We can't be bothered going through our past photos and adding them to our old blog posts so here are 2 links to some facebook albums Amy put up.
China
Tibet
Enjoy!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Yakkedy Yak, Just Stare Back
In the last 2 months, we've spent enough time with our noses buried in Lonely Planet guides, that we figure we're pretty much 'L.P.' experts (L.P. - that's short for Lonely Planet, for those of you not down with the lingo).
Anyone who has ever travelled with the assistance of an L.P. has surely, at times, been frustrated by out-dated, incorrect or misleading information, and given that anyone following our blog has no doubt been amazed by our incredible travel writing skills, we've decided to take things into our own hands and have re-written the L.P. for Tibet. From the excerpts below, you'll find our version far superior to the original, or your money back, guaranteed.
TIBET: ROOF-TOP OF THE WORLD
by Amy and Claire, 2009.
GETTING THERE AND AWAY
At the time of writing, it was essential for all foreigners entering Tibet to obtain a Tibet Travel Permit - sounds simple... it's not! In order to obtain said permit, foreigners must pay an exorbitant amount of money to a travel agency to book a 'group tour' to Tibet.... a group can be just one person, but the price goes down the more people you book with.
Expect permits to take between 3 and 10 working days to process and for travel expenses to and from Tibet to be exclusive of tour prices.
The cheapest way of entering Tibet is on the Qinghai-Tibet railway (the highest train in the world, which reaches a dizzying 5070 meters above sea level and requires supplementary oxygen to be pumped into the pressurised cabins). From Xi'An to Lhasa, the train takes around 36 hours and the return journey to Chengdu, takes 48 hours. Although long, the scenery, that changes from rolling green hills and lakes, to endlessly flat perma-frost plateaus, to soaring snow-capped peaks, makes the lengthy journey worthwhile.
In addition to the beautiful views, it is likely that your fellow train-goers will also provide you with hours of entertainment (whether you want it or not).
Above entertainment includes;
- Speaking at you in Chinese or Tibetan even though it's been established that you understand neither.
- Finding out that you are Australian, then playing a real-life game of Chinese whispers as this information is passed along the carriages of the train.
- Attempting to read your travel journal, despite not knowing a single word of English.
- Waking you from an afternoon nap by poking you and pointing out the window to a yak/river/mountain/lake etc etc.
- Playing with your camera and ipod without asking, and;
- Generally staring at you for what feels like hours on end.
Upon arriving in Lhasa, you should be met by your friendly-yet-unenthusiastic Tibetan guide who will wear the same outfit everyday (making it easy for you to spot him in a crowd), who will often leave you alone for hours to go hang out with his friends, and who, when forced to spend time alone with you, will admit that he hates his job and constantly try to secretly chew some form of betel nut-like substance.
Sometime in the duration of your stay in Lhasa, it is likely that your guide will take you 'shopping' - note that he will be earning a healthy commission from certain shops, regardless of whether you make a purchase or not. If you are lucky, your guide will be cool and let you in on this little secret and than take you out to a weird Tibetan night club, buying beers for you all night with the 'profits' of and afternoon's 'shopping' spree.
SIGHTS IN AND AROUND LHASA
Your guide will have an oil-stained scrap of paper which represents your itinerary of Lhasa's must-see sights. These should include the following;
- The stunning 1300 year old Jokhang Temple - the holiest temple in Tibet attracts a fascinating and constant flow of pilgrims from all over the region on a daily basis.
- The Barkor -A pilgrim circuit and market surrounding Jokhang Temple, that must be navigated in a clockwise direction for religious purposes.
- The iconic Potala Palace, built in the 1600's, was the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas and houses the tombs of Dalai Lamas #5 and #7-#13 (apparently #6 was a bit of a playboy who wasn't respected, so didn't crack a tomb in the palace).
- Norbulinka Palace - former summer residence of the current, 14th Dalai Lama. In here you can see his bedroom, his mum's room, his prayer room and even his bathroom and toilet!
- Sera Monastery and it's famous courtyard of debating monks. Red-robed monks yelling, stamping and clapping energetically during discussion is an entertaining sight.
- Nam Tso Lake - one of three sacred lakes in Tibet. At 4,500 meters above sea level, it's not just the beauty of the lake that will leave you breathless!
In addition to these main attractions, you are bound to come across some amazing sights by simply wondering through the streets and alleyways of Lhasa. For an 'authentic' experience, we suggest you follow some pilgrims (you'll know them when you see them - they're the one's spinning the prayer wheels and thumbing prayer beads), and with any luck they will lead you to the stunning pilgrim circuit hidden in the backstreets of the city. Once on the circuit, expect to find ornate carvings and paintings on rock faces and an abundance of colourful prayer flags and prayer stones that will leave you awestruck and snap-happy.
EATING AND DRINKING
Although there is an array of delicious Indian and Nepalese food on offer in Lhasa, if you want to sample typical Tibetan cuisine, you'll need an iron stomach and a palette accustomed to repetition. Yak, yak, yak, yak, yak... it's the animal that sustains the entire Tibetan region's gastronomic requirements. Yak dumplings, Yak stir-fry, Yak noodles, Yak milk, Yak butter, Yak tea, Dried Yak (Really, Tibet could give Forrest Gump's 'Bubba' a run for his money!)Travellers, be forewarned; there is a BIG difference between Yak milk tea (delicious) and Yak butter tea (disgusting). We made this discovery when we were randomly invited into the home of a local and were politely forced to consume chunks of home-dried Yak meat and cup after vile, foul cup of the oily, yet meaty, Yak butter tea that our host had so graciously provided.
