This is a big part of what travel is about for me... Getting to know people who are so different, but the same.
Dear Robin ,
How are you ? Are You flying back to US today ?
Sarah and Andy arrived to Dali yesterday and we had breakfast in my place this morning. We were talking about you .
I went through our trip photos , I really enjoy this trip with you guys and specially all the chat with you .
I definitely want to keep in touch with you and hope we would meet up again somewhere in this world ,
You are very real, smart and special , please keep this way . Only smart people can see it .
Warm regards from Dali !
Juli
Sent from my iPhone
Monday, July 15, 2013
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Hong Kong notes
* at midnight on the weekend, what are hong kongers doing in Kowloon? Shopping. No bars, no live music, only shopping.
* the lights of the shopping district in Kowloon could compete against Time Square
* there are too many people here
* the bar on the ocean boardwalk is a magnet for Westerners.
* are all the walking trails paved around here?
* I think I've made the record for the most sweat in one day. It is soooOoo humid.
* good idea: alpha-numeric labelled subway exits. And nice signposting. Well done, HK.
* where to live if you don't want to live in a little apartment in town? A bigger apartment on the edge of town. I guess the building of individual residences has been banned.
* ha, the line for the ancient elevator to the 8th floor of cheap guesthouses was a mile long. What's 8 flights of stairs?
* fresh seafood
Sent from my iPhone
* the lights of the shopping district in Kowloon could compete against Time Square
* there are too many people here
* the bar on the ocean boardwalk is a magnet for Westerners.
* are all the walking trails paved around here?
* I think I've made the record for the most sweat in one day. It is soooOoo humid.
* good idea: alpha-numeric labelled subway exits. And nice signposting. Well done, HK.
* where to live if you don't want to live in a little apartment in town? A bigger apartment on the edge of town. I guess the building of individual residences has been banned.
* ha, the line for the ancient elevator to the 8th floor of cheap guesthouses was a mile long. What's 8 flights of stairs?
* fresh seafood
Sent from my iPhone
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Departure #1
Everyone departed ways today, and it's super sad to see everyone go. For 2 weeks we were a pretty solid adventure group.
It's raining cats and dogs in Lijiang today, and I wish I would have gotten an earlier flight out. (I checked, there are no other options available today.) I'm going to rest in my expensive hotel until checkout time, and then venture out into the rain.
Sent from my iPhone
It's raining cats and dogs in Lijiang today, and I wish I would have gotten an earlier flight out. (I checked, there are no other options available today.) I'm going to rest in my expensive hotel until checkout time, and then venture out into the rain.
Sent from my iPhone
Overrun
Nevertheless, will explore the area more fully tomorrow before my flight to Shenzhen in the afternoon.
Foods
Today at lunch we had ground donkey in one of our dishes. It tasted like beef.
We also had cold pig face salad.
All this while the owner vigorously cleaned the guts of 5 pigs outside in a shallow basket on the ground.
Sent from my iPhone
We also had cold pig face salad.
All this while the owner vigorously cleaned the guts of 5 pigs outside in a shallow basket on the ground.
Sent from my iPhone
The end already
Today is the last day of the tour, and it's hard to believe. I feel like I could go on for another 2 weeks! Julie lives in Dali, Yunnan, and she invited us to visit her. The Aussies are going to Dali, and then traveling on to Bangkok. At home it's easy to forget how alluring it is to just drift-travel. Forget the real world... There is much to see in the rest of the world!
The last few days, we've begun passing through Rice-land. It is warmer here, and the crops produce more. The Liso minority lives here: they wear page boy hats, and strap straw baskets to their backs like backpacks.
Yesterday especially, the 1 lane country road we followed along the Yangzi, through wooden villages, and through rice, corn and tobacco fields was spectacular.
Ready to go again.
Sent from my iPhone
The last few days, we've begun passing through Rice-land. It is warmer here, and the crops produce more. The Liso minority lives here: they wear page boy hats, and strap straw baskets to their backs like backpacks.
Yesterday especially, the 1 lane country road we followed along the Yangzi, through wooden villages, and through rice, corn and tobacco fields was spectacular.
