Thailand Take Two Part Two: Chiang Mai with Dad

After my dad finished up his meetings in Bangkok, we went north up to Chiang Mai.

On our first night in Chiang Mai, we went to the Night Bazaar. (I can't seem to stop going to night markets.) On our way back to the hotel, we stopped into a tour agency and booked a half day elephant mahout training. Although I already rode an elephant in Kanchanaburi, I wanted my animal lover dad to experience it. I'm glad we went because it was much more hands on than sitting in the safety of a seat.

At the beginning of the day, the guide laid down the rules and gave some background information. He told us that we would get to feed the elephants bananas.

Guide: "They love bananas. Important. When you feed them bananas, don't put your camera and the bananas in the same hand. They don't know the difference. If you put your camera in the same hand as the bananas, bye bye camera. There is nothing we can do."

I wonder which poor tourist had his or her camera eaten by a hungry elephant so now they have to give that warning. At least I'm sure it makes a good story. "This one time I was at an elephant training camp in Chiang Mai and I was hand feeding my elephant bananas... and now they have to warn all the tourists." HIMYM anyone?

The guide told us elephants are like dogs. Five ton dogs. We learned how to use tactile and verbal commands to control their movements.

Next, we practiced different ways to get on and off the elephant. The basic instructions were, "hold onto the ears and jump.

My dad and I were each paired with an elephant and the elephant's mahout. We used Thai commands to communicate with the elephants but they didn't always like to listen. My hungry 35-year old pregnant elephant had a mind of her own and gave her mahout a whole lot of sass. When we went on a walk, she kept stopping for snacks along the way. I can relate. Her mahout got frustrated because he could not control her.

We walked to the river to bathe our elephants. My dad was scrubbing his elephant when he felt a fish brush against his leg. Only it wasn't a fish like he originally thought. It was his elephant's poop that was the size of a turkey you serve up for Thanksgiving dinner with extended family. He looked up and realized five other turds were already floating downstream past me.

Afterwards my dad said, "not to slight your company, Kat, but that was the most memorable part of our whole trip."

So, elephant tour. Yes, it is only for tourists but we had fun. I would recommend it if you can ride bareback. There are many elephant centers in Chiang Mai so it requires some research. I didn't want to see elephants painting pictures or playing fútbol. That is too depressing.

After returning from the elephant camp, we went for Thai massages. Neither of us tried Thai massages before. The masseuse pulled my limbs and arranged then in strange positions. I felt like I was getting stretched by a trainer in preparation for a sports competition. Some describe it as lazy man yoga.

The next day we went on a hike. It had rained the night before and it continued to rain during the hour long drive to the park. The ground was pretty darn slippery. There is nothing like a five hour muddy hike (and slipping on your butt three times) to break in a new pair of shoes. Someone in our group was hiking in Toms. Why?! At least it isn't as bad as people in China hiking in stilettos. Oh China, you kill me.
.

picnic lunch

This hike was advertised as "off the beaten path" in a "less touristic area." Most day trips include elephant riding, bamboo rafting, or white water rafting. We picked this tour because it was walking only. I am one of those tourists that hates tourists. Hates touristy things. Yes, we booked this through a travel agency. Many things I did in Thailand were extremely touristy. It's a struggle to balance convenience with "authenticity." 

The next day, we did another touristy tour. We went ziplining in the jungle. The view is incredible. I also went abseiling for the first time. Man, I want to go skydiving again.

Afterwards, we went to get foot massages. The masseuse thought I was 12. The other masseuse thought I was 15. Thanks? Forever young?

Our last day in Chiang Mai, we rented bikes. That's my absolute favorite thing to do in any city I visit. At first my dad was worried that Chiang Mai wasn't bike friendly. Eh, after biking in China, nothing seems that bad.

We rode around aimlessly just exploring further reaches than we were able to access on foot. We ended the day with one last round of Thai massages. They are about 10 USD (or less) an hour.

When I was traveling on my own in Thailand, I was bouncing from city to city. It was nice to be in one place for a few days. I knew where the dessert trucks were at night and got familiar with the streets.

I think my dad enjoyed traveling with me. It was fun and I hope we have more chances for trips like that in the future.

Three things I'm grateful for:

1. My dad willing to go along with whatever I planned

2. Inexpensive massages
I used to get foot massages in Nanjing with one of my classmates. It was 60 RMB (9.78 USD) an hour. The foot massages in Chiang Mai on average were 150 baht (5 USD).

3. Elephant rides
Riding on top of an elephant is amazing. They are beautiful creatures and it was neat to be up close to them. Now I understand why one of my friends is so eager to volunteer at an elephant camp. Take me with you!

Thailand Take Two

When I was planning on joining Kathryn and Christian on their Southeast Asia trip, I intended on meeting them halfway through their journey. However, when I asked Christian how they were getting from city to city  (and country to country), he said, "We'll figure it out when we get there."

That sounded nuts to me. How do you not plan ahead? How was I supposed to find them? After being in Southeast Asia, I understand how much easier it is to book train and bus tickets while there.

My dad had a week of meetings in Bangkok and suggested I tag along. Uh, yes please. He extended his trip in Thailand so we had a five days to travel after the conclusion of his meetings. The cheapest flight had me arriving in Bangkok before his meetings were over so I had one week to travel alone.

