frustration

I've arrived in Kunming which seems to be a very nice and quite liveable city - especially when compared to Xi'an and Beijing. The hostel rooms arent so great, but it has a great rooftop deck to enjoy the nice weather, so that's definately nice. Gone too are the smog and hot temperatures of Xi'an and Beijing, which are both welcomed changes. Unfortunately, my computer has taken a turn for the worst and pretty much has stopped working entirely for no apparent reason. It feels like it's overheating and then just kind of shuts down without warning. So now I'm left with a hefty and utterly useless pile of crappy chinese plastic to lug around for seven weeks in the hopes that I can recover the first few weeks worth of pictures from it. Most of you know me well enough to realize I'm having a hard time letting this go and it's bugging me to no end right now. Recent weather has also left much of this area very wet and muddy - meaning some of the trails I was hoping to trek aren't so navigable anymore. In any event all this has left me in a sour mood. So I'm not sure where all this is going to lead me. I should have a better idea over the next couple days, though it's going to be hard to maintain the blog as I have and upload pictures without my computer. I'll see what I can do, but no promises. Anyway, that's it for now, hopefully I'll be hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge in a couple of days...

xi'an

I’m about to leave Xi’an and head to Kunming this evening, so I thought I’d check in first. Xi’an was a nice change of pace from Beijing and I’m getting much better at navigating Chinese cities. Xi’an is a huge city of some 3.5 million people or so, but feels manageable. I stayed within the ancient city walls in a nice little hostel close to most of what was worth visiting in the city. There’s a lot of history in this part of the country, but roaming around museums never sounds too appealing to me. So, instead I made it out to the nearby Terracotta Warriors, spent a good amount of time in the Muslim quarter which is full of street food and vendors and generally continued my aimless exploration of Chinese cities. I also managed to tag along with a large group from Ireland for a fun night of drinking and card games on Monday night. The Irish never disappoint.

The Terracotta Warriors is a fascinating site with an entire army in battle formation ready to protect Emperor Qin Shi Huang after his death. It’s an impressive display and truly maniacal – my type of guy! What’s most impressive is that none of the 7000 soldiers have the same facial expression. I also managed to get there on my own (as opposed to on a tour), which wasn’t so bad – and saved me quite a bit of money - though I could have done without the horn-crazy bus driver that took me back to Xi’an. My head was throbbing when I finally got back.

Unlike Beijing I did a good job of finding good street food and eating local specialties. The Muslim Quarter – home to a large population of Chinese Muslims for several centuries - was great for this. Mutton soup, fried pancakes, some sort of noodle dish, dumplings and various other random things. I took quite a few pictures of the vendors, so hopefully you all can get a better idea of what this part of the city is like. I really enjoyed it.

Well guess that’s it for now. Sorry I haven’t uploaded pictures in a very timely fashion, I’ve been having some technical difficulties with both my camera and computer - but I think I’ve found a way around them for now. Tonight I hop a flight to Kunming in the Yunnan province in Southwest China and then head north from there towards Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-La and the Tibetan border :)

duck hunt

My last couple days in Beijing were interesting – and frustrating. In the end I found Beijing to be quite challenging and felt like I barely even scratched the surface in terms of visiting its neighborhoods. The city is impossibly huge - growing in every direction (including up). I spent most of time getting from one site to another – and not really getting a good feel for the city itself or really understanding any differences between neighborhoods. Tiananmen Square, the Summer Palace, and Beijing tower are all very nice and well worth visiting but I really wished I’d been able to explore the city a bit further. Several things I learned

1. It’s not worth being stubborn and trying to walk from place to place– city blocks here are massive and taxis are much more efficient. That being said, it can also be extremely frustrating sitting in traffic with the cabs meter running. The subway is decent, but doesn’t cover the entire city and the buses are way overcrowded. Pick your poison.

2. The Lonely Planet map is not detailed enough and is hopelessly out of date already (only 1.5 years old). Definitely worth investing in a current map. There’s nothing more frustrating than making it all the way to an area only to find several city blocks have been completely razed and are in the process of being rebuilt.