Ready to go again.
Sent from my iPhone
Trip notes
* women sweep the parking lots wearing high heels / platform shoes
* Chinese tourists trudge into the woods to see the Michael Jackson monkeys wearing slippers or heels.
* there are 2 types of small towns around here: quaint wooden villages and not-quaint commercial centers
* everyone eats rice noodles for breakfast
* pigs get walked along the road in the morning. If you hit a pig with your car, you pay for the pig
* beer only comes in the 2% or 3% variety. Pot is a medicinal plant that grows by the side of the road.
* Chinese have an extraordinary ability to sit on tiny 8" stools to eat all their meals
* you never know when you'll spot a camel. Or a water buffalo.
* Selecting a restaurant is done by sauntering into the kitchen and inspecting the available foods. You might even get to select the fish to kill.
* on this side of the village : wooden village; other side: cement factory compound that looks like Oz's Tower from a distance.
* the government will plop down high rise living right next to sleepy village.
* I guess deodorant isn't a thing here.
* no one swims in the river.
* real haystacks: not machine-rolled bales
Sent from my iPhone
* Chinese tourists trudge into the woods to see the Michael Jackson monkeys wearing slippers or heels.
* there are 2 types of small towns around here: quaint wooden villages and not-quaint commercial centers
* everyone eats rice noodles for breakfast
* pigs get walked along the road in the morning. If you hit a pig with your car, you pay for the pig
* beer only comes in the 2% or 3% variety. Pot is a medicinal plant that grows by the side of the road.
* Chinese have an extraordinary ability to sit on tiny 8" stools to eat all their meals
* you never know when you'll spot a camel. Or a water buffalo.
* Selecting a restaurant is done by sauntering into the kitchen and inspecting the available foods. You might even get to select the fish to kill.
* on this side of the village : wooden village; other side: cement factory compound that looks like Oz's Tower from a distance.
* the government will plop down high rise living right next to sleepy village.
* I guess deodorant isn't a thing here.
* no one swims in the river.
* real haystacks: not machine-rolled bales
Sent from my iPhone
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Yak location devices
Ambient audio status indicator ... Cowbell in the bush. Must be a yak yonder.
Sent from my iPhone
Sent from my iPhone
Rambly detail on 104k (Day 2)
The 65mi out of shangri la went like this.
After leaving the thick of the city, we found ourselves in a lush valley floor. The country road had nearly no traffic, and it traced the base of a mountain range in a very circular route. Many yaks, hairy pigs and piglets, sheep, ponies, ducks.... We saw squat houses with rocks holding down the roof that the local Tibetan minority used to live in. Now they are building big, modern houses next door to their old ones. Julie says the Tibetans have profited off of the sale of timber and pork.
After crossing the valley, we joined the main thoroughfare for chinese tourists traveling to Tibet. The road climbed a pass for 5k or so, in a series of switchbacks. Tourists passing us during this climb encouraged us - "Gi-yo" (or "put gas on it") is the cheer. One lady got out to give us each an apple as we passed. Later, I was even requested to pose for a photo with another tourist in the same car!
I can't say I noticed much while climbing. The road is the central focus when spinning up, and I can tell you it was a nice road, with a couple of patches of messy, dirt crossings. Gashed into nearly the side of a cliff, there was much serious erosion control - massive cement honeycombs, faux rock barriers.
The climb was worth it as it was followed by ~25 mi of downhill for the rest of the ride. We're talking: beautiful , fast pavement, sweeping stretches of downhill , with views of the steep black mountains that are so grand and omnipresent, it's hard to take them all in. Some mountain tunnels, some 1 lane construction works ( marked by cones and rocks), some valley inlets covered by debris ( from landslide? Washed out?).
Eventually we reached the river. Milky brown, like the colorado river, this river (called Gold Sand River?) still has gold in it.
Our destination was the town of Benzilan along the river. The village consists of houses, crops, construction works and shops. It felt like a town in serious transition. Not to be missed on the outskirts of town: a newly built, huge, formidable compound of a middle school that, from a distance, Sarah and i were musing must be the next James bond villian's top secret estate.
