TravelStream™ news feed for member chalmersfamily on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/chalmersfamily en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:32:36 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1219978980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1219978980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1219978980/tpod.html Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:32:36 -0400 The Chalmers Family travel the world!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Hong Kong, China

Monday 25th August Darmen arrived at 8.30 for us to hand over the keys etc and then we caught a taxi to the airport. As it was the day after the Olympics finished the airport was pretty crowded, but we had no problems queuing to get our seat allocations etc and after a few hours found ourselves on the tarmac in the plane.  Unfortunately, there we stayed for the next hour and a half, as the overstretched airport was having problems with the baggage handling. Finally we lifted off, but I was very grateful we didn't have to make a connection like most of the people on the flight!   We landed safely in Hong Kong, caught a taxi to the Intercontinental Grand Stanford and settled into our very nice room there. I managed to get hold of my teaching friend from Wilderness, Stephanie Andrews, who is spending this year with her husband and 2 kids teaching in the Australian International School in Hong Kong. We organised to meet up for dinner tomorrow night, which will be great. After a bit of down time we had dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant just near the hotel, and then headed home where we happily collapsed onto our beds, reflecting on what a wonderful time we'd had in China, but how exciting it was to now be on our final leg of our way home to Australia.   Tuesday 26th AugustWe had a nice sleep-in and I took the kids to breakfast. Unfortunately Mike's laptop decided at this point to crash in a big way. We tried ringing our computer expert back in Australia, but after a few attempts he told us the bad news that it was irretrievably damaged and we'd have to wait till we got back to Aus before getting it repaired. After this frustrating experience we headed out into the heat to get money from a nearby ATM and get some lunch. We found a nice restaurant selling good dim sum with yummy roast duck, so we had a nice lunch there and then wandered back to the hotel. Unable to catch up on the blog which had been my intention during these days in Hong Kong, instead the kids and I watched the DVD of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' which I'd brought with me. They really enjoyed it, although they found it very sad when Tom Robinson died and then a bit scary when Bob Ewell was after the kids, but it raised really good topics to discuss with them about racism and how people were treated in that period of American history. I think having travelled the world and made friends with people from so many nationalities, it's pretty hard for them to understand why people would be racist against anyone! At 6.00 we met up with Steph, her husband Tim, and their kids Phoebe and Thomas who luckily are the same age as Rachel & Tom and pretty quickly hit it off. We walked about 20 minutes to a nearby restaurant strip where we had a very yummy Indian meal and really enjoyed catching up on each other's news. I was pleased to find out Steph is coming back to Wilderness next year, and we've said we'll have to get them over when they get back in mid December and the kids got on so well it would be nice to keep that going.  At 9.00 we sent Mike off in a taxi to meet up with his friend Johnny C who is working in Hong Kong and they had a nice time catching up in a pub, while we walked back to the hotel and farewelled Steph and her family. We went straight to bed and Mike got in soon after 12.00 as Johnny had to fly to the mainland next day and couldn't have too late a night.  Wednesday 27th AugustIt was our last full day in Hong Kong, so we planned to do a few things. After breakfast I headed across the road to get my hair cut and coloured which was very necessary. I waited quite a while for the stylist to arrive, but he did a great job working out the right colour for me and then spent a long time on the cut which looked great.   When I got back we all headed out to the Ladies Market to do some typical Hong Kong style shopping. We found a little restaurant for lunch and then wandered up and down the market. We had hoped to get some DS games for Tom, but they only sold the expensive genuine article, the laws and policing obviously being a lot stricter in Hong Kong than on the mainland! Eventually we headed back to the hotel and had a refreshing swim in the roof deck pool which was very salubrious.   We decided to go to Victoria Peak for dinner which has the most glorious view over Hong Kong, so we caught the Star Ferry across the harbour, admiring the fabulous sunset which Rachel took plenty of photos of. Luckily she had her camera as my memory card was full and I couldn't transfer the photos onto the computer as that had died! Anyway, she did a marvellous job as official photographer as you can see in these photos...  We caught a taxi from the ferry terminus to the bottom of the peak where you catch the Peak Tram, but discovered they only took cash. Frustratingly we then had to catch a taxi back to an ATM and then another back to the station where we queued for some time and finally boarded the tram. By this stage it was quite dark and we got to view the incredible lights of the skyscrapers and we travelled up and past them until we were at the top looking down on one of the most spectacular views in the world. It has to be line ball between the view over Rio from Sugarloaf Mountain or Corcovado and the view over Hong Kong from Victoria Peak.  After a nice dinner at a restaurant up on the peak we spent a bit of time looking down at the views and then lined up again to go back down the tram. We decided to catch a taxi back rather than using the ferry again as we were pretty tired and I still had to finish packing, but it was a very fitting place to have our final meal overseas on this incredible trip. We went to bed, happy to think that we'd at last be back in Oz the next day!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1221007260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1221007260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1221007260/tpod.html Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:06:15 -0400 The Chalmers Family travel the world!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Beijing, China

Thursday 21st August   Alison: Despite our late night I woke at 8.30 and continued working on the blog until everyone else woke at about midday. It was raining - the first we'd seen since our arrival. I made brunch and did a bit of shopping with Rachel, buying her an umbrella which we have discovered is equally good for the sun as the rain.   Although we had tickets for the Kayaking in the afternoon, we decided not to bother going as the venue is quite a bit out of town and it was raining so it wouldn't have been that much fun in the wet. We were quite pleased to just have another lazy day. We had an early dinner at the Chinese Restaurant opposite our apartment and then caught a taxi to the subway and headed off to the stadium.   This time our seats were in G sector, on the 3rd tier, Row 14, so we got a great view of the Women's Javelin where the Czech girl Spotakova won the Gold on her last throw of 71.42m, beating the Russian leader. It was also great being so high up to watch the Women and Men's 100m Relay Heats which were on. These were most notable for both the Jamaican teams winning and both the USA teams dropping the baton and thus missing out on even being in the final - great shocks all round! The Americans did at least come 1, 2, 3 in the 400 m men's final which cheered them up a bit, but the baton dropping really was a debacle.   Friday 22nd August   Alison: Today we had the Handball to see at 12.00 so I got up at 9.00 and dragged everyone else out of bed at 10.00. We finally got out of the house at 11.15 and reached the National Indoor Stadium by 12.15 where the game was in progress. We had never seen Handball before and had minimal idea about the rules but it was a really exciting, fast game to watch and incredibly physical. Russia was competing against Denmark and it was a really close game with Russia getting a goal in the last 3 seconds to win! We had been barracking loudly for Denmark with some spectators a few rows behind us barracking loudly for Russia, so we had a good time geeing up the crowd and trying to out-shout each other, much to the bemused Chinese crowd's amusement and then we cheerfully shook hands at the end.   We managed to convince the people at the entrance gate to let us out to get some lunch before the second game. I got to try the 'box meal' - a clever self-heating box where you pull a string to release water onto some pads which creates a chemical reaction and a huge amount of steam which then heats the bottom of the container holding the pre-cooked rice and curry sitting on top it. It took about 10 minutes to heat through and worked very well - it's just a pity that the actual food wasn't so good! After lunch we went back into the Indoor Stadium and watched Korea versus Poland. This time we barracked for Korea in honour of our neighbours' children Chandler and Chloe, whom they adopted from Korea, but Poland won, so we weren't very successful in any of our cheering!   