Saturday, December 6, 2008

Ba Da Ling Great Wall

One More Train Trip:

For our Final Adventure in Beijing this year, we decided that the Great Wall of China would be a perfect topper to our little slice of China. We were going to go to the Simatai section of the wall, since it was reported to have the least tourists, and the least rebuilding. We would have been able to see it in it's weathered condition. Thursday as I mentioned in a previous blog, was the most drastic cold front in Beijing yet, and the temperature hasn't made it above freezing since. We couldn't justify taking a 2 day trip out to the Simatai portion of the wall in this weather, so we settled for the closest, most touristy section of the wall, the Ba Da Ling Great Wall.

We actually woke up this morning, pretty early. We were going to head out early, but we really just lingered until 11am in the apartment. I am going to chalk this up to the cold temperatures. Thanks to Fan, we were prepared, and knew the perfect way to reach the great wall. There is a fast train that goes from Beijing North Railway station on the S2 line that is inexpensive and goes straight to the Ba Da Ling section of the Great Wall. We caught a taxi and headed to Beijing North Railway Station.

Despite it's opening in August of this year, the station is still incomplete. It's a bit of a maze to make it to the actual railway, but the path is well marked (In Chinese) and pretty easy to find. We bought 2 first class seats (a price difference of 3 RMB per seat between first and second class) grabbed some snacks for the train (Beijing street foods) and headed in to the railway waiting area. It was about ten minutes and the train arrived. We loaded up into the train and headed out.

The first class seats are spaced widely apart. The fascinating thing is that you can actually swivel the "row" of 2 seats around to face the ones behind them. There is a table/tray stowed in the back of each chair. Cullen and I took our seats and got ready for the 1 hour train ride. The seats were comfortable, the train was cozy, and we were prepared for a wonderful ride. The first class area was pretty empty. About 2/3 of the seats were empty. We had a very young couple next to us, a pair of girls behind us that were a little older than the couple, and two men directly in front of us. The female in the couple next to us settled all her bags in the two seats in front of her, then popped out her laptop. She immediately blasted the car with Mariah Carey, and her boyfriend, when the announcements came on, was kind enough to turn the volume down out of respect for everyone else in the car. One of the two men in front of us immediately move to the very front of the car into an empty seat once she started the music.

For 1/2 an hour or more, she blasted the same Mariah Carey song on repeat while they both slept. One of the girls behind us finally tapped the boyfriend on the shoulder and he turned it off. She immediately changed to song to another and put that on repeat. It was a song in Chinese, so I'm not sure what it was, but I could probably sing it to you. Cullen and I were both excited to get off the train and away from that laptop.

Despite this, the train ride was exciting. It went pretty fast and the ride was relatively smooth. Once we saw the Great Wall, all I could say was "wow". It really is an awe inspiring sight the way it snakes over the mountains. I have heard it described as a 'dragons spine laid over the mountains,' and I could think of no better description.

Where's a slip and slide when you need it:

We walked out of the train station and up up up toward the entrance to the Ba Da Ling Great Wall. This section has been developed so that even the disabled can climb the wall. I don't think we actually climbed the side that is disability friendly though. Once we started climbing the wall Cullen remarked, "China has the best paved hiking trails." The inclines on some of the spots in the wall were ridiculous. There was one part, where we were coming down, where we couldn't even see the stairs from the beginning of the set of stairs, the incline was so steep. I could see myself tumbling to my doom, and not stopping until a nice sharp curve in the wall. We were really lucky it hadn't snowed. I wouldn't have braved the wall under those conditions.

I have read several posts about very persistent vendors at the Ba Da Ling Great Wall, so I was prepared to be ambushed at the entrance where all the shops were. These posts neglect to mention that the vendors are actually ON the WALL while you are struggling to climb up. They are gathered in clumps in places where people take a break from the steep incline, and ambush you when you are half out of breath. It's really just a matter of ignoring them though they will yell after you for a bit. Cullen didn't have a scarf for our journey, so he decided to bargain for one, since there was no shortage of scarf vendors. She started pretty high, but Cullen managed to get her down to a reasonable price. We walked to the fort at the top, then worked our way down again... being stopped by another vendor, who knew how much he had paid for the scarfs and offered him a slightly lower price. It's really amazing how they communicate with each other. When we passed the scarf-vendor he had bought the scarf from, they wanted to know how much he had paid for a book of the great wall he had bought from another guy. It's really funny. I love the vendors here. They are all such good sports and so friendly. It's so much fun to watch Cullen bargain with them. Even though I know they are just trying to sell things, they really are amazingly friendly. One lady, while her partner was bargaining with Cullen, helped me correctly pronounce the phrase for "how much is it" in Chinese.

After making it off the wall and back to the train station, I stood in a very short line for tickets for the return trip. While I was in line, a man with a camel sauntered by the railway station. Cullen quickly grabbed the camera from me and went to go try and take photos. He returned with three photos of him and the camel. I don't think it spit on him either.

The sun had set by the time we settled onto the train back. We were hoping for a much more pleasant ride, in a similar time span. This ride actually took about 1/2 an hour longer than the trip there, and despite the no smoking sign on the train, the car was filled with cigarette smoke the whole ride back. This time, the train didn't go as fast between stops and was a bit more rough.

Fancy Pants and his amazing Dance:

When we got off we were both starving, so we decided that the Pizza Hut marked on the map near the railway station would be a fair enough stop for dinner. Through a bit of adventure that I will omit here (Cullen can tell everyone if he likes) we managed to find the mall containing the Pizza Hut. When we entered the mall, the temperature change was drastic and welcome. I pulled my cap off and loosened my scarf. We seemed to have entered in the middle of a break dancing contest complete with a huge sound system and dance floor. It appeared to be the preliminary rounds when we arrived and we were too hungry to watch much before dinner, so up to the second level we went for some Pizza Hut excitement.

Dinner as usual in Pizza Hut. When we were done, I decided to snap a bit of video from the dance contest. It was nifty. Then we caught a taxi home. Our final adventure was complete with a bit of surprise dazzle at the end.

Friday, December 5, 2008

This is cold

Yesterday when we woke, the temperature was at -2C, not unreasonable considering the sun hadn't quite warmed things. Well, as the day progressed, the wind banged things around and caused a constant whistling in the bathroom. Around 3pm the temperature had dropped to -6C and by the time we went to bed it had made it down to -10.

Having no experience with subzero temperatures and laundry hanging outside,I decided to do laundry in this ridiculously cold temperature. It was a bit cold to hang the clothes on the balcony, but not so cold that I expected what Cullen found in the morning.

Cullen went to retrieve a piece of clothing to wear, and what he returned with was a shirt that was frozen stiff. It took a bit to thaw it over the heater, but the towels were especially frozen. On normal days it usually takes about 2 days to dry them on the balcony.

Laundry, the new experiment.

I also want to add that I think Beijing wastes it's subzero temperatures. What good is a temperature below freezing if you can't have snow? Where's the Snow? The climate is too dry, they say.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Thanksgiving

To everyone I was unable to reach with our Thanksgiving wishes, I would like to extend them to you as well. We missed home so very much, and family. I arrived home from my short vacation with Fan the day before Thanksgiving, and was totally excited to be back with Cullen, but a bit too exhausted to take on an entire Thanksgiving meal. I cooked our Thanksgiving meal on Friday.

I found the simplest cornbread dressing recipe, Cooked some cornbread, crumbled it with some white bread we bought from the store, stuffed this into a chicken, then baked that while I made the mashed potatoes and green beans. The whole meal took hours to prepare since you can't find things like canned green beans, prepared stuffing mix, or seasoning mixes for Thanksgiving here. We both agreed that it definitely tasted like Thanksgiving. The only missing ingredient was family.

It's just a bit over a week until we fly home now. See you soon.

day 8?

Do Over:

We slept until we woke without any assistance. We knew our flight was at 7:55pm and we weren't going to put anything in our way to keep us from flying home today. We packed everything for the last time, storing at the front desk of the hotel this time. We headed out to have some lunch since it was already 11:30 by the time we made it down stairs and out of the building. We went to the Golden Gates street, which we were told had a long string of restaurants. We stopped at the first one we saw. Fan went in and ordered pork on the bones and some soup for both of us. The soup arrived in stages. First was the bowl of noodles and a spoon, then was the platter of things to add to the soup. This platter consisted of a large plate with beef, fungus, and some greens such as mint and spinach. There were 3 smaller platters stacked on top of the large dish. One containing onions, another containing pepper and sliced chili peppers, and the final with some more veggies. The final part of the soup arrived, the chicken broth. It was boiling hot and in a bowl ridiculously large. Fan had asked one of the older women at the table next to us how to put the meal together. She said that in Beijing it is always already in the bowl when it arrives, and you never have to put it together yourself. First goes the meat, fungus, and greens on the lower plates... then the veggies and onion platters. You dump the noodles on top of all this, then pepper it to your tastes. I refused to put the meat in mine, uncertain if the broth was hot enough to cook it. Fan dished the extra meat into her bowl.

The meal was delicious and quite filling. I had become better with the chopstick on this little adventure, but still managed to splash some boiling hot broth into my eye while eating. Fan explained the history behind the way the dish is delivered. There was an old politician (I may be recalling this incorrectly. I can't remember what the old man's status was. Maybe he was just a scholar or philosopher.) who desired to live his days apart from his wife, studying all day. Their separate houses were connected by a bridge, and the husband would read books all day long on his side of the bridge. The wife would cook for him, but every meal she cooked would be cold by the time she made it to him with the food. She decided that if she brought the separate pieces of the meal to him, then the bowl of boiling broth, he could finally have a hot meal. I was told it was called a Cross Bridge dish.

After our hot meal, we headed to the Golden Gate just around the corner. The gate was beautiful and Fan explained that if they were great politicians, the people they governed would erect a Gate in their honor so you would be remembered.

We wandered around a little in this area, finding that the wares sold here were the same wares sold in Li Jiang. Fan managed to find a map vendor and on the map, she discovered we were very close to the zoo and a Buddhist temple. We walked the few blocks to the temple and Fan decided, despite he lack of religion, to make an offering to the Buddhist god. She offered incense sticks for money and good luck. She desired mostly the good luck.

The temple was beautiful and the waters were filled with turtles and coy. The peace and quiet of the temple was a very welcome and needed change from the busy city. We spent quite a little bit of time in the temple. Fan made her prayers and I just sat quietly thinking.

