Another epic and memorable adventure we went through yesterday. As told, we left early to catch the jeep we rented for 100euro. First a quick breakfast at our favourite 3x4m restaurant: noodles!
If you rent a jeep with a driver in China, you shouldn't be surprised if a second guy turns up and starts moving your luggage in the trunk to fit in himself, but no problem, the trunk was big enough. So we left. While driving, we again saw the most beautiful landscapes. Stunning autumn colours fill the grasslands and valleys, and the higher we climbed, the valleys became dryer. We stopped several times to take pictures, and passed passes of +4000m. We never did more hairpin bends in our life. And then we noticed that our driver's eyelids started falling down... and that's not exactly what you would like to see when looking down cliffs of tens or hundreds of meters down every turn the car makes. Suddenly it became clear why he had taken a break to wash his face and had started to smoke one cigarette after the other. Eline grabbed his shoulder and told Orchid, the girlfriend of the other Belgian guy, that this guy ws falling asleep. She translated, but the guy just laughed. Chinese can't admit if they are making mistakes or if they can't finnish the task. They loose face then, and would rather die (with us). (stup... other culture). We were terrified, and asked more picture stops.
It became better! A few kilometers before we arrived in Xiancheng... boom! flat tire! And yes, we were still enjoying excellent views at deadly hights. great! We stopped, had a llok, and suddenly they started shouting that we should get back in. We were going to drive with a leaking tire (back right wheel). Luckily, it was only a kilometer or so, and the cliffs were gone after a few hundred meters.
We paid, took our gear and head for the busstation. Steven and Orchid wanted to continue to Litang, in stead of spending the night and catch the bus the next morning (at 6). as there wasn't much to see, we agreed to share a taxi again. We also couldn't go to Daocheng, as this town is the reason that there was no public travel to this region. There are struggles between the villages there (where minorities live who don't really like each other), and according to some rumours here in Litang, already 20 casualties would have been reported, but it's impossible to get good information here.
Time for bargaining...no. In Xiancheng, they have a fixed price of 50euro (500Yuan), and all had sworn in front of the temple never to go lower!!!! Primitive cartel deals!!! This is an outrage!! Have you ever seen something like it? Little bastards... So no choice, an oath is an oath. We took off again. The driver was a maniak, and the back seat was horribly bumby. But after a few kilometers, we were stopped by another car. We had to change cars with this taxi, so neither of the drivers had to spend the night in another city. Our driver told us he wasn't dressed either to go to Litang (and Chinese don't think 5 hours in advance, or even about the next hairpin bend). But we agreed, as it was cheaper (this one wasn't from Xiancheng, so no oath) and more comfortable. He was also faster, much faster, dangerously faster! While doing deadly bends again, the smell of burned rubber filled the car (not joking). But this guy at least looked more competent than the previous one. We stopped again at a pass, where Steven's watch quoted 4500m. The view was magnificent. THe road ahead was still long. We saw a rainbow from above, drove through landscapes that could come straight out of Lord of the Rings, and passed a town where a circus had pitched its tent. It was long dark when we arrived in Litang, at 4015m.
We headed for Mr Zheng's restaurant, whom Steven knows. A great friendly Chinese man who opened his restaurant especilly for us and made us dinner. Then we went to sleep. The other couple had scared us, as we could hev bad dreams and shortness of breath when sleeping, but luckily, we had a great night of sleep.
Today we are taking it easy, to get used to the thin air and the altitude. Hight sickness would be a monstrous spoiler. So here we are in an Internet cafe, blogging and uploading pictures. We will also book our Tibet trip from here, but we are running out of time for the rest of our trip. We don't want to rush through these marvellous regions. But that endangers our encounter with my parents in Laos and Cambodja, as well as our well deserved week of beach in Thailand. We'll see, maybe we'll come back a week later :-). Time for some hard decisions....
Keep on writing reactions, keep on reading. And if we don't write something in the next week, please visit Benjamin's blog, it's great, and their stories will make you laugh and shiver.
One final remark. I (F) got many compliments about the pictures on Flickr, but do know that only 50% of those photos are mine, Eline has an even share.
See you in Chengdu, or earlier if possible.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
Tiger Leaping Gorge & Shangri-la
We're still alive!!! No worries dear friends, we are still here to report from the other side of the world. And today we have some more for you. It will be short however, as I should head for my bed, tomorrow will be an early morning.
After one extra day in Lijiang ("No bus..." "why not???" "No Bus"), we took the bus to the Tiger Leaping Gorge. On arrival we paid the entrance fee (why do they have a fee for this????), getting a 50% discount with our expired student cards. The bus was immediately welcomed by Margot, and old French woman with a gruesome dirty and old dress and long, black hair on her legs (ahhh, the French...). She was very polite, and getting al tha valuable information right that time, and the possibility to leave our luggage there, was priceless. So of we went...
The trel, which is more like a mini trel, was just amazing, great, breathtaking. It took us over steep ascents, beautiful views, high cliffs... and the greatest thing is that the walking itself can be done as fast or slow and as log or short as you want, due to the many excellent guesthouses on the way. A great way to enjoy beautiful views and walks, and great evenings, beers and food at the same time.
We met a Dutch couple that is now in their last weeks of 15 months around the world, which of course lead to many stories and future plans for other trips.
Unfortunately, the last part of the hike was closed because of some landslides, that had ruined the trail. it must be said, that, regardless the ease and comfort og the hike, bad weather can turn the narrow paths into muddy and slippery slides, as waterfalls and streams cross the path. Before we left, the trek had been closed for 15 days.
The landslides had a good consequence as well. We didn't have to stay a second night, as we could get the bus to Shangri-la the same hour. (it was so close I even managed to escape some lady who wanted me to pay for the horrific toilet (what they call toilet)I went to, hahaha).
We went to a hostel, and got the shower we had been craving for for the last two days.
The next day was administration day. We searched the Public Security Bureau, to get our visas extended. unexpectedly, it was a great experience! In Chendu we would have had to wait for 5 days. Here, they do it on the spot, with a smile ( policemen smiling!!!). We did lose our second entry however, so it might be that we will have to take the plane from Hongkong, but we'll see...)
Then we went for a Chinese cellphonenr. A very ambitious store attedant helped us, with the best English he could come up with. The combination of this little energetic, nervous man with the bad English was a hilarious, yet irritating situation. (yeah...yeah...sorry...of course...customer service... me learn english international language...ok...yeah ok sorry of course .... (typing and talking very fast) glad to be of service...yeah... just doing my duty...this is my number... and name (in Chinese of course)... great! And we have a phonenumber
Next stop: busstation, to book a ticket to Xiacheng. "No Bus"
Somehow, no busses go north in September... there are some struggles between the villages there (we're in a warzone!!!), and the government has stopped public transport.
So we have been hanging around here in Shangri-la (3200m), visited a great monastery, a huge praying wheel, and a lake where we got ripped off, and almost hit the man behind the desk. Somehow we had to pay entrance, as well as the horses to ge there, after 200m or so, they stopped and said that to see the lake, it was more than double the price. We got so angry....
Tomorrow, we'll leave for Xiancheng in a jeep we booked together with a guy from Antwerp and his Chinese girlfriend that live in Belgium and China, at least if she doesn't get more ill. Expensive trip, but we really have to go. The Chinese holidays have also started, so hostel prices just doubled last night.
That's it for now. More detailed stories and pictures will follow, but not soon, as we're leaving for the rugged outback of Western China, where hot water and electricity are rare, and even the word 'internet' does not exist.
Goodnight
After one extra day in Lijiang ("No bus..." "why not???" "No Bus"), we took the bus to the Tiger Leaping Gorge. On arrival we paid the entrance fee (why do they have a fee for this????), getting a 50% discount with our expired student cards. The bus was immediately welcomed by Margot, and old French woman with a gruesome dirty and old dress and long, black hair on her legs (ahhh, the French...). She was very polite, and getting al tha valuable information right that time, and the possibility to leave our luggage there, was priceless. So of we went...
The trel, which is more like a mini trel, was just amazing, great, breathtaking. It took us over steep ascents, beautiful views, high cliffs... and the greatest thing is that the walking itself can be done as fast or slow and as log or short as you want, due to the many excellent guesthouses on the way. A great way to enjoy beautiful views and walks, and great evenings, beers and food at the same time.
We met a Dutch couple that is now in their last weeks of 15 months around the world, which of course lead to many stories and future plans for other trips.
Unfortunately, the last part of the hike was closed because of some landslides, that had ruined the trail. it must be said, that, regardless the ease and comfort og the hike, bad weather can turn the narrow paths into muddy and slippery slides, as waterfalls and streams cross the path. Before we left, the trek had been closed for 15 days.
The landslides had a good consequence as well. We didn't have to stay a second night, as we could get the bus to Shangri-la the same hour. (it was so close I even managed to escape some lady who wanted me to pay for the horrific toilet (what they call toilet)I went to, hahaha).
We went to a hostel, and got the shower we had been craving for for the last two days.
The next day was administration day. We searched the Public Security Bureau, to get our visas extended. unexpectedly, it was a great experience! In Chendu we would have had to wait for 5 days. Here, they do it on the spot, with a smile ( policemen smiling!!!). We did lose our second entry however, so it might be that we will have to take the plane from Hongkong, but we'll see...)
Then we went for a Chinese cellphonenr. A very ambitious store attedant helped us, with the best English he could come up with. The combination of this little energetic, nervous man with the bad English was a hilarious, yet irritating situation. (yeah...yeah...sorry...of course...customer service... me learn english international language...ok...yeah ok sorry of course .... (typing and talking very fast) glad to be of service...yeah... just doing my duty...this is my number... and name (in Chinese of course)... great! And we have a phonenumber
Next stop: busstation, to book a ticket to Xiacheng. "No Bus"
Somehow, no busses go north in September... there are some struggles between the villages there (we're in a warzone!!!), and the government has stopped public transport.
So we have been hanging around here in Shangri-la (3200m), visited a great monastery, a huge praying wheel, and a lake where we got ripped off, and almost hit the man behind the desk. Somehow we had to pay entrance, as well as the horses to ge there, after 200m or so, they stopped and said that to see the lake, it was more than double the price. We got so angry....