We had a few hours before we were due at the Bird's Nest, so we once more took on the horrors of the Superstore, this time to buy pins and presents for people at home. It really was quite nightmarish, the queuing in the hot sun almost as bad as entering into the huuuge building packed with souvenirs and people jostling each other to grab them. We eventually escaped with lots of pins and other bits and pieces and went next door to the equally giant MacDonald's to get dinner.   It was a fabulous night at the stadium! We were seated this time in Row 8 of Tier 3 of Sector H, looking almost straight down on the Pole Vault where the Men's Final was happening. This was extremely exciting with all our hopes resting on Steve Hooker who had just made it into the final 2 nights before. While they were doing their jumps the track events continued. We watched the Aussies just qualify for the finals in the Men's 4 by 400 m Relay Heat and then watched the Women's 5000 m Final in which the Ethiopians came 1st and 3rd. Then we watched the Women's 4 by 100 m Relay Final and wouldn't you know it, after the USA debacle in the heats, the standout favourite Jamaica then dropped the baton! Russia went on to win the race, but it was a bit tragic for the Jamaican girls. Thank goodness there were no such disasters in the Men's 4 by 100 Relay Final where we watched Jamaica with Ursain Bolt win the race in another World Record time, giving Bolt 3 Golds with 3 World Records - quite extraordinary! Meanwhile the Men's Pole Vault continued to its nail biting conclusion, with Steve Hooker managing to get over each successive height, seemingly each time on his third attempt - absolutely nerve-wracking! Finally he won when his only surviving competitor missed his 3rd attempt, much to the delight of the crowd. Michael cheerfully led our sector in an 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi' chant and we all screamed ourselves silly. Then Steve decided to prolong the excitement by going for an Olympic Record. He missed his first attempt and decided to forego his second and say that his next was his third attempt - a good move since he seems to go best on his 3rd! Anyway, he cleared the 5.96 metres comfortably and more screaming and cheering followed - great stuff!   We finally headed home, decked in all our flags and cheering lustily with many spectators stopping to congratulate us! Of course it was our barracking that got him over, so we accepted the congratulations graciously... At last we got home and headed off to bed, looking forward to the last day of competition and seeing the Great Wall the next day.     Saturday 23rd August   Alison: I did some washing and hung it out on the balcony before Darmen arrived. He'd organised a very comfortable car to take us all out to the Great Wall at Badaling. This is the most touristy part of the Great Wall near Beijing, but also the closest and easiest to climb so we went for that option.   We finally left at 11.00 and arrived about an hour later. It was very hot and the crowds were enormous, but we had a great walk up and along the wall, constantly being stopped by Chinese tourists who wanted to take their photos with the children. In fact they were queuing up to do so, and it felt like we did 3 steps, then stopped for photos, another 3 steps, another photo stop etc. Now the kids know what it must be like to be a celebrity, but luckily they were pretty tolerant of it all, smiling widely with each photograph.   There was a trolley car that you could catch down from the Wall but when we went to buy tickets they said there were no more available. Michael told Rachel to start limping and he convinced them that she had hurt herself and we had to catch the trolley down, so eventually he got his way and we came down on something similar to a roller coaster. It was lots of fun and ended at a Bear Garden where they kept a lot of Black Bears in pits for the tourists. They were very sweet, climbing up on poles to catch fruit chucked at them by the many spectators, but it was rather sad seeing them penned up.   From Badaling we drove to a really yummy Hot Pot Restaurant for a late lunch - the kids decided it was their favourite meal for all of China and I'd have to agree that it was delicious. Then we drove to quickly check out the Ming Tombs at Ding Ling where we saw the tomb of Emperor Zhu Yijun built in 1584. It was large and impressive, but we rather rushed through it all as we were running out of time to get to the stadium and we didn't want to miss Steve Hooker's medal ceremony.   We drove back through nightmarish Beijing rush hour traffic, the driver got confused about where we wanted him to drop us so that added an extra 20 minutes or so, and then the queue outside Beitucheng station (not our usual entrance) was horrendous, so Michael just pushed his way into the line by pretending to know someone there (much to my mortification, but as already shown in the Trolley Car experience earlier, the boy has no shame whatsoever!) and we finally made it to the stadium just in time. Our seats were brilliant: in Row 18 of Tier 1, so right near the front but with enough elevation to see over the whole ground and in Sector H again. We all stood and sang the National Anthem lustily as Steve Hooker was awarded his Gold Medal - very thrilling to see the Aussie flag aloft there! Being the final night of Track and Field it was an all finals night, and we excitedly watched the Men's 800 m, the Women's 1500 m, the Men's 5000 m and then the Women and Men's 4 by 400 Relays. Providing some balm for their hurt pride over their baton dropping in the 100m relay heats, the US won both of the 4 by 400 relays, but while we were watching the men's relay we were so busy cheering on the Aussies that we hardly noticed who won! Anyway, the Aussies came a very creditable 6th, while the US won it in World Record time - but who cares about that?! In terms of field events the Aussie dipped out in the Men's Javelin and a Belgian won the Women's High Jump, which we happily celebrated with a lovely Belgian chap sitting just near us. Altogether, it was a fabulous night - or as Tom once more announced as we left the stadium, 'Another great night at the Olympics!'     Sunday 24th August   Alison: After breakfast I brought in the washing and started an initial pack before we were picked up for lunch. Michael had accepted the kind offer of one of his Chinese suppliers to take the family to lunch which was really nice. First they took us to their office where we got to see where they work and some of the many products they can supply. Then they took us to a really up-market restaurant which was huge. We looked around the enormous tanks of various fish and seafood available to eat and chose our dishes, before being taken up to our private room where we were presented with course after course of beautiful Chinese food. It was a really lovely experience and very much appreciated.   Eventually, after eating far too much, they took us home, dropping me back at the apartment so I could get on with packing, and Mike and the kids at a famous Silk Market. I managed to get pretty well packed just in time before they all got back and Darmen and his girlfriend Jo-Jo arrived to look after the kids while we went to the Closing Ceremony. This was great of them, as otherwise I don't know what we would have done since we were only able to get 2 tickets, but we left the kids happily playing on the DS games Mike had bought at the Silk Market and looking forward to getting Pizza for dinner from the Italian restaurant opposite.   We were worried that it might take longer than usual to get into the stadium for the Closing Ceremony, but it all went like clockwork as before and we found ourselves in our brilliant seats with three quarters of an hour to spare. We were in Row 11 of Tier 2 in Sector F, so we had a grand view of the whole arena without being too far back, and very excitingly for me, had a brilliant view of the Olympic Flame, which I took lots of photos of. They had entertainment on before the ceremony even began, and also took time to explain what we were meant to do with the many things in our showbags, including a fan with orange material to flap, an Olympic torch which flashed and a piece of coloured cellophane to wave (our section was green). There was also a little double barrelled drum which Mike seized upon with alacrity and continued to bang it, even after the poor volunteer came up and explained that he really was not to do it yet and that he would be told when to do so.   The ceremony itself was most spectacular, but thankfully not as long as the Opening Ceremony, with the athletes all coming in fairly randomly and getting to see a lot of the entertainment themselves rather than coming in at the very end. Zhang Yimou did another great job with his cast of thousands, but when the English did their 10 minute piece with a London Bus suddenly bursting open and an aging Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin thundering out Rock and Roll riffs, you couldn't get a greater contrast with China! It got us very excited and already planning our next Olympic experience - London here we come!!!   The whole night finished relatively early so we got home at the reasonable hour of 11.15, ready to put the kids to bed and be up earlyish the next morning to fly to Hong Kong.  