When we left the temple, we headed to the hotel to pick up our bags then go to the largest flower market in Kunming. This, I speculate, must be the largest flower market in China, as Kunming is the "Flower Capital" of China. It was large indeed. We had to make our way through a maze of Coffee and Coffee products to finally reach the flowers, but the flowers were an even larger maze of green, red, purple, blue, yellow and pink. It was beautiful. Almost every booth that sold flowers also sold bouquets of dried flowers. There were flowers that were said to bloom if you sprayed them with water for a few days, and flowers that were examples of these bouquets already bloomed. The odor and appearance of so many flowers in one space was intoxicating. The fragrances weren't overpowering, just light and fragrant enough to entice buyers.

We took turns monitoring the luggage, since there was nowhere to store it in the flower market. Fan returned with several new purchases. I only bought one bouquet of roses for Cullen's and my Anniversary to add to the lilies he bought. We made it out of the maze unscathed and had a quick soup at a restaurant outside of the flower market. Once done eating, though it was only 5pm and we were moments away from the airport, we headed out to get a taxi to the airport. The taxi, despite the traffic, dropped us off well before 5:30pm and we didn't dilly dally. We went straight to check in and head to the terminal. The security check was rather speedy and we made it out without any issues. We sat from 5:55pm to 7:35pm waiting. Fan taught me a bit of useful Chinese, and we were both glad to be waiting at the terminal and not the least bit unhappy about the long wait.

When we boarded the flight, we were much more relaxed, and the 3 hours went by very quickly. Landing at 11pm and retrieving our luggage was hassle free. We hopped in a taxi and headed first to her home, then me alone for the rest of the ride back to Cullen. It was so good to be home. Beautiful day, that.

Flights (aka confusion)

Final Farewell to Li Jiang:

When we woke, at 7:30am to take the photos, the temperature wasn't as cold as it had been. We dressed, gathered our things for our return, and headed out for breakfast and a bit of exploring. The taxi to take us to the airport was to arrive at about 11:00am since our flight out wasn't until 1:05pm. We stepped out of the gate, the lovely one-eyed dog leading us along. We followed him for a bit, all the way to the middle school in the area, then stopped at a noodle vendor for some breakfast. The noodles were tasty, and we had a lovely time relaxing there at her small table to eat up the warm breakfast. These Chinese breakfast foods were growing on me here in Li Jiang.

Once done with feeding ourselves, we started out to explore the parts of Li Jiang we had yet to see. About an hour into the exploration, we started running into multiple tourist groups. At one point, I decided that I would sit and wait for a tourist group to pass... instead of passing, they all decided this was the perfect time to take a photo with the Westerner on the bench. I can't even count how many people took a photo with me as they passed. They were very kind and friendly about it.

Once the photo session was done, Fan and I continued exploring for a bit, catching all the places of interest that we had missed, and headed back to the hotel to wait for the taxi.

The taxi was right on time, and we loaded up and headed to the airport. We arrived early enough to catch lunch, but since we couldn't find an easily accessible restaurant in the Li Jiang airport, we just checked in and went to wait for the plane.

The plane arrived on time, and we boarded at the time scheduled on the dry-erase board. The airport had very few terminals.

Landing in Kunming:

Once we finally took to the air, the flight was short, sweet, and without incident. We had quite a long layover until our flight from Kunming to Beijing so we decided to store our luggage with the airport security. They charged 5 RMB per bag up to 4 hours and 10 RMB for 4-10 hours. We headed out to see the park that is reported to have all the birds, and were then going to visit the small flower market near the airport so as not to encounter any traffic jams, since the taxi driver had warned us the road construction on the main street was causing traffic jams in the city. It was Tuesday, so we knew we would need to avoid 5pm traffic. Our flight left at 7:55pm, so we were going to head to the flower market at 4:30pm, then from there hit the airport between 5:30 and 6pm to get dinner and our bags and check in for the flight.

We found the park just fine, and since we couldn't find any restaurants near by, we settled for food from the bakery that we could choose to share with the birds if we wanted. We each had a buttered and sugared bread and another pastry. My second pastry was a hot dog wrapped in sweet bread with cheese and some green onions baked on top. This was glazed with a sweet sugar glaze and baked to perfection. Fan's second pastry appeared to be a filled sweet bread, but I was more interested in my lunch than questioning her about hers.

We headed across the street to the park and were amazed at the numbers of migratory birds floating in the small lake. At first I thought this had to be all the birds there were, the numbers were amazing, but when we started down the path, we noticed another lake filled with birds. I'm horrible at estimating, but I can say for approximation there were about 2 birds per square foot, and these birds were about 2/3 the size of your average duck. They were packed in there.

I was far too hungry to share my bread with the birds, but they didn't mind taking Fan's hand-outs. Like any birds, they would squabble over the small bits of food. After a generous wander around the park, we caught a taxi to the Flower Market, well before the alarm for 4:30pm went off.

We made it to the flower market and were informed that the airport was a short walk from the flower market and we wouldn't even need to take a taxi there. We browsed the wares of several booths, purchasing some small gifts and then Fan found some blue roses to buy for herself. She was amazed at how cheap they were compared to their price in Beijing.

Dinner and failure:

After securing our gifts and such we headed toward the airport. We were ahead of schedule, and none to worried. We were told the airport was only 5 min away, but found ourself walking for 30 min to get there. This was fine since we arrived at the airport around 6pm with plenty of time to eat a meal and get our luggage back. We headed to the KFC again and sat down. We left KFC at about 6:45 to get our luggage and, instead of being able to just go retrieve it, we had to wait for an attendee to bring it to us. This took until about 7pm, which had us a bit frustrated, so we had to hurry back upstairs to wait to check in. We still appeared to have enough time to get through security, to the gate to board the plane. We waited in line to check in and I pulled out my passport. Fan pulled her wallet out to get her ID, but couldn't find it. She searched for a while through her bags, trying to find the ID but eventually told me to check in while she looked.

I got to the front of the line, but the attendant said she wouldn't help me and that I should go to another line. I am still uncertain why she moved me to another line, but I went to the next line, and waited for the 2 people in front of me. By the time I reached the front of the line, I can't even speculate what time it was, but the attendant told me I was too late and that I should go book another flight. My spirit was crushed.

Fan had gone somewhere to look for her ID or to call someone. She was nowhere to be found. I was alone, and couldn't read a word of Chinese. All the flights and flight listings were in Chinese. I had never in my life missed a plane before and certainly not in a country where I couldn't speak the language. I was exhausted from lack of sleep and so overwhelmed.

I set my bags down in the middle of cold airport floor and just cried. I couldn't think of what to do. I was horribly frightened.

About 2 min. after sitting down on the floor, I called Fan. I could barely get the words out... "I missed the flight. They told me I was too late."

"Oh wow." was her response. She couldn't think of what to say.

I sent a text message to Cullen and he was astounded (he may well have a different description and is more than welcome to contribute).

I just sat there for a while, crying. The couple from Shanghai said hello to me... all I could manage was a wave back. I had tears pouring out of my eyes and my mind was running in circles while all I saw was Chinese characters. A girl came up and asked me in perfect English if I was ok... of course, I had a hard time getting the explanation out, but while I was telling her, Fan called and told me to come over to the entrance of KFC where she was looking for her ID still. I thanked the girl, she was so kind and caring, and headed over to where Fan was frantically pulling all the contents of her bags out on the floor.

Fan was certain she would have to spend the night in the airport because without an ID you can't even book a hotel in China. With me there, she could at least book a hotel with my passport. Though this made things easier, she still searched over and over for her ID. Taking a break only to go find out how she could get tickets back to Beijing and how much work she would have to do to get her identity verified.

When Fan returned, she noticed that her ID was right in the window it was supposed to be in, just buried behind some business cards she had received. We were both relieved. Not only could we book tickets and get out of Kunming the next day, but she was now able to book a hotel with ease.

Fan booked the tickets for the same flight number the next day. We headed out of the airport and jumped in a taxi for the hotel her husband had found on the internet near the airport in Kunming. We were both a bit shaken and just wanted some sleep. Thanks to Cullen and Fan, I was able to calm down and get some rest.

Riding with Tour Groups

On the road again:

We woke early, gathering our things once again, this time to go back to Li Jiang. It was difficult to get up in the morning, have gotten less sleep than usual, and waking early enough to get breakfast while waiting for the bus. The owner of the hotel was in the dining room when we finished breakfast, willingly discussing the cost and work he put into the beautiful hotel. It was clearly not complete, but lovely none the less. The interior decoration of the rooms was still in progress. The bathrooms were functional, but not yet done. The rooms were lovely, but only mostly decorated. It was simple, but I would have loved to see his completed vision. Maybe next time I decided to take a trip out to Lugu Lake, I will stay in this completed hotel.

The bus arrived only a few moments too late, and we were told that we would be transferred to another bus shortly so it didn't matter where we sat. Other passengers were picked up, and we were taken to a hotel further up the mountain. The hotel was in a far less tourist trafficked area, and it was obviously cheaper. The bus we transferred to was a tourist bus. This bus had 32 seats, about 8 of which would be empty when everyone had loaded up, so we were told to wait until the tourists had all entered the bus, then could have our pick of the seats. The seats we had booked were seats at the back of the bus for 50 RMB per person. We had no trouble, once the bus was loaded, finding room to sit. The driver of the bus on the way back was far more careful and made sure to stop frequently before lunch so everyone had ample opportunity to go to the restroom at fairly clean facilities. The tourist in the group didn't like stopping so much, and complained loudly about it on multiple occasions. At lunch, the bus driver expressed his displeasure with the complaints privately and told us we should take this opportunity to go to the bathroom, since he would only make one more stop in the next 4 hours of the trip.

True to his word, there was only one more stop on the trip, and we made it back to Li Jiang by 6pm. We had to walk a bit to get back to the hotel, but once again, it wasn't far, and we made it just fine. We dropped off our bags at the hotel and had dinner at the restaurant the hotel had recommended the first night we were there. This restaurant was noisy, crowded, and obviously clean. The way to pick a good Chinese restaurant is by how many clients frequent it. This one must have been one of the best in Old Town Li Jiang. The food was delicious, and I had no doubt about the cleanliness of the dishes. The waiter was friendly as well, being able to converse a little in English with me. I found that people in this part of China who approach me to speak English are more interested in practicing their English or just finding out more about me than trying to sell me something, like in Beijing. The people were so friendly and happy to see a Westerner here. I enjoyed the meal and the conversation.

