update!
long overdue update but i am in lhasa, tibet.
before i forget what i've done over the past 3 or 4 days..
15 august
qingcheng shan - azure mountain
getting there and back was probably more of an adventure than actually ascending the mountain itself. it's considered the birthplace of china's only indigenous religion, daoism. blah blah very textbook sounding right now, but it was so nice to get away from the City .. the traffic, the pollution, the dust and construction, etc. getting to the bus station took almost half the morning because the first bus i took was wrong. by the time i got onto the right bus, i was so tired that i fell asleep. i slept through til the end of the line and had to backtrack for another half hour. by the time i made it to the bus station, it was almost noon.
on the way back, i took the same bus that took me there. instead of returning to the original station, we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere. given that everything is in chinese characters and my directions were in pinyin (the romanized system of writing chinese), i did my best to figure out the direction that i needed to go. i'm able to recognize symbols for north, south, east, and west -- and street names here indicate the direction in which the street runs. I hopped on a bus and travelled for another hour until i was kicked off in the dark. I wandered .. and wandered .. until i decided to cab it. i spent more time in transit than on the mountain itself.
16 august
panda reserve/people's park/teahouse/massage and sichuan hot pot
pandas. no more. no less. but red pandas, brian! thank you for telling me that they are what are better known as firefoxes! as in the awesome browser that trumps all others. pandas were cute and furry, had a chance to see a 10 day old panda in an incubator.
wrote postcards in people's park at a teahouse overlooking an 'artificial' lake.
met a friend who taught in beijing but lives in chengdu. we chatted over chilled soy milk then headed over to a massage parlor for an hour long pinch and slap fest. i'll admit that i've had a fair share of massages here in asia .. a few in beijing including a facial. afterward, he and another teacher treated me to The dish of the sichuan region: Hotpot! there are raw meats, innards and the like .. veggies and other unidentifiable edibles skewered on sticks which you load on to a tray - then, you dip them in to a hot oil and water pot at the center of your table, often flavored with various spices and chillies. it was excellent.
also! a stroke of luck -- once i made it back to my hostel, i was given gifts by my chinese bunkmates who were kind enough to give me good luck charms for my travels. they were so loud that they woke the girl in the last bunk. we got to talking and it turned out that she lives in lhasa tibet. she gave me tips on where to stay -hadn't booked accomodations- and what to do upon arrival. Phew!
17 august
Lhasa, Tibet
i'd been worried about altitude sickness for a while now and started taking my medication two days before my departure. my flight into tibet was just under two hours and provided some of the most breathtaking views of the region. there were photographers climbing over me to get a good shot of the mountains. e all began to wonder just Where the plane would land as there didn't seem to be any flat areas in sight. upon arrival, i felt my body tingling and i wasn't sure if it was from the excitement or being at elevation .. blood was rushing to my head, fingertips and heels. i hopped on the first bus to lhasa .. once we deboarded, i caught sight of another foreigner flipping through his guidebook -- i grabbed him and told him to follow me (we were dropped off in an area where locals prey on 'fresh' tourists). we walked down the main boulevard here and there were so many incredible sights. women in casual but typical tibetan dress (a stylized Mao suit), vendors selling potatoes (carbs!) and yak meat slabs hanging from hooks and displayed on makeshift wooden counters on storefronts. i bought potato chips sprinkled with paprika-like spice for a kuai - 'bout 15 cents - and searched for the first hostel i could find.
okay!! i'm getting kicked off the internet. but i do want to say that i've made a few friends so we've been getting around together - it has made navigating the city much more easy and a lot of fun.
bye!
before i forget what i've done over the past 3 or 4 days..
15 august
qingcheng shan - azure mountain
getting there and back was probably more of an adventure than actually ascending the mountain itself. it's considered the birthplace of china's only indigenous religion, daoism. blah blah very textbook sounding right now, but it was so nice to get away from the City .. the traffic, the pollution, the dust and construction, etc. getting to the bus station took almost half the morning because the first bus i took was wrong. by the time i got onto the right bus, i was so tired that i fell asleep. i slept through til the end of the line and had to backtrack for another half hour. by the time i made it to the bus station, it was almost noon.
on the way back, i took the same bus that took me there. instead of returning to the original station, we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere. given that everything is in chinese characters and my directions were in pinyin (the romanized system of writing chinese), i did my best to figure out the direction that i needed to go. i'm able to recognize symbols for north, south, east, and west -- and street names here indicate the direction in which the street runs. I hopped on a bus and travelled for another hour until i was kicked off in the dark. I wandered .. and wandered .. until i decided to cab it. i spent more time in transit than on the mountain itself.
16 august
panda reserve/people's park/teahouse/massage and sichuan hot pot
pandas. no more. no less. but red pandas, brian! thank you for telling me that they are what are better known as firefoxes! as in the awesome browser that trumps all others. pandas were cute and furry, had a chance to see a 10 day old panda in an incubator.
wrote postcards in people's park at a teahouse overlooking an 'artificial' lake.
met a friend who taught in beijing but lives in chengdu. we chatted over chilled soy milk then headed over to a massage parlor for an hour long pinch and slap fest. i'll admit that i've had a fair share of massages here in asia .. a few in beijing including a facial. afterward, he and another teacher treated me to The dish of the sichuan region: Hotpot! there are raw meats, innards and the like .. veggies and other unidentifiable edibles skewered on sticks which you load on to a tray - then, you dip them in to a hot oil and water pot at the center of your table, often flavored with various spices and chillies. it was excellent.
also! a stroke of luck -- once i made it back to my hostel, i was given gifts by my chinese bunkmates who were kind enough to give me good luck charms for my travels. they were so loud that they woke the girl in the last bunk. we got to talking and it turned out that she lives in lhasa tibet. she gave me tips on where to stay -hadn't booked accomodations- and what to do upon arrival. Phew!
17 august
Lhasa, Tibet
i'd been worried about altitude sickness for a while now and started taking my medication two days before my departure. my flight into tibet was just under two hours and provided some of the most breathtaking views of the region. there were photographers climbing over me to get a good shot of the mountains. e all began to wonder just Where the plane would land as there didn't seem to be any flat areas in sight. upon arrival, i felt my body tingling and i wasn't sure if it was from the excitement or being at elevation .. blood was rushing to my head, fingertips and heels. i hopped on the first bus to lhasa .. once we deboarded, i caught sight of another foreigner flipping through his guidebook -- i grabbed him and told him to follow me (we were dropped off in an area where locals prey on 'fresh' tourists). we walked down the main boulevard here and there were so many incredible sights. women in casual but typical tibetan dress (a stylized Mao suit), vendors selling potatoes (carbs!) and yak meat slabs hanging from hooks and displayed on makeshift wooden counters on storefronts. i bought potato chips sprinkled with paprika-like spice for a kuai - 'bout 15 cents - and searched for the first hostel i could find.
okay!! i'm getting kicked off the internet. but i do want to say that i've made a few friends so we've been getting around together - it has made navigating the city much more easy and a lot of fun.
bye!
posted by charm at 4:29 AM
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