tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12908199730440323622024-02-08T00:16:19.022+08:00Erin is ChineseMusings from my time meandering in the Middle KingdomErin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.comBlogger63125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-17614007568165201092008-10-20T20:08:00.003+08:002008-10-20T20:18:46.626+08:00More gymnasticsAs I had previously mentioned my new goal for the duration of the Olympics was to somehow score tickets to see Shawn Johnson compete. As luck would have it I met two Americans at our hostel who had two extra tickets to every event they were going to and were looking to swap them for other tickets since they didn't have too many events to go to. I asked them right away if they had any gymnastics tickets and they did and they were willing to trade me for my judo tickets. Score! I was happy to get to see any events during the Olympics, but if I could see gymnastics instead of judo I was definitely going to trade.<br /><br />So Kim and I gave them our judo tickets for their gymnastics tickets and that night we made our way to the National Indoor Stadium for the women's gymnastics preliminaries. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that that the countries were broken down into different groups and that America wasn't competing at the time we had tickets for :( It was still fun to watch, but I obviously hadn't met my goal of seeing Shawn perform at the Olympics.Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-3710036277966856212008-09-25T20:07:00.003+08:002008-09-25T20:55:58.898+08:00How is it that you are louder than all of France?This question was posed to me while we were sitting around watching fencing on day two of the Olympics. It was our third event of the Games and the first time we got to see an American compete. Of course I was beyond excited to finally cheer for the red, white and blue. Our seats were on the opposite side of where the American was sitting but after sneaking past some volunteers we ended up getting some great seats. In fact, we were now located right behind the designated athletes seating area. Score!<br /><br />Anyway, some Frenchies had made the same tricky maneuvering as us and were sitting in the same section now and as luck would have it the U.S. and France were about to face off. Obviously fencing isn't exactly a mainstream event in America, but it definitely is one of those that they love in Europe apparently. <br /><br />So our American friend took the stage (I don't know what to call the competition area in fencing) and we just started going nuts. We had absolutely no idea who this guy was and we cheered for him like he was Michael Jordan back in the glory days of Chicago basketball. We were greatly outnumbered by French fans but we didn't care. We cheered louder, harder and longer than they did and even though our guy lost it was still totally worth it.<br /><br />After the match (I have no idea what a round of fencing is called) this French guy turned to me and said, "How is it that you are louder than all of France?" I told him it was because we didn't smoke and gave him a smile. He just laughed and then we showed them how to really yell later when we cheered for the French guy who beat our American friend.<br /><br />As it turns out fencing was a rather intense sport. The athletes were always jumping around and as soon as they scored a point they would rip off their masks and throw a fit. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkW3MhefBdgnEQCSQHV6DloI-BHrErd4lktMoq5PXy4l9QyQkAi6N0QKWbIFuxQmy8f5Ue_MucZ6_PGKG1ce19IQiRS_6i0Px8lJ8useSyP09hOxuSrF6ecDhu0fba4eGnA6dVOlZFB_4/s1600-h/IMG_4152.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkW3MhefBdgnEQCSQHV6DloI-BHrErd4lktMoq5PXy4l9QyQkAi6N0QKWbIFuxQmy8f5Ue_MucZ6_PGKG1ce19IQiRS_6i0Px8lJ8useSyP09hOxuSrF6ecDhu0fba4eGnA6dVOlZFB_4/s320/IMG_4152.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249938577328136946" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYAyV0URLXU7mHknECxpG6ZRRbsCRDCg99B92eZmpSYZrMzvPBw9-SKg6-DQReebSTJTmQ1nHyEZ4crda4SQhh490j8MVmfUBcdboXIHpoC3W_GxiU-9JhPEj4Bvs_AZFscU7tT4M3mE0/s1600-h/IMG_4162.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYAyV0URLXU7mHknECxpG6ZRRbsCRDCg99B92eZmpSYZrMzvPBw9-SKg6-DQReebSTJTmQ1nHyEZ4crda4SQhh490j8MVmfUBcdboXIHpoC3W_GxiU-9JhPEj4Bvs_AZFscU7tT4M3mE0/s320/IMG_4162.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249938586662936962" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaYo8xfa_4KYRVVx8mxUUwM2PX6FpBR1lg8MvXA3j2SHWz81_1BB5eukM2mlOI2mFDOaj4scWTJSZAAjdKec3Va1Er5TtMHOxtjGox1GUs0m8JFUafBtZKNQolX7Gt8KilsGprhKXLOyE/s1600-h/IMG_4167.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaYo8xfa_4KYRVVx8mxUUwM2PX6FpBR1lg8MvXA3j2SHWz81_1BB5eukM2mlOI2mFDOaj4scWTJSZAAjdKec3Va1Er5TtMHOxtjGox1GUs0m8JFUafBtZKNQolX7Gt8KilsGprhKXLOyE/s320/IMG_4167.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249938590573915714" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiwPTnq166fda8XWb0ndBaRDgxiS3tb4G4k_x8IsMRPbf1F6eOYo7dgCRH6TNeOfwpdLJ9C1EShR77Q5SUi6aTmjNuKa3b34UgHA4OjQpZmcUEL_3zY6bLu6jdViwxDVmFs8nkoqw_1yk/s1600-h/IMG_4176.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiwPTnq166fda8XWb0ndBaRDgxiS3tb4G4k_x8IsMRPbf1F6eOYo7dgCRH6TNeOfwpdLJ9C1EShR77Q5SUi6aTmjNuKa3b34UgHA4OjQpZmcUEL_3zY6bLu6jdViwxDVmFs8nkoqw_1yk/s320/IMG_4176.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249938599320294082" /></a><br /><br />OK, so fencing was far more fun than I thought it would be and afterwards we were leaving the venue and we met the family of the American who we had been cheering so feverishly for and they thanked us and told us we rocked for all of our enthusiasm :)Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-43771497952003175052008-09-24T12:02:00.007+08:002008-09-25T02:14:02.955+08:00Olympics Day 1 (sleep deprivation and sun burn)As previously mentioned we did not have a place to sleep the night of Opening Ceremonies and so when we checked into our hostel (which from here on out will be referred to as the room that mold built) we only had time to shower and change before we needed to head out for the day.<br /><br />I can't express how much Beijing has changed in the year since I've been here, and even since I was last in Beijing at the beginning of July. The city was much cleaner and everyone seemed to have their welcome mat out for the Games. <br /><br />Anyway, onto the Games. Our first event of the Olympics was beach volleyball. The venue was pretty small (especially compared to most of the other venues) and was relatively empty considering the Games were boasted as being the first ever to sell-out. But these factors certainly did not stop us from having fun. <br /><br />The sun was shining, the music was blaring and we were cheering loud even though the U.S. wasn't playing. We talked to some other folks from the states and Germany who we would eventually hang out with several times later in the week. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Oa1BxQc9bueOSAXRJwhfYOu5YXhDl8Uz-FS2po_0uj6mwjsyRErqu6m8VoeBtuS0iN8oFyLWfcNBOoPS87sXlLEaB8lD0IUsZk3a0xqS3k6v5zvn3l318RgTXVowF6HWK47F_21kcH0/s1600-h/IMG_4034.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Oa1BxQc9bueOSAXRJwhfYOu5YXhDl8Uz-FS2po_0uj6mwjsyRErqu6m8VoeBtuS0iN8oFyLWfcNBOoPS87sXlLEaB8lD0IUsZk3a0xqS3k6v5zvn3l318RgTXVowF6HWK47F_21kcH0/s320/IMG_4034.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249645000122698738" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNF6W_DfWRA1Eow-YncU4oA9s9nqspSlibTgQzn_qZYqHEPhwrA-SruqSr_oWLBc0z_PjsxDGtNBBt0WMyKghRQ2p7YepD8FLjJ9h5DGpP3OppsPICIXC1FAZ6P4wSVI3RbwKVrD_oho/s1600-h/IMG_4023.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGNF6W_DfWRA1Eow-YncU4oA9s9nqspSlibTgQzn_qZYqHEPhwrA-SruqSr_oWLBc0z_PjsxDGtNBBt0WMyKghRQ2p7YepD8FLjJ9h5DGpP3OppsPICIXC1FAZ6P4wSVI3RbwKVrD_oho/s320/IMG_4023.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249645009787213810" /></a><br /><br />Beach volleyball was really fun and much more intense than I had expected.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3RXzAmPSvc0KWZNIT19v-ww0Cko784HJyaVr6nCRLy8tUD8Qq2d3iCrtYH0q7c0Ma9bHkJZqRWyvzksUr31ptRYHfnP_J3hT_6K_zI7pIJVB_mbQpUqOlpqHb3ZN5RVOZyfjSmeXidUU/s1600-h/IMG_4002.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3RXzAmPSvc0KWZNIT19v-ww0Cko784HJyaVr6nCRLy8tUD8Qq2d3iCrtYH0q7c0Ma9bHkJZqRWyvzksUr31ptRYHfnP_J3hT_6K_zI7pIJVB_mbQpUqOlpqHb3ZN5RVOZyfjSmeXidUU/s320/IMG_4002.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249641996090269746" /></a><br /><br />Jenna and I sat with Jon, Tim and Tony (our gang for the next two weeks) for about four hours before we realized we weren't going to make it through the rest of the day, yet alone the rest of the Olympics, if we didn't get some sleep. We made our way back to the hostel and napped for about two hours before it was time to roll out again.<br /><br />That evening we had tickets to the men's gymnastics preliminaries and, once again, America wasn't competing. We had a good time watching the Games in general, but of course we wanted to cheer for the U.S. At any rate I was super excited to be at gymnastics, because it is always my favorite sport during the Olympics. <br /><br />As you may or may not know I met Shawn <a href="http://www.shawnjohnson.net/">Johnson</a> during my junior year at Drake when I was working for The Times-Delphic. She was only 14 at the time and we ran a story in the Relays issue about her that my friend Jennifer wrote, I tagged along to take the photos. She's from Des Moines and her gym is only a few miles from campus so we got to watch her warm up with the other girls at her gym one day and meet with her and her coach. It was a pretty cool experience and one that I kept bragging about as soon as she made the U.S. team. I was hoping to get to see her compete while we were in Beijing but once I picked up our tickets for the week, which I had ordered more than a year in advance, I realized that just wasn't part of the plan. I made seeing Shawn compete my personal goal for the week.<br /><br />Back to the events of the evening. Thankfully Jenna and I were wide awake after our two hour naps and decided to celebrate this with a beer as we watched the incredibly buff men frolic around the National Indoor Stadium. The guys were not in such high spirits since they stayed at beach volleyball and didn't have a nap. They ended up leaving halfway through gymnastics to go back to the hostel.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsoGhSAdbCD-H0II7ntRUVia6c3pNq7psAcIpPVjq69lzOPdfi9LlKryq3fh5X3bYzegh1yIJaOyS8QUHpXXFUI8FlyvKU3neIvgJB-YtZvRs2chdm878-9_df5TcGUTb4KsTu32tenCc/s1600-h/IMG_4045.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsoGhSAdbCD-H0II7ntRUVia6c3pNq7psAcIpPVjq69lzOPdfi9LlKryq3fh5X3bYzegh1yIJaOyS8QUHpXXFUI8FlyvKU3neIvgJB-YtZvRs2chdm878-9_df5TcGUTb4KsTu32tenCc/s320/IMG_4045.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249644582349606434" /></a><br /><br />The gymnasts were incredible and a good indication of what we were going to get to see throughout the coming days.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXJnvXFDpZ8bJeWN58z2PpD3sJKOyQf3pKHenxVcG30p8YNXdknN0IVCtUZZ7j3n8yqTZgdtbTJFMGEYfHSIlk8pU4mHGvyNGUaN_N1A1vhUuehnp4_hlbDoBktl86KmDUyKBY0y9pURc/s1600-h/IMG_4040.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXJnvXFDpZ8bJeWN58z2PpD3sJKOyQf3pKHenxVcG30p8YNXdknN0IVCtUZZ7j3n8yqTZgdtbTJFMGEYfHSIlk8pU4mHGvyNGUaN_N1A1vhUuehnp4_hlbDoBktl86KmDUyKBY0y9pURc/s320/IMG_4040.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249650275004533170" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMu6Aoi1Ke2dczITLrf7nmSV2vHlMI7Xw7HvOjkNK0He4aF-gDXsuFfb397GhPDXCnxjuGEXH7E2NPB4_2hu9-PP3FZGRtm4r67IK8PuXhxwZZvrWfUCIfkglT40u9_tPjTRmLApvdrco/s1600-h/IMG_4052.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMu6Aoi1Ke2dczITLrf7nmSV2vHlMI7Xw7HvOjkNK0He4aF-gDXsuFfb397GhPDXCnxjuGEXH7E2NPB4_2hu9-PP3FZGRtm4r67IK8PuXhxwZZvrWfUCIfkglT40u9_tPjTRmLApvdrco/s320/IMG_4052.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249650283036171730" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNO4Rn2dmcwlZgIcjjvB6cW8fgovyiP3Y2ckDoK8eCW8uRrefAy_iTTo7C3O2uvysYXlwM8DRgAbWiqNY2rphergl0mU84t5nDbiSYhx-yYQnr0BaUyizf2VOmNBYe6ENhMbM9RNDfeRE/s1600-h/IMG_4079.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNO4Rn2dmcwlZgIcjjvB6cW8fgovyiP3Y2ckDoK8eCW8uRrefAy_iTTo7C3O2uvysYXlwM8DRgAbWiqNY2rphergl0mU84t5nDbiSYhx-yYQnr0BaUyizf2VOmNBYe6ENhMbM9RNDfeRE/s320/IMG_4079.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249650297882351170" /></a><br /><br />After the event was over Jenna and I were pretty high on the excitement of being at the Olympics and so we decided to walk around for a while, see the grounds and chat before heading back to the hostel. Here are some shots of the green that first night.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxjVal9-AJgskEPzSW9enhfK69wn66bxF0yIBk7L3SXTi4CVnDoQ-21FRrgFgYYj_YowRNDo-hq1JTUXWseauZzfDqxN_cT4P45oCQijzIbUXvzNX2-qwD17hyV7ihLNGDeXWQcHseNRw/s1600-h/IMG_4090.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxjVal9-AJgskEPzSW9enhfK69wn66bxF0yIBk7L3SXTi4CVnDoQ-21FRrgFgYYj_YowRNDo-hq1JTUXWseauZzfDqxN_cT4P45oCQijzIbUXvzNX2-qwD17hyV7ihLNGDeXWQcHseNRw/s320/IMG_4090.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249651081440370434" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1U40ztTIqH-Lbd2X021iu-EkHALQElIsbJSsyHysHMdohsbSk8rcRLZ3Rv5c20w3fS9I05eYEA3s4Ga1tQpbFHFF71kZ5Lzs30jQ53bWMJ68EAL00WB74AaZ8B2VXC3sznAGa567hM54/s1600-h/IMG_4096.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1U40ztTIqH-Lbd2X021iu-EkHALQElIsbJSsyHysHMdohsbSk8rcRLZ3Rv5c20w3fS9I05eYEA3s4Ga1tQpbFHFF71kZ5Lzs30jQ53bWMJ68EAL00WB74AaZ8B2VXC3sznAGa567hM54/s320/IMG_4096.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249651090346673138" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs0wrBg2s6zEqXzjCf9qamC9PKOGelxqZu41V7OUcFpnC5t93MhC8NtOBS9o0ovR1mIrYE2b_C2VPVnhvKFHEVbmJYI43T0MULrHwrMQ22AhuBM-eVWD65MrNYoFoycH5NqrHmsG0u79U/s1600-h/IMG_4100.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs0wrBg2s6zEqXzjCf9qamC9PKOGelxqZu41V7OUcFpnC5t93MhC8NtOBS9o0ovR1mIrYE2b_C2VPVnhvKFHEVbmJYI43T0MULrHwrMQ22AhuBM-eVWD65MrNYoFoycH5NqrHmsG0u79U/s320/IMG_4100.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249651099304603266" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCXuc_NquEY3haru-m47SdH4IwLkjd1FDPpl_OlG0hQbnkBrG7FdnZTgcAgVtNkVmVK_M51URqwKdUf9oFEXCzVkiHPcjF5CG5AIeMBWmi1fSNKSUm30W3eRl8MO3G0sk9USdbB1a2X7I/s1600-h/IMG_4107.