Final night in Li Jiang:

Fan and I, knowing this would be our last night in Li Jiang, wandered the streets, looking for gifts and small purchases that wouldn't make our luggage too heavy. We enjoyed the night, and Fan desired to visit a bar before we left, just to get a taste of the night life that was so famous in Li Jiang. We passed quite a few bars with loud laughter, singing and banging on the tables. It was such an interesting night. The bar we entered was more of a beatnik sort of place. All of the patrons were artist, or fans with a desire to be different from the norm. The room was darkly lit and the people were all enjoying quiet conversation. We stayed for only a few moments, but I truly enjoyed the atmosphere. If I were better at speaking Chinese, I think I really would have enjoyed this quiet bar. It was lovely.

We headed back to the hotel well past 1am and got ready for bed once more. We wanted to get up early to take some nice photos before the tourists came out. Fan set an alarm for about 7:30am and fell quickly asleep.

Floating Boats

Sunny Mornings:

We were going to wake early and set an alarm for 5:30am, the time we were told to wake to catch a boat to see the sunrise on the island in the middle of the lake. The incessant alarm wasn't enough to get us out of bed. The temperature outside was too chilly, and we were cozy under the covers, so we fell back asleep. The roosters tried to rouse us several times, but we were far too comfortable. The curtains began to glow with the beginnings of a sunrise, and Fan rose to open them so we could watch it from the bed. We both quickly rummaged for our cameras and waited for the full sun to peak over the mountains to the East. I had never imagined that I would be able to watch the sun rise over the mountains from bed through a sliding glass door. It was truly awe inspiring.

We both then got ready for breakfast and switching hotels. We packed everything and went down stairs to see what was for breakfast. I ordered an American style breakfast. The first I have ever ordered while in China (not including the buffet breakfasts at the hotels in Hong Kong and Dongguan). The plate was huge filled with 2 slices of bacon, scrambled eggs, 2 pieces of toast, and french fries. Fan ordered a Chinese breakfast which was much cheaper than mine. I also ordered a coffee, since it was of the freshly ground persuasion that is extremely difficult to find in China. I made it through 1 piece of bacon, 3/4 of the eggs and some of the french fries before I was stuffed. Despite my excitement at having American food, I realized that my stomach couldn't hold enough to make it worth my while. The hotel's dogs really liked us after breakfast. We saved the toast to feed to the birds on our boat ride out to the island.

If there was a cloud in the sky, I didn't find it. The sun beamed down on the water shimmering and glittering as we made our way to the other hotel. Or spirits were high, despite our inability to get more passengers for our trip. We were going to pay 65 RMB per person to get a VIP trip out to the center of the lake, then the the Goddess Mountain and back to the hotel. It was a days worth of travel, and lots of work for our boat drivers. It was expressed to us, prior to setting out, that we would need two people to set the boat into the lake and make it to the center. We were willing to pay the price for such a special trip. As we set out, the elderly couple took their places on the wooden boat. The woman was at the head of the boat, with the large Canoe ore, and the man was at the back with the thinner ore, steering the pig-trough boat. The only boats allowed on the lake were these wooden traditional boats. They were a canoe of sorts, made from multiple pieces of wood with joints carved to match one another. I am not certain what type of sealant they used, but the boat was not quite water tight. By the time we reached the center of the lake, we were in about an inch deep puddle of water that the couple started removing as we exited the boat to go explore for a bit.

They had dropped us off at a set of concrete stairs, leading up to the top of the hill that was the island. The steps were reasonably easy to ascend, and we were greeted with a large house overlooking the lake. The house belonged to Joseph F. Rock for 27 years between 1922 and 1949. Information on Rock can be found here:

http://huntbot.andrew.cmu.edu/HIBD/Departments/Archives/Archives-HR/Rock.shtml

Just at the top of the hill was a Buddhist temple and a small garden. The resident came out for a bit, with his dog. The flowers in the garden were lush and beautiful, but obviously untamed. There were bees and butterflies flitting about in the midst of all the flowers. It was wonderful to see all the colors and contrast high on the hill with the mountains for a backdrop.

Once we finished taking photos and exploring, we headed back to the boat where the man a woman had finished evacuating the water that had accumulated during our ride over. They were taking a break and readily loaded back on to the boat when we arrived.

The oars in the water were mesmerizing. The patterns that traced our path as we pushed through the small waves trailed us. We relaxed on the way to the foot of the Goddess Mountain. The sun was well past it's zenith, and the time was about 1pm. We were ready for some lunch, so Fan made sure we could find some in the village at the foot of the mountain. We were assured that we would be able to eat some food before out trip up the mountain, and that they would wait for us while we ate and possibly took a look at the Goddess Mountain itself.

The old man took us to a home, but the residents weren't there, so he brought us to the Sichuan restaurant near the gondolas. We were ready for a good meal, and Fan ordered some Hot Pot with tofu and eggs. It took a while for the food to be prepared, and in the mean time, Fan chatted with the restaurant/hotel owner. He offered to show us the view from their rooms, which cost only 60 RMB per night, since they weren't on the most beautiful section of the lake. He told us he would show us around for an hour if we wanted, for free. Fan liked the idea, and once we finished eating, we went to take a look at the hotel room. The room was beautifully clean and well decorated. We snapped a few photos of the view from the room and headed back out.

Our trip to explore the area surrounding the mountain was cut short by the man's request that we return to the boat. His explanation was very vague as to why he wanted us to return, but we went back to the boat and rode back to the hotel with him. His wife had already headed back on foot.

Once back at the hotel, still with no clear explanation, Fan set up two seats on a bus for us to head back in the morning around 8:40am. We were hungry, so we decided to head out for dinner. This was our last day on Lugu Lake, so we decided to have dinner at the Jazz Sofa, a hotel that is reported to be the place that Westerners stay during the summer tourism months. The food was decent and the atmosphere was relaxed.

When we left the restaurant, we found the pair from the bus was staying the room next door to us. We all had a nice chat and I went to bed early. Fan chatted with them for hours more, heading to bed long after I had fallen asleep, which was already after midnight.

We retired to our hotel after our full day of water and sun behind us.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Paradise for Men

Heading out:

Our ride was going to arrive between 7:20am and 7:40am, so we woke early and hurried to store our excess baggage with the inn and lugged our backpacks down to wait for the bus driver. We expected that we could get a small amount of rest on the bus. The bus driver arrived at about 7:30am just as he had reported he would. Fan tried to ask him how long the ride would be, but he wouldn't give her a straight answer. When the other couple came down, Fan tried again, and all he said was that there were several factors that would determine whether or not we could make it in the expected 6-8 hours. He said there was a great possibility of traffic jams for several reasons, but wouldn't go into much detail, frustrating Fan. She decided that she didn't like the driver much when he wouldn't give her a straight answer. We walked with him down the streets filled with nothing but residents on this Saturday morning. All the tourist were sound asleep from a night of partying. We exited Old Town and loaded onto the bus. There was only one other occupant of the bus, obviously a resident of the city, waiting when we loaded. The driver told us he was going to stop at a transfer station and that we would leave from there soon, but had time to catch some breakfast there.

We arrived at the transit station and I was out of tissues and wanted to pick up some juice and water for the trip, so before finding breakfast, we stopped in the nearest convenience store and grabbed some odds and ends. I quickly stashed my 10 new packs of tissues in my purse and threw the water and orange juice in my backpack as we sat down at the nearest restaurant to have a breakfast of bean Kurd (we had tried this the morning before) that I poured sugar into in kind mimicry of the others at breakfast. It was not bad but we ate quickly as to not miss the 8:20am departure time.

Once we arrived back at the bus, we returned to our seats and a bus attendant came to collect our 70 RMB for the ride. We were settled and ready for the trip with our bellies lightly filled. The ride promised to be interesting as soon as I heard that there were 5 mountains involved. On our way to the first mountain, the driver began his information session. He started by touting his amazing driving skills. This was to say that he informed us that he was a great driver, one of the best in these mountains. He then listed the three reasons for delays on the mountain roads. 1.) Traffic jams due to construction. The road we were about to travel on was currently undergoing major renovations and this involved a lot of rock moving. 2.) Traffic jams due to rock slides. The passes were through the mountains, and in some places the rocks were loose. 3.) Traffic jams due to the local market. The people in the mountain towns were not as keen to stay off the road during their market trading. The roads were theirs, and they would use them as such.

All of this speech was translated by Fan, but none of his attitude was lost in the translation. As we started into the mountain road, he continued to tell us how good he was at driving as he flew past other buses and mini-vans on the road. He teetered us back and forth with immense speed on the turns. He reported that the best driver in the mountains was faster than he was and 50% of his passengers vomited. We stopped about once an hour to use the restroom, but I refused to use it the first two hours.

After the last stop before lunch, we had a visitor join us on the bus. A honey bee stowed away on someone's shirt and started buzzing about in the bus. The bee narrowly escaped getting squished by the male of a Beijing couple directly behind us who insisted it must be eliminated. In front of us was a Shanghai couple, the male of whom wore Buddhist prayer beads on this wrist. The bee landed on their window and with his quick thinking, he captured it in a clear plastic cup from a snack he had earlier and used newspaper to capture it. It escaped and the procedure was duplicated, capturing it on the glass and sliding the newspaper under it to keep it from escaping. This time he succeeded in reapplying the cap to the container and put the bee safely in his tiny trash bag.

We stopped for lunch in a larger town just over the second of the five mountains. As we entered the restaurant, the mews of a tiny kitten filled the courtyard area where the tables were set up. I searched for about 5 minutes to find the source of the mewing, then I saw him. On top of the roof to the cooking area, a orange striped kitten who couldn't have been more than two months old yowled. It was the cry of a stuck kitten, though there was obviously a way down for him. One of the restaurant attendants poked a long mop handle at him and he skittered to the other side of the roof, out of sight.

This meal was more like a buffet, but cost us 10 RMB per dish. We pick a beef dish and a veggie dish. The food was good and we sat at a table with several others, all sharing our dishes. The Kitten reappeared, once again mewing just as everyone was paying their bills. We reentered the bus and were off again. It wasn't until about an hour later that I absolutely had to use the restroom. I was in for a very unpleasant restroom trip. I can't say it was really unexpected, but there was no pretending it was anything but disgusting. If you read any forums or descriptions of really disgusting restrooms in China, this would fit the worst of them. I will not go into detail unless personally requested, but for future note, this trip is not for those with cleanliness issues since this is the ONLY way to get to Lugu lake from Li Jiang. There is no avoiding the 8 hour trip or the restroom breaks in these sorts of restrooms.