I imagine in 5 years this area will be a very different place.
Sent from my iPhone
After leaving the thick of the city, we found ourselves in a lush valley floor. The country road had nearly no traffic, and it traced the base of a mountain range in a very circular route. Many yaks, hairy pigs and piglets, sheep, ponies, ducks.... We saw squat houses with rocks holding down the roof that the local Tibetan minority used to live in. Now they are building big, modern houses next door to their old ones. Julie says the Tibetans have profited off of the sale of timber and pork.
After crossing the valley, we joined the main thoroughfare for chinese tourists traveling to Tibet. The road climbed a pass for 5k or so, in a series of switchbacks. Tourists passing us during this climb encouraged us - "Gi-yo" (or "put gas on it") is the cheer. One lady got out to give us each an apple as we passed. Later, I was even requested to pose for a photo with another tourist in the same car!
I can't say I noticed much while climbing. The road is the central focus when spinning up, and I can tell you it was a nice road, with a couple of patches of messy, dirt crossings. Gashed into nearly the side of a cliff, there was much serious erosion control - massive cement honeycombs, faux rock barriers.
The climb was worth it as it was followed by ~25 mi of downhill for the rest of the ride. We're talking: beautiful , fast pavement, sweeping stretches of downhill , with views of the steep black mountains that are so grand and omnipresent, it's hard to take them all in. Some mountain tunnels, some 1 lane construction works ( marked by cones and rocks), some valley inlets covered by debris ( from landslide? Washed out?).
Eventually we reached the river. Milky brown, like the colorado river, this river (called Gold Sand River?) still has gold in it.
Our destination was the town of Benzilan along the river. The village consists of houses, crops, construction works and shops. It felt like a town in serious transition. Not to be missed on the outskirts of town: a newly built, huge, formidable compound of a middle school that, from a distance, Sarah and i were musing must be the next James bond villian's top secret estate.
I imagine in 5 years this area will be a very different place.
Sent from my iPhone
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Random notes from yubeng and beyond
* the owner of this guesthouse employed a hammer to reshape my door frame, to help me get my door closed.
* we drove in on chill-out-cow road. Cows saw us coming, then sat down in the road
* the locals cover the trail we hiked, on a regular basis, with their babies, 3 year olds, and TVs
* erosion control on highway isn't working. They aren't using any plant life either to hold the cliff sides in place
* flies, gnats
* the tree mushroom is good to eat, the fern that Fox collected - not so much. Beware flavor bombs in the food
* mr luen is on better behavior now, and driving more slowly.
* gold sands river would be a good one to raft. Afloat on chocolate milk
* the countryside we hiked through today looked storybook: rustic cabins in green fields next to river, with horse grazing, and single track trail cutting through
* clear the roads with big machine that heaps rocks down onto the dirt road below
* pigs, chickens don't wander around freely in this town. They are held on barnyards. I'm certain I saw the barn, pig, chicken for charlotte's web.
* no tourists in this town. We've finally left the tourist trail behind
* hike into yubeng village was trashed out and over-touristed. Too many mule trains.
* hike out of yubeng village was like Sound of Music
* huh, "tea houses" are little huts that sell sodas
* prayer flags in nature begin to look junky after a while. But for all these Chinese tourists visiting these sacred waterfalls, they indicate holiness of the area. Highlights the different purposes for nature. I like my nature pristine
* all this Chinese food is beginning to seem the same
* how are we going to cross this river? Never fear: there's a log crossing just here
* all these hoteliers that say they have wifi but don't
* all these hotel bathrooms with showers that point onto the toilet.
* they never give you enough toilet paper
* how about scaling the side of yubeng village in pouring rain? Glad I brought that rain coat
* how do people in the village know whose pig they are killing?
* what a pleasure to have electricity. And sit down toilets.
* how did yubeng villagers get riding lawn mowers over the pass?
