Last, but not least...

Sanya! I'm sure that doesn't excite too many (ok, any) of you, but it was a welcome relief to the cold of the mainland. If you're looking at a map of China, Sanya is on the very Southern tip of China's largest Southern Island, Hainan. That is all to say, it was warm! Well, at least warmer.

Sanya was our first visit to a true Chinese beach town. Qingdao is also a beach town, but currently it's almost May and we're lucky to have a day in the 70's without cold winds. Anyway, we were surprised to find that it didn't have as much Chinese influence as it did Russian! Every language took a backseat to Russian in Sanya. Our only guess is that it is one of the closest beach resort areas to Russia, so many Russians come and start businesses aimed toward their compatriot vacationers. There's also a good chance that there's some Russian mob operations going on down there.

There are lots of big name resorts in Sanya (Hilton, Marriot, Crowne Plaza, etc.), but unfortunately all of them are in a more remote area of the island, so we decided to stay in the more active part, dadonghai, or big east sea. There were plenty of resorts here, though most of them are Chinese franchises. We were glad to see that there was plenty going on in the city at night. There were a few very good restaurants in town, and we frequented them daily. We even got to enjoy pancakes for the first time in China, yummy! We could buy literally any type of firework along the coast, even the huge ones that aren't legal in the US. Below, Darbie's displaying some of her sparkler skillz.

But the preferred Chinese firecracker is the M-80. They buy huge threads of them and set them all of at once, destroying anyone's hearing within range. The greatest part is that they just leave the remnants wherever. Check out the ground on the picture below. That's a lot of firecrackers. And those wrappers were everywhere, especially since it was the last night of the Lunar New Year Celebration - Lantern Festival.



There isn't too much to report about Sanya, because we mostly just sat on the beach. It was a gorgeous beach, though I'm not sure you'd want to travel around the world for it.
Above is a picture from the hotel deck. You can see just how green the coastline is. Lots of hills and palm trees dot the coast. The hotel was in a great location. The beach is horseshoe-shaped, and we were right in the center of of it. Below is a picture at night looking in the opposite direction. Of course, a lot of neon is present. A good deal of our entertainment came from just observing the people around us, or sometimes trying not to. For instance, Russian women are determined to wear skimpy bathing suits, no matter their size. I guess the same can be sad for Russian men (speedos, banana hammocks, you get the idea). But, as always, the true entertainment was left to the Chinese. Beach appropriate wedding attire for photos. The couple changed into 3 or 4 different matching outfits. The photographer made them do some hilarious poses.Naked baby alert! Naked Chinese babies at the beach are only outnumbered by grains of sand. Even those babies fortunate enough to start with bathing suits usually strip down by the end of the day.

And our personal favorite, matching family beach outfits! This is supposedly a Chinese tradition, and just about every shop had multiple patterns to choose from. But, in reality, I guess it's just as dorky as the picture below.I don't advise drinking coconut milk, especially when warm. It tastes a lot like sweat, AND it's a natural laxative. We didn't discover that until later. The rest of our time was spent just walking around, listening to large Russians sing karaoke on the shore, or Chinese cover bands perform the latest Gwen Stefani song. All that fun, and we didn't even catch malaria (or at least we haven't so far)!

Well, that completes our trip. We flew back to Qingdao and were once again greeted by bitter cold and strong winds. It's gradually getting warmer, and perhaps in a few weeks, we'll be able to wear flip-flops again!

Miles from Hong Kong to Sanya: 450 miles

Miles from Sanya to Qingdao: 1,983 miles

Total Miles Traveled: 9, 845 miles

Stay tuned, we recently got back from a hellish trip to He(ll)nan province. And soon, we'll be getting you more familiar with our home city, Qingdao.

DB & KM

Breaking the Piggy Bank - Hong Kong

Our next stop was Hong Kong. I didn't really talk about the economic situation in Lhasa, which was very poor. There were thousands of beggars in for the New Year, when generous pilgrims are at their peak. Many of these beggars work as cattle herders in the countryside. They can be quite aggressive. There is an interesting cause-effect relationship between the many pilgrims in Lhasa aiming to gain positive karma, and the multitudes of beggars hanging around the religious sites. All that is to say we left Lhasa, a mostly impoverished city, and arrived that night in one of the most wealthy and expensive cities in the world - it was quite a day.

