Beijing's Traffic

The traffic in Beijing is chaotic. Drivers rule, and pedestrians have to do their best avoid getting his by cars. Cars routinely drive in the bicycle lane, and many cars speed. Despite having been living in such a chaotic environment for almost a year now, I had not seen any car accidents. I have personally been in a few bike accidents, but nothing two serious. Once I did end up destroying someone else's wheel after I hit it. All this changed over the weekend when I witnessed a dramatic car accident.

I had just finished lunch with Wendy, one of my Chinese friends, and she was taking me to the bus stop to show me which bus to take home. As we were waiting, I heard a crash to my right followed by screeching sound. Looking into the road in the opposite lane, I saw a white car sliding on its side along the street. It finally came to a stop and several passerbys ran into the street to help the occupants. After a few moments about ten people began shaking the car, until it fell over on its correct side. I walked up on to the pedestrian bridge for a better view. Apparently the women inside was uninjured. I saw her standing next to her car talking on a cell phone. With a better vantage point on the bridge, I also finally saw the other car involved in the collision, a taxi. It was located about fifty meters up the street. Its front side had been severely damaged. It didn't seem as if anyone was injured, as I only saw a police car. Wendy told me that this was the second accident she had seen. In her home town, Chengde, she told me she saw the aftermath of an accident in which a pedestrian was killed. At no point did I hear any sirens. The traffic did not stop at all, instead it went around the cars. It seems as though in China victims of an accident must fend for themselves, and not expect much help from authorities.

The Celestial Masters

During my university studies of Chinese history, I became particularly interested in the history of the Celestial Masters, a Daoist school. They emerged in Sichuan province during the 2nd century and transformed Daoism from a philisophy into a religion. After about 600 CE, the Celestial Masters disappeared, and re-emerged about three hundred years later in current-day Jianxi province, with their headquarters at at mountain called Longhushan. I have always wanted to visit their headquarters, but there was no information in my travel book on Longhushan. Internet research did confirm that there was a temple at Longhushan open for tourism, as well as some karst peaks. Since Longhushan was not in my guidebook, I figured I would be the only non-Chinese tourist there. But, in China, Longhushan is actually quite famous. Everyone whom I asked about it, all said that they knew about it. For the weeklong October holiday, I decided to go.

Yingtan, the biggest city near the mountain, is like any other Chinese city, filled with bathroom-tile buildings and other architectural horrors. That was no surprise. After finding a hotel, I took a shuttle to the mountain. The lady at the hotel warned me in Chinese that the Celestial Master temple was in a different spot than the mountain, but since I didn't really understand her, decided to go to the mountain anyway. I was given the option upon arriving of either taking boat cruise among the karst peaks for an exorbitant amount, or climbing one of the peaks. I took the latter option. The scenery was lovely, but I was dissapointed at how poorly reconstructed the temples on the mountain were. They had both been built of concrete, and were very poorly maintained. After the roughly hourlong hike, I bought a map of the area to see where the main temple was. Because it was too far, I ended up hiring a motorcycle to take me to the temple due to lack of other transport options! The temple itself was in an area that was being rapidly developed for tourist. Old-style buildings were being rebuilt and two new temples still hadn't been painted. The Celestial Master temple was a huge dissapointment. As far as I could tell, only a tiny part of it was still old. That part was nice. The main pavillion was made of concrete and just looked plain tacky. I think a bit of concrete is ok in temple construction, but only the columns and walls. The rest should be wood! Especially the roof supports. I can see why the current Celestial Master lives in Taiwan. If he returned to see his home temple he would be ashamed!

Strange things in Korea

While on the train to Suwon today, where there is a fort and palace, I witnessed some strange going-ons. Normally on the subway in Asia you will see cripples coming through begging for money, or terrible musicians playing an accordion very badly. Today, I saw a man come through with a push cart and demonstrate a vegetable slicer which cut cut cucumber very thin. He was also selling something that looked like pantyhose. He gave a long spiel and then sold at least tewn of the things my car. I was surprised by his success! Next, I saw an obese man come through and hand everyone a sheet of paper in Korean, including me. Then he went to the front of the car, closed his eyes and muttered silently, before collecting the sheets of paper. I'm sure this was some sort of religious thing. Christianity is very popular in Korea. Of course, I had to see a talentless musician, which I did. He was an old man playing one note on a harmonica. It was painful to listen to. I also saw a woman dressed completely in orange. She was wearing all orange clothing, orange shoes, and orange hat and an orange hand bag. The train is filled with colourful characters, it seems.

Seoul

This morning I hung around the hostel for a while to do my laundry, which desperately needed to be done. Then, I went on the very efficient subway system to one of the city's five palaces. I stopped for a lunch of noodle soup on the way. I enjoyed the palace, as it was quite different from the Forbidden City. It seemed more primitive, with the grounds being dirt rather than stones. Most of the palace had been rebuilt, as the Japanese almost completely destroyed it during their occupation. It started rainig while I was in the palace, so I decided to return to the guesthouse. There I had a quick nap before heading out to dinner, where I had some diffculty ordering. No Korean restaurant has an English menu, apparently.

Seoul

I arrived in Seoul yesterday at around six and checked into my lovely hostel, where the owner was very helpful. I went to dinner, and with the help of the owner's Korean writing, ordered a delicious tofu stew with kimchi. Unfortunately, I did not sleep so well, as the air conditioner was too strong in our room. I was frigid.

Taipei - Day 2

I didn't sleep very well last night (I never sleep well in dorms), and felt tired for much of the day. I started out by going to the Confucian Temple, which to my disapointment has been closed for renovations. I went to the nearby Baoan temple next door, which was ok. The temple architecture here is different from that that I've seen on the mainland. It's a bit more garish. I next went for lunch and then went to the Longshan temple to make up for the missed Confucian temple. It turns out this temple was having some sort of special day. According to a security guard, I asked, every month there is one day that attracts tons of people to the temple who leave offerings. There was tons of food and other offerings in the temple. Unlike the mainland, it appears as though religion is alive and well in Taiwan. Also, no temple has admission charges here, which is nice. Nor should temples charge admission. Taipei has recently built a couple of distinctive buildings, one of which is the Taipei 101, which I visited yesterday. The other is called the Living Mall, and while it is just a boring old mall on the inside, the building is quite distinctive, containing a sphere that is witihin a standard building. I went to the Starbucks there, and it wasn't too expensive (compared to the one in Singapore). I fell asleep in the plush chair for about half an hour, and then returned to the hostel for a longer nap. I like the subway here. I compare it immediately to the one in Beijing, and the difference in the way passengers behave is striking. There is no pushing, people stand to the right on escalators, and people wait for people to get off the train before boarding. There is still hope for the mainland, thank goodness.

Taipei

I spent the last two days on flights or at the airport. I will say that the Singapore Airlines flight to Beijing was the best I have ever taken. I'm quite tired now, but have arrrived in Taiwan, which is very hot.

I went and got some breakfast this morning, but was confronted with a Chinese menu. I asked the lady to serve me something Taiwanese, and was pleasantly surprised to get a turnip cake. Then I walked over to the Chiang Kai-shek memorial hall, a grandiose structure that celebrates the life of a despot. I went to Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world, and paid too much to go up. The view was impresive though, and I did ride the world's fastest elevators. I had lunch at the food court. It was good, but prices are higher than in South-East Asia and China. I was nearly out of money, and wanted to change some but none of the changers would accept my USD because the serial number were 'bad'! I'm not sure why. I never had problems anywhere else changing mony, although in Laos, people would not accept 'old-style' bills. I had to get money from the ATM, which I really did not want to do, because I still have plenty of cash. I next went to the National Palace Museum, which contains the relics smuggled away from the Forbidden city in 1948. It was interesting, but very small. They need to expand the exhibition space to put more of the collection on exhibit.

Singapore - Day 2

Yesterday I woke up early and had a mediocre breakfast offered by the hostel. I wanted to the nature reserve and climb the highest point in Singapore, but as I had no guidebook, I did not want to hope that I could find my way there. Instead I went to the botanical garden, which was enjoyable. They had a terrific orchid garden, where they name orchids after heads of state. The Margaret Thatcher orchid was not very nice. I had a second breakfast of Laksa at the garden's food court, which was delicious. I love Singaporean food! I next walked out of the garden, and walked through a residential neighborhood with huge houses until I arrived at Orchard St., a shopping area. I ate Indian food in one of the food courts for lunch, and was hassled by tailors whenever I walked past one. They all wanted to make me a suit. Next, I took the subway and went to the philatelic museum. I collected stamps one day, so thought the museum might be interesting. It was moderately interesting, but the admission fee was too high. I then went to the Singapore History museum around the corner, which dare I say, is possibly the best history museum I have ever visited. It is totally interactive, with nearly no reading. Everyone is given an audioguide which directs the visit. Overall, it was an extremely pleasurable experience. When I asked mother what to do in Singapore, she suggested going to the Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling. I decided to go and see if it was affordable. The hotel is lovely, but my jaw dropped when I saw that the drink cost $22 (about $16 Canadian). That was too much for my liking! I stopped for dinner, where I ate Indian and retired to my hostel for the evening. I walked past a Chinese temple which had closed for the day, and returned this morning to take a peek. It looked much like the temples in China, but had nice English explanations of all the statues.

