What a weekend
Well, I realise that the Terry Fox run was about a month ago in Mtl but it was this Sat in Beijing. I was so surprised at the amount of people that took part! It was an 8k run (i walked, obviously) that went thru a large part of the city. It was so funny to see all these huge street blocked off for the runners, and the traffic that was backed up bc of it. I didn't raise any money, but i had decided last year that I wanted to participate in the Terry Fox run every year from now on in memory of Mr Morelli. So, I was so happy that I was able to do it even here in Beijing.
Then Sunday we had a bus reserved to go to the Great Wall. We left at 8 am and returned at 7pm- it was a 3 hr bus ride away. You can get to the Great Wall in about an hour, but it is supposed to be insanely touristy, so we skipped that part and went the remote route.
In all it was about an 8-10k hike along the wall- they give you 4 hrs- which is a lot of time. There are people all along the wall trying to sell you stuff, but this is like anywhere in China really, I wasn't so shocked to see them here too. The views were gorgeous- I only took about 146 photos ;) I have narrowed it down to 67 and will post them on yahoo soon.
The Great Wall is definitely a close second in terms of my favorite things to do in China, so far. (First is the Gobi at Dunhuang). It just snakes along the mountains. You can't help thinking tho, as you look out at all the mountain ranges, what is the point of this wall? If one can get all the way thru the mtns and right up to the wall, you figure they can also get around the wall. But it seems to have done the trick, right? so I'll digress.
Sorry Sorry Sorry!
Hi!
Ok, I know I told you all I would be traveling this year, and I promise I will, but it will be a while still. I am applying for a temp job for Jan- June and in doing so actually landed another temp job that starts next week. This one is only for 2-3 weeks tho, so after that I think I will (treat myself and) fly into Laos. I will then spend a month in Laos, then over to Thailand. Depending on if I get the job in Jan, that could be the extent of my traveling until next summer (save weekend trips) or if I don't get it, I will just stay in the South and have many many stories to tell.
If you are interested in adventure, you can check out fabienne's blog- she is leaving this Fri for Cambodia.
http://blogs.bootsnall.com/FabienneI'll email you all when I get out of Beijing, so you can start checking this blog again.
Dude, I'm right here. :)
Uninspired movie buff. Oh, and thanks.
Well, haven't been feeling so inspired lately but thought I would post smthg nonetheless.
Picked up a few movies today, maybe I'll review them as i go through them. What else would one do when in Beijing than watch and review movies? Got the necessary 'Adventures of Baron Munchausen' and Fellini's '8 1/2' and 'la haine' and 'le grand bleu' 'city of god' and 'beijing bicycle'. They are so cheap and there are so many good ones I just can not say no. C & P found Kieslowski's 'The Decalogue' here. Craziness.
BTW, thanks so much for your comments. All plans have in fact changed. Well, they are not what they were, and now just cease to exist. But I am working on it.
I won't be heading all over China in a week (thanks Meg). I knew it was a pretty stupid idea but... I will keep you posted when any plans do materialize. I am hoping to find a job or to volunteer, but then that could just be the flavor of this week...
No worries. All is well, and the adventures will resume soon.
Hope you are all doing great and know that I miss you tons and slews.
Xiahe
Xiahe was amazing (ly cold). We flew to Langzhou and then bussed for almost a day to this place called Xiahe. It is supposed to be the place to go if you cant get to Tibet. I am so happy that Chantal and Phil brought us here- we would have never been able to get to this place on our own. Too far out and off the beaten path- sorta.
Anyhow, this town was pretty much just a huge Monastery. You have never seen so many monks in all your life. Everywhere you went. They were on motor bikes, in taxis, walking down the street, on cel phones, EVERYWHERE. My favorite was: ok, just to put this in perspective, the main cars that are around are these tiny white truck taxi type things. There is the occaisonal obnoxious Chinese tourist SUV, but mainly just work trucks or these little taxis. Anyways, this Sonata pills up next to our taxi (Sonata would be a pretty sleek car- think very high end) and there is a monk in full robes driving with another monk in the passenger seat , also full robes, wearing these huge sunglasses. I will never forget that.
We spent a day out in the Grasslands, horseback riding. We each had our own guide that rode along on the horse with us.. interesting. My lady sang most of the way, and she was so gorgeous, with long black hair and colorful clothes. Jess did so well on her own horse too!
This was an amazing town to stay in. I;m glad it was longer than just a run in and out time. I like to lounge, and this is exactly what we did. We wandered the town and I had the chance to feel reallly comfortable in a very cool town. (BTW I am so not doing this town justice as I am writing so far after the fact, and nothing I can say will explain better than my photos. Go see them on yahoo- My favorite would have to be the one of the couple that are staring right into the camera. they wanted to see what I was doing as i was showing pics to jess on the street, so I asked to take their photo and then showed it to them. She has the most beautiful jewelry on and he looks like a full out 'Tibetan cowboy'.
