Dragon Bridge Bike Ride

After sleeping in from our late night out, Reid brought breakfast too our room yesterday morning so that I could sleep in.  Which was very sweet, becase in addition to the late night, I've been fending off a sore through and general "icky" feeling.  I took some Zyrtec, Sudafed, and Ibuprofen and figured I was in good enough shape to head out for a short bike ride.

We rented the 10 yuan bikes from the hostel that happen to be city bikes without great steering and no suspension.  They were also both girls' bikes.  I cannot remember the last time I went bike riding, so we decided that we'd set off for a little while and then turn back.  For some reason we decided to head towards Dragon Bridge on the Yulong River, for which Lonely Planet describes a 20 km loop.  I figured that we ride for a bit and then turn around and head back home.  Well, a little ways in a helpful scooter-ride pointed us the way towards Dragon Bridge and when we stopped at a little bridge to take some photos and consult our map.  He showed us where we were and, according to the free map from the hostel, we were nearly to Dragon Bridge.  So, we continued along our way.

From that point on, we were riding on a higgedly piggedly mud or sometimes gravel road that wound its way between peoples homes and along their fields, so that at times I was afraid we were going to veer into someone's backyard.  No one seemed particularly offput by our presence and we often called out a "Nihao" that was often greeted with a "Hello."  But the sights were just incredible.  The fields framed by the karsts.  The Farmers leading their Water Buffalo for their baths.  Chickens wandering freely.  Cows tied up alongside the road grazing and looking at us dolefully as we rode by.

After riding like this for quite some time, we had no idea how off track we might be and our legs were getting really tired.  If Dragon Bridge wasn't nearby, we were heading back.  Although, at this point I wasn't sure that going back was any faster that going forward.  Luckily, Reid found a nice Chinese gal who told us it was close by and sure enough, a little ways up and we hit a main road that we followed for a few meters until we saw a sign tellings us to turn left for Dragon Bridge.

I'm not sure what all the hype about Dragon Bridge was about.  I think it's just an old bridge.  We did pick up some cold tea and water from the vendor and fend off touts offering to sell us Bamboo Raft rides back down the river.  I was half tempted by the raft ride, but figured we could bike a bit longer and then jump on a raft a bit further down.  At this point, my butt was pretty sore from being constantly jostled on the bumpy road and our bikes had no suspension, so any divet or bump translated directly to my bum.

So we crossed the bridge and headed back on the other side of the bridge.  The map shows that the route we were supposed to be on follows the west-bank of the river.  We found the initial trail fine and then at a little fork in the road, I decided to head left since this would take us back toward the river and I figured the closer we stayed to the river, the less chance we'd have of getting off track and wandering too far west.  Well, the track went for a ways and then started getting narrower and narrower.  The steering on our bikes was pretty wobbly, so it wasn't very easy to keep them on a narrow path.  Eventually, I gave up and jumped off the bike to walk for a bit.  By now we were walking in between fields and rice patties with irrigation ditches down below us.  The path was not wide enough for me and my bike to make it through, so I made for some tough maneuvering, until the path pretty much dead-ended.  So, we took some photos of us lost in the middle of the fields and headed back to the fork in the road to resume our travel.

As we made it further South and West back toward Yangshuo we rode through another part of the path that got very narrow and didn't seem too well-traveled.  There was a Chinese graveyard built into the side of a Karst to our right and not much too our left.  I nervously asked Reid whether he thought we'd made another wrong term, but neither of us remembered seeing a turn off.  And, sure enough, the patch eventually widened back to its normal width.  I guess the path narrowed a bit because there wasn't much space between the river on our left and the karst on our right.  

We were then back at the Yulong River and crossed back over to the East side.  We opted not to take a ride on a bamboo raft and this point, although I really regretted it later as we had to pick our dinner spot based on who had the most padded chairs to sit in.  It was a great day and a wonderful ride and I was pretty surprised that we accomplished a 4 hour 20km ride when we had just set out to tool around a bit.

Our Arrival in Yangshuo

I woke up yesterday to the sound of spitting outside our window.  Although we had heard about the spitting in China, we hadn't seen much of it in Beijing or Shanghai.  We had just enough time to shower, pack our bags, and check out at noon.  They are very strict about check out times here and will charge you half your daily rate for check outs between noon and six (we haven't experienced this yet, but it's posted in most of the places we've stayed).  

