September 22-23rd
We arrived in Tokyo and caught a military bus to Yokota AFB to meet up with our sister Cindy and her tykes. We spent the weekend being entertained by our nieces and nephews - Mason, Ivy, Calla and Hunter. On Monday we activated our rail passes and headed north to Sendai. We rode the Shinkansen bullet train - at a speed of about 285KM/H (177 MPH). That was plenty impressive, until we slipped undetected onto the latest and greatest Nozomi N700 train a few days later and hit a top speed of 363KM/H (225MPH)! We spent a day in the Asakusa area of Tokyo before continuing South. Sushi at the always impressive Tsukiji was worth the trip alone - Dus going all out by downing a tasty morsel of raw horse meat.
September 24th - Kyoto
Without hotel reservations in Kyoto, we headed to an all night spa where I'd stayed the night on a previous trip - only to find the building that housed it to be quite closed. Only 11pm or so at that point, we took a moment to enjoy some curry before continuing our search for shelter. The next few locals we asked regarding suggestions for places to sleep seemed quite convinced that the only option was a less than meager hotel charging a more than meager amount. Our optimism/luck took us about a block from that point to what turned out to be one of our favorite sleeping experiences of the trip - Rumor Plaza & Spa. The experience was surprisingly similar to the one I'd had previously at the other location. We stashed our shoes in small lockers and received keys for larger lockers inside the complex. At the next locker we changed into the local attire - cotton shorts and a mini-kimono of sorts. Next stop was the spa, where one showers while squatting on a little plastic chair before plopping into one of the pools of water at various temperatures. A sauna there had a TV playing strange game shows with even more bizarre commercials. I doubt I'll ever comprehend Japanese television. Upon reaching adequate prune’age, we wandered the other levels of the establishment and discovered a decent eatery on the top floor. By then it was a bit late, so we made our way to the "relaxation room" comprised of perhaps a hundred impressively narrow bunk beds/stalls and slumbered until they kicked us out around 9am. As long as you have a pair of ear plugs, a night in one of these spas seems to pass without much effort.
The next day we continued south toward Hiroshima, stopping briefly in Kobe to experience the beef we'd heard so much about. The place we chose prepared the impressively marbled meat Teppanyaki style. I think we both felt the unique experience worth the impressive cost - with some of the cuts going for somewhere around $150 per pound!
We finally reached Hiroshima and stayed at a guesthouse that had just opened that day. They had a little party with local foods for their guests, then led the pack of foreigners to a nearby karaoke complex for hours of something the Japanese seriously love - for whatever reason. Next day was spent wandering the city and perusing the various museums, exhibits and monuments devoted to the infamous bombing. They've done a decent job of presenting various factors that led up to the event – though plenty more focus on the aftermath of course.
Dus and I each had our own schedules by then - so he took a train down to Fukuoka for a bowl of noodles while I took a short ferry to spend the evening with some little deer on Shrine Island. Dus spent the rest of the weekend with a friend in Nagoya while I made my way back to Tokyo to meet up with Pops and Rose at the airport.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Guangzhou, Macau, Hong Kong, Shenzhen
Our last major stop before leaving China was Guangzhou - an all around decent city that likely had more to offer than we managed to see in the short time we spent there. Formerly known as Canton, this region is responsible for much of the Chinese cuisine the Western world would recognize. Dus and I took a local's advice and sought a specific restaurant to try their famous "pigs feet" - prepared in a sweet and sour sauce. The portion that arrived looked massive - but upon further inspection, we could not find a single morsel of meat hiding within the fat and skin. I hadn't expected much, but the absolute lack of meat was quite a surprise. To be fair, the sauce was quite delicious - so we mixed that with our rice and called it dinner. I still miss the food and spices of Sichuan. From Guangzhou we crossed into Macau via a land border that more resembled a shopping mall. We exercised restraint in not stuffing our packs with the cheap electronics and knock-off iPods for sale, which would very possibly have been confiscated by the friendly customs agents waiting anxiously a few hundred yards away.
Macau was surprisingly decent. The newest casinos looked remarkably similar to those found in Vegas, particularly the Wynn & Venetian. We had some great Portuguese influenced meals - and of course hot Portuguese egg tarts for breakfast. We stayed with a new friend named Patricia who went out of her way to show us the local culture. Hong Kong was the next stop - only an hour away via hydrofoil. We stayed in Kowloon, a choice I might not repeat the next time in the area. Hong Kong seems to me to be an excellent mix of East and West - not in the awkward way many Asian destinations seem to exemplify when their only expressions of the West are banana pancakes, ice cream shakes and television episodes of Friends tirelessly shown within the backpacker cafes. I'm always glad when my trips include a few days in HK.