We caught a taxi (yes, they drive on the wrong side of the road) from the train station to our hotel and were quite surprised to see that people were out at 10 o'clock at night! Not only that, there were lights on, the city was clean, and alive! Like every big city, Hong Kong has different neighborhoods. We stayed in the Kowloon area, which is across the bay from actual Hong Kong island. Kowloon has most of the glitzy hotels and shopping markets. It also has the best view of the main island, as you can see below.

Hong Kong has one of the best, if not the best, public transportation systems in the world. There are buses, subways, pedicabs, taxis, trains, ferries, everything needed to get somewhere in a short amount of time. We were only a short subway ride away from the main island, so we hopped on and went to our first destination, Mt. Victoria Peak Tram. Hong Kong still enjoys most of the freedoms it had with the British since the handover to the Chinese in 1997. The Chinese yuan can be used, but Hong Kong has the Hong Kong Dollar. It has roughly the same exchange rate, but the currency is the coolest I've ever seen. It can't be burned!!

Here's a little example about how Hong Kong is crazy expensive. Kendall got almost all his clothes laundered by the hotel in Chengdu for 42 yuan. In Hong Kong, to wash a single T-shirt cost 40 HKD (remember, they're basically the same rate)!! The Peak Tram runs passengers up the side of Victoria Peak, and at one point, the tram is almost vertical. Below you can see the tram rushing past us.

To help out a little more you can watch the video below. We're going down the peak in the video, so imagine leaning forward a good deal, and you'll get a better feel.

The tram was built a long time ago by the British, and now operates as a renovated tourist attraction. They've built a shopping mall at the top, but the real treat is the view of Hong Kong. Unfortunately, there's rarely ever a clear day in Hong Kong, so here's the best we could come up with.

As you can see from the picture, there is a suprising amount of green in Hong Kong. Beautiful gardens and parks are scattered throughout the many neighborhoods. We enjoyed walking through parks and not having to pay! They're pretty strict about what goes on in their parks. Darbie was lying beside a fountain, and a park security guard told her it was forbidden. She decided to walk through the topiary maze instead.
We did a lot of walking through Hong Kong, we got to visit the Temple St. Night market where they have all kinds of souvenirs and knock-offs, the Jade Market where hundreds of vendors explain why their jade is the best, and eat all kinds of delicious food from a hole-in-the-wall fish and chips place to a Mexican fiesta complete with a Mariachi band. There really is too much to say about Hong Kong, it's an amazing city. Darbie likes to say that the Brits learned what was wrong about London and perfected it in Hong Kong. The city really is one of the best we've ever visited.
Above is the clock tower that stands near the piers on Kowloon. Below is the Avenue of Stars with a great background. The Avenue of Stars is a Chinese version of the Walk of Fame in Hollywood where everyone has stars in the ground. Not too many recognizable names, save Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.

Hong Kong features a nightly lights show, and the Avenue of Stars is the best place to watch it. Once it gets dark the buildings across the bay on Hong Kong island put on a light display to music.

It's not quite Stone Mountain, but it is worth seeing. Also around the clock tower were giant Olympic Friendly Lanterns. Each lantern is a friendly performing a different Olympic sport. It was really impressive. Here's my favorite of the lanterns.
I'm not sure which sport Jing-Jing is representing here, but it's clear to see he means business. Below is shot of the lanterns all lit up. On our last day in Hong Kong we visited Hong Kong Disneyland! It was a lot of fun, though quite smaller than the real deal with less attractions of course. But, considering the good price, it's actually one of the best deals in Hong Kong. We got to meet a few of the characters in their festive New Year outfits. Another cool thing about Hong Kong Disneyland is that there is a special metro line especially for park visitors. They've even Disney-ized the train! There's just enough stuff to keep you entertained for one day, especially if you ride Space Mountain multiple times. We stayed around long enough to catch the fireworks show and then headed home. No, the castle isn't on fire. Unfortunately, Jimbo had to head out early the next morning, but we're pretty sure he had a good time on the trip. We had been a little skeptical about Hong Kong before we visited, now I would highly recommend it to any type of traveller. Although it may not be an authentic Chinese experience, it's definitely one that keeps you entertained.

Miles from Lhasa - Hong Kong: 3,685 miles

Total: 7,412 miles travelled.

