Konichiwa! Ni hou! Namaste!
Tokyo
In Tokyo, we visited the world's largest fish market. I wouldn't say it's designed for tourism at all, as walking through the stalls you are at risk of being run over by mini-forklifts whizzing by the narrow corridors, without horns, which makes you stay on your toes. However, the market is amazingly huge with all kinds of fish and sealife, much of which I didn't recognize. However, we watched 3 men saw through a massive piece of tuna with finesse and perfection using a knife much taller than me. We also dined on the most delicious sushi I have ever tasted. It simply melted in our mouths and was so cheap. What a treat!
Beijing
After a fun visit in Tokyo, we headed to Beijing. Interestingly, while in Tokyo, picking up our Chinese visas we ran into Matthew, a handsome, witty British lad that we knew in Taichung. We briefly exchanged stories and planned to meet up in Beijing. Beijing is a huge city and was a bit overwhelming for me at times. After being mislead at the airport, we ditched the bus plan into town and took an expensive cab rid, instead. However, our hostel was conveniently located next to a huge train and subway stations, and near lots of traffic and hustle and bustle. Our room overlooked all of the action and it felt like being back in Taichung, with loads of horns honking, people yelling and constant noise. Ahhh...
I've been fighting an ongoing cold, so some days not as active as Si. I try to have a few days off here and there to rest up and stay out of the air pollution. As busy as Beijing is, it's a fascinating place. Everywhere you look, the construction, planning and preparation for the Beijing Olympics is in full swing. One tour guide told us that an estimated 10 million people have come to the city from other towns and provinces to help with the construction and building of new hotels, restaurants, statudims and more. Along side each of these major construction sites are makeshift apartment builings, built out of temporary siding, just like the trailers you see at construction sites in the US, but these buildings are 2-3 stories tall, and full of male workers who have temporarily moved to Beijing.
One thing that I have loved is the appearances of people in China. After living in Taiwan, where people are so cautious about their skin aging in the skin and just aging in general, as well as Japan, where appearances are very important (lots of make-up, high fashion, etc.) China is completely different. Yes, people are concerned with their appearances, but you it's very common to see men and women with rich wrinkles in their faces. Each line represents a different experience, memory and lesson. The people here look so interesting and unique. It's really beautiful.
Summer Palace
In Beijing, we took the subway system everywhere, which was easy and fun. Not as quick and organized as Tokyo, but for 3 yuan ($0.38 USD) to any destination, it was a cheap way to travel. We met up with our friend Matt and visited the Summer Palace one day. The Summer Palace was the location at the Emperor's ran away to during the hot summer months. In addition to a beautiful lake, the palace had huge temples, corridors and mazes of smaller buildings, homes, and theaters. We visited in the afternoon and were blessed with witnessing an amazing sunset. We also climbed huge steps to the Temple of Incense (although strangely, no incense was burning) and saw a tall and gorgeous Buddha overlooking the entire palace landscape.
Great Wall
A few days later we climbed the Great Wall! We joined a tour that drove us to the Great Wall site, where we hiked to the actual wall, then walked/climbed/hiked along the wall for a total of 10K. It was amazing. The landscape surrounding the Wall is massive, gorgeous and never-ending, with hills and mountains that go as far as the eye can see with huge cloud covers shadowing the landscapes. Surprisingly, there were many cherry blossom trees growing all over the landscapes as well. So, from the top of the huge guard towers, our views were peppered with delicate puffs of pink. In the first part of our journey, we ventured up parts of the wall that were left in the it's old fashion. The steps reminded me of Angkor Watt, as they were steep, a bit unstable and I didn't bother looking down or stopping until I reached the top. Just keep going, Girl!
As our journey continued, the wall changed and more modern parts became visible where renovations have taken place. Also, along the way we were met with ticket takers and people selling us things. Traveling up that wall each day to sell water, beer and cola is quite a feat! The beverage sellers are truly dedicated business men. Along the way, we also had intersting chats with other tourists on the tour. We finished our journey by having lunch with a guy named Fred from Oakland. He and I had some fun chats about my old neighborhood Fruitvale in Oakland. His dry sense of humor and travel stories were really fun.