Singapore has been a very positive experience, and I would definately return. However, I think it is a place best enjoyed by people with money. I think that when I have some more money, I would like to return so I could really enjoy all of Singapore's amenities.

Singapore

I arrived at the airport with no problems, and enjoyed a pleasant time in the the very nice Singapore airline lounge at the Bangkok airport. The flight was also very good, indeed it was the best flight I have ever taken. The lovely stewardesses addressed me by name, and constantly served me drinks, including excellent champagne. The food was also very good, with my dish apparently designed by Gordon Ramsay. Add this was in business class too - I wonder what first class is like! The Singapore airport is excellent, and It took me less than an hour to get out onto the train system. The train was veryh clean and very efficient. I got off on the train in the center and noticed everything was very clean and organized. I felt like I was in the West. I arrived at my hostel after a bit of a trek and then headed off to Chinatown to eat dinner. I found lots of food stalls and had some noodles for dinner. Chinatown is a delightful area. I went into a Hindu temple there, which was interesting. There are quite a few Indians in Singapore. Prices are much higher here than in Thailand.

Bangkok - Day 3

I walked this morning to Wat Pho, location of the largest reclining Buddha in the world. I took the back route to avoid touts. The temple was like most of the others. The Buddha was indeed very large. I then took the boat across the river, to another temple, Wat Arun, which looks terrific from a distance, but is less interesting up close. I didn't bother paying the entrance fee. I'm all templed out now, at least of Thai temples. I can never get enough of Chinese temples. I caught te boat down the river to where the skytrain connects. I hopped on to go to a mall. I had run out of thin to do in Bangkok (short of day trips), so decided to go see a movie. I had lunch at one o e foodcourts again, which was excellent. And then went to the most luxurious movie theater I have ever seen. Tickets were half the price of the ones back home. After the movie (Wanted, which was excellent), I returned back the guesthouse and spent the rest of the evening relaxing. I traded some books in for Duma Key (Stephen King), anf got a terrific deal. I don't think the guy realized how much the book really cost.

Bangkok - Day 2

I had breakfast at a street cafe near my hotel and noticed there was a Thia man sleeping on the street next to it. I was informed by a lady working there that he was a very bad man. The employees of the restaurant tried to get some tourists to pour water on him. They didn't bite. He was eventually woken up after he was kicked several times, and then twice tried to attack the lady who said he was bad. He was restrained both times and eventually left. I realized one of the cafe's female employees was a transsexual after she spoke with a deep male voice. I eventually got going and began to walk towards the Dusit palace, yet another royal abode. On my way, I was approached by a man who told me it would be closed until two (sure...) and that I should take a tuk-tuk tour around the city for ten baht. I declined. He did point me towards a wat with a very large Buddha statue, which was nice. I first went to the zoo, which was next to the palace complex. There were lots of schoolchildren there. Thai schoolgirls wear very provocative uniforms consisting of a miniskirts and tight, white blouses that turn see-through with sweat. There were a variety of animals in decent enclosures at the zoo. There, I had a disappointing lunch that was too expensive. Next door to the zoo is the Dusit palace, which I then went to. On the palace grounds are a variety of houses built for the royalty in the late 19th, early 20th century. Each one of those houses had some sort of exhibition involving the king. At each one I had to take off my shoes and put my bag in a locker. It became very tiresome. At the Vinanmek house, I had to all of this, and put pants on. I was also forced onto a guided tour. I have never gone to any tourist attractions that require so much preperation before going in. It is extremely irritating. The Vinanmek house was very nice though, being the largest building made of teak in the world.

Bangkok - Day 1

I got off at one station before the main one to avoid touts who would undoubtedly harass me. I got a taxi to my guesthouse, and arrived with no problem. Unfortunately my room was not yet ready when I arrived, so I could not take a sorely needed shower. I decided to walk to the Royal Palace, which is relatively close, while I waited for my room to be ready. While walking there, I walked past the infamous Kaosan road, which looked like a backpacker ghetto from all the signs (not a single one in Thai). Once I got to the palace, a man speaking English approached me to say the palace was closed and would only open at noon. I had been warned about these people (generally out to scam you), and politely told him I would go anyway. The palace opened at 8:30 after a ceremony by the guards next to the entrance. Upon entering the grounds, I was confronted with one of Thailand's irritations: being forced to wear pants at tourist sights. I had to wear incredibly baggy pants in order to be let in. I first went and saw an exhibition of the royal family's jewels, which was interesting. I mostly enjoyed it because it was air-conditioned. I then went into the Jade Buddha temple, which was already swarming with tourists. It was impressive, but a bit garish. The jade buddha was tiny. The rest of the palace was a disapointment though, as you could not go into any of the other buildings. I went back to the hotel, and was delighted to find my room was ready. I took a wonderful shower, and then took a boat down the river to Chinatown. I wanted to see if anyone spoke Chinese there and eat in one of the stalls for lunch. Bangkok's Chinatown is a warren of small streets and alleys, teeming with street stalls. I tried speaking Chinese to some of the vendors, but they did not understand me. I finally ate some berbecued pork soup for lunch, which was very Chinese. The stall's owners did not seem to speak Chinese though. I walked around for much of the afternoon, heading towards the commercial area. I took a subway/skytrain ride and went to Jim Thompson's house, who was a silk seller, and had a beautiful traditional Thai house built for himself. It was lovely inside, and decorated with lovely antiques. I went to the giant mall next door (actually three malls connected to one another), where I ate dinner at a food court. The food court was recommended in my guidebook, and the Tom Yum soup I had was delicious. As I left the mall, I was confronted by a phalanx of screaming girls surrounding a stage. I stayed for a few minutes to find out that a Korean boyband was having a free performance there. It was very strange. The girls were screaming and pointing. What purpose does screaming serve other that hurting people's ears?

Vientiane - Bangkok

I spent a dull morning in Vientiane visiting two of the cities' three sights of interest (no joke, there really are only three things to see). The first in an unfinished arch based on the Ard de Trimphe in Paris, but with Asian touches. The description board inside gave me a chuckle by describing it as ugly - monstrosity would be more appropriate. From there, I walked to a famous temple, which after so many other temples, was only moderately interesting. This is despite is being the most important temple in Laos. I had lunch at an excellent Cafe, where I had a sandwish, and hung out there for a couple of hours, as I was only getting picked up at 3:30 to go across the border. To my dismay, I was picked up by a Sontheauw. Thankfully, I was not too uncomfortable for the forty-five minute ride to the Friendship Bridge. The crossing went off without a hitch, and everyone got their train tickets.

One of the guys in our car said second class was bad, especially in the top bunk, which is what I had booked. In China, the top bunk is the most desirable for privacy reasons, but in Thailand it is actually cheaper. First class tickets were very expensive. The train definately had a different layout ot Chinese ones, but I was pleasantly surprised with second class. There only two bunks per side, unlike hard sleeper with three, and they were actually quite soft. Everything was very clean, and people were quiet. There no loud, drunk Chinese people talking loudly. The only problem was that they did not turn out the lights for the whole trip. Every compartment had a curtain though, and I made sure to use my blindfold. I slept extremely well, and woke up very refreshed the following morning.

Vientiane

Vientiane is quite dull, with very little to see. I walked around a little bit yesterday without any destination in mind before retiring to my room for the afternoon. It was too hot outside and my skin was still very sore from the sunburn I suffered the day before.

