The Gorge - trek day 2

Day 2: nothing to do with day 1!!! It was pretty much flat and downhill. But the fun only began once we decided to go down and trek on the paved road to the ferry. We trekked for 2 hours until we got to Tina's Guesthouse for a Naxi sandwich lunch - in all honesty, more of a western concoction than anything exotic; a sandwich is a sandwich. We then took off towards the ferry. When we asked how long it would take, we got varying replies. However, we had to be in Daju, the village on the other side of the ferry crossing, by 18:00h to catch the 3 hour bus that would take us back to Lijiang.

We were told that it was 17 km, then we were told it would take us 7 hours! Incredulous, we started off on foot. And after 2 hours walking pretty quick down the road and not having gone that far by the looks of things, we decided to hitch a ride to the ferry post. At the rate we were going, we'd still be walking to the ferry post three days from now. Below is a picture of the guys who picked us up. We were sitting on the back of a random vehicle, atop bags of wheat and rice, or so we think. We must've saved about 2 hours walking. 30 Yuan poorer, we were dropped off in the middle of nowhere and assured that crossing the fields, we would eventually get to the ferry crossing and eventually Daju. hmmmm....

Not believing a word and starting to plan our night camping in the middle of the fields, we managed to make ourselves understood via sign language with the local field workers, who assured us we were following the right path. We eventually got to the edge of the cliff overlooking the river and saw the ferry at a distance......METRES AND METRES BELOW! We had to make our way down the steep path to the edge (not too bad) where we met with three locals, their 2 cows and their spare donkey, also waiting to cross. The crossing was spectacular, if not my own personal nightmare inside cause I was getting closer to the other side where I would have to trek BACK UPWARDS what I had descended previously. Not only that but on a time watch cause we only had 20 minutes to spare before the bus!!! One of the 80year old locals and his donkey passed me on the way up - embarrassed at my obvious lack of fitness, I thought, surely, he must do this everyday!!! I was still mortified. I did make it somehow. The human body, the human spirit and the need to survive prevailed like never before in me at that moment!

But when we got to the top, the bus had left ... many hours before!! and there was no other bus until the following day. Pablo signed his way with a local who led us for another 45 minute walk up to the town to figure out either a place to stay or a rather expensive chartered taxi ride back to Lijiang. After much negotiating and a few hundred Yuan less, we managed to get a guy to drive us up the "snow mountain cliff" to Lijiang. Now this van was also something else.....I'll spare you the details but just picture a 2.5h drive at 50km per hour uphill on a gravel road climbing a mountain.

Mom....you called me when we were already safe on the main road and only 20 minutes from Lijiang! It was wonderful to hear your voice! We made it safely and decided to get all dressed up and celebrate our magnificent adventure, and survival!

Tiger Leaping Gorge - trek day 1

The first pic is the view during our 1st day of trekking. The 2nd pic is the path on the 2nd day!!

Tiger Leaping Gorge is much more than what "the book" described. We did it in 2 days because Pablo had to catch a flight back on Saturday. Most people, the wise ones, do it in 3 or 4.

I thought I was fit for it and as it turned out, I am not sure whether the lack of sleep and the hangover from the previous night are to blame. But on day one I felt like I was a Ducados chain smoker with altitude sickness trying to climb the Himalayas. Of course I don't smoke, I am in China and this wasn't high enough for altitude sickness. We were at 2600m trekking alongside the 1st bend of the Yangtze river. We were really lucky cause the weather was awesome. However, day one was a 5 hour long trek, non stop!!! AND, it was all uphill. But wait, not just a bit of an up hill trek. It was a pretty steady up/hill slope for 3 hours. AND THEN, when you thought it couldn't get any worse, IT DID! We came across a local Chinese man who rents his donkey for those about to perish from exhaustion, and asked where we were on our obviously off-scale map. We thought we'd already passed the 28 bends - the trail turns into a 90 degree steep-as-hell winding path with 28 bends, although I think it was more like 128 but whatever - and alas, he made it quite clear we hadn't even started the 28 bend climb. I thought I would lose it and was pretty close to calling my International SOS card rescue number to request a helicopter airlift outta that place! As it turns out, Pablo, my knight in shining armour, helped me make it, by carrying my little rucksack, which only weighed about 4 kilos but felt like it weighed 40! He also trekked more slowly so I wouldn't feel so unfit and like I was holding them back on their pace. I also met Erin, from Wisconsin, along the way. She's teaching English and had decided to trek with her colleague Jesse, who had passed us 5 minutes before. I was relieved to find she also stopped for breath every 9 steps uphill.