3. Rudimentary Mandarin does not get you very far. The only people who seem to speak any English are those likely to make some money from knowing the language – in other words they’re trying to rip you off.

4. Speaking of which – bargaining is an art which I have not yet mastered. Regardless of how low I go, I still feel like I’m getting ripped off. For example, I’ve gotten sodas for 25 cents instead of 40 cents, but still feel like I could have saved a few more cents with just a bit more effort. I also got a pair of sunglasses for 1/10 the original asking price, yet once again, I felt like I got ripped off in the end – after all they wouldn’t have sold them to me if they weren’t making a profit…

Anyway, Beijing wasn’t all bad. I met some pretty cool people at the hostel and during the Great Wall trip with whom I hung out on Saturday and Sunday. I also got to have some Peking Duck, which was fantastic – though as it turns out, eating a half duck by yourself is a bit much! On Sunday night I hopped on the overnight train to Xi’an where I am spending a couple of days. The 11-hour train ride was reasonably comfortable and with a little help from Dramamine, I slept for all but the final hour of the trip. Today, I spent a few hours just walking around the city aimlessly and enjoying some of the street food in the Muslim Quarter. I think tomorrow I’ll be headed to the Terracotta Army and then will fly to Kunming on Wednesday to start the more outdoorsy part of the trip. After spending so much time in large polluted cities, I am very much looking forward to that.

great wall

Made it out to The Great Wall today. Instead of going to Badaling - the closer and more popular section of the Wall, I took a trip to Jinshanling with a group organized by the hostel I am staying at. This is approximately 75 miles northeast of Beijing, which as I found out can be a 5 hour ride during morning rush hour. Ouch. Although my spirits were slightly dampened by the long journey there, things immediately got better when I got out of the bus and realized our group was really the only group around - there were virtually no other tourists to be seen! The plan was to hike a 10km section of The Wall between Jinshanling and Simatai over 3-4 hours. Over this section The Wall is rebuilt in parts, but untouched in others. The backdrop is a lush green canvas with mountains fading into the haze. A truly authentic and breathtaking experience. The hike is actually quite strenuous, with steps leading up and down from tower to tower along a ridge with some very steep sections in both directions. At the end of the hike we had the option to "zipline" over a reservoir down to the bottom of the hill. Clearly I did not chose the walking option! Once at the bottom, we were shuttled to a nearby restaurant-like establishment for $0.50 beers and food which was included with the tour. Sometimes, beers can be exceptionally tasty, and after this hike, that was certainly the case!

onto china...

Welcome to the flip side. I’m not sure where to begin – but here it goes. Yesterday I traveled pretty much all day. What seemed like it would be a quick hop from Kyoto to Beijing was in fact an all day affair. Three different buses, three trains and 1 flight later I arrived in Beijing at the Wangfujing Hostel. How I actually found this place without any written directions is beyond me, but I did, and without getting too lost either. When I finally arrived at 11PM, I promptly went to bed.

This morning I wanted to hit the ground running and just started walking towards what seemed like The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. The hostel is conveniently located about 20 minutes away from both – which as I’ve learned today, is just about next door in Beijing. Everything here is massive, including city blocks. Just to give you an idea, the municipality of Beijing is the size of Belgium. I’m shaking my head as I write this. It’s big. Anyway, on the way there, I stumbled across Wangfujing Snack Street, which is basically a couple little pedestrian only streets chalk full of food for shoppers and tourists alike. I unfortunately have no idea what real Chinese food should taste like yet, so eating here didn’t really bother me and I think it was reasonably authentic. I settled on two skewers of spicy grilled squid and passed on the grilled grasshoppers and scorpions. Breakfast of champions! I continued my journey towards the Forbidden City, electing to skip Tiananmen Square for now. As expected, there are a ton of cars lining each and every street. As a result, the sky here is extremely hazy, so much so that the moon seems orange through the haze at night. Anyway, as I entered The Forbidden City, I had a big grin on my face. This place is awesome in the true sense of the word. It’s really really impressive. I spent the next three to four hours wandering inside somewhat aimlessly, taking everything in. The Chinese certainly had a sense of grandeur when they built this place. Inside there are countless exhibition halls including a very cool exhibition of ornate clocks, mostly from Europe, that had been brought to China over the years. I finally left the complex around three o’clock looking for some more food. I had hoped to get some roast duck, but the place I had in mind is closed during the afternoon, and so instead I did what everyone else would do and had a lamb kebab and big plate of boiled intestines and a beer! Apparently I was quite the curiosity as each of the waiters came in turn to see the white guy eat his plate of boiled intestines. It wasn’t all that bad, though without the accompanying sauce, the tripe really didn’t have much flavor.

