In this land of rice and noodles, sometimes I crave a sandwich. At birthdays, a big, chocolatey home-made cake. On weekday mornings, a quick slice of toast. For a snack, a bagel or muffin. Alas, woks and steamers take the place of the West's ubiquitous kitchen oven, and Dan and I may go weeks without eating baked goods. Bakeries are popular here...

Bonjour, voila quelques temps que je me promene dans les montagnes et il n'y a pas internet partout ou je n'ai pas su le trouver. J'ai passer de magnifiques moments dans des villages en bois ou vivent ce que l'on nomme ici des minorites. Ce sont des communautes tres anciennes qui a une certaine epoque ont ete chasse par la guerre et se sont refu...

We slept well after all the walking yesterday and got up early to catch the 7 a.m. bus to Liping. It was a comfortable ride and, as is common in this area, the bus was not full so we could spread out. There was an inoffensive VCD playing of patriotic karaoke songs followed by another of Taiwanese songs which was actually very pleasant. It was a ...