Travels of the Canadian Travel Monkey

2006-11-05T11:49:00.000-07:00

China & Tibet - postscript

It was an uneventful flight to Vancouver, but customs and the baggage handling was an absolute mess. Drug or bomb sniffing dogs were inspecting luggage and people, and I wished I had the power to fart on command when the dog came to me, just for the entertainment value. I missed my connection to Calgary, along with dozens of other passengers. Fortunately there were flights every hour, and I got home a couple hours later.

My Sens had indeed advanced to the second round of the playoffs. They kept up with tradition by underperforming yet again (for an amazing 9th year in a row) and were ousted in that second round by Buffalo.

I stayed up till about 3AM going through my mail and putzing around the house. Damn it felt good to be home. I hadn't thought about Tim Horton's coffee until a friend of mine had mentionned it in an e-mail about halfway through my trip. That was a helluva cup of coffee! A phone call at 9AM woke me groggily to send me to work... Nothing better than being thrown right into it! I guess I could have declined, but I really enjoy my work, and I had hopes of going to Iceland in August. That trip didn't materialize largely because of an abismal investment. May the management of Texxon Inc. rot in hell!!!

My opportunity to work in Holland unfortunately didn't materialize. I was disappointed, however, there was plenty of work in Alberta, and I was given the opportunity to learn a new tool.

It would be three months before I had friends over to show pictures. I had a stressful summer watching a friend self-destruct. That event caused me to take time off, and I seriously considered leaving the oil-patch, giving it the finger and moving to Thailand or Vietnam and opening up a hostel. The time I took off provided me with the opportunity to reacquaint myself with my friends, and get some camping in.

It was a slow, and sometimes painful experience to write up this journal. Not because of the events, but because of the cheap-ass oil companies not ponying up the cash to provide enough bandwith to be able to access this blog. I'm now on a job where bandwith isn't an issue, and have a huge sense of relief that I've finally completed this write-up.

I waited far too long to begin my travels... Of course, I now have more resources to draw on then I would have in my twenties. I encourage you all to go explore beyond your backyards. If not physically, than through books, or that marvelous window to the world, the internet.

Try to keep an open mind to the world around you.

Geoff

2006-11-04T14:47:00.000-07:00

China & Tibet (cont...)

April 27th

I've got the whole set completed now! 707, 717, 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, and today, my first ride on a 777. That's a huge-ass plane! 2-5-2 seating! Landed in Beijing and went up to the Air Canada office to see if I could fly out on Saturday instead of Sunday, but no dice.
Here's how the rest of this crazy day unfolded...
I hopped into a cab and made my way towards the same hostel I had stayed at when I got here. I suddenly had a dreadful feeling of having misplaced my passport. I had made a habit of placing it my leg pocket, but because I had my large pack on my back, and my day-pack on my chest, I had kept it accessible in my breast pocket when I got to the luggage terminal. I had to produce the baggage tickets to exit the area, and I had placed these along with my boarding pass in my passport.
I got to the hostel, and looked over and over again through my bags and jacket and pants and couldn't find my passport. Yikes! You can't check into a hotel without that document, either. Instead of panicking, I grabbed a BIG bottle of beer, broke out a cigar, and sat on the steps of the hostel contemplating my next move. I figured I must have inadvertently pulled out the passport in the airport when I showed the baggage tickets. I came to the conclusion that I should consider it unrecoverable, and made my way down to the Canadian embassy.
I waited, and waited as the bureaucratic machine ground its cogs. There was an Australian businessman with two Chinese companions trying to get a document notorized as per TSX regulations. Each page had to be stamped, but the Chinese girl behind the glass insisted that she could only stamp the first page, and that the remaining stamps would be subjected to further fees. The Aussie, who it seems had done this countless times before, argued with her saying that she could check his previous documents showing that the proper procedure was to stamp every page. The two Chinese girls behind the glass were obviously new to the position, and the Aussie knew the 1st Minister, and threatened to call him, and he did. One of his Chinese cronies blew a gasket at the girl behind the glass, and there was a lot of giggling from the other Chinese sitting in the waiting room. The Aussie appologized to all in the room graciously. It was really an amuzing sight to see, considering my circumstances. I ended up chatting with the Aussie for a while as his predicament was dealt with. He suggested I at least try to go back to the airport, and hit the lost and found desk - he said passports showed up there all the time!
I got all my pertinent documents together (thank Christ I had written down my passport and visa numbers after having lost the photocopies in Shanghai!), and set off to go get a picture done. With the picture done, I headed back to the airport and lo-and-behold, my passport had be turned in! So I didn't need to file a police report, I didn't need to waste the last two days of my trip jumping through governmental hoops... The relief was enormous. I mused to myself that I had been fortunate to lose it here in Beijing, and not Shanghai... I'd probably be up on charges of drug-smuggling or something if that had been the case!
It took 75 minutes to get to the hostel this time, and fortunately my booking was still valid. I met Margie from Japan/Seattle by chance, and we strolled through the Hutongs to get her oriented to the area. She had organized a private guide with a vehicle, and so I jumped on the chance to join her the following day to see the last tourist destination I wanted to take in - the Ming Tombs.

April 28th

Up bright and early to meet up with Margie in the lobby. We were soon joined by her guide and driver, and we set off for the Great Wall. This time, the destination was Juanyang. This portion of the wall is rebuilt, and very much more touristy than Jinshanling and Simatai, but it was beautiful nonetheless. The weather was absolutely perfect: 24 degrees! We made a circuit around the eastern section of the loop, and I was amazed to find an American with so many similar thoughts and beliefs as myself. I think Margie attributes her opinions on her experiences of being married to a Russian scientist. I believe he's an ornathologist. In any case, he suffered the fate that seems to plague foreigners that emmigrate to North-America. People treat people with accents as if they are slow and stupid. True, maybe a degree from India or Turkey may not carry the same weight that a degree from an American or Canadian university may hold, but that does not make that person stupid. I try to keep an open mind about this, with the exception of Romanians. It has been my unfortunate experiences in my dealings with Romanians in my line of work that has made me a biggot to those people. I've been told it extends beyond Romania's borders to the entire "Eastern Block" of Europe. It just seems that these folks are simply born into arrogance, and they have a knack of looking at others down their noses. Another topic Margie and I explored was the troubling disease spreading across the North-American continent of non-responsibility. If someone shoots somebody, or robs somebody, or cheats somebody, or uses personality-altering drugs, it's not entirely the fault of their upbringing. Wake the hell up! There is always a choice, and there is more often than not help for people estranged from "normal" society. Margie was a breath of fresh air, and without a doubt one of the most intelligent Americans I have ever spoken to.
Whoa! That was a side-track! But it demonstrates the level of conversations we had.
Juanyang has been restored to perfection, and is built over the ruins of the original wall. Here's a shot showing the pristine walkway, hand railing included! We spent a couple of hours on this portion, and then made our way to the Ming Tombs.
There are 13 tombs in this valley, three of them open to the public. The first one we visited was Changling, built for the third Emperor of the Ming dynasty, Chengzu Zhu Di and his Empress, Xushi. (It is Zhu Di who commissioned the great inter-continental explorations documented in the fore-mentionned book "1421" - again, I highly recommend this read).
Changling's location is at the very back of the valley shown in this map to the right. It covers just under 30 acres. There is a wonderful museum showing the ornate jade necklaces, belts and head-pieces, vases and pottery, and hundreds of jewels that the Emperor and his wife took with them to the after-life. Here's a shot of the entrance to the Changling tomb. As you walk through this gateway, you enter a large garden, and another archway in the center of the walkway called "The Gate of Eminent Favour". Then, further on, a larger structure called "The Hall of Eminent Favour" graces the center of the walkway. A little further down, there is a small (by comparison) arch called the "Ling Xing Gate". There is a large pedestal for offerings to the Emperor just before reaching this structure pictured below, the "Soul Tower"

We marched up the Soul Tower and took in the view. Originally, this structure was built of wood, however, when it was rebuilt in the 1700's stone was used. Behind the Soul Tower is a large mound of earth, now covered in trees and brush, where burried beneath lies the burial chamber of this tomb. We couldn't access this tomb, however, the second tomb we visited does have access to the burial chamber.
This second tomb we visited was named Dingling. Dingling, that's right, pretty funny name right? Well, there was this idiot with his guide who kept on repeating it, quite loudly, and laughing. Margie and I were appalled at the rudeness of this moron, most likely North-American, and I felt ashamed of being within ear-shot of this goomba.

Dingling is the final resting place for the 13th emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yijun and his two empresses. This emperor was enthroned at the age of 10 years, and reigned until his death at 58 years old.
The underground chamber was the first to be excavated. There are five halls: the center, rear, front, left and right. There is a total of around 12,800 square feet of space down there, and over 3000 cultural relics were found. We had to pass through a metal detector not unlike the ones found at airports before decending several flights of stairs into the chamber. Here's a picture from the rear chamber looking down the length of the entire tomb. After the Emperor and his Empresses' bodies had been place into the center chamber, this wall was then bricked in, and the tunnel to it back-filled. It was through this tunnel that archaeologists accessed the chambers in 1956.

