Travelogue 2
Table of Contents
‘14/02/01 Ecuador: Quito, Vilcabamba,
Cuenca.................................................................................... 1
‘14/09/03 China – Beijing, Datong, Wutaishan, Pingyao, Guoliancun, Kaifeng,
Luoyang, Huashan, Xi’an, Jinan, Qufu,.Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Guilin, Xingping,
Yangshuo, Longji, Chengyang, Kunming, Shagri-La, Lijiang, Dali............................................................................................................... 11
‘14/10/27 Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur, Penang....................................................................................... 32
‘14/11/08 Cambodia – Phnom Penh, Siem Reap/Angkor..................................................................... 32
‘14/11/16 Vietnam – Chau Doc, Saigon, Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi, Sapa, Halang
Bay-Cat Ba.................... 34
‘14/12/05 Laos – Luang Prabang, Vientiane......................................................................................... 39
‘14/12/16 Myanmar – Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay................................................................................. 41
‘14/12/25 Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur, Melaka........................................................................................ 44
‘14/12/25 Ecuador – Otavalo, Cotacachi, Ibarra, Banos, Puyo, Vilcabamba,
Cuenca.......................... 45
Sat., 02/01 . At breakfast table, I met a young Dutch
couple who had just returned from Boquete. They recommend “Risking Everything:
Coming Out in Coffee Land” by Elizabeth Worley, an American who had relocated
to Boquete and had established a medicinal finca which the couple had just
visited. Also check out her “Romancing
The Bean: Chronicles of a Coffee Snob In Panama” and another book by her
husband.
After the breakfast,
Patrick of Hostal drove me to the airport ($20). We talked about the
Panamanians culture. He said a Panamanian will always choose a bottle of rum if
he had a choice between a book and a bottle of rum.
We took off for Guayaquil
at about 11:30 for a one-hour flight. At 4:00PM we took off for Quito for a 50
minute flight. I took a cab to my hostal It cost $28 and took about one hour.
The city is very scenic with tall green hills, windy roads, and volcanic deep
crevices. At my hostal my host showed me the various keys to the doors. She is
an Italian who worked at Italian consulates in Quito and Tanzania before
retiring to Quito and starting this new business. She advised that I should walk
on the downhill side of the road to breathe less of cars exhaust systems. She
had decorated the place very nicely – as expected from an Italian. She lived in
the next door – in a large secret garden with three very loud small dogs that I
never saw but would start a chorus every evening.
Casapaxi 12808-88857796
Luigina Fossati
Pasaje R.Navarro 364
(N24-70) y Avenida La Gasca, between Domingo Espinar and Lizarazu,
Twin Private Ensuite US$11.20 * 2=2 US$22.40 WIFI: Mariano
Merchan …364karibune
COOP. De Taxi: 0995 800 696 / 2 429 878
Sun, 02/02 I
woke up at 7:00, took a long walk to the Plaza de Indepensia or Old Town and
walked around there for a few hours before retiring back to my hostal. The Old
Town was lively - teeming with tourists and natives in the shopping areas.
Mon, 02/03 As
I was still adjusting to the noise after a long period of quiet in Boquete I
decided to head for two nearby small towns, Cumbaya and Tumbaco.
They are both located on the way to the airport. I took the trole at Av. America – Seminario
Mayor. It was a one-hour ride to the Quitumbe bus terminal. The airport
bus departed shortly and it took about 45 minutes to Cumbaya – a small town,
with many fancy shops and houses mostly behind the gates attended by guards. I
stopped by a bakery where I bought a very delicious loaf of bread and some
cheese and had it there. I stopped at the peaceful main plaza and rested there
for some time before taking a short bus ride to Tumbuco, a typical crowded
small town – nothing to write home about.
I took the bus back to Quito but a passenger told me I could get off at
Cumbaya mid way and take another local bus closer to my hostal. We both got off
at Cumbaya and he asked a young woman at the bus stop to help me get to my
destination. We again change at a crowded square by the Coliseum that I had
seen in the cab on the way from the airport to my hostal and also on the walk
to the Old Town. I took another bus there which dropped me off nearby to my
hostal.
After seeing Cumbaya I
could envision Cotacachi – being close to the capital and also a shopping
center for leather products – another undesirable town and decided to cut short
my stay in Quito and head for Cuenca.
At hostal I had another
cheese sandwich with the bread I had bought at Cumbaya.
I then tried to make an
online flight reservation to Cuenca. The system showed two tickets were
available but by the time I got to finalize my payment they were sold us and
the system tried to give me alternate days for Feb. 6. I then tried Tame Air
(edreams.com) but my confirmation was postponed pending resolution of Credit
card payment.
Tue, 02/04 When
I checked my email after waking up I saw an email from the airline requesting
copies of my passport and credit card. I went to three shops to be able to have
my credit card scanned. Back at hostal I email the documents and then went out
for a walk. I stopped at Santa Clara Produce Market. It was lively and
refreshing with the smells. I stopped at a both which had a sign for coffee and
coffee pot and since I saw no signs of Nescafe I asked the guy there if his
coffee was fresh. He assured me but when I sat down he handed me a cup of hot
water and showed me the container of dense coffee previously brewed. I ended up
having a meal of rice and chicken there and bought a coffee strainer from a
passing vendor. I then walked around for a while longer and headed back to my
hostal to check if my reservation was confirmed – no confirmation email. I
contacted the US number of edream agent but the woman could rebook the flight
that TAME still showed as available. I called TAME directly and the rep made a
reservation and said I had till 6:00 PM to stop at the reservation office to
pick up the ticket ($118 vs. online price of $82).
I made a decent coffee at
the hostal using the coffee that I picked up at Super Maxi and the strainer I
had just bought.
By 3:00 PM it started to
rain and I headed to the TAME office to purchase my ticket. Finally, after
spending so many hours on this simple task I had my ticket at hand.
I then looked for a bank
for some time to get some cash and finally found one. After the machine dropped
off the old bills it took me a couple of seconds to pick them up but the door
closed and the last bill got stuck and after I ended up ripping it off I asked
a guy who had just walked in to use my machine so that my bill would be
released. He kindly obliged.
I then stopped at a phone
store to get a Claro SIM card for my Panama phone as Lonely Plant had advised,
but it did not work – same result in the second shop.
On the way back to hostal,
I bought a loaf of bread, some more cheese, and two eggs for tomorrow trip.
Later at night, my host, Luigina Fossati, stopped by to tell me that the
volcanic ashes of Banos had moved all around from Cuenca to Quito and that is
why all the flights to Cuenca were canceled yesterday – hence the shortage of
the seats for the next few days.
Wed, 02/05 – Cuenca-Loja-Vilcabamba At 9:30 the old driver in suite and tie that Luigina had called
for me picked me up for the 1:15 min. ride to the airport. Initially I waited
in the wrong line that was for sales where a man cut in front of me, and when I
protested he said his flight was taking off in ten minutes – though I saw him
again in the departure hall after 30 minutes.
At the check-in counter I
was forced to check in my larger backpack. My departure flight was at 11:50 AM.
First, they changed the gate and then they announced the long delays. While waiting, I met a man from Nashville who
was planning to move to Ecuador in a few years upon retiring from Whole Food.
He is a recent divorcee with two college age kids. We had a long conversation
and he said he was in Quito for only one day but already was having a very
vibes about the country.
Our flight finally took off
at about 4:00 PM, and after landing in Cuenca I took the short cab ride to the
bus terminal right as the rain was starting.
When I got off and asked
two men for the Loja ticket window, they told me I was in the wrong place and
came out of the terminal to take me a taxi that had just dropped off his
customer, but it drove away. I then walked to another taxi and asked for a ride
to the Loja bus terminal and he pointed me to the terminal I was at. By the
time I made to the Loja ticket window it was a few minutes past 4:00 PM
departure time and the next bus was at 7:30 PM. I asked the clerk if there were
more buses to Cuenca and she said there was none. I walked away and asked
another man who told me there was another window on the other side of the
terminal. I bought a ticket for the 4:30 bus and entered the boarding section.
I had only a few minutes to departure time, therefore I asked a guard on the
other side of the turnstiles to buy me a bottle of water.
Next my seat on the first
row a six year very pretty native girl was sitting and biting on a big candy
bar. I could not help but offering her a small candy bar which she thanked for.
She then moved across me and sat between her mother and grandmother. She gave
the candy to her mother.
Later on she took out her
mobile phone and played with it for some time, read a book for a short time and
then fell asleep on the floor. The grandmother covered her with a sweater
before I could do that.
A young girl, Kathrin, took
the seat next to me. After a while, she took out her only pack of jelly and
offered it to me and when I said no, she made her offer for a second time. She
was taking training in Internet.
I suddenly noticed that she
had not used a cell phone and when I ask her why she told me that it had been
just stolen otherwise she would be using it.
The scenery on Cuenca-Loja
road was just gorgeous, with many green small fields with some cattle and
houses scattered here and there and then as the sunset time approached the
skies were brightened with beautiful yellow and red colors on both sides of
throughout the horizon.
We arrived in Loja
at about 10:00 PM. The bus terminal to Vilcabamba was down the stairs. I bought
a 10:15 ticket to Vilcabamba.
The turnstile required a dime but I had used all my change for the ticket and
had only two nickels on me. The attendant tried the handicap door that was
supposed to take nickels but after a few attempts, he gave up and let me use
the back turn of someone else who had just used one of the turnstiles.
When we approached the town
I asked the driver and the conductor about my hostal but neither one knew where
it was. I native said she knew the place and we got off she directed me in the
general direction of the place – though somewhat off the mark and I had to ask
someone else again.
When I got to the hostel
the gate was closed and neither the bell nor the knocks would get anyone to
open the door. After a while a car pull over and a couple – the name of the guy
was Chris as I later found out – called the owner and since he could not get
attendant on the phone Chris drove me to hostal
Jardin Escondido.
Thurs, 02/06 - Vilcabamba In
the morning after a delicious Mexican breakfast made by Andre, I walked to the plaza where I met Bill and Colleen King, IrishColleen@rocketmail.com,
a Scottish-Canadian couple who invited me to sit for coffee. They have been
looking for a property under $20K for a while and they had looked at quiet a
number of houses for the past year here. They gave me information on a few of
their choices.
Fri, 02/07 I
stopped by at Huilco Real Estate to meet Bernie
Uhe, recommended by Colleen and Bernie. The receptionist called him on the
phone and we arranged to meet the next day at his other hangout, the Meditation Center (CMV) http://mindfulnessmeditationinecuador.org/
593 8 959-2880.
I went to look for the place and once I found it I entered the compound and met
Sonia Jirka, an Argentinean guest,
who told me she was paying $400/mo for the room and the sessions.
The place was very clean
and well maintained, therefore I asked the office next door to call Bernie who
told me he had one room available and I could move in the following day.
In the afternoon, I walked
past the El Atillo and on the way back I took a taxi that happened to drop me
off at Kiavash’s restaurant. Kiavash was standing outside and saw me and
therefore I ended up having dinner there for the second night in a row.
At my hostel I sat in the
yard surf but two guys and a woman with a dog were there also and they did not
stop loud foul language and I had to retire to my room.
Sat, 02/08. To CMV. I met Bernie at CMV, talked
about my RE needs, and he said he had two lots that he could show me. I then
went to Jardin Escondido, checkout and settled in my new room at CMV and then
drove to two lots with Bernie.
1.
An 8H, 110K lot on Secapo road,
4500’ above the sea, 7km or 20 min from the road to Malacatos, adjacent to Podocarpus National Park. It had some nice views but the home sites have
to be flattened. The nearby neighbors, Susan and Sven had two goats on their
yard. The lot belongs to the heirs of a native man, with no title. It would
take 4-8 months with a cost of 7-12k to obtain a revised title.
2.
A 140H, 192K hill in Chigolomaga,
towards San Pedro, on the road to Phranama. An American woman, Maryann has
purchased the adjacent 200H, 203K lot and I have to build a road to be shared
by her to this lot.
Title
cost: 15k Road + Power: 20 k
Later in the afternoon I
attended ‘Sweat Lodge’ ceremony led
by Bernie of CMV. A large pyre with wood with volcanic stones was setup. We
entered a circular hut covered with blanket. The session consisted of four
parts. Initially someone played the drum and sang the native songs. In the
second part we prayed with the chanting of “mitakyasi” that in Lakota Sioux
Indian means “to all my relations”. We prayed for good health and happiness -
the ultimate goal of Man. We then had a shorter prayer session mostly dedicated
to the women and children who are abused. This we followed by another chant.
In each part, seven burning
volcanic stones - as the symbol of the four quarters, upper, lower and inner
self - were removed from the pyre and piled up in the pit inside the hut. The
heat and steam would become very intense at times and the goal of the heat was
cleansing of the body, appreciation of the nature, fire and elements, and to
sharpen the senses before hunting,
Lakota translations goes as follows, TUNKASILA (made
all of Creation).
Sun, 02/09 I
woke up early and walked to the Natives Sunday Market behind the bus station.
By 7:30 AM it was already lively – with many vendors and customers. I picked up
as much I could carry in my backpack, came back to CMV, had my breakfast, and
went back to the market for stocking up on a few more items as their prices was
much better the than the town’s mercardos. I met Bill & Colleen who said
they were moving today and we arranged to meet at 2:00 Pm to meet the lot of
San Francisco, a taxi driver, at 2:00 PM with David, another friend of theirs.
Back at CMV, I cleaned my
vegetables, had a quick lunch, and went to meet Bill & Colleen. It turned
out that San Francisco was sick and had postponed the meeting to the following
day. I ended up helping them to move. We hired a taxi for and hours for $8 and
loaded their stuff and drove to the new home – on a side road on the road that
I had taken a long walk on my first day here.
When I returned to the main
plaza, I saw Kiavash who was talking to Golpal,
the Kazakh yurt maker. Kiavash invited me to a chant session in his restaurant
later that day, lead by Max and his wife. The couple is from Hawaii and moved
here with three kids in the mountains after the Fukushima nuclear incident.
The session was
interesting, though long, and the attendance was a mix of young and middle age
men and women. I left before the end of the session.
I then had a decent pizza
at the restaurant at the hostal near the bus station.
Mon, 02/10 I
woke up to find out the bathroom door was locked from inside. The previous
night I shut that door not to get the noise from the street through the
bathroom’s open window. I had to wait for Eddie till 09:00 to show up and
unlock the door with a coat hanger.
I then went to the plaza,
to meet Dave, friend of Colleen and Bill, and Francisco – the owner of a 2H lot
– to drive to the lot. Neither one did show up.
I met Gopal in the
afternoon, per as our appointment, to go see his yurts on Yamburara Alto but he
had stomach pain and we had to cancel.
I stopped at a couple of RE
offices to check their listings.
Tues, 02/11 In
the morning, I met Wilson who was waiting for me in front of RE office for a
visit to his lot at the end of the one of Malacatos dirt roads.
Wed, 02/12 In
the morning, I took the Yambuara road to find the yurts of Gopal. I arrived to
the end of the dirt road where the rive continued but the road became a narrow
trail. O the return I took a turn for a cafeteria but could not find one and
walked a trail for sometime until it became narrow and muddy. On the return, I
had a short chat with a Canadian couple who had hired a taxi to see around the
town.
Further down I the road I finally saw the yurts in a distance, but
the entrance to the camp was closed. At this time I saw the next door neighbor
on his lot. He introduced himself as Luis and it turned out that he was the
owner of the cabin that I had seen his ad for rent. He had about six cabins
with beautiful views of Vilcabamba for $240/mo. though the cabin needed some
final changes and he was waiting to rent it before finishing up the place.
In the afternoon, I went to
Sacred Valley RE where I met Carlos and Ivan - an American whose parents had
moved here in 1976 – as his translator.
We visited a lot in Quinara
that did not have good views and then to Yangana to visit a second lot which
had some better views.
Thurs, 02/13 In
the morning Carlos of Sacred Valley RE picked me up to visit again the lot in
Yangana that we had visited the night before.
I noticed that at the home
site many trees had to be taken down to be able to see the view if about 40
degrees. Also the frequent passage of road building trucks may be a problem.
In the afternoon, I took
the bus to Malatacos for my appointment with Gladys that I had met two days ago
when I was walking back from Wilson’s lot. When I arrived there the father, Luis, was preparing the truck and Gladys was leashing the digs and taking
care of the turkeys. Soon her sister, Marline,
with her kid, and another woman showed up. The father cleaned the back of the
truck of the cows’ manure, swept it on the ground, and covered with soil.
Gladys and the other women got in the back and Marline sat behind the wheel. It
was a 20-minute rise to the lot. We parked and passed through a large gate and
stared our long hike to see the 70H lot. It was a beautiful lot with many home
sites with beautiful views. There were 40 cows roaming around and 3 streams
with small amount of water. The women left us to pick up blackberries and
cactus fruit and the father and I circled the beautiful lot.
We came back to the tiny
house at the base and we had to wait for the sisters to finish picking the
cactus fruits and then Marline drove me all the way to Malacatos. The whole family was very kind and pleasant.
In Malacatos, as soon as I
boarded the bus a heavy rain stared and by the time we arrived in Vilcabamba,
the raid stopped.
As I had missed my 7:00 PM
appointment with Marsha, the
Canadian potter, I went out but since I could not see any place appealing, I
returned to my place and had some home-prepared food.
Fri, 02/14. I
attended the first meditation session in the morning. Robert, the guide, gave a
useful summary of breathing – deep breaths, relax on the inhale, calm on the
exhale, if the focus is lost bring the focus on the breath, if any annoyance,
then resolve it, such as a scratch. In addition to a few expats, a native
couple with a father and two teenage son attended the session.
In the evening we I went to
the Valentine’s party of a couple on San Jose road (FB: VilcaPeople). They had
a beautiful house that looked like a fairy tale, with beautiful grounds and
views. I felt out of place, left after a drink, and ended up at Kiavash’s
restaurant.
Sat. 02/15. I
met Eddie of CMV for a visit to the
140H, 192K hill in Chingolomaga at 07:00. When we arrived there at 07:30 we had to walk for about two hours to get to
the base of the hill of the initial lot. The whole hike took about 6 hours. The
fog was very intense a couple of times but it cleared in a short time. Open
vistas were about 50 degrees, at the maximum, at about 2/3 up the hill. I gave
up on going all the way to the top as the walk to the lot was a long way and
impossible to build a road. We headed back from the creek side of the lot,
somewhat lost, but finally made it back on the road by 12:30 PM. Eddie then
drove me from another road to in front of the gate of Maryann’s lot. Bernie
later confirmed that there already is some road going up the hill.
Sun, 02/16. SandyLeeJackson@gmail.com, and her
husband, Jean-Michel of Malapampa, friends of friends of Alwyn and Lewis
Lawrence alwynL@primus.ca of Toronto, came over to CMV. Sandy invited me to go along
and we went to their home for a cup of tea and some conversation, which at
times was embarrassing to witness as the hosts did not have much interest in
topics the guests were talking about. We then drove to Hoseteria for a very
good lunch.
Mon. 02/17 I
walked on Malapampa Rd, looking for a quiet place but could not find one. I met
Edmond, of S.A., who complained about the shift in his rental house. I then
walked on Yamburara, stopped at restaurant Copamaco, at the primer puente, for
a cup of coffee. The young female attendant was weaving the hair of her
Argentinean boyfriend. I asked her for a cup of coffee – not expecting much.
The boyfriend fetched the cup of coffee on a dilapidated piece of wood. The cup
was cracked, with its handle glued. There was also a slice of banana cake, and
on a coconut shell, some raisins and cane. The stirrer was a piece of cracked
bamboo. It was the perfect treat.
I then found Charlie’s
cabins. He is from Boston-Oregon and moved here thirty years ago.
Tues.
02/18. Nada
Wed.
02/19. In the morning, I drove with Carlos and
Ivan to a lot in Taxiche, Malacatos, but the lot was subdivided and possibly
sold.
I then returned to Vilcabamba and took
a bus to Malacatos to meet Deddine Swyter, 09 6817
4944, who has a house next to Ira’s house (use for taxi direction), but she was
not home. The sale sign said 3 casas for sale, with a total size of 11,000 m2.
It consisted of one old native’s house and two very small cabins.
Thurs.
02/20. I took the bus to Malacatos and walked to the
house of Mr. Luis. He was not home but I found Marlene in her house next door.
She said her father was travelling. I
asked her to call him and finally I got the price for the finca,
I walked to the finca. I stopped in a
few places to inquire about lots for sale and found a few. I continued my walk
on the Mr. Luis finca road and came across a very quiet road where the views
were very open. When I walked for about ten minutes, I came across Ira’s house,
the direction that Deddine had given me. I asked a woman behind bamboo door
about Deddine. She opened the door and introduced herself as Daniela of France.
He give me a full report of the neighborhood, walked me to the lot with three
houses for sale, where Deddine is renting a cabin, and introduced me to Chris,
the owner. She then invited me to her house. She had managed the construction
of the beautiful house herself – though with some glitches.
She then showed me the direction to
Deddine’s lot. I found Deddine at her site, supervising a construction project.
When I asked for her cabin, she told me that since they had not lived in
Ecuador for a few years, the adobe house was run down and they had to demolish
it to build a new house. She and her partner plan to build two additional
houses with pools on the small lot. She had left Ecuador for a few years after
the rape of her teenage daughter in that house by two Peruvian laborers. She
was not bitter with the experience.
I then walked to Chris of
Colorado house and we had a long chat. He had bought the lot with one house
three years ago and had built two cabins that he is renting for $230/mo each.
He offered me a banana and
some pitaya, a yellow skin prickly fruit - the most delicious and refreshing I
have tried here. I can buy them at a stand on 18 De November, across Av.
Mercadeo
When I left Chris’ place,
Mark (09 8299 5336), a motor cyclist who is a worker at Deddine’s lot, gave me
a ride to the main road, right before San Jose. His uncle has a 2H lot for sale
in Landangi, near Nick Vassy’s.
On the main road, I got a
ride from Hector Gonzales, a very happy, friendly and talkative Ecuadorian who
had lived in Madrid for a few years.
Once at my place I made
delicious pasta.
Fri.
02/21. I packed and moved my luggage a room #10
which was occupied by Alice of UK. Bernie facilitated my move since I had
complained about her loud voice on Skype in his office next to my room.
I then took the bus to Loja,
stopped at Claro office but was unable to fix my phone. They told me to go to
another location where they were able to unlock my phone.
I met Colleen and Bill at the plaza and
joined them for a cup of coffee and some nightmare stories of affairs in
Ecuador, from lawyers to cable installation.
I then stopped by the Mercado
where I had lunch, and bought some produce and fish.
Sat.
02/22. Bernie and I drove to a finca (65H, 154k)
in Malacatos, by brick factory and chicken farm. It was a nice lot with a nice
flat area with good views at the front of the lot.
Tue.,
02/25. I met John of Tennessee/CA renting a house
for $150/mo. We walked to Charlito for lunch where I met Dennis & George, a
Vietnam War Vet who left US in 1968, after return from the war and facing the
negative reaction of the Americans to the soldiers, calling them baby killers.
He married to a Cuban and the US embassy in Panama threatened to stop his VA
benefits. They also denied his wife a visa to USA.
Fri.,
02/28. In the morning the driver whose name I
was given by the Nicole, the daughter of the late Michael - the owner of the
house for rent - was waiting for me at CMV. When I got in his car and told him
to “Michael’s house’ in Barrio San
Jose. Yusanga, he said he
did not know where it was. It turned out that he was not “Rafael”, but a
different person who was using Rafael’s phone. I called Fintan, Michael’s British neighbor who gave the driver the
directions to the house.
As we arrived at house, Fintan drove in
and showed me the house. The house was decent and the views were jaw dropping,
with Podocarpus on the West and Mandango on the East. I stayed there for a few hours to absorb the
views. I also met Manuel – the gardener who works there three days a week for
$54 – and his very friendly wife and pretty daughter.
I walked back to the city within one
hour and fifteen minutes, had a burrito at Charlito, and by the time got back
at CMV and checked my email, I had a message from Nicole that the house was
rented.
Sat.,
03/01. Today is the start of the Carnival. Due to
heavy rains throughout the night the festivities were delayed.
The festivities consisted
of mostly throwing water from balloons, buckets, water pumps and gun, and
occasional powder and eggs. There was some recorded music. The celebration
lasted until Tuesday. On Sunday night there was a loud music in a field near
CMV – which I had checked it out a few days due to the noise they were making
while setting up the place. I was able to fall asleep a little past the
midnight.
On Tuesday, Sonia and Amalia left for US. Sonia
left the leftover Cachaça bottle
which I left in the freezer for some time and it made a much better drink this
time. I also enjoyed the book “the 100 Year Old Man Who Walked Out of the
Window and Disappeard”, that Amalia gave me. It was the funniest book I had
ever read.
With Sonia gone, Mike, a
40-year old guest who had moved to my first room by the office, move to my
section. He could not stop making all sorts of very loud noises, from sneezing
to blowing nose and spitting. At night he would sit in the porch at his laptop
and kept moving his chair on the tiles – making another loud noise; he is a
pain.
Thurs.,
03/06. I walked to San Jose in the morning. In the
evening, I went to ‘La Cultura – The
Enchanting Wind’ http://enchantingwind.com/
maya@enchantingwind.com restaurant at the
start of the San Jose Road. The place was already full. When I told the
waitress - Ashley - that I had reservation for one person, she already knew my
name. That was a good sign. I had met
Yasu Umet (https://www.facebook.com/yasu.umet?fref=ufi ) , the
chef, in his kitchen, when I had walked into his restaurant – after getting the
name of his restaurant from Amalia and reading all the great reviews on Trip
Advisor. The sun was setting amid the clouds, with only one opening where the
sunset rays were shining on a lone tree on a distant hill – it was picture
perfect and it was good I did not have a camera.
The food was great. I was short of a
few dollars, so between leaving a tip for Ashley or owing $4 to Yasu, I left
the tip and told Yasu I will bring him $4 the next day.
Fri.,
03/07 In the
morning, in the company of Howard of Brooklyn, and Spencer of Canada, headed
for the Cascada, located at the end of Yamburara.
We took a taxi to the end of the road and then hiked for about 1 ¾ hrs to the
cascade. The hike was pleasant and some beautiful views. The cascade was about
30 meters high. We all took a bath – naked.
We then headed back and stopped for a
cup of coffee at the coffee place that I had previously tried. The serving was
the same – but the first time I was there by myself, I could appreciate the
experience much more deeply.
Howard, 59, has been through two
divorces and now is looking for a fresh start but his problem is that he cannot
be alone. While having our coffee, he
asked us to tell him of his shortcomings. Spencer could not think of any, but I
told him he come across as showing off much. He said he had been told of that
before. As Spencer was worried about his girlfriend being upset with his long
absence, we headed back and as we could not find a cab, we walked all the way
back to CMV.
After making and having my delicious salad,
I went to Café Cultura and left the $5 balance of my check from the night
before for Chef Yasu – as I could not find him and later emailed him as to
where to find the money.
I then tried to get a haircut but the
hairdresser was busy with one customer for a long time.
Sat.,
03/08 - Cuenca In the
morning, I packed, and after breakfast said goodbye to the guests and Bernie
and took the bus to Loja and then 12:30 PM bus to Cuenca. We arrived in Cuenca
at 5:00 PM. I took a cab to my hostal, Macondo.
I then went for a walk, though the rain had started by this time. I made it to
the rive Tombabamba though it was rather dark,. I headed back to my
neighborhood, had dinner and called the night.
Sun.,
03/09. After the
breakfast at the hostel, I took my camera and headed out. The town, the
buildings and the streets were a feast for the eyes. I could not stop
photographing almost every building – so much that my full battery was
exhausted by 6:00 PM.
In the morning it started to rain again
but that did not stop the crows.
I walked to Calle Lagar, the road
parallel to Tombabamba. I saw a beautiful house – with large wooden windows -
on the stairs leading to the river.
It was a perfect location as it was one
the few places that was closed to the traffic. Across the street was ‘Casa del
Rio”, at Bajada del Padron 4 -07, Calle Larga. I entered the place to find out
more about the house. The owner said that the house belonged to a US Marines,
so I could conclude that it was not for rent. The guy showed me a nice room,
with a beautiful view of the town and the river, with three bed and access to
the large terrace and also the use of the kitchen for $20 per night.
After much walking and photography, I
stopped by the charming coffee shop-restaurant
Oliveto, at Calle Larga 8-27 Y Luis Corder where I had a good coffee and
pastry. The waiter showed me around the beautiful restaurant but as it was
still too early for lunch, I continued my walk.
Later for lunch I stopped at Don Carlo,
named after the owner whose history was listed in the menu. He had a long and
successful career as a chef-owner in US but finally returned home and opened
this restaurant. I could guess correctly that the guy who was sitting at a
table with a large family was him. O ordered a special Don Carlo sea bass but
unfortunately, it came fried with thick breading and therefore not much taste.
By the time I went to the counter to
pay my bill, Don Carlo was behind and at the register. I handed him a $20 bill.
He asked me if I had $1.50 change. When I gave him two single dollar coins, he
had no change to give me back. I thought he was a good person to ask why there
was seldom change available in his country – especially even in a place like
his as he has run businesses in US, but did not want him to get uncomfortable.
I continued my walk for the rest of the
day, taking pictures, until my battery died. I walked to the town Mercado on
Lamar. Most of the stalls were closed. I picked up some fruits and headed back
to my hostal. After a rest and having some fruits I headed back out but the
streets were too quiet and dark and most of the lights in the buildings were
out. I returned to my hostal – after a day of very enjoyable walk – though
mostly in the rain.
Mon.,
03/10. I woke up at
2:30 AM and was awake for a couple of hours. when I woke up in the morning it
was already 8:30 AM. I had my breakfast at the hostal – with much strong and
delicious coffee, and the integral bread I had bought the night before.
