Hong Kong

We arrived in Hong Kong on the afternoon of the 23rd. After grabbing some new money at the airport ATM, we hopped on the train which took us into the city. From there we hired a taxi to take us all the way to the Mongan's apartment. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! What a fantastic change to go from washing my clothes on the floor of hostel showers, to my very own bedroom, a washing machine and a computer with Skype. Hooray! And what a spectacular view! After coming to terms with a new level of comfort, Matt and I set out to explore the town of Stanley. We found it to be a cute market village unfortunately infested with tour groups. We ate the cheapest food we could find and headed back to the apartment for an early bed time.


Christmas eve morning we took the apartment shuttle to Stanley, hopped the bus to Central, then caught the Star Ferry across the harbour to Kowloon. Discovering that it's common knowledge that Hong Kong's transportation system is easy and efficient did not diminish our pride at navigating a new city so easily. We wandered up Nathan road (which has gained the nickname, "the golden mile," for it's ability to extract money out of consumers' pockets) and admired its resemblance to New York City with its brightly lit shops, multitude of pedestrians and ubiquitous advertisements. For lunch we stopped in to a corner restaurant to try cold pigeon in wine sauce which was surprisingly delicious.

After quite a bit of walking including a failed foray into the museum district (Closed early today!) we headed up Temple Street to see the famed night market. There's something I love about markets in the mixture of the people-watching, the abundance of local culture, and the general madness. We had a lovely time haggling and buying souvenirs. I even bought a watch for $4 (it loses five minutes every 12 hours... but at least it's consistent).

Then we headed to the Avenue of the Stars (complete with Hong Kong movie star handprints) to look out over the harbour with the heaving masses of holiday revellers. And we immediately discovered why the area drew in such crowds; the view was INCREDIBLE and the atmosphere infectious. After taking just short of a million pictures, we headed back home.


Christmas morning was very lazy. In fact, it extended far into Christmas afternoon. We opened up a package from home, drank plenty of coffee and talked on Skype with family for hours. It was fantastic to have a computer at our fingertips instead of having to wait ages for one that might not work at a hostel. To be able to see our family (over a video chat) was a great way to feel like we were home for the holidays. When we finally got moving around mid afternoon, we headed to downtown Hong Kong where we had a stroll around the old part of "Central." Surprisingly, one of the most fascinating sights we saw were dried food stores. Whose idea was it to think of drying needlefish, lizards or octopus?! And who is going to eat them?!

In the beginning of our walk, we were following a path described in Lonely Planet, but eventually we got lost and that's always when the exciting stuff happens. We walked own a very tight little alley packed with fruit vendors, discovered the longest escalator in the world (800 meters!), and found a delicious Malaysian restaurant. Then - it being a holiday and all - we headed to the biggest party street in Hong Kong; Lan Kwai Fong. We had a great time watching drunk westerners singing 80's rock songs while Chinese tourists eagerly snapped pictures. It was hilarious. People seemed to think Matt was some kind of celebrity because at least a dozen people pulled him in to their pictures in the 2 hours we were there.

The following morning, we were awake early to take the tram up to Victoria Peak. Despite the grade of the hill reaching as high as 24%, people used to be carried up to the peak in sedan chairs until the tram was opened in 1888. It was lovely to be able to see all of Hong Kong from the top of the hill (video here) and look around 360 degrees.

Next, we tried to buy tickets for a ferry to Macau but were turned back since we didn't have our passports. So we dined on dim sum at Maxim's City Hall which was recommended as a great spot to try the famous style of food. The staff wheeled around carts stacked with the little rattan steamer trays full of all different types of dumplings, buns, spring rolls and desserts and we picked several trays that looked good. After eating (painfully) more than our fill, we headed across the harbour to Kowloon.

In Kowloon, we finally had a chance to visit the History Museum which I was dying to see. It was very comprehensive and covered how the land mass was formed, its prehistoric inhabitants, how it became a strategic and influential trading center, the evolution of the monetary system, as well as the political history (including HK's importance as a trading center, the British occupation, the Opium Wars, the Japanese occupation during WWII, etc.) and then we had to leave because the museum was closing.

After two more ferries, we arrived on Lamma Island just in time for dinner. We had heard wonderful things about the fresh seafood restaurants there and were not disappointed. Our first surprise came with the sight of MASSIVE tanks full of both familiar and unfamiliar creatures "all for your dining pleasure." (Check out my video here) The strangest had to be the geoduck (wiki) which was new to me, and the prettiest was the aquamarine lobster with orange spots and black and white striped claws. After wandering awhile and admiring the town, we had a great dinner before heading all the way back to Stanley, exhausted.

The 27th we were up early to head to Macau. But by the time we got to Stanley, took the bus to Central (30min), walked to the ferry office, waited to buy our tickets, waited for the ferry to leave (45min), travelled (1hr), arrived and waited through customs (1.25hr) it was already late in the day. And we were determined to make tea at the Peninsula Hotel (Dad's Christmas gift to us and a MUST for anyone visiting HK) at 3pm, which left us with under two hours in Macau. So we made sure to hit all of the high points: a walk through the old town, an exploration of the remains of St. Paul's Cathedral, and a 5 minute peak into famous Casino Lisboa before rushing back to the ferry terminal. It was a mad dash and not nearly enough time to soak up the culture, but we got an idea of the place and that had to be enough for us.

