24-07-2005
1st Travel Log from China
(This was sent to all my friends on June 30th, 2005)
I woke up this morning and realized I had slept in a bar.
Not a bad way to start to my travels in China.
Where am I you might ask ... well, I'm in Ningbo, south of Shanghai. I flew in to Shanghai yesterday and made my way south on a bus (being driven like it was a get-away car). I'm here because Jacob a friend of mine from Norway lives here. He's currently on an island about two hours away from here, so when I can figure out a way to get out of the bar without leaving it unlocked I'll make my way there. This is really a bit of a dream come true ... waking up in a bar with everything at my disposal ... granted it would be a bit short sighted to start drinking with no one here, but hey. ... The ironic thing is that I'm actually really thirsty, but I can't find any bottled water!
So how did I end up in the LBB bar in Ningbo? I walked in here yesterday to pick up the keys to Jacob's apartment where I was supposed to spend the night. ... The key rests safe and unused in my pocket. The owner of the bar, Mark, a crazy, but fun Canadian invited me along to an all you can eat and drink Sushi bar last night together with a group of Canadians. Let's just say that there was a lot of:"Sake up (raise the glass)... Sake down (down the hatch)".
This explains the headache.
In true Scandinavian (and Canadian) fashion we stayed at the Sushi bar until we were the only ones there. For a $10 a pop this was a great deal. Then we headed back to Mark's bar ... where I am currently locked inside. I was fairly animated when we got back and the last thing I remember is playing pool (loosing big time) to one of the waitresses here. After that things get a bit hazy. he he he ...
My impression of China so far ... a great place! .. Now before you think that I've set out on a month long drinking binge, think again!This was just my way to combat 8 hours of jet lag! I'll stay in this vicinity till Saturday, when I fly to Urumqi all the way west in China.Actually a third of the way back to Norway, just to give you an impression! Then I'll travel into the mountains for some good old fashioned hiking by myself in Osama Bin Laden's suspected hunting grounds: Kashmir. It should be fun!
More reports will follow!
- Andreas
PS Jacob, when you read this, please give Mark a call, so that he can come and lock me out of the bar ;) ... Now if I could just find some water before I thirst to death!
2nd Travel Log from China
I have by now gotten out of the LBB Bar in Ningbo (though I was a frequent visitor up until I left on Sunday).
My time in Ningbo and Zhoushan was excellent. Not very historic...well, I did see a Buddha painted on a mountain wall, but I got to hangout with Jacob and his interesting collection of Canadian, American and Chinese friends. We drank a lot of beer, ate interesting and top notch food and had a really good time. Highlights included, coming dirty and ragged into the best hotel in Ningbo to eat breakfast after an entire night of drinking, pub crawling and swimming in the water reservoir. I figured they would throw us on our asses out, but oh no, they were happy to see our cash I guess. I can promise that the buss ride and consequent flight to Urumqi right after that breakfast was less than ideal, but at least I slept soundly.
When I got to Urumqi I pretty much made it straight for Heavens Lake where I made a trek around the lake and slept in a local Kazak Yurt(best described as a more permanent tent, that they pack down in the winter when they move) away from where sight-seers go. Now this sounds nice, but the walk was a bit strained because I had gotten a "funky"stomach after eating "interesting" food the night before in Urumqi. So it involved walking happily forward, stopping and rushing back to the tourist area to enjoy the facilities. I can thank a generous Chinese man for tissues ... which the toilets didn't have... After spending a quiet afternoon and evening, journaling and soaking in the views next to the yurt my stomach settled and things were good again. I then spent the next day hiking around in the mountains, getting good exercise and enjoying the fantastic views.
Now I have finally reached what feels like a city on the old old silk road that Marco Polo travelled. Kashgar is far removed from Shanghai,both in look and feel. The signs here are in both Chinese and Arabic,so either way I'm screwed. I'm communicating fine though with a happy mixture of sign language, facial expressions, gesticulations and sounds(which I excel at) if they don't understand me they usually still get a good laugh from it. I've teamed up with an American ("definitely"X-CIA)and an Israeli couple (I of course suspect them for being in the Mossad) and together we're planning to get up to the Pakistani border area to head into the Kashmir mountain area. I really wanted to go to the K2 base camp, but a price of Y17,000 ($2000) makes it a bit prohibitive. Doing it on a tight time frame wouldn't be smart anyway,due to altitude sickness. The area we're heading into is still high(averaging 4-6000 meters) with two of the peaks exceeding 7500 meters,so we'll be high up. It should be fun. When we get back from that I want to rent a camel and head into the Taklimakan desert for a nice sleep under the stars.
Found out that my hotel which has an "authentic" feel to it is apparently better than the one across the street where an American (it's always an American that does something stupid) got stung by a scorpion three days ago and nearly had to amputate his foot to survive,so I'm stepping a bit carefully now you could definitely say!
