Day 21: Hui Jia (Return Home)
Journey's End
It is nice to be back home. A little weird, after 3 weeks of being away, but very nice. As a side note, all told we saw a total of probably 3 western toilets on our trip. Just FYI. If the Chinese can do it, so can foreigners!! (As I told my Dad, learning to use a squatty is pretty much a pass/fail course) The biggest adventure this morning was catching the train. So we figured we would have plenty of time to get there if we left an hour before our train. What we weren't figuring on was the amount of traffic. After a harrowing 50-min. taxi ride to the train station, we got in and booked it to the waiting room with just a few minutes to spare. Goodbyes had to be hasty, unfortunately, but we did make it onto the train. This was Mei's first time in a hard seat so I think she was a little surprised by how crowded everything was. I've seen worse. The ride itself wasn't bad, only about 4 1/2 hours. We got to Jinan and were going to find me a train back to Tai'an from there but I don't think they could've fit many more people into the ticket booking hall if they tried, and this is in China! They were valiantly making an effort at lines, though, so I applaud them for that. We opted instead for a bus, since the "long-distance" (p-shaw) bus station is just across from the train station. So after a little over an hour on the bus, I was finally back in Tai'an!!! It felt so good to be back. The only thing that really irked me was all these people coming up to me saying, "hello! hello!" "Tai Shan?" "Taxi?" Even when I said I didn't want it, they didn't leave me alone. I was getting so fed up with that, having put up with more than normal amounts of it for the past 3 weeks, that I just about lost my temper and started going off on them. Or swinging my suitcase or something. That would've taken them. But I controlled myself, even though I just about starting spouting off in English. I just walked to our little bus station (public transportation....gotta love it) and took the bus back to my apartment. It is really good to be back home.
And thus ends my lovely adventures in Yunnan, China, with a semi-eventful trip back to the cold air of the North. Ahhhhhhhh...... (that was a sigh, not a scream)
21 February 2006
17 February 2006
The Road Goes Ever On and On
Day 20: Kunming
The sleeper bus was interesting. I think I prefer sleeper trains to sleeper buses, but it was an experience. Trains just stay on the tracks. Buses follow the roads. And sometimes roads are windy, bumpy, scary. We had seatbelts. On our beds. It was lots of fun, though and I did sleep. The thing was, as soon as I fell asleep the first time I woke up because the bus stopped and the driver turned on the light. Some people were arguing. It turns out that this guy was demanding to get off the bus and walk the rest of the way to Kunming (keep in mind it's a 12 hour bus ride) because he thought the driver sucked. The driver explained to the guy that he couldn't let him off because it was against company policy. Eventually the guy went back to sleep, but it was pretty heated. So the next time I fell asleep I was again awakened by the bus stopping, the lights coming on, and some guy yelling. This time we were apparently at a checkpoint and everyone had to show their ID and get their luggage out. You just can't win around this place! So after we finally got back on the road (after 45 min.) I was able to sleep soundly until we arrived safely in Kunming. I know I was sleeping, because I know I was having dreams. I didn't feel very rested though....(I think I was dreaming about moving in a vehicle along a bumpy, windy road....)
In Kunming Connie checked into a hotel room -- much nicer, with it's own shower!!! Her plane leaves on the 17th, while Mei's and mine leaves today. Anyway, Mei and I took advantage of the shower before we all walked around town for a while. We went to a park for a while -- GREEN LAKE park, I'd like to add. (Just when you think you've gotten far enough away from home....) ;) It was a nice park, but it wasn't as clean as some of the others we've seen. The water left something to be desired. There were lots of seagulls. Go figure. After the park we were walking back to the hotel when we discovered the "old town" in Kunming. I didn't even know this place had an old town. We walked down just a few streets (it was really small) and decided to eat there. I wasn't all that hungry, but I helped the girls eat some of their food. ;) And my most recent food adventure: apparently "pig's blood" is a common thing to eat here. It's like these blocks of congealed pig's blood or something...??? Connie & Mei have had it several times. I vowed I would never touch the stuff, but I finally gave in and took a bite. It was....different. It didn't taste like you would think blood would taste like. I can't really describe it though. Probably won't try that again. We walked down the main drag of town, too, where everyone like to hang out and go shopping. Apparently it's a big thing in China to have these "walking streets" -- basically it just means a large pedestrian area with a lot of stores. It's okay I guess. Apparently Tai'an is even getting one put in. By the time we got back to the hotel we had to high tail it to catch the bus to the airport. I love flying!!! :) Hee hee. This plane ride was interesting, because we had a layover in Changsha (Hunan province). We had to get off the plane even though we were flying on, and then we all had to get back on into our own seats for the rest of the flight to Tianjin. The name of the airline we were flying with??? OK Airways. Not kidding. It was...okay! I really liked the flight attendants' outfits, though....(I'm such a girl!)
When we got to Tianjin, Mei's friend was waiting for us. She let us stay the night at her place and she had purchased the train tickets back to Jinan for us. It was really nice to meet her, and she had done the same trip we did so we got to talk about the fun things we saw and stuff.
The sleeper bus was interesting. I think I prefer sleeper trains to sleeper buses, but it was an experience. Trains just stay on the tracks. Buses follow the roads. And sometimes roads are windy, bumpy, scary. We had seatbelts. On our beds. It was lots of fun, though and I did sleep. The thing was, as soon as I fell asleep the first time I woke up because the bus stopped and the driver turned on the light. Some people were arguing. It turns out that this guy was demanding to get off the bus and walk the rest of the way to Kunming (keep in mind it's a 12 hour bus ride) because he thought the driver sucked. The driver explained to the guy that he couldn't let him off because it was against company policy. Eventually the guy went back to sleep, but it was pretty heated. So the next time I fell asleep I was again awakened by the bus stopping, the lights coming on, and some guy yelling. This time we were apparently at a checkpoint and everyone had to show their ID and get their luggage out. You just can't win around this place! So after we finally got back on the road (after 45 min.) I was able to sleep soundly until we arrived safely in Kunming. I know I was sleeping, because I know I was having dreams. I didn't feel very rested though....(I think I was dreaming about moving in a vehicle along a bumpy, windy road....)
In Kunming Connie checked into a hotel room -- much nicer, with it's own shower!!! Her plane leaves on the 17th, while Mei's and mine leaves today. Anyway, Mei and I took advantage of the shower before we all walked around town for a while. We went to a park for a while -- GREEN LAKE park, I'd like to add. (Just when you think you've gotten far enough away from home....) ;) It was a nice park, but it wasn't as clean as some of the others we've seen. The water left something to be desired. There were lots of seagulls. Go figure. After the park we were walking back to the hotel when we discovered the "old town" in Kunming. I didn't even know this place had an old town. We walked down just a few streets (it was really small) and decided to eat there. I wasn't all that hungry, but I helped the girls eat some of their food. ;) And my most recent food adventure: apparently "pig's blood" is a common thing to eat here. It's like these blocks of congealed pig's blood or something...??? Connie & Mei have had it several times. I vowed I would never touch the stuff, but I finally gave in and took a bite. It was....different. It didn't taste like you would think blood would taste like. I can't really describe it though. Probably won't try that again. We walked down the main drag of town, too, where everyone like to hang out and go shopping. Apparently it's a big thing in China to have these "walking streets" -- basically it just means a large pedestrian area with a lot of stores. It's okay I guess. Apparently Tai'an is even getting one put in. By the time we got back to the hotel we had to high tail it to catch the bus to the airport. I love flying!!! :) Hee hee. This plane ride was interesting, because we had a layover in Changsha (Hunan province). We had to get off the plane even though we were flying on, and then we all had to get back on into our own seats for the rest of the flight to Tianjin. The name of the airline we were flying with??? OK Airways. Not kidding. It was...okay! I really liked the flight attendants' outfits, though....(I'm such a girl!)
When we got to Tianjin, Mei's friend was waiting for us. She let us stay the night at her place and she had purchased the train tickets back to Jinan for us. It was really nice to meet her, and she had done the same trip we did so we got to talk about the fun things we saw and stuff.
Everywhere I go I see You....
Day 19: Bamboo Raft/Botanical Garden (Xishuangbanna)
Today we went to another town nearby and took a bamboo raft down a river. It was a little bit of a let down for the money we paid. It was neat, though. It's supposed to be a trip down the river and some shows, but I think our guide kind of wanted to rush us through a little. We stopped at this place where they gave us some food. It was good, and guess what I ate -- whole fish. Yep, bones and all. These fish were only a few inches long, so it was okay. I didn't eat the heads though. I should've, just to say I did. Anyway, we got to see a few minority people singing to us and dancing and stuff. I felt sorry for some of the girls, though, because their paid to take a bath in the river in front of the tourists. They had their backs turned, but I know that I would've hated being those girls. After that we went to this awesome botanical garden. I saw it was awesome, and that's what I mean. It was a loooooong walk in, but I think it was worth it. And finally we found a place where we could get a discount with our foreign experts cards!!! YES!!! So it was a hot day, and the first place we went was designed after a tropical rain forest. Dad, you would've LOVED it. I did. It was so cool, and it just smelled very green, earthy, and alive. There were really neat trees and it just felt so good. I could live in a place like that. For a while. ;) Then we went through the rest of the garden kind of quickly because we had to get back to town. But my favorite thing to do in the rest of the garden was take off my shoes and walk barefoot in the grass. I didn't realize how much I had missed that until then! The rest of the garden is kind of a research center for all kinds of plants, but it's beautiful to walk through, too. Mostly a lot of trees that I don't know, well spaced. There was also a place with like 100 different kinds of bamboo. Who knew? Anyway, it was way cool and I thought of Dad a lot. :)
After eating we hopped on our sleeper bus to Kunming for our last day together.
Today we went to another town nearby and took a bamboo raft down a river. It was a little bit of a let down for the money we paid. It was neat, though. It's supposed to be a trip down the river and some shows, but I think our guide kind of wanted to rush us through a little. We stopped at this place where they gave us some food. It was good, and guess what I ate -- whole fish. Yep, bones and all. These fish were only a few inches long, so it was okay. I didn't eat the heads though. I should've, just to say I did. Anyway, we got to see a few minority people singing to us and dancing and stuff. I felt sorry for some of the girls, though, because their paid to take a bath in the river in front of the tourists. They had their backs turned, but I know that I would've hated being those girls. After that we went to this awesome botanical garden. I saw it was awesome, and that's what I mean. It was a loooooong walk in, but I think it was worth it. And finally we found a place where we could get a discount with our foreign experts cards!!! YES!!! So it was a hot day, and the first place we went was designed after a tropical rain forest. Dad, you would've LOVED it. I did. It was so cool, and it just smelled very green, earthy, and alive. There were really neat trees and it just felt so good. I could live in a place like that. For a while. ;) Then we went through the rest of the garden kind of quickly because we had to get back to town. But my favorite thing to do in the rest of the garden was take off my shoes and walk barefoot in the grass. I didn't realize how much I had missed that until then! The rest of the garden is kind of a research center for all kinds of plants, but it's beautiful to walk through, too. Mostly a lot of trees that I don't know, well spaced. There was also a place with like 100 different kinds of bamboo. Who knew? Anyway, it was way cool and I thought of Dad a lot. :)
After eating we hopped on our sleeper bus to Kunming for our last day together.
14 February 2006
For such is the Kingdom....