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1220486640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1220486640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1220486640/tpod.html Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:18:17 -0400 The Chalmers Family travel the world!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Yangshuo, Guangxi Zhuang, China

Sunday 10th August   Alison: We had to be up early to get the bus at 8.30 which would take us to our boat to Yangshuo. The 3 hour boat ride down the Li River (or Li Jiang) was quite stunning with the river winding its way between the amazing karsts dotting the landscape. I kept on taking more and more photos and it wasn't easy selecting which ones to include in this blog! On the bus & then boat ride we met a delightful family from Seattle, the Kuklinskis, with whom we happily chatted, Michael always more interested in talking to people than looking at scenery. He also bought Rachel an egg shaped crystal coloured in an Amethyst colour which she loved from a vendor on a bamboo raft who poled up to the side of the boat as we were passing and roped his flimsy craft next to us. Quite a few of them did this, selling various types of souvenirs and fruit etc.   When we arrived at the dock, accompanied by our Yangshuo guide Paula, we collected our bags from the bus which had driven there separately and went to the Riverview Hotel by taxi. We arranged with her to do a bike ride and bamboo rafting the next day. Our family room was very pleasant overlooking the river and we happily collapsed onto the beds and relaxed. Then we headed out for an early dinner at a nearby restaurant after which Mike did a bit of bargaining at the market and bought ten silk scarves for a reasonable price. I have kept insisting that presents must be light weight and take minimal room so silk scarves are a good option!   Finally we headed back to watch the Olympics and go to bed, weary after not enough sleep the night before.     Monday 11th August   Alison: I had breakfast with the kids while Mike spent a long time on the Internet doing some work. He kept on putting off poor Paula but eventually we got ourselves on our 2 tandem bikes - Rachel and I on one and Mike and Tom on the other - and we headed out. We rode about 6 kms through absolutely stunning scenery to the spot where our bamboo rafts were waiting for us. Then Paula took herself and the bikes off to where we would eventually arrive near Moon Hill (Yueliang Shan) while we sat down on our 2 rafts and were punted along by 2 cheerful chaps downstream past scenery beyond belief. We happily spent 3 hours being poled down the river, every now and then going over little rapids of about half a metre. We stopped at one point and had a beautiful swim in the warm water which refreshed us nicely. We also stopped at some of the bigger rafts sitting in the middle of the stream selling beer, soft drinks and snacks such as fish, corn cobs or chicken roasted on braziers. It was extraordinarily relaxing and peaceful and one of the highlights of the trip. Then we finally met up with Paula who was wondering why on earth we took so long, and together we rod to Moon Hill where at 4.00 we had a late lunch at the restaurant there. Finally we rode another 6 kms back to the hotel.   At 7.20 we left by taxi to see an amazing Light Show directed by Zhang Yimou, the famous film director who had directed the Opening Ceremony. We saw the Kuklinskis who we'd met the day before there as we were going in so it was nice to compare notes of how we were all loving Yangshuo, but unfortunately they were seated in a different spot from us so we didn't see them after that. The show was quite spellbinding, with hundreds of people from the local tribes participating in an extraordinary display using lighting, costumes, boats, huge strips of material and various floats to create an amazing spectacle. We could notice elements of the Opening Ceremony having their genesis in the kinds of things he did in this. Afterwards we caught a taxi back to the hotel and happily collapsed into bed.     Tuesday 12th August   Alison: I had brekky with the kids and then packed while Mike and Rachel went shopping in the market, Rachel wanting to try out some of the Chinese she had learnt in her bargaining. They got back just in time for us to bring the bags down and catch our taxi to the Guilin airport, about an hour and a half's drive away.   We had lunch at the airport and then caught our flight to Kunming where we had to collect our luggage and check in once more for Lijiang. We waited for the plane and just as we were boarding it realised that we had left Tom's new DS Lite on board the previous plane in the seat pocket - DISASTER! We spent ages trying to see if it had been found and put in lost property but with no luck. The crew thought it likely that the cleaners would have stolen it, and considering their poor wages this was very likely. However, it was very disappointing for poor Tom and we assured him we would do our best to get him another one if we could in Beijing....
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1219203540/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1219203540/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1219203540/tpod.html Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:30:46 -0400 The Chalmers Family travel the world!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

St. Petersburg, North-West Russia, Russian Federation

Tuesday 22nd July Alison: We touched down in St Petersburg and got safely through immigration & customs, despite Michael's attempt to chat with stern and unsmiling Russian officials, withdrew some Roubles from the ATM & came out to see Katerina & her husband Alexi waiting for us. We had contacted Katerina on the Internet about 6 months previously as she offered a non-professional guide around St Petersburg for a small sum. When we had called her two days before and mentioned we hadn't yet organised a hotel, she generously said we could stay with her. Unable to resist the chance to experience Russian life first hand, we agreed. Alexi had an ancient Volga which excited Mike no end, it being a classic Russian car from Soviet times. We somehow managed to fit in all our luggage as well as us, but one of kids had to keep ducking down when went past a policeman as Katerina explained we were only meant to have 3 in back. Apparently the police in Russia are so poorly paid they are quite corrupt and relish the chance to pull someone over, so Alexi wanted to give them no excuse to do so! We headed back to their apartment about half an hour's drive away, a classic Soviet Apartment block built around 1970. There we met Katerina's youngest daughter Liza who had moved into her grandma's room as she had gone to their summer house, while their middle daughter Masha with whom she shared a room was away at camp. Their eldest daughter Anna lived just 5 minutes away with her boyfriend. Their room was large enough for all of us and the girls had painted directly onto the walls to decorate the old wallpaper with great swirls of colour and flowers etc which looked great. Unfortunately it has given Tom & Rachel ideas about what they could do to their bedrooms which I am actively discouraging! The kids were starving so Katerina made them some Pelemeni (a kind of Russian ravioli) & then we headed off into St Petersburg with Liza as well. Now there were 5 of us in the back so we took a rug that the kids could duck under whenever we spotted a policeman! It was about an hour's drive into the centre of the city through crazy Russian traffic, with Alexi shouting "Poleizi!" every now and then, but once we arrived Alexi dropped us off and we walked around the streets of St Petersburg, past impressive buildings such as St Isaac's Cathedral & the Admiralty Building, and then along the River Neva and up to the famous Winter Palace. We talked a lot about 'Storming the Winter Palace' but in the end, we 'Stormed' a restaurant where we had a nice dinner & Anna joined us there after she finished work. She spoke very good English, like her mother and we had a great time chatting. Interestingly, food is quite expensive in restaurants, even though the average wage in Russia is very low, making it hard for most families to eat out often. It was hard to gauge what the general cost of living was, but as a tourist, Russia is quite expensive. Finally we drove back to their apartment and headed off to bed after a long day.   Wednesday 23rd July  Alison: We had a good sleep-in and then after breakfast we all headed off for a proper tour of the sights of St Petersburg after our preliminary introduction the afternoon before. This time Alexi drove us to the subway so that we could catch the Metro in. The subways in St Petersburg are incredibly deep and when we came up we couldn't believe how far the escalators had to take us. You couldn't see the bottom or the top of it while you were on it! We emerged at the top and walked to the Voskresenia Khristova Church or Spasa Na Krovi meaning Our Saviour on Blood, which is very spectacular and was built by Alexander III as a memorial to his father Alexander II who was murdered on that spot in 1881. Unfortunately it was closed on Wednesdays so we couldn't go inside and view its beautiful mosaics, but it was lovely to look at from the outside - very different from most of the baroque and neo-classical architecture of St Petersburg and instead deliberately copying Mediaeval Russian architecture like that of St Basil's in Moscow.  From there we went to one of the nearby canals and negotiated for a private boat cruise on the Neva River for an hour which was great as we could see all the amazing buildings and sights with Katerina's gentle explanations rather than the loud, relentless and boring commentary we had been warned about avoiding on the commercial tourist ones. It was exciting to see the naval boat the Aurora which I could remember learning about in Year 12 History as playing a role in the Revolution. After the boat ride we had lunch at a very nice restaurant facing the park that holds the eternal flame memorial. Once again the service was incredibly slow - the Russians consistently providing the slowest service in all of our travels around the world - but the food was good.  