Vang Vieng - Vientiane

I went back to the organic farm restaurant for breakfast, this time ordering a mulberry pancake, which was quite tasty. After breakfast, I took all my luggage and went to the travel agent to wait for the pickup that would take me to the river for kayaking. I was dismayed to see that we would be using a songthiaew for the transportation. For some reason, every time I have gone in one for a long drive, I have gotten severe motion sickness. It was no different on this trip, and I felt quite ill by the time we arrived. We began kayaking on the river and went through a total of three rapids, which were quite fun, before stopping for lunch at some rocks on the side of the river. The two guides grilled kebabs for us, which took ages. I would have preferred a sandwich so we didn't have to wait for so long with nothing to do! While waiting for the food, we saw several other groups come down the river, including one that had most of their kayaks capsize on the rapids nearby. Apparently capsizing is a regular occurrence, and I am very glad that our group managed to avoid it. Following lunch we took off again on a rather placid stretch of the river. Ir was incredibly sunny at this point, and I felt my legs burning, but had not put any sun screen on. I've never been burned on my legs before, but the nature of the kayaks (with the legs sticking out front), ensured that they were fully exposed to the sun. I went swimming in the river for a bit as well. For the transfer to Vientiane, we were picked up by an overloaded Songthiaew. I had to share a seat in the front with a Lao woman. It was very uncomfortable. I also began to feel my legs burning at this point, and knew I had a horrible sunburn. after two hours of agony, we finally arrived in Vientiane, where I wandered around, looking for a hotel. The first one I went to was full, but the second had one single room left. I was very lucky to have gotten this room, because I saw lots of people wearing backpacks wandering around the city while finding a place to eat. I ate a Lao restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet. I ordered a noodle dish, and the waitress laughed at me when I was eating it wrong. Apparently, I was supposed to mix it up first before eating.

Phonsavan - Vang Vieng

I got up very early for a 7:20 but to Vang Vieng. The bus was a bit better than the previous two rattletraps I had taken but was still quite ancient. The road was quite bad though, with many twists and turns. There was a Lao family (parents and a child) sitting across from me and they were throwing up for the entire trip. The bus only took six hours, very fast for Lao standards.

Vang Vieng has a reputation as being awash with drugs and according to the Lonely Planet, is 'soulless'. Paul, who had just been there, reinforced this, by saying that all the restaurants served food laced with drugs, and that the tubing on the river was dominated by drunks. When I arrived in Vang Vieng, I immediately decided I did not like it. It feels like a backpacker ghetto. There are white people everywhere, and it does not feel Lao at all. One of the most bizarre things about the town is the ubiquity of so-called 'TV bars', where people high on drugs recline in long chairs watching episodes of Friends. Yes, some of the TV bars just show Friends over and over again.

I found a reasonable guest house, although it is not as good value as the one in Phonsavan, and then went to book my way out of town. Paul recommended me a good travel agent, which is visited. There, I decided to book a kayaking trip to Vientiane for tomorrow. I thought about doing the tubing, but decided against it, as I don't think it would be fun alone, and because I only had a couple of hours left in the afternoon. I decided to go to a cave instead, which was quite impressive, being located in one of the karst peaks surrounding the town. For dinner, I went to the Organic Farm restaurant which specializes in food containing mulberries and its derivatives. I had vegetable curry and mulberry leaf tea. Since I had nothing to do after eating, I decided to get a Lao massage, which cost about $4 for an hour. At that price there was nothing to lose. It was relatively relaxing. While having the massage, the power went out in the entire town, and the children hanging around the massage parlor all burst into tears.

The Plain of Jars

Truly a mystery, the Plain of Jars has puzzled people for years. No one knows who put them there or why. It is this mystery that makes the jars appealing to me, and I finally had the opportunity to visit them in this trip. There are three primary jar sites that are open to tourists. Apparently there are more sites but they have not yet been cleared of unexploded ordinance, and remain dangerous. The three sites I visited were only cleared in 2005. The first site, which is the largest, contains the biggest jars, but was also the most heavily damaged during the war - the area is littered with craters. There is a cave in the middle of the site which some have theorized could have been a crematorium to burn bodies, which were then put inside the jars. I was a bit disappointed with the site, mainly because the area it was in was not particularly nice, and devoid of vegetation, and also because so many of the jars had been damaged. The first site is also the easiest to get to, we turned onto a horrible dirt road to go to the two next sites. Th road was particularly bad due to the torrential rain that fell the night before.

After a jarring hour, we arrived at the second site, which was quite pretty. In this site, the jars are on two nearby hilltops. The first hilltop, in particular was pretty, with there being lots of trees. One of the trees had grown from beneath a jar and the remnants of the jar were entwined in its roots. On the way to the third site, we stopped at the stripped hulk of an old Russian tank used during the war. It was not particularly impressive, as only the shell remained.

After another bone-rattling journey down the dirt road, we arrived at the entrance to Site 3. Right at the entrance was a restaurant, where we had our lunch of noodle soup. After lunch we walked through some picturesque rice fields to the jars. This site was also quite interesting, due to the concentration of jars, which were placed very close together. I made sure to get tons of photos at this site.

For dinner, I went with Paul, the guy I was sharing the room with, to the Indian restaurant in town. The meal we had was surprisingly good and cheap. It was much better than the Indian meal in Beijing, at a fraction of the price. After dinner, we fell asleep watching a boring movie on HBO.

Luang Prabang - Phonsavan

I woke up a bit to early and not entirely rested at 5:30 this morning. I always wake up too early when I have to be somewhere early. I had a pleasant breakfast on the terrace of my hotel and was then picked up by a tuk-tuk to take me to the bus station at 7:40. While I had not met anyone in Laos who wanted to go to Phonsavan, the bus was more than half foreigner. The bus was another rattletrap, and while I was hopeful that the music system was broken after two hours of no music, it was eventually turned on. The Lonely Planet said the trip would take ten hours, but arrived in eight! I was pleasantly surprised. At the bus station, I agreed to share accommodation with an Australian I met on the bus. A legion of touts met us at the bus station and took us into town for free. We are staying at a place called the 'Nice Gueshouse' and it is nice enough. After checking in we were pulled over by a guy who wanted to book us on a tour of the Plain of Jars. We paid him $20 for a tour tomorrow, but then we walked outside we were offered the same tour for $12! I feel bad for being ripped off, but will take precautions to be more careful in the future. We stopped at the office of the group responsible for disposing of the live bombs still in the area from the Vietnam War. It was very interesting, but it was depressing to read about all the people who were killed or maimed from the ordinance that remains. For dinner we ate at a Chinese restaurant, where I was able to order in Chinese. It almost felt like I was back in China. The internet here is painfully slow.

Luang Prabang - Day 3

I had to get up bright and early this morning to be picked up at 7:30 to go on a boat cruise up to the Pak Ou caves. I had an enjoyable breakfast at the hotel, and a tuk-tuk picked me up at 7:40. The tuk-tuk went around town to pick up two more couples before finishing at the riverside. I could've just walked. My boat had around fifteen people on it, including a couple from the horrible bus ride. Those of us who partook in that experience share a particular bond and thus I ended up talkintg to them while on the boat. They were from England and doing an around-the-world. They had been to Vancouver late last year.

The cruise made up for the boat trip that was missed by taking the bus. The scenery up the Mekong is lovely, but after a while is quite similar. There are no stunning karst formations here. Perhaps the most interesting thing I noticed about the river was the near total lack of visible human activity. There were almost no boats using the river, apart from those containing tourists, and few signs of human habitation along the river front. Most of the river bank was dense jungle, and I only saw a few signs of logging going on. About an hour up the river, we stopped at a village known as 'whisky village' for the potent liquor made by the locals. Many of hte bottles contained a scorpion or cobra. The village had a quite interesting antique sort-of shop, where they actually had some genuine antiques, with the most interesting being books made from bamboo. I didn't buy anything. Fifteen minutes later we were back on the boat for another hour before finally arriving at the caves. Carved in a sheer cliff rising from the bank of the Mekong, the cliffs contain thousands of Buddha statues. The first cave was right near the river, but the second involved an arduous (due to the heat) trip up a lot of stairs. The second cave was much bigger than the first was too dark to see anything. I had to use the flash on my camera to see what was inside (more buddhas). Many children were attempting to sell bananas to all the tourists walking by. Back on the boat, I used the smallest bathroom I've ever seen in my life (still clean though!), before cruising back to Luang Prabang.

For lunch, I wanted Lao food, so I went to a Lao restaurant and ordered 'Luang Prabang Stew' which was delicious and unique. It was a stew of meat, and strange vegetables, including spicy wood and a weird green vegetable I've never seen before. I also booked my bus to Phonsavan tomorrow, although I am concerned that it is supposedly ten hours but only about 150 KM away. The roads must be truly horrendous!