We decided to pass on the third tomb - Zhaoling. We wanted to see the "Sacred Way", and the afternoon seemed to be racing towards evening.

The Main Sacred Way is the walkway that leads to the Changling mausoleum. All the other tombs have a "sacred way" that branches off this one. We passed through the north gate to the Dragon and Phoenix Gate. Dragons symbolize the strength and power of man, and the Phoenix is the female equivalent. Beyond this gate was the walkway flanked by statues on either side, and behind them large weeping willows. The first four statues we pased (two on the left and two on the right) represented Meritorious Officers, shown here in the picture to the above-right. The next pairs were Civil Officials, and finally Generals.

Next came the beautiful animal statues. We passed by horses, qilins (a mythical animal similar to a lion, pictured here above), elephants, camels, more mythical creatures called Xiezhi (again looking like lions), and finally the lions. There were two statues for each animal - one standing, and one sitting. It was about a kilometer walk to pass all these beautiful beasts.

We then came to a pavillion housing a stele being carried by another mythical creature, a turtle with a dragon's head. On this giant tableture were engravings of the acheivements of Zhu Di, and poems written by subsequent emperors in the Qing dynasty (the dynasty that replaced the Ming). We doubled back to find our guide and drove back into Beijing.

Margie wanted to have some Peking Duck, and so we circled an area of town looking for a restaurant that the guide knew of. The guide hadn't been in this part of town for a while, and so we were going round in circles for a while trying to find the restaurant. Beijing is an absolutely enormous city, and this area in particular was changing rapidly due to the hutongs being bulldozed. We finally managed to find the restaurant, and sat at a table with two Chinese girls. The place was absolutely packed, and so seating was shared with strangers. We enjoyed a succulant meal, and then had a hell of a time finding our way back to the hotel.

I had a card from the hotel giving directions from the airport. I knew we were only a mile or two from our lodging, and that may have also been a contributing factor to our struggle. I was losing my patience by the fourth or fifth cab, slamming their doors in disgust after rejection. I didn't believe the cabbies didn't know where we wanted to go, I thought they were just hunting for better fares. To me, this was an indication that I was getting at the end of my rope, and looking forward to returning to Canada. We ended up taking a bicycle rickshaw back, and it cost much more than a cab would have, but I was glad to be "home" to treat me feet and do some packing for my flight on Sunday. I finished up some laundry that evening, and called it a day.

April 29th

I had a wonderful sleep last night. I walked up to the bank to find a crisp 50 quai note for my collection, and then dove into the Hutongs to try and find a large hard-shell suitcase. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any hard-shells, but I had seen a couple at the airport the other day. I guess I'll have to do some packing on the move!

I finished up my shopping today. Picked up a chop and ink for Mike and Steph, as well as some beautiful scrolls depicting the four seasons. I also had a second chop made. I chose a stone called "blood-stone" for mine. It is a dark, rich red, and at the top of the chop is a dragon and phoenix intertwined. I chose to have "Taipan" as my seal. It took a while for the engraver to figure out how to spell Taipan in Chinese... I'll have to show the chop to somone Chinese back home to see if it makes any sense! For all I know, it may say "dead fish" or something to that affect!

I stopped into the store where the two large red and gold vases were, and I got contact information in case I would purchase these treasures. I hoped to purchase them through my company, but if not, I would purchase them privately. They are so exquisite.

I spent the rest of the day completing my e-mail updates, and saw that my Sens were up 3-1 versus the Lightning. I hoped to land in Vancouver with the sports section of the paper reporting the Sens moving onto the next round of the playoffs.

I'll miss the smiles of Beijing, the great people I met in Tibet, the cliffs of the Three Gorges, and the lights of Shanghai, but it's time to go home. I already know the spots I want to see on my next trip to China: Guilin, Hong Kong, Macau, the Yellow Mountains, and the list goes on! Until then, I hope to see other corners of the world...

2006-09-24T09:58:00.000-06:00

China & Tibet (cont...)

April 24

I slept in hard today. The flight wasn't until two in the afternoon, and I had a very comfy bed for a change. The bottom of my feet started to blister - I think I must have aquired some kind of fungus from that "cat-piss" hotel I stayed at in Chongqing.
I had arranged with the cabbie from yesterday to pick me up at noon and bring me to the airport. It was a hilarious drive, as most of my cab trips in China had been. Such a friendly people. Anyways, the cabbie went on about "big American penis, small Chinese penis". In very broken English, he communicated how he wished he was American - more money. "Just a taxi driver!", he would say. Turns out he has a crush on the guide that was touring around with me yesterday. Funny, I thought she looked like a short female John Lennon with freckles. But guides are very well off. The job makes good money for them. We passed by a fisherman who had an enormous ling or some kind of yellow fish dangling from his line. He stood by the road hoping to sell this fish to a passerby.
The plane was delayed for some reason, but I made it into Shanghai by 6pm. And in my first hour here, I got Shanghai'ed! Nazareth's song played in my head as I tried to work out just how badly I got taken - I was charged 150 yuan for a ride that should have cost 50. Well, that's about $24 for an $8 ride. Oh well! Wasn't gonna let that ruin the trip! I kinda like the fact that I can say "I got Shanghai'ed in Shanghai" with having been stabbed or something.
The Nanjing hotel is in an AWESOME location! I took this picture to the left from my balcony! There are several futuristic-looking buildings in the city's downtown. The hotel is situated half a block from the Nanjing Donglu, a famous shopping area for the Chinese. It's also only about a kilometer and a half from the Bund. I decided to go for a walk to take in the endless neon lights. I would only be in Shanghai for a couple of days, and I figured I'd take advantage of the good weather.
Well, it's no wonder the TGD has to be built - my God, the amount of lights here is unreal! This shot is from the Nanjing Donglu. It is a pedestrian only mall, with a miniature train running up and down its length. I couldn't believe the amount of lights here - beautiful. The pictures really don't do them justice...
I can't count how many times I was approached by peddlers trying to get me to go into their "massage parlours" - "We have girl for you! Happy ending!" There were fake Rolexes, kitchy neon lights and wheels for your sneakers, and one offer for drugs by a middle-eastern individual. All this in the span of fifteen minutes. I decided to tune it out by putting in my earphones and cranking Blue Rodeo as I strolled around looking for the perfect picture.
I made my way down to the Bund. This area holds a lot of history. It was a major trading post for European-Chinese dealings. It has been equated to Wall Street - where fortunes are made, and also lost.

Across the Huangpu River is the Padong area of Shanghai. There's a lot of development taking place here. The Jinmao Tower, just to the right of center of this picture, is the fourth tallest free-standing building in the world. I made a mental note to myself to go visit the "Cloud Nine" bar at the top of that tower! On the left-hand side is the Oriental Pearl Tower, which serves as a TV tower. There is public access to the baubles of the tower, however, I read in the Lonely Planet guide that the Jinmao Tower offered just as good a view, plus I could grab a beer at the bar. Easy decision! Here's a picture of a small portion of the Bund. Old buildings with distinct European flavours to them. The clock tower was supposedly built to resemble Big Ben. There were hundreds of tourists walking up and down the Zongshan Dong Yilu, the pedestrian walkway overlooking the river.
On my way back to the Nanjing Donglu, I noticed a chopstick store. I had a lot of things to do tomorrow, and I added that store to the list of places to visit. I treated myself to some McDonald's and headed back to the hotel to crash for the night.

April 25

Another laundry day. My feet were getting worse, and I was running low on band-aids. I found a pharmacy and picked up what I hoped would be enough for the rest of the week. Until I got home, I'd just try to keep 'em clean and bandaged up! I had a long soak in the bath tub, and got myself ready to go out touring.
My first stop was to the "Foreign Book Store". I picked up four novels, and noticed the series of books that had inspired me to come to China - the Asian Saga by James Clavell. I headed back to where I had seen the chopstick store, and purchased a beautiful set of chopsticks. They are made of ebony with silver wraps at the top. Dragons and Phoenixes adorn the silver wraps. There was no bartering at this store because it was government run. I returned to the hotel to drop the books and chopsticks off, and figure out my plan of attack. I was torn between visiting the museum, and checking out the Yuyuan Gardens and Bazaar. The front desk informed me that there would most likely be rain tomorrow, so that made the choice for me.
I caught a cab to the area, and walked around looking for an "antique" area. As I walked around, I acquired a self-impossed guide to help me translate and search for what I was looking for. He was a older gentleman, a teacher of some sort. He spoke with shop owners describing what I was looking for, and I sensed that he was looking to get a comission from the stores for his efforts. I decided to go see the Yuyuan Gardens before making any purchases. As we walked towards the gardens, he told me he had an aunt working in a bank in Vancouver. He asked if I had any Canadian coins. I didn't, however, I handed over a $5 Canadian bill. He had no interest in wandering through the gardens, so I offered him 30 quai for his troubles, and bid him farwell, and good luck. The entrance to the gardens was hidden from view behind this beautiful tea-house to the left in the picture. Queen Elizabeth II herself has visited this tea-house and enjoyed one of their delicacies.
There is also a steak house behind the tea-house where Bill Clinton had visited on his trip. The Yuyuan Gardens were beautiful - several different species of flora and trees. Even the pathways were ornamental. Built in the mid-1500's, it took about 18 years for the garden to be completed. It was subjected to bombardment by the British in 1842 during the first Opium War, an event mentionned in the book, "Taipan" of the Asian Saga. The French also bombed the gardens a few years later when they felt they had been cheated by the Chinese in some commercial dealings.
I returned to the antiques area, and picked up five pieces of blue and white porcelain after some hard bartering. I got into a cab to get back to the hotel, and realized that I had left my Lonely Planet guide book behind in one of the shops. Oh well, I would have to replace it when I got home, but felt bad for losing all the notes that I had taken in there. I was using a photocopy of my passport as a bookmark, so I made a note to myself to write down all the critical stuff down in another "safe place".
I got back to the hotel and organized my loot, and headed down to the Pizza Hut for supper. I wandered down the Nanjing Donglu again to go to the Bund. This time I had the earphones in right away to avoid the harassment. Noticed that there were alot of traffic police to prevent the hoards of people from J-walking. It was a comical sight to come to a set of lights and watch the moped and bicycle"gangs" line up at the light, and open up the throttles when the light went green. Horns would blare, arms would flap... Damn that was funny! Just a huge surge of man and machine surging from intersection to intersection.

