tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-289394312024-03-14T18:52:04.398+00:00No Fly ZoneTravelling from Swatragh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatragh) to Hong Kong, and maybe some of the way back, on the ground. Will be trying to avoid flying where possible.
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<a href="http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Support_Wikipedia/en"><img border="0" alt="Support Wikipedia" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Fundraising_2009-horizontal-treasure-en.png"></a></p>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-4521908700159875422022-04-01T19:32:00.000+01:002022-04-01T19:32:37.477+01:00Journey to the West (part 2)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI1Oejz_lhcXCTBRSQG7JVpsaOXeQ_YYEgEyirUUjBJ8udG8EukUSlvWEZZw1ZRsOZaGTLyn9iRgxpBI9QDWMuDVYx5nhih00JCar5iZloP-982C1UoFMOfuYM2qOW44gonZFdewzcPfqdKSyjA_GaOxrYwfVGLFrENZ4wbHB2zq5aM9A8fg/s4608/DSC02251.ARW" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4608" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI1Oejz_lhcXCTBRSQG7JVpsaOXeQ_YYEgEyirUUjBJ8udG8EukUSlvWEZZw1ZRsOZaGTLyn9iRgxpBI9QDWMuDVYx5nhih00JCar5iZloP-982C1UoFMOfuYM2qOW44gonZFdewzcPfqdKSyjA_GaOxrYwfVGLFrENZ4wbHB2zq5aM9A8fg/w640-h426/DSC02251.ARW" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />(Posted from the vanage point of 2022, but written in 2010, I didn't have too much to say about the Uyghur situation in this post, but I think there is some stuff in other posts coming up - let see what I felt more than a decade ago in a place now known as a bit of a concentration camp)</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnB_aLya4dRMdehbCz0raHJLsxCe8hSLwe08B7Ir4tC0acR9D65on6TprxeLWXITeHXM4ALxcixxPbwAxwnxGNCsuh_lQCqZh78Eu4iww5bwaCB3oEkquVYGGUFM6GvX9Wjr8LH8ZqZpHkROzs2H1l8D7ENefi_9of52G0APgEVLZTP6xOIA/s4592/DSC02220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3056" data-original-width="4592" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnB_aLya4dRMdehbCz0raHJLsxCe8hSLwe08B7Ir4tC0acR9D65on6TprxeLWXITeHXM4ALxcixxPbwAxwnxGNCsuh_lQCqZh78Eu4iww5bwaCB3oEkquVYGGUFM6GvX9Wjr8LH8ZqZpHkROzs2H1l8D7ENefi_9of52G0APgEVLZTP6xOIA/s320/DSC02220.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and a beer</td></tr></tbody></table>Turns out there was not much to do in Urumqi. There was a pub called Fu-bar run by a lad called Manus from Portrush that had a good selection of beer (it had been a while, but I was still waiting to find a good pint on draught). The museum was interesting enough for a couple of hours, as long as you look past the usual propaganda. They had some very old mummies. We weren’t allowed to take photos, but “officials” were allowed to ignore the signs. Another prime example of, “All people are equal, but some are more equal than others.” I unexpectedly found 1984 on sale in the official bookshop. The bookshop looked and felt like a dead library.</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCTjOmpFkyEQavxAolUZ3qi1QgrU7U80YH7Or88iTOgnU9Mo2BgAkxAhzCbo14TGwpnQlTRrYvAjXeDLcrzS4zMmkbP9T9AviDRX-e8lXLPCaxhvor18SVKTjTg2HHrchqJgi7zzMVREQuc7Btb4bPUdtuvinTAv8pTuhTDFQHUm3qF3ZJOw/s4608/DSC02201.ARW" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4608" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCTjOmpFkyEQavxAolUZ3qi1QgrU7U80YH7Or88iTOgnU9Mo2BgAkxAhzCbo14TGwpnQlTRrYvAjXeDLcrzS4zMmkbP9T9AviDRX-e8lXLPCaxhvor18SVKTjTg2HHrchqJgi7zzMVREQuc7Btb4bPUdtuvinTAv8pTuhTDFQHUm3qF3ZJOw/w640-h426/DSC02201.ARW" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not a library it seems</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />Slogans were something we’d encountered throughout the country, normally written in a large red font and positioned anywhere you could imagine. A few of the ones we noticed were:</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Oppose separation, encourage co-operation</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Build a harmonious society</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Raising a girl is as good as raising a boy</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">The liberation army is sacred and is not to be violated</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">It is a legal obligation of every citizen to keep national secrets and party secrets<br /></span></li></ul><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXc7H7gr7bQExpRIKk9aUgRaKuMa42_txLtxdZCspTSb-Th2wwr5QpE_1k64wSc0Hslx7b_ooqMO26iHHnTRrPIBkLdcUpp5G59koAyq2fbsZ8t2-3Olmbo8wvo4IBcjAxutYXD2Gf8ktxZyf4c8gtXmckM7e5SLY486RDLl4eucpLOZOCFg/s4608/DSC03521.ARW" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4608" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXc7H7gr7bQExpRIKk9aUgRaKuMa42_txLtxdZCspTSb-Th2wwr5QpE_1k64wSc0Hslx7b_ooqMO26iHHnTRrPIBkLdcUpp5G59koAyq2fbsZ8t2-3Olmbo8wvo4IBcjAxutYXD2Gf8ktxZyf4c8gtXmckM7e5SLY486RDLl4eucpLOZOCFg/w640-h426/DSC03521.ARW" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Audrey tells me this is one is the same as the last one in my list above</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />The last one I found most sinister (which we saw in Urumqi), basically saying that even if you know the country/government is doing something wrong, you shouldn’t speak out about it. Most of them were quite benign, and were basically good ideas, apart from the fact the party ignored them when it suited them.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3vS-IWkbLzfgydGRHH5t7Bj3eIXM9jkw_ertopMsmZkCbDFrOoJrNrewTN_-TOUqwN7JRCVUcpt2zxPkwjOcIRJbP3-8spnlcULmzc-KHdTs3aV72JPxaaet-EmpRqPqRbTIK4hc43aPeUbZUyzNjN5vcT9Ow19VJbVEWeUQBNpJ_u1zTA/s4608/DSC02259.ARW" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4608" data-original-width="3072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL3vS-IWkbLzfgydGRHH5t7Bj3eIXM9jkw_ertopMsmZkCbDFrOoJrNrewTN_-TOUqwN7JRCVUcpt2zxPkwjOcIRJbP3-8spnlcULmzc-KHdTs3aV72JPxaaet-EmpRqPqRbTIK4hc43aPeUbZUyzNjN5vcT9Ow19VJbVEWeUQBNpJ_u1zTA/s320/DSC02259.ARW" width="213" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />We wanted to get visas for Kyrgyzstan from their consulate, but were hit immediately with a bombshell. Those Hong Kongers (and the Chinese in general) required a letter of invitation. We were already in the process of getting them for Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, but wouldn’t have enough time to get the Kyrgyzstan one before my Chinese visa ran out. Plus, we would be losing a lot of valuable time hanging around in China, somewhere we now wanted to get out of quite quickly (we felt we’d spent too much time there already).</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">So we had to change plans and destinations. Flying from Urumqi to the west, there were not many options. And of the options we had, many of them would pose similar problems to what we already had with Kyrgyzstan (Iran, Azerbaijan, back to Russia, Armenia). Finally, we booked flights to Tbilisi in Georgia.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbWa9TrM52oPoXNStjWPZ2sV34dXiIALiv9R4laXjEjMvGMQaKIW-qkOAIQSvzoWrYHIlHjyJZuSop4ZHdgb29_q2G-NMH02GoXEDyXe-dn4g4D2AuXW0VTDIsEKk5II6Zd-i9tylU4szDpXiXNeRY9kDBCts7qkobqc9zuwApm_879C_GTA/s4608/DSC02153.ARW" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4608" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbWa9TrM52oPoXNStjWPZ2sV34dXiIALiv9R4laXjEjMvGMQaKIW-qkOAIQSvzoWrYHIlHjyJZuSop4ZHdgb29_q2G-NMH02GoXEDyXe-dn4g4D2AuXW0VTDIsEKk5II6Zd-i9tylU4szDpXiXNeRY9kDBCts7qkobqc9zuwApm_879C_GTA/w640-h426/DSC02153.ARW" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the train to Urumqi</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjKJCzfvb76XU-GeqzzE4VxnwSC1YIJtsmV0Z2cTuHgd1TpOCHtBNgoUA02lsa5wLuBB9V6Z3Nfg5INKWOhA_Qq5v5AVFAcdMlAZ1ngVNNKcwFw4430Qjt9EBpwKYJUaZGWM-c5hrQWl3DPJ9AITb1ER6VzYgupQ_X5TzH8URInXImYCTXg/s4608/DSC02190.ARW" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4608" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjKJCzfvb76XU-GeqzzE4VxnwSC1YIJtsmV0Z2cTuHgd1TpOCHtBNgoUA02lsa5wLuBB9V6Z3Nfg5INKWOhA_Qq5v5AVFAcdMlAZ1ngVNNKcwFw4430Qjt9EBpwKYJUaZGWM-c5hrQWl3DPJ9AITb1ER6VzYgupQ_X5TzH8URInXImYCTXg/w640-h426/DSC02190.ARW" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Street food, very tasty, like shashlik</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />We still had nearly two weeks to get ourselves around the most wild and rugged area of China. First stop would be Kashgar, the legendary Silk Road city. We booked soft sleeper tickets that would take us along the northern section of the Silk Road, and got a comfy little compartment for two all to ourselves.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">One day later we woke up as the train pulled into Kashgar.</span></p>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-86290053026840313272022-03-17T17:13:00.001+00:002022-03-17T17:13:14.675+00:00Journey to the West (part 1)<p><span style="font-family: arial;">(I finally dug out an old document that had some notes on blog posts about our 9 month travelling around the world that I never got around to publishing more than a decade ago, so I'm going to try to finish it)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In his book about travelling on the train through China, Riding the Iron Rooster (1986), Paul Theroux states in the final few pages:</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-173f8f6d-7fff-dde9-a19e-579710fecee0"><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><blockquote> “[T]he main reason Tibet is so undeveloped and un-Chinese—and so thoroughly old-fangled and pleasant—is that it is the one great place in China that the railway has not reached. The Kunlun Range is a guarantee that the railway will never get to Lhasa.”</blockquote></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s no big surprise that they managed it, and I have to agree that it is an amazing feat of engineering, affording us spectacular views of Tibet from the comfort of a train carriage. The down side, in the view of Tibetans and anyone sympathetic to their cause, is that it simply allows the Chinese to hasten the pace of their plantation and China-fication. As I’ve already mentioned, Tibet feels in many ways Chinese.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHqKySSD-Uop_pYKDbrOw0llxpyoabPDq7YwEzF0jax3O1ESusOYNnNQ9i_vQ_XCAiJog-i02fl0voYvaCrktt5RAal0HRa--Xm8N5B9UZ7MC-rWEuekoQdi3BTUsAuGN8AGGb39gpVxC2_Jr32Upf4QRTO46f0vt_oRMOxTo-ko0UW2AGFA=s4608" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4608" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHqKySSD-Uop_pYKDbrOw0llxpyoabPDq7YwEzF0jax3O1ESusOYNnNQ9i_vQ_XCAiJog-i02fl0voYvaCrktt5RAal0HRa--Xm8N5B9UZ7MC-rWEuekoQdi3BTUsAuGN8AGGb39gpVxC2_Jr32Upf4QRTO46f0vt_oRMOxTo-ko0UW2AGFA=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0d1ioTekHReegDs6kKcU3Uft3AXADMEfMASBbTifZYr4RTbusjPUq5wEmKZvSNhLhfGrvcwHIEXH3oO8fhd1vxCGBwj-Fj8F7AJyovoNXVaSrTIWF9vEnsE8YrJcnouwuZuR6WhwEaIlTC34KaJNly0a8Dn6-U0tpFaEJM_1mkTll3AZsaw=s4608" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3072" data-original-width="4608" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0d1ioTekHReegDs6kKcU3Uft3AXADMEfMASBbTifZYr4RTbusjPUq5wEmKZvSNhLhfGrvcwHIEXH3oO8fhd1vxCGBwj-Fj8F7AJyovoNXVaSrTIWF9vEnsE8YrJcnouwuZuR6WhwEaIlTC34KaJNly0a8Dn6-U0tpFaEJM_1mkTll3AZsaw=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidBVaJEGj5T5Os9M5N7Q7niSSP66RR2xbHOE34_lRvuZosaaJWzkHttQHJxK2ycfm9hIxx0jAuUxuJsOxBlPoAWHswVkUcUC-FeB-LiPLDTfzsdNahQSDk9LVvXrOY0Ilx3NEykmdq-NCqTvErxuONwYfJOpnrfIyeRwg1f3U6fVKOmJuttg=s4592" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3056" data-original-width="4592" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidBVaJEGj5T5Os9M5N7Q7niSSP66RR2xbHOE34_lRvuZosaaJWzkHttQHJxK2ycfm9hIxx0jAuUxuJsOxBlPoAWHswVkUcUC-FeB-LiPLDTfzsdNahQSDk9LVvXrOY0Ilx3NEykmdq-NCqTvErxuONwYfJOpnrfIyeRwg1f3U6fVKOmJuttg=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEid1hBcBLVzrscaDwC4z-2MVl98GeeEHMzb6wTDbEYXXjHWhAg-MPc16RZ87k7BEtMonrBs19j5wj3_Q0vMPsBbXVPQu7ynVbtrafKvR3gM8A4gOsNw46_-13n_uz4jnZVvlEa6FiQa_du2ysk-nCe84VU77kTUbDoVxHD0s2LpnICwwL37fA=s4592" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3056" data-original-width="4592" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEid1hBcBLVzrscaDwC4z-2MVl98GeeEHMzb6wTDbEYXXjHWhAg-MPc16RZ87k7BEtMonrBs19j5wj3_Q0vMPsBbXVPQu7ynVbtrafKvR3gM8A4gOsNw46_-13n_uz4jnZVvlEa6FiQa_du2ysk-nCe84VU77kTUbDoVxHD0s2LpnICwwL37fA=w640-h426" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">
At the entrance to the station, I finally found a person who actually used the scanning machines that we’d been putting our bags on before every train journey (and sometimes even to get to the ticket office). It was probably due to the train being a much higher profile train, and the trains were pressurised with oxygen. They found two cans, my shaving gel and my shoe deodorant. Pressurised cans were not allowed, so they took the foot spray off me; pity the people sharing my carriage.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Announcements during the journey gave us a great piece of Chinese propaganda, as they gave us full details surrounding the building of the Qingzang railways in three languages. One particular highlight was details about how the workers toilets were specially heated to avoid them catching something from the cold. Another was that it was a miracle that no one died during construction (thanks to the heated toilets I presume). Generally speaking, if you feel the need to announce no one died during the construction of something, I usually assume many people dies. And they had a theme song for the railway.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtjSkg47gQlmqo62DhEzWrZ6P85xmKwopTlI6PJZsiCYmoOJr2kbcYpM5SwkeIF00A91ETtMOzCx5kBSiaryfu7cMWSkH8R3klO07GUiT83A1N1AciGxY5wEQZ3YBtzR-9G3ZBd79xoWyjFwaOZ41l9gJmOHWxfeSGmZpnxEygkMpXDFH3SQ=s4592" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4592" data-original-width="3056" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtjSkg47gQlmqo62DhEzWrZ6P85xmKwopTlI6PJZsiCYmoOJr2kbcYpM5SwkeIF00A91ETtMOzCx5kBSiaryfu7cMWSkH8R3klO07GUiT83A1N1AciGxY5wEQZ3YBtzR-9G3ZBd79xoWyjFwaOZ41l9gJmOHWxfeSGmZpnxEygkMpXDFH3SQ=w266-h400" title="I've still got that t-shirt in 2022" width="266" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I've still got that t-shirt in 2022</td></tr></tbody></table></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was beautiful and uneventful though, and after 26 hours, we landed in Lanzhou, and promptly booked a train out there a couple of hours later that would take another 22 hours, and bring us into the capital of China’s other restless province, Xinjiang.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was yet another uneventful ride, trains in China tend to be less fun than Russia. We’d come a long way in 48 hours, going from tracks laid over 5000m to tracks that are below sea level (some parts of Xinjiang, around Turfan, are more than 150m under water, but more on that another day). Audrey was getting pissed off with rail staff (and anyone in general who is meant to be in the service industry), and I couldn’t blame her. They have slogans everywhere about “serving the people”, but most of them do anything but that, preferring to while away their working hours playing games, chatting and generally ignoring the passengers.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We arrived in Urumqi at 11:30am.</span></p>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com27RGX+6V Lhomar, Seni District, Nagqu, Tibet, China31.275529 91.84973169999999229.386631602998214 89.652466074999992 33.164426397001783 94.046997324999992tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-59181230262166246042014-07-21T18:31:00.001+01:002016-03-22T14:41:44.157+00:00Worldwide Challenge<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="height: 0px; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Below are the current standings, recent results and upcoming fixtures for all divisions in the Worldwide Challenge on one handy page.</span></div>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Worldwide Challenge Premier</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><script language="JavaScript" nbsp="" src="http://www.xperteleven.com/standingsExternal.aspx?Lid=266740&Div=1&FN=arial&FS=11&SWO=1&SEV=1&SLO=1&UH=0&SLR=1&SNR=1"></script></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ligue 2</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Serie C</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><script language="JavaScript" nbsp="" src="http://www.xperteleven.com/standingsExternal.aspx?Lid=266740&Div=3&FN=arial&FS=11&SWO=1&SEV=1&SLO=1&UH=0&SLR=1&SNR=1"></script></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">División De Cuatro</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><script language="JavaScript" nbsp="" src="http://www.xperteleven.com/standingsExternal.aspx?Lid=266740&Div=4&FN=arial&FS=11&SWO=1&SEV=1&SLO=1&UH=0&SLR=1&SNR=1"></script></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Shocker Conference</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><script language="JavaScript" nbsp="" src="http://www.xperteleven.com/standingsExternal.aspx?Lid=266740&Div=5&FN=arial&FS=11&SWO=1&SEV=1&SLO=1&UH=0&SLR=1&SNR=1"></script></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If anyone is interested in joining the league, you can use the following link to sign up for a team:</span></div>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.xperteleven.com/?lid=266740">Worldwide Challenge Signup Link</a></span></h4>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; line-height: 18px;">WWC is a regular style league, where there are a few VIP prizes each season.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; line-height: 18px;">Plenty of banter in the scribble, and good press releases keep the league lively. Feel free to contact me, or any of the other managers to find out any information.</span></div>
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Past Winners</h2>
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<b><span style="color: white;">Season</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: white;">Winners</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: white;">Manager</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: white;">Country</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;">Season 1</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Gold Coast Flyers</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Datboy</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">USA</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;">Season 2</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Madrid FC</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Neaz77</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">England</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;">Season 3</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Untouchables XI</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Dava B</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">England</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;">Season 4</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Gold Coast Flyers</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Datboy</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">USA</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;">Season 5</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Blonde On Blonde</span></div>
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<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Rubinstein</span></div>
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<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Scotland</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;">Season 6</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Blonde On Blonde</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Rubinstein</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Scotland</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;">Season 7</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Tudor Rose</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Sabercrest</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">England</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;">Season 8</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Napoleonic New Orleans</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">Reacharound</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">USA</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-top: none; border: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Season 9</span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Gold Coast Flyers</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Datboy</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">USA</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Season 10</span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Blonde on Blonde</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Rubinstein</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Scotland</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-top: none; border: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Season 11</span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Blonde on Blonde</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Rubinstein</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Scotland</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Season 12</span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">AFC Bournemouth</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Fitzyafcb</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">England</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-top: none; border: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Season 13</span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">AFC Bournemouth</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Fitzyafcb</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">England</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Season 14</span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">AFC Bournemouth</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Fitzyafcb</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">England</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-top: none; border: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Season 15</span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Gorgie Heather</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Tomb140774</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Scotland</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Season 16</span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">AFC Bournemouth</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Fitzyafcb</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">England</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-top: none; border: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Season 17</span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Gorgie Heather</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Tomb140774</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="background: #D9E2F3; border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Scotland</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt;">