Luang Prabang - Day 2

Today I woke up and enjoyed a lovely breakfast on the terrace of my hotel. I got an omelette, a baguette and a plate of fruit. It was even a bit too much and I could barely finish it. My cooking course started at 8:30, and I walked there by taking a scenic route along the river. When I arrived, I was informed that I was the only one who had signed up for the course today. I would be getting a private lesson. I first chose which two recipes to make, which were fried noodles and green papaya salad, and then I was taken to the market by young Lao man, whose name I have forgotten. He was very nice and wanted to practice his English with me. The market he took me too was way out of the tourist quarter, and had lots of delightful things on display. My guide pointed out lots of food particular to the region, and when I saw something that looked strange, he offered insight. I saw very strange block of red stuff, which told me was water buffalo blood, used in soup. The two most horrible things I saw are in the photo on the top left. The first is adead baby water buffalo, and next to it the bag is water buffalo bile, used in salads and soups. On our back to the cooking school, my guide asked me a few questions, such as how much my tuition was in Beijing. Eventually I found out he only makes one million kip a year, just over $100. When I told him the average earnings in Canada wre $38,000, he was very surprised. He couldn't even afford a place to live in on his own, and apparently lived in a temple with a monk.

Back at the school, a girl came and introduced herself as having an extremely long name, which she said I could shorten to 'Tun'. She was to be my teacher today. She went through a plate of produce with me and talked about all the items. One of the stranger ones was 'spicy wood', which is wood that is spicy. I even chewed on a piece, and it is definately spicy! She tehn had me chop some garlic, lemon grass, and ginger, which was more difficult than it should have been due to the dull cleaver knife I was using. While I was only able to choose two recipes, I also ended up making the 'fried weed', sticky rice, and a sticky rice desert with coconut milk. All of the veggies were chopped, so I did none of the hard work. Cooking the noodles was straightforward, and the papaya salad was easy too. They use mortars and pestles here for cooking still, and that's what I used to pound my papaya salad. I was also given some sticky rice wine to try, which was very tasty and pink. When I finished my dishes, I was able to eat them all, but it was way too much, and I could not finish everything. Before I left, I was given a cookbook, and a pouch of spices. Overall it was a lovely experience, although it ended too soon.

In the afternoon, I relaxed. Immediately after lunch, I returned to my hotel and watched a lousy action movie, 'Demolition Man'. After that finished, I went to a cafe and read for a couple of hours, before having a soup for dinner at a cheap place on the riverside. I retired to my hotel for te evening, watched a movie I had never heard of from the 90s called 'Jennifer 8'.

Luang Prabang

After the tuk-tuk dropped us off, I seperated from my fellow travellers because I wanted some higher class accomodation. There was a reason I chose to sleep at the bus station, after all. I headed towards the river, and went into the first nice place I saw, the Luang Prabang River Lodge. They wanted $30 a night, but I negotiated them down to $25, including breakfast. The room si delightful, with a nice bathroom, air-con and cable tv! After showering and changing, I went looking around town. Firstly, I bought something to eat for breakfast. Right next to my lodge is a food stand selling baguette sandwiches. It appears as though there is still some French influence alive in Laos. I walked through an interesting begetable market, before heading to the main drag and looking around. The town is quite pleasant and small, and feels totally isolated. There are no tall buildings, and no modern-looking ones either. I stopped for a while to have a manfo fruit shake, a ubiquitous and cheap drink in the region. I went to two large temples, which were mildly interesting, but not much different from the ones in Chiang Mai. I also signed up for a cooking course tomorrow, as Lao cooking has some appeal. For lunch, I got water buffalo sausage, which was absolutely delicious. I can't wait for the cooking course! After lunch, I went to The Royal Palace, which was very small! It is barely larger than a mansion in Vancouver, and was only built around the turn of the 20th century. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant building and had some interesting items that formerly belonged to the royal family. Luang Prabang has a hill with a temple on top that bisects the center of the twon. I climbed up for the view, and was intrigued by the tacky 'Buddha footprint' at the top. Buddha obvisouly had enormous feet. After descending the mountain, I went to the river to hire a ferry across to see the temples on the other bank. There is no bridge crossing the Mekong in Luang Prabang, thus the settlement on the opposite bank is nearly comepletly distinct from the town. When I got off the boat, I saw tons of barefoot children running about. I walked until I arrived to the first temple, which had no one selling tickets. It was not too interesting. The second temple had a legion of people near the ticket selling booth, and I was followed by two little girls up the steps into the temple. One of them spoke passable English. They ended up convincing me to give me money after a used their flowers as offerings, and further extorted me when the girl complained that her shows were broken (they were). I finally ended up at the last temple, where I saw two American girls who informed me that there was also a cave. A man at the temple gave me a flashlight, and a teenage monk followed me into the cave, where he guided me. He also spoke passable English. I ended up getting bunched behind a group of four other tourists, who were having trouble in the cave. It was a bit difficult to see, but not too difficult to get through. I tipped the monk afterwards, and took my boat back across the river. I had a snack with the other toursits from the cave, and then retreated to my room to shower after sweating for the whole day. I went for dinner at a cafe where the 'fried weed' on the menu appealed to me. It turns out it is similar to seaweed, but from the Mekong, deepfried and coated in sesame seeds. I also ordered fish which was steamed in a banana leaf, and absolutely delicious. By this point the night bazaar had set itself up, and I walked through it on the way back to my room. I bought way too much, and will now have to carry stuff in a bag alongside my bagpack unless I ship stuff home. Shopping in Laos is not as exasperating as in China, as it is very easy to bargain. Many times the vendors will accept my price on the first go, even if 50% off! There is no song and dance to go through like in China.

Laos - To Luang Prabang

I woke up at around six and had a cold shower. I slept quite well considering my room just had a fan and no air conditioning, however, it is more comfortable with air con. For breakfast, I was served, toast, eggs and tea, and while not much, was filling enough. My appetite has declined in the heat. After breakfast, everyone was ferried to the river where we were put in boats to be taken across to Laos. At Laos, I had to pay $42 for a visa, and changed $60 into Lao Kip. I was left with so many bills I could not fit them in my wallet. After everyone had received their visa, the tour operator gave us the choice of staying on the slow boat, as we had booked, or taking a bus instead. This was because the weather was appaling, and it had been pouring rain all night. The boat would not be too comfortable in that weather. Most of the group (17 out 0f 20) chose to take the bus, and I was swept along with the tide, although I later regretted it. WE were told (and our guidebook said) that the bus would take ten hours, which means we would arrive earlier than those who took the slowboat. We were taken to the public bus station where we had to wait two hours for the bus to leave at 1PM. The bus itself was ancient. It looked like a bus from a third world country. While waiting, I ate the lunch provided by the guest house (a baguette), and finally left just before one. The highway started out quite well, being brand new and built by the Chinese. However, once we got to a junction, with the good highway leading to the Chinese border, we turned onto a pot-holed road. At this time I also notice that the route we were taking was not direct, but was rather a semi-circle, as no direct road linked Luang Prabang to Houay Xai (the border town). Needless to say, the bus quickly became tiresome, especially after hearing the same music orver and over again. I (and the other passengers) were thrilled when the music system broke down. Sadly, a few hours later, the drvier's assistant managed to fix it. The trip took fourteen hours, and we got into Luang Prabag at 3 AM. About half the passengers went into town at this ungodly hour to find accomadation. I and serveral others decided to stay at the bus station until it was light out so we could save on a night's accomadation, and be able to see where we were going. I slept for about an hour at the bus station, and was sore afterwards. Finally, just after six our group took two tuk-tuks into town.

Thailand - Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong

I spent the morning doing very little, as I needed to wait for a minibus to pick me up at noon for the trip to the Lao border. I went to be bookstore to trade a book in, and had lunch at the guest house. The green chicken curry was superb. My bus was forty-five minutes late, but since I was the last to be picked up, I got to sit up front, which was nice. The drive was quite nice, as we went through verdant countryside filled with pleasant villages. Thai sttlements aren't hideous like those in China, and feature nice wood homes. We stopped twice. First at a rest stop where I bought some overpriced nuts, and second at a market where I bought some pineapple slices. Finally at about six we arrived at the guest house that is a part of the package. The room is a bit mediocre, and has no bathroom or air-con, but it should suffice for the night. At least the place has a nice view over the Mekong. The dinner provided was a surprisingly good buffet, with particularly good chicken curry.

Thailand - Trekking

After a small but nice breakfast of fruit at the guesthouse, I took a little walk to look at a couple of wats. The first one I arrived at was interesting, and had a large stupa. You have to take off your shoes to enter. One of the buildings was over 500 years old and had some lovely murals on the walls. I got picked up at 9:30. There were three other people from my guesthouse going on the trek, and we stopped to pick up more people in the city, including four Dutch, three Israelis and two Brits. We were in a rather uncomfortable vehicle consisting of two flat benches on the back of a truck with a roof. We drove for a while through the Thai countryside, and stopped at a market to get snacks. By this time I was hungry, and so I got a snack of some deep-fried things in a banana leaf. They were quite good. I used the bathroom at the market and was amazed at how clean it was - a great contrast to China's disgusting toilets. Tons of tourists passed through the market at around the same time as us.