So we headed back to Central then to Kowloon only to wait in line another hour and a half before sitting down to a well-deserved tea. The extravagant setting and the sumptuous spread were a fantastic treat to two weary souls who hadn't eaten breakfast that day. We stayed for ages relishing the festive atmosphere (still only days after Christmas) and savouring every morsel of the feast.

Afterwards, I had a long overdue haircut before heading back home to pack my bags because Matt and I were headed to Vietnam in the morning.

The pictures on this post are: the incredible view from the Mongan's apartment, a delecious cold pigeon (please note the head), Temple Street night market, the view of HK from Kowloon at night, Matt threatening to eat a dried octopus, bundles of dried needlefish, the view of HK from the Peak, your choice of seafood at a restaurant on Lamma Island, the remains of St. Paul's Cathedral in Macau, and tea at the Peninsula Hotel (if i look groggy, it's because I was blinking).

To see my arrival at the Hanoi Airport, click here.
p.s. I've always wanted to do that!!

Shanghai

When we got in, it was late afternoon so we checked into the hostel before checking out the area. We wandered over to east Nanjing road which is a big shopping road in the area (we like to see those types of places, like markets and such, the bustle and local culture are fun to experience). So we wandered up and down the road and grabbed some noodles for a snack before heading to the Bund along the western bank of the Huangpu River. The Bund became important in the early 1900's as a financial and trading center for countries from all over the world who wanted a piece of the action in the tea and opium trade at the time.

The second day, we headed to Megabyte for brunch (found out about it from Lonely Planet) where we put a bit of money onto a swipe card and tried lots of little bits of food from a buffet of different restaurants. Next we headed to the Shanghai museum which I loved. The section about the development of standardized currency was really interesting. Apparently out of the bartering system evolved a custom of trading your goods for axe-heads (made of solid metal of varying types) which you could then trade to others since (depending on the weight and type of metal) the metal they were constructed from had a fairly consistent value to all people. Later, the axe-heads were replaced by flat metals tokens which still maintained the basic 2D shape of an axe head, then eventually by flat tokens in a circle shape like the coins we have today. We also saw "pillows" made of bronze and porcelain, pottery over six thousand years old, and intricately designed bronze pots for wine and food.


Our third day in Shanghai was packed, hectic, but alot of fun. Our first stop was the old section of Shanghai where we revelled in the gorgeous architecture and imagined what life would have been like there 100 years ago. The we grabbed brunch at a highly recommended (by Lonely Planet) dumpling take-away restaurant (they were unusually delicious, I think they steam them with broth of some kind) before heading to Yuyuan Gardens. We had a long, lovely, and meandering walk through the gardens (think: Labrynth) taking in the calming feng shui nature of it's design.










Our next stop was Dongtai road antique market where dozens of vendors sell "authentic" Chinese antiques (by this point in the day, it was gray and cool and a heavy mist was falling). We admired the antiques, bought some and scoffed at prices of others before taking a taxi to Xintiandi, which is the hip, newly re-developed section of the French Concession. At this point, Matt and I split up because I wanted to keep walking in the rain, and you know he's the sensible one.....


Anyway, I had a lovely stroll around the area (got lost) before hopping on the subway and heading back to the hostel in time for Matt and I to get to the Theatre Centre to see the acrobats. The performance was INCREDIBLE. There was a lady balancing multiple candles on her chin while moving around, a man and woman swinging theatrically while doing acrobatics dangling from a ribbon attached to the ceiling, a dozen people balanced on an incredibly tall and precarious stack of chairs, amazing jugglers, people being catapulted high into the air only to land perfectly on some sort of unstable target, and extraordinarily flexible people. But that description can't explain the difficulty level of stunts that this group was performing. Maybe my brief video clip of the Shanghai Acrobatics Troupe will give you an idea. Following the show, we had several fun hours hanging out with Matt's friend (from college), Howie, who happened to be visiting the city at the same time as us.

We had read in our guidebook about the incredible restaurants in Shanghai that have been influenced by cuisine from all over the world. Keep in mind that by this point in our journey, for two pseudo-foodies, we've been eating strange food, street food, food that after you've tried it you don't like it at all, food that we just point at to order because we don't know what it is, etc. So we factored into our budget a legitimately nice restaurant where we had brunch. It was spectacular. First of all, it was nice to be fancy and treated luxuriously, and second of all, the food was amazing... turkey stuffed with asian fruits, salad (!), and a dessert called a pavlova which I adored.

On our walk back to the hostel, we stepped inside the HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) building. It was built in the early 1900's and the mosaic ceiling in the lobby is well known to be a work of art (no pictures please). The Zodiac signs were displayed in the center surrounded by views of cities all over the world. It was beautiful.

