(Originally posted 5 September 2008 in: Nepal, Kathmandu)
Dear friends.
The time has come for me to go home. The past few weeks I have been hanging around in Kathmandu trying to find an internship or anything that looks like a real job. Nothing so far and because it was low season I haven't been able to meet a lot of fellow travellers to hook up with. So after all this solitude, home looks quite appealing. I just don't have the motivation anymore to arrange all kinds of wicked adventures. I'm sure I'll come back some day to really do the 3 weeks Annapurna circuit, one of the most beautiful hikes around so they say. Hopefully with some of you guys!
I did go on one 'adventure'; I took the bus to Pokhara, a small city close to the Himalayas, to do some daytrips and check out the scenery. The bus on the way there was bloody hot, luckily I had a windowseat so I was alright, but my neighbour was dying. At dinnertime it started raining, and I'll tell you these weathergods were pretty pissed of. Basically it didn't stop raining the whole week I was there. I just took a nice room with television and drank as many banana lassies as I could. Yes, yes, so far for adventurous and courageous backpacking.
Last week I came back to Kathmandu to pick up my Indian visa. It is cheaper to fly back from Delhi so that's why. The Indian visa looks way more sophisticated than the Nepalese visa, which just looks like a printed piece of toilet paper (no offense). The past week I have been waiting in vain for replies to internship applications, and actually it bothered me less and less that I didn't get a reply so I didn't really chase after them either. So did I just watch television? No, that was just the last few days in Pokhara, if I had been watching more television even I would have been ashamed. No, instead I am on to my 6th book. I'm getting really intelligent here. Allthough one might ask how intelligent you get from reading Bridget Jones. But my book standard is improving, I'm now reading about the farming culture in former Rhodesia in the 50s. If the electricity lets me, because there are very frequent powercuts here so often candles is all I got.
I feel a bit weary about having done so little in Nepal, but that is something I will go over with myself when I get back. Now I'm off to India! I have just booked my bus and train ticket and hope the hundred or so kilos I have with me won't kill me. It's a pretty long journey to Dharamsala, the place where I'm going. After I decided not to join the Buddhist programme in Kathmandu, I registered, as advised by my neighbours, for a 10 day course Introduction to Buddhism in Dharamsala.
Dharamsala is supposed to be really nice. It's the home of the Dalai Lama and apparently it is amazingly popular among Western hippies, whom I will join in a few days. I wonder how I will cope with the daily meditation practise and no speaking for 10 days (!!). Anyway, I'm looking forward to it, I heard many good stories about Dharamsala.
Tomorrow morning I leave early for a busride of 8 hours to the Indian border. There I will stay the night and leave the next morning for a 3 hour busride to the place where the train departs. There I will have an overnight trainride of 15 hours to Delhi. In Delhi I will hop from the train on the 12 hours bus to Dharamsala. On Wednesday I will start the 10 day course and spend the last few days of my adventure abroad hanging around in Dharamsala probably. And then...
On October 2nd I will fly from Delhi to Stockholm, where I will spend the night at the airport and than take a cheap flight to Amsterdam, where I will probably arrive on friday October 3rd around 10 in the morning! Yeeh! Hope to see you all soon!
Granada
7 September 2010
Horsetrack + photo's!
(Originally posted 8 August 2008 in: China, Chengdu)
Hi dudes!
I've just done a three day horsetrackking tour through the mountains and it was awesome! And painfull....for the ass...ohoh, poor ass of mine (wooden horse saddles). Unfortunately the weather was shitty since it is rainy season right now. So it was bad luck that we didn't have any view on our destination: Ice Mountain, a round 4500 meters high.
Check out the pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/Babala.in.china/HongKongEarthquakeHorsetrekking
I'm gonna keep this message short because tomorrow Noortje and I are going to...TIBET. Oehyeah. We have just paid the biggest pile of banknotes ever! The largest amount on a note in China is 100 Yuan, and I just gave the lady 76!!! notes. And I had already paid her 32 before that. Damn, I made sure I have a picture of these few minutes of pure wealth.
So Tibet, it is really a hassle to get in. You need to be in a groupotour with people of your own nationality. Don't mind logic, logic doesn't apply when it comes to rules for travelling through Tibet. Tomorrow morning we fly to Lhasa and than we start a 9day tour all the way to the Everest Base Camp (wicked), and than we go back to Lhasa and I will fly to Nepal on the 16th of August. Velly, velly exciting!
Ok, now I have to start packing (ohhhh, such anuisance, next time I'm just bringing an extra pair of socks and underwear; travelling with to much stuff is PISSING ME OFF. Yes. But I need my stuff
.
Bye peoples, more stories after I have survived the high altitudes in Tibet. Did you know you can die from High Altitude Sickness?
Farewell.
Hi dudes!
I've just done a three day horsetrackking tour through the mountains and it was awesome! And painfull....for the ass...ohoh, poor ass of mine (wooden horse saddles). Unfortunately the weather was shitty since it is rainy season right now. So it was bad luck that we didn't have any view on our destination: Ice Mountain, a round 4500 meters high.
Check out the pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/Babala.in.china/HongKongEarthquakeHorsetrekking
I'm gonna keep this message short because tomorrow Noortje and I are going to...TIBET. Oehyeah. We have just paid the biggest pile of banknotes ever! The largest amount on a note in China is 100 Yuan, and I just gave the lady 76!!! notes. And I had already paid her 32 before that. Damn, I made sure I have a picture of these few minutes of pure wealth.
