TravelStream™ news feed for member audreyandjack on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/audreyandjack en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:19:53 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1168588320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1168588320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1168588320/tpod.html Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:19:53 -0500 Sold the house, got rid of the crap, traveling the globe with no exact plans. Follow us on our 15 month journey thru Africa, SE Asia, China, Tibet, Europe and Mexico

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Guanajuato, Mexico

We heard of a really neat city that was only a few hours bus ride from San Miguel. We decided to check it out and stay for a few days. It is called Guanajuato. The name means place of frogs.  It was originally built over the Guanajuato river which flowed through tunnels underneath the city. Later a dam was built and the water was redirected. The tunnels were lit and paved with cobblestone and today are used as an underground road network to navigate the city.This is also where Miguel Hidalgo,  the leader of the Mexican Independence movement, was caught and executed. He as well as three other revolutionary leaders had their heads hung from the corners of what is now a state museum. This was a warning to the residents of Guanajuato.Guanajuato is a charming colonial style city. It is set in beautiful surroundings in midst of ravines and gullies. Its streets flow into steep twisting alleys.  It was one of the richest cities in all of Mexico. The Valenciana silver mine once produced an astonishing 1/5 of the world's silver!The hillsides are a spectacle for the eye. Loaded in hundreds of brightly coloured houses. The city has a slogan of "The old city with a young heart". There is one of the oldest universities in Mexico located here. It has over 8000 students. It also boasts one of the largest places in Mexico for mathematical research.The influence of the university students can not go unnoticed. The city is lively with trendy nightclubs, restaurants and bars. We never imagined a place in Mexico where you would see students sitting around eating crepes and sipping on cappuccinos.  The students tend to take over the downtown area after school lets out in the afternoon. There is a beautiful old theater they congregate around. They sit on the vast set of steps in front of it.  The downtown center is a great place to wander on foot. Vehicles are prohibited, so it makes for a nice atmosphere. The main Jardin ( a park in the center) is the place to hang out. There are lots of trees for shade, and pretty gardens to sit and relax in. Mariachi bands are in abundance, especially at night. There are lots of cafes with outside seating around the park. We checked out the house of the famous artist Diego Rivera. It is now a museum. Guanajuato was his birthplace. We also saw a museum of artwork all done on the subject of Don Quixote. It is a classic story.  He is the fictional character who rode his horse and attacked the evil windmills. This museum also housed a lot of Salvidor Dalis artwork. This guy had a really bizarre and twisted mind. Some of his work is quite disturbing. We took a funicular up to a hilltop for a fantastic view of the city. We also took a bus trip out to Christo Rei. It is the 2nd largest statue of Jesus, the 1st being in Brazil. It is situated on a mountain top which hosts amazing views of the valley below. We were told by the tourist office that is was not much more than a half hour ride. This seemed to make sense considering it was only about 16km's.  Well, I guess they neglected to inform us it was on a horrible dirt road that wound its way through the mountains. The bus also stopped numerous times throughout villages to let off and pick up passengers. The entire round trip ended up being over 3 hours! Oh well, we saw some lovely scenery along the way.    
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1163894220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1163894220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1163894220/tpod.html Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:12:22 -0500 Sold the house, got rid of the crap, traveling the globe with no exact plans. Follow us on our 15 month journey thru Africa, SE Asia, China, Tibet, Europe and Mexico

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Cork, Ireland

We took a bus from Dublin to Cork. It was about 5 hours. Everyone kept warning us how painfully slow the buses are. They would say, " oh my, your going to take the bus all the way from Dublin to Cork, it will be 5 hours? These people are not used to traveling distances of any kind, much like the people who live in Great Britain. Going to the next town is a big event for them. The bus ride was pleasant enough, we passed by lots of sheep farms, and low lying hills. We arrived in Cork and went to find the B&B we had pre-booked. After the nightmare in Dublin we decided not to take anymore chances. It turned out we could have just found a place upon arrival. We stayed one night at the B&B, but looked for a new place for the following nights. We wanted to try and get something cheaper, the man who ran this place was very nice. We got a full breakfast, it had to have been 6 eggs each that were scrambled on our plates, we couldn't finish them all, We also had toast, tea, and cereal. Our room had a very crooked floor and the stairs coming up to it were on such slant, it made you kind of dizzy when you walked on them. The whole building was leaning to the back. We cant even guess how old it must be. We found a hostel that looked quite nice, it had internet, and a nice sitting area. We couldn't look at a room though they were all full until the next day. We booked it anyways, and came back in the morning to check in. WE took one look at the room and decided we would look for something else. It was the smallest and worst room we had seen yet, and it was still going to cost us $75 Canadian. It was bunk beds, which we have never got when booking a double room in a hostel. The room was barely bigger than the bunk beds, and there was absolutely nothing else in the room, unless you want to count the window and the door. It would have felt like sleeping in a prison cell. Surely we could find something better for around the same price. It was just a minute down the road where we saw a sign saying rooms available. The lady said she had only one room left and warned us it was small. We went up to take a look. It was small, but bigger than the bunk bed room. It was cozy and at least had some furnishings in it. It even had a tv. When we came down, she asked if it would be okay. She said we could have it for 40 euros, we didn't hesitate to take it for the next 3 nights. Cork was an interesting town, a river flows down the middle of it. There are very old buildings everywhere. The main part of the town is full of all kinds of shops. There are a lot of modern shops with trendy clothing and shoes. One street is lined on both sides with pubs, some serving food. We went out one night to try a traditional pub. It was full of locals and got more packed as the evening went on. We sat right up at the bar. We were amazed at the amount of Guinness and Murphy's stout that was being poured out of the taps. It never seemed to end. The bartender would be working on half a dozen of them at a time. Only when you come to Ireland can you fully understand how much drinking and the pubs are a way of life for the people here. The pub is the center of all socializing and activity. We contacted the couple we met in Lagos, Portugal. They are from Australia, but have obtained visas to work in Ireland. They were doing a bit of traveling and then heading to Ireland to find jobs and settle for a while. They had family in Cork so that is where they would settle. We met up with them just a few kilometers out of town at the site of the Blarney Castle. It was situated on a large area of property. It was really neat to walk inside the castle and see the different rooms and what their uses were for. Then of course we had to kiss the Blarney Stone. We really didn't know much about it, other than you were supposed to kiss it and get some kind of gift from it. I thought it was going to be some rock on the ground that you kissed. It turned out to be a strange set up. It is one particular stone at the top wall of the castle. Where the stone is There is a space between the floor and the wall. There is a wide spaced metal grill to stop you from falling through it. You have to be assisted by one of the workers to kiss the stone. You lie on your back and have to bend your body backwards hanging your head down to reach the stone and kiss it. you can see wear marks from where so many people have done so for decades. We were reluctant to kiss it, as we had been told stories that Irish Youth go to the castle at night and urinate on the stone. Whether it is true or not, we don't know. We went with David and Grace in their car to David's aunt and uncles house. We were invited to come have tea with them. It turned out we were going to be fed dinner as well. What a treat. We had all kinds of vegetables and potatoes, as well we were spoiled with fish being done especially for us. To follow out came plates with all kinds of desserts. We were so stuffed by the end we could hardly move. It was a special treat to actually get to come to a home in a place where we were traveling. It really makes you feel more connected to a place when you get to sit down in someones house and meet a family. On to Killarney
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1157014260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1157014260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1157014260/tpod.html Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:04:50 -0400 Sold the house, got rid of the crap, traveling the globe with no exact plans. Follow us on our 15 month journey thru Africa, SE Asia, China, Tibet, Europe and Mexico

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Lhasa, Tibet to Chengdu, China