Long jacket, with arms going to the ground, one of them wrapped around his body tucked into the red belt.. dagger slung on the belt as well.
Waking up
I love watching China wake up - Chantal
Its so great. I feel like everyone in China is in better shape than I am. When you are up early, ike we usually are, you get to see China wake up. I went into this a bit in the Pingyao entry, but its really very cute. People are sweeping their steps, kids are going to school, but best of all, people are doing excercises in ever large square you can find. In Langzhou, at 645am, there were about 50 ppl doing diff mvmts to Pump Up the Jam. But these are older ppl... and they arent dancing- well they are but it is very rehearsed and usually involves a scarf or fan. Its very nice to watch.
Or some ppl are doing Tai Chi.
Or others are just wiggling their hips. Or their ears. Or sticking their legs up on banisters adn stretching like ballerinas. Only they are 70 years old. They walk around the square and stretch their arms, and pat their backs or shoulders to get the bloood flowing (i guess).
Its so great to watch and it all happenms before the cities get gross, so I can stand to stick around.
Thats it. I have never been happier to watch people wake up.
:)
Dunhuang- Gobi Desert!
Just because I am so excited I won't tell you about the past week- I will catch up on all that when I get to beijing.
Today, we got to the Gobi Desert!! A desert- with camels and everything! We took the train from Lanzhou to Liuyuan (sp?) and then a bus for 3 hrs to get to Dunhaung. The whole thing has been so amazing. Just to explain a bit: I have been having quite a bit of trouble with the traveling part of traveling.. umm.. I don't especially like the smoking in the trains and buses, the fuss to buy tickets and well, thats about it really. So the train to Dunhuang, I got the tickets at the counter (usually f does this, but she was like 'you can do it!' and I did!) Then after getting the tickets I checked where we were actually going.. i.e. compared the characters on the ticket to the characters for Dunhuang and SURPRISE! they matched. Yay Me! So that train ride, which we originally thought would take from 4:20pm to 12:00pm the next day ended up taking only 14 hrs.. (only... we were woken up at 5:30am) Then we got a bus right away but it was empty. This is a very bad thing In China bc buses only leave when they are full. Very full. Like people on every seat AND in the aisles. And there is no exception. EXCEPT the bus to Dunhuang. It left with only F and I and one other guy..
And thats how Dunhuang started. We got in around 930am and found a hotel with hot water right away. We then set out for the sand dunes. There are quite famous caves not far from here, and thats the reason most ppl make it to this area but we are saving those for our second day.
Fist off, Dunhuang seems like a relatively large city, but without the dirt and noise and, well, all that disgusting stuff, that ever other city has. Its beautiful. We walked the 6 km to the dunes and were amazed. They just rise out of no where.
There is also a cover charge of 80 kuai (which is ridiculous- our hotel with own bathroom and shower is 30 kuai a nite). Fabs book wrote of a place you coulsd sneak in, so we went about looking for it (how can you possibly fence off sand dunes?) and finally found it- we only had to jump 2 fences and slip through a barbed wire one... a truly 'Ting Boo Dong' moment. (Have I told you that Ting Boo Dong means i hear you but I dont understand you- smthg we use VERY often). Anyhow, we walked in awe of these dunes (you are going to be amazed at the photos) and found the place you can sand tobbogan!! Yes thats right. So fun! Then we went paragliding down the dunes.. well f did. I ended up getting very dizzy (too much sun- not enough food) and wiped out twice before giving up. Just think for a second what it was like to have an "instructor" try to explain what you have to do when you cant speak his language and he cant speak yours. Good times.
Him: Run Run Run! No Jump! Run Run Run!
Me: No Jump?
Him: NO NO NO Jump! Run Run Run! 1 2 3 Run Run Run!
Oy.
Then we lounged on the grass, said hello to many many Chinese tourists and got on many tourists videos and talked about where we are going next.
F then decided to walk along the top of the dunes and I decided to lounge some more. I followed her bright orange pants all along and met her at the end near the entrance.. We stayed til the sun set and then walked back.
We have a plan. I think. She will head South East and I will head to the center of China on the 20th. I want to see the worlds largest Buddha at Leshan, and then perhaps make it to the Panda reserve before meeting F in Yangshuo in the SE. She wants to go rock climbing- I don't.
We will then head to Tiger Leaping Gorge which is supposed to be THE most amazing spot in China. I' ll keep you posted.
Then I think we will head to Laos, but this depends on who we meet in Kunming and other places-
Hope you are all doing well- thanks for the comments!