I caught a cab over to the Jinmao Tower. Most of the tower is occupied by the Grand Hyatt hotel. It took me three elevators to get up to the Cloud Nine Bar on the 87th floor. It was elegant as hell, and I felt a little out of place all scruffily bearded and dressed like a bum. As I stared down at the brightly lit Bund, I thought to myself that this must be what a helicopter ride must be like, without the noise and motion. After a cigar and couple of beers, I headed back down to normal atmosphere and waited 45 minutes for a cab - it was pouring rain, and everyone and their dog was lined up for transportation. I got to the hotel, and crashed hard. Long and eventful day.

April 26

Woke up to an overcast day. I grabbed more band-aids to treat the feet and had a quick bite to eat before heading over to the Shanghai Museum. Beautiful skyscrappers surround Renmin Park, where the museum and the Shanghai Grand Theatre are located. Here's a shot of the theatre - just beautiful. I noticed a guide holding a Canadian flag in front of the entrance to the museum! I walked up to her and started chatting. She was guiding a group of Canadians through the museum that day. It was the first time I had seen the Canadian flag in China, and I must admit, I felt a patriotic flutter in my chest about it... Here to the left is a picture of the museum itself. As I wandered around trying to find good picture angles, a young Chinese couple approached me and we started to chat. They were visiting from Xi'an, and I complemented them on their beautiful city. As always, the girl made flattering comments about my blue eyes. They had a good grasp on the English language, that's for sure. In any case, they invited me to attend a "traditional tea ceremony" and immediately a warning flag popped up in my head. During one of our bar-room discussions in Lhasa, Killian had warned me and the other travellers about a scam either he or one of his mates had fallen prey to in Beijing. You get invited to this ceremony, and at the end of the service, they charge you something ridiculous like $70 US for attending! Obviously, the charlatans that bring you to the tea house get a comission of some sort. On that note, I politely bid the couple farewell and entered the museum.

The exterior architecture of the museum is based on the the three-legged bowl of ancient times. As can be seen in the exterior picture, there are handles on the roof of the building. Here is one of the museum's prized pieces. It's a huge bronze cauldron weighing in at about 300kg! You could easily fit half a dozen large watermelons in this unit. Alot of the exhibits were similar to the Xi'an museum, and just as magnificent.

Another piece that caught my eye was this massive tableture. Every little portico carved into the stone held a bhudda. Amazing craftmanship. Here's a close up.

I picked up a replica of a huge pre-Ming porcelain vase from the gift shop, and made my way back towards the hotel. There was thankfully no rain, so I walked. I crossed under a road and watched a young girl performing acrobatics. She mounted a pedestel using her teeth to support herself upside down, and twirled herself around, folding herself over, points of her toes to her shoulders. An older British lady and I guessed her age to be about five or six years old. This young girl was destined to become a gymnist with the world-reknown Chinese Acrobats, if fate unfolded itself fairly. Her mother was collecting money as her daughter performed, and I gladly gave her a couple of quai.

As I exited the tunnel I was immediately approached by a couple asking the usual questions of where I was from, am I enjoying my visit, and then the tea-ceremony question would pop up. I kept walking as they targeted other foreigners walking through the district. It wasn't long before a lone gentleman pitched the same deal. I was getting pretty pissed off with the situation, and then, a pair of gorgeous asian girls approached with the same song and dance. Now, I know I'm a guest to their country, and should act accordingly. However, it seemed to me that these vultures were learning to speak English merely as a ticket to swindle tourists. I coyly told the girls that I wasn't interested in attending a tea-ceremony, but would enjoy their company in a bubble-bath back at my hotel room. They blushed, and still tried to pursue me to go to the tea-house! The bloody nerve! All the while, the Rolex-DVD-Massage hawkers relentlessly pestered the foreign passer-bys. As I approached an internet cafe, my destination, one final attempt by a lone woman failed to lure me into a tea-ceremony.

I checked my e-mail, and NHL.com. Wade Redden had returned to the line-up after his mother had succumbed to cancer a few days prior. The Sens beat the Bolts 8-4. Wade was one of the goal-scorers.

I wanted to purchase a black fresh-water pearl for my mother, and found a government-run store to do so. Nanjing Donglu is more popular with Chinese shoppers than foreigners, so the salespeople and I had a bit of difficulty communicating what I was searching for. I finally found the perfect pearl. It was difficult to find an unblemished pearl, and the only one that I found unblemished was huge. I went to purchase it on my Mastercard, but the magnetic strip was not co-operating with their machine. I tried to show them the ol' plastic-bag-over-the-card routine, but most likely due to the language barrier, they would have none of it. We tried a manual entry, and that failed to go through. My frustration was growing. I showed them a bank receipt indicating I had about 232,ooo quai at my disposal, but again, no luck. I ended up walking to a bank and taking out 8,000 quai cash for the pearl, and quickly returned to purchase the unit. All smiles now from the salespeople! Grrrrr!!! Love you mom!

I returned to my nearby hotel and soaked away the day's stress in a bubble-bath - alas, without the company of the two gorgeous asian girls...!

2006-09-20T16:27:00.000-06:00

China & Tibet (cont...)

April 21

Amy met me in the lobby around 8:30AM & we went down to the nearby harbour. She made arrangements for me to be picked up at the Yichang Harbour, and got me a room at the Yichang International Hotel. I thanked her for her help, and boarded the "Yangtze Princess". There was a huge breakfast spread layed out in the dinning room, and I filled myself up with bacon, hashbrowns, orange juice and croissants. Western food on the western boat! The room was as good as any of the hotels I had stayed in, granted a bit smaller, but hey, I had my own bathroom! There was even laundry service on the boat, which I took advantage of. It was pricey, but hey, it had to be done.
There were three interpreters/guides on the boat - one English, one German, and one Chinese. Samuel was the English guide. He found me some cigars, and after we cast off, I spent the morning on the foredeck enjoying the view as I read the latest Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child. It was rather foggy, so there weren't any good opportunities for pictures, for now. I grabbed a nap and skipped lunch.
One of the things I noticed as we cruised down the river were several white markers on the banks. I didn't realise their significance until I attended a seminar put on by Samuel about the Three Gorges Dam Project. These markers showed where the water level would sit when Stage III of the TGD was completed. Presently, the water level is at 127m above mean sea level, and it would eventually rise to 175m ASL. There were several communities that were relocated or abandonned due to the eventual flooding.
Here's a few facts I gathered from the seminar... The Yangtze River is the third longest river in the world (the Nile and Amazon take first and second respectively). There are 400 million Chinese that inhabit the Yangtze's watershed. There are plans to divert some of the Yangtze's waters to the Yellow River to the north. this would be done from Chongqing and Yichang, on the downstream side of the dam. There have been a reported 1.2 million people displaced by the completion of Stage II, although this seemed to me a low number considering the above mentionned statistic of 400 million people residing in its watershed... I'll continue on with more mind-numbing numbers as we reach the dam itself.
We stopped at a spot they called "Ghost City". Here was a town that had been leveled and relocated to the other side of the river high up on the banks. There was a Taoist and Bhuddist temple above this "Ghost City" and we trekked to the top to take in the view and the temples. Unfortunately, the majority of these temples and structures had been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, and so the reconstructions were made of cast concrete, and the statues looked more Disneyland-like than authentic. Mind you, I had just been in Tibet and seen the real temples, and genuine Bhuddah statues. There were gift shops here as well, which I felt also spoiled the atmosphere. I saw a white and blue porcelin urn here that I wish I had bought, but hey, I would be in Shanghai in a couple of days and there's bound to be a lot more choice there!
We returned to the boat, and the captain was at the entrance of the dinning room greeting all his passengers. Dinner was a Chinese meal, and it was very good! We were all given a glass of champagne to celebrate our first day cruising on the Yangtze. I signed up for an early morning excursion to the Stone Treasure Stockade.