Some information about the railway. The thoughts and process for planning this railway have been in the making for five decades. It has been very controversial because of the extreme conditions of the land on which is is built on. It also crosses areas with some of the most delicate ecosystems on earth. Great measures had to be taken in the building of track. 4/5 of the track spans over frozen earth. They had to find ways to divert the heat so it would not thaw the ground. If this happens the track would buckle from the temperature fluctuation. The conditions of cold and high altitude had to be taken into consideration for the workers building the railway as well. Almost 1000km's of the track is located 4000 meters above sea level. The highest point is at 5072 meters, 200 meters higher than the Peruvian railway in the Andes.It is the world's longest plateau railroad, extending 1956km's from Qinghai's provincial capital Xining to Lhasa in Tibet. The newly created Golmud-Lhasa section zigzags 1,142km's through the Kunlun and Tanggula mountain ranges. The train runs at 100km an hour over the frozen earth and 120kms an hour on the non-frozen sections. It officially opened on July 1, 2006. The track and huge columns that support the bridges are already showing signs of settling, which the officials say is normal. People can't help but to think what will happen as global warming takes more of a toll on this area. How long will the railway actually function?  The government claims the train will provide further economic growth to Tibet and it's people. When in reality few Tibetans will benefit from it. It's main goal will be to export the mineral riches out of Tibet that China has long been waiting to get at. Our train experience........... We took a taxi to the new train station. The government spent millions of dollars on this project and is very proud of it. You think for all the time and money spent they could design a better train station. You come up to the entrance and immediately have to put your bags through and x-ray machine, this creates a backlog right at the door of the building. Your bags go through the machine and come out the other side onto a conveyor belt that is barely two feet long. You don't have enough time to get around to collect them before they are spilling off of it and onto the floor. By the time we got around, our bags were piled all over with tons of others. They just keep pushing more bags through. Everyone is scrambling and tripping over each other and the bags trying to find their pieces. In all the chaos a jar of jam in one of our bags had broken. It was smashed all over the place and stuff was covered in sticky jam. What a way to start our trip. The next problem is getting your bags to the train. They don't seem to understand this is a mode of transport, just like a plane. So why wouldn't you design it the same way as an airport. We had to gather up all our bags and get them onto an escalator to go to the 2nd floor. A station attendant saw we were having some difficulties with our bags and broken apart food bag. So she tied up the broken bag and stuck it on the escalator in front of us to go up. This was fine for now, but how were we supposed to be able to get our large bags off at the top and somehow grab this bag in front of us too. Some peoples suitcases could barely fit onto the escalator steps. The next challenge was getting our bags to the line and through it for our ticket check, there are no carts or anything to put them on. After the ticket check we went outside to a walkway and then the best was yet to come, a long set of stairs to get down to the train platform. How do they expect people to get their stuff down the stairs. We were not as bad off as some people with large suitcases. We appeared to be the only foreigners getting onto the train. Our room was what they call a soft sleeper. Jack and I had bunks on one side and we had to share with 2 other people who would be on the other. There are hard sleeper compartments that have two groups of 3 bunks on each side. The highest bunks are way up there, I would be scared of falling out in the night. Our room has a door that can close and lock, the hard sleepers have no door and are open to the hallway. You can also book just a seat for the trip, I can't imagine sitting and sleeping in a seat for 48 hours. We had been dreading to find out who we would be sharing our room with. Would it be middle aged chain smoking men. The typical ones who would be staring at every move we made. We thought the worse, would they take pictures of us while we slept? Don't think this is absurd, we heard of a guy who had someone try to take a picture of his parts while he went pee! It turned out we had two young girls, they were very polite and didn't stare at us at all. They did not speak more than a few words of English so after a few polite hellos, that was it for communication, verbally anyway.Friendly gestures of sharing some snacks and tea were exchanged during the trip. One girls dad kept coming in to visit. I think he liked to come to hang out in the exciting compartment with the foreigners. Each bed in our room has a flat screen TV with headphones. Most of the movies were in Chinese, but we had a few with English subtitles and one movie, Independence Day in full English. The train stopped one time half way through this movie, also stopping the movie. When the train went again, the movie started from the beginning, so we had to watch it all over. Then when it was within 15 minutes of ending, it shut off for some reason, urghhh, very frustrating. Each bed also has an outlet with oxygen available at all times while the train is at high altitudes. You are provided with a one time use tube with a piece that goes up your nose, just like the ones they use in the hospital. It's kind of strange, they make some announcements on the train in English, but nothing else on the train is in English. We really don't know what was supposed to happen in the dining car. We weren't sure if there was a menu. We would use our phrase book and manage to get rice and some cooked vegetables. We were really sick of rice and soggy veggies by the time the trip was over. There was nothing else to eat. The dining car only held a small percentage of the passengers at one time, so it was really hard to get a seat. We would just take our food back to the room most of the time. One time when we managed to get a seat, the seats across from us in our booth remained empty, even though lots of people were waiting to sit. They are always afraid to sit near us, they think we will bite them or something. One guy was complaining about the lack of seats. We couldn't understand the attendants response of course because it was in Chinese, but we got the general drift of it. She pointed to the empty side of the booth across from us and made a face at him as if to say sit down dummy, there are seats right there. A small snack cart would go by our room at times, but all it had was pop, water and some sunflower seeds, also some kind of dried meat in a package. Even if we wanted to get something from this cart we wouldn't be able to, as it would race by the door before you knew it was even coming. I raced after it one time and finally caught up with it three cars later, only to see the lady flop down in a seat in total exhaustion. We were only allowed to get off the train twice for a 10 to 20 minute stop. The train platform had a small shop, but it had much the same as the snack cart inside the train. It did have some kind of melon, but we had nothing to cut them with. We were handed a form to fill out, but it was completely in Chinese. We just laughed and put it to the side, I guess we weren't going to be able to fill it out. None of the attendants spoke any English so they couldn't help us. Then one of the girls in our room showed us here Chinese ID card. We assumed she wanted our passports. We handed them to her and she managed to fill out most of the form for us. The attendant came and collected them, I guess the blank parts left were not that crucial. About half an hour later an official police officer came to the door. He looked concerned. He spoke a little broken English. He wanted to know what nationality we were, where we had come from and where we were going. I don't get the where did we come from, the train originates only from Lhasa, so that makes no sense. I think he wanted to know if we had come into Tibet from Nepal perhaps. Then he asked to see our visas. We reached out to hand him our passports. He kept saying no, visas. We had to finally show him the visas in the passport. I guess they are not used to seeing foreign passports here to know how they work, they only deal with Chinese ID's. This seemed to satisfy him for the time being. Then a while later another knock came at the door. This time it was a different guy. We were starting to get worried they were going to throw us off the train or something. He wanted to see the passports as well. Wow, it sure seemed to be a big deal that we were on this train. Just when we thought we were the only foreigners on the train a British guy appeared at our door. He had heard of two Canadians on board and was glad to know he was not the sole foreigner traveling. It was nice to have someone else to talk to. It was strange to know there were only 3 foreigners on the whole train!The train is timed to leave so you can view the most scenic parts of the trip in the daylight. We passed by vast areas of what looked like pictures that we have seen of the Northwest Territories at home. As far as the eye could see it was barren land, most of it covered in permafrost. Every once in a while there would be a nomad tent and a herd of goats, sheep or yaks. Then we started to come across mountains covered in glaciers. They were so close by, it was really beautiful. We knew we were getting quite high, we could hear the hissing sound of people using their oxygen. We were also starting to get a headache. We reached the highest point of the trip. It had a sign marking it at 5068 meters. That night we both used the oxygen a few times. It is really the only thing that helped us to lessen the headaches, pain killers don't really seem to do much. Of course you have to drink tons of water too, the recommended amount at high elevations is 4 liters per day. We had gone through the most scenic part of the trip on day one. The second day was a lot of farm land and industrial looking cities. We passed by cities with many smoke stacks and factories, At one point there was a large river flowing along side the train. It was an almost orangy brown colour. I would hate to think how toxic it was. By day two we had reached our limit of being confined to our train compartment. There was nowhere to go, a short walk down the hallway was about it. We were really glad when we reached Chengdu and could get off the train on the morning of day three. The trip overall was okay. It was not as spectacular as we expected, I think we had been spoiled with so much beautiful landscape in other parts of Tibet. If a tourist goes to Tibet and only sees Lhasa and the surrounding area, then the train trip would be more impressive for them.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1133094060/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1133094060/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1133094060/tpod.html Sat, 15 Sep 2007 13:09:15 -0400 Sold the house, got rid of the crap, traveling the globe with no exact plans. Follow us on our 15 month journey thru Africa, SE Asia, China, Tibet, Europe and Mexico