Day 18: Xishuangbanna -- Mandian waterfall
You all know that I love waterfalls. I love finding them in the middle of a forest or jungle. I just think they're really beautiful. In fact, I love just about all running water. Lijiang had a lot of streams running through the city, and I loved that too. So today we went to a popular waterfall in the middle of a jungle. Getting there was an adventure. I don't know if I've ever been on a bumpy road for so long. We were in this little van (called "bread vehicle" in Chinese because it's shaped like a loaf of bread....clever language!) with a couple from Sweden. So one of the things about this area that's unfortunate is that the government has redirected a lot of the water that used to go to the falls into a power plant or something. The prices we pay for development.... so we arrived in the village where we were going to get the trail to the waterfall, and as we were trying to find it we saw some village girls and waved at them. They started "leading" us to the falls, and Connie and Mei ended up talking to them for a while (I was only able to ask them if they were tired). These girls were absolutely precious. I can't even begin to describe them. I'll try to post a picture of them on my other site. They're in 3rd grade, I believe, and they were just beautiful. They were so sweet. They've been going to the falls everyday during their vacation, so this hike was nothing for them. They were running on this slippery, muddy dirt trail that was only a foot wide and played in the trees like monkeys. The hike to the waterfall lasts about an hour, and you're really walking through the jungle. I loved it. I loved the hike, I loved putting my feet in the water, I loved the girls. The falls were neat, but I could tell it must've looked much better before the water was diverted. I had my swimsuit on because I was planning on getting actually under the falls. But the water was a little deeper than I thought it was going to be, and the girls said there were snakes in the water. I could only think of copperheads (yeah, I know I was in China) so I decided not to chance it. Instead we just settled for sticking our feet in the water and taking lots of pictures with the beautiful little girls. After a while we went back to meet our driver (who was really nice and didn't even smoke during the drive there or back). When we got to the village, one of the little girls (my favorite) invited us into her home. So, we did get to see the inside of a Dai home. It was really eye-opening for me to see it. I think I'd like to live in one of those homes for about a month, but then I'd want to go back to my old comforts. Once you go up the steps, there's this long hall with a long wall on one side. On the other side of the wall is the living area. Basically it was one big room. You could see where they cooked their food. There was a cabinet in one corner and a TV in another. There was a blanket on the floor in front of the TV and a smaller wall at that end of the room. On the other side of that wall were the beds. They were all together, but divided by mosquito nets. The thing that was so striking was that these girls were just so excited to have these new friends coming into their home. (the parents were away) They were so hospitable and so....happy. I just wanted to stay with them. Connie wanted to stay and teach at their local school. In the Bible, Jesus says, "let the little children come to Me, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these." That could be easily seen in these girls.
That night we went to another show in a nearby park. We bought the tickets and walked around. It was a really neat park. They had this cage with a lot of peacocks in it, and some of them had their feathers spread when we were there. The thought that came into my mind was that guys are so similar, even across species. :) They'll do just about anything to impress the girls and get their attention. The funny thing was that this was even played out during the show we went to. The show was alright. It was really similar to the one we saw in the park yesterday, but it was a bit nicer. They even had dinner included in it. One of the dances (going back to my point about guys) was about one of the minority groups where the guys actually go looking for their girls at night and "catch" them. It was really funny, because they pulled volunteers from the audience. I didn't understand anything they were saying (all Chinese), but you could still get the general idea. :) It was a great way to spend Valentine's Day -- dinner and a show with two Valentines. ;)
Culture shock: I had to shave my legs, so after my shower I went outside and tried to find all the spots I missed. These little girls who also probably lived in the hostel started watching me. Up close. That was a little unnerving. They left after I wouldn't let them touch my razor. Go figure.
You all know that I love waterfalls. I love finding them in the middle of a forest or jungle. I just think they're really beautiful. In fact, I love just about all running water. Lijiang had a lot of streams running through the city, and I loved that too. So today we went to a popular waterfall in the middle of a jungle. Getting there was an adventure. I don't know if I've ever been on a bumpy road for so long. We were in this little van (called "bread vehicle" in Chinese because it's shaped like a loaf of bread....clever language!) with a couple from Sweden. So one of the things about this area that's unfortunate is that the government has redirected a lot of the water that used to go to the falls into a power plant or something. The prices we pay for development.... so we arrived in the village where we were going to get the trail to the waterfall, and as we were trying to find it we saw some village girls and waved at them. They started "leading" us to the falls, and Connie and Mei ended up talking to them for a while (I was only able to ask them if they were tired). These girls were absolutely precious. I can't even begin to describe them. I'll try to post a picture of them on my other site. They're in 3rd grade, I believe, and they were just beautiful. They were so sweet. They've been going to the falls everyday during their vacation, so this hike was nothing for them. They were running on this slippery, muddy dirt trail that was only a foot wide and played in the trees like monkeys. The hike to the waterfall lasts about an hour, and you're really walking through the jungle. I loved it. I loved the hike, I loved putting my feet in the water, I loved the girls. The falls were neat, but I could tell it must've looked much better before the water was diverted. I had my swimsuit on because I was planning on getting actually under the falls. But the water was a little deeper than I thought it was going to be, and the girls said there were snakes in the water. I could only think of copperheads (yeah, I know I was in China) so I decided not to chance it. Instead we just settled for sticking our feet in the water and taking lots of pictures with the beautiful little girls. After a while we went back to meet our driver (who was really nice and didn't even smoke during the drive there or back). When we got to the village, one of the little girls (my favorite) invited us into her home. So, we did get to see the inside of a Dai home. It was really eye-opening for me to see it. I think I'd like to live in one of those homes for about a month, but then I'd want to go back to my old comforts. Once you go up the steps, there's this long hall with a long wall on one side. On the other side of the wall is the living area. Basically it was one big room. You could see where they cooked their food. There was a cabinet in one corner and a TV in another. There was a blanket on the floor in front of the TV and a smaller wall at that end of the room. On the other side of that wall were the beds. They were all together, but divided by mosquito nets. The thing that was so striking was that these girls were just so excited to have these new friends coming into their home. (the parents were away) They were so hospitable and so....happy. I just wanted to stay with them. Connie wanted to stay and teach at their local school. In the Bible, Jesus says, "let the little children come to Me, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these." That could be easily seen in these girls.
That night we went to another show in a nearby park. We bought the tickets and walked around. It was a really neat park. They had this cage with a lot of peacocks in it, and some of them had their feathers spread when we were there. The thought that came into my mind was that guys are so similar, even across species. :) They'll do just about anything to impress the girls and get their attention. The funny thing was that this was even played out during the show we went to. The show was alright. It was really similar to the one we saw in the park yesterday, but it was a bit nicer. They even had dinner included in it. One of the dances (going back to my point about guys) was about one of the minority groups where the guys actually go looking for their girls at night and "catch" them. It was really funny, because they pulled volunteers from the audience. I didn't understand anything they were saying (all Chinese), but you could still get the general idea. :) It was a great way to spend Valentine's Day -- dinner and a show with two Valentines. ;)
Culture shock: I had to shave my legs, so after my shower I went outside and tried to find all the spots I missed. These little girls who also probably lived in the hostel started watching me. Up close. That was a little unnerving. They left after I wouldn't let them touch my razor. Go figure.
Clarification:
I haven't been posting dates for everything, so here's what's been happening when:
Day 1: Arrival in HK (Jan. 28)
Day 2: Train from HK to Guangzhou to Kunming (Jan. 29)
Day 3: Arrival in Kunming (Jan. 30)
Day 4: Kunming -- Xi Shan (Jan. 31)
Day 5: Kunming -- Shi Lin (Feb. 1)
Day 6: Kunming to Dali (Feb. 2)
Day 7: Dali -- Er Hai lake (Feb. 3)
Day 8: Dali to Lijiang/Lijiang old town (Feb. 4)
Day 9: Lijiang -- Yulongxueshan (Feb. 5)
Day 10: Lijiang -- Black Dragon Pool -- to Xiangelila (Feb. 6)
Day 11: Xiangelila -- monastery -- to Qiaotou (Feb. 7)
Day 12: Day 1 hiking through the gorge (Feb. 8)
Day 13: Day 2 in the gorge -- down into the gorge (Feb. 9)
Day 14: Day 3 in the gorge and Daju (Feb. 10)
Day 15: Daju and return to Lijiang (Feb. 11)
Day 16: Lijiang -- Bai Sha/Shu He -- and arrival in Xishuangbanna/Jinghong (Feb. 12)
Day 17: Xishuangbanna -- Galanba/Dai park & villages (Feb. 13)
Day 18: Xishuangbanna -- Mandian waterfall and show (Feb. 14)
I'm posting new updates as fast as I can, but obviously I can't always get to a computer. So, sometimes you will be reading about an event several days after it occurred (and you have more exciting events to look forward to reading about!). :)
Day 19: Xishuangbanna -- Bamboo raft and Botanical Garden (Feb. 15)
Day 20: Kunming to Tianjin (Feb. 16)
Day 21: Back to Tai'an (Feb. 17)
[Yep, now I'm back in my own city trying to finish writing about all my adventures]
Day 1: Arrival in HK (Jan. 28)
Day 2: Train from HK to Guangzhou to Kunming (Jan. 29)
Day 3: Arrival in Kunming (Jan. 30)
Day 4: Kunming -- Xi Shan (Jan. 31)
Day 5: Kunming -- Shi Lin (Feb. 1)
Day 6: Kunming to Dali (Feb. 2)
Day 7: Dali -- Er Hai lake (Feb. 3)
Day 8: Dali to Lijiang/Lijiang old town (Feb. 4)
Day 9: Lijiang -- Yulongxueshan (Feb. 5)
Day 10: Lijiang -- Black Dragon Pool -- to Xiangelila (Feb. 6)
Day 11: Xiangelila -- monastery -- to Qiaotou (Feb. 7)
Day 12: Day 1 hiking through the gorge (Feb. 8)
Day 13: Day 2 in the gorge -- down into the gorge (Feb. 9)
Day 14: Day 3 in the gorge and Daju (Feb. 10)
Day 15: Daju and return to Lijiang (Feb. 11)
Day 16: Lijiang -- Bai Sha/Shu He -- and arrival in Xishuangbanna/Jinghong (Feb. 12)
Day 17: Xishuangbanna -- Galanba/Dai park & villages (Feb. 13)
Day 18: Xishuangbanna -- Mandian waterfall and show (Feb. 14)
I'm posting new updates as fast as I can, but obviously I can't always get to a computer. So, sometimes you will be reading about an event several days after it occurred (and you have more exciting events to look forward to reading about!). :)
Day 19: Xishuangbanna -- Bamboo raft and Botanical Garden (Feb. 15)
Day 20: Kunming to Tianjin (Feb. 16)
Day 21: Back to Tai'an (Feb. 17)
[Yep, now I'm back in my own city trying to finish writing about all my adventures]
13 February 2006
When life gives you pineapples....
