Around the World trip updates

A long while ago, longer than I care to admit, we took a 4 month trip around the world.

Life got in the way and I never finished writing about the rest of our trip. I've had several emails about it (apologies!) and I'm working on getting it all up to date, which honestly is no small feat. I know there are worse problems to have.

Here are places we visited that I have written about:

New Delhi • Jaipur • Agra • Kathmandu • Bangkok • 

Kuala Lumpur • Penang / Butterworth • Singapore • Siem Reap • 

Phnom Penh • Kampong Phluk / Tonlé Sap • 

Ho Chi Minh • Củ Chi Tunnels • Mỹ Tho + The Mekong • Hong Kong • Macau

The remaining places I will be writing about include:

Beijing • Tokyo • Kyoto • Hiroshima • Miyajima • 

New Zealand's North Island + White Island • Cook Islands' Aitutaki

Oahu • San Francisco • California's Pacific Coast Highway 1 • Los Angeles • 

Las Vegas • Bryce Canyon • Antelope Canyon • The 4 Corners Monument

Albuquerque • White Sands • El Paso • New York City • 

Savannah • Hilton Head Island • Charleston

The Great Wall

(This post is a follow up from our trip around the world. I will be writing a recap for each place we visited during our 4 month trip. Prior to Beijing we also visited India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Macau).

We signed up for a tour of the Great Wall through our first hotel. They had two options - a private, yet inexpensive shopping tour, or a private tour that was about 5 times the price. We didn't really have plans for the day outside of visiting the Great Wall, so we figured why no go the cheap route, because we'd have the same amount of time at the Wall either way.

- Our guide and driver picked us up and we set out for the famed Great Wall, which is about 40 miles from Beijing. We chose to visit the Mutianyu section, which proved to be a good choice, because there weren't many people around, but first there were a few other things to visit.

- Along the way we stopped at a Jade shop, which stressed that it was government owned, so we could expect only the best at reasonable prices. The sales assistants were like shadows, which really didn't make me want to spend time looking at anything.

- In order to subsidize the cheap tour we later learned it was required for us to stay in the shop for a designated time so our guide could get a sign off that she was indeed there. It was really interesting for me to see how the tour world works elsewhere and actually an interesting look into China.

- Not everything was shopping related. We also visited the Ming Tombs, which aren't visited by the Chinese who have a bit of superstition about death and graveyards. We had to say in Mandarin 'I'll be back' and then something that sounded like 'lo lie lee', meaning 'I've come again'. I was just excited to learn some Mandarin so I could greet the driver telling him I've come again. He laughed a little bit, but probably only out of kindess.

- The drive to Mutianyu took roughly 1.5 hours. Along the way we noticed many gray brick buildings in the small communities. Occasionally there would be a bright splash of color from pennant flags hanging over an area, but outside of that most of the color was from cabbages on the ground or the last few persimons lingering in bare trees.

- We stopped for a delicious Chinese meal at a small local restaurant before making our way to the bottom part of the hill, which was really steep. We walked through the various vendors selling sometimes hilarious souvenirs such as panda hats. There was also the option of taking a toboggan back down. Definitely kitschy and unexpected.

- Once we arrived at the top we were in awe that we were standing on the Great Wall. It was our year for visiting monumental ancient architecture with our visits to the Pyramids in Egypt to the Temples at Angkor Wat - and now the Great Wall.

- It's absolutely incredible to see how the Wall effortlessly weaves around the mountains like a ribbon. Some areas are more dilapidated, while others have been refurbished.

- Thankfully there were even times where it felt as if we were alone so we could really take in the scenery. Getting out of Beijing's smog ridden air was also something we appreciated.

- The last stop on the shopping tour was a tea ceremony, which was fun and informative. We were told the differences between the teas and able to sample oolong, jasmin, lychee black tea, and a very old Chinese Pu'er tea.

- Our hostess had an old tree stump style table the also had a small terra cotta figure soaking in water. Stefan asked what it was and then she told us a 'pee pee boy'. We, of course, were puzzled. She proceded to show us how it worked - if she boils water and it is hot enough to use for tea she can pour it over this figurine and cold water comes out.
As she demonstrated she held it up and I got sprayed in the face. We both remained composed and I continued drinking my tea, but I am sure she got a great laugh out of that after we left. They also gave us one with the teas we purchased.

- As we sampled the various teas I asked her if the oolong was 'monkey picked', because I know they have been marketing some teas that way in the US. She looked at us oddly and then said the pu'er tea was sometimes called monkey picked, because the women look like monkeys when they are picking it. That was definitely not what I was inferring, nor did I know this. I'm sure the look on my face was pure astonishment.

Olympic Sites + Temple of Heaven - Beijing

(This post is a follow up from our trip around the world. I will be writing a recap for each place we visited during our 4 month trip. Prior to Beijing we also visited India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Macau).

