May 12, 2008

The alarm went off waaay too soon, at least after the so-so night of sleep I got. I think the altitude had something to do with it; the storm as well. But a quick peek out the window revealed thick fog, with nary a peak in sight, so we rolled over and slept ’till 8. Everyone else at the place did about the same, it turned out, as we all ate at about the same time. Breakfast consisted of two large cups of Yunnan coffee, which is a little like weak Turkish, with some grounds left in the brew, a “Naxi sandwich”, which is like flatbread layered with an egg, tomatoes, onions and cheese. E had the “muesli eight fruits yogurt”, which probably didn’t actually have eight fruits, but it was still good.

We set off and generally hiked with the two aggro Israelis and the Dutch girls. The trail wasn’t at all bad - generally level and winding for a long way, maybe 10-12 km down to Tina’s guest house, which would be impossible to miss even if there hadn’t been about 600 signs pointing the way. The trail today was as spectacular as yesterday, with constant terrific views of the mountains and cliffs. At one point, we crossed a waterfall. After the Halfway Guest house, the trail went steadily down, even steeply at points, to the valley.

At the bottom we checked out the area around Tina’s and bumped into Christian again. Though the Israeli guys wanted to continue up the road to Walnut Garden, the rest of us didn’t have time, and since they were too cheap to go alone, they came with us back to Qiaotou. We negotiated a seven-person bus, but found out there had been a landslide about halfway along the valley road. The road itself is strange, about half paved and half rough stone/dirt. There were a few very hairy turns and bumpy sections, though probably par for the course in this zero-liability country. We caught a tiny and uncomfortable minibus back to Lijiang for the equivalent of about $3 each.

After a shower we packed up and went to dinner. It was a bit of a disaster, with loud obnoxious music blaring from the neighboring restaurants and bars on the Old Town party strip. But Baby A was cute as ever, the rents were in good enough spirits, and the food was decent, though the fish was pretty boney. After dinner my parents and sister saw us to our taxi. We realized how little time we’d had together to chat or just be a family. These moments are fleeting, and we should cherish them.

May 11, 2008

Got up early to catch our bus, but to no avail, it didn’t leave until 9:30. There was some discussion among J and my folks about whether to come with us. His folks weren’t interested and C didn’t think the baby could take the 2+ hour car ride. She was undoubtedly right - we’re stuck in traffic now, on the way to the Gorge.

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Whew, what a day! We finally made it to Qiaotou (pronounced “chow-tow”), the starting point for the gorge trek. There was a Danish guy on the bus named Christian who we decided to walk with. First we stopped into Gorged Tiger Cafe, where a kooky character from Australia named Margo fed us overpriced cheese and tomato melts and gave us maps and information about the hike. As we headed for the trail we picked up a Canadian guy (name?) who has been in China for four months already and was psyched to talk about it, forever. He had stopped into Jane’s Guesthouse a bit up the road from Margo’s. Apparently, “Jane” is biologically a he. What a weird place to find a foreign transvestite; but I suppose the world is full of these pockets of hidden humanity. But in communist China?

The trek started relatively easy for the first 10km or so, until the “24 (or 28, depending on who you ask) bends”, which is a set of steep switchbacks with loose, crumbling footing. At this altitude (around 2300m/7000ft) you get tired quickly on the uphill portions, and both E and I found ourselves flagging behind the two guys. The sun was no help - the hot temperatures were a drastic change from the cold and rain of Lijiang.

The views were stupendous. Simply breathtaking. Huge mountains, some with snow and bathed in clouds, others tree-studded and emerald green, all heading down to the river gorge (this would be the Yangtze river). There were really only foreigners on the trail, save a few touts with donkeys that you could ride up the steep part. The family we had met at Zen Garden hotel in Lijiang did it this way, so mom you totally could have done it!) We made it to our destination for the night, Tea Horse Guesthouse, by about 6pm or so, which was a little later than we expected, but not a problem. The staff was friendly and there were plenty of interesting foreigners to chat with. At one point it was me, an American, plus a Hungarian, a very pretty Finnish girl (whose tall stature and platinum blond hair of course drew lots of attention wherever she went in China), two nice Dutch girls, two aggro Israelis and the Canadian guy (the Danish guy had gone ahead a couple more hours to the next guest house down the trail). International! But where were the Chinese?

Dinner was fine. We had kimchi, fried “asparagus” (probably cucumber), fried rice and noodles, both veggie. We ate and chatted with the Dutch girls. Oh, and several beers! The plan is to get up early and see the sunrise. We’ll see if we can open our eyes at 6:30am, though. The hike was no joke!