April 22

The excursion was cancelled this morning because the fog was too thick. There was an announcement over the PA system that we would be passing through the first of the three gorges in about ten minutes. I grabbed a quick shower and made my way to the lower fore-deck to take in the Qutang Gorge. It was only 8km long, and so we passed through it quickly. If you look at the picture to the left, and use a little bit of imagination, the spiked tops of these hills look like the back of some mythical creature diving into the river...
The mountains faded away just in time for breakfast. After filling myself up, I went to the top floor to take in the view from there and struck up a conversation with one of the artists selling his "inside-painting snuff bottles". I watched a video showing the process of making the snuff bottles. It's quite a laborious process. The bottles are turned, not blown. Surfaces can be left clouded or made clear, depending on the sanding and finishing process. Then the painting begins. Very fine brushes are used, and inserted into the bottle and the inside surface of the bottle is painted. I was very thankful for the time this gentleman took to explain the process, and he was happy to practice his English. As we chatted, there were a couple of "fast-boats" that sped by. These Russian built hydrofoils would make the three day journey that we were taking in just 11 hours, but I was told that it's not the most comfortable ride. Plus, you don't really get to see the Gorges properly travelling that fast!

The sun was trying to push through the fog as we entered the next gorge, the Wu Gorge. This second of the three is 45km long. I tried to imagine what this area would look like in a few months. The river is scheduled to rise to 175m in October 2006. There are other benefits from the dam apart from the copious amount of electricity it will generate - the Yangtze will become more navigable by the large boats, and it will control a flooding problem that has plagued the area for centuries. There has been documented evidence that the creation of these large-scale dams disturbs the local atmospheric conditions. Hence the fog will get thicker... There are also reports of more earthquake activity due to the saturation of the land. Furthermore, there is concern from environmentalists that the river's flow will be reduced to such an extent that the water will not be able to properly re-oxyginate itself. Currently, there are no less than 40 villages and towns and about 400 factories that dump their waste and chemical by-products into the river. The world's largest dam will also create the world largest septic tank... There are several species of fish that will suffer from the dam's existance. But more on that when I get to Yichang.
After lunch, we stopped at the port of Badong where we transfer to a smaller boat to travel up one the tributaries of the Yangtze. We cruised by shear cliffs. There were some caves high up in the cliffs where, we were told, the locals would place their dead. The bodies were in coffins and often there were swords or spears left with them to take to the next world. Several of these treasures will be lost with the rise of the waters.
After about 45 minutes, we deboarded the small cruiser and hopped into traditional skids powered by the locals, the Badu. There were six men to steer and row the boat. We went up a fast- flowing creek until the boat tagged the rocky bottom, at which point four of the Badu men hopped out and put on harnesses with a long rope attached to a small mast on the boat. They dragged us up the rocky stretch of water until we came to a deeper section where we crossed the creek to the other bank. Again, the fellows hopped out and dragged us to a deeper area where we turned the boat into small rapids, and rode them down back to our shuttle boat.
We were back onto the Yangtze Princess by about 5:30 that evening. The farwell supper was interesting - the captain came around to each and every table to toast us a good journey. There were 12 tables, and the captain drank a glass of champagne at each one. I'm not sure if he had a substitute drink or not - this would seem unlikely, for the Chinese have great pride in their drinking. I had witnessed a hilarious lunch at a restaurant in Beijing where a table of businessmen were toasting each other quite loudly and getting hammered. They waitresses giggled nervously when they caught my eye watching the spectacle unwind. One of the businessmen came over to offer me a cigarette, and I politely refused, and with a bow and a smile, he returned to his table to go on drinking. It looked like the whole endeavour was to show each other and the surrounding patrons just how much liquor they could consume. There were comb-overs flying everywhere. What a riot. Anyways, I wondered to myself if we would have a drunken captain at the wheel for the rest of the trip!
Tonight, we would be passing through the locks of the TGD. There are five locks, and it took about four hours to go through them all. They are huge... As you can see from this picture, there's a similar cruise boat ahead of us, and there was a coal barge behind us. These locks could accomodate six boats the size of the Yangtze Princess. Unreal. The doors to the locks were massive - I'm sure that they surpassed the footprint of my 1200 square foot house... After passing through a couple of the locks, I called it a night. Tomorrow we would take a tour of the dam itself.

April 23

I woke up to the the sound of blarring horns as we drifted into port. With the boat tied off, we hopped on a bus from Sandouping to the dam. We had a very cheerful guide, Maxwell House (no joke!) who happened to be one of the millions of people displaced by the dam project. We made two stops at the dam - one just below it where a park had been built, and the second on a hill overlooking the dam-site.
Dozens of massive electrical towers were lined up on the hills beside the dam. The dam is just over 2km long. At its base, it is 190m wide, and 18m wide at the top. It stands 185m high. Once completed, there will be 26 turbines generating 84.7 BILLION kW/hr per year. That's 15% of China's total need! Most of that electricity will be going to Beijing and Shanghai. At the interperative center, there is this model of the project. To the right are the huge locks. Between the locks and the dam is where the interperative center is. Just to the right of the dam is the high-speed boat lift for smaller boats. And of course, to the left of the lift is the dam itself.
Our bus had to stop a couple of times as a motorcade would drive by. Maxwell told us there was a "big potatoe" visiting the project today! Unfortunately, the "big potatoe" couldn't do anything about the weather - thick fog blanketed the area. Because of this fog, I couldn't get a good shot of the enitre span of this incredible engineering marvel.
We returned to the Yangtze Princess for the final leg of the cruise. I finally saw some traditional Chinese junks, and snapped this shot of them. We reached Yichang's docks by noon, and as Amy promised, there was a guide waiting for me there. She had a trainee with her as well, but she didn't say much. I checked into the hotel, and grabbed a bite to eat. I had asked the guides if there was anything of interest to see in the city, and they suggested a few places we could visit. So they came back to the hotel in the late afternoon, and we went to visit a museum and a fish hatchery. The museum was very similar to the one I visited in Xi'an, but of course much smaller. The interesting thing about this museum was that all the relics here had been found on a small island that has been swallowed up by the Three Gorges Dam Project. The process of selecting a suitable site for the dam took into consideration several factors, but one of the deciding factors for its present location was the island of Zaobuo (sp?). This island allowed for the dam to be built in two stages laterally, and so the Yangtze did not have to be completely diverted in one stage. Before the contruction began, the island was excavated and the relics found placed in this museum. With the dam nearing completion, the museum is all that is left of that island.
We then went to an amazing hatchery that was founded to preserve several endangered species affected by the dam. The biggest star attraction is the Chinese Sturgeon. They are huge! The largest ever recorded weighed in at 500kg, and measured over 5m long. There are also Yangtze River Dolphins - maybe a meter in length, with a brownish skin. Their heads reminded me of a beluga whale rather than the bottle-nose dolphins. There are also Yangtze porpoises, and to my surprise Yangtze alligators. I had no idea that there were alligators in China, but there they were! They were small, maybe a meter in length, but it was still cool to see these freshwater reptiles.
I asked the tour guide to take me shopping for blue and white porcelin, but I had no luck finding anything I liked. On our way back to the hotel, we were passed by a motorcycle with a huge pig strapped to the back of the bike - still alive and looking very uncomfortable. It was both an amuzing and disturbing sight to see - certainly not something I'd see cruising around in a cab in downtown Calgary!
I had supper at the hotel - there is a revolving restaurant on the roof. I finished my book, and found myself officially out of reading material. Well, I'm sure I'll be able to find an English bookstore in Shanghai tomorrow.

2006-09-18T16:58:00.000-06:00

China & Tibet (cont...)