DB & KM

P.S. Don't tell Darbie, but I met someone special, and I think she really likes me.

A Monastery on a Hill

In all the excitement of the last blog, I forgot to mention our New Year's meal. Every new year, a local restaurant, Tashi, invites all the foreigners in for a free Tibetan meal. When we first arrived, we were greeted and given "Sweet Tea" which is not the sweet tea that the South boasts. Instead, it is some sort of milk, sugar, and tea concoction that is a lot better than yak butter tea. They were also pouring us generous amounts of chang, a potent Tibetan libation. Imagine the hardest apple cider you've ever had, and you'll get some idea of what chang is like. As we were waiting for the meal to start we had some conversation with some Australians. During our time overseas we've realized that if there's ever an Australian around at a party, stay close, because usually good, funny conversation will follow. Some (Kramer) would say the same about a proctologist. The real star of the night was the food. Our favorite was a local dish called bobi. It is basically a Tibetan soft-shelled taco - fried meat and veggies. The twist comes with the seasoned cream cheese that takes the place of salsa and sour cream. It was a really fun experience, and we were surprised and thankful for the generosity of the owners.

The next day we decided to visit one of the most famous monasteries in the world, the Drepung Monastery. The best, and cheapest, way to get out there is the mini-bus, so we flagged one down. We immediately noticed how packed the bus was, like most buses in China, but the Tibetans kindly made room for us. In the picture below, Kendall (who is taking the picture) is sharing the back seat of the bus with 6 or 7 people.

When the bus stopped, everyone got off and made their way up the long hill that houses the monastery on the top. There is a nice road winding up the hill, and we wondered why the bus didn't just take us there, but the walk gave us some nice surprises. At first, the monastery was just a dot on a hill, but as we got closer, we could see just how large it was. In fact, 7,000 monks used to inhabit Drepung. Here's a shot of the monastery couched between some even larger hills. We also encountered some wild life on our journey up the hill, most notably a yak! I don't know if you've ever seen a yak up close, but it doesn't look like an animal you'd like to tangle with. I got as close as I felt it would like, and then backed away as it stared me down. I can understand his nervousness; after all, since we had been in Tibet we'd tried dried Yak meat, drank Yak butter tea, bought trinkets made of Yak bone, and seen people clothed in Yak fur. There were also lots of sheep running around, and I mean a lot. Darbie's favorite one came to meet us half-way up the mountain.

The monastery is a multi-levelled beast to see in the thin air. We were even higher than Lhasa, and good breaths were hard to come by. The monastery wasn't beautiful by any stretch of the imagination, the sheep see to that. However, the history and significance of the landmark are what make it worth seeing. There are hundreds of shrines and rooms to visit, each containing images of various buddhas. The monastery charges photographers per room! Even the monks are enjoying the benefits of tourism. Thus, we don't have many pics of the shrines or temples, but really just go back to Tai'an or some other temple pics in our archive, and you can get a feel for it. Below are two pics of the monastery. The first is of a typical building in the monastery. In the second you can see just how far up we had to walk, and also how big the monastery is.

Throughout the monastery campus are prayer wheels, written mantras, and "buddhist graffitti". They often contain mantas with pictures of various Lamas or buddhas.

Here are some more sheep pictures. We're telling you these things are all over the place, doing whatever they like. There are a lot of thin alleyways in the monastery, and Darbie wasn't too pleased with what she met done one in particular.

Below is one of our favorite pictures of the entire trip.

I was a little disappointed because Tibetan monks are known for their unique debates. They challenge each other in debate, and it helps both monks to gain a better understanding of Buddhist precepts. We went to the "debating place" only to find it locked. I asked a couple of younger monks what was up only to find out that they do not debate during the New Year. Heartbroken, we made our way back down the mountain. There was another temple lower down the hill, dedicated to "the oracle." This sounded cool, but there was yet another 3 hour line to enter due to the New Year. So, we took some shots with prayer flags and hopped on a bus that was even more crowded. We would have taken a picture, but we weren't able to move. We even got some sun on our journey to the monastery.