Following brunch, we had some downtime because we ate MUCH more than we should have. We spent the rest of the afternon relaxing, planning our Hong Kong itinerary, checking emails, and working on other miscellaneous chores before it was time to eat again. Our friend, Ann Copeland, had given us contact information for a friend of hers who lives in Shanghai so we met up with Sharon and her family that evening. We had a real Shanghainese dinner (which included peacock and rabbit) and it was fabulous to be a part of a family event after being away from home for so long. It turns out that it was actually the family Christmas dinner (Iris, 8, had written a letter to Santa asking him to come early since they were going to be away from home during Christmas) and Matt and I felt incredily lucky to be able to celebrate the holiday with such lovely people.

The pictures in this post are: East Najing Lu, the Bund at night, a bronze wine vessel made between 1100 and 1300 BC, "Old Town," and a beautiful nook in Yuyuan Gardens.

Xi'an

So, we arrived in Xi'an late in the afternoon and had a little downtime updating our journals and evaluating our new location. Xi'an is historically important because it was the capital of China for many centuries (including during the Qin dynasty (pronounced: chin) which some believe to be the origin of the word China). Then we ventured out into the nearby Muslim Quarter (see Islam in China on Wiki) where there is a snack street for lunner (we've been eating 2 meals a day, brunch and lunner). "Snack street" is a common term for a street lined with vendors selling all types of food from dried fruits or fried snacks to entire meals. We tasted the local specialty of cold noodles with sesame sauce and hot peppers. It was delicious! The noodles were fat, translucent and rectangular with the texture of swiss cheese and the sauce was quite spicy but subdued with sesame oil. The description can't compare to the taste. :)

The following day we went on a group tour which (in retrospect) was not the best idea. The tour was pretty inexpensive, which translated into lots of stops at gift shops, tourist traps, and the like, but i did get to see how silk was made, which was neat. The silk worms make cocoons, then the factory boils the cocoons and unrolls - literally - the silk off of them and twist multiple threads together onto spindles. We also saw the remnants of Banpo, a 6000 year old village (it sounds interesting, but in reality it consisted of post holes and skeletons). But the highlight of the tour was the Terracotta Warriors (and horses).

The warriors were made for the first Qin emperor around 200 BC to protect him in the afterlife, but when a rival heard about their construction, he sent his army to destroy them. They area was looted and burned and all of the clay figures were smashed. In 1974, they were discovered by farmers trying to dig a well (the farmers still work at the museum signing books) and museum staff still works around the clock everyday trying to reconstruct the warriors. The most interesting things we saw at the museum were two bronze chariots with horses and drivers with weapons as well as the warriors. Only about a fifth of the warriors have been repaired and are standing in military formation as the pictures show. We were able to see over a thousand of them, but there are over 8,000 at the site. One interesting fact about the warriors is that since they were all made by hand and since there were so many different craftsmen working on the project, every soldier's face is unique. It's incredible to think of the power the Qin Emperor must have held when looking at his army, still guarding him thousands of years later. Please have a look at my video of the warriors here.

That evening we had dinner at a dumpling restaurant overlooking the city which had been recommended to us. The difficulty is however, that due to the tonal nature of the Chinese language, even when we are told a word or phrase, it's almost impossible for us to repeat it correctly. So in these situations (something needed at the store, an address for a taxi, restaurant names, etc.) we ask someone who both speaks English and who can write in Chinese characters, to write a note with our required information on it, then we walk around the city like fools, showing to everyone who looks nice until we end up in what seems like the right spot, with the right product, at the right destination, etc.). Following dinner, we went to buy headphones and got lost which was alot of fun. I've realized that some of our most interesting travel experienced have involved getting lost or trying an unidentifiable food.

The following day, we failed to accomplish most of our planned goals. We rented bikes from our hotel (we heard that you could cycle around the top of the city wall) and ran several errands (lunch, train tickets, etc.) before heading to the wall. When we arrived to purchase our tickets, they said, "Yes, there are bikes on top of the wall you can rent and ride. But read the sign." And the sign of course said: You may not bring private bicycles onto the city wall. Poo. So we checked out the city bell tower instead briefly before headed to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. After 30 minutes of HIGHLY hazardous bicycling we realized the even if we reached the pagoda in within the following ten minutes, we'd only have ten more minutes before closing. We turned around, exhausted, and cycled home. In a full day, we had only visited one minor sight. Oh well.

The next day was a whirlwind of sightseeing to make up for the failures of the previous day. We woke up and packed our things, had breakfast and headed to the Big Goose Pagoda which we had missed the previous day. It was a large and lovely park, but since it was flat and sparsely treed, you could see the whole thing (no fun to explore) then we headed up the pagoda where we walked up 7 stories to take pictures of the city. It was minimally interesting. But I'm a bit "templed out" as the phrase goes. We headed from there straight to the city wall which is one of the oldest and best preserved city walls in China. After a brief chance to admire it's immense and forbidding character, we hurried back to the hostel to grab our bags before the train left for Shanghai.

The pictures on this blog are: the overnight train (this is just one car of many, please note how much it looks like barracks or an overcrowded camp, you have to sleep with all of your clothes on), a six thousand year old skull at Banpo, close-up of some of the warriors, the area of downtown near where we were staying, and the city wall (that's not fog, it's smog).