Now I'm off to explore the old town, the bazaar, the mosque and a few tombs. Tomorrow we're heading off to see if we can't find Osama and claim the reward!
All is well and I'm having a fantastic time. A big thank you to those of you that sent me a few lines. I really appreciate it, even if I haven't answered you: Internet is stone-age slow and I'd rather be out exploring! Indiana Jones eat your heart out!
3rd Travel Log from China
Good news and bad news ... I found Kashmir and the Pakistani border,but was outfoxed by Osama. I have a feeling I was hot on his trail, but I was left in the dust. So it looks like I won't be able to claim the reward money of whatever ridiculous sum his bounty has been set at. I did find sympathizers though, who had no problem sharing their view of how crap Bush (and the West) was and how great Osama was. I nodded along and feigned disinterest ... everyone of Uighur origin in Kashgar(about 90% of the population) carries a knife and I wasn't in the mood to get into a squabble while on vacation! Having said that I am now a proud owner of a knife and two carpets (I'm sad to say that they can't fly) ... I went to the Sunday Bazaar and went a little shopping crazy! Bazaars are great! I spent a good two hours buying the carpets and after tears, threats, tea and pleasantries had been exchanged I walked away with two great looking carpets of high quality (I have of course become an "expert" on carpets), having paid what I think was a good price ...The seller is probably still laughing and smiling as he walks to the bank ... Bastard! Still, I paid less than I would for 1 crappy IKEA carpet at home, so I'm happy!
To backtrack a bit: I ended up heading into the Taklamakan desert before going to the Pakistani border. The desert was fantastic. Not having too many dry spots in Norway (and none at all in Bergen where I'm living now) it was nice to mount a camel and head out into the sandy sea. I have now spent many hours in the saddle of a camel and slept on top of a huge sand dune under the open sky. Let's just say that it's easy to compare the sea to the desert: Both are endless and the night sky looks magnificent... oh, and without wind they both get damned hot under the blazing sun! I also swam in the most dodgy looking brown river I've ever seen, so if I die for some unknown reason, assume the microbes got the best of me.
Having returned from that I headed into the mountains together with three others in a 4WD. Having grown up in Norway, been through B.C. and Alaska and seen the Alps on top of that, I was fairly certain that I wouldn't be too impressed by the mountains here: Well, I was wrong as usual! Take iron red mountains, throw in huge sand dunes, add soaring peaks with snow caps ... well, then you have what I witnessed. It was nothing short of breath-taking.
It actually really was physically breath-taking because of the altitude. The three others I travelled with all got sick from the altitude and spent at least one night running to the bathroom throwing up and spraying the bowl with diarrhea(sorry about the visuals).
Up here I got to ride a horse around a Lake called Karakul (The Black Lake) as the sun was setting in the peaks. I got a horse named el-diablo (I wish at least) and together we ditched everyone and rode like the wind. We slept in a small local village enjoying the hospitality and cooking of some locals. I really can't explain how fantastic it was.
Since the others were affected by the altitude, I went hiking on my own and walked to the top of the near estaccessible mountain. A good friend of mine died 2 weeks ago and in his memory I built what we Norwegians call a "Varde" out of stones and since the locals didn't have a proper name for the top, I renamed it"Jon's Toppen" in my friends honor. It was actually very sad and I was happy to be there by myself.
Now I have left the Xinjiang region, but my update from Beijing and Shanghai will follow in the next and probably last Travelling Diary. I can promise madness, concerts, acrobats, Kung Fu and world class Beijing Duck.
4th Travel Log from China
I'm a bad person.
After having spent so much time in the mountains, desert and off the beaten track I suppose it was to be expected. I just couldn't hack having 1.3 billion Chinese around me and in the airport on my way to Beijing it boiled over. There I was waiting in an overfilled departure hall with no A/C. The loudspeaker was crackling constantly and I had to listen in just in case my plane was leaving early (yes, that happens here) or the usual late. In this mass of people one 9-year old had made it his mission in life to make the wait a living Hell for everyone. The worst part of it was that his mother thought it was charming, probably thinking along the lines, that boys will be boys. Well, 2 can play that game, so when he came sprinting by yelling and screaming for the n'th time I shifted my weight slightly, extending my foot unnoticably forward. Result: I am a bad person! Screaming and kicking as his mother carried him outside with fresh carpet burns, I couldn't help but feel deeply content. The best of it was that if anyone else in the departure hall had seen what I did, I'm sure they would have awarded me the silver star of bravery ... his mother was somewhat scary looking, so the consequences of getting caught would have been ... severe!