P.S. We saw a woman watering the carpet with a watering can in a restaurant. Fact. WTF?
DANGERS AND ANNOYANCES
#1- Staring
It's difficult to describe the number of stares that two foreign girls will receive in Tibet. These aren't dodgy stares or leers of any kind, they are simply the result of 100% pure curiosity. Old men, young men, old women, young women, teenagers, children, dogs and even the yaks have no qualms about staring at you for long periods of time. It doesn't matter what mundane task you may be carrying out, it is of high interest to the locals - be it surfing the net, eating in a restaurant, shopping, walking the streets or utilising the door-less toilets (more on them later), you can almost guarantee that 20 pairs of eyes will be fixed on your every move.
We found ourselves at a rooftop cafe one afternoon, enjoying a cold can of sprite, when we sensed the familiar feeling that we were being watched... a glance at the table next to us confirmed that we held a captive audience in a family of Tibetan nomads. Their stares were INTENSE. Despite having become accustomed to a lot of staring of late, we at first tried to ignore the oogling from the table next to us. When this failed to divert their attention elsewhere, we tried a new tactic of staring back - this only served to unwittingly start a staring competition that our cultural norms could not possibly allow us to win. Admitting defeat, we gulped down our Sprites and, to our audience's disappointment, hot-footed it out out of the restaurant. When we got to the end of the street, we looked back to see the entire family watching us from the restaurant balcony... we're still not sure what they found quite so fascinating.
#2 - Toilets
The trench-like toilets in Tibet make the toilets on Chinese trains feel like heaven. No doors, often no dividing walls or running water, these toilets (if you can call them that) contained some of the most horrible sights and smells we've come across thus far, and combined with the negative effects of yak meat on the digestive system, they are places you unfortunately can not avoid.
Far from Western-style toilets and even far from the usual Asian-Style squats, the toilets in Tibet require a flexibility and agility like no other. Navigating your way around these squats and averting your eyes away from the flow of waste running through the trench below you, is an unpleasant experience (often made all the more difficult by a group of 10-year-old girls who came in to take advantage of the door-less toilet situation, and watch the foreigners go to the toilet).
#3 - Police and Soldiers
Lhasa is literally crawling with them... this is something that the Chinese Government doesn't really like to advertise... but given our blog is blocked in China, we figure we can mention it here.
Every second rooftop in the city is occupied by soldiers and police carrying out surveillance of the streets below. In addition to this, there are soldiers on street corners and patrolling on foot, and as night falls, their numbers double. It's fairly obvious from the majority of people, their presence is unwanted and they do a pretty good job of making things uncomfortable on the streets... basically no one can scratch their butts without it being seen by the soldiers.
The other thing that's obvious is that these soldiers are bored... we had another awkward rooftop experience in Tibet - this time it wasn't nomads, but policemen, and they weren't staring at us from the next table, but with binoculars from the next building... we were a little worried we'd said or done something wrong, but when they ran across to our rooftop and gave us their phone numbers, that worry turned into pure embarrassment as everyone in the restaurant was glaring at us wondering why the police had come to speak to us.
#4 - Toothpicks
You may think it strange to have toothpicks in a 'Dangers and Annoyances' section, but a word to the wise- DO NOT use toothpicks in Tibet, unless you bring your own. We saw toothpicks dropped on the floor, sucked on by kids, and being used to clean out ear wax before being put back in the toothpick jars on restaurant tables. Fact. Enough said.
HIGHLIGHTS
Aside from the sights, the experiences you can have in Tibet are second to none. Here are our picks on some simple day-to-day pleasures unique to Tibet.
- Gazing at the colourful prayer flags flapping in the wind against the stunning mountain backdrop surrounding Lhasa.
- Smelling the aromatic Tibetan incense as it wafts from temples, through the streets.
- Making friends with some awesome Tibetan guys, from who we learnt so much about the Tibetan culture and thinking... and who we just laughed a lot with.
- Watching the traditionally dressed pilgrims with their prayer wheels and bead, performing their religious rites.
** We hope you have enjoyed our guide to Tibet. Without getting all hippie-like, it has to be said that it is a truly amazing place that has, without a doubt, been the highlight of our trip so far... it's going to be hard to top Tibet!
Anyone who has ever travelled with the assistance of an L.P. has surely, at times, been frustrated by out-dated, incorrect or misleading information, and given that anyone following our blog has no doubt been amazed by our incredible travel writing skills, we've decided to take things into our own hands and have re-written the L.P. for Tibet. From the excerpts below, you'll find our version far superior to the original, or your money back, guaranteed.
TIBET: ROOF-TOP OF THE WORLD
by Amy and Claire, 2009.
GETTING THERE AND AWAY
At the time of writing, it was essential for all foreigners entering Tibet to obtain a Tibet Travel Permit - sounds simple... it's not! In order to obtain said permit, foreigners must pay an exorbitant amount of money to a travel agency to book a 'group tour' to Tibet.... a group can be just one person, but the price goes down the more people you book with.
Expect permits to take between 3 and 10 working days to process and for travel expenses to and from Tibet to be exclusive of tour prices.