Entry to Paradise:

We arrived at the entrance to Lugu lake where we were requested to pay an 80 RMB (39 RMB for students) entrance fee. Once everyone had paid the young jewelry adorned bus attendant, he took the fee out to the park ticketing office and paid, returning with tickets and discs for everyone. This stop took a total of about 7 min. and we were off again.

The road was just as winding and bumpy as previously, but the anxiousness took the edge off the bumps. We reached a scenic spot and stopped for a break. The people filed out of the bus to listen to a presentation at the map while I, not understanding a word of what he said, went to use the restroom. This bathroom charged 1 RMB for use, but was considerably cleaner and obviously well kept. I was more than willing to pay 1 RMB for the use of this restroom after the ride up to the mountain. Fan explained that he was just doing a bit of advertising and explanation of the area. It was nothing to get excited about.

We walked out to the scenic overlook and took some photos, then headed back to the bus. When we got on, the bus driver started asking where we should go next. He was trying to convince everyone that it would be the perfect time to take the gondola up to the top of Goddess Mountain and that he would drive the bus there if we all wanted to go. Fan protested that she just wanted to go to the hotel. The bus driver asked people to raise their hands if they wanted to go to the mountain. Only one person raised her hand. Eventually he had the bus convinced that they would all go to the Goddess Mountain, but Fan insisted that he take us to the transfer station so we could just get another bus to the hotels. The bus driver agreed to take us to the transfer station then headed further down the path.

Once again the driver stopped, but this time at a small harbor to the lake that had several pig-trough boats stationed with several boat owners. All but 6 of us were convinced to load into a boat and take a ride out to the center of the lake. There was Fan and I, the couple from Shanghai that sat in front of us, and a younger pair. Fan talked to the bus driver again, insisting that we just wanted to go to the hotels, so the bus driver told us to get back into the bus and he would drive us there. He obviously knew the length of time it would take for them to get out to the island in the center of the lake and back, because he was diving the bus filled with all their backpacks and belongings in his usual break-neck fashion. Once he stopped the bus near the hotels, all 6 of us filed out, hunting for a nice hotel. The pair behind us consisted of a girl from Southern China and a man from Hong Kong. The Shanghai couple had already booked a hotel and went directly there. We hunted for a good hotel with the girl and man, whom we found out had just met in Li Jiang and were traveling together because it was easier to get around in pairs rather than alone. The hotel they had planned to stay in was beautiful, and the waitress at the bar, who was also a hotel receptionist, spoke decent English as well as understanding everything I said. She told us there was only one lake view room left and it had a double bed instead of two twins. This wouldn't suit the other pair, though she did have some twins available that weren't lake view. The pair went off to find another hotel, while we booked the room with the lake view, since that was the real reason we spent 8 hours on the bus. The view was amazing and the room was so refreshingly clean. It was even better than the inn in Li Jiang. The price was a bit higher, 120 RMB a night, but completely reasonable considering that we could watch the sun rise from the bed.

After settling the matter of a hotel, and stowing our back packs, we set out to watch view the water and find a good dinner. We walked down to the water's edge and saw a sign for the pig-trough boats and their fees. Once talking about what we really wanted to do for a boat ride, we were greeted with a boat owner. The boat owner debated with Fan about the price of the trip she wanted. What she wanted to do was to go out to the island in the center of the lake, then travel to the shores of the Goddess Mountain and maybe take the gondola to the top, then take the trip back to the hotel. The boat owner told her that the price for such a trip would be 120 RMB after much debate, but if we could find more people, it would be cheaper for all of us.

Fan decided that she wasn't sure we found the best hotel. Since the festivities of the night didn't start until 9pm we were hungry and in search of dinner. The man Fan had debated with about the price of the boat ride, kindly offered to introduce us to the Grandmother of the village. We had heard that you could eat dinner with Grandmother and that you would pay whatever donation you felt like contributing. We followed the man to Grandmother's house and he knocked and introduced us to Grandmother's grandson who kindly informed us that Grandmother hadn't cooked anything, but we were more than welcome to meet her.

Grandmother's House:

The house was constructed with a wide courtyard in the center. The courtyard was barren, but nicely open to the sky and wind. Directly across from the entrance door was the door to Grandmother's room. The temperature outside was a bit chilly, but as soon as we entered Grandmother's room, the wind was cut and the cozy fire near Grandmother's bed made the temperature perfect.

Grandmother was a small, slightly hunched, beautifully wrinkled 82 year old woman with silver hair wearing a lovely purple dress. Her skin was a color graced by years of sun and weather. Her hands were knotted from years of use and she moved very little. Her grandson added kindling to the fire, brought the wine out for us to drink, and answered her every whim. He also acted like translator between Fan and Grandmother, since Grandmother spoke very little Mandarin and Fan spoke absolutely none of the local Mousu language.

Fan asked for me how life had changed for her since she was a child. The old woman answered through her grandson that she had been a slave as a child and when Chairman Mao's revolution succeeded, she was freed from her slavery and was permitted to live a life that she chose. She was very thankful for the People's revolution and to Chairman Mao. Fan then asked about how she felt about the tourism, despite her reluctance since she expressed that it was a very complex question and the woman may not understand since her education was limited. Her response was that she was grateful for the advances the tourism has allowed them.

We were then offered a shot of the local wine that the Mousu women make. I asked, through Fan, how it was made. The grandson couldn't answer, he said the women all did the work. He asked Grandmother and she said it was a wheat based drink with fruits added. The drink had a very distinct flavor. It was not unpleasant, just very distinct.

Fan mentioned that we would be attending the dance that night and the grandson said he would be there. Fan made him promise to invite me to dance, which she only announced to me after he had agreed.

Once we finished our conversation with Grandmother, she agreed to let us take photos with her. We then left. I had a desire to leave some money with the family, but Fan insisted that since we didn't have dinner with them, there was no need. The grandson showed us their Buddhist worship room, which we were followed to upstairs by three small puppies. Two brown and one black. He also showed us a preserved pig. The pig was killed, emptied of all it's organs and bones, except the skull, then filled with salt. After filling the pig with salt, it was then sewn shut, lasting for years with out refrigeration. The puppies followed us back downstairs and into the courtyard again, where we thanked the grandson and left, the little back puppy following us out. He retrieved the puppy and waved good bye.

Dinner and Dancing:

With out stomachs still empty, we headed back toward the hotel, hoping to find a restaurant on the way. As we exited the alley way, we were greeted with a group roasting a piglet. Fan and one of the men had an exchange that she said went something like this.

"Would you like to eat this pig? You can have the whole pig for 60 RMB," Which was reported to be a scam on the internet.

Thinking quickly, Fan replied,"No thanks, she is American and they don't eat pork."

There was quite a bit of laughing and I totally recognized them saying that I was American back and forth. When Fan explained what she had said to me, I reported to her that she could use me as an excuse any time she needed to.

We found a restaurant near where we were staying, and noticed the Shanghai couple was eating there. Fan asked them what was good, and the recommended yak and frog legs. The restaurant was like a Korean BBQ place with a grill on the table and hot coals put in the grill. Fan ordered yak, potatoes, and some lettuce leaves. The procedure for putting the articles on the grill consisted of coating them with oil then placing them on the outer edges of the grill to let them cook properly. We even grilled the lettuce leaves. It was and interesting meal, and quite delicious, if not completely sanitary. I was finding that things in this area were not entirely sanitary and I would have to be a little guarded about what I ate here.

Once we finished our meal, it was still a bit early so we decided to head out around the surrounding area and check out the hotels to see if we could find a better deal for the next night.

We found a better hotel at a better price which Fan managed to get the price down even further. The hotel had spacious lofts build entirely of wood and decorated in fabrics, each room of a different color. We loved the rooms, but decided to continue to walk around the area and find out what the rest of the hotels were like. We walked all the way out onto a tiny peninsula that had the most expensive hotels. They were all lovely, one of which had no wall, only a large glass pane facing the sunrise. There was no balcony though, and the room was a bit smaller than other rooms at this price. We continued looking. Fan insisted on looking at the last hotel on the peninsula, the one she had hoped to book for our stay, but it had already been completely booked for the time we would be there. The hotel rooms had balconies that when you walked out on them, the water was underneath you. Fan debated with the bartender for a while, trying to get him to show her a room, but he refused, since all the rooms were booked and he wouldn't open a room that had an occupant. One of the guys in the hotel overheard the conversation and was currently staying in the hotel and offered to let us see his room. He was also from Beijing and was to be on the same flight home as we were. The room was just as beautiful as we expected, and we thanked him for letting us just have a peak at it. Fan's curiosity was finally satiated, and we headed back to the hotel with the colored rooms to book the next night with them.

Once our hotel for the next night was set, we headed to the dances, ready to experience the culture of the native peoples. We were a little late, so we rushed to sit behind the dancing. The colorfully dressed people were all dancing in a circle around a central fire. They would dance until the song was over, then the women would warm their hands at the fire, and the men would start the next dance. There were a series of dances, then the crowd was separated into the locals on one side of the fire and the visitors on the other. This was an emulation of the courting ritual that the locals used to practice. The men would sing at the women and the women would respond with a song. It would go back and forth for a while, so first the locals sang a song at us, then our side responded with a song. This went on for a while, then the single singing started. First it was a man that sang across and picked a woman from the locals to sing. Then a local man picked a woman from our side and back and forth for a bit. The crowd on our side begged that I sing something. Fan sided with them and convinced me to sing something. I was the very last person to sing, and of all things, I chose to butcher the National Anthem. It was the only thing I could think of quickly. My brain tends to shut down when I am on the spot like that. I mutilated the song, everyone cheered, then it was over. I was elated to be out of the spotlight. The locals sang a farewell song and we all filed out.

I was shaking from the nerves until I fell asleep.

The air up there!

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain:

Before Fan came to bed, she managed to wrangle us some companionship for the trip up to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. There was a couple staying next door to us that was also going to make the trip, so we knew that it would be cheaper with more of us and the had already set up a taxi for the ride. We went out to have breakfast at the same place again, and found another companion for the trip. Fan convinced a honey-mooner that since his wife was off to Lugu lake, he should join us as well.