Day 17: Xishuangbanna (Galanba -- Dai minority village/park)
First I need to explain something. Originally we were planning on doing this trek here through these minority villages and jungle etc., which I thought would be totally awesome (albeit expensive) and was looking forward to. Well, once we got here and started looking at our options we started thinking about doing other stuff. I was a little put off at first, because I had been expecting to do that. But everything has worked out. I think we were all too tired to go trekking for 20 km each day. So even though I was a little disappointed at first, I think this plan has been better. Today we went to a small town hoping to hike around to some minority villages anyway. We went instead to this "park" -- basically a bunch of minority villages clumped together with a ticket booth stuck at the entrance. You have to pay to get in, but it was worth it. We (Connie, Mei, and I -- both Connie & Mei speak Chinese) walked around for a while. This minority group is called the Dai minority. Does it sound like "Thai" maybe? Yep, they're closely related. They have these neat looking houses. It looks like it's on stilts with the whole bottom just open, stairs going up to the second floor, and the living area on the second floor with a triangle roof. So we walked around for a while, saw some temples, tried some good food (my favorite was this barbecued tofu with onions and some pork in it). We got this gigantic pineapple to split between the three of us. I usually don't eat lots of pineapple, but this one was pretty good! at first.... by the time I got to the end of it, though, it had turned from really sweet to sour and highly acidic. It was so acidic, in fact, that my tongue and mouth were tingling for several hours afterward. We made our way down to a beach on the Mekong River. That was awesome! We stuck our feet in the water and pretended we were on a beach in Thailand. We saw this little dance show that they put on -- not very authentic, but entertaining. After that they have this daily "water-splashing festival" at this big fountain in the middle of the park. It was fun! (I didn't really participate because I was wearing a white shirt) ;) I really wanted to get in on the action, but mostly we just watched. After that we went back to our base of operations (Jinghong) and had a great Dai-style massage before heading to bed.
Interesting sight today: in one of the temples there were these bright flashing Las Vegas-style lights behind one of the Buddha statues. Maybe it's just me, but it seemed kinda out of place.
First I need to explain something. Originally we were planning on doing this trek here through these minority villages and jungle etc., which I thought would be totally awesome (albeit expensive) and was looking forward to. Well, once we got here and started looking at our options we started thinking about doing other stuff. I was a little put off at first, because I had been expecting to do that. But everything has worked out. I think we were all too tired to go trekking for 20 km each day. So even though I was a little disappointed at first, I think this plan has been better. Today we went to a small town hoping to hike around to some minority villages anyway. We went instead to this "park" -- basically a bunch of minority villages clumped together with a ticket booth stuck at the entrance. You have to pay to get in, but it was worth it. We (Connie, Mei, and I -- both Connie & Mei speak Chinese) walked around for a while. This minority group is called the Dai minority. Does it sound like "Thai" maybe? Yep, they're closely related. They have these neat looking houses. It looks like it's on stilts with the whole bottom just open, stairs going up to the second floor, and the living area on the second floor with a triangle roof. So we walked around for a while, saw some temples, tried some good food (my favorite was this barbecued tofu with onions and some pork in it). We got this gigantic pineapple to split between the three of us. I usually don't eat lots of pineapple, but this one was pretty good! at first.... by the time I got to the end of it, though, it had turned from really sweet to sour and highly acidic. It was so acidic, in fact, that my tongue and mouth were tingling for several hours afterward. We made our way down to a beach on the Mekong River. That was awesome! We stuck our feet in the water and pretended we were on a beach in Thailand. We saw this little dance show that they put on -- not very authentic, but entertaining. After that they have this daily "water-splashing festival" at this big fountain in the middle of the park. It was fun! (I didn't really participate because I was wearing a white shirt) ;) I really wanted to get in on the action, but mostly we just watched. After that we went back to our base of operations (Jinghong) and had a great Dai-style massage before heading to bed.
Interesting sight today: in one of the temples there were these bright flashing Las Vegas-style lights behind one of the Buddha statues. Maybe it's just me, but it seemed kinda out of place.
Even to the ends of the earth....
Day 16: Bai Sha/Shu He/Lijiang/Xishuangbanna (parting ways....)
In the words of an angry chinese blogger.... "you've seen one 5,000-year-old pagoda, you've seen 'em all." I kind of felt that way today a little. Except we weren't looking at pagodas, we were looking at old towns. We've seen so many on this trip, that I just wasn't as impressed with the one we saw today. Apparently Lijiang's old town is just a commercialized form of the real old town called Shu He. We got to see it for free today (because we went in a "back way" thanks to our hostel owner person) and I'm kind of glad, because I don't think I would've wanted to pay money to see the same thing I've already seen so many times. It was neat, it was just....the same as all the others. Just a bit smaller. Maybe more authentic. Not quite as pretty as Lijiang's old town, though. We got to see a small performance going on because today is the last day of the Chinese New Year (called Lantern Festival, I think). We just walked around the town. More of the same shops selling more of the same stuff. Then we moved on to this other little place called Bai Sha. This is more popular because in one of the houses there are these ancient "Dongba" (a religion in these parts) paintings. It was pretty cool to see. The religion itself borrows from the other major religions such as Buddhism, Daoism, and Hinduism (??). In the afternoon the other girls went walking around and I just rested for a bit. It was kind of sad, because it was our last day together as a whole group. Two of the girls were going back to Shanghai to rest up for a bit before their semester began (and get ready for it, of course). For dinner we had this dish called "Tang Yuan" which are these round things made of rice paste and filled with something, usually sweet. Apparently you're supposed to eat them on the last day of Chinese New Year to have good luck or something. So we ate them. And they were good. :) (I usually get them at the store, though, so it wasn't anything new) Then three of us had to leave for the airport to catch our plane to Xishuangbanna, in southern Yunnan, for the last leg of our journey. (I love riding planes!) :) When we arrived in Jinghong (capital of the "county" I guess you could call it), it seemed so different. It was dark, for one, but it was also warm. This place is famous for its minority groups, and a lot of them are the same ones found in Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, and Laos. It's kind of like being in Thailand except we're still in China and most people also speak Chinese. It felt like we were really going to the edge of the earth or something. Well, we were going to practically the edge of China. A lot of people come here from Burma or Laos. Anyway, we got checked into our hostel and walked around for a bit before heading to bed. We found a neat park that you have to pay to get into, but since it was so late we just went in for free. :) We have been greeted all night by what sounds like a few bombs going off. But really that's just the locals celebrating Lantern Festival. Lots of fireworks, lots of noise. I guess you gotta give them some props since they invented the stuff. I didn't realize until much later what was going on, so at first I just thought most people were partying a little too hearty. Chinese plus fireworks is actually quite normal. We'll see what the plans are for the rest of the time tomorrow....
(Also last night one of our little adventures in Lijiang involved going into a singles bar. Yep, I can now say I've stepped into a singles' bar and walked around. It was a lot of Chinese people. At each table they have these phones that you can use to call people at the other tables. I wouldn't have wanted to stay anyway, but the fact that everyone would've been speaking Chinese was an extra incentive to not stay. We all just went in for fun and to see what was inside anyway.)
In the words of an angry chinese blogger.... "you've seen one 5,000-year-old pagoda, you've seen 'em all." I kind of felt that way today a little. Except we weren't looking at pagodas, we were looking at old towns. We've seen so many on this trip, that I just wasn't as impressed with the one we saw today. Apparently Lijiang's old town is just a commercialized form of the real old town called Shu He. We got to see it for free today (because we went in a "back way" thanks to our hostel owner person) and I'm kind of glad, because I don't think I would've wanted to pay money to see the same thing I've already seen so many times. It was neat, it was just....the same as all the others. Just a bit smaller. Maybe more authentic. Not quite as pretty as Lijiang's old town, though. We got to see a small performance going on because today is the last day of the Chinese New Year (called Lantern Festival, I think). We just walked around the town. More of the same shops selling more of the same stuff. Then we moved on to this other little place called Bai Sha. This is more popular because in one of the houses there are these ancient "Dongba" (a religion in these parts) paintings. It was pretty cool to see. The religion itself borrows from the other major religions such as Buddhism, Daoism, and Hinduism (??). In the afternoon the other girls went walking around and I just rested for a bit. It was kind of sad, because it was our last day together as a whole group. Two of the girls were going back to Shanghai to rest up for a bit before their semester began (and get ready for it, of course). For dinner we had this dish called "Tang Yuan" which are these round things made of rice paste and filled with something, usually sweet. Apparently you're supposed to eat them on the last day of Chinese New Year to have good luck or something. So we ate them. And they were good. :) (I usually get them at the store, though, so it wasn't anything new) Then three of us had to leave for the airport to catch our plane to Xishuangbanna, in southern Yunnan, for the last leg of our journey. (I love riding planes!) :) When we arrived in Jinghong (capital of the "county" I guess you could call it), it seemed so different. It was dark, for one, but it was also warm. This place is famous for its minority groups, and a lot of them are the same ones found in Thailand, Burma, Vietnam, and Laos. It's kind of like being in Thailand except we're still in China and most people also speak Chinese. It felt like we were really going to the edge of the earth or something. Well, we were going to practically the edge of China. A lot of people come here from Burma or Laos. Anyway, we got checked into our hostel and walked around for a bit before heading to bed. We found a neat park that you have to pay to get into, but since it was so late we just went in for free. :) We have been greeted all night by what sounds like a few bombs going off. But really that's just the locals celebrating Lantern Festival. Lots of fireworks, lots of noise. I guess you gotta give them some props since they invented the stuff. I didn't realize until much later what was going on, so at first I just thought most people were partying a little too hearty. Chinese plus fireworks is actually quite normal. We'll see what the plans are for the rest of the time tomorrow....
(Also last night one of our little adventures in Lijiang involved going into a singles bar. Yep, I can now say I've stepped into a singles' bar and walked around. It was a lot of Chinese people. At each table they have these phones that you can use to call people at the other tables. I wouldn't have wanted to stay anyway, but the fact that everyone would've been speaking Chinese was an extra incentive to not stay. We all just went in for fun and to see what was inside anyway.)
Consider the Lilies of the Field....
Day 15: Daju (and return to Lijiang)
I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
~ John 4:35
(see also: Matthew 9:37-38 and Luke 10:2)
So yesterday I was exhausted and cranky and didn't really appreciate the fields we were walking through. I felt bad about that, because I wanted to enjoy what I was doing and seeing. So today God gave me another chance to enjoy it. :) Today was very relaxing. In the morning we walked around the countryside and the village for a while, ate lunch, and went back to Lijiang by bus. (Those roads are ridiculously crazy, unpaved and going up winding mountains with blind curves, but I guess if you drive them every day you just get used to it.) There was a cute little girl on our bus who kept smiling at me and we made faces at each other for a while to entertain ourselves. In Lijiang we checked into another hostel and just kinda chilled out for a while. We walked around a bit after dark again and went to bed. The interesting thing was that we had a dorm room this time, with about 8 beds (and only 5 of us girls) and they let one of the beds to a guy. Hmmm....we all changed in the bathroom. But he was nice, from Ireland, and we actually hung out the next day.
Let me back up. For lunch we were still in Daju, and we had this *awesome* fried rice -- it had goat cheese in it! They really like their goat cheese in these parts. That's just fine with me, because it's one of my new favorite Chinese foods. The other girls didn't like it so much, though. I was the only one who finished my whole plate, and it was a big honkin' plate too. I have eaten so much recently, I don't know if I'll be able to eat again! (no, that's a lie. I'll definitely be able to eat again) Before lunch was the really cool part, though. We had a nice relaxing morning, and then we walked around to what we thought were some other villages (but I guess they were still part of Daju). It has been SO awesome for me to just see how these people live. Honestly, I think I could live here for a while. They have everything they need right here. They have all these fields where they raise their own crops (and crops to sell), they raise their own animals (we saw lots of cows -- even at our guesthouse they have chickens and pigs), they have water from the mountains, they can make their own clothes, they have little supermarkets in town, a school, a hospital....and they live in this valley surrounded by mountains with a big river at the bottom. Honestly, what more do they need? I'll get back to that in a minute. I've decided that I definitely prefer smaller towns to bigger cities. I love the quiet. Sometimes I even like the solitude. I loved that about the gorge. And there we were today, walking through their fields of wheat, rice, mustard, beautiful yellow flowers, and who knows what else. It was just incredible. I felt so....free. Free in a way I don't feel in my own town or even some of the towns we've visited. I felt like I could just run through the fields and be happy for a long, long time.