I'll admit that I was feeling a bit under the weather and grouchy.  We got a recommendation for a pizza place on the main drag and despite the gestured vague directions were able to find it.  We were rewarded on our way with views of the Li River and we were already enjoying getting out of the cities.  The pizza place was touristy, in other words it rose to Western standards of cleanliness and had a wonderful little patio where we could sit and look across the road to the river.  But the prices were also inflated.  Despite the cost, it did not disappoint.  We both had great coffee and shared a thin crust pizza.  It was exactly what my flagging spirits needed.  And they even had a clean restroom.  

After we ate, we made our way to the bus stop to catch a bus to the main bus station where we would get on a bus for Yangshuo.  As we were waiting at the bus station, a rickshaw driver came by and offered us a ride.  We negotiated a price that was about 1 yuan more than we think the bus price was and jumped on.  Reid ended up giving him a 1 yuan tip because the most he tried to sell us was some "river fish" that we could eat on the way.  We arrived at the bus station and walked inside.  No English desk.  Well, at least we know how to say Yangshuo.  The Lonely Planet explained that you wanted the express bus, not the local bus.  We understood that the local bus only left from the train station, but after the airport, we wanted to be clear that we got on the right bus.  We pulled out our mandarin book and Reid managed to buy us two tickets on the "kuaisu" bus to Yangshuo that departed at 2:35 for 30 yuan.  We picked up some snacks and Reid used the bathroom and then we tried to puzzle out where exactly our bus left out of this busy bus station.  Our tickets were almost entirely in Chinese.  We could read that it left on 4.28.10 at 14:35 and that one of us was "3" and the other "4."  The only other number on our tickets was a "10" and our guess that this was the departure bay was correct.  We queued up with some locals and bordered our bus about 15 minutes later.  

It took an hour and a half to get to Yangshuo and the scenery was beautiful.  I was glad, however, that we chose to sit in the middle of the bus where we couldn't observe the drive.  If the honks (emitted by our bus and cars around us on the road) were any indication, it wasn't something we wanted to see.  We arrived in Yangshuo at 16:04 and as soon as the bus pulled in a group of touts huddled by the door to "help" us find rooms and places to rent bikes.  We were able to fend them off and they didn't even follow us half a block away where we went to re-group.  We ducked into a bar and ordered a beer while we oriented ourselves and then set off to Bamboo Inn.  They operate two locations, the Inn, which I think is mostly dorms, and a newer Bamboo Hotel.  They had a double room available at the hotel, so "auntie" walked us three minutes down the road to the other location where we have a great room for 130 yuan ($19) a night.  It even has a bathtub! No more showering over the toilet for our stay here.  The bed is soft, a novelty in China, and we have a little two-person patio with a bit of a view of some karsts.  Perfect.  It's booked starting on the 2nd, becuase of the Chinese Labor Day, so we'll have to move to a different room.  But we'll enjoy the balcony while we have it.

After checking in, we showered off the travel day and walked around before finding dinner.  The river is a stone's throw away and, if we choose, we can take a Bamboo Raft ride down the river.  It is just beautiful here.  After checking out the scenery we went to a Vegetarian restaurant for dinner.  In Southern China they eat rats and dogs, so we are happy to avoid those whenever possible (I'm probably being paranoid, though.  This is a very touristy area, so I don't think anyone is going to sell you dog or rat without you knowing it.)  After dinner we took a long walk back to our hotel and were met by the general glare of neon lights announcing the various bars, restaurants, and shops that were all peddling their wares.  The karsts had spotlights on them so that you could enjoy them as a backdrop.  I told Reid that it reminded me of being at the State Fair.  I was suprised I didn't run into anyone trying to sell me funnel cake.  Despite being so touristed, Yangshuo is charming and I appreciate the variety of food here.  I probably wouldn't have to eat anything Chinese for the balance of our stay.  The Chinese food we've had here is very good, but you do find yourself craving something familiar.  

We had planned to rent some bikes today, but after a leisurely morning and late lunch it started to rain.  We wandered around the shops instead and found a pair of matching bands.  Yay!! We then headed to the farmer's markets.  We managed to avoid seeing any dogs skinned, but did see a bunch of cages housing any type of fowl you'd want and some pretty fat bunnies.  Well, I think we've figured out dinner plans, so I think I"ll sign off so we can get some food.  

Dude, Where's My Chopsticks?