May 10, 2008

Sort of a throw away day today. We got up not too early and took some taxis to see Buddhist frescoes at Baisha. As most of them were destroyed during Mao’s cultural revolution, there wasn’t a lot to see, and we had to (re)pay the exorbitant Y80 fee that we paid at the Dragon Pool yesterday. It was rainy and quiet, and I took some nice photos of flowers and the temples. The gates and rooftops reminded me of Japan, although there are definite differences in color, with the Japanese ones more reddish and the Chinese ones with more blue and white highlights.

After the fresco temple, we continued to a tourist village a few kilometers away. I say “tourist village” because it seemed entirely set up as some extant example of “authentic minority culture” that seemed a bit out of place. At first a colorful town, soon it was clear that nothing of any interest was for sale- just the usual trinkets mentioned before. There were many supposed “silversmiths” banging away at some formless chunk of metal, occasionally heating it up with foot-powered bellows below an open flame, but never quite getting to any detail. Just bang, bang, clink, all day long [reminds me of my old job]. Perhaps the one nice thing was the cappuccino at the cafe we found there. E was afraid of the cat.

For lunch in the tourist town, we went to a large - nay, HUGE - restaurant that specialized in their own farmed salmon. We picked one from the water and (after dashing it’s head in) they served it as sushi and shabu-shabu. Though the old folks thought the cooked salmon was better, I thought it was tasteless that way and preferred it as sushi, though this is certainly an understandable throwback to my Japan days. Other dishes included some lame greens and soybean soup, plus lots of rice and a silken tofu dish that wasn’t at all bad. The room we ate in was pretty dingy, smelly and had flies.

On the way back, we jumped out of the taxis to walk to the express bus station to get our sleeper tickets to Kunming. We stopped in a few shops along the way, which, true to our expectations, were cheaper and more fashionable than in old town.

Dinner was definitely the highlight of the day. For our ritziest meal so for, the owners of the hotel brought us up to their new luxury place, which features fantastic views and tasteful traditional decor. The food was terrific: spicy cucumber, fresh roasted peanuts, sautéed broccoli and other greens, Naxi-style fish, deep-fried yak cheese, eggplant, egg and tomato omelet, sweet bread puffs, plus some meaty dishes. To drink was the local wine, a light red that didn’t quite leave much of an impression. But the service was great and I will not soon forget it - it may well be the best meal of the trip!

The walk back through town was surreal, as there were huge crowds along the main old town thoroughfare, with music blaring from the canal-side bars and pubs. You could float a candle down the canals if you wished. When we got back to the hotel, full and tipsy, E was feeling sick. We arranged the taxi for Tiger Leaping Gorge (or rather, arranged a taxi to the bus station, then a bus to TLG) and asked about weather, which was forecast for rain both days

May 9, 2008

Up at 6:30am to get some early morning photography in, and happy we did so. E tagged along, and we saw the sun rise on the mountains from the hotel, then go lost in the surrounding streets. Most shops were closed up and the kids were going to school. The town is a patchwork of winding flagstone alley and minor canals, many with fish (and no small amount of trash) in them. Locals still wash clothes and vegetables in the rivers - my stomach turns just thinking of the bacteria…

Came back to the hotel for a breakfast of fruit (mango, banana), yogurt, toast, egg, carrot juice and coffee. Then we had a quick nap before heading out into the south section of old town. It all looks straight out of a kung-fu flick, like my friend Elaine had mentioned in an e-mail about the place when she visited last year. The shops seem to all sell the same tourist trinkets: scarves and “local” clothes/textiles, jewelry that looks the same as everywhere else in the world (i.e. vaguely “Indian”), corny leather cowboy hats and other animal-derived goods, silver and jade figurines, “Dried Meat Yak”, tea shops, etc etc. At least they weren’t selling gaudy western t-shirts or too much fake brand-name stuff, although that may all be available in the new town.

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May 8th, 2008

On the plane to Lijiang via Kunming. The Great Wall already seems like a million years ago. We keep getting the date wrong because of the time change and the intensity of what we’re experiencing. Even Beijing airport is insanity - huge, open space supported by giant columns. It’s all part of the palpable Olympic fever, which seems to be everywhere in Beijing. I wonder about the countryside.

There’s a funny little soap opera on the plane’s TVs; not that I’m really watching it, but there’s a bald guy getting the runaround by a while array of different women. It’s pretty slapsticky, which I suppose is universally funny. E says that all the people on the TV look like Shrek, because the tint is green.

I’m still thinking of getting to these Yuanyang rice terraces a few hours south of Kunming. There are some other towns to check out around there as well. The question is getting out to the east and into Guangxi province without losing too much time.