A trip to Beijing wouldn't be complete without visiting the site of the 2008 Olympics and the futuristic Bird's Nest + Water Cube.

- Inside the Bird's Nest each support creates the most interesting shapes and shadows. Even the minimalist signage and paintings to denote bathrooms are beautifully done. We sat in the seats for a little while and could see that watching the events live must have been a fun time.

- The Water Cube is closed for visits, which is not a big deal as the outside is what is fascinating. It looks like a giant wall of big bubble wrap, which can be illuminated at night. Unfortunately we did not get to see it lit up at night this time around.

-The entire park area is very large and seems to go on and on. They again have a lot of pride and loads of souvenirs available ranging from gold medals to jewelry and tea sets inspired by the Water Cube.

- Elsewhere in the city there was some neat Olympic inspired street art for Adidas.

- After the Olympic sites we stopped at the Temple of Heaven (or Tiantan), a vast temple park surrounded by an even larger area.

- It was here that the emperors came to pray for for good harvest and weather, which is a little tragic considering the thick smog in the air. It continually felt like dusk at midday.

Next up... The Great Wall + The Forbidden City.

Beijing

(This post is a follow up from our trip around the world. I will be writing a recap for each place we visited during our 4 month trip. Prior to Beijing we also visited India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Macau).

- With just a few short months to plan this monstrous trip we had decided to follow good weather, which made packing relatively simple - or so we thought. Our flight to Beijing was delayed due to snow, which meant leaving sun and sweltering Hong Kong (90 ˚F / 32C) and arriving in dark and snowy (30˚F/ -1C) Beijing.

- That wasn't the only part of the bumpy start to China. No taxi wanted to take us to our hotel. We lucked out by waving a business man over to take the cab that rejected us and he instead talked to the driver and helped us on our way. The problem was our directions to the hotel weren't very helpful, and although he knew of the neighborhood he wasn't sure on the exact street. At one point he got out of the car to smoke a cigarette, because he was clearly frustrated. Thankfully we had a phone and were able to call the hotel. Twenty minutes later it was clear to us why he did not find it, because it was down a tiny alley way. As for the cost of the city tour - a mere 3€.

- We all laughed and he was so incredibly nice - speaking Mandarin to us while we had no idea what he said. It was probably along the lines of this being the last time he picks up Westerners at the station. So if you come to Beijing and encounter cab man 233355, he’s great.

- During our stay in Beijing we split the time two different hotels, one is a traditional courtyard style and a super modern design hotel near the Forbidden City. While changing hotels probably doesn’t sound like too much fun to most, we like that it gave us a base is different neighborhoods. They were very interestingly different.

- The first neighborhood was really cute with a lot of character and provided to be a great place to discover an authentic area of Beijing. Our hotel even have a tiny rabbit in a bird cage and fish near the water for good feng shui. The area seemed to be serious China and I was more than happy I packed a point-to-it-style icon dictionary. Everyone was so helpful and even somewhat excited to practice their basic English.

- Beijing is super easy to get around and navigate, even if your Mandarin isn't so hot. Incredibly the subway only costs about 20¢, so it's also very affordable.

- ‘The Chairman’ Mao dominates the skyline and red flags are flying everywhere. It was difficult not to get distracted from the little Chinese children with their slit pants - even in the freezing weather. There were a few children whose parents wanted them to have their photos with us, however the children were afraid even with us getting them with a 'Ni hao' and smiles.

- The area is really impressive as it is huge and very regal feeling, despite it's not always pleasant history, where hundreds of people were killed. We walked the entire square and passed various monuments included the mausoleum of chairmen Mao. A funny thing was that the entire time they played a 60th anniversary of new China movie on big screens in the middle of the square; we could definitely see that they take their country seriously. There were not a lot of people around which added to us feeling we were in a massive place.

- The oldest gate of Beijing is towards the South side and has a quite touristy, but beautiful street called Qianmen Street. It was interesting to see the old side streets coupled with the new modern area that was built to look older. It really felt like a movie set.

- One of the most famous places to have Peking duck is also on this street. That was one of the things Stefan constantly talked about before we came. He had to have duck in Beijing. I almost lost all hope as I looked at the menu and saw duck tongue, duck gizzards, and an endless array of other duck and animal bits. I settled on some shrimp. Stefan was very excited to receive a certificate from his duck that was raised on wheat and spring water.

- Even with the cold temperatures I couldn't turn down a tea ice cream. We ordered both a jasmine and a matcha cone and they were great. I will probably be dreaming about them for a while.

I will write separately about the Olympic sites, the Great Wall, and the Forbidden City.

Macau

(This post is a follow up from our trip around the world. I will be writing a recap for each place we visited during our 4 month trip. Prior to Macau we also visited India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Hong Kong).

Macau is Asia's answer to Las Vegas. It has more casinos than Las Vegas and people evidently drop fists full of cash while there.