On our last day in Shanghai we headed to a charming little alley off of Taikang Lu that we had found with my Dad on a walking tour of the French Concession earlier in the week.  After seeing my Dad and Trey off to the train station for their sleeper train to Beijing, we were all set to take off.  Until we realized that my Dad had been navigating and we had no idea how to get back.  Google maps is only slightly helpful in China because a lot of roads and even metros are only labeled in Chinese.  So, we made our best guess and headed off.  We exited the metro alongside a major road with flashing lights and tall buildings all around us.  This did not look familiar.  We were totally confused that our charming little alleyways could be within a couple blocks.  But, we set off.  And eventually found our way back to familiar territory and found the cute little alleyways lined with shops and small restaurants.  

We ended up at a little Thai place called Corner Asia and ordered some egg rolls, a vegetable curry, and pad thai.  They brought out our beers a little tray with sliverware and napkins on top.  They then brought out the egg rolls.  We looked around, but our chopsticks were nowhere to be found.  All that we had was a silver fork and spoon.  Hmmm... we  decided it was finger food.  Then they broughts us out our main dishes and steamed rice.  Although this posed less of a problem to eat with a fork and knife, we were, nonetheless, shocked at how foreign and awkward the fork felt after eating exclusively with chopsticks for the past couple weeks.  I suppose it doesn't take long to adjust to these things.  After dinner we headed home and packed up our bags for our trip to Yangshuo

Travel to Yangshuo - Part I (Dyanne's Version of Events)

So, 17 hours after checking out of our hotel in Shanghai, we are nearly to our next destination.  But we do have two more stamps in our passports!  Yangshuo is still about an hour and a half bus ride away.  To be fair, when we set off this morning we didn't expect to arrive in Yangshuo until tomorrow.  Reid accurately recounted our adventure getting onto our plane in Shanghai.  Our great relief at getting onto the plane after taking about twenty minutes to check in and the most thorough screening we have ever experienced--they detected a pair of sewing scissors that had made it through two security check points already.  It's a good thing that the lines here aren't very long (for check in or for security) because both take much longer than in the States.  So, by walking right up to the counter it takes about the same amount of time as it would at home.

After flying to Hong Kong, our plan was to take the overnight bus to Guilin, which would have arrived at seven in the morning.    Sitting on the tarmac in Shanghai for four hours meant that we arrived at Hong Kong airport at 4:20 and the train was leaving at 5:30.  That plan scrapped, we opted for plan B--bus to Shenzhen airport and flgiht to Guilin.  We knew there were several flights leaving in the evening.  It took a while to sort our the bus situation.  Turns out, what the guidebooks advertise as "a" bus to Shenzhen is actually a thriving private industry of buses who drive people the hour to the Hong Kong/ China border and drop everyone off to walk across the border into China and then pick you up on the other side and take you the rest of the way to the airport.  We were not the only ones with this plan.  The border crossing was quite bustling and everyone was carting large loads of stuff they had picked up in Hong Kong.  It seemed like quite a lot of effort to get back to where we had been this morning--China.

We arrived at the airport and bought our tickets for the plane and had about an hour and half to grab some food, update the blog and finally take a breather from the dashing around we had been doing.  I also discovered at the airport that we were no longer in Shanghai (in Shanghai and Beijing, in places frequented by tourists, the bathroom was populated by mostly Western toilets and only about one or two "squattters" and in Shenzhen, there was ONE Western toilet reserved for "the weak"--I decided I was weak, but first had to trek back out to our bags to pick up the toilet paper.  This was but an introduction, though, because there were ZERO Western toilets at the Guilin airport and I was grateful for all the sqauts my trainer had me doing in the months before we embarked on our adventure.)

Bathroom needs resolved, we headed outside to find a taxi.  Turns out that the airport shuttle may have still been running, but at after midnight it wasn't entirely clear if it was the shuttle or a tour bus and for the 60 yuan ($8) difference in price we figured it wasn't worth the risk.  The taxi driver took us on a fast and furious half hour drive to the hostel we had picked out only to arrive and find the place dark.  Luckily, he was willing to take us to the next hostel in line.  All the while Reid and I were crossing our fingers that it would be open and that we wouldn't have to check into a regular hotel.  We arrived to find lights and room and are now in a double room for 120 yuan ($17) for the night.  We're hanging out in the lobby now  with the 4 yuan beers we picked up at the convenience store next door decompressing from the excitement of our journey.  

Tomorrow we'll sleep in, perhaps poke around Guilin, and then take a bus to the bus station where we will get on a bus to Yangshuo.  According to Lonely Planet (and others) it will be worth effort.  We are already appreciating being out in rural China and we got a few glimpses of the karst landscape from the taxi, so we are both looking forward to renting bikes and touring around for a few days.