* awesome little mini canals that siphon water off of the rivers to the towns' waterworks
* spotted: crested mynah bird
* Fox has all the info; Julie doesn't, but only Julie speaks English
* spotted : 2 other white people in yubeng village
Sent from my iPhone
* we drove in on chill-out-cow road. Cows saw us coming, then sat down in the road
* the locals cover the trail we hiked, on a regular basis, with their babies, 3 year olds, and TVs
* erosion control on highway isn't working. They aren't using any plant life either to hold the cliff sides in place
* flies, gnats
* the tree mushroom is good to eat, the fern that Fox collected - not so much. Beware flavor bombs in the food
* mr luen is on better behavior now, and driving more slowly.
* gold sands river would be a good one to raft. Afloat on chocolate milk
* the countryside we hiked through today looked storybook: rustic cabins in green fields next to river, with horse grazing, and single track trail cutting through
* clear the roads with big machine that heaps rocks down onto the dirt road below
* pigs, chickens don't wander around freely in this town. They are held on barnyards. I'm certain I saw the barn, pig, chicken for charlotte's web.
* no tourists in this town. We've finally left the tourist trail behind
* hike into yubeng village was trashed out and over-touristed. Too many mule trains.
* hike out of yubeng village was like Sound of Music
* huh, "tea houses" are little huts that sell sodas
* prayer flags in nature begin to look junky after a while. But for all these Chinese tourists visiting these sacred waterfalls, they indicate holiness of the area. Highlights the different purposes for nature. I like my nature pristine
* all this Chinese food is beginning to seem the same
* how are we going to cross this river? Never fear: there's a log crossing just here
* all these hoteliers that say they have wifi but don't
* all these hotel bathrooms with showers that point onto the toilet.
* they never give you enough toilet paper
* how about scaling the side of yubeng village in pouring rain? Glad I brought that rain coat
* how do people in the village know whose pig they are killing?
* what a pleasure to have electricity. And sit down toilets.
* how did yubeng villagers get riding lawn mowers over the pass?
* awesome little mini canals that siphon water off of the rivers to the towns' waterworks
* spotted: crested mynah bird
* Fox has all the info; Julie doesn't, but only Julie speaks English
* spotted : 2 other white people in yubeng village
Sent from my iPhone
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Over the pass (Day 4)
It is always hard to describe a long event without sounding like a breathless 10 year old. How do you convey the experience of persisting through a challenge over time? Inevitably, these events end up being extremely emotional. Self-doubt, determination, despair, triumph, pleasure... And at the same time, taking in the surroundings. While focused on the grit, it can almost be impossible to take in all that is around you.
Today's challenge was comparable to climbing mt Kilimanjaro in difficulty. Given my lack of preparation, my fatigue from prior days cycling, the heaviness of the bike, the altitude gain (especially after living at sea level for a year), the discomfort of a constant breakfast of rice noodles, and the distance, I really thought I wouldn't make it. But I did! All I can say is a history of cycling and endurance sports paid off.
The route took us from 2200m, up constant switchbacks, varying from 1-8% grade, to a pass at 4200m, where we hung out with yaks, posed for Chinese tourists, and stood in awe of the view of Meili Snow Mt, which was shrouded in clouds. We thought we had reached the top, and that the rest would be downhill. But clearly there was more climbing- 2 or 3 km, Fox said. He lied, it was an additional 10k of uphill to the next pass @ 4400m. (and at this point, every km was painful) After which, all downhill (well, mostly) to our hotel in Dequen.
Sent from my iPhone
Today's challenge was comparable to climbing mt Kilimanjaro in difficulty. Given my lack of preparation, my fatigue from prior days cycling, the heaviness of the bike, the altitude gain (especially after living at sea level for a year), the discomfort of a constant breakfast of rice noodles, and the distance, I really thought I wouldn't make it. But I did! All I can say is a history of cycling and endurance sports paid off.
The route took us from 2200m, up constant switchbacks, varying from 1-8% grade, to a pass at 4200m, where we hung out with yaks, posed for Chinese tourists, and stood in awe of the view of Meili Snow Mt, which was shrouded in clouds. We thought we had reached the top, and that the rest would be downhill. But clearly there was more climbing- 2 or 3 km, Fox said. He lied, it was an additional 10k of uphill to the next pass @ 4400m. (and at this point, every km was painful) After which, all downhill (well, mostly) to our hotel in Dequen.