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Nairobi, Kenya

Hi Everyone, We are on a much faster internet connection so we can finally write our entry about our short stay in Nairobi. Unfortunately we can't post any pictures yet. It seems so far all the internet cafes we have come across will not let you upload anything onto their systems. I guess in case of a virus. Hopefully we will be able to post some soon. We arrived quite late at the Nairobi airport and our hotel shuttle picked us up. Although the 20 minute ride was on a highway we got our first taste of Africa right away. The driver pointed out dozens of gazelles along the side of the road. At our hotel it was a madness of traffic and people, even at the late hour of midnight. We were warned about the dangers of Nairobi, and it was apparent right from our arrival. We had to walk thorough security guards and a metal detector to enter our hotel. Once inside it was a warm and friendly welcome though. <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1133094060.nairobi2.bmp" width="270"> <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1133094060.img_0400.jpg" width="270"> I slept well being so exhausted from a lack of sleep from the days before. Jack was not so lucky. The whole realization of what we were doing and the immediate culture shock were a bit too much to handle. He was awake most of the night worrying about what kind of challenges we would have to face the next day. We were both up at 6am , our bodies were so out of whack from the time change. We found a complimentary postcard on the desk in our room. It was an artists rendition of the area outside our hotel. To our surprise it shows among the buildings and people a man running away with a ladies purse and a policeman with his back to the whole incident. The bottom of the card reads "It happens at the Hilton" How nice even the hotel depicts the crime on their postcards! When we looked out the window we were shocked to see tons of people already scurrying about the streets. It was way busier at 6am than any given hour in downtown Vancouver . After breakfast we asked if there were any areas of the city we should avoid. We were told to stick to an area of about 4 square city blocks to the west of our hotel. Any where else you wanted to go you were advised to take a taxi. I don't know if it is really that bad in Nairobi or if this is a ploy of the hotels to keep you at the hotel. That way they hope you will spend more money. Or maybe they just want to make money from arranging taxi rides for you. In the hotel and on the streets as we walked we got pestered by people. Most of them chanting safari, safari, and shoving pamphlets in our face. The main reason tourists come to Nairobi is to take a Safari. I don't think many people come to just visit the city. Our anxiety levels started to rise as we felt more an more uncomfortable, there didn't seem to be many other tourists so we were more of a target for the touts selling stuff. We wanted to book a safari but didn't know who we could trust, you have to be very careful, there are lots of rip offs. Even the people in our hotel seemed dodgy. Considering they want cash too is of a concern. We ditched into another hotel known as a travelers hangout. We approached a family with 3 small children. We asked if they had booked anything. It turned out they are a family from Squamish B.C. and have been living in Tanzania for the last 2 years because of the husbands work. They were just in Kenya for a few days to do some Xmas shopping. They could see how stressed we were and offered to help in anyway they could. They suggested getting out of Kenya and coming to Tanzania to do a safari. It is much more laid back in Tanzania and thought we would feel more comfortable. They were nice enough to give us a ride to the shopping mall they were headed to. I can't even begin to describe the traffic. We thought we had seen it all in our past travels through Greece and Turkey . This was beyond compare. Cars were zig zagging in all directions, cutting each other off, making up their own lanes as they go along and parking in the road, even on the highway. Speeding traffic was everywhere with pedestrians weaving there way through it like they were invincible to being hit! Even the highway was madness, you have to keep your windows up and the doors locked. People are walking up the sides of the road and down the middle of the lanes through the traffic trying to sell you anything from plastic beach balls to live puppies! We finally arrived at the mall in one piece, barely! It was very modern, once inside it was just like a big mall in Vancouver. We felt comfortable there knowing we were not going to be bothered by anyone. Anyways we have the contact info for the family in Tanzania, we will be calling them and the wife will help us arrange a safari through a friend of hers. She is willing to help us with anything else we may need. We are getting the heck out of Nairobi , the family is used to Africa and even they said they feel uneasy here. They have given us a hotel recommendation in the town of Arusha in Tanzania. We have booked a shuttle bus to get there. Ahhhh stress relief for both of us. Our recommendation if you are coming to East Africa, skip Nairobi and pay the extra to fly to Tanzania to do your safari or make sure you have your safari and other arrangements prebooked so that you are not having to do it when you are in Nairobi. I'm sure lots of people have had great experiences in Kenya once you get outside of the big cities like Nairobi . For us it was a little too much all at once. Maybe Nairobi was not the best choice for our first place to visit on this trip. Despite the fact that we were probably magnifying how we felt because of this being our first stop on the trip, we just didn't feel welcomed here at all. We couldn't even get a hello or thank you from clerks in the few shops and food markets that we went into. Nairobi was not as hot as we thought it would be, I think it was about 70F. They have the Kenyan shilling as their money. About 74 shilling equals 1 US dollar. From what we could see most of the city is derelict looking skyscrapers and buildings, very industrial looking. Across from our hotel were 3 small take out places all in a row. Pizza Inn, Chicken Inn, and Creamy Inn, don't ask! It took us almost an hour to figure out how to work a payphone with an international phone card. They have a 6 day work week, and start the day very early. I think it is because the sun sets early at 6pm. See you in Tanzania !
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1133199780/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1133199780/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1133199780/tpod.html Sat, 15 Sep 2007 13:00:32 -0400 Sold the house, got rid of the crap, traveling the globe with no exact plans. Follow us on our 15 month journey thru Africa, SE Asia, China, Tibet, Europe and Mexico

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Arusha, Tanzania

Hi again,We've arrived in a small city called Arusha in the country of Tanzania. We took a 5 hour shuttle bus from Nairobi to Arusha. Couldn't get out of that place fast enough, lol! The scenary started to change dramitically after about an hour into the ride. Lots of different trees and the landscape. It varied from barren looking desert to denser vegetation as we passed through a valley. Why is it all foreign countries have erratic driving? This journey was no different, this time the traffic coming in the opposite direction would have vehicles trying to pass each other and would be coming at full speed at us in our lane. They would swirve over at the last second. Almost like they are playing chicken with each other. <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1133199780.village_outside_arusha.jpg" width="175"> <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1133199780.more_village_houses_outside_of_arusha_town.jpg" width="175"> <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1133199780.shops_along_the_roadside_near_town_of_arusha.jpg" width="175">The road got very bumpy at times, so bad infact that one of the passengers who was sitting on a fold down seat in the center aisle broke it falling to the floor. He was okay and everyone laughed. He moved to another fold down seat ahead one. Bets were placed on how long before he broke that seat! We saw a few zebra along the way. At one point we came to the crest of a hill and got an incredible view. The land went as far as you could see. It was just like you see in the movie "out of africa"We went through many small villages and got our first glimpse of the Masai people all in their beautiful bright coloured wrap clothing (must remember to find out the proper name of it) Small children were all about. Some of them with other small children on their backs, lol! The women had children on their backs as well as baskets of various items delicately balanced on their heads. <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1133199780.masia_in_field.jpg" width="270"> <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1133199780.maisa_and_baby.jpg" width="270">We will be finding out more about the Masai people later, but I believe their houses were the grass huts we saw. The other Tanzanians homes were mostly pieces of metal or whatever material they could manage to build shelter with. We are staying at small guest house that has about 10 rooms. It has a restaurant with a nice balcony that overlooks a pretty setting with trees and garden areas. We saw a family of vervet monkeys on the roof of the house next to us while eating dinner one night. There wasn't a lot on the menu for us. So we ended up having spaghetti with cheese, it was actually quite good.<img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1133199780.img_0054.jpg" width="270"><img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1133199780.img_0046.jpg" width="270">We had a few gecko like creatures crawling around our room at night. They just hang out sticking to the walls and ceilings, so they don't bother us too much. Except when we have to walk under a doorway with them, I am afraid they will drop on our heads. We had one fall from the ceiling right beside the table while eating one night, lol! After checking into the hotel we headed to an internet cafe. I (Audrey) was bitten by a mosquito within half an hour of arriving. It was in the internet cafe and in the middle of the afternoon. It bit me right through my shirt on the back.As far as mosqitos go, it is quite interesting to get used to sleeping under the mosquito net. You have to remember to take everything into the bed you might need in the night. Water, flashlight, etc. You don't want to have to get out unless you have to go to the bathroom.We are off for our 4night/5day safari, we are very excited. See you after we get back.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1133962680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1133962680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1133962680/tpod.html Mon, 27 Aug 2007 02:21:49 -0400 Sold the house, got rid of the crap, traveling the globe with no exact plans. Follow us on our 15 month journey thru Africa, SE Asia, China, Tibet, Europe and Mexico