So Tibet, it is really a hassle to get in. You need to be in a groupotour with people of your own nationality. Don't mind logic, logic doesn't apply when it comes to rules for travelling through Tibet. Tomorrow morning we fly to Lhasa and than we start a 9day tour all the way to the Everest Base Camp (wicked), and than we go back to Lhasa and I will fly to Nepal on the 16th of August. Velly, velly exciting!
Ok, now I have to start packing (ohhhh, such anuisance, next time I'm just bringing an extra pair of socks and underwear; travelling with to much stuff is PISSING ME OFF. Yes. But I need my stuff
.Bye peoples, more stories after I have survived the high altitudes in Tibet. Did you know you can die from High Altitude Sickness?
Farewell.
Adventure Summary
(Originally posted on 30 July 2008 in: China, Chengdu)
Alright, I have the feeling you guys must be loosing track of where I'm at and where I've been. So I'll just cut the crap about scooter adventures and dramatic Chinese songs for a sec and place a good old-fashioned, plain and dry message. Let's see if I can do it...
At the moment I am in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, which was hit by the earthquake. Chengdu remained intact though, so I haven't seen any trace of the destructions yet. I arrived yesterday evening by plane from Shenzhen, a Special Economic Zone right next to the Hong Kong border. Shenzhen is e-nor-mous. I believe it is the richest city in China, and to get to the airport I took a bus that drove along tall building after tall building, flat complexes after flat complexes. Before I came to China I found it hard to imagine what a city with 10 million or so inhabitants in China would look like. I've seen Londen, Paris and the lot, but in China, there are over a 100 of 'London's', Paris's' etc. Well, it takes a lot of square blocks with flats, called 'estates'. Driving through Shenzhen was just 40 minutes of estate after estate and in the centre it was packed with flashy business buildings. And I think I've only seen a fourth of the city. It's impressive, but I must say not my piece of cake. If I had to choose a place to live, I would prefer a town like Yangshuo where we were before we keft for Hong Kong. Details on the way.
Anyway, I booked the flightticket, very Chinese, the day before. Flying here is so cheap and easy! It may not be the most environmentally responsible way of travelling but hey, put yourself in my shoes: either I take the train from Shenzhen to Chengdu, which I havn't checked but I'm guessing takes around 42 hours and costs around 50 euro's. Or I buy a flightticket for 80 euro's and install my ass on a plane for two hours. Keep in mind, I have a backpack that weights 21.8 kilo, plus a small rucksack of about 3 kilo's. oh yes, the trainticket is also harder to book; long lines, no English, people shouting their ticket wishes over your shoulder to the counter lady while you try to book a hardsleeper that may not be available in the high season (now).
Ok, I admit it is less 'adventurous, and less 'backpacky' but honestly I'd rather be adventurous doing a cool tracking tour through traditional villages than sitting on ze train. Anyway, you get the point. So much to tell, I need to learn to set priorities.
Priority 1: how did our scooteradventure on Hainan Island end? Recap: We stood there on the side of the road, heavy rain clouds closing in and my scooter paralysed. Well, we managed to wave down to guys on a scooter who took a look at it. One sped to the nearest village to get reinforcement. After ten minutes he returned with a buddy and a rope. They tied the rope around my scooter and while I sat on the back of the newly arrived scooter, they pulled it to the village. And at that point the clouds broke and what followed was the heaviest rain shower I've had in years. It was almost like hail! Completely soaked we entered the village where the dudes started fixing the bike. Ofcourse, they didn't have the right part because we were in the middle of nowhere. So after calling the hostelmanager and discussing with the guys (well, he did because they didn't speak any English), they decided to drive to the nearest bigger village to prove their luck there. We waited for two hours in one of the most depressing towns I've seen. It was just one big road, with concrete pavements on the side, parked full with motorbikes, all along the pavement. Not a pretty seght. And it was filthy; people selling crap, like dead fish, on little blankets that were soaked from the rain. Brr, ugly. Finally the guys fixed my bike (we were lucky with that) but than ofcourse wanted too much money, so we had to negotiate with a couple dozen spectators; villagers who obviously had nothing to do all day but stare at the funny bargaining foreigners. We were happy to leave. The way back was pretty though, so in the end an experience worthwhile.
For the rest of our stay we did what you normally do on a Bounty Island; nothing. D and T moved to a beach resort which offered incredible discounts because it was low season. Janneke and I ofcourse profitted from that by hanging around in their pool that had a little island and a slide that gave me a bruised spine. Their hotel also had a hittle pool filled with small fish. For a bit of money you could sit in the pool and the fish would eat your dead skin. I can tell you this; it tickles! And when you sit real still, the fish grow more confident and really go nuts after a while: a true feeding frenzy! Because the poor beasts looked so starved we did two sessions. If you're interested I should warn you; my left index finger got permanently damaged...
On one of our last evenings D, T and I took a big bottle of vodka, some lemons and installed ourselves on the island in the middle of the deserted pool. We got incredibly drunk, finished one pack of cigarettes each, and as a finale took a dip in the sea which was three steps away from the pool. Wicked. Not so wicked the day after though; we were pretty poor company for J.
After two weeks of doing nothing, stuffing ourselves with delicious Western food, and waiting for my visa to get extended it was rime to leave Sanya.
By the way, I'm listening to 'You mei you ren gau su ni' (see previous message) and it may be slow, but it's really good, especially the second half! When you are watching the crap videoclip, don't, just listen, but do check out the video when it is at 4.47 minutes, there is a very funny scene with two penguins.