The cheapest way of entering Tibet is on the Qinghai-Tibet railway (the highest train in the world, which reaches a dizzying 5070 meters above sea level and requires supplementary oxygen to be pumped into the pressurised cabins). From Xi'An to Lhasa, the train takes around 36 hours and the return journey to Chengdu, takes 48 hours. Although long, the scenery, that changes from rolling green hills and lakes, to endlessly flat perma-frost plateaus, to soaring snow-capped peaks, makes the lengthy journey worthwhile.
In addition to the beautiful views, it is likely that your fellow train-goers will also provide you with hours of entertainment (whether you want it or not).
Above entertainment includes;
- Speaking at you in Chinese or Tibetan even though it's been established that you understand neither.
- Finding out that you are Australian, then playing a real-life game of Chinese whispers as this information is passed along the carriages of the train.
- Attempting to read your travel journal, despite not knowing a single word of English.
- Waking you from an afternoon nap by poking you and pointing out the window to a yak/river/mountain/lake etc etc.
- Playing with your camera and ipod without asking, and;
- Generally staring at you for what feels like hours on end.
Upon arriving in Lhasa, you should be met by your friendly-yet-unenthusiastic Tibetan guide who will wear the same outfit everyday (making it easy for you to spot him in a crowd), who will often leave you alone for hours to go hang out with his friends, and who, when forced to spend time alone with you, will admit that he hates his job and constantly try to secretly chew some form of betel nut-like substance.
Sometime in the duration of your stay in Lhasa, it is likely that your guide will take you 'shopping' - note that he will be earning a healthy commission from certain shops, regardless of whether you make a purchase or not. If you are lucky, your guide will be cool and let you in on this little secret and than take you out to a weird Tibetan night club, buying beers for you all night with the 'profits' of and afternoon's 'shopping' spree.
SIGHTS IN AND AROUND LHASA
Your guide will have an oil-stained scrap of paper which represents your itinerary of Lhasa's must-see sights. These should include the following;
- The stunning 1300 year old Jokhang Temple - the holiest temple in Tibet attracts a fascinating and constant flow of pilgrims from all over the region on a daily basis.
- The Barkor -A pilgrim circuit and market surrounding Jokhang Temple, that must be navigated in a clockwise direction for religious purposes.
- The iconic Potala Palace, built in the 1600's, was the winter residence of the Dalai Lamas and houses the tombs of Dalai Lamas #5 and #7-#13 (apparently #6 was a bit of a playboy who wasn't respected, so didn't crack a tomb in the palace).
- Norbulinka Palace - former summer residence of the current, 14th Dalai Lama. In here you can see his bedroom, his mum's room, his prayer room and even his bathroom and toilet!
- Sera Monastery and it's famous courtyard of debating monks. Red-robed monks yelling, stamping and clapping energetically during discussion is an entertaining sight.
- Nam Tso Lake - one of three sacred lakes in Tibet. At 4,500 meters above sea level, it's not just the beauty of the lake that will leave you breathless!
In addition to these main attractions, you are bound to come across some amazing sights by simply wondering through the streets and alleyways of Lhasa. For an 'authentic' experience, we suggest you follow some pilgrims (you'll know them when you see them - they're the one's spinning the prayer wheels and thumbing prayer beads), and with any luck they will lead you to the stunning pilgrim circuit hidden in the backstreets of the city. Once on the circuit, expect to find ornate carvings and paintings on rock faces and an abundance of colourful prayer flags and prayer stones that will leave you awestruck and snap-happy.
EATING AND DRINKING
Although there is an array of delicious Indian and Nepalese food on offer in Lhasa, if you want to sample typical Tibetan cuisine, you'll need an iron stomach and a palette accustomed to repetition. Yak, yak, yak, yak, yak... it's the animal that sustains the entire Tibetan region's gastronomic requirements. Yak dumplings, Yak stir-fry, Yak noodles, Yak milk, Yak butter, Yak tea, Dried Yak (Really, Tibet could give Forrest Gump's 'Bubba' a run for his money!)Travellers, be forewarned; there is a BIG difference between Yak milk tea (delicious) and Yak butter tea (disgusting). We made this discovery when we were randomly invited into the home of a local and were politely forced to consume chunks of home-dried Yak meat and cup after vile, foul cup of the oily, yet meaty, Yak butter tea that our host had so graciously provided.
P.S. We saw a woman watering the carpet with a watering can in a restaurant. Fact. WTF?
DANGERS AND ANNOYANCES
#1- Staring
It's difficult to describe the number of stares that two foreign girls will receive in Tibet. These aren't dodgy stares or leers of any kind, they are simply the result of 100% pure curiosity. Old men, young men, old women, young women, teenagers, children, dogs and even the yaks have no qualms about staring at you for long periods of time. It doesn't matter what mundane task you may be carrying out, it is of high interest to the locals - be it surfing the net, eating in a restaurant, shopping, walking the streets or utilising the door-less toilets (more on them later), you can almost guarantee that 20 pairs of eyes will be fixed on your every move.
We found ourselves at a rooftop cafe one afternoon, enjoying a cold can of sprite, when we sensed the familiar feeling that we were being watched... a glance at the table next to us confirmed that we held a captive audience in a family of Tibetan nomads. Their stares were INTENSE. Despite having become accustomed to a lot of staring of late, we at first tried to ignore the oogling from the table next to us. When this failed to divert their attention elsewhere, we tried a new tactic of staring back - this only served to unwittingly start a staring competition that our cultural norms could not possibly allow us to win. Admitting defeat, we gulped down our Sprites and, to our audience's disappointment, hot-footed it out out of the restaurant. When we got to the end of the street, we looked back to see the entire family watching us from the restaurant balcony... we're still not sure what they found quite so fascinating.