I didn't expect to be back in Thailand so soon. I was there less than two months ago prior just starting an epic journey through a sampling of Southeast Asia with Kathryn and Christian.

Bangkok

When I first got to Bangkok, my goal was to find my way to Phuket or Luang Prabang, Laos.

I spent my first night in one of the top hostels in the world. When I was doing some last minute research on Phuket right before bed, I ended up on a travel forum of best places to visit in Thailand. It convinced me to ditch my current plans.

Also, since had to meet my dad back in Bangkok in a week, I didn't want to go too far from the capital city. I decided to keep things simple and head to cities around Bangkok that are smaller and less touristy.

Nine hours after I found out a city by the name of Phetchaburi existed, I somehow ended up there.

Phetchaburi 

When I got off the minivan, I couldn't find a motorbike driver that knew where my guesthouse was. (The city is small they don't have taxis or even tuk tuks.) I couldn't find any person that spoke English. After forty five minutes of a failed game of gestures, a man summoned his friend who was wearing a shirt that read "Tequila! It's five o'clock somewhere." That's the kind of man I trust. He translated for me and I got dropped off at my guesthouse.

When I arrived at Sabaidee Resort, I expected to check into a room with a fan. The owner told me she ran out and only had bamboo bungalows left. It was the first time I've slept with a mosquito net. I tried to blog from my bungalow but changed my mind when fifty some little bugs covered my computer screen as soon as I boot it up. 

First + third world problem?

The next day the guesthouse owner arranged to have a tuk tuk driver take me to Thailand's largest national park-Kaeng Krachan. I am sure it is beautiful and has many animals but I wouldn't know. The driver didn't speak a syllable of English and after only thirty minutes in the park, he took me to a temple. (Typical.)  I wish I was a Buddhism scholar so I would have a better understanding of the countless temples I've seen. I feel ignorant that after a while all the temples look the same to me. Sorry, Mom. Don't get me wrong, they are beautiful. But Thailand has over 10,000 temples. I was already "templed out" from the last Southeast Asia trip.

After the failed trip to the national park, I rented a bicycle to go to the Khao Luang caves.

There were so many monkeys outside the caves.

I didn't read anything about the caves. The owner of the guesthouse told me I had to go because "it is so beautiful." I shouldn't have been surprised when I saw many Buddha statutes inside.

Kanchanaburi 

The next day I rode a minibus (with an aviator wearing monk riding shotgun) to Kanchanaburi to visit Tiger Temple and Erawan Park.

I got to my hostel at 1:15pm. As I was walking to my room, I started chatting with a man from Germany. Our conversation was cut short because he mentioned he had to catch his 1:30pm tuk tuk to the Tiger Temple. I chucked my bag in my room and hopped onto the tuk tuk with him. Talk about good timing.

Visiting Tiger Temple was a strange experience. Click one of the links if you want to know what the Tiger Temple is but the Cliff Notes version is -- monks take care of tigers. The tigers are in a canyon for five hours a day to meet with tourists. When it is your turn, you are escorted by two staff members. One takes your camera to take your picture with the tigers. One takes your hand and guides you through the canyon. I was too excited and tried to keep wandering around the canyon solo. That is frowned upon.

You can choose to take "regular photos" or "special photos." This is the special photo that is supposed to cost an extra 1000 THB (33.55 USD). For some reason they let me do it for free. A staff member said, "sit here so I can put the tiger's head on your lap." Sure, I will oblige.

Because the tigers barely move, some think they are drugged. Some think they are calm due to magical monk mojo. One of the volunteers eloquently stated, "They are just lazy as shit." They have a slow metabolism and it was ridiculously hot. I wanted to just lie around in the shade too.

On my second day in Kanchanaburi, I caved and booked a tour. I usually don't like doing tours but it made things much easier.

We went to Erawan National Park which is home to a seven tier waterfall. It is the dry season so there wasn't much water. It was gorgeous so I cannot imagine what it looks like during the wet months. I hiked up to the top level with a German girl named Isa. She also is 23 and traveling alone through Thailand. When we were discussing future travel plans, we discovered we wanted to take the same path to go to the same cities. If I didn't have to meet up with my dad, I would have traveled with her.

I love waterfalls and as an added bonus, you can swim at each level.

Remember the fish foot pedicures I mentioned in my Southeast Asia post? That type of fish was present at each of the waterfall levels. When I first stepped on a partially submerged rock, a fish started nibbling on my foot. I, of course, freaked out, spazzed, and fell into the water. It is the strangest feeling. I do not like it and I didn't want them biting my feet. As long as you keep your feet moving, they won't touch you. Later I tried to do that and smashed my foot into a rock so hard I started bleeding. Typical.

You normally have to pay for the nibbling fish so some people sat patiently and got a free fish pedicure. Others were not given a warning about the fish. It was highly amusing to see and hear their reactions.

We swam at several of the levels. The cool clean water felt refreshing, and I could have stayed there all day. One of the waterfalls even had a rock you could slide down into the pool of water.

After spending time at the waterfall, we went to an elephant camp for an elephant ride and bamboo rafting. I felt super cheesy but my touristy ride on an elephant was fun.