Tomorrow, we'll leave for Xiancheng in a jeep we booked together with a guy from Antwerp and his Chinese girlfriend that live in Belgium and China, at least if she doesn't get more ill. Expensive trip, but we really have to go. The Chinese holidays have also started, so hostel prices just doubled last night.
That's it for now. More detailed stories and pictures will follow, but not soon, as we're leaving for the rugged outback of Western China, where hot water and electricity are rare, and even the word 'internet' does not exist.
Goodnight
Monday, September 24, 2007
Lijang
Lijang is quite similar to Dali, be it with much more tourists. Busses of Chinese stroll trough the narrow cobbled streets, shoulder to shoulder at peak times. When it's quiet, this small city ( the old part) must be beautiful. And we must admit that it is very cosy, small streets full of lampoons, and restaurants everywhere. Close to the village is the Black Dragon Pool park, an obligatory photoshoot. The park was nice, and you can expect more pictures in a few days. Tomorrow we'll leave for the Tiger Leaping Gorge, a day too late, as there were no busses today. (the guesthouse lady warned us, but we didn't believe her, quite embarrassing...)
We also sent home our 4th parcel today, which was almost sent to Italy. They thought that Belgium was Italy, or just write whatever they come up with first when they don't know what to do. We just had a great experience with a Chinese stamp carver the evening before, and the postal girls ruined it all.
Right now we're going to bed, as we have to get up at 7 tomorrow (sorry working folks, for us it's quite early). We can hear the Chinese partying in one of the many restaurant/disco's nearby. It's crazy!!! they all go nuts on a few people dancing in the middle of the restaurnt, chanting Naxi songs on house beats... quite funny....
Good night,
F&E
We also sent home our 4th parcel today, which was almost sent to Italy. They thought that Belgium was Italy, or just write whatever they come up with first when they don't know what to do. We just had a great experience with a Chinese stamp carver the evening before, and the postal girls ruined it all.
Right now we're going to bed, as we have to get up at 7 tomorrow (sorry working folks, for us it's quite early). We can hear the Chinese partying in one of the many restaurant/disco's nearby. It's crazy!!! they all go nuts on a few people dancing in the middle of the restaurnt, chanting Naxi songs on house beats... quite funny....
Good night,
F&E
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Dali
Dali is a sweet little village in Southwest China, with twice the population of Turnhout. Eline totally loves it, and she does have a point. You can find all sorts of restaurants and little bars here, and all of them have terraces. Unfortunately (according to me), this is all the result of its popularity among backpackers. I do find the town a nice place to stay and to hang out, but I regret the inflated prices, the lack of true Chinese spirit and the dozens of women that come and ask you 5 times a day whether you "like to smoke". Dali is often compared to Lijang, be it a bit less beautiful and less crowded. When talking about Dali, one shouldn't mistake Dali Old City (Dali) with Dali City (Xiaguan), which is a new city about 18km to the south, where all connections to other major cities start.
We started our stay by blogging and sleeping, and went out in the early afternoon, as Eline was ill. This region is famous for its banana pancakes, which automatically became my afternoon goal. We wandered around, and found many cosy places. We also found Cycling Dali, a place we knew from an advertisement in Kunming, where we could make landline phonecalls home for 1 Yuan per minute (that's 0.10 euro, cheaper than many Belgian cell phone calls), an excellent occasion to call home and get some updates. The guy who ran the place just started his business and was a mini-entrepreneur with many small activities under one roof. He had phonecalls, an internet bar with 2 pc's, printer, he sold kites, Teva sandals and shoes, and bicycles. A Merida mountainbike, full suspension, 300 euro to buy it and have it shipped to your home.
Afterwards, we had a pancake and two beers. We strolled along the shops some more, looking for a nose spray. We have one, but Eline finds it not powerful enough. We found one in a pharmacy.
It was the most powerful and painful nose spray we had ever had. It burned!! Oh did it burn! Our nasal cavities were thoroughly desinfected, and probably also the front parts of our brains. A few hours later, it still burned when blowing our noses. The Chinese are crazy! Our noses were clear though...
We went back to our hostel, and had dinner at the restaurant next to it. Eline ordered Beijing Duck, which was horrible, 80% of the 'meat' was duck skin, so her pancake was rather empty. We went to sleep at 8.30, as we both were a bit ill (snotty nose, coughing, feverish, and a lack of sleep because of the horrible "sleeper"bus).
Thank God for sleeping around the clock!!! We felt much better. Today we were going to do a bicycle tour along the lake, to a nearby village, Xizhou. We didn't ride next to the lake, but had to use the road that was also used by dozens of busses. The scenery was marvellous!!! Right now, it the harvest is going on, and the roads are full of grain and corn that is drying in the sun. The fields are getting cut, and farmers bring the grain to the road on their backs, where it is then stacked on mini tractors and bicycles. Lovely! Dali is also known for its marble, and there are plenty of workshops next to the roads, with huge rocks of marble, ready to be cut or treated.
The village itself was also very charming, and we saw plenty of small chops and local activity. We lunched with a local pancake like thing. Eline also saved a fish, when we witnessed how a fishfarm was filling up it's truck. The small fish fell next to it, and Eline came to the rescue. (Our hostel also has a small pond, filled with fish for cooking, all chinese keep their fish alive in ponds and tanks till the day of consumption, as it is safer that way)
We came back, had a beer, and then Eline saw some choes. They were beautiful, true, but only in size 35. Very sad situation. We wanted to ask the hostel lady to help us translate where we could find those shoes elsewhere (or the wholesaler). She told us to look in another street. We searched for half an hour, fruitless... We know the brand though, and the quest will go on!
We had dinner and went to sleep early again.
This morning, we're as good as cured, and our bus for Lijang is leaving in twenty minutes.
Byebye!
We started our stay by blogging and sleeping, and went out in the early afternoon, as Eline was ill. This region is famous for its banana pancakes, which automatically became my afternoon goal. We wandered around, and found many cosy places. We also found Cycling Dali, a place we knew from an advertisement in Kunming, where we could make landline phonecalls home for 1 Yuan per minute (that's 0.10 euro, cheaper than many Belgian cell phone calls), an excellent occasion to call home and get some updates. The guy who ran the place just started his business and was a mini-entrepreneur with many small activities under one roof. He had phonecalls, an internet bar with 2 pc's, printer, he sold kites, Teva sandals and shoes, and bicycles. A Merida mountainbike, full suspension, 300 euro to buy it and have it shipped to your home.
Afterwards, we had a pancake and two beers. We strolled along the shops some more, looking for a nose spray. We have one, but Eline finds it not powerful enough. We found one in a pharmacy.
"is it powerful?" (not understood)
"Different kind?" "nonono"
"Okay we take it..."
It was the most powerful and painful nose spray we had ever had. It burned!! Oh did it burn! Our nasal cavities were thoroughly desinfected, and probably also the front parts of our brains. A few hours later, it still burned when blowing our noses. The Chinese are crazy! Our noses were clear though...
We went back to our hostel, and had dinner at the restaurant next to it. Eline ordered Beijing Duck, which was horrible, 80% of the 'meat' was duck skin, so her pancake was rather empty. We went to sleep at 8.30, as we both were a bit ill (snotty nose, coughing, feverish, and a lack of sleep because of the horrible "sleeper"bus).
Thank God for sleeping around the clock!!! We felt much better. Today we were going to do a bicycle tour along the lake, to a nearby village, Xizhou. We didn't ride next to the lake, but had to use the road that was also used by dozens of busses. The scenery was marvellous!!! Right now, it the harvest is going on, and the roads are full of grain and corn that is drying in the sun. The fields are getting cut, and farmers bring the grain to the road on their backs, where it is then stacked on mini tractors and bicycles. Lovely! Dali is also known for its marble, and there are plenty of workshops next to the roads, with huge rocks of marble, ready to be cut or treated.
The village itself was also very charming, and we saw plenty of small chops and local activity. We lunched with a local pancake like thing. Eline also saved a fish, when we witnessed how a fishfarm was filling up it's truck. The small fish fell next to it, and Eline came to the rescue. (Our hostel also has a small pond, filled with fish for cooking, all chinese keep their fish alive in ponds and tanks till the day of consumption, as it is safer that way)
We came back, had a beer, and then Eline saw some choes. They were beautiful, true, but only in size 35. Very sad situation. We wanted to ask the hostel lady to help us translate where we could find those shoes elsewhere (or the wholesaler). She told us to look in another street. We searched for half an hour, fruitless... We know the brand though, and the quest will go on!
We had dinner and went to sleep early again.
This morning, we're as good as cured, and our bus for Lijang is leaving in twenty minutes.
Byebye!
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Luoyang-Dali
This post will probably be quite long. The reason is that for the moment, all stories have a delay of about a week. Everything you read happened 7 days earlier, a bit like looking into space (those other stars...). We will try to bring you our gruesome adventures and delightful memories a bit faster, which means we will have to catch up first. There we go, after somne more interesting percentages: China consumes about 50% of the world's pork, making the pork price (an actual news feed) almost as important as oil prices. Right now, pork prices are rising, and the local governments of pig farming regions already have allocated the extra income. Last number before we take off: 10% of the internet is censored in China. Blogs are prohibited, so we can write them, but not read them. I can also upload our pictures to Flickr, but not see them afterwards to name them or read comments.
Now we continue with the main story.
We woke up in Luoyang, and head out for breakfast. This breakfast consisted of warm dishes, like steamed bread and dumplings, but the buffet wasn't heated, so the warm food wasn't warm either. We asked for tea, which was very normal to us after getting tea almost everywhere, but had to explain it by pointing at the round hole in our aluminium jail-like plate and making drinking gestures. After ten minutes, she returned with two glasses of warm water... (for those who now think we're picky, spoiled tourists, don't panic: we will try warm Chinese breakfast some other time!)
But this horrific breakfast wasn't the thing we were looking forward to. At 9 am, we were going to change rooms for a room with a double bed. And boy, was it a huge room. We gor the suite!!! For the same price. So we installed ourselves in our sofas, and had a tea in our room. Then, Eline went back to sleep, and I went for some serious blogging.