Seasons Greetings!!

Matt and I wanted to wish you all the happiest holiday season imaginable. We're in Hong Kong right now living the high life at our friends' BEAUTIFUL apartment. It's nice to be home :)

Please click here to see our cheesy video Christmas card. Hugs and kisses to everyone!

Hahahaha

I just retracted my accidental post. We're in Hong Kong now so we're able to post freely, edit and such. I will post about Xi'an soon. In the meantime check the videos (Youtube link on the right ->) that I was finally able to upload. Hugs and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! -ell

Last Chengdu Pics

These pics are actors from the Sichuan Opera and adolescent giant pandas at the research base. That's all for now, see you in Shanghai. -ell

More Chengdu pics

I'm on a roll here.

I have a bunch of cool pictures from Chengdu that I want to post, but I can't put them all up. These are just two: me exercising with strangers at People's Park, and a beautiful bridge on the way to the Giant Buddha.

Chengdu

The pictures are: myself and Red and a pet vendor at the local market.

FW: Chengdu

The pictures are: the Giant Buddha of Leshan (please note his conscience behind his left ear), the city of Chengdu at night from the central park,

FW: Chengdu

The last time I wrote was in Kathmandu. From there, we flew to Chengdu then to the train to Xi'an, but I'm going to focus on Chengdu in this post.

On our layover in Lhasa, Matt and I met a fellow American who turned out to be good friends with Tom Villalon (someone we know well from high school). His name is John Bailey (I know I'm writing in the wrong tense, sorry) and he's studying in Beijing. We ended up spending the next couple of days together and had a great time.

The evening when we arrived, we tried a 'hotpot' restaurant, which is a bit like Chinese fondue in broth. It consists of a big metal bowl, heated from below, which is divided into two sections. Both sections are filled with boiling broth, but one of them is extraordinarily hot, full of the type of pepper that lights your entire mouth and lips on fire, while the other is flavored mostly by onions and spices. The restaurant provides you with plates of any type of raw food that you would like, from cow lungs to cucumber. We chose vegetables and standard meats, mutton, beef, chicken, etc. Then we tossed all the food in the pot and grabbed it out with chopsticks. It was a delicious local experience.

The following day, we had noodles for breakfast then took a bus to Leshan where we spent the first half hour exploring the local markets (where we saw all kinds of animals for sale as food including big bags full of frogs). Then we took aboat upriver to see the town's main attraction; a giant Buddha carved into a rock wall. He was constructed in the 700's to protect sailors from the perilous river currents (which have since calmed down) and at 71 meters high, he's the tallest Buddha in the world. We departed the boat near the Buddha and spent a lovely afternoon exploring the temples in the surrounding hills as well as the enormous Buddha himself. Afterwards, we tried gong bao jiding (kung pao chicken, a local specialty) then hopped a bus back to Chengdu.

The following day, we said goodbye to John in the morning (he had to get back to Beijing) and spent the day exploring Chengdu. I'm certain that most people in the States have never heard of it (I certainly hadn't), but it's one of the largest cities in China and the population of the metro area  alone is over 14 million. First, we grabbed a snack (skewers of meat or veg which vendors deep fry and then you paint with spices) then our first stop was a local market area we had read about. There were many plants and garden supplies for sale there, but we were much more entertained by the pets.

The pet areas were sort of divided between reptiles and mammals. In the reptile sections, we saw scorpions, giant lizards, bags of turtles, and a variety of snakes. The turtles ranged in size from one which probably weighed at least 25 pounds to the quarter-sized ones that can sit in the palm of your hand with plenty of room to spare. As far as the furry creatures go, we saw mice, guinea pigs, a wide variety of rabbits, puppies, gerbils, and a grey creature that looked like a small rabbit except with short ears and a long tail. We also saw tons of birds for sale including African Grey parrots (they're the kind that can repeat full sentences) which cost about a tenth of what they would in the States.

After the market, we grabbed lunch at a corner restaurant where we pointed at the names (in Chinese characters) of two local dishes noted in our Lonely Planet China book. They brought over just what we asked for and it was delicious!! We also were able to ask for rice and specify that we didn't want the food too spicy. I was pretty pleased with our work and felt very fortunate to have my Lonely Planet in hand as we left with full bellies.
 
After our lunch, we walked across the street to Peoples' Park. The park was founded after citizens revolted against corrupt government officials. The pleasant irony is that the park used to be a private garden for a railroad official who embezzled money and now it can be enjoyed by everyone. We had a great time strolling around the premises admiring the beautiful landscape, the cute pond and streams, and the tiled gathering areas. In China, there is a great movement among the elderly to stay fit and exercise daily, and many of the parks we visited have been full of groups practicing tai chi, aerobics, or just going for walks. Parks also fuel a vibrant social scene as musical groups practice together, families come to play, friends enjoy a game of mah jong, and people play badminton, hacky sack (it's not exactly the same as hacky sack, but since I don't know the name, that's the best way to describe it), or ping pong. This particular parks also had paddle boats, many tea houses, and a small amusement park.
 