We all caught the cab that the couple had arranged for the trip to the mountain. The receptionist at the inn insisted that we take two bottles of oxygen. If we didn't use them, we wouldn't have to pay for them, but they were only 15 RMB each if we needed to use them, and if we got to the mountain and needed to purchase one, they would be between 30 and 40 RMB. We figured we had better be safe than sorry. I was certain that I would probably need them by the time we reached the peak of the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain.

The Honey-mooner who's wife had set out to Lugu Lake sat next to the driver in the front. He and the driver got in a very heated exchange that Fan said was about his fear that the driver would cheat him. I wasn't sure if I should be worried or if I should be thankful that he was making sure we wouldn't be cheated. Once we arrived at the gate to the mountain, we all had to pay 80 RMB to enter the park. This fee was a normal fee in Li Jiang for maintaining the Old Town in it's current condition. We were each given a receipt to prove that we paid the fee, and were able to enter several parts of Old Town Li Jiang with this receipt.

The drove on a bit into the park that surrounded the mountain. The park was in the 3000 meter range, and Fan was feeling the thin air. It was difficult for her to keep up with the rest of the group, and I was in no mood to rush. The couple and the lonely groom were headed directly to the line for the gondola up to the top of the mountain. We handed over our 120 RMB and let him buy the tickets for us. The system they used to fill the gondolas was the same as any official business in China...take a number.

We were going to have to wait at least and hour and a half to go, so we set out to experience the White River. The White river runs from the top of the mountain and has the clearest, bluest water I have ever seen outside of a swimming pool.The water was brilliant, and the foliage around the area was nothing less than spectacular in it's reds, yellows, oranges and light greens. I have never experienced such a gorgeous, crisp atmosphere with such amazingly beautiful water. There were 3 man-made dams where the bus stopped for us to view the river. The first of the three was amazing. It was a multi-teared dam that made puddle-like steps of water as it went down. The second and third dams were waterfalls, but just a little too uniform to be natural. Between the first and second dams were a few yaks with saddles on. Several tourist were sitting on them, taking photos for 10 RMB each. The yaks looked so fuzzy and lovable, I just wanted to pet their heads... I resisted the temptation, feeling they may be quite irritable considering the number of tourist they have to see every day.

We made our way down to the last damn and then loaded ourselves onto the little trolley-like tram that took us back to the buses so we could get in line for the gondola. Little did we know, when we arrived back at the terminal we had initially bought the tickets at, we had to catch another bus to get to the line for the gondola. We then waited in the line for the gondola for 2 hours. By the time we got to the head of the line, we were about ready to say forget it. The wind was preventing the gondolas from running regularly, and even though we could get in now, the thought of motion sickness occurred.

Once inside the tiny metal structure, we were all fine, and the wind wasn't strong enough during the ride up to give any of us any trouble. The sky was still almost completely clear. There were a few clouds that formed from the top of the mountain, but none that lingered long. They all seemed to evaporate quickly into nothingness.

Cold Oxygen Ahead:

I took my first tentative step onto the snow in my worn-out old Nike's. The slick packed snow didn't work well with the rubber treads in my shoes, there was nothing for them to grip, and I slipped a little as I made my way to the wooden walk-way. The sun was harsh and bright at this altitude. We started to brave the many steps to the top of the mountain. Fan was breathing heavily, and her lips were starting to turn purple. The temperature, as we had expected, was very cold and tended to bit through thin layers. Fortunately, we had both planned for this and wore our down coats and thick scarves. It took us quite a while to make it to the top. Fan had to stop at least 5-6 times to use the oxygen. I was very concerned, but the two men in the group tended to her and made sure she was breathing enough oxygen to make it. Once at the top, an altitude of 4,680 meters, we took the opportunity as a photo break. We all got shots at the top and then headed down. We were the last to descend from the peak, and thus had the honor of being the last tourists on the gondola. I had held out pretty well, not needing any oxygen, just a few breaks. I surprised myself.

Intestinal Anticipation:

Once back in the taxi, we were all happy to be down from the mountain, as beautiful as it was. We rode back into town and had dinner at a hot pot restaurant. The couple we were with really wanted to have intestines in the hot pot, and were polite enough to ask me if it was ok. Of course I couldn't say no, but this also meant that I would have to try some. I wasn't going to be rude. I waited as they lit the fire to the table and started the broth boiling, preparing myself to try something I had always told myself I wouldn't ever want to eat. I am aware that sausage is packed in intestines, but this is completely different. I didn't really know what to expect. When they brought out the plate of meats, black sheep meat and intestines, and slid it into the pot of bubbling water, I sat and watched the slices of rubber-hose looking intestines roll around. My mind went through every possible flavor/texture I could to prepare myself for the worst. It certainly looked clean. It wasn't discolored or slimy looking. It really, literally looked like medical grade rubber hose chopped up into bite sized pieces and slid into the broth. As soon as the boiling water had cooked the intestines and meats enough, I was encouraged to be the first to try the intestines. Of course, having prepared, I was ready. My real first impression was that it tastes exactly like it looks... flavorless and a bit chewy. The broth was a great compliment to the nothing flavor. The bit of chicken-like broth flavor was easy to handle. I must admit, I didn't chew it for long, being that I knew at some point I would realize what I was eating and might not be able to swallow it. I tried a few more pieces with the same result, little flavor and lots of chewing. I wasn't impressed or disappointed with this little flavor/texture adventure. The other dinner participants were greatly impressed that I actually ate some. They liked that I was willing to try their foods. Why not, they had obviously welcomed me into the group without question or discrimination. These were the kinds of people I enjoyed spending time with.

Just after the meal started, the lonely groom's wife appeared to share dinner with us. She appeared to be a very independent and strong woman. She shared her pears from Lugu Lake with us all and then told Fan about the beauty of the lake and the 'Most Hansom Man' in Lugu Lake and how she was a bit disappointed since he had gotten older. She convinced Fan that we should go in the morning. Fan had been trying to decide if we should just stay in Li Jiang or take the long ride out to Lugu Lake.

We finished the meal and paid the bill then caught a taxi back to Old Town with a bag full of scraps for the dogs. We were ready for a long trip the next day, not knowing how we were really going to get to Lugu Lake, just prepared for the bus ride.

Upon our arrival at the inn, the receptionist let us know that another couple was going to the Lake and we could join them on their bus. It would be a total of 120 RMB for the round trip. It sounded reasonable and we were prepared to go. Now the trick would be to get enough sleep despite our excitement.

Horse Riding again

Lashi Lake:

We just woke of our own accord in the morning, ready to find out how difficult it would be to plan a trip out to Lashi Lake. The morning was clear, crisp, and just a bit chilly. The altitude of the city was high enough to have been reported to give some people altitude sickness, but both of us were fine. We dress and prepared to greet the puppies down stairs. They were bustling about by this hour, it was about 9am, and happy to see people. Fan asked the inn attendant about getting a ride out to Lashi lake and how much it would cost. The attendant contacted a driver and informed us that it would be a bit expensive. Despite the fact that I felt 120 RMB wasn't excessive (20 USD) the truth was that it is excessive for the area, so we went to have breakfast and ask around about finding a better deal. We sat down and had some breakfast pizza and a bowl of noodles for breakfast. The 'pizza' consists of wheat breading with eggs and green onions with a bit of cilantro sprinkled inside. It is then folded in thirds and sliced into four pieces. The noodles had a chicken broth and were made of rice. Bits of cilantro and green onions floated in the broth as well as a nice portion of red pepper. The Southern provinces seem to enjoy very spicy and heartily seasoned dishes, even for breakfast. Since we were both still a slight bit hungry, Fan ordered what she referred to as a 'pancake' but was just a fried flat bread, thick with multiple layers and a crisp exterior. The bread was all cooked in a cast iron flat pan over a fire at the front of the restaurant just off the street. All of the food, though unfamiliar to me, was quite delicious, and the flavor wasn't too strong either. Typically I'm not much for spicy foods in the morning but I found it to be pleasing and a great start to an exciting and adventurous day.

Fan conversed with all the tourists at the table in the restaurant and found out that the trip could be much cheaper than the 120 RMB we were quoted, and also found that we could rent bicycles to go out to the lake. While she talked with the tourist, two women in red coats walked up, asking if we were looking for a trip out to Lashi lake, and offered to take us there for 5 RMB each. Having done research, and being well aware that once we were out to the lake, we would have to take a trip up the mountain on horse back, Fan prepared to bargain the price for the trip up the mountain down to 100 RMB per person. When we arrived at the lake, there was a posting of the prices for the trips up the mountain and a sales man pushing for the 280 RMB trip. Fan discussed the price with him in heated detail for about five to 10 minutes and got the price down to about half. Once we were on the horses, we were in for quite a ride. The guide handed Fan a thin twig to use as a switch for the horse since she would be in the lead. The trail was beautiful. The water for all of Li Jiang started up in the mountains here, and the small streams of it trickled to the lake beside the path.

As we rode past other groups of tourists, they all said 'Hello' and 'Ni Hao' to us. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits this after noon. We stopped at a small cluster of native houses who had set up some seating for guests under small wooden covers. The water before us was called the 7 colors lake. It was created by the source of the water. The natural spring that poured from the mountain was touted to make you healthier and fix your cough. Despite the clarity and chill of the water, I was unable to bring myself to drink any of it.

We rested for a while, here at the source of the water, and had two BBQ potatoes each. Chinese peel the skin off their potatoes, so I followed suit. The inner potato was just as delicious as any baked potato I have ever had. As soon as we finished our tea and potatoes, we were setting off back to the lake for our trip in a small boat out into the lake.

Fan requested that we have lunch before our outing onto the lake, and the food was a set meal. The cooks make the same meal for everyone, charging 10 RMB each. There was a potato dish, a pork dish, and sugared tomatoes for desert. Of course, the tea and rice came with the meal. It was a decent deal and filling after the ride. I couldn't complain.

There were ducks and small birds around the lake, floating and enjoying the waning sun. By the time we set out in the metal 'pig-trough' boat, we were full and happy. I was so very glad I didn't have to ride a horse anymore. I adore horses and love riding them, but the two hour ride had left me sore and raw. I experienced the same issues I had from the ride in Mongolia. Despite my immediate desire and love for riding, I was in no shape to get back on a horse any time soon.