Eventually we arrived at our destination, a small village in a valley. Our first activity was taking an oxcart around for a short trip. I was unfortunately put in the front and had to watch the bovines defecate and piss inches away from my body. It was a rather unpleasant experience. Next, we had lunch after walking through some rice fields to a hut. We were served Pad Thai and fruit, a very pleasant meal. After our meal we were taken on an elephant ride which was very interesting. The elephant took us through a stream and ate tons of foliage along the way. The 'driver' of the elephant used a cane-like stick to prod the elephant into moving. After dismounting the elephant, it was time to hike! We walked through the village and turned onto a path that started out paved and but gradually became more trail like. The heat was oppressive and in no time , my shirt was wet with sweat. The jungle was very interesting, with nice foliage, but I was disappointed not to see any wildlife. At one point a lizard landed on my neck, but that was it. The hike was grueling, as it was uphill and the air was sweltering. Finally we arrived at a bat cave and went inside. The air was nice there as it was cooler and there no mosquitoes. I saw one bat hanging from the top of the cave. The bat cave was at the top of the mountain, and the hiking afterwards began going through cultivated land, until we arrived at the village at around five in the afternoon. This village was inhabited by the Hmong people, who are originally from China, and look Chinese. Our accommodation was a large hut in which everyone in our trekking group would sleep together. Surprisingly, the toilets were clean and there were even showers (albeit cold ones). The guide informed us that there was nearby waterfall with a swimming hole . Since dinner would not be served for at least a couple of hours, we decided to go down for a swim. We went down a muddy path, and were disappointed to see that the 'swimming' hole was not adequate for swimming. The pool had been artificially created by a small dam and did not have adequate drainage. The pool was filled with dirt and sediment and was disgusting. We returned to the camp and saw that the second group of trekkers had arrived. Since I couldn't clean myself in at the waterfall, I had a cold shower back at the hut. Among them were two Slovenians. I had never met a Slovenian before, and they seemed pleasant enough. After sitting for a while, dinner was finally served, a green curry and stir-fried vegetables. For desert was fresh fruit. After dinner, sleep came quickly, as I was exhausted from the hike.

The next day I woke up early and read my book for an hour before breakfast. For breakfast we had eggs, toast and fruit. They also provided tea and coffee. We left at around nine, and took the same path to the waterfall before continuing through the jungle. A couple of hours later we arrived at another waterfall, which had a natural pool and was quite pleasant. After chilling for a while, we continued on until we reached a dirt road which we followed until arriving at another hut that was playing loud karaoke music. There, we had a lunch of fried rice, and waited until our transportation picked us up. We were then taken to do our whitewater rafting down a slow moving river. It was quite fun really, although we got very wet as other boats splashed water at us. The river was quite slow so we got stuck a few times as well. Upon arriving at the end of the rafting, we sat in a hut for a while and I purchased a mediocre ice cream. We were then taken to another hill tribe village, where I bought some cheap gifts from an old lady and took her picture. About an hour later I was dropped off at my guest house and wandered around trying to find a restaurant. I stumbled across a nearly empty but extremely delicious place where I ordered green papaya salad and pad seew. It was absolutely delicious and cost less than two dollars! Since Chiang Mai is renowned for its night market, I decided to check it out after eating. It was raining, but the rain was a pleasant respite from the oppressive heat. The market had a lot of fake stuff, like those in China. I bought a new wallet to replace my own, which was falling apart. I also bought some other small gifts. I returned to my guest house, read a bit, and then went to bed.

Thailand - Day 1 - Flights

I decided not to sleep on Friday night because I had to leave at five in the morning for my flight. I actually was less tired than expected, and didn't fall asleep in the taxi on the way to the airport. My flight left from the spectacular new Terminal 3 at Beijing Airport. It is the biggest terminal in the building and it really shows, with huge ceilings and open space everywhere. I was a bit afraid that my award ticket didn't assign to business class, but my fears were unfounded. I checked in smoothly at the Thia Airways counter. Shortly after checking in, I realized I left my contact lens solution in my carry-on! Realizing how stupid I was, I had to get it put into a box and check it in by itself. After that fiasco, I headed off to the departure area. Before even going through security I went on a train ride to the 'E' section of the airport. There, I went through security. I was extremely irritated at the Chinese immigration officer who stamped my passport on a blank page. This means I only have four pages left in which to get any future visas! I will have to go through the hassle of getting a passport before this one expires if I go to many more visa-issuing countries. Once past security, I went to the lounge, which was located on the upper level of the terminal. It was the biggest lounge I've ever seen. The breakfast was not open when I arrived at around 6:15, so I had to wait a few minutes for the food to come out. The breakfast was rather mediocre though, which is surprising considering how comfortable the rest of the lounge was. The only edible thing in the breakfast was the zhou, which left me hungry. I had a tea while I waited for my flight to begin boarding at 8:00. I was saddened to board the plane and discover that it was ancient. The business class seats were barely more comfortable than most economy seats. However, I did get an amenity kit, which delighted me as I need a new toilet bag , and it is quite nice. I was also served a glass of champagne, which to my chagrin, ended up spilling. For breakfast, I was served a fruit plate to begin, which was lovely, and then chose the noodles for a second course, which were so-so. Service was quite good though, with attentive stewards offering drinks every so often. Despite my lack of sleep, I only managed to nap for a little over an hour, and was sore when I woke up, due to the uncomfortable seats.

I arrived a bangkok and progressed quickly through immigration, although I was annoyed at being stuck in a slow lineup. I had to check in for my flight to Chiang Mai because I bought that ticket, and did not use points as I should have. I had a four hour layover in the airport in Bangkok. I discovered on arrival that I had left my book on the plane, so I decide to buy one from a book store to ensure I would not be bored to tears. I wanted Thia food for lunch, so I went to an overpriced restaurant at the airport and had a rather mediocre meal. Still it only cost the equivalent of five dollars. After my lunch I headed off to my gate. For some reason, every gate had its own security, which meant I could not bring any water with me on the plane! This was because there no shops selling anything past security. The plane was a much newer 777 which was more comfortable than the ancient A300 I flew on earlier in the day. My flight was delayed by around half an hour, and I got into Chinag Mai at around 6:45.

I arrived at my guest house, The Green Tulip, at 7:15 and checked in without problems. I asked the lady about trekking and she informed me that there was one spot in a two-day trek leaving the next day (Sunday), and that she would give me a discount if I signed up. I did, even though I had wanted an opportunity to look around the city first. I was also annoyed to discover that the internet was broken a the guesthouse. No checking any messages or informing people of my safe arrival. I went to bed quite early as a result of my tiredness and slept very well.

Wutaishan - Day 1

I took advantage of a reading week before finals to take a trip to Wutaishan, China’s most sacred Buddhist mountain. Although it is geographically close to Beijing, the geography is not conducive to transportation, and so getting there required me to either go through Datong or Taiyuan. I decided to go through Taiyuan, as it had more frequent busses to Wutaishan, and I was able to take an overnight train. I bought a soft sleeper even though I don’t think they are much more comfortable than hard sleepers (they are actually the same hardness – hard). But, I like the privacy they offer as you can close and lock your door as well as turn of the lights, which you can do in hard sleeper. I was in a compartment with three Chinese businesspeople that were quite considerate of me. When I went to bed but they wanted to keep talking, they turned out the lights, which was nice. Overall, I slept quite well and arrived in Taiyuan feeling reasonable. When I arrived, I immediately went to the ticket office and purchased a ticket for the return journey. My line-up moved really slowly, and I had to switch. To my horror, they had run out of sleepers on the train leaving two days later, and so I ended up buying a hard seat for the night! This would not be a pleasant journey. After buying my ticket, I caught a cab to the bus station, where I just managed to get the 8:40 bus to Wutaishan.

According to my guide book, the bus ride was supposed to take 3-4 hours. Of course, I knew my guidebook was not reliable in terms of time when the 5 hour bus ride from Taiyuan to Beijing to eight hours. This bus ride was no different. In addition to sitting in the train station parking lot for an hour after it left the bus station, many of the roads were under construction, and we had to divert onto dirt roads which were horribly muddy due to the rain. On the bus, a man moved back to talk to me. He was rather difficult to understand due to his accent, and our conversation didn’t get very far. It took six hours to get there. Once we got out of the valley and started moving into the mountains, the scenery became quite beautiful and the pollution decreased. At the top of a particularly windy stretch of road that included many switchbacks we reached the entrance to the Wutaishan scenic area. The bus driver told everyone to get out, because we had to pay an entrance fee before going further. There was another foreigner on the bus who didn’t speak any Chinese, so I told him what to do. I managed to guess that he was from Austria due to his accent. He was quite impressed. The windy descent continued pas a few temples until we finally reached Taihuai village, which is at the foot of a valley, and contains mostly hotels.