I feel, in a way, that our round the world trip finally started today.  Despite the difficulties getting started in Beijing, it all just seemed a little too easy and there wasn't any element that felt remotely like we were roughing it.  I don't think that we have quite gotten to the point of "roughing it" exactly, but the long travel day, language barrier, and spontaneity of it all felt more like what I was expecting.  

A Travel Day (a really really really long travel day)

Reid here, even though the tagline up there says Dyanne.  One of us had the foresight to set up posting by email.  One of us gets to post under his wife's name.  I'll let you guess who is who. 

We just had our first true travel day (actually, we're still in the midst of it).  We left Shanghai this morning and our goal was to get to Yangshuo, a great little backpacker hangout in a rural area of china about 12 hours from Hong Kong where we plan to rent bikes and ride around the countryside.  We will take Tai Chi classes.  It will be a bucolic idyll.  But first we have to get there.  Our plan had been to take the third leg of our RTW ticket from Shanghai to Hong Kong and then get cheap local transit to Yangshuo.  It was until a few days ago that we realized that China is Really Big, and that close on the map does not mean close in real life.  

We are sitting here at the Tea Leaf Cafe in the Shenzhen airport drinking Tsingtaos and eating vegetable noodles while we wait for our plane to Guilin.  (As a side note, China has a very loose association with "vegetables" - in this case, three pieces of lettuce and a bit of shredded carrots qualified the soup for that status).  We have been traveling for about 14 hours, with a few more ahead of us.  But it has been an Adventure (or so we are telling ourselves).  

We got packed up and checked out of our Shanghai hotel in good order this morning (though a bit behind schedule) and took the metro to the Mag Lev train that runs out to Pudong airport.  I am glad to say that I have ridden on a mag lev train, but I would probably recommend that people just budget a bit of extra time and take the metro to the airport.  

We almost missed our plane.  First, the airline couldn't find either of our tickets.  Then they solved half of the problem by finding my ticket, but saying Dyanne had cancelled hers.  Eventually, both were located and printed.  Then we hit security.  And the most thorough team of screeners ever to be assembled.  Once our bags were repacked (thank god for packing cubes), we heard our flight announced for a last boarding call.  We ran through a strange maze of hallways and got the gate just in time to jump into the transit bus out to our plane.  We got into our seats on the mostly empty flight and sat back with a great deal of relief.  It felt good to sit.  But then, we realized that the plane was sitting too.  It was apparently tired, because that's what it did for the next 4 hours. Sit.  We never got any clarification on why, but they gave us beer and a meal, so I felt that was an acceptable compromise.  

By the time we arrived in Hong Kong, we had missed any chance to catch the overnight train to Guilin that left from nearby Shenzhen airport (back in mainland China).  We had also missed the last ferry to the Shenzhen airport that would have let us bypass Hong Kong immigration.  So we officially left China and entered Hong Kong.  Then we found bus tickets to Shenzhen airport (and got just a bit ripped off, but that's a post for another time).  We grabbed a quick bite and boarded the bus to Shenzhen (a mostly empty coach bus, quite comfortable).  It turned out to be mostly empty because there was another identical bus for about 80 yuan less (~$10).  Oops.  

The drive through Hong Kong was fantastic.  It looks like a fairy tale south east asian archipelago, all jungle covered mountains jutting out of the sea, and everywhere with a flat bit of land was covered in skyscrapers.  I definitely am looking forward to going back and taking a closer look at the city.  After about an hour, we reached the land border with china and the bus spit us out to cross back through customs and immigration.  By the time we made it back through, we had missed our connecting bus to the airport, and had to wait 20 minutes for the next one.  Then we sat in traffic for a while.  Finally, we arrived at the airport.  

We had researched prices for flights to Guilin, and had been told that you could usually get a cheaper rate by asking at the ticket desk at the airport.  I can't speak to the general rule, but this time was an exception.  After asking at several different ticket desks, we realized that (a) the prices seemed to be set in stone and (b) all of the ticket agents worked for the same company and could ticket for any of the flights.  We fired up our laptop and confirmed that the internets couldn't get us a better deal and bought two tickets.  

That seems to bring us current.  I am sure that I am leaving out something or another, but on my four hours of sleep, I think that is all that I will be able to manage :)  So now we fly to Guilin, get a cheap dorm room for the night, and take a bus to Yangshuo tomorrow morning where we hope to check into the Bamboo House hostel for a week of relaxation.  