After the breakfast, I took my camera
and headed out. The first stop was the Mercado on Lamar. It was lively and in
full action. When I passed by the stall of the woman I had shopped from the
previous day she recognized me and hissed me.
I walked around and ended up at Calle
Larga again. I stopped at the Archeology museum, where the attendant gave me a
30-second orientation of the field with tree civilizations of the Incas,
Mexicans, and the Spanish before leading me to the field and opening the gate
for me. There was not much left to see except some wheels and stone arches.
For lunch I ended up at café Austria
where I had a chicken curry.
I continued walking around after lunch
and ventured out to the other side of the river where still I saw more charming
buildings.
I then stopped at a barber shop for a
haircut at a cost of $3. The radio was broadcasting a prayer – where the
pronunciation was clear and slow.
I walked to ‘Original Italy” restaurant
on Luis Codera– it was recommended on Wiki Travel. The attentive owner, with a
glass of wind in hand chatted for a while and the disappeared. The young waiter
recommended their pizza as the best choice – though I had to repeat myself
three times until he understood that I only wanted a ½ half bottle of wine. The
pizza was delicious but the service was awful. As a lady next to me commended,
“the waiter took every order wrong.”
I walked back to my hostal, stopped at
an ice cream shop – just in time for their closing.
Tue.,
03/11. This is my
last day in Cuenca. I headed out for more walking and picture taking. I went to
a barber shop for a shave.
I then walked to the flower market, sopped at
a lovely coffee shop for a coffee and then walked to Calle Larga to visit Todosantos
monastery restaurant. The menu looked good but as there were no other customers
i decided to go Oliveto Restaurant where I had had a cup of coffee before. They
had a special lunch menu for $7, consisting of mushroom soup, lobster ravioli,
and ice cream desert. The food was good and the view was beautiful.
At the main plaza I met Marcelo
Carrion. a friendly older man who is a plant trader (Las Trancas arboles y
cabras @ La Glorieta, Avendia Primero de
Mayo y Calle Carlos V, Cuenca (7) 2-810282 cell: 593-96-781-1397 - mashico8@hotmail.com
). He suggested that I visit the south of the old town, the second river. I
took a pleasant walk there as the drizzle started. The section of the town was
a large and well-kept area, with many beautifully designed houses.
I then decided to visit the second
area, PIasta De Atellana, almost in the continuation of Sangurima, that Marcello had recommended, but I
walked to the other side of the town
before noticing that the area was towards the airport. As I was approaching to
my 08:00 PM flight, I walked back to Sangurima, a lively street, where I did
some food shopping for a few sandwiches and then went to my hostal, rested for
a while and then took a cab to the airport. As I had left my hand cream in my
bag rather than a zip loc, the inspector spent a few minutes, checking my luggage
and then put my toothpaste and hand cream in a zip loc bag, though she did not
mind my water bottle.
I took the 50 minute flight to Quito
and waited for 5 hours for my 11:55 PM flight to Houston.
Wed.,
03/12. We had a
6-hour flight to Houston and landed there at 06:00AM.
I waited for my 07:00 AM flight to
Newark, but missed the time and lost my flight. I went to the UA counter where
they issued me a ticket for a flight that was taking off within an hour and
informed me that my luggage will be OK. We arrived in Newark at about noon. I
had to look for my luggage on a few carousels and file a report so that UA
would deliver my bag to my home. But just as I was giving up, I found it,
picked it up and took the air train to Secaucus. I arrived there at 03:00 PM,
but as the next Dover train was arriving at 05:00 PM, I took the 03:00 PM
Montclair train to Newark Broad St. for the Dover train. The ride was pleasant
and scenic as the train cut through the air, with much snow and wind on its
path - and a drizzle as the companion.
‘14/09/03 China – Beijing, Datong, Wutaishan, Pingyao, Guoliancun, Kaifeng, Luoyang, Huashan, Xi’an, Jinan, Qufu, Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Guilin, Xingping, Yangshuo, Longji, Chengyang, Kunming, Shagri-La, Lijiang, Dali
$1=¥6.25 Yuan/RMB
Beijing & Great Wall at
Zhuangdaokou)
Datong & Yungang grottoes
Wutaishan
Pingyao
Guoliancun, Henan (via Changzi)
Kaifeng (via Huaxian, Xinxian)
Luoyang
& Longmen Caves >Rail
Huashan
Xi'an ^Air
Jinan & Jujiayo Village
Qufu >Rail
Shanghai & Zhujiajio Village >Rail
Suzhou & Tongli Village
Hangzhou
Guangzhou ^Air
Guilin ^Air
Xingping >Boat
Yangshuo
Longji-Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces
Chengyang villages via Longshen,
Sanjiang
Kunming ^Air
Shagri-La=Zhongdian >Sleeping bus
Lijiang, Baisha, Shuhe
Dali
Kunming
09/03/2014 Wed.
I woke up at 03:30. At 04:30, as the
driver of the Axle’s Taxi Company I had called the day before had not called to
confirm, I called another company for a 5:00AM pickup. The first driver should
up after a short while but I had to tell him I had called another driver.
We arrived at Newark airport at 05:40
after a 30-minute ride. I went through pre-check security line and therefore
did not have to take off my shoes. We had a 5-hour flight to Vancouver on
United. The hills surrounding the town looked beautiful with the clouds rising
above them. The airport itself was a piece of artwork, not unlike a copy
Natural History Museum, and the bathrooms were as elegant as the New York’s
Four Season Hotel.
The connecting Air Canada flight was a brand new plane. I had the isle seat and a
Chinese woman and a Chinese man were next to me. They were both very friendly,
though the man did not speak any English.
There was a small raucous when an older
Chinese man, dressed in semi monk dress, started an argument with a young
Chinese man because he had pushed his seat too far back. The attendant took the
old man’s hand and lead him to business class and that was the end of it. I
hoped that I would not confront situations like that on this trip. Otherwise,
we had a smooth flight and a timely arrival in Beijing.
09/03/2014 Thursday - Beijing.
I took a taxi to my hostel; that was a
mistake as it was close to rush hour. It took me more that 1 ½ hours to get
there and the fare was ¥170 (at 6.15 exchange rate to USD.) I then went out for
a walk and ended up in the nearby old Hutong. I had some dumpling at a
restaurant where I almost fell asleep while waiting for my order to arrive.
09/05/2014 Fri.
I stopped at a place where the server
was making a fresh baked wrap and breaking eggs on it to cook and then adding
scallions to the mix. I braved it and ordered one but then my stomach started
twisting and turning for the next day. Fortunately it did not get more serious
than that.
I walked to Tian’amen Square and the
visited the Forbidden City. It was larger that I could have imagined - with
many building all around.
I then tried to visit the Mao’s
Memorial but it was close. I was also rather late to be able to get in the
museum. I then visited the charming hilly Jingshan Park where the views of the
Forbidden City and its rooftops were great.
09/06/2014 Sat.
I took the metro to Nanluoguxuang stop.
Instead of changing for Shichahai to the Drum and Bell Tower, I exited to walk
there. It was a long walk but I had a chance to see two very old neighborhoods,
one with a canal and the other with a large lake where the Starbucks branch was
still close at 8:30AM. Finally when I arrived at the towers I found out that
they were being renovated and being connected by a courtyard between them. From
outside both seemed very beautiful structures.
After an inedible lunch of liver soup,
I tried Mao’s Memorial to find out that it was close for an extended period of
time but I was able to make it to the Beijing Museum which was much less
inspiring than what I had expected. I
then visited the huge Tempe of Heaven Park. The highlight if the visit was a
group of the choir singers practicing under the graceful leading of a
conductor.
I then took the metro to Dongzhimen
station - also used for line 13 to the airport - and had a delicious Peking
Duck at LP recommended Jingzun Peking
Duck Restaurant.
09/07/2014 Sunday - Zhuangdaokou, The
Great Wall of China
I took the metro to Dongzhimen
transport hub and then bus 916 to Huarirou. I walked to the bus stop for Zhuangdaokou,
a couple of hundred meters ahead. I asked for the bus for the village and was
told that I was at the right stop. After a while, a private van showed up and
the group at the stop decided to take that one as it was faster than the
official bus. They asked me to join them for the ¥15 fare. They were two guys,
Shao and Gong and three woman, Hen (a Chinese teacher), Ding (ding_508@chengmingwxl@163.com) and Wang.
I stayed with them for the rest of the
day. We took a walk around the park like area of the village where Shao started
kicking every tree for some chestnuts. At a tree where a soldier was standing
guard he asked for permission to kick a tree but it was denied.
We had a picnic lunch where Shao and
Gong where the most gracious hosts and offered me the first tasting of
everything that was becoming prepared. Gong opened a bottle that we shared but
I gave back some of my remaining drink to Gong who passed it to Shao who became
a bit tipsy and lied down on a bench to take a nap.
After lunch, we did some hiking on the
wall which was supposedly much less touristy than the other sections of the
wall.
Gong was most amusing. Every step of
the way it was a photo opportunity where we had to take pictures trying all
permutations and combinations of the individuals and cameras, he was possibly
doing this as a chance to take a break from the hike.
We then left the village and on the way
to bus stop Shao would bargain with each vendor but again he made sure that I
would get a free sampling of their foodstuff. He was the most animated and
friendly person I have seen in a long time. We made it to back to Dongzhimen station where he and Hen, without
saying good-bye to me, left us. I boarded the metro with Ding and Shao but they
got off at different stations. Therefore I was not sure if they were a couple
or not but they were all very friendly and kind people. It was a great
experience to get to know such hospitable people.
09/08/2014 Monday – Datong – Yungang
Grottoes
I went to the front desk and asked for
the manager. He showed up after a few minutes and I told him about the loss of
wallet. He said that was not possible. When I persisted, he asked another guy
who was standing there and seemed to be the owner of the place. They
accompanied me to my room to investigate. Soon a few more people showed up and
started looking for the wallet. Finally, Lucy, the sales manager, who spoke
English showed up. I explained to her that I had left my wallet inside a
magazine on the shelf. Throughout my stay, I had the “do not trouble” sign on
the door. She said that the only person who had entered my room needed to check
on my safety and therefore had entered the room. I asked for her. When she came
she explained that while in my room, since on that day they had received the
new issue of the hotel’s monthly magazine, she had taken away the old one and
left the new one. We then went to the storage room where all the last month’s
magazine were stacked up, but we could not find the wallet. Lucy, with a very
disarming tone, told me that I should have been more careful and should not
have used the hotel’s property for use other than what it was intended
for. Since the loss was an accident and
everybody was helpful I gave up.
I then took the metro to the Summer Palace. It was a huge park, with
a large lake in the center surrounded by old willow tree. A perfect Chinese
music for the setting was being broadcast. The place was mobbed, yet still
there was a sense of peace and tranquility and the beauty of the place could be
appreciated. I thought that if the emperors could have done one public service,
it would have been the creation of this site for the future generations of
their citizens.
I then took the metro to Dashilar
neighborhood where I visited Nujie Mosque. It was a very charming wooden
ex-temple.
I went back to my hotel, picked up my
luggage and headed for the bus station for my four-hour trip to Datong
where I checked in at the very clean “Fly by Knight” hostel on the penthouse of
high-rise building.
09/09/2014 Tuesday - Datong
I had tofu, a duck egg and a wrap on a
sidewalk stand behind the city wall for ¥5. I then took a taxi to Yungang
grottoes, a large area made of a dozen caves with many statutes and
beautiful temples and grounds.
I then took the bus to the train
station and found a favorites restaurant. There was a party coming to and en
and the guest were leaving, some very tipsy. The waitress initially did not
want to seat me as it was late. But when I insisted she took me to a private
room. I ordered their hotpot; it was delicious with some fat and greens. When I
was leaving I asked a group of customers at the exit for direction to the bus
station and showed them its location on the map. They got into a discussion for
a few minutes and finally one of them who was very drunk grabbed my arm and
took me to the reception and ask me to sit and told the girl behind the desk to
help me. Again, more talk and then a middle age woman with two teen age girls
showed up. It seems that the woman agreed to give me ride. The person turned to
me and said that even though the woman was old, she was OK. I politely thanked
and got out before more discussion.
When I asked a bus conductor for bus
terminal to Wutaishan, he asked me to board his bus, and issued a ticket. When
I said I planned my trip for the next day he backed off and finally dropped me
at the station where I purchased my ticket. I then tried to ask the girl at the
information desk to write down the address of the place but now matter how hard
I tried I could not make her understand what I meant.
I left the place and entered a pastry
shop and while I was looking around a young girl enthusiastically rushed to me
and asked if I needed help. I asked for the direction to the old town, she
consulted another woman and told me it was rather far. After my purchase of a
couple of Portuguese custard cakes, she walked me out and took a taxi for me.
I spent some time in the old tow; it
was too commercialized. I then took a cab to my hotel. After some rest I tried
to get some cash from ATM at a few banks, but even the ones with the right
logos did not give out cash. Fortunately, I found a branch of Bank of China
where I took a large sum as there are not ATMS in my next designation,
Wutaishan
09/10/2014 Wed.-Wutaishan
I woke up at 6:30 for my 07:30 trip to
Wutaishan. On the way to the bus station, I showed my ticket to the taxi driver
I hailed and asked him if he knew where the bus station was. He said he did but
once I boarded he made a few comments and said he did not know, and therefore I
got out and took another taxi. He had to call his station to confirm the
location. When we arrived at the station, I asked the driver to wait and I ran
to info desk to confirm. I was running back to get my luggage from the cab when
I hit the flask that a young girl was carrying and it broke with a loud bang. I
apologized and went to pick up my bag. I then saw the girl talking to a friend
while trying to open the flask. I offered some money but she did not accept and
added that it was also her fault since she was running also. Both girls spoke
almost fluent English.
I entered the waiting area. The friend
of the girl with the broken flask came to me and asked me if I needed any help.
She said they were both English major seniors.
After I said good-bye to her, a man
approached me and tried to help me. He asked me to show him my ticket and I was
afraid of a long one-way discussion and therefore denied. He asked me to show it to the attendant at
the gate. He somehow knew my departure time and pointed to clock and added that
I should board the bus within the 5 to 10 minutes prior to departure. He later on asked another official to check
my ticket. The official asked me to enter the gate to board the bus. The
helping man entered the departure area and showed me the written destination on
the windshield and the one on my ticket to convince me that I was boarding the
right bus. He then tried to help me to check in my luggage but as I was late,
there was no room left and I had to carry my backpack onboard.
The helping man then boarded the bus –
it turned out to be a full minibus – to help me with my seat. Someone else was
sitting at my assigned seat and I found out that the assigned seat numbers did
not mean much. Only then I noticed that he was unable to speak and al this time
was communicating with gestures. I felt
uncomfortable to offer him some money for his efforts – just in case he was not
doing all this for money.
After an hour of drive we entered the
mountains and soon the fog covered the scenery. The landscape was green, with
many cows and sheep grazing on the lush grass. We arrived in Wutaishan
at 11:00. I walked while asking the direction to my hotel from many people but
as could not ask how far or how long, I had to keep asking. A few drivers
stopped and tried to give me a ride. One of them was following me for a long
time. I finally boarded a bus. When I wanted to pay my fare a girl told me it
was a free bus. After getting off the bus I made more inquires and the last
person, a woman in front of a beauty shop who was playing with her son on a
bike, accompanied me to a hotel. Only after check in I noticed that was neither
of the two places I had made reservations for the night before.
I went to lunch in a nearby restaurant
where the waiter-owner even charged me for the plastic wrapped cup and the pot
of the hot water.
I visited some of the temples that the
town is famous for. They were all very lively with very devout pilgrims, the
monks and the incense burning. I then tried to find out the bus schedule for
Taiyuan-Pingyo. At the bus station a few drives were playing cards inside a bus
and did not even raise the heads to my pleas. At the stop on the other end of
the town I asked a photographer for the next day buses but he insisted a bus
for the same day day. He made a call and then did not let me walk away until a
van with the driver and an assistance showed up and tried to give me a ride.
When I pointed to my shirt they figured out that I should have some luggage and
would not become a fare that very same day. They were more understanding than
the photographer.
09/11/2014 Thursday - Wutaishan-Pingyao
It was raining when I woke up. I waited
in bed and wrote some notes while waiting for the rain to stop before I could
go for a hike. Since the rain did not stop I decided to pack and leave. I went
to the North bus terminal and asked a driver for the bus to Taiyuan. He pointed
to another bus the driver of which sent me to a small hotel across the bus
terminal. The young girl there told me I needed to go to another station. I
asked her to write down the name of the station and after some persistence, she
complied. I then took the slip of the paper and got on a city bus and showed
the conductor the slip. She said she would let me off at the station. A few
people were kind to ask for the paper to check the address while I was riding
the bus.
Finally the bus stopped at a small
storefront that I had crossed quiet a few times but could have never guessed
that it would be a bus terminal. I purchased a ticket for the next bus that was
leaving shortly, had a fast noodle, and boarded my bus. The 4-hour ride was
uneventful.
Once I got off the bus at the terminal
in Taiyuan I entered the ticketing office asked information for the bus to
Pingyao. The attendant walked me to a window where the clerk spoke some
English. I asked her I needed to go to Pingyao to which she responded there
were no buses to Pingyao. I asked for about the train and she said there were
no trains to Pingyao. I repeated my request three times and she repeated her
answer three times. I told here about buses the following day to which she
responded I needed to go to another bus terminal. I begged her to write down
the name of the terminal. I then shared a taxi with a young guy who tried to
smoke in the car. Fortunately, there was a no smoking sign on the dashboard and
when I pointed it to him he complied. At the bus terminal I purchased a ticket
boarded on a bus with only six passengers. The driving manners were the worst I
had ever seen anywhere in the world. The incoming cars were driving from the
rightmost lane; there were no traffic lights even at the throughway
intersections. There were only some cameras placed visibly where the drivers
would slow down to a crawl and then after a few seconds things would go back to
the same lawlessness way.
We made it to
Pingyao in under three hours
where I took a rickshaw to Hotel Harmony
in the old town. The owner showed me my room, which looked like a fantasy room
– the Persian version of a Sufi room. But since the view was not too good I
asked her for a better view and she complied. I was so excited with the place
that I kissed her and thanked her for her thoughtful and charming decoration of
her place.
09/12/2014 Friday-Pingyao
I woke up excitedly early
next morning and started exploring the charming small town. I purchased a 3-day
ticket of all the sites for ¥180 and then walked the around town and visited
only a handful of the sites. I then noticed that all the hotels had a design
similar to my place – a beautiful green courtyard with fancifully decorated
rooms. But each building had some uniqueness that made it unpredictable and
pleasant enough to stop at to take a picture from.
I then walked out of the
gates of the old town and stopped by a large electronic shop and showed them my
Chinese adapter which was not working and asked them where I could find
something similar. About eight people consulted for a few minutes and once they
were sure what it was that I was asking, one volunteered and walked me to a
hardware store. The owner had to examine the adapter for a couple of minutes
before telling me that he did not carry what I needed. The man at the next shop
was a bit faster and had the replacement.
I stopped at a restaurant
where their menu was showing a braised fish which I ordered and when it came it
was as good as I was hoping. The owner offered me some of his own food – I was
not sure what it was, and offered me a glass of rice wine.
While walking I stopped at
a vendor who had a large fake Omega glass globe clock on display selling it for
¥250. When he did not agree with my asking price of ¥100, he offered e a
smaller one for ¥50. I also ended up also buying the larger one for ¥73. But as
it was too heavy to carry around for the rest of my trip regretted purchasing
it. I stopped by another vendor who had a similar version of the clock on
display and I sold my large clock to him for ¥50.
As it was a bit cool and
drizzling, I decided to go back to my room to dress properly. I was asking for
the directions on the map and I ended up walking for three hours – waking along
the same streets a few times each – until I finally saw the other branch of my
hotel where I met the waitress
Who had served my breakfast
tht morning. She was kind enough to get his bike and walk me to my place.
I then went out and
purchased some jasmine tea and fruits. The fruit vendor was kind enough to
offer me a couple of free peaches.
09/13/2014 Saturday-Pingyao
In the morning I called Bahram to tell
him about my gmail account access issue and asked him to contact me via yahoo.
I then had breakfast at a sidewalk café
and went to the bus terminal to inquire about the ticket to Changzi on the way
to Xinxiang for Guoliangcun.
They did not offer advance sales and
asked me to return the next morning.
I then climbed the North gate to walk
on the wall for about half of the path that was open. There was a good view of
the houses and the daily lives of the natives as the walls are at least 15m
high so one could see everything from that height.
The roofs of the buildings, concaved
arcs made of grayish shingles gave the very characteristics of Chinese Ming
era, as I had seen in a few other Beijing’s charming old neighborhoods.
I then visited the remaining of the
about 20 sites that my three-day ticket covered. I walked along a few of the deserted
streets, the wall and then stopped the LP recommended restaurant on Yamen Jie
for a delicious braised eggplant.
09/14/2014 Sunday: Pingyao-Guoliancun
I woke up at 6:30AM, 30 minutes past my
malfunctioned alarm but was able to shower, pack, and have a sidewalk breakfast
of tofu, dumplings and eggs to go and make it to station at before 7:30AM for
the 8:00AM departure to Changzi for connecting bus to XinXian.
We arrived in Changzi at 11:30. A group of young China Mobile staff was promoting
their service at the entrance to the bus terminal. I showed them my destination
on the map and they all very enthusiastically tried to assist. One of the girls
who spoke some English commented, “But we are in Hebei and Xinxian is in
Henan.” When I showed her on the map how close the two cities are, she ran to
the ticket booth and came back to tell me that I have to go to another bus
terminal. She then volunteered to walk me to the city bus and tell the bus
driver where to drop me off. I told her I was in a bit of rush and preferred to
take a taxi. A hawker was present and said the cab fare would be ¥20. The young
girl wrote the address for me and she and the hawker walked me out to the taxi.
At the next bus terminal I showed the map to the woman at the information desk
who informed me that there was a direct bus to Huixian (possibly through
Anyang) at 13:30. I had one hour to kill during which I had a decent huge lunch
at the terminal restaurant. The bus ride was through a secondary road with some
beautiful lush scenery but soon it became very mountainous. It became a bit
scary when on a narrow road in the rain the bus driver tried to pass other
trucks against non-stop oncoming trucks. At one point we passed through a long
solid rock cave with openings at some intervals. It was hard to tell how much
of it was natural and how much man-made.
At 15:30 the bus conductor dropped me
at an intersection. I took refuge from the rain under a door and I asked the
owner of the shop how I could get to my destination. He asked his son to help
and at that time a bus arrived and the son hailed it for me. It was a 20
minutes ride to my destination on a beautiful tree lined road. A friendly young
man started gesturing that I will be sleeping at his place. We got off at a
hotel and I registered for a room (¥200>150).
Meanwhile the man waited – possibly to make sure his commission would be
materialized. I did not want to take a chance as it was raining and I was not
sure how crowded the weekends were. I then walked to the entry point of the
village where I purchased a ticket for ¥150 and walked
towards the village. It was raining hard and at the intersection of Napping and
Guoliancun
I took the bus which passed through another cave-like tunnel. The scenery was
dramatic - the rocks reaching sky high and lush green vegetation filled
everywhere. The LP had recommended the hotels past the tunnel for their better
views. On the way back I showed the bus driver my hotel card and entrance
ticket but I gathered there was no address on either one of them. The bus
started heading down the mountain on a different road and I was sure we were
headed for Naping where I had to spend the night as it was
getting way past 4:30, the time for the for the last bus. Luckily, the bus
ended up at my starting point. I assume we had gone through a loop. I was so
relieved that I stopped at a store, got a beer and stepped outside to drink it
in the rain. I then retired to my room. The room was not too bad. I had a large
bed and clean sheets – I could not have been upset with the woman at the
reception for using a hawker to get customers. It could have been a worse night
if the bus had not returned to my hotel.
I just hope tomorrow will be a clear
day for some hiking and enjoying the magnificent views of the surrounding
mountains.
09/15/2014 Monday: Guoliancun-Kaifeng
When I woke up it was still raining. I
took the bus to upper Guoliancun and walked around for some time. I then went
back to my room to get my camera for a few pictures of the magnificent view but
the fog was heavy and visibility bad.
I decided to leave the village since
even it stopped raining, the trails would be too damp to walk on.
The staff at the motel was very
helpful. The young receptionist called and find out the bus schedule to
Huixian. I was waiting outside with a young worker at the motel for the bus but
the driver of the coming bus did not see us to stop. The worker called again
and was told another bus is leaving soon. Within five minutes the next bus
showed up. We arrived at Huixian where the driver dropped me across the bus
station and I took a bus that was just leaving for Xinxian.
In Xinxian, I entered a small office
with “Tickets” sign and asked for a ticket to Kaifeng. On the ticket it was
written 18:00 which meant I had to wait for more than three hours. I then
entered the main hall and went to the ticket windows to find out if I could get
an earlier ticket. After asking the woman at a ticket booth about eight time to
write the departure times, she wrote 08:00 and 13:00 which meant there were no
more buses for that day. I then walked along the gates while asking for the
gate to Kaifeng. At the last gate, an attendant took my ticket, ripped it and
let me through the gate and in a few minutes the bus left for Kaifeng. Both
buses in Huixian and Xinxian looked like intercity buses.
After about 1 ½ hours drive the bus
stopped and the driver asked the passengers to move to another bus that was
waiting in front of us. I picked up my luggage and ran for the next bus. After
about ½ hour I suddenly remembered that in the other bus I had took out my LP guide
to read it and then had left it on the chair. It was very upsetting. I thought
if I wanted to order a copy from Amazon, the shipping will take some time.
Possibly, I could purchase a PDF format but that would not be very convenient
to use.
I then walked along the bus. I asked a
few younger passengers if they spoke English to which they all answered
negative. The last couple young couple I asked could speak English. The woman
English was decent. I explained to her what had happened and asked her to ask the
conductor to contact the other bus to find out if they had my book. The
conductor was on the phone for about a few minutes and I kept hearing Meyou (do not have) which was not what I was
hoping for. I thought if they had found the book I could go back to Xinxian
terminal to get the book back. Just as I had given up, a man, in shabby suit
and slippers, who was sitting on a chair back to back to the conductor,
mentioned something, opened his shopping bag and pulled out my book – that was
some luck especially as it happened that the man was sitting on a chair where
he could hear the conversation. I was so glad that I kissed him and thanked him
and the girl who was translating. Once we arrived in Kaifeng and when the man
got off the bus, I ran to him and tried to pass him a few bills but in spite of
my insistence, he did not accept the reward.
Once in Kaifeng, I tried to take a cab
but the driver did not want to use his meter and quoted my ¥20. I got off and
at this time, another girl, Fan, who was in the same bus as I, checked the
hotel that I was going to and we shared a taxi. The fare was only ¥5.
After checking in at Jinjiang Inn, I left my luggage in the
room and walked to Gulou night market. Due to the rain the stalls were closed.
I found a restaurant with a nice rustic setting and sat for dinner. I had some
meatball, a seaweed noodle dish and some edamame and cooked peanut.
There was young father and his 10-year
old boy sitting next to my table. The boy came over and handed me a piece of
paper on which he had written in English, “Welcome to Kaifeng”
By the end of my meal two young guys
came in and took the seat where the father and son had sat earlier. Soon a
bottle of rice wine showed up on their table and I asked them if they had
ordered it at the restaurant or had brought it in themselves. That started a
conversation and the first of many salutes. They invited me to sit at their
table and soon we finished three bottles. One of the guys did not drink much
and he kept to his only cup. I could see that the other guy as sweating and
getting red but I did not notice that I was getting drunk faster than him.
Before I knew it was too late and the next I remember was when the guys were
taking off my jacket and lying me down in my bed.
09/16/2014 Tuesday-Kaifeng
I had to stay in bed until noon to
recover from the previous night, though I do not remember how I made it to my
room – or rather how the guys were able to find my place. As a precaution, I
had put my room key and the address cover in two different pockets, just in
case I lose one of them it would be of no use to anyone.
I found a note on the desk and could
read the name ‘Wang” and a phone number but the rest was in Chinese. I took it
to the front desk where I asked them to translate. He had written, “Iran and
China are good friends. Welcome to Kaifeng.” I stepped out while filled with
much gratitude for the two friends care and hospitality.
I then went across the street to McDonalds at
Sheng Fu Jie & Zhongshan Lu for a burger. I walked to the peaceful no-car
traffic street to the left of the Sheng
Fu Jie Gate where I had a decent coffee (¥8), walked to the Moslem section
and visited the Dongda Mosque, a converted temple with beautiful and peaceful
grounds.
I walked to the Xisi night market but
it was closed as it was raining. The area around the market was a beautiful
wide winding river which in better weather should have been a very nice place
for a walk.
I had a curry rice and tofu (¥18) at a
fast food joint.
Overall, the city was pretty, clean,
normal traffic, and charming. It was a pity as it was raining most of the day
with some heavy winds and coolness at times.
09/17/2014 Wednesday: Kaifeng-Luoyang
I woke up at 05:30 and after a so-so
breakfast the hotel’s cafeteria tried to take a cab on an intersection where
there was no place for them to stop, nor a place on each of the intersecting
roads. The flow of the traffic was continuous. Additionally, it seemed waving a
taxi does not mean much. I finally ran to an empty taxi behind the red light
and boarded it. I arrived at the bus terminal at 08:30. The ticket that I
purchased was for 09:30 whereas earlier I had been told to be there at 08:40;
therefore, they want customers to get there about 50 minutes before the
departure to ensure ticket availability.
The ride was a pleasant one as the
driver was riding slowly in the rain, playing a soft music video, and I was
snoozing most of the time. In the last hour a kid in the seat across from me
started crying due to some pain and his mother tried to comfort him. Meanwhile
a woman with a loud voice from the back of the bus was grumbling. In Luoyang
I tried to get some info about the ride to Huashan. The woman at the ticket
booth fetched a young guy who was very helpful.