The two women who had brought us to the lake, also joined us. They appeared quite happy, and ready to guide us to our next location. The village of Sue He is one of the Naxi villages in Li Jiang that is touristy, but is reported to still maintain a semblance of normal Naxi culture, unlike the part of Old Town Li Jiang we were staying in.

Out on the lake, our guide sang a bit of a song, then conversed with Fan about how he wanted us to run away to Li Jiang and not go home. The area was beautiful, but neither of us was ready to set up camp in such a remote area of China. While pushing us back to the shore, he continued to chat with Fan. The two guides pretty much ignored the conversation, and Fan continued to insist that we were going home.

Su He:

We made it back to the mini-van that had driven us out to the lake and rode on to Sue He. The trip took between five and ten minutes. We hadn't yet paid the guides or the driver yet, and were very curious how much the trip was going to cost us. When we arrived at Sue He, the driver dropped us off near the police station, and the guide lead us into the city. Once in the city, our guide requested 20 RMB each. Surprised at getting off so cheap, neither of us argued about the price, it was more than reasonable for the fuel and time they had all spent.

Inside the village, the sky was clouding up a bit, but the sun still cut across the roofs and colorful paint of the buildings. The streets and buildings were precise duplicates of the ones in the part of town that we stayed in. There were quite a few hotels, and behind them, resident dwellings. There were a few photography studios and the same shops lining the street that were in the other parts of town. The prices in these shops were more reasonable and the tourist numbers were far lower. In one of the stores, there was a photo set up with a Chairman Mao dummy. Fan took a photo of me with Chairman Mao, then I took a photo of her with him. Each of us paid 5 RMB for this privilege.

As the sun began to set, we discovered a small store with scarfs and a Naxi Princess costume. Fan convinced me, with a bit of cajoling, to pay the 10 RMB to wear the costume and take photos in it. The costume consisted of a skirt, shirt, two beaten silver neck adornments, and a large silver crown. Though I felt ridiculous in the get up, I was happy to have a ridiculous image to mark the journey. While removing the costume, the shop attendant informed Fan that the costume actually cost her 3,000 RMB.

Fan refused to try on the outfit, but we snapped a few photos of her on the bridges over the stream in the town. The sunset was beautiful and the light was perfect. Our adventure ended with dinner in a small local restaurant. We realized, once we sat down to eat, that this small place wasn't made for tourist, like the two we had eaten at the previous day. This dinner was still yak meat, but the other patrons were all residents of the town. We also had a green bean dish and a bowl of rice each.

Once finished, Fan convinced a driver to take us back to a transfer station in Li Jiang proper. The city was just as bustling and modern as any Chinese city I have ever experienced. The price for a bottle of water in the city was 1.5 RMB compared to the 2 RMB and 3 RMB they charge in any tourist area. Fan chatted with some locals and found out that our hotel wasn't far enough for us to need to take a taxi, so we just walked the 10 minutes back to the Hotel. Taxis aren't allowed on the streets of Old Town Li Jiang, so it would have been silly to try and take one there anyway.

We showered and went to bed, ready to conquer the mountain in the morning.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Flying away to Li Jiang


Flight to Li Jiang:

Cullen escorted me downstairs to catch a taxi at about 5:40am. The air was a damp coldness that bit through our clothes. The temperature was below freezing, and the quiet of the street only emphasized the chill. It only took a few moments to catch a cab, which is typical. As I pointed to the airport terminal that I wanted to go to on the map, Cullen closed the taxi door, and I was off for my first adventure without him in China.

The taxi ride took about an hour. It was quiet on the streets so early in the morning. I was looking forward to sleeping in the plane. I had only gotten about 3 hours rest the night before, and really wanted some sleep now. I struggled to stay awake in the taxi, but once we arrived at the airport, I slung my backpack on and went into the huge airport awake and excited. Fan suggested we meet at about 7:20am since our flight was to leave at 8:35am. I arrived at the airport extremely early and was ready to wait. Fan arrived at 7:00am and we checked in. I didn't have any baggage to check, but had a large rolling bag that was currently about 1/2 empty. When she arrived, the airport was just starting to liven a bit. We made through security and back to the gate with no trouble. The waiting area was starting to get pack, but still had available seating for us. It wasn't an unpleasant wait for the plane. The announcements in the airport were in Chinese and in English, so there was no trouble knowing what was going on once we were in the waiting area.

We boarded the plane on time, and the flight was pretty uneventful. They do tend to cry wolf about turbulence though. It appears that all Chinese flights are this way, since no one even paid any attention to fact that you shouldn't use the lavatory during turbulence. There was a constant stream of people back to them during the 3 hour flight.

They served us breakfast on the flight wich consisted of hot noodles, 2 types of bread (a bun and a muffin), as well as fruit and some processed meat product cut into rounds on top of some veggies. I was surprised at the amount of food they serve on the flight, even though it is just small portions of each. There is lots of flavor and nutrition in the food as well, compared to the microwaved dishes I am used to on flights.

The flight landed in Kunming on time, and we collected Fan's checked baggage then headed to KFC for lunch. Our flight to Li Jiang wasn't until 3pm and we arrived around noon, so we had plenty of time to relax in the airport's KFC. We stayed in KFC until around 1:50 then went to check in again and head to the gate for our flight to Li Jiang. The wait was again, not unpleasant, and there were enough seats for us to not feel rushed. We were taken out to the plane on a bus. The flight was again, uneventful. The flight time from Kunming to Li Jiang was only 45 min., so it was mostly just an ascent then a decent. There wasn't much time between the two. On the flight, Fan started a conversation with the passenger that was sitting on the aisle seat beside her. The woman was a resident of Li Jiang, and a freelance journalist/photographer. She invited us to her home while we were in Li Jiang. She didn't speak much English, but she did say hello to me and show me a picture of her lovely little poodle named 'Happy'.

We arrived, once again, on time. We weren't greeted with a bus this time, we were just expected to walk into the airport arrival terminal. It wasn't too far, but was an interesting experience. The airport only has 4 terminals. All on ground level. This was my first experience with such a small airport.

Fan had arrange for us to have a mini-van come and pick us up at the airport for 60 RMB (10 USD) which was a fair price, considering the distance the airport is from 'Old Town' Li Jiang, where our inn was located. The ride was interesting. We passed several black smoke clouds that contained trucks, and the view of the mountain range was spectacular.

Dogs of Paradise:

After arriving at the Inn, I realized why it is considered an 'inn' and not a hotel. I believe there were a total of 8 rooms available for booking. There were five up-stairs rooms and 2 down-stairs rooms. All of the rooms were similarly equipped with a modern bathroom, TV and beds. They were all beautifully furnished and completely constructed of wood. I soon came to find that Li Jiang and the surrounding areas had no shortage of wood. The windows were all equipped with beautifully ornamental shudders. The carvings were mostly the likeness of animals and trees. There were loads of colors and beautiful fabrics used in the decorating of the rooms. The sheets smelled of fresh bleach, and the bathroom was clean and furnished with modern facilities (this is not always the case in China). The bathroom was only furnished with complimentary shampoo, conditioner, and hand soap. It was suggested by Fan, prior to our leaving, that I bring anything I might need to bathe with me. I had forgotten to bring a towel, so had to borrow one from the inn, but other than that, we were set.

The inn had about 4 resident dogs. One, obviously having had at least one litter, and 3 males. The largest of the dogs was a chow. His temperament was not what I normally expect from these dogs. His name was 'Happy' in Chinese. He appeared to be the dominant dog. The other 2 males were relatively passive. The black and white little male was very attention hungry, and the orange and white was missing an eye from a fight with the dog next door. They were all very sweet and loving. They didn't skitter about like frightened dogs, nor did they hop around like puppies. It was truly pleasant to have such company in the hotel while we stayed. I dearly miss the girls.

After dropping off our luggage in the room, we headed out to have some dinner and a look around in Li Jiang. We found a few really popular restaurants, and opted for a more quite location for our first dinner in this popular Chinese tourist town. We found a nice place away from most of the nightlife. The dinner was a nice pan-fried dish with yak meat and a veggie plate with potatoes to top our bowl of rice.

While eating our meal, two western tourists requested a peak at our map. I speculate, from their accent, that they were either French or Spanish. They looked more Spanish but Europe is so small, there really is no telling. They didn't speak much, just enoughs to get their bearings and were on their way. A mangy dog visited us while we ate as well. She was apparently a nursing mother, but looked so very gaunt. I had to restrain myself from feeding her some of our food. She could have fared far better at another restaurant, where there were more customers.

Inside the restaurant, there were many bottles of fermenting wine. Fan explained that it was Chinese medicine in the bottles. The contents ranged from Fruits and berries to chopped up Bull testicles. Though amazed, I was not surprised. The stories of Chinese medicine are not unfounded. It truly is a very interesting, and unscientific practice that is extremely prevalent in China.It appears to be far more prevalent outside the big cities.

The sun had fallen by the time we finished our meal, and so we started to wander the streets of 'Old Town' Li Jiang. The stone streets are not designed for driving. As a matter of fact, it is forbidden to drive a car on the streets of Old Town. They even ask that bicycles be walked through the streets and not ridden. Despite these rules, we had to move out of the way of a few cars and motorcycles several times.

Equipped with a map, we headed to the Square. Li Jiang's night life is famous in China. There is a beautiful stream running through the center of 'Old Town' and near the square, the stream is linned with bars and restaraunts. It was near 9pm by the time we made our way to the square. We had stopped to take a quick look at the different and interesting items in the small shops.

The noise from the square reached us long before we even saw the beautiful waterway. There were a few Styrofoam lotus flowers floating in the river with candles in the center. You could pay an amount to make a wish and float the candle on the stream. There were also coy fish you could buy to release into the stream to make your life long and peaceful. The warm glow of the red Chinese lanterns illuminated all the streets. People sat around fires in some of the bars and sang very loud songs to each other. In other bars there were dancing areas. The bar waitresses and waiters were dressed in traditional local clothes. The area was loud and full of energy. There were a few hotels higher up on the side of the hill that contained 'Old Town' and we decided to have a look. Circling in the air above the hotel, in the night lights, we could see swarming bats. Their cries were so very distinctly bat cries. I asked Fan if she knew anything about bats, but she said there weren't bats in China. Despite her lack of faith in my observation skills, I was certain they had to be bats. The night was too dark for them to have been birds, and much less, birds that would sing at night.