Shanghai Day 4

Today we headed off to the Shanghai World Financial Center and went to the tallest observatory in the world at 100 floors and about 474 feet.  I was amazed that I was able to hang out up there and that my fear of heights didn't seem too bad--perhaps you are just so high that you cannot really mentally comprehend it, so it doesn't bother you anymore.  After that and lunch we headed to the train station to find out about our options to get to Yangshuo--it was a bit of a hassle to confirm what we'd already found online.  Then we headed to the Jade Buddha Temple which was a cool Buddhist temple that was still active.  No photos of the title character were allowed, so I don't have one to include, but it was pretty spectacular.  Alright, I'm going to sign off to work on updating our itinerary while Reid takes a nap before we head off for dinner (yum! more Chinese food) and wandering about.

First Days in Shanghai

For those of you following along at home, just a quick update to let you know that we arrived safely in Shanghai.  So far we have seen the Vietnamese Consulate (twice!), toured the French Concession, and seen tons of jade, bronze and porcelain at the Shanghai Museum.  Initial impressions of Shanghai is that it is a more international city than Beijing--lots of Western shopping (at more expensive prices, but with more personal attention), coffee shops, and cafes.  It also has a lot of interesting architecture.  So, as a Western it feels a lot more comfortable than Beijing, but I haven't found it quite as charming.

The best part of our walking tour today was the wet market--with plenty of veggies, stacks of eggs, fresh chickens, fish swimming in shallow buckets and even large eels squirming to get free.  Here are a few photos to give you a small look at what we saw today.

Final Days in Beijing

PREFACE (FAVOR): Could someone send me an e-mail and let me know if my photos are posting? Since I cannot see our blog I can't confirm.  If they aren't I think I (or Reid) can figure out a way to fix it, but only if we know.  THANKS!

So, on our final day in Beijing we headed to the Summer Palace, which was well worth it!  Although not necessarily for the buildings themselves. It was beautiful simply as a park that was full (although not too full) of locals and Chinese tourists enjoying the outdoors.  We had a lovely time just kind of meandering along looking at the beautiful architecture and the blooming trees.  Perhaps what made it so lovely was the green space--the trees and the water, which there just isn't a whole lot of in Beijing.  

We really enjoyed Beijing and were sad to leave.  Our second hotel was really what made our experience so special--we stayed in a courtyard hotel in a hutong (a small alley) off of another hutong that has been transformed into a hip strip with shops, restaurants, bars, and even a hostel.  As such, we enjoyed it for both its historical value and it's modern convenience.  It was simply a charming place, including the hotel employees who were there at all hours practicing their English with us, offering us tea, guiding us to restaurants, or writing out our dumpling order. There was a resident cockatiel, which Reid of course loved, and a small dog who liked to jump up on us when we walked in the door. 

One of the most interesting things about Beijing is that despite the number of people living there, it is a very clean city (as far as I could tell).  I did not see a single rat, pigeon, squirrel or bug the whole time we were there.  I don't know the real cause, but I did observe a few things that probably contribute to this oddity: (1) People are always cleaning--from those who are employed to do it, to those who seem to be earning money by collecting garbage or recycleables; (2) Reid attributes the lack of pigeons to the fact that baby bird is one of the specialties you can get on a stick in Beijing; (3) Concrete--the buildings along the hutong all had concrete floors and concrete foundation which helps to keep the bugs down; and (4) Bug spray--not sure what they treat with, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to stay too long if I knew.  As annoying as our urban pests might be, it was far eerier to be in a city completely bereft of these dwellers (because it we're making it inhabitable for them, is it really so habitable for us?).

Although I wouldn't say that we've really thrown ourself into experiencing Chinese cuisine, we have had some really good Chinese food.  Unfortunately, it has mostly been at places without an English menu, so without a Chinese speaker its hard to have confidence to order much.  So far, we've had really good Peking Duck (but the spicy garlic green beans were better), great boiled dumplings, awesome hot pot last night for dinner (we'll have to post pictures--although we got "medium" there were more red peppers in there then the vegetables we actually ordered), and really good egg crepes for breakfast from a street vendor (it's basically a crepe with an egg broken over it and cooked onto it that they top with sauce and fill with various things like lettuce, hot dogs, and scallions--we've skipped the fillings and still enjoyed it enough to get them twice).  I think we're doing pretty well :) 

We are really excited that we will get to explore more of China, but for myself at least, Shanghai and Yangshuo will have to do a lot to top Beijing.   