I then tried to reboot my PC for the
address of my hotel, but since before getting off the bus I had turned on it
followed by immediate pressing the power off switch it went to a recovery mode
for a long time. Fortunately, it finally booted OK. I then went to the street,
boarded a cab, and showed the driver the address in Chinese. He consulted the
dispatcher and after a long time they could not figure out the exact location
though, the driver was quick enough to quote a price of ¥50 without turning on
the meter. I got out and crossed the street where a car coming out from a side
road almost hit me. I found another taxi and when I was boarding I dropped my
large backpack in the rain. The female driver knew the whereabouts and used her
meter that came to ¥9. I then had to ask for the hotel from about ten people
before finally the owner of a bike shop knew the hotel and pointed me in the
right direction on to a side street. The hostel, Luoyang Heartland
International Youth Hostel (¥75), seemed
very organized with a helpful English-speaking female owner and a friend of
hers. The room was just perfect, large, bright, nicely decorated and with a
good bathroom. I showered and took the bus to the old town vicinity and tried
to practice my Chinese, asking for the old town. Almost eight out of ten people
did not understand me. Those who did would only point me towards the main
street rather the side alleys where the actual old town would start. I walked
in the rain for some time. I took the bus back, rested for some time and this
time I took a taxi to Old Town for a LP recommended restaurant. The Peking duck
was OK but not as good as the one in Beijing. The vegetable dish was OK, with a
kicker of tiny mushroom-like vegetable. The braised eggplant was also OK though
there was more pork in it than eggplant. I took a taxi back to the hostel. When Nana, the friend of the owner saw me she
presented me a woven wristband souvenir that she said she had made it herself.
I thanked her for her kindness.
09/18/2014 Thursday-Huashan
The rain finally had stopped. I took a
taxi to Longmen
Caves (¥40) and spent a few hours
there. It was a great site known as 100,000 Buddha images; this was nat an
overstatment. The grounds were also beautiful – on the banks of the Li River.
I then wanted to go to North (Longmen)
train station to buy a ticket to Huashan. I boarded bus 81 and asked the driver
if he would go to train station to which he said, “Yes.” He then drove all the
back to the town. I had a meal in a cheap fast food joint. I took my tray
outside and sat a table of another restaurant. A female worker came over and
asked me to leave the table.
I then went back to my hostel, tried to
rest for some time but some construction work was going on upstairs.
I packed and took a cab to the train
station and bought a ticket on bullet train to Hua shan (17:45-19-10; ~300km at
the speed of 300 km/hr with a few short stops).
Two girls were waiting in the line.
They helped me with gate and seat.
The scenery along the way was beautiful
– rolling hills and terraces, woods and farms – as far as eyes good see, with a
beautiful sunset; I could imagine the sacrifice of so many lives for capture of
some of this land by the warring armies.
Huashan is a lively town, much bigger
that I expected. I met Hiasin, a young woman, who gave me some information as
to what to visit and where to eat. I had a decent barbecued fish loaded with
spices at the restaurant near my hotel.
09/19/2014 Friday-Huashan
I took a taxi to the Huashan Ticket
Center that was about 2km from my hotel and the meter showed ¥15, whereas the
yesterday’s cab ride from the train station to my hotel that was more than 10km
was also ¥15. When I protested the driver settled for ¥10.
The ticket office was packed with
visitors – all Chinese. I bought my ticket (¥180), existed across from the
entrance and two guys showed me a bus that was going to the start of the
walking trail after a ½ hour wait. They said it would also take ½ hour walking
there. I decided to walk but at a police booth I stopped and was told that the
road was open only to buses. I was told to walk on the other side of the fork.
I did that but ended up on the main road that would lead to the hotel. I ended
up walking back all the way to the ticket center where I was told that I should
exist from the same door that I had entered and walk to parking lot 2. In the
parking lot, I ended up waiting for ½ hour for the bus to become half-full and
then depart. We ended up at he temple on the road across my hotel – the spot
with the reclining Buddha that I had visited the night before.
I climbed for about 2 ½ hours. The
scenery was beautiful – very tall granite cliffs, rivers with clear water, many
waterfalls and temples. There were a large number of hikers but the trails were
not too mobbed to cause slowing down. I then decided to turn back before my
knees would cause me trouble as my backpack was somewhat heavy.
I then had a haircut, went to my room,
rested and had some tea and went to another restaurant next to the one I had
eaten the night before. When the chef at the barbeque saw me standing outside
he pulled a chair for me at his worktable and cleared some space for me to
sit.
I had some barbequed kebobs, chicken
wings, a large fish and some eggplant. Again, they were all loaded with dried
spices and very flavorful.
As I was eating outdoors, a few people
stopped by to try the food as the chefs were preparing them.
I also saw a mother and her son
approaching an older man who looked like a friend. He took the child from the
mother’s arms, took him away into a shop and within a few minutes when he
returned and wanted to give the child back to the mother the child started
crying and did not want to leave his arms. He had a very friendly and kind
face.
I then walked to the square by the
temple. Last night there was a Tai-Chi group there. Tonight on an adjacent
field there was a social dance. About 50 couples, including female partners,
some dressed very elegantly - and one lonely gay man were dancing to beautiful
Chinese music. Some were very good dancers. The air was clean and fresh, a bit
nippy and perfect for the dance. I sat there and watched the crowd for about an
hour. A man approached me and we talked
for some time - he in Chinese and I in English. Whenever I would stop him to
tell him I did not understand him he would try to gesture the writing of the
word on his palm, as if I knew the 50k plus Chinese characters.
I then watched a few men and even one
woman who would make very loud sound, similar to firecrackers, with a rope,
either rolling it on the air or hitting ground. It was amusing. One of them, in
full dress rehearsal, offered me to try it but I passed. The people were very
friendly and jovial.
09/20/2014 Saturday - Huashan-Xi’an
I made it to the train station for the
07:58 express train to Xi’an but the clerk said, “mey pa”, and offered me the
09:19 train. After paying for the ticket I went outside and sat on the steps to
do some people watching on the large plaza. The morning Taichi had just
finished. One of the woman got on her rickshaw with the loudspeaker and while
the music was still playing pedaled away.
I noticed that the women, mostly young,
as most people are here, were very well dressed, more than other countries and
carried themselves with confidence. You could also see ready smiles on their
faces more than other places.
The train took off on time and at the
speed of 250km/hr made it to Xi’an under
an hour. I bought a metro ticket on arrival, choosing the longest destination
for ¥5 in order not to be stuck at my exit. I then asked a guide what train to
take and exited at Zhong Lu. I mistakenly took Dong Dajie where as Bei Dajie
would have been closer to Nanxin Jie. Han Tang House, my intended hostel, did
not have a room (¥200) for the night and they sent me to Facebook. The friendly
attendant accepted my offer of ¥140 vs. the
price of ¥160 and led me to a decent room.
I then headed for the Muslim Quarter
around Dapi Yuan. It was a very
lively spot. I could not find the LP recommended restaurant after many inquires
and ended at another restaurant where the bossy female attendant was working
from a large tub of carrot rice and meat. I asked for and it was delicious. I
spent some time there since even though only about 10% of the seats were
occupied yet it was a lively place.
When I was leaving an old Moslem man in
traditional garment showed up and when I told him I was a Moslem he became very
friendly and asked me to take his picture posing at the rice pan.
I then walked around the area for a few
hours, visited a couple of mosques, the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower and then
visited the Folk House. On entry, I was stuck with a hawker who he led
me to the tearoom and after having been served a few varieties of teas -
including the delicious and sweet lychee infused black tea, ginseng and Woolang
by the female server - he tried to sell me some tea and tea service. He then
showed me a few rooms and in two galleries tried to sell me some paintings and
calligraphy. As I was upset with him for delaying me to see the charming
building itself I resisted him despite his persistence.
I then walked along the liveliest
street I have ever seen, the Beiyuanmen
leading to Drum Tower. The place became more crowded at night. I asked a young
man who was doing showmanship at his ice cream stand, similar to those in
Istanbul, about the whereabouts of the Great Mosque. He asked someone to watch
his stand, walked me to a narrow alley, and gave me the directions from there.
He was a Pakistani who has been studying in China for three years. The mosque
was a magnificent building, both the courtyards and the interior – supposedly
dating back to 8th century. I entered the prayer hall and sat there
for sometime before getting up and entering inner hall after confirming my
religion to some present. They were much more relaxed than the Arabs I had
dealt with in Jerusalem when it came to testifying to my religion. At any rate,
as soon as I sat in the much smaller inner hall, it was filled quickly with the
evening’s prayers and the man I was sitting next to pointed me to join the
prayer.
On leaving the prayer hall, Hassan
approached me and when I told him I was from Iran he treated me like a lost
brother. Someone told him I had left the backpack I just purchased in the hall.
I fetched. He then showed me a few older objects around the courtyard,
including a Persian Stella from 700 years ago.
I then walked back on Beiyuanmen
and the varieties of choices for the dinner where so many I decided to sample
small servings of all the sidewalk presentations. I tried some grilled octopus,
Kebob, noodle sandwich and a delicious sweet made of flour.
I then headed back to my hostel.
09/21/2014 Sunday-Xi’an
Per as advice of the owner of the hotel
I took bus 46 to the train station and as soon as I got off a bus arrived and
the female conductor hollered something and when she did not get any response
from me showed me the “Terracotta Warriors” sign on the side of the bus. I
boarded the bus and after about one hour the bus stopped and everyone got off.
I asked the conductor if that was the place and she confirmed. I got off and
someone showed us to the ticket booth. I bought one for ¥110, entered the
grounds, walked around the pleasant gardens, and then waited in the line to
enter a hall that I thought was pit 1 of the “terracotta Warriors.” After about
½ hour wait, we entered the hall and went through four floors, where in each
one they displayed the story of a king, his lover, and his defeat in a war and
his pain and suffering. The movies were almost full 3D. I then knew that I was
in the wrong place. After leaving the hall, I ended up in the restaurant and
asked a waitress for help. She fetched someone who walked me out and showed me
where to take the bus. This time the trip was about 15 minutes. Pit 1 was as
impressive I had read about.
I then headed back to the train station
where I took another bus to the Great Goose Pagoda, a seven-storey
temple, with huge court in the middle of long plaza. It was very lively with
all the couples and parents and their children walking around.
I then took bus 610 to the Drum Tower
and went to the Moslem Quarter and ended up in the Moslem restaurant I had
eaten the prior day. A few of the relatives of the owner joined me at my table
and we talked about religion, and Islam as the only real religion. The men were
very friendly. Then a group of for guys entered and sat at a table. One of the
men I was talking to told me that the men who just came in spoke Farsi. I got
up and went to their table to say hello. They were all Iraqis. One of them,
Kamen, was married to a woman whose father is Iranian and he spoke decent
Farsi. The others were Mazan, Ghasem, and Mohammad.
I then walked around the old market for
a while before heading back to my room.
09/22/2014 Monday-Xi’an
I walked to the North Gate to take bus
#4 to Han Yangling Tomb (The Mausoleum of Emperor Jingdi). I asked a
dozen people and a few bus drivers about the tomb and no one had any idea. The
last bus I boarded initially said he did not know the site but after I told him
I was looking for bus #4 he asked loudly from other passengers and again there
was no answer. Finally, he stopped another bus whose driver knew how to get
there. After a while the driver dropped me off at #4 bus stop. I knew the bus
runs very infrequently therefore I stopped a taxi and asked about the fair. The
driver quoted ¥200 and I stopped a second cab who said ¥70 but finally he cut
down the fare to ¥50. It was not a far distance to the site and possibly on the
meter fare would have been around ¥30.
Once at the tomb the driver got off and
led me to the ticket office and after I purchased my ticket he waited around
for about 5 minutes. I was not sure why he was waiting – maybe he wanted to
give me a ride back. There were a few halls and the burial pit. The museum was
not too impressive, but finally when I walked to the archeological hall I saw a
magnificent collection of all sorts of discoveries from 2ndc B.C.,
the emperor’s time. They included mini terracotta soldiers, animals, vases,
ironworks, and other remains. The trip was well worth it.
It was just a shame that being the
second most important site in Xi’an, not too many people knew about it; though
on the other hand, that made the place to be very quiet and almost it was like
a private viewing. The clean air, pleasant breeze, and the green grounds were
an added bonus.
At one point I sat on the steps outside
the museum to get a short beak. I noticed a very rusty faucet that was possibly
used for irrigation of the grounds. I wondered why the quality of the
merchandise should be so low grade that after a short time more effort would be
necessary to replace the piece. Shortly, two elder women who were passing by on
a bike stopped by there. One of them walked to the faucet and tried to turn it
on to wash her hands but the turner was missing. The woman ended up washing her
hands in the stagnant water collected in a pit below the faucet. Then the
second woman stepped over to do the same. At this time, the attendant who was
sitting at the other end of the building came out, and pulled out the turner
from his pocket and let the woman use the faucet. Then they chatted and laughed
for sometime before the two ladies rode away.
The guard then started talking to me
and I thought he was inviting me to tea inside and therefore I followed him;
but I guess I had misunderstood him and therefore I said goodbye and walked
away.
I then took the 15:00 bus #4 and the
last stop was at subway #2 line on direction of train station to town (6 stops
to Bell Tower at Zhong Lou). I looked around for a place to eat but could not
find anything appetizing. I took the metro to Bell Tower. I finally found a recommended dumpling joint
where I had some mediocre dumplings.
I then walked around the Old Quarter
and after many inquires finally found the recommended Moslem restaurant but it
was not inviting at all.
I then came across a second branch of
the Moslem Food Restaurant I had eaten at the day before, same carrot rice with
an on-site bakery.
I walked to the Great Mosque and walked
on the peaceful grounds, came across Hassan again, and then headed back the 2nd
branch of the Moslem restaurant and sat for a dinner. I picked up a roll of the
delicious sesame bread and my kebobs arrived soon. The place was very lively,
even though it was dirty and messy. A long line was waiting in the street for
the on the orders of kebobs to-go.
Midway my meal a couple came in and I
pointed them to share my table as the other five tables were all occupied. The
man (Kay,Chung 8618091809124 kay0124@QQ.com) knew some English therefore we talked
a bit about our countries, politics, family. jobs, and the fact that U.S. is a
“tyrant” ( I should not have been surprised by his knowledge of the word even
though his English knowledge was limited) but were agreed China and Iran were
good friends. Kay worked at the post
office and his wife worked at a lighting business.
He apologized for not being able to
speak English well but gave me his contact information and asked me to call him
in case of need and he would conference in a friend who was fluent in English
to assist me.
As I was finishing my meal, and in the
middle of their meal, the wife left the place, and when she returned, she
presented me with a tiger doll. This was the fourth time I felt humbled by the
kindness of the Chinese on this trip – Shao, Gong, and their female friends at
the Great Wall of China, Wang and his friend in Kaifeng, the old lady in
Beijing metro, and today by this couple. Many others had extended their
kindness to me, including Nana at Luoyang Heartland International Youth Hostel,
The sweet receptionist at Facebook here in Xi’an, and the attendants at most
hostels I had stayed.
They finished their meal, took some in
a plastic bag, and walked to their motor bike that they had parked next to the
entrance.
I stayed around as a beautiful ethnic
Uighur music was playing and my cup of tea in a paper-thin plastic cup was just
rather delicious. It was a warm feeling – in that small dirty restaurant –
without a bathroom or a sink. The staff knew I was from Iran. I think earlier
in the day, as I was walking around and passing by the place, the son of the
owner had seen me and had told his friends about me.
On the way back home, I stopped at the
stand that I had purchased some persimmons the night before. They said hello to
me. After I had chosen a few and had placed them in a box, the salesgirl came
to me and said the ones I had picked up were not ripe enough and replaced them
with some more ripe ones from another box. She even made room from the eighth one
vs. the usual six or seven that they usually come in.
Today, everyone, even the bus driver, a
group that I have not been too impressed with until now, proved otherwise by
trying his best to get me to my destination.
09/23/2014 Tuesday. Xi’an -Jinan
I took a taxi (¥130) to the airport for
my 10:30 flight to Jinan. It was initially drizzling but the rain picked up in
a short time. It took us about an hour to get there, despite the
resourcefulness of the driver to even passing other cars on turns. I had
forgotten to dispose the knife I had purchase in Beijing and therefore I had to
open my backpack for further checking. This made me forget completely about my
laptop that I had placed in a tray so after the inspector was done with me I
picked up my two backpacks and headed for the gate. After about five minutes I
remembered about the laptop, rushed back to the security and told a female
guard who was standing at one of the idle entries about my laptop. She checked
my boarding pass to find out at which entrance it was stamped and radioed them
and within two minutes a guard with the tray of my laptop showed up and asked
me if that was my laptop. One more time I felt lucky to get away with my
forgetfulness. We had a ½ hr delay and after 1 ¼ hours arrive in Jinan
at 12:30. I took the shuttle bus that was waiting outside and it took another
hour to arrive at the bus terminal where I asked an attendant for the bus to Jujiayo and walked in the direction
that he had pointed. It turned out that the place was the high-speed train
station. The attendant asked someone to walk me next door, to the regular train
station. I met young bright-face Dimitry (N-ART@bkru.com ), of
Kazakhstan who was headed for Beijing and was being helped by the same guard.
He gave me his email and said he could help me with my visa to his
country. After I showed my destination
in Chinese to information desk attendant and she wrote the departure times and
train numbers of two early morning trains for the next day.
I then checked in nearby Shendong Hotel. When I asked the
attendant about the number of the room where Mao had stayed in he walked me to a plaque and showed me the
Chinese writing about the stay of Mao in 1955 but added that the room number is
a secret and I could not make him divulge it.
I then went for lunch, but after
ordering and waiting for five minutes, I was told that the kitchen was out of
chicken and I ended up with a lousy alternative.
I walked to the park area. The city was
dusty and after having visited the grand Xi’an, this looked like an also ran
place. I walked to the nearby Moslem area and the grand mosque – but again
after Xi’an they seemed uninspiring. I sat at a large restaurant at the plaza
and ordered some kebobs. The place soon got crowded and lively. It was a
hustling restaurant where the staff would chase the passers-by and invite them
to sit. I ordered 16 skewers of kebobs – though they were much smaller than the
ones served in Xi’an – a quadruple portion of edamame that I left unfinished
after digging in it for a couple of hours, a large beer and a skewer of
eggplant and the bill came up to ¥29.
I then started to walk back to the
hotel. By this time the streets had become livelier and I ended up at a greener
part of the town where the air became more pleasant. I stopped at the railroad
to purchase my ticket for the morning but when I showed my destination to the
window clerk she said there was no train to that site. I left the place, found
two officers outside who did not know about Jujiayo but one of them used his
phone and told me I had to go the long distance bus station. I asked a rickshaw
driver who claimed that he did not know about the second bus station but later
said if I use his rickshaw he would take me there. I walked and asked many
people, most did not know about the second bus station, but few pointed me in
the correct direction. The last woman I asked who happened to be standing right
in front of the terminal claimed she did not know about the terminal but engaged
me in a conversation for about ten minutes saying there was no terminal there.
I finally found out she was a hostel hawk. The last person I asked pointed the
sign of the terminal to me where I purchased my ticket for the next morning and
asked the security inspector to write down the address of the place for the
taxi driver.
09/24/2014 – Wed. Jinan-Jujiayo
I took a taxi to the bus terminal and
boarded my 07:55 bus. The ride was supposed to be about 80 minutes. We stopped
at another bus terminal after about some ninety minutes where we changed buses.
Fortunately, this time just before the change, I had packed my guidebook in
case of a bus exchange. After about two hours in the bus, while it seemed that
we were still within the Jinan city limits the driver stopped and pointed to
the direction of Jujiayo Village. I started to walk and after a few minutes
met a hyperactive man who was standing on the road and talking to someone. He
offered me a ride and quoted me a price of ¥10. He was talking non-stop and I
had no idea what he was saying. Then he offered me to buy the entry ticket to
the village from him and handed me a ¥40 ticket. He stopped and asked me to
move to the back seat and stay low when we saw the guards just before the gates
of the town. I was smuggled into the city but I did wave to the guards and they
saw me but possibly they knew about the scheme of the driver.
The driver stopped at my requested
hostel, showed me the name written in Chinese – again assuming like others that
I could read Chinese and then handed me over to the owner of the place. I
dropped off my luggage and went out for a walk in the lovely village – many
stone building from 200 yeas ago in a hilly village with windy roads. There
were no cars or bikes in the city and it was not crowded so one could really
appreciate the scenery. I entered a restaurant and before I could point at a
vegetable dish on a table, I was led into the kitchen and found out that it was
the recommended restaurant in my guidebook. The cook was cutting up a rabbit. I
asked for half the rabbit (¥40) and some potatoes that a female cook was
shredding. The rabbit was very good, cooked with some hot pepper and mushrooms
– as the guide had indicated. The bones did not go to waste. Three small stray
dogs fought for every piece of them.
As I was eating my lunch, the female
cook twice approached the roosters’ cages with a scale and ax and each time
would use the scale to weigh one, and then within five minutes, an old female
help would carry the skinned and fully shrunk pompous rooster discreetly into
to the kitchen.
I toured the village and then headed
back to my hostel. I asked for a room on the second floor that had a much nicer
view of the surroundings.
While I was sitting on the balcony on
the second floor I saw that the female owner of the hostel started to wash the
lunch time dishes. There was a huge pile and all she had in front of her was a
tub of water. Everything, including some small bowls, spoons, chopsticks and
other dishes were placed in a huge container after being washed and then about
30 large plates that did not fit in the container sat on top of it.
At that moment, I wished to head back
home but it was after 6:00 PM and there was no more transportation out of the
village. I assume that this a
commonplace practice – as I had also observed it in Datong, in a more high end
restaurant – not un-similar to the waitress in a beautiful Santa Fe, Argentina
who would use Windex to clean the wine glasses. In case of China, with a large
population, something has to give.
I asked the female owner to boil me six
eggs for that night and some reserves for the next couple of days – in case I
could not find non-plated dishes.
I had settled for the no morning shower
at the hostel, but also the sheets were not changed. I also found out about the
tub sitting on top of the toilet. It was for self-service flush – it had to be
filled with the sink water.
The large mosquitoes appeared after
dinner and therefore I had to move in. The barking of the stray dogs was loud
for a couple of hours and I hoped it would wind down as the night wore out. I
would worry about the roosters in the morning.
I am glad I made this side trip. The
village was a reminder of how peaceful the life could have been in another age.
That night I went to bed with my street
cloths - hoping they would be cleaner that the sheets.
9/25/2014 – Thursday-Qufu
I woke up early and went out for a
walk. The place was still beautiful but this morning the sound of the
earthmover was much louder – with heavy banging – it had even quieted the
roosters, or maybe they were recovering from the losses that fell upon them the
day before at the restaurants.
I went back to my room and wanted to
wash hands before having breakfast but the water was not running. I therefore
packed, left the room fee under my supper plate and left it on a table near the
office.
I had walked about 100 yards when I saw
the owner who was coming from the opposite direction. He stopped and mentioned
something that I did not understand. I assumed he was asking for his money. I
opened my dictionary and showed him the word for watermelon and gestured the
word for plate. He called someone - I assumed his wife- and talked for a while.
We walked back to the hostel, I gave him the money and told him about the
water. We waent to our room for him to check – and he pretended that he did not
know anything about this; he even tried the hot water which I was sure it had
never been used.
Back downstairs, I tried a sink in the
yard where I could wash my hands with some detergent. I told him that I wanted
to sit down and eat something but he insisted that I should go. When we walked
out, I saw the yesterday’s driver waiting outside, today with even bigger eyes
and a bigger sneaky smile. I got in his car and told him I want to go Qindao. I felt that he was reprimanding
me for my plan, as there were no buses from that location. We waved to the
guards at the village gate and then picked up a few more passengers. He dropped
me off on the road and after a few minutes I boarded a bus for Jinan. A young
man was sitting next to me. He had three phones that rang often and he would
ignore as he was already talking to someone.
He told me that he was a tourist leader and when I told him about the Jujiayo
village he said he had heard of it. He was kind enough to lookup the bus number
for the trip from the bus terminal to the train station. I took the city bus
for a ½-hour trip. When I asked for the train schedule to Qindao, the
information attendant wrote that it was four-hour trip plus a three-hour wait
for the connecting train. I walked to window 1 of the ticket office and the
clerk said there were no more tickets.
I tried to take a taxi near the train
station but a young girl showed me a line where more that 400 people had queued
up and said I had to wait in that line. I therefore walked a few minutes to the
street where the bus station was located and took a taxi there. At the bus stop
I took the bus that was leaving in a few minutes. It was a 2 ½ hours trip and we arrived in Qufu at
13:30. The scenery on the road could have been beautiful but the haze was too
heavy to see anything except the silhouette of the plateau visible for only a
couple of hundred meters.
Once in Qufu, as I passed the taxi stop
the first driver in the line said he would use the meter and therefore I got
in. I checked at hostel Youth ______ with two very attentive receptionists. I
had a nice and clean room. That was like coming back to life – especially after
a shower with lukewarm water. I then headed out. I felt too hungry to visit the
Confucius complex. I therefore found a row of produce shops, purchased a few
items and went back to my room to have one more egg and some fruits. They all
tasted great.
I then walked to the train booking
office on the other side of the town but as I had forgotten to carry my
passport I could not buy a ticket. I walked to the Moslem quarter, but the
mosque was closed and I did not see any sign of a kebob house, as indicated in
LP. I headed back to my hotel, and just next to my hostel, on a row sitting a
bit back from the main street, saw a large restaurant. There was a large
banquet room full with a group and one lonely customer on the main hall. I
entered and walked to the table of the lonely guy and pointed to his dish for
the waitress. There was a large bowl of hotpot, an unappetizing chicken dish
and a beautiful dish of tofu. I asked for the tofu. The waitress came back with
a menu with a listed price of ¥48. When I said that was too expensive, she cut
the price to ¥45 and I made a counter offer for ¥40. She left and returned with
a piece of paper with a written price of ¥25. The tofu tasted as good as it
looked. The kind chef sent me a free soup that was also good.
Today it felt I did not do much but
still it was a full day.
09/26/2014 – Friday-Qufu
I visited the Confucius Temple in the
morning. I then had an eggplant lunch at the restaurant I had dined the night
before. I visited the Confucius Mansion and Forest - where his tomb site is
located - in the afternoon.
I met Brigitta of Berlin and had a
banquette meal at my favorite restaurant with her. My friendly waitress was
fetched and I put ¥300 on the table and said, “feed us”. She took care of
everything. The meal was good.
Brigetta was not happy with the
situation at her school where she worked. The Chinese manager had raised the
tuition for VW Company and VW had pulled out of the contract with them,
therefore they had lost a big portion of their students.
09/27/2014 Saturday-Shanghai
I went for a walk outside the city wall
and walked along the well-kept canal. I stopped by a tiny baker where the baker
was using a very old broom to spread the dough and place them in the tiny coal
fired oven. I picked up three loaves. I then bought a couple of large
persimmons from a female vendor. That was the only thing that she was offering
for sale. I then had a leisurely breakfast at the courtyard of my hostel.
I thoroughly enjoyed my stay in this
small town, even though I stayed there for only two nights. There was much less
to do here compared to Xi’an or Pingyao, but it was just the right size and mix
to make it an enjoyable stay.
I took a taxi to the train station
(¥35) and just made it for my 11:25 -14:37 train to Shanghai.
The train averaged 300km/hr. The ride was smooth but the smog was very bad all
along the road, unlike the Luoyang-Huashan train path where the visibility was
much better.
I bought a metro card and took #2 metro
with a transfer to #3/4 lines to my hostel, Rock&Wood International Hostel.
I got a nice room (¥260). I went for a
walk on W. Nanjing Rd. It could be taken for a street in any European country.
I sopped by LP recommended Le Tour
Hostel (¥300), but I thought my hostel was a better value.
09/28/2014-Sunday-Shanghai
After a leisurely breakfast, I took the
metro and stopped at Shanghai library. It was busy for a Sunday morning. The
building was new.
I then went to French Concession and
visited around Xintiandi and the building where the first National Congress of
CCP was held with Mao and other comrades. I then visited the similar area
around Tianzifang. I took the metro again, and got off at Xiaoanmen and walked
around the old town. It was a run down area that looked more like slums. I met
a native Chinese who had migrated to Australia and was visiting home for the
funeral of his father. He was from that neighborhood but did not like the
rampant smell and the poverty there. He also added that the city tore down the
wall around the old town five years ago.
I then had had a lunch of duck – I was
too hungry to look for something else.
I walked to Yuyuan Garden area – a very
lively neighborhood packed with tourists and shoppers.
I visted the Shanghai Museum. They had
a great selection on pottery, one from about 6000BC, some beautiful and
elaborate bronze wine vessels from 1700BC, and some Silk Road coins with a
large collection from Iran from 500BC onwards.
I sat by the People’s Square for some
people watching people and enjoying the pleasant breeze.
I walked to East Nanjing Rd. and had a
fish and mushroom dinner at LP recommended Sichuan restaurant Yuxin.
I walked along the very lively East
Nanjing. The sex trade was very active. They would approach and would always
start with, “Hi; where are you going?” to which I would respond with, “Going to
see my wife.” They would get the message and walk away with a smile.
I walked to Bund, another lively
section on the river The high-rise building across the river were all lighted
colorfully and the crowd was very excited with the colors and lights.
On the way to metro I walked by Yuyuan
Gardens area again, where people were singing and dancing and right at that
time a big fireworks from Bund could be seen.
09/29/2014 Monday- Zhujiajio Village.
I had a breakfast of boiled eggs and
Qufu bread before heading for the metro to go to the bus station for trip to Zhujiajio,
a Ming & Qin dynasty village 30km away from Shanghai.