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Delayed in Kunming! First a 3.5 hour layover, then confusion about a gate change that didn’t actually happen, then got on the plane, pushed back from the gate and the plan blew a fuse or otherwise stalled. At least it wasn’t after we took off! Got out of the plane, waited on the tarmac for like 20 minutes (when does that EVER happen in the west? Yes, we are in “the country of zero liability” as C likes to say.), took a family picture and caught a ride to the next plane. Original departure time was 7pm, now it’s 9:45. Thankfully, the group’s spirits remain high.

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Made it to Lijiang. Beautiful stars, and so many of them, on the way from the airport. Even down near the horizon you can still see plenty, which is rare because of the compounding nature of the curving atmosphere as well as light pollution. The air must be thinner and cleaner at this altitude and area.

The hotel is great, with this terrific archetypal Chinese feeling with craggly trees and fish pools. We have a great view of the old town from our balcony.

May 7th, 2008

I write from atop the Great Wall of China, at Simatai. We’ve taken a 2 hour cab ride to get here, then a 1.5 hour hike to station 12 of the eastward expanse. The weather is warm and the sky hazy and overcast. Too bad: there are huge mountains all around us, just barely visible through the mist. Thankfully, it’s quiet, with little to no harassment by touts.

E is being a great sport, despite the lack of our clothes and amenities, which should be arriving sometime this morning. Now, the sticky cab ride back to Beijing, with lots of jet-lag induced nod-offs.

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Ah, what a difference a shower makes! And, fresh clothes. The bags got in safe and sound, with no missing bottles of pálinka. Now we’re just checking email and I’m trying to update the blog, but getting a weird error when I try to upload pictures [and still have been since getting back!]. Perhaps the Great Firewall of China?

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Had another great meal at a Sichuan place near C and J’s apartment. Dishes included tofu with various toppings (nuts, chili, scallions, pickled cabbage), fried Sichuan shrimp over french fries, sautéed string beans, sweet lotus roots and “eyeballs” - rice dumplings. Drinks were beer and local moonshine - baiju. Yuck. It kept returning every time I burped. Baby A was fussy. J and C are HEROES!

Afterwards took a cab to the area of Hutong alleyways. Cool! Wandered around, lost then found. Lots of bars and shops. Found a super-cheap place to buy trinkets. Then we finally found our way to Hohai, a pair of ponds ringed with bars, restaurants and shops. It was fun for a bit, but every place seemed the same: bad live music and WAAY overpriced drinks. $6 beers in China are not ok. So we walked and watched. Eventually we bargained for some warm beers (two for Y10, about $0.65 each) and watched the fishermen and listened to Back Street Boys emanating from a club across the water. It may be a tourist scene but it was pleasant enough. Taxied home without issue and went to sleep.

May 5th, 2008

Morning uneventful. Still feeling a bit sick and no appetite, despite long walk the night before. Computer was on almost as soon as I packed up the last few items (camera, batteries, toiletries, snacks) and made the last bike ride to STA travel to pick up the tickets to the US. Two one-ways to Boston on June 16th (changeable for 35 euros). It took a long time - the girl who was so helpful before (Andrea) seemed distracted this time. I got to thinking - what else have I been doing lately - about “the plan”: E and me, friends, jobs, more.

Despite a car wreck on the way to Ferihegy, we made it in plenty of time. No stress at airports these days, since getting the long-term visa last fall. But it began to rain, and first the flight was delayed, then finally boarded, then had to refuel. We may not make our connection to Beijing, and even if we somehow do, our bags almost certainly won’t.

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We made it, the bags didn’t. Flight to Beijing otherwise uneventful. Movies were: “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” and “The Bucket List”, the latter of which made getting old and dying seem like no biggie - if you’re filthy rich.

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To all who have written to make sure we haven’t been affected by the earthquake in Sichuan province, thank you very much. We were well south of it when it hit, and didn’t even know something had happened until we were contacted by all you concerned folks. Rest assured, we are now far, far away from that tragedy, in the city of Guilin in the south of China. Just a few more days left to this very intense trip!

Cheers,

D

In a few hours, E and I will board a flight to Amsterdam, from which we will connect to a flight to Beijing, where we will meet my sister, her husband, his parents and my parents. After two days in Beijing, we will fly to the city of Lijiang in the south-western province of Yunnan. There we’ll spend five or six days exploring Lijiang, Dali, Tiger Leaping Gorge and, perhaps, Shangri-la. Yes, you read right.

After that, the REAL adventure begins. After the rest of the group heads back to Beijing, our travels will take us over 1,200km in eight days through Yunnan and Guangxi provinces, stopping in cities like Kunming, Yangshuo, Kaili, Nanning and many villages before arriving in Hong Kong somewhere around the 20th of May. We plan to take night trains and buses, and head generally east, stopping where whimsy takes us. Then it’s two or three days in HK before flying back to Budapest, via Paris.

If possible, I will try to get in an entry or two here, and can’t wait to post pictures and stories when I get back - assuming I do!