After the park we had a brief break and got right back to exploring. We decided to go back to the shopping area, where we had eaten the previous night, because it had been bustling with people. We had quite an exciting time wandering around (getting lost always leads to good adventures) but the best part would have to be the park in the center of town. We had passed by it many times during the day, but as we walked through it at night, we had a chance to really explore it, and it was amazing. First of all, the layout/architecture of the park was really beautiful, but also, there were incredible fountain and light shows. The park itself probably covered a city block and the fountains were almost the full length of one side. The fountains were colored and the displays were all set to music. It was gorgeous.
 
The following morning, we visited the Giant Panda Breeding and Research Base!!!! and there were pandas everywhere!!!!! and I loved it!!!!
  
Our haphazard trip around the base began with the red pandas, which looked like a cross between a raccoon and a panda, but red and very fluffy. Then we visited the adolescent giant pandas, then the adults and finally, the ADORABLE baby giant pandas. If I could have one, I would take such good care of it and love it always. Unfortunately, I don't think it would have been possible to convince the staff of my sincerity. Matt and I stayed for about 45 minutes with our faces glued to the plexiglass, drooling over the little pandas. They were asleep when we arrived, but shortly after, they were fed some bamboo and they began to get up and eat and play. They had a climbing platform and a plastic rocking horse (!). Four of them were active in the room we were watching and at one point, two of them were sitting on the rocking horse together. It was one of the most adorable sights I have ever beheld. The only thing that pulled us away from the baby pandas was we had read that for $6US you could hold a red panda (you could hold a giant panda too, but it cost $140!). Sure enough, you could and we did. It only lasted a minute or two, but I love the panda and would give almost anything to have one for a pet (I could start growing bamboo!). With heavy hearts, we had to leave our panda friends, but we still had a big day ahead of us.
 
At People's Park, we had met a tour guide named Mr. Tray Lee. We were a bit skeptical of him at first, but we took his phone number and Googled him and he was recommended by numerous sources including Frommers and the New York Times. We called him and arranged a visit to a local Sichuan opera house. The Sichuan opera is apparently very famous in China and Captain Lee (as I decided to call him) took us to a small, local performance (not a tourist trap). When we arrived, he took us backstage to see the actors putting on makeup and costumes (very elaborate!) and then we had all the free tea we could drink before the play began. Captain Lee sat behind us and described generally what was going on in the play. I can't really describe it to you guys since I was so confused the entire time, but it was definitely entertaining and there were alot of theatrics involved. After the theater, we grabbed a bite to eat and then had to grab all of our things from the hostel and  the overnight train to Xi'an.

The picture is the city of Chengdu at night from the central park.

This evening, we are taking a train to Shanghai. I will try to update the blog with Xi'an info from there. I hope this all works.

Ok, I had to send most of the pics as a separate email because the file size was too large to send them all together, sorry it's not so aesthetically pleasing.

elliephant

Additional pics: Chitwan traffic jam and Chitwan house. trying to put up more video arggg....



So, after Matt and I left Pokhara, we headed to Chitwan National Park, which was a 5 hour bus ride. When we got there, we found out some friends we had made in Pokhara were staying at the same hotel as us. When we first arrived, we had lunch and a freezing shower before heading to the Elephant Breeding Center where they raise the elephants who work in the park. During training, the guides sit on the elephants' necks, holding a set of reigns, with their bare feet behind the elephants' ears. When they want an elephant to go one direction or another, they kick it behind one or the other ear and when they want it to go faster, they hit the top of its head with a stick. Unfortunately, it's not the most humane animal treatment I've ever seen.


As we walked into the compound, the trainers were giving agility lessons to the juvenile elephants. This consisted of a football (soccer) match between elephants. It was awesome to watch and the little Nepali kids were thrilled as well to run after the ball when it was kicked too far (or into the river). To see the massive beasts playing with a tiny, little soccer ball was pretty adorable. Shortly after that, we saw a rhino which was interesting but sad because it was sick and shouldn't have been in such a relatively populous area. Then we entered the Breeding Center.


There were baby elephants EVERYWHERE and I love them. They are the biggest smallest animal ever and they're wonderful. I never realized how useful a trunk would be! It functions as a straw-hand-cup-thumb-nose. How multi-purpose! And they will do anything for food. We watched one baby steal a bag of grain right out of a trainer's hands and run. It was adorable and the trainer was completely helpless because the baby was about 10 times his size.

The Breeding Center sells biscuits (imagine a giant dog cookie) and we bought about 3 dozen and had a fantastic time feeding them to the babies, which you can watch here (I'm still trying to upload this) . That was about all we did that day but I was happy as a clam because I had been looking forward to playing with the baby elephants for so long.


The following day, we were up early to go for a dug-out canoe ride and jungle walk. Our guide, Krishna, and his sidekick, as well as me, Matt, Robert and Vincent walked a few minutes upriver to the canoe launching area. We ended up waiting for about an hour and a half (because although there were plenty of canoes and "boat men," OUR boat man was not there) which was terribly boring except for two amusing interludes. The first break from the tedium consisted of us finding bamboo sticks and fashioning spears out of them (by cutting one end in half and tying in a pottery shard point) , and the second was when Matt tried to steal one of the canoes. This escapade ended when one staff member leapt into the boat that Matt was captaining and another passed him the end of a bamboo pole from the shore to reel in the renegade American.