At noon. we left for the main sight in the region. The Longmen caves. These are temples that are carved out of rocks, resulting in artificial caves full of Buddha statues, It was breathtaking! We expected a lot, especially after seeing some photos in books, but these books show only a fraction of the whole complex. There are really thousands of Buddhas sculpet out of the rocks, and they are all still part of the saame rock. It is all solid and fixed (it's hard to explain), out of one piece. Absolutely amazing!!! While resting on a bench for a while, Eline jumped up in a way the would make the leap of the Tiger at the Tiger Leaping Gorge look like rope skipping. She saw a Carrefour bag flying by, hunted it like a hungry leopard and stored it in her purse, happy as a kid in a candystore. There was a Carrefour in Luoyang, and destiny had showed us the way.
In the bus, we met Jess and Paul again, and agreed on having dinner together to try the local splecialty: a water banquet. But first: Carrefour! Armed with our shopping bag, we strolled around at the bus parkimg lot, till we knew which bus to take. The supermarket was only 400m away from our hostel. We bought chocolate spread (Choco!!!), peanut butter (eline), pistache nuts, bread (BREAD!!!!) and ham. A quick shot of yoghurt for the road and of we went again. To keep the ham cool till the next morning, we hung it in front of the airco.
Chinese Carrefours much resemble European ones, except for the goods they offer. European products can be found, depending on how big the store is. One major difference is that you can buy living fish and other animals in the store, like big fish in huge tanks, or even in a chilren's paddling pool. But who wouldn't get tired of fish everyday? Thank God for variation! Like crab, eel, turtles and frogs!!! Yummy!
The water banquet was actually very nice. We liked only 3 of the 6 dishes we got, but these three were not only very good, they were also sufficeint to feed an army. The name 'Water Banquet' comes from the dishes mainly consisting of soups, and the speed of the dishes following up on each other. Back to sleep.
The next morning, we would sleep long and head for Xian. We catched the bus an hour earlier, and got it right on time. During the bus trip, we saw breathtaking landscapes, and also an awful Chinese movie, together with unbearable music videos. (and when I mean unbearable, I'm serious! The Chinese are fond of high nasal voices and also everything that is loud) In the mean while, we could witness how the baby in front of us was taken to the toilet for three times, the toilet being the garbage bin a mere meter away from our seats. This bin had of course the double purpose of spitting bin as well.
In Xian we arrived in a great hostel, and the reception lady could speak English perfectly. There was a cosy bar, and as we had been in the bus for a whole day, there wasn't much time left, except for eating a spaghetti (hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm) and drinking some beers.
The next day, we held an easy day, uploading loads of pictures, and visiting the city in the afternoon. We walked to the city centre, and bought the greatest cookies ever tasted in years. We wandered around in the Muslim quarter, and got carried away in the small souvenir street. Afterwards, we went to a famous restaurant (more than a hundred yeras old) to taste the typical ... dish, where you had to crumble bread into a bowl. When finished, they poored some mutton soup over it. It was tasty, but not spectacular. ( I forgot the name but will look it up, Eline and I gave it another name, which is not suitable for publication (think about the children!). Please ask us when we return)
Our second day in Xian was for visiting the Army of Terracotta warriors, after booking our plane tickets to Kunming. This is again a very touristic place, crowded with shops, and we didn't even find the entrance first. A funny thing was that a salesboy was trying to 'scam' Jess and Paul, by first saying the price for a box of terracotta models, and afterwards saying that it was for one statue in the box (or maybe his English was just so bad). But in stead of giving in or returning the box. Jess pulled it out of his hands and ran away! The boy ran after her, but a security guard stopped him, and the boy, visibly unhappy, trickled away.
The terracotta warriors were absolutely marvellous, breathtaking, stunning. It is unbelieveable that these people had been working on it for forty years, as their emperor had ordered it. This emperor of course, wasn't just someone (mind the place in time we're talking about)
We are talking about thousands of huge terracotta statues, gathered in combat formations, all with different faces and expressions, weaponry and horses. Have a look at the pictures on Flickr for an impression as soon as they hit the Net.
The next day, we went to the Muslim quarter again, as the great Mosue was now open. This ancient mix of Islamic and Chinese architecture was beautyful, and a very relaxing pace to visit. in the afternoon, we took the bus to the airport. While waiting, I found an English magazine!!! Hooray, Men's Health!!! bummer.... Strange magazine. It's a men's magazine, with half naked men on the cover and diets inside, something like a men's Flair. Some interesting things however (cocktail recipes!!!) This mag will be treasured!
The plane made a very rough landing, but we were happy to have skipped three days of train.
In Kunming, we stayed at the Cloudland hostel. Kunming does not offer many things to see, except for the Stone Forrest at 120km. Due to budgetary constraints (14euro entrance fee), we decided to skip this sight. Kunming was also used for resting, as we were getting a bit ill again. We used our time to plan our trip ahead, try to do some shopping, and just wandering around.
We also found a Carrefour again, and decided that it was time for wine. We bought cheese, a (German) Camembert, ham, two baguets, vegetables, wine and some more delicious things. We installed ourselves on the rooftop terrace and made an original 'smos', but with fake cheese. The Camembert was horrible, and it was apitty we spent so much money on it. But our dinner was perfect, and the glasses (we bough glasses) of wine made up for everything.
The next day we went to see two pagoda's in the city centre, and went shopping is the street shops and the upperclass department stores. We found another Carrefour (they have several stores in all Chinese cities) and this was even bigger. Here they had original cheese, like French Camembert, Brie, President butter and Dutch Gouda cheese. Thank you Holland for exporting Gouda Cheese!!! We made a smos for lunch (4.5 euro for a small package of cheese) and it was delicious. You have no idea how hard we craved for a normal Belgian bread lunch with cheese and other sandwich filling!
While walking to our restaurant, we passed an area where the Chinese come to buy their aquaria. We saw some of the most beautyful and pure aquaria we had ever seen, and this just in a network of small grubby shops. It gave us some inspiration for our own fish tank again once we're home.
That evening, we went for local specialties again, and ate 'Over the Bridge Noodles' The name is based on a woman who used to bring her husband lunch 'over the bridge' and got creative with the noodles. You get some plates with cooked and raw meat, vegetables, nuts, a raw egg and some more things, noodles and a bowl of boiling soup. You put everything in the soup, wait a few seconds (we waited to have the raw stuff it cooked a bit, the chinese just digg in immediately). It was an amazing meal and I will remember it to make it again at home. It was one of the best dishes I had in China up till now. Great. This day was a culinairy climax. Our dinner less than half as expensive than our sandwich lunch.
After dinner, it was time to get our luggage and head for the bus station. We booked two seats on a sleeper bus. When we got in, we were happy to have three smaal beds next to each other, and we hoped that no third guy would show up. He didn't!!! The bus left an hour too late, the guy next to us rasped a bit in his handkerchief, wiped the remains of his chicken claws of his bed, into ours, and off we went! We were glad with the space we had, but our happiness soon started to fade. We forgot to take out the nose spray for Eline, and the beds were only 1.75 m or less. In the beginning you think it won't be that mucj of a problem, but after a while, everything hurts and I could't sleep at all. We took out the magic weapons, Ipods, forgot the misery and fell asleep. A horrible night! We arrived in Dali City, took a atxi to Dali, booked our room, had breakfast, and that where we are righ now. Eline is sleeping, and I'm blogging while uploading pictures.
The following days, we will do a trip recommended to us by Bernard, we will adapt it a bit, and also try to do the Tiger Trek. Our initial plan was to hurry to Chengdu, so we could wait there for our plane to Tibet (that we will book there) while also waiting for our Visa extensions. But now we heard that these extensions can be easily received here, so we don't have to rush through these beautyful villages and landscapes, which would be a pity. So we'll see.
Ok enough blogging for today. I hope you don't mind the fact that this was an awfully long post without much detail. But now, we're up to date!
New pictures have been put on the Flickr sets, but I you can wait, I would advise you to, as Eline's pictures haven't been added yet.
See you!
Now we continue with the main story.
We woke up in Luoyang, and head out for breakfast. This breakfast consisted of warm dishes, like steamed bread and dumplings, but the buffet wasn't heated, so the warm food wasn't warm either. We asked for tea, which was very normal to us after getting tea almost everywhere, but had to explain it by pointing at the round hole in our aluminium jail-like plate and making drinking gestures. After ten minutes, she returned with two glasses of warm water... (for those who now think we're picky, spoiled tourists, don't panic: we will try warm Chinese breakfast some other time!)
But this horrific breakfast wasn't the thing we were looking forward to. At 9 am, we were going to change rooms for a room with a double bed. And boy, was it a huge room. We gor the suite!!! For the same price. So we installed ourselves in our sofas, and had a tea in our room. Then, Eline went back to sleep, and I went for some serious blogging.
At noon. we left for the main sight in the region. The Longmen caves. These are temples that are carved out of rocks, resulting in artificial caves full of Buddha statues, It was breathtaking! We expected a lot, especially after seeing some photos in books, but these books show only a fraction of the whole complex. There are really thousands of Buddhas sculpet out of the rocks, and they are all still part of the saame rock. It is all solid and fixed (it's hard to explain), out of one piece. Absolutely amazing!!! While resting on a bench for a while, Eline jumped up in a way the would make the leap of the Tiger at the Tiger Leaping Gorge look like rope skipping. She saw a Carrefour bag flying by, hunted it like a hungry leopard and stored it in her purse, happy as a kid in a candystore. There was a Carrefour in Luoyang, and destiny had showed us the way.
In the bus, we met Jess and Paul again, and agreed on having dinner together to try the local splecialty: a water banquet. But first: Carrefour! Armed with our shopping bag, we strolled around at the bus parkimg lot, till we knew which bus to take. The supermarket was only 400m away from our hostel. We bought chocolate spread (Choco!!!), peanut butter (eline), pistache nuts, bread (BREAD!!!!) and ham. A quick shot of yoghurt for the road and of we went again. To keep the ham cool till the next morning, we hung it in front of the airco.