We then took a ride on the death railway to the River Kwai Bridge. I talked to an Italian lady about the bridge. She hated the food carts and shopping stalls set up next to the bridge.

"It's as if there were tourist shops next to Auschwitz."

This reminded me of my problem with an elementary school next to the killing fields. Same same... but different.

There were several Chinese tourists at bridge. While using one hand to balance the coconut they just bought from a food vendor, they used the other hand to snap pictures of the bridge.

Some tourists sat on the tracks and had a friend take artsy portraits for them.

Is this good or bad? I don't really know.

From Kanchanaburi I wanted to continue onto Sangkhlaburi and Three Pagoda Pass. At Three Pagoda Pass, you can get a one day Myanmar visa. I decided it wasn't worth the hassle so I headed to Bangkok a day early. 

Bangkok

One of my favorite parts of traveling is how different  things can be from one day to the next.The breakfast at my dad's hotel was more expensive than two nights in my bamboo bungalow. Don't worry. I convinced the hotel to give me breakfast for free.

That night I went to a Thai cooking class with my dad and we learned how to use a mortar and pestle to make green curry paste. It was tantalizingly fragrant. We also cooked tom yum soup, pad thai, and pomelo salad. Yum. 

The next day was my dad's final round of meetings. After getting advice from the bell boys about where to go, I decided to take a day trip to Pattaya.

In Pattaya I took a ferry to Koh Lan. It was one of the most beautiful beaches I have been to. However, it was swarming with tourists. My fault. I should have done more research. I blindly trusted the bell boy because he said it was his favorite beach and went just last week. There are so many beaches in Thailand that if you look, you can find exactly what you are looking for. They have guide books just about the Thai beaches. 

After doing the beach thing for a bit, I wasn't feeling it so I decided to head back to Bangkok.

I found a tuk tuk to take me back to the bus station. The woman riding shotgun said to name my price. "20 baht." She nodded and waved for me to get in. I got a mini-driving tour of Pattaya because they had to drop off other people first. When we finally got to the bus station, I tried to pay her 20 baht.

"No, no, no. 200 baht."

She was yelling at me for not paying. I'm stubborn and do not give in easily. It is one thing if the ride was supposed to cost 200 baht. The same service from another tuk tuk that morning cost me 50 baht.

The driver started yelling at me too. "Monkey! You get in. We go police now."

The lady got out of the car and grabbed my wrist. "Police now."

The day before, I learned from some tourists that the locals call tourists "monkeys" because they are hairy. Who knew my lesson on Thai slang would come in handy so soon?

Yes, it sounds like a great deal of hullabaloo over not much USD. I don't like being taken advantage of because I'm a tourist. I honestly believe she understood the difference between 20 and 200. I think she was trying to scare me into paying more. Although, a trip to a police station (or jail) in a foreign country would have been an interesting cultural experience, she wouldn't have actually taken me to the police, right?

When I travel I think in terms of the local currency. In Southeast Asia if you think in USD, you'll always pay too much. If you think in USD in New Zealand, you will go hungry. Sure, I when I look at prices I consider how much USD it costs... and RMB and HKD. Anyway, that's a blog post topic on its own.

So, I have been trying to figure out how they come up with transportation fees in Bangkok. It cost me 125 THB (4.19 USD) to get from Bangkok to Pattaya. She claimed the tuk tuk from the beach back to the bus station cost 200 THB? What?! According to my three weeks of travel in Thailand, it is much cheaper to travel between cities than within cities.

In the end I ended up giving her 50 baht which was all the change I had. I heard them yell "monkey monkey monkey" as they drove off.

On my last day of traveling alone, I stayed in Bangkok to hit up a couple museums before our flight to Chiang Mai.

Many people think I'm nuts to travel alone. The way I see it is that any and all places are dangerous in some way. Hell, it can also be dangerous if you travel with people.

After the Connecticut shootings, people in China told me not to go home because I would get shot to death. You can get killed and kidnapped anywhere. That's no reason to live in fear. That doesn't mean I walk down sketchy dark alleyways (that often). As a famous lion once said, "Being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble."

Three things I'm grateful for:

1 Traveling with my dad.
The two of us had never taken a trip together and I'm grateful for the opportunity to spend time with him. Before the trip he said he was excited to to experience how I travel.

2 Kindness of random Thai people
When I was wandering around Phetchaburi, I passed a dessert stand. I stopped, duh. I didn't speak a word of Thai and the lady running the stand didn't speak a word of English. I pointed at the miscellaneous blobs on banana leaves and tried to ask what it was. She was unable to explain. You try using gestures to act out Thai sweet egg custard (which is what I later found out it was). She handed me one of the servings. Free dessert?! I wish I could have given her a hug. The one she have me was so good that I bought another serving. She picked one out for me. I am not sure what it was but it tasted good. That's all that matters, right?

3 Things wrapped in banana leaves
This one is related to number 2. Things in banana leaves are just tastier. I'm pretty sure this is a universal truth. Everything I had that was in or on a banana leaf was delicious.

I also ate things that looked and tasted just like a Chinese 粽子. It very well could have been Chinese. Chinese or Thai, it doesn't matter. If you haven't had 粽子, try one. If you are remarkably lucky I may even make you one. (Lucky not because the ones I make are particularly good. Lucky because they are a hassle and a half to make.)