#2 - Toilets
The trench-like toilets in Tibet make the toilets on Chinese trains feel like heaven. No doors, often no dividing walls or running water, these toilets (if you can call them that) contained some of the most horrible sights and smells we've come across thus far, and combined with the negative effects of yak meat on the digestive system, they are places you unfortunately can not avoid.
Far from Western-style toilets and even far from the usual Asian-Style squats, the toilets in Tibet require a flexibility and agility like no other. Navigating your way around these squats and averting your eyes away from the flow of waste running through the trench below you, is an unpleasant experience (often made all the more difficult by a group of 10-year-old girls who came in to take advantage of the door-less toilet situation, and watch the foreigners go to the toilet).
#3 - Police and Soldiers
Lhasa is literally crawling with them... this is something that the Chinese Government doesn't really like to advertise... but given our blog is blocked in China, we figure we can mention it here.
Every second rooftop in the city is occupied by soldiers and police carrying out surveillance of the streets below. In addition to this, there are soldiers on street corners and patrolling on foot, and as night falls, their numbers double. It's fairly obvious from the majority of people, their presence is unwanted and they do a pretty good job of making things uncomfortable on the streets... basically no one can scratch their butts without it being seen by the soldiers.
The other thing that's obvious is that these soldiers are bored... we had another awkward rooftop experience in Tibet - this time it wasn't nomads, but policemen, and they weren't staring at us from the next table, but with binoculars from the next building... we were a little worried we'd said or done something wrong, but when they ran across to our rooftop and gave us their phone numbers, that worry turned into pure embarrassment as everyone in the restaurant was glaring at us wondering why the police had come to speak to us.
#4 - Toothpicks
You may think it strange to have toothpicks in a 'Dangers and Annoyances' section, but a word to the wise- DO NOT use toothpicks in Tibet, unless you bring your own. We saw toothpicks dropped on the floor, sucked on by kids, and being used to clean out ear wax before being put back in the toothpick jars on restaurant tables. Fact. Enough said.
HIGHLIGHTS
Aside from the sights, the experiences you can have in Tibet are second to none. Here are our picks on some simple day-to-day pleasures unique to Tibet.
- Gazing at the colourful prayer flags flapping in the wind against the stunning mountain backdrop surrounding Lhasa.
- Smelling the aromatic Tibetan incense as it wafts from temples, through the streets.
- Making friends with some awesome Tibetan guys, from who we learnt so much about the Tibetan culture and thinking... and who we just laughed a lot with.
- Watching the traditionally dressed pilgrims with their prayer wheels and bead, performing their religious rites.
** We hope you have enjoyed our guide to Tibet. Without getting all hippie-like, it has to be said that it is a truly amazing place that has, without a doubt, been the highlight of our trip so far... it's going to be hard to top Tibet!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Greetings from the Far East
Dearest Blog Readers,
For those of you who are unaware of our wondrous fortune, we wish to inform you that our recent sojourn in Xi'an was simply delightful due to the fact that we were the recipients of gratis accommodation at the Hyatt Regency, Xi'an.
Sincere thanks go to our darling friends, Lisa and Marco, for so graciously sharing with us their quaint little top-floor, three bedroom residence in the Hyatt. Hyatt, Hyatt, Hyatt, Hyatt, Hyatt.
After the ghastly locomotive journey to Xi'an, we felt it absolutely necessary to recuperate in a style to which we are accustomed. Hyatt, Hyatt, Hyatt, Hyatt.
First and foremost, it was imperative we received a lengthy massage (180 minutes to be precise), however, during this relaxation time, the most horrendous thing occurred!! A young 'local chap' being massaged in an adjoining parlour overheard us speaking English (the Queens English, of course) which must have intrigued him so, as he took it upon himself to constantly open the sliding French doors betwixt our parlours and commence staring at us in a most unsettling way. Now, we are no strangers to travelling the Orient, and as a consequence, have become somewhat accustomed to such stares. However, a massage parlour is no place to be staring at a lady, particularly in such a relentless way!
Once we recovered from the massage parlour ordeal, we were free to explore the wonders of Xi'an. Our days were spent leisurely cycling around the grand city walls and dining with our friends and their charming colleagues.
Despite residing in the Hyatt, we were compelled to experience life in Xi'an as the town folk to. Who would have thought two such refined ladies would be found dining street-side eating barbequed food from skewers! And furthermore, we enjoyed it thoroughly!
As one must do when one is in Xi'an, we paid a visit to the world renown 8th wonder of the world, The Terracotta Warriors. What a delight it was! We were utterly amazed at the historic ambiance we encountered there and we were not at all surprised to find that the likes of Bill Clinton had also visited this site in years gone by. Might we add, the introductory film detailing the history of the Warriors in a dramatic re-enactment, is a must-see. Such superb 360 degree cinematography simply cannot be surpassed! Sadly, as we had previously arranged an expedition to a little place called Tibet, our vacance in Xi'an drew to a close.
One knows when one travels, that one is occasionally required to forego some of life's basic necessities, such as maids, porters and doormen and the daily replacement of one's 100 count Egyptian cotton sheets (seriously, we're not kidding). However, we can only hope that for the remainder of our pan-Asian voyage, we continue to receive this basic standard of living to which we have become accustomed. Which raises one final matter- Does anyone know the address of the Hyatt Regency in Lhasa, Tibet? If so, please phone ahead and notify them of our imminent arrival on Friday evening.