Eventually, we had our canoe ride and saw two types of crocodiles as well as some neat birds. The canoe dropped us off in the National Park and we wandered around for a couple of hours looking for tigers and bears that never showed up. We did, however, see a pretty type of monkey that has white fur and a black face before we headed home for lunch. After lunch we went on an elephant ride which was fun but a bit sad as well. I don't think these elephants like their jobs. Halfway through the ride, I saw another white girl steering her elephant, and I asked my guide if I could do the same. He hopped right off and let me ride the whole rest of the way on the elephant's head. It was loads of fun, and by the end the elephant and I were great friends (from my point of view).


After the elephant ride, we had dinner and a few drinks before heading to a Tharu Culture Show. It was in a theater and the stage was lit up but not the audience, so it didn't feel like a million tourists staring at locals. It was actually interesting and quite entertaining. First, there were a few dances with drums and sticks. The men ran around in a well-choreographed pattern, hitting their fighting sticks together to the rhythm of the drums. I must say that the highlights of the show were: the grown man in a peacock suit who hopped around the stage bobbing his head in a mating season dance, and the boy-woman dance when young men dressed as women were being chased by a man. It was rather hilarious. And it turned out that the audience was primarily composed of locals who also thought it was great fun to watch.

We spent the rest of the evening getting into a bit of trouble with our new friends Guy, William, Vincent, and Robert.

I have finally been able to upload one of the paragliding videos, which you can see here. There might be a second video up, so please check for that too if you're interested.

I'm frustrated that I'm having such a difficult time uploading videos and I've been here for almost 2 hours trying. I want to get them online before I reach China and can no longer properly update my blog. Alas...

running jokes

When Matt and I went paragliding, we had to list emergency contact information for our family, including emails. It seem odd to me that they might notify a family of catastrophe by email and now the joke has evolved to become any silly thing we do.
Reply to: crash@blueskyparagliding.com
Reply to: trampledbyelephant@junglewildlifecamp.org
Reply to: crocodileattack@chitwansafari.net

On South Park, the Chinese character (who owns City Wok) cannot pronounce L's. Well, it turns out that the Chinese can say L just fine and that it's only a difficulty for the Japanese. Regardless, the Tibetan phrase for "hello" is "tashi delek" which Matt and I have turned into "oh, tashi derreck." Basically, we say this at random moments and it's completely incorrect and inappropriate.

My new name is "Pants," which Matt has derived the following way: ellie > smellie > smellie pants > pants. So now he refers to me as Pants all the time.

In China, when we sometimes had TV access, Matt and I would watch CCTV9 because it's the only English language station there. The advertisements on that channel are rather amusing because alot of them are strange translations. The absolute best ad was one for a tea pillow. Now I ask you, who doesn't need a tea pillow? It's a normal pillow for your bed, but it has tea leaves inside to sooth you while you sleep. The ad for this ridiculous product begins with a strange man who looks like he's had a facelift, saying, "Imagine the combination of pillow and tea." Which he says rather slowly, as if he is proposing an absolutely genius idea that will revolutionize everyday life. Since this ad was on every five minutes on the only channel in English, it became a standard in our repertoire.

Here in Kathmandu, it feels like everybody is trying to sell you Tiger Balm. All the vendors on the street are in your face, pressuring you to buy it from them. So every time Matt and I are at a shop and notice it for sale, we always point it out to each other. "Matt, here's that Tiger Balm you've been looking for." "Oh there it is! I've been wondering where I could get some! I've been looking everywhere!"

One day, we were in a taxi, driving out of Kathmandu, when we noticed that one of the big, communal piles of garbage on the street had a dead monkey on top of it. Matt turned to me and said, "Hey Ell, where do you put your dead monkey? In the trash, with the rest of your dead monkeys!!" Humor is a fantastic way to avoid considering the reality of the situation.


All of these jokes have become routine on our trip and can be tailored to fit any occasion. They might sound ridiculous, but who are we kidding, this whole thing is ridiculous. :)

Playtime Outside

So, the following day, we woke up and had breakfast before heading to Blue Sky Paragliding. We had scheduled a flight, and although the 3rd was rainy and cloudy and crummy, the 4th was beautiful. So, after waiting around for the first group of the day to come down, they loaded a bunch of us into a van with a ton of gear on the top and hauled us all the the tippy top of a nearby hill. After we got up there, it only took a second to get in the air. I was the first person and we were off in no time. Damu clipped me in and said, "Walk.....now RUN!" Seconds later, we were floating in the air.