That prepared us for our visit to the Hermitage which used to be the Winter Palace and is now one of the world's most impressive museums full of incredible art from various eras. Luckily for us, Alexi queued for an hour to get the tickets while we were on the boat ride so we could walk straight in, which was really wonderful of him. It was hard enough dragging the kids around the Hermitage, let alone getting them to have queued for an hour first! Anyway, we tramped through incredibly decorated rooms, looking at amazing art work, our favourites being the impressionists, amongst many others. Finally we headed for home, quite late already but I had promised to make dinner for everyone so we still had to go shopping for ingredients. The trouble is that we are so far north in St Petersburg that it is still light at around 11.30 pm so you easily get caught out. We went to a recently built, huge supermarket which was enormous and packed with both food and general goods. I had thought about doing a lamb dish, but it looked pretty bad, so I settled on a lovely piece of pork. I cooked a yummy dinner and also made a cherry clafoutis, which went down a treat, but we didn't eat until about 10.30! Anna came also and a great time was had by all before we finally crashed into bed around midnight, just as it was getting dark.  Thursday 24th July Alison: Katerina had managed to convince her boss to let her have the day off which was lucky as we had decided to go to Peterhof and were going to go just with Liza, but it was even better with Katerina as well. We slept in after our late night, so rather than going to St Petersburg and then catching the ferry both ways, Alexi drove us for an hour and a half to Peterhof and we would do the ferry home. Peterhof is a really spectacular place, with a series of palaces and gardens laid out by Peter the Great to challenge the mighty Versailles. We queued for a while to get in and then had lunch in a restaurant there before spending the afternoon wandering through the enormous gardens with their myriad of fountains. The kids especially enjoyed what Liza called the 'tricky fountains' where you would walk along or sit on a seat and suddenly get showered by water! There were lots of Russian kids there loving getting drenched and squealing with delight every time the water suddenly poured on them. Another highlight for the kids was rolling down the grassy hills with Liza. Eventually we queued up to get a 45 minute catamaran back to St Petersburg which sped its way up the gulf of Finland into the Neva and docked just outside the Winter Palace. Alexi met us there and drove us back home where we had dinner and headed off to bed.   Friday 25th July Alison: We were up early to say farewell to Katerina who had to go to work and then we packed, getting all organised before we flew to Moscow. We had good old pelemeni for lunch - a great hit with the kids so I'll have to see if I can get it back in Australia - and then Alexi and Liza very kindly drove us to the airport for our Aeroflot flight to Moscow. We said our farewells once more, very grateful for all their generous hospitality and efforts on our behalf, but looking forward to catching up with Katerina and Liza in the New Year as Michael has offered to fly them to Australia then which they were ecstatic to accept. Mike: Russia was one of those places on this trip I had always been fascinated to get to, and it didn't let me down.    This experience was made sooo much more enjoyable and interesting by the generosity of our new friend Katerina in offering to be not only our guide, but also to stay with her family in their small apartment (at no cost). To experience such a different culture from the inside, not as a mere tourist in a hotel, was a huge bonus.. and afforded us an insight we could not possibly otherwise have been privy to. Being picked up at the airport in their old Volga was in itself a highlight, as this to me was so typical of the stereotype we have of the old Russian empire!   Kids ducking down constantly in the back whenever Alexei said Polizei merely enhanced the sense of fun and excitement, and we would all laugh heartily together, as we did for so much of this brief but wonderful stay!   Their apartment was very typical of how most people seem to live in Russia..  a small, old, well worn and fairly cramped at best space in a big old block, two small bedrooms and very small kitchen plus tiny toilet, this was what they offered us to share, which was sooo generous of them.  We quickly learned that our hosts had a wonderful sense of humour, and I got to love Katerina's guffawing laugh and their gorgeous/unique ways!  St Petersburg itself is, as is its reputation, a really beautiful and charming city, set along a river like so many of the worlds beautiful cities, with marvellous/majestic buildings lining it on both sides,  Each day we would wander into town for a new adventure, be it out on the boat, all 'storming the palace', heading into the countryside to see the magnificent Summer Palace, or whatever it was..   always with a smile on our faces. For me, as is so often the case, it was veeeeery much the people that made this experience so memorable. Very much openminded and progressive by comparison to most there, we talked openly into the night about all things Russian and Australian, and were equally mututally fascinated to realise just how enormous the difference is between our cultures.   A biiiig lesson that was hugely reinforced to me during this time was the power of the media.   Far from the impression we are given in the west that the Russian people yearn for a better life, a more open and capitalist market or a more democratic model, indeed in many ways quite the opposite appeared to be the case. They were all very happy with Putin's leadership, seeing him as strong and representing their interests extremely well, particularly in light of the massive corruption experienced in daily life there, and saw that he had been very effective in helping to get on top of this and put the bad guys/Mafia where they belonged, in prison etc.  Thus, whether it was Medvedev in the actual seat or Putin, they were all happy in knowing with whom the real power lay, in someone they implicitly trusted. Their dabble with freer elections had been widely regarded as a failure, largely given that with this endemic corruption came the ability for candidates to effectively buy their votes and thus their seat in parliament, thus they were then able to represent their own self- interests, with quite disastrous results. As a result the more recent trend back to the traditional pure oneparty policy was welcomed with quite some relief, with Putin seen as somewhat the benevolent dictator ruling with a firm but fair hand. We were fascinated to realise too the extent to which this still this was a culture where authority was very much feared, again largely because of the ability for people to use this power corruptly, which they did regularly. And in regard to the outside world then, they held a therefore understandably slightly paranoid view, that they really had to do it alone..   as the west was very much aligned against them and doing their best to repress them. When we asked them which countries did they like and admire there was a slightly puzzled reaction before they admitted surpise at the question as the answer was pretty much none, they were proud of their empire and this apparently pretty much precluded finding friends abroad!   To we Aussies clearly this was increeeedible!..   espeeecially in light of the fact that these particular people, as I said, were very much at the openminded end of the spectrum, but it just goes to show that history tells very different tales across the globe.. When pushed they conceded they probably admired the German work ethic and discipline, and this we could understand, as certainly the service ethic in Russia was like no other we are yet to see in this world!   Meals in restaurants where we were the ooonly diners aaaalways took more than an hour to arrive..  what the heck they did out back we will never know,  but they sure didn't feel a sense of urgency!! Consistent with this they also, unsurprisingly, kneeeew very little about the rest of the world too, so were fascinated to hear just how differently we lived in Australia.    It was when chatting with them one night that something dawned on me...   They had been soooo soo generous in sharing what little they had so freely with us, so I decided we should do likewise, and muuuuuch to their surprise told them we would fly them out to Australia to come and stay with us and experience a new place firsthand. This was an opportunity that VERY clearly they would never otherwise have, and after ten minutes needing to convince them that no I was NOT joking, they would come as our guests for a few weeks, a mild state of shock mixed with euphoria settled over them. This gesture though was only in keeping with the extreme generosity they had shown us, no more, and I felt that in the scheme of things and given how fortunate we all clearly are (not just us but more generally anyone living in Australia) I was delighted to be able to make a difference for someone who had been so good to us. Flights are now booked and they arrive in early January for a couple of weeks which we know we will very much enjoy, and undoubtedly all laugh a lot again!!  Liza her daughter too had such a spirit of fun and liveliness, and we felt that within minutes we had known them for a long time. Alexei, Katerinas partner, spoke no English but nonetheless we communicated very effectively in the language of the world, ie hands and smiles!   Only on our last day did I realise he spoke French too, thus the door opened further for us and we both enjoyed chatting in our similarly limited French! Visiting the Hermitage was just uuuuunbelievable. The building itself sooo grand, a sight to behold, and then the art, oh my goooood!   They have amassed a collection here apparently second only to the Louvre in its volume, but more to the point the quaaaality of this collection is just mindblowing. On every wall and around every corner were pieces we instantly recognised, or at minimum the artists names. Maybe its a while since I've been to the Louvre but gee this is something else!!!   Given the kids were with us, let alone my own limits, we had to choose where to devote our efforts for a few hours, so we fairly raaaaced around large sections each of which would justify a day in itself.  We then allowed ourselves a bit more of a close look at the Impressionist and then more modern works that we both so love, as did the kids. Wooooow, faaaabulous! Anyway we are very much looking forward to showing some of our wonderful country to our new Russian friends, and it will be fascinating to see their reaction to our very different culture and surrounds.    