In the metro there was a young girl
sitting on a chair next to her granny. The granny lovingly handed her a pack of
juice. I thought it was nice to have a granny. The girl had a hard time opening
the pack but finally managed with the help of her teeth. She then spilled some
of the juice on her pretty dress and the granny started scolding her – a bit
harshly. I felt sorry for tor the kid.
I exited the metro at People’s Square
and asked someone for the bus station. He walked me to it a short distance
away. I checked my destination with a driver and he directed me to the right
bus. I was sitting behind the conductor and midway suddenly a man walked to the
conductor while shivering from the pain and told the conductor he had to get
out to relieve himself.
The conductor walked to the driver and
explained to him the emergency while grinning. We were riding on a highway with
no shoulder and therefore there was not much that the driver could do for the
poor man. After five minutes, we arrived at a fork between a bridge and an exit
where the driver stopped. A kind woman sitting next to the conductor handed a
pack of pocket Kleenex to the man and then he disappeared. He returned in five
minutes and when he tried to give back the Kleenex pack to the woman she shook
her head and her hands as if saying, “you creep, leave me alone.”
After arriving in the village I sopped
at the Tourist office and asked for a map but they said a map could be given
only if I purchase a ticket. I bought the cheaper ticket that included four
sites for ¥30.
I visited a few sites. The small town
was too commercialized for tourism industry, filled with gift shops and many
empty teahouses due to the usual high price. When I saw a branch of Starbucks –
which really looked out of place - I turned around and headed back to Shanghai.
On the way back, a woman with an infant
took off from the side walk to cross the highway while cars were passing at
full speed. She had slippers on. Our driver, a big man, who for half of the way
had his hands on the horn, not only did not slow down, but he sped up. All it
would have taken for a disaster to occur was for the infant to make a wrong
move, or one of her slippers had slipped or a car would have been passing on
the right hand side of us.
When I got off the bus, I asked for the
directions to the metro from two young guys. They happened to be Korean
tourists. One used his phone to navigate which took us a long time. I wanted to
relieve them of the trouble but they said they were going to take the subway.
When finally we arrived at the subway entrance, they said they just wanted to
escort me and then we said goodbye.
I took the metro to Guoyan by the football stadium. It turned out a great LP
recommendation. I had a delicious eggplant, sizzling beef, and a beer along
with tea and the bill came to ¥63 – that could have been the price just for the
good tea they served in a pretty green tea service.
A young couple took the seats across
and next to me but each of them was mostly focused on his or her phone. Nevertheless, the girl next to me managed to
pullout a hair with chopsticks from the beautiful big steam fish. The smiling
waitress picked up the plate and without a blink emptied the contents in a
trash tray and then went to kitchen to reorder the dish which arrived shortly.
At the end of the meal I asked her for
the menu. There were two menus, one in English, laminated, and the other one in
Chinese, for one-time use. She gave me the Chinese menu and I asked for the
English one. She resisted and I insisted. She kept saying only one – she was
thinking I was going to get out with her only copy. The meal and the experience
was nevertheless great. However, at the very end the man across from me asked
for an ashtray, poured some tea into it and then lit a cigarette. I picked up
my bag and walked out.
Later at night, I tried to make hotel
reservations in Suzhou, Hangzhou and Xiamen, and could not get the dates that I
wanted. I therefore I did a partial reservation for the first two.
09/30/2014 Tuesday - Shanghai-Suzhou
I woke up early and was at the Railroad
station by 08:30. I was able to get a ticket to Suzhou for the 10:10 departure.
I sat down, listened to some music, read the LP, and before long boarded the
train for the ½ hr ride to Suzhou. I took the subway for two stops and
then took a taxi to my hotel “Cross Street Shop” as listed by cTrip. When we
got to the area the taxi driver could not find the site and tried to call the
place. I got off the taxi to ask the front desk of a Motel 99 and they told me
I was at the right place. The driver started arguing with them why they did not
have the correct name in the front. The motel seemed more like a love motel,
with tiny rooms. They could not find my reservation. I had to show them the
copy from ctrip email as my confirmation and they accepted it. I then went out
to explore the town. The weather was cool and there was a pleasant breeze. A
few people kindly helped with the directions. I took bus 262 to the town
museum. The best part of it was the design of the building by I M Pei. I then
visited the most popular park of the town, The Humble Administrator’s Garden (¥90). It was a pleasant
park, tastefully designed and a bit crowded – as warned by LP. It was buit in 1513 by Wang Xiancheng, an Imperial Envoy and poet of the Ming Dynasty. The garden was named (first evidence
around 1517[3]) after a verse by the famous scholar official of the Jin
Dynasty, Pan Yue, it his prose, An
Idle Life. It goes as following: "I enjoy a carefree life by planting
trees and building my own house...I irrigate my garden and grow vegetables for
me to eat...such a life suits a retired official like me well." This verse
symbolized Wang's desire to retire from politics and adopt a hermitic life in
the manner of Tao Yuanming.
One pavilion was named, “The Far Away Looking Pavilion”. The name is derived from a poem where the poet
describes the beauty of his lover getting more desirable the further away it
gets. Interestingly, the son of the owner lost the garden as a payment of a
gambling debt. That reminded of the movie, “Gambler.”
I then walked around the alleyways and
by the canal. There were some beautiful houses on and off the canal – and the
areas were mostly non-commercialized. I then found the Pingiang Lu, a beautiful and lively long narrow street along a
canal. There were some very tastefully designed shops – more like the NYC’s
Village than a small town in China.
I then tried to have dinner at a LP
recommended place. I found the street but there were no numbers on the building
so after some search I gave up and had a decent fish at a noodle shop.
10/01/2014 Wednesday - Tongli
I took the metro line 2 for two stops
towards Lindun and transferred to bus 933 to the bus terminal. There was a mob
and many parked bikes out of the station. Only those with a ticket could enter
the terminal. I asked someone where I could buy a ticket and he pointed me to
go around the corner. I walked some distance, and then returned and found out
the ticket office was underground, in a location that I initially had thought
was an underpass. Surprisingly, they had a ticket available for Tongli, though
the clerk initially could not recognize the town. I then passed by the guards
inspecting the tickets but once inside the terminal, I was pointed to go across
the street where was a long and tall construction fence and after some walk I
knew I was going at the wrong direction. I returned and found out that the
temporarily made stop was adjacent to the terminal. I waited for sometime in
Line 1, but as the departure time was approaching, I went ahead of the line and
showed my ticket to the clerk. He asked me to wait in front of the line and
shortly someone walked us to Tongli bus. This time the seat numbers were
enforced.
The ride seemed longer than the only
the 18km distance we were supposed to travel. Once in Tongli, I purchased an electric
car ticket for ¥5. The car dropped us at the entry to the town. The small town
is a Ming era canal town and although it was somewhat crowded, yet it was a
pleasant walk and I even found a few non-touristy areas to walk along. The
price of the ¥100 ticket included the visit to a half a dozen courtyards and
exhibitions.
On the way back I walked about ½ hour
to the bus stop, I bought the very last ticket for the next bus that was leaving
within a few minutes. When I handed my ticket to the ticket inspector he and
the driver noticed that the seat was already occupied. The driver walked me to
the seat, checked the ticket of the passenger staking it, and there was some
talk between them, and then the driver scolded him and asked him to get off and
asked me to sit down. They then had more discussion outside, and finally the
driver brought the man in and asked him to sit on the floor just next to me. It
seemed that the man had the same seat number, 31, but for the next bus and the
guard had just scanned the ticket and let him in.
After ½-hour drive, the driver stopped
the car, and walked the man to a bus parked just behind him and the man boarded
that bus. When we arrived at the bus terminal, I purchased my ticket for
Hangzhou for Friday, and took the metro back to my motel.
10/02/2014 Thursday – Suzhou
I had no agenda on this last day of my
stay in beautiful Suzhou. I picked up a couple of small cookies from a nearby
pastry, took bus 633 half way to the Museum and got off to walk the remainder
of the distance. The streets were packed with holiday tourists.
I stopped at LP recommended Wumen Renjia (Our
People). It was about 11:00 and a few tables were full. I ordered a fish from
the menu that they did not have. I ended up ordering a sweet & sour
Mandarin Carp (¥138). It was heavily battered and too overpriced. I guess they
could get away with it based on their laurels and the pictures of the
dignitaries posted on the walls. By the time I left all halls and courtyard
were packed.
I then walked to the lively Pingiang Lu and continued to Soochow
University, stopped by a park were social dance and opera were being performed.
I took a long walk to Confucius temple just in time for its closing. On the way
back to my hostel I stopped at a lively street. At a restaurant where a woman
was barbecuing chickens I ordered one. She asked me to sit at a table inside
but I took my plate and placed it on her fridge on the sidewalk to eat standing
outdoors. Her attentive young son brought me a chair. Then the next door
shopkeeper permitted I sit at the table that he had setup outdoors. The chicken
was decent.
As I was eating a middle age woman
entered the store of the shopkeeper. A teenager rushed to the store, ordered
something and handed the shopkeeper a ¥100 bill. The woman claimed that the
bill was the money she had just lost. The teenager denied her claim. As the
argument was heating up, the young kid who had brought mea chair went to the
middle of the street, picked up the bill and handed it to the woman. The
argument ended.
I tried to walked back all the way to
my motel but got lost and a few people to whom I showed my motel card could not
help. I took one metro stop to my place.
10/03/2014 Friday – Hangzhou
I took the metro to South Bus Terminal
and waited for about ½ hour for my 09:15 departure to Hangzhou. The trip was
about 2 ½ hours. I had the front seat on the upper deck with a good view. The lower deck
was used for storage bins. Once in Hangzhou, I took a taxi from North Bus
Terminal to the South Bus Terminal (¥65) and tried to check in but the
receptionist seemed to have a problem with my reservation at hostelworld.com.
It turned out I had made a reservation for the period of 10/04 to 10/06. My
reservation in Suzhou was for 09/30 – 10/02 and on arrival I had paid for the
room for 10/03. This morning I had mixed up the dates. While making the on-line
reservation for the two hotels neither one had 10/03 open, and I ended up
paying for that day twice, once in each town. Therefore, I lost one day of room
charge in Suzhou. Nevertheless, I felt lucky to be able to get a room for
today, as it seemed the city would be mobbed with tourists today. I got a
decent room on the 15th floor, therefore the traffic sound seems to be
bearable.
I then walked cross the street to the
bus terminal and asked a few guards if there was a bus to the West Lake and the
response was “Meiyo.” I then went to the information and asked the clerk, she
asked a colleague and wrote “bus 51” on a piece of paper. I stepped out, and at
the bus stop boarded that bus. I showed the map to the driver and asked him if
he would go there. He seemed confused and did not give me a “yes” or “no”
answer. After a while, an old man who felt I needed help walked to me and I
showed him the map. It seemed that he
knew how to get there. At a stop, he asked me to get off with him. He then
accompanied me for about 5 minutes to “bus 51” and told me that was the bus to
my destination. The traffic was very slow due to the large number of visitors
but we made it there in a shorter time than I was expecting.
The West Lake area was packed with tourists. The lake and its surrounding
– whatever visible and the parts shrouded in smog – was pretty. It should have
been gorgeous in earlier times – as the emperors would visit here often.
I then looked for the LP recommended
restaurant, ______, and after a few times asking for directions I found the
place and had a decent eggplant and chicken clay pot and a good and tender
steam fish.
After walking out of the restaurant, I
accidentally walked into _____, a fun passers-by street mentioned in LP. It was
almost as lively as Xi’an’s Moslem Quarter.
After some walk, I tried to take bus 51
but at the bus stop it showed the hours of operation was only till 18:30. I
took a taxi and the fare was ¥17 despite the fact that the driver had to take a
longer path due to the traffic. At the South Bus terminal earlier in the day, a
private car had asked for ¥60 and a cabby had asked for ¥80.
10/04/2014-Saturday
I walked along the path of Bus 51 and
stumbled on a hilly temple where I had a nice walk in a very peaceful
surrounding and then after a short while I ended up in Wushan. The parents were
treating the kids to all kinds of games and treats. I continued my walk to West
Lake and on the way visited Confucius Temple and the gallery of painter Pan
Tianshou. I stopped at Green Tea Restaurant.
There was a very long line and. I had to get a number. I walked away and when I
returned I had lost my spot. The receptionist was kind to call me again after a
five minute wait. The place was fun and lively, the food was very good and the
prices very reasonable. I then almost circled the whole lake. It was a fun
place and people in celebratory mood. I also visited the hill grounds of
another temple where I had a very nice walk in peace and quiet.
10/05/2014-Sunday
I
stayed in my room for most of the morning as I had seen most of what I had
planned to see. I then walked in the
alleyways and found a bakery with the Xi’an’s Moslems’ bread and a female
seller with a headscarf. I had missed good bread so much that I could not stop
eating until I finished off the rolls.
I
then ended up getting on the main road by the bridge I had passed by in the
past. I walked all the way to West Lake area and lunched at Green Tea. The
streets were a bit less packed today but at the restaurant still I had to wait
for more than and hour – though it was worth it as I had a decent lunch. One
appetizer was peppercorn cucumber. It was almost like a pickled cucumber,
though fresh and crisp, in sesame oil and soy sauce marinated with chili pepper
and green peppercorn. It was so good I had half the bowl and then my lips
started to shiver like violin strings.
As
I was leaving the restaurant I saw an argument between a young couple and a few
police officers. The young man was very aggressive and kept pointing and
screaming at one of the cops. Another cop was filming the scene on his iPhone.
Had it been in U.S., the man would have been arrested multiple times, but here,
in a communist country, he finally walked away at his own will.
I
then walked to Wushan and ?Zhong___,
stopped at Huqingyu Tang Traditional Medicine shop and Fang Hui Chun Pharmacy.
It was doing a brisk business. I walked along the Drum Tower street. It was
full of restaurants all preparing for the dinner traffic. I asked a few times
for the directions to my motel. The last time I askedit was by the bridge I had passed by in the
morning. A police officer who was just finishing his shift pointed me in the right
direction. Then as I was planning to enter the alleyways, again he stopped by
on his bike and said I was going the wrong direction and offered me a lift
which I accepted.
In
the elevator there was a notice regarding some undesirable elements that have
been slipping business cards for hookers services under the doors. It claimed
that the matter had been brought to police attention and the case was under
investigation. For the two nights that I was in that hotel I found three times
the same business card under the door. Possibly the hotel markets to single
male guests and it should be a more profitable business for them that the room
charges – even if they have to pay off the police. How they could claim that
the cameras were not capturing images of the perpetrators is another
story.
10/06/2014-Monday
– Hangzhou-Guangzhou
I
woke up at 04:30, took a taxi to the airport and settled for a fare of ¥100. At
the airport I gave the driver ¥110 and he tried to return the extra bill to me.
Same thing had happened in Xi’an airport ride.
I
checked in at 06:40 for my 07:10 flight to Guangzhou - just in time - since it
was posted that the windows close 40 minutes prior to the flight. As I was late
they had given my seat away and the clerk said she would give me a business
class seat without the privileges. I did end up getting the privileges. A pair
of slippers was placed at my feet. Breakfast
was served but the utensils came late and then I had two forks instead of a
fork and a knife. I guess the use of two similar chopsticks is institutionalized
here! We had a timely and smooth flight to Guangzhou.
I
purchased a transit ticket (¥50 + ¥30 deposit) and took metro line 3 to my
hostel, Plum Flower House, and I
found the place easily.
I
then took the metro to the top restaurant of the town. I did get a good seat
and a decent steam fish. The tea service was again very uninspiring. I am sure
the Japanese can make a robot with more grace and elegance or maybe I should
not have seen the Japanese tea ceremonies in New York. The service was lousy
for a top restaurant. No napkins – as it was always the case. I asked for a
second bowl of rice that came at the end of my meal. Finally, I had to wait for
about 10 minutes for my change. In the bathroom, for a change, there was a wall
soap holder but it was too filthy to touch. The place has a dozen halls and a
map of the halls at the main reception hall.
It had also posted the awards for being recognized as one of the top ten
quality restaurants in Asia – that possibly meant in China.
I then took the metro to the actors’ studio
and Bahia Academy of the Art but they were all closed. As for the ancestral
house of Bruce Lee, it seemed no one knew him or his father, an opera singer.
Finally, someone who knew of the house said there was nothing to see as it had
been demolished. Two cops were kind enough to walk me to another Ming era house
but that one was also closed.
The
Chen Ancestral Academy was open and
I spent ½-hour walking around there. I then walked to the Mosque of Prophet. It
was a converted temple with the ugliest minaret I have ever seen. Across the
street there was a Halal restaurant where the two Uyghur female attendants
where as indifferent as it was possible; occasionally they had to attend their infant
babies. The male owner was kind enough to bring me a fork and a spoon. I did
forgo the use of the fork with some greasy stains. Nevertheless, the food was tasty. I was the
only paid customer for the night, as the rest of the guests were relatives.
I
then walked in the lively market in the adjacent alleyway, bought some fruits
and headed back to my room.
10/07/2014
Tuesday
In
the morning I had a chat with Plum, the friendly woman who manages the hostel.
She said that the price of the apartment is about ¥6.5m and the rent they are
paying is 7k/mo. The owner bought the unit for ¥4.5m 4 year ago.
I
headed out for a hike in Baiyuan Shan,
a nearby park. It was crowded with hikers, parents and grandparents
accompanying kids.
I
also visited Shamain Island and
hilly Yuexiu Park and the lovely Orchird Garden with a beautiful
teahouse on a pond where I had a tea.
I
then went back to the hostel to join Plum and other guests, a German and his
Chinese girlfriend and another German, Simon Mezger, for a hotpot meal. It was
a pleasant meal.
I
made a reservation for the flight to Guilin for Thursday.
10/08/2014
Wednesday
I
went for a pleasant hike with one of the Germans, Simon Mezger, in the morning.
The park was much less crowded today as the national Holiday is over.
I
headed out to try the Dim Sum place that Plum had kindly recommended and
written down in Chinese the items to try. The food was good and the service was
yet the most professional.
I
then had a hard time locating the Indian Consulate building and when I entered
the office, I was told there is a five-day waiting period for the visa application.
I guess the India does not need the hard currency much.
I
had a great coffee at Starbucks and took the metro to Heizhu where I had a pleasant “Pearl
River Cruise” around the river. The views were great – in particular the
tasteful lightings on the rooftops of the high rises all along the river.
10/09/2014
Thursday - Guangzhou -Guilin
I said good-bye to Plum, my host, and took the
metro to the airport. I tried to get a refund for my transit ticket but I was
told I had to do it at a certain station. I tried to give it to a couple of men
but they rejected it; I just left it in a corner. The 45-minute flight was on
time. Once in Guilin,
I took the shuttle to town and walked a few hundred meters to my hostel, Wada. I went for a walk. It took a long time to find the restaurant that I
wanted to eat. It also took me a long time to get back to my hostel. The city
was featureless, except for the large number of motorbikes.
10/10/2014
Friday - Guilin -Xingping
In
the morning I decided to go for a boat ride on the Li river to Yangshuo (¥230).
I was late for the 08:30 departure and took the 10:30. We took the bus for
about an hour to the pier and then boarded small motor boats. I met Goshen, a
Polish/Norwegian psychologist who had travelled in India for four months the
previous year. She used her phone camera to take pictures to send her mom so
that the mother would be assured of her safety.
The
ride was a surreal experience of scenery of karsts on both banks of the river.
The haze or smog made the imagery more unreal. Once in Xingping, I decided to stay
there rather than going all the way to Hangshuo with the rest of tour group. I
checked in at “This Old Place” and
then went for a hike to a nearby hill. By the time I got to the top it was
17:00. The sunset should have been pretty but I decided to head back and tried
a walking path along the river but as it was getting dark, I decided to the
walk the next day. I had a decent eggplant dish at a restaurant belonging to
the hostel.
Han Yu, a great poet in Tang Dynasty, had
written a popular poem to praise the beautiful scenery of Lijiang River.
The
river winds like a blue silk ribbon,
While
the hills erect like green jade hairpins.
10/11/2014
Saturday
I
planned to go for a bike ride along the Li River In the morning, but I read on
Wikitravel that the bikes at my hostel were not well maintained therefore I
decided to walk the bike path to Luotian.
I was lost a few times and got a bit hungry, but finally made it to a paved
road, and walked back to town, dusty and tired. I went to a Wiki recommended
restaurant for an eggplant dish and chicken pieces. A Dutch biker stopped at the restaurant and
took a photo of a shopkeeper across the road, posing with much pride, in front
of a Mao’s picture hanging in his shop.
This was the second time I saw a portrait of Mao in China.
I
joined a French couple for cormorants’
fishing in the evening. The birds were sitting on the deck with a string
tied to their feet. The angler tied up their throats and then we headed into
the river – with a very bright light in front of us, encircled by many
mosquitoes. The birds were agile and hungry. They would swim and dive fast in
front of the boat and with each dive they would come up with a fish in their
beaks. They would try to swallow the fish if they were small enough to go
through their tightened throat. In case of the bigger fish sometimes they would
try to hide it in their mouths but the fisherman would notice from the
projected throats and he would stretch a long rod that they would climb and he
then would bring them on board and remove the fish from the mouths and then
reward them with a smaller fish. It was a perfect cooperation between men and
beast with some cheating on the part of the birds.
I
did my laundry in the evening, went for walk, and passed by a Moslem restaurant
and entered to ask for some Moslem bread, which they did not have. I then
wanted to leave but that was not an option. I was led to a seat and had some
rice. The owner knew of Iran and its presidents and he showed me the pictures
of the huge mosque with a capacity of 25,000 in his city and a page of Quran on
his phone. I read a few lines of it to
him. He then played a recording of the prayer.
I
purchased a few postcards to mail.
10/12/2014
Sunday - Xingping -Yangshou.
I
took the one-hour bus drive to Yangshou and then took a taxi (¥30) to “The Cozy Garden”, ¥80, in a village
near the town. After going to my room I found out that I had forgotten my LP
guide book in Xingping. The friendly receptionist called them and they said
they got the book. I had to take a bus to Xinqping. This time the scenery was
more pleasant. As we arrived in town we passed by the small well laid garden
with raised beds in the front yard of a house that I had passed by the day
before and it felt so familiar. After getting off the bus and as I was
approaching the Moslem restaurant I had dined the night before I thought of
stopping by there to say hello to the owner and maybe take a picture when the
man drove by on a bike and greeted me and pedaled away.
At
the hostel, I thanked the receptionists and got my book. I stopped at their restaurant
for their eggplant dish. The waitress knew what I was going to order. After
lunch I took the bus back to Yangshou. This time the trip was a bit tiring,
maybe because I did not have a good view of the front windshield. Once in town,
I walked to the touristy section of the town. It was mobbed – as crowded as the
National Holiday Week. While walking to my hostel I took a wrong turn and it
took me a while to get back to the hostel. I was planning to go to the night
market but I read in LP that the market is not for the squeamish as they serve
everything, including dog meat. I thought of the miserable looking dogs I had
seen earlier in the day in cages in the back of a truck. I had hoped that they
were stray dogs being collected by the town. However, with LP comment my,
second thought happened to be the case.
I rested for some time and went to Trippers
Retreat across the road for a dinner of lasagna. For the desert, I had a water
buffalo yogurt at my hostel.
10/13/2014
Monday – Yangshou-Guilin.
I
made a delicious omelet with fresh eggs at the hostel. There was even some semi
whole wheat bread in the fridge. Nancy, the sweet receptions, made a
reservation for me for the cooking class (¥180). I walked to town and met the
group at the 09:30. Amy, the chef, took us - a couple from New Zealand, and
another couple from Israel - to the market for a quick shopping and then at her
place, out of the town in a pleasant area, she demonstrated and we cooked
eggplant, beer fish, chicken cashew nuts and some steamed stuffed mushrooms.
Every thing came out delicious.
I
had planned to go to Guilin that night to take the tour of the ”Longji Dragon's
Backbone rice terraces” at Wada hostel the next day. But I decided to go to
either Longji or Sanjian on my own. I went to the hostel to get my luggage.
Once there, Chris, an Australian that I had earlier met at Wada in Guilin was
also headed for the bus station. We shared a cab and boarded the bus together.
As we were looking for seats, two seats across had one passenger each and each
man was reserving the empty seat next to him. Another guy in the front row of
these two guys that his adjacent seat was also empty, got up his seat and
offered it to us. We sat together. When we got off the bus in Guilin Chris noticed that his backpack
that he had left between his legs on the floor was ripped. Apparently, the guy
in the back row had managed to go under the seat and use a razor to cut open
the bag. The one sitting on the isle could have covered up the man sitting by
the window. Fortunately, Chris did not have anything of value in his bag. His
camera was in his larger backpack in the side storage and his wallet was in his
safety belt.
As
it was past 4:30 PM and we had arrived the North bus station I could not make
it to either one of my destinations and therefore I went to Wada hostel. That
nigh the hostel had free dumpling night. Each of the guests helped to roll or
fill the dumplings - many of them. The three girls working at the hostel did
the flattening of the dough and the boiling. They were delicious and with the
hot chili sauce, every one ate a lot.
10/14/2014,
Tuesday - Longji Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces
I
took bus 12 to the South bus station and took the 09:35 bus to Longshen. At
about 12:00 we arrived at Heping,
the starting point of the Longji Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces.
Immediately a minibus showed up and the female conductor invited me to board. I
asked the driver for my designated hostel in Pin’an. He did not know it – that
was not a good sign. Then the ticket agent boarded the bus and I purchased a
ticket for ¥100. She said the bus was going to Tiantouzhai, a larger village, and as LP had recommended another
hostel there, I decided to go there. Once in the village I found out that I had
to hike a long distance. There were many female carriers offering to carry the
luggage in the baskets on their backs. Most of them were half my size and twice
my age. It did not feel comfortable to have them carry my backpack. I decided
to walk on my own but once I started hiking, there were many intertwining paths
and there was no one around to ask for the directions. I headed back to the
entrance gate. I boarded the same minibus I was previously on and when the
conductor came to collect her fare, I showed her my payment receipt. She smiled
and walked away. After some 20 minuets of driving she dropped me off at a fork.
I walked for some time until finally another bus showed up which stopped and
took me to Ping’an village. Once there, another native woman
carried my bigger backpack for ¥20. A few times she asked to carry my smaller
back also for another ¥20. Hostel Lonji
One had upgraded and the new rooms were going for ¥900. I did not take a
room there. The receptions said she had another hostel next door that was
cheaper. We walked there to check it out. It was a decent room with a great
view of the rice terraces. Her sister made a decent ‘Sizzling beef” which I had
on the terrace. A group of eight Chinese arrived. The men sat at one table,
lighted their cigarettes, took out their tea flasks and started a card game.
The woman did the same at another table. The sweeping views across the terrace
were not much noticed.
I
then went for a walk. The crowd was not too bad. Farmers were working the
fields. I saw the receptionist of the hostel a few times carrying large bags of
rice in a basket on her back. When I tried to lift one of them in her basket, I
could not lift it all the way. Next day when I saw her again she told me that
she had carried “eight ten” (literal translation of eighty from Chinese) that
day.
I
stopped at a shop to buy water. There were some mandarins on the table. I asked
the saleswoman if she sold mandarins. She said, “No”, but picked up one and
gave it to me.
10/15/2014,
Wednesday.
I
went for a pleasant hike to the village nearby. The scenery was pleasant and
the weather was perfect. I walked to the end of the trail, by the entrance
gates, and then returned on the same path, stopping at a busy restaurant for
rice and local wild vegetables. I then purchased five passion fruits for ¥5
from a friendly female vendor. She cut them open for me. She then told me I
could take 6 more for ¥5. I did, as I had planned to do so.
Back
at the hostel, the Chinese group from the day before was having lunch. They
invited me to their table. I told them I had already eaten.
I
then got some hot water, made some tea, and sat on the terrace to enjoy the
view of the terraces. I had a chat with Hediyeh via Skype.
Later
in the evening, I walked to the restaurant that I had eaten lunch but it was
closed. I returned to the village and stopped at a large restaurant with a few
tables with native customers. Later a large group of French showed up. I had
steamed fish and eggplant (¥120). They were both very good. I took a few wrong turns on the way back but
finally I made it to my hostel.
10/16/2014,
Thursday – Longji -Chengyang (Rain and Wind Bridges)
I
relaxed in the balcony for a while – enjoying the scenery and reading some
Khayyam. I then packed, and headed to the village gate where I took the bus to
Longshen. I had a chat with Luvian, a young friendly woman from Nanning, who
had just graduated from the college and has been working in a hotel in Ping’an
since February. She said she liked her job since it gave her a lot of freedom.
She works one day and takes the following day off. She hopes one day to open
her own small coffee shop but she wants to keep her prices low. She was going
to Longshen for shopping – a small watermelon that sells for ¥3, as there are
no supermarkets in Lonji. A supermarket is not practical there since the
natives have to carry their shopping way up in the villages. She recommended I
shop at supermarkets as the prices are fixed there. I gave her my email and asked her to let me
know when she opens her shop.
Once
in Longshen, I walked across the
long bridge to the other bus stop and purchased a ticket to Sanjiang. As soon
as I got my ticket someone showed up and led me to my bus – I am not sure how
he knew I was going to Sanjiang. I left my large bag in the bus, stopped at a
noodle shop across the bus station for a quick tasty noodle for ¥4 – my
cheapest meal so far in China. The trip to Sanjiang was pleasant as there were
collection of large rocks of various shapes in grey and brown at short
intervals forming sculpture gardens along the road.
In
Sanjiang,
I tried to get some cash from an ATM and my third try at ICBC was successful. I
then walked across the bridge to the other bus terminal and took a minibus to Chengyang.