Warmest Regards,
Miss. A. Palfreyman and Miss. C. Pace
(Hyatt Regency, Diamond Members)
For those of you who are unaware of our wondrous fortune, we wish to inform you that our recent sojourn in Xi'an was simply delightful due to the fact that we were the recipients of gratis accommodation at the Hyatt Regency, Xi'an.
Sincere thanks go to our darling friends, Lisa and Marco, for so graciously sharing with us their quaint little top-floor, three bedroom residence in the Hyatt. Hyatt, Hyatt, Hyatt, Hyatt, Hyatt.
After the ghastly locomotive journey to Xi'an, we felt it absolutely necessary to recuperate in a style to which we are accustomed. Hyatt, Hyatt, Hyatt, Hyatt.
First and foremost, it was imperative we received a lengthy massage (180 minutes to be precise), however, during this relaxation time, the most horrendous thing occurred!! A young 'local chap' being massaged in an adjoining parlour overheard us speaking English (the Queens English, of course) which must have intrigued him so, as he took it upon himself to constantly open the sliding French doors betwixt our parlours and commence staring at us in a most unsettling way. Now, we are no strangers to travelling the Orient, and as a consequence, have become somewhat accustomed to such stares. However, a massage parlour is no place to be staring at a lady, particularly in such a relentless way!
Once we recovered from the massage parlour ordeal, we were free to explore the wonders of Xi'an. Our days were spent leisurely cycling around the grand city walls and dining with our friends and their charming colleagues.
Despite residing in the Hyatt, we were compelled to experience life in Xi'an as the town folk to. Who would have thought two such refined ladies would be found dining street-side eating barbequed food from skewers! And furthermore, we enjoyed it thoroughly!
As one must do when one is in Xi'an, we paid a visit to the world renown 8th wonder of the world, The Terracotta Warriors. What a delight it was! We were utterly amazed at the historic ambiance we encountered there and we were not at all surprised to find that the likes of Bill Clinton had also visited this site in years gone by. Might we add, the introductory film detailing the history of the Warriors in a dramatic re-enactment, is a must-see. Such superb 360 degree cinematography simply cannot be surpassed! Sadly, as we had previously arranged an expedition to a little place called Tibet, our vacance in Xi'an drew to a close.
One knows when one travels, that one is occasionally required to forego some of life's basic necessities, such as maids, porters and doormen and the daily replacement of one's 100 count Egyptian cotton sheets (seriously, we're not kidding). However, we can only hope that for the remainder of our pan-Asian voyage, we continue to receive this basic standard of living to which we have become accustomed. Which raises one final matter- Does anyone know the address of the Hyatt Regency in Lhasa, Tibet? If so, please phone ahead and notify them of our imminent arrival on Friday evening.
Warmest Regards,
Miss. A. Palfreyman and Miss. C. Pace
(Hyatt Regency, Diamond Members)
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Hell on Tracks
So... we survived the night train from Beijing to Xi'an... barely. Wow, what an experience that was!
We got the cheapest seats ... hard seats they call them. This involved kind of booths of 6 people - 3 on each side facing each other. We were lucky enough to be seated opposite a charming couple... we dubbed the husband BBB King (birthmark, burps and balls King) and his lovely wife, who we like to call Bertha, who constantly felt the need to jam a finger up her nose and roll her snot in her fingers... that's when she wasn't spitting sunflower seed shells all over our feet. By the way, when we say booth, please don't think we're talking about anything that would provide some kind of privacy or sound-proofing... we just mean rows of seats, 3 on each side of the train, facing each other. This seating arrangement is what allowed us to get to know BBB King so intimately - had we been facing the other way, we wouldn't have been able to stare at the birth mark on his face or see the delightful camel-toe his synthetic, checked, high-waisted pants were giving him... although facing the other direction wouldn't have prevented us from hearing him burp up a storm at 10 minute intervals, so maybe it wouldn't have been all bad.
We were the only foreigners on the train and as a consequence we got stared at A LOT. The guy sitting next to Bertha and BBB King spent at least 9 of the 10 hour train ride staring at us... we call him Starey McStare. He wasn't creepy, just curious, we think.
We had fun stepping over people sleeping in the aisles while walking to and from the shit-covered hole in the ground they call a toilet, and we particularly liked it when we couldn't wash our hands after touching the piss-covered toilet door handle because there was a man sleeping in the sink. Fact. (Thank god for sanitizer gel). We also enjoyed it when the people in the booth next to us set up their cell phones to play crackly Chinese music at full volume until about 4am. Who cares though really, it's not like we had a cusion under our asses or a head rest of any sorts that would allow for some kind of comfort that may permit sleep.
In addition to all these highlights, we also had the luxury of being able to oogle at the fat elderly gent in the booth next to us who spent 50% of the train ride shirtless... lucky us. Another fun bit was the stinky food cart that smashed into our knees every hour or so... really, it was 10 hours of joy. Tell you what, next time we book a train, we're not skimping on the $20 extra it costs for a cheap sleeper.
Experience had, lesson learnt.
Never again.