Priority 2: Guilin and Yangshuo. From Sanya, we took a plane to Guilin, famous for it's limestone peaks. And it is certainly famous for a reason! We arrived in the evening. We sat in the bus and even in the dark the landscape was bizar. As we drove to the city, sudden dark shapes of mountains would just pop up out of the blue on the roadside. it was a full moon and the light it shined (is this correct Englis?) over the peaks was amazing. More bizar, this was the same in the city! You're just, ladiedadieda, sitting in the bus and BAM! there's a limestone peak in your face. Awesome. We didn't stay in Guilin but took the bus ro Yangshuo the next morning. That it is a touristy area was very noticable. People kept harrassing us. Very annoying. They just stand in your face, if not on it (if they could), and keep asking the same thing even after you've declined 3 times already. There is no point in being polite, in fact, you have to become rather impolite to finally get rid of them. It just pisses you off. But there is nothing you can do except keep calm and hope they lose interests after a while. I manage to keep calm by thinking over and over:'But I'm glad I'm not in your shoes'. I mean, I probably would be that annoying if i had a shitty job like that. But it does put your patience to the test. J's patience broke down that morning in Guilin and she simply turned to the guy, and said 'What?!' a couple of times. What followed was a bunch of 'Fuck you. Fucking you. Don't come to China etc etc. from the guy. All this shit just makes you sigh and we were happy to get on the bus to Yangshuo.
Yangshuo is amazing. I looks somewhat like a Swiss Alpine village with cute cobblestone streets, small houses and a little river running through it. But than, the amazing part of course is the surrounding scenery. Through the houses you constanly get a glimpse of the amazing limestone peaks. It saves me a page describing the amazing nature if you just search google for pictures of Yangshuo. Ok, I see I've used amazing 5 times or so, I'll stop now. We were in yangshuo for 4-5 days and we went on a bamboo raft river cruise, walked along the river, checked out a place near the Yalong river and once again enjoyed all the western food in this tourist infested place. We sat on the rooftop bar of Monkey Janes hostel with a view over the peaks and the river and drank cocktails with a Canadian couple who we had met before in Sanya and accidentaly came across on the streets in Yangshuo! The backpackers world is small, even in China. In the third day i took a mountainbike and did a tour through one of the valleys. I came across the river, and tons of tiny fields with crops, rice fields, small pictoresque farmhouses, all along a rocky one way road. Absolutely fantastic. A bit warm though; temperatures were into the 30s. The first day was a bit suicidal; excited like little kid I had grabbed a bike to discover the countryside but hadn't paid attention to the fact that it was 2 pm and no clouds. I came back soaked in sweat and as red as a tomato with an irregular beating heart (sort of). But it was worth it.
After Yangshuo, we took the bus to Shenzhen to cross the border to Hong Kong from where J would take a flight back to The Netherlands. The bus we took was not your regular bus, it was a sleep-bus! Yep, with actual beds. The beds are put in three rows: two rows next to each window side and one in the middle. They are a bit short but for the rest pretty comfy! The only thing that wasn't so comfy were the road conditions. Gee, the bus swang from side to side dodging or driving through what must have been big ass potholes. I had a bed in the middle row and the small fences (not the right word) that were supposed to keep me in the bed were abit short. And a bit low. So everytime the bus swung from side to side I had to grab hold of the rail to make sure my legs wouldn't fall overboard, with me following my legs. So for most of the night I was just dozing of untill there was onother pothole. Really, the sleep-bus is a great invention and they should make more of them, but for taller people you need more straps to the bed. When it was almost light I decided to try out one of the window beds where at least there was one wall to support me. That was a genius idea and in the end I managed to get some sleep. We arrived in Shenzhen in the morning and it took us four hours to find the right bus, go through customs and take the train to Hong Kong Island where we had reserved a hostel.
Priority 3: Hong Kong. People, people, people. Neonlights, skyscrapers, amd more people. Our hostel was located in one of the busiest parts of Hong Kong; in between the big shopping malls on HK Island. It was nice to have some luxury. I don't mean the room, the room wasn't much better than the ones in China, but just the fact that people speak English. And that they have clean western toilets in which you can flush the paper instead of putting it in a basket next to the toilet (something I still find gross, even after 7 months). And the clean, bright luxureous shopping malls with no bargaining. Starbucks, the smooth flashy subway. These kind of things. Downside for me was that I found it a bit claustrophobic. Narrow pavements packed with people you need to dodge or that block your way. The sreets with the always tall buildings. It's just a bit crammed It looks pretty awesome though. it really looks a bit like London (but more crammed and narrow); you could really notice it had been under British rule.
But it's a pretty astonishing place; the many islands, the mountains, and the skyline of HK island. Worth it. But I didn't find the people that friendly. The people in our hostel were unhelpful, cranky bastards, really assholes. And other staff that is supposed to help you I found a bit uniterested and rude.
But maybe I also find this because I think I've had a bit of a China overdose by now. I find myself feeling more annoyed by small things and the people. For example all these stupid glasses that 60% of the people seem to wear (at least in HK). The geeky guys and the giggly girls, it just really annoys me now on occasions. And the friggin language barrier. You just can't communicate with people, and because of this I quickly put them off as geeky and giggly, simply because that is all you see. I have noticed my tolerance level in China falling from Very High in January, to Very Low at this moment. I just get annoyed quicker. I think it is a good thing I'm leaving for Nepal om August 16th. But these moments of annoyance put aside, China is awesome and it is a great place to travel; so much to see!