The road was under repair and dusty but yet pleasant. At one stop, about 40
primary school students got on board. The bus driver dropped me off at the gate
of the Chengyang where I purchased my entry ticket (¥80), walked across the
bridge and stopped at International Youth hotel. It had no vacancy as a lot of
students from Hunan on a drawing workshop were in the village. I met Li Hua, one of the students. I walked
to a large hotel nearby with a good view of the surrounding and got a room
there. Afterwards, I went for a walk, met Li Hua who was having dinner with
other friends. He invited me to join them. I took a bowl and the servers filled
it with a few items, vegetables, pumpkin, eggs and meat with carrots. When I
tried to pay Li said the meal was free of charge. I think it was part of his
college arrangement.
I
sat at his table with Li’s male friend, QQ. A few girls, Tantan, Swallow, Ivan
from the next table joined us. We had a short walk around after the meal. They
recommended going for some rice wine. We went to a cute ancient wine shop and
had a few shots of the yellow wine rice that I had seen often. For good
measure, we also shared some sort of snake vodka. The girls become very
talkative – especially Tan Tan, the tiniest and sweetest one, who kept saying
she was shy. They then presented me with a bottle of wine as souvenir. When I
tried to pay at the end they did not let me and said I was their guest in
China. While walking Tan Tan kept asking if I needed to go the bathroom and
made sure kept the path lighted with her phone and asked me to be careful not
to fall down.
They
showed me to my hotel and then I walked with them to the bridge before
returning to my room. It was a fun evening spent with these friendly kind college
students.
10/17/2014,
Thursday – Chengyang
I
did some more walking around the villages, had an uninspiring breakfast at
Dong, contrary to what Wikitravel had said, and then a good lunch at Yang. I
met a few people from the group of he students I had met the night before and
joined them for some tea and then some wine at their hostel. They were leaving
for another destination the next day.
10/18/2014,
Friday – Sanjiang to Guilin to Kunming to Shangri-La
After
a great omelet at Yang, I took a van to Sanjiang. We settled for ¥25 and midway
the driver stopped to collect his fare. He picked up a few more passengers and
they paid only ¥5. In Sanjiang, I arrived at the ticket booth two minutes late
and ended up getting a ¥50 Guilin ticket for an hour later at 13:52. The
approximate travel time was 3 hours, plus a 40-minute ride to the airport that
meant I possibly would not make it for my 16:00 flight to Kunming. The taxis
were charging ¥400 and I passed on that.
I
asked the bus driver to drop me off at the road to the airport and he agreed.
We arrived as the road to the airport at 14:40 and a taxi was waiting there. I
offered ¥80, thinking that it would be a 30km ride and the driver gladly
accepted. I then saw a sign indicating that it was only 15km to the airport.
The driver asked my departure time and then instead of taking the toll highway
took a scenic service road; it was one of the most gorgeous scenes of the rice
fields I had seen.
We
arrived at the Kunming
airport at 17:00. I had some my rice wine hopping to get the rest past the
inspection. The inspector opened the bottle and asked me to drink some of
it. He then took away the bottle with a
quarter of the content left inside.
The
departure was on time, as was the arrival. I took the shuttle at Kunming
airport and by mistake went to South rather than the West station. It was a
messy area with no taxis in site. The customer service at the Metro and another
guard nearby could not help. A teenage girl showed up who knew exactly what bus
I should take - bus C143 - and walked me to the stop one block to the right of
the metro. She had been to States for three months and when I asked her what
she liked most in NYC she said, “The Brooklyn Bridge.”
The
West bus station was also a bit unorganized. I had missed the last bus, 19:20,
to Dali. Therefore I purchased a 20:30 sleeper bus ticket to Shangri-La for
¥20. From the street vendor outside I
bought a huge baked sweet potato for ¥10. The next two beds next my seat were
empty and the one next to my bed was the longest one and I took that one. I
woke up a few times throughout the night. The bus topped for a bathroom break
at 01:30 but the driver did not start the car till 05:00. Therefore, the
equality was observed and every one could take a nap for the night.
10/19/2014,
Saturday – Shangri-La
As
the sun came up a magnificent view of the landscape, the mountains and the
temples and other structures came into view. We arrived at Shangri-la (Zhongdian) at 08:30;
I took a taxi to a recommended hostel and when I got off in the vicinity, I had
a hard time to find it. I ended up checking in at a decent motel, Vitality Inn, for ¥280.
The
town was mostly unattractive, overbuilt and still being heavily demolished and
rebuilt. A small portion in the old town still had some charm left. The air was
light and the weather was cool.
10/20/2014,
Monday - Shangri-La Day tour
I
took a tour to a few sites around the town (¥240). We visited a mostly deserted
village, Bala Village, and then
drove to a gorge, where we walked on a passer-bys bridge and Shangri-La Grand
Canyon. On the way back I took a raft (¥120) which was also overpriced but the
views of the gorge were beautiful.
One
Chinese and two German girls were in the bus. The Chinese girl was the happiest
person I have ever met. She never stopped smiling while talking. When at a
temple I told her she was a very wise person to be so happy she thanked for the
compliment and said one had to be happy when praying. She asked me for my wish
and when I asked hers, she said she wished for some chocolates. She later told
me that she was on a three months volunteer work for a foundation established
by the children of MR. Malek, an ex US ambassador to the UN. She was studying
simultaneous interpretation in UK.
We
returned to the town at 16:30. I walked around, visited the Dance Square where
a local dance was in full session. I then stopped at Tara Gallery for dinner. Tara, the Bengali Indian owner, was there
and she greeted me. She has been living here since 1995 fulltime. She told me
that half of the Old Town was burned down the previous year. Nancy, a young
woman, who has written “The Shangri-La Story” and her photographer were there and
were interviewing Tara for her new book. They were both most kind. The
photographer got up about a half dozen times to fetch hot water to fill my cup.
10/21/2014
Tuesday - Lijiang
I
went for a quick walk around the old town, then called Bahram to check on my
mail, took a cab to the bus station and purchased a 10:40-13:20 ticket (¥71) to
Lijiang. A 31-year man from Hong Kong was sitting next to me. He was on a two
weeks vacation with his wife. He told me the last time he was here five years
ago he had to tell people that he was from Guangzhou in order not to cause any
hard feelings but within the past five years the standards of living in the
mainland were getting close enough to Hong Kong that he felt more comfortable
telling people of his birthplace. He said he had already purchased an apartment
with a 3% mortgage rate and the monthly payment on it was about 30% of his and
his wife’s total income.
I
checked in at Garden Inn (¥160/d) in
Lijiang
and then went for a long walk in this touristy, lively, and pleasant Old Town.
The Old Town was fun and easy to get lost in it. Thought very touristy, yet it
was charming with many canals and buildings from the turn of Song and Yuan
dynasties – some 800 years history. It was fun and easy to get lost to enjoy the
less visited areas.
10/22/2014
Wednesday - Lijiang
I
woke up early to go for a walk before the crowds get heavy. I had a boat-shaped
eggplant at Sakura Good Food Square for breakfast and lunch at LP recommended
“Tian He Canting.” I had a fun training session with the staff at the latter
where as soon as I sat down the waiter put the 10-page meu in front me and bent
over me with paper and pencil to take my order. He did not understand when I
told him I need some time before I can decide what to order. He seemed
hopeless. The two other female staff/owners were more attentive. I did a
role-play with them. I asked them to hand over the menu to the diner and say,
“Please let me know when you are ready” and then walk away. I also made a sign,
reading “LP recommended” and the owner posted it on the wall and thanked
me. A couple sat next me. The man asked
me without knowing Chinese how I managed to order. I said it was very easy.
Some restaurants have English menu. Otherwise, I either order from the pictures
on the walls or just point to dishes of other customers and I usually like what
I end up getting. He introduced himself as Lorne ( 53401265@QQ.com ). He was on his honeymoon. Even
though he worked in computer field he thought the email addresses were still
case-sensitive. When I explained to him otherwise he did not seemed convinced.
I asked him to try it for himself. He
recommended visiting “Shuang Lang Town”, on the East side of Lake Erhai, two
hours away from Dali.
After
lunch, I continued walking around and getting lost before heading back to my
hostel, calling Feri to confirm their arrival date to Kuala Lumpur. I then met
a couple from Penang who were sitting at my table on the terrace. The man was
very friendly and gave me some information about Penang. I then walked around more. The area near the
Big Stone Bridge was packed with crowds and the restaurants and many bars with
singers and dancers were almost packed with young crowds. I had a Naxi Ham and
goat cheese at Prague Café; although the cheese tasted more like mozzarella,
yet it was a decent sandwich.
10/23/2014
Thursday - Lijiang
I
took the direction to Baisha, from the young man at the hostel the night
before. As the road was under construction, instead of taking Bus #6, I had to
take bus #11 at Zhong Yi Market and
at the last stop change to bus #6. I could not find the stop for bus #6 and
when I asked a young girl who was sitting on her bike with her friend at the
back seat in front of Lijiang Tourism School, she asked the friend to get off
and rode her bike while I was chasing her. She stopped after a few hundred
meter and told me to wait there. She did not speak much English. The school
should be more focused on domestic tourism.
Baisha had a tiny section with some
cobblestone streets and then a very large area filled with hostels and still
being heavily expanded. I visited the Governor Mu’s Mansion, converted to a
museum with some murals a few millennium old. I also visited the famous Dr. Ho, the 90-year old herbal medicine
man, who is a landmark of the town. He had one patient who was given a large
bag of a powder. A few other guys were waiting. I asked about the arthritis
pain of my mother. He asked whether she had had blood pressure or diabetes.
Without giving me a chance to ask any questions he gave me a powder to be added
to alcohol and rubbed on the affected areas for the pain (¥50) and an herbal
tea (¥600), I passed on the tea and took the powder.
I
then stopped by at a local restaurant packed with customers and ordered a
couple of dishes. A young girl entered and as there were no other empty tables,
I invited her to sit at my table. She was a 26-year old Chinese language
teacher though she looked more like a student. She spoke very little English
and at times she would start speaking in Chinese for a long time before I would
let her know that I did not understand her. She had travelled to Lijiang for
two days from her hometown 300km away.
I
took the bus to Shuhe
where I had a short walk but as it was too touristy, I turned around and headed
back to Zhong Yi Market where I purchased a whole rotisserie duck for ¥20. I
then did some walking. At a drum store, the popular souvenir of the town, I
heard a Persian music accompanied by the drum of a female drummer. She was
selling the CDs in packs of five in a pretty case for ¥100. I purchased the single CD at an inflated
price of ¥30.
Then
as I walked to the restaurant where I had lunch the day before, I saw a printed
sign of “Lonely Plant Recommended” as I had told the owner to make.
10/24/2014 Friday - Dali
I had an
adequate breakfast and coffee under the beautiful sunshine on the terrace. I met Don & Cynthia Jackson (503 310 8025 DonH.Jackson@gmail.com ) of Portland, Oregon. Don is an
Architect with a few Iranian colleagues.
I told him I was considering a trip to Roseburg. He said I could contact
him for help with any information. They were travelling on their own without
speaking any Chinese.
As
I had missed the 08:30 train to Dali I had to take the bus which run more
frequently. I headed out for one last walk, got lost and therefore missed the
next bus. I was getting to like the town
so much that I wanted to stay one more day. As I was debating with myself I
went back to the hostel. I met Nicholas, the knowledgeable and articulate
manager who told me Dali is even more beautiful than Lijiang. I therefore
checked out of my room, left my luggage in the luggage room and went out for
lunch and one last walk. I then picked up my luggage and took a taxi to the New
Bus Station, a different one from the one I had arrived in from Shangri-La, and
took the 15:00-17:30 bus (¥63) bus To Dali. As we neared the town, I showed the
driver the address my hostel, the LP recommended, Austrian owned, Jade Emu. He dropped me off at an
intersection In Dali
where I took a private car, as there were no taxis in sight, and checked in at
the well-managed hostel.
I
went for a walk and as I had a small lunch, went for an early dinner at Panda
restaurant. I walked in the main road, “Ren Min Lu.” The Old Town seemed much
smaller than Lijiang, and a somewhat quieter, with only a semi version of a
small canal.
I saw a Western artist/vendor who was busy
drawing and therefore I did not interrupt him to get the scoop about his life
here. The next Westerner I met was sitting near the artist with a collection of
handmaid bags in front of him. I said
and inquired about his life in China. He introduced himself as David
from Michigan. He asked me if I wanted to hear his life story or not. I said I did. He continued that he came here
in 2004, took a one-year assignment as a teacher and after four years living
here was out of job, addicted and with a broken up relationship. At the bottom
of his life one night Jesus appears in his dream and saves him from his
torments. We had a long chat about religions.
He said he believed in the imminent coming of the Jesus and the Kingdom
of the Heaven as it was predicted as far back as the age of Adam. I was glad
that beforehand I did not quote James Gogle that had quoted in his book, “How
to Read the Bible”, that there was a ward for people with that belief in
Jerusalem. He was not offended by my
different opinion and when we said goodbye, he took my hand and prayed for me.
10/25/2014
Saturday - Dali
I
walked around the town today, dined at a restaurant on some lima beans and
eggplants. I then stopped by a barbershop, waited a few minutes until the
hairdresser finished with her customer. I inquired the price of a haircut and
she said it was ¥20. I asked for the price for beard trimming, and she said it
was ¥20. After the haircut I handed her a ¥100 note and she gave back to me ¥80
in change. I handed her a ¥10 note and as she was confused, I told her my
haircut looked very good.
I
then stopped by the big market again and bought some fruits.
For
dinner, the hostel, Jade Emu, had a very decent buffet dinner for ¥60 that was
my best value meal in China. There were about a dozon customers.
10/26/2014
Sunday - Dali
I
had an egg and ham sandwich for the breakfast in the courtyard, had a short
chat with the Australian owner who said after seven years of backpacking he
opened this place four years ago with his partner. I complimented him on the
well run hostel and the professionalism of the staff.
He
said a Canadian Iranian man has an organic produce business here in Dali.
I
stopped by at the mosque again which unlike yesterday, when it looked like a
butcher shop, it looked more like a market day, with old men sitting around the
courtyard and at the next-door tea shop. An old man talked to me a few minutes
after I told him I was from Iran, and all I understood was when he showed with
his kicks and shaking ass that he was happy Iran was kicking some asses.
I
then walked towards the Jongdeh Temple for a hike but there was a ¥70 entrance
fee. One of the guards was asleep and the other one was busy with his phone. I
could have probably just walked past by them but I returned and walked the
other way and ended up in a forbidden military zone. I then returned to the
town and did some more walking, had a fried goat cheese at “The Good Panda” restaurant. I then
stopped at the stand of a Moslem girl and asked for a couple of small cookies.
She gave me one extra and with a smile said, “bye bye.”
I
stopped at the hostel’s book store to inquire about the notice on the wall
regarding the fact as of April 2014 only official China Post postcard are
eligible to be mailed as postcard. Therefore, my procrastination in mailing of
the postcards that I had purchased in Xing Ping worked out. The helpful
attendant said I could use envelopes and ¥6 international stamps to mail them.
She then corrected herself and said I could remove the postcard stamps and use
them on the envelopes with additional ¥2 stamps. She gave me a glue bar to take
care of the task. After I placed the stamps I returned to my room but the
envelops did not have enough glue to close up. I went back to the library and
glued envelops. I check with the attendant again if only the recipient name on
envelop was sufficient or not. She said I had better put the sender address
just in case the envelopes are undeliverable. She wrote the address of the
hotel on all the envelopes. This whole
process reminded me of the teenage girl in a small city in Egypt who after dropping
her mail in the mailbox closed her eyes and crossed her chest with a prayer
some twenty years ago.
After
a rest on the terrace under the pleasant sun and with the beautiful views of
the mountain, I went out for a walk and dinner.
I walked to LP Bai restaurant Mei Zi Jing, with a collection of a few
pleasant courtyards. The table of produce also contained hives of maggots. On
second thoughts I though I should try “The good Panda” for their okra, but the
outdoor table, which would have been perfect for people watching and the view
of the mountain with beautiful clouds above it, was taken, therefore I settled
for the first choice. I continued walking around, managed to get lost and
stumbled on a road past the South Gate which I had not noticed earlier in the
day, possibly because the shallow, almost above the ground canal, did not have
running water in the day time. All the bars on the two sides of the street were
almost empty.
I
went back to Bai restaurant, the female owner showed me to my table, put the
ten page menu in front of me, and stood over me with pen and paper in hand. For
five minutes I tried to have her leave me alone in order that I could go
through the menu. When she did not heed my request, I just ignored her and
started looking at the crowds. This time she got the message and left me
alone. The English translations on the
menu were rather amusing. Some entries were as following:
Fried
Peach Kernel Wild Purse
Sewing-Kit
Fried Lily
The
Fragrance of Oranges Sika Deer
Sauna
Old Bacteria
Good
Luck Walnut Fried Chestnut
Liver
Confer Hair Steamed Tofu
Duck
Hotpot Chicken
I
settled for braised spicy chicken in pumpkin flower and “Fan fried eggplant
with Onion.” I called the bossy lady and placed my order. She repeated the
eggplant dish a few times and I thought maybe the “Fan” in the name was a deal
breaker but I told her that was what I wanted. She then recommended beer, fried
vegetable, soup, and another item, but as I had already upset her, I passed on
all her recommendations. When the food arrived, the eggplant was what I was
expecting – delicious – and the chicken was spicy with much chili pepper,
scallions, garlic, and a couple of other strongly flavored items.
At
the counter, after paying my bill, I said goodbye to the young waitresses who
were resting on a bench, but had animated the whole courtyard with their chattering.
They waved back at me with friendly smiles.
It
was getting cooler by now. As I was
walking by the ‘Good Panda” the owner saw me and I pointed to the outdoor table
that had just become empty to make her understand that the reason for my not
stopping there for the dinner was because of the occupied table. She smiled
back and I think she could understand my gesture. I headed back to my room and made the last
entry of my China trip in my journal. I will be leaving for Malaysia tomorrow.
Today
was a recap of the encounters I had in this country, the invitation to
breakfast at the mosque, the surprise gesture about the long distance to the
Zhonghe Temple when I asked for direction from a young woman at the base of the
path, the asleep guards at the start of the path to the temple with a high
entry fee, the complimentary cookie by
the Muslim salesgirl and tea by the owner at The Great Panda, the friendly
attitude of the workers who were finishing a hotel with beautiful woodwork by
letting me get in the grounds and check a couple of rooms, another woman who
let me in her house to look at the large collection of plant pots she had in
her courtyard, and yet another woman who let me get in her porch to look at the
beautiful hanging flowers from her wall, the girl at Jade Emu guesthouse who
helped all the way with my postcards, and finally the friendly good-bye waves
of the restaurant staff.
Without
knowing the language, or the possibility of even considering to learn it,
somehow I have felt more at home and more welcomed here than in South America.
If I could adjust to the hygienic standards, or rather the lack of it thereof,
I could have extended my trip a lot longer in this vast ancient land. I am glad
that I could make this trip at this time, as with all the rapid construction
that is going on everywhere, I am not sure in a decade how much originality of
the historic sites will remain.
‘14/10/27 Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur, Penang
10/27/2014
Monday – Dali – Kunming - Kuala Lumpur
After
the breakfast I went to the front desk and asked Tom, the helpful staff member,
for my ride to the bus station for the ride to Kunming. He said it was too
early, even though it was only ten minutes before my 08:30 departure time. At
08:25 a young girl showed up and walked my to the near-by ticket office/waiting
room where a few other people and I waited for a couple of minutes before the
bus showed up.
A
guy who sat next to me, Michael Liu (topsinoservice@gmail.com), a trader, was a non-stop speaker
and on a few occasions when I interjected he did interrupt me – though he was a
very informative person, with a wealth of information on many subjects that
were brought up. He was travelling with a woman he had shared dorms with on this
trip. He quoted an Israeli businessman that, “we may all have different
religions, but when we die, we are all Buddhist.”
Prior
to arriving at Kunming bus station I
asked Mike to check with the driver whether I could get off at a location
closer to the airport for my flight to Kuala Lumpur. The bus driver stopped
after a short while, four other people got off and he asked me to follow them.
Five of us shared a minivan to the airport and paid ¥24 each.
I
took the 17:40-21:50 AirAsia Kunming-Kuala Lumpur flight. At KL airport, I took a
budget taxi (R80) to Maison Boutique
($47) on Jalan Baba, near Times Square Buildings and Imbi tramway station. I
then walked out and found an Egyptian restaurant, Hors, a few blocks away where
I had a good meal.
10/28/2014
Tuesday - KL
I
went for a long walk to Petronas Twin Towers, the Jameh Mosque, the Centrl
Market, and the Merkada Square.
10/29/2014
Wednesday - KL
I
took the KLIA Ekpress Train to the airport where I met Feri, Hediyeh and
Tahmineh. We took a taxi back to the hotel.
10/30/2014
Thursday - KL
We
visited the Batu Caves, a large
Hindu temple complex where the monkeys were running amok.
We
also visited the Genting Highland,
an outdoor park and casino complex where the weather was cool and pleasant.
We
also visited The Islamic Art Museum and the National Mosque.
10/31/2014
Friday – KL - Penang
We
took the bus to George Town in Penang where we stayed at Glow hotel for three nights. We walked around town, took the ferry
across the Island and had a bus ride around the town, tried a briyani at
Hamidieh - a town’s institution.
Below
are two good restaurants that we tried in KL.
Thalappakattu
Briyani #375, Jalan Abdul Rahman, KL –
We were taken there by the friendly taxi driver who said they have the best
brianiy.
Wadi
Almadinah Group – Hadra Mawt Palace - #251 Jalan Bukit Bintang, KL http://www.hadramawtpalace.com. We were taken there by the Chinese
taxi driver after we told him to take us to Arabasque in China Town and he
claimed there was no such place in China Town. When I asked him if he had tried
their food, he said his gods did not allow him to eat the lard that the Moslems
use.
Wadi
was a large restaurant with very good food. Incidently, on my second trip to
KL, I did found Arabasque in China Town.
‘14/11/08 Cambodia – Phnom Penh, Siem Reap/Angkor
11/08/2014
Saturday – Phnom Penh
We
took a taxi to the airport. I saw off Feri & family for their 13:30 flight
to Iran. I then tried to check in for my 470.00 MYR 15:15-16:00 (+1:00 hr)
flight to Phnom Penh but I was told I needed on onward ticket out of Cambodia.
I therefore purchased a returned ticket to KL – as AirAsia had no flights from
Phnom Penh to Laos – to be able to board the plane. Although, the last window I
tried to check in did not ask me for my onward ticket.
At
the airport in Phnom
Penh, I paid $35 for a tourist visa – no one asked for the onward
ticket – and then took a taxi ($12) for the short ride to my hostel, Aqua Boutique ($35).
11/09/2014
Sunday – Phnom Penh
I
had a simple breakfast at the hostel and then headed out to explore the city.
It was less chaotic than what I expected even though it seemed that every resident
had a motorbike and was engaged in the tuk-tuk business. I walked around the
grounds of a temple near my hostel and then headed to the Royal Palace. I
visited the National Museum and had “amok fish ravioli” at ‘Blue Pumpkin’. I
walked to the National Monument. On the way to the hostel I bought a coconut;
the cold aplenty juice was a delicious refreshment.
After
a rest, I walked to the river and took a cruise boat as it was leaving the
port. The crowd was very subdued, very different from the Chinese I had seen on
the cruise boats in China.
I
had a meal at Beirut near the Tourist Boats Deck and then walked back to my
hostel on rather quiet streets.
I
left my passport with Saloth at hostel’s front desk for Vietnam Visa. He said
the charge was $65 and it would be ready the next day.
11/10/2014
Monday – Phnom Penh
I
visited Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum,
a school turned into prison by the Khmer
Rouge where about 20,000 people were imprisoned and tortured. As LP had
indicated, the site is not for the squeamish. There were vivid pictures and
scenes of the torture everywhere.
I
then took a tuk tuk to Choeung Ek
(Killing Fields), about 15km out of the town, the site of the mass graves
of the prisoners of Tuol Sleng. It was an eerie day – the signs of cruelty and
savagery were everywhere, from the torture beds and cells, the smashing of
skulls with hammers, the cutting of throats with a sharp tree blade, and the
pits where the guards would smash the children on trees, before killing their
mothers, so that the children would not revenge them one day.
On
the way back, as I had not had the tuk tuk driver wait for me, I asked a
Japanese visitor if I could share the ride back in town and he agreed. The
driver took a more scenic shortcut this time. In some areas the floodwater was
so high that we had to lift our feet from the floor of the tuk tuk not to get
wet, yet the traffic was heavy.
I
asked the driver to stop at Central Market, where I saw a large squid being
grilled and I asked for it. It was delicious, with a somewhat sweet sauce. At
the end when I asked for the bill, the price of the squid was $9 and I thought
I was being overcharged. I asked the price of a large raw squid at a fish stand
and it was $7.
At
the hostel, Saloth, the attendant told me that my Vietnam Visa was ready. I also booked a $35 speedboat ride to Siem
Reap-Angkor Wat for the next day. Per as the brochure, it is a 6-hr ride vs.
the 4-hr bus ride.
11/11/2014
Tuesday – Phnom Penh-Siem Reap
I
was told the tuk tuk will pick me up at 07:30 but the driver of a van was there
at 07:10. There was also a Swiss man taking the same speedboat to Siem Reap. We
departed at 07:30 and arrived at Siem Reap at 14:30. The ride was very
pleasant. I stayed on the deck for the whole duration of the trip in the
pleasant cool wind and overcast sky – therefore the sun did not burn too much.
The scenery was varied, with changing width of the river, and as we got closer
to the destination, the river got so wide that the shores were not visible. On
the narrower parts there were fishermen, floating villages, and farms and
temples and mosques on the shores.
At
the destination, Cou Cou, the arranged tuk tuk driver picked me up but his
vehicle ran out of gas after a few kilometers. Another driver who stopped to
help got a gas bottle from a stand a few hundred meters away and we were able
to continue the 10km ride to my hostel, The
Siem Reap Room ($17.50).
After
checking in I went for a walk in the town. It was too touristy and somewhat
dusty, with heavy traffic. I headed back to my room early to be ready for the
05:00 pickup by Cou Cou to visit Angkor Wat ($16).
11/12/2014
Wednesday – Siem Reap/Angkor
I
woke up at 04:30 and when I went out, I saw a new driver was waiting for me.
Possibly Cou Cou had found another customer and had contracted me to this new
driver. We headed for the ticket office. There were about eight windows and
there was a long line in front of all of them. I purchased a 2-day ticket for
$40 and we continued to Angkor Wat.
The road was already crowded with many tuk tuks and some bikes. At Angkor Wat,
we waited by a pond to view the sunrise over the buildings. I toured the
magnificent temple before driving to Ta
Phram, another beautiful Wat. Many parts of the temple were covered with
the roots of the banyan trees that gave them a more ancient mysterious feel. We
then drove to Angkor Thom where I
visited Bayon, the temple with many
huge faces of Buddha, and Baphuon, a
temple built in the form of a ziggurat.
11/13/2014
Thursday – Siem Reap/Angkor
I
had breakfast at the hostel courtyard before being picked up by the tuk tuk
driver that the hostel had called for me. I visited the following temples:
Roluos
: Angkor Bakon, Angkor Preah, Angko Leilo
Mebon,
Preah Khan
Terrace
of the Elephants, Phimeanakas (Royal Palace) just next to Baphuon, Angkor Thom
temple I had visited the day before, Leper King Terrace, Preah Palilay Temple
(a small temple across the road from Leper King Terrace)
Phnom
Bakheng – Located on a hill with a good view of the surroundings. It rained
heavily and I had to shelter inside one of the smaller temples.
Of
all the temples, Preah Khan was the
largest and the most impressive.
The
driver then dropped me off at my hostel. I went out to have a scan of my
passport for Myanmar visa, and had a grilled fish dinner at a lively outdoor
restaurant..
11/14/2014
Friday – Siem Reap-Day Tour
I
was the first passenger to be picked up for the day trip I had booked the day
before. We then picked up an Indian couple and a Chinese couple, Li Yi, an
articulate person and his soft-mannered wife (LiYial@163.com) from Kunming.
We
biked for an hour, visited a village market, and then took the boat to the
house of a local person for lunch. The house was built on the river. We had to
take off shoes, caps and even sunglasses before entering the house. We then
took the boat to another village, visited a small school and rode on the boat
again for some time. As the tides were rising we had to make the trip short.
On
the way back I asked to be dropped off at the town market where I walked around
for some time and then walked back to my hostel.
11/15/2014
Saturday – Siem Reap-Phnom Penh
I
woke up at 05:00 for my 06:00 van ride to the boat for Battambang. The riverbanks looked familiar and similar to what I
had only seen on the way from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. Only after we reached
our destination, Phnom Penh, I found out that I had taken the wrong boat. There
were two boats at the deck and the driver had dropped me off the wrong boat.
When the guard checked my ticket before boarding he did not notice I was
boarding the wrong baot. I should have verified the destination.
I
asked a tuk tuk driver for a ride to Natural
House, a LP recommended hostel. He approved of the place and said if I was
planning to stay only one night, Queen
Wood Hotel is a better choice. I agreed and at the hotel I asked the
receptionist to look at the room that she was going to give me ($35). When the
attendant showed it to me and saw the disapproval look on my face he led me to
a nicer room with two windows and I took it. I had a decent Amok Fish Curry at
Chip and Chat and then walked around the town. When I stopped at the Natural
House and asked to look at one of their rooms ($20), I liked it better than the
room at Natural House – especially as the teapot was metal and not plastic.
11/16/2014
Sunday – Phnom Penh-Chau Doc, Vietnam
I
walked to the boat station and purchased a ticket ($24) for the 12:00-17:00
Phnom Penh-Chau Doc, a Vietnam border town near the border. I then visited the post office and stopped by the park and
watched the children enjoying the rides. The was a well-dressed couple with the
most adorable two-year old triplets, in cute tops and puffed out shorts with
smiling faces. They were having a ball riding the tube slide. I then did some
more walking before going back to the hotel, packed up and took a tuk tuk to
the boat station.