I cannot even begin to describe to you the feelings and thoughts going through my head...in that spectacular scenery that I couldn't quite enjoy as much as I would've liked on the 1st day. Instead of looking around me and taking in all that beauty, all I could look at was the floor, the space for my next step and think about my pounding heart that seemed like it would break free through my chest. Of course, when is started getting dark and we had but 40 minutes left to arrive to our mid mountain retreat, the Tea Horse Guest House, things all of a sudden turned on the bright side, we got to the summit and then it was pretty much straight and partially downhill from there. 6 or 7 lines doesn't do the climb justice but I'll have to tell you the tale in person when I see you next. We arrived at Tea Horse, exhausted, only to find Erin & Jesse, Eric the Swede, a 70 year old Canadian bloke, and a few others, smoking the fresh marihuana that was growing wildly everywhere!!!!! I confess I couldn't even move by the time I got there and my chest was so worn from the heavy breathing and pounding heart, that the thought of smoking anything was the last thing on my mind. So I put it in my tea instead!!! I don't think I put enough in there for a proper effect, or maybe I was too tired to notice it. I did however manage to take my dusty, sweated, originally white but now turned dark brown socks and sweater off to shower in a hut in the middle of the forest! It had a solar panel so I managed to somehow survive the 5 minute clothing removal process before I succumbed to the glorious haven that is a hot shower in moments like these. OH THANK GOODNESS!!! So then I had a warm bowl of apple and banana rice porridge, which tasted like heaven.....and off to bed.

Waking up the following morning was nothing short of bliss. We were in the middle of the forest, surrounded by fresh air, mountains, marihuana smell galore and a blinding sun to welcome us to our glorious trek on day 2.

3 MUSKETEERS

OK, so here are my two bodyguards: Pablo & Jerome!!! And we are the 3 Musketeers, or at least that's the name on our bottle of Johnnie Walker at the bar in Lijiang!

We met in Kunming, at the Camellia Hostel, and the rest is history. We all flew to Lijiang to face the Tiger Leaping Gorge together! It was amazing and thank goodness they were there to keep an eye on me and hold my hand through the dangerous cliffs otherwise "methinks I wouldnee be heeah to tell the storee!"

LIJIANG

Bueno...AL FIN PUEDO METER FOTOS!!!!!!!

No he logrado darle la vuelta a esta otra porque estan las instrucciones en Chino, ni puedo poner acentos, pero bueno, os haceis una idea. Al fin he encontrado la China tradicional que buscaba. Lijiang es un pueblo antiguo en las montanas del sur donde viven muchas minorias etnicas chinas. Una de ellas, la Naxi, es la mas predominante aqui. La cultura Naxi es tradicionalmente matriarcal. Tienen una cosa que se llama el "walking marriage". Es decir que no se casan sino que son libres de escoger a cuantas parejas quieran a lo largo de su vida. El hombre elegido pasa la noche en la "alcoba" de la mujer Naxi, y a la manana siguiente se vuelve andando a casa de su madre a seguir son sus tareas del dia a dia. Por eso lo llaman "walking marriage".

Oops I just realised I had written all that in Spanish! Since some of you only read English I will continue in English. I have posted some links on my blog (right hand navigation bar below the members/contributors list, where you can read up some more on the Naxi ethnic minority from this part of China. It is VERY interesting.