So HK. One more thing: the cockroaches. Everywhere. On the streets. I hadn't noticed untill the second day that they're everywehre. but once you spot one and you start looking, they are e-ve-ry-where. J and I walked to a bar and we saw at least 8 running down the pavements on our way. Goddamn nasty beasts! I just get a light heart attack everytime I see one blindly and brainlessly running to the middle of rhe pavement, so that if you don't look, you would step on it, something that janneke almost did. Gross man. Even writing about it creeps me out. during the day, everything is blossomy and fine. but when nighttime falls, the Beasts come out of their holes and roam the streets.
Ok. Happy thoughts now. Yesterday I put J on a bus to the airport and took a plane from Shenzhen myself. I am in Chengdu now, my last stop in China before I travel from Tibet to Nepal. A Dutch girl, N, who is Carmens friend and who I've met in Holland before, will meet me in Chengdu and than we do a private 8-day Tibet tour. Its pretty complicated to get into Tibet and you have to go through a travel agency. It's a bit expensive but I'm guessing it will certainly be worth it.
Time to end the story. the title of this piece has turned out a bit too optimistic. I tried to put credit on my account but failed because my mother already used her credit card for her own account. Instead of Skyping: SEND me your ADDRESSES! The people who already received a postcard from China needn't to ofcourse, but if you havn't received a card yet, sent me your address again because I've probably lost it.
People, hope you're having a great summer!
xxx B
Alright, I have the feeling you guys must be loosing track of where I'm at and where I've been. So I'll just cut the crap about scooter adventures and dramatic Chinese songs for a sec and place a good old-fashioned, plain and dry message. Let's see if I can do it...
At the moment I am in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, which was hit by the earthquake. Chengdu remained intact though, so I haven't seen any trace of the destructions yet. I arrived yesterday evening by plane from Shenzhen, a Special Economic Zone right next to the Hong Kong border. Shenzhen is e-nor-mous. I believe it is the richest city in China, and to get to the airport I took a bus that drove along tall building after tall building, flat complexes after flat complexes. Before I came to China I found it hard to imagine what a city with 10 million or so inhabitants in China would look like. I've seen Londen, Paris and the lot, but in China, there are over a 100 of 'London's', Paris's' etc. Well, it takes a lot of square blocks with flats, called 'estates'. Driving through Shenzhen was just 40 minutes of estate after estate and in the centre it was packed with flashy business buildings. And I think I've only seen a fourth of the city. It's impressive, but I must say not my piece of cake. If I had to choose a place to live, I would prefer a town like Yangshuo where we were before we keft for Hong Kong. Details on the way.
Anyway, I booked the flightticket, very Chinese, the day before. Flying here is so cheap and easy! It may not be the most environmentally responsible way of travelling but hey, put yourself in my shoes: either I take the train from Shenzhen to Chengdu, which I havn't checked but I'm guessing takes around 42 hours and costs around 50 euro's. Or I buy a flightticket for 80 euro's and install my ass on a plane for two hours. Keep in mind, I have a backpack that weights 21.8 kilo, plus a small rucksack of about 3 kilo's. oh yes, the trainticket is also harder to book; long lines, no English, people shouting their ticket wishes over your shoulder to the counter lady while you try to book a hardsleeper that may not be available in the high season (now).
Ok, I admit it is less 'adventurous, and less 'backpacky' but honestly I'd rather be adventurous doing a cool tracking tour through traditional villages than sitting on ze train. Anyway, you get the point. So much to tell, I need to learn to set priorities.
Priority 1: how did our scooteradventure on Hainan Island end? Recap: We stood there on the side of the road, heavy rain clouds closing in and my scooter paralysed. Well, we managed to wave down to guys on a scooter who took a look at it. One sped to the nearest village to get reinforcement. After ten minutes he returned with a buddy and a rope. They tied the rope around my scooter and while I sat on the back of the newly arrived scooter, they pulled it to the village. And at that point the clouds broke and what followed was the heaviest rain shower I've had in years. It was almost like hail! Completely soaked we entered the village where the dudes started fixing the bike. Ofcourse, they didn't have the right part because we were in the middle of nowhere. So after calling the hostelmanager and discussing with the guys (well, he did because they didn't speak any English), they decided to drive to the nearest bigger village to prove their luck there. We waited for two hours in one of the most depressing towns I've seen. It was just one big road, with concrete pavements on the side, parked full with motorbikes, all along the pavement. Not a pretty seght. And it was filthy; people selling crap, like dead fish, on little blankets that were soaked from the rain. Brr, ugly. Finally the guys fixed my bike (we were lucky with that) but than ofcourse wanted too much money, so we had to negotiate with a couple dozen spectators; villagers who obviously had nothing to do all day but stare at the funny bargaining foreigners. We were happy to leave. The way back was pretty though, so in the end an experience worthwhile.
For the rest of our stay we did what you normally do on a Bounty Island; nothing. D and T moved to a beach resort which offered incredible discounts because it was low season. Janneke and I ofcourse profitted from that by hanging around in their pool that had a little island and a slide that gave me a bruised spine. Their hotel also had a hittle pool filled with small fish. For a bit of money you could sit in the pool and the fish would eat your dead skin. I can tell you this; it tickles! And when you sit real still, the fish grow more confident and really go nuts after a while: a true feeding frenzy! Because the poor beasts looked so starved we did two sessions. If you're interested I should warn you; my left index finger got permanently damaged...