Forbidden City & Great Wall

Since we last updated the blog, we have been to the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.  We went to the Forbidden City on Sunday and it was mobbed--not by foreign tourists, mind you, but by Chinese tourists.  They travel in China the same way they do in America--in big tour groups.  We just decided that was part of the experience as well.  It was pretty impressive in size and gave us a little glimpse of how big Beijing truly is.  The Forbidden City is twice the size of Vatican City and on some city maps looks like it takes up two big blocks. 

Yesterday we went to the Great Wall.  We decided to do the 4 km walk from Jinshanling to Simatai.  We went with a group of about 20 organized by the hostel a five minute walk from where we are staying.  We left at 6:40 and road for about three hours before arriving at Jinshanling.  It was raining in Beijing and rainy when we got to Jinshanling, but the overcast was good for photos and the weather cleared by the end of the day--we even got to see blue sky and clouds - a real rarity in Beijing because of the pollution.  Included in our fee were all our entrance tickets as well as a guide whose only purpose was to make sure no one fell too far behind and prevent the touts along the way from bugging us too much.  

We opted to take the cable car up to the wall to save our energy for the actual hike and we are sure glad that we did! I'm not sure if it was the weather or that it was a Monday but we ran into only a handful of people (other than the ubiquitous touts) along the way.  It was a surreal experience as you approached the wall for the first time.  It was like having a picture come to life and then walking up to it, into it, and through it.  It was really amazing to see just how far in extended in both directions from where we were.   After a few photos, we set off along the wall going east toward Simatai.

This walk has both reconstructed and not reconstructed parts of the wall.  Although the original parts are great to see, hiking on them is another matter--up or down you are walking on rubble and looking for a distant foothold.  Also, not sure who the stairs were designed for, because they were narrow and very steep.  Reid wondered how this could possibly be a  short-cut for moving troops!  It was exhausting and exhilarating as we walked up and down between watch towers.  I won't say it wasn't frustrating in parts as we walked up and up and up to reach a guard tower and you felt as though you had accomplished something only to look ahead of you and see more undulations before the end.  Luckily the second half o the hike was mostly downhill.  And, by the time we got to the suspension bridge (which I ordinarily would have been pretty scared to walk across), I was just grateful that it was flat! 

I tried to include one photo and we'll have to do a better recap of our day on the Great Wall with more photos once we can access blogger again.  Although, I don't think any of our photos do the experience justice.  

Oh, and we capped off our day with some Peking Duck at a place around the corner without an English menu.  It appeared quite popular with the locals and, lucky for us, pictures are included in Chinese menus, so we were able to point to the duck to make our order.  Our waitress was very helpful and between her and our Mandarin phrasebook we were also able to order a vegetable dish (it was green beans in garlic and red peppers that was pretty amazing) and a couple beers.  

As you might imagine, once we got home and laid our heads on our pillow, sleep wasn't too far away.  I think we may try to get out to the Summer Palace today and other than that just wonder around a bit of Beijing.

Beijing Day 2

We were able to find new accommodations this morning after some
internet searching and a few phone calls. We ended up eating
breakfast at the hotel, which had a very large buffet of Western and
Chinese food. Our favorite were some (vegetarian!) egg rolls that we
found. We then checked out and left to explore the city. We wondered
down Wangfujing Dajie, which has a lot of shopping, in search of a
guidebook or map. We found the map at the HUGE Chinese bookstore and
a Michelin guidebook in the foreign language bookstore aways up the
street. And while you can buy an English Lonely Planet to any other
destination, there are none for China...

Just off Wangfujing Dajie is a market of street food called
Demonstration for Food Safety Market, where there were a lot of
offerrings, there was not much that looked appetizing--scorpions still
squirming waiting to be fried, fried starfish and seahorses, just to
name a few. We weren't quite up to the food adventure and settled on
some roasted corn, which tasted like wet popcorn. So, we were
disappointed. I'm sure if we had been more adventurous we would have
been rewarded.

Armed with our guidebook we attempted to set off for a restaurant it
recommended that appeared to be nearby. We spent probably a half an
hour trying to guess which side street to wander down. I sort of
wonder if we are doing something wrong, because if places are really
as hard to find as they appear to be, one would think the guidebooks
would have more detailed directions. We eventually gave up, but were
definitely rewarded on our little excursion into a residential area
next to the huge shopping street, which was a big contrast.