Chinese Carrefours much resemble European ones, except for the goods they offer. European products can be found, depending on how big the store is. One major difference is that you can buy living fish and other animals in the store, like big fish in huge tanks, or even in a chilren's paddling pool. But who wouldn't get tired of fish everyday? Thank God for variation! Like crab, eel, turtles and frogs!!! Yummy!
The water banquet was actually very nice. We liked only 3 of the 6 dishes we got, but these three were not only very good, they were also sufficeint to feed an army. The name 'Water Banquet' comes from the dishes mainly consisting of soups, and the speed of the dishes following up on each other. Back to sleep.
The next morning, we would sleep long and head for Xian. We catched the bus an hour earlier, and got it right on time. During the bus trip, we saw breathtaking landscapes, and also an awful Chinese movie, together with unbearable music videos. (and when I mean unbearable, I'm serious! The Chinese are fond of high nasal voices and also everything that is loud) In the mean while, we could witness how the baby in front of us was taken to the toilet for three times, the toilet being the garbage bin a mere meter away from our seats. This bin had of course the double purpose of spitting bin as well.
In Xian we arrived in a great hostel, and the reception lady could speak English perfectly. There was a cosy bar, and as we had been in the bus for a whole day, there wasn't much time left, except for eating a spaghetti (hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm) and drinking some beers.
The next day, we held an easy day, uploading loads of pictures, and visiting the city in the afternoon. We walked to the city centre, and bought the greatest cookies ever tasted in years. We wandered around in the Muslim quarter, and got carried away in the small souvenir street. Afterwards, we went to a famous restaurant (more than a hundred yeras old) to taste the typical ... dish, where you had to crumble bread into a bowl. When finished, they poored some mutton soup over it. It was tasty, but not spectacular. ( I forgot the name but will look it up, Eline and I gave it another name, which is not suitable for publication (think about the children!). Please ask us when we return)
Our second day in Xian was for visiting the Army of Terracotta warriors, after booking our plane tickets to Kunming. This is again a very touristic place, crowded with shops, and we didn't even find the entrance first. A funny thing was that a salesboy was trying to 'scam' Jess and Paul, by first saying the price for a box of terracotta models, and afterwards saying that it was for one statue in the box (or maybe his English was just so bad). But in stead of giving in or returning the box. Jess pulled it out of his hands and ran away! The boy ran after her, but a security guard stopped him, and the boy, visibly unhappy, trickled away.
The terracotta warriors were absolutely marvellous, breathtaking, stunning. It is unbelieveable that these people had been working on it for forty years, as their emperor had ordered it. This emperor of course, wasn't just someone (mind the place in time we're talking about)
A ruler from the western state of Qin united and subjugated the Warring States
and formed China in 221 B.C. He declared himself the first emperor of China and
named himself Shi Huangdi (meaning First Emperor). During the Qin
(Ch'in) Dynasty (221 B.C. - 206 B.C.), the emperor connected and extended
the old fortification walls along the north of China that originated about 700
B.C. (over 2500 years ago), forming the Great Wall of China to stop invading
barbarians from the north. The Emperor standardized Chinese writing,
bureaucracy, scholarship, law, currency, weights and measures. He expanded the
Chinese empire, built a capital in Xian, a system of roads, and massive
fortifications and palaces. Shi Huangdi (259-210 B.C.) was a cruel ruler who
readily killed or banished those who opposed him or his ideas. He is notorious
for burning virtually all the books that remained from previous regimes. He even
banned scholarly discussions of the past. The Qin dynasty ended soon after his
death, but a unified China remained for over 2,000 years. China's name is
derived from his short but seminal dynasty, Qin (pronounced Chin). (http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/greatwall/Emperor.html)
We are talking about thousands of huge terracotta statues, gathered in combat formations, all with different faces and expressions, weaponry and horses. Have a look at the pictures on Flickr for an impression as soon as they hit the Net.
The next day, we went to the Muslim quarter again, as the great Mosue was now open. This ancient mix of Islamic and Chinese architecture was beautyful, and a very relaxing pace to visit. in the afternoon, we took the bus to the airport. While waiting, I found an English magazine!!! Hooray, Men's Health!!! bummer.... Strange magazine. It's a men's magazine, with half naked men on the cover and diets inside, something like a men's Flair. Some interesting things however (cocktail recipes!!!) This mag will be treasured!
The plane made a very rough landing, but we were happy to have skipped three days of train.
In Kunming, we stayed at the Cloudland hostel. Kunming does not offer many things to see, except for the Stone Forrest at 120km. Due to budgetary constraints (14euro entrance fee), we decided to skip this sight. Kunming was also used for resting, as we were getting a bit ill again. We used our time to plan our trip ahead, try to do some shopping, and just wandering around.
We also found a Carrefour again, and decided that it was time for wine. We bought cheese, a (German) Camembert, ham, two baguets, vegetables, wine and some more delicious things. We installed ourselves on the rooftop terrace and made an original 'smos', but with fake cheese. The Camembert was horrible, and it was apitty we spent so much money on it. But our dinner was perfect, and the glasses (we bough glasses) of wine made up for everything.
The next day we went to see two pagoda's in the city centre, and went shopping is the street shops and the upperclass department stores. We found another Carrefour (they have several stores in all Chinese cities) and this was even bigger. Here they had original cheese, like French Camembert, Brie, President butter and Dutch Gouda cheese. Thank you Holland for exporting Gouda Cheese!!! We made a smos for lunch (4.5 euro for a small package of cheese) and it was delicious. You have no idea how hard we craved for a normal Belgian bread lunch with cheese and other sandwich filling!
While walking to our restaurant, we passed an area where the Chinese come to buy their aquaria. We saw some of the most beautyful and pure aquaria we had ever seen, and this just in a network of small grubby shops. It gave us some inspiration for our own fish tank again once we're home.
That evening, we went for local specialties again, and ate 'Over the Bridge Noodles' The name is based on a woman who used to bring her husband lunch 'over the bridge' and got creative with the noodles. You get some plates with cooked and raw meat, vegetables, nuts, a raw egg and some more things, noodles and a bowl of boiling soup. You put everything in the soup, wait a few seconds (we waited to have the raw stuff it cooked a bit, the chinese just digg in immediately). It was an amazing meal and I will remember it to make it again at home. It was one of the best dishes I had in China up till now. Great. This day was a culinairy climax. Our dinner less than half as expensive than our sandwich lunch.
After dinner, it was time to get our luggage and head for the bus station. We booked two seats on a sleeper bus. When we got in, we were happy to have three smaal beds next to each other, and we hoped that no third guy would show up. He didn't!!! The bus left an hour too late, the guy next to us rasped a bit in his handkerchief, wiped the remains of his chicken claws of his bed, into ours, and off we went! We were glad with the space we had, but our happiness soon started to fade. We forgot to take out the nose spray for Eline, and the beds were only 1.75 m or less. In the beginning you think it won't be that mucj of a problem, but after a while, everything hurts and I could't sleep at all. We took out the magic weapons, Ipods, forgot the misery and fell asleep. A horrible night! We arrived in Dali City, took a atxi to Dali, booked our room, had breakfast, and that where we are righ now. Eline is sleeping, and I'm blogging while uploading pictures.
The following days, we will do a trip recommended to us by Bernard, we will adapt it a bit, and also try to do the Tiger Trek. Our initial plan was to hurry to Chengdu, so we could wait there for our plane to Tibet (that we will book there) while also waiting for our Visa extensions. But now we heard that these extensions can be easily received here, so we don't have to rush through these beautyful villages and landscapes, which would be a pity. So we'll see.
Ok enough blogging for today. I hope you don't mind the fact that this was an awfully long post without much detail. But now, we're up to date!
New pictures have been put on the Flickr sets, but I you can wait, I would advise you to, as Eline's pictures haven't been added yet.
See you!
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Bwana Benja
Something completely different. As some might already know, there is another member of the Snijers-clan (my mother's side of the family) flying away from the his nest. Benjamin is going to Uganda, volunteering in a project that started at his university in Brussels. His adventures will certainly provide some interesting content for blogging, which he and his friends will try to do. Check out http://softpoweredu.blogspot.com/ if your interested.
24
The 24 hours following our departure out of Beijing were some of the strangest yet exciting hours in our trip.
Climbing on the train, it was obvious that we were the only foreigners on the carriage, making us of course, the main attraction for everyone else. We slept in compartments of six beds, three bunk beds at both sides. As we had the upper beds, we had to climb 2.5 m high using other beds and 'handy' ladder like things. Although we slept next to the airco vents, it felt comfortable to have most of our gear in the compartments at our feet (above the train corridor), so we didn't have to leave them at the floor of our doorless compartment, especially after a policeman had come in to tell us to "wath luggage careful". Eline's bag was pushed under the floor bed with the determined and loud help of the two chinese women in our compartment.
this brings us to our train buddies. They were an older and a younger Chinese couple, having loads of fun meeting and sharing beers and what they call food. They ate.... Chicken claws... No not juicy, tasty chicken legs, but the claws (de poten!), and visibly enjoyed them. We had seen them in supermarkets. All kinds of meat and eggs (claws, legs, unidentifiable other things,...), in vacuum packages, out of the refrigirator. As I wasn't to healthy (evil Beijing Duck), I kindly rejected the offer.
My brutally assaulted intestines had other consequences (mind the plural). Ever tried French toilets (the Chinese standard by the way) ? Well, try them on a train! And man were they filthy!
At 4 am, our Chinese buddies woke up, and trying to keep an eye on Eline's bag, we kind of did the same. At 7, we arrived in Zhengzou. We bought some bread and had breakfast, using the good old chocolate we got from Lennert at the goodbye party. Then I had to use the bathroom again (yes, here comes the other consequence). I followed a huge sign saying 'Public WC', and got some tissues. I followed the 'men' symbol and arrived in toilet hell. It was a hall, measuring about 30x6 meters, urinals on the left, a row of cubicals on the right. these cubicals were a bit larger than a square meter, were about 1.3 m high, and did not have doors... A channel in the ground that connected all of them made clear where everything had to go into. It was horrible! Being the only tourist in the room also blessed me with a certain degree of attention. lovely.