<td nowrap="" style="border-top: none; border: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black;">Season 18</span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Gorgie Heather</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Tomb140774</span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid #8EAADB 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Scotland</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTable15Grid4Accent5" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none;"><tbody>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td nowrap="" style="background: rgb(217, 226, 243); border: 1pt solid rgb(142, 170, 219); height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Season 19</b></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="background: rgb(217, 226, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Gorgie Heather</span></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="background: rgb(217, 226, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Tomb140774</span></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="background: rgb(217, 226, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Scotland</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td nowrap="" style="border: 1pt solid rgb(142, 170, 219); height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Season 20</b></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Team BBG</span></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: white;">IantheRam</span></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: white;">England</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTable15Grid4Accent5" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none;"><tbody>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td nowrap="" style="background: rgb(217, 226, 243); border: 1pt solid rgb(142, 170, 219); height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Season 21</b></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="background: rgb(217, 226, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Team BBG</span></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="background: rgb(217, 226, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">IantheRam</span></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="background: rgb(217, 226, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
England</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td nowrap="" style="border: 1pt solid rgb(142, 170, 219); height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Season 22</b></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Team BBG</div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: white;">IantheRam</span></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: white;">England</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTable15Grid4Accent5" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none;"><tbody>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td nowrap="" style="background: rgb(217, 226, 243); border: 1pt solid rgb(142, 170, 219); height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Season 23</b></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="background: rgb(217, 226, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Team BBG</span></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="background: rgb(217, 226, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
IantheRam</div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="background: rgb(217, 226, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
England</div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td nowrap="" style="border: 1pt solid rgb(142, 170, 219); height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Season 24</b></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">Shinn Shamrocks</span></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Blurry</span></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: white;">Ireland</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTable15Grid4Accent5" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none;"><tbody>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td nowrap="" style="background: rgb(217, 226, 243); border: 1pt solid rgb(142, 170, 219); height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Season 25</b></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="background: rgb(217, 226, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Season in progress</div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="background: rgb(217, 226, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Season in progress</div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="background: rgb(217, 226, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">TBD</span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 15pt;"><td nowrap="" style="border: 1pt solid rgb(142, 170, 219); height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 71.75pt;" valign="top" width="96"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Season 26</b></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 166.5pt;" valign="top" width="222"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;">TDB</span></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 112.5pt;" valign="top" width="150"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: white;">TBD</span></div>
</td><td nowrap="" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-right-color: rgb(142, 170, 219); border-right-width: 1pt; border-style: none solid solid none; height: 15pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt; width: 100.05pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: white;">TBD</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
</div>
Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-2638950868344880422013-06-11T08:12:00.004+01:002013-06-11T08:12:53.339+01:00No Fly Zone. It's been a long time. I stopped writing as soon as I got back from our 9 month long trip in December 2010. Christmas, looking for a job and continuing to live like a nomad for a couple of months in London with lack of decent access to the internet (not that London doesn't have decent internet, it was just the circumstances that we found ourselves in).<br />
<br />
Anyway, after a couple of months, we ended up in New York. Many years ago when I was much younger, I'd said a few times that I wouldn't want to live in the USA, but when the opportunity arose to take a job in the big apple, it was hard to turn it down (and almost as hard to get the visa).<br />
<br />
Now we've been here a couple of years, and are relatively settled (although neither of us plans to stay forever), I think it's time to reflect on our experience in this place, versus what we seen when we lived elsewhere and on the road.<br />
<br />
And so I plan to use this blog to highlight the positives and negatives to living here, and compare and contrast it to (mostly) Europe. I still love the old continent and how tings work there, so I'll try not to be too hard on the young upstarts on this side of the Atlantic.<br />
<br />
And hopefully I also get around to finishing the rest of the travel blog that I didn't get around to from a few notes that I made, and what's in my head still. I finished off with a blog post about Tibet back in 2010, so I'll try and take it from there, and talk about our Journey into the West (of China), followed by Georgia (not the state in the US) and Turkey, probably the most interesting countries we visited.<br />
<br />
Anyway, let me see how long I keep going on these topics.Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-22739928399873282612010-11-25T15:31:00.000+00:002010-11-25T15:31:55.427+00:00Capital of the Roof of the World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TO5629Xh1vI/AAAAAAAAAaM/zhM1gMCtnIU/s1600/DSC01814.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TO5629Xh1vI/AAAAAAAAAaM/zhM1gMCtnIU/s640/DSC01814.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Driving into Lhasa, it doesn’t actually feel very Tibetan.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">You have the same large thoroughfares evident in all Chinese cities, industrial estates belching out fumes and producing god-knows-what and huge Chinese slogans printed everywhere.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">It was only once we reached the heart of the city, got off the bus and walked the final 100m to our hotel that we could see how it was (and might still have been).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We still had a couple of days of sightseeing ahead of us, which would take us to the Jokhang Temple, the Potala Palace and a couple of other not so well known places in and around the city.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TO564B7uNYI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/p85FtlCb21o/s1600/DSC01850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TO564B7uNYI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/p85FtlCb21o/s640/DSC01850.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I felt somewhat guilty that we were going into the Potala Palace, as it is essentially the spiritual home of the Dalai Lama, and should theoretically be closed to all but his family and Tibetan government officials.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think he would feel very unwelcome in its current guise, with all trace of him perfectly cleansed away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see his bedroom and study, but no single mention of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are some amazing sights held within though, mainly ornate bejewelled stupas of all the previous Dalai Lamas.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">And directly in front of it (standing on a hill all alone, it looks pretty impressive) there is a typically Chinese large square (with<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>large plaque celebrating the achievement of building it), with a multi-coloured dancing water fountain in it, blaring out classical music mixed with Canto-pop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were fascinated by its tackiness. (I have a similar video, but couldn't upload it):</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3oAgc1h5BS4?fs=1&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3oAgc1h5BS4?fs=1&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbSjngQ5Gyg">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbSjngQ5Gyg</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Only an oppressive regime could manage such things.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TO565AFNVrI/AAAAAAAAAaU/iDXMgP-anaE/s1600/DSC01888.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TO565AFNVrI/AAAAAAAAAaU/iDXMgP-anaE/s640/DSC01888.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TO561hHYCgI/AAAAAAAAAaI/4PcKhEVIFS0/s1600/DSC01798.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="238" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TO561hHYCgI/AAAAAAAAAaI/4PcKhEVIFS0/s640/DSC01798.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where's Wally? Can you find him?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The local Tibetans spent a lot of time praying in the main square before the Jokhang temple, which dates from the 7<sup>th</sup> century, and is the holiest place in the country (whoops, slip of the tongue, I meant province).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some pilgrims have walked for huge distances to be here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s not that unusual in the religious world, but every couple of steps on the way they prostrate themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TO560YRBf1I/AAAAAAAAAaE/PHZlEFdZkOo/s1600/DSC01774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TO560YRBf1I/AAAAAAAAAaE/PHZlEFdZkOo/s400/DSC01774.JPG" width="378" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just 3,418,882 more to go</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The locals were friendly as we made our way around the town (both Han and Tibetan).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had been warned by a Han in Qingdao that the Tibetans were not good people, and will always try and rip you off, but that’s one of those situations where people have a blinkered view when there is a clash of cultures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tibetans probably think similarly of the Han.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TO567cSqCYI/AAAAAAAAAac/FX5ZSgjqhcA/s1600/DSC01937.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="370" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TO567cSqCYI/AAAAAAAAAac/FX5ZSgjqhcA/s400/DSC01937.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TO566NiV6wI/AAAAAAAAAaY/MFTPdEjGoYU/s1600/DSC01900.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TO566NiV6wI/AAAAAAAAAaY/MFTPdEjGoYU/s320/DSC01900.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not a good idea</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The army presence was immense; I haven’t seen so many soldiers stationed on the streets since Northern Ireland in the 80s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s somewhat menacing, with all of them carrying guns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No wonder the Tibetans seen rather downtrodden, with that and the constant flux of immigrants from other parts of China.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I also had a sweetcorn flavoured ice-cream, it was awful, and I couldn't finish it. The local beer was surprisingly decent, simply called Lhasa (I'm still waiting for a beer to be called Swatragh). Even though it was as light as the usual Chinese beer, the taste was crisp and a little sweet. The other thing about Chinese beer that I noticed was that it is reasonably drinkable when it'snot chilled. It still tastes the same (watery).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">And finally we had got to a place where men did not use their T-shirts as belly tops (although that was probably more to do with it being a bit nippy).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ever since Ulan Bataar, we’d seen this constantly, through China, SE Asia and Nepal.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We left on the train at 7:45 in the morning</span>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-44507986093383594602010-11-25T14:36:00.003+00:002010-11-25T14:42:12.678+00:00Bus to Tibet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwwW6yN6I/AAAAAAAAAXs/ICVHxiXGjtk/s1600/DSC01136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="144" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwwW6yN6I/AAAAAAAAAXs/ICVHxiXGjtk/s640/DSC01136.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">The bus to the border was bumpy, very bumpy.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">The Nepali government has really been getting behind with road works.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Very close to the crossing point, we hit a traffic jam, which necessitated the bus reversing back down a road with a huge drop to one side.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">At one point the bus nearly dropped the back wheels of the edge, which had a number of people on the bus clambering to get out, myself included.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">It just about stayed on.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">After that near brush with death came the ordeal of getting into Tibet. Those in power in Beijing do not want anything sneaking over the border that might show the Tibetans who the Dalai Lama is. All guide books need to be discarded before getting to the border. Rather unhelpfully, none of them tell you that in their actual guide, lest it put you off buying it. After a bag search (which was not that thorough, I think we could have got our book through), we were in.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We spent the next four days on the bus to get to Tibet going through some of the most stunning landscape yet (you can see we had some dust on our camera sensor and we bother with Photoshop either):<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwx9AvpsI/AAAAAAAAAXw/9BJhBRkH0V8/s1600/DSC01182.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="144" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwx9AvpsI/AAAAAAAAAXw/9BJhBRkH0V8/s640/DSC01182.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbw_vH24_I/AAAAAAAAAYM/qBrM2q__-TY/s1600/DSC01527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbw_vH24_I/AAAAAAAAAYM/qBrM2q__-TY/s640/DSC01527.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbxAjMCtuI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/hJ9jgzMGecE/s1600/DSC01552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbxAjMCtuI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/hJ9jgzMGecE/s640/DSC01552.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbxCFlIGII/AAAAAAAAAYU/cgIbTBtzJqY/s1600/DSC01627.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="304" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbxCFlIGII/AAAAAAAAAYU/cgIbTBtzJqY/s640/DSC01627.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbxDKUykPI/AAAAAAAAAYY/DsCQ_-32vIc/s1600/DSC01629.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbxDKUykPI/AAAAAAAAAYY/DsCQ_-32vIc/s640/DSC01629.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbxE0Jx9WI/AAAAAAAAAYc/wcqUtkbwAfc/s1600/DSC01632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbxE0Jx9WI/AAAAAAAAAYc/wcqUtkbwAfc/s640/DSC01632.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbxF6UOqGI/AAAAAAAAAYk/9FWSWI62HxU/s1600/DSC01656.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="144" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbxF6UOqGI/AAAAAAAAAYk/9FWSWI62HxU/s640/DSC01656.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbxHAY83hI/AAAAAAAAAYo/N6DJlf1O__Y/s1600/DSC01692.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbxHAY83hI/AAAAAAAAAYo/N6DJlf1O__Y/s640/DSC01692.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Seen a few monasteries:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwz7KPD4I/AAAAAAAAAX0/TI4JD7JovAE/s1600/DSC01277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwz7KPD4I/AAAAAAAAAX0/TI4JD7JovAE/s640/DSC01277.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbw6COlJPI/AAAAAAAAAYA/zzMVwcx83aA/s1600/DSC01413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbw6COlJPI/AAAAAAAAAYA/zzMVwcx83aA/s640/DSC01413.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">And we got to see a bit of everyday life high up in the Himalayas :<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbw8KrQd4I/AAAAAAAAAYE/TQONTsZ6_fw/s1600/DSC01300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbw8KrQd4I/AAAAAAAAAYE/TQONTsZ6_fw/s640/DSC01300.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbw9ulX7tI/AAAAAAAAAYI/ORG6523oLeM/s1600/DSC01317.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbw9ulX7tI/AAAAAAAAAYI/ORG6523oLeM/s400/DSC01317.JPG" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It may be cold up there, but there's plenty of sun</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbw2BWebNI/AAAAAAAAAX4/PaP09odHIOE/s1600/DSC01357.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbw2BWebNI/AAAAAAAAAX4/PaP09odHIOE/s640/DSC01357.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">It was my first experience of a group tour. It was a very international group with about 16 different nationalities on board. A few countries played out to their natural stereotypes, but I’ll not go into details, don't want to offend anyone </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12pt;">J</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbxI7f349I/AAAAAAAAAYs/ZzeDZ3W9E68/s1600/DSC01713.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbxI7f349I/AAAAAAAAAYs/ZzeDZ3W9E68/s640/DSC01713.JPG" width="426" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">There were a few problems with people suffering from acute mountain sickness, and one girl eventually got evacuated from Lhasa to Beijing for hospital treatment. The tour guide dealt shoddily with the situation, but as far as we know, everything turned out ok.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The other problem was the Sinofication of all the Tibetan towns we went to. Slowly but surely, they are all beginning to look like bland carbon copy Chinese cities.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As much as we like to slag China off for what it is doing in Tibet (and Xinjiang, and anywhere else it calls its own that the locals disagree with), I was grateful for the road, which was so much better than what we had to endure on the Nepali side. But that is but a small plus to try and counter all the negative things implemented by the central government.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We arrived in Lhasa on the evening of the 13<sup>th</sup> of October.</span>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-4243235879902642042010-11-20T15:44:00.000+00:002010-11-20T15:44:19.590+00:00Paragliding in Pokhara<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwuTE2ApI/AAAAAAAAAXo/mlWthx-a_k8/s1600/DSC01043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwuTE2ApI/AAAAAAAAAXo/mlWthx-a_k8/s640/DSC01043.JPG" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trying to fly kites unsuccessfully in Nagarkot</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">The trip back to Kathmandu was a hairy one, more akin to a rollercoaster ride than a scheduled flight. Audrey spent most of the flight praying to whichever God came to mind.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">But it was nothing in comparison (in my opinion) to the 6 hour drive to Pokhara (Audrey was unfazed by this one).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We were heading there to do some paragliding, which I’ve been itching to do for ages. We had already arranged a driver and vehicle, and convinced Fabio, a bubbly Brazilian, someone we met a few times in the mountains, to join us for the drive. I was regretting the drive pretty quickly. It started with a mammoth traffic jam leaving the capital, followed a road which would have even been considered a disgrace in the south of Ireland in the early 80s, combined with a crazy driver who must have felt he had a sixth sense that could see around corners. This was the main “highway”.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwnl34TpI/AAAAAAAAAXc/E3GipaIXKoA/s1600/DSC00632.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwnl34TpI/AAAAAAAAAXc/E3GipaIXKoA/s640/DSC00632.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fabio and Audrey, and a dog's arse</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Normally I can cope with dodgy driving, and it’s Audrey who whips out her luggage-case-strap-cum-portable-seatbelt on every bus journey. On this one though, I was grippping the armrest tightly, and thinking about the cost of flying back. And I reckon Fabio was wishing he had taken the bus. Audrey, meanwhile, was calm in the front seat, oblivious to the obvious danger we were in; perhaps her seatbelt giving her a false sense of security.