Thailand Take Two Part Two: Chiang Mai with Dad up soon

Taste of Taiwan

JR and I took a few days in Nanjing to defrost from the Harbin cold. After I said a final goodbye to 南大 and my host family, we took a train to Xiamen, the city on the mainland closest to Taipei.


I hear great things about Xiamen and Gulangyu. If you go to China, visit those cities for me please. It's a shame we didn't have time to check them out. Next time. We were both sick so we needed the extra rest days in Nanjing.

I wanted to spend at least a month in Taiwan, but I also wanted to be sure to be with family in Hong Kong on Chinese New Year's Eve. Family trumps travel so we set out for a 8 day trip. I booked a return ticket from Taiwan to Hong Kong set for New Year's Eve.

JR and I did little to no research prior to our trip. We aren't big on planning, and I figured we could wing it because Taiwan is not very large. I picked four cities based on both recommendations from friends and locations of national parks, booked a hostel for the first night, and that's about it.

You can take a ferry or plane from Xiamen to Taiwan. Our friend found us cheap flights on taobao so we opted to fly. As soon as we got to Taipei, we took a southbound train to Kaohsiung.



Kaohsiung
Day 1
Our Kaohsiung hostel was conveniently located a five minute walk from a night market. I have been to quite a few night markets around Asia and Taiwan-hands down-is home to the best.


Many of my Taiwanese friends rave about food in Taiwan. When I asked then what to eat, James gave me the best answer. "You'll want to try everything."

I was a pescatarian while traveling through Southeast Asia but I decided to take a break from it. James was right. Everything looked delicious and I wanted to experience the culture through the local cuisine. (Translation: I love food and wanted to eat everything in sight.)
Day 2
The next day we took advantage of the city bike rental stands scattered throughout Kaohsiung. You can rent a bike from one stand and return it to a different stand. The best part is that it is free if you return the bike within one hour. We were cheap and kept returning and re-renting our bikes throughout the day. (I would have felt guilty but the hostel owner also suggested it.) We did it until we hit the limit for times to rent and return bikes in a day. Whoops.

We biked through most of the city. At one point, JR returned his bike and ran alongside me while I biked. People thought JR was nuts. What's new.

We went to The Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts because I saw advertisements for the Dali exhibit. When I think of Dali, I just picture the melty droopy clocks. I did not realize he also made interesting furniture.

I used to feel guilty going to temporary exhibits in museums. If I am in this foreign country, shouldn't I see things from that country?  Why am I spending my time looking at stuff from other countries?

Now, I love it. One of my favorite exhibits was a Russian art exhibition in a museum in Hong Kong. I have been wanting to go to Russia and seeing Russian art let me have a short imaginary trip to that country.

Tainan
Day 3
The next day, we explored Tainan on foot. We walked around the city for many hours and stopped by some museums.

We stumbled onto an open air market. There were some performers and many food vendors. Jeez, after writing this blog, I realize all we did in Taiwan is eat.

Every night the hostel tells the guests to meet at 7pm to go to the night market together. The only way to go is by cab so the hostel tries to arrange a taxi pool. We waited at the hostel but nobody wanted to go with us. Sad. We are cheap and didn't want to pay the expensive cab fare. We opted to rent bikes from our hostel to get to the night market. I love biking and I love Taiwan's night markets. Win win.

Day 4
In a brochure I grabbed at the airport, I read about a scenic area near Tainan. It sounded interesting enough and since our bike rental was for 24 hours we decided to bike there. It was only 15km away. The park wasn't that interesting and there were little bugs eating me alive.

While looking for a place to stop for lunch, we stumbled into an open air market.
I got JR to try 豆花 for the first time. I love introducing people to new food.



We tried corn dogs because I was craving them. Mistake. Nobody can do it like the States. I know hot dogs are scary fake meat things but these things were faker than hot dogs. How is that even possible? I don't
even want to know what we ate.

After the market, we found our way to the pier. We skipped the attractions and just sat talking about the future and whatnot while watching the sunset over the water. I could have sat there for hours.

I now know I have to live in a city with water. I was spoiled by spending every morning and many afternoons on the beautiful Lady Bird Lake.

Alas, we had to hurry home to return our bikes. There is nothing like the feeling of your sweaty legs sticking to themselves each time you pump your legs while biking.

Hualien
Day 5
We took a train to Hualien and we inadvertently sang oldies the entire way. That was one of my favorite parts of the trip.  

When we arrived at the station in the evening, it was pouring. I regret not buying a rain cover for my backpack. (Kathryn, if you are reading this -- guess which two words I am thinking of. Christian, help her out.) I remember staring at rain covers in REI before I left thinking I wouldn't need it. If you go backpacking, get it. Then you won't have to Macgyver a backpack cover out of plastic bags. I wish I had it in Southeast Asia not just because of rain but because of dust. My backpack got super beat up and dirty after taking many sketchy vans.

Anyway, we dumped our bags in the hostel and I asked the chica on staff at the hostel for suggestions of what to do. I didn't know anything about the city. I just wanted to go to Hualien for the national park.