As
we were boarding the boat the sound of the prayer from a mosque across the
river, about 2 km away, could be heard.
The boat ride was pleasant. There were about 10 people in the boat with
a capacity of about 34. We stopped at the Cambodia immigration and Vietnam
Immigration for about one hour of formalities. I was going to buy an ice coffee
in Vietnam stop but when the female vendor picked up the ice with her hands for
the coffee of the man in front of me I changed my mind.
‘14/11/16 Vietnam – Chau Doc, Saigon, Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi, Sapa, Halang
Bay-Cat Ba
11/16/2014
Sunday – Phnom Penh-Chau Doc, Vietnam
In
Chau Doc
I got a cyclo ride ($1) to Hai Chau
Hotel, about 500 meters away from the deck, but they were full. I asked the
driver to take me to Thrung Nguyen,
which was on the same block. The very pleasant and soft-spoken receptionist
offered me a decent double room ($17) as there were no more single rooms
available. I then went out for a walk. I stopped at Bay Bong for a delicious
Fish hot pot, with many vegetables and enlivened with the sweetness of
pineapple and sourness of tamarind pieces – almost similar to the soups I would
get from Saigon Restaurant on second Ave in NYC. The awakening of the taste
buds also reminded me of Robin Williams’ ‘Good Morning Vietnam.”
I
then walked around the small town center – by the market and the temple. The
cyclo drivers were less of a hassle here than in Cambodia. At the
templeI
lingered for some time to watch the prayer ceremony in a pleasant breeze. There
were three outdoor platforms where people would approach, pay their respect,
say a prayer and then kneel down for repeated bowings. I noticed how similar
their movements were to the movements of Moslems’ prayers. As if one was
adapted from the other one. A beautiful formal hymn was in session at the main
prayer hall – with attendants in long robe uniforms.
People
in general were friendly. Young kids would occasionally say hello with a smile.
I had thought that with the involvement of the French and the Americans in
their country there would be some reserved resentment towards foreigners. The
standards of living were somewhat better than Siem Reap – a city of equal size,
though with much more income with the hordes of foreign tourists to Angkor Wat.
11/17/2014
Monday – Chau Doc,-Saigon
I
went out for a walk and tried an ATM at a bank with all the logos affixed to it
but the transaction failed. I tried a second back that fortunately worked. I
then had breakfast at the hostel, packed, and went to the lobby at 09:30 and
asked for a 10:00 AM bus ticket ($8) to Saigon. The male attendant called a
number and quickly arranged it. We had a chat. He said he was 30 years old, had
been working at the hotel for ten years, his work shift was 09:00 PM-01:00 PM,
seven days a week, and his monthly salary was $120. I felt bad for him.
Shortly
the pick up van arrived and took me and the other few passengers that were
already on board to the bus station about ten minutes away. The bus shortly
arrived. It was a sleeping bus, newer and in better shape than the sleeping bus
I had taken in Kunming-Shangri la trip. We had to take off the shoes prior to
boarding the bus.
The
scenery was varied. Throughout the first five hours of a 6-hour trip we were
driving through residential areas and continuous towns, no farms or open
spaces. The houses and commercial buildings were neat, except for the large and
small metal houses that were built at or on the rivers - which happened to come
into views every couple of miles. We had to cross a river in a boat at one
point. The boat was large enough that it accommodated two large buses parked
next to each other. There were no signs of any high-rises until we arrived in Saigon.
We drove in an area where the rice paddies were in view for a short while. Most
had half dozen square structures – somewhat similar to graves, or stupas. At one bathroom stop, we got off and I went
to the bathroom and walked around the market for some time. When I returned the
bus was not there. I checked the half dozen buses that were parked around but
there was no sign of my bus. I circled the buses again desperately – as I had
left my smaller backpack also in the bus with the laptop and everything else. I
was wearing slippers. After every worrisome minutes a young girl approached me
and told me that she was in my bus and the bus had gone to the parking and will
return shortly. I was relieved. Her name was Phuong (TrinhPhuong265@gmail.com ). She was doing her masters in
Vietnamese Studies. She also teached.
We
waited for a whil, she checked with the information desk and they confirmed the
bus would return shortly. Then in the public announcement system it was
announced that the bus was being repaired. Finally, the bus showed up after about
40 minutes – I was not going to complain, as things could have been a lot
worse.
In
Saigon the flow of the motorbikes – while heavy throughout the bus trip - got
even heavier. They had taken control of the streets. The cars seemed like an
afterthought – only second-class citizens – or maybe just a luxury. It was like the march of an endless army of
the civilian riders – though very unorganized. The flow reminded me of the
assembly line in the movie, “Modern Times”. One moment of distraction, and a poor
passerby would be in big trouble.
At
the bus station, I took a taxi to LP’s Madam
Cuc 127 Hostel. It was rather a long drive – through the army of the
bikes. The old Madam was sitting in the
lobby. I asked a couple of guests in the
lobby how they were managing with the bikes. One of them said her bag was
cutoff from her shoulder with a razor the night before and her phone was gone.
I
asked for a restaurant recommendation from the attendant and she recommended Quan an Ngon at 160 Pasture Street. The
restaurant was a lovely multi-story spacious building, with a large pool in the
main courtyard. The food was just as enjoyable. I made it in one piece walking
there and walking back.
11/18/2014
Tuesday – Saigon
I
visited the following:
The
Town Hall – It was under renovation and I could not get in.
Public
Library
Reunification-Independence
Palace (ex presidential Palace)
Notre
Dame Cathedral (closed)
Post
Office – a beautiful French nouveau building
Museum
of Vietnamese History
The
Hung Kings Temple- Erected by the French in 1926 as a WWI Memorial
War
Remnants Museum – heavy war propaganda exhibition with many pictures of the
injured
I
had lunch at Hua Tuc, in a converted
opium refinery courtyard, warm settings, with wooden posts and metal
chandeliers – The food was delicious.
11/19/2014
Wednesday – Saigon
During
the breakfast I asked the friendly receptionist at Madam Cuc for a plane ticket
to Hue. He checked Vietnam Airlines that had a ticket for the next day for
60,000 VND with only 2 tickets remaining. She asked me to hurry up and
purchased it; but I sat for breakfast and by the time I made it back to my room
the seats were gone and the next price was 180,000 VND – the breakfast cost me 120,000 VND.
I
walked to the Ho-Chi-Minh Museum, a
decent collection of city’s historical artifacts and pictures; it was also a
venue for wedding pictures – as the admission was free.
I
then lunched at nearby Huang Lai
Restaurant, staffed by disadvantaged youth. The food and service were both good
and the place was a pleasant spot to hang out for a while.
I
then walked to Central Mosque - on a
block with Starbucks and many Halal food eateries - a simple structure, but it
became lively when a busload of Moslem tourists arrived.
I
walked to the river and then continued walking towards my hostel. I stopped at
a bakery but it was too inside hot and as I was stepping out, another guy –
somehow reminding me of Bill Karl at Pfizer, whom I had seen leaving the
pharmacy next door with a rather large backpack, looking like a Pharma
salesperson, stepped out. We settled for another cooler coffee shop next door.
We started talking. He introduced himself as Steven Baker of Boston, an English
teacher in Saigon for the past two years. He had studied Chinese in Beijing for
a while and had visited a few countries in Far East, though had not visited
much of Vietnam in the past two years. He had a good knowledge of the history
of the Far East that we talked about for a while. He, like his siblings, born
to Christian parents, is an atheist. He commented that religious people think
of atheists as immoral. He has many
Moslem friends in Saigon and enjoys Halal food.
After
a rest in my room I went out to a massage parlor, administrated by the blind, a
few doors away from my hostel. The fee was $3.50 for an air-conditioned room
and $3.00 for a room with a fan. The receptionist gave a ticket for $3.50. I
pointed to a fan and he put a ticket for $3.00 on the table. The massage was
done by a woman – a bit more tenderly than the one in KL.
I
then had dinner, a rice noodle soup, Pho, and water morning glory at Dinh Y,
also steps away from my hostel for $3.50. The bill for the night, for the
massage and tip, and a three-course meal, came to $9.50. Life can be good under
Communism.
I
had a chat with the helpful receptionist at the hostel. She said that she
worked 16 hours a day, seven days a week. I did not dare to ask her pay. She
took my Hue flight departure info for the next day to call a cab for me.
11/20/2014
Thursday – Da Nang-Hoi An
The
private taxi that Tyh, the helpful staff at Madam Cuc had arranged ($10) showed
up at 13:30, Thye saw me to the car. The driver and his friend drove the short
distance to the airport located within the city limits. It was a tiny airport.
At the airport I had a chat with a very delicate, feminine looking 30 year old
man who was going to Hanoi for a job interview. He said he liked travelling but
due to lack of money had not been able to travel much.
I had two bottles of water with me. One was
inside a backpack and the other one in an outside pocket. They passed the x-ray
but then a guard noticed the visible one, wrote my name in a book, and had me
sign it. My flight was delayed for one hour and my gate was changed from 10 to
2 and back to 10 again. The only announcement that could be heard was about
delay of the flights and changing of the gates – which was going on
continuously. Luckily I made it to Da Nang, where I took a taxi ($25) to Hoi An
and checked in at Thien Nga Hotel
($35), with a room with a good view of the rice paddies.
I
walked to Little Menu Restaurant in
the rain and had a very nice meal of Sea Bass in Banana Leaf.
11/21/2014
Friday – Hoi An
I
visited the Old Town and the five
sites that my admission ticket allowed me. I walked the rest of the day in the
lovely town. I had a great lunch at Morning
Glory Restaurant, which looked like an institution in town. Actually, it is
owned by the person who opened Mermaid - the first restaurant in town in 1992.
I tried Mermaid for dinner – where the owner had written a good biography of
how he started his business.
11/22/201/4
Saturday – Hoi An-Hue
I
walked towards Tra Que village and
stopped the Japanese trader tomb
where there were some water buffalos grazing in the rice fields.
I
then took a short walk in the old town and had a good chicken curry with
coconut at Indian Ganesh. I went back to my hotel. A man on a bike showed up to
lead me and another passenger who was also going to Hue to the bus for our
trip. The man offered to carry the trunk of the traveler on his bike. The young
man ended up holding tight while following the man a block away – I guess
concerned that he would take off with his trunk. The bus showed up on the
corner immediately and the concern was resolved. We had a sleeping bus for the
3-hour trip. In Da Nang a Vietnamese man boarded the bus with his family. He is
an employee of the Ministry of the Health. We had a long chat on Vietnam
culture.
In
Hue
I stopped at Jade
Hotel, a few steps away form the bus station, but they were full.
The young girl at the reception called Hue
Nino, another LP hotel and they said they would send someone to pick me up.
A man on a bike showed up shortly and we rode to his hotel.
I
walked to a LP restaurant, but I think the address was wrong as I could not see
a restaurant at that address. Later on I was told they were possibly closed on
that day. While walking, I stumbles into Jade Hostel and asked the same helpful
receptionist for a place to eat. She recommended Serene Restaurant, a few steps away from them. The dinner was very
good – with two very friendly waitresses, Sami and Amy. Sami told me that both
Jade and Serene are owned by the same person.
11/23/2014
Sunday – Hue
I walked to citadel, the palace of the Nguyen Dynasty, a succession of 13
emperors, who ruled from 1802 to
1945 when the last king abdicated and Ho Chi Minh took over.
The
palace was heavily bombed by the French and the Americans. The Purple Forbidden
City was for the most part destroyed. Yet there is enough to represent the
glamour and elegance of the place. I almost spent 6-hours walking around the
many courtyards and buildings, all done tastefully, less pompous then the
Beijing’s Forbidden City, but with more charm.
I stopped
at a beautiful building inside the citadel, turned into a restaurant, for
refreshment. After finishing my drink I got up and went to check upstairs.
Suddenly I saw that all the staff was running around the building – two girls
who were folding toilet papers into fancy napkins and had fallen asleep after a
while and the other two girls who were having their steam rice and I had not
wanted to interrupt them to ask for my bill. Soon a young man showed up. He was
talking on his radio. I was watching the scene from the terrace of he second
floor and soon I figured out they had started a manhunt for me. This went on
for a few minutes until one of them saw me and notified the other ones and the
search operation was terminated.
I went
to the Royal Theater for a Orchestra performance at 02:30 but the saleswoman
told me that they needed at least five customers to perform the show and as it
was almost past 02:30 and I was the only customer the show was going to be
cancelled. I asked a few guys around to join the performance but did not
succeed to persuade them. Soon a French Couple sat at front row. I told them
the situation and asked the woman if she wanted to share the cost of five
tickets among three of us. She said, “Then you will buy two tickets and we will
buy three?” I nodded. After a minute three Chinese tourists stopped by. I
invited them to the show and they agreed, therefore one ticket per person was
OK.
I stopped
at LP’s Mandarin restaurant. The
owner, Mr. Cue, who is also a photographer, was there and we had a chat. He
brought his album for me a watch. It was a beautiful collection. He also
brought a book on history of Vietnam and a book on Vietnam War for me to glance
at. The food was decent and very inexpensive, but during the couple of hours
that I was there only a couple of customers showed up.
11/24/2014
Monday – Hue
I
went on a day trip tour to following sites.
·
Minh
Mang Tomb
·
Khai
Dinh Tomb
·
Martial
Art of Kinh Van An
·
Tu
Duc Tomb
·
Conical
hat making and incense making village
In
the afternoon we visited the following by boat:
·
An
Hien Garden House – Belonged to a Mandarin
·
Thien Mu Pagoda – A 5 story tall pagoda, with
some political history – A monk, Thich Quang Duc, drove
from here to burn himself to death in 1963 to protest lack of freedom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thi%C3%AAn_M%E1%BB%A5_Pagoda. The car
that drove him was on exhibition.
A
Swiss girl from Geneva was sitting next to me. She had quit her marketing job
in Geneva and was checking a cooking school in New York throughout the bus
trip.
11/25/2014
Tuesday – Hue-Hanoi
I
visited the town’s market – a huge space next to the bus station
I
stopped at Café Nina that per as
Wiki Travel was supposed to be a great restaurant. It was nothing to write home
about. They should have had either a great PR or the pretty waitress had done
the trick. The Swiss girl showed up and sat at another table so that she could
smoke. she hardly looked up from her phone throughout the meal. She also
commented that the food was nothing special.
I
visited the Ho Chi Minh Museum. I
was the only visitor and therefore the lights and the fans were turned on for
me. During the couple of hours I was there, no one else showed up.
I
was stopped by a student for an impromptu interview while walking by the river
to my hostel along the river, A half dozen other students soon joined to
practice their English. As I had ½ hour with nothing to do, we talked about our
countries and the importance of learning English language.
At
the hostel, the driver showed up at 18:00. We had a short delay and landed in Hanoi
at 21:00. I took taxi to May Deville
Hotel ($25).
11/26/2014
Wednesday – Hanoi
I
visited the following:
Memorial
House, a Heritage House restored in 2000, with some original furniture and a
working kitchen
Jewelry
Communal House, restored in 2009 aftre removing 25 households with 83 members
Hoan
Kiem Lake
Ngoc
Son Temple on Hoan Kiem Lake
Compound
of Diocese of Hanoi
St.
Joseph Cathedral
Maison
Central-Hoa Lo Prison Museum, French prison of Vietnamese Resistance 1896-1954
Temple
of Literature-Dedicated to Confucius in 1070
I
then had a lovely meal at Koto
Restaurant. The Green Mango Salad and it was delicious.
11/27/2014
Thursday – Hanoi
I
did book tours to Sapa ($145), Cat Ba ($250), and Laos’ Luang Prahbang flight
($138 vs. Laos Air Website of $168). The knowledgeable and helpful travel
agency clerk, Mrs. Lien (01639711799 – at Hotel du Center Ville) gave me her
number to contact her in case of problems.
I
stopped at LP Pho Thin to try their Pho Bo (Beef noodle soup). It was OK. A
young man showed up and tried to sell me the folding cards as I was walking
around the lake. When I told him I did not need them, he offered me a tour of
the city on the back of his bike. He asked for 300,000 VND per hour and we
settled for 500,000 for a 3-hour tour. He was an intelligent 31-year old man.
We visited the French Quarter, and the Fruit market where we had some tea and
also a good Ban Cha at another stop.
Some
of his comments were:
There
is freedom of religion in Vietnam, as the church provides some free schooling.
His sister converted to Christianity a few years ago and his Buddhist family
was OK with that.
The
government has given the church some freedom but does have some informers
there.
The
government should be working with Mafia in distribution of heroin.
The
government provided some soldiers to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war in lieu of
the payments for the oil purchases.
His
rent is $150/mo plus $30 in utilities, including internet.
One-half
of the Vietnamese have stomach problem, possibly due to the water or lack of
hygiene.
I
ate at pleasant New Day Restaurant where
I had a chat with a German, who has been to Vietnam a few times.
As
I was walking around the lake, I met Mai and Sinh. We had a chat about our
countries and life. They are Journalism and Law students who have part time
jobs to pay for their expenses and $150 annual tuition.
11/28/2014
Friday – Hanoi-Sapa
I
was picked up at my hotel at 6:45 and we drove to the bus terminal for Sapa. It
was a sitting bus, as I had asked for, though, very comfortable. The road, with
vey light traffic, had been just opened two months ago, cutting travel time from 11 hours to 5 ½
hours..
In
Sapa,
all passengers dispersed. The conductor led me the to lobby of a hotel and in a
few minutes a guy on motorbike showed up and took me to hotel Summit. I got a decent room with a beautiful view of the town
and the mountains.
After
a lunch of fried fish, I walked about 10KM to Thac Bac (Silver Waterfall) and
took a van back to the lively town square where the native women and children
with beautiful costumes were the main attraction for the tourists.
11/29/2014
Saturday – Hanoi
I
waited in the lobby of the hotel for the badly organized tour operators for our
trek to Y Lin Ho Village (The Black
H’mong Tribe) and Lao Chai Village,
Ta Van Village inhabited by Dzay minorities exhibiting a strong Chinese
culture. Finally, we departed in a team
of eight visitors and twelve native women.
The scenery through the terraced rice fields splendid. The natives accompanied
us until after lunch. Each found a sponsor – in my case, Ye, a 9-year old
girl.She kept walking within two steps ahead or behind me throughout. At times
when I sped up she could keep ahead of me without even running. When the going
got rough, she would turn back to keep an eye on me. She was a great companion.
She reminded me of the behavior of Pavlov, the dog who kept my company in
Sitra, Portugal.
She
knew how to say, “What is your name?” and “What country are your from?”, but
otherwise she did not know any thing else in English.
When
we stopped for lunch, they natives took out their wares and each sold something
to the person they had kept under watch. I pulled Ye aside and bought from her
a bag. Somehow, others found out I had given her some money and they all rushed
to me. I had to excuse myself from any more shopping. They finally left me
alone except for one who kept persisting. She said she had left her two kids
for the day and had not sold anything for the day. I finally had to give her
some money to leave me alone.
11/30/2014
Sunday – Sapa-Hanoi
In
the morning, we trekked to Cat Cat, Sin
Chai Village where we saw the people of the Black H’mong Tribe weaving and
embroidering their clothes. The scenery was pretty. We passed by a waterfall,
and stopped for a short time for a dance & music performance. The group was
a small one, with only six people. The native saleswomen left us alone after a
short while following us.
On
the way back I saw a native woman walking with a young girl. She stepped back
and bent her knees slightly and relieved herself on the raod. This was in
contrast with another native selling artifact by the hotel. She crossed the
street to spit in the bushes around a field – more consideration here from what
was usual in China.
Back
at the hotel I showered, had lunch, read the book that Feri had given me, “The
road with no return”, by Hossein Shahid Zadeh, a memoire starting from 1912,
when the aurthur was in the third grade.
We
headed for the sleeping bus to depart for Hanoi at about 17:00. For about an hour
the bus was riding on very windy road until finally it got on the highway. We
arrived in Hanoi at about 23:00. I shared a cab with Cindy of Brazil who was in
Hanoi for an audit job. When I was boarding the driver put my luggage on the
front seat covering the meter. When Cindy was getting off, she asked to see the
meter. It showed 200,000 VND, which seemed to be a fast meter. We protested and
the driver cut the fare to 100,000 VND. Then I agreed to another 100,000 VND
for my destination that was only a short distance away.
12/01/2014
Monday – Hanoi
I
went to the lobby of the hotel to wait for my pickup for Halang Bay- Cat Ba
trip. The receptionist said due to the typhoon all trips were cancelled. I went
to the tour company around the corner and that was the case. I was told the
tour would be postponed to the following day.
I
then headed for the Ho Shi Minh
Mausoleum, though I knew it would be closed on Mondays. After some walking
I asked a hotel receptionist for the direction and she recommended to take Phan Dinh Phung Street as it was a
beautiful street. She was correct – indeed it was a pretty street. I stopped
for a coffee at a small plaza which was a great spot for people watching – with
locals joining friends at the outside tables, the customers parking the bikes
on the curb and the waiter parking them across the street, the shoeshine man
offering his services, and all sort of vendors selling their wares. After the
break, I continued walking one the beautiful street that by now consisted only
of governmental building – all from French era. I then stopped to watch the
mausoleum and visited Ho Chi Minh Museum.
I
had lunch at beautiful Quan An Ngon
Restaurant on Phan Dinh Phung Street. The mango salad with shrimps was
great and the fried tofu in tomato sauce was the best.
I
tried to withdraw some cash in Old Quarter but according to the ATM my card was
expired – that was indeed the case. I called my bank for help.
12/02/2014
Tuesday – Hanoi-Halang Bay
I
was picked up by the “Imperial Cruise” in the morning for my tour to Halang
Bay-Cat Ba. There was a 4 ½ hrs bus ride to Halang Bay, including a 30-minute
shopping stop at a huge complex of artifacts. At Halang Bay we took a small boat
to the larger “Imperial Cruise Boat”.
The ride was a pleasant one with a large number of huge karsts projected out of
the water all around us.
Once
on board, one of the staff members made a speech on the fact the boat was just
refurbished ad every thing on it was brand new. At lunch table, I met Malcolm
McDonald (Education Advisor, Leap Ed Services Sdn Bhd Malcolm.McDonald@LeapEdServices.com ) , a tall Australian middle age man,
whose huge luggage on the bus I had noticed, and his short but muscular
Filipino boy-friend, Brian. Also at our table was a Mexican, from ex-hippie
parent where all the family members were vegetarians. He was doing his graduate
studies in International Studies in Seoul.
We
visited Sung Sot Cave later in the
day, and then did some kayaking.
There
was a Karaoke session after the dinner.
There
were no blankets in the cabin. I ended up sleeping with only a sheet, and after
the cool wind and the drizzle on the deck and blasting A/C in the van earlier
in the day I ended up with a cold and congested throat.
12/03/2014
Wednesday – Halang Bay
In
the morning, we took a small boat to ride to Cat Ba Island for the overnight
stay in the cabins. We stopped at an Oyster farm where they produced
pearls. The rain had started and the
cool wind was making my cold a bit more serious.
In
Cat Ba, after lunch, I idled and read for a while.
.
12/04/2014
Thursday – Cat Ba-Hanoi
We
took a boat from the cabins in Cat Ba Island for the one-hour ride to the
Imperial Cruise Boat. While riding to the Halang Bay we had a cooking session
where one of the staff members demonstrated how to make spring rolls and every
one tried to participate in the trial. We had lunch and after arrival in Halang
bay waited for about 10 minutes for our bus to Hanoi. We arrived in Hanoi at
17:00. At hotel I was handed over my emergency card but when I tried it at the
ATM machine it did not work. I called the Visa hotline and after entering the
card number, the automated voice response system announced that my card had
been activated. I went back to the ATM machine, and on second unsuccessful try,
the machine retained my card. I contacted VISA but they said there was nothing
they could do and added that I had to work with the the Allianze Bank.
I
then took out some cash with my other card and walked to the Opera House where I met Malcolm and
Brian who had just arrived there. I purchased a ticket for 200,000 VND and the
sales clerk agreed to give us three adjacent seats.
The
Concert was better than I had expected, with a performance of Rimsky-Korsakov Scheherazade and the Opera House, built
in 1910, was beautiful.
12/05/2014
Friday – Hanoi-Luang Prahbang, Laos
I
went to the ANZ bank branch at 08:30 to request the return of my card. The
receptionist called the Customer Service Department and the woman who took the
call promised to help to return the card prior to my 09:30 departure to Laos.
By the time I returned to the hotel they had left a message for me. When I
called back the person who answered the call knew about my situation and said
someone will be dispatched shortly. I remained in the lobby and at 09:30 the
receptionist of Essence Hotel where the ATM was located stopped by to inform me
that the ANZ representative had retrieved my card. I went to his hotel, paid
the $10 fee for early retrieval and got back my card. I then went to the travel
agency where I had purchased my flight ticket to Laos. The taxi arrived at
09:50 and Mrs. Lin, the agent, saw me to the taxi and said goodbye. I arrived
at the airport at 10:40. The plane took off at 12:00 and we arrived in Luang Prahbang
at 13:20. I was granted a 30-day visa on arrival for $35. I then purchased a
cab voucher for 50,000 KIPs and took a taxi to Nora Singh Guesthouse. After checking in I noticed that I was the
wrong place, as the sign on the front door read “Sita - Nora Sing” at Chao
Sisouphahn Rd, Ban Aham www.SitaNoraSingh.com. I decided to stay there. I then went
for a walk in the beautiful streets of the town. The buildings were all
charming, but every single one, beside the temples, was converted to a store,
satisfying the tourists’ needs. I walked for a few hours. On the way back to
hotel I could not find it and it seemed no one knew the place. After a long
search I went to the original ‘Nora Singh” where the lady who seemed to be the
owner knew the address of my hostel. She contacted my hostel and told them know
I was lost. She then gave me the directions and the phone number of the place
and this time I was able to locate the place.
I
could hardly speak today with a congested throat.
‘14/12/05 Laos – Luang Prabang, Vientiane
12/06/2014
Saturday – Luang Prahbang
I
walked around the town and enjoyed the beautiful scenes and architecture of the
Wats and buildings with a French influenced designs and much wood. It is amazing how much warmth and character
wood can give to any design. I am surprised that it not more widely utilized in
modern settings.
I
walked on Bamboo Bridge on Nam Khan River to the other side of the
town where I had a leisurely pot of Lao tea at expansive Dyen Sabai Restaurant.
I then returned to the town on the Old
Bridge.
I
visited Wat Visounnarth and the beautiful Wat
Xienthong, where the young monks were playing an inspiring music inside a
cage-like room. I entered the ground of Khoum
Xieng Thong Guesthouse www.khoumxiengthong.com/ and I liked the calm and beautiful
place with a lovely small fishpond. I took a room there for the next day. I
walked for a few hours around the peaceful and chic area at this end of the
town, where Nam Khan is branched out
of Mekong River.
Today
I had a good breakfast of French Baguette and homemade jam, though with
packaged butter, and a pot of coffee at Cafe
Bat Van Sene. I later noticed it was a LP recommended café. I also had a
good lunch of pumpkin soup and Mekong River fish, both with much flavors,
including lemongrass and coconut milk, at LP Café Toui. I saw the young Korean girl, whom I had taken for a
native and had asked for the location of the restaurant. She had approached me
earlier in the day to ask if I lad found the place - that is what happens in a
small town.
For
dinner I had a tasty barbecued fish (25,000 Kips - $1=8,050 kip), again with
lemongrass at one of the sidewalk cafes off the main drag.
12/07/2014
Sunday – Luang Prabang
I
had a good breakfast of French bread and a rich coffee. I then went back to my
room, checked out and took a tuk tuk to my new room.
I
sat outside to read. Immediately the sound of construction from a villa to my
left and the banging from the Wat to right started. I used my headphone and it
worked. Then the stubborn flies – I had read about them - started hovering
about. I got rid of a few of them. By
the late afternoon, the mosquitoes appeared also. I got up, walked to the Old
Quarter, and did some walking there. When I returned to my room by 19:00, I
could hear music and loud conversation from the Wat.
12/08/2014
Monday – Luang Prabang
Today
was another lazy relaxing day. I walked around the town and visited a few small
temples before visiting Phou Si/Chomsy
Hill, which covers most of the old quarter.
I
chatted with Sith, a 14-year curious student monk. He spoke decent English
after studying it for 2 years. He has been living at temple for four years.
Before that, in his village, where they speak only their tribal language, he
did not even speak Lao language. His parents were not happy with his decision
to join the temple since they had to pay for his robe and his almsgiving
basket. He asked me many questions on many subjects.
I
called Bahram in the evening to send me my ATM card he had received in the
mail. The connection was bad and he could hardly hear me.
12/09/2014
Tuesday – Luang Prabang
I
checked my email first thing in the morning. I had asked Bahram to drop me a
note to confirm he had received my email when I emailed him my address last
night. There was no email from him. I
had to call his shop a half dozen times since he could not hear me. Finally, I
managed a good connection and he confirmed that he had shipped my card. That
was an unpleasant process.
I
had a lazy day, aging just walking around the town. I had a good breakfast at
French Le Banneton, and a very good
lunch at Tamarind. I took a chance
and had the stalls food at the night market. I hope I will be OK since I picked
up mostly the cooked stuff.
It
was another pleasant day to enjoy the charm, peace, and novelty of the city.
12/10/2014
Wednesday – Luang Prabang
Another
day, another breakfast at Le Banneton, another lunch at Tamarind – a delicious
stuffed lemongrass - and a dinner of Duck with OJ sauce at Café Tuie and a few
rounds around the town and the temples. This routine is almost becoming an
addiction.
I
also had a very good massage at L'Hibiscus Spa
for 60,000 Kips.
