Guilin and Hong Kong

Unfortunately, Guilin served up rain, fog and smog for my three days there. I can't complain, as I hadn't seen rain since back in November. Of the 2 places that I have visited on this trip that would need going back to Guilin will top the list (Coromandel Peninsula in New Zealand being the other one). Solitary Peak was a real treat, and also the extent of my sight-seeing in a place that reminds me so much of Vinales in Cuba that perhaps I had my expectations running just a little too high.



Hong Kong
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After almost 6 weeks of travel in Korea and China where the language barrier slowly but surely wears you down, I land in Hong Kong. The skies are clearer, people speak quite a bit of English, it is warm enough for shorts and I have money in my pocket that needs to be spent on Western food and beer.

The only other time I have felt this way was after Regina and I had just spent 3 weeks in pre-Solidarity Poland (1980), existing on the lowest level of food that I have experienced in my life. We arrive in West Berlin and the day is spent eating an amazing variety of food. So it is in Hong Kong. I treated myself to a steak and beer combo in a Western bar today. Cost enough to travel in China for almost 2 days. How do you justify that? Yin and yang. It all balances out.




Contrast and Expectations
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One of my favorite words prior to this trip was contrast. Why do you run? Cause it feels so good to stop. The Gonzo tradition of ice cream after a few days of hiking, or hitting the showers after an hour of ploughing thru nasty winter weather, making dinner after a day of paddling in Gaspe. You need to endure some loss of comfort to truly enjoy the pleasures around you. Making Hong Kong after a few weeks in mainland China served up a nice level of contrast.

Thanks to my buddy David (whom I intend to visit in Botswana later in this trip) has given me the Buddhist concept of expectation to mull over. I agree, our expectations can literally overshadow our experiences. As I do my travelling, I try to keep my expectations as far in the shadows as I can. It is a daily struggle.

My example is bathrooms. All during this trip, I have encountered a stunning array of bathrooms. But it is my expectations that colour the use of these bathrooms, more than their actual state of repair/dis-repair. Give me a sloppy batroom in New Zealand and I'm upset. Find me an open stall in a crowded train station in Xi'an and I am ecstatic. Humans are weird creatures.

China 2010

China Syndrome - Forbidden City, Great Wall and Terra Cotta Warriors

I'm doing the highlight tour of China. (Beijing, Forbidden City, Great Wall, Terra Cotta Warriors, Guilin and Hong Kong)

No access to Blog, Facebook, Picasa, etc, so email it is.

In Xi'an (Terra Cotta Warriors) for a few days, then taking a 26 hour train to Guilin. Will chill there for a few days and then make my way to Hong Kong. Will skip out of town before the Chinese New Year. I have someone to see there but will not try and stay for the New Year. Need to be heading westward. Running out of $$$ (of course, that has always been true, but now I can count the days left within a few weeks. Looks like I'll head back by the end of April. Of course, I am still very open to possibilities. Travelling is still too much fun to think about stopping.

China a bit more work to deal with than say New Zealand, but the experiences makes the work worthwhile. I am currently staying in one of the coolest hostels I've ever been in (Shuyuan). They wrote my train details to Guilin in Chinese for me, so that when I bought my ticket, I didn't end up in Shanghai. No English on my ticket, I just believe it to be true. (JiaJia assures me).

I am introducing tipping into this country whether they like it or not. I got all the people on the tour bus (Terra Cotta) yesterday to kick in some $$$ to tip our guide. They do not like to to take money for nothing, but I assured her that it was the customs of the countries represented (Argentina, Italy, US and Canada) and she had to accept. The tip I foisted on my waiter in Beijing (I ate same place for 4 nights and he helped me out a lot) took 10 minutes to convince him he had to take it. We even had to get his friend involved to translate a little bit. It was fun). On the Great Wall hike (Jinshanling to Simatai), we had 15 or so hustlers follow the group for 5-6 Km. I bolted ahead of the group about .5 km and had the place to myself most of the time (3 hours). A few time I stopped to take pics or jst look around, the place was absolutley silent, an experience to rememebr forever. At the mid-way point, there was Jiang-Li,a local who hikes a few hours perpendicularly to the Wall from a small viallge to sell his stuff (which included beer!). I bought a beer, we excahnegd camera photos and stories about our kids (he is same age as me and has one boy and oner girl). He would not take a tip, but I paid him an exorbitant amount (5 times what he was asking) for a little book). One of the more enjoyables beers in my life.

The Terra Cotta Warrior sight is not as expected, but the actual pit was as stunning as advertised. All those completely different faces. I am still quite shocked. Easily worth the trip here to see therm

The smog in Xi'an is intense, it is claustrophobic, you can see about 2 km if you count outlines and shapes, then it is just a wall of white. It is upsetting me quite a bit. Kids here think that this is normal. Flying Beijing to Xi'an, I never saw the ground once, altho we were only a few thousand feet up on a nice day. Buddy on plane trying to tell me it was a cloudy day. Even taking a picture of my hostel, if i back up acrsoos the street, you notice the lack of clarity in the picture.

Finding English newspaper here Ok. Lot of politics (cool) and business. Everyone here has a cell phone (about 30% ) You use dirty words in a text, they can take away your number forever (I'm sure some fine fixes that). Lots of security checks in Beijing and at tourist sights. Other than that, seems just like a bustling economy, altho miles behind say Korea.

Meeting lots of teachers. They are all on break and travelling. People scurrying to try and nail down New Year's stuff. Playing Foosball and pool with the locals in a local bar. Pretty funny. Sports and light competition do not need a language. Beer helps too. Can only relax so much, there is always a background of someone trying to take advantage of you. Got dinged in Beijing by some art students and have had odd offers here in Xi'an. Part of the situation you must deal with

This has been a hell of a trip so far. Lots of new experiences. The underlying sense of freedom is just too cool to explain.

Bruce

Seoul Sensations

I have been travelling for over 6 months now and am quite lost trying to describe my Korea and and Seoul experiences. Pictures help and I am writing from notes, but really, you need to be here to understand how cool and conflicted that is Seoul. I am really glad that Sophie found a place to go and work. She was so keen for some new experiences and Seoul will fit that bill and more. She has a good job, a great place to live in a funky neighbourhood and some very cool friends.

While I did spend most of my time in Seoul, I did take a few days to fly down to Jeju, the vacation island south of Korea. I enjoyed myself a lot, but would really have enjoyed the place in some season other than winter. Korean hostels are very well run.

The pictures are Sunrise Peak. You can visit, or better yet, rent a room in the village and hike up to the crater rim for sunrise, something I hope daughter Sophie and friends get to do this spring.



Seoul is a city of contrasts, old and new. Hundreds of tiny, teeming, frenetic, Asian, dense, noisy neighbourhoods slowly being surrounded and consumed by big roads and apartment complexes. The city is surrounded by hills, and industrial smog. You take a very efficient subway system to a local dong or gil and wander in alleyways that have motorcycles and sometimes cars, competing for the few feet of available space. You are surrounded by masses of well-dressed, good-looking, hard-working, aggressive, cell-phone addicted young people and the same amount of extremely short, multi-layered, not so colourful older people working their butts off in some very trying conditions.

Sophie's neighbourhood is 24-7 and much busier than any neighbourhood you chose to compare with in New York and it is really one of hundreds in Seoul. Very colourful, VERY consumer-oriented. Not for the faint of heart. At the same time, the area is quite safe at all hours of the night.

Food here is a very social experience.

Korea 2009