The plan now is to rest up a bit more and hit the town later this evening looking for some more crazy food and maybe to head back to Tiananmen to take in the scene after dark. Tomorrow I head to the Great Wall for a 10km hike – very much looking forward to that!

kyoto

Kyoto has been very nice and definitely lived up to the hype. It doesn’t have all the neon Tokyo does and it’s certainly not blue collar like Osaka, but it does have an unimaginable number of temples, shrines and pagodas. It’s a little overwhelming to be honest. We arrived Sunday evening and after checking into our hostel, we headed back towards Kyoto Station to find some food. The station is actually a massive complex opened in 1997 with shopping, dining and a hotel – not to mention a major train and bus station. The inner concourse is enormous – with skywalk on the 10th floor and great views of the city from the 11th floor. Afterwards, Steve and I enjoyed some conveyor belt sushi – which we hadn’t had since the first day in Tokyo.



On Monday morning we headed out hoping to cram in quite a bit of sightseeing. The weather channel called for rain on Tuesday, so we wanted to get as many sights in as possible. Our first stop was at Kiyomizu-dera, which to the untrained eye might otherwise seem like an Ewok village perched in the hills. It was gray and hazy out, but we still got some great views of Kyoto while following the hordes of school children and tourists around the grounds. From there we followed the path set out by the Lonely Planet guide down small alleys, parks and near other temples and shrines, though we opted not to visit each and every one in detail – there are literally hundreds. This actually took quite a while and so it was soon time for lunch. Having become experts in Japanese fast food over the last week or so, we were quite comfortable ordering rice and noodle bowls from a vending machine… Basically you walk in to the restaurant, put your money into a vending machine, press one of the buttons – most of which have tiny little pictures of what you’re getting – and then hand your ticket over to the waiter. In turn, he brings your food tableside. It’s just as efficient as everything else in Japan and it’s actually kindda fun trying to figure out what all the tiny pictures are when you’re “ordering”. So far I don’t think either of us has been disappointed with of the food that we’ve gotten at these “fast food” restaurants and in fact some of them have been excellent. After lunch, we made our way to Ginkaku-ji which is a temple (unfortunately under construction) with very peaceful gardens behind it. There’s a cool rock garden, a pond and lots of pine trees, all of which make for a very nice afternoon walk. With a light rain falling we decided to head back towards the hostel along the “Path of Philosophy.” Rest assured that Steve and I did not philosophize about very much of anything, but the walk down the canal was also very pleasant. Note that we saw countless other shrines and temples throughout the day, but those were certainly the highlights.