At the bus station I spoke to the Austrian and suggested we stay together, which he agreed to. After getting off the bus we were accosted by some people wanting to have us stay in their hotel. Since the Austrian was quite cheap, I decided to go cheap myself after they said the room would cost approximately 100 kuai for the two of us. I’m actually glad we went with them, because they had a car that drove us into the center of the village. Their hotel was a few rooms next to a restaurant. While not great as a hotel, and having hot water only in the evening, it was cheap, and clean, and had a somewhat decent bathroom. Often in Chinese hotels, the room will look great until you open the door to the bathroom, and see the horrors that lurk within. We bargained them down a bit and took the room for two nights. It was already three in the afternoon, but many temples awaited us.

The hotel was located right next to a hill with a temple at the top. I like climbing hills so, ignoring the people who wanted us to ride their horses up the hill, walked up. At the top there was tacky sort of temple next to the cable-car station, the preferred route of most of the Chinese tourists to get to the top. Further up was a bigger temple, called the Dailuoding Temple. There were lots of people there, but the temple was nothing too exciting. From the top of the hill there was a lovely view of the town, in particular, the Great White Pagoda that towers over the town. Afterwards, we went down the hill and headed across the river towards the pagoda. Before getting to the temple with the pagoda, we first saw two other temples. A large temple, called the Xiantong temple was the more impressive one. It had a huge Ming Dynasty Hall called the Beamless Hall which was made of bricks. This is the first time I have seen a temple building built entirely of bricks, usually mostly wood is used. In addition, behind the Beamless hall was a large copper pagoda, which had a nice design, but looked a bit tacky due to the golden paint. Following this temple, we finally went in to the temple featuring the giant pagoda. There were lots of prayer wheels in the temple, and we even saw a service taking place, in which many yellow robed monks were chanting. Inside this temple there a special courtyard dedicated to Mao’s visit to Wutaishan in 1948. I find it quite ironic that they are celebrating Mao here when he was responsible for the destruction of many of the temples in the area! I quickly stopped by one final temple before going to dinner with the Austrian. We ate vegetarian, because the Austrian didn’t eat meat, but even so it was quite a satisfying especially since I hadn’t really eaten all day. As we were both tired we went to bed a little early at around 9:30.

Unusual Food

I have been enjoying some strange food in China. I particularly enjoy trying strange types of meat. Dog is one such meat that many people know is eaten by the Chinese and Koreans. I had the pleasure of trying Dog a couple of months ago and it was quite good. I had dog ribs. The bones are actually extremely soft, so you can eat them. The dogs apparently weigh ten kilograms.

There is a famous Peking Duck restaurant in Beijing called 'Chuan Ju De'. While more famous for its duck, they also had Deer Penis soup on the menu. We ordered this because some others also wanted to try it. It was overall quite tasty. The penis was cut into very thin pieces.

On Sunday I tried frog at a Hunanese restaurant. It was extremely good, although a bit boney. It was sort of like a mix between fish and meat. You could tell by looking at the meat that it was different, as there were large veins visible. I'm also very keen to try cat, but I hear that is only available in the south.

Taiyuan

On our final day of travel, we got up very early and were out the door by seven in the morning. Because there were no train tickets available, and no bus to Beijing leaves from Pingyao, we had to go to regional transportation hub, Taiyuan, to get back to Beijing. We managed to get a bus quite easily from the bus station, but the trip to Taiyuan took longer than expected due to very bad traffic in the city. Upon arrival in Taiyuan, we tried to get bus tickets to Beijing were told that we had to switch to a different bus station. At the next bus station we bought our Beijing tickets for 1:30 so that we would have enough time to go to the museum, which martin was very keen to see. Overall, Taiyuan is a reasonably pleasant city (as far a Chinese cities go), but was very smoggy. On our way to the museum, we passed the coal mining museum of China. The Shanxi Provincial museum is brand new, and unlike the other two provincial museums we went to (Henan and Shaanxi) there was no massive lineup. We got our free ticket and went right in. The museum was very well presented and is the best museum I have seen in China. Unfortunately the best exhibit, about architecture, did not have any English captions. We had a quick lunch after the museum, and hopped on the bus. For a snack, I bought some delightful spicy baozi. For the entire eight-hour bus ride they showed dreadful movies full of murder and torture. We got into Beijing at nine in the evening.

Qiao Family Compound and Pingyao - Day 3

This was our extra day in Pingyao, so we went at a rather leisurely pace. I slept in until nearly eight (we had been getting up at seven most mornings), and everyone was up by nine. After everyone was ready we headed to the bus station to catch a bus to the Qiao family courtyard, about forty minutes away. The Qiao family courtyard is where the film 'Raise the Red Lantern' was filmed, and it apparently it has some quite stunning architecture. The bus we caught was full, and so we were given fold up seats and sat in the aisle. This is standard practice in China, despite the obvious safety violations. We had to take a bus bound for Taiyuan and get the driver to drop us off at the courtyard. It was pretty obvious when we had arrived, as there was a giant parking lot and lots of red lanterns. The walk to the courtyard itself was swarming with tourist vendors and tourist restaurants. The courtyard is apparently very popular with Chinese tourists. Despite it being nearly noon, we decided to have lunch on the way out and get a snack. We bought some more of those peanut butter things that they had been selling in Pingyao. They are flattened by strong men hammering them into shape. It was interesting to watch. The courtyard itself was actually very small, and was absolutely packed with tourists. At some points it was difficult to even move. It was quite a beautiful structure though, with a total of six courtyards and a large garden. We finished looking through it in just over an hour, and as we came out it started to rain. We sought refuge in a tourist restaurant. Unfortunately, the food was dreadful . We ordered some soup, and it was very sour. After bad experiences with bones and chicken it was normal practice for us to ask if a dish had bones in it prior to ordering. We decided to take a gamble here and order something called 红烧鸡块。 The name is ingrained in my mind due to the horror of the dish. When it came we were unpleasantly surprised to discover the chicken foot on top and a near total absence of meat. It was simply disgusting. We were so unsatisfied with lunch, that we had to get an ice cream afterwards to satiate our hunger. We then went to the roadside and hailed a bus bus back to Pingyao. It was almost completely empty, so we had a reasonably comfortable trip back.

Pingyao - Day 2

Had a pleasant breakfast at the hostel and then headed out to the government building. We had tried to go the day before, but we felt there were to many Chinese tourists groups with blaring megaphones for us. On our way there, we decided to go the newspaper museum, which was on the way. It wasn't particularly interesting. The government building was already swarming even at this point early in the morning. We got inside the complex shortly before ten and saw that they had a performance at ten. The performance was very lame and all in Chinese, so we decided to look at the rest of the complex. The complex contained what is apparently the only surviving prison from the Qing era. It was in use until the 1960s.

Pingyao - Day 1

The area around the train station did not impress me too much, as it looked like any other Chinese city, with ghastly bathroom tile buildings everywhere. Where was the best preserved city in China? It turned out to be quite close to the train station. The first site of the city wall was impressive, and inside the wall it felt like we had stepped back in time! Pingyao is what China is supposed to be like, filled with traditional buildings that have not been 'restored'. There is an air of shabbiness that pervades the areas not directly used by tourists. I predict that within a few years Pingyao will be like a theme park and lose much of its scruffy charm after all its buildings have been restored and the locals kicked out to make way for businesses catering to tourists.

Our hotel is located in one of the old Qing-era buildings on one of the main streets. In some ways it feels magical to stay in a building from the 19th century in China, as there are so few that remain. We had breakfast while waiting for our room to be prepared. I had a coffee that made me feel much better and woke me up. Our room contains a triple bed that was apparently used by couples to 'play' during Qing times. After briefly settling into our room, we began to walk through the town. It truly is remarkable how well preserved it is. I bought some old money at one of the faux antique shops lining the street, although I think I paid too much. On our way up the street we went into one of the few non-Qing buildings in town, what looked like a building built during the 50s. Inside they had an auction preview of Chinese antiques. Of particular note was a scroll that they expected would sell for 10 to 20 million kuai. There is only one ticket for all the attractions in Pingyao, so we had to go to the place selling these tickets before going into any of the nineteen sights that line the streets. After buying the tickets, we went into a buildig which turned out to formerly be a bank. During the 19th century, Pingyao was the banking center of China. The bank was very interesting and contained many features that I have never seen in a bank, such as a kitchen for the servants, and an inn for guests. Our second attraction was a house owned by a martial arts master. Unfortunately, nothing ws translated into English, so it wasn't as interesting as it could have been. I did like the taijitiu symbols inlaid in the floor.