We apparently missed China at this point - so we crossed back over the border to Shenzhen for one last gander. Dus rode on his train - or on a railroad owned by a company owned partially by him (though shortly after which he sold the stock)... I spent my time looking for random Chinese electronics and spare batteries, then ate an average pizza before returning back to Hong Kong. After more than two months, we finally abandoned overland travel for a flight to Japan - though we had considered taking a boat more than once.
Macau was surprisingly decent. The newest casinos looked remarkably similar to those found in Vegas, particularly the Wynn & Venetian. We had some great Portuguese influenced meals - and of course hot Portuguese egg tarts for breakfast. We stayed with a new friend named Patricia who went out of her way to show us the local culture. Hong Kong was the next stop - only an hour away via hydrofoil. We stayed in Kowloon, a choice I might not repeat the next time in the area. Hong Kong seems to me to be an excellent mix of East and West - not in the awkward way many Asian destinations seem to exemplify when their only expressions of the West are banana pancakes, ice cream shakes and television episodes of Friends tirelessly shown within the backpacker cafes. I'm always glad when my trips include a few days in HK.
We apparently missed China at this point - so we crossed back over the border to Shenzhen for one last gander. Dus rode on his train - or on a railroad owned by a company owned partially by him (though shortly after which he sold the stock)... I spent my time looking for random Chinese electronics and spare batteries, then ate an average pizza before returning back to Hong Kong. After more than two months, we finally abandoned overland travel for a flight to Japan - though we had considered taking a boat more than once.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Guangxi Province: Guilin, Yangshuo, Longsheng
About a day's train journey to the East from Yunnan, we encountered much warmer weather near Guilin. We arranged a funky little boat to carry us down the Li River from Guilin to Xingping, then hitched a ride on something similar to a golf cart to finally reach Yangshuo. We considered staying within the small city - but decided instead to head to the boonies to stay at a unique guesthouse called The Giggling Tree. It turned out to be a great decision as the next few days turned out quite spectacular - smack in the middle of picturesque karst mountains. We borrowed bikes and pedaled most of the day through rice fields, then hired bamboo rafts to float us back downriver to the guesthouse - one of my favorite experiences in China. Dus and I awoke one morning well before sunrise in order to hire a hot-air balloon to float us a few thousand feet above the valley below. I snapped off over 350 photos during the hour we were in the air.
Dustin's version of events:
one of the most beautiful landscapes we saw in china was in yangshuo. we rode down the li river on a bamboo boat between tall limestone pillars, overgrown with shrubbery. and we saw amazing views from a hot air balloon at sunrise. we even noticed some cracks in the floor of the balloon basket we were standing in; but it seemed to carry scott, myself, and the navigator just fine, 3651 feet above the ground.
another fabulous site was the rice terraced fields of longshen. crowds of chinese and foreigners visit this site to view the progressive phases in the cultivation of this staple food. stairs lead through a large village to the top of the hills where you can see rice growing for miles; green for another couple weeks. my favorite part of this village was the hot peppers drying under the sun in piles near the sidewalk. it felt like walking through a spicy paradise.
Dustin's version of events:
one of the most beautiful landscapes we saw in china was in yangshuo. we rode down the li river on a bamboo boat between tall limestone pillars, overgrown with shrubbery. and we saw amazing views from a hot air balloon at sunrise. we even noticed some cracks in the floor of the balloon basket we were standing in; but it seemed to carry scott, myself, and the navigator just fine, 3651 feet above the ground.
another fabulous site was the rice terraced fields of longshen. crowds of chinese and foreigners visit this site to view the progressive phases in the cultivation of this staple food. stairs lead through a large village to the top of the hills where you can see rice growing for miles; green for another couple weeks. my favorite part of this village was the hot peppers drying under the sun in piles near the sidewalk. it felt like walking through a spicy paradise.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Yunnan Province: Kunming, Dali, Lijiang
Southwestern China was somewhat of a blur. We arrived into Kunming after an 18hr train ride stretched into over 30hrs. We were climbing the walls for the last half of the trip & spent enough time in the restaurant car to wear out our welcome. We later discovered that the train had been rerouted due to an earthquake on our original route. This whole side of the planet is always shaking it seems. Anyhow - Kunming was fine, spent a couple days wandering the city. Next was a chill (quite literally) little town called Dali. Having endured nearly two months of cooler than anticipated weather at that point, the time came to acquire warmer clothes. Even layering all the clothes we'd brought proved insufficient this time. Dus & I happened upon a nice tailor woman in Dali who outfitted us both with thick hemp/cotton pullovers. Haven't shivered since!