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Zanzibar Island, Tanzania

Hi Everyone,We took a short shuttle bus ride from Moshi to Mt. Kilimanjaro airport. Supposedly it is an international airport, lol! It had a tiny hole in the wall for a snack shop, the choices were, tea, alcohol, cigarettes, a plastic baggy of chips or a Mars bar, lol! We were starving, so 2 bags of chips it was. We had a short 50 minute flight to the island of Zanzibar. By the time we reached flying altitude the pilot was already announcing to fasten the seat belts for landing. We could see the beautiful island and turquoise water down below us. From the first step off the plane it was quite apparent that this place was hotter and more humid than anything we had experienced yet in Africa. We fought through the many taxi drivers awaiting us outside the doors and picked one to take us into Stone town about a 10 minute drive away. We checked into a low budget hotel, it sort of has a bathroom. You can get in and close the door to sit on the toilet, I'm not sure why it actually has a door. Oh well, it works. We spent the rest of the daylight hours wandering about the town a bit. It is a maze of very narrow cobbled streets. You can walk for hours and never walk the same one twice. You have to be on constant alert for vehicles and mopeds speeding through. You can lose your toes if you are not careful. Sometimes you have to duck into a shop door way, it is so tight for the cars. The atmosphere here is about as laid back as you can get. We had dinner at a restaurant with a raised patio overlooking the beach. It was called Mercury's. Named after the lead singer of Queen, Freddy Mercury. He was born here on Zanzibar. <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1133962680.img_0263.jpg" width="550">This island is absolute paradise, we were told it was even more beautiful than the Caribbean islands, and we have to agree. It used to be the spice capital of the world, it still does have tons of spices, but it is not it's major export anymore. You can smell them in the air when you walk around. We could definitely kick back here for a while. We spent a few more days exploring the area of Stonetown and its cobbled streets. The spice tour we did was wonderful. We got to see spices in their raw unprocessed form. Ahhhhh, the smells. Fresh cloves, cinnamon cut right off the tree, pepper, cardamom, and my favorite (Audrey) fresh ylang ylang. Lunch was included, all cooked with the spices from the farm. We sat crossed legged on the floor and ate. We chatted with a couple who were driving all the way from France to South Africa! They have done it several times and had lots of interesting stories to tell us. Including their bad experience in Nairobi, unfortunately theirs was a story of the theft of all their camera equipment, their passports and all their insurance information for their vehicle.<img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1133962680.lunch.jpg" width="270"> <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1133962680.children.jpg" width="270"><img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1133962680.jack_and_jack_fruit.jpg" width="180"> <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1133962680.zanzibar_beach_near_stone_town.jpg" width="360">We went to the local museum in Stonetown, it was quite interesting showing the life of the local people who first inhabited the area. It also showed the building of the Dhow boats that are so frequently seen here. Amazingly they are built without the use of any nails, bound together entirely with coconut fibersThis island is so full of history. It is so many cultures rolled into one. The majority of the island is Muslim and it is very noticeable. Tons of Arabic men in their white Kanzu and women covered completely, some only the eyes showing, some with just the face. A great view is a husband and his Muslim wife on a motorbike, the wife's Muslim veil flapping out the back of her helmet, lol! There is Arabic, East Indian, and Persian influence. The houses and buildings are mostly Arabic style with brass studded wooden doors. In fact there are so many neat doors on the buildings they have a book called the doors of Zanzibar. We can't wait to discover more of the island, in a few days we will head to the other side of the island were there are tons of white sand beaches, some of them very isolated. We'll update you soon
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1144060560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1144060560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1144060560/tpod.html Tue, 21 Aug 2007 15:08:52 -0400 Sold the house, got rid of the crap, traveling the globe with no exact plans. Follow us on our 15 month journey thru Africa, SE Asia, China, Tibet, Europe and Mexico

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Bangkok, Thailand

We flew back to Bangkok from Cambodia. We wanted to go back to Thailand to go south and explore some of the beaches and islands. We ended up spending 7 days in Bangkok. We have developed a love/hate relationship with the city. We stayed at the Lamphu Guest house on Rambutri road. It is the next road over from Khoasan. It is not quite as crazy but does have some strange things of its own. Our guest house was friendly, clean and cheap. We payed 600 baht ($18 Canadian) for a double with air conditioning and hot water.Some of the features our street were a volkswagon van bar. It was parked on the side of the road each evening. The owner would set up a few small tables and chairs around it and crank out some music. The van had a hinged roof that tipped back and exposed the fully stocked bar. It was a very popular place. We also had a guy at the end of our street each night who we named guitar man. He had to be well into his 70's and played rock music on his electric guitar. He looked like hell and wasn't very good, but you had to give the guy credit. He really gave it his all.<img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1144060560.img_3231.jpg" width="270"> <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1144060560.disk_21_032.jpg" width="270">The rest of the street had various places cranking out music with it all clashing together so you couldn't hear any one place clearly.We went to another ultra modern shopping mall. It was called Siam Paragon, they call it the pride of Bangkok. We couldn't believe the high end shops and restuarants at this place. It had a gourmet grocery store as well. It was stocked with fancy food products and even organic produce. All at a premium price of course. The restaurants were really creative in their decorating. Amazingly modern, you would have thought you were in a mall in New York or something. There was an entire floor of food, it had an an organic ice cream company from New Zealand. This ice cream was to die for, we went back twice! There were fancy pastry shops, sushi bars, crepe makers, and chocolatiers. It was food heaven! There was also a large theater where you had to pre-book your seats before the movie.<img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1144060560.img_3362.jpg" width="270"> ChinatownWe decided to venture into the Chinatown area of Bangkok. It was more crazy then the rest of the city. It had many skinny alleyways with hanging meats, shoes, flying toys, Chinese lanterns hanging and motor bikes squeezing past you. <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1144060560.img_3263.jpg" width="540">As the evening approaches many food vendors fill up the larger streets and the whole place turns into a Chinese food delight. The vendors start cooking food of all kinds. The lanterns are lit up and the atmosphere comes alive.<img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1144060560.img_3281.jpg" width="270"> <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1144060560.img_3273.jpg" width="270">Another trip to the weekend marketThis time we made it into the thick of the animal section. We really can't describe to you how big this market is. After our second time here we still didn't come close to seeing it all. The pet section was full of the cutest animals and also somewhat disturbing. There were squirrels on small leashes and rabbits with many different outfits on. Tons of puppies and kittens of all breeds. A lot of the dogs are not ones that should be here in this heat, like huskies for instance! There were all kinds of birds too, some large exotic parrots were among them.Squirrels, rabbits and plastic feet for sale<img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1144060560.img_3345.jpg" width="270"> <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1144060560.img_3286.jpg" width="270"><img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1144060560.disk_36_085.jpg" width="270"> <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1144060560.img_3337.jpg" width="270"> After this week in Bangkok we had had our fill. We saw all we wanted to see. So it's off to the south of Thailand to an island and some well deservered relaxation.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1152761220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1152761220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1152761220/tpod.html Mon, 30 Jul 2007 17:44:32 -0400 Sold the house, got rid of the crap, traveling the globe with no exact plans. Follow us on our 15 month journey thru Africa, SE Asia, China, Tibet, Europe and Mexico

