Xi’an is one of the oldest cities in China and is perhaps best known for the terracotta soldiers, discovered in 1974. We spent part of a day at the complex that houses this amazing discovery. You can actually buy a life-size replica and the price includes shipping and insurance. It was the first thing I really wanted to buy since the trip began. But, they don’t come cheap so there will be no soldier gracing our yard anytime
soon. On day two of our stay in Xi’an we headed out of town to visit Mount Hua. This mountain is one of five sacred mountains in China and has five separate peaks. What is of interest to most folks is climbing to the various peaks. We took a cable car as far as it would go and then hiked to the north peak, the one that is most accessible. It was foggy at the top and we couldn’t see a thing. That might have been a plus as the peaks drop off rather suddenly. Some people have called the various hikes amongst the most dangerous in the world. If you saw pictures of some of the trails you would understand why. Needless to say, we didn’t venture to any of the other peaks because with the fog we wouldn’t see anything anyway. On day three we spent some time on the 600 year-old wall that surrounds the old city. It is completely intact and is much more than just a wall. It is between 12 and 14 meters wide at the top – plenty wide enough to drive around. However, it is a vehicle-free zone other than for bikes. We rented one and had a great time touring the east and south segments. The highlight of our time here was visiting with friends we met in Regina while they attended the U of R. One evening we got together with our friend Bill (not his Chinese name) and strolled around the magnificent public square and walkways as it lightly snowed. The city has done a fantastic job in the construction of its public areas. On another evening we visited with Emma and David (not their Chinese names). Emma was a visiting scholar at the U of R a couple of years ago specializing in geology. She and David treated us to a great meal in a Chinese Muslim restaurant. It was wonderful to visit with people who know this city so well. We fly to Beijing tomorrow. We would love to visit Xi’an again, especially in the spring when the leaves are out on the trees. You get the impression that this is a gorgeous city in the summer. Be sure to see the new pictures posted on the China page. Yesterday we left the City of Guilin by boat on the Li River for Yangshuo, a resort town a few hours away. The cruise passes through the most remarkable countryside imaginable. While the fog hampered
our vision, what we saw was still quite impressive. In the evening we went to Impression Sanjie Liua, a local production in a 3,000 seat outdoor theatre built on the shore of the Li River. A well-known Chinese film maker who directed the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic games produced the show. There were more than 600 performers. It was, without a doubt, spectacular. It rained hard overnight and we woke to a bit of a drizzle which was fine as we were off to school for the morning – cooking school that is. Our classmates were from all over the world –the UK, Sweden, USA, Spain and even another Canadian. We started out in the local market and saw not only the vegetable and fish areas but had an opportunity to see a section that a few of the students, including Char, chose not to visit. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that ‘man’s best friend’ was there, both dead and alive. It was one thing to see butchered dogs hung up on a meat hook but to see them alive in a cage knowing what was next tugged at my heart strings. In any event, the class was lots of fun and the best part was being able to enjoy great food (no dogs were harmed in the making of our meal) without having to do any dishes! In the afternoon our guide, Helen, took us out into the countryside where we saw some of the local attractions. We ventured on to some back roads, passed through some little villages and stopped and visited with a local farmer (with the able translation skills of our guide) who showed us through her home and shared some locally grown oranges, peanuts and chestnuts with us. Tomorrow we fly to Xi’an (think terracotta soldiers) where we hope to make contact with some friends we know from Regina. Be sure to check out the new pictures we have posted on the China page. Corrigendum - In the previous blog I indicated that our room at the rice terraces had no heat. It turns out that the air conditioners, which are mounted on the wall, are also heaters. If we only had known . . . . We arrived safely in Guilin and were met at the airport by Helen, our guide for this leg of our journey. Guilin has some very unique scenery. Photos of the surrounding countryside were used as backdrops for the planet Kashyyyk in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Also, for Amazing Race fans, the city was featured in season 14.
Yesterday we headed into the mountains, a couple of hours away to overnight at the Longji rice terraces. This area is well known here for its unique and scenic terraces, many of which are less than a metre wide. It is the low season at the moment which means there were only a handful of us in an area that will have thousands of tourists in another month or two. It also means that there is a lot of fog which naturally obscures the great views. All of the hotels in the little village are family run and are quite simple (ie. no heating). It was between 5 and 6 degrees Celsius both in the room and outside so it was a bit like camping. It was a cool experience in every sense of the word. I have posted some new pictures from that adventure on the China page. Tomorrow we head on a little cruise down the Li River and will stay for two nights in a town called Yangshuo. Hopefully the fog will clear! After that, we are off to Xi'an. We spent a busy day in Guangzhou with our tour guides, Sara and Allen. They are about the same age as our kids so it was a lot of fun chatting with them about life in China as they showed us around the city.