As we were walking along through the fields (guided by some friendly villagers) the verse I put at the top today came to me. A lot of the fields (especially some of the wheat) were starting to look nice and ripe. And of course the Bible verse is talking about more than just the crops you plant in the ground, it's talking about people. This town -- Daju -- has foreigners passing through occasionally after finishing the gorge, but no foreigners live here. Most of the people here are the Naxi minority. I don't know what they believe, but I'm pretty sure most of them haven't heard the Gospel. But look at the fields -- they are ripe for the harvest. These people, who are so friendly and warm, are also loved dearly by God, and need Him. I would love to be that foreigner who has a chance to live among them, to learn how to work with them, learn about them, share with them and love them. The fields are ripe for the harvest, so ask the Lord of the Harvest to send workers.
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news!
~ Isaiah 52:7
I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.
~ John 4:35
(see also: Matthew 9:37-38 and Luke 10:2)
So yesterday I was exhausted and cranky and didn't really appreciate the fields we were walking through. I felt bad about that, because I wanted to enjoy what I was doing and seeing. So today God gave me another chance to enjoy it. :) Today was very relaxing. In the morning we walked around the countryside and the village for a while, ate lunch, and went back to Lijiang by bus. (Those roads are ridiculously crazy, unpaved and going up winding mountains with blind curves, but I guess if you drive them every day you just get used to it.) There was a cute little girl on our bus who kept smiling at me and we made faces at each other for a while to entertain ourselves. In Lijiang we checked into another hostel and just kinda chilled out for a while. We walked around a bit after dark again and went to bed. The interesting thing was that we had a dorm room this time, with about 8 beds (and only 5 of us girls) and they let one of the beds to a guy. Hmmm....we all changed in the bathroom. But he was nice, from Ireland, and we actually hung out the next day.
Let me back up. For lunch we were still in Daju, and we had this *awesome* fried rice -- it had goat cheese in it! They really like their goat cheese in these parts. That's just fine with me, because it's one of my new favorite Chinese foods. The other girls didn't like it so much, though. I was the only one who finished my whole plate, and it was a big honkin' plate too. I have eaten so much recently, I don't know if I'll be able to eat again! (no, that's a lie. I'll definitely be able to eat again) Before lunch was the really cool part, though. We had a nice relaxing morning, and then we walked around to what we thought were some other villages (but I guess they were still part of Daju). It has been SO awesome for me to just see how these people live. Honestly, I think I could live here for a while. They have everything they need right here. They have all these fields where they raise their own crops (and crops to sell), they raise their own animals (we saw lots of cows -- even at our guesthouse they have chickens and pigs), they have water from the mountains, they can make their own clothes, they have little supermarkets in town, a school, a hospital....and they live in this valley surrounded by mountains with a big river at the bottom. Honestly, what more do they need? I'll get back to that in a minute. I've decided that I definitely prefer smaller towns to bigger cities. I love the quiet. Sometimes I even like the solitude. I loved that about the gorge. And there we were today, walking through their fields of wheat, rice, mustard, beautiful yellow flowers, and who knows what else. It was just incredible. I felt so....free. Free in a way I don't feel in my own town or even some of the towns we've visited. I felt like I could just run through the fields and be happy for a long, long time.
As we were walking along through the fields (guided by some friendly villagers) the verse I put at the top today came to me. A lot of the fields (especially some of the wheat) were starting to look nice and ripe. And of course the Bible verse is talking about more than just the crops you plant in the ground, it's talking about people. This town -- Daju -- has foreigners passing through occasionally after finishing the gorge, but no foreigners live here. Most of the people here are the Naxi minority. I don't know what they believe, but I'm pretty sure most of them haven't heard the Gospel. But look at the fields -- they are ripe for the harvest. These people, who are so friendly and warm, are also loved dearly by God, and need Him. I would love to be that foreigner who has a chance to live among them, to learn how to work with them, learn about them, share with them and love them. The fields are ripe for the harvest, so ask the Lord of the Harvest to send workers.
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news!
~ Isaiah 52:7
I mean, what did the Israelites have to complain about, really???
Day 14: Tiger Leaping Gorge to Daju
Day 3 in the gorge. We're already completely worn out and our legs aren't as young as they used to be. So what do we do? Well, some of us decide we haven't had enough yet. ;) So we go in search of this place called the "bamboo forest" and the "big waterfall". Along the way on our quest, we conquer steep embankments and converse with flocks of goats. We never reach our destination, but we do find this really cool stream-like water source. There's a wall on one side of it about 12-18 inches thick, so we walk along that for a while trying to find out where it leads (by "along" I mean "on top of"). It was really cool, but I think it would've been even cooler if we had fresh legs. Sean's guesthouse (where we were staying) has really good food, but I think I've eaten enough to supply a small country and I should lay off eating for a while. (just kidding ... put just about anything edible in front of my face and I will probably eat it -- unless it is a bean or a carrot) After lunch we started out for Daju. This is the village most people go to at the end of their gorge trek in order to take the bus back to Lijiang (the closest "major" city).
In order to get to Daju from Sean's where we had been staying (which, by the way, was the first western toilet we'd seen in quite a significant time) we first had to hike for a while over the "highway" that goes through the gorge. Okay, so it was paved road and we didn't have to do any steep climbing for a while. But I had a few pebbles in my shoes, and my left foot always gives me grief after I've walked a while, and somehow being on pavement actually was making my back more sore than going over rugged terrain. After a few hours of this (the hike to Daju was alledgedly 4 hours -- I think we did it in 5 maybe??) we started going up to a little village (following the highway) instead of down towards the river where we could catch a ferry across to Daju. I was starting to get a little ancy and just plain tired after already having hiked for a while. We passed through the village and some nice people told us where to turn off to take the ferry. It was a dirt road. My feet kinda liked it better for some reason, but again after a while I was just worn out. I was cranky. My feet hurt. I had rocks in my shoes. We didn't know where we were going. It felt like....we were wandering in the wilderness. And that was when I started thinking about some other people who also had to wander around, not knowing where exactly they were going or when they would get there. Their feet probably hurt too. They probably were tired often the time, and cranky, and they probably complained a lot. (okay, they did complain a lot) And it just hit me that here I was complaining about a few hours of hiking with a 6-kg pack on my back in good weather with some friends, knowing eventually we would figure out how to get where we wanted to go. The Israelites wandered around for 40 years. 40 YEARS. And God never let their sandals or clothes wear out. Here I was complaining after less than 4 hours. What was I complaining about? And while I was so busy complaining, I was missing a great opportunity to enjoy being in the country and enjoy the world around me. We were in a valley in the middle of mountains, for crying out loud, walking on a dirt road through all these fields in southern China. When I finally shut up (my mind, not my mouth -- I was pretty quiet) was when I started listening more to what God was trying to tell me. I complain about so many things -- so many little, unimportant things -- and when that happens I miss the things that are really important, or helpful, or beautiful.
Eventually we did get to the ferry and crossed the river. Somehow clean (mountain) water in this part of China is a gorgeous turquoise blue color naturally. It turned out that to get to Daju was still a good hike, albeit a much easier one. This part of the hike was really, really neat because again we were walking on dirt roads, but just think: these are the roads around here. There aren't really any paved roads to speak of outside of town. The cars, motorcycles, bicycles, horses, cows, etc. all use these roads to get places. That's it. The houses were really neat -- again a kind of traditional "Chinese-looking" house, kind of like a Hutong in Beijing, except these are really the real thing. People live in them still. The design is a courtyard surrounded by buildings on each side. Usually one building is the kitchen/eating area, one is the living area, one is the sleeping area, and whatever else you need in the other, use your imagination, etc. When we finally got to town we found our little guest house -- the Snowflake Guesthouse -- and guess what: it is one of those houses. And the woman who owns it also lives there with her family. HOW COOL!!! :) I was way excited to be staying in a place like that. She fixed our food for us -- traditional Naxi style (that's the local minority group here, and most of the people in the village are that minority) -- and it was SO DELICIOUS. I so wish I could cook like her. My favorite thing on the menu tonight: fried goat cheese. Goat cheese is pretty mild, but has a distinct flavor that you either like or you don't. I like it. :) Again, it was great to just be able to fall asleep with no cars. You could actually see stars at night. Everything was quiet and peaceful. I could live like that....
Day 3 in the gorge. We're already completely worn out and our legs aren't as young as they used to be. So what do we do? Well, some of us decide we haven't had enough yet. ;) So we go in search of this place called the "bamboo forest" and the "big waterfall". Along the way on our quest, we conquer steep embankments and converse with flocks of goats. We never reach our destination, but we do find this really cool stream-like water source. There's a wall on one side of it about 12-18 inches thick, so we walk along that for a while trying to find out where it leads (by "along" I mean "on top of"). It was really cool, but I think it would've been even cooler if we had fresh legs. Sean's guesthouse (where we were staying) has really good food, but I think I've eaten enough to supply a small country and I should lay off eating for a while. (just kidding ... put just about anything edible in front of my face and I will probably eat it -- unless it is a bean or a carrot) After lunch we started out for Daju. This is the village most people go to at the end of their gorge trek in order to take the bus back to Lijiang (the closest "major" city).
In order to get to Daju from Sean's where we had been staying (which, by the way, was the first western toilet we'd seen in quite a significant time) we first had to hike for a while over the "highway" that goes through the gorge. Okay, so it was paved road and we didn't have to do any steep climbing for a while. But I had a few pebbles in my shoes, and my left foot always gives me grief after I've walked a while, and somehow being on pavement actually was making my back more sore than going over rugged terrain. After a few hours of this (the hike to Daju was alledgedly 4 hours -- I think we did it in 5 maybe??) we started going up to a little village (following the highway) instead of down towards the river where we could catch a ferry across to Daju. I was starting to get a little ancy and just plain tired after already having hiked for a while. We passed through the village and some nice people told us where to turn off to take the ferry. It was a dirt road. My feet kinda liked it better for some reason, but again after a while I was just worn out. I was cranky. My feet hurt. I had rocks in my shoes. We didn't know where we were going. It felt like....we were wandering in the wilderness. And that was when I started thinking about some other people who also had to wander around, not knowing where exactly they were going or when they would get there. Their feet probably hurt too. They probably were tired often the time, and cranky, and they probably complained a lot. (okay, they did complain a lot) And it just hit me that here I was complaining about a few hours of hiking with a 6-kg pack on my back in good weather with some friends, knowing eventually we would figure out how to get where we wanted to go. The Israelites wandered around for 40 years. 40 YEARS. And God never let their sandals or clothes wear out. Here I was complaining after less than 4 hours. What was I complaining about? And while I was so busy complaining, I was missing a great opportunity to enjoy being in the country and enjoy the world around me. We were in a valley in the middle of mountains, for crying out loud, walking on a dirt road through all these fields in southern China. When I finally shut up (my mind, not my mouth -- I was pretty quiet) was when I started listening more to what God was trying to tell me. I complain about so many things -- so many little, unimportant things -- and when that happens I miss the things that are really important, or helpful, or beautiful.
