Penguins and Small Town Americana

Penguins and the feel of small town Americana (or probably more accurately the UK) have been what have struck me most about Christchurch, our first destination in New Zealand.

Our cuddly little animals in tuxedos first. While looking into things to do in Christchurch, I found out that the NZ, US and Italian Antarctic teams are based here in Christchurch. It also serves as the major hub for all flights and work done on the forgotten continent. Since it's winter in the Antarctic right now and it would be a bit cost-prohibitive to visit anyway, we did the next best thing and visit the International Antarctic Centre. It was incredibly informative; a ton of information regarding everything from the terrain and temps of the continent to what the people living there eat on a daily basis. Also a lot of very interactive, family friendly exhibits, including a chance to relive some of our Minnesota winters via the "Snow and Ice Experience". Brrr...

Christchurch itself has a quaint, almost college town atmosphere. In fact it reminded me of Becca's home town of Corvallis (minus the cow fields) in that it's got a nice downtown area to walk around and some really nice green spaces. Yet it's the second largest city in New Zealand. Throws you for a bit of a loop when you're watching everything shut down at 5:30. I'm sure it's a pain for those shopping after work but it gives you the feeling that the Kiwis are a bit more concerned about quality of life and thus want their workers to head home at a decent hour. We went to find someplace to eat at 8:30 last night and came close to having a vending machine dinner since most of the restaurants were starting to wrap up for the evening. A bit of a shift from walking down the streets of Hong Kong at 11:30pm and seeing most of the stores still open. But it's a shift both of us are ready for. It's nice to have the traveling be a bit less "adventurous" for awhile.

One final note; it has been a serious adjustment so far being back in an English speaking country. I still find myself starting to use my battle tested pigeon English/pantomime combo and having to catch myself. In addition, I find myself struggling through normal conversations because after 4 plus months I've forgotten how to have a normal conversation with anyone other than the wife. And at this point after spending 10 plus months together I'm not sure I'm term any of our conversations normal.

We're headed off tomorrow for the town of Greymouth and a scenic ride on the Tranzalpine train. From there we pick up a rental car and the real fun starts. Hopefully a few days on the ground has allowed our brain to pick up the whole "driving on the left" thing.

Brian

Thank you, Asia!

This past Monday we flew out of Hong Kong for Sydney, ending the second leg of this around-the-word adventure.

Europe was a lot of fun, and a great introduction to the ups and downs of travel. We visited so many different counties to the north and south, and east and west, that we really got a taste of the range of cultures, flavors, and history that the continent offers. Plus we had some wonderful visits with folks we care a lot about. We left satisfied and looking forward to our next trip back.

But this was nothing compared to the impact that Asia has had on us. We spent 4.5 months travelling independently through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and China and we wouldn't trade this experience for the world. Neither of us had ever been to any of these countries so unlike Europe we were experiencing things for the first time together. The sights, smells, tastes, joys, sadness....everything about here is different from anything we had ever known.

We challenged ourselves and were pleased by how we responded and we learned so much about what it is we really need to be happy, and what we don't need. And we were humbled by the pleasure that we saw being found in circumstances of poverty and desperately difficult lives. This is not to romanticize the situation. We also left with a much better understanding of the social, economic, environmental and health issues facing these societies and were grateful that we were able to grow up free of them and interested in trying to find ways to help ease them.

There are pages and pages we could write on the subject and much was already covered in individual blog entries throughout the trip, but we couldn't leave the continent without paying tribute.

Thank you Asia. We will be back.

Becca and Brian

Good time in the big city...

Hong Kong served as a rude awakening to us. Not rude as in "get out of my way" but more rude as in "time to wake up, otherwise you're going to miss the bus". After 6 1/2 weeks in China, hitting Hong Kong was a full-on reintroduction to Western Civilization. Sure the Chinese have ownership of it but it's still a lot more like the West than not. It's been a great warmup for making the trip down under if only to realize we can now buy something that doesn't come from a stall. Though I'm still getting used to that one :-)

And now without further ado, random thoughts and observations from the two of us about Hong Kong:

- Hong Kong is one of the more multi-cultural big cities we've been in on the trip. Lots of commonwealth folks (India, UK, Australia, etc.) as well as a good mix of Chinese and other Asian folk. Definitely makes for a vibrant atmosphere and one that we've really enjoyed.