OK, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I HAVE PRESSED BUT NOW IT'S ALL IN CAPS AND CANNOT GET RID OF THEM. I'M HERE FOR A FEW DAYS, IN THIS IDYLLIC MOUNTAIN TOWN CALLED LIJIANG, WHERE I WILL BE CHECKING THE WEATHER BEFORE HEADING UP TO DO THE 3 DAY TREK OVER TIGER LEAPING GORGE. I AM DOING IT WITH 3 OTHER PEOPLE I HAVE MET ON MY WAY...JEROME, LOLA AND PABLO. I'LL WRITE MORE SOON!!!

RAIN

You guys! I have so much to tell I could spend all day writing! Many of you want to know more about the feeling of being here: smells, sights, sensations. Others want to know more about the shopping experience. I'm gonna try to go into more detail on all this and more, getting a bit more into the nitty gritty of what I've seen so far. Don't start reading this unless you have a good 20/30 minutes to spare cause this promises to be a lengthy tale.

Xiushi market was hilarious!! No, they don't take credit cards, it's cash only, so you have a wad of bills to negotiate with. You have bills for half a yuan (5 cents of a Euro), 1 yuan (10 cents of a Euro), etc. up to 100 yuan which seems like a fortune (and yet for us it's only 10 Euros). However, the bills are red, which in my head is associated to danger so anything nearing this amount must be looked at carefully, particularly in China, where everything is so cheap. We got caught in the excitement of the first stall by the entrance on day one. They had imitation Custo shirts of all kinds. We hadn't walked half a metre and were already negotiating prices. We couldn't try them but even so, I ended up buying 3 shirts. As it turns out, when I tried them on, I didn't like how they looked so I had to go beg for an exchange the following day. I got a Polo imitation sweater in black in return, for about 12 Euros. Hilarious cause the sweater says "100% cashmere"... what a nerve!!! You touch the thing and it's at least 50% polyester!!! However, I couldn't really see anything else I wanted so...

Then we moved on upstairs to the jacket ssection. I was reminded of my friend Marta, who travels here quite often and once told me I'd be able to buy and entire new set of ski clothes for a bargain price! I didn't really need another ski jacket, but I couldn't get me eyes off a grey & light pistachio colour green one with an inside zip off fleece, imitation of North Face. I haggled it down from 1800 Yuan (180 Euros) to 400 yuan (40 Euros). But then, I was very jealous to see Maica, super negotiatrix, haggle hers down to 300 yuan! Damn, she's good!! You should have seen her! We walked into another place one day that also had stores but that wasn't the haggling type place, and she wanted out claiming it felt like, the people didn't really want her custom! hahaha.

Now, a bit on China and how this place feels. I have to say, so far, the GREAT WALL climb has been the most exhilirating adventure. China is somewhat different, but terribly similar to what we know the west to be. It's striking to be walking down an alley here. The street, although paved, is full of dust and stone where the buildings are literally falling apart, where everything is dirty, the lighting is dim, and there are pot holes everywhere. Then you look up and across that same street, on the other sidewalk, is a bright, neon-lit skyscraper with pristine glass windows, at least 40 stories high. It's like being in Kosovo and NYC all at once. It's not all like that, but those kind of contrasts are apparent everywhere.

I am not sure how to describe China. At times I find myself in the most developed street, with 6 lane wide avenues, tall modern buildings and nice landscaped gardens lining the sidewalk. Here I feel like I could be anywhere in a US city (cause European streets are never that large). But then, I turn into a small street, more like an alley comparatively, and I enter the land of smoke, where I pass by 1001 stalls selling snacks and dumplings, where the steam of the kitchen slowly penetrates your skin and sinks through to your tummy. The dragon in my stomach awakens with a growl here; everything looks sooo good, despite the dirtiness of the walls and floor surrounding the place. There are bamboo steam pots everywhere, all cooking up dumplings and other delicacies. The street is lined full of huge brightly-coloured signs in Chinese leaving the meaning to my imagination. The roof of these places is low, and here I feel like I am transported back 60 or 70 years. Many of the buildings are a mix of 70's style soviet blocks and London tenement housing from the 20's, or so it would seem based on the films I've watched. The streets are full of rusty bikes, cooks in their uniforms, children playing with whatever they can find on the floor, and the odd dog. NO cats though..hmmmm I wonder where they are!