For me, it was a great mix of absolute terror and complete elation. I loved it. I wish it had lasted all day (but I don't have the funds for that). There were eagles and vultures flying around with all of us up there, just riding on the thermals. Apparently, the companies who send people up like this sometimes even train birds to seek out the pockets of hot air so that it's easier for the paragliders to find them. But we were up there, riding on the air like waves, and it was amazing. Everytime I looked down, my heart just jumped up to my throat, but as long as I kept looking straight out, it was ok. I'm rather certain that Damu got a kick out of my screaming like a child, and kept doing crazy stuff. Or maybe I just thought it was crazy since we were so bloody HIGH! I told him I was ready for anything, so after gently turning and rising with the warm air, he steered us over to the lake where we spun like mad. It was alot like a roller coaster with loop-di-loops except there was no framework of any kind.


By the time we stopped spiralling, we were not very high above the lake and I could see the landing area. As we approached it, Damu said, "no water, no water, no water.." as if he were saying no whammy. I thought he was teasing for several seconds and then realized we were in fact, quite low. Just as we reached the edge of the lake, we landed in a heap in the mud. As I stood up, a water buffalo walked by with an angry woman following, throwing rocks. I just began to laugh. What a crazy morning.


After that amazing experience and feeling like I had just had a coronary, Matt and I grabbed lunch at our favorite spot before heading to the lake. We rented a strange metal-box-looking paddleboat and headed off to explore. The lake proved to be quite large, and the paddleboat inefficient. We made it almost all the way across before taking a break for a cocktail (Matthew had the foresight for this one). After some lovely sunset mountain pictures, we turned around and headed back in the direction of the dock. When we saw two other white people in a wooden boat, we decided it was no match for our trusty craft, and after all, we ARE pirates. So we paddled as fast as we could straight for their vessel without saying a word. When we got quite close, they were staring, so we stood up and yelled, "Ahoy! Avast ye matey! You've been pirated!" And other such ridiculous phrases.

After a brief explanation, we headed away. Minutes later, they were alongside (as we say in nautical terms...). Surprisingly, instead of being appalled by our behavior, they thought we were amusing (which is good, because we thought we were HILARIOUS) and came over to chat. They,re named Shannon and Andy, and the four of us ended up talked for ages and then meeting up later for dinner. What a great day!

The following morning we got a late start, but after a shower, some breakfast, and a few errands (by this time it's about 3pm, whoops) we headed around the lake to hike up to the World Peace Pagoda. It's on the top of a ridge, overlooking lake Phewa Tal and Pokhara and has a great view of the Himalayas. The stupa (as they call it here) was given as a gift from Japanese monks to promote world peace.


We decided to take the scenic route to the pagoda, so we hiked around to the north side of the lake, and nearby some terraced farms before following the ridge towards the peak. We were moving as fast as we could at the end because the shadow of the ridge we were on was slowly devouring Pokhara and the mountains. We got up to the pagoda just in time to take some quick pictures then practically sprinted down the short side of the hill before all the boats (that row to the other side of the lake, where we're staying) left for the night. When we got back, it was time for a delicious dinner near a fire at Tea Time Bamboostan before bed.

Today, we got up, had brekkie and rented scooters again (sooo much fun). We drove all the way through Pokhara, east towards a lake we had read about. After about 45 minutes (including a brief backtrack), we reached Begnas Tal just at the same time 4 more tourists were pulling in on their mopeds (and we thought we were the only bright ones). We all decided to share the cost of a rowboat and had a great time paddling in circles before reaching a cute spit of land where we relaxed for a bit. There was a family walking around us, washing their clothes and dishes in the lake as we admired all the nearby hills and mountains reflected in the lake's perfectly placid surface.


It was quite soothing to spend those few minutes there soaking up the sun before heading back towards Pokhara on our scooters (or "hogs" as Matt calls them). If you've ever driven on rural roads in a developing country, you know what I'm talking about. It's a chaotic combination of decomposing roads, a lack of traffic rules, rogue livestock, and so many different forms of transportation (pedestrians, bicyclists, giant trucks, little motorcycles, speeding minibuses, etc.) that it all becomes pandemonium. It's quite exhilarating to try to navigate it and Matt and I had a blast.


Following our adventure, we decided to head to the middle of Pokhara to find an authentic Nepali restaurant. We did, and it was great. Those are the places where I love to hang out, and despite the fact that we couldn't converse with each other, this was no exception.



The pictures are: the view from my seat in the air, me and Damu hovering (Matt took that one), the snake charmer who appeared out of nowhere during breakfast, the sunset view of the lake and mountains from the Peace Pagoda, the mirror-like surface of Begnas Tal, and me on my scooter.

Note: I intend to put in video links (that's why some words are red) but the connection here is terrible, so it would be impossible to upload the video now. Please check again in about a week.

Pokhara...

Well hello!! So, Matt and I are in Pokhara now (and he's well and eating solid foods) and it seems like a very cool town. We arrived here by bus after a 7 hour ride from Kathmandu.

Like our other long ride (from the Tibet border to Kathmandu) the scenery was unbelievable. It's really hard to get a decent picture out of a bus window when you're bumping along a dirt road and inanimate objects seem to be ganging up just to ruin your shot (power lines, trees, hillsides, parked vehicles, etc.). But I tried my best, and this is what I came up with:

I was trying to get one shot that showed both the tropical foliage and the Himalayas, but I was thwarted. Alas. (Please note that the second pic DOES have Himalayas in the background, not just clouds)

Anyway, my other good shot from that journey is the following:

So, we're here in Pokhara, and after breakfast and a failed attempt to organize a kayak trip, Matt and I rented scooters and had a blast driving them around the bumpy streets and disorganized traffic of Nepal. First we checked out the old part of Pokhara, which was quite nice and lost in time, before heading to the International Mountain Museum.