Xi'an
Itching to leave the big cit of Beijing, Simon and I booked tickets to Xi'an. We underestimated our travel time to the train station with our packs and rush hour traffic and missed our train. So, we sorted out travel on the next train, but did not have any seats. Climbing on the train, we wedged our backpacks in a little hall way, across from the bathroom and the smoking area on the train... for 11 hours. We sat on our backpacks with another Chinese guy who also didn't have a seat. Quite a few people didn't have seats and dynamics of this experience were somewhat interesting, but overall pretty uncomfortable. This was undoubtedly the worst travel experience I have encountered so far. As the night wore on, with a sore back and cramped legs, we made the best of it all. People without seats layed newspapers on the floor and slept there. (As a side note, China is dirty, more dirty than Taiwan and the ground is pretty disgusting. People spit and blow their noses on the ground all the time and with so many people populating this country, well, it's just pretty gross.) Simon through it all remained upbeat and positive, which was my saving grace. The best part of the journey was not smelling the icky bathroom because of all of the cigarette smoke. Needless to say, I was SO HAPPY to get to Xi'an.
In Xi'an, we stayed at a wonderful hostel, centrally located and with a beautiful view of the Bell Tower, which is a beautiful landmark in the city, surrounded by beautiful flowers in rows of yellow, purple and pink, as well as lots of traffic, as it's a big round-about for cars. Every morning, we woke to the sounds of beeping horns, music playing from the Bell Tower and employees lined up outside stores chanting and practicing their greetings to customers. While in Xi'an, again, we met up with our friend Matt and made some new friends, too.
We also saw the Terracotta Warriors, which was really cool. 2000 years ago, Emperor Xin decided that in addition to building the Great Wall, he wanted an entire army constructed underground so that his soul could live on after he died. The vastness of the entire army is really overwhelming and interesting. The detail that went into planning and building the army is specific, intricate and well-thought out with horse carriages, soldiers of various ranks, etc. Equally impressive are the tourists that flock to see these warriors. I heard languages from all over the world.
After the hustle and bustle of Beijing, Xi'an was wonderfully smaller, less intense and I felt a bit less targeted as a tourist. Well, truth be told, I can get by looking like a local, until I open my mouth, but Simon usually blows my cover. Sometimes I can even get a local price without opening my mouth, but once my attempt at Chinese escapes my lips, the cat is out of the bag. :) Xi'an has a Muslim neighborhood, where the food is delicious, cheap and fast. We dined on delicious hot pot, various bbqs and soups. Yum!
Chengdu
After Xi'an we took a night train (and made the train this time-yay!) to Chengdu. Here we stayed in a really cool, fairly new hostel. It's called The Loft and is modeled after new-old lofts that you would find in New York. We took one night away from the city and ventured to Leshan, where we saw the largest Buddha in the world. He sits at 71 meters (over 232 ft) and is surrounded by a huge park, that over looks a river and is filled with numerous other buddha statues, temples and paths. We spent an entire day there and it was so beautiful.
The food in Chengdu is super duper spicy. Located in the Sichuan province, it's famous for it's spice. I like spicy food, but this level of spice is of a different league. Simon and I were good sports the first few days, but eventually had to have no-spice dishes (bu yao la) just to have a little break. Oy! My travels with Si have temporarily ended until June as I left Chengdu yesterday.
Kathmandu
I've safely landed in Kathmandu, Nepal after a layover in Lhasa, Tibet. The view from my window seat of the plane as we landed was jaw droppingly gorgeous, as the mountain ranges continued for as long as the eye could see. I was very impressed and so were the several Chinese tourists who came in kissing distance to me, to get a good picture. I was a good sport for the first few people, but eventually had to take my personal space back, as I felt a bit trapped. Chinese people never pass up an opportunity to get a good picture!
Hope you are all well! Lots of love from Nepal!
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