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCXuc_NquEY3haru-m47SdH4IwLkjd1FDPpl_OlG0hQbnkBrG7FdnZTgcAgVtNkVmVK_M51URqwKdUf9oFEXCzVkiHPcjF5CG5AIeMBWmi1fSNKSUm30W3eRl8MO3G0sk9USdbB1a2X7I/s320/IMG_4107.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249651107524456850" /></a><br /><br />We finally got back to the room that mold built at around 1 a.m. and immediately crashed.Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-88897952337745471092008-09-23T23:54:00.002+08:002008-09-24T00:14:58.774+08:00The Olympics beginI know you've all been patiently waiting for me to finally start blogging about the Olympics. Also known as the highlight of my already fabulous life. So without hesitation I present to you, in blog form, my trip to the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics.<br /><br />10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUWBAtd8c0VrfxACHV73Xgh5bL1Y2m4Zoj4V9hCPZWquFHyzgWPap5QdYb5en_MRzJjE5sBrwsaPRmNFZxNTSlrvRDc8vMHQ8xCYb34KV3S-PaiW8QXF_0JnVZ2S28wZjYhXKEGMNovRc/s1600-h/IMG_3933.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUWBAtd8c0VrfxACHV73Xgh5bL1Y2m4Zoj4V9hCPZWquFHyzgWPap5QdYb5en_MRzJjE5sBrwsaPRmNFZxNTSlrvRDc8vMHQ8xCYb34KV3S-PaiW8QXF_0JnVZ2S28wZjYhXKEGMNovRc/s320/IMG_3933.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249247032403248978" /></a><br /><br />Now, I might be a lucky duck, but I wasn't lucky enough to score tickets to the Opening Ceremonies. Instead I was able to find a sweet spot that was about as close to the Bird's Nest as a person could be without having tickets. The area was packed full of people from all around the world and we arrived just in time to get a spot before they blocked it all off. From this vantage point we were able to see all of the fireworks go off and I have to tell you it was fantastic. <br /><br />We were standing close to an Olympic countdown sign and everyone was yelling like it was the New Year as we get ready to start the summer Olympics. I was jumping around, screaming and dancing in the street with new friends from around the world and everyone just went nuts when the counter finally said zero and the sky filled with color as the Chinese reminded everyone just who invented fireworks in the first place.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg36VxPtA-uWm9kUVsDq9v0NhtuMrQbLV5NB6fbxY9rZQIXT6fL1P_dJ7sPGCJMfN8osPV2jPUIJ3xmbOPUXokfpnmz1nyD88hb5tu5TCEmKKQsw5DL3yz-xhB7ANDukqCc7VeQ5UBpGNk/s1600-h/IMG_3941.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg36VxPtA-uWm9kUVsDq9v0NhtuMrQbLV5NB6fbxY9rZQIXT6fL1P_dJ7sPGCJMfN8osPV2jPUIJ3xmbOPUXokfpnmz1nyD88hb5tu5TCEmKKQsw5DL3yz-xhB7ANDukqCc7VeQ5UBpGNk/s320/IMG_3941.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249247927900787362" /></a><br /><br />Since we were outside watching the fireworks and having our own party it meant that we didn't get to watch the actual ceremony on TV, but hey I've already got a bootleg DVD of the whole thing to watch whenever I want. We spent most of the rest of the evening cheering with people from around the world. We sang with our amigos from Mexico and danced with our sisters from another mister, the Canadians. We were interviewed by reporters from Italy, France, Australia and China. I was later overwhelmed by e-mails, text messages and phone calls from people in China telling me they had seen me on the Chinese news that night. <br /><br />After a while we found a tea shop that had opened it's doors for people to come in and watch the opening ceremonies on TV. We bought some of the beer they were selling, made a toast to the games and waited patiently for the American athletes to make their way into the Nest. When they finally showed our team on TV our little group went absolutely nuts and once they flashed Kobe's face on TV the whole place went nuts. One of the reporters we had made friends with earlier in the night was still hanging out with us and we were on his radio station in Italy live, then he bought us a round of beers and we all talked about how excited we were for things to really get started. <br /><br />We were sitting in the tea shop watching the ceremony as the torch was being lit. Once the flame was ablaze it finally hit me that if we simply peeked outside we would definitely be able to see the torch, so we made a beeline for the door and caught our first glimpse of the flame.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMz4h2J82ukKorFDbbk_PV4kZVTcoJjxtlRPQS_VadMh8HQt_DzEYnNPtlxmY-V7W5L_aaqIFHbeufJDMhTiUJvE1uXJ-6eRFpBcgmYVwuDpLClNGW5bPw8Gf65jTRlBy0dWTOFl5Uug/s1600-h/IMG_3994.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMz4h2J82ukKorFDbbk_PV4kZVTcoJjxtlRPQS_VadMh8HQt_DzEYnNPtlxmY-V7W5L_aaqIFHbeufJDMhTiUJvE1uXJ-6eRFpBcgmYVwuDpLClNGW5bPw8Gf65jTRlBy0dWTOFl5Uug/s320/IMG_3994.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249249856504768130" /></a><br /><br />As the hoopla was winding down we realized it was already past midnight and we still needed to meet up with Jon. By the time we were all reunited it was about 2:30 a.m. and none of us had eaten for the whole day so we went to McDonald's and hung out with journalists and fans from around the world, talking about the events of the evening and what we expected to happen over the next few weeks. After a while we headed outside and found some seats to crash in for a while (did I mention we didn't have anywhere to sleep this night?) before getting on the subway at about 4:30 a.m. We made it to our hostel around 5:30, showered, met our new friends who were joining us for the Games and got ready to depart for our first event.<br /><br />Everyone knows how much I like to party, be loud and cause a scene. You probably also know that I love meeting new people, want to be an awesome journalist and love to travel. All of these elements were melded into one big love blob in Beijing. The Olympics were essentially designed for me. This was only day one and I knew we'd get the party going for real from here on out.Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-17807792211450670132008-09-23T23:22:00.003+08:002008-09-23T23:53:09.710+08:00Torch relaySince Tibet had turned out to be a dead end we were homeward bound, but as I was browsing the Internet in Chengdu one night I discovered the Olympic torch would be passing through Shijiazhuang the day after we were scheduled to arrive in the city. I sent a quick e-mail to Jenna to see if she'd be around and wanted to go to the relay together - of course she was in!<br /><br />When I arrived in Shijiazhuang I made my way to Jenna's place, dropped off my stuff and took a nice shower before going off in search of food. Jon decided to head back to Handan since he had already seen the torch, but I got to meet Jenna's friend Kim and the three of us spent the next few days hanging out.<br /><br />I didn't really have anything to do in Handan so I decided to just hang out in the Shiz, lay low for a few days and have a good time. Of course we also had to go check out the torch. We were told that foreigners weren't being allowed to watch the torch, but I don't believe in hearsay so I said we should check it out for ourselves. We left really early in the morning all decked out in our Olympics garb and we were allowed into the viewing area without any problems. <br /><br />I bought about 100 Olympics stickers from some guy on the street and just started handing them out to people who didn't look particularly excited to be at the relay. This seemed to perk them up and soon there were crowds of people following us, laughing with us and admiring us for attempting to speak and sing in Chinese. I even had one little boy give me an Olympic phone charm for my mobile. :)<br /><br />Of course we were basically the only foreigners there and we had some great outfits so essentially everyone wanted to take a picture with us. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1nXZtXDXRNpjiAxuK2MiIacsR8dm-6dUIfsWsCClnLWV5Hnr78WRVgH3EjoSwUfxZD08csGq4bvHBaeVnKFnhBSsqEWkxbB9F9Ebh7197N7YPG3xC3E6Dhzs__gDC4L9luMXnULmqI4/s1600-h/IMG_3860.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1nXZtXDXRNpjiAxuK2MiIacsR8dm-6dUIfsWsCClnLWV5Hnr78WRVgH3EjoSwUfxZD08csGq4bvHBaeVnKFnhBSsqEWkxbB9F9Ebh7197N7YPG3xC3E6Dhzs__gDC4L9luMXnULmqI4/s320/IMG_3860.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249239521779311906" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ziefkxihBp1i_rJ_w69JpqKWGS1_b1xoxrMa6mpO_GdxEJIjetOkPHAqfMOz0nqZ1ujh32aPG1iLBx90uO9HJqsWa72PS9dh5O5GwufbsE30X6jywmlFvQ5Mx-oHCMWG1fAnu1gmNPo/s1600-h/IMG_3865.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ziefkxihBp1i_rJ_w69JpqKWGS1_b1xoxrMa6mpO_GdxEJIjetOkPHAqfMOz0nqZ1ujh32aPG1iLBx90uO9HJqsWa72PS9dh5O5GwufbsE30X6jywmlFvQ5Mx-oHCMWG1fAnu1gmNPo/s320/IMG_3865.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249239524539762226" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5u2GG1wP1lcokU_okIcKkX7QsxCh_R5twmrllvZBqoMWx7UxKQ14sdnn48s1rYR0I_WexU6KQSpMmtlL0WWKXVVvzNQU49a_5QV-4M_e8ZMjVkbo6Ogu2vz1fAKBNyvV9tw965atm9Yc/s1600-h/IMG_3872.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5u2GG1wP1lcokU_okIcKkX7QsxCh_R5twmrllvZBqoMWx7UxKQ14sdnn48s1rYR0I_WexU6KQSpMmtlL0WWKXVVvzNQU49a_5QV-4M_e8ZMjVkbo6Ogu2vz1fAKBNyvV9tw965atm9Yc/s320/IMG_3872.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249239530633662274" /></a><br /><br />We posed for pictures, led the Chinese people in cheers, got the crowd pretty rowdy and caused a giant scene for a few hours before the torch finally came through. There was a huge surge toward the front of the line and I got lost in the shuffle, which means after hours of waiting and being patient I didn't see a damn thing. Suddenly the crowd parted ways and the torch was gone.<br /><br /> I looked at Jenna and Kim, "That was it?!?!" we said in unison. Kim's also from Chicago and we talked about how if this was happening at home there would have been a parade and music and dancing and candy being thrown out and everyone would have been going nuts on the street with the torch and on the sidewalk watching. But we had to shrug and decided that even though we didn't really see anything we still had a lot of fun being crazy with the Chinese people.Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-6268014131005770862008-09-23T22:00:00.002+08:002008-09-23T22:10:14.764+08:00She took the midnight train going anywhereWell, not really. The train left during the day and was actually headed to Shijiazhuang. The train also marked the end of my ridiculous summer travels, but not the end of my summer fun. Since Tibet had been ruled out Jon and I decided to head home, but there aren't any trains back to Handan from Chengdu so we had to ride to the Shiz and then make the trip from the Shiz to Handan. <br /><br />For 22 hours I watched China fly by my train window, listened to my summer mix on my mp3 player, read "Eat, Pray, Love" and reminisced about all the things I had experienced during the month of July.<br /><br />I learned how much it can suck to burn the tops of your knees while riding a camel through the desert.<br /><br />I learned that you should never say you are an experienced rider when you've never really been on a horse before.<br /><br />I learned Mongolian cheese is awful and tastes nothing like cheese.<br /><br />I learned that apparently there is some sort of radar on me that makes people think it would be fun to steal my things.<br /><br />I learned that it really is a beautiful world that we are living in and occasionally we need to slow down long enough to soak it all in and appreciate it.<br /><br />I learned that it is much easier to climb up steep rocks than it is to climb down and I should probably just avoid both in the future.<br /><br />I learned that people are weird, crazy and fantastic all at once and I love meeting new ones.<br /><br />I learned that I love old cities just as much as modern ones, but for very different reasons and that I can only visit old cities and need to actually live in those modern ones. <br /><br />I learned that pandas are more fantastic in person than in movies and that holding them is really like cuddling a teddy bear.<br /><br />I learned that everything in life is what you make of it and you have to create your own adventures from time to time.<br /><br />I learned that you have to go with the flow and not be afraid to change your plans, that life comes at you fast and you can't set everything in stone because you never know what can come your way.<br /><br />I learned that those unexpected changes can bring great new things your way and that I will always be up to the adventure.<br /><br />All in all it was fantastic and for those of you who weren't counting I spent a grand total of 160 hours on trains, planes, vans and buses during my travels.Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-32030015347707313002008-09-23T21:39:00.004+08:002008-09-23T21:57:00.759+08:00Big Boy BuddhaChengdu is only about a three hour bus ride from Leshan, which is home to the largest <a href="http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/sichuan/leshan/buddha_statue.htm">Buddha</a> in China (and I think the whole world). After walking through a park for a while we finally got our first view of the giant Buddha. I've seen tons of pictures of this bad boy, but I swear I didn't realize how big it was until I was actually standing there trying to soak in the magnitude of it all. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQqfbuzuyfum-umoIE-rwgKpK3Tv2HBkZxfj1DaOD7KgOrxRe_ekPTsUM4RbO2sxq-kz5Ir7QhbB7lVwb0ubxzRX2Z_suIUqaczd1VrFSD6dl-xzOLbj5_9fuQk5aV230eXot9KaIep6k/s1600-h/IMG_3756.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQqfbuzuyfum-umoIE-rwgKpK3Tv2HBkZxfj1DaOD7KgOrxRe_ekPTsUM4RbO2sxq-kz5Ir7QhbB7lVwb0ubxzRX2Z_suIUqaczd1VrFSD6dl-xzOLbj5_9fuQk5aV230eXot9KaIep6k/s320/IMG_3756.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249213247090063458" /></a><br /><br />The Buddha is so big that an adult could fit inside his ear canal. That's pretty damn big! Anyway the park dumps you at the top of the Buddha and then you have to walk down to get the full view and then back up again to get out of the park. Freakin' China ... always making you go up to go down, right to go left, etc. And the weather here was not nearly as welcoming as it had been in Kunming so of course I was dripping with sweat by the end, but it was totally worth it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78nUes-VxK5cQ0iJbomHKTA2wwz5PcvrCKLOqgbem2-0reMlvYOM-AWdK1QObX0v1vnxfHASRb7VXnj17yfzbwcau78C4IKBI1TOJlQcqXQd8VFz8CR6lHYUr-pYYVs91IJpSkdi-Zd0/s1600-h/IMG_3761.