The view from the top of the hill was amazing. All the red and yellow lights from the town were glowing in a sea of corrugated Chinese roofing. As we sat and sipped our drinks, my hot chocolate and her hot milk, we relaxed and breathed the fresh mountain air. The sky had been clear and beautiful during the day, and the night was proving just as clear and lovely as the stars punctured the black of the sky with their white light. We conspired to head to Lasha lake the next day and then headed back to the inn.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

1 year ago

Today, November 18th, was our anniversary. In celebration, Cullen and I decided to take a day out of life and spend time together. The apartment smells like the lilies that Cullen bought for me, how wonderful.

Tomorrow I leave for Li Jiang. 8:35am flight. phew!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Warm cozy coats and hats

In Preparation:
I am attempting to collect all the necessary articles for the trip on Wednesday. Not only was I missing a few essential articles, but I had an aversion to buying one of them. I have never really liked things on my head, but I truly need a hat for the cold winter in Beijing, and more immediately, for the trip up the mountain in Li Jiang. To make matters worse, I only had 3 days left to find it. The pressure and the need collided today, and we went out to find me a hat.

Yesterday, we actually made the purchase of a fine black down winter coat. The coat is not only light, but very warm, as I tested today. We considered having one made, but there were so many that were already lingering about, it didn't really seem necessary. We went to one of the small shopping stores near our house and purchased the winning jacket rather quickly, and for less than $20 USD.

Today was another story. Since I have a hard time picking hats, I was very slow at deciding on a purchase. The selection was enormous, and there were so many nice knit caps... I just couldn't imagine purchasing one of them. I couldn't see myself in one. Though the vendors pulled out their mirrors and popped a few on my head, it took a charming young man of no more than 2 to lure me into a purchase. He started a conversation with Cullen (Cullen and I didn't understand him, but laughed at his determination to interact with us). He offered Cullen some of his beverage, then his mother sent him off. The hat I decided on had a matching scarf, both made of angora wool. It was reasonably priced for a scarf and hat, so the purchase wasn't too painful. Cullen actually bargained for another hat for me as well. So now I have two warm knit winter caps that don't make me feel too silly.

The last thing, that I am not sure we will be able to find before Wednesday, is some motion-sickness medication. We will be in the car for an extended period of time, and the possibility of already being sick from the altitude combined with the car ride, might just push me over the edge. It's always better to be prepared for the occasion than not anyway.

I will be flying out of Beijing to Li Jiang on Wednesday. The flight leaves early in the morning and will be a day full of the same sitting an luggage toting as usual. I am curious as to the Chinese protocol with the airport. What will it be like compared to the states? How will the service on the flight be? Will there be any service?

This is going to be such an exciting adventure. I wish Cullen were coming with me. I will be exciting regardless.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Travel Preperations

First things first... 31 days from today we will be heading home right about now... (1:31pm) so this marks the 31 day point!! How EXCITING! We miss you all so much!

Fan has invited me to take a short trip with her, so next week (Nov. 19th) I will be leaving Cullen to fend for himself for 6 days. He is very excited for me... maybe he's just excited that he will be able to relax for a few days alone.

We are headed to LIJIANG in YUNNAN province. For information on travel in LIJIANG go here:

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/lijiang.htm

Fan invited me because her husband was unable to go. They are such busy people.

The temperature right now in Beijing is ranging anywhere between 57F and 44F during the day and down to 32 and lower at night... this Friday is supposed to be 24F at night. I have become a bit concerned about the trip weather, and have been reassured that it is warmer during the day in LIJIANG than in Beijing. How wonderful.

I will definitely post more about the trip.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Sad day

Cullen and Arielle are sick in China. We have loads to still post, but feel no bueno.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

The Summer Palace

The Summer Palace:

As a final outing during his stay, Kwong wanted to visit the Summer Palace. We were both game, since we had yet to visit this acclaimed beauty of Beijing. When we woke, the day was just as amazing as the previous had been. The sky was pure blue. All we saw during the entire day out was a single fluff of cloud. We gathered and then headed to road to catch a taxi to the Summer Palace.

When we arrived, the place was alive with people. Kwong went to purchase tickets and we watched the people swarm about in groups, the hum was loud, even over the wind that rustled the trees with vengeance.

We pushed our way through the throng that just wanted photos in the court-yard-like entry area and out toward the lake that surrounds the Summer Palace. Once on the walk-way that skirts the lake, the wind was a force to be reckoned with. The wind threw water over the high embankments onto passers by with little effort. The howling and shuttering of the trees was deafening. We pushed our way against the wind to view the lake. As we left the entry-way, the mass of people thinned to almost no-one. We first crossed the bridge with 17 arches to the building where the Emperor and Empress would join on a small island. We then returned to the lovely path around the lake, with the wind still muscling us around.

There were some small foot-bridges made of marble, just like the bridge with 17 arches, but they were only small arches themselves, to cross small canals. The bridges were odd in that the grade of the steps changed as they went up. The initial grade was rather low, being very easy to climb, but quickly increased to a rather large step that was very steep. The appearance of the bridges was beautiful, because the grade change created a lovely high arch, but to climb them took a bit of concentration to not stumble over your feet.

Most of the trees surrounding the lake were very old and huge. Many of them had been patched to prevent further deterioration. The branches of some of the really old ones were propped up with metal bars, a procedure that appears to be common in places where they preserve the trees. We have seen this in the Forbidden City, The Temple of Heaven, and now in the Summer Palace. The trees serve a very important purpose here, so the preservation of them is completely understandable.

The wind finally started to relax once we rounded the southern end of the lake. Some ducks puttered around in the water, initially appearing to be decoys, we realized our mistake when one of them bobbed his head about a little. The cold and wind didn't seem to bother them too much.

We made our way over to the Marble boat and snapped a few photos from afar. I am not certain if it is ever open to the public, but this day it was not. It has beautiful stained glass windows and loads of detailed marble sculpting all over.

We had lunch and then headed to the highest point in the Summer Palace. Despite our musings at where the entire clump of people had been our travel around the lake, we weren't surprised to see them again at temple. The trip up the hill to the top was not only tiring, but so very fascinating. There were a maze of paths, some of which were cave-like, others beautifully paved with stones in flower patterns. The twisting and turning was well worth it. The amazing view from the top of the hill was breathtaking on such a clear and sunny day.

On our way down the hill, back to the entrance, we had to work our way through the crowds again, squeezing here and going around there. It was quite a work out, but eventually we made it out again.

We now had to find a taxi to take us to WangFuxing where Kwong promised we would find an excellent restaurant to have some dinner after paying our respects to the Well of the Wang family. (WANGFUXING = The well of the Wang family in Chinese. Kwong explained that the Wang family was a wealthy family ages ago, and the street was named for the well that is now just a beautifully decorated culvert cover with dragons adoring it's edges and an inscription about the Wang family in Chinese).

We got in a taxi, and had a bit of a ride. The taxi was unmarked, and so after a bit we decided that he wasn't going to take us to the correct spot and jumped ship. We found another taxi (marked this time) and were only a short distance from our destination. It cost us a little but we made it to the street.

On the street we saw a huge and beautiful Catholic church. We then headed the other way and found the restaurant. It was about 5pm so we all decided that it was perfect timing for dinner. The restaurant was not so crowded at this hour. We relaxed and had a nice dinner, then headed back home.

Sunday Stroll


Meeting:

Once again, I found myself looking for Paula. This time, I was at the Silk Market. Our meeting was well planned this time. Noon at the Irish Sandwich place in the Silk Market we would meet for lunch.

Just before noon, I arrived via subway, bumbling about in B1 of the Silk Market, I learned quickly that the sandwich place was not down there. Leather shoes, purses and belts were sold on this floor. I circled the area, just to be sure, avoiding the constant request for me to, "Come see." "Have a look" and "Need a bag?" I made it back to the stairs. At the top of the stairs was the Irish Sandwich place sign. I stepped outside and sat down at a table outside the shop. There was a bit until noon, so I ordered a smoothie. The prices were excessive, as expected from somewhere in the silk market. I sipped the berry smoothie, waiting for Paula. The flavor was pretty bitter, but not unpleasantly so. Despite the excessive use of ice, I enjoyed the beverage well enough.

About fifteen minutes after I sat down with my beverage, Paula peeked around the door to the Silk Market. We smiled in greeting to each other, and headed out. She knew we wouldn't miss each other meeting at an unmistakable place like an Irish Sandwich shop. There could be only one near the Silk Market.

Paula had a restaurant in mind for lunch. It was a Sischuan place, but she wasn't entirely sure where it was, or even if it was in this area. We crossed the street to a long strip of restaurants, but none were the one she was expecting to find. We did find a nice Thai place and settled in for a good meal.

After finishing lunch, we headed to retrieve her parka from the tailor where she had commissioned it. She got a really nice deal on it. It was lovely and looked so warm. She really needed one since she was headed to Lhasa. It looked wonderful on her, such a perfect fit.

She then demonstrated an event that she told me was common on her previous visit to Beijing years earlier. She went to buy some fruit from an alleyway, but the officer guarding the alleyway wouldn't let her in. She had encountered this the previous day when she commissioned the parka, but this time she was determined to get her fruit. She insisted that she give the police officer the money to buy the fruit, but he wouldn't take it. Finally a woman with a baby outside the alleyway who understood what was going on helped Paula get the fruit she wanted and we were on our way again. I had never seen such an event. The officer insisted that we were not to enter the alley, and put himself in front of Paula every time she moved to enter.

We then caught a cab to head back to Wangfuxing, to the hostel where she was staying. The hostel was tucked into a hutong area. This quaint little humble hostel was beautiful inside. The community bathroom was amazingly clean. The rooms were small, but clean and beautifully decorated. The small courtyard area was full of healthy beautiful plants with some caged parakeets and a cricket. Neither the birds nor the cricket were singing, but the sun was lying beautifully upon the wooden table decorated with flowering plants. I was impressed. Paula told me the girls that keep the hostel cleaned the table with a toothbrush the day prior. They were very friendly and kind.

We decided to take a short trip over to the near by park. Paula and I walked for a bit, and then I saw the immensity of the park. After checking the time, I was sure I would feel rushed if we went ahead inside, so she walked me back to the subway and I made it home in time to get ready for dinner with Kwong, Logan, and Cullen. Having walked so much, I was worn out. Paula is in amazing shape. She didn't slow for a second.