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We arrived safely.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwsoWMuiI/AAAAAAAAAXk/OwB83E2wJF4/s1600/IMG_1032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwsoWMuiI/AAAAAAAAAXk/OwB83E2wJF4/s640/IMG_1032.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting my first cut-throat-razor shave in Pokhara</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Pokhara, despite being the third biggest city, was a complete contrast to Kathmandu, laidback and spacious, no in-your-face people trying to sell anything. There wasn’t much to see either, but I needed a relaxing environment after the drive, hiking and Kathmandu.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwq200XjI/AAAAAAAAAXg/9FGIru3s4b8/s1600/DSC00809.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwq200XjI/AAAAAAAAAXg/9FGIru3s4b8/s640/DSC00809.JPG" width="425" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Paragliding was good, but not as exhilarating as I expected.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Audrey had been really worried about it, but when we landed I was greeted by an over-excited Audrey.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">She had loved it, and my disappointment was mainly due to the fact that my pilot had failed to hit the thermals properly to get up some good height.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Plus, the pace was a bit pedestrian, and I like to be in control, but that wasn’t possible.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Take-off was interesting, running down a hill towards a cliff, but the parachute really picks up the wind well, so we were up in the air before you know it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Talking to the locals in Nepal was quite easy , as most spoke a good level of English. We noticed that a lot had been to work in the middle east. No one had much good to say about being there, which ties in with the recent stories in the news of torture by Saudi families on maids from South Asia and Indonesia. Most went from Nepal during the Maoist insurgency, when tourism was at a nadir. But now they have their peace process (which moves just as slowly as the one in Northern Ireland), and little threat from paramilitaries, tourist are returning in droves.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The only positive thing a couple of people could say about Saudi Arabia was that cars obey the traffic lights, which in Kathmandu isn’t really an option, as I only seen one set in the entire country, and that was on the blink, literally simply flashing orange, reminding me of <a href="http://www.breakingnews.ie/archives/2003/0822/ireland/kfkfaugbojmh/">this story of a county in Ireland</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The drive back to Kathmandu was similar as the journey there, but I’d gotten used to it by now, plus the driver was quite good even if he was a bit insane. We met up with our guide Raj again, and he’d just come back from an audition for the Nepali version of Pop Idol, which I thought was quite funny. He’d been bursting into song every so often on the mountains, practising I now assume. He’d managed to get down to the last twenty, but missed the crucial cut for the last 10. He says he’ll be back again next year. Good luck to him.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">A few more days wandering around the city followed, and we attempted to fly kites we had bought. We got a quick lesson from one of the locals while we were on the roof of our hotel. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighter_kite">Kite fighting</a> is a popular sport here, where the goal is to cut the string of other peoples kites with yours. I thought it'd be really difficult for anyone to cut the string, but we predictably lost our kite after a group of experts from a balcony about 50 metres away got their kite string into the path of ours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">After a one night trip to Nagarkot, we headed off to Tibet on a 7 day tour.<span id="goog_613569807"></span><span id="goog_613569808"></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-89238355803463336742010-11-18T06:58:00.000+00:002010-11-18T06:58:13.225+00:00Trekking back down the Khumbu Region<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfJve3rR2Ag_k_LeuKc4jHGRVrEyP83Yf-Of6LOgFx60L0s2HTNJASSnfqFhquz-QS77Ov8w5KZsFk197M7drjn3bBhhZmmxUnUAH7JPdTVRfI9p54rUpzL0OP9Lmu5nvK76UR/s1600/DSC00398.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfJve3rR2Ag_k_LeuKc4jHGRVrEyP83Yf-Of6LOgFx60L0s2HTNJASSnfqFhquz-QS77Ov8w5KZsFk197M7drjn3bBhhZmmxUnUAH7JPdTVRfI9p54rUpzL0OP9Lmu5nvK76UR/s640/DSC00398.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We had a couple of nights in Gokyo, and on the first morning, we were up at 5:30am to hike up to the fourth and fifth lakes (the village is on the shores of the third one).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The weather was still in a state of permanent cloud cover, but we set off optimistically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The view of Everest from the fifth lake is one of the best in the region.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We don’t have any photos of it though, as it threatened to show through many times, with windows of blue sky opening up every 10-15 minutes, but snapping shut again as soon as Everest was about to be revealed.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbv_eQfrrI/AAAAAAAAAWs/YZEAp-ZZAQQ/s1600/DSC00419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbv_eQfrrI/AAAAAAAAAWs/YZEAp-ZZAQQ/s640/DSC00419.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbv6e_-IoI/AAAAAAAAAWk/-dv-0bMZb1A/s1600/DSC00375.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbv6e_-IoI/AAAAAAAAAWk/-dv-0bMZb1A/s400/DSC00375.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Whatever the weather system is around the summit at 8848m, it was hogging the haze that day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our guide politely informed us that it was the first time he’d never seen the peak from this point, and after 90 minutes we wandered back down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>20 minutes down the road, from a different angle, the peak (and only the peak) was briefly visible. It was a bit of a let down.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We arrived back at the lodge tired (Audrey's boots were falling apart and needed some emergency treatment with superglue), and resolved to be up early again the next day for our assault on Gokyo Ri, a peak of 5357m (about 600m above our current location).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was the reason we were here, and this is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the</i> view that we had been told about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortune (and the sun) shined on us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The day welcomed us with clear blue skies, and we moved out early.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rune set a ferocious pace ahead of us, and reached the top in well under two ours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took us just over two, but it was hard going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had to hand our backpack off to Raj, our guide, as breathing and walking was so difficult.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Getting to the top was a relief, and the view was worth it:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwBBYI16I/AAAAAAAAAWw/ewkm5f9VYfg/s1600/DSC00431.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwBBYI16I/AAAAAAAAAWw/ewkm5f9VYfg/s640/DSC00431.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwOM_XdxI/AAAAAAAAAW4/VYX0IT1upZw/s1600/DSC00481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwOM_XdxI/AAAAAAAAAW4/VYX0IT1upZw/s640/DSC00481.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">After getting our breath back, we took it all in for an hour and a half, before starting our descent. It was sore on the knees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back at the lodge, we had breakfast, and then set off on our descent proper in the early afternoon (leaving poor old Rune all alone).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was nightfall before we reached our destination, Dole, and hiking without vision is not a good idea.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">It was the toughest days hiking we’ve ever done (and are ever likely too).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Started before 6am, finished after 6pm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Went from 4850m (Gokyo) up to 5350m (Gokyo Ri), then finished down to 4100m (Dole).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My knees did not enjoy that. Luckily Audrey's boots where holding up at the repair job (anyone need a cobbler?).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwa6gVYUI/AAAAAAAAAXI/MmOk8NHXPZg/s1600/DSC00587.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwa6gVYUI/AAAAAAAAAXI/MmOk8NHXPZg/s400/DSC00587.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">During the last couple of days, as we were on the descent, Raj introduced us to a few of the local alcoholic drinks. We hadn't been drinking anything on the way up, as alcohol and altitude don't mix so well, and you have to give your body the best chance of avoiding altitude sickness. We had a few headaches from time-to-time, but nothing serious. The first drink we tried was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongba">tongba</a>, which was fermented millet seeds in a jug, that you poured hot water into. The hot water slowly released the alcohol from the seeds, and you could refill about 6 times. The strength of the drink increased for the first few fills, and then decreased thereafter, until you felt you'd exhausted it (or had enough). The next day we had a spirit-like drink called 'roxie'. I've no idea of the correct spelling. And on the final day came <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chhaang">chang</a>, something I would have a few more times in Tibet, and grow to enjoy.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">This old guy above is a wonder of human endeavour. For the last 20 years he's been building better trails for hikers on their way up to see Everest, and he's done this without any government help, based solely on the donations of people passing through. He lives up in the mountains in self-made rudimentary accommodation, and is 66 years old. In the donation book, we had a look through, and couldn't believe that someone had donated as little as 6 rupee (about 5p) to the cause (we also couldn't believe that they would actually write that in the book).</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We flew out of Lukla on Day 13, as planned.</span>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-58459031363268379382010-11-17T22:29:00.000+00:002010-11-17T22:29:30.190+00:00Trekking up the Khumbu Region<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbv8sPQ5hI/AAAAAAAAAWo/eN7EVGhKfEg/s1600/DSC00404.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbv8sPQ5hI/AAAAAAAAAWo/eN7EVGhKfEg/s640/DSC00404.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">We had 13 days in the mountain ahead of us, just to be able to get a good view of Everest (Chomolungma in the local language).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">We were flying (again), but this time it was a short hop of 30 minutes from Kathmandu to Lukla, a small airport that connects the Khumbu region to the rest of Nepali civilisation.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">There is no road there, simply a hiking trail.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">You can get a bus from Kathmandu to Jiri, and walk for 4-8 days to get there, but we didn’t have the time (or will).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwf6KNOCI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/n0fou9-5QH8/s1600/DSC00219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwf6KNOCI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/n0fou9-5QH8/s640/DSC00219.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Plus, the airport is a sight to behold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Planted onto a small strip of land, the runway has a 12% incline (or decline if you are where we took the picture above).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the plane hones in to land, you can almost see the landing strip rising into the mountain (normally runways looks like it’s disappearing into the horizon).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It can only handle tiny single and double prop planes with about 12-16 people onboard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The incline helps to slow planes down as they land, and to get planes up to speed as they take-off.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvzAHfgzI/AAAAAAAAAWU/nj6NV_p1UL4/s1600/DSC00271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvzAHfgzI/AAAAAAAAAWU/nj6NV_p1UL4/s200/DSC00271.JPG" width="147" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The scenery on the flight was also amazing, with views over improbable farms on step hills giving way to mountains that even the Nepalese wouldn’t farm.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Our hike started pretty soon after we landed, when Raj (our guide) found a suitable porter, Kumar, among the hundreds of people crowding around the airport exit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We felt kind of guilty having some carry our backpack for us, but it was part of the costs, plus, after less than an hour, we realised that Kumar had it relatively easy; some porters were carrying three or more backpacks, never mind those who actually transported stuff around the villages in the mountains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Raj told us that some of them carry up to 160-170kg at a time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of them are the local </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rai_people"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Rai people</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">, who, supposedly, have an extra strong muscle down the back of their neck (hence use the head strap to support the weight, see picture below).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwi9JIUFI/AAAAAAAAAXU/9QAp5UmjTyg/s1600/DSC00578.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwi9JIUFI/AAAAAAAAAXU/9QAp5UmjTyg/s640/DSC00578.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwduwD_VI/AAAAAAAAAXM/Ca09YUYKDMc/s1600/DSC00660.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwduwD_VI/AAAAAAAAAXM/Ca09YUYKDMc/s320/DSC00660.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">When we arrived, I joked with Audrey about finding an Irish pub for a pint while I was here.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">I needn’t have joked; I should have known there would be one.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">It reminded me of the time me and a couple of friends headed to Gradiska, a town in Bosnia, on the border with Croatia.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">As we crossed the bridge that crossed the river that separated the somewhat unfriendly neighbours, literally connected to the border checkpoint, complete with armed guards and barbed wire, was an Irish pub.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">First day was a simple three hour hike to our first nights lodging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were now at 2650m, about 200m below the airport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sleeping wasn’t too big a problem, but the Diamox that we were taking was a strong diuretic, which meant getting up in the middle of the night to get to the bog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Day two involved a 5-6 hour hike, climbing up about 650m to Namche Bazaar, where we would stay for a couple of nights to acclimatise.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Here we met Rune, a jovial Danish bloke, who we hiked along with to the top of our part of the trek.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also came out with one of the best quotes of our trip, when, as we were talking about cheesey movies, he said:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">“You’re talking to a man whose favourite TV show is Buffy the Vampire Slayer”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Apart from that, though, travelling up the hills with him was good craic and company for us, although he won rather too many cups of hot chocolate from us over a few card games, and Ludo.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbv2C-hW7I/AAAAAAAAAWY/Pt_Xw8aMLus/s1600/DSC00320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbv2C-hW7I/AAAAAAAAAWY/Pt_Xw8aMLus/s640/DSC00320.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We pushed on upwards on day 4, past the local airport (at 3750m, a pebble runway on suitable for single engine planes), and to a place called Dole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a tough day, rising 500m before descending about 400m, and then back up another 500m.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately the next day was a relaxing two and a half hour hike to Machhermo, where we had another acclimatisation day.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwk7T9i8I/AAAAAAAAAXY/UqMjvI-8UBs/s1600/IMG_1015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbwk7T9i8I/AAAAAAAAAXY/UqMjvI-8UBs/s400/IMG_1015.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The final (upwards days) day push to our target of Gokyo would have been so much nicer, had the weather played ball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I haven’t mentioned much of breathtaking scenery, simply because we hadn’t seen much yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whoever decides the weather had been unkind to us, and fog and clouds had masked the views of the jagged peaks, apart from the occasional, fleeting glimpse.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Still, it didn’t detract so much from the landscape around us; we were enjoying the nature, a great break from the dust and smog of Kathmandu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Dudh Kosi (literally translated as milk river, as it is rushing down so fast it looks white) kept us company from day one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A roaring river, I’ve never seen one descend so quickly and for such a sustained period of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On our trek to Goyko, we left it behind.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Three lakes lead up to the hotels at Gokyo, each one more beautiful than the previous, with two beyond the small settlement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would spend two days there, hoping the weather would play nice so we could get a good view of Chomolungma.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbv4siRygI/AAAAAAAAAWg/IRouqz66gJQ/s1600/DSC00363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbv4siRygI/AAAAAAAAAWg/IRouqz66gJQ/s640/DSC00363.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The five of us finally arrived at the Namaste Guesthouse at 2pm, ready for a hot chocolate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-61665508748775320982010-11-07T19:01:00.000+00:002010-11-07T19:01:21.029+00:00Kathmandu<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvj-IUqbI/AAAAAAAAAWA/1gC2KTsCcbQ/s1600/DSC00148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvj-IUqbI/AAAAAAAAAWA/1gC2KTsCcbQ/s320/DSC00148.JPG" width="213" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvorQOEwI/AAAAAAAAAWI/cFCIg1fI_FQ/s1600/DSC00085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvorQOEwI/AAAAAAAAAWI/cFCIg1fI_FQ/s320/DSC00085.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">What a crazy town.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Thamel (the tourist centre) is a district with a myriad of small streets teaming with tiny taxis, rickshaws and peddlers.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Normally I don’t get offered drugs anywhere (despite what other travellers say about their availability), but I was being offered hash at every turn-around here.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">I declined, continuing my search for a decent draught beer (the last time had been in HK two months previous, and prior to that, it was in Irkutsk, around the start of May).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">No luck here either.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We spent a day touring the main sights in the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mad traffic, dog-, bird, and monkey-shit everywhere, street sellers saying hello constantly, taxis and rickshaws offering rides, dust and smog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sensual overload in a negative sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Complete chaos.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvhR-1B0I/AAAAAAAAAV8/51O0HVLDeec/s1600/DSC00127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="352" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvhR-1B0I/AAAAAAAAAV8/51O0HVLDeec/s640/DSC00127.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The sights were amazing though, Monkey Temple, ancient town centre, massive Stupas and Pashupatinath Temple (where you can actually witness people burning their dead, and pushing them into the river, it was intense).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the end of the day though, I’d already succumbed to Hindu/Buddhist temple fever.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvmDU4ySI/AAAAAAAAAWE/GMYZok5IeE8/s1600/DSC00186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvmDU4ySI/AAAAAAAAAWE/GMYZok5IeE8/s640/DSC00186.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The day was also an opportunity to test out our new camera, a Sony Nex-5 (a present from Dr. Tam).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’d left the Nikon D70 in the safe hands of Audrey’s dad in HK.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is very different working with it (I’ll not go into the +ve and –ve points just now), but the picture quality seems to be better, and most importantly, it’s much lighter.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvurJzVkI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/Y2hCuSO4jX8/s1600/DSC00145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvurJzVkI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/Y2hCuSO4jX8/s640/DSC00145.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We met with a tour company who were sorting out our trip to the Everest region, a 13 day trek up to Gokyo Ri, where we should get good views of the big hill itself (details in the next blog entry).