Lhasa was a great trip, and we look forward to returning some day soon. If you're interested, be aware that not only must you have a Chinese visa, but also a Tibetan tourist permit. There are many agencies in Chengdu that can hook you up, but it takes time and planning, of course. For those of you that didn't know, you can take a train up to Lhasa. At one point it reaches the highest altitude at which a train can travel. They also provide passengers with oxygen along the way; pretty exciting, huh?

Miles Traveled: Chengdu to Lhasa - 2,042 miles
Total: 3,727 miles

DB & KM

Up on a Roof

After our brief stay in Chengdu, we set off for our most adventurous and farthest destination, Lhasa. If you weren't familiar with it before, I'm sure the last month has informed many of you about the situation at present. It is a complicated situation, and the truth likely lies somewhere between the "Western Media's" portrait of Tibet, and the Chinese propaganda. Don't expect the problem to go away any time soon, but we can all hope that it doesn't escalate like last month.

Our trip to Lhasa began with an interesting start. We had a 2 hour plane ride over the Himalayas which provided some incredible views. Snowy peaks reached up through the clouds and really didn't seem all that far away. As the plane and crew prepared to land, we noticed the nose pull up and the plane begin to circle. Surely enough, an announcement in Chinese soon followed after which many Chinese and Tibetans moaned. Waiting on an English announcement isn't fun when your plane is surrounded by tall, rocky peaks on either side of the plane. It ended up that we couldn't land and had to travel all the way back to Chengdu, another 2 hour flight. We landed in Chengdu, sat on the runway for about an hour and a half, and then returned to the air, though we weren't assured that the outcome would be any different - luckily, it was. As we shuffled out of the terminal and got our bags, we got an introduction to the most difficult obstacle in Tibet, the extreme altitude (about 12,100 ft.). As we exited, we got another surprise, though it was more welcome than the altitude - bright, powerful, hot sun! I don't think many people know how warm, in fact, hot, it can get in Lhasa during the day. We were forced to shed our jackets soon after leaving the airport.

Many airports in China are annoyingly far from the actual city, and none are farther than Lhasa. A good hour from the airport to the city. To take our minds off our loud and needlessly reckless driver, we focused on the landscape. Most might be surprised to learn that Lhasa, and most of Tibet, is a desert. For those that have been to Death Valley in California, that landscape is strikingly similar. Interesting that the lowest elevation and one of the highest elevations on Earth feature the same terrain. The picture below is very typical of the Tibetan landscape - dry, rocky, and just the perfect spot for the ubiquitous Tibetan Prayer Flags.

We arrived into Lhasa on Lunar New Year's Eve, aka Chinese New Year's Eve. The Tibetans also celebrate the Lunar New Year, but they call it Losar Festival. A lot of the shops and hotels were closed as we entered the town, but we managed to find a hotel. Unfortunately, it didn't have an elevator and we were on the 4th floor. The bellhop gingerly ran our bags upstairs, while we trailed very far behind. It seriously took us around ten minutes to climb the stairs with lots of breaks to sit, thankfully Jimbo was there to give us climbing tips and techniques the whole way. Everyone advises not to do too much on your first day at extreme altitude, and we thought that it wasn't a bad idea. We parked at the first restaurant open, grabbed some snacks and parked ourselves back at the hotel. It was very easy to fall asleep that night, but we were all stirred by what sounded like World War III outside on the streets. China has no regulations whatsoever on fireworks, and every type, size, and noise was displayed on the street that night. Since coming to China, fireworks have lost some of their magic to us, since we see or hear them, well, everyday. Somehow we did manage to sleep, and made the decision to change hotels. Our first hotel was lacking an essential amenity on Tibetan nights - heating. They tried to appease us with portables, but even those were malfunctioning. So our first night and day in Lhasa was not awe-inspiring.

As we checked into our new hotel, the Gorkha Hotel, and started getting more acclimated, Lhasa began to open up to us. As we checked into our second hotel (outfitted in traditional Tibetan decoration), we met the amazing staff dressed in their cultural ensembles. They offered us dried yak meat and yak butter tea as we checked-in. I can honestly advise you in avoiding both. They do have something akin to funnel cakes that is a good treat, though. We were only on the second floor of this wonderful hotel, and it was a lot more inviting and closer to the action. Check out a picture of the digs. Above you can check out three happy little girls displaying the traditional wear for Tibetans. The girls wear the fuzzy hats, and the men wear cowboy hats. If you look closely you can see two Tibetan men in the background (wearing red). You can just how different Tibetans look from Han Chinese in the pic below.