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Lhasa, China

We took our flight from Zhongdian to Lhasa. It was about 1 1/2 hours long. The Zhongdian airport looked brand new. We saw some great mountain scenery from the plane. There was one huge mountain sticking up well above the clouds. We think it was Namche Barwa mountain at about 7756 meters high. We started to descend and could see small villages in valleys below. Then the mountains opened up into a huge desert like plain. The Lhasa airport was also very modern. We got our bags and went outside to catch the bus into Lhasa. We could see beautiful mountains in every direction we looked. The airport is about 1 1/2 hours out of the city. We both had to pause for just a minute before going to the bus. We choked up a bit with the realization that we were actually in Tibet. The bus to Lhasa is really cheap, 25 yuan each, the taxis will cost you about 150 yuan. For most of the bus ride there were mountains and a river running in the distance to the right of us. On the left side were steep cliffs of rock. As we got closer to Lhasa more traffic was on the road. There passed by some small villages. They looked like they might be some kind of government housing. Along the ride we saw many stupas with strings of prayer flags trailing from them. We were quite shocked to see Chinese flags flying high from the Tibetan style buildings. We later found out they were government ordered flags.We started to drive into Lhasa on a main road. There was a line of dozens of military trucks. It kind of made us nervous. Then suddenly in front of the bus to the left was the magnificent site of the Potala. This is the former residence of the Dalai Lama and where Tibet was governed from. We will be seeing it later and tell you more about it. We were dropped off in front of a big hotel. We read about how modern Lhasa was, but still couldn't help but be surprised by&nbsp; large hotels and modern looking stores.&nbsp; It's not quite like they have McDonald's and Starbucks here, but check back in a few years, you neverknow. We checked out a few hotels on a main road. It is just a short walk away from many of the main sites. The hotels have jacked up their prices for several reasons, it is summer time, and now the train is up and running from China into Tibet bringing in hoards more tourists everyday. A case of supply and demand I guess. We had a hotel recommendation from the place that sold us our plane ticket in Zhongdian. It looked like it was a bit out of the way on the map, butwe decided to check it out. We took a taxi to it for 10 yuan, which is the fixed price to go anywhere in the town.&nbsp;It is called the Flora Hotel. It turned out to be not that far away from the main attractions and restaurants, etc. The staff are really friendly. The hotel is spotless with a modern western style bathroom. It is 180 yuan, the cheapest we could find for a double with bathroom. This hotel is in the Muslim quarter of Lhasa, near the mosque. There is a visible ethnic group of Hui Muslims here. The original Muslim inhabitants of Tibet were largely traders and butchers. There are many open stalls of meat hanging. You get really shocked as you walk down the street and see half a cow hanging in front of you. One time we had just come across a delivery drop off. The carcases were laying all over the sidewalk waiting to be hung. I went inside to check into the hotel and finally had to go back outside to retrieve Jack. He wastaking forever. He had found a little boy, who wanted to play soccer with him. All the locals had gathered around to watch Jack kick the ball back and forth with him. Even though we had taken our time to come up gradually in elevation prior to Lhasa, the height here took a toll on us. You really feel it when you try to sleep. We went downstairs to the hotel reception and purchased a can of oxygen. It is an aerosol can, like how hairspray use to be. There is a small clear tube that you attach to the top of it. The end has a piece that you put in your hose. Like how you have oxygen at the hospital. We both were having problems catching our breath, we just couldn't seem to get enough air. I was suffering from the most intense headache. I took two pain killers earlier, but they were doing nothing.&nbsp;The oxygen was like a miracle in a can. Within less than a minute of breathing with it my headache melted away. We both felt so much better. The days ahead got better,but we both had to laugh when it would be a major effort just to walk across our hotel room. The stairs leading up to it almost killed us. We just took it easy for the next day. You are supposed to relax until your body acclimatizes. We had another moment of laughter over what we were experiencing here. We were plastering our cracked open lips with chapstick, having to drink liters of water a day, sucking on oxygen and having to continuously put eye drops into our eyes so they didn't dry up and fall out! It is the driest climate we have ever experienced. Our skin is looking like that of a 90 year old!The big thing to do in Lhasa is walk around the Barkor. The Barkor is an 800m pilgrimage circuit or kora, it is the most famous of Lhasas pilgrimages circuits. It circles around the mostrevered religious structure in Tibet, the Jokhang. The circuit is lined with street shops so it also serves as the main commercial district for the Tibetans. You walk with the crowds of people through the kora, it is the most fascinating experience. Tibetans come from far away to do apilgrimage here, sometimes traveling for days, weeks, maybe even months to get here. It is a feeling of stepping back in time as you are passed by people dressed in clothing you would expect to see in medieval times. Most of the pilgrims are holding a prayer wheel on a stick. The round prayer wheel on top is spun continuously clockwise as they walk around the kora. The direction of travel around the kora is always clockwise as well. The people do many loops around it. Some people are prostrating the entire way around the kora. This is where they stand with their hands in a prayer position above their head, then they lower themselves to a crouching position and then fully extend the bodies on the ground with their arms and hands stretched out as far forward as possible. They stand up again, take a step forward and continue this process around the kora. There are some people so frail they can barely make it around the circuit, it may take them half the day, but they keep going on. Religion is everything to the people of Tibet. We have walked around the circuit so many times now, each time is better than the last. We really can't put into words what the experience is like here. We have seen very poor people giving money to someone they feel is less fortunate than them. We have had so many touching moments with the sweetest old ladies and men. The smiles here are truly infectious. We exchange Tashi Deleks (hellos) with everyone. A lot of them want to touch us, we are not sure, but they may think we can bring them good luck. People are very superstitious here. One lady took my hand in hers and rubbed it onto both of her cheeks. Little kids everywhere love to yell out hello to us. A monk came up and touched Jack. A lady took his arm and continued to rub the hair on it in fascination. Our experience going into the Jokhang was a bit less than holy. We must have chosen thebusiest time to come. The Jokhang founding is estimated to be between 639 to 647 AD. There is a main assembly hall that has many small chapel rooms branching off from it. It was so crowded, everyone was standing in line waiting to go into the smaller rooms. Monks and some Chinese officials were trying to keep things moving by pushing people along. We were herded like cattle. You had to squish into the small chapel rooms as others were trying to make their way out. The whole place was quite dark and dingy, yak butter was everywhere, our shoes were covered in it. The yak butter is used to burn as candles. They are burning everywhere. Each small chapel has a large cauldron filled with yak butter with wicks burning in it. The pilgrims bring pitchers of melted yak butter with them and pour it into the containers as an offering. The whole place had a funny smell to it. Others said they had much nicer experiences than this, but obviously they went when it was less crowded. We did manage to get up to the roof top where there was some solitude. We got a nice view of the mountains. There was a covered area to get out of the blistering sun and listen to some relaxing Monk Chanting music. Another must see is the Potala. This is cardinal landmark that dominates Lhasa's skyline. Its an amazing site and masterpiece of massive architecture. We saw our first glimpse of it when we were coming in by bus from the airport. It is a bittersweet experience to come here. The entire place lies lifeless and empty, reminding you that the Dalai Lama was forced to flee. This is where he governed Tibet from. It is quite ironic that the place gets flooded with Chinese tourists now coming to see the magnificent place that the generations of them before tried so hard to destroy. There are actually two palaces here. The White Palace was the seat of the government and the Red Palace was used for religious purposes. There are many tombs of former Dalai Lamas and each one who came to live here would have his own section built for him. The funeral chorten of the fifth Dalai Lama has over 3700 kg of gold. The fifth Dalai Lama constructed the Red Palace but died before it's completion. There are Buddha images laden with gold, other images are decorated in pearls and other precious stones. Pictures are not allowed to be taken anywhere inside. All images of the current Dalai Lama have been removed. It is only a small portion of the Potala that is accessible to the public, one would love to know what else lays behind closed doors. There are motion detectors and video cameras everywhere, access to the Potala is very controlled. We felt guilty that we were tourists now allowed to come and be at the Potala while the Dalai Lama himself can not be here. The whole place now lies as a lifeless Chinese museum. Across the street from the Potala is a huge square with a Chinese monumentcelebrating 50 years of supposed Tibetan independence. There was talk of a giant statue of Chairman Mao being erected here. I think the Chinese know this would be pushing things to the extremes. The Tibetans would riot and probably destroy it. Outside the Potala there is a long kora walk that can be done. Devout Tibetans still do this walk even though it is now lined with tacky tourist shops. It seems it will take a lot more than what has come from the Chinese to break the spirit of the Tibetan people. You can see many pilgrims out front of the Potala endlessly prostrating. While we were here the Chinese daythat celebrates the independence of Tibet occurred. They plastered huge red signs with writing in Chinese across the front walls of the Potala. It made for very ugly pictures. We didn't know what the writing said until someone told us it was for this celebration. It's pretty daring that they stick the banners right across the Potala. It really makes you feel kind of ill. but the Chinese government truly believes they have liberated Tibet and it's people. We have to comment on the nightmare of getting tickets for the Potala. The have now started to limit the amount of people that can go each day. The ticket procedure is the most unorganized mess, like many other things we have experienced in China. There are far too many tourists wanting to get in each day, so it had created a huge problem. There are now ticket scalpers for the Potala. Wouldn't the Dalai Lama be pleased to know this! You have to go very early in the day and get into a line up. They don't open the ticket office until 5pm. You can rarely get tickets for the same day, so you are standing in line for the next day, if you are lucky you may get tickets. You can only buy for the next day, no further in advance. Oneof the problems is the tour groups have bought up the majority of the tickets. this leaves little left for the individual travelers. We stood in line for over 5 hours, and were fortunate to actually get tickets. The worse part of it was the line in front of us continued to grow the entire time as people budged their way in. The line behind us hardly grew. As well as this,&nbsp; people would show up in the last half hour and pay off one of the many ticket scalpers. They would have people planted in the line to buy tickets for them. Each person in line was allowed to buy up to 4 tickets as long as they had their Chinese ID cards. The people would just hand over their cards. When the ticket office opened the scalpers would look to see if people getting close to the window had 4 ID cards. If they had less they would give them cards to buy more tickets and pay them off with a small amount of their profits. It was all very frustrating to watch. We bumped into one couple who only had a short time to stay in Lhasa. They spent 8 hours one day and 6 hours the next in the line up and still got no tickets! They really need to get a control on this situation or people are going to stop coming here. They have now raised the ticket entry to 300 yuan. On par this now makes the Potala more expensive than other buildings in the world such as the Taj Mahal. We have heard people are now paying as high as 800 yuan (over $100 Canadian dollars) to get a ticket from a scalper. We can only imagine what the Dalia Lama would think about the Potala being exploited like this for money!We met a group of people in a restaurant here. One couple was from San Franciso and two guys were from Vancouver. One of the guys from Vancouver is the grandson of a manin Nanaimo. He is the guy that founded the Military Museum in Rutherford Mall. He also wrote tons of letters to get the Nanaimo airport name changed to Collishaw airport. It is named after a war hero pilot that resided in Nanaimo. This is also the 2nd time on our trip we have met someone who has been to Hornby and Denman Islands, (two smaller islands near our home of Vancouver Island.)One of the funniest things we have seen for sale on the streets here is teeth, yes I said teeth! There are many people with large boards with fake teeth on them. Any kind you want, molars, front teeth, gold teeth, whatever you want. We're not sure where or how they get them put in.Another entry for Lhasa will follow when we get back from touring other parts of Tibet.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1152627000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1152627000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005/1152627000/tpod.html Sun, 29 Jul 2007 23:29:51 -0400 Sold the house, got rid of the crap, traveling the globe with no exact plans. Follow us on our 15 month journey thru Africa, SE Asia, China, Tibet, Europe and Mexico