April 15

After a quick breakfast and farewell with Yelle, Yuo and Angie (a Canadian girl living in Thailand), I met up with Killian, Jeyho and Kijeong in the lobby of the Yak Hotel. The Australian girl was still feeling sick, so it was just the four of us plus our driver. We set out westbound for Everest at about 9AM. There are two roads to Shigatse, and we took the Southern Friendship Highway. Now this was definitely a "high"way... The road was carved into the side of the mountains, switchbacking, often without guardrails on the sides. There were also some pretty hairy washboarded spots, making for an exciting journey! We quickly gained altitude, and I suffered yet another headache. Pia was nice enough to give me her Diamox, since she would no longer need it - she had been in Lhasa for a couple of weeks and had aclimatized. I took half a pill and popped some of the local herb capsules. We stopped at the top of the Kamba-la pass (elev. 4800m) to take in a view of Yamdrok-tso ("tso" is Tibetan for lake).
In the distance is Mt. Nojin Kangtsang, where we would stop later in the day. Yamdrok-tso is sacred to the Tibet people. I was given a crash course on the roles of the Panchen Lama and the Dalai Lama by Killian. There is usually a 30 or so year difference in age between the Panchen Lama and the Dalai Lama. This is because they both play an important role in the choosing of each other's successor. To chose the next Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama would cast off a sacred boat onto Yamdrok-tso, and whichever direction the wind would blow the boat, that was the direction to seek the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. It is very obvious to see the importance of the lake to the Tibetan people. However, the Chinese see the lake as an opportunity to bring cheap power to the Lhasa region... They have drilled a 6km tunnel under the lake, and are gravity draining the lake into a river nearby. This is a tragedy, because the lake cannot replenish itself naturally - there are no springs and no glaciers to feed it. Already, the level of the lake has dropped, and environmentalists figure it will be a mere pond within 20 years. The Chinese claim the electricity will benefit the Tibetan people, however, Tibetans are quick to declare that the electricity will further encourage the immigration of the Han into Tibet... There are plans similar to the Yamdrok-tso project in the works at other lakes in Tibet.
We stopped at the Lhasa Restaurant in Nangartse. This village's claim to fame is a nearby dzong (fort) where the mother of the Fifth Dalai Lama was born. I had a wonderful curry for lunch. We continued our trip and headed towards Gyantse. The road soon became gravel, skirting waddis and rubble covered slopes. We stopped below the Nojin-Kangtsang Glacier to take pictures of this chorten and the flag pole. Reading from the Lonely Planet guide, it was in this area in the early 1900's that a British expedition clashed forces with a Tibetan army. The British desperately wanted to control Tibet to prevent it from falling into Russian hands. Before long, an agreement was signed between the Chinese and British whereby the Chinese were handed over the "rights" to Tibet. This occured in 1906, long before the struggle for Tibetan independence began in earnest.
We continued on through the Karo-la pass (elev. 5045m) and dropped down into the Simu-la pass (elev. 4330m). The rapid elevation changes were taxing on my head, causing dizziness, but I was so elated to be doing this travel, that it seemed just a pesky inconvinience.
We reached the town of Gyantse by mid-afternoon and took the time to explore the Pelkor Chode Monestary, home of the Gyantse Kumbum. This is the largest chorten in Tibet. It was built in 1427, rising 35m. There were beautiful paintings inside the temples. These religious paintings, called thangkas, showed the several bhuddas, sky burials and many other ornamental ceremonies.
Gyantse was a fortified town, surrounded by a red wall. Most of it was destroyed by the British in the 1904 invasion. We unfortunately did not have the time to go up to the dzong, where I'm sure we would have gotten a beautiful view of the town below. But we wanted to get to Shigatse by nightfall, so we pressed on.
The eject function of the CD player in our Land Cruiser wasn't working, so we suffered a terrible fate - the same album played over and over and over again. It was a Tibetan folk/rock band, and I would have probably enjoyed it if we had only heard two or three times during our 5 day trek, but by the afternoon of the first day, we were all sick of it, except the driver! The iPod came in handy, that's for sure! Jackson Browne was crooning as we got to Shigatse, and we checked into the Tenzin Hotel. Killian and I went for a stroll to a huge internet cafe where children congregated to play video games. The connection was weak at best, so I couldn't find out how my Senators were doing in their first round of the playoffs. I noticed that the majority of the children here were Han Chinese, not Tibetan...
I grabbed a hot shower (what a treat!) and turned in for the night.

April 16

I woke up this Easter Sunday thinking, "I'm going to see Mount Everest today!" We headed out at 8:30AM. It was a long barren drive through sandy plains. There were sand dunes marked with ripples from the howling wind, surrounded by immense, round-topped mountains rising through a dark blue sky. To my utter astonishment, we past a few villages. There are no machines to facilitate the farming here. All is done by hand and by yak-power, from irrigation, to sowing, to cultivation. One of the several hardships that the Tibetans had to endure at the beginning of the occupation was the Chinese forcing the Tibetans to switch to rice instead of the proven barley harvests that their people had lived on for generations. There were tragic rammafications: the rice would not grow at these altitudes and climate, and thousands of Tibetans starved to death. The rice-mandate has since been rescinded, but the impact cannot be overlooked.
We stopped in a tiny village called Lhatse, where I enjoyed some fries and another tasty curry. I couldn't quite figure out the satelite-dish looking devices in the courtyard from a distance, but when I got closer to it, I saw that it was infact what they used to boil their water. I wish I had taken a picture of one of these devices... It's a large bowl like dish made of metal with a stand in its center to hang a pot, and the bowl concentrates the sunlight onto the pot to boil its contents. Pretty resourceful!
We got back on the road and had a nice long stretch of smooth highway. We turned off the pavement to follow the Bun-chu river heading towards Shegar, where we would get our permits to enter the Qomolangma Nature Reserve. After turning south off the Friendship Highway, we hit a checkpoint in Chay where we had to produce our passports. It was a Chinese soldier in uniform that checked our documents, and again, I found this odd. Why would they not give these jobs to the Tibetans? We stopped at the entrance to the Qomolangma Nature Reserve to take some pictures. There were hundreds of prayer flags covering the entrance, wishing good fortune and safe passage to travellers.
Our first glimpse of Mount Everest came as we crested the Pang-la pass (elev. 5120m). There were some Tibetans up here selling fossils, prayer beads and flags. We shared some food with them, and took some pictures. There was a plaque to show which peak was which, and again, I regret not having taken a picture. I guess the altitude might have dumbed me down a few notches! We made our way down to the valley below and passed through several old villages. We had to stop at another checkpoint of sorts to change vehicles. It cost 80 yuan for the bus ride to and from the world's highest monestary, but the saving grace was that it was run by Tibetans. I have absolutely no beef with finally seeing these people making a living from the tourist trade. While we waited for our bus to arrive, we sat with a girl who had suffered a quick onset of acute mountain sickness (AMS). She hadn't taken any medication, and I don't know how high an elevation change she had gone through, but once she had gotten up to the Rongphu Monestary, she lost feeling in one of her arms, and lost her sight. That must have been terrifying... She seemed to be doing all right, and we shared some chocolate and offered some of our meds to her. The rest of her tour group showed up as we headed up to Rongphu.
It was about a 20km bumpy ride to the monestary. There were yaks grazing in front of the buildings, and a couple of children immediately swarmed us begging for change, or anything we could spare.
We settled into our room and grabbed a quick bite to eat. I felt alright, although I had a tingling in my left foot and left hand. I took another half pill of Diamox and walked it off, snapping pictures of the monestary, and of course, Mount Everest. The sun began to set, and Everest became envelopped in a pink hue. It was fading fast, and so I tried my best to get a good shot.

This one turned out pretty good! It was a cold and restless sleep at 4980m, but I was looking forward to tomorrow when we'd head up to Everest Base Camp!

April 17

I woke up around 7:30AM and grabbed a small breakfast. Very glad to have brought a toque along! The four of us headed for EBC at about 8:30. We followed a well-beaten gravel road towards our destination. I have done far more technically difficult hikes in and around the Banff area, but none as tiring as this one. It was only 8km, with a gentle elevation gain of 220m, but it took Killian and I about two hours with all the stops I had to make to catch my breath. I had a couple of burps that tasted like eggs, and I couldn't figure out for the life of me where this taste was coming from. Then Killian deduced it must be the Diamox - it's a sulpher based drug! Well, if that was the only side-effect I'd suffer, I was all too happy to deal with it!

I gained a new respect for mountaineers on this little hike. Television definitely does not do them any justice. I had seen programs about climbing expeditions, and seen the mountaineers gasping for air with their 60lbs packs on their backs. I always thought they were exagerating for the cameras, but hell no!
As we came up to a narrow plateau, the tent city emmerged. The one that caught my eye was this one, the "Hotel California"! The building on the hill is a Chinese administration office, if I remember correctly. We climbed the mound to the right to get some pictures as well. There were several prayer flags and pictures of sherpas and climbers left by a mound of rocks here. I had a bunch of post-cards I wanted to send of from the highest post-office in the world, but unfortunately it was closed. Killian and I hung around anticipating it's opening. We entered a tent beside the P.O. and drank some Jasmine tea with a couple of sherpas. Killian decided to try an experiment - how long would it take to smoke a cigarette at 5200m! Well, it took 15.5 minutes, roughly. Pretty incredible! We got up to leave, and the owners unfortunately ripped us off. They wanted 20 yuan each for the tea! It was ludicrous, and we let them know how we felt about it by gestures. I think they were squeezing us because we hadn't bought any of the trinkets they had tried to sell us, including a knife that sat on the table between us and the sherpa...! It was a smear on the day, considering Jeyho had paid 5 yuan at a tent further down the road, but really, $3 wouldn't dissolve the thrill of being at Everest Base Camp! It became apparent that the P.O. wasn't going to open today, to my disappointment.

It was a cloudy day, but I had seen enough, and Killian was ready to head back to Rongphu as well. Jeyho and Kijeong decided to wait it out to see if the clouds would pass by. So we got back to the monestary, and I decided to grab a nap. At about 6PM, Killian was starting to feel sick and he was thinking about going back down to the place where we switched vehicles. I decided to keep him company, as I thought it would be warmer down there, and I was still suffering from the tingling sensations in my extremities.

We waited in the lounging area - the stove was stoked with dried Yak dung, but didn't stink the room up. We met another Irishman, and a couple of dutch folks. The most intriguing man there was an older fellow, George. He was Swiss, and he was on a biking trip from Sydney, Australia heading back to Switzerland! Unreal! He biked from Sydney to Darwin, then flew up to Bali, and has been biking ever since. He decided to take a path through India, Iran, Algeria and Europe instead of a straight-line through Russia! Quite the adventure! He had gone through four back tires and one front so far... I hope he made it without any drama!