Getting to Beijing was interesting. I was expecting a gem of a city filled with history and culture. It was ... but it was also the smoggiest city
I have ever been to. LA is nothing compared to this! It'll be interesting to see how they deal with this in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. When I had walked through the Forbidden City, which was vast, amazing and even with 10,000 tourists seemed empty, I walked up on a hill behind it and was surprised when I got to the top that due to the smog I actually couldn't see the Forbidden City. Visibility was in other words less than 2-300 meters! I still really liked Beijing though. The American I travelled with in Xinjiang to the desert and to Kashmir had worked as an English teacher for a year in Beijing, so he put me in touch with his friends. An excellent bunch of guys. Two of them were learning Chinese, on leave from the US State Department(Read: CIA ... though they both fiercely denied this when questioned after a few beers). Together with one of them I went to a Crystal Method concert. Going to a techno concert can be interesting enough,but do it in China and you have dynamite. The Crystal Method were so full of themselves it was almost painful to look at them, but what was painfully obvious was that when they handed out good dance moves, the Chinese were in the wrong line. Now I am no Travolta, but I know a move or two, but was almost unable to use them, because I was constantly trying to suppress an urge to keel over laughing. It didn't make it any better when the guy I went with started taking the piss. I know, I know: I'm a bad person. The illusion that Chinese are small, nimble and agile was crushed.
Mao said that if you haven't been on the Chinese Wall, you aren't a true man. So now I am a true man. I did a 9 km walk on the wall in scorching heat. The pictures look exactly like you'd expect. One good or bad thing about Chinese, depending on ow you look at it, is that they are lazy and really see no point in walking along a wall if you can walk on it quickly and get back into an air conditioned car. This means that I along with a few others had the wall virtually to ourselves when we walked along it. Very enjoyable!
One of the guys was working his first night as a DJ at a very cool bar and like a new best friend I showed up, dragging half the hostel I lived in with me. I think I met all the x-pats in Beijing. A good, if somewhat interesting bunch. The beer was good and it flowed in rivers and after I meet a few Scandinavians, the Long Islands started flowing as well ... let's just say that I didn't make it to the Summer Palace as planned the next day! What also surprised me, because you'd never believe it when you watch a Hong Kong action movie, but China is actually REALLY safe. When stumbling home from the bar at 5 am, I took a short-cut through a dark park and being somewhat alert I was surprised when the only one that passed me in this heaven for a rapist was a young girl, who smiled as she walked by. I was nothing short of perplexed! This has been confirmed time and time again when I get lost and walk down dark alleys only to have the shady people in them look at me in a mixture of fascination and curiosity.
Result: I really like Beijing and would like to spend more time here.
After having a good time in Beijing making valuable and interesting contacts I went to Shanghai. A city taken straight out of Blade Runner.This city is by far the coolest looking city I've been in. In fact it looks like a city of the future. Tall glitzy skyscrapers, the future hub of China and a jewel that they definitely want to show off.
The nice thing is that despite this there is still great history to be found if you look. Granted you need to hurry and see it now, because like in Beijing, they are tearing down old buildings, rebuilding them often looking exactly like they did before, only new and clinically clean. This city like Hong Kong is one of the few Chinese cities where white people are normal and you don't get the open mouthed stares you do elsewhere (even in Beijing). It's funny, but in the Forbidden City I almost felt like a movie star, because so many Chinese asked if they could get a picture with me! ... It went straight to my head! The best was when they in good paparazzi style tried to take a sneak shot of me while walking by with their cell phones. Classic!
Shanghai, like Beijing, is a popular tourist destination for the Chinese and the city is filled with them. I quickly realized that coming in July when they have summer vacation is perhaps not the smartest move. There were also a ton of beggars on the streets and if you're white, well, prepare for an onslaught. My trick to loose them was to walk fast seemingly lost in thought and if that didn't work,then I'd drop a coin "by accident" forcing them to stop while I made a clean getaway.
Now I'm back in Ningbo hanging out with my new friends here. It's drunken debauchery from we get up till the sun rises. It's a good way to end a vacation! I have yet to wake up in the bar again, but it's not from a lack of trying. I'm here till Tuesday and then I'll make my way home again. Oh, listen to this: I went and got my hair cut yesterday.This time it included a 40 minute upper body massage, ear cleaning by a doctor (yes, I can hear again ... it really was disgusting to see how much crap he pulled out of what I thought were my Q-tip clean ears), ahead massage, scalp treatment, a facial (no I'm not queer, I didn't know it was included until she started applying all sorts of crap to my face ... but it felt good, so I neglected to stop her), haircut and 2 hair washes for ... 50 kr or about $8. ... If I lived down here I'd get my hair cut once a week! Today I'm going for a massage! ... Not one of those pink ones with "happy endings" ... ;) but a proper Chinese one done by blind people. I can't wait!
I'll probably send one more travelling diary when I get home, with some pictures. Though I've tried to paint some pictures for you, it's always nice to see what things look like, to see if the images match what I described.