At this point we were hungry so we decided to have lunch. We went into one of the many restaurants lining the streets. The restaurant we chose actually turned out to be quite good, although we were appalled when we found out the tea cost 30 kuai! We got Pingyao dumplings, although we all agreed that they were too doughy. But, the traditional Shanxi pork dish we ordered was excellent. Because we were so tired, we returned to the hostel for a nap, which took a couple of hours. I also showered at this time, and it felt good to feel clean after that long train ride. After waking up, we went some more of the many attractions in Pingyao. Near our hotel, we went to the former residence of Liu Lutai, an owner of one of the banks. Many of the rooms had giant heated beds for the winter, including the servant's rooms. Nearby Liu Leitai's residence the map indicated that there was a temple, called the temple of Guanyu. We looked around in vain for a while until we found it inside an elementary school. Apparently at some point the temple was converted into a school. The main temple hall is still there, but looks like it is about to collapse. Next we went to the Town God temple, a Daoist temple. It had a number of interesting things, including a room displaying the kind of tortures that go on in hell. On the other side of the temple was shrine for fertility that had lots of bady statues. Apparently the head of the temple had a special hall at the back for his concubines. Seems a bit odd to me. At the temple, I noticed Martin had been in the same spot for a while. It turns out he had gotten a poem created from his name by someone. You gave him your name and he created a quick poem out of it on the fly. It was only ten kuai as well! We all decided to get one. Across the street from the Town God temple was the Confucian temple, the last stop for the day. A fairly standard temple, the only thing of interest there was a teacher who approached us and asked for help on how to pronounce certain things in a textbook. She taught twelve year-olds at school. Her English was not spectacular, but it was nice that she was making an effort to improve her own English. After dinner, we went to have a foot massage to sooth our aching feet after our ascent of Huashan the day before. It was quite pleasant, although the women thought our legs were very strange due to the hair on them.

Hua Shan

After a pleasant night's sleep in our two-star hotel, we left shortly after eight in the morning. We had a mediocre breakfast a restaurant nearby, which consisted of zhou (porridge), fried vegetables and some buns that the locals seem to like. We walked up the street and entered a temple on our way to the Huashan ticket gate. It turns out the student tickets are only ten kuai cheaper than the reglar ones (90 versus 100). Not much of a discount. There was a hilarious sign right after the ticket gate. The first two and a half hours of our ascent was through a verdant valley. Every half kilometer or so there was a shop selling food and water. Prices rose the further you up you went. Some of the nasty things on sale included a chicken foot in plastic and ancient eggs. Some of the bathrooms were truly awful. I felt sorry for all the porters that were carrying back-breaking loads up the mountain. The porters offered to be in tourist's photos to make more money. One porter even wanted us to see if we could lift his load. We could not. As the path gained altitude, it also gained steepness. A slight incline turned into stairs which progressively got steeper until we arrived at a section that was nearly vertical. Finally, shortly before one in the afternoon we got to the top. However, we only really got to the top of the North Peak, which is roughly 1500 M high. The back peaks are over 2000 M high. Therefore we decided to make a further trek up to the West Peak, the most picturesque of the peaks. It took about an hour and a half to get up there, although we did stop for a brief lunch of noodles on the way. The mountain itself is extremely beautiful, with luch vegetation interspersed with bare rock. The smog wasn't nearly as bad at higher heights, leading to fresher air. The top of the peak was pleasant, and the sense of achievement at having completed the climb was satisfying. As it was now nearing four inteh afternoon, we decided to head back down, fearful that the cable car could close at five. While we didn't want to take the cable car up, our legs were very sore, and facing a near vertical descent had little appeal for us. At the bottom of the cable car, we took a shuttle bus back to town and picked up or bags before heading to the train station.

The train station is not actually in the town of Huashan itself, but in a nearby town called Mengyuan. Unfortunately we were not able to get sleeper tickets to Pingyao, so we had to get hard seats! We also have to wait until one in the morning to leave! We rented a room in the worst hotel I have ever seen to store our luggage during our down time. The room was filthy and I didn't want to lie down. One look at the bathroom made my stomach turn. We went to dinner but wanted to avoid the restauarants near the train station. We walked quite distance and got a an area where a kid was yelling 'laowai' at us constantly. That was enough for me. We went back up the road and went into a whole in the wall restuarant where we ate jiaozi. After dinner, we went back to the rvolting hotel. While the other two members of my group napped, I could not due to how horrible the place was.

I was delighted to leave at around 12:30 AM and we got on the train with no problem. Besides us, there were only four other people getting on the train at the station. While I was initially delighted that the train was a double-decker, my delight turned to dismay when we got on the train and saw that it was over-sold and there were people roaming around. We had assigned seats, thank goodness, and we had to kick some Chinese people out of our seats. I initially could not sleep because Martin was talking to the girl sitting next to us. She was interesting enough though, and when I didn't feel like shutting my eyes, I participated. She was studying in Xian and was going home for the holiday. Her name was Zhou Fan, and as she didn't have an English name, I suggested giving her the name Josephine, but she wasn't too keen. After she got off the train at around three, things quieted down, and I fell into a restless sleep. I woke up at around six with a very sore neck and very tired. The train was positively filthy by this time, with garbage everywhere and appalling bathrooms. Crouch toilets do not work well on trains, as people can miss. Shortly before eight AM we pulled into Pingyao.

Xian - Day 3

Since studying Daoism in university, I had always wanted to go to a temple called Louguan Tai. It is reputedly the birthplace of Laozi and a major center of Daoist teaching beginning in the 5^th century. The temple is located about seventy kilometers to the southwest of Xian. While transportation to the temple may have been difficult it is also the location of a panda rescue center. Since Pandas are so adorable, many of the hostels offer tours to the center. We asked our hotel whether they could tack on a trip to the temple alongside a trip to the panda center. They said they could, so we booked our trip for Monday morning at eight in the morning.

The drive took an hour through the smoggy countryside. Also going with the three of us were two girls, an Australian and a Japanese. After about an hour and a half of driving we turned and drove past a large temple. Alongside the road were buildings built in the old-style, but that looked half abandoned. I don't think the tourists have discovered Louguan Tai yet. Finally we pulled into a parking lot and got off. We had arrived. We followed our driver into the 'rescue center', and he gave us a bit of a tour. The first panda was quite near the entrance, but I was dismayed to see that the habitats were not great, with a lot of concrete and iron bars. The panda was not black and snow white like the photogenic pandas seen in the media, but had some light brown fur. I later found-out that the pandas from Shaanxi province actually belong to a different sub-species from the ones in Sichuan and are coloured differently. In addition, the panda was injured and limping. She had a huge sore on her leg. According to our guide she was injured while mating. The panda walked around for a bit before going inside, after which we moved on to see more pandas. Perhaps the most interesting panda was a baby, who had his own very large habitat. While the members of our group were oogling him, I put my shirt on the ledge just next to the bars so I could have two free hands to put on my contact lenses. The panda came over and nearly snatched my shirt. I even managed to touch him, although he shrunk back when I did.

There were also a number of other animals in the 'rescue center', all native to the area. The next animal we went to see was the Golden Takin, a type of antelope. Surprisingly one of them was ranging freely throughout the grounds. We were told that it was a baby and wasn't aggressive. One of the staff members came up to us and asked about how farming was in our own country. He was obviosuly from the countryside and thus had a nearly impenetrable accent.

Xian - Day 1

The hostel picked us up at the train station, which was a nice gesture, and drove us to the hostel, which took about twenty minutes. Xian seems to be quite nice, but is quite different from what I remember. There many more tall buildings, and it does seem to be much more modern. The hostel I booked, the Shuyuan, is very nice, and has a lovely courtyard and friendly staff. Our room is not ideal, as it is located next to bar and a bit noisy until about midnight, but the bathroom is very nice.

Once we finished settling in, our first sight was the nearby drum tower. We watched a mediocre drum performance while there. Just behind the drum tower is the Muslim quarter. When I visited Xian is 2002, there was an antique market just off the Muslim quarter, and I hoped that it would still be there. Unfortunately, a tacky tourist market had replaced it. One stall was selling fake LaCoste shirts, and since I was wearing my own LaCoste shirt, I decided to compare them. The fake one really did have much poorer craftsmanship than the fake one. The lady selling them assured me it was real and the one I was wearing was fake! For lunch, we ducked into a hole-in-the-wall Muslim restaurant and ordered some mutton soup, which was quite good. It had square dumplings in it. The Muslim quarter is quite nice, and definitely feels somewhat authentic. There are lots of people wearing the hats that identify them as Muslim. After luch we headed to the Great Mosque. Outside, I bought a Muslim hat and put it on.