Eventually we did get to the ferry and crossed the river. Somehow clean (mountain) water in this part of China is a gorgeous turquoise blue color naturally. It turned out that to get to Daju was still a good hike, albeit a much easier one. This part of the hike was really, really neat because again we were walking on dirt roads, but just think: these are the roads around here. There aren't really any paved roads to speak of outside of town. The cars, motorcycles, bicycles, horses, cows, etc. all use these roads to get places. That's it. The houses were really neat -- again a kind of traditional "Chinese-looking" house, kind of like a Hutong in Beijing, except these are really the real thing. People live in them still. The design is a courtyard surrounded by buildings on each side. Usually one building is the kitchen/eating area, one is the living area, one is the sleeping area, and whatever else you need in the other, use your imagination, etc. When we finally got to town we found our little guest house -- the Snowflake Guesthouse -- and guess what: it is one of those houses. And the woman who owns it also lives there with her family. HOW COOL!!! :) I was way excited to be staying in a place like that. She fixed our food for us -- traditional Naxi style (that's the local minority group here, and most of the people in the village are that minority) -- and it was SO DELICIOUS. I so wish I could cook like her. My favorite thing on the menu tonight: fried goat cheese. Goat cheese is pretty mild, but has a distinct flavor that you either like or you don't. I like it. :) Again, it was great to just be able to fall asleep with no cars. You could actually see stars at night. Everything was quiet and peaceful. I could live like that....
P.S.....
I forget if I've mentioned this or not before, but I do have another website. It is:
http://www.xanga.com/gwyndolynlee
Most of the time I post things there because it's easier and I can actually see what I've posted. I can also read comments there, but you have to have a xanga site to be able to post on someone else's xanga site. Check it out!!
I will post pictures from the trip on that site when I'm back home in a few days.
http://www.xanga.com/gwyndolynlee
Most of the time I post things there because it's easier and I can actually see what I've posted. I can also read comments there, but you have to have a xanga site to be able to post on someone else's xanga site. Check it out!!
I will post pictures from the trip on that site when I'm back home in a few days.
12 February 2006
Just when you think it can't get any better....
Day 13: Tiger Leaping Gorge (part 2)
We got to sleep in today. The sunrise from this part of the gorge wasn't quite as impressive as the one at the beginning, but it was still awesome, of course. Most of the hike was pretty much the same. Yesterday we made it through the gruelling "28 Bends" (a series of switchbacks up to the highest point on the climb -- we just about died), after which you have to go down again. So first you work one part of your legs, then you kill your knees and the other parts before mercifully regaining flat(ter) ground. The hike was pretty short and easy today, even the downhill part. We met some friends along the way, and since we ended up staying in the same guesthouse, we decided to go down into the gorge as a group. The coolest part of today's hike (before going down into the gorge) was when we passed over/through this waterfall (Dad, you would've loved it too!!). Yes, we got some pictures. I have wondered before how people can walk around through such tricky areas, but after a while you don't wonder anymore. You just do it. Anyway, while we were stopped at the waterfall I decided to see if mountain water was all it's cracked up to be. Let me tell you: IT IS. I have never tasted such cool, sweet water in my life. It was the best water I've ever had, and I can say that because I wasn't even thirsty when I tried it. Oh, it was wonderful. I could live up there just to be able to taste that more often.
The climb down into the gorge was probably the highlight of the whole hike. We checked into our guesthouse and dropped off all our bags, ate lunch, then took the plunge. And I mean that almost literally. Keep in mind we're going down a few hundred meters into a gorge -- made of rock -- picking our way over field, rock, stream, and narrow path. And I really do mean narrow this time. The fields were, as always, awesome to walk through. These are not the fields we're used to in the States. Use your imagination to think of rice paddies, how they're all spaced out and arranged. Now build those ascending the side of a mountain. WAY cool!!! The path was maybe 18 inches wide most of the time, along the side of a mountain or sometimes through someone's field or a big area of sandy dirt. Eventually you come to these two guys who charge money for going into the gorge because they help maintain the path when the rain washes it away. How does that make you feel? We got to climb over these scary wooden bridges and ladders, through the side of the cliff (like a big chunk had been chipped out -- I'll post a pic later, prob. on my xanga site), eventually leading down to this really rocky area at the narrowest point of the gorge, where the tiger alledgedly jumped across. We had to pay to go out onto this rock where the tiger "jumped". Let me tell you: I have never done any rock climbing in my life. This was unlike anything I've done before. Usually the best places to put your foot were between 1 and 6 inches wide on this particular rock. It was AWESOME!!! The best advice I received was: keep 3 things on the rock at all times. It worked. Then we went to this other rock where again the tiger alledgedly jumped across the gorge. The rapids in this area were incredible. Yes, of course I have pictures and will post them on my xanga site when I get them from my friends. We spent some time playing on all the rocks and climbing over/through them, and then we decided to head back to the guesthouse before it got dark. There were two options of getting back: going back the way we came, through fields, etc., and this other option called the "sky heaven bridge". I opted for the latter along with our two new friends (Christine -- "Jones" -- and Katie). Now the sky heaven bridge is what we would call the less user-friendly option. It's pretty much straight up the side of the gorge back onto the "highway", and even from the bottom you can see this scary looking loooooooong ladder. So we started on our jolly way, praying at every step that we wouldn't go plunging to our deaths (sorry for writing that, Mom -- I am obviously still alive, though) ;) and rejoicing when we got to the ladder. At the base of the ladder there was a sign pointing in two directions. To the left was the "safe path". To the right, the "DangerOOs ladder". Guess which one we took....you only live once, right? :) The ladder was sturdy, but it was really long. About 3/4 of the way up my imagination started to get a little ancy and I did get a little nervous. But it was such a rush! So we got to the top of the ladder and realized that we still had most of the way to go. Pretty much every time we thought we were almost done we looked up and realized there was another ledge of the mountain above us. I don't remember ever being so happy to see level ground when we reached the top. :) The rest of the day was pretty uneventful; just resting and recuperating.
We got to sleep in today. The sunrise from this part of the gorge wasn't quite as impressive as the one at the beginning, but it was still awesome, of course. Most of the hike was pretty much the same. Yesterday we made it through the gruelling "28 Bends" (a series of switchbacks up to the highest point on the climb -- we just about died), after which you have to go down again. So first you work one part of your legs, then you kill your knees and the other parts before mercifully regaining flat(ter) ground. The hike was pretty short and easy today, even the downhill part. We met some friends along the way, and since we ended up staying in the same guesthouse, we decided to go down into the gorge as a group. The coolest part of today's hike (before going down into the gorge) was when we passed over/through this waterfall (Dad, you would've loved it too!!). Yes, we got some pictures. I have wondered before how people can walk around through such tricky areas, but after a while you don't wonder anymore. You just do it. Anyway, while we were stopped at the waterfall I decided to see if mountain water was all it's cracked up to be. Let me tell you: IT IS. I have never tasted such cool, sweet water in my life. It was the best water I've ever had, and I can say that because I wasn't even thirsty when I tried it. Oh, it was wonderful. I could live up there just to be able to taste that more often.
The climb down into the gorge was probably the highlight of the whole hike. We checked into our guesthouse and dropped off all our bags, ate lunch, then took the plunge. And I mean that almost literally. Keep in mind we're going down a few hundred meters into a gorge -- made of rock -- picking our way over field, rock, stream, and narrow path. And I really do mean narrow this time. The fields were, as always, awesome to walk through. These are not the fields we're used to in the States. Use your imagination to think of rice paddies, how they're all spaced out and arranged. Now build those ascending the side of a mountain. WAY cool!!! The path was maybe 18 inches wide most of the time, along the side of a mountain or sometimes through someone's field or a big area of sandy dirt. Eventually you come to these two guys who charge money for going into the gorge because they help maintain the path when the rain washes it away. How does that make you feel? We got to climb over these scary wooden bridges and ladders, through the side of the cliff (like a big chunk had been chipped out -- I'll post a pic later, prob. on my xanga site), eventually leading down to this really rocky area at the narrowest point of the gorge, where the tiger alledgedly jumped across. We had to pay to go out onto this rock where the tiger "jumped". Let me tell you: I have never done any rock climbing in my life. This was unlike anything I've done before. Usually the best places to put your foot were between 1 and 6 inches wide on this particular rock. It was AWESOME!!! The best advice I received was: keep 3 things on the rock at all times. It worked. Then we went to this other rock where again the tiger alledgedly jumped across the gorge. The rapids in this area were incredible. Yes, of course I have pictures and will post them on my xanga site when I get them from my friends. We spent some time playing on all the rocks and climbing over/through them, and then we decided to head back to the guesthouse before it got dark. There were two options of getting back: going back the way we came, through fields, etc., and this other option called the "sky heaven bridge". I opted for the latter along with our two new friends (Christine -- "Jones" -- and Katie). Now the sky heaven bridge is what we would call the less user-friendly option. It's pretty much straight up the side of the gorge back onto the "highway", and even from the bottom you can see this scary looking loooooooong ladder. So we started on our jolly way, praying at every step that we wouldn't go plunging to our deaths (sorry for writing that, Mom -- I am obviously still alive, though) ;) and rejoicing when we got to the ladder. At the base of the ladder there was a sign pointing in two directions. To the left was the "safe path". To the right, the "DangerOOs ladder". Guess which one we took....you only live once, right? :) The ladder was sturdy, but it was really long. About 3/4 of the way up my imagination started to get a little ancy and I did get a little nervous. But it was such a rush! So we got to the top of the ladder and realized that we still had most of the way to go. Pretty much every time we thought we were almost done we looked up and realized there was another ledge of the mountain above us. I don't remember ever being so happy to see level ground when we reached the top. :) The rest of the day was pretty uneventful; just resting and recuperating.
11 February 2006
"He who watches over you will neither slumber nor sleep"
Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Day 12: Tiger Leaping Gorge (part 1)
I have never done so much hiking in my life, I think. I have *really* been missing out. This trail that we've been on is actually used by all the people who live in the villages through this gorge. This is their road. I can't even imagine having to walk this every day to get to the next village or to take your goats grazing or something. There are places where the road is a few feet wide and relatively flat and doesn't slope or anything, but most of the hike has been up steep, narrow paths and back down again. And keep in mind that this entire hike is at an elevation higher than Mt. Tai's. We've been through a few villages and fields. Most of the time you can't really see the river, we're too far up the mountainside. In the morning while we were starting our climb, the sun was just coming up over the top of the mountains that we were facing. It was AWESOME. There is just no other word to describe it. We had some minor annoyances in the form of guys riding horses following us for several hours, hoping we would just give up and ride the horses. We didn't. The roads are either just dust (at least 3 different colors of dust -- my jeans will never be clean again, and my shoes will never be black again) or rocks. The dust makes it so dry that you have to keep putting on lip stuff, and the sun is so much closer and brighter that if you don't put on sunblock you end up pulling a Bob the Tomato (which I did....sorry Mom! I learned my lesson). By the time we made it to our little guest house (called the "Halfway Guesthouse" -- just over halfway to the end) my legs decided to hate me. My calves were getting some serious cramps, and I was worried about having to hike more the next day. But God is good and my legs healed enough to keep going. It was so neat walking through all these different villages along the way and realizing that people actually live in them. Wow. I am such a selfish creature, and seeing people living in these conditions makes me realize that even more. In fact, it makes me want to join them and live a simpler life for a while. Sometimes I just want to close up shop and move away on my own, but I believe God has created us to be social creatures. Yes, we need times to just be alone and reflect or recharge, but you can't live your entire life like that, I don't think. It's impossible, especially in a place like China. That fact hits especially hard when you're walking through the mountains for crying out loud and people are still following you or staring at you. Most of the people are really friendly, though, much more so here than in the cities. They all smile back at you -- they have beautiful smiles -- and will even reply when you say "Nihao". The terrain, as I have hinted, is sometimes treacherous, and the passage from the Bible I quoted at the top of this entry quickly became our theme. It was always amazing to just look around at the scenery, because it would sometimes change. At one point we were walking through these enormous, volcanic-looking black rocks in this reddish-looking sand, and I could've sworn we were on Mars instead of earth. :) It was stunning! I love being in nature because it just aids my imagination. I am certain God has a highly active imagination. Just look around! One of the coolest things from today was not during the day, but at night. We were in the middle of the gorge in a small village, in a guest house that has a spectacular view of the mountain. No cities. No lights. Just a few other houses scattered here and there, and the guest house itself, all set amid this patchwork of fields stacked on top of each other up the mountainside. So at night most of the lights were out, and anyone who knows me can imagine how delighted I was to be able to see the stars. The funny thing was that the moon was so bright (getting close to the full moon) that a lot of stars weren't visible. The moon was so bright, in fact, that you could probably still hike, but I wouldn't recommend it. ;) And it was so awesome to be away from the sounds of cities and fall asleep to the sound of the river hundreds of meters below.....