She pulled out a map and circled 15 plus restaurants and food stands for us to try. How did she know JR and I love to eat? We grabbed umbrellas and had a three hour walking progressive dinner in the rain. Worth it. We ate buns that JR claims are better than 生煎包. We ended going to that bun place again before our train the next day.

There was a street of mochi, pineapple cake, and sweets stores. They all had samples. I love samples. Who doesn't? Speaking of which, Taiwan has Costco! Major points.

Day 6
Taroko National Park

We spent the day exploring Taroko National Park. We love being outside and hiking. Nag JR to upload his photos from his expensive fancy camera. I didn't bother to take many photos and left that responsibility for him.

We stopped by the pebble beach just before it started to rain again. JR used the stones to teach me how to throw a discus and shotput.

Taipei
Day 7
I originally wanted to go to Yangmingshan. However with a forecast of rain, 25 mph wind,  and low temperatures, we decided to skip it. Next time.

Instead we went on a walking tour. We passed through the flower market and Flora Expo Park before making our way to the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. JR is super sweet and let me drag him to all the museums I wanted to.visit. We saw an awesome exhibit of a famous Taiwanese artist who does oil paintings of scenes around Taiwan. My favorite paintings were the ones of Hualien. It was neat to see paintings of the park we just visited.


After the museum we went to the Shilin Night Market.

Day 8
We went to The National Gallery. Their collection is huge. My mom told me to see the jade cabbage. There were swarms of people around it so I guess it's important.

We had another walking progressive dinner at a different night market. By this time, we were night market pros. We split many dishes so we could try more. That was our last night so we "had to" get the Taiwanese foods we had yet to try.

Our ridiculously gluttonous dinner consisted of:
-蛋餅
-red bean and black sesame mochi balls covered in ground peanuts
-spicy Korean rice cake and noodles
-Korean seafood pancake
-Japanese peanut mochi
-fresh watermelon juice
-red bean mochi
-rice flour noodles with pig intestines
-杏仁豆腐
-蚵仔煎
-切仔面
-蜜香柚子茶
-assorted samples

In our culture class in Nanjing, we wrote six word summaries at the end of the semester. I have been writing one for each city I visit.

JR's Taiwan 6 word summary:
Find food. Street food. Free food.
I couldn't have come up with a better one if I tried.

Day 9
Chinese New Year's Eve

My dad likes pineapple cakes and I wanted to bring him the best. Several people recommended Chiate When we were getting close to the bakery, I saw the long line before I saw the store. I filed in line with Taiwanese people getting last minute gifts.


After buying a huge box of fresh pineapple cakes, we walked to Taipei 101. The great thing about going to visit ridiculously tall buildings is that you don't need directions. Just look up and walk towards it.

It was super foggy so this is what it looked like when we first got to the observation deck.

Thankfully, it cleared up later on.

I went to the airport early to see JR off. I don't mind sitting, waiting,(wishing) in airports. The Taoyuan airport has a "reading corner" where you can borrow a book to read before your flight. I found one of my childhood favorites-Holes.

The flight to Hong Kong is super quick. I wish I took advantage of that before. I have been to Hong Kong many times, but this was my first time to Taiwan.

My dad arrived in Hong Kong the day before me because he also flew in for the new year. It was great to have him pick me up at the airport even though he didn't recognize me. I don't know if it is his failing eyesight or the fact I chopped off my hair again or what. We talked the entire bus ride to my grandma's house. We also discussed his upcoming travel plans to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and India... Foreshadowing? Until next time!

Three things I am grateful for:
1. Advice from Taiwanese friends about where to go and what to eat
2. Convenience of train travel in Taiwan
3. Helpful hostel staff members

Is that the moon?

"My hometown is a 28 hour train ride from Nanjing."

My friend 宇琦 mentioned this my first week in China. (宇琦 was 康凯's roommate during our study abroad program in Nanjing, China. Each student from the States was placed with a student from China.) How does anyone spend that much time on a train without going stir crazy?  Little did I know that four months later I would clock a 56 hour travel time adventure from Cambodia to Laos (and love every second. Kathryn, admit it. It was fun.) Now I love long train rides because I just sleep or journal the entire time.  One of my favorite parts of our Southeast Asia trip was talking with Kathryn on the buses. It is true that it didn't matter where you are as long as you are in good company.

Many months ago, 宇琦 mentioned he wanted to show us  his hometown and take us to the Harbin Ice Festival. I don't particularly like the cold or fare well in it so I originally wasn't planning on going. I got hit by a case of fomo so I agreed to tag along. In total there were seven of us (brave enough/foolish enough) going to face the cold.

After taking two days in Nanjing to recover from our Southeast Asia adventure, 康凯 and I hopped on a sleeper train to Shenyang.

As my friend Bri says, "Shenyang is a hardship post for a reason."

I have never been in such a polluted city. Yes, it was worse than Beijing. One day, we took a two and a half hour bus ride from Shenyang to go skiing. When I was with my friend J.R. on the slopes, I pointed to the sky.

"J.R., you can see the moon!"
"Kat, that's the sun. Do you remember seeing a full moon last night?"

Oops.


The smog is unreal. He had to convince me that the gray circular object in the sky was the sun. Soon after it quickly disappeared behind thick blankets of smog.