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">While on the tour, we found out a few interesting things about how things work in Nepal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Road accidents were the most disturbing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to our guide, if someone knocks down, and serious injures someone, then are required not only to pay for hospital bills, but loss of earning for the rest of their life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Insurance is a rarity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, if possible, the drivers try and finish them off, then go to the police and tell them that they knocked down and killed someone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A large fine (but less that would otherwise need to be paid) will be handed down, along with a few years ban from driving.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvr25GnRI/AAAAAAAAAWM/TopsHWQTKCo/s1600/DSC00192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvr25GnRI/AAAAAAAAAWM/TopsHWQTKCo/s320/DSC00192.JPG" width="213" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Vigilante justice is also common.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Someone caught stealing from a shop or a foreigner will be set upon by anyone in the near vicinity, and given a bit of a beating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if the police are nearby, they let it go on for a short while before intervening, to teach the lout a lesson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, possibly to stop the crowd from going too far, they interrupt and arrest the criminal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charges probably won’t be pressed, as that involves too much paperwork, but he might get a few more “touches” once at the copshop.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">After buying a load of trekking stuff, we were picked up at 5:30 at our hotel by our guide, Raj, and headed to the airport.</span>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-87557774353939439482010-11-07T18:46:00.000+00:002010-11-07T18:46:22.294+00:00First Flight in 6 Months<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span id="goog_205304283"></span><span id="goog_205304284"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvZpjVyQI/AAAAAAAAAVo/DNByngQKmHo/s1600/IMG_1003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvZpjVyQI/AAAAAAAAAVo/DNByngQKmHo/s640/IMG_1003.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Having travelled some 20,000 km (rough approximation) without leaving the ground, getting used to the formalities of an airport was very unfamiliar.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">In China, there had been scanning machines and metal detector at every train station and most subway stations, but no one was really paying attention, so it didn’t matter what was in your luggage or pockets.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Arriving at Saigon airport, I got lucky with the check-in queue, and was on my way through security within minutes. Without thinking, I dropped my bag on the conveyor belt and wandered through. Beep. Mistake number one. I’d completely forgotten about my wallet, phone, belt, keys and change in my pocket. Going back, I deposited them in a tray, and went through again. The attendant told me I had a bottle of water in there, and to take it out. Mistake number two. I handed it to her, and walked off with my bag, not mentioning to her (now that I’d seen inside my bag) that I had my laptop in there too. Mistake number three.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I found a small shop to finish off the remainder of the local currency (Dong) by buying a beer and a snack. I sat down, and took my bottle opener out of the bag to open the beer, and noticed that my penknife was attached to it. Mistake number four. The security personnel hadn’t picked it up on their fancy scanning machines. While in the air during that flight, I kept thinking that, with my ‘lethal’ penknife, I was potentially the most dangerous person in the air at that time.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvb2d5T-I/AAAAAAAAAVw/gnr_2Fxcb-8/s1600/IMG_1009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvb2d5T-I/AAAAAAAAAVw/gnr_2Fxcb-8/s640/IMG_1009.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I had to spend the night in Bangkok airport. I changed a tenner, bought some passport photos for £4.50, and spent the rest of the night trying to eat and drink of £5.50 (sleeping anywhere apart from a bed is not something I can do well). I managed to squeeze a few beers and a couple of snacks out of it from the 7-11.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvajjDLMI/AAAAAAAAAVs/2k1MgaN_o0Y/s1600/IMG_1007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvajjDLMI/AAAAAAAAAVs/2k1MgaN_o0Y/s320/IMG_1007.JPG" width="240" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvdDDsEbI/AAAAAAAAAV0/FuJtis5dGY0/s1600/IMG_1012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvdDDsEbI/AAAAAAAAAV0/FuJtis5dGY0/s320/IMG_1012.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I got talking to a very drunk local, who was spouting all types of information about random stuff. Mostly we talked about football, where, had he been coherent, he could have sounded like an authority on the subject. All sorts of stuff came out of his mouth, the most interesting piece being:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“And League of Ireland, Shelbourne, very good, playing in Tolka Park, big problem with debt now.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">And this was just after talking about Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow (“capacity neally [sic]<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> 80,000, Torpedo Moscow, submarine missile”). After a while, I wandered on to get another beer.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvfqfKxkI/AAAAAAAAAV4/gtkIohlW2xk/s1600/IMG_1014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TNbvfqfKxkI/AAAAAAAAAV4/gtkIohlW2xk/s640/IMG_1014.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
</div><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The rest of the journey was much less eventful, and I landed in Kathmandu the following afternoon.</span>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-65119861649531519612010-10-29T15:56:00.001+01:002010-10-29T15:59:56.824+01:00Vietnam<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">The word Vietnam conjures up one word in most people’s mind; War.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">This is a country whose recent history is deeply entwined with it, but that is one that seems to be moving on from it.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">The country was at war, one way or another, for 39 of the 49 years between 1940 and 1989 (never mind what went on beforehand in the French colonial period), and there is much that indicates their recent history, but also much that shows how resilient the place is in making a comeback from that turbulent past.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The journey into Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) seemed to take for ages, with streets packed with mopeds and motorbikes crawling along slowly, but constantly. Fortunately for us, the bus stop happened to be about 3 minutes from our hostel.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Audrey had three days in the town, and I had five, again partially due to time lost in Thailand. She needed to fly back to Hong Kong to pick up her new passport, and then onto Kathmandu, while I’d fly to Nepal’s capital via Bangkok and Delhi.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpTyXE64pteAV7IltN1Z3rGGd2p1x8QuuOzE-kHCGSHKGtWlgnoYJdPAk1mNIY7cKFnjoI7XnEM6NMmatZ2grmPsC__qI3iWLgEGPWLy1gJVJu86K5_4z-eD32AxSxP1DIZxKX/s1600/DSC_0105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpTyXE64pteAV7IltN1Z3rGGd2p1x8QuuOzE-kHCGSHKGtWlgnoYJdPAk1mNIY7cKFnjoI7XnEM6NMmatZ2grmPsC__qI3iWLgEGPWLy1gJVJu86K5_4z-eD32AxSxP1DIZxKX/s640/DSC_0105.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We took a day trip to the Cu Chi tunnels, which were about a two hour drive out of Saigon. This tunnel system, which covered large parts of the country, and stretched to hundreds of kilometres was one of the reasons why the Vietcong could sustain such a long offensive again the Americans. We were allowed to crawl through a small part of the tunnel system, the largest part, and it was damn difficult (the rest are too small for westerners). It was less than 50 metres, and I was sweltered by the end of it. Some Vietcong survived for years down there, only coming out at night to tend to their farms.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">While there, the tour guide pointed out that the jungle all around the area was very young; all of it had been wiped out by the Americans use of agent orange. Still, like the country, it was making a strong comeback.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Vietnam feels like China a number of years ago, and seems to be following the same path (including the obligatory one-party state and censorship; facebook is also blocked here). It also feels like Cambodia, in the fact that everyone (of a certain age) has a story to tell about the country’s troublesome past. We had two guides while at the tunnels, one had been on the side of the Vietcong, and one had been one the side of South Vietnam/America. The later ended up in a ‘re-education’ camp for a number of years, and was told, when leaving, that his government assigned job would be a tour guide, and nothing else.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I dropped Audrey off at the airport for her flight back to HK, and returned a couple of days later to fly to Bangkok.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-49662510995989973482010-10-29T14:32:00.000+01:002010-10-29T14:32:47.795+01:00Cambodia<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">(I feel guilty about the next few blogs, as I cover so much in so little, but I've got quite far behind, and don't have the time, or internet connections, to do them justice.)</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrCJJOKz2I/AAAAAAAAATw/h21JamhO1uc/s1600/DSC_0008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="402" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrCJJOKz2I/AAAAAAAAATw/h21JamhO1uc/s640/DSC_0008.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The train to the Cambodian border from Bangkok was basic but functional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It cost a grand total of 99p for the six hour journey for each of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prices for trains in Thailand are weird.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We took a day trip to the ancient capital of the Thais, Ayutthaya, and price for the journey there was about £6.5 each for a two hour trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bit expensive, we thought, but we wanted to go, and by western standards it wasn’t too bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a seat number and air-con.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">That evening, for the return trip, we bought two tickets, and had to ask the ticket booth attendant if they’d got it right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would be paying 63p for both of us, about 20 times less than the other train.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No seat reservation or air-con, but the train did essentially the same thing (and we got a seat anyway).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What price air-con in Thailand?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">At the border, we realised I’d out-stayed my visa by 3 days, due to my illness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without looking at my passport, I had a feeling that I might have only got a two week allowance (whereas Audrey got a month for some reason), but I read the penalties some time before, and knew it wasn’t punitive (some countries charge well over £100 a day, Laos I think is one of them).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a tenner a day, which probably worked out about the same as an extension, but with less hassle.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrCPdtwsiI/AAAAAAAAAT0/JzKTw0StOYw/s1600/DSC_0019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrCPdtwsiI/AAAAAAAAAT0/JzKTw0StOYw/s640/DSC_0019.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Bus journeys in Cambodia were pretty good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We arrived in Siam Reap, location of the famous Angkor temples and city, by the late afternoon after a three hour bus journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The road had only recently been finished, otherwise we’d have had a gruelling 6 hour bumpy journey to contend with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next morning, we were up at 4:30 so that we could get to Angkor Wat for sunrise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Clouds wrecked that plan, making it a huge disappointment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We spent most of the day there; I won’t go into details, plenty of people have written about them, but I have to say they were incredible.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrCZEhkbwI/AAAAAAAAAT4/G-QxaR3umHM/s1600/DSC_0065.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrCZEhkbwI/AAAAAAAAAT4/G-QxaR3umHM/s320/DSC_0065.JPG" width="212" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrCc5ilqKI/AAAAAAAAAT8/vSGc6Uw2KQQ/s1600/DSC_0095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrCc5ilqKI/AAAAAAAAAT8/vSGc6Uw2KQQ/s320/DSC_0095.JPG" width="212" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I do have to say that we loved the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%20Prohm"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Ta Prohm</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> temple, one of the ones that has been intentionally left to nature:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrCtQOGA9I/AAAAAAAAAUE/osOOK3IUk0U/s1600/DSC_0188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrCtQOGA9I/AAAAAAAAAUE/osOOK3IUk0U/s640/DSC_0188.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrC7Q9KTYI/AAAAAAAAAUI/rRjY_SlnEro/s1600/DSC_0214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrC7Q9KTYI/AAAAAAAAAUI/rRjY_SlnEro/s640/DSC_0214.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Audrey had her first taste of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_(egg)"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Pong Tea Khon</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically it is fertilised duck eggs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remember the scares stories of people who buy eggs, then crack them open only to find that instead of egg white and a yolk, they have a not-yet-fully-formed bird.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here they do it on purpose to eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tasty!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrDBPaYPCI/AAAAAAAAAUM/YbWe-SxKGDc/s1600/DSC_0234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrDBPaYPCI/AAAAAAAAAUM/YbWe-SxKGDc/s640/DSC_0234.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">They also had a rip-off version of 7-11, called Seven Elephants:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrDxNCzRbI/AAAAAAAAAUY/sn1pmrAqqvI/s1600/DSC_0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrDxNCzRbI/AAAAAAAAAUY/sn1pmrAqqvI/s640/DSC_0001.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We got out of there after one full day, as my illness in Bangkok had meant we needed to squeeze Angkor, Phnom Penh and Saigon into less than 7 full days, which didn’t do any of them justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Flights had been booked a few weeks earlier, which put a fixed deadline into our plans, something we hadn’t had for nearly six months.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Next up was Phnom Penh, a city that had been emptied just over 35 years ago, when the Khmer Rouge evacuated everyone to the countryside to farm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the mis-guided model Pol Pot had conceived, he wanted to emulate the great Khmer empire, which had been mainly based on agriculture (since it was a pre-industrial society).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Considering what he’d been responsible for putting the country through, he was not universally despised.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The locals felt that Vietnam had just a big a debilitating effect on the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ultimately, though, it was the US (allied by that time with China) and Russia once again acting out wars with each other by proxy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrDotJ3sUI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/qRN1uq_jkWg/s1600/DSC_0116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrDotJ3sUI/AAAAAAAAAUQ/qRN1uq_jkWg/s640/DSC_0116.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Considering what it had been through, it was in good shape, a thriving city of about two million.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cambodia still has a lot of catch-up to do on neighbours Vietnam and Thailand, but it seems in much better shape than Laos (which hasn’t had nearly as tumultuous a time).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We visited Tuol Sleng prison, where many acts of gruesome torture were carried out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a sobering experience, not quite on the level of Auschwitz, but still disturbing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Human skulls with huge cracks down their head painted a graphic picture of a regime that didn’t shoot people, as bullets were precious, rather using a bamboo cane to crack open the ‘offenders’ head.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrDsnG_p3I/AAAAAAAAAUU/eHA-wk7Qs_U/s1600/DSC_0143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_b8SGV3ADRYE/TMrDsnG_p3I/AAAAAAAAAUU/eHA-wk7Qs_U/s400/DSC_0143.JPG" width="265" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Talking to tour guides and tuk-tuk drivers, you realised everyone of a certain age had a harrowing story to tell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It still strikes deep into the psyche of anyone over the age of 30.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our guide at Angkor lost his older brother in Tuol Sleng (he identified him in meticulously documented photos years later) amongst others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our Tuol Sleng guide was in her early teens when Phnom Penh was evacuated; she marched for a month to get to her designated farm and lost her parents and some siblings, and spent years living on the streets, depressed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our tuk-tuk driver fought the Vietnamese against his wishes, and seen many of his close friends slaughtered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scarred people in a scarred country.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The other depressing thing that I noticed in Cambodia was lots of poster with slogans akin to “Protect our children, report sexual exploitation” everywhere we went.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a shame that sick people from the western world seek out impoverished countries, with little rule of law, to ruin people lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think we’d seen a poster to two to this effect in Thailand, and would see them again in Vietnam and Nepal.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We left at 1pm for Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City).<o:p></o:p></span></div>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-7178518180795987912010-10-04T20:41:00.000+01:002010-10-04T20:41:22.759+01:00Illness in Bangkok<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">As soon as we got into Bangkok, Audrey headed to bed, and Scott and I headed out.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">We got nailed immediately by a restaurant/tuk-tuk scam.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">It didn't really cost us anything, as we didn’t bother eating at the restaurant we were brought to, and it got us to an area where there were a few bars for a 60p journey, so it wasn’t bad.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The next day started in similar fashion, as we jumped in a tuk-tuk, who took us to a temple, which was distinctly average.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The driver disappeared for a ‘toilet break’, and the owner of a Toyota Landcruiser, which was parked beside us appeared, and started chatting with us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He talk a lot about much good value blue sapphires were, and how much money he had made out of them recently, and the fact that the government had a tax holiday on them currently etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> After r</span>ecommending a good company, he drove off, and handily the tuk-tuk driver appeared again, and took us straight there without prompting.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We demanded to be taken to the centre of town, where the Royal Palace and a few temples were, but he insisted (in his limited English) they were closed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By this point we were getting pissed off, so we paid him his fee, and set off on foot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt a bit sorry for him, as he does these ‘trips’ to make a few quid, as the shops give him commission if we stay there for more than 10 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least we paid him what he asked for, even though we were still hadn’t been taken anywhere useful yet.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Thailand is famous for a few things, most notably Ladyboys (known as Kathoey to the locals).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While we were in Ko Chang Island, an elderly German lady confided in us that she was most fascinated by them (which we didn’t expect to hear).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">It’s a peculiar situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thailand (and most of SE-Asia) is in many ways quite a traditional society, based mainly on the principles of Buddhism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet Ladyboys are everywhere (I was served regularly at the 7-11 near our hotel by one), and not only tolerated, but actively accepted by the people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it’s not just a big-liberal-city thing in Bangkok, even in rural village, when there is a beauty contest, often they hold two, one for the ladies and one for the effeminate men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Men in general in Thailand seemed much more in touch with their feminine side than elsewhere in SE-Asia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of the other Se Asian countries, although very much similar to the Thais in culture, have a similar tradition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of those countries have had a harder time than the Thais though (Cambodian and the Khmer Rouge, Laos and communism and Vietnam and, well, the Vietnam war, as well as French colonialism for all three of them), and perhaps have not yet had the possibility to express themselves just yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or else Thailand is just a unique place in this matter.