This morning (Tuesday) we left anticipating a day abbreviated by rain. As it turns out, the forecast was way off and it was actually nicer than yesterday – thanks weather channel! Once again, we ended up walking a ton, first heading north from the hostel towards the Imperial Palace Park. The park is massive and it took quite some time for us to get across – but it wasn’t nearly as crowded as the rest of the city – so that was a nice change. Since the weather appeared to be holding up we decided to turn around and head south, past the hostel to Fushimi-Inari Taisha. This shrine originally dedicated to the gods of rice and sake has thousands of torrii which lead up the wooded slopes of the adjacent mountain. It’s a very impressive sight and was certainly worth the long trek down. Oh, I almost forgot. On the way down to the shrine we stopped at Mos Burger – essentially the Japanese equivalent to McDonalds. But fear not, I haven’t lost my mind quite yet. I really wanted to try a “rice burger” which is basically a burger with “rice patties” as buns. I also didn’t actually get a burger but rather “ginger pork” which was actually something like bacon simmered in teriyaki sauce and ginger and then stuffed between the “buns”. It was quite a challenge to eat since it basically falls apart into what would normally be a rice bowl – but was otherwise quite good. Other differences from McDonalds – coke served in an actual glass (and made with real sugar!), no ketchup to be found and tableside service by a staff that actually seems happy to work there. After the Fuhimi-Inari shrine we took a train back to the hostel (we needed a break from all the walking) but stopped at the Nishi food market nearby first to take full advantage of the samples of Japanese pickles and other assorted food products on display. All in all Japan has been full of awesome foods and I think I’ve really enjoyed each of my meals here. Whether it was an Izakaya, a noodle shop, a sushi restaurant or a “fast-food” stop, the Japanese really know how to eat well. It’s been a fun nine days.



Tomorrow Steve heads back to the States while I make my way to Beijing. A number of you have asked me about the status of my plans in China given the recent terrible earthquake in the Sichuan province. I have been following the news closely and will certainly adjust my plans as necessary to avoid Chengdu and the Sichuan province in general. Since I don’t really have concrete plans past Beijing, making last minute adjustments should not be difficult. For now I expect to simply fly from Xi’an to Kunming and spend more time in the Yunan province than I had originally planned. Hope everyone back home is doing well. Next stop, China.

oh deer

Today we made it out to Nara which is directly east of Osaka – just under an hour on the local train. Nara is home to quite a few UNESCO World Heritage Sites including the impressive Todai-ji temple. It’s supposedly the world’s largest wooden structure and houses Daibutsu - the giant Buddha statue and several of his equally mammoth friends. Many of Nara’s UNESCO sites are within Nara Park, which is where we spent most of the day. The park is also home to some 1,200 wild deer, which aren’t actually very wild at all. In fact they’re just about as docile as you could imagine and rub right up to people – especially children – looking to be fed the round crackers people buy inside the park. It’s like one giant petting zoo. Now we’ve moved onto Kyoto for our last couple days in Japan. Very much looking forward to all the sights here.

osaka and himeji-jo

Osaka has a slightly more laid back atmosphere - but then again after the insanity that is Tokyo I can't think of too many cities that wouldn't feel this way. After our smooth 3 hour trip on the bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka on Friday we dropped off our bags at the hostel and and went for a walk towards the nearby business district, grabbing lunch along the way at the supermarket. After walking around a bit, we took a ride on a ferris wheel which was perched atop one of the buildings to get a better sense of what the city is like... Turns out, it's huge! Although Steve spearheaded this ferris wheel adventure - it didn't take long before he balanced himself in the middle of the cabin and admitted he was afraid of heights. This amused me to no end. We eventually made it back to the hostel, which is utilitarian but clean and with a friendly staff to help navigate the city. We took a quick nap before heading to the Dotonbori Dori area in Osaka. It's basically the main drag where you can get all sorts of street food and do quite a bit of people watching. After walking up and down a few times we settled on a random Izakaya for a late dinner and beers. We both enjoyed the deep fried hard boiled quail eggs and the Ochazuke - green tea poured over rice with salmon on top - very much comfort food (well maybe not the eggs!).

Today we made it out of the city and headed towards Himeji-Jo - the oldest remaining castle in Japan and a Unesco World Heritage Site. The five story castle is quite imposing, overlooking the town of Himeji and beyond. I'll let the pictures do the talking on this one, but it was very different from any other castle I've visited. Afterwards, Steve and I took advantage of the free bicycle rental at the town tourist office to bike around town aimlessly for a little while. This didn't last too long though because we're quite lazy and decided to return home on the train. Tomorrow we're planning on heading to Nara before going to Kyoto for our last three days in Japan.