After eating the horror away with some Cote d'or and antibiotics (You may be the most cautious person on earth regarding antibiotics, these toilets make you feast on it!), time to search for transport to the Shaolin Temple.
It took quite a while, but we finally found a bus taking us there. We left, and after an hour or two we arrived at a temple. We got our luggage out, went to the ticketing office, put our nets around or bags, and bought our tickets, only to find out it wasn't the Shaolin Temple. We had joined a tour of Chinese doing Taishi Shan, eating and Shaolin Temple. luckily we didn't buy the main ticket, which a big chinese tourguide had been shouting about, being very angry with us and another Korean tourist who luckily knew some English. The Temple was beautyful though. One minor detail was that we were scammed by an older lady putting some incense in Eline's hands, and even threw in the Tao (the oldest and most important man of the temple) to follow us and asking for money. I gave in and gave them a Euro, as I still wanted to snap some pictures in the beautiful corridor we were in.
The bus continued to Shaol... no, a restaurant, and the korean got so mad, the driver took the three of us to the Temple (knowing Chinese would be so handy!).
The Shaolin Temple is one of the most touristical places in China, and Lonely Planet doesn't really recommend it. It do has become an industry, with huge administrative buildings, tourist shops, ticket offices and an insane entrance fee (10 euro). It is also true that the ancient spirit of the complex is long gone, and that it has been replaced by a spirit of commerce. We found it great however. The temple was nice, as it had some frescoes of fighting monks on the walls, which all other temples don't have. We watched two tourist shows displaying some breathtaking Wushu (try doing push-ups on two fingers per hand) and walked around the pagoda forrest, with hundreds of pagodas containing ashes of famous monks. What made it such a great experience, however, was the fact that at the time we were leaving, fighting classes of the hundreds of youngsters that live inside of the temple started, which was very impressive.
We asked for a bus, and the tourist information lady brought us to the street, promising a 15 Yuan bus we could join. Other men rushed in to sell us a taxi ride. In the end, this one lady stopped a taxi which was already taken. We could share it, paying only 20 Yuan per person. When we arrived in Luoyang, the meter stopped at 120, great deal!
After checking in, we serached for an ATM (we're bleeding money in China, due to all these expensive touristic sights) and a restaurant. There was no English menu, but the very friendly manager basically explained some dishes ( one had chicken, one had beef). We went for chicken. In the mean while, there was a waitress standing at our table for the whole evening, filling up our glasses using the beer we bought when it was half empty. The food looked like they had taken a whole chicken, and chopped it into pieces with a blunt axe. It was tasty, yet there wasn't so much meat.
We returned to the hotel and went to sleep. 24 hours had flown by like a jet.
Climbing on the train, it was obvious that we were the only foreigners on the carriage, making us of course, the main attraction for everyone else. We slept in compartments of six beds, three bunk beds at both sides. As we had the upper beds, we had to climb 2.5 m high using other beds and 'handy' ladder like things. Although we slept next to the airco vents, it felt comfortable to have most of our gear in the compartments at our feet (above the train corridor), so we didn't have to leave them at the floor of our doorless compartment, especially after a policeman had come in to tell us to "wath luggage careful". Eline's bag was pushed under the floor bed with the determined and loud help of the two chinese women in our compartment.
this brings us to our train buddies. They were an older and a younger Chinese couple, having loads of fun meeting and sharing beers and what they call food. They ate.... Chicken claws... No not juicy, tasty chicken legs, but the claws (de poten!), and visibly enjoyed them. We had seen them in supermarkets. All kinds of meat and eggs (claws, legs, unidentifiable other things,...), in vacuum packages, out of the refrigirator. As I wasn't to healthy (evil Beijing Duck), I kindly rejected the offer.
My brutally assaulted intestines had other consequences (mind the plural). Ever tried French toilets (the Chinese standard by the way) ? Well, try them on a train! And man were they filthy!
At 4 am, our Chinese buddies woke up, and trying to keep an eye on Eline's bag, we kind of did the same. At 7, we arrived in Zhengzou. We bought some bread and had breakfast, using the good old chocolate we got from Lennert at the goodbye party. Then I had to use the bathroom again (yes, here comes the other consequence). I followed a huge sign saying 'Public WC', and got some tissues. I followed the 'men' symbol and arrived in toilet hell. It was a hall, measuring about 30x6 meters, urinals on the left, a row of cubicals on the right. these cubicals were a bit larger than a square meter, were about 1.3 m high, and did not have doors... A channel in the ground that connected all of them made clear where everything had to go into. It was horrible! Being the only tourist in the room also blessed me with a certain degree of attention. lovely.
After eating the horror away with some Cote d'or and antibiotics (You may be the most cautious person on earth regarding antibiotics, these toilets make you feast on it!), time to search for transport to the Shaolin Temple.
It took quite a while, but we finally found a bus taking us there. We left, and after an hour or two we arrived at a temple. We got our luggage out, went to the ticketing office, put our nets around or bags, and bought our tickets, only to find out it wasn't the Shaolin Temple. We had joined a tour of Chinese doing Taishi Shan, eating and Shaolin Temple. luckily we didn't buy the main ticket, which a big chinese tourguide had been shouting about, being very angry with us and another Korean tourist who luckily knew some English. The Temple was beautyful though. One minor detail was that we were scammed by an older lady putting some incense in Eline's hands, and even threw in the Tao (the oldest and most important man of the temple) to follow us and asking for money. I gave in and gave them a Euro, as I still wanted to snap some pictures in the beautiful corridor we were in.
The bus continued to Shaol... no, a restaurant, and the korean got so mad, the driver took the three of us to the Temple (knowing Chinese would be so handy!).
The Shaolin Temple is one of the most touristical places in China, and Lonely Planet doesn't really recommend it. It do has become an industry, with huge administrative buildings, tourist shops, ticket offices and an insane entrance fee (10 euro). It is also true that the ancient spirit of the complex is long gone, and that it has been replaced by a spirit of commerce. We found it great however. The temple was nice, as it had some frescoes of fighting monks on the walls, which all other temples don't have. We watched two tourist shows displaying some breathtaking Wushu (try doing push-ups on two fingers per hand) and walked around the pagoda forrest, with hundreds of pagodas containing ashes of famous monks. What made it such a great experience, however, was the fact that at the time we were leaving, fighting classes of the hundreds of youngsters that live inside of the temple started, which was very impressive.
We asked for a bus, and the tourist information lady brought us to the street, promising a 15 Yuan bus we could join. Other men rushed in to sell us a taxi ride. In the end, this one lady stopped a taxi which was already taken. We could share it, paying only 20 Yuan per person. When we arrived in Luoyang, the meter stopped at 120, great deal!
After checking in, we serached for an ATM (we're bleeding money in China, due to all these expensive touristic sights) and a restaurant. There was no English menu, but the very friendly manager basically explained some dishes ( one had chicken, one had beef). We went for chicken. In the mean while, there was a waitress standing at our table for the whole evening, filling up our glasses using the beer we bought when it was half empty. The food looked like they had taken a whole chicken, and chopped it into pieces with a blunt axe. It was tasty, yet there wasn't so much meat.
We returned to the hotel and went to sleep. 24 hours had flown by like a jet.
Mongolian Joke
A Chinese and a Mongolian are standing on the Great Chinese Wall. The Chinese immediately starts his speech and tells the Mongolian about how long this wall is, and how old, and what of a marvell of ancient engineering and architecture it truly is. It is the most important world wonder, and it explains the strenght, power and technological sophistications of the mighty Chinese empire, baffling foreigners from all over the world for millenia...
The Mongolian kindly nods and asks:"Why did you build it?"
(this joke was reproduced without any permission of its author (our Mongolian guide), but I'm sure she wouldn't mind.)
The Mongolian kindly nods and asks:"Why did you build it?"
(this joke was reproduced without any permission of its author (our Mongolian guide), but I'm sure she wouldn't mind.)
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
I want to ride my bicycle...I want to ride my bike...
Een fiets nemen in Beijing en je wagen in het moordende Chinese verkeer (5000 verkeersdoden per dag). Dat wil toch iedereen?! Idd! Wij ook.
In de hostel huurden we twee aluminium rossen en vertrokken (na eerst Eline's fiets te wisselen, die kapot was...) naar het postkantoor, om het laatste matje op te sturen (dat was echt een dom plan om die mee te nemen), en enkele soouvenirs. Net zoals in Rusland en Mongolie hadden ze echter alweer geen kartonnen buizen, dus mijn poster uit Moskow kon alweer niet mee. Ik was het beu, en we trokken naar DHL. Zij zoiuden dat klusje wel klaren. Na lang zoeken vonden we het minikantoor, waar ze ook geen buizen hadden.... (aaaarggh) Maar niet getreurd! Die DHL man sprong daar in een Chinese furie, nam breekmes, plakband en een kartonnen doos ter hand en en ging woest te keer tot een pakketje van 7x7x... cm onstond dat helemaal was ingetapet. Geweldig!!!! Leve DHL! 'Wanneer komt het aan?''3 working days'. 'Ok...oei....en the price????......' '67euro' (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) G*dverd*mme!!!!!!!!! Nu ja, morgen of overmorgen komt onze poster dus aan, en kost hij 100 euro. Maar hij zal pronken!!!
Daarna eindelijk tijd voor cultuur. De Lama temple was zeer mooi, maar uiteraard ook weer een tempel, en daarna naar de Drum en Bell Towers, die we beide beklommen. Na een pintje en een cola (mijn darmpjes...)
Daarna reden we naar een winkelwandelstraat, en doken een Shoppingcenter in. (wow) Snel werd het tijd om te gaan eten, wat zeer lekker en goedkoop was. Uiteindelijk was het tijd om in te gaan pakken, want die avond vertok onze slaaptrein naar Zhengzou.
Dat station was veeeeel verder dan gedacht, en het werd spannend. We konden direct van de 'gate' (dat station was waanzinnig groot!!!) naar de trein. En dan wordt het weer tijd voor de volgende post.