So far the most shocking thing about being here is how unique we
appear to be. And we certainly didn't see a lot of caucasians around
(or maybe its just that there are so many Chinese that we are vastly
out-numbered). We definitely get stares on the street and in the
subway. A couple people have tried out their English with us, which
is fun. A close competitor though, as far as shock goes is the
pollution. It's like nothing I've ever seen and just so sad--we have
no idea whether the sun ever came out today or not!

Our new place is a "Culture House" which is a mix between a hostel and
a small hotel in a traditional courtyard setting off a hutong (alley).
It's off a hip street with another hostel, shopping, bars, and
restaurants and we've definitely seen more tourists in this area.
Again, it took us a lot longer than expected to find our hotel. We
might have figured it out before we wandered WAY past it on the hip
little street if we had realized that hutongs (and maybe streets in
general) do not have the same name on both sides and that, apparently,
hutongs do not go straight, but wind around and without clear street
signs (ones we can read anyways) you have no idea if you're on the
same street or wandered onto a new one altogether. But we are settled
for now and about to head out to find some food and probably a beer.

Tomorrow we hope to tackle some of the sights around here. For now, I
hope that the pictures I've attached post so you can check us out
wandering around Wangfujing Dajie.

On to the next hotel

Sure hope that this updating via e-mail works.  Right now we are checking out of our first hotel in Beijing.  Using the free internet and our handy Netbook we were able to find and (via phone) reserve a room at a budget hotel for the balance of our stay.  It's in a tradition hutong (small alley) and received great reviews.  Hopefully it will live up to the hype.  We're using the free WiFi in the hotel lobby to finish up a couple errands before we head off to explore Beijing before checking in to our next hotel.  Alright, Reid is back, so I better sign off for now.

China - Day 1

This is my first attempt at an e-mail update to our blog since it appears to be blocked here.  I hope it works.  Anyways, we arrived without issue in Beijing and then set out to find a hostel/hotel or foreign language bookstore without a proper map.  Turns out, reviews of Kindle's city guide were spot on--totally unreadable map.  And we couldn't pick one up at either of the tourist information centers at the airport.  We did master the subway without incident (well except we can't figure out why the farecard machines don't like our money).  At a little after six when we exited the metro stop that seemed to be near a couple of the hostels we were looking for we ended up at a Novotel.  And we were quoted a room rate for about $30 more than one of the hostels seemed to be going for, so we checked in.  So much for roughing it!  But at least we got a decent night sleep and were able to start off the trip on a positive note.  Today we plan to take full advantage of the English-speaking concierege to help us ferret out a bookstore, which, we hope will result in a decent map!  Luckily the hotel is right downtown, so I think that the Forbidden City and Tianamen Square are within walking distance.  If we resolve our quest for cheaper accommodations we should be able to check out a couple attractions today as well.  Alright, I'm off to get in the shower and then see about waking up Reid.

And the clock is ticking

We are less than 12 hours from (scheduled) take-off. You might think that we are still awake because we are finishing up last minute packing. But, you'd be wrong, we are actually following advice for getting over jet lag: don't sleep tonight, so you will on the plane tomorrow. (I am not sure that grouchy and sleep-deprived and dealing with international check-ins is the best way to begin our trip, but....) We are, of course, using the extra time to work on our tetris skills (read: trying to maximize each inch of our bags' space).

I must confess that I ended up in my 60L pack instead of my 35L pack, which I wanted to take. I did fit everything into the 35L, but there wasn't really room for much else (at all!). I blame Reid for downsizing from his 65L to a 36L and, thus, making me carry all my stuff. Sigh! I don't suppose I should start whining yet, because I haven't lugged my pack a block. I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities to bemoan my pack size somewhere between China and Egypt.

And now that we are on the eve of taking off, the excitement is setting in. I think we have managed to complete 98% of the items on our to do list, so tomorrow (almost) all we have left to do is get on a plane.

I should also use this post as an opportunity to make a plug for 1-800 Contacts who delivered contacts to us in less than 24 hours after we ordered them and only charged us $13 for the expedited shipping. We were more than impressed by the customer service, which included an actual person answering when we called to place the order.

Alright, I think I am going to sign off and investigate why Reid is unpacking (and repacking??) his bag again for like the 6th time). Next time we update we should be on our way to China.