- At different points of our visit here, I've felt like I'm in Seattle, San Francisco and Monaco. Again, a bustling melting pot of goodness.

- The public transportation here is clean, efficient and not too pricy. We've taken the MTR (the metro) and the ferries and both have been very good and an easy to use to get around. Haven't tried the buses but from the looks of them (ultra modern double deckers!) they look like they'd be as nice. Now if only the US could get their heads around proper public transport.

- Nothing tastes as good as Ben and Jerry's on a hot steamy summer day when you haven't had real ice cream for 4+ months. Even if it does cost $11.

- Hong Kong is expensive. :-)

- We got the opportunity to go hiking with our guesthouse owner and his local hiking group. 25 people aged between their late 20's and in one case 80 were in tow. Not for the meek at heart as after starting out on a flat paved portion we pretty much went straight up a hill and then offroaded for the next 4 hours. Quite impressive seeing folks just bushwhack their way through some pretty hairy terrain. Of course we finished up with a Cantonese lunch where Becca and I both tried chicken feet and roast pigeon. I tried both. That's all I have to say.

- It's a bit pathetic really but getting to browse through a western book store really made our day. Having actual options for what you want to read was a pleasant little treat for both of us.

- Hong Kong has very rainy summers and is susceptible to flash floods and the like. Enough so that they have a rain warning system with different colors for levels of risk (red, yellow, black, etc.). The only rain we had was a different type of Hong Kong rain: the water dripping down from the various air conditioners above us. Good times.

- We were quite amused by the Indian tailor mafia on Kowloon. As you walk down the street you are constantly approached by a somewhat shady looking men mumbling something about new suits, cheap handbags, designer tailoring etc.. The funny thing is the way that they kind of skulk on the sidewalks and make you the offers under their breath. It feels like they should be opening a trench coat or something and offering us something from the inside. Still, they're easy to shake off for the most part so we didn't mind them.

- We were really impressed by all the green spaces in the city, despite the crush of buildings. Kowloon had a fantastic park with all sorts of athletic facilities and on Hong Kong Island we passed a number of little parks in Central, as well as the botanical/zoological gardens closer to the midlevels. And on top of all of that is the forest land on Victoria Peak. It really makes for a nice atmosphere.

- The weather didn't cooperate with us very much while we were in town. At least, it didn't make for very good photos. Lots of clouds, rain, grey and smog. We did have one beautiful clear day but we weren't doing as many touristy things that day.

- I don't think I realized how much I'd gotten used to being in less developed countries until I was hit by shock after shock walking through Hong Kong. Whether it was all the 'western' food at the fancy supermarket (Brie! Salmon steaks! Cheerios!), the ability to use credit cards at stores, the glitzy malls with all the status symbol brand stores, the western food chains, the clean toilets well-stocked with toilet paper.....It was just reminder after reminder after reminder that things were different now. I don't know whether to be glad or sad about it, but we were definitely back in the developed world.

- While it may seem obvious, given Hong Kong's British history, we were also caught off-guard by how completely bilingual everything was: the signs, the stores, labels, transportation directions, people, etc. For people who are wanting to travel to Asia but are uncomfortable overcoming language barriers, this would certainly be an easy place to visit.

- While the words 'Hong Kong' in our minds conjure up the skyscrapers of Hong Kong Island or crazy shops of Kowloon, we discovered that there is a lot more to Hong Kong. The New Territories feature lots of wilderness, great to hike in, and there a plethora of other much less developed islands, like Lamma Island, where our friends Pat and Meaghan live and which feels like a vacation town boardwalk and prohibits cars. If you're visiting Hong Kong, it's definitely worth your while to get beyond the cityscape and explore more of what the area has to offer.