I had a discussion with 宇琦 about the pollution.
Me: "沈阳的污染很差!"
宇琦: "不是, 我们的空气很差, 我们的污染很利害."

Me: Shenyang's pollution is terrible.
宇琦: Incorrect. Shenyang's air quality is terrible. Our pollution is intense!
(Sorry, that last part is hard to translate. Please tell me if you can offer a better translation.)

Despite the pollution, I was glad to be there. My friend 宇琦 brought along his friend and they were fantastic hosts. I love having locals take me around their city. I think it is one of the best ways to travel.

Shenyang is close to the North Korean border. 宇琦 knows I've been itching to go.
"可欣, you could walk over but the guards will probably be really confused about why someone is sneaking in. When people come to Shenyang when they sneak out of North Korea."

After three days in Shenyang, we took a short train ride to Harbin. Many people warned me about the cold. It is just a sneeze away from Russia. The cold ain't so bad if you are wearing a SARS face mask, two parkas, two pairs of socks, three hats, and three pairs of pants. I felt like a fluffy marshmallow. Have you and a friend ever faced each other while holding stability balls and run into each other at full speed? Yeah, we played that game on the streets without the balls. I didn't mind the cold probably because we were only there for two days.

The first day, we walked down the main shopping street. I got giddy with excitement because I knew that the ice sculptures that lined the street was just a teaser of what we were about to see at the ice festival.


So, at many attractions and museums around the world flashing a student id will get you a nice discount. At the festival, the difference in cost between a student ticket and general admission was 180 RMB (29 USD). The entrance fee is absurdly expensive (but absolutely worth it).
We showed the staff our student ids and all of the Chinese students from our group got in but all of the Americans were denied entry.Our student ids didn't have expiration dates so they didn't believe we were still students.

We stood there futily arguing with them. Nobody wanted to pay for the regular ticket. Then, someone (Maggie?) had the idea to use smartphones to get online to prove our enrollment. They let me in after I showed them my grades from senior year. Two of my friends (JR and Maggie) were still stuck on the other side of the turnstile. I graduated from college and got in. Those two were legitimately still students.

J.R. tried everything and could not get in. I found a LinkedIn account of someone by the same name that was an alumnus of the same university. Sure, the guy now was a COO of a bank now but I didn't show the guards that part of the page. They somehow bought it. I like to think I'm sneaky and convincing and not that the staff just have in after hearing us nag and argue for over an hour.

one of the many slides

How do you describe this place? It was a winter wonderland. Unreal. And so China. There was an Angry Birds park. China loves them some Angry Birds. There were slides, castles, sculptures, and a smurf park.

Drinking Harbins in Harbin under a Harbin

Angry Birds Park

There were food vendors scattered thought the park. There is a watery tasting Chinese beer made in Harbin called Harbin. I asked one of the shop keepers if I could take a Harbin to go. Why nobody else in the park didn't do it is beyond me. (Hope that wasn't illegal.) I asked for a cold beer but they only had "room temp." Good thing it's below freezing.

Our eyelashes kept freezing together.

I tried to take pictures and video but my phone kept shutting off. My camera lens froze. Electronics (and humans) do not function properly when it's that cold.


The next day we went to a robot restaurant for lunch. Robots cook some of the dishes and bring the food to your table. We thought it would be more robot less human automated than it was but it was still neat.   Robots + food. What more can you ask for?

Soon after lunch JR and I headed to the train station. Poor thing was sick and we had a 30 something hour train ride home to Nanjing. Delays ended up adding four hours to our train ride. At the beginning of our ride I was feeling a bit sick too. (Sharing food is bad! But not really. I do it all the time. Sharing is caring.) During our 34 hour ride, I slept 30 hours only waking up from my fever.

Three things I'm grateful for:
1. Having local hosts-宇琦and his friend were so wonderful. They helped arrange hostels and train tickets. 宇琦's friend also bought my plane ticket to Taiwan and Hong Kong. When you use Chinese sites, you have to pay with a Chinese credit card. Good thing or I else would be on taobao all the time.

2. Before I left my Chinese tutor was worried I didn't have enough clothes. She insisted I borrow a jacket. I wore her parka inside of mine. She also bought me a packet of heat packs. They are like hand warners but you stick a patch to your shirt.
3. Skiing for cheap-When Lanier, Kris, Sam and I went indoor skiing in Seoul they had a 50% off foreigner discount. In Shenyang we happened to go on ladies day. Each man can bring a lady to ski for free.

I am so proud this post is up less than two months after my last post. My next post should be up this week. I'm catching up!

I hope y'all have a fantastic week!

8 Months, 8 Weeks, 8* Countries

It is time for my 8 month update. I have been traveling for over 8 weeks straight and in that time I have been to 8 countries (technically 7 countries but part of me doesn’t like to count Hong Kong as part of China).  It was interesting to pack my backpack for weather ranging from 36°C (Bangkok) to -32°C (Harbin). How many people can say they have a bikini packed next to their parka and wool socks? My sister said she would never go to a place as cold as Harbin. (It was China's coldest winter in 28 years.) Sure, it is easier to pack if you go to places with similar temperatures. However, I hate to let something like the weather get in the way of something as unique as the Harbin Ice Festival. Ah, I am getting ahead of myself. 