A song of ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills— where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Day 12: Tiger Leaping Gorge (part 1)
I have never done so much hiking in my life, I think. I have *really* been missing out. This trail that we've been on is actually used by all the people who live in the villages through this gorge. This is their road. I can't even imagine having to walk this every day to get to the next village or to take your goats grazing or something. There are places where the road is a few feet wide and relatively flat and doesn't slope or anything, but most of the hike has been up steep, narrow paths and back down again. And keep in mind that this entire hike is at an elevation higher than Mt. Tai's. We've been through a few villages and fields. Most of the time you can't really see the river, we're too far up the mountainside. In the morning while we were starting our climb, the sun was just coming up over the top of the mountains that we were facing. It was AWESOME. There is just no other word to describe it. We had some minor annoyances in the form of guys riding horses following us for several hours, hoping we would just give up and ride the horses. We didn't. The roads are either just dust (at least 3 different colors of dust -- my jeans will never be clean again, and my shoes will never be black again) or rocks. The dust makes it so dry that you have to keep putting on lip stuff, and the sun is so much closer and brighter that if you don't put on sunblock you end up pulling a Bob the Tomato (which I did....sorry Mom! I learned my lesson). By the time we made it to our little guest house (called the "Halfway Guesthouse" -- just over halfway to the end) my legs decided to hate me. My calves were getting some serious cramps, and I was worried about having to hike more the next day. But God is good and my legs healed enough to keep going. It was so neat walking through all these different villages along the way and realizing that people actually live in them. Wow. I am such a selfish creature, and seeing people living in these conditions makes me realize that even more. In fact, it makes me want to join them and live a simpler life for a while. Sometimes I just want to close up shop and move away on my own, but I believe God has created us to be social creatures. Yes, we need times to just be alone and reflect or recharge, but you can't live your entire life like that, I don't think. It's impossible, especially in a place like China. That fact hits especially hard when you're walking through the mountains for crying out loud and people are still following you or staring at you. Most of the people are really friendly, though, much more so here than in the cities. They all smile back at you -- they have beautiful smiles -- and will even reply when you say "Nihao". The terrain, as I have hinted, is sometimes treacherous, and the passage from the Bible I quoted at the top of this entry quickly became our theme. It was always amazing to just look around at the scenery, because it would sometimes change. At one point we were walking through these enormous, volcanic-looking black rocks in this reddish-looking sand, and I could've sworn we were on Mars instead of earth. :) It was stunning! I love being in nature because it just aids my imagination. I am certain God has a highly active imagination. Just look around! One of the coolest things from today was not during the day, but at night. We were in the middle of the gorge in a small village, in a guest house that has a spectacular view of the mountain. No cities. No lights. Just a few other houses scattered here and there, and the guest house itself, all set amid this patchwork of fields stacked on top of each other up the mountainside. So at night most of the lights were out, and anyone who knows me can imagine how delighted I was to be able to see the stars. The funny thing was that the moon was so bright (getting close to the full moon) that a lot of stars weren't visible. The moon was so bright, in fact, that you could probably still hike, but I wouldn't recommend it. ;) And it was so awesome to be away from the sounds of cities and fall asleep to the sound of the river hundreds of meters below.....
Ask and I'll give the nations to you
Day 11: Xiang ge li la (Shangri-la)
I guess the reason this place is so popular is that it's supposed to be like Tibet, but you're not actually there. It's much easier to get to and most of the people there are Tibetan anyway. It's alledgedly called "the last frontier" or "the lost frontier" or something. Somehow my phone receives free weather updates wherever I am in Yunnan, so I got a lovely little text message saying the temp. today would be -13 ~ 15 (C). Yeah. Luckily once the sun came up we didn't need to wear all our layers anymore. (I seriously was wearing just about every piece of clothing I brought with me -- I don't think I would've made it had I really mugged a yak, but nice suggestion, Ben) Last night one of the highlights was dancing around the fire with a large group of people. The dances were simple, so everyone could join in. I decided that's what they do to keep warm around here. It definitely works! (at least for the time) Anyway, it's a nice little small town with seemingly very few people. One of the few things to see around here at this time of year is a monastery for Tibetan Buddhism. It was an interesting (maybe challenging?) experience for us. The five of us girls are Christians, and being in a place that was so bound by these rituals and idols was, well, challenging. I love the people here, and something inside my heart just breaks to see people bowing down before a statue constructed by human hands. It made me really think about the differences between Christianity and other religions. Christianity is the only religion where you don't have to do anything to earn your salvation. Yes, believers try to live in a certain way, abstain from some things and do others, etc., etc., but there is nothing we can actually do to earn our way into heaven. Jesus did it for us, and all we have to do is accept that. We don't have to write our wishes on pieces of paper and pay 10 yuan to have a priest present it to a god. We have direct access to God Himself. And seeing all the people who don't know that or haven't heard just made me....sad. Being a Christian is not about pushing your beliefs on other people, but it is about loving people and sharing the joy you have found in Jesus with them. Sometimes I have so much of it I just want all the world to know about it. Joy and peace. No need for meditation -- Jesus gives it all to me, even when I don't expect it or go looking for it. Maybe especially in those times. Anyway, this trip was a growing experience for all of us.
After the trip to the monastery, we said good-bye to Shangri-la and went down to a small town called Qiaotou (bridge head). We spent the night in this cool little hostel run by a woman named Margo. While it was still light we found the trailhead that would take us through the gorge. The river that flows through the Tiger Leaping Gorge is called the Jin Sha Jiang (golden sand river). Eventually a few other rivers join up with it to form the Chang Jiang (Yangtze). That mountain we climbed a while ago -- Yulong Xueshan (Jade Dragon snow mountain) -- that was on one side of the gorge, and another mountain range is on the other. We're walking on the "other" side. ;)
I guess the reason this place is so popular is that it's supposed to be like Tibet, but you're not actually there. It's much easier to get to and most of the people there are Tibetan anyway. It's alledgedly called "the last frontier" or "the lost frontier" or something. Somehow my phone receives free weather updates wherever I am in Yunnan, so I got a lovely little text message saying the temp. today would be -13 ~ 15 (C). Yeah. Luckily once the sun came up we didn't need to wear all our layers anymore. (I seriously was wearing just about every piece of clothing I brought with me -- I don't think I would've made it had I really mugged a yak, but nice suggestion, Ben) Last night one of the highlights was dancing around the fire with a large group of people. The dances were simple, so everyone could join in. I decided that's what they do to keep warm around here. It definitely works! (at least for the time) Anyway, it's a nice little small town with seemingly very few people. One of the few things to see around here at this time of year is a monastery for Tibetan Buddhism. It was an interesting (maybe challenging?) experience for us. The five of us girls are Christians, and being in a place that was so bound by these rituals and idols was, well, challenging. I love the people here, and something inside my heart just breaks to see people bowing down before a statue constructed by human hands. It made me really think about the differences between Christianity and other religions. Christianity is the only religion where you don't have to do anything to earn your salvation. Yes, believers try to live in a certain way, abstain from some things and do others, etc., etc., but there is nothing we can actually do to earn our way into heaven. Jesus did it for us, and all we have to do is accept that. We don't have to write our wishes on pieces of paper and pay 10 yuan to have a priest present it to a god. We have direct access to God Himself. And seeing all the people who don't know that or haven't heard just made me....sad. Being a Christian is not about pushing your beliefs on other people, but it is about loving people and sharing the joy you have found in Jesus with them. Sometimes I have so much of it I just want all the world to know about it. Joy and peace. No need for meditation -- Jesus gives it all to me, even when I don't expect it or go looking for it. Maybe especially in those times. Anyway, this trip was a growing experience for all of us.
After the trip to the monastery, we said good-bye to Shangri-la and went down to a small town called Qiaotou (bridge head). We spent the night in this cool little hostel run by a woman named Margo. While it was still light we found the trailhead that would take us through the gorge. The river that flows through the Tiger Leaping Gorge is called the Jin Sha Jiang (golden sand river). Eventually a few other rivers join up with it to form the Chang Jiang (Yangtze). That mountain we climbed a while ago -- Yulong Xueshan (Jade Dragon snow mountain) -- that was on one side of the gorge, and another mountain range is on the other. We're walking on the "other" side. ;)
06 February 2006
Keep on truckin'
Day 8: Dali to Lijiang
Basically today consisted of traveling. It was alright, though, and there was this precious little girl on the bus with us. Her Dad was playing all these Chinese kids' games with her, and she never stopped smiling. She also sang for everyone, and had this really sweet voice. It was great! We got to Lijiang and hiked a ways from the bus stop to the old town. This old town was *really* neat. By that I mean that I loved the buildings and the layout and the stream/small river running through it. Unfortunately, everything was more expensive and the vendors weren't quite as friendly as in Dali. We danced with some people in the main square after dark, and got to meet a few other fellow travellers (foreign and Chinese). The streets are all kind of cobbled, and the buildings are all hundreds of years old with these awesome old Chinese doors. Our little hostel was in a 200-yr-old building. Way cool!!
Day 9: Yulong xueshan (Jade Dragon Snow Mountain)
This was AWESOME. One of the things I really miss in China is just being away from people. Here was the chance for that. We took a cable car up to this big meadow on the side of this really famous (in these parts) mountain. We hiked around the meadow for a while and into some woods (even though we weren't supposed to wander off the path -- we're such rebels!). Oh, it was just incredible. After we finished hiking we all decided to be silly and dress up in some of their "traditional" costumes -- Tibetan style, almost (we're not terribly far from Tibet) -- and take some pictures. That was fun. Then we went back to Lijiang. That was an adventure....so on the way into the park, we were riding with this lady driver who was pretty nice (and she had a great car, I really wanted to drive it), but she wanted some of us to hide so she could get us a better discount on getting in (and so she could make a little moolah). That was a little shady, but yes we did it. Then on the way back we missed one of the last buses from the mountain top, so we had to make a deal with one of the guys who lives up there and owns a jeep to take us back down. It was more expensive than we wanted, but we didn't have a whole lot of options. It was a great day though. Oh, and I got to try yak's milk and yak's meat.