- Even though it's famous for having Victoria peak in the middle of it, I didn't realize just how vertical a place Hong Kong Island. Whether it's the multi-part Central-MidLevels escalator (just a fantastic bit of infrastructure) or the steep roads, or all the flash flood drains, you are constantly reminded that you are perched on or trying to climb up the side of a mountain. It's pretty impressive, actually.

- Hong Kong has a fantastic system of pedways above the traffic on both Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. It was a great way to move around the city...you don't have to cross streets or be stopped by traffic lights and you have a nice view down on everything. If only more major cities did this...

- A final note. Jackie Chan is the face of almost everything tourist related in the city. He keeps popping up when you least expect it. On the plus side, we could have bought our own life-sized Jackie Chan cardboard man.

Brian & Becca

And We're Off!

Leaving in an hour for the Hong Kong airport. Our flight to Sydney leaves at 9 pm tonight and takes about 8-9 hours. We hang out at the Sydney airport for 7 hours or so (sigh) and then fly out in the afternoon for New Zealand, landing in Auckland around 8 pm and then immediately flying out again at 6 o'clock the next morning. That means we arrive in Christchurch bright and early Tuesday morning to begin our NZ adventure!!!!

Understandably, that will keep us busy and off the cyber world for the next couple of days. In the meantime, never fear, we've put up a number of new blog entries for you to read (keep scrolling 'til you find them all) and a bunch of new pictures on Flickr.

Next time we'll be writing to you all it will be upside down!

Becca

Picture is from our hike out in the New Territories with the hiking club of our guesthouse owner. Very cool.

(There will be a couple more catch up entries trickling in, but we will get current soon since I'm sure we'll have a lot to say about New Zealand)

Grinning in the Gorge

Two weeks ago we had the chance to do one of the quintessential SW China outdoor activities: hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge. It's interesting: in Europe many of the 'big deal' sights/activities turned out to be kind of let-downs for us, while some of the much lesser-known attractions were our favorites.

In China however, the biggies have all been worthwhile. We were really moved and impressed hiking the deserted sections of the Great Wall (thanks again Linda!), we were suitably impressed by the terracotta soldiers in Xi'an, and we now we have really enjoyed our trek down Tiger Leaping Gorge.

It's by no means the most challenging or most breathtaking hike we've ever done, but something about the combination of the scenery (which is really pretty), the hike (enough uphill to make you work, but not to be too daunting), the guesthouses (small family-run places) and the other people doing the hike somehow all combined for a really enjoyable experience that definitely made our China highlight list.

The hike is easily done in two days and even possible in one, especially since most people don't do the full length of the gorge, but instead turn back at Walnut Garden. However, we were in no hurry, and also, I had no desire to do the hardest part of the hike either at the end of the day or in the hottest part of the day. So instead, we headed up from Lijiang early afternoon, arriving at the head of the gorge about 4 pm, leaving us just the time to attack the first 2 hours of so of the trek.

That turned out to be a great decision for a number of reasons. 1) We missed the early afternoon rainstorm that could have made things a little dicey. 2) We got our legs loosened up hiking uphill for the first two hours but then got a rest before climbing the notorious 28 bends the next morning, and best of all 3) It meant that we ended up spending the night at the Naxi Family Guesthouse (which we recommend, by the way) and meeting up with the rest of 'The Naxi Family Eight' (see below)

The second day was a great mix of hiking and soaking up the views. It was a pretty easy day of hiking (the 28 bends notwithstanding) with only about 5 hours of moving down the trails, but the scenary was great and we broke up the hikes with some snacks and beers at various guesthouses. After a slightly more basic night at the Five Fingers Guesthouse (which might not have been anywhere near as comfortable as the Halfway House, but was definitely authentic and came with the world's cutest grandmother), we easily rolled off the last 2-3 hours in time to grab some lunch at Sean's Guesthouse (which underwhelmed us, btw).

So what was the hike actually like?

-- Well, it started among the green, terraced hills of the river valley but quickly climbed into the gorge proper. For two days we had variations on looking down steep slopes to a narrow, rapid-filled gorge, looking forward along the gorge, looking across at spectacular rocky peaks that changed aspects as the light and weather changed, and walking a trail that wound through forests, dusty trails, and rocky cliff edges. (For all the pics from the trek click here)

-- Scattered along the way are spraypainted ads for the various guesthouses telling you (usually inaccurately) how far you have to go. Occasionally at some of the intersections it could get a bit overwhelming.