The bus finally showed up at around 9PM, and we made it to the vehicle switching stop just before last light. I felt better already!

April 18

Woke up at 8AM - there was frost everywhere! Glad that I decided to join Killian down here... The toilet was absolutely abismal! I had to mask up, and put some eucalyptus ointment in the mask to overpower the stench! Most places scattered ash on the mound of crap to absorb the smell, but this place didn't.

By 10AM, Jeyho and Kijeong made it down, and it sounds like they didn't get any better pictures. I had lucked out with my decision to come down! We took the bumpy trail out of the Qomolangma Nature Reserve, and we got to Shigatse by 5:30PM. It was a long day, with the same CD playing over and over again!! I headed down to the internet cafe to check out the hockey scores, and had supper with the gang at the Tenzin Hotel. Unfortunately, the hot showers weren't working - the water is heated by the sun on the roof of the hotel, and there hadn't been any sun since we had left the place two days ago. I crashed early, still basking in the realisation that I had made it to Everest. Yes, it was relatively easy, but thinking of all the things I had accomplished so far, this was a memory that I could never forget.

April 19

Shigatse is home to another large monestary - the Tashilhunpo Monestary. There is much history to this monestary. Its founder, Genden Drup, had the monestary built in 1447. He was declared the First Dalai Lama posthumously, and his remains are enshrished here. However, Tashilhunpo's status grew when the Fifth Dalai Lama declared his teacher a manifestation of Opagme. Opagme is the representation of Bhudda's perception and perfected cognition. The Fifthe Dalai Lama's teacher was, at the time, the abbot of Tashilhunpo. This gave birth to a new lineage in the Tibetan culture: the Panchen Lamas. We got up early to go visit the geounds of the monestary, and were lucky enough to witness a huge ceremony in the main temple. It was a very musical event, with drums beating, horns blowing and the monks chanting. Mesmerising! It took a good two hours to circle the entire area. Several of the Panchen Lamas are entombed here at Tashilhunpo Monestary.

I took this picture below at the Tashilhunpo Monestary - beautiful & elegant carpentry accented by the bright colours they used to paint it. There is most likely some spiritual significance to the artwork, perhaps depicting the path to enlightenment, however, I am ignorant of it. I just admired the detail, and thought of all the man-hours it would have taken to produce such a beautiful and functional piece of art.

We headed for Lhasa around noon, and took the Northern Friendship Highway. It was all paved, and made for a comfortable ride. The Yak Hotel had no single rooms available, so I stayed at the Airways Hotel in the shadow of the Potala Palace. It was the only place in Tibet that I found a sit-down toilet! I grabbed a hot shower and washed my socks and underwear in the sink. I had run out of any clean stuff, and tomorrow would be a travel day. I wasn't sure if the Yangtze River cruise boat I was going on had any laundry facilities, so I figured I best not tempt fate.

I joined Killian, Jeyho, Kijeong for supper and enjoyed my first beer in Tibet. I had been over-precautious about not taking in any alcohol at this altitude, but I didn't want to spoil any chances of enjoying my time up here. We dinned at the Namtso where we met Pia and two Quebecers, Stephane and Hugo. We all went down to the Dunya Bar and met up with Jon, Vic and Emery. We sat around talking about this that and the other. It was a very relaxing evening, and people slowly trickled out of the bar as the night wound down. I played a great game of chess with Frank from Germany. We played until the owners of the bar asked us to leave - I resigned my King, and Frank was disappointed the day was done. I guess he hadn't had anyone to play with for a while!

April 20

The travel day... Got up early to catch the shuttle to the airport, and to my surprise, I ran into Angie. I picked up a "Yak Yak Yak" shirt in the airport. She was on a later flight, so we parted company. It was an uneventful flight to Chengdu. Had an aisle seat and no one beside me. I was famished, and I don't think I'd ever enjoyed airline food so much! I had six hours to burn in the Chengdu airport. With the temperature change of 5 degrees to 23, I had a quick "camp shower" in the washroom, and changed into some shorts. Six hours was unfortunately not enough time to go exploring the town. The surrounding area is home to a couple of exhibits for Giant Pandas.

Cal had showed me some awesome pictures that he had taken at one of the reservations. Pretty cute animals, but also pretty much useless!! They eat bamboo chutes like it's going out of style, but their bodies can only process a small percentage of it. Makes for a poop-machine. They are also very particular about what species of bamboo they will eat as well. Definitely reminded me of the Koala, in this respect.

There are only about 1000 left in the wild, if I remember correctly, and they are inbred like crazy. Pandas have a very short three month mating season in the spring. To complicate matters, the Panda's penis is so miniscule, the zoos have to place a stint of some sort to ensure insertion. How dignified is that? Seems to me that the only reason the Panda hasn't gone extinct is due to its "cuteness factor" that has provided human intervention. They are beautiful creatures, though. If there are two or more cubs born, the mother will only keep one and abandon the others, sometimes crushing them while they sleep. The Chinese government continues to fund the reproductive research facilities to try to ensure their survival.

In any case, I wandered around the airport and found a sweet internet cafe. It cost me 30 yuan for unlimited access and a bottomless cup of coffee. I was there about an hour or so, and Angie walked in with a great big smile on her face - she managed to find herself a flight to Bangkok, where she lives.

After about 8 cups of coffee, I walked down to the regional airport about 10 minutes away and caught an EMB 145 to Chongqing. I had previously arranged for a ride to my airport with a friend of Jim Beam's (from Xi'an). Much to my dismay, my ride wasn't waiting for me. I contacted Jim, and he said he'd look into it. I called him back a few minutes later, and he said there was another car on its way - the first one had been in an accident. My ride arrived, and I had a beautiful guide named Amy Pu take me to the hotel. She was very appologetic, not to mention gorgeous. Around 11pm, the phones in each neighboring room, as well as mine, started ringing. I answered "Weeeiiii???" and a female voice spoke soflty. I asked if she spoke any English, and unfortunately she didn't. It took a couple of minutes till I clued in - the hotel was offering "extra" services to its clients, and at this time of night that could only mean... well, you can figure it out.

I had a restless sleep - way too much coffee!

2006-09-17T14:27:00.000-06:00

China & Tibet (cont...)

April 13

The airport was interesting. A girl came up to me to take a survey about the services offered at the airport. With the survey done, she stayed to practice her English and I tried to learn some new Chinese words. It was a recurring theme in China, especially if I showed them the Lonely Planet's phrase book. They would go through each and every word! After a while, the girl's boss came along and told her to get back to work. I complimented her on her English telling her that she spoke English far better than I spoke Chinese.
I managed to get a window seat for the flight to Lhasa - an advantage of showing up early to the airport! It was a very bumpy flight, but that's to be expected when flying over mountains. I found my first look at the Himalayas reminded me of the Rocky Mountains. When I de-boarded the plane, the altitude hit me hard. I felt dizzy, and was short of breath. On the bus from the airport to Lhasa, I met two Dutch brothers, Yuo and Yelle. We discussed teaming up to go to Everest Base Camp. We spotted our first Tibetan monks walking along the roadside. It turns out we were staying at the same hostel, so once unpacked, we decided to stretch our legs and check out the message boards at the other hostels to see about getting a trip organized to EBC. At the Yak Hotel, I met an Irishman, Killian, interested in getting a tour flanged up. He already had a Korean couple, and possibly an Australian girl as well, however she was feeling sick from the altitude. I signed on with the Koreans and Killian after the Dutch fellows figured they just didn't have the time to go on the tour...
I joined Killian for supper at the Tashi 2 restaurant and met his travel partner, Jon, and an Israeli couple, Vic and Emery, and a dutch girl named Pia. On my way back to the hostel, I saw a monk, and I smiled as I removed my toque and showed my shaved melon. He walked towards me smiling, and reached for my hand with both of his, and we continued to walk as he murmured his mantras. Absolutely amazing. I turned in early in hopes of a good night's sleep.