Day 10: Lijiang to Shangri-la (Xiang ge li la)
This morning when I woke up I walked around the old town of Lijiang a bit. I had really wanted to do that, because most of the time we were walking around at night, and couldn't really see much. It was great, too, because there weren't a lot of people out and the stores were mostly closed so you could see all the old doors and everything. I really enjoyed that. Then we went to this park called Black Dragon Pool Park (Heilongtan Gongyuan) -- pretty neat considering Tai'an also has a Black Dragon Pool. I thought I was in Yunnan??? The park was really nice, really well-maintained and everything. The water in the pool was really clear -- you could actually see the bottom of it! There was a really famous pavilion called the "five-phoenix" pavilion (if you look at the corners of the roof, you can see these points that are supposed to look like phoenixes), and there was a center for researching the Dongba culture. (Mostly a religion somewhere between Buddhism and Daoism) In the afternoon we hopped on a bus to Shangri-la, where we are now. I wasn't sure what to expect here. Apparently there's not too much to do, but it's kind of a seat of Tibetan culture outside of Tibet. Tomorrow we're going to see more of the area and then head to the GORGE where we will get to hike around for a bit. Yay! Also, I've decided I really like yak meat. We had it in a Tibetan-style dish tonight, and it was SOOOOOO delicious! They also know how to cook their broccoli. More to come, of course!
Basically today consisted of traveling. It was alright, though, and there was this precious little girl on the bus with us. Her Dad was playing all these Chinese kids' games with her, and she never stopped smiling. She also sang for everyone, and had this really sweet voice. It was great! We got to Lijiang and hiked a ways from the bus stop to the old town. This old town was *really* neat. By that I mean that I loved the buildings and the layout and the stream/small river running through it. Unfortunately, everything was more expensive and the vendors weren't quite as friendly as in Dali. We danced with some people in the main square after dark, and got to meet a few other fellow travellers (foreign and Chinese). The streets are all kind of cobbled, and the buildings are all hundreds of years old with these awesome old Chinese doors. Our little hostel was in a 200-yr-old building. Way cool!!
Day 9: Yulong xueshan (Jade Dragon Snow Mountain)
This was AWESOME. One of the things I really miss in China is just being away from people. Here was the chance for that. We took a cable car up to this big meadow on the side of this really famous (in these parts) mountain. We hiked around the meadow for a while and into some woods (even though we weren't supposed to wander off the path -- we're such rebels!). Oh, it was just incredible. After we finished hiking we all decided to be silly and dress up in some of their "traditional" costumes -- Tibetan style, almost (we're not terribly far from Tibet) -- and take some pictures. That was fun. Then we went back to Lijiang. That was an adventure....so on the way into the park, we were riding with this lady driver who was pretty nice (and she had a great car, I really wanted to drive it), but she wanted some of us to hide so she could get us a better discount on getting in (and so she could make a little moolah). That was a little shady, but yes we did it. Then on the way back we missed one of the last buses from the mountain top, so we had to make a deal with one of the guys who lives up there and owns a jeep to take us back down. It was more expensive than we wanted, but we didn't have a whole lot of options. It was a great day though. Oh, and I got to try yak's milk and yak's meat.
Day 10: Lijiang to Shangri-la (Xiang ge li la)
This morning when I woke up I walked around the old town of Lijiang a bit. I had really wanted to do that, because most of the time we were walking around at night, and couldn't really see much. It was great, too, because there weren't a lot of people out and the stores were mostly closed so you could see all the old doors and everything. I really enjoyed that. Then we went to this park called Black Dragon Pool Park (Heilongtan Gongyuan) -- pretty neat considering Tai'an also has a Black Dragon Pool. I thought I was in Yunnan??? The park was really nice, really well-maintained and everything. The water in the pool was really clear -- you could actually see the bottom of it! There was a really famous pavilion called the "five-phoenix" pavilion (if you look at the corners of the roof, you can see these points that are supposed to look like phoenixes), and there was a center for researching the Dongba culture. (Mostly a religion somewhere between Buddhism and Daoism) In the afternoon we hopped on a bus to Shangri-la, where we are now. I wasn't sure what to expect here. Apparently there's not too much to do, but it's kind of a seat of Tibetan culture outside of Tibet. Tomorrow we're going to see more of the area and then head to the GORGE where we will get to hike around for a bit. Yay! Also, I've decided I really like yak meat. We had it in a Tibetan-style dish tonight, and it was SOOOOOO delicious! They also know how to cook their broccoli. More to come, of course!
03 February 2006
Faith My Eyes
So keep'em coming these lines on the road
And keep me responsible be it a light or heavy load
And keep me guessing with these blessings in disguise
And I'll walk with grace my feet and faith my eyes
....I think this has been my theme song for this trip. Today has been an interesting experience. Well, sit back and let me tell you about it....
Day 6: Dali
This is an awesome old town. I think I could live here. There are beautiful mountains on the west, and an enormous lake on the right (the people call it a sea). It is home to the Bai minority. Bai means white, and they're called that because the traditional dress of the young people is mostly white (not because they have white skin, but because of the clothes they wear). At first the town reminded me of Gatlinburg in a way, because there are so many shops and you can just walk around. The street we walked down had so much western influence, it really reminded me of the U.S. Also, I saw more foreigners than I expected. We're staying in a hostel in the old town. That was an adventure. The first one we looked at was really, um, sub-par, I guess. Not up to western standards. I was all set to stay there, realizing how much it would make me appreciate my own apartment back in my home away from home, but we found one that was MUCH much better. It's cool, it kind of feels like a cabin at camp or something with these bunk beds that have these bamboo screens you can pull closed. It's lots of fun! And we also get to share the room with strangers, but that's okay because we can meet more people doing the same thing we are. The first one we looked at had a NASTY bathroom. Basically it was a big trough with water running through and walls separating stalls. It was also quite a hike from the bedroom. The showers had no doors. So, naturally, just about anything was an upgrade. ;) The old town is about 8 km (I think) from the main city called Xiaguan. The fun thing about Xiaguan was that we found a street called Tai An Lu. Man, just when you think you've gotten far enough away from home..... :) We just walked around the city all afternoon until it got dark. One thing that was *awesome* was that when it was finally dark we could actually see stars. I didn't realize how much I've missed the stars being in Tai'an....and one more thing to add to my list of odd things to eat: fish eyeball. Yep.
Day 7: Dali/Erhai Lake
God really knows how to keep me humble. Today my pride was definitely wounded. The day started out great. We took a boat ride across the enormous lake to these islands. One had a temple/pavilion which was neat to see, and the other had a little Bai fishing village. We had a nice tour guide and got to try this traditional tea. When we got back, the plan was to rent bicycles and ride to this famous place with three pagodas and another village along the lake. So, I should first let you all know that this was like, the second time I've attempted to ride a bike since I was like 6 years old. And I had training wheels then. I was really nervous, but I thought it wouldn't be a problem....I was wrong. I learned that maybe I can't ride a bike after all. So, I'm probably exaggerating that a bit....but not much. I think being nervous already and not having ridden a bike without training wheels was bad enough. What made it infinitely worse was the Chinese traffic, and the fact that we were riding along the highway. So for one stretch there was an 8-foot drop to the right and Chinese highway traffic to the left. I'm surprised I didn't just go into shock and pass out. Well, we made it to the three pagodas, but it cost way too much money to go in. By that time (after stopping so many times and pushing the bike so many times) I realized that I just couldn't make it on the bike the rest of the afternoon. So I swallowed my pride and hitched a ride back to town on a horse-drawn carriage and the rest of the girls went on to the town. It actually turned out alright, because the introvert in me was craving some alone time. But that whole experience made me think a lot about what God might be trying to say to me. First of all, I realized that I can't do everything, and I certainly can't rely on myself for everything. I have to rely on Him. I had to trust Him to keep me safe when I was really, really nervous on the highway with all that traffic. Also it just made me notice that sometimes He uses strange things to get us to pay more attention to Him. I definitely was able to use that extra time to just chill out and spend time with Him, and I needed that.
More about the rest of the day later. :)
And keep me responsible be it a light or heavy load
And keep me guessing with these blessings in disguise
And I'll walk with grace my feet and faith my eyes
....I think this has been my theme song for this trip. Today has been an interesting experience. Well, sit back and let me tell you about it....
Day 6: Dali
This is an awesome old town. I think I could live here. There are beautiful mountains on the west, and an enormous lake on the right (the people call it a sea). It is home to the Bai minority. Bai means white, and they're called that because the traditional dress of the young people is mostly white (not because they have white skin, but because of the clothes they wear). At first the town reminded me of Gatlinburg in a way, because there are so many shops and you can just walk around. The street we walked down had so much western influence, it really reminded me of the U.S. Also, I saw more foreigners than I expected. We're staying in a hostel in the old town. That was an adventure. The first one we looked at was really, um, sub-par, I guess. Not up to western standards. I was all set to stay there, realizing how much it would make me appreciate my own apartment back in my home away from home, but we found one that was MUCH much better. It's cool, it kind of feels like a cabin at camp or something with these bunk beds that have these bamboo screens you can pull closed. It's lots of fun! And we also get to share the room with strangers, but that's okay because we can meet more people doing the same thing we are. The first one we looked at had a NASTY bathroom. Basically it was a big trough with water running through and walls separating stalls. It was also quite a hike from the bedroom. The showers had no doors. So, naturally, just about anything was an upgrade. ;) The old town is about 8 km (I think) from the main city called Xiaguan. The fun thing about Xiaguan was that we found a street called Tai An Lu. Man, just when you think you've gotten far enough away from home..... :) We just walked around the city all afternoon until it got dark. One thing that was *awesome* was that when it was finally dark we could actually see stars. I didn't realize how much I've missed the stars being in Tai'an....and one more thing to add to my list of odd things to eat: fish eyeball. Yep.
Day 7: Dali/Erhai Lake
God really knows how to keep me humble. Today my pride was definitely wounded. The day started out great. We took a boat ride across the enormous lake to these islands. One had a temple/pavilion which was neat to see, and the other had a little Bai fishing village. We had a nice tour guide and got to try this traditional tea. When we got back, the plan was to rent bicycles and ride to this famous place with three pagodas and another village along the lake. So, I should first let you all know that this was like, the second time I've attempted to ride a bike since I was like 6 years old. And I had training wheels then. I was really nervous, but I thought it wouldn't be a problem....I was wrong. I learned that maybe I can't ride a bike after all. So, I'm probably exaggerating that a bit....but not much. I think being nervous already and not having ridden a bike without training wheels was bad enough. What made it infinitely worse was the Chinese traffic, and the fact that we were riding along the highway. So for one stretch there was an 8-foot drop to the right and Chinese highway traffic to the left. I'm surprised I didn't just go into shock and pass out. Well, we made it to the three pagodas, but it cost way too much money to go in. By that time (after stopping so many times and pushing the bike so many times) I realized that I just couldn't make it on the bike the rest of the afternoon. So I swallowed my pride and hitched a ride back to town on a horse-drawn carriage and the rest of the girls went on to the town. It actually turned out alright, because the introvert in me was craving some alone time. But that whole experience made me think a lot about what God might be trying to say to me. First of all, I realized that I can't do everything, and I certainly can't rely on myself for everything. I have to rely on Him. I had to trust Him to keep me safe when I was really, really nervous on the highway with all that traffic. Also it just made me notice that sometimes He uses strange things to get us to pay more attention to Him. I definitely was able to use that extra time to just chill out and spend time with Him, and I needed that.