12/11/2014
Thursday – Luang Prabang
I
finally tried the noodle soup at Xieng
Thong Noodle Shop around the corner; it was OK. I then visited the National Museum. It had an elaborate main reception room, but most
of other room were not too extravagant – possibly sign of a humble monarchy.
I
ate again at Tamarind. By now, the staff was getting warmer. The Pakistani-Canadian female manager treated
me with some dry bamboo shoots as snack and the headwaiter treated me with a
free dessert.
I
walked to the other side of the Nam Khan Bridge. When I asked for the direction
for Wat vipssanaram form a biker, he turned a familiar face whom I could not
remember – either from a travel agency or a restaurant. He offered me a ride
and took me to Wat Paphonphao Vacnaram. I then found Wat Vipssana nearby. I
took a walk back to town center to the night market.
I
bought a grilled fish and sat to eat. A solo female traveler sat at my table.
She was a geologist from Berkeley, CA.
She had sneaked away from her Hindu group to eat some chicken. We talked
about organic food. Then a Parisian man joined us. He had left home after
retirement as he did not care much for Paris and had settled in Ko Samui, Thailand for the past four years. He
was also a geologist who has been working in Iran one week a month for the past
year. He was very impressed with the hospitality and friendliness of the
Iranians. Then another young woman joined us. I asked whether she was American or
Chinese. She said she was from Seattle of Thai background. She could speak some
Thai with the French. It was interesting how the connections were made like the
dots of a circle.
12/12/2014Friday
– Luang Prabang
I
had another enjoyable breakfast at Le Banneton and lunched at Coconut dinner at
Tamarind. Otherwise, I did nothing, but just walking along the two rivers, and
having a chat with a couple of monks at a wat. It is amazing how little can
make a day.
I
booked a flight to Vientiane for tomorrow (740,000 kip).
12/13/2014
Saturday – Luang Prabang-Vientiane
I
woke up early and walked to Wat Sop
next door to view the almsgiving ceremony of the people. There was a long row
of seats and blankets with baskets of foods consisting of sticky rice, packages
of cookies, candies and other stuff. The almsgivers were sitting politely and
soon as the monks started marching in front of them with extended jars, the
almsgivers would place the pieces in their jars while kneeling. There were many
kids lined up on the curb with bags that initially I could not figure out what
they were for. I then saw that the monks would pass on whatever food that they
did not need to the kids. The givers were all Asians. It was an interesting
spectacle.
I
then stopped by at Le Banneton for my last breakfast. I young French man joined
me at my table. We talked about the charm of Luang Prabang and the snobbishness
of the French – we both agreed on that point.
He recommended visiting Corsica
and the Pyrenees in low season around March and April for their beauty and
peacefulness.
Back
at the hotel I paid my bill, took a tuk tuk (50k>30k kips) to airport. Upon
boarding my plane at 13:05, I could not see row F where my seat was supposed to
be. When I asked the flight attendant I found out I had boarded the Bangkok
plane and at the gate they had let me in the plane without noticing the error.
They had only checked that my name on the ticket matched the name in the
passport. To get off, the passengers behind me had to get off as the aisle was
too narrow for me to get out with them on my way. I then had to wait for the ½
delay for the ½ hr flight.
I
checked in at Siry 1 in Vientiane,
located in a quiet area, while close to everything. I then checked a few other
hotels and they were all full. The friendly hyperactive attendant at a juice
store told me that December is the high season in Vientiane.
I
had a decent lunch at Café Lao, though service was awful. All four wait staff
were hiding behind a counter busy with their phones.
12/14/2014
Sunday – Vientiane
I
had breakfast at popular Western restaurant Joma who also had a few stores in
Luang Prabang. I then took a walk in the park overlooking Mekong River, passed
by the humongous unfitting – for a poor communist country - presidential palace
where I had a chat with a native who lived in Australia. He said he hoped that
someday soon there would be free elections in his country.
I
then visited Hor Phra Keo Museum, in
an elegant former temple and Putaxi.
I had a long walk around the town and lunched at Istanbul where I had a chat with Egyptian Sharif Omar and a few of
his friends. Sharif said he worked in Far East Asia for a few Iranian investors
in UAE. He added the Iranian were the best businesspersons. I also had a chat
with the owner and told him he would be better off cutting down his prices as
prospective customers looked at the menu and walked away. He did not get my
point of making money on the volume.
Later
I had some wine at Makphet and a
dinner at Japanese owned Yulala
where a guest at Syri joined me for a long chat. She had horror stories l of
her very long trip in China to Kashghar and Tibet – of price gouging and
unhelpfulness of everyone she had encountered. Some of her stories seemed
familiar. She is writing a book on Buddhism, criticizing it for the lack of
progress for nuns. Buddha was weary of elevating women in the ranks - comparing
them to plight of the plants. She said the Dali Lama is into Shaman dances and
mentioned the existence of the caste and class within the temple and the sexual
abuse by insertion between the thighs of the young monks by the elder monks.
She
had managed the Mandela elections as the principal commissioner and had somehow
made up 8 million votes from the unreported districts under the guidance from
UN and the election committee.
12/15/2014
Monday – Vientiane
I
had breakfast at Le Banneton – though I liked the one in Luang Prabang more. I
then purchased a ticket to Yangon for the next day for $230 via Bangkok, on
Bangkok Air. A couple of other quotes I obtained were around $320 on Thai Air.
I
had a decent curry fish at Lao Kitchen, a few shakes at Fruit heaven where the
lively attendant greeted me warmly – after I had left her a small tip a couple
of days earlier.
I
visited the city’s museum; it had beautiful grounds and inside there was a
large collection of everything from fossils to arms, pottery, handcrafts and
much propaganda materials on French colonial forces and the aggressor USA.
I
had a long walk to Wat Luang – the
most important in Lao. The perimeter walls were impressive but otherwise I
liked Lunag Prabang’s temple more for their elegance.
There
was a large night market next to the temple with many food vendors.
Back
at the hostel, at the front desk a young man was swearing that he had paid for
one night but he did not have a receipt to prove it.
The
city was peaceful; due to lack of buses and trucks, the noise level was low. It
was relatively clean, organized and with decent traffic.
‘14/12/16 Myanmar – Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay
12/16/2014
Tuesday – Vientiane, Laos-Yangon
I
walked to Scandinavian Bakery for breakfast as I had seen a few branches of it
in this city and in Lunang Prabang. Le Banneton was of higher quality – the
coffee, the bread and the ambiance. This
one was out of napkins.
I
then walked back to my room, packed, and paid my bill (130,000 Kips/day).
I
took a tuk tuk to the airport (40,000 kips) and got my boarding passes for both
flights to Bangkok and Yangon. The attendant asked for my onward ticket from Yangon
but I told here that I had been told I did not need one.
We
took off on time, at 11:40, for the one-hour flight to Bangkok. A decent meal
and drinks, including wine, were served. In Bangkok, I sat in a lounge area to
wait for my 17:50 connecting flight to Yangon. Across from me, a Thai girl kept
taking many selfies, and asked me to help with a couple. After she left, an
African family, two women and three kids took the seats across from me. They
were an active group. Once they all left and only a 10-year old girl was left
behind who after a while walked away with half dozen bags but after a few
minutes they all returned. Then the mother and two kids left and the youngest
kid and the other woman were left behind. The kid asked for her mom but she got
repeated beatings and throwings. She kept crying for ten minutes. I left the place and took the escalator
downstairs to my gate but I still could hear the crying of the child.
We
had a short delay, but had a pleasant one-hour flight to Yangon, again, with a
decent meal.
Upon
arrival in
Yangon I was surprised seeing the relatively decent airport.
At
immigration, there were half dozen desks, all staffed by women, and as the
plane was only half-full, the lines were manageable – though I was the first
person on line. The officer was courteous and returned to me two pictures that
I thought they needed.
I
took a taxi outside, though I could not bargain the 8,000 Kyats fare that I was
also quoted inside the airport. The taxis were mostly new and the road was
fine, with three lanes for most of the 40-minutes trip. We passed by an elegant
BMW showroom. There were a good number of parks, and some illuminations – for
the Holidays.
I
checked in at my Hostel, Agga,
($27/day - $1=1,033 Kyats) and then went for a walk around the lively
neighborhood. Many streets were occupied by the sidewalk cafes – most were busy
with diners - though unlike Kuala Lumpur, the sidewalks were wider and more
navigable.
12/17/2014
Tuesday – Yangon
I
had an uninspiring breakfast in the hotel and walked on Pyay Road towards Shwedagon Paya Temple. I passed by the embassy
row, with some charming embassies and pleasant quiet side roads.
At
well-manicured People’s Park, both elegant entrances were shut. I could get in
via the entrance of a large Chinese restaurant - the only one open on the
grounds of the park; the donation to the park commissioner should have been
generous.
I
visited Shwedagon Paya Temple, one
of the most sacred Buddhist sites. It was very lively, with many pilgrims and
monks. It felt like holy grounds.
I
then looked for Aung Thunk restaurant but I gave up finding it as the streets
had no signs so I took a taxi to it. As LP had mentioned it was like eating at
a family gathering. I had a few dishes and the bill came to $3.50.
I
then walked to the Kandawgyi Lake or
Royal Lake, a huge park with a beautiful large lake with wooden bridges
throughout.
I
sat for a beer at a lake view restaurant at the end of the park. Two young men,
one with a guitar, were sitting next to me. They invited me to their table. The
one with the guitar, Constantine, said he did not play guitar and was waiting
for his brother who is a professional player. He was a 21- year man who had
dropped out of college after one year of studying English. To live with his
school sweetheart he had to marry her. He starts his day with a joint. He
spends most of his days drinking. He is unemployed – so is his wife. He had to
sell a piece a gold necklace to buy the $35 Johnny Walker Black Label that he
was drinking. They know him at the restaurant therefore he does not pay service
charge. He said he enjoys the rainy season as much as other times as he can
sleep a lot.
He
got up to go to toilet at one point but as there was none on the grounds of the
restaurant he needed to walk to another site. He returned to the table, picked
up an empty large bottle of water, walked to a corner chair, relieved himself,
returned to the table and threw the bottle in the lake.
12/18/2014
Wednesday – Yangon
I
bought an airline ticket to Mandalay for the next day from the travel agency
around the corner for $56.
I
visited the following sites:
·
The
General Hospital – A grand colonial building, and very busy as it seems to be
the largest medical establishment in town
·
The
Scott Market, a large indoor market with all kinds of vendors, including clothes
and precious stones. I met a man who said his Turkish grandparents had
immigrated here during WWII. He took me to the shop of his son, Joshua who He
sells rubies and jades. He is working with a Japanese company to open a booth
in Tehran.
·
Sule
Pagoda – a popular pilgrimage site
·
A
charming postal distribution center
·
The
Armenian Church – it had a very interesting history. The original Armenian
influx was from New Jolfa, Tehran in early 1700’s. They established a great
trade network along the Silk Road that Shah Abbas and the British Tea Company
tried to take over. While I was walking around, the caretaker, Ashoud,
approached me and introduced himself. He lives in Singapore. He took over the
church from an Indian crook and he has been cleaning up the grounds for the
past few months – to his credit, the church looked beautiful. The young guards
were very attentive. A few women were weaving the worn-out benches. He was a
very dedicated man. I also met Eileen of Niece. Ashoud invited us both to lunch
at Shangri-La where we had a very good lunch.
·
I
spent much time at the jetty by Botataung
Pagoda, where people of all ages, kids, teenagers, adults and the elderly
stopped by to feed the seagulls. I hung around until the beautiful sunset.
12/19/2014
Thursday – Yangon
Ashoud
had invited me to breakfast at his hotel at 09:00. When I arrived there, he was
not there and after waiting for ten minutes, I entered the restaurant. As soon as I sat down, he arrived and
apologized for being late. He had lost track of the time at the gym. He talked
about his faith and the fact that before 1991, the possession of the bible in
Armenia was a crime with a 20-year jail sentence or even worse – and the fact
that practically he was an atheist before that date. When I told him I was
single, he brought up the suitability of a missionary position for a single man
– though later when we were driving in his car to his church and I told him
that I lived in USA, he did not seem too happy about it. I assumed that they
have enough missionaries in States.
After
some walking around I went back to my hotel, packed and took a taxi to the
airport. The city looked beautiful in daytime – as I had observed on the way
from the airport to the city upon my arrival at night. There were lots of green
spaces, many decent areas and buildings and good roads. This should be the one
of the most beautiful cities in a third world dictatorship.
By
the time I got to the airport, I was a bit late and I could not board my 13:25
plane to Mandalay. I returned to the city and checked in at Three Season Hotel – in a more quiet
area near 52nd street. I called the hotel in Mandalay that I had
called earlier to make a reservation to tell them to cancel my
reservation. I then went for a long walk
around the new neighborhood.
I
passed by a moneychanger who had posted the buy and sell prices of USD at 1032
and 1033 Kyats. This was even less than the 2 kyats margin I had seen earlier
at another moneychanger. Now, here was a moneychanger that even Jesus would
have been proud of.
12/20/2014
Saturday – Yangon-Bagan
I
walked to an agency in nearby street a ticket to Bagan. The friendly and lively
female attendant, after taking a look at his monitor and promptly giving up
using it, got on the phone and talked to the party on the other side for 15
minutes. She then asked for my passport and $120. I left my passport there and
she asked me to return in an hour to pick up my ticket. I went for a walk, had
a delicious briyani, picked up my ticket, checked out of the hotel at 12:00 and
took a cab to the airport. This time, again, the driver did not know that for
local flights he had to stop at domestic terminal.
At
the check-in counter, for the first time during this trip, I did not manage to
carry on my larger backpack. The clerk said it would not fit, and she was
correct. Even though the plane was an average size, the overhead cabins were
too small.
We
had a ½-hour delay. There was a woman with her mother and a few kids – one of
them a very charming and playful 3-year old girl. At one time as she was
playing with the boarding passes the mother was holding; suddenly the mother
slapped her three times and the girl held back crying. One the fourth beating
she cried for a short time, then, sat silently next to her mom. After a few
minutes when I looked back, she was asleep in the mother’s arms.
The
service on the flight was good. They served an egg sandwich and soft drinks. We
had a 15-minute stop in Hohe and arrived in Bagan at 17:00. After checking
in at New Hyde Hotel ($35), I went
for a walk in the dust-filled streets of the small town.
12/21/2014
Sunday – Bagan
I
rented an E-Bike for $7. I visited many temples and pagodas. What have remained
were mostly in decent shape. It seemed the builders had mastered the art of
brick making and brickworks. The bricks were made in Mandalay, where the soil
is more suitable and then they were shipped here.
I
had a very decent meal at ‘Do not Kill
the Animal, Moon’ for $3.50. It was a very relaxing and inviting
atmosphere.
12/22/2014
Monday – Bagan
I
rode the same E-bike to the temples and pagodas. I climbed Bulede Pagoda for some great views of the surroundings, then rode
around the area and visited many temples and pagodas – I was the only person on
site at most of them, though some were crowded with native pilgrims for the
festival.
I
walked to an LP restaurant, Indian Aroma,
with the motto of “No Like, No Pay.” The place was packed, there was a shortage
of wait-people and it seemed everybody was waiting. Even the Indian owner could
not move fast enough to serve the customers. A Swede couple at next table said
they had been waiting for an hour. I was about to pay for my juice and leave
but somehow my order arrived before long. The meal was just K.
12/23/2014
Tuesday – Bagan-Mandalay
I
was picked up by the Mandalay van at 09:00. The trip was pleasant; a drama was
playing on the monitor, a man with two lovers, one evil and the other innocent
…one car accident, a fight scene, and finally the evil woman commits suicide
and the two lovers have a happy ending. The roads were decent, except at one
point where a bridge was under repair and we had to cross a shallow river.
We
stopped by lunch at a restaurant; I was hesitant to eat but ended up having a
decent five-course meal for 1000 Kyats – about $0.95.
We
arrived in Mandalay
at 13:30 and the driver dropped me at my hotel, Nylon. I got a quiet windowless room, and then walked towards
Mandalay Hill. The fort/moat was a few blocks away from my hostel and the two
sides of the large square moat was a ½-hour walk each. I then took a motorbike
to the top of the hill to view the hazy sunset. I asked the driver to drop me
at LP’s Green Elephant Restaurant
where I had a very decent meal – a four course for about $25. The arrival of
each party was announced by a drum.
I
then took a taxi to “Mustache Brothers”
show, a show that has been running off and on since 1992, first on street,
and then after a few imprisonments of the performers, at the home of the last
surviving member, Par Par Lay, only for the foreigners. His brother passed away
a couple of years ago, due to lead poisoning while in jail. Aung Sun Suu Kyi
had attended the performance in 2000. The show was a soft satirical. In one
instance, he addressed two Thai spectators and told them he went to Thailand for
some dental work. The dentists asked him were there no dentists in Burma. He
responded that there were dentists, but he could not open his mouth there.
12/24/2014
Wednesday – Mandalay-Kuala Lumpur via Bangkok
I
tried to book a flight out of the country, as I needed to access a website for
end of the year tax planning but did not succeed and therefore had to go to
another country. I finally purchased a Mandalay-Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur ticket for
$207. I then visited the Royal Palace
– a huge site that took me bout ½ hour
to walk each side of it the day before.
Only one of the four entrances was open to visitors and therefore I had
to take a motorbike to ride to the open entrance. I purchased an overpriced
ticket for $10 – it was good for a few other sites – and rented a bike to visit
the large number of the reproduced wooden buildings of the palace. I then took
a motorbike to Lashio restaurant
where I had a tasty meal for $4.50.
I
then took another motorbike to Maha Myat
Muni Pagoda, where I had to borrow a longi to get in as I was wearing short
pants. The temple was very lively and grand with a huge gold statute of Buddha
where the pilgrims would purchase gold leaves and rub it on its surface. The
women were off the limits and they, including female monks, had to hand over
their gold leaves to the male visitors to rub them on the statute.
I
then visited the less impressive Shwe Nyaung Pyin Lay next door. I took another
motorbike to the beautiful Shwe Bin
Monastery – where a few wooden temples covered the peaceful grounds. In one
hall, among the teak columns, I sat down for some meditation. I then walked on
one of the side streets and entered an area that was filled with monks and
monasteries. It was a very lively place with cooking stalls on the sidewalks
and loud hymns playing from loudspeakers. I even stumbled into a mosque. When I
entered, a young man with very dark hair and eyebrows rushed to me to inquire
about my faith. He said there were about 100,000 Muslims living in Mandalay and
there were about 100 mosques.
I
then walked along 84 St. and 40 St., into some slums where people were
preparing their dinners on open fires in front of their shacks. They were all
very friendly, welcoming and looked happy – with the biggest smiles on their
faces.
I
walked for a long time to the Palace, near my hotel. The streets were lively,
with many vans filled to the roof with passengers and their drivers still
calling for more riders at each intersection.
I took another motorbike to “Do Not Kill the Animals Restaurant”
where the female attendant told me they were closed and suggested the Thai
Restaurant, Rainforest, across the
street. It was a huge antique shop. The seats on the roof were all taken and I
took a seat on the first floor where I had a chicken curry. I then walked to my
hotel through the dark streets – where there were no traffic lights - like most
of the rest of the town that I had walked about within the past couple of
nights.
12/25/2014
Thursday – Mandalay-Kuala Lumpur
The
cute ever-smiling hostel’s kid helper served my breakfast and offered me extra
toast. I boarded the taxi that I had reserved the day before at 10:00 for the
one-hour ride to the airport. We stopped at a gas station where half a dozen
teenagers greeted and directed us to the isle. The driver purchased a couple of
bottles of water, offered me one and wished me a Merry Christmas. Halfway
through the trip the decent road to the airport started. There was a beautiful
boulevard in the middle filled with plants covered in beautiful red flowers.
Yet, there were installing cement dividers – covering the plants. It was hard
to figure out if the work was granted to a contractor with connections or just
they had too much unused cement on their hands.
We
arrived at the airport at 11:00. I checked in quickly and went through
immigration. I purchased a $3 coffee at a coffee shop to use the WIFI but it
was a bad WIFI day and could not succeed. We took off on time and arrived
within 2 ½ hours to the frenzy Bangkok airport where I waited for my 17:45
flight to Kuala Lumpur.
The
flight had a short delay but we arrived in KL on time at about 21:00. In the plane’s
magazine, I saw an article about the town of Melaka, about 150km away from KL.
I looked it up in LP; it was described as a town with a notch stress level over
a tropical beach town. I decided to pay a visit.
In
KL, I took the express train that was already at the station to KL Central. I
purchased a budget taxi ticket for 10RM, vs. the blue taxi costing 25RM, to my
hostel, Step Inn, on Jalan Pudu. It
was raining hard, and it was muggy – the only time I really felt mugginess in a
long while. I shared the taxi with a
Brazilian who had just arrived after a very long flight.
‘14/12/25 Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur, Melaka
12/26/2014
Friday – Kuala Lumpur
I
woke up rather late in the morning. I went for lunch at Arabesque , an Arab
Restaurant. The Hummus and Motabel (Baba Ghanouch) were OK but the wait was
long and the service slow. The place was in Chinatown, hiding behind the street
stalls.
The
city was noisy and messy – unlike Mandalay where it was easier to wonder around
in more quiet areas. I entered Jalan Pudu Lorong, a quite side street with some
green on one side, but there was too much garbage all around and it stunk.
I
found another quiet road but there was a major construction going on there,
with the tallest cranes I had ever seen. Finally, I got to the quiet area
around the domed stadium and the Victoria Institute – with a very well kept
ground and some colonial buildings, though the couple of classrooms that I got
in looked dismal.
I
passed a police station. There was a big sign of Allah and Mohammad on one wall
– and then a few steps ahead a big diversity post with the pictures of an
Indian, a Moslem, and a Malay kid hand in hand. Hopefully, when the non-Moslem
kids grow up, they would not mind that only Islam is being displayed at their
police station.
I
finally came across the mosque with beautiful blue dome that I had observed a
few times while riding the tramway. Though the courtyard and interior were not
as impressive.
12/27/2014
Saturday – Kuala Lumpur-Melaka
I
walked to the building that looked like the transit (tramway) system. I asked a
guard for the ATMs. He walked me to them. I then showed him the transit map and
asked how to get to Bender Teksim.
He walked me to the end of hall and pointed to a bus. He then mentioned that he
had not his morning drink yet and asked for a tip. I ignored him. I walked out and then showed the transit map
to another guard and asked how to get to my destination and he also pointed to
the same waiting bus. I boarded the bus, paid the fare and waited for 15
minutes, during which time only a few people boarded the bus. I asked the
driver how much longer before he departed and he responded he would depart in
ten minutes. I showed him the transit map and asked if I could take the tram to
my destination and he directed me to the path behind the building I had just
existed. I took the tram to TBS.
there were about twenty people waiting in front of each of the eight windows. I
waited for about 15 minutes during which time only a couple of people were
served. I ended up using the ticket machines and purchased a ticket for 10RM
for the two-hour bus ride to Maleka. In Melaka, I took bus 17 to town center. It took
more that 75 minutes to get there. The streets were packed with cars – at
traffic lights the streets looked like a parking with the long lines of cars –
the traffic was miserable. I had second thoughts about making this trip. I
checked in at River View Guesthouse,
a quiet place on the river with no shoes inside policy. At night, after the
rain ended I went for dinner and then a walk along the river - the crowds had
thinned by this time. I talked to one of
the attendants at the hotel, a young Nepali who had been working there four
seven months. He had immigrated with the help of a Chinese placement agency. He
had to pay his travel expenses if he ever wanted to break his contract before
three years of work.
I
went online and was able to purchase a one-way ticket back to USA on China
Eastern Airlines for $680 – though the reviews of the airline did not look
promising.
12/28/2014
Saturday – Melaka–New York via Shanghai
I
woke up at 06:30 and went to the balcony. The skies looked beautiful. I went
back to the bed but got out at 07:00 and went for a walk before the crowds hit
the streets. I then went back to the hotel to relax on the balcony. The owner
of the hotel, a young Chinese, stopped by and handed me one night of room
charge. I had made a reservation for three nights but I was leaving on the
second day – though late in the day. He said since I had given more than
24-hour notice he could relist the room on the web. He also said I could buy a
bus ticket direct to the airport rather than going to KL first.
I
went to Discovery, the shop he had mentioned. My flight was at 02:00 the
following day. I tried to get a ticket after 20:00 but the only ticket he could
get me was at 18:00. That was too early for me. I went to a few other places to
find out if there was another ticket agent without luck. I stopped by at the
Tourist office and checked the website of the bus company but they did not
accept international credit cards – only domestic ones were displayed within
the purchase options. Back at Discovery Shop, I paid RM31 for a ticket and RM20
for a taxi ride at 17:00. I then went for a lunch where I had a chat with an
old retired teacher about bad politics in Malaysia and religion. I was picked
up at 17:00. It took us 25 minutes to ride a few streets and two traffic lights
but after that within a few minutes we arrived at the bus station. The bus
departed at 18:00. It was freezing inside. I tried to close the A/C shafts but
one of them was broken. I stuffed it with a large tissue but the cold air
started blowing from the speaker holes. I tried half a dozen other empty seats
and the A/C cover was broken in all of them. I am not sure if people had broken
them while they were struggling to open them wider than possible or shutting
them completely.
I
damned myself for not carrying a second layer of top – after catching a very
bad cold in Hanoi-Halong Bay van. We got into a very heavy traffic shortly and
the bus was moving at a very slow pace. After 2 ½ hours suddenly the traffic
cleared and within ½ hour, at 21:00, we arrived at the airport. I checked at
the Shanghai ticket windows. I was told they will open at 23:20, i.e. 2 ½ hours
prior to the departure.
The
Shanghai flight was on time, in an almost brand new plane with enough legroom –
though I had asked for an emergency exit row. we had a five hour lay over in
Shanghai. Half way through, I took a nap on the seats and woke up just in time
to board China Eastern flight to JFK. This plane also was only three months old
with enough legroom and on-time departure. They served two meals and one small
breakfast. The bathrooms were clean – the flight attendants would clean them
very frequently. At JFK, I took the airtrain to Jamaica station and then the
subway to Penn Station. I arrived home about 17:00PM, after being in transit
for 36 hours.
‘14/12/25 Ecuador – Otavalo, Cotacachi, Ibarra, Banos, Puyo, Vilcabamba, Cuenca
02/05/2015
Thursday – NJ-Otavalo
I
am flying to Quito today. I had purchased my Delta airline ticket on eDreams
for about $610 just two days ago.
Terry’s
Taxi driver picked me up at 11:45 for a 45 minutes ride to Newark airport.
Delta terminal was a very quiet and I was at the gate within 15 minutes for my
New York-Atlanta-Quito 14:15-22:55 flight. On the second leg of the flight, I
sat next to Byron, a young Ecuadorian who had immigrated to USA with his mother
some ten years ago.
At
Quito airport, I had to wait for a few minutes before my female driver showed
up for the 1 ½ hrs ($60) ride to my hotel, Riveria
Sure in Otavalo. I had asked the hotel to arrange the ride. She did not
drive faster than 60km on the highway. I took a nap for part of the trip.
02/06/2015
Friday – Otavalo
After
a decent breakfast in the charming courtyard of the hotel, I walked to the
Central Plaza where the children were marching with their parents for the Foam
Spraying Festival. I walked around the town, visited the Plaza de Ponchos, hiked the hills around the town. I visited the
fancy only-touristic train station. They had a full day ride to Salinas with a
few stops in between for $50. I may try the ride. I lunched at the popular Mi Otavalito and had a decent corvina for dinner, with a long wait,
at Quino, a seafood restaurant. I
had to try four ATMs before I was able to withdraw some cash with the
assistance of a guard.
Overall
the city was pleasant to walk around, could get a bit cool, too cool at times,
compared to Vilcabamba.
02/07/2015
Saturday – Otavalo
Today
was the famous Saturday Market Day.
The whole length of the Sucre Street and some of the side streets were filled
with vendors selling everything – though most carried weaved crafts. It was
somewhat similar to the night market in Luang Prabang. I walked across the
bridge to the end of Colon Street to the lively Animal Market. Many animals, cows, pigs, sheep, goats and birds
were on sale. The action was very lively.
I
then walked to the train station on the other side of the town and took a taxi
to El Lechero (the magic tree), on the way to Candor Park. The surrounding
views of the mountains and green fields were beautiful. San Miguele Lake was
visible. I then had an enjoyable walk down to the city. It felt like the 4km
mentioned in LP but somehow the trip in taxi had seemed longer.
At
the fruit market next to the church, I filled two shopping bags with fruits for
$6 and back at my hotel I made a delicious guacamole.
02/08/2015
Sunday – Cotacachi, Day trip
Faith of Ashville, North
Carolina joined me at
breakfast. I had met her party at a seafood restaurant two nights ago. She said
she could not sleep the night before because of the noise from the street –
Saturday night is a major party night in Latin America. She was also down to
her last $30 and she had been unable to withdraw cash from the only ATM she had
tried. I assured her that was normal and she had to try a few of them before
giving up. I loaned her some money until she could use her ATM card. We took a
taxi to bus station after breakfast and took a 30-minute bus ride to Cotacachi. The sun had come up by this
time and the weather was very pleasant. It was a small town and one could walk
around it in 30 minutes. There were a few charming buildings, including a
converted seminary turned into a restaurant where we stopped by for a lukewarm
coffee. The hills around the town were gorgeous. Faith wanted to return so we
took the bus back to Otavalo. I made a guacamole and shared it with Faith and a
new guest from Belgium. She had been to
Vilcabamba and had had twelve Ayahuasca sessions with Ramon, the shaman. I then went for a walk on the road with
cemetery leading to the heels. The rain started by this time and by the time I
made it back to the hotel it was pouring. I put on my poncho and went for a
walk but the rain was too heavy and I came back to my hotel, did a few emails
and went for dinner with Faith. We found a decent pizza shop packed with
natives where we had a decent inexpensive pizza.