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78nUes-VxK5cQ0iJbomHKTA2wwz5PcvrCKLOqgbem2-0reMlvYOM-AWdK1QObX0v1vnxfHASRb7VXnj17yfzbwcau78C4IKBI1TOJlQcqXQd8VFz8CR6lHYUr-pYYVs91IJpSkdi-Zd0/s320/IMG_3761.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249215033473352066" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUqY-qiHDbrf8grjSZEekIImquqa_lt-XIzLDGrEnALiPnaoBc-MCTALL5msr16lnAqwFEYdeMRvJp6XCswGjjPlbRX9H43On3N56hujpo0Y79UFM0a4dh1DXz9TVtwS-gyVksVimRws/s1600-h/IMG_3764.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcUqY-qiHDbrf8grjSZEekIImquqa_lt-XIzLDGrEnALiPnaoBc-MCTALL5msr16lnAqwFEYdeMRvJp6XCswGjjPlbRX9H43On3N56hujpo0Y79UFM0a4dh1DXz9TVtwS-gyVksVimRws/s320/IMG_3764.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249215038446241266" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgixwvmgtFCnXXV2mYMueYQjmkFRplUW6XTTIq06XRf-IyIihNYc5BHKzIvuVVjWwTD-YbH1bEtCnBqOwlf2msdtBPi7oa2zPrbFxVArlfO0_ofxjmBlz9z4FnET9CeEpLoXD9VSaIBkTY/s1600-h/IMG_3770.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgixwvmgtFCnXXV2mYMueYQjmkFRplUW6XTTIq06XRf-IyIihNYc5BHKzIvuVVjWwTD-YbH1bEtCnBqOwlf2msdtBPi7oa2zPrbFxVArlfO0_ofxjmBlz9z4FnET9CeEpLoXD9VSaIBkTY/s320/IMG_3770.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249215048643787682" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi83AasBrVmFgoHB8x_-DdgT3JlsA_fLNt7fG8fA1Yp3S-L3rZwd1AeO1B3D8dd7JTT-eapjWjAHu5raJcBnLTZJs8ISuN7nEUNKbAB7W04ykdjNWd6RMDo8XL-wFRsWKzg3kMlJw3A1lA/s1600-h/IMG_3779.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi83AasBrVmFgoHB8x_-DdgT3JlsA_fLNt7fG8fA1Yp3S-L3rZwd1AeO1B3D8dd7JTT-eapjWjAHu5raJcBnLTZJs8ISuN7nEUNKbAB7W04ykdjNWd6RMDo8XL-wFRsWKzg3kMlJw3A1lA/s320/IMG_3779.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249215057592908770" /></a><br /><br />I can't help but thinking that the Buddha looks super smug, as if he knows he is the biggest Buddha and that he knows that must be an intimidating fact for all of these people. It was pretty awesome, the statue looks out onto the river and is tucked away in this peaceful area. It was a nice side trip to make and another great China sight to cross off the to-do list.Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-6126121551553556982008-09-22T23:41:00.004+08:002008-09-23T00:20:07.803+08:00What's black and white and surrounded by curly blond hair?That would be me hugging a panda. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxzTuD-ty73Ps8XdMInJ8BQPWML-Jju4fUqHzICd_VOnBDL_nfaOlqhu2e5eFlQxW8TQN6aUgG0cbS7K7RcsoM2rVB5X4RiPl1ZmE3UJKgWzXLz716rV1J0E5R-NpAcMrHvR1CFsIMX0I/s1600-h/IMG_3696.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxzTuD-ty73Ps8XdMInJ8BQPWML-Jju4fUqHzICd_VOnBDL_nfaOlqhu2e5eFlQxW8TQN6aUgG0cbS7K7RcsoM2rVB5X4RiPl1ZmE3UJKgWzXLz716rV1J0E5R-NpAcMrHvR1CFsIMX0I/s320/IMG_3696.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248873036033978722" /></a><br /><br />Chengdu is the headquarters of breeding Giant Pandas, basically if you've ever seen a panda in your life chances are good it's originally from Chengdu. I've been anxiously awaiting my trip to the pandas since before I even got on a plane to China and so by the time the morning of the visit actually rolled around my excitement was unimaginable. I was awake early, jumping around, dancing and singing about the pandas. <br /><br />When we arrived I was equally excited, dancing like a goon and clapping my hands every five seconds. Jon kept trying to explain to our driver that I was probably crazy but also very excited to see the pandas.<br /><br />Anyway, here are some shots of the cute little fur balls.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkjK0AQUyWu6Rsbf6F0WDwNk6fqdmLv-auho8m7femPqhRlM1jEi9cUzNp3pekEnxgeLZAc07wzIg6kHqBIe16m3ebNy4WmihY-RFEszc-3R37iEcTPVqYx01bwPSeNgaNEQo6EVIRD8A/s1600-h/IMG_3613.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkjK0AQUyWu6Rsbf6F0WDwNk6fqdmLv-auho8m7femPqhRlM1jEi9cUzNp3pekEnxgeLZAc07wzIg6kHqBIe16m3ebNy4WmihY-RFEszc-3R37iEcTPVqYx01bwPSeNgaNEQo6EVIRD8A/s320/IMG_3613.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248879137245024850" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEBKIvUDQisKaaJyx24zpsA4K2KYUC_kgTUFOfEjpMdEIp6u_DH2Bam0ZAVi45PDDS-V875BRe_MjFl8j-dTddLu2K7k84QIF8FqzO0LP_VuB13vl9pH8UpwDB1WaRwAFmbftP_QzcK0g/s1600-h/IMG_3627.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEBKIvUDQisKaaJyx24zpsA4K2KYUC_kgTUFOfEjpMdEIp6u_DH2Bam0ZAVi45PDDS-V875BRe_MjFl8j-dTddLu2K7k84QIF8FqzO0LP_VuB13vl9pH8UpwDB1WaRwAFmbftP_QzcK0g/s320/IMG_3627.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248879144106468242" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwLna0-vT-76OUbkY_SmsfP9VtiuL7SoZqU_f25Y4C7_5pqRXd_1C3yZDv0W-1NviQExGfLv8AgDrBoB0ka9RmH2EKaIVm2aWjYdc5xxpxIeIOiAJ93WzuQfneX5jLVgrrXmLMwgmkFt0/s1600-h/IMG_3658.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwLna0-vT-76OUbkY_SmsfP9VtiuL7SoZqU_f25Y4C7_5pqRXd_1C3yZDv0W-1NviQExGfLv8AgDrBoB0ka9RmH2EKaIVm2aWjYdc5xxpxIeIOiAJ93WzuQfneX5jLVgrrXmLMwgmkFt0/s320/IMG_3658.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248879152683384226" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibdyJoVNiHXCBCdbUrd30uepllvTDjFnt5qgEL7dXS3j3fsuvmOWOvpK6bKocSb3hAr3KwF2PpfHx-mHmvOST_7u2MnD7sD4Yqf2KPB3bPDwpSVLdOSY542w8GuSFdBV5BoeiO67U1f54/s1600-h/IMG_3685.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibdyJoVNiHXCBCdbUrd30uepllvTDjFnt5qgEL7dXS3j3fsuvmOWOvpK6bKocSb3hAr3KwF2PpfHx-mHmvOST_7u2MnD7sD4Yqf2KPB3bPDwpSVLdOSY542w8GuSFdBV5BoeiO67U1f54/s320/IMG_3685.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248879160092606882" /></a><br /><br />Eventually I caved and decided I had to pay to play with the pandas and have my photo taken with them. I dug into my pockets, found the money that had been earmarked for Tibet and used a bit of it to spend some time hanging out with the old black and white. It was fantastic. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5F7Mmn_MHqjvlFmMDjYj2tq_X6RpGAZBCFl4a_9XwnX7KngywBVuQNPQt2EPjgendvjuni64CFo5Nf89hmQGdVmvpzpahpzcPiW4-YZOl8IqVRzFgphtIhJ8VH5kfSj8bOPT1s65y8To/s1600-h/IMG_3704.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5F7Mmn_MHqjvlFmMDjYj2tq_X6RpGAZBCFl4a_9XwnX7KngywBVuQNPQt2EPjgendvjuni64CFo5Nf89hmQGdVmvpzpahpzcPiW4-YZOl8IqVRzFgphtIhJ8VH5kfSj8bOPT1s65y8To/s320/IMG_3704.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248879169096413506" /></a><br /><br />After my encounter with the pandas and some more time trotting around the grounds and me continuing to clap and dance it was finally time to go. We hung out around town during the afternoon and then it was time to make our way to the Sichuan opera performance that we had tickets to for the evening.<br /><br />The show was all over the place and kind of talent show-esque, but it was fantastic. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn0HlcjBBaob9urePMhk27Cu2YN7FkSzO4eENKvaFCBi2KUTqOZ-YSi0c0uEGLAYQRW4MnKdBYYOB4LjqCsk8AKOmFt8vR4Z99eb8qnyBNQL1ndVxPTDxlY-kpXvAhEqEK9QhrZL2G8_U/s1600-h/IMG_3710.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn0HlcjBBaob9urePMhk27Cu2YN7FkSzO4eENKvaFCBi2KUTqOZ-YSi0c0uEGLAYQRW4MnKdBYYOB4LjqCsk8AKOmFt8vR4Z99eb8qnyBNQL1ndVxPTDxlY-kpXvAhEqEK9QhrZL2G8_U/s320/IMG_3710.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248881157480961442" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6DVgS8Pf6Mk5eX981LtjFnczv0jsKuNPIflQe5AEKBmZymIk52iESyfUdoyd-fAnnMuLGV3C-3lPDZI7ZIDg0DNBP-OROHLtyfTTLmC2dm6MJa0sbFY7pgS_RihSJ6QVBjjziYw_6IY/s1600-h/IMG_3718.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6DVgS8Pf6Mk5eX981LtjFnczv0jsKuNPIflQe5AEKBmZymIk52iESyfUdoyd-fAnnMuLGV3C-3lPDZI7ZIDg0DNBP-OROHLtyfTTLmC2dm6MJa0sbFY7pgS_RihSJ6QVBjjziYw_6IY/s320/IMG_3718.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248881168012902834" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghZNkBgBunqiEb4LlJ7y6bQAGt6Xyr6bt0qJ9WeDzoWb3caB8fbv7vBKysZ_-Q4ubs-LlBLf7hfOk1E24wv9dyel5t_7q4Fmgahgv1Upd1UZ8r83dawwtGcPouI86tTXc9P80uRs1cYXs/s1600-h/IMG_3724.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghZNkBgBunqiEb4LlJ7y6bQAGt6Xyr6bt0qJ9WeDzoWb3caB8fbv7vBKysZ_-Q4ubs-LlBLf7hfOk1E24wv9dyel5t_7q4Fmgahgv1Upd1UZ8r83dawwtGcPouI86tTXc9P80uRs1cYXs/s320/IMG_3724.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248881175439135346" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqChKZD1qCOpNpnxrUTGTkF5M8uerTcWUbHAmOb1Gx_tGPJnLZKfuys96-sAiXSVQkJzaw5mMHpcQO4O_CzDpcKlsWEMXCjhT6T4qcSx2sQwO9viyIMRwZntHy-LKDpE1bSxr7Cc8LKaQ/s1600-h/IMG_3739.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqChKZD1qCOpNpnxrUTGTkF5M8uerTcWUbHAmOb1Gx_tGPJnLZKfuys96-sAiXSVQkJzaw5mMHpcQO4O_CzDpcKlsWEMXCjhT6T4qcSx2sQwO9viyIMRwZntHy-LKDpE1bSxr7Cc8LKaQ/s320/IMG_3739.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248881185538818338" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLoDtux5jRQylUYiRTzGJXoPTEGkxYQ_y5rmgGIc324SUBqjxna094onRXjkRq-phUvaarkwy_MrBJeROTS28EOzDDV4eSYRJqm-QUaRh_YbPq0VU_uVif573v3dv0gzTPwA-69uIrUPQ/s1600-h/IMG_3740.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLoDtux5jRQylUYiRTzGJXoPTEGkxYQ_y5rmgGIc324SUBqjxna094onRXjkRq-phUvaarkwy_MrBJeROTS28EOzDDV4eSYRJqm-QUaRh_YbPq0VU_uVif573v3dv0gzTPwA-69uIrUPQ/s320/IMG_3740.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248881191483461346" /></a>Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-26484726876814643062008-09-22T22:21:00.002+08:002008-09-22T23:29:49.881+08:00What to do in Chengdu?I wish someone would Internet slap me for all of my poorly titled blog entries. My corniness/intense nerd habits seem to prevail here in China. At any rate, you can deal with my corniness or stalk someone else.<br /><br />With all the updates I fear you might be lost as far as time frames go again, so to put you all back on track the events of this post took place on July 24, 2008. And yes, that date is almost two months ago. I'm trying here people ...<br /><br />We arrived in Chengdu around 9 a.m. on the 24 and the whole first day I basically just walked through town and poked my head around. It wasn't anything too exciting - pretty much a typical city in China. It started to rain while I was out walking so after a few hours in the rain I treated myself to a little Starbucks and then met up with Jon at a park in town, which again wasn't anything too spectacular. <br /><br />The big thing we did try to do on day one was get our permits lined up to go to Tibet. I'm sure I don't need to tell any of you about all of the circumstances surrounding the China/Tibet relationship and what that meant as far as visiting the region. I've really been looking forward to seeing Tibet and even making a trip to the Everest base camp and so when the area was reopened to foreigners early in the summer Jon and I decided to make that the grand finale to our travels. After talking to different people at our hostel and at nearby travel agencies we soon learned that Tibet was only "open" and not really as open as we had been expecting.<br /><br />Of course this will set me on a whole other rant about the relations between China and Tibet, which then inevitably turns into a conversation about minorities in general, which eventually leads me to talking about China's relationships with Taiwan and Hong Kong. All of which is long and best done in discussion form so if you care to talk about these topics give me a shout out and we can talk when there aren't so many watchful eyes.<br /><br />So the "open" Tibet meant that in order to go to the area we would have to go through a travel agency/tour group. Have I mentioned before how much I hate tour groups? I detest more than I detest most things on this earth. In fact my list would probably go something like: war, global warming, inconsiderate people, illiteracy, poverty, starvation, tour groups. With tour groups there's no room to do the things you want to do, you are merely shuttled through, told what to take a picture of and then ushered off to another site. I have a tendency to linger around, poke my head places I shouldn't poke my head, wander off the beaten bath and take too long to soak things in. These are not traits that are welcomed by a tour group. <br /><br />So that was strike one against going to Tibet. Next up these folks tell us it would be a five day trip and give us a list of things we are allowed to see. Most of the big sites are on there but there were still other things we had hoped to see and do, namely the Everest base camp. Strike two.<br /><br />We decide to put all of this aside and ask the big question, "How much is all of this going to cost us?" I mean Tibet was part of the plan and now that it was "open" we wanted to go. The travel agencies all had a different answer for us. They hemmed and hawed a lot and eventually we got numbers that ranged from 8,000 to 12,000 RMB. To put this in USD that would be about $1,200- 1,800. That might not sound terrible, but it should be mentioned that that was how much money Jon and I had set aside for the whole summer - all of our travels and adventures, plus the Olympics. We just couldn't blow it all on five days in Tibet. Both of us had enough money saved up to pull it off, but it wasn't how we imagined spending that money.<br /><br />We decided to mill it over for a bit, debate if we wanted to still do Tibet or not and then come back to the travel agents if we decided we did want to go. After a day or two of thinking it over we ultimately decided not to go. Yes, the money was a big deal but it wasn't the deciding factor for me. I really couldn't justify going to Tibet and not getting to do it my way. My deep hatred for tour groups couldn't be dismissed and I had to admit that spending a few extra days in Handan seemed like the better option.<br /><br />So with that decision made we decided to enjoy the rest of our time in Chengdu and prepare for our earlier-than-planned return to Handan.Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-8513989892618742312008-09-22T22:19:00.001+08:002008-09-22T22:20:51.916+08:00Pause from the updatesI need to take a brief hiatus from all the updates to give a quick shout out to my parents and my good friend Jennifer Ripslinger for making my day with packages from home! Thanks :)Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-47473485638155427912008-09-22T19:16:00.003+08:002008-09-22T19:25:33.921+08:00Dali (also known as five hours)About 24 hours after arriving in Lijiang it was already time to say goodbye and so Jon and I jumped onto a bus and made the four hour trip to Dali where we hoped to spend the day and take a bus back to Kunming late that night. We arrived in Dali around noon and went to buy bus tickets but as luck would have it the only thing available was in just a few hours. We didn't really have a choice because we were flying from Kunming to Chengdu the next morning and so obviously we needed to get back. We bought the bus tickets rented some bicycles and headed out to see as much as possible as fast as possible.