Fietsen in Beijing viel trouwens zeer goed mee. Alles is er aangepast aan de fietsen, met aparte en brede fietsstroken. Door de verschillende hutongs rijden (kleine straatjes die door de woonwijken lopen) is leuk en verrassend, omdat deze hutongs niet enkel zeer mooi zijn met het vele groen, maar ook omdat ze bruisen van leven. Het aantal fietsen is wel enorm geslonken, ten voordele van auto's en bromfietsen. Op foto's van mijn vader uit '91 zie je nog hele straten gevuld met honderden fietsen. Daar is nu totaal geen sprake meer van. Van het romantische beeld rest jammer genoeg niet veel meer.
If you're affraid, just follow the movement and you will be allright (Nico, de franse kok in Beijing(op zijn Frans Engels uit te spreken uiteraard))
In de hostel huurden we twee aluminium rossen en vertrokken (na eerst Eline's fiets te wisselen, die kapot was...) naar het postkantoor, om het laatste matje op te sturen (dat was echt een dom plan om die mee te nemen), en enkele soouvenirs. Net zoals in Rusland en Mongolie hadden ze echter alweer geen kartonnen buizen, dus mijn poster uit Moskow kon alweer niet mee. Ik was het beu, en we trokken naar DHL. Zij zoiuden dat klusje wel klaren. Na lang zoeken vonden we het minikantoor, waar ze ook geen buizen hadden.... (aaaarggh) Maar niet getreurd! Die DHL man sprong daar in een Chinese furie, nam breekmes, plakband en een kartonnen doos ter hand en en ging woest te keer tot een pakketje van 7x7x... cm onstond dat helemaal was ingetapet. Geweldig!!!! Leve DHL! 'Wanneer komt het aan?''3 working days'. 'Ok...oei....en the price????......' '67euro' (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) G*dverd*mme!!!!!!!!! Nu ja, morgen of overmorgen komt onze poster dus aan, en kost hij 100 euro. Maar hij zal pronken!!!
Daarna eindelijk tijd voor cultuur. De Lama temple was zeer mooi, maar uiteraard ook weer een tempel, en daarna naar de Drum en Bell Towers, die we beide beklommen. Na een pintje en een cola (mijn darmpjes...)
Daarna reden we naar een winkelwandelstraat, en doken een Shoppingcenter in. (wow) Snel werd het tijd om te gaan eten, wat zeer lekker en goedkoop was. Uiteindelijk was het tijd om in te gaan pakken, want die avond vertok onze slaaptrein naar Zhengzou.
Dat station was veeeeel verder dan gedacht, en het werd spannend. We konden direct van de 'gate' (dat station was waanzinnig groot!!!) naar de trein. En dan wordt het weer tijd voor de volgende post.
Fietsen in Beijing viel trouwens zeer goed mee. Alles is er aangepast aan de fietsen, met aparte en brede fietsstroken. Door de verschillende hutongs rijden (kleine straatjes die door de woonwijken lopen) is leuk en verrassend, omdat deze hutongs niet enkel zeer mooi zijn met het vele groen, maar ook omdat ze bruisen van leven. Het aantal fietsen is wel enorm geslonken, ten voordele van auto's en bromfietsen. Op foto's van mijn vader uit '91 zie je nog hele straten gevuld met honderden fietsen. Daar is nu totaal geen sprake meer van. Van het romantische beeld rest jammer genoeg niet veel meer.
More Beijing
After the Forbidden city, we got a bit overambitious, and we walked to the famous temple of heaven park, which was ...quite... far... Fortunately, the park was still open. Due to our infamous no-preparation syndrome, we looked for the Temple of Heaven among all the paths, squares and halls, only to find ot somewhat later that there is no one temple building. The whole complex is called the Temple of Heaven. During our walk we also saw our first sexshops (not that we were looking for them, but a LonelyPlanet author mentioned that Chinese cities were being saturated with them (which isn't true(only where he hangs out ;)), as 70% of ALL sextoys are manufactured in China(70%!!!!!!!!!!!!)).*
We took a taxi to the hostel, had a beer (we deserved it, as we were exhausted), and met back up with Igor, the Russian dance teacher who had judged an international Walz contest in Macau, and he invited us to the European Championships he organises in Omsk next year.
Beijing Duck is probably China's most well known dish, next to Babi Pangang, kroupouk and numbers 12, 45 and 78 on the chinese restaurant menus. So we had to try it, which was an experience. The duck was nice, although I had expected more of it (Eline loved it though). During our meal, Suddenly the waiter put 4 bowls of cabbage on some tables, and we didn't know whom they were meant for (maybe for the next morning...), after half an hour, we knew: personnel of course! 25 chinese people came out of the kitchen with a piece of bread and started eating. The restaurant had about 50 places, and 20 people where in there when we came in. The same remark goes for the shops. There's always at least 5 people working in every shop. How will they do it if China ever modernizes its infrastructure and gets more efficient, like we had in the West during the later 20th century? How many jobs will their communist system have to create?
Afterwards, we had more beer, and went to sleep. Unfortunately, the duck made a casualty: my intestinal flora...
*More percentages: At the moment China absorbs 50% of the world's concrete and 33% of its steel production.
We took a taxi to the hostel, had a beer (we deserved it, as we were exhausted), and met back up with Igor, the Russian dance teacher who had judged an international Walz contest in Macau, and he invited us to the European Championships he organises in Omsk next year.
Beijing Duck is probably China's most well known dish, next to Babi Pangang, kroupouk and numbers 12, 45 and 78 on the chinese restaurant menus. So we had to try it, which was an experience. The duck was nice, although I had expected more of it (Eline loved it though). During our meal, Suddenly the waiter put 4 bowls of cabbage on some tables, and we didn't know whom they were meant for (maybe for the next morning...), after half an hour, we knew: personnel of course! 25 chinese people came out of the kitchen with a piece of bread and started eating. The restaurant had about 50 places, and 20 people where in there when we came in. The same remark goes for the shops. There's always at least 5 people working in every shop. How will they do it if China ever modernizes its infrastructure and gets more efficient, like we had in the West during the later 20th century? How many jobs will their communist system have to create?
Afterwards, we had more beer, and went to sleep. Unfortunately, the duck made a casualty: my intestinal flora...
*More percentages: At the moment China absorbs 50% of the world's concrete and 33% of its steel production.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Great Wall and The Forbidden City
This one will be in Dutch, with a quick English Summary: The great wall was great. We hike about 8km on the wall from Jinshanling to Simatai. It was though yet rewarding. The forbidden city was enourmous and impressive, yet crowded.
Tijd om nog eens wat te bloggen in het Nederlands. Onze trouwste bezoekers (mamsies en papsies) stellen het waarschijnlijk op prijs om toch nog eens te kunnen controleren of hun kroost nog wel zonder fouten kan schrijven in de Nederlandse taal. (met dit qwerty-toetsenbord kan ik echter niks beloven)
Na enkele dagen niksen in Beijing, waarin we de week na Beijing regelden, werd het tijd om eens tot actie over te gaan. We boekten een tour vanuit de hostel die ons naar Jinshanling bracht, waar we zouden vertrekken voor een 8km lange tocht over de muur naar Simatai. De twee andere, meer bekende plaatsen, Badalin en Mutianyu, zouden veel te druk zijn. (Laatsgenoemde zou zelfs speciaal zijn gerenoveerd en toegankelijk gemaakt om Badalin wat te ontlasten). Het was een zware tocht in de vlakke zon, met af en toe zeer zware klimmen. Het concept 'trap' hadden die Chinezen vroeger niet echt door. Er zijn veel trappen, maar de treden zijn soms wel 40cm of hoger, en vaak was de trap ook vervallen. De Muur is waanzinnig indrukwekkend, en het was adembenemend om op die muur door zijn dramatisch omgeving te wandelen. Door zo lang te wandelen, kreeg je ook een beter beeld van hoe impressionant hij nu in feite is. Hij is wel niet met het blote oog vanuit de ruimte te zien (dat is een fabel), maar het is wel degelijk een wereldwonder. Voor de Mongoolse nomaden waartegen hij in feite was bedoeld, moet het een schok geweest zijn om vanop de heuvels kilometers in de verte die muur te zien lopen over de horizon, op de hoogste punten van het gebergte, zo ver als het oog reiken kan. De drukte viel ook goed mee, en vaak liepen we met zijn tweetjes. Dit stukje kunnen we dus enkel aanraden. In elke toren zaten uiteraard wel Chinese oudjes die 'koo wada' verkochten (cold water), en na een tijd hadden ook wij een 'gids' die meeliep om op 't einde souvenirs te verkopen.
Eenmaal aangekomen namen we een ENORME deathride naar beneden, en kregen we een zeer late lunch. We hebben elk 2 liter water gedronken op die 4 uur. Neem dus zeker voldoende mee.
De verboden stad was ook enorm. We waren zelfs zo stom om na de eerste poort al een ticket te kopen, want de verboden stad begon eigenljk pas 500 meter verder. En die was op zich al onmetelijk groot. (dat eerste ticket was voor de eerste poort).
Een mooi beeld van hoe het er vroeger moet hebben uitgezien krijg je in een film die ik zag tijdens mijn laatste Vlerick weken (ik ben de naam kwijt maar kom er nog op). Omdat ik deze beelden al had gezien, maakte dat de indrukken des te sterker. De Verboden stad bestaat uit een ommuurd paleizencomplex dat vroeger de ambtelijke woonst was van de keizer. Er zijn dus tempels te over, en daarnaast nog honderden vertrekken, die nu gerestoreerd zijn en tentoonstellingen huizen. Het is echter moeilijk om een impressie te schrijven (het is ook al lang geleden) , en ik kan enkel aanraden om het zelf te zien. Eerlijkheidshalve moet ik er wel bijzeggen dat we er graag vertrokken, omdat het de drukste plaats is van heel China. We werden gek! Dus enkel de grootsheid is een mooie herinnering. Een tip is om onmiddellijk de zijkanten van de Noord-Zuid as te bezoeken, en de pleinen en paleizen op de as te bewaren voor de namiddag, toen het iets minder druk werd. De film heette Curse of the Golden Flower.