02/09/2015
Monday – Ibarra, Day trip
I
took the bus for a 45-minute ($0.40) ride to Ibarra and then took a $1 taxi
ride to Parque Pedro Moncayo where a
few beautiful churches and also the City Hall and Clock Tower were located. I
walked to Plaza la Merced where a
few other beautiful buildings are located and continues around the beautiful
town before having a simple lunch at the charming Intretenedores Restaurant
($3.25). I had a couple of ice creams at the landmark Rosalia Suarez Ice Cream Shop, served by the daughter of the
founder and then visited the tourist-only train station and the Amazonia
Mercado. I took the city bus to the suburbs of the town in the hills and the
same bus, after a loop, returned to the city where I took the bus back to
Otavalo. I liked the city – it looked like a small scale Cuenca, though I did
not see any foreign tourists.
02/10/2015
Tuesday – Otavalo-Banos
I
woke up early and walked to ATMs to get some cash. The guard who had helped
Faith and me in the past was not there and I tried more than ten times to get
past the first step but the machines kept canceling the transaction. I waited
for a couple to finish their transaction but they had the same problem as I
did.
I
met Faith at breakfast table. She said she had tried all the banks in the town
in the company of a man from the tourist office to no avail and finally had
succeeded to get some cash at Western Union sent by her husband. She paid me
back for the loan I had made to her. She was going to Tena today for an Amazon tour.
I
made it to Ibarra just one time for
the 09:30-15:30 Ibarra-Ambato bus. I went to Ceta ticket office that I had
checked out the day before to purchase a ticket but they said I should purchase
the ticket on the bus. A man came to lk me to the bus after some waiting and
phone calls by the attendant. I deposited a 10-cent coin in the toll machine
for the entry fee but the turnstile did not turn and the guard said I needed to
deposit a 5-cent coin. I raised my voice in complain and they let me in from
another gate. We arrived in Pifo, a town 10 minutes past Quito airport exit at
12:00 where we waited for about ½ hour. Once in Ambato I when to Banos Ticket
office where they directed me to another window. They turned out to be selling
25-cent tickets for the entry fee. The $1.50 bus fare was collected in the bus
again. After a 1 ½-hour trip we arrived in Banos – just as I was feeling some
motion sickness.
The
city was lively with many shops catering to the tourists.
02/11/2015
Wednesday – Banos
At
breakfast table, as I was looking at a table with a two Asian couples trying to
figure out their nationality, I crossed eyes of man sitting an another table.
He stared back at me. A second time, while I was smiling at the waitress, I had
an eye contact with him. By this time I was sure he though I was gay. The third
time I looked at his direction I saw his male companion spoon-feeding him.
I
went for hike to Bellavista and
continued on the road to La Casa De Arbol. The views of the mountains and the
patches of clouds were exhilarating. I hitchhiked a car driven by a town
employee who did not accept my fare.
I
stopped at Il Pappagallo Restaurant
run by Patricio. It was empty again, as it was last night – when I had walked
away after the chef came to the door, but today the waitress was too fast for
me to walk away from her. The food was OK.
I
took a cab to El Salido Hot Springs,
located a bit past the other end of Martinez St. I purchased a ticket for $3.50
and they asked me to get a shower cap. I bought one for $1.50 rather than
renting one for $0.30. It was an organized place. I put my belongings in a soft
drink box and they stored it for me and gave me a number to be worn on wrist.
There were four hot spring pools of varying temperatures and two cold-water
pools. I used the hottest pool for most of the time. I met a few visitors, Mark
and Irina, a Polish couple living in Canada. Mark was concerned about NASA
messing with the air of Ecuador and Canada by infusing Aluminum Oxide into it
for some experimentation. He was not too convincing when I asked him how
Canadian government would allow that. He asked me to check out http://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/ and spread the word.
I
also met Steve Harrington, a very friendly man, a Yul Brynner look-alike, from
Montana, and another woman, a physician who said he had just been to Riyadh for
training at a hospital complex, five of them for men and one for the female.
She had to be escorted by a male companion inside the complex and could not go
to the streets.
02/12/2015
Thursday – Puyo, Day trip
I
went to the cafeteria to get something from the fridge. The gay man whom I had
locked eyes with was there with his partner and couple of times that I looked
at him he was staring at me.
I
stopped by at the reception to extend my stay for couple of more days but the
receptionist, the pretty daughter of the owner, said she had the room available
only for one day.
I
went to LP Good Restaurant for breakfast. They had a sign listing “Ground
Coffee” but as the guy was preparing the coffee I asked him if it was Nescafe
to which he answered positive.
I
stopped at charming “Le petit
Restaurant/Hostal” that I had stopped by the day before and the owner with
a paralyzed boy had shown me a beautiful room for $20. Today the female
attendant told me that there were all sold out for the festival. I stopped by
another hostal were the attendant told me all hotels would be full for the
national carnival.
I
then stopped by LP’s Posada Del Arte
where the owner who was cooking in the kitchen, told me she had a room only for
the next day. I paid for it. As I was leaving, I met the female physician I had
met at the hot spring the day before. She and her partner, Mark, were staying
there and liked the place.
Back
at my room, I checked my email. Bernie of CMV in Vilcabamba had responded to my
previous night inquiry and notified me he had room #3 available from the 14th.
I
then asked someone for the directions to the bus terminal for Puyo and he said
it was too far and I should take a cab; on the way back I walked the same
distance within ten minutes.
The
1 ½ hrs, $2.50, bus ride to Puyo was
pleasant. We drove on the Amazonia Road, along the Negro River, running on a
cliff, at times narrow and very deep and at other spots, the width could be a
few miles. Halfway through the ride, the rain started and my closed windows
started leaking.
When
I got off in Puyu it was raining very hard. I had a chat with a young guy from
Buenos Aires who was making bicycles with wires and putting them on his cloth
spread before him for sale. He said he had biked all the way from home but he
had hurt his knee and was staying in Puyo for sometime. He said he had visited
the ‘passeo turistico” which he had liked very much. I took a taxi and asked
him to go to ‘passeo”. He drove for a short distance and stopped at a place
where the buses for Banos and Riobamba on the opposite direction were passing.
I told him that was not the place that I wanted to go to. Only then he said
that I should have asked for “passeo turistico”. He then drove there. There was
a very well maintained path along the “Puyo Rio” with many plants and flowers
all around. I walked to the end of the path where University Estalal is located
and then returned. On the way to the bus terminal I saw a “for sale” sign for a
50H-$100K lot at a hostal. I asked the hotel owner who called his brother,
Victor, to come to meet me. Victor showed up quickly and we drove to the lot. It
was a vey steep terrain and muddy and therefore we were unable to walk around.
I
then took a bus back to Banos. I checked the direct Banos-Riobamba bus. It
would be a 6-hr bus ride. That plus the 7-hr Cuenca bus ride, 3hr Loja and 1-hr
Vilcabamba would have been too much for a one-day trip. I tried to find a
travel agency for a flight from Latacunga (2 hrs away) to Cuenca. The agency
was closed. When I checked online, there were no tickets available for the 14th.
I therefore possibly have to stay overnight in Riobamba.
I
stopped at LP Posada Del Arte for dinner but the young man there told me that
they only served breakfast and recommended ‘Quilobamba” when I told him they
had a lock on their door the other night, he said he had seen the owner the
same day. I walked there and they were open. The waitress/owner told me that
there were closed on Mondays & Tuesdays – hence the lock door I had seen a
couple of nights ago. The tapas –sweetened zucchini and peppers on crackers
were delicious, as was the house wine. The grilled meat was also plentiful and
satisfying.
A
band of Andes musicians walked in and performed a few songs. The only female
player/singer had a long hair, reaching below her knees. When I asked if they
were Peruvians, she responded that she was Ecuadorian and a few members from
Los Angeles.
Later
on a very beautiful white and yellow dog came to the entrance and sat down
waiting for handouts. I called on him to come closer so that I could give him
the bones on my plates but the waitress stopped me and took away my plate. The
dog sat there with the most begging look, drooping sad eyes and crossed front
legs. No one gave him anything. At this time a woman came up the stairs of the
restaurant and disappeared to one side; the dog followed her. I took my wine
glass and went out to find out where they went. There were some steps leading
to the top floor that I took. When I got there the dog barked and chased me
away. I walked back to the balcony of the restaurant to finish my wine and
enjoy the garden. I saw a sign posted on the restaurant entrance, reading
‘Entry of Israelis who do not believe in coexistence with the Palestinians is
forbidden.” Now that was a real “Freedom
of Speech.”
I
paid my bill ($20) and walked to the waitress to thank her for the meal. She
pointed the chef to me. I greeted him and praised him for his belief.
02/13/2015
Friday – Banos
I
tried my ATM at a bank that failed and the guard directed me to Austro bank.
The ATM was also temporarily out of service. I tried again successfully later
on. As Chimenea hostel had no rooms available for the Carnival weekend I paid
my bill and moved to my new place, Hostal the Arte which I had reserved prior
day. I then went for a very pleasant 12:30-14:40 hike to Case De Arbol, lunched there and bused it back to town. At my
hostal, I met the group I had met at the hot spa, Mark, a Polish Canadian and
Irina, his very friendly wife, Steve Harrington of Montana, and John of British
Colombia, both part-time residents of Mexico.
02/14/2015
Saturday – Banos-Riobamba-Cuenca-Loja-Vilcabamba
Lui,
the owner at Hostel the Arte gave us a ride to the bus station where we took
the 08:55-09:55 bus to Riobamba. The 10:00 Cuenca bus was full. We purchased
tickets for the 11:30 bus. The bus arrived from Quito at 12:00 due to the
Carnival traffic. I had seat number one. By the time I put my backpack in the
storage and boarded the bus Steve was seating in my window seat, seat #1. He
asked me if I had seat #1 and added that that he had seat #2.
We
arrived in Cuenca at 18:30. I took bus 19:10-23:40 bus to Loja and a 40-minute
taxi ($18) to Vilcabamba. CMV’s door was locked. I did not have Bernie’s phone
number at CMV; I therefore called FIntan of Britain whom I had met last time I
was in town to get Bernie’s phone number but he was not home to get to his
laptop. I took a taxi, and the driver, Olivo, tried all the hostels in town
until I could find a room at Mandango, behind the bus station. I had an email
from Bernie saying that he would leave the keys on door of room #5.
02/15/2015
Sunday – Vilcabamba
I
left Mandango hostel for CMV before going to the Sunday Market to do my
shopping for the week. I then attended the meditation session run by a monk, a
direct descendant from Buddha, with some unacceptable statements about the
possibility of long periods of hunger and all that.
I
then walked to the plaza. The Carnival was in full swing – with a band, dances,
water splashing and foam spraying, and beer drinking.
02/17/2015
Tuesday – Vilcabamba
With
Connie Geffen, Maria and Ted walked to Connie’s property (1 acre - $55k). It
was on a steep slope with much work to be done for preparation of the plot.
Someone had given her an estimate of $1000 for the backhoe work. They normally
charge $250-300/day. I thought the estimate was too low, but Connie should know
better as an architect. She is also budgeting $75k for a large house with many
features as she showed us in the blueprint.
Ted
of Vermont was kind to sacrifice and jump in front of all the buckets of water
being splashed at us on this last day of Carnival before the Ash
Wednesday.
02/18/2015
Wednesday – Vilcabamba
At
breakfast table, Maria, a medical assistance, and Connie, a Phd RE
financier/architect both claimed that they would rather die rather than using
new medical care. Robert, another guest visitor, joined our table and he talked
about supernatural energies all around us.
I
had a chat with Christine, the new guest from Sweden, with the bluest eyes I
have ever seen. She is a shaman healer practicing in Peru for six months.
Bernie noticed that her shiny blue eyes were the result of too many Ayahuasca
sessions.
I
attended morning meditation session led by Bernie, and the evening session led
by the monk. In the evening, after the second phone went off I left the
session. I walked to the new Ahura Mazda that William, a gringo, had told me
about the day before. I met Daniel
Alvarez of Loja https://www.facebook.com/daniel.alvarez.77377692?fref=ufi 593 7-264-0080,
a 37-year old Ecuadorian. He had spent about a year in Iran and had fallen in
love with the country. Cyrus was his new prophet that he would pray to. We sat
in his beautiful backyard and chatted. I invited him to dinner at Yoghurt
Factory. He said he did not have any money and was greatly appreciative.
02/19/2015
Thursday – Vilcabamba
I
stopped at the tourist office to pick up a map for direction to cascada. I walked from 08:20-12:20 to
get there. I took the trail at the end of the road, staying to the left of the
river. The views were beautiful but, this time similar to last time, I did not
have my camera with me. Initially I passed the two almost continuous waterfalls
while staying on a hill across from them. I met a young man coming down from
his finca who directed me back to the waterfall, but again I could not locate
them. I walked to the river, had lunched, ad then walked back to the town. On
the way I stopped by Luis Amable Narvaez
OCamp’s cabins (09
5982 2035 - Yamburara Alto, by the Iglasia Pequeno, 30 min. walk to plaza)
where I met Caroline DOn, one of the tenants ($200 rent), and Ron, a Richard
Gere look-alike and Susan of California who were visiting Caroline. I arrived
at CMV at 17:30.
02/20/2015
Friday – Vilcabamba- Luis Narvaes’ cabin
I
went to Luis’ cabins. He was there and I told him I wanted to try his place for
two days before making a commitment. I offered him $15/day and he said $10
would do. I sat on the porch to view he beautiful views of the hills and
Mandango before going back to CMV to get some of my stuff and return.
02/21/2015
Saturday – Vilcabamba
I
had a delicious omelet in the porch while watching a hummingbird, a couple of
birds similar to canaries and the bees jumping from one flower to another. I
studied Spanish for a while and then walked to the town. A truck driver stopped
for me and I jumped in his cargo section. A few teenagers were lying down on
mattresses and the parents were sitting there. I got off in Yamburara and after
some walking ended up at Yasu’s restaurant. I stopped at Ahura Mazda for lunch,
as I had asked Daniel to reserve a seat for me. A young man, Quandriz of Buenos
Aires, was seeing off his wife and child. He told me they would be open for
dinner only and then showed me around the garden. He is a sound technician,
living at the place. I did some small shopping and returned to the cabin.
In
the backyard, as I was trying to cut off a banana from a branch, its stem broke
off broke off and its syrup splashed on my eyeglass lenses. It took me a while
to clean the lenses.
For
most of the day, I tried to get rid of the tiny ants marching on the wall,
carrying the bodies of a few small spiders.
The
tap water often sprouted intermittently with a loud sound. In the sample I
poured into a glass I could see a layer of mud after it had settled down.
The
disco music became loud in the evening and I could hear it even with my music
headphones on.
02/22/2015
Sunday – Vilcabamba
I
went to CMV for my last breakfast there. I told Bernie I was checking out. He
charged me for one week ($120) even though I had the room for eight days and
had missed my first day reservation. I then went to Sunday Market to shop and
took a taxi back to my cabin.
I
tried Ahura Mazda in the evening again but it was quiet and a loud music was
playing. I decided to pass.
I
met Colleen, Bill and Cal, a German American, at Charlito. Colleen told me of
her English teacher, Serena (about ¾ of a mile before brick factory on
Yamburara Alto) who runs a Wednesday class, 10-12 PM, for $5.
02/24/2015
Tuesday – Vilcabamba
I
woke up early and went to continue cleaning the Yamburara road from where I had
left last evening. I then walked to the city to get internet service from
Vilcanet. I happened to meet Luis Navares,my
landlord. He said he would go with me to Vilcanet’s office. We drove there and I got 4M service ($50/mo –
technical Help: Luis Sanabria 09 9483 7315 or 3105 5746) and paid $100, (incl.
$25 installation fee) for 1 ½ months of service. I then did some shopping,
bought some rye and barley bread at French bakery, a cutting board and a few
other kitchen items, and then as soon as I arrived home, the technician, Edward, 09 9310 7777, called me and
showed up shortly to install my service.
I
then had a chat with Luis about my interest in planting some seeds on his
raised bed. He drove me to a nursery where I bough some soil and he gave me
some seeds to plant. I will start the plot tomorrow. My neighbor, Caroline Don,
also gave me some basil seeds.
02/26/2015
Thursday – Vilcabamba
The
internet connection was down for a while. I called two technicians who did not
answer. I walked to the laundry store and picked up my wash that I had dropped
off the day before.
I
used a cage of chicken wire to sift some compost and to mix with the soil,
along with the soil I had picked up from the nursery. I then planted the half
dozen seeds I had. The task took the entire day.
02/27/2015
Friday – Vilcabamba
I
chatted with Caroline, my neighbor. She claimed that Obama is gay and there is
no record of his Colombia U. graduation, his wife is a transvestite, and that
their kids do not belong to them. She also talked of the planned hippie
movement, and the CIA hands in every other event. She had cried over Gadafy’s
death. The red blood intends to eliminate 99 percent of the world population.
02/28/2015
Saturday – Vilcabamba
I
walked to the city to try the new Middle Eastern restaurant, United Falafel
Org. (UFO). The coffee was OK, but
by the time I wanted to order my lunch, 03:00, they were out of 150 meals they
had prepared. I met Fran of Boston, Ann of Toronto and Mohan, an engineer from
Washington. Fran said she had just returned from visiting “John of God.” When
she was leaving the site, she had heard a whisper in her ears. Ann had just
ordered a device from Russia to absorb the chem trails. Mohan said that after
four years in Vilcabamba they had run out of the money and for the past year
his wife, Nina, after taking a few courses, had become a healer and Mohan did
her marketing in USA. She did the healing over Skype. The callers contact her
with their issues, she then goes to her room, and heals them remotely. Mohan
also talked a long time about Nassim Haramein, a physicist. When I checked out
his credentials, I read that his page was withdrawn from Wiki due to
unsubstantiated claims. He also believed that the pyramids were more then ten
thousand years old and were not built by the slaves.
03/01/2015
Sunday – Vilcabamba
I
took the bus to Malacatos to check out the lively Sunday Market. I only bought
some sea bass and then went back to Vilcabamba’s Sunday Market for shopping.
03/03/2015
Tuesday – Vilcabamba
I
attended the first intermediate Spanish class given by Serena of Italy. The
previous week’s Wednesday beginners glass was a bit too easy.
03/04/2015
Wednesday – Vilcabamba
A
Polish couple with a brother and a kid moved to the empty cabin behind me. The
place suddenly lost its peace. I walked to the town at night to take a break
from the noise.
03/05/2015
Thursday – Malacatos
I
took the bus to Malacatos for some walk. I could not find the road to Sr. Luis Curimilma.
03/06/2015
Friday – Vilcabamba
I
went to see a house advertised by Paulette, a Hollywood set painter 0988779563.
She has been here for four years. She is building her own house in San Jose,
but has had a very bad experience with two contractors, and has ran out of
money.
The
charming house (between the last two bridges in Yamburar Alto - $600/mo.) was
built 15 years ago by San Francisco, a Brazilian, for Captain Earl who passed
away four years ago, from overdrinking per as Caroline. His son, Joe, wants to
sell it for $250k. It had a beautiful garden with an Italian style pond and
fountaine, though the views were rather limited.
03/26/2015
Thursday – Vilcabamba
I
walked to the town and boarded the Zumba-Loja bus at the intersection. It made
it to Loja within 40 minutes. I then walked to the office of Dr. Luis Carpio,
DDS for a frontal filling ($40) on Av. Orillas del Zamora near Olmedo &
Imbabura LuisCarpio@hotmail.com 09 9271 7174-09 9564 0728. I asked him for a restaurant
recommendation and he suggested Riscomar
@ Rocafuerte & 24 De Mayo that I tried later in the evening. The food,
specially the ceviche was very good. I stopped at Casa Sol, a cute restaurant
with a balcony with great view, for refreshment. I walked to the Mercado @ 18 De Noviembre
& Rocafuerte. The fish section is open daily until 18:00. I took a taxi to
the Vilca taxi station at 21:00 but it was closed and the driver dropped me at
the bus station by Primax gas station where I waited for about 20 minutes for
the Vilcabamba bus to arrive.
03/30/2015
Monday – Vilcabamba
Caroline
stopped by to tell me the masseur who had molested a few of his female clients
had skipped the town – after the story had made it to the community facebook
page.
It
was a quiet day – with a beautiful sunset. I changed the spot of the Oregano
that I had planted the week before next to the rosemary and moved it next to
the geranium that I had planted yesterday. It would receive more sunshine
there.
I
walked to the town for a dinner. Two men were working on the construction of a
shack by the road from the house where a loud music is usually heard from. The
shack was almost completed where as yesterday morning when I was walking to
town for the Sunday Market there was nothing there.
I
passed by Paella and they happened
to be open. I entered and sat inside – they had a charming decor inside. I
asked for a paella and the female chef told me the regular size is for two
people and offered me a small portion. It was a filling and delicious meal. A
French couple with two young kids took a nearby table. The daughter started a
card game with the mother and the son a chess game with the dad. Their cute dog
just sneaked under the table and stayed there until I enticed him out with some
shrimp skin. I also met Max Love, of Poland, who had been coming every year for
the past few years and has been extending his stays every time until this time when
he has been here for the past nine months.
I
had a very pleasant walk back home – in a very pleasant breeze with a light
drizzle – no new landslides on the road. There was one a Loja a few days ago
where a home was washed away and six people had died in their sleep.
03/31/2015
Tuesday – Vilcabamba
I
made it to Luis Carpio, DDS, office at 9:24 for my 9:30 appointment with the
hygienist for a cleaning. The elevator which was working the other day was out
of service. The office door was closed. I waited for a few minutes and then
walked back down and waited on street. A car pulled up at 09:36 and the
hygienist stepped out and we walked back to the office. Dr. Carpio showed up
after a few minutes and I had a 40 minute ($60) deep cleaning. Dr. Carpio
worked as assistance to the hygienist.
I
then walked around the town, had a filling and delicious seafood at LP 200 Millas restaurant at Pena and 10 de
Agosto. The bowl that the limes were placed was very dirty. When I pointed that
out to the woman behaving the register she just replaced it - no apology
needed!
I
then stopped by for coffee at a coffee shop. When I told two other customers
sitting at another table that I was Iranian they said there were many other
Iranians in Loja, and one of them, Frutan, has a restaurant named “Topoli”. I had passed by that
restaurant a few times and had wondered if the name was Persian for
“chubby”
I
then stopped at the mecardo and purchase some corvine and tuna, $3.50 a pound
each, took a taxi to the Collectivo taxi stand on Manuel Jose Aguirre, at
Mercadillo St and Av. Iberoamerica, for a ride to Vilcabamba.
04/02/2015
Thursday – Vilcabamba
I walked to
the town today, it is a pleasant 30 minutes walk, dropped off my laundry, had a
haircut, and sat at a table at a newly opened restaurant next to the church on
the plaza for a cup of tea while watching the kids who had just left school
play. They were having so much fun I thought I should join them.
I found a
store that had some goat milk. I needed it to try to make goat cheese but the
seller said that it was not suitable for cheese making and asked me to return
on Saturday.
I then went
to the bakery to buy some bread – they have the best bread in town that I could
find so far. They were out of it and I had to wait at the plaza for 20 minutes
to get some hot bread. They smelled so good.
I had a chat
with a neighbor who used to live in the cabin behind me but had left for a
while to try to live near the jungle a few hours from here but they have
returned saying that it was too humid there and too many mosquitoes.
I also had a
chat with an older lady at the restaurant. The last time I met here at the same
restaurant, she said she had just returned from Brazil. She had travelled there
to meet a healer, named “John of God.” I
had never heard of the guy until this trip to here when someone else mentioned
his name. I looked him up on the internet and found out he is a very popular
guy with people who believe in his healing power – including a very famous
motivational speaker, Wayne Dyer. Dyer claims that he was cured of his cancer
by a remote (mental) surgery by John of God.
04/03/2015
Friday – Vilcabamba
In
the afternoon Caroline and I went to Shasta
restaurant. I had invited her to dinner for her April 1st, birthday.
I had a trout that was the best I have ever had in Ecuador. We then went to the
church to listen to the sermon on the occasion of Good Friday. The church was packed with the crowds overflowing into
the plaza. We then had a coffee and joined the crowd in a procession to another
church across from the Izhcayluma. There was a sermon, a hymn and a visitation
of the bloody body of Christ. We walked back to town and as there were no
taxis, walked home in the bright moonshine. Caroline told me of her past life
and experiences.
04/04/2015
Saturday – Vilcabamba
I
woke p rather late and after a delicious brunch of seared tuna walked to the
end of San Jose. I then walked back to town and had a chat with Luigi of Quito
who had just opened a new restaurant, Infusion.
04/05/2015
Saturday – Vilcabamba-Cuenca
I
woke up at 6:30 and after breakfast, packed, said goodbye to Caroline Conway
Don and Marcin Page, and walked for a short while of the road before a taxi
stopped for me. I took the 0930-1045 Loja-Cuenca bus. At the bus terminal I
purchased the 1130-16:30 bus http://www.viajerosinternacional.com ($7.50
02h00, 06h00, 07h00, 04h00, 07h00, 09h00,
10h00, 11h30, 12h30,14h30, 15h30, 17h15, 22h30 -12 frecuencias ). The scenery was pretty, though
there was much fog and windows were fogged out. In Cuenca I took a cab to Hostal
Macando ($2) and then for a pleasant walk around the town. Most stores were
closed.
04/06/2015
Monday – Cuenca
I
had a nice breakfast at the hostal and then talked to Yue in the morning. I
then went to explore the town. I visited the market on Mariscal Lamar and the
lovely Convent of Immaculate Conception (1599) where I spent much time to enjoy
the design of the landscape and the smells of the flowers. I then had lunch at
a restaurant on Calle Larga where I Met Eduardo **, a wrestler. He remembered
seeing me at a meditation session at CMV. He is a senior in Computer Science.
He said that President Correa made the colleges free for all a few years ago,
but before that a rich student had to pay even up to $4000/yr. He did not know
how many students attend his university; neither did he know many how many
classes he had. He said he had a hard time to obtain visa from Guatemala a few
years back. In case of Mexico, if an Ecuadorian has a US visa, then does not
require a Mexico visa. He recommended the restaurant at Mansion Al Cazar at Bolivar & Tarqui, which I visited and
enjoyed a coffee in the beautiful setting.
He
also recommended Japanese restaurant Noe
(Padre Julio Matovelle 2-25 y Federico Proaño, esquina. Junto al Parque de Las
Candelas). No one, including two policemen knew the park when I tried to locate
the place later.
I
then walked around more. I happened to meet a middle age woman and a teenage
girl, Janet **, a few times. On the third time, we had a chat, the woman
invited me to visit Macas, in the Orient. She said it is a beautiful and
tranquil place.
04/07/2015
Tuesday – Cuenca
I
crossed the bridge into …along the red College of Law. The temperature was a
cool 16 C. I stopped at Winery and talked to Sebastian. He was not too happy
with new 45% tax increase. He had to increase the price of his wines from $12
to $24. I thought were that in France they might have ahad a serious situation
on hand here. He recommended an organic version of Cono Sur. Cono Sur had
received top awards in a recent event in Europe. I then walked to Muse Banco
Central. The exhibitions were mostly modern arts. The Archeological digs made a
nice scenic place for a stroll. I then walked back to center where I met
George, an ex New Yorker parking attendant for 20 years and for the past 7
years in Cuenca Police Force. He thought of Correa as a crazy man but liked
Obama. He earns about $500 a month and pays $50 in monthly rent. I then walked
to Saliva Restaurant at Roberto
Crespo Toral 3-56, top entry on TripAdvisor, but they are closed on Tuesdays. I
met Rich, who was entering the
restaurant; he knew the residents there. Rich, of NYC and Oregon, moved here
five years ago with his Polish wife. He is concerned currency would be
d-dollarised shortly. As his house is major asset he is planning to sell and
move to Argentina. He bought the house for $150k, plus 50k in additions and
hoping to get $250k for it. He was carrying the suitcase of Yasu, the chef in Vilcabamba. It seems
Yasu has fallen in love with an Ecuadorian and plans to live in Cuenca. Rich
recommended Danable Crespo of Ecuadorable Real Estate, http://www.ecuadorablehomes.com, as a good source. I then walked back
in town and tried Nectar, a
Wikitravel recommendation, but Ken
said they only take orders on Tuesdays for Friday pickup. Other days may be
tried by email but it depends how much the children leave free time for the
chef. He told me of a new Persian Restaurant, Ali Baba, on Remigio
Tamariz Crespo, near subway.
The
other Wiki restaurant on Tarqui was also closed. I ended up having an avocado
back at the hostel.
I
then headed back out and walked to Mercado
El Arenal, on Av Remigrio Crespo Toral. It was huge and somewhat similar to
the Mercado in Siem Reap, a huge interior market with exterior filled with
mostly fruits, vegetables, meat, and some fish stands. It was winding down.
Prices were possibly lowered, for example pack of 9 avocadoes was selling for a
dollar. I then walked back on the same street and stopped at Persian Restaurant
Alibaba that Ken of Nectar had told
me about earlier in the day – also the Tripadvisor review was a 5. The lentil soup, one of the two on the menu,
was finished; so was the Persian tea. The Mast Jear was delicious and the kebob
was OK, but with very small amount of rice and only one small tomato. At the
end of the meal Reza, the owner, joined me and we talked for a while. He opened
the place four months ago and as he last his helper, he is doing everything
himself; in the morning when he wakes up he really feels tired. He had applied
for his residency on his own and had obtained it within eight weeks. He offered
a job to one of the Australian girls who was having a beer with a friend for
$2.5/hr. She is currently making $2.25 at a coffee shop. While we were talking
a regular customer, a college professor from Louisiana walked in with a huge
dog bite on his leg. Reza walked him to a clinic across the street but they
were closed. The poor man had to wait for a Spanish speaking friend to arrive
to accompany him to another clinic.