<br /><br />As you should know I have a bicycle here in Handan that I ride everywhere. It is by far my main means of transportation and I love it. The bike has helped me to get in better shape and makes everything so convenient, plus it is way better for the earth than a car. When we rented bicycles in Dali I figured it would make getting around the city as easy as it makes things in Handan ... what I didn't account for was the fact that these were real bicycles with gears and everything and there were hills all over the city that made things more of a challenge. My out-of-shape butt was complaining after about thirty seconds, but I digress.<br /><br />Jon and I made our way to the famous three pagodas of Dali, which were really beautiful with the mountains in the background, but when we saw the admission price of 121 kuai we decided to take a pass on actually going onto the grounds. Instead we ended up sneaking into the tourist center and taking a picture out the window.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpzIPlQRLb01frRYyjm1JW5CwBC5U4vUkUOuZBV0mRVW-53CLg4IITI83jUZwfUNVUzlZsd-BEvgbp0eMRhZ6KKEgo_rXnXz85E5hcsosT5qfRTP3L-e_TOGjy2eihpKBfgKKth_0vD0/s1600-h/IMG_3588.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUpzIPlQRLb01frRYyjm1JW5CwBC5U4vUkUOuZBV0mRVW-53CLg4IITI83jUZwfUNVUzlZsd-BEvgbp0eMRhZ6KKEgo_rXnXz85E5hcsosT5qfRTP3L-e_TOGjy2eihpKBfgKKth_0vD0/s320/IMG_3588.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248804880243564354" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglcPRFLppFEWCoKToicHWiVNNF6r1guBk5DMWw941QlgpaxS-alkf6W4HfjyliD5v1TnAo59nwoXlvD8vHOXJYMdQUHUxwslUDESFvoGJPNtoEwxD-7t1ewO895O0LqSysKZs-kNTihzE/s1600-h/IMG_3593.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglcPRFLppFEWCoKToicHWiVNNF6r1guBk5DMWw941QlgpaxS-alkf6W4HfjyliD5v1TnAo59nwoXlvD8vHOXJYMdQUHUxwslUDESFvoGJPNtoEwxD-7t1ewO895O0LqSysKZs-kNTihzE/s320/IMG_3593.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248804883538455634" /></a><br /><br />After that Jon and I split up to do our own exploring around town. I cruised through the streets of the village, past all the local shops and just had a look around before it was time to meet up, give the bikes back and get ready to leave. We grabbed dinner at an awesome cafe that was run by the hearing impaired, jumped in a van that took us to the bus station and then boarded the bus for the four hour trip back to Kunming. <br /><br />All in all Dali was cool, but I liked Lijiang better.Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-12858249499313201092008-09-16T11:36:00.008+08:002008-09-21T21:48:55.091+08:00The old city of LijiangA lot of my travels in China have taken me to modern cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Other travels have taken me to see something very specific like the Snow and Ice Festival, Naadam Festival or the Great Wall. Lijiang was a destination to just go and absorb. <br /><br />This side trip to Lijiang was not included in our original travel plans but on one of our long train rides Jon and I were perusing Lonely Planet and Discovery Channel guides when we stumbled across info about the cities of Dali and Lijiang, both of which are still old, well-preserved cities in the south of China. <br /><br />Jon and I decided that we wanted to veer off of our originally planned trip slightly and make a side trip to a smaller town outside of Kunming. He wanted to go to Dali, which is four hours from Kunming and I wanted to go to Lijiang, which is eight hours from Kunming. We had to be back in time to catch our flights from Kunming to Chengdu so time was of the essence. After looking at the bus/train schedules and talking things over we decided that we would head to Lijiang at night after we left the stone forest and we would stay there for one day before going to Dali for a few hours on the way back and then finally getting back to Kunming.<br /><br />So after frolicking at the stone forest we went back to the hostel packed our things and boarded a sleeper bus bound for Lijiang. This was my first experience on a sleeper bus and I have to say it was absolutely awful. It looked like something out of a bad horror movie, I didn't get a good night's sleep and by the time we rolled into town I just felt miserable. <br /><br />Since the trip was last minute we didn't have a place to stay lined up and spent the first hour of our time wandering to hostels and hotels trying to find a good deal at a place that was relatively clean. We ended up finding a hotel where we got our own room for 80 kuai per person for the night. By American standards obviously this is ridiculously cheap, but it was quite a bit more than we had been paying. In the end we decided the place was nice and worth the extra cash.<br /><br />Because Jon is a nice guy he offered to go and buy our bus tickets for the next day that would take us to Dali so that I could take a nap for an hour or so and try to feel a little bit better. After some rest, medicine and a shower I was feeling better but still pretty bad. At any rate, I wanted to get out there and see the city so we took off exploring.<br /><br />We went and wandered around a park with the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the background. Our book claimed it was the most picturesque place in Yunnan province and it did not disappoint. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQP6OdZwYJu0DEOA_9IbtFZqklx83JnlM35e-1dRPep8EkGwlkwROTZA00bla3MfbhyUeT0DRUSFIORZsIeu_rKYJ6BJK0PCPXa3bgdk1xMTWozkUeFIxBm5KBmwMgbhELalYTodHQpHg/s1600-h/IMG_3447.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQP6OdZwYJu0DEOA_9IbtFZqklx83JnlM35e-1dRPep8EkGwlkwROTZA00bla3MfbhyUeT0DRUSFIORZsIeu_rKYJ6BJK0PCPXa3bgdk1xMTWozkUeFIxBm5KBmwMgbhELalYTodHQpHg/s320/IMG_3447.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248460493449730562" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv-uW3IBt0O7JMko76zT8SWUIraxHUd2IDboq1vCBx0Cu3fgbHEaVxKYtLPh0wWDNmx-u4tqHdDiQd4idL82eqya_bBbw7ybCmO7DQWM5b0xA0EYTZg629RTIynhad2pJ3Xu1MPieFERo/s1600-h/IMG_3470.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv-uW3IBt0O7JMko76zT8SWUIraxHUd2IDboq1vCBx0Cu3fgbHEaVxKYtLPh0wWDNmx-u4tqHdDiQd4idL82eqya_bBbw7ybCmO7DQWM5b0xA0EYTZg629RTIynhad2pJ3Xu1MPieFERo/s320/IMG_3470.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248460498222221202" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNYcm5dAFou2tKg8AbpVBDOlU7hlNc26lSDBHCdBgApxFCmVfQQPq2D9WXuww830m2EcPDhBMKmAV3OYy7xgWCIzvUVF6mT4kHpnkWEZvO6yBCvLHyPF11jQe82S6kUvUDnt2UoSkUH4I/s1600-h/IMG_3456.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNYcm5dAFou2tKg8AbpVBDOlU7hlNc26lSDBHCdBgApxFCmVfQQPq2D9WXuww830m2EcPDhBMKmAV3OYy7xgWCIzvUVF6mT4kHpnkWEZvO6yBCvLHyPF11jQe82S6kUvUDnt2UoSkUH4I/s320/IMG_3456.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248460501514219154" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheyUTObV9eLP6Wd8FQGhSOzPOMYxNRKewhvDZTR0rr5tVHToTSKWRFUo3QyFa6c2Mj6ix_8iv85vsm6HLE7CX-jRLLayZJmh-QrUwr00P8mdHfGgZv8aOt_BibUnsdSVehg0Bp8JEpaFI/s1600-h/IMG_3466.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheyUTObV9eLP6Wd8FQGhSOzPOMYxNRKewhvDZTR0rr5tVHToTSKWRFUo3QyFa6c2Mj6ix_8iv85vsm6HLE7CX-jRLLayZJmh-QrUwr00P8mdHfGgZv8aOt_BibUnsdSVehg0Bp8JEpaFI/s320/IMG_3466.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248460505877555746" /></a><br /><br />The park was also beautiful and we had a good time walking around. There was a big hill (I believe it was called elephant hill) that we started to climb, but I still wasn't feeling very good so I turned back about halfway up and let Jon do the rest on his own. I got a beautiful view from my spot as well though.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBTObsnqgcaFa0-kw1JWyTqmUWdZLrhW5rGB9olwU2CBLnIwtXkhznuANH7WnwfwLEmGzWehL62vaXmIbzm4U_7CxFo_IX4tlqRBkVB30nlZKoW1xlj2R2R1OO5RJG8BaFo54gdW8bqa4/s1600-h/IMG_3410.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBTObsnqgcaFa0-kw1JWyTqmUWdZLrhW5rGB9olwU2CBLnIwtXkhznuANH7WnwfwLEmGzWehL62vaXmIbzm4U_7CxFo_IX4tlqRBkVB30nlZKoW1xlj2R2R1OO5RJG8BaFo54gdW8bqa4/s320/IMG_3410.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248460980249945810" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqa9LzHs5pKNe1BV0Z3h5LDXCDsSJRDkfCOm7dDHnEUgoexdl43FSECkqZN-JWTannR3O3ApWL8pPeybW1RfDHYWEHsD6ZIsB4ywG-w55ELyw5YkbYeX5PjpD8oOHS6NCkqLsGPqfpjtc/s1600-h/IMG_3411.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqa9LzHs5pKNe1BV0Z3h5LDXCDsSJRDkfCOm7dDHnEUgoexdl43FSECkqZN-JWTannR3O3ApWL8pPeybW1RfDHYWEHsD6ZIsB4ywG-w55ELyw5YkbYeX5PjpD8oOHS6NCkqLsGPqfpjtc/s320/IMG_3411.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248460986624923842" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJtUDxh-MfIUaCzhn5FLtyB9aHSVENegoVAcib2y8AWRJG1AC8iJIpnit6ETolxwtXpyAqPOU5MMjbLwN8lOHuExtUZuuEG11U0u2gvz7nBbEGhMcYIIJRMEUxdigJzy3aZP6GhJdZ3UI/s1600-h/IMG_3420.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJtUDxh-MfIUaCzhn5FLtyB9aHSVENegoVAcib2y8AWRJG1AC8iJIpnit6ETolxwtXpyAqPOU5MMjbLwN8lOHuExtUZuuEG11U0u2gvz7nBbEGhMcYIIJRMEUxdigJzy3aZP6GhJdZ3UI/s320/IMG_3420.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248460993297213362" /></a><br /><br />After walking around the park for a while we continued into the old part of the city where we were staying and spent the whole day just getting lost, admiring the architecture and having fun.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTKfBoRAYNDuTQWBBjA0Q4gxGcHeNAKvvCdKVm8FBmQIq64t1CCr3GYDATEJS_EzGRg0yMwV_lVAilsXcDPBbywHrpGMlUTplsHl51mOLwRhnV2DsplX3_ywtDEGu26p4OSpacoBs8Uys/s1600-h/IMG_3506.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTKfBoRAYNDuTQWBBjA0Q4gxGcHeNAKvvCdKVm8FBmQIq64t1CCr3GYDATEJS_EzGRg0yMwV_lVAilsXcDPBbywHrpGMlUTplsHl51mOLwRhnV2DsplX3_ywtDEGu26p4OSpacoBs8Uys/s320/IMG_3506.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248469559450796274" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr3B6navG0EGy07axia5WLSbgwBXhCD7CQMDBraAIrl6s94ZJthh-qNBN77Otz8ayaDu8BOcwDHE2l8aELwB3_AwaFRPCy_fuU74p3zQH5B5IdR4oaoFSROFQEBQvhVIExGov6eOBwYb0/s1600-h/IMG_3529.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr3B6navG0EGy07axia5WLSbgwBXhCD7CQMDBraAIrl6s94ZJthh-qNBN77Otz8ayaDu8BOcwDHE2l8aELwB3_AwaFRPCy_fuU74p3zQH5B5IdR4oaoFSROFQEBQvhVIExGov6eOBwYb0/s320/IMG_3529.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248469567002833330" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3qn23b8wpV6G2zC10PaF9WfSjSnxfZ4Vyunl4miSZ3mUIZrcQLaCo-uj-chkbyxYZHI_IzFRPVwao4Kp_kFidxre-eWKZK-jLojBbkoZYXdFL7yErqTH7ko16T_h9P2E_f-Kg13RqTSI/s1600-h/IMG_3543.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3qn23b8wpV6G2zC10PaF9WfSjSnxfZ4Vyunl4miSZ3mUIZrcQLaCo-uj-chkbyxYZHI_IzFRPVwao4Kp_kFidxre-eWKZK-jLojBbkoZYXdFL7yErqTH7ko16T_h9P2E_f-Kg13RqTSI/s320/IMG_3543.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248469581682425010" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL8spPb17ZzYBcsy7WxNrDewE0S4aEfX5r_08iMHc9HYVFLAav5A0bhNISEpoDdqwywj32f_JA0VIGpFWn4lC7LT_d8zmETKj5FFnb94h7QmoMblk6OqmeKGNzICNizKqoGgI1S6pLpEA/s1600-h/IMG_3546.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL8spPb17ZzYBcsy7WxNrDewE0S4aEfX5r_08iMHc9HYVFLAav5A0bhNISEpoDdqwywj32f_JA0VIGpFWn4lC7LT_d8zmETKj5FFnb94h7QmoMblk6OqmeKGNzICNizKqoGgI1S6pLpEA/s320/IMG_3546.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248469589110892994" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBumvmVjjKsRBea5vqqO2k0eBtW_IIKcOTBpZz_nD_CSPn7Xc8YtJYmfc8QCaPDnzJAQdkN-IgOoIy8kdyevdxwdFLbJ-YGHa75GQJeT2LxbGD0H2oZzU3g3a1Rf0dvi7Mky0BbFt76co/s1600-h/IMG_3554.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBumvmVjjKsRBea5vqqO2k0eBtW_IIKcOTBpZz_nD_CSPn7Xc8YtJYmfc8QCaPDnzJAQdkN-IgOoIy8kdyevdxwdFLbJ-YGHa75GQJeT2LxbGD0H2oZzU3g3a1Rf0dvi7Mky0BbFt76co/s320/IMG_3554.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248469598875277618" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC5jOR8MYHTg_PggCJ-7nXTr6rjYk6NnrrhrW6PEUwB6ghzJ8hbZ0Y2qnImf0uk2xfb889oLM1SIpD0X93zyFKwmkpLzhD4DOZwmyzBkpu-OFQ0Hr_HTnz4SWix6Bo17pEQpNjowvfodw/s1600-h/IMG_3556.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC5jOR8MYHTg_PggCJ-7nXTr6rjYk6NnrrhrW6PEUwB6ghzJ8hbZ0Y2qnImf0uk2xfb889oLM1SIpD0X93zyFKwmkpLzhD4DOZwmyzBkpu-OFQ0Hr_HTnz4SWix6Bo17pEQpNjowvfodw/s320/IMG_3556.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248470758956994898" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizsWJJMhQPGcdQI-CpTWyDztmHZffinYZTEqEnXxGXUQMWlwPO7X04BaaMCs1emXkAveYUoeS2vs2qUJy9j20nQgCA3yGS01ha6PhqzvV3Rm3HstLrSSCQqrAi2LETdrSP4il6A8iZibQ/s1600-h/IMG_3566.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizsWJJMhQPGcdQI-CpTWyDztmHZffinYZTEqEnXxGXUQMWlwPO7X04BaaMCs1emXkAveYUoeS2vs2qUJy9j20nQgCA3yGS01ha6PhqzvV3Rm3HstLrSSCQqrAi2LETdrSP4il6A8iZibQ/s320/IMG_3566.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248470763619696130" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqQvyWryplg1q-YmhUfk7GeP0q2GLetglogHp88_q7BPSw556PtuiaJgNr_-fgb07HUrpg-_yXO-_KD01Lu2rQ9EAzr_Ne9mgNDHdMWogGXfwWKWCcx95to1ppmlUzN5oBjg55uFjeENM/s1600-h/IMG_3580.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqQvyWryplg1q-YmhUfk7GeP0q2GLetglogHp88_q7BPSw556PtuiaJgNr_-fgb07HUrpg-_yXO-_KD01Lu2rQ9EAzr_Ne9mgNDHdMWogGXfwWKWCcx95to1ppmlUzN5oBjg55uFjeENM/s320/IMG_3580.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248470779522571826" /></a>Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-66816265437837069092008-09-10T14:59:00.004+08:002008-09-10T22:14:53.144+08:00The stone forest rocksOh man, my puns are getting quite bad at this point. For day two in Kunming Jon and I headed out for our main destination, the Stone forest. David had told us that the forest is "totally awesome" and that we had to check it out so we left bright and early in the morning to spend our day on the outskirts of town among the rocks. Again this is one of those instances where it will be best to just let the photos do the talking. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhizp3r5W9s29WPFg283xJbke04KAl32kIs9UHJvK4jK56wOy6N8W7D4V-NcUBGgfIqg8WJFavhmwbG9kbmXtlf7Z44kLsMGNn8ZORSCWCO5XsuzlfrRW5xyvZC-kDMZPck2oGP1NBzEQg/s1600-h/IMG_3292.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhizp3r5W9s29WPFg283xJbke04KAl32kIs9UHJvK4jK56wOy6N8W7D4V-NcUBGgfIqg8WJFavhmwbG9kbmXtlf7Z44kLsMGNn8ZORSCWCO5XsuzlfrRW5xyvZC-kDMZPck2oGP1NBzEQg/s320/IMG_3292.