I really shouldn’t wait such a long time between blog posts to update this thing. Let’s rewind eight weeks. 

At the end of our family winter vacation in New Zealand, we went to the airport together. My sister and parents were all on the flight to LAX. As I said goodbye to them, a teeny tiny part of me wished I was getting on the same flight. Yes, I love traveling but I miss home sometimes. (I mainly miss Whole Foods and REI. Mom, I miss you too.)

I have no clue how to write one blog post about the 4 country, 3 week adventure, I had with 2 of my friends. Maybe I should do what Kathryn did and write a detailed 6-part series. Ha, who am I kidding? 

Just before the New Year, Kathryn, 康凯, and I started our trip in Bangkok. To ring in the New Year, we went to Khao San (bar street) but it was different than any place I have been. On the street they had lounge chairs occupied by people getting Thai foot massages. There were tanks of those fish that eat the dead skin on your feet. There were people trying to get us to go to a live adult show. I’ll just leave it at that.

 After Bangkok, we took sketchy buses and a ferry to the island of Koh Chang. I am unsure how to describe this place. Half of the island is filled with pricey resorts meant for vacationing couples. We were on the other side of the island staying at Lonely Beach. Lonely Beach is the backpacker party area. It is a row of bars that double as hostels. 

It was the first and only time we showed up at a city without booking a hostel. After checking out some sad looking rooms (I know, you get what you pay for), We settled on a little bungalow with a hammock on the porch. The bathroom was not completely closed so hugebugs came in to shower with us. I like that every city we went to felt drastically different than the city before it. The temples and palaces of Bangkok were a sharp contrast from the ultra chill island vibe. One love, mon. We celebrated my 23^rd birthday kayaking, hiking, swimming, and listening to live Rastafarian music. I had one of my favorite desserts, sweet sticky rice with mango, in lieu of a birthday cake.

Following Koh Chang, we had an early bus to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. When we were waiting, many other vans passed us by. Some were heading to Bangkok and some were heading to Laos. 康凯 asked one of the drivers, “Cambodia?” Who knew you could just casually hop on a bus headed for Cambodia? We would later find out border crossings weren’t always simple.

However, our Thai-Cambodian border crossing went relatively smoothly. It was the first time I walked across a border. It’s not like you can or would want to do that on the U.S.-Mexican border. Kathryn was surprised that they did not check our bags for drugs or dangerous goods. In fact, the only time our bags were checked at a border crossing was at Vietnamese customs.

In Phnom Penh, we upgraded our bug infested bungalow for a wifi capable hotel room with a hot shower. One night we are in a mosquito filled bungalow and the next we are in a nice hotel room with air conditioning. Man, I love traveling. 

We went to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21). Ok, call me an ignorant American, but before this trip, I didn't know this genocide happened. I felt dumb and guilty for not knowing that 2 million Cambodians were killed during Khmer Rouge regime. Is this my fault? Can I blame the Texas public education system? I spent most of the time at the museum looking at the  photographs of the prisoners. I felt the sadness in their eyes. How did I not know about this genocide? 

I enjoy visiting museums while I am traveling. Besides looking at the content, I find it interesting to observe how museums are set up in different countries. I have yet to go to the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C., but I have been to the Nanjing Massacre Museum. The museum in Nanjing is filled with elaborate exhibits and there is a wealth of written information lining the walls. S-21 had minimal information and instead of looking at exhibits, we saw the prisoner's cells. We saw their dried blood stains on the floor tiles. 

After visiting the prison, we went to the Killing Fields where thousands of prisoners were dumped in mass graves. As we were leaving the fields, I heard children laughing at the school next door. Their playground shared a fence with the killing fields. It made me uneasy to hear laughter at a solemn place of remembrance. Kathryn felt the same way. She also found it strange to see many shops and restaurants surrounding S-21. 康凯 mentioned that he read an article on this issue. Building a school next door to a reminder of a terrible part of their history may be an effort to rebuild--an effort to not always associate that area with genocide. Although I think it is a valid argument, it still made me uncomfortable. Should sites like the killing field be separated from normal businesses?

Following Phnom Penh we went to Siem Reap, Cambodia where we visited the world’s largest religious structure-Angkor Wat. Some people have heard of it because Tomb Raider was shot at one of the temples here. Because it is too spread out to go on foot, we hired a tuk tuk driver to take us around the complex. I chatted with him a bit but the language barrier severely limited our conversation. When we first got to Angkor Wat, he pulled out a map and told us about each of the temples. He pointed out scenic spots and the temples he thought we should go to. He tapped his finger over one of them and said "have movie."

There are guides for hire outside some of the temples. I asked my friends if they wanted to hire one, but they just wanted to wait for the informational movie. When we got to the temple Angkor Thom, we searched everywhere for the room showing the film. We were tired and it was hot so we gave up pretty quickly.

So, I love language barriers. I think I just like the rare occasional moment when two people that don't speak a lick of each others language somehow find a way to communicate--the elusive "OH I GET IT!" moment. When we climbed back into the tuk tuk after visiting Angkor Thom, I had one of those moments. There was no movie playing at Angkor Thom, that is where Tomb Raider was shot. Oops. 