On one of our last evenings D, T and I took a big bottle of vodka, some lemons and installed ourselves on the island in the middle of the deserted pool. We got incredibly drunk, finished one pack of cigarettes each, and as a finale took a dip in the sea which was three steps away from the pool. Wicked. Not so wicked the day after though; we were pretty poor company for J.
After two weeks of doing nothing, stuffing ourselves with delicious Western food, and waiting for my visa to get extended it was rime to leave Sanya.
By the way, I'm listening to 'You mei you ren gau su ni' (see previous message) and it may be slow, but it's really good, especially the second half! When you are watching the crap videoclip, don't, just listen, but do check out the video when it is at 4.47 minutes, there is a very funny scene with two penguins
.Priority 2: Guilin and Yangshuo. From Sanya, we took a plane to Guilin, famous for it's limestone peaks. And it is certainly famous for a reason! We arrived in the evening. We sat in the bus and even in the dark the landscape was bizar. As we drove to the city, sudden dark shapes of mountains would just pop up out of the blue on the roadside. it was a full moon and the light it shined (is this correct Englis?) over the peaks was amazing. More bizar, this was the same in the city! You're just, ladiedadieda, sitting in the bus and BAM! there's a limestone peak in your face. Awesome. We didn't stay in Guilin but took the bus ro Yangshuo the next morning. That it is a touristy area was very noticable. People kept harrassing us. Very annoying. They just stand in your face, if not on it (if they could), and keep asking the same thing even after you've declined 3 times already. There is no point in being polite, in fact, you have to become rather impolite to finally get rid of them. It just pisses you off. But there is nothing you can do except keep calm and hope they lose interests after a while. I manage to keep calm by thinking over and over:'But I'm glad I'm not in your shoes'. I mean, I probably would be that annoying if i had a shitty job like that. But it does put your patience to the test. J's patience broke down that morning in Guilin and she simply turned to the guy, and said 'What?!' a couple of times. What followed was a bunch of 'Fuck you. Fucking you. Don't come to China etc etc. from the guy. All this shit just makes you sigh and we were happy to get on the bus to Yangshuo.
Yangshuo is amazing. I looks somewhat like a Swiss Alpine village with cute cobblestone streets, small houses and a little river running through it. But than, the amazing part of course is the surrounding scenery. Through the houses you constanly get a glimpse of the amazing limestone peaks. It saves me a page describing the amazing nature if you just search google for pictures of Yangshuo. Ok, I see I've used amazing 5 times or so, I'll stop now. We were in yangshuo for 4-5 days and we went on a bamboo raft river cruise, walked along the river, checked out a place near the Yalong river and once again enjoyed all the western food in this tourist infested place. We sat on the rooftop bar of Monkey Janes hostel with a view over the peaks and the river and drank cocktails with a Canadian couple who we had met before in Sanya and accidentaly came across on the streets in Yangshuo! The backpackers world is small, even in China. In the third day i took a mountainbike and did a tour through one of the valleys. I came across the river, and tons of tiny fields with crops, rice fields, small pictoresque farmhouses, all along a rocky one way road. Absolutely fantastic. A bit warm though; temperatures were into the 30s. The first day was a bit suicidal; excited like little kid I had grabbed a bike to discover the countryside but hadn't paid attention to the fact that it was 2 pm and no clouds. I came back soaked in sweat and as red as a tomato with an irregular beating heart (sort of). But it was worth it.
After Yangshuo, we took the bus to Shenzhen to cross the border to Hong Kong from where J would take a flight back to The Netherlands. The bus we took was not your regular bus, it was a sleep-bus! Yep, with actual beds. The beds are put in three rows: two rows next to each window side and one in the middle. They are a bit short but for the rest pretty comfy! The only thing that wasn't so comfy were the road conditions. Gee, the bus swang from side to side dodging or driving through what must have been big ass potholes. I had a bed in the middle row and the small fences (not the right word) that were supposed to keep me in the bed were abit short. And a bit low. So everytime the bus swung from side to side I had to grab hold of the rail to make sure my legs wouldn't fall overboard, with me following my legs. So for most of the night I was just dozing of untill there was onother pothole. Really, the sleep-bus is a great invention and they should make more of them, but for taller people you need more straps to the bed. When it was almost light I decided to try out one of the window beds where at least there was one wall to support me. That was a genius idea and in the end I managed to get some sleep. We arrived in Shenzhen in the morning and it took us four hours to find the right bus, go through customs and take the train to Hong Kong Island where we had reserved a hostel.
Priority 3: Hong Kong. People, people, people. Neonlights, skyscrapers, amd more people. Our hostel was located in one of the busiest parts of Hong Kong; in between the big shopping malls on HK Island. It was nice to have some luxury. I don't mean the room, the room wasn't much better than the ones in China, but just the fact that people speak English. And that they have clean western toilets in which you can flush the paper instead of putting it in a basket next to the toilet (something I still find gross, even after 7 months). And the clean, bright luxureous shopping malls with no bargaining. Starbucks, the smooth flashy subway. These kind of things. Downside for me was that I found it a bit claustrophobic. Narrow pavements packed with people you need to dodge or that block your way. The sreets with the always tall buildings. It's just a bit crammed It looks pretty awesome though. it really looks a bit like London (but more crammed and narrow); you could really notice it had been under British rule.