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">A couple of days sightseeing plus visiting a few of the markets ensued, before Scott headed off to the airport and back to the hard-grind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Audrey and I were to spend another two days in the city, before departing for Cambodia, but our best plans were interrupted by possibly the worst fever I’ve experienced in my life.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1s91ggLqjR9IPsc35NBHAY97zZ3L776glp5IZVhZZHCdZV56kNCWmJg64AUsMAhLCRanVEbzOC3ViNZs-d2_kwAabbGcS8J5CdrzQrUTG06uLaUFQDfsCYDjpGwVjJNrQnxP3/s1600/IMG_0943.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1s91ggLqjR9IPsc35NBHAY97zZ3L776glp5IZVhZZHCdZV56kNCWmJg64AUsMAhLCRanVEbzOC3ViNZs-d2_kwAabbGcS8J5CdrzQrUTG06uLaUFQDfsCYDjpGwVjJNrQnxP3/s1600/IMG_0943.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The main concern was it being either malaria or </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue_fever"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">dengue fever</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We headed to the hospital (like a hotel combined with a posh bank, see above photo) the day after it first struck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One blood test later, the doctor told us it was too early to tell what it was, but indications were pointing towards a virus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went back after three days of convalescing, and the doctor took one look at my hands (which were somewhat red, but I didn’t think it was a rash), and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">happily exclaimed</i></b> that it was Dengue fever, which was one of the worst outcomes we could have expected, as it meant our trip may need to be cut short.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">On our journey from Laos to Bangkok, an English bloke had explained that the Thais had no idea of how to deliver bad news:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">‘They try to make up for it with delivering it with a happy demeanour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You could arrive in work on Monday morning, and be greeting by a colleague smiling profusely while telling you, “John, the guy who sits opposite us, died in a car crash at the weekend”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They feel that they can help mitigate the circumstances of the problem by being happy.’<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Cheers doc!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After another blood test, it was confirmed to be a virus, so we did the dengue fever test next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After another three days, we were back to get the results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The doctor again cheerily explained that it was not dengue fever, and that I would just have to ride it out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had been a week now, and most of the symptoms were receding.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The hotel we were in was possibly the best (cheap option) place I could have been for the week of illness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wifi was everywhere, so I could get online when I wasn’t suffering too much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had a theatre room, with huge beanbags, which were perfectly suited to lounging around in my dilapidated state, with all the sports channels, so I got to enjoy a weekend of premier league football, grand prix and some tennis without having to move much. And for lunch one day, Audrey got me the following:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtSFrZOsfQrGcVdkFn3n8bAVfFz3Uw0u3O2E98ouyVeLukeN4FsNKE2-F-LM9ityrjqQMqxkwYgMQme6j_jZJfX8yqe4hU7LEkryFGD77hq1aFsWvy89Y7CWxTdtPOaPfhVdUz/s1600/IMG_0954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtSFrZOsfQrGcVdkFn3n8bAVfFz3Uw0u3O2E98ouyVeLukeN4FsNKE2-F-LM9ityrjqQMqxkwYgMQme6j_jZJfX8yqe4hU7LEkryFGD77hq1aFsWvy89Y7CWxTdtPOaPfhVdUz/s640/IMG_0954.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">They tasted better than they looked, although I didn't try the beetles, after seeing Audrey's face while eating one.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">They also had a channel dedicated to watching Lin Bing, a panda in a zoo in north Thailand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seriously, 24/7, you can tune in at anytime to see what one instance of the laziest animals in the world is doing, Big Brother style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While having a quick read about giant pandas on the internet, I found out that Theodore Roosevelt Jr., son of the 26<sup>th</sup> president of the US, and his brother Kermit (this gets better all the time) were the first known westerners to shoot a giant panda!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw8OFyvGDIaJkAYmbFtv9VdQVSHGB-AzZ9apdcGuyQ9OtQ9J9d7uuatDYejWRpmhIGNiyl7itK1SapITzA6ltGrP8i8Oe5Qu0nEqASBZ0u6LAw28xGlbeSiEwBGvtXHlOcvjxq/s1600/IMG_0949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw8OFyvGDIaJkAYmbFtv9VdQVSHGB-AzZ9apdcGuyQ9OtQ9J9d7uuatDYejWRpmhIGNiyl7itK1SapITzA6ltGrP8i8Oe5Qu0nEqASBZ0u6LAw28xGlbeSiEwBGvtXHlOcvjxq/s400/IMG_0949.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I loved the place, and everything worked perfectly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.lubd.com/"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Lub*d</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> was a great hostel. Weird as it is to say for a bloke, the soap smelt great, and reminded me of something like <a href="http://www.mainesoftdrinks.co.uk/products/">Maine Cloudy Limeade</a>. And in Thailand, green Fanta tasted just like it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgKlpLMPRedPV4r7iuelMCWCPRuKPKiuI9b2l9UJyKO-9rDGXHx-aBBVfMNleon1GmGBKZxW_WXBDlivgQj8MsXfSdm-qOG1K_6QrlICN8b-0Ls_FGmcdgNAeg24aSTNt3Ejv8/s1600/IMG_0953.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgKlpLMPRedPV4r7iuelMCWCPRuKPKiuI9b2l9UJyKO-9rDGXHx-aBBVfMNleon1GmGBKZxW_WXBDlivgQj8MsXfSdm-qOG1K_6QrlICN8b-0Ls_FGmcdgNAeg24aSTNt3Ejv8/s640/IMG_0953.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We got back on the road, leaving on the 5.55am train out of Bangkok (6 hour trip for about a pound, best value trip so far) to the Cambodian border.</span>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-6551006921150240682010-09-12T18:47:00.000+01:002010-09-12T18:47:59.917+01:00Laos and Ko Chang Island<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Laos was a haven after the last few weeks in China.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">There is simply something about Laos that gives is a completely laidback feeling, and any stress you may have had starts to dissipate.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">As I mentioned previously, the bus got us in at 4am, and the place was completely dead (we found later that Laos has a curfew at night), apart from a tuk-tuk driver, who would take us to the hotel district.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4R-ceq4qewJF1NfvgC4sHy5h4oUr5g3AtGT05F401H4JxV6W7UcFkJ-X5GnF8FdMmdsZ5qN0aAkewkVNBskrQ849rN7L0v7Km1TNi9PgFWGNpn9Ij5nFZJy9wYV4-FPWooSo/s1600/DSC_0015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4R-ceq4qewJF1NfvgC4sHy5h4oUr5g3AtGT05F401H4JxV6W7UcFkJ-X5GnF8FdMmdsZ5qN0aAkewkVNBskrQ849rN7L0v7Km1TNi9PgFWGNpn9Ij5nFZJy9wYV4-FPWooSo/s640/DSC_0015.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Once there, we couldn’t find anything open, so after wandering the streets for a while, we sat down at a table and chairs where I could nab an open wi-fi connection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our location was particularly fortuitous, as it was exactly at this place that the Buddhist monks walked past each morning while collecting their daily alms from the faithful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hundreds of monks filed past in their bright orange robes to collect rice from the locals, which is meant to be their only food of the day.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The alms giving each morning has become quite a sensitive and controversial topic in recent years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spotting a business opportunity, some unscrupulous locals started selling alms rice to tourist so that they could give it to the monks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem is that the rice was quite often the dodgy leftovers that they couldn’t sell in a restaurant, so the tourists were inadvertently making the monks sick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, giving of alms was something you’re meant to do as a believer, not a tourist who simply wants to take part.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyrRHmQVb8y7tl7TV-fgICVPnPSjA25-C1JvnzUfN24QB19grGdB3_X6bJSJ4EffMV8xPSXKzhKtb4h-L1pCNX-ZKNYPcaY5IpYYD3m3bIrGTixX3214Nk2Q8bJJIqwWQ-jqyX/s1600/DSC_0105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyrRHmQVb8y7tl7TV-fgICVPnPSjA25-C1JvnzUfN24QB19grGdB3_X6bJSJ4EffMV8xPSXKzhKtb4h-L1pCNX-ZKNYPcaY5IpYYD3m3bIrGTixX3214Nk2Q8bJJIqwWQ-jqyX/s640/DSC_0105.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Soon after this started happening, the monks said they would stop collecting alms each morning, but were threatened by the government, as they knew it brought in the tourists (and much needed foreign money).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other problem is tourists getting in the faces of monks in their procession to get “the perfect shot”, not respecting the sanctity of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We noticed a bit of it that morning, but it wasn’t to obtrusive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s been a big campaign to make tourists more aware, and it seems to be working somewhat.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQAFJnMY-TWgH4hWCcg6epBNtZbv8S0WVJcHTIzok5cb0fSvl7kB4VoEbfdqZpgUU115Dxz5cJjLLPXJSGmhtEI2AQpDNgQ5X22C40cXZUkp4myrGGFtCTo03EmjrVPrTF3xEw/s1600/IMG_0904.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQAFJnMY-TWgH4hWCcg6epBNtZbv8S0WVJcHTIzok5cb0fSvl7kB4VoEbfdqZpgUU115Dxz5cJjLLPXJSGmhtEI2AQpDNgQ5X22C40cXZUkp4myrGGFtCTo03EmjrVPrTF3xEw/s320/IMG_0904.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Scott arrived from London via (and after <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9mwELXPGbA">one night in</a>) Bangkok at the Luang Prabang airport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Security was tight, as we watched the passengers disembark from the plane.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Scott appeared about 2 minutes after the penultimate passenger got out, and for those two minutes, in my mind, I was confirming my suspicions about him missing the flight after an enjoyable time in Bangkok.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the airport, Scott was able to wander out through border control to get some money, and back in again to pay for his visa; laidback Laotians.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Scott and I went kayaking and elephant riding one day (Audrey got a dose of the runs, so spent the day on the toilet).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: auto;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCkXGRbbxiZ7psQQtXNK8NGSSSbEX7goyRxskfrJuPMK3W1D3WtB0VjpXULweFAWUPZ_xnQGuyORr8E-6BwKQQ8V5NHAPg1GlEyQBhxEybFJghc4lIbO2reqckwKapXL226ys/s1600/DSC_0185.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCkXGRbbxiZ7psQQtXNK8NGSSSbEX7goyRxskfrJuPMK3W1D3WtB0VjpXULweFAWUPZ_xnQGuyORr8E-6BwKQQ8V5NHAPg1GlEyQBhxEybFJghc4lIbO2reqckwKapXL226ys/s640/DSC_0185.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://napraia.blogs.ca.ua.pt/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/jj_sensible_soccer_t-shirt_reverse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="http://napraia.blogs.ca.ua.pt/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/jj_sensible_soccer_t-shirt_reverse.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">On the river we spotted an elephant on the left bank head-butting a tree until it was felled into the river. That was pretty cool. We also managed to capsize our boat on the potentially the tamest river I've ever been on, and in the process, I lost my sensible soccer T-shirt. I would have cried, but I've got another one back at home.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn08riE3i8o-AKqTdFOZ4Lc_skuoN7TSX8O1bOYADNtqNLM0rD4FFY1kkXdy8qPr8Svte0oz-Twa_Snu9TSYFUOy78jptCAXbHh1gI36UxK8JjQH8JzWrYOEhhVTFT3BrCOo2-/s1600/DSC_0331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn08riE3i8o-AKqTdFOZ4Lc_skuoN7TSX8O1bOYADNtqNLM0rD4FFY1kkXdy8qPr8Svte0oz-Twa_Snu9TSYFUOy78jptCAXbHh1gI36UxK8JjQH8JzWrYOEhhVTFT3BrCOo2-/s640/DSC_0331.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8QRZnu5PD0-4RVZ9ljdnBViGRJ-JZsh_4y8GFYckwBoSEGTjgGjK1eWTAHQCuQhNAZNxTDkIa2_lCy1qXg7BjJFKYga4DwltXjoU1GblT-J33vp4-QTlVVDxkKfzspC0RSl-4/s1600/DSC_0337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8QRZnu5PD0-4RVZ9ljdnBViGRJ-JZsh_4y8GFYckwBoSEGTjgGjK1eWTAHQCuQhNAZNxTDkIa2_lCy1qXg7BjJFKYga4DwltXjoU1GblT-J33vp4-QTlVVDxkKfzspC0RSl-4/s320/DSC_0337.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We made our way through Laos in about 6 days, tubing in Vang Vieng, and then going to the capital, Vientiane, which looks anything but a capital. On the tubing, Audrey picked up a rope burn while being pulled into a bar on the side of the river (the main reason for the tubing). It is probably the most serious injury she has ever had. She is worried about getting a scare, Scott and I tried to convince her that scares are cool. Another point were males and females don't see eye-to-eyr.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Leaving Laos, you get to travel on all 2.5km of railways in the country, which takes us to the Thai border, from where we took a night train to Bangkok.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the bumpiest train I’ve ever had to pleasure to be on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We left Bangkok immediately, to head to a island, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ko_Chang">Ko Chang</a>, near the Cambodian border for a few relaxing days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sharing a beach hut, we spent the time swimming, biking around the island and eating and drinking well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The weather was rain intensive, but the water (and waves) were great.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLBzDfbwm1sgUbqy5MMszVJg6Qj7liG43cFfxMTr05D7PZiM3s2vRfwnXQWbdL7AGbW4NmXNW67eudkHXx4ptEY-QXBx1U7-nWwxlL12fGZdt5ols2Ujm2v7b7GMxGCgBlKx7/s1600/IMG_0921.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLBzDfbwm1sgUbqy5MMszVJg6Qj7liG43cFfxMTr05D7PZiM3s2vRfwnXQWbdL7AGbW4NmXNW67eudkHXx4ptEY-QXBx1U7-nWwxlL12fGZdt5ols2Ujm2v7b7GMxGCgBlKx7/s640/IMG_0921.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We left Ko Chang after 4 days</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqaeKjci1dmVTthXmVqa410V75xHAm5BGb4V-wXy_Jy_kakJ7SVwJ7jcONIBUoURZjYeiJo9MJu2X97Qrrz2SO0O7CIMeFhlwIRh82zV117EM9EFe01jw0OA9NI14J6-o2YWgP/s1600/DSC_0192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqaeKjci1dmVTthXmVqa410V75xHAm5BGb4V-wXy_Jy_kakJ7SVwJ7jcONIBUoURZjYeiJo9MJu2X97Qrrz2SO0O7CIMeFhlwIRh82zV117EM9EFe01jw0OA9NI14J6-o2YWgP/s640/DSC_0192.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><br />
</span>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-40676645597091391212010-09-02T11:34:00.000+01:002010-09-02T11:34:14.760+01:00The End of China (abridged version)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Since I'm so far behind, and I've been writing about China for what feels like months now, I’m going to skim over the last couple of weeks of our time in China, I’m feeling quite lazy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgapj01UeRdXFiWsZlZynbW5ncz8D1GJ37oBMPvSbVCgCOTah-gV9PJmtX4HiqRcOnigKD02cEvkjj5pal4zTS1n0WxtOfLMTnXRSjI25JqmTwmljv8XQiXuJ5lymNMEaCWhyphenhyphen8v/s1600/DSC_0003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgapj01UeRdXFiWsZlZynbW5ncz8D1GJ37oBMPvSbVCgCOTah-gV9PJmtX4HiqRcOnigKD02cEvkjj5pal4zTS1n0WxtOfLMTnXRSjI25JqmTwmljv8XQiXuJ5lymNMEaCWhyphenhyphen8v/s320/DSC_0003.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSfUQE7nYwagEgR1H-Pjy6PeqolYjcPy0OYb6KeWuSobxAr1W1Jy8OJfkAPaogHwNo5VYmEBZXkJZ33A2JLo9tutagP5CG8d_fXZYsSUN4gQsCqEJwxLd6NhPy5V-e-1Re7XcI/s1600/IMG_0875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSfUQE7nYwagEgR1H-Pjy6PeqolYjcPy0OYb6KeWuSobxAr1W1Jy8OJfkAPaogHwNo5VYmEBZXkJZ33A2JLo9tutagP5CG8d_fXZYsSUN4gQsCqEJwxLd6NhPy5V-e-1Re7XcI/s320/IMG_0875.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The overriding memory of our last couple of weeks in China was of bus journeys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Long ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’d made it to Kunming on a sleeper train.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nice city, it’s high altitude also meant it was not too humid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And they had a massive statue of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimus_Prime"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Optimus Prime</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">, and I bought a rubik’s cude, which I’m still trying to solve (we had some around out house when I was very young, and I can only remember peeling and re-sticking the squares to solve it; am determined not to do that this time and avoid using the internet to solve it as well). I found a can of beer that said around the top of it, "Special edition in support of the US army", and the slogan "Yes We Can" near the bottom. Which I thought was strange for China. And I had a can of pineapple beer, nice, but not really like beer. Even weaker than your average Chinese beer.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3lBpr5NsH-BkUhJyMSBpT0oVNHnHn2bjwlnOXbfaACQRwV5UgbVdWIQAQaLQ2oinlpKcHsQl4wBDLISMocjgOOAbh_X1XG56tpcS35iwk-s1wgvhJXVJAbmksLUJyL1T7dChyphenhyphen/s1600/DSC_0002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3lBpr5NsH-BkUhJyMSBpT0oVNHnHn2bjwlnOXbfaACQRwV5UgbVdWIQAQaLQ2oinlpKcHsQl4wBDLISMocjgOOAbh_X1XG56tpcS35iwk-s1wgvhJXVJAbmksLUJyL1T7dChyphenhyphen/s640/DSC_0002.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We headed off to Dali (above) after Kunming, and arrived just in time for the Torch Festival.<span> </span>Was quite a long bus journey, as large sections of the main highway (which had been open for less than 5 years) were closed for repairs.<span> </span>At one point, to facilitate us getting to the slip-road quicker, the bus’s co-pilot was running in front of the bus moving cones and signs off to the side of the road.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2MjMWOqkXwo_vJSsSupRyCSa5HId0wCiUa7DXe0uCTn9IT52dPikrUJaxgbjDrzhULufIOUrbmDxpD-1gYnHfXccwLRY7rVChZRbqfUn0uwLL2T12TwseJjNa5lImokiGVF9D/s1600/DSC_0156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2MjMWOqkXwo_vJSsSupRyCSa5HId0wCiUa7DXe0uCTn9IT52dPikrUJaxgbjDrzhULufIOUrbmDxpD-1gYnHfXccwLRY7rVChZRbqfUn0uwLL2T12TwseJjNa5lImokiGVF9D/s320/DSC_0156.JPG" width="213" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNq5nnFc1I43dnlEVktbV7UzOgQ2MD4tS0esZj1w-OTMtifHw_9TIm-yXlotg9-3G5cgrHFWeys_eq4jsSpIfZ7n4_b3v8ar5km8kevKoXdbl0MUJTDgrPFDU9mss0HuaLiFVz/s1600/DSC_0069+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNq5nnFc1I43dnlEVktbV7UzOgQ2MD4tS0esZj1w-OTMtifHw_9TIm-yXlotg9-3G5cgrHFWeys_eq4jsSpIfZ7n4_b3v8ar5km8kevKoXdbl0MUJTDgrPFDU9mss0HuaLiFVz/s320/DSC_0069+(2).JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnVMpcYei0bXPHb7gOEMNUJZbQqGhsp2w0OoKbI9YftZP54WrEOPTfpz2OnrOB07240w9cOwCJpKgRrA7Nbf7E9rI-YkycXfuyHqTrpDarbDBF5La-FCMzsvHhocc-65HUTOV_/s1600/DSC_0076+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnVMpcYei0bXPHb7gOEMNUJZbQqGhsp2w0OoKbI9YftZP54WrEOPTfpz2OnrOB07240w9cOwCJpKgRrA7Nbf7E9rI-YkycXfuyHqTrpDarbDBF5La-FCMzsvHhocc-65HUTOV_/s320/DSC_0076+(2).JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9M9VKslHn72L7OShi5cgX-Fjy9EET03-RwSGsaacJUFAuQcgqZbO81Y1jBV7nHzmPjPcXmqSiRU8p6hU_HG9pbrPJsBxvpClHzsCsp7QFKV_0uMgUtQPKEg7Y8nrQwNuI4mKv/s1600/DSC_0107+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9M9VKslHn72L7OShi5cgX-Fjy9EET03-RwSGsaacJUFAuQcgqZbO81Y1jBV7nHzmPjPcXmqSiRU8p6hU_HG9pbrPJsBxvpClHzsCsp7QFKV_0uMgUtQPKEg7Y8nrQwNuI4mKv/s320/DSC_0107+(2).JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi8SSRlrtnQ4bPYWV-NTC39e5Q6DbzJJNwucMqca7WjPgxJ5L8JYGxvmBM2KwJjotpU2XrrBPcDvA3BSQZvQYa4vspA5gIn6LczPF9lueroH9qIzPbEDepnBAVsxYE35XSBZPe/s1600/DSC_0112+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi8SSRlrtnQ4bPYWV-NTC39e5Q6DbzJJNwucMqca7WjPgxJ5L8JYGxvmBM2KwJjotpU2XrrBPcDvA3BSQZvQYa4vspA5gIn6LczPF9lueroH9qIzPbEDepnBAVsxYE35XSBZPe/s320/DSC_0112+(2).JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH2S7TJBM7Wd2rrmhFo8coWPvjC2-Bx1U9dQxDD5Z3SRwKIrEUkLwpDqsumAG8IJYAE3a8_1AZh0dlpYdAE4nefD4fC9IMpzbF85Ob4pwUCetXCm-Ca6S6E8OQXAy4__-UE7B2/s1600/DSC_0114+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH2S7TJBM7Wd2rrmhFo8coWPvjC2-Bx1U9dQxDD5Z3SRwKIrEUkLwpDqsumAG8IJYAE3a8_1AZh0dlpYdAE4nefD4fC9IMpzbF85Ob4pwUCetXCm-Ca6S6E8OQXAy4__-UE7B2/s320/DSC_0114+(2).JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Was a nice place, bit too plastic, in the way China likes to "renew" all it's main tourists sites. We got to hire an electricbike for a day, which made getting around (and jousting) really easy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr_dAHlTJBbuCNEucEtcPtcPdOjwbi9sPDq73iMckwEQONPUO_F-4c8xYBpobMajAmEL4lYKn4QFVQiAU0hTKw-LINW12wwojp2fJo6G4wg3V0xLJNRuGUs3EHbTuKSz8LEB0J/s1600/DSC_0006+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr_dAHlTJBbuCNEucEtcPtcPdOjwbi9sPDq73iMckwEQONPUO_F-4c8xYBpobMajAmEL4lYKn4QFVQiAU0hTKw-LINW12wwojp2fJo6G4wg3V0xLJNRuGUs3EHbTuKSz8LEB0J/s640/DSC_0006+(2).JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">After Dali, we seemed to spend the majority of our time on buses until we got into Luang Prabang in Laos.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">A bus from Dali took us to Lincang (a place that the proprietor of the Dali hostel said no vistor to his hostel had gone there before). We could see why when we got there, not much going on, plus most of the roads out of it were phantom roads, they appeared on maps as normal ones, but to traverse them was impossible as they had suffered from landslides etc, or hadn't really been built yet.