We crisscrossed the city several times on the very efficient metro system. We learned about the history of China and saw some amazing Chinese architecture. In the evening we went on a supper cruise on the Pearl River. The lighting of the bridges and buildings along the river was spectacular. Tomorrow we fly to Guilin, our next stop in China. Check out some of the photos from today on the China page. Last night we met up with friends who live and work in Hong Kong. We had a great time being toured around the city by people who really know it. We were taken to a little restaurant in Kowloon that rarely, if ever, sees western tourists and were treated to a real Cantonese meal – snails, oysters, squid, shrimp, chicken feet knuckles, fish, rice, chicken – you name it, we ate it (no, dog cannot be served in Hong Kong!). Thanks to Peter and Sylvia who treated us so well.
Hong Kong is about money and since time is money, getting around quickly is very important. The mid-levels escalator is the city’s answer to its steep, hilly terrain. It is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world, operating downhill until 10:30 am for commuters going to work, and then operating uphill until midnight. The system consists of 20 escalators and 3 moving pavements. It is 800 metres long, and climbs 135 vertical metres. It is free and we wandered over and tried it out today. You can get off when you want and check out the local shops so it is a great way to see part of the city without having to climb a lot of stairs. Tomorrow we jump on a train and head to Guangzhou, mainland China, a couple hours away. I have put together (thrown together might be a better description) a short video with shots of various scenes from Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. I have also added a few pictures of last night’s meal to the existing slide show. Check it all out on the Hong Kong page. Hong Kong is the most vertical city in the world. More people live or work on a 14th or higher floor here than anywhere else in the world. It is quite a site to see, but the last couple of days have been a bit foggy so the skyline has not always been clearly visible.
On Valentine’s Day, we went across the harbour to Kowloon which is also part of Hong Kong where more than two million people live. After supper we watched the ‘Symphony of Lights’ show which is on every night at 8:00 pm. The lights are on the buildings on Hong Kong Island across the harbour and are set to music and a narration. The narration was in Chinese the night we attended so I am not sure what was said. Still, it was very impressive. I videotaped the 12 minutes show but it was dark (of course) and the camera was hand held. I hope to post a video of Hong Kong highlights before we leave on Friday and will include something from the light show. We spent most of today in Kowloon at the Hong Kong Museum of History – a very impressive and well done museum that covers Hong Kong from pre-historic times to the present. We have been taking the ferry to get to Kowloon. It is about a six or seven minute ride and costs about $0.25 Canadian. Taxis are inexpensive as well. For the average trip we take we are spending just under $3.00. Meals are much more expensive than Thailand but are probably a bit less than what we would pay in Canada. I have posted a few pictures photos on the Hong Kong page. Tonight we are heading out for supper with a friend we met at the Conversational English class we are involved with in Regina. Note: the picture of Char is before she had her hair done! Our flight was delayed out of Bangkok so we were a bit late arriving in Hong Kong. Not that it mattered
though. We caught the metro from the airport to a station close to the apartment we had booked and took a taxi from there. The outside of the apartment and surrounding area looked a bit seedy in the dark when we arrived. When we woke up the next morning in the light of day, the area looked the same. Welcome to the neighbourhood! Notwithstanding the appearance, we love it here. If you want to see what life is like living here, this is the place to be. We are a short walk down a few flights of stairs to an area called Central District which has no end of fascinating shops to visit amidst the many office towers. Yesterday, Char decided to get her hair coloured. I don’t really know why. She ended up in a hair salon where no one spoke English. An hour and a half later she emerged. You will have to wait for the pictures to see the results! Hong Kong is similar to Singapore in many ways. Both have efficient public transportation systems, high populations in a confined space and a high standard of living. Hong Kong however, seems to have a grittier feel to it, much more organic and earthy. If Singapore was Disneyland, Hong Kong would be the travelling exhibition (on a scale the size of Disneyland). You won’t find the neatly painted curbs of Singapore here. What you will find is a fascinating city. We hope to experience as much as we can in the next few days. I have added a page specifically for Hong Kong and hope to have some pictures posted in a day or two. I have posted a new video on the Thailand page from our zip line adventure. It is longer that I would have liked but I told our group I would post something so I wanted to make sure there were shots of everyone. We had a great time as you can tell. Char is not a great fan of heights but did just fine. Another leg of our trip is just about over. Friday morning we head to Hong Kong via Bangkok.