We got the cheapest seats ... hard seats they call them. This involved kind of booths of 6 people - 3 on each side facing each other. We were lucky enough to be seated opposite a charming couple... we dubbed the husband BBB King (birthmark, burps and balls King) and his lovely wife, who we like to call Bertha, who constantly felt the need to jam a finger up her nose and roll her snot in her fingers... that's when she wasn't spitting sunflower seed shells all over our feet. By the way, when we say booth, please don't think we're talking about anything that would provide some kind of privacy or sound-proofing... we just mean rows of seats, 3 on each side of the train, facing each other. This seating arrangement is what allowed us to get to know BBB King so intimately - had we been facing the other way, we wouldn't have been able to stare at the birth mark on his face or see the delightful camel-toe his synthetic, checked, high-waisted pants were giving him... although facing the other direction wouldn't have prevented us from hearing him burp up a storm at 10 minute intervals, so maybe it wouldn't have been all bad.
We were the only foreigners on the train and as a consequence we got stared at A LOT. The guy sitting next to Bertha and BBB King spent at least 9 of the 10 hour train ride staring at us... we call him Starey McStare. He wasn't creepy, just curious, we think.
We had fun stepping over people sleeping in the aisles while walking to and from the shit-covered hole in the ground they call a toilet, and we particularly liked it when we couldn't wash our hands after touching the piss-covered toilet door handle because there was a man sleeping in the sink. Fact. (Thank god for sanitizer gel). We also enjoyed it when the people in the booth next to us set up their cell phones to play crackly Chinese music at full volume until about 4am. Who cares though really, it's not like we had a cusion under our asses or a head rest of any sorts that would allow for some kind of comfort that may permit sleep.
In addition to all these highlights, we also had the luxury of being able to oogle at the fat elderly gent in the booth next to us who spent 50% of the train ride shirtless... lucky us. Another fun bit was the stinky food cart that smashed into our knees every hour or so... really, it was 10 hours of joy. Tell you what, next time we book a train, we're not skimping on the $20 extra it costs for a cheap sleeper.
Experience had, lesson learnt.
Never again.
Friday, June 19, 2009
One World, One Dream
It was after Shanghai that we were due to part ways with our travel companions - us to Beijing and them to Hong Kong...but the three of them enjoyed our wonderful company so much that they decided to join us in Beijing!! So, Shanghai'd out the five of us jumped on a night train to the Nation's capital. Soft seats made the travel time pass by relatively quickly, however, the 12 hour journey did drag on a little.
For five kind of lazy people, who like to sleep in we really surprised ourselves with how much sightseeing and recreation we managed to fit into just under one week in Beijing.
First things first - Beijing is awesome...Shanghai was fun, but Beijing took fun to a whole new level - and we actually felt like we were in China! There is so much to see and do in Beijing, you'd need a life-time to do it all. We can't be bothered writing detailed descriptions of everything we did, and we're sure you can't be bothered reading them, so here, in dot-point form, are some highlights;
For five kind of lazy people, who like to sleep in we really surprised ourselves with how much sightseeing and recreation we managed to fit into just under one week in Beijing.
First things first - Beijing is awesome...Shanghai was fun, but Beijing took fun to a whole new level - and we actually felt like we were in China! There is so much to see and do in Beijing, you'd need a life-time to do it all. We can't be bothered writing detailed descriptions of everything we did, and we're sure you can't be bothered reading them, so here, in dot-point form, are some highlights;
- Summer Palace (stunning - must see!)
- Forbidden City (big and forbidden)
- Exploring some of Beijing's Hutongs (old, narrow alleys)
- Lazy Sunday on a cozy Hutong rooftop bar ($10 for all you can drink in 3 hours!)
- Food glorious food (Peking duck and hot pot!!)
- Olympic Park (an eerie ghost town)
- Factory 798 (lots of cool artist spaces with graffiti and sculptures)
No visit to Beijing would be complete without a trip to the Great Wall... so obviously we went there. We opted to take the road less travelled and walked the 10km largely un-restored Jinshaling to Simatai section. It was pretty tough walk that sometimes required us to climb steep stairs on all fours - but the views were amazing and it was definitely worth the hard work.
While the boys were left to climb the wall without assistance, we were 'fortunate' enough to be 'adopted' by two local farmers who offered us their leathery old hands to hold up and down every step and ramp. We knew this help wouldn't come for free but they were so cute and old and told us lots of interesting things about the area...so we accepted their help thinking they'd accompany us to the end... but alas, half-way through the walk, after a particularly trying set of stairs, our old friends pounced on us with books and t-shirts insisting we buy. Five dollars later, we parted ways. After scaling the wall we felt we could do anything, so at the end of the walk, we took a super scary, yet fun, zip-line across a river!! A great way to end our Great Wall experience.
Another highlight was the "crazy food night market" (it's actual name escapes us now). Here you could sample an array of, erm, interesting and different foods such as; sheep penis, snake, scorpion, silk worn larvae, snake skin...and there were just the things we tried! There was also sea horse, star fish, centipedes, beetles of every kind and the guts and gizzards of just about every farm animal you can think of. Fair to say, no one's stomach felt 100% at the end of the night, but we had a great time and a lot of laughs (particularly at the man who yelled out "you try penis! you eat penis!").
You may (or may not) know that June 4th marked the 20th anniversary of the pro-democracy student protest at Tinanmen Square. Given that we were in Beijing for this important anniversary, we were curious to check out the square on the day. Having been there a few days earlier, the beefed up security was noticeable - even if they did try and hide this by using plain clothed police (p.s - China, drop the matching badges, hats and sunnies if you want them to blend in). There were more soldiers and police (uniformed and plain clothes) than regular people - but this was the only indication of the anniversary that was evident. It would've been good to see the 1989 events remembered and acknowledged in some way, but the ominous presence of 'the law' made it a little scary for anyone to do anything about it.