Dinner was hot pot at a mushroom place. The dinner was wonderful, and when I got home, I was so ready to crash. I felt that long walk for days.

The Temple of Heaven


Saturday Meeting:

We had agreed on the train to meet Paula at the Temple of Heaven on Saturday, the day after returning from Mongolia. Cullen and I set out to meet at 10:00am. The sky had a slight grey hue, and the air was a bit heavy. Despite this, we weren't the only people who planned to see the Temple of Heaven that day. The taxi dropped us off in a dense crowd of tourists and locals at the South entrance.

We purchased our through tickets, which enabled us to be able to see all the buildings in the Temple, not just stroll through the park. When we glanced at the back of the ticket, we were a bit disappointed to find there were not one, but about 4 entrances to the park. This made our odds of picking the right entrance pretty slim. We waited a bit, then expecting that she would have entered from the North entrance, the one closest to the direction she was staying...we entered the Temple of Heaven, expecting to meet her as we made our way across the park and buildings.

After a bit of stumbling around, we found a coffee shop. Cullen bought an "Americano" Coffee. Immediately he decided that they made it out of sewer water, and rushed to find some sugar. Despite his attempts to cover the flavor, he still describes this coffee as the most foul concoction described as coffee that he has ever had.

There were people all over the park playing a version on hacke-sack with a little shuttle-cock looking "sack". Most were red and fluorescent pink with white and beige feathers protruding out of the "up" side of the puck. Upon closer inspection, the "sack" part appeared to be several pieces of cloth stacked upon each other. We will definitely purchase one and dissect it. They look like loads of fun.

We went into several of the rebuilt Temple areas which had large furnaces for burning animal sacrifices and loads of stairs. The buildings were vibrantly painted, and structurally similar to all the others we have seen with the criss-crossing beam structure in the roof and the spacious standing area before the raised platforms.

There was an open circular platform where it is said that your voice echoes differently from the center. There were so many people trying to take photos and milling around on the structure, Cullan and I were unwilling to wait around and find out. The whole area had these very old and very huge cedars. They twisted and sprawled toward the sky higher than I have seen a cedar go. The girth of their trunks was so very impressive. Their twisted and gnarled bark held faces and shapes.

Voices rose over the temple Walls and we followed them out into the park to find out what the clamor was. There was a chorus sining in the park. We wandered a bit further and found a group under an archway playing tunes on a collection of Chinese instruments.

By the time we exited the park, the sky was quite blue and beautiful. We went and had some lunch, then were ready to head back home. The trip to Mongolia took a lot out of us, and we were ready for some relaxation.

Bicycle 1

I am just going to preface with blog post with the fact that many wonderful things have happened this past week. I suppose it is only fair for one inevitable bad thing to happen.

I am sad and feel a bit violated right now. One of our bicycles just got stolen while we were out today.

It's very sad.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Return

There is a quite sadness and a calm relief that comes over me when I am going back to my normal routine after an interruption of this sort. The exhaustion of days of traveling, having a wonderful time, and enjoying the world caught up to us on the train back. We were visited a bit by Paula, who we met on the train to Mongolia. We set up a time to go visit the Temple of Heaven after we got back to Beijing.

The trip back to Beijing was spent resting and relaxing. We did have a small event when we reached the Mongolian border. A couple of people got kicked off the train. We aren't certain why. There was a bit of conversation and they left. We then fell asleep through the wheel change and woke only to get our passports back from the Chinese border guards.

We lugged our baggage off the train at about 2:44pm, a bit early, but I'm not complaining. The leaves had turned more yellow and orange while we were gone, and it was a lovely surprise to return to.

When we got home, we were both ready for a long needed rest.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Genuine Wild Horses



Freezing:

Early in the morning, before we were even close to ready to wake up, the fire had gone out, and Cullen woke to poke around in it. He discovered that all the coal had burned up, and threw whatever fuel he could find to get some warmth in there. This consisted of a small amount of manure, insufficient to make the ger warm again. We rested a bit longer, but were up and ready to find the wild horses soon enough. Una came in and pulled out the sweet rolls, bread, butter and cheese again.

Breakfast was quick and we were ready to be up and moving. The temperature outside was enough to freeze the standing water with a very fine sheet. The sky was pale and looming with the promise of precipitation. The sun couldn't be seen yet, and we were cold under that thick cover of clouds. Muggie drove us into the national park, with both he and Una looking out for any sign of the wild horses. It wasn't long, and he pulled off the road in front of a nice little creek. The horses were far enough away and blending so well with the background that it was hard for us to see them, but Una saw them and unloaded us onto the cool morning grass.

We walked a bit out and watched them eat and drink for a bit, snapping photos. There were three adult horses and two foals. The babies were colored a bit differently, but they were all blending well with the maze color of the fields of grass. They were beautiful.

We didn't stay too long out in the cold air. We watched them slowly migrate over the edge of the mountain and disappear before leaving the area. It was a rare and beautiful moment. The air was filled with cold moisture and the smell of earthy grass.

When we headed back out of the park, we stopped to go hear a nice talk about the purpose and the creation of the park. The park was created after the extinction of the Przewalski horse in it's natural habitat in the 1960s. It was reintroduced from the animals that had been raised in zoos across the world.

On our way to the cement ger the sky started slipping little white specks on us. The feel of them was just a whisper across my face, and they didn't settle for long anywhere, just long enough to see small wet specks on the cement walkway.

We also watched a video about the park, the common requisite for attending any park. And were introduced to the fact that the park actually contains marmot, an endangered and rare animal of Mongolia that used to be hunted for it's meat. It's illegal now to kill the marmot, but we did get to see at least 2 of their dens while we were out in the park. It surprised me that the marmot was such a large animal. I had always considered that they were rather small and rodent-like, but they are about the size of a beaver.

As we left the two cement ger, the snow actually started falling in earnest. They weren't large flakes, but clumps of white dots, as if a fifth grade science student was working on his solar-system project above us and couldn't quite get the size of pluto right. I couldn't help being excited.

We hopped into the van, and Muggie drove a bit, then stopped. Una turned to Teri and said, "You can drive now." Teri excitedly rushed to the driver's seat, anxious to have a go at the Mongolian roads. The car was a manual transmission, so she killed it the first time, getting used to the clutch. It didn't take her long to get the hang of the roads, then it was my turn. I did pretty good, then Emma had a go, and finally Cullen.

Once we all had our turns, Muggie took back control of the vehicle and the sky began to pour out huge chunks of white fluff. I watched as it settled in the spaces between the yellow-golden grass. It was only really melting on the road, making a muddy, slippery mess. We were glad Muggie was driving again.

Mongolian Staples of life:

When we stopped for lunch, the snow had already stopped. We had a nice meal at a restaurant and then headed back into town. To be sure we didn't miss out on any of the trip, she took us to a small ger in the center of town that served Ariag and horse meat.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect as far as flavor and odor were concerned. The ger smelled like the fresh warm odor of juicy steak. The ger had the usual iron stove and table in the center. It had couches for guests and small stools gathered around the table which had a nicely decorated bowl. The bowl had a ladle in it made of wood with a horse head sculpted at the handle. The bowl contained airag. We sat around the table and Una ordered one bowl of airag for us to share. Emma had the first drink, which Una responded to with a laugh and, "You just let it touch your lips," then took the bowl and had a nice hearty dreg. Teri was next, and her face spoke of polite disgust. Now it was my turn.

The flavor was very light and salty. It wasn't sweet or dirty tasting like I expected. It was also quite thin. It wasn't at all what my brain had prepared my mouth for. There wasn't any aroma or distinctive flavor. It was quite light, but odd. It had no bite either. The fermentation process leaves the beverage with a lower alcohol content than beer. To try the drink blind, I would probably have guessed that it was room temperature water salted a bit with a touch of something I can't name. I would have never even come close to guessing it was a milk product.

Hanging along the wall were the leather sacks that they produce the airag in by churning it regularly with a wooden dowel.

We were also permitted to taste the horse meat that was causing the whole ger to smell like bbq. The horse meat was just like beef. I have had a steak in the US that tasted exactly like this bit of meat that I swished about in my mouth. If it had been served instead of beef in any dish or at any meal, I am certain it would be difficult to tell it was horse.

Back in the van, we were ready for a good shower and some relaxation. We headed back to Khongor Guest House. We invited Una and Muggie out with us that evening to go see the cultural show and to visit the restaurant/brewery that we had tried to go to the first night in Ulan Bator. Every inch of my body smelled like goat and old dirty human. The steam of the shower only enhanced the odor until the soap began to wash the muck and grime off. It was the cleanest I had felt in a while.

We all had a good scrub-up and a nice sit. We loaded back into the van and headed out to the Culture show.

Mongolian Culture:

The descriptions of the culture show before we arrived had included brief mentions of the Horse headed violin that is the country's pride, and contortionist. I was expecting something similar to the acrobatics show we saw in Beijing. We actually arrived a bit late, missing the first act, and having to wait to file in after it finished. We stood at the entry doors, waiting for the act to complete. We were told to move back, so we all pushed to one side of the red carpet or the other.

The doors burst open, and people in costumes with large animated heads flooded into the hallway. The jingle of their bells and the dance in their steps prepared me for the rare and special treat I was about to experience in the rest of the show.

The music of the show was everything I expected from China. The beautiful mellow tones and strings. The flute and clarinet-like horn instrument. Throat singing was an unexpected and mysterious surprise. I sat in rapt wonder as the man before us created not only deep throaty notes with only his body, but high resonant ones at the same time. It was beautiful. If you haven't heard throat singing, here's a link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxK4pQgVvfg

It is beautiful.

At one point the music was so powerful, it not only created the vision of the Mongolian steeps with all the beautiful wild horses, but it brought tears to my eyes with it's beauty. I don't think I could have appreciated the music or the culture show as much if I hadn't spent two days out in a ger with the beauty and culture of the real Mongolia surrounding me.

Mongolian culture is as deep and beautiful as it's traditions and music that have survived through domination by Russia and China. The stubborn, proud, beautiful Mongolians have maintained superstitions as well as crafts and music through all their trials and labors.

A world where nomadic farmers, throat singers, and contortionists still survive, Cullen and I were treated to a beautiful visit that I will never forget. The magic and mystery that is Mongolia has touched me with a wonder and curiosity that won't soon die.

We had a fine dinner and went back to the guest house, ready for our early morning departure, but so very reluctant to leave our new friends and the mystery of Mongolia.