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPRdlFsviEukvnsI5SEeLSiN_LBNlVE-BanQJQJHsrqWojPMWIGva12_8L0q4p0m9PeA04lB69g9QJOV460nVpZn7pi-2VBe-b2zRAE-ZpAydd8oH8a5BRjlKUQKn_wjuvDb8i/s1600/DSC_0042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPRdlFsviEukvnsI5SEeLSiN_LBNlVE-BanQJQJHsrqWojPMWIGva12_8L0q4p0m9PeA04lB69g9QJOV460nVpZn7pi-2VBe-b2zRAE-ZpAydd8oH8a5BRjlKUQKn_wjuvDb8i/s640/DSC_0042.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">From Lincang we headed to a town on the border with Myanmar, but didn’t cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The village we visited used to be a head-hunter village, but they stopped dong that in 1957.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were shown the place where the last head was hung.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was around this time we realised that the rules had recently changed for HK passport holders, and they couldn't get a visa-on-arrival at the Laos border any more. Shit.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJc4HsLwH9BRyrX6jgpU0UAbwEclMq2fdQ7hZwxXj6wBD1CSH_xqmWxVtT8ruN_2ok6gUdSt_efwEwtlkjmkoHTt1PWxwTwIaFpRXnKGvKgR9tnaA8IyzEFBITnYRd3YcHydZI/s1600/DSC_0010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJc4HsLwH9BRyrX6jgpU0UAbwEclMq2fdQ7hZwxXj6wBD1CSH_xqmWxVtT8ruN_2ok6gUdSt_efwEwtlkjmkoHTt1PWxwTwIaFpRXnKGvKgR9tnaA8IyzEFBITnYRd3YcHydZI/s640/DSC_0010.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRt3fuWxGL11mAw4aq3O3iHpRbnnJfZniiHykwmif_N0iHWAQPdA4BPBtfKLzOWv61ZS6isJTNMnwxxf_XoEGtxMtUtDnFIdAtmfSA8JidqMbxo2bt41P3HieHffre3wWV74Lo/s1600/DSC_0029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRt3fuWxGL11mAw4aq3O3iHpRbnnJfZniiHykwmif_N0iHWAQPdA4BPBtfKLzOWv61ZS6isJTNMnwxxf_XoEGtxMtUtDnFIdAtmfSA8JidqMbxo2bt41P3HieHffre3wWV74Lo/s640/DSC_0029.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Queue a mad dash back across the country to Kunming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a horrible sleeper bus, we’d done one before, and I swore never again, but we had little or no option this time, and had to accept it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We wanted to get to Luang Prabang by the 14th, as we were to meet Scott (former housemate from London) off the plane at the airport there. The bed above our heads wasn't secured properly (otherwise known as broken), so it bounced up and down about a foot when we hit a serious bump in the road. The occupants must have thought they were on a trampoline.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Luckily the Laos consulate in Kunming could process visas in just over an hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After another full day bus journey, we were in JingHong, only a couple of hundred km from the border (there was a sleeper bus that would have taken us from Kunming all the way to our destination, but I couldn't stomach it).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After splurging on a more-upmarket-than-we’ve-been-used-to hotel (£26, breakfast included) for the night, we got on a bus that would take us to the border.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The Chinese side of the border was the usual big official-looking building with queuing areas, passport checks, places to fill out forms, bag searches etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Laos side was a hut with a tin roof, and a few lads scanning the passport quickly, and stamping them, no bag checks etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About 20km inside the border, the bus was turning off to head to Luang Namtha, so we jumped off at that point, as we wanted to go to Luang Prabang.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We could have continued on, and taken a bus from Luang Namtha to Luang Prabang, but that would have simply meant back-tracking, and we’d spent long enough on buses by that point.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">After standing on the side of the road for nealy two hours, and watch tens of buses go past (all going to Namtha or the Chinese border for some reason), one finally stopped that was going our way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bus was jammed packed, and we got a plastic seat in the aisle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a couple of hundred metres, it became quite clear why so few vehicles went this way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The condition of the roads immediately deteriorated, and we spent the next 10 hours bumping along at an average rate of maybe 20km/h.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Most buses prefer to go to Namtha, as the road there is much better, due to Chinese and Thais funding; they want a good road to connect south-west China with northern Thailand, and that’s the quickest route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whereas our route simply goes deeper into Laos, where neither of them find much economic interest.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We finally arrived, knackered, in Luang Prabang at 4am.</span>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-1029036042999057762010-09-01T16:30:00.000+01:002010-09-01T16:30:17.249+01:00Kaili<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgH0X0Tm2szNbJ7boIAryBqxi21B4x5Ciuwxl1WAyuklXxR53U77ddRMSMCnS03W3rZSE_SsOShrl9QY19aksnbopYY0YZN369ExFwJgkGoqBbFqBPQwFCayWBqA9MVRRQq3iE/s1600/DSC_0368.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgH0X0Tm2szNbJ7boIAryBqxi21B4x5Ciuwxl1WAyuklXxR53U77ddRMSMCnS03W3rZSE_SsOShrl9QY19aksnbopYY0YZN369ExFwJgkGoqBbFqBPQwFCayWBqA9MVRRQq3iE/s640/DSC_0368.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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It's been an age since my last post, nearly four weeks and my longest sojourn so far. Since then, we've completed south China, gone into Laos, and then to Thailand. Reasons for not posting? Slothfulness, travelling with Scott (a guy who we lived with in London for 3 years), which gave me an extra drinking buddy, and a bout of Dengue fever, which has seen me laid low for the past few days, but which I'm on the road to recovery from now. Anyway, let me run through some of our last three weeks of China in this edition.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLXKpxCv40k3q0rBDr_-Xm2W-B2zwFVznag5zHrjcvwC3aTL9QwYlrGZm_l7xDFkmg22_Mo-hm4YqxnIjM-FXMFU2jcOI9l_hyphenhyphenXiD5Ly9uFyrF70w2fVtzQXfhHlR46YhMdGjf/s1600/IMG_0868.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLXKpxCv40k3q0rBDr_-Xm2W-B2zwFVznag5zHrjcvwC3aTL9QwYlrGZm_l7xDFkmg22_Mo-hm4YqxnIjM-FXMFU2jcOI9l_hyphenhyphenXiD5Ly9uFyrF70w2fVtzQXfhHlR46YhMdGjf/s320/IMG_0868.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Leaving Guilin, we got a sleeper bus (left) on the way to our next destination, Kaili.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">It was an awful experience.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Beds so small that I imagine the Chinese struggled to fit in them, and a bumpy bus ride.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">I barely got a wink’s sleep all night.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Somehow the Chinese seem able to sleep in any position, anywhere.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">The amount of toll roads was also crazy; throughout the 11 hour journey, we must have gone through about 20 of them.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We had a three hour train trip to after it to reach Kaili, and, a rarity in China, it was less than half full.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I grabbed myself a bench and slept for most of it, being woken only intermittently by a guy in the next set of seats trying to hawk out the window every couple of minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chinese men (and some women) spit a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You see it much less so in the cities, but it’s still there. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember huge ad campaigns in 2004 when I was in Shanghai against it. Audrey says it definitely happens less than it did back then.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We hadn’t bothered to book accommodation in advance for Kaili, as it’s quite a touristy area so there would be a few options.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The problem was that most of those options did not accept foreigners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We hadn’t experienced this before, but knew that in the past it had been a common problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the 4<sup>th</sup> hotel, we finally got one, but it was manky as hell, and had no air-con.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily the receptionist pointed us in the direction of another that had air-con, and took my sort.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The hotel advertised prices of about 290 yuan (less than £30, an extortionate amount in China) a night, but for some reason they quote a price of only 150 when you enquire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No idea why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, we spent a few days pottering around, visiting some ethnic villages outside the main town.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFVQ6EaRbNueECy1nblkQUktxPnOOzGWgtav-40UZmM0O1jSS0CI_kWM64PIG7S9wzns2amV7ZClJPJDkmLsGlESMbA5o5eES4ZEXUJIyxwR-_2Q9E3Wk74ohgW_pgP4-xKPX/s1600/DSC_0247.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGFVQ6EaRbNueECy1nblkQUktxPnOOzGWgtav-40UZmM0O1jSS0CI_kWM64PIG7S9wzns2amV7ZClJPJDkmLsGlESMbA5o5eES4ZEXUJIyxwR-_2Q9E3Wk74ohgW_pgP4-xKPX/s640/DSC_0247.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">In the villages, we got to see more of rural life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These ethnic minorities had lots of their own culture, music, dress and food (although there are 6 million of the Miao group, which is a lot by some measures, but not against Chinas population).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again the rice paddies amazed me, and the general layout of the land; how so many people survived in such mountainous regions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><br />
</o:p></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVkwqjZeBnt-bGCwEwaKMMIJo371m-36zCZnHC1aLWtjbIjMwJSCHJ46IUyYkSd4Ishd_pztRdnQFVxwSc3wH6CTMhnsnWoUF6pDLt1GSvz0WbcsDlFlT_P5xdB9ZkfDqWahRS/s1600/DSC_0298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVkwqjZeBnt-bGCwEwaKMMIJo371m-36zCZnHC1aLWtjbIjMwJSCHJ46IUyYkSd4Ishd_pztRdnQFVxwSc3wH6CTMhnsnWoUF6pDLt1GSvz0WbcsDlFlT_P5xdB9ZkfDqWahRS/s200/DSC_0298.JPG" width="131" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSB84QvTObQZ_Gq9MTJz-4xzKHVdEqe7Ku4QrG52maPJ7ZfUXL3-y5UQpyLsQZKXwzOEjDZZn8lWq6t2xP4g2feR4PMFmDWdHMy0XPXH7MtfuAPkITt-7wAVElWlGL4NKZodDu/s1600/DSC_0421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSB84QvTObQZ_Gq9MTJz-4xzKHVdEqe7Ku4QrG52maPJ7ZfUXL3-y5UQpyLsQZKXwzOEjDZZn8lWq6t2xP4g2feR4PMFmDWdHMy0XPXH7MtfuAPkITt-7wAVElWlGL4NKZodDu/s320/DSC_0421.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Preparation of food was pretty raw,.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By this stage, I was getting tired of Chinese food, and some of the stuff served to us was pretty ropey, and looked even worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d have killed for a spud or two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In restaurants, you would see the owner bring out the chicken to the larger groups of people so that they could inspect it before it was killed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were offered the chance to watch a pig being slaughtered (we declined).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3uvau_FdsKyRtd1wwFvoF3XdJs80NjkcSJA4gVbqzPnhge3oNQadC6LN7Rh6MCOV8bDUVDDskEWFJK2n2mHl_UQXxtz-bJiI0q9l-4JfwXP79MiN0AIGlGmHT7LmYuGC02FPl/s1600/DSC_0395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3uvau_FdsKyRtd1wwFvoF3XdJs80NjkcSJA4gVbqzPnhge3oNQadC6LN7Rh6MCOV8bDUVDDskEWFJK2n2mHl_UQXxtz-bJiI0q9l-4JfwXP79MiN0AIGlGmHT7LmYuGC02FPl/s640/DSC_0395.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I’m quite looking forward to getting out of China for a while now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Including our time in HK, it’s been nearly 8 weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s interesting, but quite sedate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll be in Laos in less than two weeks, where we will meet up with our former housemate Scott for a couple of weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhpEyqUD_1T3gLVJthKxavzG1piLDdiPy6MJyK4_7tzOykfvGTMPdTxcC1oGszJEcnh8TZKyUU7ZIiWb0EV6vZbxkhNkDPQVz2b5eYHyJkY-i4mHfAzPaBBLNFvIxfwdEwaxmn/s1600/DSC_0355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhpEyqUD_1T3gLVJthKxavzG1piLDdiPy6MJyK4_7tzOykfvGTMPdTxcC1oGszJEcnh8TZKyUU7ZIiWb0EV6vZbxkhNkDPQVz2b5eYHyJkY-i4mHfAzPaBBLNFvIxfwdEwaxmn/s640/DSC_0355.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">After four days in Kaili, we got a night train to Kunming.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-74164514601863746782010-08-07T04:16:00.000+01:002010-08-07T04:16:27.872+01:00Back in China<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">We left HK on the 24</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><sup>th</sup></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> of July, taking the subway (really a train that has been integrated into the system) to the border, then crossing on foot and getting the train from Shenzhen.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">At the station entrance, we ran our bags through the pointless scanning machines that the government has deemed necessary everywhere, and went in.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">I believe the scanning machines exist simply to provide more employment, as how they are used seems so useless.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Some stares blankly at a terminal from time-to-time, while hundred of people try and force their stuff through.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">And they are in bus stations, train stations, subway systems, Tiananmen Square and shopping malls.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Another job creation scheme run by the lads at the top is ticket checking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On each train journey, we normally get our tickets checked at least five times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once to get into the train station, once to get from the waiting area to the platform, sometimes to get on the train, X amount of times on the train, and finally as you try to leave the destination station.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">It was our first hard sleeper in China, and it was rock hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Russian ones were much better, and I didn’t get much sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We arrived in Guilin, and took the first bus we could find out of there to a small place called Yangshao.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiimVfxufNQbvncQbOWTGRjbgUaI2znwSD0wQLa5R4BKyk21XC18uJRu_XEibDcJwglZ0Ui81yhXFl1XugXPwzXYuuUlqKsD3U_PRwO4LZTmxlc5V6u3IigzhB0oqNB-aucY-M/s1600/DSC_0163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiimVfxufNQbvncQbOWTGRjbgUaI2znwSD0wQLa5R4BKyk21XC18uJRu_XEibDcJwglZ0Ui81yhXFl1XugXPwzXYuuUlqKsD3U_PRwO4LZTmxlc5V6u3IigzhB0oqNB-aucY-M/s640/DSC_0163.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyitcBeEbzKsa0doHWdpKubNipEAW2q3L1pW6jgbmxu1Yxv4DTgYFmZ12Zn4kjoAWAeLBVQggepMIG2J3ObPzSkCuLnzv-GyOZ7Lg-HbXom4D1qcFK-ohf7wU0w1RAZDIsvtkP/s1600/DSC_0197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyitcBeEbzKsa0doHWdpKubNipEAW2q3L1pW6jgbmxu1Yxv4DTgYFmZ12Zn4kjoAWAeLBVQggepMIG2J3ObPzSkCuLnzv-GyOZ7Lg-HbXom4D1qcFK-ohf7wU0w1RAZDIsvtkP/s400/DSC_0197.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The hostel there was possibly the best one so far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Run by a Dutch guy and a Belgian woman, the Outside Inn was a very rural and rustic affair, out in the countryside, with animals roaming the grounds and locals working the land.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scenery was great, and we spent a couple of days doing some biking (tandem, as Audrey isn’t too hot with handlebars), hiking and drifting on rivers on bamboo rafts.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I’ve decided to give Chinese beer more of a wide berth this time in China.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d only bother with the occasional one, instead plumping for an orange juice or whatever else was available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s stunning how pointless their beer is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even in south China, all the beer tastes the same as in north China, watery and weak, most of seeming to be brewed by the ubiquitous Yanjing brewery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve found one beer by the Zhujiang brewery, but at 2.5% was nothing like described <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhujiang_Beer#Zhujiang_beer">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">It was a very uneventful time, which was a nice change, and we left after a couple of days.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVujpMAx3SwCNpAe2PenWD0ndajPI-dMBRy1IeH2ufA7B0BF59CkokiteCGFMWeJ9noRuVXOjHLuS7aoHjuJVpC_fuZT-HGWfZVPA4FCT7EpS0RTnNtpPf1fvep5B4nJVApGE-/s1600/DSC_0140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVujpMAx3SwCNpAe2PenWD0ndajPI-dMBRy1IeH2ufA7B0BF59CkokiteCGFMWeJ9noRuVXOjHLuS7aoHjuJVpC_fuZT-HGWfZVPA4FCT7EpS0RTnNtpPf1fvep5B4nJVApGE-/s400/DSC_0140.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-53282671178398903272010-08-03T05:59:00.000+01:002010-08-03T05:59:22.915+01:00The De-bearding Of Stephen<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">It proved to be quite a hassle getting rid of 5 months of growth, with chunks of wirey hair being cut with scissors, then shaved with a razor.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">I didn’t have the luxury of a set of trimmers.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Firstly, let me remind you of how I looked just before I started the process</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpkkYN4_hpFubxS4YZdf2lbHZuMAsz0YAT-IofWgr2w0Z8AbcmGywc8Z0CKIK-M9aX-vRmgeWchsK4p7P24p6avSfwowz1jq1306Yo-llAr5tnnApOOK0g9uGS5we1KNIr5VlE/s1600/IMG_0805.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpkkYN4_hpFubxS4YZdf2lbHZuMAsz0YAT-IofWgr2w0Z8AbcmGywc8Z0CKIK-M9aX-vRmgeWchsK4p7P24p6avSfwowz1jq1306Yo-llAr5tnnApOOK0g9uGS5we1KNIr5VlE/s320/IMG_0805.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggbl1H9tsYAcJ-NoCYfcTg4rMWg3F5FLZXVtNRkMWYkVJL3WALpQTe6yrM6YA-y0EKT9BZLaS6CXF4RApQZbVUohEWVQwnkvlyf_duRXSZIaoQ9_GoB83rKzDq2xTax7lwm8g1/s1600/IMG_0803.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggbl1H9tsYAcJ-NoCYfcTg4rMWg3F5FLZXVtNRkMWYkVJL3WALpQTe6yrM6YA-y0EKT9BZLaS6CXF4RApQZbVUohEWVQwnkvlyf_duRXSZIaoQ9_GoB83rKzDq2xTax7lwm8g1/s320/IMG_0803.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The first step was shock, simply shaving the head.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvZSZsOfdWIH0Cp9NJmVYaWUGPQ139DCBcDZGE-Ez2WH38R61BY7a9rSs-kzaWyYkIJ0Vdc21lF112oPw7Tx-RpxhnRzGmFHRe7_qQiNP56Tl_GVzz-jD9EtNhWkYJ7SOe4Bia/s1600/IMG_0816.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvZSZsOfdWIH0Cp9NJmVYaWUGPQ139DCBcDZGE-Ez2WH38R61BY7a9rSs-kzaWyYkIJ0Vdc21lF112oPw7Tx-RpxhnRzGmFHRe7_qQiNP56Tl_GVzz-jD9EtNhWkYJ7SOe4Bia/s400/IMG_0816.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">On facebook, I got comments like Irish Taleban and some strange, deluded people thought it was an improvemment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I trimmed it all, and shaved from the bottom of my bottom lip to my chin, and then removed most of the hair on my neck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Redneck look:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmPTVcYRwfqvayBrvJDFcNZJHyw41xdkp29KCK8bn6RzINk4KJizw1KSIJA88KSfxmn4MbiNPBd8rKn3WeU93bOkFxIv_JrxPh4qo6DQE6oBfWaHHpD7X2R6vKnGtecaqvbhZJ/s1600/Redneck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmPTVcYRwfqvayBrvJDFcNZJHyw41xdkp29KCK8bn6RzINk4KJizw1KSIJA88KSfxmn4MbiNPBd8rKn3WeU93bOkFxIv_JrxPh4qo6DQE6oBfWaHHpD7X2R6vKnGtecaqvbhZJ/s400/Redneck.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.miloco.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/droopy_dog_happy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://blog.miloco.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/droopy_dog_happy.jpg" width="183" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Audrey felt it made me look very sad, like droopy dog</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> if you remember him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In order to determine if I was a redneck, Scott (van Niekerk) helpfully posted the following (the one in bold being the highlight):<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.5pt;">Just as a test do you do any of the following now?</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif"; font-size: 8.5pt;"><br />
<br />
<span class="apple-style-span">When ordering a beer do you say "Hey there sweet thang, how's about gettin' us a cold un!"</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />