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1217235840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1217235840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1217235840/tpod.html Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:19:35 -0400 The Chalmers Family travel the world!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Moscow, Central Russia, Russian Federation

Friday 25th July Alison: We caught our Aeroflot flight safely, after a slight trauma when they changed the gate but announced it in Russian and I couldn't read the board because all the letters are different, and finally Mike heard our names being announced and we raced down the long passage to finally get on the plane. The flight itself was very comfortable, quite unlike the stories of dodgy Aeroflot planes of yesteryear. When we got to Moscow airport there were taxi drivers wanting to charge exorbitant prices to drive to the city, so we caught a minibus for about 20 minutes to a subway station and then a nice chap we'd met on the bus walked us up away from the station to where the taxis are cheaper (the price goes down the more you move away from the station) and we finally negotiated a reasonable fee to take us to the Radisson SAS Slavayanskya by the Moscow River. This was a very comfortable hotel which we all loved, although the restaurants attached to it were ridiculously expensive, even by Russian standards. That's what comes of staying in swanky hotels! Anyway, after we unpacked we relaxed and then headed off for a stupidly expensive, but very nice meal in one of the attached restaurants, with once again ridiculously slow service. Then it was off to bed. Katerina had explained to us that in her opinion Russians were inherently lazy and had no service ethic, which is why she and many Russians admired the Germans so much for their discipline and hard work. McDonald's which is now open in Russia is also apparently making some slight impact on improving service standards, but they have a way to go!   Saturday 26th July Alison: After a good night's sleep we organised tickets to see the Moscow Ballet's opening night of 'Giselle'. We then wandered across the road to a huge neighbouring shopping mall & had brunch in a food court there - much cheaper than the night before! From there we took the Metro to Alexandrovsky Sad (Alexander's Garden) and then walked all around the walls of the Kremlin (which is absolutely huge) in the hot sun. We finally reached St Basil's Cathedral which is quite spectacular to look at, and Red Square which unfortunately was closed for special children's concert being performed that night.  Instead we wandered into the enormous building next to it which is a kind of enclosed mall with very up-market stores and stopped in a cafe there for a rest, beers and to play some poker which the kids had recently got interested in. We used matches they had snaffled from the Radisson's bar that morning! Then we wandered up past Lenin's Mausoleum and up to and into the Orthodox Church at the top of Red Square (I don't know its name) where a service was taking place. This was interesting to watch for a brief time. From there we walked to the Bolshoy Theatre which is closed for restorations at the moment & into the theatre next to it for the Ballet. Seeing the opening night of 'Giselle' was very special and while we were walking there we talked to a woman from Siberia whose son was playing in the orchestra so she was very excited about being there. We had excellent seats and everyone loved the ballet, even Tom who had been initially doubtful, but the athleticism of the male dancers was enough to convince him that ballet could still be manly! Afterwards we walked up to a nearby mall and had a very late dinner in a nice Italian restaurant (slow service but good food) & then caught a taxi home to our comfy beds.   Sunday 27th July Alison: After a good night's sleep I had breakfast with the kids and then we took a cruise of the Moscow River which we caught just outside our hotel. This was a very pleasant way to view some of Moscow's architecture, which ranges from beautiful mediaeval Russian Orthodox churches to Stalin's hilarious empire style monumental buildings which are dotted throughout. Also there was an incredible memorial to Peter the Great on the edge of the river near Gorky Park which has a huge amusement park.    We got off beyond Red Square and walked back along the river, through Red Square which was now open after the concert the night before and noted how truly magnificent it is in its size. Then we had lunch in the same complex we'd had a drink the day, and then decided we were ready to tackle the Kremlin. We walked around to the Kremlin entrance off Alexandrovsky Sad or Alexander's Garden - a lovely park where they also have the eternal flame memorial to fallen soldiers. Then we queued up to get in and wandered around the huge Kremlin complex, most of which was off limits to visitors, but we still got to go inside some of the churches with their superb mosaics and beautiful ancient paintings and icons (which unfortunately I wasn't able to photograph as unsurprisingly they don't allow it inside). We didn't bother looking at the treasury, but finally exited and after resting on the lawns by the Kremlin walls (with lovely slopes ro roll down until we were told off by a Russian policeman!) we caught a metro one stop to Arbatskaya station. This metro stop is at the top of Stary Arbat, an old street closed to traffic with buskers & performers doing their thing and lots of portrait painters etc touting for business. We decided to have an early dinner there which was wise as the service was so slow that by the time we got it, it was 6.30 anyhow! It was a nice enough meal at any rate, but we did find it funny when after 40 minutes since our order and expecting the food they came to say that the dish I ordered was unavailable! Having to order another one filled me with apprehension about ever eating, but eventually we all got fed.  We caught the Metro just one stop home. Smolenskaya metro station where we started was fabulous with great frescoes dating from Stalin's time.  It was also incredibly deep, as the line had to go under the Moscow River, so again we went down escalators where you couldn't see the top or bottom when you were on it! We looked at the views on both sides from Rostovsky Most (or bridge) across the Moscow River and then went home and packed, ready for an early start next morning as we were finally off to China! Rachel: After we had farewelled our grandma we set off to catch a plane to Russia St Petersburg. We arrived there to meet Katerina our tour guide and Alexi her husband who drove us round. We went back to their home which was about an hour's drive. They lived in an apartment. The highlights in Russia for me was seeing the ballet Giselle in Moscow, and the Winter Palace and the boat tour on the River Neva in St Petersburg. On the boat tour we saw amazing navy boats!!! We had a lovely experience of Russia. Mike: Moscow is a very different place to St Petersburg, probably accentuated by reverting to being moreso tourists or observers rather than seeing and experiencing it from the inside.  The bureaucracy of the Russian authorities is something to behold, and of course partiiiiicularly for one like me who has a compleeeeeeete dierespect for authority!!   I learned fast here though that the rules were different to back home..  beg, plead or reason aaaaall you like... if the policy is no, that is IT!!   Noooo explanation needed, noooo questioning of the rationale required by those administering it, the rules were the rules, say NOOOO more!!!    I learnt to curb my frustration as it dawned on me there was simply no point.  At home I can cajole and persuade, and neeeeever take no for an answer..   but here was a good life lesson that sometimes you simply have to concede defeat!!   So I took to smiling inwardly at their ways but not bothering to argue, and chose to see this as another valuable lesson and learning from this amazing trip of ours..   you gotta play by the hosts rules!! Just one trivial example was laying on the lawns immediately next to the sprawling Kremlin area.   After a wander about inside we stopped for an icecream and a sit and play on the lawns, as were many others.  Not 5 minutes passed before along came a couple of Polizei, who ushered all those in the vicinity off said lawn.  When I dared to ask why, as we were all occupying a minute amount of a huge grassed area and doing no harm to anyone (and indeed what else was this huge lawned area for!??), I was met with no words but simply a dismissive brushoff and further gestures off the lawn, at which point I simply laughed and moved on!     Red Square is a huge and sprawling remarkable place, bordered by a series of buildings each completely unlike the other, never have I seen such contrasts (!),  but with each a quite incredible creation in its own right. On one side a maaagnificent Cathedral, one Lenin's mausoleum, one a beautiful old converted shopping centre, one an old Orthodox Church.. amazing and a sight to behold, so steeped in history of course. The food in Moscow I found by and large reflected the feel of the city itself, mostly drab and somewhat uninspiring. Of course I tried the borsch but have to say my mother makes it better than the particular one I tried...  And if you are hungry get there an hour early as the food NEVER arrives within an hour. I made the fatal mistake one day (after a 10 minute wait) of asking the waiter to top up my beer, which was served at halfmast well below the rim, and I duly waited another 20 minutes!!!   The night at ballet was breathtaking, the particular company we saw I read online being regarded as the best in the world right now, so this was something else.  Fascinating though that the theatre itself was not a grand or majestic building one might have imagined, far from it it was very modest and dated, and although it was opening night I need not have felt bad about my lack of appropriate attire, as the dress was very much only neat casual.  A great experience, one of those "when in Moscow"s , and thoroughly enjoyed by all. I was struck by the costs of everything in Moscow, which for even the basics like groceries were oftentimes much the same as at home. Given that their average wage is about $10,000 or say a fifth of ours, I truly couldn't work out how they could make ends meet, so suffice to say this just further reinfoced how good we have it at home!   Anyway I am delighted to have now been to Russia, a place always somewhat shrouded in intrigue and mystery in my head. It is great to have blown away so many of the media-driven illusions I had carried with me, and more than any place we have visited I leave with a new clarity and understanding of this fascinating country.  The power of the media and mere innuendo in building our mindpictures was never more obvious to me than here, and this in itself is a poweful life lesson I will take away with me.             