- It's very easy to get to Macau from Hong Kong - both by boat and by helicopter. Yes, there is a helicopter every half an hour for those that seriously need to gamble and cannot wait for the hourly boat.

- Our first stop was the Fisherman's Wharf, which is really kitschy. I guess that's typical for gambling cities like this.

- They even have a fake Colosseum for those that need a quick dose of Rome. The restaurant and shopping area that is modeled after ports around the world, including Amsterdam, Venice, South Africa, and New Orleans.

- Since it was Halloween time they had music being pipped through and people dressed as zombies walking around. I loved that. The eerie thing was there weren't many people or tourists around. It really felt a bit like a ghost town. That was exciting for about 10 minutes, until we realized many of the store fronts were actually closed or vaccant. That made finding dinner not so simple.

- The major sites tend to have a Portugese influence. Of course there were tiles galore.

- There were several Catholic churches that again seemed misplaced, but the architecture was beautiful.

- The European influence mixed with Asian signage, foods, and faces was really fascinating. I loved all of the bright colors and even the Portugese tarts weren't in short supply.

- Our hotel had a casino, so we decided to stop by, because that's a must when in Macau. I tried to channel my Grandma's winning streak, but there weren't many games we recognized and being the only Westerners in the place didn't help since we can't read Mandarin.

- We noticed many shops had a strange array of golden figurines - only they were made of real gold. I'm guessing these are seen as lucky or perhaps people win boat loads of money and have nothing better to spend it on.

I'm glad that we've since been able to visit Portugal and see how Macau was strongly influenced by traders. There were definitely moments when I couldn't believe we were still in Asia.

Next stop... Beijing and The Great Wall.

Hong Kong Island

(This post is a follow up from our trip around the world. I will be writing a recap for each place we visited during our 4 month trip. Prior to Hong Kong we also visited India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia and Vietnam).

- Hong Kong is a very busy city. One of their solutions to dealing with the constant traffic is not only their very clean and efficient subway system and the trams.

- They also have the mid-way escalators. Right in the middle of the city they have the world's longest open-air escalator system that helps commuters make their way up and down the mountain side in a timely manner. During the morning it goes down, bringing everyone into town and after the morning rush it ascends the mountain side making the trek a bit easier. It's really helped to revitalize neighborhoods and help the flow of people, since it carries roughly 50,000 a day on the 20 escalators and 3 moving sidewalks! Wow.

- The views from Hong Kong Island are incredible.

- Our hotel on this side of the harbor even had a great rooftop pool high above the city and overlooking the harbor.

- There is also a neighborhood in this area called Soho, which is a large gathering area for the city's expats. It was fun to watch them all mingle and interact. It's a busy night spot and a great place to grab dinner or a drink.

- It's surprisingly green at the top, although the smog line is still visibly present. We spent quite a bit of time there.

- Our favorite place on Hong Kong Island was actually the Peak. It is absolutely breathtaking. The journey up is a bit more difficult. The tram is nearly at a 45 degree angle and it's ridiculously steep. Once again there is a shopping mall at the top, which is a good way to pass time in the afternoon before sunset.

- There is also a really beautiful shop at the Peak Galleria, called Goods of Desire (G.O.D.). It had these incredible fish made of paper floating above the store. I asked if they were available for purchase, which they were not. I'm not sure what I would have done with one, but they made me so happy. I don't think I will ever tire of the paper lanterns and bright colors. Another place we really liked was a restaurant called SML. You could decide the portion size for the entire menu, which is such a simple, but great concept. The food was great, too.

- Even the General Post office had some color - including this beautiful collage mural on the wall, aptly made from stamps. There is so much inspiration around every corner here.

- It was a tease to see ingredients for pumpkin pie, but I did later find a pumpkin cheesecake - complete with 'Happy Halloween'. It's probably due to the strong expat influence, but Halloween seems to have caught on with the locals as well. I've never seen a place outside the US that was so into the decor and costumes, but it was a lot of fun. Even the airport was decorated when we arrived.

- We're constantly reminded how small the world has become, between friends and family being spread everywhere, to the availability of products. Things felt so accessible.

- On the flip side sometimes it seems foreignness comes from the most unlikely of places. I was shocked to see a city of this magnitude using bamboo scaffolding. I also noticed skin bleaching cream in several ladies shopping bags and TV commercials promoting its usage. I guess the beauty market is universal, but still so unsettling.

- Other interesting things during our stay on the HKI side was a migrant worker sit in. One of my friend Jeff's colleagues, who we met at the Oktoberfest, is also part of a German - American marriage with 2 children. They were telling us how even people without children often have help. Evidently many of the apartments in Hong Kong have a room off the kitchen specifically for this. I wasn't sure what to make of that, because I'm sure many of these people (mainly women) easily become indentured servants. It was interesting throughout our stay we would see large groups of women gathered on the streets playing cards, giving each other pedicures, or plucking gray hairs for each other.

Next stop... Macau.