The museum was adorable, think: very-well-researched old Japanese straw rain hat placed atop a piece of notebook paper with a face drawn on in marker. We had a nice time reading stories of the world's highest peaks and checking out gear from first summits. It's incredible to think that the people who summited these massive mountains (K2, Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, etc.) in the 50's did so without the aid of any super-lightweight, aluminum shaft, thermal insulating, micro-fiber (insert descriptive phrase here) hi-tech gear that we have today.

So, we were in the museum for about a half hour before it started to drizzle. It almost never rains in Nepal in November but the drizzle turned into a pour that lasted at over an hour. We had thoroughly explored the museum, re-read the Lonely Planet section on Pokhara, spent time talking to local students, and sat in boredom for a half hour before the rain turned back into a drizzle.

We procured some old newspapers for use as umbrellas and went out to our scooters. The scooters were soaked and so were we by the time we got back to Lakeside (the area of Pokhara where we're staying) in the rain. I would, however, like to say that Matt and I are now experts on the fine art of scooting, and that for $5 each for a full day, we might start to do it all the time.

On an unrelated topic:

I was thinking, the other day, about what it is that makes mountains so ______ (gorgeous, inspiring, powerful, appealing, sexy, etc.), and I don't know the answer. The same goes for bodies of water like wild rivers or the ocean, even tiny, babbling brooks.

It's really hard to qualify what makes them so magnetic. It could be the possibility of exploring them, or the history of their creation, their size, or any number of things. I don't know. I might need to consult a philosopher for this one. Anybody have any insight to offer?

Mmmwhahaha, now that I've got your minds spinning, I'm going to go to bed and leave you all to ponder....

Vomitous

Sooo, Matt and I woke up at 5:30am the morning of the 30th so that we could catch the bus to Pokhara, Nepal. He immediately ran into the bathroom and vomited. I won't describe the next half hour, suffice it to say that by the time we were supposed to walk out the door (and we were ready by that point too, showered with bags packed) it had become quite clear that we weren't leaving.

It became progressively clearer that Matt was very sick. I've never seen someone react that way to anything. He was violently sick for hours. By the time the sun came up, I was out at the pharmacy buying rehydration salts and anti-nausea medicine. I also stopped by the store for crackers and ginger ale but he didn't eat or get out of bed for at least twenty-four hours. It took two and a half days, but he finally ate a real meal for dinner tonight. And we are now in Pokhara. (I have some great landscape pics from the ride over which I will try to post tomorrow)

I would like to say that Chris Beall is a savior because he was the one who suggested it was food poisoning. I think Matt and I are a good team. And we managed to get through this no problem. If we were both sick, we could've called the hotel doctor. I think we'll be ok on this trip. More tomorrow and lots of love to everyone.

bliggity

Continued from the previous post...

I neglected to explain all of the pics I put up in the last post, which were the Himalayan landscape as seen from the plane, central Bhaktapur, dyed yarn drying in the sun along Bhaktapur's backstreets, the Bodhnath Stupa, baby and mommy monkey, and the sadhus (the monkeys and sadhus were both at Pashupatinath).

This is a miscellaneous picture because I wanted to show the manner in which people move big things around here. They carry them. Whatever it is, they carry it, giant sacks of grain, big metal file cabinets and furniture.


So we got a late start then ran around like crazy to try to get to Patan. Once we got there, we checked out the museum there which was fantastic. It explained so much of the Buddhist symbolism I've seen but not understood. Now I understand the importance of the position of the Buddha's hands and the reason a stupa always has the same distinctive shape. It really helped to clarify a lot of things as well as helping me to notice additional symbolism in the art (for instance, Ganesh anyways has his trunk stuck in a bowl of sweeties.)


After the museum I got a fantastic set of ox bone prayer beads that are all carved to look like skulls, a wide ox bone bracelet, and a gorgeous ox-bone and wood necklace (they use a lot of ox bone here) all for less than $10. Sweet. Then we wandered around the main square for a while before checking out the backstreets.


Soon, it was about 4pm and we took a taxi back to Thamel where we picked up the bus tickets from the travel agent and went back to our room to change to meet Sulo (the friend of a friend I mentioned that we contacted in the last entry). After a bit of confusion, we found her driver and went over to her place.


Sulo welcomed us into her home/office with open arms and showed us all over her carpet factory. We saw women weaving massive rugs stitch by stitch. It's hard work, but they get good wages and there's day care for their kids. It was amazing to the the creative process that happens behind things that we totally take for granted (rugs). She got dinner for us and we had a fantastic time talking with her and her husband, Richie. Soon, we were all tired and Matt and I went back to the hotel and to bed.

The pictures in this post are Patan's Durbar Square, a coppersmith's shop in Patan's backstreets, and busy Thamel (where we're staying).