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244388594559120306" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXITSPLu10_zZXuOkDw2tM-8ogiDh_DDKkY2DzdDZtjtN1XLUl7kp9Ao_D8fGN2OWNf7WpyONsq2bqKQUoXKkfC6LL4YDP_TMQyLXhqSIV09IxHbxHl-vni0brju9TkS0zqDz2CiiGSAg/s1600-h/IMG_3366.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXITSPLu10_zZXuOkDw2tM-8ogiDh_DDKkY2DzdDZtjtN1XLUl7kp9Ao_D8fGN2OWNf7WpyONsq2bqKQUoXKkfC6LL4YDP_TMQyLXhqSIV09IxHbxHl-vni0brju9TkS0zqDz2CiiGSAg/s320/IMG_3366.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244388602482084658" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA5En5ffX-8dl_MNd4kF5zNWWdZFNBUJ6mhTn9Mt3oQ0s2QVWS_po4aGZTUoqqgnSJVobrHHdnHf2syebgsvOK3tHt2lz0r_IsHwtKNlDsqNGRRgCiZ8UuwTZw7-q9NGnSWQ1dklV_dGc/s1600-h/IMG_3373.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA5En5ffX-8dl_MNd4kF5zNWWdZFNBUJ6mhTn9Mt3oQ0s2QVWS_po4aGZTUoqqgnSJVobrHHdnHf2syebgsvOK3tHt2lz0r_IsHwtKNlDsqNGRRgCiZ8UuwTZw7-q9NGnSWQ1dklV_dGc/s320/IMG_3373.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244388610128071426" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiXNaOnZesYRYYjU8lZhsObl6BjcVYh-6uEz2j4sYVw00vtWwWnIyDRABfsUwZYB4ZzsFkwxaGGRlBSVL71VSYZILH7GdX6W03hrFsTZluYNjLsD8MPxvz8eS5M-18TaZsYxjF5XEk538/s1600-h/IMG_3392.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiXNaOnZesYRYYjU8lZhsObl6BjcVYh-6uEz2j4sYVw00vtWwWnIyDRABfsUwZYB4ZzsFkwxaGGRlBSVL71VSYZILH7GdX6W03hrFsTZluYNjLsD8MPxvz8eS5M-18TaZsYxjF5XEk538/s320/IMG_3392.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244388613032650818" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4vsdRnGSt3Fys2QvmC6Se4MW8UB0iLhAV6EYEFJ5RhtpHhUFYNvlmaj0WTY5T6XfpiNejWjAoflOqxBjwVT-q3-Ak_yWO3pHAy1RxI9gVtBxIJXTpS8g7v2RmTJ2KqmyAp_80Q9ibklk/s1600-h/IMG_3210.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4vsdRnGSt3Fys2QvmC6Se4MW8UB0iLhAV6EYEFJ5RhtpHhUFYNvlmaj0WTY5T6XfpiNejWjAoflOqxBjwVT-q3-Ak_yWO3pHAy1RxI9gVtBxIJXTpS8g7v2RmTJ2KqmyAp_80Q9ibklk/s320/IMG_3210.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244387253938470002" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3SdX8AkLSg6wp3LTpMfrpE6g0iIBzFoRmYlr4TUQ_fI7KhlR0EjZcDUUIC-1aLkd770pmW4DMY2bkrWw07xNYTlMrG_HMS5P6xEr98cnmMcA5QuUi3k9hGYczj38tHnPfn_P-Wq0XHao/s1600-h/IMG_3224.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3SdX8AkLSg6wp3LTpMfrpE6g0iIBzFoRmYlr4TUQ_fI7KhlR0EjZcDUUIC-1aLkd770pmW4DMY2bkrWw07xNYTlMrG_HMS5P6xEr98cnmMcA5QuUi3k9hGYczj38tHnPfn_P-Wq0XHao/s320/IMG_3224.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244387261999781714" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5XlVB88XDrpaGkzIoYL9recmIg4h1F-qmqBkdRFw2KNRYUmw6PRQseqO7YXwRaptHElNNormi1pGyxa1xmQVx1B7IhONlnuNEsSuCyivShIK9IPnP1OFn9AaXCuZcBWKMDkJzPy1GLeM/s1600-h/IMG_3252.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5XlVB88XDrpaGkzIoYL9recmIg4h1F-qmqBkdRFw2KNRYUmw6PRQseqO7YXwRaptHElNNormi1pGyxa1xmQVx1B7IhONlnuNEsSuCyivShIK9IPnP1OFn9AaXCuZcBWKMDkJzPy1GLeM/s320/IMG_3252.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244387265160603186" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhuCOeDfFvJU3yNmH0cs1m3A7XO54TLocQr5YIdFksBn6-Q2zKv_OgAqiMiAoLIEwxmEo2ZcL2h6-88Hjb-YRJ3gykGEI-eRIaxZX96YW-6ZyuQvZE6-41dR7Qqu_VIL5thpO-S9MWlQ8/s1600-h/IMG_3260.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhuCOeDfFvJU3yNmH0cs1m3A7XO54TLocQr5YIdFksBn6-Q2zKv_OgAqiMiAoLIEwxmEo2ZcL2h6-88Hjb-YRJ3gykGEI-eRIaxZX96YW-6ZyuQvZE6-41dR7Qqu_VIL5thpO-S9MWlQ8/s320/IMG_3260.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244387273321657570" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6K8Zpn88_kOY6gH5rsZEUDqELd4mvXk1wa08HkokeiAJyky2DSSIT9R0hQXBYCp3kVmdzE-UXrbNuK-KBSf_qkO4xMzDERzQQjXDtxvznlRBv7Zf1k1IdSF-3L7FVGOA3IZI4bTZ-F4/s1600-h/IMG_3266.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW6K8Zpn88_kOY6gH5rsZEUDqELd4mvXk1wa08HkokeiAJyky2DSSIT9R0hQXBYCp3kVmdzE-UXrbNuK-KBSf_qkO4xMzDERzQQjXDtxvznlRBv7Zf1k1IdSF-3L7FVGOA3IZI4bTZ-F4/s320/IMG_3266.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244387283708948754" /></a>Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-54620187954179381382008-09-10T00:34:00.004+08:002008-09-10T14:59:26.645+08:00Kickin' it in KunmingKunming was perfect, everything you could ask for from a city in the summertime. Mongolia had been hot and had burned me pretty bad, Guilin had been humid and sticky. But Kunming, Kunming was perfect. The sun was bright, which helped to build my nice summer tan, but the air was cool, which kept us from sweating like idiots like we had been earlier in the travels. But enough talk about the weather ...<br /><br />Jon and I arrived at our hostel without any problems and we sat in the dining room munching on scrambled eggs and bacon while we waited for our room to be ready. Unfortunately, we were back to our standard travel routines of sharing a room with as many people as possible to save as much money as possible. Our room was an eight person bedroom, but really there was only one other person staying with us so it worked out nicely. After our post-train ritual of showering and changing Jon and I were ready to set out and start exploring the city.<br /><br />Our first stop of the day was at the Yunnan Provincial Museum, which wasn't terribly interesting, but did have some cool artifacts to check out, some of which you could even touch. :)<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4q_fEZf2y8Jzhyphenhyphenc_hsTL__9HbcXlU7h_wygruDP0xbfdLQAr6X2ynOA-imnAD0pD-6oJy88q09BLKTJOi0hV2lbkcddd94m7ERSVHCXMawXbFaF3UsYNY6Xy1xD-5MLLc5ah93rTorbs/s1600-h/IMG_3188.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4q_fEZf2y8Jzhyphenhyphenc_hsTL__9HbcXlU7h_wygruDP0xbfdLQAr6X2ynOA-imnAD0pD-6oJy88q09BLKTJOi0hV2lbkcddd94m7ERSVHCXMawXbFaF3UsYNY6Xy1xD-5MLLc5ah93rTorbs/s320/IMG_3188.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244064179848503330" /></a><br /><br />From the museum we headed out to check out a park in the city, which was actually quite disappointing. Our guide book had hyped it up way too much and in actuality it was like almost every other park in China, which would have been fine to check out if we didn't actually live here. Oh well, live and learn.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXypFzSAKYJ_JMNiXSJP1JfhZuiaW9YHUv8mkLO8GUQD-VmX-pV9hU74pqrq7jn711gYtTKQw0SvkSEEEvKMA5Y0wTkHghTYaizkxYFbiXJrMGzYqL_nGXbaW1Jd8XwoUx9NO9zhzOzQ/s1600-h/IMG_3190.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXypFzSAKYJ_JMNiXSJP1JfhZuiaW9YHUv8mkLO8GUQD-VmX-pV9hU74pqrq7jn711gYtTKQw0SvkSEEEvKMA5Y0wTkHghTYaizkxYFbiXJrMGzYqL_nGXbaW1Jd8XwoUx9NO9zhzOzQ/s320/IMG_3190.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244064984982945970" /></a><br /><br />After our park expedition we just kind of meandered around all afternoon. We had lunch at an outdoor restaurant, ducked into book shops, snacked on western food and just enjoyed the afternoon. <br /><br />In the evening we continued our walking adventure and headed in the opposite direction in an effort to see as much of the city as possible. We walked for hours (we figured we logged close to 10 miles throughout the day) and just took in the beautiful summer night. Nothing too exciting came our way, but it was nice nonetheless. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8c1Pvgc5sJOkoM8dOXbGnXs6gTWHsserhc63jC0KXUP9JfThXinDtylPilk5uef8GZD6UPlFw6s18YKNYoaLcHzbTvnMGE3PkidstqU2Uy-6vya0sCKWwBlR7RMUMnQs5dc5f6w-r5M/s1600-h/IMG_3205.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8c1Pvgc5sJOkoM8dOXbGnXs6gTWHsserhc63jC0KXUP9JfThXinDtylPilk5uef8GZD6UPlFw6s18YKNYoaLcHzbTvnMGE3PkidstqU2Uy-6vya0sCKWwBlR7RMUMnQs5dc5f6w-r5M/s320/IMG_3205.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244283685506993522" /></a>Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-78388307545191625212008-09-05T09:34:00.009+08:002008-09-10T00:32:52.519+08:00In transitWe boarded our train leaving from Guilin and headed to Kunming, our next destination in our summer travels. We had an 18 hour train ride in front of us and Jon and I were pretty pooped from our running around in Guilin and trying to fit everything in during such a short stay. We were both looking forward to getting on the train and just taking a nap.<br /><br />Our cabin mates had a completely different idea on how we were going to spend the afternoon traveling together. Because we were in a soft sleeper compartment it means that there are four beds (two bottoms and two tops) and it is actually pretty spacious and comfortable. The cars are always air conditioned and there is even a door on each compartment. <br /><br />I settled into my bottom bed, pulled out a book and hoped to doze off. In the bed across from me there was a woman and her son who appeared to be about 10 years old. On the top bed was a girl who we assumes was traveling with them. The boy decided that instead of letting me have my peace and quiet he was just going to jump around and shout. He also just kept staring at me and saying "hello." As you know, this is totally common in China and typical of almost every trip I make. The big difference was, that was all the boy would say to me and then he would just stare at me the rest of the time.<br /><br />Eventually I decided to pull out my mp3 player, put on some tunes and hope that those would drown out his fidgeting and lull me to sleep. No such luck. He decided to start running around and would climb into the top bed and then jump down, crashing into my bed on almost every occasion. Half the time he got too scared to come down and would just scream until his mom came and pulled him down.<br /><br />When I thought all hope was lost the little boy finally decided to go play in the hallway. Every sleeper car has a hallway that runs along the outside of the doors and there are also seats that fold into the wall in the hallway so you can sit outside if the people in your car are sleeping or you need a change of scenery. The little boy from our compartment found another little boy in the car and they started to play together in the hall. I figured this was perfect because it would finally be quiet in our compartment and I'd be able to fall asleep. <br /><br />As soon as he ran into the hall to play I quickly slid the door shut and rolled over to catch some Zs. His mother promptly opened the door and left it opened. I rolled over, smiled at her, told her I was very tired (in Chinese) and slid the door shut again. She said something to me very fast in Chinese, gestured to her son and slid the door open.<br /><br />Fine, I get it. Your kid is outside playing and you want to keep an eye on him. But GO OUTSIDE and watch him. Common courtesy tells me that if someone is trying to sleep and I have a rambunctious 10 year old running around then maybe I should go out in the hall, sit in a chair and watch him for a little bit. This was not the case with our new friends. I finally gave up the fight, sat up, drank some water and continued to read.<br /><br />Early that evening, around 6, our compartment mates decide it's time to go to bed. Unlike when we wanted to sleep earlier, we were not given a choice in this matter. They started to get ready for bed and then it was time for everyone to be quiet. I was sitting in my bed reading and I look over at the bed across from me to see the boy jumping up and down. Completely naked. To me, this is completely inappropriate given his age and his proximity to people they've never met before. But alas, they did not find this to be a problem. So the boy continued to bounce around naked and Jon and I continued to shove our noses deep into our books. <br /><br />Eventually the little terror fell asleep and, after staring at me read for a little while, his mother decided to turn in as well and snuggled up to her naked son. I looked out the window and realized there was an absolutely beautiful sunset taking place and the mountains around us only made the view that much more breathtaking. Unfortunately, on the trains the windows are generally locked and if you try to open them the people working on the train come around and yell at you and shut them again.<br /><br />So I did what anyone in my position would do. I went to the bathroom, where they le you open the windows, locked the door, straddled the squattie pottie, plugged my nose and spent the next twenty minutes taking photos out the window. This was quite the challenge since the window didn't really like to stay open and the toilet smelled awful so I kept using my hand to plug my nose, and besides the train was moving pretty fast so I had to hold on tight to my camera. All in all though I'd say it was worth it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbxelcYRgbX_c0ceYb_wsvst9h6p0By4f8wyzevopffjevGYcUazLqvUP2ubXnxaEz6vTu4LfVmPJKiMzipWh8SzDTtlRLSsWctJ8-B6MEIaOEljb-SXsToKVOWhcmeITbK6_00Dz8oU/s1600-h/IMG_3186.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbxelcYRgbX_c0ceYb_wsvst9h6p0By4f8wyzevopffjevGYcUazLqvUP2ubXnxaEz6vTu4LfVmPJKiMzipWh8SzDTtlRLSsWctJ8-B6MEIaOEljb-SXsToKVOWhcmeITbK6_00Dz8oU/s320/IMG_3186.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244059633339238162" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8AnbtnrFkkmHqUPxToOyVFCrUn8wxxGKvPuFjZA0DhmJMLTCQlpxPL73ivjYlToi8vFTd4IRWvG0PWW61wU-sMCZqBROhwrXEcx8RFdmVG832VCilxKpLaRUxHIED2Fu_V5ZSi-jR0BU/s1600-h/IMG_3166.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8AnbtnrFkkmHqUPxToOyVFCrUn8wxxGKvPuFjZA0DhmJMLTCQlpxPL73ivjYlToi8vFTd4IRWvG0PWW61wU-sMCZqBROhwrXEcx8RFdmVG832VCilxKpLaRUxHIED2Fu_V5ZSi-jR0BU/s320/IMG_3166.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244059472745146210" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaEBL-A8Fpjj5KdXmlsx0D-yTIB_VSOTJaVWcqFR5y1E_tM2LheVi3ghB5m7scscbi9hkG7PpqfYdnOSWbcRu7DZ9gzPpEXlwWo2TmRIJnCZc7mte_h2GGzEApVRD_KupXj8N0jJigPug/s1600-h/IMG_3169.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaEBL-A8Fpjj5KdXmlsx0D-yTIB_VSOTJaVWcqFR5y1E_tM2LheVi3ghB5m7scscbi9hkG7PpqfYdnOSWbcRu7DZ9gzPpEXlwWo2TmRIJnCZc7mte_h2GGzEApVRD_KupXj8N0jJigPug/s320/IMG_3169.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244059350253168770" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Xz7Jbw7TKAgoYePnD8bpr8XxLuDpZrbCFZBqZPGtgrSG6tqgERHJyKLmhoTzHBerSdhF0e3_fp4MowXYJg3WxCzph6jIdbRpsYbalLYQVIqZrFDOQEhHspDV1Vr9C9saDzuNeEkYo9E/s1600-h/IMG_3158.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Xz7Jbw7TKAgoYePnD8bpr8XxLuDpZrbCFZBqZPGtgrSG6tqgERHJyKLmhoTzHBerSdhF0e3_fp4MowXYJg3WxCzph6jIdbRpsYbalLYQVIqZrFDOQEhHspDV1Vr9C9saDzuNeEkYo9E/s320/IMG_3158.