As you can see, the style is intriguing, and the painting is ridiculously detailed. Here's another shot from inside one room, where we are displaying our New Year's gifts from the staff: A fruit basket and silk prayer shawls that serve the same purpose as prayer flags.

Because it was the New Year, there were a lot of visitors around, and a lot of Tibetans that had returned home from work in the mainland. The Tibetans are a very spiritual or superstitious lot, and many of the temples were jam-packed. Unfortunately, we were not able to enter the famous temples due to day-long line lengths, but that just gives us a reason to go back someday. The most famous landmark in Lhasa is the Potala Palace.

The first pic is the most famous place angle of the palace. It is a little surprising to find out that the Palace has a front lawn, and really isn't on a cliff (as you can see from the second pic). Nonetheless, the scale of the Palace is enormous. The palace was built in the 17th century, and was the seat of the Tibetan government, and of course the home of the Dalai Lamas. We weren't able to tour inside, but it is supposedly barren anyway. I've read that the Chinese do want to recognize it as a famous Chinese landmark, but not a Tibetan national landmark, so they have removed a lot of the palatial furnishings. From our hotel roof, we were lucky enough to get a glimpse of the Potala Palace at night. It is all lit up, and is truly beautiful. I had to zoom to get the shot, sorry about the quality.



The next famous site in Lhasa is the Jokhang Temple. While we were there the temple was abuzz with pilgrims. The temple seemed to permanently feature a line that completely wrapped around the square. The Jokhang is the oldest temple in Lhasa. Tibetans believe that the land used to be cursed, and recognize the land as a demoness. Before Buddhism could take root in Tibet, temples had to be built on certain parts of the demoness to pin her down. Therefore, there are holy temples all over Tibet said to be pinning down the demoness' hands or feet, but the Jokhang is the most holy because it was the last to be pinned down right over her heart. That is why Buddhist pilgrims from all over the world come to the Jokhang temple. As you can see from the picture to the right, fresh air can be a commodity in the center of the square as pilgrims toss offerings into the fire.

As you can see from above, the temple square is busy with activity. There are alleys all around the square, but one special one that leads pilgrims in a loop around the temple. Tibetans call this loop a kora. As they walk clockwise around the temple, over and over again, they spin prayer wheels, chant mantras, and hang prayer flags. The most dedicated pilgrims do the kora on their knees, or prostrating themselves along the way. To the right is the main alleyway. Vendors on the left, pilgrims in the middle, and a line of people waiting for the temple against the wall on the right. Below you can see some pilgrims in front of the main entrance of the Jokhang Temple. Pilgrims aren't the only people walking the kora, however, vendors line the alleys with all sorts of Tibetan "relics". All the vendors assured us that these were the real thing, and that they were very old. It is more likely that they were recently produced in Nepal and the vendors rub dirt on them. But that's all part of the fun.

There's also a more fun method to getting your prayers heard, by balloon! Many youngsters were out in the main square tying their prayer flags to balloons and letting them fly high into the Tibetan sky. Another popular method is the giant prayer wheel. Along the kora were a few small buildings that contained these giant, bronzed prayer wheels, which you can see a picture of below. They were usually very crowded with monks and pilgrims chanting as they followed clockwise with the wheel. The wheels are inscribed with mantras like Om Mani Padme Hum. Lastly to the right you can see some of the bling that sparkles atop the Jokhang Temple. There are many Buddhist symbols up top, and if you're lucky enough, you can go to the roof at the right time of day (we couldn't even get inside because of the lines).

We were lucky enough to have a great hotel location. There are tons of thin, little alleys that connect Lhasa to major points like the Jokhang Temple and kora. By the end of our stay, we could navigate these alleys and end up anywhere we needed to be. There is a lot of character to the alleys. Tibetans live, work, eat, and play in the alleys, and we got to be part of it. One fun thing we did in the alleys was go on a pony/horse ride! Many entrepreneurial Tibetans have horses lined up for kids and visitors to ride through the back alleys. We all hopped on a horse for a New Year's day ride. Check out the video below to see how it went.



Get a-long little horsie!

The next blog will be about our exhausting trip to the largest monastery in Lhasa, the Drepung Monastery.

DB & KM