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Lhasa, China

Tibetans are deeply religious people. Buddhism permeates every facet of their lives. Traditionally the people were in three different segments of society. The nomads, the farmers and the monks and nuns. All of them leading very different lives, but all sharing the same deep faith in Buddhism. This was a land where little change occurred for centuries. Now more change has happened in the last 50 years than in the 500 years previous. Communities consisted of clusters of homes on large areas of agricultural land once owned by the largest monastery. Until recently such communities were effectively self sufficient. Although it was a hard life, they could manage. Village families pulled together in times of need. Land was distributed so each family had both good and poorer quality land. Things are changing now as regions become more economically developed and immersed in a cash economy. Animal husbandry is still extremely important in Tibet, there are over 21 million head of livestock in the country. The Tibetan people have a burial ritual which was banned by the Chinese until recently. After someone passed, their body is put into a sitting position for 24 hours. A lama recites prayers during this time. Three days after death the body is folded up and carried on a close friends back up to a burial site. These sites are usually high in the mountains.The hair is cut off, they chop up the body and pound the bones together with tsampa (roasted barley flour) this is for the vultures to eat. There is no sadness at the burial, as the soul is already considered to be gone, the body is merely a vessel. The burial itself is more seen as a disposal. Tibetans are encouraged to witness the disposal of the body and to confront death openly without fear. It is a powerful agent of transformation and spiritual progress. Tibetan people still wear traditional clothing, although there is an increase in more western or Chinese style clothing. The Tibetan national dress is the chuba, a long sleeved sheepskin cloak. It is tied around the waist with a sash and often worn off of the shoulder. Nomads from eastern Tibet have cloaks with very long sleeves that are tied around the waist. Most women wear a long dress topped with a colourful striped apron. Traditional boots area made of leather strips and have turned up toes, apparently to kill less bugs while walking. Woman wear a lot of jewelery and their personal wealth and dowry are often invested in it. Coral is very valued as Tibet is so far from the sea. Earrings are common in both men and women. Woman from the northeastern and Qinghai areas wear their hair in 108 braids, an auspicious number in Buddhism. Khampa men wear a red or black tassel in a braid they wind around the head. Cowboy hats are commonly seen in summer and fur hats in winter. The Tibetans are classified as belonging to the Mongoloid family of peoples. They probably descended from nomadic tribes that migrated from the north to settle around Tibet's river valleys. It is estimated that one quarter of Tibetans are still nomadic. There are considerable variations between regional groups of people in Tibet. The most recognizable is the Khampas of eastern Tibet. The men are very large and rugged looking. Tibetans are also closely related to Sherpas of Nepal and Ladakhis of India. Older folks stick their tongue out at you. It is a traditional form of respect that greeted the first travelers to Tibet centuries ago. Some say it was to prove the person was not a devil because devils have green tongues. We were not sure if we were supposed to do it back or not, but we had the greeting done to us a few times. Tibetans can be known to give gestures with their lips to indicate a particular direction. This is really strange. They will purse them to the right or left or pout to show a forward direction. The Tibetan plateau is home to some of the last true nomadic culture in the world. It also has one of the most complete natural ecosystems on the Eurasian continent. It is not only known as the "roof of the world", but as the 3rd pole of the earth. It's home to many endangered and endemic wildlife. It is the source for many of Asia's rivers including the Yellow, Yangtze, Mekong, Salween, Indus and Brah Maputra. This makes it the primary source of water for over 45% of the worlds population as well as having a direct influence on China and the entire Eastern Hemispheres climate. You can see why it is so important to protect this area and make sure it is well taken care of. In 1980 there were only 1,059 visitors to the Tibetan plateau, 95% of which came from abroad. Two decades later in 2002 140,000 visitors came, and in 2004 1.22 million tourists came which 92% were domestic tourists. If this area is not protected properly there will be grave consequences in the future. The Chinese government plans to increase the population of Lhasa to over 2.5 million people. The fear is Lhasa will no longer have beautiful blue skies. It will become like any other large city in China, full of pollution. The growth rate of Tibet is over 16%, the highest in all of China. Huge tax incentives are given to Han Chinese that want to come and operate a business in Lhasa, they want to inundate Lhasa with more Chinese to keep a control on things.&nbsp;No one is able to get the exact numbers of Chinese in Tibet. Official statistics claim that 95% of the Tibet Autonomous Region is Tibetan, everyone seems to greatly dispute this except the government. The Chinese figures for Lhasa say it is 87% Tibetan and just under 12% Han, it is more likely a 50/50 mix. The recent flood of Chinese immigrants into Lhasa has been termed as China's "second invasion". Despite all that the Chinese have brought with them, the karaoke joints, Chinese TV, cell phones and internet cafes, tradition and religion is still at the core of Tibetan life. The essence of Tibet remarkably still remains intact for now. Chinese are attracted to Tibet through preferential loans, and tax rates, and the less strict one child policy. As well as the easy business opportunities. All of this will contribute to the set up of urban centers all over Tibet. An education system that uses only the Mandarin language at higher levels reinforces the fact that only Sinicized Tibetans will be able to participate in Tibet's economic advances. A watchful eye is kept on all that goes on in Tibet. It is estimated that over 200,000 PLA, Peoples Liberation Army troops are positioned throughout the area. People do have a lot more freedom to practice their religion than they used to. Apparently they were not even allowed to carry prayer wheels around the Barkor a number of years ago. There are still no images, or writings allowed from the current Dalai Lama. Any political disobedience is quickly crushed. Monks and Nuns who are often the focus of protests and Tibetan aspirations for independence are subject to arrest and beatings. This is why the monasteries have very strict limits on how many monks they can have. The government wants everything kept under control. Surveillance cameras are everywhere. They are all over the monasteries inside and out. The Barkor area and around the Potala is riddled with them as well. Big brother is watching at all times. They look like street lamps in the Barkor area, you would probably never know what they were unless you had them pointed out to you. There are still occasional protests occurring, so the government wants to be able to get a quick jump if anything starts up.
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Lijiang, China