China is polluted as one cannot imagine. I never thought I would be able to fully understand what that feels like until I got here. When you are in the towns - well, not really towns as such since most of them are larger than Barcelona - you breathe in a mix of dust, carbon dioxide from the truck exhaust pipes and steam from the nearby dumpling restaurant! I've had to resort to my allergy medicine on a daily basis and a good wad of tissues to keep my black boggies at bay. I know this is disgusting, but you guys asked for the details. Now, about the spitting: yes, it's true, people spit ALL the time. Thank you Marta (again) for warning me about this. I do believe that the pollution causes this as people seem to have phlegm on a perennial basis. I have followed the Spanish saying of "allá donde fueres haz lo que vieres" so I indeed have done a bit of street spitting myself!!! hahaha I think I've still got a bit of practising to do though, cause most of the time, I end up with the stuff on me!! ("must project further, must project further"). I have tried to capture the sight of even the oldest of ladies spitting right beside me, but somehow I can never catch someone doing that roaring gurgle sound pre spit at the time I am filming. My camera is suffering here. I am not sure whether it is dying on me or what, but I am considering getting another one. I am hoping some of what I have captured in the past few days will make it safe and sound.

I've managed to catch a cold, don't ask me how. I think the 3 hour trek up to the Bamboo Temple yesterday did it. It wasn't cold but I hadn't gotten much sleep the past 2 nights. I met this really nice Mexican girl at the hostel and so we rented two bikes, more like two pieces of rusty metal creaking at every turn of the chain and without gears - surprising in a country like China where so many people ride. As per usual, we ventured on a 16km ride that we thought would be a breezed of flatland, only to find it was a 3 hour uphill trek. For those who know, this would be like climbing up Valvidrera mountain in Barcelona, but remember the equipment we had hired! Needless to say, we had to dismount and walk uphill dragging the so called bikes with us. I do feel very fit with all this walking though, and I felt like I earned my lunch at the Tibetan temple. My ass, on the other hand, is not too fond of these events. I think I may be developing a permanent bruise and blister on my ass! I dare not look at my rear in the mirror at nights. Instead, I observe how rapidly my hair is growing back, and wonder whether it is true I will eventually shave it again in a few weeks.

I cam across the saddest sight last night. Upon returning the bikes at 7PM and getting our 100 Juan deposit back, we walked past a McDonalds and Carrefour in what looked like London's Picadilly Circus; a square full of neon lights, large colourfully-lit advertisements of cosmetics and clothing and beautifully landscaped gardens - yes I am still in China. As we walked further down the sidewalk, and the light grew dimmer, we happened upon two children, no more than 4 years old, kneeling down on the sidewalk, with their faces turned to the cold stone, begging. For what? I don't know. I couldn't read the sign that lay before them, nor could I hear their voices. They lay still, in the cold evening air. And I stopped and stared and looked around and wondered what I could do? Whether I could get them some warm food or a blanket. What could I do? I began to cry, at a loss for words or action, like paralised. Lola, my Mexican friend explained how giving them food or clothing would only perpetuate their begging....and so unwillingly, I walked away, feeling like a piece of shit, actually, and realising how spoiled we are and how unfair things can be in this world. We commented on how the parents were probably using the children as bait for the more affluent who felt pity, and how horrible that was. Nothing so far has touched me like the sight of those children, not much older than my nephew, at their own risk, or maybe at the service of some pimp, begging on the street on a chilly November evening. Thanksgiving will have a far deeper meaning for me this year, and I will forever wonder whether I did the right thing by walking away.

Today it's raining and I have stayed in, taking some meds and dedicating some time to all those of you who patiently read my blogs with interest. I have bought my ticket to Lijiang for tomorrow where I will be trekking the Tiger Leaping Gorge, and where I hope to find a more traditional piece of China where the Cultural Revolution has not completely erased tradition, customs, architecture and history, like it appears to have done everywhere else I've been to.

