's an update on what's going on. Saturday morning I bid farewell to Sophanit and Lulu and Cambodia, the country that had been so friendly for a week. I hopped on a short flight to Bangkok to see the city for a day before moving on.
Bangkok was, to put it mildly, not my favorite destination. It's been described as the New York City of Asia, but I would say it's New York City on crack. Take NYC and add more traffic, more pollution, more street vendors hawking random stuff, more guys bugging you to buy anything, more scams, and legal prostitution. Thus you have Bangkok.
It was too late when I got there to see any real sights, but I did manage to get a glance at the Golden Mount and the Giant Swing, which did not seem to do any swinging-related activities. I then tried the Night Bazaar, which should be billed as the World's Largest Collection of People Selling Things You Don't Need. My quest to replace the rain jacket I lost was getting nowhere there.
My cab back to the hostel ripped me off as it was raining -- he claimed the meter didn't work and that it would cost 200 baht, or about $7. Since I'd just crossed the city for 70 baht, I knew it was a crock and called him on it. He again pretended that the meter didn't work but agreed to charge me 100 baht.
I got out of the cab in the light rain, continuing to marvel that a country where it rains so much doesn't sell a single rain jacket. Out of curiosity, I wandered down the street where I was staying, in the middle of a business district. Brightly lit side alleys seemed interesting until I realized what was there -- brothels, or "clubs" as they called them. Now I was fascinated.
These appeared to be either strip clubs where bikini-clad women gyrated boredly under black lights until a man paid for them or more private places where a few women sat out front. What was most bizarre were the menus, however. If you haven't been to Bangkok, this is one cultural spectacle that will blow you away. The men in front of the brothels hold out English menus listing what women would do if you paid a certain amount. I didn't linger long enough to check any out in detail, but I did notice one: "Pussy in Fish." Any guesses?
I was grateful the next day to climb aboard my Thai Airways flight and move on to China. My destination, Kunming, was surprising. While it was huge and densely populated and polluted, it was also modern and clean and welcoming. The buildings were tidy and traffic was actually orderly. Entire lanes on either side of a major boulevard were dedicated to bikes and scooters only. And the weather was terrific -- warm but not humid, a welcome contrast to Southeast Asia.
I was able to easily find a high-tech rain jacket (made by a Chinese company blatantly copying North Face) for only $25, solving a major problem. The street where my hotel is located is oddly lined with a multitude of sporting goods stores. Apparently, they really, really like tennis and soccer. And Adidas.
Tomorrow, I meet my tour group.
Again, apologies for the relative lack of blogging. In Cambodia my biggest problem was Internet speed, but I was also fairly busy.
Anyway, here's an update on what's going on. Saturday morning I bid farewell to Sophanit and Lulu and Cambodia, the country that had been so friendly for a week. I hopped on a short flight to Bangkok to see the city for a day before moving on.
Bangkok was, to put it mildly, not my favorite destination. It's been described as the New York City of Asia, but I would say it's New York City on crack. Take NYC and add more traffic, more pollution, more street vendors hawking random stuff, more guys bugging you to buy anything, more scams, and legal prostitution. Thus you have Bangkok.
It was too late when I got there to see any real sights, but I did manage to get a glance at the Golden Mount and the Giant Swing, which did not seem to do any swinging-related activities. I then tried the Night Bazaar, which should be billed as the World's Largest Collection of People Selling Things You Don't Need. My quest to replace the rain jacket I lost was getting nowhere there.
My cab back to the hostel ripped me off as it was raining -- he claimed the meter didn't work and that it would cost 200 baht, or about $7. Since I'd just crossed the city for 70 baht, I knew it was a crock and called him on it. He again pretended that the meter didn't work but agreed to charge me 100 baht.
I got out of the cab in the light rain, continuing to marvel that a country where it rains so much doesn't sell a single rain jacket. Out of curiosity, I wandered down the street where I was staying, in the middle of a business district. Brightly lit side alleys seemed interesting until I realized what was there -- brothels, or "clubs" as they called them. Now I was fascinated.
These appeared to be either strip clubs where bikini-clad women gyrated boredly under black lights until a man paid for them or more private places where a few women sat out front. What was most bizarre were the menus, however. If you haven't been to Bangkok, this is one cultural spectacle that will blow you away. The men in front of the brothels hold out English menus listing what women would do if you paid a certain amount. I didn't linger long enough to check any out in detail, but I did notice one: "Pussy in Fish." Any guesses?
I was grateful the next day to climb aboard my Thai Airways flight and move on to China. My destination, Kunming, was surprising. While it was huge and densely populated and polluted, it was also modern and clean and welcoming. The buildings were tidy and traffic was actually orderly. Entire lanes on either side of a major boulevard were dedicated to bikes and scooters only. And the weather was terrific -- warm but not humid, a welcome contrast to Southeast Asia.
I was able to easily find a high-tech rain jacket (made by a Chinese company blatantly copying North Face) for only $25, solving a major problem. The street where my hotel is located is oddly lined with a multitude of sporting goods stores. Apparently, they really, really like tennis and soccer. And Adidas.
Tomorrow, I meet my tour group.
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