But it's a pretty astonishing place; the many islands, the mountains, and the skyline of HK island. Worth it. But I didn't find the people that friendly. The people in our hostel were unhelpful, cranky bastards, really assholes. And other staff that is supposed to help you I found a bit uniterested and rude.
But maybe I also find this because I think I've had a bit of a China overdose by now. I find myself feeling more annoyed by small things and the people. For example all these stupid glasses that 60% of the people seem to wear (at least in HK). The geeky guys and the giggly girls, it just really annoys me now on occasions. And the friggin language barrier. You just can't communicate with people, and because of this I quickly put them off as geeky and giggly, simply because that is all you see. I have noticed my tolerance level in China falling from Very High in January, to Very Low at this moment. I just get annoyed quicker. I think it is a good thing I'm leaving for Nepal om August 16th. But these moments of annoyance put aside, China is awesome and it is a great place to travel; so much to see!
So HK. One more thing: the cockroaches. Everywhere. On the streets. I hadn't noticed untill the second day that they're everywehre. but once you spot one and you start looking, they are e-ve-ry-where. J and I walked to a bar and we saw at least 8 running down the pavements on our way. Goddamn nasty beasts! I just get a light heart attack everytime I see one blindly and brainlessly running to the middle of rhe pavement, so that if you don't look, you would step on it, something that janneke almost did. Gross man. Even writing about it creeps me out. during the day, everything is blossomy and fine. but when nighttime falls, the Beasts come out of their holes and roam the streets.
Ok. Happy thoughts now. Yesterday I put J on a bus to the airport and took a plane from Shenzhen myself. I am in Chengdu now, my last stop in China before I travel from Tibet to Nepal. A Dutch girl, N, who is Carmens friend and who I've met in Holland before, will meet me in Chengdu and than we do a private 8-day Tibet tour. Its pretty complicated to get into Tibet and you have to go through a travel agency. It's a bit expensive but I'm guessing it will certainly be worth it.
Time to end the story. the title of this piece has turned out a bit too optimistic. I tried to put credit on my account but failed because my mother already used her credit card for her own account. Instead of Skyping: SEND me your ADDRESSES! The people who already received a postcard from China needn't to ofcourse, but if you havn't received a card yet, sent me your address again because I've probably lost it.
People, hope you're having a great summer!
xxx B
Chinese songs
(Originally posted on 26 July 2008 in: Hong Kong)
Ohyeah, at first we all went crazy by this song because we heard it EVERYWHERE. Mainly a very bad quality version; in shops, on the streets and as goddamn ringtones. But the trick with brainwashing is that after a while...your brain is washed. So we started to like it, and now, we all LOVE IT! J and I actually went looking for a CD with all those Chinse songs we heard so often and after a while sound actually pretty cool. This is a slow song. Sit back, relax, and let the guy's pain touch your heart, yeah man, he's in pain. I present to you:
You mei you ren gau su ni.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0zbbFnMFQM
And here is a cool band I found out about through the owners of a really cool, small music store near our appartment in Shenyang. The band is called Sand, and here is one of their slower (and depressing) songs:
Sand - Tonight Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSDqNX6mlcE&feature=related
Over 'You mei you ren gau su ni' staat het volgende op youtube:
This song described a rootless wanderer led a vagabond life.For seeking a better life,he went to south of China where is no snow in winter. He's lonely but still thought about his beloved.So touched. My new work made by QQ emotion icons,enjoy it!
Lyrics: (in Hanyu Pinyin for all Chinese learners)
dang huoche kairu zhezuo mosheng de chengshi
nashi chonglai jiu meiyou jianguo de nihong
wo dakai libie shi ni song wo de xinjian
huran gandao wubi de si nian
kan bu jian xue de dongtian buye de chengshi
wo tingjian youren huanhu youren zai kuqi
zao xiguan chuansuo chongman youhuo de heiye
dan que wufa wangji ni de lian
you meiyou ren ceng gaosu ni wo hen ai ni
you meiyou ren ceng zai ni riji li kuqi
you meiyou ren ceng gaosu ni wo hen zaiyi
zaiyi zhezuo chengshi de juli (repeat)
you meiyou ren ceng gaosu ni wo hen ai ni
you meiyou ren ceng zai ni riji li kuqi
you meiyou ren ceng gaosu ni wo hen zaiyi
zaiyi zhezuo chengshi de juli
ou~
#The main idea of the lyrics in English:
Has Anybody Told You --- Chen Chu Sheng
When the train entered the strange city
Those were the neon lights I have never seen
I opened up the letter you gave me at our parting
Felt incomparable missing suddenly
No snow here in winter, sleepless city
I heard that some people are cheering,some are crying
Already used to shuttle the dark nights full of temptations
But unable to forget your face
Has anybody ever told you that I love you so much
Has anybody ever cried in your diary
Has anybody ever told you that I'm very concerned about
Concerned about the distance from the city(repeat)
Has anybody ever told you that I love you so much
Has anybody ever cried in your diary
Has anybody ever told you that I'm very concerned about
Concerned about the distance from the city
Oh
Ohyeah, at first we all went crazy by this song because we heard it EVERYWHERE. Mainly a very bad quality version; in shops, on the streets and as goddamn ringtones. But the trick with brainwashing is that after a while...your brain is washed. So we started to like it, and now, we all LOVE IT! J and I actually went looking for a CD with all those Chinse songs we heard so often and after a while sound actually pretty cool. This is a slow song. Sit back, relax, and let the guy's pain touch your heart, yeah man, he's in pain. I present to you:
You mei you ren gau su ni.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0zbbFnMFQM
And here is a cool band I found out about through the owners of a really cool, small music store near our appartment in Shenyang. The band is called Sand, and here is one of their slower (and depressing) songs:
Sand - Tonight Moon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSDqNX6mlcE&feature=related
Over 'You mei you ren gau su ni' staat het volgende op youtube:
This song described a rootless wanderer led a vagabond life.For seeking a better life,he went to south of China where is no snow in winter. He's lonely but still thought about his beloved.So touched. My new work made by QQ emotion icons,enjoy it!