onto osaka

Thursday was our last full day in Tokyo. We spent most of the day with Rob, a fellow Kellogg admit who is doing an around-the-world trip and happened to be in Tokyo at the same time as us. The three of us wandered around Shinjuku and Harajuku, looking for gifts and other random Japanese "stuff". It was the first time it had been sunny in Tokyo, so we mostly enjoyed the weather and tried to explore each neighborhood a bit more. We also stopped at Meiji Jingu Shrine near Harajuku which was a little less overrun than the Asakusa Kannon Temple on Wednesday. After parting ways with Rob who's headed south to Kyushu in the south of Japan before heading towards China, we met up with Josh again and headed towards the Tokyo Dome Complex for wrestling. Wrestling was... interesting. Steve enjoyed every last second and Josh seemed entertained. Unfortunately for me, it left a numbing sensation in my brain. After the "fights", Steve and Josh headed out to Shibuya to have some food and drinnks with Kumiko while I headed back to Ueno to let my brain recover some. So that's it for Tokyo. Now we take the Shinkansen to Osaka for a couple days - stay tuned.


note: I've also uploaded pics from the previous post - so make sure to check those out.

go go swallows!!

We've seen quite a bit of Tokyo since Tuesday morning's tuna feast. That afternoon we met up with Josh, Steve's girlfriends's brother, who has lived in Tokyo for the last couple years or so. After a quick stop in Akihabara we went straight to Shinjuku. As advertised, Shinjuku really does seem like a scene out of Blade Runner. It's impossible to capture in pictures because you're completely surrounded in all directions by flashing neon, hordes of people and cars zooming by. It's dizzying, though in a good way. Think Times Square on steroids. Later that evening we met Josh's wife Kumiko in nearby Shibuya for dinner and drinks at a cool Izakaya (restaurant/bar). We had our own private little nook and let Kumi do the ordering. Very cool little place, plenty to drink and good food.

We got off to a slow start Wednesday morning since neither of us have really fully adjusted to the jet lag yet. We stopped at the Asakusa Kannon Temple, which is Tokyo's largest temple. Kind of an introduction to what we'll be seing a lot more of in Kyoto. We spent the rest of the afternoon taking a boat cruise down the Sumida River and wandering around Hama Rikyu Gardens and Ginza - Tokyo's fifth avenue. Really we're just absorbing all of Tokyo's eccentricities each day. It's all quite fascinating.

In the evening we met up with Kumi and Josh again and went to see a Yakult Swallows baseball game. The swallows are Tokyo's B team - kinda like the Mets and A's are to NY and SF. The stadium wasn't close to being full but there was plenty to keep us entertained. For staters, each player their own chant which fans sing the entire time he's up at bat. This goes on for all nine innings and for both teams. It's quite impressive and makes US baseball fans seem pretty apathetic. Fans from the opposing team - the Nagoya Dragons in this case - are assigned the left field grandstand and bleachers, so each team has its own side. Another startling event is when the Swallows score, all the Tokyo fans raise their umbrellas up and down repeatedly and do some more chanting. Definitely caught us off guard. Finally there's the food. You can get a hot dog, but why would you when you have Bento Boxes, Ramen Soup, Rice Bowls and all sorts of other things to enjoy. After the game, we ended the night at Okonomiyaki restaurant where you essentially make your own savory pancake with all sorts of stuff in it - bacon, shrimp, scallions, noodles and whatever else - right in front of you. It's an Osaka specialty, but this is one of the few places you can cook one yourself. Very tasty stuff. Alright enough rambling, now I need to get geared up for Japanese wrestling!

tuna orgy

Didn't sleep that well last night, though it seems like Steve slept like a log. Not sure whether it was the green tea or what but I just couldn't fall asleep despite being exhausted. In any event, Steve and I left the hotel at 6:15 AM and headed south towards the Tsukiji fish market through the early morning rain.

As it turns out, Tsukiji was everything I'd hoped and then some. More seafood - both fresh and frozen - then you could imagine and an atmosphere of organized chaos which is exhausting to be part of. Basically the whole time you're there, you're on edge trying to avoid getting run over by the thousands of carts zooming throughout the market in every direction, down all the narrow isles, while trying to take in all the sights and sounds around you. Exhausting, but endlessly fun!