Sent from my iPhone
Halfway up the mountain (Day 3)
Some cheesy Chinese pop music playing on a sleek stereo system in this biker hotel. Why the inescapable music instead of basic wifi? I hear chinese tourists tend to be loud. The party is here.
This is a tiny pit stop town on the way to Tibet, or Meili Snow Mt (where we're going). Pigs are running (in) the street! Monks hang out with locals in the storefronts and gawk or play mahjong.
We walked to the top of the hill where there is a Tibetan Buddhist nunnery. Almost everyone we pass (walking or cycling, for that matter) - working crops or passing on a motorcycle -smiles or waves and says "hello". Those who don't greet us just stare.
The women in the nunnery shave their heads and wear the same robes as the monks. They focus their lives on being a benefit to others.
Survived uphill day #1 - 17mi of uphill- but tomorrow is supposed to be harder. 24 miles of even more uphill, starting at altitude ~7000 ft, ending at ~9000 ft. My legs are tired from the last 3 days of cycling, and I am not able to strategize my fuel intake on rice noodles and peanuts. Will see how it goes, but good chance I'll be taking a ride in the van.
Sent from my iPhone
This is a tiny pit stop town on the way to Tibet, or Meili Snow Mt (where we're going). Pigs are running (in) the street! Monks hang out with locals in the storefronts and gawk or play mahjong.
We walked to the top of the hill where there is a Tibetan Buddhist nunnery. Almost everyone we pass (walking or cycling, for that matter) - working crops or passing on a motorcycle -smiles or waves and says "hello". Those who don't greet us just stare.
The women in the nunnery shave their heads and wear the same robes as the monks. They focus their lives on being a benefit to others.
Survived uphill day #1 - 17mi of uphill- but tomorrow is supposed to be harder. 24 miles of even more uphill, starting at altitude ~7000 ft, ending at ~9000 ft. My legs are tired from the last 3 days of cycling, and I am not able to strategize my fuel intake on rice noodles and peanuts. Will see how it goes, but good chance I'll be taking a ride in the van.
Sent from my iPhone
off the map
Today I biked from 2200m to 4400m, and back down into a valley.
No internet here, and there will be none for next 3 days. (I am using Julie's limited data on her phone.) have several posts that will get uploaded all at once in few days. Stay tuNed.
Off to hike to Yebeng village.
--
Sent from Gmail Mobile
No internet here, and there will be none for next 3 days. (I am using Julie's limited data on her phone.) have several posts that will get uploaded all at once in few days. Stay tuNed.
Off to hike to Yebeng village.
--
Sent from Gmail Mobile
Monday, July 1, 2013
110k to benzilan
I only have 20min on this very dirty laptop computer in Benzilan. We
are on the road north towards Tibet. Chinese tourists and cyclists
make this pilgrimage, over passes, along valleys, to experience Tibet.
We won't make it all the way to Tibet -- we'll turn southwest just
short of the border.
The roads here are impressive- beautifully paved new roads cut into
very steep cliffsides. Some obvious need for serious erosion control.
There is construction everywhere here. The town of Benzilan is chock
full of new fancy residences, squeezed in between pig sties and trash
piles. Julie says a new power plant, being built on the Yangze nearby,
is boosting the local economy.
OK, will have to cut this short. But today has been pretty epic, and
the 65 miles went quickly.
are on the road north towards Tibet. Chinese tourists and cyclists
make this pilgrimage, over passes, along valleys, to experience Tibet.
We won't make it all the way to Tibet -- we'll turn southwest just
short of the border.
The roads here are impressive- beautifully paved new roads cut into
very steep cliffsides. Some obvious need for serious erosion control.
There is construction everywhere here. The town of Benzilan is chock
full of new fancy residences, squeezed in between pig sties and trash
piles. Julie says a new power plant, being built on the Yangze nearby,
is boosting the local economy.
OK, will have to cut this short. But today has been pretty epic, and
the 65 miles went quickly.
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