Chiang Mai has been great. The weather is perfect everyday – full sun and hot but not too humid and nice and cool in the mornings. Today we headed out on a bike trek with a guide and some folks from Holland. We covered about 30 kilometers and visited a small bakery, a candy factory, an outdoor Buddhist crematorium, a public school and an orphanage. At the school we visited a couple of classrooms and Char even gave an impromptu English lesson. A couple of days ago we headed into a subtropical rainforest in the nearby mountains where we sailed through the canopy on over five kilometers of zip lines. This place was featured on the Amazing Race a few years ago (I hope to post a video in a couple of days). We were teamed up with a great bunch of kids from all over the world and had a blast. The cooking class adventure instilled fear in me. I would rather jump off a platform high in the rainforest, but I got through it and the meal I made actually was very tasty. I don’t think I will be able to repeat it though. I probably won’t even try :) Thai people are wonderful. Even though there are language barriers at times, they are quick to smile and are always willing to help. Chiang Mai is a very inexpensive place to visit (once you are here). We will certainly miss it. Be sure to check out the new photos posted on the Thailand page. I have often thought that it might be a bit presumptuous to call our trip an adventure. After all, we stay in decent accommodations, we can afford to fly from place to place and with easy access to the internet, there are very few surprises.
At least, that is what I thought. We decided to spend today at an elephant park. The park is dedicated to providing abused and rescued elephants with a high quality of life. Visitors are given an opportunity to learn how to care for elephants, ride them bareback with basic directions (in Thai and Burmese) and feed and bathe them. Essentially, each participant is trained to be a mahout (a person who is the elephant’s caregiver). Have a look at the video posted on the Thailand page – that will give you a sense of what we were up to. We spent the morning learning all of the skills. So far, so good. After enjoying another fine Thai lunch we were told that the real mahouts were going to have their lunch and that we could watch the elephants but we shouldn’t get too close. Apparently, not everyone was listening. Some people need to learn things the hard way. Char and I were observing a couple of elephants enjoy their lunch when suddenly we heard yelling and screaming and all of the real mahouts running towards a particular elephant. A young woman had strayed too close to a large female. The elephant had grabbed the women around the waist with its trunk and had thrown her down and pinned her to the ground with one of its short tusks (Asian female elephants have short tusks – we learned that in the morning). The shouting mahouts quickly rescued the woman, who was able to walk away. Char noticed that the woman was bleeding quite a bit from her right ear and, being a nurse, rushed to comfort her and provide first aid. I, being a labour lawyer on the management side, immediately rushed to the supervisor to caution him not to say anything. Actually, the part about Char is true. I just sat back and watched. It seems that my skill set isn’t necessarily suited to dramatic interventions. Anyway, the woman had a large laceration behind her right ear and was in a slight state of shock. She acknowledged the she got too close (obviously, I should have told her not to make such admissions but, like I noted, I have a management bias). Char recommended she be taken to the hospital to have the wound cleaned as she definitely needed stitches. After that, we were ready to ride these animals bareback on our trek. Hmmmm, I sensed our enthusiasm waning. We were told elephants are moody like people. The elephant in question would not have acted that way had its regular mahout been nearby. That is why we were told to keep our distance. In any event, we had paid for the excursion and, dangerous or not, we were prepared to press on. Riding an elephant bareback is not as glamorous as it looks. But, we survived and the highlight of the day was bathing our elephant in a muddy pool (don’t worry - elephant dung floats so there is no risk of stepping in it). We left with a much greater respect for the majestic creatures, cognizant of the fact that while they were not ‘wild elephants’ they were certainly not pets. Tomorrow we have a Thai cooking class booked. I hear a kitchen can be a dangerous place . . . The Chiang Mai Flower Festival is staged every year during the first weekend in February. The city is awash with vibrant colours. The sheer profusion of colour that the flower festival and carnival bring to Chiang Mai aptly gives the city its name "Rose of the North".
We had no idea that the festival was on until we arrived. We enjoyed the parade where all the floats are decorated with flowers, much like the floats in the Rose Bowl Parade. At the end of the parade route a local city park is filled with food stalls with vendors selling every imaginable Thai food. While the food is difficult to resist, a Thai foot massage is a must. We both received massages but, I have to admit, they can be somewhat painful. Nobody said this adventure would be easy! Our accommodation in Chiang Mai is great, if somewhat rustic. We are in the old walled city (not much of the wall is left but it is surrounded by a moat). There are lots of interesting places to explore. Chiang Mai is fairly compact. There is no municipal bus system but there are lots of tuk tuks (three-wheeled rickshaws – pronounced ‘took took’ which mimics the sound of the engine) for hire. While it is hot and sunny, (33 to 34C) it is definitely less humid which is a nice break from the weather in the south of Thailand. It actually cools off overnight and apparently is even cooler in the surrounding mountains. We will find out if that is true as we have several excursions planned for the week that will take us out of the city. |
AuthorIn January, 2012, Curt and Char left their jobs in Canada to spend four months travelling around the world. Archives
May 2012
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