<span class="apple-style-span">Do you have any shirts left that still cover y</span><span class="textexposedshow">our midriff?</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Do you think loading the dishwasher means getting Audrey drunk?</b></span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Do you now own a homemade fur coat?</span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Then it was time for the Hulk Hogan look, but couldn't be bothered getting it bleached the right colour:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikgOH8dzPLGFkVQE-_d76rpMtzgs9Ft66guZoL7G8Q8qm03wEaHbnZfdL41LV-I4wIjbvV2CcTiCQuas-ozbReKv8FkndiLnrkqa7AxEKhhn56xcEZ3CozIpNHHzoCnBuTDcky/s1600/IMG_0842%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikgOH8dzPLGFkVQE-_d76rpMtzgs9Ft66guZoL7G8Q8qm03wEaHbnZfdL41LV-I4wIjbvV2CcTiCQuas-ozbReKv8FkndiLnrkqa7AxEKhhn56xcEZ3CozIpNHHzoCnBuTDcky/s400/IMG_0842%5B1%5D.JPG" width="300" /></a><a href="http://www.topnews.in/files/Hulk-Hogan-565.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.topnews.in/files/Hulk-Hogan-565.jpg" width="290" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The ‘tasche and the sideburns got trimmed a bit for the final look before it all disappeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How anyone took me seriously through some of these transformations, I can’t imagine (but luckily I still managed to get my visas):<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-f_p6PuMhTEcNWUxIBmQV1uTj9K4sWVRgcQppGeiThXZ4Vqq98_XI3ylcfhgEnecwaTXMC3gx1hKV-Z1Dq89-6pmH39Zf5o7y8vMlpshma_KMq_BufjGbeQOFMkFFX0kA8ZgO/s1600/IMG_0845%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-f_p6PuMhTEcNWUxIBmQV1uTj9K4sWVRgcQppGeiThXZ4Vqq98_XI3ylcfhgEnecwaTXMC3gx1hKV-Z1Dq89-6pmH39Zf5o7y8vMlpshma_KMq_BufjGbeQOFMkFFX0kA8ZgO/s400/IMG_0845%5B1%5D.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">And that was the end of my beard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-39745052071756161202010-08-03T05:39:00.000+01:002010-08-03T05:39:02.637+01:00Honkers Konkers<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCXMAK_YbNjyWUNyPzr9nz9rzOAAlI4aJ9Zerkpycank-nkdSzNnhSUrHn4RE-zkmsmQHayx7OsfEKKb2POiFDV_IRPqQEyQyQNm4cAw7R1Dciz3o9n07m-CINMgWkf1lfxTLs/s1600/DSC_0389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCXMAK_YbNjyWUNyPzr9nz9rzOAAlI4aJ9Zerkpycank-nkdSzNnhSUrHn4RE-zkmsmQHayx7OsfEKKb2POiFDV_IRPqQEyQyQNm4cAw7R1Dciz3o9n07m-CINMgWkf1lfxTLs/s640/DSC_0389.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1P0SNtR3qVPujIt5dPD9AOR0Th6pzEcfNbtqB8E3_rmfs5xiYEPcm3h-XhrccnJdH7Puo_ym3ClzRfrEcmM90ID1KMZTbal92omgM6oSlAuHKn9kL7I5yVGbL6ymiKFajPE8N/s1600/DSC_0365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1P0SNtR3qVPujIt5dPD9AOR0Th6pzEcfNbtqB8E3_rmfs5xiYEPcm3h-XhrccnJdH7Puo_ym3ClzRfrEcmM90ID1KMZTbal92omgM6oSlAuHKn9kL7I5yVGbL6ymiKFajPE8N/s400/DSC_0365.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">We spent a total of 3 weeks in Hong Kong, taking it easy, applying for more Visas and visiting friends and family.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">We stayed in big room in a commercial building that Audrey’s dad uses to store stuff and keep his big hi-fi setup (one half of it to the right).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">It had a small bathroom, but with only cold water, so it was three weeks of cold showers (which was not too bad, as the heat and humidity left us sweltered).</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Luckily Audrey’s mum, Dorothy, had kitted it out with everything we’d need for a prolonged stay.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I spent most of the first week staying up late to watch the final stages of the world cup (with the later games not finishing until about 5am), sleeping late and meeting up with a former colleague, Oli, and his wife Jess who’d moved to Hong Kong a few months ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">After that, Audrey’s dad (Dr. Tam as I still call him, I never use his actual name of Lin Cheong) took quite a bit of time out to show us around a few different parts of Hong Kong and the New Territories. One of the best was a fish market on the south side of the island, near Aberdeen. You could buy your live fish and crustaceans in the market, and then head upstairs, where there were a number of little kitchens offering to cook them for you in different ways.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">On one trip into the new territories, we drove past quite a few run down looking industrial buildings. Dr. Tam explained that these were the areas that used to pump out all goods that Hong Kong was famous for. It brought back nostalgic memories of toys in my childhood, which nearly always seemed to have “Made in Hong Kong” stamped on them (whereas today’s kids get to see “Made in China”). I read later in the HK history museum, that for a period in the 70s and early 80s, Hong Kong was the biggest exporter in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">During out time in HK, there was numerous typhoon warning, but, much to my disappointment, nothing much came of them. We had one instance of ‘<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_rainstorm_warning_signals#BLACK_rainstorm_signal">black rain</a>’, which is a torrential downpour. I went out to the harbour to watch it.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2WaXEQ0cV8M&hl=en_GB&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2WaXEQ0cV8M&hl=en_GB&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">While the effect on the water was nice, there was no wind or crashing waves. I went out to an outlying island, Cheung Chau, on another day when there was supposed to be a typhoon warning hoping for bigger waves, but it was a perfectly sunny day.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The southern part of the island had, until relatively recently, been reserved solely for “foreigners” (read whites) to live in (as “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Peak#History">the peak</a>” had been in the past). On a walk around it, I stumbled upon a couple of derelict building. Looking like they had previously been grand villas, today they were losing a battle against the advancing jungle growing over and through them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://photos.igougo.com/images/p218890-My_Dish_in_My_Toilet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://photos.igougo.com/images/p218890-My_Dish_in_My_Toilet.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The most interesting restaurant I’d been in since <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.unsicht-bar.de/&ei=QgBUTIeLK4j8vQOxoY0Z&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dunsichtbar%26hl%3Den%26prmd%3Dv">Unsichtbar</a> in Cologne was in Hong Kong. <a href="http://www.moderntoilet.com.tw/en/about.asp">Modern Toilet</a>, was, as you may have guessed, a toilet-themed restaurant. Most of the seats where of the porcelain throne type, with tables on basins. Meals were delivered in a variety of toilet shapes, and were pretty tasty. The only thing they were missing was serviettes as toilet rolls.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Dr. Tam also did a medical on Audrey, her sister Katie and I when we visited him at his practice. Katie commented that I looked too white (which is true, I think I could make an albino look bronzed). Obviously I still haven't been able to pick up much sun despite weeks of temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius and quite a few blue skies.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">He included an ultrasound as part of it, to have a look at how our internals were (which I thought was mainly the preserve of pregnancy). My liver got a clean bill of health (along with everything else). I think Audrey would like to have seen no permanent damage, but signs of drinking too much so that it would shock me into consuming less alcohol. I see it from a different angle, obviously I haven’t been trying hard enough. ;-)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">On that note, on to beer. Much better than China, although that was mainly due to decent foreign beers being available. I found one pub, the East End Brewery, with a couple of nice locally brewed ales that also had a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buy_one,_get_one_free">BOGOF</a> happy hour on them. Apart from that, drinking out was in general more expensive than even London.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We left HK on the 24th of July. </span></div><div style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"></div></span></span></div>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-35457301154770730012010-07-25T15:50:00.001+01:002010-07-26T16:47:30.111+01:00The Tulous<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_E3bogT-jqevy_0XRvyzGeZZX-LV5GStCwacj9Kxj35rZ4fcqVjC_hK1o99FxK7JIIWEkeDNj2HVnzBRF-DnjtMz4-b79nhEQW6eJ1yKzk40w-NsXYz9WjYg3iInX7PmdUmJ/s1600/DSC_0235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5_E3bogT-jqevy_0XRvyzGeZZX-LV5GStCwacj9Kxj35rZ4fcqVjC_hK1o99FxK7JIIWEkeDNj2HVnzBRF-DnjtMz4-b79nhEQW6eJ1yKzk40w-NsXYz9WjYg3iInX7PmdUmJ/s640/DSC_0235.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">The two hour bus journey to Nanjing County was a breeze.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Once there, Audrey tried to contact the tour guide who was going to show us around the Tulous.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">I was day-dreaming for a few minutes, and before I knew it, she had found three other Chinese ladies who were to do the same tour, and we were all in a dodgy cab on our way there.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">The four of them were squeezed in the back, while I lounged up front.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">The three of them were from Heilongjiang, in the far north east of China.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The driver was a lunatic. And very loud. Actually, the Chinese in general are quite loud, especially when talking on the phone. But only in Chinese, they normally talk much quieter in foreign languages. Must be something about the local tongues. But the driver was a particularly strong example.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Anyway, he thought nothing of overtaking on the outside of bends, where we could barely see the crest of the corner, never mind the bend and what may be lurking around it. The road was narrow, long and winding, going up and down steep valleys and mountains. It looked like it may have been wider in days gone past, but the jungle/forest looked like it was trying to reclaim it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeykttMUGal_mYL2-mUY_M59bML-zYuRdIfPeG5aUD7KjeLbSRK0XaO2C0wUesnl2ChCK2G7n15ha3cJjU61dTj7_8uw5PLiXaHAGVxBuadXy3FaHIqsoY8umI9WmuU369gee9/s1600/DSC_0203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeykttMUGal_mYL2-mUY_M59bML-zYuRdIfPeG5aUD7KjeLbSRK0XaO2C0wUesnl2ChCK2G7n15ha3cJjU61dTj7_8uw5PLiXaHAGVxBuadXy3FaHIqsoY8umI9WmuU369gee9/s400/DSC_0203.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Turns out this may have been true. Audrey had neglected to tell me that the reason we were on this road of death was that the new road was flooded. This journey on the new road would normally be 20 minutes, whereas this one, without any mishaps, would take more than an hour.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">After about 40 minutes, the car broke down, on a corner, with a great drop to one side. No petrol was making it to the engine. Despite our drivers best efforts, he couldn’t get it going again. Cars hurtled past us on this road, more than once there was nearly an accident. Audrey and the others called the tour guide, Shau Hui, who we were due to meet. Eventually he arrived, and drove us from there.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">He drove a little more cautiously, and talked quieter. When he overtook on a corner, he used his horn to indicate this. Actually, he used his horn almost constantly over the next 24 hours driving around with him (mostly when he was driving on the wrong side of the road for prolonged periods of time).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As a tour guide, he did a great job, and gave us a great background to the local area, talked knowledgeably about the sights and brought to delicious local food. What more do you want from a guide? On top of that, due to all the flooding, the places were quite quiet and empty, so we didn’t have to compete with loads of camera-toting locals.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihtCC-CH1A1L8ERIpT6GMeijXV_oK0KGzcjblr_ic1zqgT1Adb25vVRJCmp7Unsmyii9TgEnV2GXOUqBuJNToW_qEgfeo2oGaVEWnadwVFYd-L5riVLzGJIPOmBqsgL8YXK5cN/s1600/DSC_0227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihtCC-CH1A1L8ERIpT6GMeijXV_oK0KGzcjblr_ic1zqgT1Adb25vVRJCmp7Unsmyii9TgEnV2GXOUqBuJNToW_qEgfeo2oGaVEWnadwVFYd-L5riVLzGJIPOmBqsgL8YXK5cN/s400/DSC_0227.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Farming was everywhere, in complete contrast to Russia.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Every single bit of land was used.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Slopes were crafted into steps of rice paddies, and when it got too steep, they then started planting row upon row of tea bushes.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Thin valleys here looked like they created infinitely more produce than a huge open plan in Russia.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">And the work looked back-breakingly manual, with hundreds of people hunkered down among the vegetation.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Audrey spent a large part of our time conversing with the north Chinese girls about contentious issues (prodded sometimes by me). What do you know about the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989? What’s the point of the Great Firewall? Censorship? Do you think the government is doing things correctly for the people?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As usual, we got no interesting answers, as they mostly towed the party line. “It is not right for people to speak out against the government.” “As long as everyone is doing ok, then it isn’t a problem if a few people have to be silenced.” We disagreed with most of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdI9Po0oQpAwBIX3J6rtCKkEz7CfOQJxuhYTmeKzPbvFYDJJkEh3zJVrTcWx4251RYuT3D0SJ-vEZwn6BofyMBmtMhv8N8cYhiSbdVD5K6Zl1ibp0FtBR0pcv7Lxr0uptkfeMa/s1600/DSC_0209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdI9Po0oQpAwBIX3J6rtCKkEz7CfOQJxuhYTmeKzPbvFYDJJkEh3zJVrTcWx4251RYuT3D0SJ-vEZwn6BofyMBmtMhv8N8cYhiSbdVD5K6Zl1ibp0FtBR0pcv7Lxr0uptkfeMa/s400/DSC_0209.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We got another bus to a town called Yongding, where we would be able to get a train to Guangzhou and, subsequently, Hong Kong. At the train station, we discovered the ticket booking system was not working. We would have to come back that evening to get a ticket (by which time they could all be sold out). One of the China Rail officials took pity on the dopey looking foreigner, and did promise us that we would get a sleeping place on the train.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We arrived back about an hour before the train was due, as that is when the ticket office opened again. The ticket system was still down. They herded everyone, with or without a ticket into the waiting room. The official appeared again, and told us not to worry, he’s speaking to the people on the incoming train, he’s sorting it out. Lucky Audrey, I was thinking, to be with a foreigner.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">He then took us out of the (crowded, hot and stuffy) waiting room, into the officials office, so we could sit in the coolness of an air-coned room. This was getting better. When the train pulled up, he brought us over to a separate carriage, and we piled on. We gave him a little souvenir that we had for his help (which is at first refused, might be considered as corruption). Turns out there were no sleepers yet, but one should be freed up at the next stop, 30 minutes away.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">That was the last we heard from him, and anyone he knew on the train. We went to the restaurant car for a seat. Audrey asked the guy who was in charge of the sleeping car we got on in, and he said there was no possibility of a berth. We then overheard a conversation with an important CCP official, who’s just got a bed, and he’d been waiting for 6 hours.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">To stay in the restaurant car, we had to pay for a meal or you get kicked out, which we asked not to be served, as we had no hunger. I got a couple of beers out of them instead. Then I had a few more, played a bit of Championship Manager 3 while Audrey slept with her head on the table. So much for the special treatment.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">We arrived in Guangzhou at 7am, and took the first train to Hong Kong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-90634748890342129322010-07-22T15:02:00.000+01:002010-07-22T15:02:07.580+01:00Xiamen, as close to Taiwan as I plan to be<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Next stop on our way was Xiamen (also known as Amoy, which back home I’d associated with cooking sauces), which seemed like the only place in Fujian Province that we could get to, due to heavy rains and general flooding meaning many railway routes were impassable.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">As much as China may try (and that is very hard, they move mountains and rivers and raise and lower lands to suit their needs), Mother Nature can still reign supreme (no pun intended).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsr7RPQUo6ZJVRWV27jtotAVpMkmmj6Fv-QCES49JL7y7WOcnHJOZF4yFMhlHeA297z13hFS6rhgT1X6ozTyX2dzW2vnI8H62sFSJ3-VZXB3N_zS2Z48f6tfYt74_N5YhlcROT/s1600/DSC_0031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsr7RPQUo6ZJVRWV27jtotAVpMkmmj6Fv-QCES49JL7y7WOcnHJOZF4yFMhlHeA297z13hFS6rhgT1X6ozTyX2dzW2vnI8H62sFSJ3-VZXB3N_zS2Z48f6tfYt74_N5YhlcROT/s640/DSC_0031.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">A simple day journey directly south for about 8 hours took us there, and stepping off the train, the heat and humidity hit us immediately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was my first proper taste of tropical weather and landscape (even though we were a couple of degrees from actually being in the tropics).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d been in Hong Kong in May 2009, but it was much milder than this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shanghai and Beijing, it turns out, were a doodle in comparison (which is not what I was saying when I was there).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQHKY6s2y2Q8jA3rdNOyZ-xHcllB1x86iABqvCJrSEJ1zEGBEEIF3stD0e2lfshcqFvM43xqIRjAGCSb9fqkFktWo2SBFhF9piVM9DIEh71dUycWzazhXu9CrjbrJjYEXe8RA9/s1600/DSC_0043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQHKY6s2y2Q8jA3rdNOyZ-xHcllB1x86iABqvCJrSEJ1zEGBEEIF3stD0e2lfshcqFvM43xqIRjAGCSb9fqkFktWo2SBFhF9piVM9DIEh71dUycWzazhXu9CrjbrJjYEXe8RA9/s400/DSC_0043.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We struggled to our hostel, which was outside the main settlements of the city, on the south coast (Xiamen itself is based on an island, not unlike how Hong Kong is situated), a minute’s walk from the beach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We settled in, went for a paddle (the water was not that clean as loads of bits of foliage had been unsettled by the stormy weather recently), and relaxed in the room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On our way out the door for dinner, the owner informed us that the electricity would not be working that night.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.hostelworld.com/images/hostels/16865_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://images.hostelworld.com/images/hostels/16865_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">They ran another hostel where the lights (and more importantly, air-con) would be on, so we were shuttled over to it, a short drive away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the course of the next three nights, we would spend it in three different rooms, with the final one being the most interesting we’d stayed in so far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A large round bed, enormous bathroom, great mural and four chains with fake flowers hanging from the ceiling (possibly for some reason unknown to us).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Instead of a metro system, the powers that be had decided to build a Bus Rapid Transport system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This meant building a few dedicated bus routes above the main thoroughfares of the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to admit, it worked pretty well, probably even quicker than your average metro system (they always seem like they’re going fast as the windows are so close to the walls).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.chinabrt.org/images/xiamen2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="http://www.chinabrt.org/images/xiamen2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Xiamen was one of China’s original Special Economic Zones, when they started opening up to actually doing business and allowing outside investment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most interesting point about the place, though, is the fact that it is only 2km from the Republic of China (aka Taiwan).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple of islands just off the coast below to Taiwan, and are quite visible, but getting closer to them would be a lot more dangerous, as along the coast, China has nearly 2,000 ballistic missile pointing at their near neighbour/rouge province (plus more than 100,000 troops on stand-by).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.taquitos.net/im/sn/Smiths-SNS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.taquitos.net/im/sn/Smiths-SNS.jpg" width="161" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We found another restaurant that I wanted to eat at all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It a type of cabbage dish whose sauce tasted exactly like Smiths Salt ‘n’ Shake crisps (that is to say cooking oil and somewhat salted).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Full meal with beer was about £3.5 for the pair of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No link to a map this time, as it was in some random backstreets that the mighty Google doesn’t have.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">As we walked back to our hostel one evening, we spotted a guy fussing around a load of chickens and ducks in cages, with his assistant watching on. We wandered past slowly, thinking he might be about to slaughter one. He didn't, but as we were walking away, we noticed his assistant, who we thought had been sitting idly by, lifting baby ducks out of a bag, one by one slitting their throats then dropping them into a box.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXLbxo6GQLgrhnGsDu73sb0FI8u0FWGzGC2cXoBWacgq8uKA-fdTlXzkVwXoR0-SqdXdubq8D9h6XAs16_tYYzNS7V5DpNfiUye-KAhc0ijXrByQCPJfC7EFs2fUcGkv9fcDhJ/s1600/DSC_0056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXLbxo6GQLgrhnGsDu73sb0FI8u0FWGzGC2cXoBWacgq8uKA-fdTlXzkVwXoR0-SqdXdubq8D9h6XAs16_tYYzNS7V5DpNfiUye-KAhc0ijXrByQCPJfC7EFs2fUcGkv9fcDhJ/s400/DSC_0056.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">While in the city, we watched the humiliation of England against the sprightly young Germans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This gives you an idea of how far behind I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will catch up soon, or else leave some out (we’ve been in HK for weeks now, and not too much has happened).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We’d sat beside a group of girls on the train here, and they had recommended that we go out into the middle of the country to visit the Tulous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Audrey did a bit of research, and we worked out that we’d finally have to abandon trains for moving us towards our next destination for the first time since we arrived in Vladimir from Yarolslavl on the bus (about 10,000 km back).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We booked our bus, and left town a couple of days later at 9.00am for Nanjing County.</span></div>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-41785810053922457652010-07-18T10:07:00.000+01:002010-07-18T10:07:20.305+01:00Expo and Maglev<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Shanghai has a huge expo on at the moment.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">I’m not really sure why cities feel the need, or want, to put these on.