On packing

Packing takes a lot longer than you anticipate. Especially when you are simultaneously packing all your personal belongings to be stored for five months and a pack to live out of for the next five months. Oh, and whatever you need for the week before you leave and what you might need when you return but before your stuff has been delivered from storage (wedding? starting work before we find a place to live?).

Despite all the complexities that these pragmatic concerns raise, the most difficult part for me was the emotional aspect. Probably because I hadn't expected it to be so difficult to part with all my stuff for five months. I like my stuff, but more than my affection for it, it provides me with a sense of security and control which I have neatly packed away in boxes which are sitting in a basement somewhere. I don't have a home anymore. We just have to trust that for the next five months we will make do with what we can carry with us. Rationally I know that we will and I even suspect that when we return all the stuff I lovingly encased in layers of paper and bubble wrap will seem like gross excess. But not yet.

Rationally I am looking forward to experiencing life without the burden of ou household items. I am excited to take on the world, just my husband and me. My rational self may have been ready and willing, but my emotional self was't on board. Which I realized little by little and finally accepted when I ended up in tears this morning mourning my stuff and unable to find what I needed to pack for my quick weekend in NY (I may also have been feeling guilty about leaving my husband to collect the last odds'n'ends and finish cleaning our apartment--thanks honey).


So, after all the laments, what are my take-aways?
(1) Start packing early (much earlier than you think you need to). Next time I would worry less about getting things in boxes and start with sorting. If we had we probably could have made some extra money from the stuff we are donating by selling it on Craigslist.
(2) Organize!! I don't have any tips on this one because although we tried to keep track of what we needed when, it all ended up in the same big pile of stuff that wasn't going to storage. Not so helpful.

(3) Acknowledge your emotional self. I didn't even consider the emotional aspect of our decision to leave behind everything familiar and, as such, I was prepared to be sidetracked from crossing things off our to do list by the enormity of what we are undertaking. If I had dealt with this sooner perhaps it all would have gone a lot smoother.

We Have Lift-Off (almost)!

I am happy to announce that Dyanne and I are the proud parents of a happy pair of Star Alliance Round the World plane tickets!

As a bit of background, there are three basic options for flying around the world.

1. Each of the major alliances (and a few of the minor ones) offers some type of flat-rate ticket based on mileage and number of flights. These are usually more expensive, and can be inconvenient because out of the way connecting flights count against you both for miles and as one of your limited number of flights. On the plus side, your dates are flexible and you get to collect airline miles (on United for us)
2. Travel agents specializing in RTW travel, such as Airtreks.com, that put together an itinerary from available airlines. The benefits of this method are that you have one contact person experienced with long haul travel, more flexibility in destinations, and they are usually cheaper. The down side is that your dates are fixed, change fees can be higher, and you normally don't get credit for your miles
3. Only for the brave, you can skip all the hassle of having a "plan" and just book as you go along. The advantages (and disadvantages) are pretty obvious (and mostly the same, actually).

We got very lucky and were able to maximize Star Alliance's program. It lets you choose any 16 flight segments and then bills based on mileage. The lowest fare was for under 29,000 miles. With direct flights to most all of our destinations, we came out at about 28,900 miles.

Our itinerary is pretty close to what we laid out before, but we had to move a few things around because it turned out that Johannesburg was closed for the most of June and July due to soccer mania. Our new plan has us hanging out in SE asia a bit longer and just passing through South Africa long enough to buy a world cup T-shirt or two.

4/15: Depart Washington to Beijing

4/16-4/21: Beijing

4/21-4/27: Shanghai (Visit Trey)

4/28-5/05: Hong Kong/Guilin/Yangshuo

5/05-5/26: Phuket/Beaches (scuba certification)

5/26-5/30: Northern Thailand (cooking class, trekking, temple-going)

5/30-6/07: Laos (Gibbon experience, slow boat down the Mekong)

6/07-6/14: Cambodia (Angkor Wat)

6/14-6/22: Vietnam (Halong Bay, handmade suits)

6/23-7/19: Bali

7/20-8/04: Tanzania/Zambia (Safari, Victoria Falls)

8/04-8/18: Egypt/Jordan (Pyramids, Petra)

8/18-9/09: Turkey (Cappadocia, Blue mosque)

9/09-9/14: Ljubljana/Dubrovnik

9/14-9/16: Munich (Visit Kunklers)

9/16: Return to Chicago

Our first flight leaves in less than seven days! I can't wait to see seats 24 A and 24B ... :)