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1219036080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1219036080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1219036080/tpod.html Mon, 08 Sep 2008 01:58:26 -0400 The Chalmers Family travel the world!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Beijing, China

Friday 15th August   Alison: We were up at 6.00 to get ready and walk up to the waiting taxi which took us to the airport. We were able to check in our luggage all the way to Beijing which was good as we went via Kunming and waited there for an hour or so before our next plane. We were most impressed with the beautiful new Beijing airport when we arrived in the early afternoon and also pleased to see the blue sky which the West had been cynically predicting we would never see in Beijing! Clearly the government's plan to close all the nearby factories and keep half the cars off the road through an odd/even roster had worked very well. From there we caught a taxi to the apartment, although because we had no printer we had to wait until the laptop booted up in order to show the screen to the driver with the address and directions!   Finally we arrived at the entrance to the apartment block where Darmen, our landlord, was waiting. He was a delightful young man in his early 30s and he showed us our roomy and very comfortably furnished apartment which we were delighted by. With a separate bedroom for us, kitchen, bathroom with washing machine, and a huge living area with dining table, 2 couches, a double bed for the kids, large TV and nice little balcony looking out over Chaoyang Park, it was great to know this would be our home for the next 10 days, the longest time spent in one place on our whole trip.   Mike went off with Darmen to register our temporary accommodation with the Police as required and to collect our Olympic tickets from the Cosport office. Meanwhile I wandered out with the kids to buy some food from the excellent nearby Jenny Lou's supermarket which was stocked with plenty of Western food - the big advantage of staying in an expat area! It was great to get the chance to make our own breakfasts and drink coffee etc. I also revelled in the chance to unpack into wardrobes and do a couple of loads of washing which dried well on the balcony.   Mike eventually got home with the tickets after a slight problem of getting a bum steer from a woman on how to get here, and I got the computer connected to the Internet which was great. Then we went out to dinner with Darmen to the nearby King Roast Duck restaurant which served the traditional Peking Duck we felt we had to have on our first night in Beijing! The food was delicious but it ended up being a very late dinner and after our early start everyone was exhausted, so as soon as we could we headed home to collapse into our beds.     Saturday 16th August   Alison: We had a lovely sleep-in and spent the day relaxing at the apartment. I made French Toast and Rachel cooked her classic pasta with cherry tomatoes for breakfast, although the limited cooking utensils made this challenging. All we had in the kitchen was an electric kettle, a chopping board, a huge cleaver, a frying pan, 4 glasses, 4 small rice bowls with Chinese style ceramic spoons and 4 sets of chopsticks. It's amazing what you can do with that if you try! Basically I think Darmen wanted to discourage cooking in the apartment, but we weren't to be put off...   We walked out into the bright sunshine and went across the road to a very nice upmarket restaurant that Darmen had recommended to us where we ate a lovely meal, but Mike has decided that he prefers the Peking Duck they serve in Adelaide over the ones they serve here in Beijing. I think it's because here they serve it very young, presumably so that it is more tender, but it has less meat on it than we are used to at home.   After our late lunch we caught up with Darmen again who took us to a huge nearby silk market where we bought binoculars for Michael, a new DS Lite for Tom and new runners for Rachel. Then we got ready to head off for our first night of the Olympics. Our nearest subway station, Tuanjiehu, was about a 20 minute walk or short taxi ride away, so we naturally decided on the taxi, but it promptly got stuck in the busy rush hour traffic so it took longer than we'd imagined. Eventually we got to the metro station which was very beautiful, being the brand new Line 10 just finished in time for the Olympics. We had to have our bags scanned every time we entered the subway, but that was a quick enough procedure, and when we flashed our Olympic tickets we got free tickets for the subway which was nice. It was all very well sign posted with smiling volunteers everywhere telling us where to go next. Beijing mobilised a million volunteers to help out for the Olympics and it was really impressive, although not all of them spoke much English!   It became quite squashy on the subway trains, but we had lovely chats to all the other people who were heading to the Olympics, many from overseas, but also many Chinese who were equally excited to be there. We transferred to the Olympic Subway Line at Beitucheng, which was an interesting procedure involving walking out of the station, around the block and queuing up to show our tickets and go through a big security screening (bags scanned with no water bottles to be taken in and us politely frisked or wanded front and back) before re-entering the station to catch the subway to the Stadium. Although this sounds like a big deal, it actually happened very efficiently and with minimal fuss, the whole procedure only adding about 15 - 20 minutes to the whole procedure, which considering the massive amount of people they were dealing with, was really impressive. Finally we emerged from the station to excitedly contemplate the beautiful Olympic Park and the 15 minute walk south towards the Birdsnest Stadium and Water Cube which both looked fabulous! It was very exciting walking up to the stadium with the huge crowds and looking at the flame burning so brightly on the side of the stunning building. We were fascinated to see what our B class tickets would be like and we had great ones in Sector A which is directly in front of the straight and finish line, on the 3rd tier so we could look straight down on it, and Row 35, so fairly high up, but not right up at the roof. We had different tickets for each night - mostly B class, a few A class and one C class, but really anywhere in the stadium was good!   Anyway, we settled ourselves in, bought the ridiculously cheap food and beer (the government actually acknowledged that the locals could not afford to buy it if it were grossly inflated as most countries do in this sort of event, so they kept it reasonable) and watched some incredible athletics. Especially exciting was watching the Jamaican Ursain Bolt winning the 100 metres in World Record time of 9.69 seconds, with him slowing on the line to wave at the crowd. We could only wonder how much more he could have won by if he'd tried! We were also excited to watch and cheer the New Zealand girl Valerie Vili who won gold in the Shot-put, being more than happy to claim our brethren across the Tasman as our own!   Eventually it all ended and we joined the crowds in streaming back to the Subway station to find our way home. Although the crowds were enormous, the subway worked so efficiently with a new one arriving every few minutes, that we were soon enough on our way and found ourselves back at the apartment by a bit after midnight where we happily fell into bed.     Sunday 17th August   Alison: We had a nice sleep-in and after making French Toast for brekky, watching some of the games in Chinese on telly and generally farting around, we eventually got going. This time we decided to walk to the subway, and on the way there stopped for lunch at a little restaurant which served very nice and remarkably cheap food. Really, if you want to eat well for a reasonable price, China is the place to be!   We caught the subway to the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics where the weightlifting was on. It was actually quite a walk from the subway station up to the venue so we arrived half an hour late, but we had a good view and thoroughly enjoyed watching the rest of the session.   Then we caught the subway back to the Olympic Stadium and made our way to our seats. This time we were on the other side of the stadium in Sector F, in the second tier and Row 18 so a bit closer to the front - again great seats. We had discovered from Darman that China has no minimum drinking age so to test this we sent off Rachel to buy beers for us, and sure enough, back she came with them! As Rachel loves all forms of shopping this turned out to be a bonus, with her more than willing to queue up and get all sorts of supplies, especially as she kept quite a bit of the change...   A standout in terms of the actual athletics was Jamaica coming 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Women's 100 metres - boy those Jamaicans can run! We also watched the Ethiopian Bekele winning the 10,000 metres, beating his own Olympic Record, but not his World Record. After another great night we headed home for bed.     Monday 18th August   After a nice sleep-in and Rachel making pasta for breakfast we headed off to the Forbidden City with Darmen. It was another hot day so wandering around the huge expanse of the Forbidden City was quite exhausting, but it certainly was spectacular. We paused in the shade and chatted to many other tourists and as usual Rachel and Tom were constantly stopped by Chinese Tourists to have their photo taken with them, a constant happening throughout our time in China.   After wandering around and viewing a small portion of what was on offer, we headed out of the South Gate into Tiananmen Square, guarded by lots of soldiers standing stiffly to attention and overlooked by the huge portrait of Mao on the Palace wall. Like Moscow's Red Square, Tiananmen Square is absolutely enormous and we tramped around it for a bit, the kids continuing to be ambushed for photos, before heading onto the subway and getting out at So Ho, a shopping area where we had a late lunch / early dinner at a Korean Restaurant. We decided not to order the dog on the menu, but had a very nice meal before waving goodbye to Darmen and heading off to the Olympic Park.   