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244059245183975794" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWkrCTXI20DdJhqIge-q3zBz5bmks04ewvOjUmGJUJui4_rOo1I7wR4FGpQ4ziqa6tzhRp0vnjUSOZZvWNyFQuaPg2mWGR1unUqLos1l09FgWMwYiPb0LL_ETUh6Kz0W9HwEUKe1wd7A4/s1600-h/IMG_3155.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWkrCTXI20DdJhqIge-q3zBz5bmks04ewvOjUmGJUJui4_rOo1I7wR4FGpQ4ziqa6tzhRp0vnjUSOZZvWNyFQuaPg2mWGR1unUqLos1l09FgWMwYiPb0LL_ETUh6Kz0W9HwEUKe1wd7A4/s320/IMG_3155.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244059145001546194" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Jx3ZrQvohhok13WGMSS4Sq9HCOAO2P3zNlbMXO9vo00ElSm-LqDAvVPJqNfLmpx4QeCzHy6AQCzVaIPrPSNDe6SGqo0xeocr22obeWcsU4RfZHPY_r9PPdUoXE19LEqSUSpFqt7R8aM/s1600-h/IMG_3148.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Jx3ZrQvohhok13WGMSS4Sq9HCOAO2P3zNlbMXO9vo00ElSm-LqDAvVPJqNfLmpx4QeCzHy6AQCzVaIPrPSNDe6SGqo0xeocr22obeWcsU4RfZHPY_r9PPdUoXE19LEqSUSpFqt7R8aM/s320/IMG_3148.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5244059019319809890" /></a><br /><br />After my photo excursion I listened to some tunes and read for quite some time before finally calling it a night. Somewhere around 4 a.m. I was abruptly woken up when my delightful compartment mate decided to sit on me. I wish I was joking. Apparently we were closing in on their stop and, because they didn't want us to ever sleep, she decided that she should sit on my bed while she put her shoes on and situated all of her things. I made loud grunting noises, rolled over and tried to wait patiently for them to leave. Once they finally did I breathed a heavy sigh of relief and finally fell asleep peacefully. By the time I woke up we were pretty close to arriving in Kunming so I took the rest of the morning to just read and relax before the train pulled into the station.Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-54211834633170319702008-09-05T00:30:00.011+08:002008-09-05T01:11:40.490+08:00A little climbing and cave dwellingBecause we were trying to cram as much sightseeing as possible into our very busy summer Jon and I were already needing to move onto the next city on our itinerary. We had an afternoon train booked for July 14, but wanted to see a few more things before the wheels started rolling on to our next destination.<br /><br />Our hostel arranged for a cab to pick us up in the morning, drive us around to the things we wanted to see and then take us to the train station later in the day for a reasonable price.<br /><br />The first stop on our list that morning was a park in the middle of the town. The main reason we wanted to go there was to climb this tall hillside located in the middle of the park that apparently provided the best view of Guilin. We went to the park, made a beeline for the hillside, took some photos from the top and hustled back to our friendly, waiting taxi driver.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqrDe1ZoWQ9ZIaz8mEr-O46I1MLrZYNTOYJ1n0qqUoTpXGC65mPb9_dM6__gZ0g6iaa-ecjfh8BLvpI7WRV2U8nrPqd7s6MftsmomDSgbe1IZ3WXOKP6KZbtLhCdKlofefHUSs3Eny2Zw/s1600-h/IMG_3047.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqrDe1ZoWQ9ZIaz8mEr-O46I1MLrZYNTOYJ1n0qqUoTpXGC65mPb9_dM6__gZ0g6iaa-ecjfh8BLvpI7WRV2U8nrPqd7s6MftsmomDSgbe1IZ3WXOKP6KZbtLhCdKlofefHUSs3Eny2Zw/s320/IMG_3047.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242210958654947618" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqxei5kaG3-r9xRuRn7VR_2Iue9ge9HLGVXrtPEOb9PXtCObx3pX83f2UZ9JR1ZR_Gj0xcRiH6BQGnD0SJL5pL56nvzpOGQJZDmnJi24Y0tCNqx4wlkhd4Nn_ni2gG9JfdZiy7f2puqo/s1600-h/IMG_3060.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTqxei5kaG3-r9xRuRn7VR_2Iue9ge9HLGVXrtPEOb9PXtCObx3pX83f2UZ9JR1ZR_Gj0xcRiH6BQGnD0SJL5pL56nvzpOGQJZDmnJi24Y0tCNqx4wlkhd4Nn_ni2gG9JfdZiy7f2puqo/s320/IMG_3060.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242211196606980306" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyxJ9XKSL3leUsLmSDcVB9GRDSPEnVFkCaCu6ZTiMgOHl5ZPzC-cQ46dR9fraPSnzPkJ3F2rdTGJb8RKtTyxjeZ3XQ_ciAYxpIbUtyy0w4XKhvXDdvFhu92FMv_bcQS1NN3lYAYuTXo64/s1600-h/IMG_3068.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyxJ9XKSL3leUsLmSDcVB9GRDSPEnVFkCaCu6ZTiMgOHl5ZPzC-cQ46dR9fraPSnzPkJ3F2rdTGJb8RKtTyxjeZ3XQ_ciAYxpIbUtyy0w4XKhvXDdvFhu92FMv_bcQS1NN3lYAYuTXo64/s320/IMG_3068.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242211366938240498" /></a><br /><br />Our next destination was the Reed Flute Cave. I'm not big on caves, because they drum up ideas of bats flying around and bats are like birds that had babies with rats. And everyone knows I hate birds. But, the cave was supposed to be really cool and the photos in my book looked pretty great so I thought I'd give it a shot. I loved the cave! I can honestly say that I didn't think most of the stalagmites and stalactites looked like the description, but I still thought they were pretty interesting and the bright lights installed in the cave (although poorly hidden) did give them a cool effect.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSFhddT4I6iaWeZEmFl8c1fA2lk2-TaJ0cqkFQEpebEXF-9hHjGiw0-0s5yfRjdx-up6foPL4NZHNUqE9Ux63kIueIU-tNahGl1fm1MdExBzYa9SXofLxDmk1MP4dH0kT2hw8j9oTtCM/s1600-h/IMG_3106.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNSFhddT4I6iaWeZEmFl8c1fA2lk2-TaJ0cqkFQEpebEXF-9hHjGiw0-0s5yfRjdx-up6foPL4NZHNUqE9Ux63kIueIU-tNahGl1fm1MdExBzYa9SXofLxDmk1MP4dH0kT2hw8j9oTtCM/s320/IMG_3106.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242212667337779586" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0I-zE5PXunWHdqG4rPKSFBNW4GBIIpVRG3ksHS8BxdkPVgRr1LFkBY_TdcIO_bONFwBPDFEMQYu02VaNXpPFV3fGMOaOmJ1dbhnBGG5TvGafYwmh7hiNQKlzLjberl20knmNrtfPCqA0/s1600-h/IMG_3110.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0I-zE5PXunWHdqG4rPKSFBNW4GBIIpVRG3ksHS8BxdkPVgRr1LFkBY_TdcIO_bONFwBPDFEMQYu02VaNXpPFV3fGMOaOmJ1dbhnBGG5TvGafYwmh7hiNQKlzLjberl20knmNrtfPCqA0/s320/IMG_3110.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242212811865991362" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIfp5qcIMGDtZhG40z9Aq5BDWiqO5ZIDzcuaX1jsxZK9XOjWaBB-Oa6pPAdQOYNlBI0CBfcTnWNQKQU54gRHnOCEVZ746dy4Vfe0XVjAoRFpRqZ7fwYRNKEb7OFfzLFsXOvFRU1kCF2k/s1600-h/IMG_3129.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOIfp5qcIMGDtZhG40z9Aq5BDWiqO5ZIDzcuaX1jsxZK9XOjWaBB-Oa6pPAdQOYNlBI0CBfcTnWNQKQU54gRHnOCEVZ746dy4Vfe0XVjAoRFpRqZ7fwYRNKEb7OFfzLFsXOvFRU1kCF2k/s320/IMG_3129.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242214157331149714" /></a><br /><br />There was also another cave within the cave that I paid an extra 10 kuai to check out. It was lame. There were these huge turtles everywhere and giant signs telling me that they were "1,000 year old turtles." Obviously. Apparently they were really like 140 years old or something, which I thought was still pretty cool. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOhRsD2oXG-oNgy0ikyd5p8ggIRgSTzczu0x1nKg-zN1dcyplhdKcs5-eFpbv_Jt9otXIC8F8jqGR053hXS_pJIiXpbZnK6TZmn_xhZGb1K4jpUm_QybClKUxAGtEhgZAGC7jmG7_XElU/s1600-h/IMG_3123.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOhRsD2oXG-oNgy0ikyd5p8ggIRgSTzczu0x1nKg-zN1dcyplhdKcs5-eFpbv_Jt9otXIC8F8jqGR053hXS_pJIiXpbZnK6TZmn_xhZGb1K4jpUm_QybClKUxAGtEhgZAGC7jmG7_XElU/s320/IMG_3123.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242213005181070210" /></a><br /><br />I returned to the main cave and made my way through the last bit of the cave where I finally agreed that one of the formations actually looked like it's description ... it was supposed to be a lion standing on a rock.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxvUWxqKle5ct9witDAEEuukQ37irxhCf8ahnuPepugPvNSuXnG9yeifWrxKLtK5rcvMX9oKzhreWvYEPB36erQgrPhCQ_QsJgz9NQXxgI_aso1swMDZytEhEB68BiFLlyv24HV4gqrkY/s1600-h/IMG_3136.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxvUWxqKle5ct9witDAEEuukQ37irxhCf8ahnuPepugPvNSuXnG9yeifWrxKLtK5rcvMX9oKzhreWvYEPB36erQgrPhCQ_QsJgz9NQXxgI_aso1swMDZytEhEB68BiFLlyv24HV4gqrkY/s320/IMG_3136.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242213873206165138" /></a><br /><br />After exiting the cave we made our way back to our taxi driver who took us to a pearl factory to have a look around. We had absolutely no interest in doing this, but we knew that our driver would get a commission just for bringing us by and he had been really nice so we played along. He then took us back to the hostel and waited patiently while we had lunch and grabbed our bags. <br /><br />Apparently the train station we were leaving from is pretty much abandoned and was on the outskirts of town so it took us a little while to get out there. We still got there pretty early and it became even earlier when our train was delayed about half an hour. At any rate we boarded the train and said goodbye to Guilin.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnUBtQ03RfYkdLLMDrZ9Og45GAMDmLyaPZaCEvKOpJEbzqR4vXiv_YM5zEPPFx_MDHVVBI_i4aEeZ9Xcr6GHck0lDassh94Cs1NTwC4VkoSrJ4mNUbczAQgYWokPZe3oYk6bZPy1ARYiU/s1600-h/IMG_3137.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnUBtQ03RfYkdLLMDrZ9Og45GAMDmLyaPZaCEvKOpJEbzqR4vXiv_YM5zEPPFx_MDHVVBI_i4aEeZ9Xcr6GHck0lDassh94Cs1NTwC4VkoSrJ4mNUbczAQgYWokPZe3oYk6bZPy1ARYiU/s320/IMG_3137.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242214961596876834" /></a>Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-48012339325896874192008-09-04T23:46:00.003+08:002008-09-05T00:27:55.832+08:00YangshuoJon and I decided that instead of heading immediately back to Guilin with the rest of our fellow river cruisers we would hang around Yangshuo for the rest of the day and then make our way back to the city on our own later that evening.<br /><br />The small (you know, in China terms) city was bustling with people from all over the world and full of western restaurants and cafes. To be quite frank that was the biggest thing to do in the area. There were some mountains to climb and some temples to see, but we didn't have time for mountains and I've seen so many damn temples in China that unless there is something really special to see, I generally pass.<br /><br />So Jon and I spent the afternoon meandering around, munching on comfort foods, admiring the scenery and soaking up some rays. We also managed to find a few used bookstores/exchange spots where we were able to pick up some new reading material. This basically made my life since I'm generally starved for English reading material.<br /><br />It was a very relaxing day and the surroundings could not have been better. Also we got a great view of the sunset before jumping on a bus for a few hours to get back to Guilin.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_-rPsSXw2-MQrE80kUyRSf8Ow3wbewutbQ55eBs0MzHMtFdfW6rfbJ98-xFczyxaPf-g6M5jROK-f2rXSYkihcBwePz3yZl6GZERZ2Dj1lGVyU4KiVGJyyCtfnlVBhEquGMOZfRb6L8/s1600-h/IMG_3043.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw_-rPsSXw2-MQrE80kUyRSf8Ow3wbewutbQ55eBs0MzHMtFdfW6rfbJ98-xFczyxaPf-g6M5jROK-f2rXSYkihcBwePz3yZl6GZERZ2Dj1lGVyU4KiVGJyyCtfnlVBhEquGMOZfRb6L8/s320/IMG_3043.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242203407676234146" /></a>Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-67521527143280888332008-09-04T23:25:00.012+08:002008-09-04T23:45:28.533+08:00Old Man RiverIn case you are completely lost as to where we are in my summer travels at this point let me paint a point of reference: the date should be July 18, 12 days after I started traveling and three weeks until the start of the Olympics. But now onto the day's festivities ...<br /><br />Jon and I woke up early to join a group of Chinese people on a cruise down the Li River. We signed up for a cruise in Chinese because the cost was drastically less and we were trying to do as much as possible on a tighter budget. We speak enough Chinese that we could get the gist of what was going on and then figured we could look things up on the Internet later if we needed to. The Li Jiang river flows from Guilin to Yangshuo and it is absolutely breathtaking how beautiful it is. I'm just going to post pictures and let them tell the story.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFc9haOTdge4lUHe6YRWcostwpt6I1nVPCDQueJE1ih72v2ksK6s4Rw9fDvfsk4Jj5TZ0sE_gQmFTepilQHFZBuWfZFcgslcw-j94uWcjizZRZ0u69GlgVZV8oZmyNuo3b4mkveK5oGWg/s1600-h/IMG_2995.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFc9haOTdge4lUHe6YRWcostwpt6I1nVPCDQueJE1ih72v2ksK6s4Rw9fDvfsk4Jj5TZ0sE_gQmFTepilQHFZBuWfZFcgslcw-j94uWcjizZRZ0u69GlgVZV8oZmyNuo3b4mkveK5oGWg/s320/IMG_2995.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242192555893229154" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZqlNenON4yLqbgd8Lzsd7OVvMCIs_z0vInttQdkNhnW5prhymleiq4gzzWYeEoRp7gLQlbesYURvri3t380ruA5YlWVIgjheVFOgZfTjc3pB-WDTzBISDCshGII12OcYA_2pzKFu0Ab8/s1600-h/IMG_2973.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZqlNenON4yLqbgd8Lzsd7OVvMCIs_z0vInttQdkNhnW5prhymleiq4gzzWYeEoRp7gLQlbesYURvri3t380ruA5YlWVIgjheVFOgZfTjc3pB-WDTzBISDCshGII12OcYA_2pzKFu0Ab8/s320/IMG_2973.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242192394324068466" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSqdB2_meVVFGyl_vmMFnJpNmof1pnu9bTT_hwdJqI_hP9B_5IoqkfCMZ58PE3qU8VpJSoD6yZvtF2rX0-2LTOW-1MlmUn9A0INdWPc0IYh6vo9bh2nezMIaMyjdF09GAT0A9tD0NT_lk/s1600-h/IMG_2959.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSqdB2_meVVFGyl_vmMFnJpNmof1pnu9bTT_hwdJqI_hP9B_5IoqkfCMZ58PE3qU8VpJSoD6yZvtF2rX0-2LTOW-1MlmUn9A0INdWPc0IYh6vo9bh2nezMIaMyjdF09GAT0A9tD0NT_lk/s320/IMG_2959.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242192268477301554" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB_ZC07ax1XBwSvLbm_LGmqDZZb_0-l7lZwln-6fVa594W9lBT3BuDuuNVTZg0NUOiNO2IfRTy-Zmzilwk7ZJlbun2LGY1BGnRv20kMP2Ky03ig-6vcFheREObtxoyQj6RrXUYtizdqTc/s1600-h/IMG_2950.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB_ZC07ax1XBwSvLbm_LGmqDZZb_0-l7lZwln-6fVa594W9lBT3BuDuuNVTZg0NUOiNO2IfRTy-Zmzilwk7ZJlbun2LGY1BGnRv20kMP2Ky03ig-6vcFheREObtxoyQj6RrXUYtizdqTc/s320/IMG_2950.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242192163668055506" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9CK_qlzJbKJvIvi8UQ2IkwPPgOR5TPL3iWAK2Ytg8reFvFtR5NI3j0N-eT-OZt3KhUkhN765w9GP7oTG6yPwpnGrFl-d5MgL1k7yCzbkEetIkbZTrBVTSSyyov4eZQiKXm-hGXAT8mM8/s1600-h/IMG_2945.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9CK_qlzJbKJvIvi8UQ2IkwPPgOR5TPL3iWAK2Ytg8reFvFtR5NI3j0N-eT-OZt3KhUkhN765w9GP7oTG6yPwpnGrFl-d5MgL1k7yCzbkEetIkbZTrBVTSSyyov4eZQiKXm-hGXAT8mM8/s320/IMG_2945.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242192052773516898" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMIwMdRUNlq_RYyW3oxlm6PG4RfHgY6y18PSyg9op2y1AJTTPW1PGdVh6dUvCZ8wXyqw9GMTGFFxLFrrg714DukCQjV6BwWLG1uWCaPubM-DdJtVTB4I1X3iXIa4YO1pTQImmXOoJgHf0/s1600-h/IMG_2934.