April 14

Slept alright - the bed was the softest all trip, so far! Woke up with a dirty headache from the altitude. I grabbed some breakfast with Yuo and Yelle, and went to the bank to get my money for the Everest excursion. I ran into Vic and Emery at the bank, and they told be about a herbal medicine the locals have here to deal with the headaches. I found some at the pharmacy next door, and then ran into Jeyho and Killian. Perfect timing! I passed along my money to them, and set out for the Norbulingka with Yelle and Yuo.
The Norbulingka is the Summer Palace of the Dalai Lama. Commissioned by the seventh Dalai Lama in 1755, the Norbulingka served as the base of operations for the Tibetan government in the summer months. It was here at Norbulingka that the 14th (current) Dalai Lama escaped the clutches of the Chinese invasion in 1959. He fled dressed as a Tibetan soldier. Tens of thousands of Tibetans gathered around the Summer Palace to protect their Dalai Lama. The Chinese bombarded the Norbulingka, and there were very few buildings that weren't dammaged. It was a surreal feeling to be in a room where the Dalai Lama would have received foreign dignitaries, and meditated. The grounds of the Summer Palace are not as beautifully manicured as I had expected, however, there is not enough money to keep things immaculate. The nature of the occupation of Tibet is a contributing factor to this fact as well.
From here, we set off to see the Sera Monestary, one of the largest monestaries in Tibet. This monestary was once home to around 5000 monks, and five colleges of instruction. Today, there are a few hundred monks residing here, and three colleges. It was built in 1419, and fortunately survived the invasion of 1959 relatively unscathed. Here is a picture of a chorten at the Sera Monestary. There are prayer wheels surrounding its base. Pilgrims walk clockwise around the chorten spinning the prayer wheels clockwise. The chorten is symbolically important to the Tibetans. Chortens were first created to hold the cremated relics of the first Bhudda, Sakyamuni. The square base represents the earth, the dome water, the spire fire, and the moon and sun represent air and space.
We entered the main temple, and there sat dozens and dozens of monks praying and chanting, unpreturbed by the visiting tourists. We circled the great hall clockwise as is custom. At the front of the hall are several statues of the different Bhuddas, with white silk scarves thrown on them as offereings from pilgrims. There were also large plates with candles burning yak butter and yak milk, more offerings from the pilgrims. The scent definitely added to the experience! We were not allowed to take pictures in the chapels, however, for a fee that worked out to about $4, we were allowed to take pictures of the monks inside the great hall as they prayed. There is a hierarchy to the rows of monks - the closer to the middle row, and the closer to the alters bearing the Bhudda statues, the higher the rank of the monk. Here's a great picture of the monks praying. Beautiful tapestries hung everywhere. We left the Sera Monestary and grabbed some "babi" at the Tashi 2 restaurant - good stuff! It was sort of like a tortilla wrap, and of course there was some yak meat in there!
The three of us then went off to the Potala Palace. The palace was comissioned by the Fifth Dalai Lama. Known as the greatest of all Dalai Lamas, the Fifth wanted to move his government from the Drepong Monestary to a new location. Worked was started in 1645, and the Dalai Lama moved there upon the completion of the White Palace in 1649. The Red Palace's origins are clouded by different recollections. It is agreed that the Fifth Dalai Lama died in 1682, however, the public was not told of his death until after the completion of the Red Palace in 1694. The debate is whether the Dalai Lama had comissioned the Red Palace as a funeral chorten for himself prior to his death, or if it was the regent that comissioned the building after the death of the Dalai Lama. Either way, the body of the Fifth Dalai Lama was the first to be moved to the Red Palace and is housed in a magnificant chorten encrusted with jewels and gold. Every subsequent Dalai Lama is laid to rest in the Potala Palace, and pilgrims come to offer their respect.
We then proceeded to go grocery shopping for the upcoming treks of tomorrow. After ditching our stuff in the hostel room, we headed down to the Jokhang Temple. Surrounding the temple is a pilgrimage circuit, also called a kora, known as the Barkhor. Here, there are several vendors selling everything from t-shirts to yak cheese to prayer wheels. It was amazing to follow the flow of people walking around the temple, praying as they spun their prayer wheels. Children would come and beg, monks would be seated meditating, and at the front of the Jokhang Temple, the pilgrims would kneel, slide forward on their palms, slide back, and stand up repetitively. We entered the temple with several devout Tibetans cramming into the chapels to offer their yak milk and butter, some throwing the white silk scarves on the statues of Bhudda. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the chapels here, but what an amazing experience. The people were so tolerant of foreigners being inside their holy places. It's tragic that the Chinese can't just leave these people to their way of life. The picture to the left shows a view of the Potala Palace from the roof of the Jokhang Temple with a prayer-flag pole in the foreground. Here below is a shot of the roof of the temple. The Wheel of Law is flanked by two deer, and the vases of immortality are made of copper.
The Dutch boys and I walked through the narrow streets off of the Barkhor wandering around aimlessly. Yuo played a bit of footy with some local kids, much to their delight! We met up for supper with Cal, a Brit we met at the Snowlands. The restaurant, the Nam-tso, offered a wide variety of different foods, and I took advantage of it - chicken pizza! I headed back to the hostel for an early night's rest. The trek to Everest begins tomorrow!

2006-08-24T10:11:00.000-06:00

China & Tibet (cont...)

April 7

What a day... Started out early heading out at 6:30AM. Walked through the local hutongs to Tiananmen Square. Lots of hutongs are being bulldozed to make way for high rise appartment buildings. The people are relocated and then offered a good price for housing in the new buildings. There are hutongs that are spared as heritage buildings - some of them as old as 600 years.
Tiananmen was breath-taking. To think of the recent history made here. Chairman Mao had the square built, and several hutongs were plowed down to make room for this tribute to the people of China. In the center of the square lies the "Monument to the People's Heros", pictured here. To the east is the Museum of Chinese History, and to the west the Great Hall of the People. To the north lies the Forbidden City, and at the south is the Chairman Mao Mausoleum. Soldiers in their uniforms marched in pairs across the square, and I was told that there are plenty of plain clothed authorities around to quickly disperse any potential protests. This picture shows the picture of Chairman Mao at the "Gate of Heavenly Peace" entrance to the Forbidden City He gazes solemnly across Tiananmen Square as soldiers march.

I crossed the road towards the Forbidden City using an underground pedestrian walkway, and there was a television crew filming. Grips were shuffling people along, but upon seeing my smiling white face, this one particular grip smiled, trying to explain the movie with much enthusiasm! I returned the fellow a big thumbs up, and off I went. Directly to the west of the Forbidden City is a complex housing all the high end Communist Party elite. There was a large gateway, highly ornamental, which was guarded by two soldiers, and then two plain clothed mafioso types ahead of them. I inadvertently stepped on a line painted on the ground and one of the mafioso types pointed it out to me harshly. Stupid waiguoren! I circled the complex to get to Behai Park.
Behai Park is associated with Kublai Khan's palace. It predates the Forbidden City. There is a large white dagoba on an islet which was built in honour of the Dalai Lama's visit in 1651. The biggest attraction in the park is the Nine Screen Dragon. It is a wall 5m high and 27m long and both sides are covered in beautiful coloured glazed tiles. The park is filled with people waltzing, telling stories & practicing Tai-Chi. I stood and watched an elderly gentlman practicing his skills at calligraphy. Using a giant brush and water, the pavement was his canvas.
I left Behai Park and made my way to the Forbidden City. Unbelievable... There were several tour groups, lots of them asian. The architecture and masonry is unreal. To think of the man-hours to build these structures is absolutely mind-numbing! The buildings have no nails to fasten them together. There are on-going restoration projects for the upcoming Olympics. Even the stone-brick floors in the courtyards are being replaced one by one. The Hall of Supreme Harmony, the largest of the halls in the Forbidden City, is encased in scafolding. The Forbidden City was original built in the 1400's. It was home to the emporers of the last two dynasties: the Ming and Quing dynasties. The courtyard in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony could hold an audience of 100,000 people. There are several museum exhibits showing the arms, pottery, jewlery and elaborate uniforms of the soldiers. Colours determined the rank and prestige of the soldiers.
At the very back of the Forbidden City is a beautiful garden. There are two identical pavillions surrounded by moats. In these moats are very large Koi fish being fed by the visitors. There is also a huge rock garden that was built using sticky rice. Before cement, this was the bonding agent used. I imagine they had to rebuild the rock garden several times after rainfalls, until cement replaced sticky rice!
I was told that there is a Starbucks somewhere in the Forbidden City, but I didn't see it, which is a good thing. I bought food from a small stand inside the complex, and it was horrible, but I wasn't there for the culinary delights. It took the better part of the day to see the Forbidden City, and I could have easily spent another day there to go through all the museum and exhibits. A fantastic day with perfect weather!

April 8

Pretty lazy day! I purchased a "Pipa" - a four-stringed lute. Went to the bank & reserved a cab for 4AM through the hostel. Can't say enough about how great the hostel turned out! Had Peking Duck for supper. Absolutely delicious! Early to bed for my flight to Xi'an tomorrow!

April 9

Mmm... Kit-Kat for breakfast! Good thing I brought those fruit bars along for the ride! I talked with an extremely interesting businessman from Brunei at the airport. He explained to me that Bejing planners have put a halt to all construction that cannot be completed before the Olympics. He also spoke of a book called "1421" which theorizes that the Chinese came to the Americas before Christopher Columbus. Can't wait to read that one! (I've since read the book and it is absolutely fascinating - a must read. To think that if the Chinese had continued with their explorations instead of closing themselves off from the rest of the world is great brain-candy. We'd most likely have a Bhuddist society instead of Christian in the Americas, and who knows what kind of political structure would exist today...)
Uneventful flight, and made it to the hotel by 10AM. I spent 3 hours with the hotel manager, Jim Beam of Lonely Planet fame, planning the rest of my trip... So off to Tibet on Thursday for 8 days, then cruising the Yangtze for three days, Shanghai for three days, and then back to Beijing. Sweet! Had lunch with Jim Beam and two American girls who were studying Mandarin in Beijing. One of the girls could carry a conversation in Madarin, so I figured she was really enjoying herself. She said that the Chinese treated her like she was retarded because she was asian, but could not speak the language. This surprised me quite a bit! I slept the afternoon off and went for a walk around town.
Xi'an was the ancient capital of China. It has city walls that are being reconstructed. I was situated in the North West corner of the walled city near the train station. What a zoo! There were also very aggressive massage girls. One grabbed me by the shirt to drag me into he shop, and another grabbed me by the wrist! I returned to the hotel and on the way was propositionned by more girls making jestures that left no doubt that they were prostitutes! I resigned myself to the hotel restaurant to avoid any further harassment...