Afterwards we went and did what any self-respecting tourist would do at Tsukiji and ate Sushi for breakfast. This too was sensational. After a bowl of miso soup, I enjoyed the tuna plate special with four types of nigiri tuna sashimi including ridiculously unctuous fatty tuna and some tuna rolls. Steve enjoyed the chef's special plate with a full assortment of nigiri. Sushi doesn't get any fresher than that - what a great way to start the day.

Unrelated, I'll be continuing to post the slideshow of pictures in my posts, but you'll have to allow popups from this site to see the pictures full size - otherwise I don't think it'll work.

finally here

After about 22 hours of traveling, Steve and I have finally made it to Tokyo. Our flights were unremarkable, with terrible food and crying babies to keep us amused. I slept part of the way and read The Tipping Point on the 11 hour flight from Chicago to Tokyo. I don't think I've ever read an entire book in one sitting before, but I really didn't have much else to do. The Ryokan Katsutaro (hotel) we are staying at is in Ueno - a quiet/residential part of Tokyo on the northeast side of the city. After checking in around 5pm we decided it was time to get our first Japanese meal. We ended up at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant and had some pretty basic sushi to start our trip. Nothing fantastic, but the price was right and we didn't have to strain our tired brains too much to order the food. Afterwards, we walked from Ueno to nearby Asakasa, which is the electronics neighborhood. At this point, we were both pretty exhausted plus the shops were closing, so after visiting a few "geek" shops with all sorts of toys, we returned to Ueno. Tomorrow we may try to hit up the Tsukiji fish market since we're calling it an early night. Course that may change depending on how we feel in the morning.

the last burrito

It's funny - having already been lucky enough to do one of these trips before I know exactly what the first thing that I'm gonna miss will be. Now I've whined bout bad burritos in Boston for some time now - but while you can get reasonably well executed Italian and French food and maybe even the occasional well-cooked burger in Asia, the one thing that I know full well I will have to go without for two months is a tasty burrito. So yesterday I had my last burrito at Felipe's in Harvard Square for lunch. While it was far from the best burrito I've had there or elsewhere, I did savor it a little more knowing that I won't be having another until mid-July.

Steve and I fly off in less than 10 hours and I think everything is just about ready. In the end I think I did a good job of packing light. I have about 8 days of clothes - maybe a bit more - all packed into a mini 20" carry-on and a backpack. As planned I'm also bringing my laptop, camera and of course my ipod... I still have lots of room in my bags to buy things along the way too - definitely did a better job packing than for my last trip I think.

I added a little time/date feature at the top of the blog. As you may have guessed, this is the local time wherever I may be. I don't think it would do you much good to have another clock showing your local time now would it. Alright, time to download some music for the road. Next stop Tokyo.

one more week!

Almost time to leave! I'm done with gainful employment for a couple years, I've moved out of Davis Square and back to good ole Belmont and now have a week to finalize a few more details before I leave the land of never-ending primaries. In case you haven't already noticed, I've added a subscription feature to this blog, so you can just type in your email address over to the right and get email updates whenever I post something new. Let me know if you have any problems using this service since I've never used it before and I'll see what I can do. I'll be honest though - it confuses the hell out of me and I don't have the patience to figure it out, so I'm really hoping it just works.

So, the first stop will be Japan, which I'm very excited about. Plans to go see a baseball game and Japanese wrestling (like the crappy fake wrestling Steve likes!) haven't quite materialized yet, but I think where there's a will, there's a way. Plus isn't there something appealing about going to Japanese wrestling and maybe meeting a couple Japanese hicks? Do they even have hicks in Japan? Only one way to find out, right? I'm also still very much planning to go to the Tsukiji fish market which I missed last time due to some ridiculous Japanese holiday (national foundation day -- commemorating the crowning of the first Japanese Emperor in 660BC -- serisouly, how was I supposed to know this). In any event, I'm looking forward to sushi at 8AM this time!

OK, I admit, I didn't actually have anything useful to say, but I thought I should check in anyway. I'll post again once Steve and I get to Tokyo next Monday. Weeeeeeee!