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMIwMdRUNlq_RYyW3oxlm6PG4RfHgY6y18PSyg9op2y1AJTTPW1PGdVh6dUvCZ8wXyqw9GMTGFFxLFrrg714DukCQjV6BwWLG1uWCaPubM-DdJtVTB4I1X3iXIa4YO1pTQImmXOoJgHf0/s320/IMG_2934.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242191906777948498" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEF_WgSOmaU-VYkVn7EFv19jckrNQrvuVOP7mfLrN70M5Mxf-1YE65LLZGnCln1cfJ9TIXIHLS2I_gMBG9vyqh7ZLt6Z3hMkltye2DmRApMJVurPetsFlb1RMJnFwuDBQINQhDkXNrGdk/s1600-h/IMG_2926.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEF_WgSOmaU-VYkVn7EFv19jckrNQrvuVOP7mfLrN70M5Mxf-1YE65LLZGnCln1cfJ9TIXIHLS2I_gMBG9vyqh7ZLt6Z3hMkltye2DmRApMJVurPetsFlb1RMJnFwuDBQINQhDkXNrGdk/s320/IMG_2926.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242191787164937698" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFnV1kLLDVfAUFz8M_y3bGnP5MucE6IgQaXBVj-iaZSAQS6ur8SVSYCsaL2WypRp2Vg2KImrkjHH0t8V41K-3mrel17h6N6WjCuQfACIsm_I7WIIdHdRTWPSKgTyFIerjRz-v6lYTrLeQ/s1600-h/IMG_2914.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFnV1kLLDVfAUFz8M_y3bGnP5MucE6IgQaXBVj-iaZSAQS6ur8SVSYCsaL2WypRp2Vg2KImrkjHH0t8V41K-3mrel17h6N6WjCuQfACIsm_I7WIIdHdRTWPSKgTyFIerjRz-v6lYTrLeQ/s320/IMG_2914.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242191663614569746" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL6UjZeJD2-FdfYqf3TBYVC7T-hSm6Dqqg7JgOJY24RtkRNPDil_hyuzr1kwNfton8ScEI_BwHVDdXhUc6IdEzfh8QdzAZWMRnxIJfJtaPCNS1P63eXX8BLu1ChLSx_VIuAgw6PLDN3Hk/s1600-h/IMG_2905.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL6UjZeJD2-FdfYqf3TBYVC7T-hSm6Dqqg7JgOJY24RtkRNPDil_hyuzr1kwNfton8ScEI_BwHVDdXhUc6IdEzfh8QdzAZWMRnxIJfJtaPCNS1P63eXX8BLu1ChLSx_VIuAgw6PLDN3Hk/s320/IMG_2905.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242191545643349490" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP4miUcVZpk9mPC0FjqvCtRXBfhZq72ev07uJ-l9pC8DwPoPx5jRV9nFZ5oI7QWdAfHFW3FmYJMG8fA-Qxxc3Tj7sm3bGakE-qRcNaqXuBuUkONT_iJixjXc1t01U1NXBg8tlNvag9KQw/s1600-h/IMG_2901.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP4miUcVZpk9mPC0FjqvCtRXBfhZq72ev07uJ-l9pC8DwPoPx5jRV9nFZ5oI7QWdAfHFW3FmYJMG8fA-Qxxc3Tj7sm3bGakE-qRcNaqXuBuUkONT_iJixjXc1t01U1NXBg8tlNvag9KQw/s320/IMG_2901.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242191387251742850" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGbKn3GDavReQ0LCwwiv_jkdzF3TGi4_u5l4AlkHzoZgvHiJRamZ4MVqXApgeqt6VK2toYJs8ztlqRoB5_YekHFUzB4NEIokHcFGJluTtTaFtbQaYz7Y6Fltuj-sYD6Fy_yGJfElvWpdE/s1600-h/IMG_2875.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGbKn3GDavReQ0LCwwiv_jkdzF3TGi4_u5l4AlkHzoZgvHiJRamZ4MVqXApgeqt6VK2toYJs8ztlqRoB5_YekHFUzB4NEIokHcFGJluTtTaFtbQaYz7Y6Fltuj-sYD6Fy_yGJfElvWpdE/s320/IMG_2875.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242191228788142818" /></a>Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-58976732450670861582008-09-03T23:01:00.004+08:002008-09-04T23:24:22.615+08:00On the road again ...After a restful (haha) stay in Handan Jon and I boarded the train headed south to Zhengzhou. Luckily this trip was only a little over two hours and merely a means to an end. We were taking the train to Zhengzhou so that we could take a plane from there to Guilin instead of having to take a 24 hour train ride to Guilin. <br /><br />As far as flights go ours was fine ... I slept for almost the whole time, which was only about an hour and was anxious to arrive. When we were down in baggage claim (we had to check our bags because of the liquids, even though they were definitely small enough to be carry-ons) I realized that I had left my jacket on the plane and so I had to track that down, but even that didn't really cause any problems.<br /><br />Jon and I made our way to the train station as quick as we could to buy tickets for our next destination, because in China you have to buy your tickets as soon as you can once they go on sale or you face having to stand for the duration of your trip. We split up and stood in different lines to see if one would move faster than another. After about thirty minutes of standing in line I was finally just a few people away from the front. And that was the exact moment the employee closed the window down. Fast forward about an hour later and that was when Jon and I finally made it to the front of a line. We were hot and sweaty from standing in the stinky train station, but we were able to score some soft sleepers for a lot less than we thought they were going to cost.<br /><br />We had directions to our hostel from the train station so we headed out to try to find our way and drop off our stuff. Turns out the directions were pretty terrible and after meandering around quite hopelessly for a while we were finally able to spot the hostel, which was located down a side street and on like the fourth floor of the building. Luckily the people who worked there were really nice and the place was also pretty good. We had been able to score a room for just the two of us, which was a nice change from sharing with lots of other people like we had been and like we would be doing for most of the rest of our trip.<br /><br />After dropping off our stuff we decided to be good tourists and check the city out a bit even though it was getting a bit late and we were tired. We didn't end up staying out too late, but we had some really delicious milk tea (I would even argue that it was the best I've ever had) and saw the river, which looked really beautiful at night.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6tNbjsetdDf5nGdeb0vhBBcUc8dqJm1vvRDJGxcoPtNVHIA9omIeZrRVN2S-SJ-QjKY35vxKJjJVYmujViehftofUxTcwHVl1yvRuhdH6kKtAVGedEHi4LSlIYpxEY-4ZRomgEuMzseE/s1600-h/IMG_2841.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6tNbjsetdDf5nGdeb0vhBBcUc8dqJm1vvRDJGxcoPtNVHIA9omIeZrRVN2S-SJ-QjKY35vxKJjJVYmujViehftofUxTcwHVl1yvRuhdH6kKtAVGedEHi4LSlIYpxEY-4ZRomgEuMzseE/s320/IMG_2841.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242186342045352738" /></a><br /><br />We were just about to call it a night and head back to the hostel when we noticed two huge pagodas that were aglow in the dark summer night. We walked around the park where they were located for a while and talked before all the lights were turned off and we took that as a sign to leave.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk85yGDBa8Ca37v3PLrwR4kYDjdyMvcnVxl_pcldcO2hWcJe-wXrYOgw-t3oJfkMqDCRug_LLRkQh48dUmwdPIBpwGpK9kQRfsPyqR2n0vMsAJMokCOAJ2qdK4kS-RZBYIhiktHR3bykk/s1600-h/IMG_2864.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk85yGDBa8Ca37v3PLrwR4kYDjdyMvcnVxl_pcldcO2hWcJe-wXrYOgw-t3oJfkMqDCRug_LLRkQh48dUmwdPIBpwGpK9kQRfsPyqR2n0vMsAJMokCOAJ2qdK4kS-RZBYIhiktHR3bykk/s320/IMG_2864.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242187201745073218" /></a><br /><br />Then we made our way back to the hostel where we bought tickets on the Li Jiang cruise for the next morning and called it a night.Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-13574143294877804652008-09-02T13:18:00.002+08:002008-09-03T09:10:32.054+08:0022 hoursWhat can a person do in 22 hours? If this person is me or Jon they can arrive back in Handan, do two loads of laundry, shower have lunch with their friends, repack their belongings for leg two of the trip, upload all of their photos to their computer and have dinner with their friends. <br /><br />As you can tell, Jon and I had a very brief, but busy, stay-over in Handan between leaving Hohhot and leaving for Zhengzhou the next morning.Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-27566857698296588922008-09-01T21:01:00.003+08:002008-09-02T13:17:49.016+08:00The rest of Mongolia<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4YWpzlFUEtufygfWii6rUH7B01XY7A5d7dokKSg5bYRSjYB9v9lRZm49wNnFRdzq2YAdl_k_Po3Xy3lThU0wo68a9aeyI88Ag78vZImR6MLuXyNq5nDSs5L6TIKl_BakWDljEARjV0Hg/s1600-h/IMG_2778.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4YWpzlFUEtufygfWii6rUH7B01XY7A5d7dokKSg5bYRSjYB9v9lRZm49wNnFRdzq2YAdl_k_Po3Xy3lThU0wo68a9aeyI88Ag78vZImR6MLuXyNq5nDSs5L6TIKl_BakWDljEARjV0Hg/s320/IMG_2778.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241288879762469938" /></a><br />The rest of our time in Mongolia was fairly uneventful. We spent some time wandering around the extremely small capital city of Ulaanbaatar, ate some more Western food and checked out a museum. There didn't seem to be too much to do in Ulaanbaatar so we were a little bored and we weren't in Mongolia long enough to go on one of the expeditions to the countryside. <br /><br />On the evening of July 13 we hopped on our train that would take us the 17 hours back to the border town to cross back into China. This time we bought bus tickets in advance to take us across and they were much cheaper.<br /><br />Just like when we were heading to Mongolia we were having a race with the clock on our trip back to China. Jon and I had tickets on a train from Hohhot that evening at about 7 and so we had to make sure we got back in time to make the train. Crossing the border took considerably longer this time around but once we were through we were able to buy bus tickets on the next bus and grab some lunch in Erenhot. Our trip to Hohhot was relatively uneventful except for the fact that I was feeling miserably sick. We made it to the train station about 30 minutes before our train left, which was cutting things a little close but we made it so that was all that mattered. <br /><br />We had hard sleepers for the trip back and so I took some medicine and went to bed.Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-50764689664494155262008-08-29T20:47:00.005+08:002008-08-31T00:53:17.407+08:00Naadam Festival Day 2After watching a lot of man-on-man wrestling the day before, Jon and I decided that we would try to go see the horse races of the festival instead. Unfortunately the horse races were outside town and no one really seemed to know how to get there. When we got up in the morning we set off in search of money and breakfast before heading to the festival. After hours of walking we finally secured both and then started asking around for the best way to get to the races. <br /><br />We were told there was a bus we could take but when we tried to get on a bus they told us to take another bus. When we walked halfway across town to get on that bus they told us we wanted a different bus. When we finally reached the location of that bus we were told that there was no bus that went the 22km outside of town to the races. At this point we probably could have walked that distance ourselves. We had tried along the way to flag down a taxi to take us out to the venue, but the drivers were all asking ridiculous prices (more than our tickets to the festival had cost us) and since it was just the two of us we didn't want to pay that much just to see some guys race horses.<br /><br />As we were about to give up hope we met a group of people our age who lived in Mongolia and were trying to also make their way to the horse race. They found a taxi, got a slightly better deal and suggested we all ride together and split the cost. This sounded perfect to us but just as we were getting in the taxi one of the guys got a call from his friend who said almost all of the races were over and they would definitely be finished by the time we actually got out there. So we had the taxi take us back to the original venue for some more wrestling and our new friends even picked up the tab wishing us a good time at the festival.<br /><br />Once we arrived at the stadium we walked around for a little bit and ended up finding the smaller archery stadium that was home to one of the other manly events.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd4CYU3EF1N-UtsOjvMZbadsm7UN8pZ08jcc-PbgJOrLodjwMhGiLqGJcVbWRfE6vOCOYibHaDG33cgDhtw9h_J8B49R_BhHXhmS_-hu4dOzJ492hpqrlF8tG6XcnoKaBeHUPd9l7sZr4/s1600-h/IMG_2758.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd4CYU3EF1N-UtsOjvMZbadsm7UN8pZ08jcc-PbgJOrLodjwMhGiLqGJcVbWRfE6vOCOYibHaDG33cgDhtw9h_J8B49R_BhHXhmS_-hu4dOzJ492hpqrlF8tG6XcnoKaBeHUPd9l7sZr4/s320/IMG_2758.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240142828640668322" /></a><br /><br />Archery was actually pretty cool and a welcome change from all of the pushing and flabby man boobs from the wrestling we had watched the previous day. After archery ended Jon and I walked around the grounds and looked at all of the overpriced crap for sale and it made me feel like I was back at any carnival or fair at home. We decided it was time to grab a bite to eat and so we went across the street for a bit.<br /><br />After a good meal we were crossing back into the festival area on this rickety old bridge when I thought I felt something in my pants pocket. I reached around and turned at the same time and sure enough there was a man with his hand in my pocket trying to steal my cash. I quickly jerked his hand away, spun to look at him and let off a not-so-friendly, "what the (you get the picture) ... "He looked at me with disdain and repeated my words back to me as if I had been the one trying to steal his money. <br /><br />I huffed off the bridge, but with the language barrier as strong as it was and no one around who seemed to care I wasn't quite sure what I could do. Jon was waiting for me at the other side wondering what had taken me so long to cross the bridge and when I relayed the story to him he looked back to see if the guy was still there and, sure enough, he was still on the bridge this time trying to take cash from a woman's purse. We ran up the bridge and both started yelling at him and, no doubt, scared the lady who was trying to mug. The offender got mad at us for interrupting him yet again, gave us the finger and stormed off. We tried to do charades to explain what had happened to the woman and after a few tries she seemed thankful that we had stopped the guy.<br /><br />Of course this was a moment that made me sad and a little sick to my stomach. As everyone knows I had my passport, credit cards, cash, camera and iPod (among other things) stolen during Spring Festival. I chose to rise above the situation then, knowing in my heart that people are inherently good. I really love to see the best in everyone and when I meet people I tend to open up right away and trust them. This should be a good thing, but when I see people like the man on the bridge it always makes this attitude a little bit more difficult. In the end though I knew I had to put it behind me, remember all of the kind people I've met on this incredible journey and keep smiling.