This time we had more great tickets, back in Section A on the 3rd tier but in Row 22 so a bit further down than our first night. We had a great time cheering the Aussie runner Youcef Abdi who came 6th in the 3000 metre steeplechase and watching America come 1, 2, 3 in the 400 metre hurdles. Rachel really got into buying us beers and encouraged the drinking of them no end! The most exciting part of the evening though was watching the Women's Pole Vault where the Russian Elena Isinbaeva got a new World Record on her last attempt at 5.05 metres - quite spectacular stuff! Rachel even managed to video record the jump on her digital camera so she was very pleased with herself. As Tom commented on the way home: 'Another great night at the Olympics!' Tuesday 19th August   Alison: After the usual sleep-in and lazy breakfast, I did a load of washing to hang out on the balcony and a bit of shopping. Then we met up with Darman who took the boys off to play 8-ball while Rachel and I had massages - very blissful and much needed. Rachel is rather getting into the whole massage thing here in China, but it's a bit more expensive at home, so I hope she doesn't expect to keep getting them!   Afterwards we caught a taxi to the subway and then went on to the Olympic Park where we decided we had to face the horrors of the Superstore in order to buy some Aussie flags etc. The Olympic Superstore is an enormous building chock full of Olympic products and people queue for up to an hour just to get into it! When we arrived in the late afternoon the queue was around the building and I very generously offered to let Mike and the kids go in and buy what they wanted while I got MacDonald's for dinner. The MacDonald's building was equally huge with a dozen or so lines for ordering food, and not being a great one for fast food, it was line ball which of the two options I disliked more, but I certainly got out of there first... Anyway, the kids and Mike eventually emerged, triumphant with 4 huge flags to wrap ourselves in, 4 smaller ones to wave and body paint and tattoos to plaster all over ourselves. We sat in the gutter with hundreds of others, ate our plastic food and then covered ourselves in all our patriotic gear and began the walk up to the stadium, about half an hour's walk away. It was great entering the stadium all decked up and many photos of us were taken by other spectators as we walked, no doubt attracted by Michael's sporadic war-cries of 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!' every now and then.   We were back on the other side of the stadium in G Sector, but in Tier 2, Row 7, so nice and close to the front and with great views of the Men's High Jump and Discus. We were gobsmacked when the Aussie girl, Sally McLellan won silver in the 110 metres Hurdles. It was an incredibly close race for the placings, but luckily she really thrust herself forward on the line and did us all proud! We were very excited to see the Aussie flag up there during the medal ceremony, even if we didn't hear our anthem...     Wednesday 20th August Alison: We had another very late start, so late in fact that we decided to put off our excursion to the Great Wall till Saturday. Instead we made brunch and had a quiet day with the kids and Mike competing for access to the computer most of the time. We ate an early meal at home and headed off for the stadium.   Tonight we were only one row back from the very front, in Sector H, Tier 1, Row 2. They were fabulous seats, with an incredible up-close view of the athletes as they warmed up. We watched Aussie Craig Mottram come 5th in his 5000 m heat and thus miss out on getting to run in the final which was a pity. More excitingly, we watched the incredible Ursain Bolt leap out of the blocks directly in front of us as he blew the field away to win the 200 metres, once again in a World Record time (19.30 secs). Another piece of excitement for the evening was watching the Men's Qualifying Pole Vault competition. We had 2 Australians competing and Steve Hooker managed to just get into the Final on his 3rd jump at 5.65m to qualify. It was nerve-wracking stuff, but we were ecstatic to have an Aussie in the final and our seats were really close to where they were jumping so it was great to watch. They had some problems with the machine that lifts the bar to the appropriate height which delayed the competition quite a bit, meaning that the stadium had mostly emptied by the time the final placings were decided (basically, once the Chinese competitors were eliminated most of the crowd went home!) but we stayed till the end to cheer him on! We finally got home to bed at 1.00 but then I worked on the blog till 2.00 a.m. as we're so far behind I was feeling increasingly desperate!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1218852720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1218852720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1218852720/tpod.html Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:22:28 -0400 The Chalmers Family travel the world!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Lijiang, Yunnan, China

Tuesday 12th August   Alison: It was night and drizzling by the time we arrived in Lijiang, a lovely village nestled in the mountains of northwest China on a plain 2,400 metres high. We collected our luggage, piled it all into a taxi and drove into town. We were staying in the Old Town which did not allow any traffic, so we waited at the corner for an old man who piled it all onto his tricycle and walked the 10 minutes or so to the Zen Garden hotel with the concierge. Our room was very small but had a lovely ambience and we were happy to simply collapse into our beds.     Wednesday 13th August   Alison: We slept in a bit and then had breakfast in the beautiful lobby area facing onto the traditional Chinese courtyard garden. Then we headed off to look around the 750 year old Naxi Old Town called Dayan, a beautiful maze of narrow cobbled streets only open to foot traffic and filled with lovely shops selling all sorts of products, including yummy dried yak meat which we managed to resist. We crossed over many little stone bridges which criss-cross the river and during our wandering met a woman taxi driver who offered to drive us around for a very reasonable sum, so we arranged to meet her back at the hotel at 2.30.   We talked to some very friendly people at the Tourist centre who gave us advice on what was good to see and one of them escorted us to a great restaurant by the river where we had a gorgeous lunch. Then we headed back to meet our driver.   We drove up to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain which is 5,596 metres high, but was covered in mist so we couldn't really see how impressive it is. Still, we managed to negotiate to do some horse riding in its lower parts for just an hour rather than the usual two or three and had a lovely time being led through the stunning scenery. The guides even made some flowery head-wear for us which was rather fun, when we rested the horses in an alpine meadow.   On our return we went via the village Bai Sha with its 500 year old murals in its temple and nice little markets. Our driver's family are all from this village and belong to the Naxi tribe, so it was nice getting to see how and where the locals live.   Finally we headed back to the hotel and rested before going to a traditional Naxi restaurant for dinner (some of the dishes were great and others not quite so palatable!) and then home to watch more Olympics and sleep.     Thursday 14th August   Alison: We had breakfast and then met our taxi driver at 10.30 for the long drive to Tiger Leaping Gorge. This was about 2 hours drive along a pretty winding road and we stopped briefly at a lookout which showed the river far below. This of course is the same river from our Three Gorges Cruise but further up stream. We decided to eat before we went sightseeing, so we went to the restaurant just before the entrance to the gorge where we had a hilarious time trying to order lunch with a menu and waiters who only communicated in Chinese! Eventually Mike found someone dining in the restaurant who could help us and we ate a pleasant meal before heading off to look at the gorge.   It was a 1 hour return walk along the cliff face with the path mostly dug into the side of the cliff with constant warnings to beware of falling rocks, and in some sections the path went through tunnels. The views along the river were very beautiful but the actual Tiger Leaping Gorge was stupendous, with a HUGE amount of water rushing through the 30 metre gap in a mesmerising fashion. We stared at it for ages but eventually turned back and retraced our steps back to the entrance and drove the 2 hours back home.   That night we decided to go to a little Italian restaurant near the hotel which actually served excellent Italian food - much to the kids' delight who really felt like a pizza. Afterwards we went home and I packed and tried to get everyone to sleep as we had a really early start the next morning.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1218260640/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1218260640/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1218260640/tpod.html Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:20:39 -0400 The Chalmers Family travel the world!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang, China