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Especially somewhere as well developed as Shanghai, which hardly needs the extra investment.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Regardless, we went (courtesy of free tickets from friends, thanks), and it was somewhat interesting.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The expo was reasonably close to the centre of the city, on the former docks site.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most countries in the world were represented, either having their own Pavilion, or else in a shared one (like the Africa Pavilion or Pacific Islands Pavilion).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’d heard some harrowing tales of huge queues for the most popular pavilions; Spain and Germany (3 hours each), China (4 hours, plus a reserved ticket) and Saudi Arbia (5 hours).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We even met one fella who claimed to have stood for 8 hours in queue just to see the Saudi one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not sure how that is possible without a seat or toilet break.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Needless to say, Audrey and I decided to ignore the Saudi one completely (supposedly they all have an online presence which shows a virtual view of the pavilion, so I might get around to checking that out someday), and any of the popular ones until late in the evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We decided to try and get to as many of the rouge or belligerent states as we could.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It proved to be quite easy, as most of Africa was in one pavilion, and they put Iran and North Korea beside each other, within a stone’s throw of Iraq, Myanmar and Afganistan.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">When we got in, we headed straight to the Irish Pavilion, as my mate </span><a href="http://www.411galleries.com.cn/"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">James’s art gallery</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> had a temporary exhibition there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pavilion was quite nice (lots pictures of landscapes, animals, redheads and, typically, Bono), the only one with grass around it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We met James’s wife, Jai la, as she is working there currently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately their exhibition was closed (there was probably a big-wig visitor), so we headed on to Romania.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not sure why we decided to stop there, but the queue seemed fast moving, so we thought even if it was rubbish, we wouldn’t lose much time.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Rather predictably, as we got close to the front, the queue stopped moving for ages, until another huge whack of people got in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was pointless, lifeless music from a group on the stage who looked like they’d rather be anywhere else (it had been running for two months already), plus a few uninspiring pictures of the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gaj2vONg67I"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Ireland beats Romania again</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Then it was onto Libya, where a big portrait of the one and only Colonel stared down at us as we entered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next was the African Pavilion, where Zimbabwe (again with portrait), Sudan, Somalia and Congo awaited us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be honest, not much interesting, only building up their economic ties with China (China loves those resource rich, badly governed countries).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibaA7iTpy3EODawQfSd2pFsKBkMO1VrmQZMkJ_Tocp0_FqAZl5bByXCvsAJnOotYfS7zdTsmzQ6kgbe8xYHzz3JNn3PBOnqRg9vGyJxduGssAXIaDODJ5vrzcOtX89cK5Zg5OT/s1600/DSC_0240.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibaA7iTpy3EODawQfSd2pFsKBkMO1VrmQZMkJ_Tocp0_FqAZl5bByXCvsAJnOotYfS7zdTsmzQ6kgbe8xYHzz3JNn3PBOnqRg9vGyJxduGssAXIaDODJ5vrzcOtX89cK5Zg5OT/s400/DSC_0240.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">While there we wandered into many other ones, the most interesting being Namibia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The queue was quite large by African Pavilion standards (maybe 15 minutes long), but we happened to wander in the back entrance. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pointing to a map of the place, I reeled off the few facts that I knew about Namibia to Audrey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the Namibian lads manning the exhibition was standing nearby, and was very interested that someone knew stuff about his country.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">His name was Nessy, and he spent the next 30 minutes showing us around their exposition, and well as talking about his frustration with the locals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the two months he’d been there, barely anyone had asked any questions about, or shown interest in, Nambia, despite the fact the place was always full.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were more interested in filling their silly Expo passports, which you could buy, and then get a stamp as each pavilion that you visited (</span><a href="http://micgadget.com/5601/shanghai-world-expo-passport-is-selling-at-840-usd/"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">and some are flogging full ones</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some pavilions, including Ireland, have stopped stamping them, as they felt people only came to the place for the stamp (which, as we saw, was very true)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwxc_On-HoMhlUPrVclMJWkYDkQO-3dvd-YjtRsfhTEqk4w1xC0FE2uRcUkbIA82COFWpw-pd6xMPfwj0ODOYJWGCx4CsP5MTLQKTNORo6PFiI3bYSAUoBX8KAlni4oW6jnwoI/s1600/DSC_0246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwxc_On-HoMhlUPrVclMJWkYDkQO-3dvd-YjtRsfhTEqk4w1xC0FE2uRcUkbIA82COFWpw-pd6xMPfwj0ODOYJWGCx4CsP5MTLQKTNORo6PFiI3bYSAUoBX8KAlni4oW6jnwoI/s400/DSC_0246.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Namibia did look awesome, and is now firmly on the list of places we’ll visit sometime in the near future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were bringing in some of their local brew, Windhoek (named after the capital), in the next week on draught, pity I missed that (although I have had bottles before).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we were leaving Nessy gave us a few little souvenirs of Nambia.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Next we made our way towards North Korea, stopping at some random SE Asia countries and Iran.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Iran did a decent job (with a good explanation of what they were showing, no nuclear bomb plans though), and they had phenomenally expensive carpets for sale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>North Korea was amusing, with a mock classic fountain with cherubs and angels in the middle of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could also buy books by Kim Jong Il on the structure of theatre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nothing on how to starve millions though.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">This was followed by the Stans, where we have been planning to get to (which is looking increasingly unlikely though, due to problems getting visas in any places we plan to go to) and more SE Asia.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We left any popular ones until later; the queues would be less, the Chinese need to get to bed early, how else are they going to mastermind the takeover of the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Early bird and all that shit.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJoKqhq8S-MNTYEObpEq26oUp-8y4PyR9q26ExA6-8z99CjWS8CBtTA2E0phXIRPdcTYxfrx5CbG_kj8N6EmT7iWjFsCAbHOoHuryfD9bkIyhMDZCzbZVXHqgCUtDqL5XPgE2m/s1600/DSC_0258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJoKqhq8S-MNTYEObpEq26oUp-8y4PyR9q26ExA6-8z99CjWS8CBtTA2E0phXIRPdcTYxfrx5CbG_kj8N6EmT7iWjFsCAbHOoHuryfD9bkIyhMDZCzbZVXHqgCUtDqL5XPgE2m/s400/DSC_0258.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Spain was interesting, quite arty, but done in an impressive manner (see the enormous baby photo above, which was a bit weird).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The German Pavilion closed quite early (maybe, like the Chinese, they plan on making another attempt at the world), so we didn’t get in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Russia was weird, like Munchkins on acid, and all inspired by kids (see below).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUkQFH15t4H9n22zVisl2eKActvlOuOYMan94wqAxNavWiMkdj6O8GTwFALPma6WqO62xpoQBa3BtE765bUufjEzigTaAk27qzwq8s6Vhz2-FhICLD83P4ybHdnO_Z8BVqaz14/s1600/DSC_0269.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUkQFH15t4H9n22zVisl2eKActvlOuOYMan94wqAxNavWiMkdj6O8GTwFALPma6WqO62xpoQBa3BtE765bUufjEzigTaAk27qzwq8s6Vhz2-FhICLD83P4ybHdnO_Z8BVqaz14/s320/DSC_0269.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">That was the Expo.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">A couple of days later, I went on the </span><a href="http://www.howstuffworks.com/maglev-train.htm"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Maglev</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> which connects Pudong district in Shanghai with the new airport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had wanted to take it on my trip in 2004, but it closed early on Fridays, and I arrived just as the last one was departing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time, I’d checked the timetable.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGc1Ol3MkGdSQFlt526sy1CbZ0iOzPemZdI-8nQXcQF8-tCcVL1wyhrHNp3jcj9dPMgLu5Dh8orCZKo5NvUR36iAYfPWGs4wiV8peYh4dhGdzxpNPJssROrdR1Fo3zTLI1gyZg/s1600/IMG_0785.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGc1Ol3MkGdSQFlt526sy1CbZ0iOzPemZdI-8nQXcQF8-tCcVL1wyhrHNp3jcj9dPMgLu5Dh8orCZKo5NvUR36iAYfPWGs4wiV8peYh4dhGdzxpNPJssROrdR1Fo3zTLI1gyZg/s320/IMG_0785.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">It would get up to 430 km/h for a couple of minutes, which is pretty fucking fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the train set off, there seemed to be little urgency to it, but pretty soon we were up to 300km/h.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The camber on the corners was huge, but it wasn’t as smooth as I expected for something that is meant to float along its guideway.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Eventually (well, three minutes later) we got to the magic top speed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It didn’t feel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i> fast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of it may be that there was no comparison nearby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Times when I’ve been on the ICE trains in Germany, they’re sailing along at just over 300 km/h, but quite often it is alongside the Autobahn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’re fleecing past cars at a phenomenal rate, knowing quite a few of them are at 200 km/h or so.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">As we were slowing down (well, at 340km/h) on the approach to the airport, there was a huge WHOOMP! noise as we encountered another train going the other direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was probably doing around 340 as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the way back, I sat on the side on the inside of the tracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I held my head against the window to see if i could ‘feel’ the impact of them passing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could, quite hard, twice, once as they first met, then once as they left each other (a split second apart).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">That was my pointless experiment over, just like this entry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-1753120728191813462010-07-18T08:58:00.000+01:002010-07-18T08:58:36.462+01:00Coincidences in Shanghai<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">We’ve all been there from time to time.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">A chance meeting in a random location throws you together with someone with whom you have a common friend.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">It really annoys me when someone then says, “It’s a small world, isn’t it?”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">No it fucking isn’t, try walking around it, then tell me that.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, just to contradict myself slightly, I had one of those moments while in Shanghai.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Audrey and I were staying at the BeeHome hostel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d spoken to James Ryan (a friend of mine who lives in Shanghai who I’d mentioned in the previous blog) the day we arrived, and he was to send me details of where we could meet up the next evening.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">It got to 2pm the next day, and I’d still got nothing from him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Audrey and I were relaxing in the hostel, as that’s the worst time of day to be out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got speaking to a couple of blokes in the chill out room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of them was from Taiwan, the other from the states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Discussions got on to plans for the rest of the day, and the guy from the states, Dustin (couldn’t get Hoffman/autism out of my head from there on in) said he was meeting up with friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told him I was hopefully doing the same, but my mate still hadn’t sent me through any details.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mentioned my mate had an exhibition on at the Expo.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">“So does mine”, said Dustin, “What’s his name?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">“James Ryan.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">“That’s who I’m going to meet at 6.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">The usual ‘wows’, and ‘how unexpected is that?’ etc., started to be muttered by everyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I decided to tag along with old Dustin (he looked like a naive kid fresh out of Uni, found out later he was 32).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>James later claimed he’d been working harder than Foxconn employee, and hadn’t time to get any info to me.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We had painful journey to meet up with him. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An almighty mess up by Dustin, meant we got off two tube stops from the hotel we were to meet James at.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dustin had been there before, but it turns out he’d got a lift from a friend where we exited the tube to the hotel (something he realised after we’d been walking around for 20 minutes).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>James seemed to give Dustin an ear-bashing on the phone (although that’s just the way he is) when he called for directions, and Dustin wasn’t keen on calling him back to get further instructions, so we settled for using randoms on the street.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Eventually, we arrived about 45 minutes late, but were the earliest of everyone who was due to be there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We stood around waiting, chatting for a while, and we regaled our story of the random hostel meeting.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">“Actually, I thought you’d recognised each other”, assumed James.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">“Eh?”, we both questioned.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">“In Hangzhou, 6 years ago”, explained James.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">As he said that hazy memories of an enormous binge started coming back to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d went down to Hangzhou, a couple of hours from Shanghai, to visit James (he lived there back then) and my next door neighbour from back in Macknagh (somewhere between the mighty metropolises of Swatragh and Maghera).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’d met in the Irish pub (shock horror) in that town, and had, ‘amazingly’, found a common acquaintance in me (and my brother Niall).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">We all met up in the Irish pub, as we do, for a few beers on the Wednesday evening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had been good craic with the few people that were in the pub, and as the pub kicked us out, Karl, my neighbour, suggested a few more drinks back at his.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were all at the stage were ‘no’ had been expunged from our vocabulary.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">We got back there, and the brandy, whiskey and I can’t remember what else, all came out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was wasted by the end (and I assume the others were).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the years, I’d occasionally thought of that session, and that I had always remembered us being four, with a quietly spoken extra in there somewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dustin was the extra</span>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28939431.post-74830846465843811652010-07-14T14:17:00.000+01:002010-07-14T14:17:27.961+01:00Beards Blog<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I love my beard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Audrey certainly doesn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s praying for the day when I finally shave it off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’ll come in the next few days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it will be in stages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bit just below my lower lip, and around the chin will be the first to go, as they are the areas that simply look the weakest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There could have been the possibility of a comb-over if they would have grown long enough<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">It’s got pretty unruly by now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only trimming has been around the upper lip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The neck area is a matted area of hair growing in every direction, with no proper structure to speak of (or I’ve yet to find).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Running a comb through it involves a bit of effort.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">While eating food, you need to be much more careful than usual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sauces get caught in it easily, while it had not been unusual for Audrey to spot a small morsel of food sometime after eating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve had to become much more conscientious of wiping my mouth after food (and a larger area that normal).<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Drinking beer has also been affected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I now get the 100% full-effect Guinness ‘tache, this hasn’t been a problem for the last few months since I left Ireland, as Guinness is usually rubbish abroad and not worth paying through the nose for.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">While drinking pints, I now have to raise my upper lips a little to avoid getting a drenched moustache.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Towards the end of a pint, tip a little too far, and the contours of the hair at the edges of the glass make perfect conduits for beer trying to escape its natural path, and ending up on my t-shirt.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I think keeping a beard in order could be a lot of effort, thankfully I’m on holiday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the lads I worked with had a full beard, always looked immaculate in the office (he is a Sikh).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He once told me he spent 30 minutes every morning sorting out his hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I e-mailed him for some advice on how I could get mine under control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually (I think he was too busy sorting out the facial hair ), he did mailed back with a lot of complicated info.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Good effort, but too much work for me. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">I’ve been asked by numerous randoms if they can take a picture with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I quite like that, my ginger/brown beard may be appearing in photo collections all over the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My record was four people in one day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Up until now, no one has actually asked to touch the beard, but I don’t think I could refuse if they wanted too, unless they happened to have a pair of scissors in their hands.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">It’s also helping me become an expert starer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most stubborn ones are kids, around 5 years of age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Initially, they would win, but I’ve been honing my skills, and usually win these days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quite often they appreciate a smile or a wink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I use that with adults as well, I think it embarrasses them.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">In Mongolia, I got a few shouts of “Jesus” aimed in my direction, which I found highly amusing, and it made me feel like my beard had “made it” (even with the barren patches).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Santa Claus will be the next step.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since reaching China, there has been no shouting; either that, or Jesus has a Chinese name that is unrecognisable to me.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">After 3 months of growing the beard, I think I may have finally found a practical use for it: I can hide toothpicks in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I’ll end on that note.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Sokratees9http://www.blogger.com/profile/05916939091456274903noreply@blogger.com3