Lyrics: (in Hanyu Pinyin for all Chinese learners)
dang huoche kairu zhezuo mosheng de chengshi
nashi chonglai jiu meiyou jianguo de nihong
wo dakai libie shi ni song wo de xinjian
huran gandao wubi de si nian
kan bu jian xue de dongtian buye de chengshi
wo tingjian youren huanhu youren zai kuqi
zao xiguan chuansuo chongman youhuo de heiye
dan que wufa wangji ni de lian
you meiyou ren ceng gaosu ni wo hen ai ni
you meiyou ren ceng zai ni riji li kuqi
you meiyou ren ceng gaosu ni wo hen zaiyi
zaiyi zhezuo chengshi de juli (repeat)
you meiyou ren ceng gaosu ni wo hen ai ni
you meiyou ren ceng zai ni riji li kuqi
you meiyou ren ceng gaosu ni wo hen zaiyi
zaiyi zhezuo chengshi de juli
ou~
#The main idea of the lyrics in English:
Has Anybody Told You --- Chen Chu Sheng
When the train entered the strange city
Those were the neon lights I have never seen
I opened up the letter you gave me at our parting
Felt incomparable missing suddenly
No snow here in winter, sleepless city
I heard that some people are cheering,some are crying
Already used to shuttle the dark nights full of temptations
But unable to forget your face
Has anybody ever told you that I love you so much
Has anybody ever cried in your diary
Has anybody ever told you that I'm very concerned about
Concerned about the distance from the city(repeat)
Has anybody ever told you that I love you so much
Has anybody ever cried in your diary
Has anybody ever told you that I'm very concerned about
Concerned about the distance from the city
Oh
Adventures
(Originally posted on 25 July 2008 in: China, Sanya)
This time while I'm writing for my blog, I'm surrounded by the most amazing lime stone peaks. I'm in a town called Yangshuo, in one of the Southern provinces of China, and the scenery is fantastic, sublime, jaw-dropping and...bizar. we arrived 4 days ago at nighttime in the city Guilin. Well, we almost hadn't arrived at all because we almost, ehm, missed the plane. Yeah, well, the thing is there are a lot of domestic flights in China. They are cheap and you can book them one minute in advance if you want to. So we booked our flight on Wednesday to fly away from our palmbeach bounty island on Friday. Allthough the last couple of days it was a bit of a soggy bounty; we finally were remembered what the word 'monsoon' implies. No dramas (T's favourite expression) though, because after 10 days the beach gets kind of...sandy, and sticky, and salty. So we entertained ourselves with, let me think, not with much that's for sure, well, I can't remember but we were entertained. mainly by eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at wonderful Western-food restaurants. Man, they had to use a horse-cart to carry the loads of pizza's and tortilla's we stuffed our faces with. Luckily I was able to sustain supermodel figure by playing in the sea, dodging the waves like crazy. Happy times man. If there was a market for body-surfing-without-board, I would offer myself as a tutor (80 Yuan per hour). All you do is just dive with the wave just before it curls, and don't forget to take a deep breath. Sometimes the waves are a bit bigger than you had calculated with the result of being mercilessly slapped to the seabottom as if you were a bag of unappreciated potatoes. (I know I'm using some Dinglish here: Dutch/English, but hey, hope it works). So after a few hours of feeling like unappriciated potatoes, I think you're allowed to eat some appreciated fried ones.
Besides eating and being live beach entertainment for all the Chinese passer by-ers, we did actually have one real adventure. That was the day D, T and I rented scooters to explore the island. The scooters were brought out from a crack under the stairs in our hostel, dusted off by the chef-cook/handyman, who subsequently tried to bring the things to life. One worked fine and stood purring, ready to go. The other one however, had some difficulty regaining consciousness after what we guessed had been a long winters sleep. We had almost given up hope when the beast started roaring, and slightly nervous I mounted the saddle. I gently twisted the gas-handle, and off we went! Driving grandma style at first, amazed by our courage to venture into the mass of cars, bicycles, randomly crossing pedestrians and crazy motorbikes that is calles Chinsese traffic, we quiclky gained confidence and speed. We skilfully manouvered our bike through the mess and found some nice, relatively quiet roads heading towards even-better-bounty beach. All went fine, racing along the highway with quite amazing view on the hills with lush greens forests. Highway sounds pretty cool, but there weren't that many cars and the drivers were actually very well behaved. This seems the right time to give a short note on Chinese traffic. The first thing you need to know is that if you're on a Chinese road, you need a horn. The biggest, loudest horn you can find. And get one which is easy to reach because you.will.need.it. People don't use index lights. If they want to move, they just blow the horn untill everything is blown out of the way and they can proceed their journey. Luckily, Chinese are 'careful' drivers, so if you are peacefully cycling/walking at the far right side of the road, no oncoming traffic in sight, they still blow the horn, suitable for the Titanic, at least three times, just in case you got a fit of retardedness and suddenly jumped into the middle of the road. Anyway, DAMN those bloody horns. I used to think. Untill I got myself onto a scooter. Addicted after only five minutes I beeped my way between cars and motorcyclists, beeping twice just in case.