We took a 3 hour bus ride from Dali to Lijiang. We would go up another several hundred meters in elevation along the route. It was a scenic bus ride passing through mountains and valleys. We arrived in the new part of Lijiang. The city has 3 bus stations. The bus station we ended up at was not the one we were expecting. The guy who sold us the ticket had told us the wrong one. Now we had no idea where we were. Pointing at the map and at our Chinese dictionary asking, where are we, works quite well. We got a taxi into the old town of Lijiang for 7 yuan. (about $1 Canadian) We carried our bags to the main square. I sat with the bags while Jack went to check out a few guest houses we had in mind. He came back about 20 minutes later and said he could not find any of them. We went into a the tourist reception center and found one girl who spoke a bit of English. She recommended one of the guest houses we had been thinking of and pointed to the street on our map where we would find it. Jack found a few on the 2nd trip, he found one hostel that was really dumpy and another hotel that was a bit more expensive than we wanted to pay. We decided to go to the East River Hotel that was a bit more money. It was 200 yuan, which works out to about $30 Canadian dollars, more than you need to pay in Lijiang, but we were tired of looking. We were happy we stayed here, the staff spoke only a few words of English, but were pleasant. The room was the standard of a very nice hotel. We felt very comfortable here and ended up staying 8 nights. The population of Lijiang, 320,000 is made up of Naxi, Bai, Lisu, Pumi, Yi, Tibetan Miao, Hui, and Han people. The Naxi constitute almost 60% of the total population. The Naxi descend from Tibetan Qiang Tribes. We could tell right away that we are getting closer to the Tibetan Plateau. The people have very different facial features from what we have been seeing in the rest of China. Many people have lighter brown eyes and different hair, some of it wavy or curly.The Dongba religion, a primitive religion, is the common belief of the Naxi people. It is believed to be at least 1000 years old. It mainly consists of scriptures, paintings, music, dances, ritual implements and religious services. In addition some of them believe in Lamaism. These two religions have greatly influenced the ideology of the Naxi people and their social activities and life.The Dongba script of the Naxi, a kind of pictograph, possesses more than 1,400 characters. It is believed to be the only well preserved living pictographic language in the world. It is a precious cultural heritage of mankind. About 40,000 volumes of Dongba scriptures have been found today, all written in Dongba pictographic characters. The scriptures are kept in many libraries and museums around the world. There are another group of people called the Mosuos. They are a branch of the Naxi nationality with a population of about 15,000. They are the main ethnic group scattered in the lakeside villages. The Mosuo people have their own ways and customs. They are the last practicing matriarchal society in the world. Kinship, clan names, and social and political positions are passed on through the female line. Men and Women are not bound by marriage, each living at one's mother's home. They do not co-inhabit. Men work at home during the day and spend their night with the women they love in their homes. They may choose to unite or separate at will. The woman are free to choose as many lovers as they please. The remote area where these people live has turned into a tourist attraction since the 1980's. It has made the Mosuo the richest ethnic minority group in all of Yunnan province. Unfortunately their have been some disguised brothels opened due to Chinese men coming and looking for one night stands with the women.Lijiang's backdrop is the 5500 meter high snow-capped Jade Dragon Mountain. The elevation of the town itself is 2400 meters. The town was built in the late Song dynasty and early Yuan dynasty. Since then it has been an important political, cultural and educational center for this area. The streets in the town all radiate from Sifang street (square street) to form a network connecting every corner of the city. Houses have been built on the mountain slopes tier upon tier. It is very easy to get lost here. Everyone does it at least once during their stay. In fact the main tourist reception in town has to continually help travelers who can't find their way back to their guest house. Creeks weave their way throughout the city, they are contained in channels along side the cobble stoned streets. Wooden bridges criss cross over the water to allow access to shops and restaurants. The water is full of colourful goldfish. At night red lanterns can be seen hanging from the outside of the buildings and in the trees. In 1996 an earthquake of over 7 on the richter scale hit the Lijiang area, killing more than 300 people and injuring 16,000. Much of the newer Lijiang city was leveled, but the traditional Naxi architecture of the old town held up quite well. The UN was so impressed with the survival of Lijiang that it placed it on its world heritage site list in 1999. The old and new town that Lijiang are separated into are very different. Again as many towns like this in China, you want to stay in the old town section, it would be pointless to visit here and stay in the new area. The spectacular 13 peaks of 18,360-foot Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, are home to many wild plants and rare animals. From April to June over 50 species of azaleas fill the mountain with brilliant colours and in autumn blue rough gentian flowers cover the marshlands. The landscape is decorated in flowers for 10 months of the year. The mountain is also home to a rare tea - Wild Snow Tea -which the Naxi say is good for high blood pressure. When it ripens in the winter, the Naxi men, women and children head to the mountain to harvest it. Another major attraction of this area is the Tiger Leaping Gorge. The start of it is about 2 1/2 hours away from Lijiang. It is one of the deepest gorges in the world. It is about 16km long and it 3900m from the water to the snow capped mountains above. There is a lower road along the river, it does not offer the spectacular views that the higher trail does. The high trail is a two day hike taking in spectacular views. Parts of the hike are quite strenuous and the high altitude can make it difficult. We decided not to do the hike, as we were already experiencing some effects from the altitude and the weather was being very unpredictable with heavy rain. Parts of the trail are subject to landslides and we did not want to take the risk of getting stuck somewhere along the route. It's too bad because the gorge may be ruined soon, as there are plans to dam it. Lijiang was a very relaxing place to hang out, despite the hoards of Chinese tourist buses that come in. Even the majority of the shop keepers here are very laid back. Maybe it is because there are so many tourists that come here, they don't have to worry about sales so much. I think one of the reasons we were not in a rush to leave was the great food here. These places need no mention to gain business as they are both in the Lonely Planet already, but they were both excellent. We ate at the Prague Cafe everyday for breakfast and many other meals as well. Every dish we had there was excellent and the staff are so friendly. The Well Cafe had a great vegetable ratatouille and some tasty homemade chilled fruit tea. It is like a Sangria without the alcohol. We tried one of the local specialties, Naxi Baba. It is a thick bread, almost like a pita bread. You can have it filled with many different things, like vegetables or even sweet flavors. It was very tasty. We had an interesting evening during a meal. At first we thought the restaurant we were sitting in was receiving stock. Lots of boxes and bags were being piled up in the back. Then we realized the whole back storage room was being emptied. This can't be a good sign. There were many of the waitresses