-- Each time we had stopped at a guesthouse, someone always came running out with a menu for our meal/snack etc. When we reached the Five Fingers Guesthouse late afternoon of the second day we checked in, put our things in rooms, and ordered a bunch of teas and beers. A food menu never appeared or was mentioned and so when an hour or two after our arrival we heard cooking sounds from the kitchen and began to smell some tantilizing scents, we all assumed that it must just be an 'eat whatever they cook for you' type of place, which was fine with all of us. After all, they knew we were there for the night, there were no other food options, and we clearly would be hungry having hiked through the day to get there.

About seven o'clock or so we looked up from our card game with some surprise, as we realized that we still hadn't seen the hosts or our food and we were getting quite hungry. Much to our chagrin, disappointment and amusement, we looked in and saw the family gathered around the table piled high with food and eating away; it had been THEIR dinner they were cooking. Thoroughly abashed at our assumption, we meekly went to them and asked for a menu. By the time they had cooked all of our dishes from scratch, it was after 9 pm when we finally were able to eat. But it was delicious.

-- While many tourists hike the gorge each year, thousands more visit it by tour bus. We strongly recommend against experiencing the gorge this way. Looking down from our peaceful trail above, we could see the backed-up jam of tour buses winding through the gorge and we spoke to some Belgian tourists who described the chaos and crush of tourists and touts and vendors at the viewpoint and path down to the middle rapids with disgust.

-- Though there was the occasional sheer drop off the trail, by far the hairiest part of the experience was the ride back through the gorge to Qiaotou. Due to shortage of taxis (and no phone to call more with) Pat and I managed to bargain with the driver of an ancient truck to drive us back to town. While I'm sure that he actually drove really well, I was a wreck as we headed back, seemingly oversteering and skidding on the gravel towards the sheer drops and driving way too close to the edge for my comfort. The only saving grace for me was that I was sitting on the cliff wall side, so I could just refuse to look towards the abyss. Poor Meaghan had it right out her window and she wasn't much enjoying her ride either. It took me a good 15 minutes to stop shaking afterwards.

All in all, it was a great couple of days doing the kind of things we love to do. We highly recommend the hike for those passing through Yunnan. If we had more time we would even have tried to extend the walk or combine it with a trek to the WenHai ecolodge or something. Rumor has it that the Chinese are going to dam up the gorge and soon this spectacular walk and scenary will be gone. Don't know if that will happen or not, but if so, get here and see it while you still can.

Becca

The Gang (aka 'the Naxi Family Eight')

One of the best parts of the hike was hooking up with 6 fellow travellers at the Naxi Family Guesthouse. We started by ordering dinner together so that we could all try more dishes and ended up spending the next day and a half hiking, eating, sleeping, playing cards, and sharing travel stories together. Our partners in crime were:

Scott and Ana, a couple from (of all places) Southeast Portland (!!) who are also travelling for a year. We all get back to Oregon about the same time and are looking forward to sharing stories and beer together.

Pat and Meaghan, two Canadians currently living and teaching in Hong Kong. They finish this vacation trip just as we hit Hong Kong, so hopefully we'll be able to get together there again.

Joachim and Katja, a German couple from Berlin currently living and working in Oudomxay, Laos. It was great to share stories about Laos and learn more about how life really works there.

Thanks again to all of them for enriching our gorge experience!

A little story for your Sunday morning (North America edition)

In four plus months of traveling in Asia, I thought nothing could faze me anymore. Watching your meal be slaughtered in front of you, drinking local moonshine and not going blind, surviving the "freestyle driving" of just about every Asian bus/moto/tuk-tuk driver, random 1-2 hour delays for no particular reason and taking a step of faith into a steady stream of traffic knowing that people will just move around you. All of this after a while just becomes another day at the office (which hopefully will make a day at the office look pretty damn tame in about 5 months or so).