The end of our stay in Beijing also marked the end of our travel time with the boys from the boat...sadly, we said our goodbyes and they headed south while we made our way south west on another night train to Xi'an..to stay in the Hyatt. Fact!
Shanghais and Lows
Shanghai 1st impressions: Smoggy, big buildings, crowded, baaaad food.
Shanghai lasting impressions: Smoggy, big buildings, crowded, decent food.
As you can see our 1st and lasting impressions of Shanghai remain largely the same, but for one thing - the food. This may have something to do with our first meal in China, that left a bad taste in our mouths - literally.
A combination of wanting to sample the local cuisine and our complete inability to speak, read or understand a word of Chinese, led us to a small soup/dumpling restaurant near our hostel. The fact that we saw a man selling headless snakes in the shop next door should have, perhaps, made us rethink eating in this part of town... but it didn't and oh how we wish it did. From what we can gather, the restaurant had 3 dishes- soup, dumplings and some kind of animal leg. We opted for soup and dumplings, but what we were served can only be described as bit of some unidentified beast floating in water. We're fairly sure we recognised the chewy texture of liver and kidney, but the rest of the 'meat' remains a mystery. Not wanting to be defeated by food on our first day in China, we attempted to eat it... we ended up eating ice-cream for lunch instead.
Food:1. Amy and Claire: 0
Later that night over a few drinks, the guys we met on the boat (Luke, Rich and Niall) informed us that we would be having a 'tour-off' of Shanghai over the following days. This 'tour-off' would be Boys Vs Girls and involved each 'team' creating a sightseeing tour for the day and leading the others around... basically the guys couldn't be bothered trying to figure out what to do, so elected us girls to go first.
The following morning, 'Amy and Claire's Shanghai Sightseeing Tour' kicked off... however, a substantial lack of planning on our part, due to short notice and hangovers, left the tour as somewhat of a disaster that saw us get lost several times and unable to find the vast majority of sights (such as the propaganda poster museum) on our hastily put together tour list (also known as the Lonely Planet Shanghai Walking Tour). In our defence, there were many factors at play that were out of our control - for example, The Bund, one of Shanghai's biggest tourist draw cards, was completely under construction and there is basically nothing else of interest to see in Shanghai. Furthermore, we were wrongly led to believe that 'The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel' would actually be good and involve a few sights... but given that it is an underwater tunnel, it's not really a surprise that 'sights' weren't involved! Regardless, we felt cheated out of out $8 when instead of a tunnel of sightseeing, we got flashing lights and crackly audio that said something about passing through 'hot magma'... perhaps you might care to look at this link for a better idea... http://www.chinasnippets.com/shanghai-cultural/bund-sightseeing-tunnel/
An entry ticket for The Bund... possibly the most exciting part of the whole experience.
Over the next few days the competition continued and we saw all the sights of Shanghai (that we could find) including a backstreet full of pet stores complete with dead fish and rats lying on the road for cars and unsuspecting pedestrians to squash. Let's just say the competition was a draw (sorry boys, it's our blog and there ain't nothing you can say about it!).
While Shanghai isn't exactly a tourist paradise, it does have a unique 'cultural offering' of it's own... cheap drink nights!! Needless to say, we spent a fair amount of our time there exploring this 'cultural' aspect. We seriously could not believe our luck when we stumbled across bar after bar serving FREE (or near free) drinks every night of the week. We also couldn't believe our luck when in one such bar, we bumped into our friend, Alex, who we knew from Korea who is now working in Shanghai! Crazy small world!
So to Shanghai we say this; Although you were not the best place we have been to, you were fun in your own way. Thank you for the hangovers and thank you, sincerely, for your amazing sightseeing tunnel that robbed us of 15 minutes and $8 that could have been spent on other things... such as fighting locusts.
Monday, June 8, 2009
I'm On A Boat!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_YlkEUOonI&feature=PlayList&p=0516A45938BF35B7&index=0&playnext=1
Have you ever been the victim of random temperature checks??
We have (6 times in 2 days in fact).
Have you ever been forced to buy and wear a face mask??
We have.
Have you ever spent 48 hours on a boat??
We have... and we live to tell the tale!!
Have you ever been the victim of random temperature checks??
We have (6 times in 2 days in fact).
Have you ever been forced to buy and wear a face mask??
We have.
Have you ever spent 48 hours on a boat??
We have... and we live to tell the tale!!
Swine flu... apparently it's a pretty big deal... and apparently when travelling from Osaka, the Swine Flu Capital of Japan, extreme measures are taken to ensure that you don't have or spread the flu to your country of destination.
Prior to being granted permission to board our ferry from Osaka to Shanghai, we had to pass a test... it's not one you can study for, but it is, in this age of Swine flu, the greatest test of all... The Temperature Test. Now, in general, tests of any kind make us a little nervous, but after seeing the guy in front of us denied permission to board the boat, we began to worry a little that we could be forced into quarantine in Japan and miss our ferry to China. That would be just our luck. We waited in anticipation for our turn to take 'The Test', which involved a small Chinese man holding a sensor of sorts about 2cm from our foreheads to check our temperatures. The first 5 attempts at checking Amy's temp were complete failures... apparently a body temperature reading of 3 degrees Celsius isn't normal... good to know our travel fate was dependant on such an accurate and reliable scientific instrument. After some very technical adjustments were made to the sensor (that is, the clerk bashed it against his palm a few times), our temperatures were read and we were finally allowed to board the boat. Phew.