Xiushui Market, bargains and anecdotes

We spent the best part of our last 3 days in Xiushui market - a covered building with 5 floors full of stalls selling everything from shoes, to silk PJ's, to Louis Vuitton bags to Custo shirts to North Face Ski gear & luggage...the list is endless. Most everything is a knock-off and the law of the land is "haggle, haggle, haggle!"....so we did! Maica has become the world's best negotiator. She had a whole system going, with some very funny set phrases she soon realised did the trick to get her silk robes reduced from 1800 RMB (180 euros) down to 125 RMB (12.5 euros!!!) Incredible. I have to say the fact that my bag was packed to the rim and that I am traveling for 3 months was a shopping buzz killer, otherwise I would've ended up with half the market packed in various suitcases. This is the only place we could actually make ourselves understood. We shopped to the anxious cries of sales girls, most under 18, enticing you to their stall via comments such as "Hola amiga, balato balato for you amiga. You very sexy amiga...very nice". Ha!!! I got my butt felt up by various women on various occasions and Maica had a girl literally pulling her top up to take a good look at her boobs!!! It was pretty funny. They were soo cute and they spoke so many different languages that one couldn't help but feel comfy around them.

The Chinese are the most industrious people I have ever known. They work non stop all day, every day. And EVERYONE works...men AND women, unlike some other countries I've visited. I believe there must be at least one restaurant and one clothing shop for every 5 people in this city. You're spoiled for choice. The fun starts when you land yourself in a place where the staff not only speak ONLY Mandarin, but where the menu is all Chinese characters. Take the mandarin phrase book out, attempt to pronounce and see what happens: usually, a look of "what on earth did you just say?". However, the Chinese people we've come across are REALLY patient and very eager to help. So eventually, you end up getting more or less what you thought you'd asked for ... well most times.

So, here are some anecdotes about things that have surprised us. Aside from how friendly and hard working they are, the Chinese love to advertise everything in large, colourful banners, and always have red lanterns outside their stores/restaurants, without exception. They drive like mad and the car is king, so even if you are on a bike and it's your turn to cross, beware of the left turn drivers who ignore their light completely. We did find however that it was OK to drive against traffic on the bike lane. Nobody says anything, not even the police. Little kids are super cute. We did find some of them with a rather peculiar attire: a pant outfit that had a slit right up the butt. I wonder whether it is to allow them to pee more comfortably? I don't see a lot of diapers around here and this is, after all, a more natural and eco-friendly way to potty train. Public toilets ... ah, the public toilets!! Hey, at least they're everywhere, especially in the 'hutongs' or traditional neighbourhoods, so we gathered it was because there were none within the households. Your average toilet is a squat toilet; not much of a surprise after my trip to India 2 years ago. And, I've been told squatting is the body's natural way of , ahem, 'releasing' , if you know what I mean, so all good. We taped a hilarious video one night when Maica got stuck in one of these. Anyway, thanks to the sage advice of my Mother and my friend Heather, the wet wipes have come with me everywhere. Whereas in India at least there was a faucet handy, here, there is just the hole... looking straight at ya! Wipes: I cannot think of a better invention for the modern day traveler! I went to the Temple of Heaven Park today and saw a choir of Chinese men and women singing traditional song in the middle of the afternoon on a very cold but sunny November day. They were surrounded by 50+ men and women playing chess, cards and other board games. There was a whole section beside one of the paths that recommended healthy lifestyle through a series of large banners spanning about 500m length. I don't read Chinese but the pictures were quite telling. Eat healthy, cut down on wine & cigarettes, run or walk daily, etc. We also get to see staff in restaurants and other places doing jumping jacks on the side walk, early in the morning and dressed with their uniforms. At the end of the day, the staff eat from the restaurant leftovers. We were privy to one such event in Datong. They all brought their tin pots and chopsticks out, gathered en masse around a huge table and picked from their favourite dish.