Tijd om nog eens wat te bloggen in het Nederlands. Onze trouwste bezoekers (mamsies en papsies) stellen het waarschijnlijk op prijs om toch nog eens te kunnen controleren of hun kroost nog wel zonder fouten kan schrijven in de Nederlandse taal. (met dit qwerty-toetsenbord kan ik echter niks beloven)
Na enkele dagen niksen in Beijing, waarin we de week na Beijing regelden, werd het tijd om eens tot actie over te gaan. We boekten een tour vanuit de hostel die ons naar Jinshanling bracht, waar we zouden vertrekken voor een 8km lange tocht over de muur naar Simatai. De twee andere, meer bekende plaatsen, Badalin en Mutianyu, zouden veel te druk zijn. (Laatsgenoemde zou zelfs speciaal zijn gerenoveerd en toegankelijk gemaakt om Badalin wat te ontlasten). Het was een zware tocht in de vlakke zon, met af en toe zeer zware klimmen. Het concept 'trap' hadden die Chinezen vroeger niet echt door. Er zijn veel trappen, maar de treden zijn soms wel 40cm of hoger, en vaak was de trap ook vervallen. De Muur is waanzinnig indrukwekkend, en het was adembenemend om op die muur door zijn dramatisch omgeving te wandelen. Door zo lang te wandelen, kreeg je ook een beter beeld van hoe impressionant hij nu in feite is. Hij is wel niet met het blote oog vanuit de ruimte te zien (dat is een fabel), maar het is wel degelijk een wereldwonder. Voor de Mongoolse nomaden waartegen hij in feite was bedoeld, moet het een schok geweest zijn om vanop de heuvels kilometers in de verte die muur te zien lopen over de horizon, op de hoogste punten van het gebergte, zo ver als het oog reiken kan. De drukte viel ook goed mee, en vaak liepen we met zijn tweetjes. Dit stukje kunnen we dus enkel aanraden. In elke toren zaten uiteraard wel Chinese oudjes die 'koo wada' verkochten (cold water), en na een tijd hadden ook wij een 'gids' die meeliep om op 't einde souvenirs te verkopen.
Eenmaal aangekomen namen we een ENORME deathride naar beneden, en kregen we een zeer late lunch. We hebben elk 2 liter water gedronken op die 4 uur. Neem dus zeker voldoende mee.
De verboden stad was ook enorm. We waren zelfs zo stom om na de eerste poort al een ticket te kopen, want de verboden stad begon eigenljk pas 500 meter verder. En die was op zich al onmetelijk groot. (dat eerste ticket was voor de eerste poort).
Een mooi beeld van hoe het er vroeger moet hebben uitgezien krijg je in een film die ik zag tijdens mijn laatste Vlerick weken (ik ben de naam kwijt maar kom er nog op). Omdat ik deze beelden al had gezien, maakte dat de indrukken des te sterker. De Verboden stad bestaat uit een ommuurd paleizencomplex dat vroeger de ambtelijke woonst was van de keizer. Er zijn dus tempels te over, en daarnaast nog honderden vertrekken, die nu gerestoreerd zijn en tentoonstellingen huizen. Het is echter moeilijk om een impressie te schrijven (het is ook al lang geleden) , en ik kan enkel aanraden om het zelf te zien. Eerlijkheidshalve moet ik er wel bijzeggen dat we er graag vertrokken, omdat het de drukste plaats is van heel China. We werden gek! Dus enkel de grootsheid is een mooie herinnering. Een tip is om onmiddellijk de zijkanten van de Noord-Zuid as te bezoeken, en de pleinen en paleizen op de as te bewaren voor de namiddag, toen het iets minder druk werd. De film heette Curse of the Golden Flower.
China
The Chinese are a truly fascinating, yet disgusting people. Where they surprise you when you find hundreds of them in parks at night, dancing, singing and doing Taichi, while kids are playing and riding their inline skates and other fast toys, they fill you with loathing as they flamboyantly spit everywhere and leave their babies just pee on the stairs of some temple (where people were sitting to watch a show), spreading the urine a bit with their foot to make it evaporate faster. They are also incredibly noisy, and the total absense of English, combined with a strong urge to get every penny out of a tourist they can, makes our stay quite frustrating at some points.
Especially the lack of English makes getting around quite hard. The Chinese also won't make any effort to communicate. They just rattle in Chinese and repeat it after giggling when they see you didn't get it.
But we focus on the nice things. People in the streets and hutongs are friendly and curious, (although this curiousness get annoying when it evolves to plain staring (into Eline's cleavage)) and we sometimes notice that they try to make the best of our eating-, drinking- and shopping experience.
Especially the lack of English makes getting around quite hard. The Chinese also won't make any effort to communicate. They just rattle in Chinese and repeat it after giggling when they see you didn't get it.
But we focus on the nice things. People in the streets and hutongs are friendly and curious, (although this curiousness get annoying when it evolves to plain staring (into Eline's cleavage)) and we sometimes notice that they try to make the best of our eating-, drinking- and shopping experience.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Picture time!
Hi!
In the mean while we climbed the great wall and visited the forbidden city... but more about this later...
We just want to announce that there are some more pictures of mongolia on http://www.flickr.com/photos/alosja
In the mean while we climbed the great wall and visited the forbidden city... but more about this later...
We just want to announce that there are some more pictures of mongolia on http://www.flickr.com/photos/alosja
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Central Mongolia:the Green Route
Before starting to tell you about this amazing trip,first some other remarks.
1. Although we are in a major internet cafe in Beijing, uploading pictures is impossible. You'll have to wait (again)
2. Advice from F&E: Go to Mongolia!!!! all of you,but prepare yourself, and don't make the same mistake as we did. We are happy with the trip that was arranged for us by Tiara tours, but we feel scammed. We paid about E500 each for this trip, only to find out at our hostel that Tiara bought these tours from a local travel company for 250$. So they chrged us more than double. So our advice is to let Tiara just arrange your train tickets and maybe some hostels ( as the transfers and advice from local contacts are very handy), but order your tours by yourself! It'll save you vast amounts of money; precious, precious money...
OK
The tour we made through the Mongolian countryside was magnificent!!!! We were driven in an old communist era bus, which was highly uncomfortable, but sturdy as hell!!!
We had a guide and a driver for ourselves and another great Dutch couple, Wessel and Fiona. We saw amazing landscapes and camels, as well as flocks of hawks (we think they're the local equivalent of pigeons, which makes game theory a bit harder to explain here...(economic insider joke)). We slept in ger tents with our own stove.
The first day was great, but it only got better. The second day, we made a shortcut, and had to ask for directions, which caused us to meet a true nomad family that had never seen a tourist from up close (at leat not the children). We were invited in and had to drink Mongolian tea (with milk and salt) and eat Mongolian cheese (which was aweful.... oh the memories cause sickness). But it was an amazing experience. We had to show to everyone the pictures we made on the lcd screen of our cameras, and the hospitality gave us shivers.
Arriving at the family we were staying for two nights, we never felt happyer. The scenery was beautiful, and being in the middle of the farmer's life of these people was a once in a lifetime experience. The food was great,although Eline and Fiona discovered the environment in which it was cooked the day after, which gave it a strange after taste... (flies, flies, thousands of them!!!! in one small ger tent)
The next day we went horseriding. We climbed the volcano (on Foot!!!) and enjoyed the magnificent view of White lake. I (F) was a bit afraid first, due to my strange relation with horses ( I hate them and they hate me), but everything went smooth, except for the fact that my horse wanted to lay down in a pond to refresh itself, while I was still on it.... (Luckely in the beginning, Eline had insisted on changing horses, as I was given the wildest horse in the beginning. They must have thought that I was the most competent man in the group (they noticed...) )
Afterwards, we treated ourselves with a beer that we chilled in the icecold river behind our tents.... (aahhhhh)
the next day we got shaken up again in the bus, and that evening we arrived at a ger tent that had a hot spring. We enjoyed the warm water that smelled like rotten eggs till we looked like 90year olds.
The days after, we visited the oldest monastery in Mongolia, and we also visited Hustai National Park, where we saw Przewalsky horses, deer and marmots... The ger next to ours was the Royal ger suite of Prince Willem-Alexander and princess Maxima,who were not there of course.
The last day we arrived in UB, where we had lunch at BD's Mongolian BBQ, an American all-you-can-eat restaurant. Although this might seem a tourist trap,and maybe even a pervers concept in a semideveloped country, we must say that we enjoyed it enourmously! Good, safe food!!!!
The last night we slept at the new Dream Hotel. It was great to watch BBC world,especially as it was one day before Steve Jobs would make an announcement, but we didn't dream much, as some Mongol (hehe this joke is getting old) started his bulldozer at 23:40 to clean up a few tons of concrete blocks. (they stopped in the morning).
We took off at 7 am, and left for Beijing by train.
See you next time...
Miss you!!!!
1. Although we are in a major internet cafe in Beijing, uploading pictures is impossible. You'll have to wait (again)
2. Advice from F&E: Go to Mongolia!!!! all of you,but prepare yourself, and don't make the same mistake as we did. We are happy with the trip that was arranged for us by Tiara tours, but we feel scammed. We paid about E500 each for this trip, only to find out at our hostel that Tiara bought these tours from a local travel company for 250$. So they chrged us more than double. So our advice is to let Tiara just arrange your train tickets and maybe some hostels ( as the transfers and advice from local contacts are very handy), but order your tours by yourself! It'll save you vast amounts of money; precious, precious money...
OK
The tour we made through the Mongolian countryside was magnificent!!!! We were driven in an old communist era bus, which was highly uncomfortable, but sturdy as hell!!!
We had a guide and a driver for ourselves and another great Dutch couple, Wessel and Fiona. We saw amazing landscapes and camels, as well as flocks of hawks (we think they're the local equivalent of pigeons, which makes game theory a bit harder to explain here...(economic insider joke)). We slept in ger tents with our own stove.