Upon boarding, we were shown to our 16 bed dorm room (ladies only, thank you)... by dorm we mean a 5m X 5m cupboard with windows and tatami mats on the floor... and by bed we mean a very thin mat on the floor with a brick for a pillow. As the last people to get into the room, we were happy to see that it was only half full.. what we weren't happy to see was that our room mates for the next 2 days were 4 Japanese women with a brood of little kids under the age of 5. Every kid on that boat was in our room. Joy! Don't get us wrong, we love kids, but being woken up by a 4 year old smiling at you while jumping from your shins to your stomach (fact) tends to make their charm wear a little thin. Really, in all fairness, they were really cute kids and when they weren't building forts around our beds with the spare pillows and mattresses, or spilling their drinks all over the floor (that was also our bed), they provided us with a lot of entertainment and hugs on our long journey.
In addition to making BFF's with 4 year olds, we were also lucky enough to meet a few other travellers who, like us, had opted fro this cheap mode of transport. As you can imagine, there's not too much to do on a boat for 2 days, so we bonded with our new travel companions with the help of beer vending machine and karaoke bar. We don't know why, but there's something about being stuck in a confined space for a long period of time with the threat of swine flu hanging over your heads that makes you feel like you've known someone for years... so by the time we got to China, these guys were our best friends!
Upon arriving in Shanghai we were greeted by the sight of 10 policemen waiting for our boat to dock. They forced everyone to wait on the boat for an hour while they searched bags and took groups of Japanese men aside for questioning. We're still not entirely sure what was going on, but the boat rumour-mill has it that they were searching for counterfeit money.
After the police allowed us to leave the boat and we passed yet another temperature test, we headed to immigration where we all had to undergo thermal scans before being allowed to continue through customs... well most of us were allowed to continue to customs. Our friend Niall, had worked himself up into such a nervous state that he failed the thermo-scan and was promptly led into a closed room by a man in a biohazard suit. We may never know what really happened in this room, but after about an hour, a shaken Niall was released... he asked us never to speak of this incident again (or something kind of like that).
Finally free from the confines of the boat, our team of 2, now 5 strong, discarded our face masks and stepped out onto Chinese soil.
The end.
Prior to being granted permission to board our ferry from Osaka to Shanghai, we had to pass a test... it's not one you can study for, but it is, in this age of Swine flu, the greatest test of all... The Temperature Test. Now, in general, tests of any kind make us a little nervous, but after seeing the guy in front of us denied permission to board the boat, we began to worry a little that we could be forced into quarantine in Japan and miss our ferry to China. That would be just our luck. We waited in anticipation for our turn to take 'The Test', which involved a small Chinese man holding a sensor of sorts about 2cm from our foreheads to check our temperatures. The first 5 attempts at checking Amy's temp were complete failures... apparently a body temperature reading of 3 degrees Celsius isn't normal... good to know our travel fate was dependant on such an accurate and reliable scientific instrument. After some very technical adjustments were made to the sensor (that is, the clerk bashed it against his palm a few times), our temperatures were read and we were finally allowed to board the boat. Phew.
Upon boarding, we were shown to our 16 bed dorm room (ladies only, thank you)... by dorm we mean a 5m X 5m cupboard with windows and tatami mats on the floor... and by bed we mean a very thin mat on the floor with a brick for a pillow. As the last people to get into the room, we were happy to see that it was only half full.. what we weren't happy to see was that our room mates for the next 2 days were 4 Japanese women with a brood of little kids under the age of 5. Every kid on that boat was in our room. Joy! Don't get us wrong, we love kids, but being woken up by a 4 year old smiling at you while jumping from your shins to your stomach (fact) tends to make their charm wear a little thin. Really, in all fairness, they were really cute kids and when they weren't building forts around our beds with the spare pillows and mattresses, or spilling their drinks all over the floor (that was also our bed), they provided us with a lot of entertainment and hugs on our long journey.
In addition to making BFF's with 4 year olds, we were also lucky enough to meet a few other travellers who, like us, had opted fro this cheap mode of transport. As you can imagine, there's not too much to do on a boat for 2 days, so we bonded with our new travel companions with the help of beer vending machine and karaoke bar. We don't know why, but there's something about being stuck in a confined space for a long period of time with the threat of swine flu hanging over your heads that makes you feel like you've known someone for years... so by the time we got to China, these guys were our best friends!
Upon arriving in Shanghai we were greeted by the sight of 10 policemen waiting for our boat to dock. They forced everyone to wait on the boat for an hour while they searched bags and took groups of Japanese men aside for questioning. We're still not entirely sure what was going on, but the boat rumour-mill has it that they were searching for counterfeit money.
After the police allowed us to leave the boat and we passed yet another temperature test, we headed to immigration where we all had to undergo thermal scans before being allowed to continue through customs... well most of us were allowed to continue to customs. Our friend Niall, had worked himself up into such a nervous state that he failed the thermo-scan and was promptly led into a closed room by a man in a biohazard suit. We may never know what really happened in this room, but after about an hour, a shaken Niall was released... he asked us never to speak of this incident again (or something kind of like that).
Finally free from the confines of the boat, our team of 2, now 5 strong, discarded our face masks and stepped out onto Chinese soil.
The end.
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