<br /><br />Jon and I went back to the main stadium to watch some more man-on-man wrestling action and to continue to be confused by what was going on. Every time a wrestler won they did this fantastic little dance and I just absolutely loved it. It was cool to see the tradition that all of these people were apart of and to be able to bare witness to it all for just a short amount of time. The wrestling outfits were absolutely ridiculous and it got a bit old after a while, but it was a unique experience if nothing else.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5QRK6KJ5RNFqUyzR08IZobrSjJCVeF8yJnoz8TVOmgbaKIKTb0D6AAOcOE8qEpBi8H8zrQlcgZQ8YZ5jSVkk-dtszCEFhPFrX4gGxGySP4HJn66ggcsEQCcXFg7dKqb4OCuU-KhzfeHA/s1600-h/IMG_2768.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5QRK6KJ5RNFqUyzR08IZobrSjJCVeF8yJnoz8TVOmgbaKIKTb0D6AAOcOE8qEpBi8H8zrQlcgZQ8YZ5jSVkk-dtszCEFhPFrX4gGxGySP4HJn66ggcsEQCcXFg7dKqb4OCuU-KhzfeHA/s320/IMG_2768.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240354644966332386" /></a>Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-24850344601388321752008-08-29T11:56:00.000+08:002008-08-29T14:22:12.719+08:00Welcome to MongoliaWe arrived in Mongolia around 10 a.m. on the morning of July 11 and we were met at the train station by the owner of our hostel. He rushed us back to the hostel, promptly sold us tickets to the Naadam Festival and showed us to our rooms. The hospitality we had encountered at our last hostel was nowhere to be found in this place. It was strange because the hostel was large and nice, set up more like a house with a big kitchen, living and dining rooms and a semi-finished basement with plenty of space everywhere for travelers to gather and share stories. The bathrooms however were limited and hardly ever cleaned and they charged for Internet, laundry and sheets for your bed. It is common for hostels to charge for one of those services, maybe even two but I've never stayed anywhere before that made you pay for your sheets and neither had anyone else we met during our stay. Anyway enough ranting about the hostel ...<br /><br />After a quick shower and change Jon and I headed out the door and made our way to the festival, which was already very much underway. The Naadam Festival is known in English as the Festival of Manly Sports so we were ready to see just how manly things would get. When we arrived we spent a good amount of time running around trying to find a gate that would let us in since the show was already under way and once we did we found ourselves in a section surrounded by foreigners all watching the opening ceremonies take place on the field.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdCGNlGo_g3fvODLM7gZUQfDOB-fGFmrT3W0QTMgInSyPr8lSVkGEOH0LDK17Wmmy9NzC2S6h0km1vT53LQ_k-saL7PmCqJtFV7qbgHU0Pd71w940KvpZLcbs8wpyzkhb-eSD0Ru34UU/s1600-h/IMG_2729.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdCGNlGo_g3fvODLM7gZUQfDOB-fGFmrT3W0QTMgInSyPr8lSVkGEOH0LDK17Wmmy9NzC2S6h0km1vT53LQ_k-saL7PmCqJtFV7qbgHU0Pd71w940KvpZLcbs8wpyzkhb-eSD0Ru34UU/s320/IMG_2729.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239818885471426146" /></a><br /><br />Jon and I enjoying the manly festivities:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisoN8V6_T2vGJmYofXKZ8-1ZskRTSiznffeRUKC6qXnM_-V0CgrFRDdr4J5G846U094dS3Q5ElS4KDlVtpnhTxfyvCdWR_1GXPa7UDxbWSvxYVuxW73UjXhcLJaKtGQ8lPz3lQkcNyOBA/s1600-h/IMG_2718.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisoN8V6_T2vGJmYofXKZ8-1ZskRTSiznffeRUKC6qXnM_-V0CgrFRDdr4J5G846U094dS3Q5ElS4KDlVtpnhTxfyvCdWR_1GXPa7UDxbWSvxYVuxW73UjXhcLJaKtGQ8lPz3lQkcNyOBA/s320/IMG_2718.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239819426511980706" /></a><br /><br />Because we didn't speak a lick of Mongolian we had no idea what was going on whatsoever. This feeling lasted the entire time we were in Mongolia. After a while the ceremony ended and Jon and I meandered the grounds for some food before the first manly event started. We found some Mongolian style hamburgers that were pretty good and then found our way to some seats to watch half-naked men wrestle.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYqttEDRGZ14EaaaXLCc-2wAEWWQ5ch-gzKqx7of5IRk85p5x5A-0zv0WAq17B87jvnVaB6mT-cEwKpWaNQJ-s0CjUiNdXgFLZeVuGXRgxJP79TaWX_KJWbMD_UiBzwI6AESNl8HEd-mw/s1600-h/IMG_2726.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYqttEDRGZ14EaaaXLCc-2wAEWWQ5ch-gzKqx7of5IRk85p5x5A-0zv0WAq17B87jvnVaB6mT-cEwKpWaNQJ-s0CjUiNdXgFLZeVuGXRgxJP79TaWX_KJWbMD_UiBzwI6AESNl8HEd-mw/s320/IMG_2726.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239818552141157986" /></a><br /><br />There were a lot of traditional moves going on on the field and even though we didn't understand most of what was happening it was still interesting to watch. We hung around and watched the mostly naked men push up against each other for several hours before deciding we had seen enough and perhaps it was time to find some dinner. <br />There was a Western restaurant across the street from the stadium that we went to and celebrated my birthday. <br /><br />After dinner we made our way back to the hostel where we met two British guys. They were still in university and taking the whole summer to travel from London all through Asia, they had just arrived in Mongolia a few days earlier after taking the Trans-Siberian and were then going to drop into China before moving on to Vietnam and Thailand. We sat and talked for a few hours sharing stories and giving them some advice about traveling around China.Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-14839796668003284712008-08-28T23:59:00.004+08:002008-08-29T00:27:39.942+08:00Train ride to MongoliaThe Mongolian couple who shared a compartment with Jon and I on the train were weird. I'll leave it at that and spare you the details. Other than our strange neighbors the train ride was relaxing and mostly uneventful. Here are some pictures from the journey though.<br /><br />The inside of the train:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi661COk7vZToBH0XmKrn5vw3mYw4PCMkJ-QnuIwi610EfGMzJVbCp7TqBi2o1uHukkpy0rih7NsRZD5g8v84lX1xj7Xb258Eoa8Q9qdg1YWpaOHxCpv7cL9I_2Fvqsrb2j9bwtJD-wlZ0/s1600-h/IMG_2676.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi661COk7vZToBH0XmKrn5vw3mYw4PCMkJ-QnuIwi610EfGMzJVbCp7TqBi2o1uHukkpy0rih7NsRZD5g8v84lX1xj7Xb258Eoa8Q9qdg1YWpaOHxCpv7cL9I_2Fvqsrb2j9bwtJD-wlZ0/s320/IMG_2676.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239605258961486386" /></a><br /><br />Jon watching the world go by from our room's window:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf6hEoX8dHUY2N-sEb04QyZbN-4ngaY4fKfnKfn54rxmEY1fDv2kOvV7KhKopYlLt_hvmcsKR53bdEPDVCq7L0xHgEK6CkhH-HG8yXU53lZ_7KHkJwAw69Vm1oHFcf9ETWSrNtR8rbxzc/s1600-h/IMG_2683.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf6hEoX8dHUY2N-sEb04QyZbN-4ngaY4fKfnKfn54rxmEY1fDv2kOvV7KhKopYlLt_hvmcsKR53bdEPDVCq7L0xHgEK6CkhH-HG8yXU53lZ_7KHkJwAw69Vm1oHFcf9ETWSrNtR8rbxzc/s320/IMG_2683.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239605457577332722" /></a><br /><br />The view from the train was incredible though. It was a little bland most of the time, but the skies were blue and there were actual clouds in the sky. For most of you this is not a big deal, but for someone who has been living in the middle of smog-filled China for a year this was like heaven on earth. Here's a shot just before we rolled into Ulaanbaatar:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvD3ngPAILrjoDBnahx-SlLRsN3H0a5SAmnVYoQ93fwwDNOcKTOLJmVAOhj914VarjWpiHpUOs3akf0Hw2BW-WmklKWn4Ff-mqs2lNE-h1aI2-Wz49efnhzu65vKzGpjFu4SgwK3D0cck/s1600-h/IMG_2704.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvD3ngPAILrjoDBnahx-SlLRsN3H0a5SAmnVYoQ93fwwDNOcKTOLJmVAOhj914VarjWpiHpUOs3akf0Hw2BW-WmklKWn4Ff-mqs2lNE-h1aI2-Wz49efnhzu65vKzGpjFu4SgwK3D0cck/s320/IMG_2704.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239605924480031858" /></a><br /><br />We finally rolled into the city at about 10 a.m. and we were ready for a shower and some food.Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290819973044032362.post-73138119645049449442008-08-28T23:17:00.004+08:002008-08-28T23:52:42.172+08:00The road to Mongolia (also, ugh)Jon and I got up early and said our goodbyes to Hohhot and the kind people at our hostel who had welcomed us. We had a long and kind of crazy trip planned out for the day in an effort to cross the border between China and Mongolia. The Nadaam Festival, which was our reason for going to Mongolia, was going to begin the next day and so we were told that the border would close at 3 that afternoon and if we didn't get in before then we wouldn't be able to cross the border for a few days, thus missing the Nadaam Festival and the point of our trip. Long story short: we had to make it to the border in time.<br /><br />So, we set out on a bus that was going to take us from Hohhot to Erenhot, which is the last Chinese city before Mongolia. The bus trip was mostly uneventful, except for some carbonated water that exploded in my bag and spilled in my hair and some obscure dinosaurs we saw meandering in an open field.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebJomMdzD0gUOCmFBSDhTOsku0mJO14-Jo4PWedWjD9CrF8-eZ19PTjmyCOLRLTIl4ty597CbHMlEovTb9S6gfhvwC1K2-IqYszVgvo2__XoDgffDBLr6__sub9r0Dj1MXIZyL6kKn1Q/s1600-h/IMG_2667.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebJomMdzD0gUOCmFBSDhTOsku0mJO14-Jo4PWedWjD9CrF8-eZ19PTjmyCOLRLTIl4ty597CbHMlEovTb9S6gfhvwC1K2-IqYszVgvo2__XoDgffDBLr6__sub9r0Dj1MXIZyL6kKn1Q/s320/IMG_2667.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239592036036735730" /></a><br /><br />Our bus took forever, but we finally arrived at a little after 2 p.m. We were having a race with time to see if we could make it to the border. We decided to cut the crap and jump in a taxi to get to the border even if it would be more expensive. Better to pay the price for the taxi than pay the price by missing our vacation.<br /><br />We got to the border in no time and we were under the assumption that when our taxi dumped us off we would just be able to walk across the border. Apparently we have no experience in border crossings. A nice enough guy, who spoke English, came over and told us that we had to be in a car to cross the border and it couldn't be our taxi since she didn't have the proper paperwork to leave the country. After a bit of a panic we finally found a bus and we jumped on it and waited to cross the border. The driver of the bus yelled at us in Chinese and told us he wouldn't take us, but when we flashed him the cash he carried us across. The driver was a jerk and he totally overcharged us but we needed to cross the border.<br /><br />Once inside customs I had some troubles getting through because of my new passport. As you may remember I had to get a brand new passport in March after my old one was stolen. This wasn't a terribly big deal, but it does mean that I no longer have an entry stamp to China in my passport. I tried explaining this to the people working at customs and after some broken Chinglish and a bit of charades (imagine me acting out the theft of a passport) I got through. <br /><br />Now that we were officially out of China we just had to go through customs into Mongolia, which went off without a hitch. With a new stamp in our passports Jon and I headed outside to wait for our jankety us, which we assumed would take us into the border town in Mongolia. We waited around for close to an hour trying to find our driver before we finally spotted him. When we did he looked surprised to see us and told us we had to find our own transportation from the border into the city. Ughhh.<br /><br />We tracked down a taxi and handed over some cash - I can't remember how much, but I'm sure it was more than it should have been - and the driver kindly took us to the train station. Jon and I were hoping that we would be able to catch a train to Ulaanbaatar or at the very least a bus. We walked into the train station and realized for the first time that our Chinese was of absolutely no value to us anymore. We could seriously still see China, but no one around spoke any Chinese. Or English for that matter. After saying the word Ulaanbaatar over and over we realized that we were in luck because there was going to be a train heading for the city in about an hour and if we had missed that train it could have been days before we found another one. So we bought tickets and decided to head outside to try to find some food.<br /><br />This was the point when Jon and I realized we had no idea where we were (I still couldn't tell you the name of the city we were in), what language the people were speaking (it sounded Russian to me, but who knows?), when we had last eaten or when we would be arriving (our best guess was that it was a six hour train ride). This is me at the train station not knowing much.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6SZOFheLa3pLQ2YO5JYMQ1QeZzpWK2pepStl6gceYY0f6RWw8EE6a8bx9RZIHY5SXMynMwmo_G0J2OYMTOqL1XBw0hRtlXqhnlEJc8YZ2Fge2GZRgTOcWQzOyMH3BW2_D9pAcZAhOHuw/s1600-h/IMG_2672.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6SZOFheLa3pLQ2YO5JYMQ1QeZzpWK2pepStl6gceYY0f6RWw8EE6a8bx9RZIHY5SXMynMwmo_G0J2OYMTOqL1XBw0hRtlXqhnlEJc8YZ2Fge2GZRgTOcWQzOyMH3BW2_D9pAcZAhOHuw/s320/IMG_2672.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239594984439040514" /></a><br /><br />There wasn't much for food in the area and we didn't want to leave the premise for fear of never making it back so we bought what they had in the small supermarket (cookies, chips and some juice) and hoped that would keep us full for the duration of our train ride. We then noticed that our train had started to board and since it was raining we decided to get on early.<br /><br />The train was much nicer, although older, than most of the Chinese trains I've been on and we were happily surprised to see that our tickets were for the equivalent of a Chinese soft sleeper, which meant there were only four of us in our compartment. We thought the sleeper was a bit excessive for a short trip but we were happy to take it since it meant we could take a much needed nap.<br /><br />Just as the wheels started rolling Jon was standing in the hallway talking to a guy who makes the trip from China to Mongolia quite often and so Jon asked him how long the trip to Ulaanbaatar should take. "Oh not long, should be right at 17 hours."<br /><br />Ughhhh...Erin D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/18372106953087838044noreply@blogger.com0