Then we took the mini-bus up to Qiaotou to go hike Tiger Leaping Gorge. A normal mini-bus ride; a full bus and people smoking here and there. We stopped about 20 minutes from our destination to fill up on gas. This particular stop was unique in that it included filling up the spare gas jug and placing it next to me in the aisle of the mini-bus. No problem, despite the gas soaked rag sticking out of it and the fumes coming at me like a French cheese.

This is where it got good. We start up and started heading down the road to Qiaotou. I happen to glance across the row and find that the Chinese man on the other side of the aisle is lighting a cigarette. After my mind envisions a big budget movie explosion, I quickly point this out to Becca and we both start yelling at him (not really any words, just yelling and gestures including an outstanding hand motion "boom" on my part). The other four foreigners figure out what we're getting antsy about and join in.

The Chinese fellow is able to finally figure out our worried faces and hand gestures and in an act of attempted reconciliation motions that he'll hold his cigarette out the window when he's not smoking. Obviously not a science major, this guy. After a lot more yelling, the driver finally turns around and says something to the guy to get him to throw it out (the window thankfully) and despite the fact that there was definitely a "let's just appease the stupid foreigners" vibe to it we were finally appeased.

Explosive experience narrowly avoided, about 5 minutes later we pick up someone on the side of the road and no less than 30 seconds later he's lighting up while sitting in the aisle. The whole process begins again and he actually yells back a bit before the driver once again convinces him to put it out. 5 minutes later he says something to the driver and gets out. And stays on the side of the road. Evidently he was willing to wait for a smoking mini-van. Fine by me.

I can't decide whether to chalk this one up to stupid hillbillies, Darwinism at work, a Chinese thing or just people who never were taught basic science. Either way Becca and I were VERY happy to get our butts off that bus pronto.

Just when you think you've got a part of the world figured out or at the very least understood, it surprises you yet again...

Brian

The Story of the Elusive Beer

Most of the people who read this blog know a simple fact:

I'm a beer snob.

After trying beer for the first time in college, I was subsequently subjected to four years drinking Budweiser and other related Bud products. One of the disadvantages of going to school in St. Louis. After that, I swore never again; if I was going to drink beer, it was going to be good beer. Or at least beer with a little personality.

Since then, I've sworn off bad beer (the exception being a well timed Hamms after a ultimate tournament; have to rehydrate you know...). Throughout this trip, this hasn't been much of a problem; the beers of Europe delivered, Asia surprised ( Beer Lao being the big winner) and I even had a Budweiser (the much tastier Czech beer of the same name) along the way.

However over ten months, I'd had zero US beer. Obviously anything you're going to get is of the mass produced variety and despite the Chinese folks digging into to their Buds on the train, I wasn't interested.

However when we arrived in Xiahe, I saw a curious thing. Buried on the shelves of the local market was a familiar sight. PBR. Pabst Blue Ribbon. Feeling a bit homesick and after some serious consideration I decided to break the streak and bought myself one on our last day out of town. We thought we could take a good picture of me, the PBR, and some Yaks or Tibetans. Surely between Xiahe and Langmusi we could make that happen.

To make an increasingly long story short, we never did take the picture and I never had the chance to drink it so I carried that bad boy around until we got to the Lanzhou airport for our flight to Kunming. At this point, I was determined to have it as a pre-flight drink. Unfortunately my plans were foiled by the staff at the metal detector. I put my bag through the x-ray and they wanted to take a look. To the amazement of everyone (including his fellow guard) the one guard CONFISCATED my PBR. Never mind the fact that I had a Leatherman in my bag. Me thinks someone wanted a little break time refreshment. Feeling confused and in many ways denied, I shrug it off with some disappointment move on.

Flash forward to Kunming. During my infamous trip to the Wal-Mart I'm headed to checkout and what do I see out of the corner of my eye? The LIQUOR section. Never one to pass up the opportunity to do a little window shopping, I walk over. What's the first thing to catch my attention?

The elusive PBR. I quickly throw one (and a Guinness in case one takes me for a beer heathen...) into the cart and head off. My reward is shown above, en route to Hong Kong. PBR me ASAP!

Brian