just hanging around the boxes while a few of the men went into the storage room. Then we heard a bunch of screams and even the men were yelling and running out of the room. They shut the door behind them. It was obviously a rat. They calmed down for a bit and then two of the men went back into the room. We could hear all kinds of banging. Finally one of the men came out with a huge dead rat. He proceeded to take it into the kitchen. Uggggh, we were really glad we got our food already. He later brought it out in a container and left the restaurant with it. In all the chaos our food must have got neglected, it was awful. Too bad, because we had eaten here once before and everything was very good. We are getting used to having to go elsewhere to get a second meal in China. What else can you do, I don't think it would go over too well if you told them the food was awful and refused to pay. We spent many days just wandering the narrow cobblestone streets and having fun getting lost. We made sure to get out of the areas where the tour groups go. We went into parts where the locals lived. They seemed to get a kick out of seeing us walk by. The great ice breaker is if someone has a small baby. They immediately bring the baby over to us. They pick the babies hand up and wave it and tell them to say hello. They were so cute. We passed by a few areas of town where there is a public set of wells. The water is separated into 3 pools in the ground. One is for drinking, the next for washing vegetables and the last one for washing clothes in. There are many other old drinking wells through out areas of the town. People still bring the water up with a wooden bucket. We have noticed that in general the people are much happier in the last few places we have visited. Other travelers have commented on this as well. The only thing we can come up with is the higher altitude, they have less oxygen, and are walking around delirious, lol! Maybe it's because they are away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities. We went to the Black Dragon Pool Park and walked around for half of the day. It was very tranquil. The area was filled with art students drawing and painting the surroundings. We were very lucky to see two different groups of people dancing. One large group of Naxi had many women and a few men dancing. The other small group of women dancing were the Bai ethnic minority. <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1151399400.lijiang_new_344.jpg" width="270"> <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1151399400.lijiang_new_299.jpg" width="270"><img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1151399400.lijiang_new_568.jpg" width="270"> <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1151399400.lijiang_new_486.jpg" width="270"><img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1151399400.lijiang_new_515.jpg" width="166"> <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1151399400.lijiang_new_399.jpg" width="374">We walked up to the highest part of the old city, we were going to a spot called Looking at the Past Pavilion. It has a large pavilion that overlooks the old town. The price in our book said 15 yuan each, but when we got there the lady wanted 55 yuan each. We thought this was a bit steep to look at a view. She was insisting we had to buy two tickets, one was 15 yuan like it was supposed to be and had a picture of the pavilion on it. The other ticket was a white square with red stamp on it and some other writing. We later bumped into two fellows and were chatting about the situation. They said they were shown this white ticket when they paid for their hotel and were made to pay the 40 yuan, being told it was a tax to be paid by all visitors to Lijiang. Funny we didn't ever pay any such thing with our hotel. Sounds like something fishy is going on. They said they were made to pay it at with another entrace fee as well. That's the think about China, it's not like we can try and look up what the ticket says in a language book. They can make up whatever they want and we would never be the wiser!Just a few meters back down the hill from the Pavilion there are some small cafes along the hillside. We could see through them and realized they got the same great view as we would have at the pavilion. We sat down at one and had watermelon shakes on the balcony. We enjoyed the great view and took some photos. It only cost us 15 yuan each for the drinks. There are many talented artists in Lijiang. There are woodcarvers everywhere, some of the work is exquisite and was well out of our budget to buy. There are also some very good oil and water colour painters too. One very popular thing to buy is burnt city pictures. They are done in all sizes on flat pieces of wood. The artist draws various scenes of old town Lijiang by burning into the wood with a hot metal tool. They are mostly scenes of the skinny cobble stoned streets and buildings. Some of them are very nice.Everywhere you go in town you will see signs advertising Yak, in any form you can dream up. Dried yak meat, yak meat candies, yak horn combs for you hair, yak fur, yak butter tea, yak cheese, yak everywhere. There are many leather goods available and shops with all kinds of furs that used to be cute little animals.We saw the most funny site while walking around the main square of town. A man was walking around with a ball of yarn, trailing about 5 feet behind him was his wife knitting up a storm. They walked along as if they do this all the time. Can you imagine seeing this site at home!We got the privilege of seeing a performance of music considered to be a national treasure in China. The ancient Naxi people created their own music and preserved part of the Han classical music already lost in the rest of China. This music combination is called Lijiang Daoist Music, and also known as Ancient Naxi Music. It is believed to be the music of the Yuan dynasty. Another form of the music combines the Han and Naxi styles, this is the Daoist music introduced to Lijiang during the Ming and Qing dynasties. <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1151399400.lijiang_new_243.jpg" width="166"> <img src="http://www.travelpod.com/users/audreyandjack/worldtrip-2005.1151399400.lijiang_new_273.jpg" width="374">Ancient Naxi Music started to reemerge in 1986. The Dayuan Ancient Naxi Music Association started to hold public concerts in 1988. They have been invited to perform in many countries around the world. Many of the members have original instruments. Most instruments like this did not survive the cultural revolution in China. (otherwise known as the Red Army) Several members of the group hid theirs by burying them underground. Many members of the group are well into their 80's.The evening of entertainment also included some solo singers. A male from a remote village had just recently joined the group. He sang a traditional song, his voice had an amazing range. A Naxi girl sang in a manner almost similar to Swiss yodeling. There is an area of town that has a long road lined with restaurants. It is quite lively at night and has lots of entertainment. We saw a few different singing and dancing performances. One group of singers had outfits on that looked similar to the puffy pants you see the male Russian dancers wear. The dancing was somewhat similar to the Russian style as well. The singing was really different than anything we have heard before. There were a few young guys who were putting a modern twist on their traditional Naxi singing, almost Naxi Pop music! The city is really charming to walk around at night. The buildings that go up the hillside from the main squares are all lit up. On Saturday evening there is a bonfire in the Sifang Sqaure and traditional Naxi dancers can be seen performing. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay here. It was especially rewarding to be in a place where people have held onto their customs and traditions so well. Next stop, Zhongdian, at the edge of the Tibetan Plateau.
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