More about the rest of the day later. :)
So, most of the time I use my other site to post updates. I'm just using this one right now because I don't want it to become inactive or anything. And anyone who still looks at this one deserves to see some new posts anyway. :) But here is my other site, so check it out! ;)
http://www.xanga.com/gwyndolynlee
http://www.xanga.com/gwyndolynlee
A Whole New World
Mostly I just want to remember what all has been going on the past few days, but also for anyone who might still read this blog, hopefully this will be somewhat entertaining....(an online journal of my vacation in Yunnan)
Day 1: Hong Kong
So, I said this before, but basically HK is like the New York City of China. It was really, really crowded and busy. I liked riding the double-decker bus from the airport and walking around the city at night a little. Wish I could've seen it during the daytime, though....I think I had enough of it in one day to last me for a while, though. It was much cleaner. No kids peeing on the sidewalks, no adults spitting on the streets. In fact, people know how to use a crosswalk and to wait for the little walking man light. They drive on the left side of the road (British colony, go figure). The harbour was really cool, even at night, and I just thought it was fun to see a place where Jackie Chan filmed one or several of his movies. :) I have to say, though, I just don't like cities where you can't see the sky because too many buildings are in the way.
Day 2: Train
From HK we took a train to Guangzhou, a city in Guangdong province in southern China. You know, it actually reminded me a *lot* of Bangkok -- mostly the climate and the way the streets were set up. There we met up with a student for lunch (delicious!! I love Broccoli!!! -- "she's choppin' broccol-ai") then we got on to -- get this -- our 25-hour train to Kunming. Woo-hoo! 25 hours in a train wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. It helped that one of us had a soft sleeper and the other people in the room were really nice and let us visit indefinitely. And it was way cool waking up at, like, 7:30 a.m. to see how the landscape was changing. When I woke up we were in mountains (going through a tunnel, actually) and they were all green and covered in fog. Oooohhh, it was so pretty! When we went to sleep it was, of course, dark, but I think we hadn't seen such a cool landscape before. Interestingly enough, we were on the train for the Chinese New Year. We got to see lots of fireworks that night when it was dark. :) Life's little annoyance #1: I discovered late at night in our hostel in Kunming that I left something important to me on the train. My pocket Bible. Mostly I'm just sad and ashamed of myself for not noticing before I left that it was missing. Well, I know what I want for a welcome home present!
Day 3: Kunming/train
After checking into our hostel we walked around the city at night and ate with another student. I ate these little roots that looked like worms. But they're really roots. Sweet....and the really interesting thing about our hostel is....the bathrooms are squatties. Yep, no western toilets here. No doors, even. Just walls about waist height dividing one squatty from another. At least they flush properly.... :) I do love a good adventure!
Day 4: Xi Shan (west mountain)
This was pretty cool, but I had a headache most of the day. We hiked around the mountain all day. It wasn't exactly what I expected, and at first I was kind of disappointed by the lack of trail and lack of paved road (I kind of wanted one or the other, and it was kind of a hybrid). Eventually we got to the highlight of the mountain, which was this way cool area built into the side of a cliff. There was a gate called Long Men ("Dragon Gate") and all these cool, narrow twisty paths carved through the rock to get up to it. We got up to the peak, and by that time we decided it was late enough that we took the cable car down. Boy, that was fun too. It was an open-air ski-lift type thing. Pretty relaxing. I realize more and more that I enjoy motion. It's very relaxing to me. Overnight train rides (feel like you rock to sleep), the top of a double-decker bus, open-air cable car, etc. Life's little annoyance #2: my camera decides to stop working. This may be the batteries' fault (although they were brand new) or maybe my camera just doesn't like me anymore. In any case it means most of my pictures will have to be taken by my friends instead of by me. Oh well, I think they're more talented photographers anyway. ;) Another fun story from today. So for dinner we went down this little side street, much like the night market in my beloved home town, and we ate at this restaurant where you have to sit on little stools around the tables. We were waiting a long time for our food to come out, but pretty soon after we got there the lights went out. Okay, so they got them back on after a minute or two, no problem, but then they kept going out again. And then back on, then off, and so on, sometimes like a strobe light. Eventually the waiters just gave each table a candle, and we all ate in the dark! It was kind of a romantic, candlelit dinner.... :) Well, it was more the sort of situation that is really annoying at the time, but lots of fun to remember and talk about later. After dinner the other girls went to go watch a movie! I kind of wished I'd gone with them, but I had such a bad headache that I knew I just needed to rest. And, what do you know, it was just what I needed. They saw "Fearless" -- a Jet Li movie -- all in Chinese. ;)
Day 5 (today): Shi Lin (stone forest)
This was WAYYYYYY cool!! First, Life's little annoyance #3: people who overcharge and lie in order to make a few bucks off of foreigners, i.e. bus drivers/bus money takers/tour guides.... Grrrr.... so, basically there are all these rocks that have been worn away by water into sharp jagged points and little narrow paths that you can walk around. There were lots of things about this particular place that I loved, not the least of which was that there were places you could go where there weren't any other people, at least for a few minutes. We got to climb through this little hole to a place that I thought would be great for devotions. We got to climb all over rocks and see beautiful plants and even lots of GREEN grass. I was kind of sad to leave. Not kind of, I was *really* sad to leave. No, maybe I was ready because I was hungry and little tired, but mostly I could've just stayed there for a long, long time. Dad would've LOVED that place. :) I'll get lots of pictures from my friends, don't worry. ;) Oh, and I got to experience the joys of a Chinese outhouse. We think we have it bad in the U.S., but.....so again, no doors, just waist-high walls, and this time no flushers. Imagine just a square hole in the ground. I'm not even going to describe what you would see if you looked down into one. It was late when we got back to town, but we ate at a nice Korean restaurant. And now I'm here, letting you all know that I'm having a great time, enjoying myself lots, enjoying time with friends and seeing new places, doing new things, having adventures, all that jazz. Love to anyone who still reads this! ;)
Day 1: Hong Kong
So, I said this before, but basically HK is like the New York City of China. It was really, really crowded and busy. I liked riding the double-decker bus from the airport and walking around the city at night a little. Wish I could've seen it during the daytime, though....I think I had enough of it in one day to last me for a while, though. It was much cleaner. No kids peeing on the sidewalks, no adults spitting on the streets. In fact, people know how to use a crosswalk and to wait for the little walking man light. They drive on the left side of the road (British colony, go figure). The harbour was really cool, even at night, and I just thought it was fun to see a place where Jackie Chan filmed one or several of his movies. :) I have to say, though, I just don't like cities where you can't see the sky because too many buildings are in the way.
Day 2: Train
From HK we took a train to Guangzhou, a city in Guangdong province in southern China. You know, it actually reminded me a *lot* of Bangkok -- mostly the climate and the way the streets were set up. There we met up with a student for lunch (delicious!! I love Broccoli!!! -- "she's choppin' broccol-ai") then we got on to -- get this -- our 25-hour train to Kunming. Woo-hoo! 25 hours in a train wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. It helped that one of us had a soft sleeper and the other people in the room were really nice and let us visit indefinitely. And it was way cool waking up at, like, 7:30 a.m. to see how the landscape was changing. When I woke up we were in mountains (going through a tunnel, actually) and they were all green and covered in fog. Oooohhh, it was so pretty! When we went to sleep it was, of course, dark, but I think we hadn't seen such a cool landscape before. Interestingly enough, we were on the train for the Chinese New Year. We got to see lots of fireworks that night when it was dark. :) Life's little annoyance #1: I discovered late at night in our hostel in Kunming that I left something important to me on the train. My pocket Bible. Mostly I'm just sad and ashamed of myself for not noticing before I left that it was missing. Well, I know what I want for a welcome home present!
Day 3: Kunming/train
After checking into our hostel we walked around the city at night and ate with another student. I ate these little roots that looked like worms. But they're really roots. Sweet....and the really interesting thing about our hostel is....the bathrooms are squatties. Yep, no western toilets here. No doors, even. Just walls about waist height dividing one squatty from another. At least they flush properly.... :) I do love a good adventure!
Day 4: Xi Shan (west mountain)
This was pretty cool, but I had a headache most of the day. We hiked around the mountain all day. It wasn't exactly what I expected, and at first I was kind of disappointed by the lack of trail and lack of paved road (I kind of wanted one or the other, and it was kind of a hybrid). Eventually we got to the highlight of the mountain, which was this way cool area built into the side of a cliff. There was a gate called Long Men ("Dragon Gate") and all these cool, narrow twisty paths carved through the rock to get up to it. We got up to the peak, and by that time we decided it was late enough that we took the cable car down. Boy, that was fun too. It was an open-air ski-lift type thing. Pretty relaxing. I realize more and more that I enjoy motion. It's very relaxing to me. Overnight train rides (feel like you rock to sleep), the top of a double-decker bus, open-air cable car, etc. Life's little annoyance #2: my camera decides to stop working. This may be the batteries' fault (although they were brand new) or maybe my camera just doesn't like me anymore. In any case it means most of my pictures will have to be taken by my friends instead of by me. Oh well, I think they're more talented photographers anyway. ;) Another fun story from today. So for dinner we went down this little side street, much like the night market in my beloved home town, and we ate at this restaurant where you have to sit on little stools around the tables. We were waiting a long time for our food to come out, but pretty soon after we got there the lights went out. Okay, so they got them back on after a minute or two, no problem, but then they kept going out again. And then back on, then off, and so on, sometimes like a strobe light. Eventually the waiters just gave each table a candle, and we all ate in the dark! It was kind of a romantic, candlelit dinner.... :) Well, it was more the sort of situation that is really annoying at the time, but lots of fun to remember and talk about later. After dinner the other girls went to go watch a movie! I kind of wished I'd gone with them, but I had such a bad headache that I knew I just needed to rest. And, what do you know, it was just what I needed. They saw "Fearless" -- a Jet Li movie -- all in Chinese. ;)
Day 5 (today): Shi Lin (stone forest)
This was WAYYYYYY cool!! First, Life's little annoyance #3: people who overcharge and lie in order to make a few bucks off of foreigners, i.e. bus drivers/bus money takers/tour guides.... Grrrr.... so, basically there are all these rocks that have been worn away by water into sharp jagged points and little narrow paths that you can walk around. There were lots of things about this particular place that I loved, not the least of which was that there were places you could go where there weren't any other people, at least for a few minutes. We got to climb through this little hole to a place that I thought would be great for devotions. We got to climb all over rocks and see beautiful plants and even lots of GREEN grass. I was kind of sad to leave. Not kind of, I was *really* sad to leave. No, maybe I was ready because I was hungry and little tired, but mostly I could've just stayed there for a long, long time. Dad would've LOVED that place. :) I'll get lots of pictures from my friends, don't worry. ;) Oh, and I got to experience the joys of a Chinese outhouse. We think we have it bad in the U.S., but.....so again, no doors, just waist-high walls, and this time no flushers. Imagine just a square hole in the ground. I'm not even going to describe what you would see if you looked down into one. It was late when we got back to town, but we ate at a nice Korean restaurant. And now I'm here, letting you all know that I'm having a great time, enjoying myself lots, enjoying time with friends and seeing new places, doing new things, having adventures, all that jazz. Love to anyone who still reads this! ;)
My Great Adventure
For those of you who don't know, my vacation is consisting of traveling to the southern part of China -- Yunnan province. It's on the border with places like Burma, Laos, Vietnam, Tibet, and other provinces of China. It's supposedly warm and will hopefully prove that theory correct. Lots of exciting things are promised for this trip, and I'll be traveling with 4 other girls all around to the "places of interest". I'm pumped!
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