September 8, 20009 – Day 257 – Lhasa, Tibet
When talking about a place as colorful and detailed as a Tibetan Buddhist temple, how is it possible to describe the interior without pictures? No photos are allowed inside any Buddhist temple and it makes it difficult to fully paint a picture with enough or the right words.
Monk in the temple
September 6, 2009 – Day 255 – In transit China to Tibet
Very long, irritating train ride. Beautiful scenery, inconsiderate cabin mates (hard sleeper with 6 bunks; ours are bottoms this one and only time…ugh), looking forward to a real meal not consisting of almond crackers and oreos.
Saben on the train
Three questions for China (or the Chinese):
We met very few independent travelers in China. In fact we were told repeatedly by others travelers along the way that traveling independent in China was near impossible. So in light of that we thought we would put together a quick Travelers tip post on how to survive China.
Read the rest of this entry »
September 3, 2009 – Day 252 – Chendgu, China
Overall an unusually cruel and terrible travel day on a Chinese train. Got to Sim’s and finally we were able to collapse into the confines of a quiet room with movies and showers and a real meal that was not ramen noodles.
September 4, 2009 – Day 253 – Chengdu, China
Lots of errands to run today in preparation of our approaching Tibet trip! Gathering supplies and meeting our 2 travel mates to-be. Seem like cool guys. Laundry day!
September 5, 2009 – Day 254 – Chengdu, China
Saben is sick with Lin’s yak flu (sorry!) and took the day off. Laundry got rained on during the night and now not only smells weird but completely refuses to dry. This evening at 7pm we set out for the train station to embark on a 3 day journey to Lhasa, Tibet. It took 3 security checks, photos of our passports, and a smokey waiting room until we were ready to board our mobile home. Good riddance China, Tibet here we come!
September 2, 2009 – Day 251 – Xian, China
Xian is a great place to spend the night if you want to go see the Terracotta Warriors. But there are a lot of sketchy people, a lot of poor and homeless people, and a lot of thieves.
Just in case you were thinking about it
September 1, 2009 – Day 250 – Xian, China
Lin spun around with a smack at his hand and a loudly shouted choice phrase. The would-be thief who was either stupid or simply stunned and very bad at his chosen profession merely stopped in his tracks and looked rather alarmed and shocked to have been caught. Not only caught but yelled at by a tiny woman. With that, we sped on our way in search of an ATM. Funny that we were trying to be robbed when we didn’t even have a single Yuan!
The one and only photo we forced ourselves to take in Xian
August 31, 2009 – Day 249 – Beijing, China
Today found us clamoring all over the glorious Great Wall of China. And wow, what a view! Not only is it utterly amazing to be standing on such an incredible and unlikely structure, you can actually see its length go on for miles in either direction!
The Wall
August 29-30, 2009 – Day 247-248 – Beijing, China
Though we really did have larger aspirations for this last weekend in Beijing, the lure of the Panjiayuan antique market was too great for us to fight. Meaning to only spend “an hour or two, maximum” we ended up spending an entire afternoon the second day actually purchasing the particular things we saw and decided on the day before.
Real antiques in the antique market (rare)
Taxi Rides = 123
Boat Rides = 35
Motorcycle Rides = 10
Plane Rides = 16
Bus Rides =330
Train Rides = 124
Rickshaw Rides = 98
Truck Bed Rides = 25
Rainy Days = 42
Current Rummy Score
Lin 10950, Saben 12435