Friday 8th August Alison: We arrived safely in Guilin and caught a taxi to the Sheraton Hotel. On the way Mike negotiated with a tour company via the taxi driver's mobile to organise a driver and tour guide for the next day, ending up with a great deal of 300 Yuan for a guide and driver for 8 hours which was brilliant.  We settled very happily into our lovely room at the Sheraton, had dinner in the restaurant there as we were too exhausted to go out and look elsewhere, and the watched the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics on television. It was really spectacular and impressive, but we had little idea what was happening as it was all in Chinese and no English speaking channel had the right to broadcast any of the Olympics live on the mainland. Thus there were about 5 channels all broadcasting the Ceremony, but all in Chinese! Luckily this really didn't matter as we could still enjoy the spectacle of Zhang Yimou's wonderful direction.  Mike and I managed to stay awake until the Aussies finally came out, 3rd to last before China, but by that stage it was almost midnight and the kids were asleep. We couldn't believe how appalling the Australian uniforms looked - we had to wonder who on earth designed them. It was quite embarrassing to contemplate, but at least most viewers would have been asleep and not noticed them! Anyway, after that we turned off the telly, grateful that we had arranged to meet our guide no earlier than 10.30 the next morning.   Saturday 9th August Alison: I had brekky with the kids and then we met our guide Ada in the foyer, a very nice girl with pretty good English. She first took us to Duxiu Feng - the Peak of Solitary Beauty. The landscape around Guilin is filled with these beautiful limestone karsts and this one is in the centre of the town. After simply climbing 300 steep steps up it one is left with a spectacular view over the town, but the climb itself is very rewarding, although in the sticky heat it was hard work.    From there we went to Ludiyan or Reed Flute Cave, an enormous and stunningly beautiful limestone cave, with its incredible formations highlighted by lots of spectacular lighting. It was also blissfully cool in there, which was a relief after the climb. One of the most spectacular rooms in it was the Crystal Palace of the Dragon King, with the water in its shallow lake stunningly reflecting the ghostly lighting of the stalagmites and stalactites. The cave also had an area where it had a 'thousand year old turtle' which sounded like a slight exaggeration to us, but no doubt the turtles were quite old. Mike and the kids paid for the privilege of feeding them, and then had a go at pitching coins on the back of little turtles in a pool, with the idea that if it landed on top of one and stayed there you got a turtle as a prize. Luckily we didn't manage that - I'm sure Customs would have had a word to say if we'd tried to get a turtle into Australia!  Next we went to a very expensive restaurant in town, where we got to choose our duck and fish before they cooked them for us. I could just stomach the fishing out the fish from the tank, but when they were about to wring the duck's neck in front of us we quickly ushered the kids back inside to the table and tried not to think about it! After lunch we went on a boat ride along the River Li, admiring the various karsts in the distance, all of which have names based on their appearance, such as Elephant Hill etc. The kids had fun having a steer of the boat and we saw some of the cormorants with ties around their necks on the wooden rafts which the locals use for fishing, although we didn't get to see any of them actually diving for fish. Apparently they let the cormorant eat every 7th fish so they don't give up fishing entirely.  After the boat ride we went to the Seven Stars Park where Bill Clinton a few years back had made a statement about the environment in front of Camel Hill. They had a great museum there with all sorts of fabulous rocks, fossils and gems, and the kids admired the fossilised dinosaur eggs and baby dinosaurs as well as trilobites. Michael bought 2 beautiful red jade dragons there and initially tried to tell me we could take them in our luggage (all 16 kilos of them) until I had a hissy fit and he gave in and agreed to post them home. Finally we headed back to the hotel and had Room Service for dinner and watched the Olympics (in Chinese of course, but never mind) and I packed, before going to sleep, ready for an early start the next morning for Yangshuo.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1218174840/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1218174840/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1218174840/tpod.html Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:56:27 -0400 The Chalmers Family travel the world!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Xi'an, Shaanxi, China

Thursday August 7th Alison: We had a great sleep and then the kids and I headed up to have breakfast in the Executive Lounge before meeting Lily in the hotel foyer. We had met Lily in Shanghai near Wu Gardens and on chatting to her about where we were going she mentioned that she came from Xian. As she was so friendly and spoke good English, we asked whether she would like to guide us around Xian if we paid her train fare there and a retainer of about $50 per day. She explained that she wasn't a professional guide, but we didn't care about that, so after exchanging mobile numbers and email addresses we made arrangements to meet her after the Three Gorges Cruise in Xian. Having got in so late and exhausted on Wednesday night we put her off until the morning, but at 10.30, there she was in the foyer, ready to go!   We had arranged for a taxi to take us round for the day, so firstly we dropped off a lot of washing at a nearby laundry (where they wanted to charge us a huge amount, but we argued for some time and negotiated something vaguely reasonable) and then headed off to view the Terracotta Warriors built for the first Chinese emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi. This was about an hour's drive away. Xian itself is a huge city and it was extremely hot - about 38 degrees.  We eventually got to the enormous complex that houses the Terracotta Warriors and Lily was full of fascinating information about it all, but between the tired and hot kids, especially Tom, dragging their feet around grumpily and Michael who has never been interested in details, she had a hard time of it! Anyway, they were extremely impressive but we didn't stay there too long and after bargaining for some mementos - we thought our next door neighbour Chandler would love a warrior - we headed off to lunch.   We had a nice meal at a huge restaurant attached to a silk factory which we declined to enter, and then climbed all the way up to the top of the Emperor's Tomb. This was very steep and exhausting in the hot sun, but the view over the huge city of Xian in the distance was very nice and it had a good breeze at the top. The tomb itself has not been opened, so they have no idea if the emperor is actually buried there or not!   After descending and recovering in the shade for a bit we then went to the Hot Springs of Huaqing Chi, a lovely complex with beautiful pagodas and palaces which were lovely to look at, but again in the heat we didn't spend too long there. When we got back to our hotel in Xian we rested for an hour or so and had a swim in the pool to cool ourselves down before meeting Lily again.  This time we went to the huge park by the Great Wild Goose Pagoda where they had the most amazing series of fountains. We discovered the fountains would do their thing at about 8.00 so we ordered dinner at a local eatery where Lily helped us navigate the menu and then headed out to watch the fun. Huge crowds had gathered around the fountains and on them and when they went off it was really spectacular, with bursts of water shooting up into the sky accompanied by lighting and music. Even the kids hopped in and had fun ducking the jets of water that would go off seemingly randomly. Then we went back and a had our meal which was huge and incredibly cheap - that's what eating like a local can get you! Finally we headed back to the hotel and collapsed into bed, exhausted from our packed program of sightseeing.  Friday 8th August Alison: Lily arrived at a bit after 9.00 having collected our washing so then I finished packing and we took our bags down to the lobby. We headed out for a quick tour of the city wall, firstly going via an electronic store to buy Tom a new DS Lite as his had died, the surface having become so scratched that it could not register the stylus moving over it anymore. This was very annoying and expensive, but deemed a worthy cost considering how much value the kids were getting out of their DS's during our long travels.  We climbed the wall and admired the view of the city and moat, but once again it was extremely hot, so after about half an hour we headed back to the hotel to collect our bags and go to the airport. We said our fond farewells to Lily who had been such a great guide for us and headed off to catch the plane to Guilin.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1218159360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1218159360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/chalmersfamily/1/1218159360/tpod.html Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:37:34 -0400 The Chalmers Family travel the world!

Jump to the full
entry & travel map

Yichang, Hubei, China

Wednesday August 6thAlison: We had to have all the luggage outside our rooms before 7.00 which seemed excessively early, so I dragged everyone out of bed by 6.30 and we had a quick breakfast before we went off at 7.00 for our excursion of the world's largest hydroelectric power project, the Three Gorges Dam. Because of the Olympics the Chinese Government weren't letting us take the cruise boat through the dam, and the security to get in to see the dam area was very tight, but finally we get there and wandered around the huge site. Mike is not noted for liking these sort of tours and he and the Icelandic chaps had a fun time sending it up and generally misbehaving, probably capped by him doing a karaoke routine with the mic sitting by the giant model of the dam, but luckily the people took it in good spirit.We headed back and had an early lunch at 11.00 where we said our sad final farewells to our fabulous table co-diners with whom we'd had so much fun. We also bought a beautiful painting of an old, now drowned village from the Three Gorges, which we had watched being painstakingly done each day outside our corridor, and arranged for it to be posted home.   At 12.00 we boarded our bus to Yichang which took about an hour and then got a transfer to the Airport to wait for many hours before our plane to Xian took off. Luckily the Icelandic family were also there waiting for a while so we chatted to them and the boys played together before they boarded their plane and we were left to our own devices. Finally our plane to Xian left, a tiny little one only holding about 20 passengers, but it got us safely to Xian Airport, from where we caught a taxi to the Sheraton Hotel and had dinner there before collapsing into bed, exhausted.
]]>