Anyway, my taxi is here to take me to the airport. I fly out to Kunming tonight and will be staying at the Camellia Hotel: Mom: here's the number> +86 0871 316 3000 Many kisses to all. Will write more soon.

DATONG

On Wednesday we ventured into the country by way of a 5 hour sleeper train to Datong. The train was quite comfy, with excellent duvets and pillows!! We made the terrible mistake of trusting the station restaurant before boarding. I thought I had ordered a broth/soup but instead got hot water with raw tomato and curd floating in it! Rocio's rice had too much "chopped de gato" and tasted like it had been cooked last week. So we figured we'd splurge on the cafeteria on board ... only to find it was closed. We purchased what we thought was a bottle of red wine - for consolation - but it turned out to be sickeningly sweet grape juice, perhaps bottled in 1982! So we ended up munching Ritz crackers and Donettes which we had bought by chance at a street stall a few hours before. The following morning, we arrived in Datong and decided to go to the nearby hotel for a continental breakfast buffet. I think we ate half their food supplies! Maica had the best fried egg and bacon sarnie she's ever eaten. It was breakfast from heaven. I ate 5 pieces of toast, half a plate of fruit and loads more! While the city of Datong itself is truly horrible - coal mining city = everything balck, including the boggies coming out of our noses all day!! However, the reason for our visit were the magnificent Yungang Caves and the Hanging Monastery 1 hour away by bus. I have never seen anything like this before. A Qing dynasty wooden monastery carved out on a rock overlooking a dam. It was built as an offering to mother nature for it's ever so frequent floods. It has survived numerous earthquakes and floods and lies solitary in a canyon of overturned rock. It is spectacular. The caves, on the other side of town, were the location where several dynasties carved out Buddhas during the Ming and Qing dynasties. You walk into a cave and all of a sudden you are standing at the feet of a 60 metre high statue of a Buddha with carvings surrounding it all over the roof and sides. There are 55 caves like this in the entire area and they have been named a National Heritage site. Another wonder of human art. (I have pics of all this....will load asap). That night, we went to what we understand is the region's best restaurant and indeed, our Lonely Planet guide did not lie. We enjoyed the best stew yet, with noodles like only Jenny used to make back home when I was 11 years old (pansit) and some amazing dumplings! We continued in our quest to find a bottle of drinkable red wine. This time it was "Great Wall of China" wine.... aged5 years. Dare I say it tasted like its name would have you think it tasted! ...yeah...the Chinese don't do wine. (I may end up becoming a fan of beer. The beer here is really quite good).

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

Ohhh ... what we experienced today was out of a movie - not sure if thriller, sci fi, comedy or maybe all in one. We took a 3 hour long taxi journey to a remote location of the wall for a 10Km trek to Simatai. The trek takes 4 hours. We took 5! But only cause we were so in awe of the place. There were 30 watch-towers to climb and let me tell you, the Lonely Planet guide (which we didn't pay much attention to) was right. This is not for the faint hearted! After tower 5, the wall is derelict in most places and has uphill, uneven steps at 90 degree angles and over 60cm high!!! I'm not kidding ... AT ALL! We were chased by Mongolian farmers who trek daily attempting to sell you water, postcards, books and t-shirts. Most are over 50 years old and carry the stuff on their back. It is surreal and somewhat sad. However, their insistence - for which they deserve a prize - pays off, 'cause after 2 hours of trekking uphill and outta breath, you've drunk all the water you were carrying with you so you're ready to pull the wallet out. These men and women even help you up parts of the wall! Not so sad after all. Of course, you end up buying a bottle, or two, some postcards and whatever else these people have pulled up here for you. The sight from the Wall is unbelievable! You're at nearly 3000m above sea level at one point. Forget the documentaries you've seen! The Wall is mostly in ruins and full of stairs; none of those rolling stone paved paths. Anyway, my camera has been playing up for 2 days so I'm getting a new one. My tow friends who are only here for a few more days will help me post the pics. They are astonishing! So we got back at 20:00hrs and got a 1hr Chinese foot massage that revived the hell out of our tired and shaking legs. It was totally worth it. More soon. Love y'all!