But than, happily beeping away, disaster stroke. I turned the gashandle, preparing for a spurt up a hill, and...nothing, no more power. The thing quit. We parked on the slope and while dark clouds assambled above our heads (this is no lie, there really were clouds), we grasped our heads trying to think of a solution. Desperately trying to wave down passing traffic for help, we felt panic rising in our bodies, as a threatening wind suddenly started blowing. Haha, nooh,
Damn, i know this is a crucial point in the story, but meanwhile I am already three days ahead. In fact, I am in the most noisy internet cafe on...Hong Kong Island. I saved this story when some guy came up to me to ask how long I still needed to use the internet. There was only 1 computer so I felt guilty. My internet time here is also nearly up so I will just post this story untill I have time to finish it!
ohoh 4 minutes left, better post it!
bye bye my friends, papah and mamah,...ok, brothah and sistah..gotta post!
This time while I'm writing for my blog, I'm surrounded by the most amazing lime stone peaks. I'm in a town called Yangshuo, in one of the Southern provinces of China, and the scenery is fantastic, sublime, jaw-dropping and...bizar. we arrived 4 days ago at nighttime in the city Guilin. Well, we almost hadn't arrived at all because we almost, ehm, missed the plane. Yeah, well, the thing is there are a lot of domestic flights in China. They are cheap and you can book them one minute in advance if you want to. So we booked our flight on Wednesday to fly away from our palmbeach bounty island on Friday. Allthough the last couple of days it was a bit of a soggy bounty; we finally were remembered what the word 'monsoon' implies. No dramas (T's favourite expression) though, because after 10 days the beach gets kind of...sandy, and sticky, and salty. So we entertained ourselves with, let me think, not with much that's for sure, well, I can't remember but we were entertained. mainly by eating breakfast, lunch and dinner at wonderful Western-food restaurants. Man, they had to use a horse-cart to carry the loads of pizza's and tortilla's we stuffed our faces with. Luckily I was able to sustain supermodel figure by playing in the sea, dodging the waves like crazy. Happy times man. If there was a market for body-surfing-without-board, I would offer myself as a tutor (80 Yuan per hour). All you do is just dive with the wave just before it curls, and don't forget to take a deep breath. Sometimes the waves are a bit bigger than you had calculated with the result of being mercilessly slapped to the seabottom as if you were a bag of unappreciated potatoes. (I know I'm using some Dinglish here: Dutch/English, but hey, hope it works). So after a few hours of feeling like unappriciated potatoes, I think you're allowed to eat some appreciated fried ones.
Besides eating and being live beach entertainment for all the Chinese passer by-ers, we did actually have one real adventure. That was the day D, T and I rented scooters to explore the island. The scooters were brought out from a crack under the stairs in our hostel, dusted off by the chef-cook/handyman, who subsequently tried to bring the things to life. One worked fine and stood purring, ready to go. The other one however, had some difficulty regaining consciousness after what we guessed had been a long winters sleep. We had almost given up hope when the beast started roaring, and slightly nervous I mounted the saddle. I gently twisted the gas-handle, and off we went! Driving grandma style at first, amazed by our courage to venture into the mass of cars, bicycles, randomly crossing pedestrians and crazy motorbikes that is calles Chinsese traffic, we quiclky gained confidence and speed. We skilfully manouvered our bike through the mess and found some nice, relatively quiet roads heading towards even-better-bounty beach. All went fine, racing along the highway with quite amazing view on the hills with lush greens forests. Highway sounds pretty cool, but there weren't that many cars and the drivers were actually very well behaved. This seems the right time to give a short note on Chinese traffic. The first thing you need to know is that if you're on a Chinese road, you need a horn. The biggest, loudest horn you can find. And get one which is easy to reach because you.will.need.it. People don't use index lights. If they want to move, they just blow the horn untill everything is blown out of the way and they can proceed their journey. Luckily, Chinese are 'careful' drivers, so if you are peacefully cycling/walking at the far right side of the road, no oncoming traffic in sight, they still blow the horn, suitable for the Titanic, at least three times, just in case you got a fit of retardedness and suddenly jumped into the middle of the road. Anyway, DAMN those bloody horns. I used to think. Untill I got myself onto a scooter. Addicted after only five minutes I beeped my way between cars and motorcyclists, beeping twice just in case.
But than, happily beeping away, disaster stroke. I turned the gashandle, preparing for a spurt up a hill, and...nothing, no more power. The thing quit. We parked on the slope and while dark clouds assambled above our heads (this is no lie, there really were clouds), we grasped our heads trying to think of a solution. Desperately trying to wave down passing traffic for help, we felt panic rising in our bodies, as a threatening wind suddenly started blowing. Haha, nooh,
Damn, i know this is a crucial point in the story, but meanwhile I am already three days ahead. In fact, I am in the most noisy internet cafe on...Hong Kong Island. I saved this story when some guy came up to me to ask how long I still needed to use the internet. There was only 1 computer so I felt guilty. My internet time here is also nearly up so I will just post this story untill I have time to finish it!
ohoh 4 minutes left, better post it!
bye bye my friends, papah and mamah,...ok, brothah and sistah..gotta post!
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