The mosque is quite a remarkable building. It is built in the Chinese style, and looks somewhat like any other temple. There are a few notable differences, though. The mosque is oriented towards the west (to face Mecca), unlike every other temple in China, which is oriented north-south. Also, the pagoda-like structure in the middle of the mosque is actually a minaret. In addition, there are lots of arabic inscriptions all around the structure. One old man thought I was a Muslim because of the hat I was wearing!

From the Muslim quarter we took a taxi to the provincial museum, but were appalled by the lineup. Like the museum in Zhengzhou, the line to the Shanxi museum was impossibly long and would have likely taken an hour to get through. I had no desire to wait for that long, so instead we went to the nearby Big Wild Goose Pagoda. In front of the pagoda was what appeared to be a large fountain, but it wasn't working. We wondered when it would work. While climbing up the pagoda, I was disturbed by Viennese music. I looked out the window of the pagoda, and saw that the fountain was spewing water to the music. Apparently at night they have the same show, but it is set to light as well. From the pagoda we could also see the nearby Tang Paradise park, a park built to replicate Tang times. We decided to go there after finishing at the pagoda.

The Tang Paradise park was rather expensive at 60 kaui a person. Nevertheless, we still entered. The park was quite nicely landscaped, but while the buildings looked good from the top of the pagoda, they looked fake from up close. The entire park felt completely artificial. We were hungry, so we stopped for some Baozi. Martin got a phone call while we in one of the buildings, so I watched a dress rehearsal of the evening performance with people who wore no costumes. The music became repetitive and tedious after a while. Behind the building we were in, there was very loud French music blaring. Just south of the main park was a mini theme park. We had one free ride, so we went on one of the those swinging pirate ships. It was horrible. I shut my eyes for the entire time. We went around the park's lake, and then left. Boy was I glad to be out of the worst tourist attraction in China!

We took a taxi to the Little Wild Goose Pagoda hoping that it would still be open at 5:30. It was not, so we tried to find a restaurant recommended in the lonely planet guide that was nearby. It was no longer there, so we took a route that would lead us back to our hostel. We stopped in a Sichuanense restaurant on the way, and had a terrific meal. Martin went to the bathroom there, and said he saw the kitchen, and that it absolutely filthy. I had been thinking of returning to that restaurant as well! Once returned to the hostel, we relaxed and had our free beer at 8:30. The hostel gives each of its guests a free beer in the evening. Quite tired we went to bed early, but knew we'd be woken up when Caitlin, the third member of our group arrived. She eventually arrived at about one AM.

Beijing - Xian

We have a week long holiday at Tsinghua, that technically starts on Sunday the 27th of April. However, we decided to leave on Friday night and miss the Saturday class. I had purchased tickets for the train ten days earlier, recalling how difficult it was to get tickets for our prior trip to Henan. Martin is coming with me again for this trip, before going to the train station, we had a quick dinner at the Muslim restaurant. The train station was chaos as always, but we boarded our train an hour before it was to leave. For this train, I purchased soft sleepers to try out, as I've already been on hard sleepers, and wanted to see the alternative. Ironically, the soft sleepers aren't really any softer than the hard sleepers. Each compartment had four beds, each with their own TV. The bathroom facilities were not bad. Sharing our compartment was a couple and a small child. He was a bit noisy for a while, but eventually quieted down. Shortly before arriving into Xian, I saw Huashan from the train, which is a sacred mountain we intend to climb after visiting Xian. It was quite beautiful. I didn't sleep all that well on the train, and when we arrived just before nine in the morning, I was quite tired.

Henan

The past weekend was a long weekend in China, so I took the opportunity to do some traveling. I travelled with two other people, Martin and Jeff. Jeff is an overseas Chinese and speaks near-perfect Chinese, so getting around was no problem. We initially had wanted to go to Shanxi to see Pingyao and Datong, but we did not know that everyone in China also wants to travel on the long weekend. Because of this all of the sleeper trains to any destination in China were fully booked for the day we wanted to leave. So, instead of not going at all we decided to leave early on Friday morning and take an express train to Zhengzhou in Henan. While much farther than Pingyao, the train only took five hours, vs. the twelve that the Pingyao train would have required. China is gradually introducing bullet trains, and the Beijing - Zhengzhou route is quite fast as a result.

We got into Zhengzhou shortly before noon, and went to the market to get some 'xiaochi' (snacks) for lunch. I noticed immediately that it was hot and humid in Henan. I ended getting a squid kebab, a sort of spicy lettuce wrap and a pineapple on a stick. According to the guidebook, there is only one touristy thing to do in Zhengzhou, and that is to go see the Henan Provincial Museum (which looks like pyramid). Outside the museum, we were appalled to see how long the lineup was. Apparently the museum recently became free, and since the Friday was a holiday, it seems as though everyone in Zhengzhou wanted to get in. While I was ready to give up, Martin went and asked the guard at the front of the line whether he could get tickets for us. Surprisingly, he was happy to help us, and brought us some tickets which allowed us to avoid wating in line for an hour! Apparently Chinese speaking white-people are well-liked by the Chinese. The museum was quite interesting and contained many bronzes, especially from the Shang Dynasty that were unearthed in Zhengzhou, the site of a former Shang city. Sadly, there were not many mirrors there.

After finishing in the museum, we went to the bus station to go to Luoyang, a couple of hours away. The bus drive took longer than expected due to appallingly bad traffic out of Zhengzhou, but the drive was interesting. There were many cliffs with caves in them and villages built in deep valleys. We hadn't booked any hotels and finding one in Luoyang was bit of an issue. Nevertheless, we did manage to get one, although it was more expensive than we hoped for. It was also strange, and our room had filthy carpets and an electronic Mahjong table.

The next day we had a pretty mediocre breakfast at the hotel (although it was free), and headed out to the Longmen grottoes. The grottoes are a world heritage sight, and built beginning in the Northern Wei Dynasty, although most of the statues were carved during the Tang dynasty. We were dropped off near the grottoes, and had to walk past about a kilometer of tourist shops built in the old-style to get to the entrance to the grottoes. Unfortunately they were swarming with tourists. Being grottoes built alongside a cliff-face, the paths to the individual grottoes were quite narrow. tihs created bottlenecks in which it was difficult to move. The grottoes were extremely impressive though. Built on two cliff-faces with a river separating them, the scenery was also lovely. The best grotto wasn't even a grotto per say as the statues were so large, an entire segment of cliff had to be cut out. On the other side of the river, therewere several smaller grottoes, and a temple that was being rebuilt. After finishing the grottoes, we we stopped at the Guanlin temple on the way back, built at the burial site of a famous general of the Three Kingdom period. Afterwards we went into old Luoyang and walked around, visiting a drum tower, and enjoying what little traditional architecture remained.

For dinner we went to a restaurant recommended in the guide to try Luoyang's famous 'Water Banquet', a series of 24 dishes all cooked in liquid. Of course, we could not order 24, so we just ordered 6. Overall, they weren't that exciting, but I was glad ot have tried them. On the wall of the restaurant there was a photo of Pierre Trudeau and Zhou Enlai. Apparently in the 1970s they ate at that very restaurant!

On Sunday we left relatively early because we were going to Dengfeng, about an hour and a half away. Dengfeng is the locasion of Songshan, one of China's sacred Daoist mountains. Its most famous attraction is the Shaolin monastery. Before going to Dengfeng, Jeff wanted to go see the Peony garden that Luoyang was apparently famous for. The garden was dreadful however, with none of the floweres being in bloom, and being of generally poor design. After the garden, we went to the bus station and were cajoled into taking a minibus to Dengfeng by an aggressive driver. The drive was quite picturesque, especially the part that took us through the mountains. Upon arrival in Dengfeng, we checked into an extremely cheap hotel and ate at a hole-in-the wall restaurant. Dengfeng is a typical Chinese city being quite ugly. However it was located in a spectacular natural setting, surrounded by mountains. The Shaolin temple was expensive to get into (100 kaui), and swarming with tourists. Because the temple was burned down in the 1920s, most of the buildings date from the 1980s. It was altogether quite a tacky attraction.
The Pagoda forest nearby was much more impressive, and a trip by chairlift was aslo quite pleasant, apart from the repetitive music they played from the loudspeakers. After finishing at the temple, we returned to the city. The taxi driver recommended we try some Dengfeng snack food, which was tofu and spicy sauce stuffed into a bun. It wasn't that great actually. The following morning we decided to go Zhongyue temple, which actually ended up being much more interesting than the Shaolin temple. While we there, they were conducting a ceremony to unveil some new statues. There were lots of people, and they stared at us. Afterwards we caught a minibus to Zhengzhou and caught the train back to Beijing.