The first day was great, but it only got better. The second day, we made a shortcut, and had to ask for directions, which caused us to meet a true nomad family that had never seen a tourist from up close (at leat not the children). We were invited in and had to drink Mongolian tea (with milk and salt) and eat Mongolian cheese (which was aweful.... oh the memories cause sickness). But it was an amazing experience. We had to show to everyone the pictures we made on the lcd screen of our cameras, and the hospitality gave us shivers.
Arriving at the family we were staying for two nights, we never felt happyer. The scenery was beautiful, and being in the middle of the farmer's life of these people was a once in a lifetime experience. The food was great,although Eline and Fiona discovered the environment in which it was cooked the day after, which gave it a strange after taste... (flies, flies, thousands of them!!!! in one small ger tent)
The next day we went horseriding. We climbed the volcano (on Foot!!!) and enjoyed the magnificent view of White lake. I (F) was a bit afraid first, due to my strange relation with horses ( I hate them and they hate me), but everything went smooth, except for the fact that my horse wanted to lay down in a pond to refresh itself, while I was still on it.... (Luckely in the beginning, Eline had insisted on changing horses, as I was given the wildest horse in the beginning. They must have thought that I was the most competent man in the group (they noticed...) )
Afterwards, we treated ourselves with a beer that we chilled in the icecold river behind our tents.... (aahhhhh)
the next day we got shaken up again in the bus, and that evening we arrived at a ger tent that had a hot spring. We enjoyed the warm water that smelled like rotten eggs till we looked like 90year olds.
The days after, we visited the oldest monastery in Mongolia, and we also visited Hustai National Park, where we saw Przewalsky horses, deer and marmots... The ger next to ours was the Royal ger suite of Prince Willem-Alexander and princess Maxima,who were not there of course.
The last day we arrived in UB, where we had lunch at BD's Mongolian BBQ, an American all-you-can-eat restaurant. Although this might seem a tourist trap,and maybe even a pervers concept in a semideveloped country, we must say that we enjoyed it enourmously! Good, safe food!!!!
The last night we slept at the new Dream Hotel. It was great to watch BBC world,especially as it was one day before Steve Jobs would make an announcement, but we didn't dream much, as some Mongol (hehe this joke is getting old) started his bulldozer at 23:40 to clean up a few tons of concrete blocks. (they stopped in the morning).
We took off at 7 am, and left for Beijing by train.
See you next time...
Miss you!!!!
Mongolia: UlaanBaatar
From the moment we woke up in the train after our aweful experience at the border, we were stunned by Mongolia's beautiful scenery. Mist was clearing and the Russian flat silver birch land had faded to magnificent open spaces with high hills, where the first ger tents were showing up in the valleys. After an hour, we arrived in UlaanBaatar(UB), the capital of this enormous country that only counts 2 million inhabitants (of which 800.000 in UB). Although Mongolia might not be very known to us, its history is quite impressive. It was the birthplace og Ginghis Khan, and proof has been found that the original inhabitants of northern America, the Indians, were originally Mongolians that croosed the Bering street in Alaska.
UB is a fascinating city. Although it is dirty and very ugly, you feel good in its streets as sson as you dropped off your backpack and start wandering around. The people are friendly and the level of english speaking people is higher than expected. Unfortunately, we were also confronted with begging street children that live underground next to the pipes of the central heating system, a heritage of Mongolia's communist past. But these kids are not agressive (the first kid was very happy when Eline gave it her icecream), and nor is anything else in UB. What is also interesting is that they're building everywhere in UB (what we would feel later on...),as the country is very wanted by international lending institutions due to its efficient democracy, something very rare among underdeveloped countries.
After having taken some pictures on the main square, we went to Dave's place, an English pub at the main square, which looked like the typical place where westerners hang out in exotic countries in movies: a nice terrass on a public square where an Englishman in a white shirt reads his book by acup of tea or a G&T,depending on what time it is. As it was too late to go cultural (museums were about to close), we went for further exploration and headed to the public park. This was a discovery, that wasn't in the guides. The whole park was huge and in decay, but some children's attractions where up and running. These vibrant colours in that grey scenery were magnificant, and we took loads of pictures. We even risked our lives in a small wheel (reuzenrad)!!!
We had our first G&T in weeks and a pizza at Marco Polo, wrote some postcards and headed home quickly, as a storm came up. While walking, we noticed how dirty and dusty this town actually is, as we had to fight our way to a true 'dessert storm' of sand, dust and garbage.
The following day we visited a museum stuffed with stuffed animals (hehe) and dinosaur skeletons, and.... well that was about it... we wasted the rest of our day by looking for a bar we didn't find and a restaurant we couldn't find either.
The day after we started by hopping into the small monastery next to the hostel. It was great to have a look at this ceremony where real monks did everyday ceremonial rituals for the locals in that neighbourhood. (Buddhism is getting reintroduced in Mongolia after communism. This causes some funny side effects,like monks that read their sms's while chanting, or monks opening their car) As the chanting was getting us in some sort of trance after 10 minutes already, we headed for our first real sight, Gandantegchinlen Khiid monastery. Thiswas a marvellous sight, with an impressive huge Buddha and countless smaller statues around it. There were also many praying wheels, and Eline spinned them all... As this was my (F) first experience with the grandiosity and beauty of buddhist monasteries, I was stunned...
Afterwards we went to the winter palace of the Boghd Khan, whom used to be the spiritual and political leader of Mongolia during the times when chicken still had teeth. Here we saw some great buildings, and it was great to see that some building were not yet restaurated, so we could see how well they were preserved. We refused to pay to take pictures, as it was just too much, and we were followed by the cashier so she could check on us (really!) (bitch...). We took some great shots anyway (Ha!). Then we had a strange experince. We went to an hotel to get money, and the ATM seemed to work but didn't give any money. 3 minutes after complaining at the reception desk, 5 persons of that bank were there to investigate the case. Impressive, but also strange... An ATM that doesn't work well without a warning is indeed the worst advertising your bank can get, and the reaction was surprising but correct.
That evening we met up with Phil and Amy, which was great. After dinner, up to the hotel to catch some sleep,as our Green Route Extension started the next day...
UB is a fascinating city. Although it is dirty and very ugly, you feel good in its streets as sson as you dropped off your backpack and start wandering around. The people are friendly and the level of english speaking people is higher than expected. Unfortunately, we were also confronted with begging street children that live underground next to the pipes of the central heating system, a heritage of Mongolia's communist past. But these kids are not agressive (the first kid was very happy when Eline gave it her icecream), and nor is anything else in UB. What is also interesting is that they're building everywhere in UB (what we would feel later on...),as the country is very wanted by international lending institutions due to its efficient democracy, something very rare among underdeveloped countries.
After having taken some pictures on the main square, we went to Dave's place, an English pub at the main square, which looked like the typical place where westerners hang out in exotic countries in movies: a nice terrass on a public square where an Englishman in a white shirt reads his book by acup of tea or a G&T,depending on what time it is. As it was too late to go cultural (museums were about to close), we went for further exploration and headed to the public park. This was a discovery, that wasn't in the guides. The whole park was huge and in decay, but some children's attractions where up and running. These vibrant colours in that grey scenery were magnificant, and we took loads of pictures. We even risked our lives in a small wheel (reuzenrad)!!!
We had our first G&T in weeks and a pizza at Marco Polo, wrote some postcards and headed home quickly, as a storm came up. While walking, we noticed how dirty and dusty this town actually is, as we had to fight our way to a true 'dessert storm' of sand, dust and garbage.
The following day we visited a museum stuffed with stuffed animals (hehe) and dinosaur skeletons, and.... well that was about it... we wasted the rest of our day by looking for a bar we didn't find and a restaurant we couldn't find either.
The day after we started by hopping into the small monastery next to the hostel. It was great to have a look at this ceremony where real monks did everyday ceremonial rituals for the locals in that neighbourhood. (Buddhism is getting reintroduced in Mongolia after communism. This causes some funny side effects,like monks that read their sms's while chanting, or monks opening their car) As the chanting was getting us in some sort of trance after 10 minutes already, we headed for our first real sight, Gandantegchinlen Khiid monastery. Thiswas a marvellous sight, with an impressive huge Buddha and countless smaller statues around it. There were also many praying wheels, and Eline spinned them all... As this was my (F) first experience with the grandiosity and beauty of buddhist monasteries, I was stunned...
Afterwards we went to the winter palace of the Boghd Khan, whom used to be the spiritual and political leader of Mongolia during the times when chicken still had teeth. Here we saw some great buildings, and it was great to see that some building were not yet restaurated, so we could see how well they were preserved. We refused to pay to take pictures, as it was just too much, and we were followed by the cashier so she could check on us (really!) (bitch...). We took some great shots anyway (Ha!). Then we had a strange experince. We went to an hotel to get money, and the ATM seemed to work but didn't give any money. 3 minutes after complaining at the reception desk, 5 persons of that bank were there to investigate the case. Impressive, but also strange... An ATM that doesn't work well without a warning is indeed the worst advertising your bank can get, and the reaction was surprising but correct.
That evening we met up with Phil and Amy, which was great. After dinner, up to the hotel to catch some sleep,as our Green Route Extension started the next day...
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Back in UB
Hi guys,
After a week of shaking around in the most sturdy minibus on the planet (Russian cold war quality: It was excellent!!!!), we found the slowest internet connection on the planet. Therefore we just want to let you know that we're still alive and kissing, and that we'll do the whole story in Beijing. Expect tons of pictures and travel advise, because oh boy, was it magnificent!!!!
kisses and hugs from Eline and greetz from Frederik,
Ciaociao,
F and E
PS: come on! give us the first day at work stories. (how's the Corsa?)
After a week of shaking around in the most sturdy minibus on the planet (Russian cold war quality: It was excellent!!!!), we found the slowest internet connection on the planet. Therefore we just want to let you know that we're still alive and kissing, and that we'll do the whole story in Beijing. Expect tons of pictures and travel advise, because oh boy, was it magnificent!!!!
kisses and hugs from Eline and greetz from Frederik,
Ciaociao,
F and E
PS: come on! give us the first day at work stories. (how's the Corsa?)
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