April 10

I walked around the perimeter of the north half of the city walls. Amazing... Couldn't get up on the wall itself, although I did come across a gateway with stairs leading up to the top. It was closed, so maybe I was up too early! There were several parks along the outside of the wall where people practiced Tai-Chi, music and meditation. I made my way down to the Bell Tower in the heart of the city, and spent a quiet afternoon relaxing at the hotel.

April 11

Another highlight day! Off at 8:30AM to see the Terracotta Warriors. Oustanding! I was lucky too. There was one of the four farmers who discovered the warriors present, signing books. I purchased one of the books with his autograph. In 1974, these farmers were digging a water well when pieces of pottery began to come up. Apparently, a hand or a head freaked them out and they smashed everything they found and vacated the area. Time passed, and it turned out they weren't cursed. They returned to the land and when the government caught wind of the find, they expropriated the land and began a huge excavation project.
The Army of Terracotta Warriors was built to surround the tomb of Qin Shi Huang. This warrior ascended to be the first Emperor (Shi Huang) by defeating all tribes, and uniting the country. He standardized the written script and currency, but was a tyrannical leader.
The statues have solid legs, and a hollow body. They were also painted and held weapons that were so well made and treated, that they were still sharp when unearthed 2000 years after they were buried. Between the rows of statues are walls that used to hold up a wooden roof to support the tons of earth they were buried beneath. Each Terracotta Warrior has a different face, leading some believe that they were based on their creators. Qin Shi Huang died in 221BC. A friend of mine told me of a theory that his medical advisor was feeding him a recently discovered elixir - that elixir turned out to be mercury. The liquid metal could have been a contributing factor to the meglomaniacle undertaking of building the Army or Terracotta Warriors. After Qin Shi Huang's death, his son took over but was quickly defeated in a peasant's revolt. The peasants raided the tombs, stealing their staffs, bows, swords and anything precious they could find. They smashed the Terracotta Warriors, and set the tombs on fire. To date, of the 6000 or so statues found, only this one was completely intact. There were several hawkers around the excavation site's entrance selling their trinkets, but they weren't too overwhelming. I spent three hours at the site, and it was an unforgetable experience!
I returned to the city of Xi'an and stopped at the Shaanxi History Museum. Very elaborate exhibits starting from 5000-3000 BC to the Ming Dynasty. I learned that the Chinese written language came to exist after a certain tribe's chief observed the footprints of birds in the mud. Different birds left different markings, and thus their written language evolved.
There was a huge sand storm that passed through Beijing today. There was even some silt that made it all the way down to Xi'an. It was so fine and hung in the air, and I coughed alot today. But my memories of today will be about the warriors, not the storm!

April 12

I returned to the Bell Tower today, and by good fortune, I got this picture with no traffic! I took in a musical performance exhibiting the many different bells and percussion instruments of the 13th century. I then wandered over to the Drum Tower about a block away, and my timing couldn't have been any better: I caught a performance of several drummers. Wish I had a video camera to record these events...

April 13

I think I'm getting the hang of this! I fly to Tibet today at 13:00, and I wanted to hit the Tomb of Han Jing on the way to the airport. So I jumped in a cab and made my way down to a five-star hotel. Funny, I told the cabbie I was Canadian, and he put a Celine Dion CD in the radio! Cracked me up. He probably got the wrong impression! So at the five-star, I ended up hiring a car to take me to the tomb and then to the airport! For 200 yuan! That's about $30! Sweet! It cost me 162 yuan to get from the airport to the hotel in the first place, so this was a steal! So off I went to the Tomb of Han Jing. He ruled after the peasants revolt, and was a much kinder, gentler ruler. And it shows in his selection of protectors for the after-life. His armies of figurines stand only about 18" tall, and there are several animals depicting an agricultural society's existance more than a warrior's. As you can see, the statues have no arms - the arms were made of wood.
The museum itself did not allow for pictures to be taken, however, once in the excavation area, pictures were allowed. The excavation site is awesome - you walk on glass floors to look down at the archeologists working away. There were five major animals important to these peoples lives: the ox, the cow, the horse, pigs, and dogs (yes, dogs were bred for food). There have been a few chickens unearthed, but they are few and far between. Here's a display in the excavation pit where there are rows upon rows of animals are being uncovered.
I left for the airport feeling very happy about my experiences in Xi'an. So much history here... And to think that in just a few hours, I'd find myself in Shangri-La, the "Land of Snows"... Tibet.

China & Tibet

2006-08-01T01:13:00.000-06:00

I get asked alot - "why China?"
I was absolutely fascinated with the Chinese culture as recounted in James Clavell's "Asian Saga". The more I read, the more I wanted to experience China. Although I didn't make it to Hong Kong (where Tai-pan and Noble House are set), it's on the radar for the next trip across the Pacific (2009?).

April 1 & 2

I flew out of Vancouver to Beijing. Took 11 hours - 3 movies worth! We flew along the Alaskan coast. Fascinating watching the giant ice floes. Pretty uneventful flight, except at the end when someone fell ill, and they called for a doctor over the intercom.
My first glimpse of Asia was a range of jagged, jutting rocky mountains piercing through mist - seemed majical! Customs was a breeze to go through...
I grabbed a cab to the Marriot - all speed and all horn. This city is huge... Had a delicious supper: rice, duck, squid and veggies.

April 3

Figured out that it's Monday. Outside my window in a courtyard, I watched about 20 people practicing Tai-Chi. Looks like a morning ritual before going to work!
Spent the day at the Summer Palace - magnificent!
Weather was great, although it was smoggy. This picture is a pavillion beside the 17-arch bridge in the Summer Palace. The arcitechture is just beautiful... It took about 3 hours to walk around the grounds open to the public. I bought a small scroll that depicts life at the Summer Palace in its hey-day.

Pictured to the right is the 17-arch bridge. There were several immaculate gardens throughout the grounds. Plum & cherry trees, and huge magnolias dotted the area. I then went to check out the Hutongs. These areas are narrow roads winding endlessly through short buildings. There are shops, restaurants, and housing. The hutongs are famous for their "street food". Delicious! I ended up in a restaurant where George Bush Senior had eaten.

Traffic is unbelievable! Apparently, to help lighten traffic, the Beijing authorities are flirting with several different options. One of them is to grant access to all roadways to odd numbered licence plates one day, and even numbered the next...

April 4

Hostel is great! I've got my own bathroom, and breakfast is included. I'm about two kilometers from Tiananmen Square, an there's tons of shopping around this area. Gonna spend the day figuring out which tours I'd like to take tomorrow and Thursday. I wandered through the hutongs of this area and picked up some silk outfits for the twins (my nephews). Pictured to the right is a typical hutong. The food is unbelievable. Found a gem of a spot just down the road. Muslim Chinese shishkabobs. Good stuff!

Booked a tour of the Great Wall at Jinshanling and Simatai. It's a 10km hike along a portion of the wall that has been partially restored, and a portion that hasn't been touched at all. Can't wait!

April 5

We drove about an hour and half north of Beijing to a tiny farming community. The drive was an experience - we were travelling in a bus, overtaking on a hill around blind corners... Yikes! Seems like they have their own code of conduct on the roads: honk if you are turning, honk if you are cutting someone off, or just honk to wave hello to whoever you are passing! Insha Allah (in God's hands), I guess. This pictures shows Simatai. I walked through 30 guard towers in various degrees of deterioration.
So we were dropped off in this tiny village, and accompanied by some of the locals along the path to the wall. They were selling t-shirts, books, post-cards etc... One of them kept up with me - a middle aged lady. She appointed herself my guide! So after this short hike to the wall, we entered through the base of one of the pill-boxes onto the Jinshanling portion. There were steep steps sometimes 18 inches or so high. At times, it looked like a 70 degree climb! Absolutely breathtaking views...
The weather cooperated again - sunny all day! The guide kept up really well - I guess this is what she does for a living, so she's in fantastic shape! I bought a panoramic picture of Jinshanling from her and tipped well for her picture taking. It took about 4 hours with stops to do the 10km. A smile from ear-to-ear all day! The drive home was nauseating... full speed ahead, slam brakes, stop, race, slam breaks... But all and all, an experience I'll never forget.

April 6

Looks like it's going to rain - hoping it'll hold up so's I can make my way to Beihai Park. Well, it ended up hailing today, so I did some laundry and went shopping. Found two items that really want... The first is a vase that is painted from the inside using very fine brushes. An excellent gift for the folks! My father first introduced me to this art form a few years ago when he purchased Christmas ornaments of that nature. Beautiful! The second items I found are a bit more expensive... but absolutely exquisite. Two large red vases with gold leaf insets... (Upon returning to Canada, I ended up purchasing the pair. Could not resist)
Got back to the hostel and bought a plane ticket to Xi'an. 720 quai! (about 120 bucks) Sweet! Using the Lonely Planet book as a guide, I did well on the price.