Snapped a bunch of photos at the Three Pagodas area and then continued to Lijiang. I think we expected to find something similar to the sleepy old town of Dali there, but were greeted by something closer to an Asian Venice... with drunken karaoke blaring from every street between the canals. Interesting areas - we hope to return for a better look someday.
Apart from train food, we've had some excellent meals in China. I've concocted a list of Chinese characters for common Asian greens; bok choi, morning glory, Chinese cabbage, celery - to which I refer when ordering at restaurants. They often spruce them up with an adequate amount of fresh or dried spicy red peppers.
Dustin's take on Yunnan Province:
a couple of quaint towns we visited were dali and lijiang. they're well known and heavily touristed because of their beauty, but it seems to work well with the locals. cobble stones along narrow streets, bridges over canals, and old towns with classic architecture. we ate a lot of western food, mostly because my stomach needed a break from the heavy oil of chinese food. i had never craved banana pancakes, burgers and pizza so much in my life. the rain in dali made the temperature drop to a typical autumn day in seattle, so we finally bought jackets, handmade from hemp by a native seamstress. and we realized that several destinations since our first stop in st petersburg had been about that cold. but we kept thinking each time it happened, it would be the last time.
Snapped a bunch of photos at the Three Pagodas area and then continued to Lijiang. I think we expected to find something similar to the sleepy old town of Dali there, but were greeted by something closer to an Asian Venice... with drunken karaoke blaring from every street between the canals. Interesting areas - we hope to return for a better look someday.
Apart from train food, we've had some excellent meals in China. I've concocted a list of Chinese characters for common Asian greens; bok choi, morning glory, Chinese cabbage, celery - to which I refer when ordering at restaurants. They often spruce them up with an adequate amount of fresh or dried spicy red peppers.
Dustin's take on Yunnan Province:
a couple of quaint towns we visited were dali and lijiang. they're well known and heavily touristed because of their beauty, but it seems to work well with the locals. cobble stones along narrow streets, bridges over canals, and old towns with classic architecture. we ate a lot of western food, mostly because my stomach needed a break from the heavy oil of chinese food. i had never craved banana pancakes, burgers and pizza so much in my life. the rain in dali made the temperature drop to a typical autumn day in seattle, so we finally bought jackets, handmade from hemp by a native seamstress. and we realized that several destinations since our first stop in st petersburg had been about that cold. but we kept thinking each time it happened, it would be the last time.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Chengdu, Sichuan Province
Having a bugger of a time ordering our food the way we want it on this train. We thought we had the Mandarin words for "spicy" & "extra spicy" down - even the name of the Sichuan numbing spice we had in Chengdu - but can't seem to communicate well enough to get a sufficiently spicy meal. What we do get is various meats swimming in oil, heavily accented with MSG. Edible, but not excellent. The trains themselves have been fine - though quite a range of comfort. Our first from Beijing to Xi'an was one of the nicest we'd ever been on. Getting tickets on Chinese trains can be quite difficult as spaces are sold out days before departure - and we're never much for planning ahead these days. So - our bunks are typically whatever we can find, often within inches of the ceiling on the impressively high third level. The train from Xi'an to Chengdu was still nice, but we opted for beds in the "soft-sleeper" wagon at a price of about $45US each.
We experienced a Sichuan HotPot - plenty spicy - though a very unique affect that literally numbs the mouth & lips as you eat it. It's like a buffet in that you can eat as much as you like - though most of the things they're offering are quite unfamiliar to Western stomachs. After selecting a plate full of items, you return to your table and plop everything into the boiling vat of chili oil and spices. After a few minutes you can fish out the recognizable parts and wash them down with some sweetened soy milk with dark tapioca pearls milling in the bottom of the cup. This drink was perhaps my favorite part of the meal.
Spent a morning at the Panda Conversation Base near Chengdu. They claim they have more pandas than anywhere else or something. Mostly a large zoo like place - but the bears looked happy... unless they just always look like that. Lots of bamboo.
We experienced a Sichuan HotPot - plenty spicy - though a very unique affect that literally numbs the mouth & lips as you eat it. It's like a buffet in that you can eat as much as you like - though most of the things they're offering are quite unfamiliar to Western stomachs. After selecting a plate full of items, you return to your table and plop everything into the boiling vat of chili oil and spices. After a few minutes you can fish out the recognizable parts and wash them down with some sweetened soy milk with dark tapioca pearls milling in the bottom of the cup. This drink was perhaps my favorite part of the meal.
Spent a morning at the Panda Conversation Base near Chengdu. They claim they have more pandas than anywhere else or something. Mostly a large zoo like place - but the bears looked happy... unless they just always look like that. Lots of bamboo.
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