I hate that we did not have more time in Cambodia. I wish we had more time in every country we visited. It felt like every time we got settled in one city, we were on our way to the next. Siem Reap marked the end of our time in Cambodia.

After more sketchy buses which unbeknownst to us also serve as taxis (they would pick up random locals that would squish in the car with us), we were on our way to Vientiane, Laos. We were supposed to have a 24 hour trip but after some trouble at the border our travel time more than doubled. Amanda told me that every guide books recommends against doing the Cambodian-Laos land crossing. We attempted to do it at night. 

So, I have been meaning to type up "The Border Story" for weeks now, but I give in. It just isn't going to happen. Basically... this one time we tried to do a night border crossing from Cambodia to Lao and I may or may not have argued with an immigration official and an elderly gentleman took photos at the immigration office they would not let us cross the border and we ended up sleeping on a table next to game cocks. For the full story, see part 3 of Kathryn's blog. For my version of the story, you will just have to ask me one day. All in all, sleeping at the border was fun and I think it wasn't dangerous.

Following the mess at the border, we had to change our plans. In an effort to minimize more wasted time traveling, we decided to skip Luang Prabang. Instead, we headed to Vang Vieng, Laos. After 56 hours of traveling, we reached our hostel at 3:30pm. When 康凯 and I found out tube rentals stopped at 4pm, we dropped our bags, frantically changed, and ran to get a tube. (Kathryn decided to explore the city on her own.)  We made it just before 4pm. We ended up floating the river with two guys from our hostel. If you have four people, they don't charge for the tuk tuk ride. If you return your tube after 6pm, you have to pay a fee. After tubing, we ran to return our tubes and made it right at 6pm. Bam bam bam. Perfect. I love when things just work out.

Tubing was not anything like what I imagined it to be. They had to close many bars due to tourists dying on the river. Nonetheless, it was relaxing and fun to be in the water after being cramped on buses. The next day, we rented bikes to go to the caves. I was excited when I saw that our bikes were new. New new. I mean still have the plastic and cardboard on them new. The three of us set out with the two guys we went tubing with. For several hours, we biked on rocky dirt roads. Little by little, our brand spanking new bikes fell apart. Kathryn's basket fell off so I put it in my basket. But then my basket fell off. Chunks of Kathryn's bike came off at random intervals over the course of our ride. Just as we got back to our hostel, 康凯's bike seat fell off. Perfect timing. 

Enough about the bikes, the caves and scenery was unreal. 

(Who knows when my pictures will get uploaded. Here is a stolen one from Google images to tie you over.)

Vang Vieng was another strange place. The restaurants there show Friends or South Park on repeat and are set up so you can lie down on comfy pillows to watch. We may have watched an episode or two or ten... 

Lastly, we had a 24 hour journey to Hanoi, Vietnam on what other travelers nicknamed “The Machete Bus.” Bloggers made it sound much scarier and sketchier than it was. The border crossing was not nearly as exciting. We were on a bus through the night and we got to the border around 4am. They woke us up at 6am to stand in line for customs. We had to pay Lao in order to leave Lao. Weird, right? After getting stamped out of Lao, 康凯 and I waited outside for our bus. After running up and down the row of charter buses, we realized that our bus was gone. Oops. We couldn't find Kathryn so we figured she was smart enough to get back on the bus. It was misty, muddy, and cold and we were still dressed for the hot weather of Vang Vieng. We didn't have any other choice, so we just starting walking... to Vietnam. The fog was so thick that there was little visibility. I started singing Eye of the Tiger and I kind of felt like a badass. We had no idea how far the border was or where exactly our bus went. We passed a man walking in the opposite direction. 

He pointed ahead. "Lao?"

康凯 pointed ahead and replied, "Vietnam?" 

The man nodded and we were on our way. I guess you had to be there. 

We ended up finding Kathryn by the bus after we passed Vietnamese customs. She rode across the border on the bus. Lame. (Kidding! Love you!)

So, Vietnam. Our last country. We spent 5 nights in Hanoi instead of trying to bounce around extra cities. We visited many museums, searched for hours for John McCain's tiny statue, and sat on tiny chairs. 

We went to a Water Puppet Theatre show.

We went to a "snake village" where we had a seven course meal of a snake we watched them kill. After they sliced the snake, they took out the heart and the liver. We washed down each course with alternating shots of whiskey-snake bile and vodka-snake blood. I had a shot of snake blood with the snake heart in it. The heart is supposed to give you strength. It made me think of the Wizard of Oz.

There were jars and jars of different types of snake alcohol. The weirdest and grosses one we tried was snake penis whiskey. The taste is not anything I would like to experience again.

We also took a day trip to Halong Bay and went kayaking. We also explored the most touristy cave ever. 

I'm sorry but there shouldn't be purple and blue and yellow colored lights in a cave. We did have a hilarious tour guide though. He pointed out the different features of the cave. Apparently certain stalagmites and stalactites look like certain animals. He mentioned one that looked like an elephant and another one that was a turtle. Certain shadows on the wall look like certain things like a princess or something. As you can tell, I was not impressed. I thought it was kind of humorous. I just imagined a drunk Vietnamese man wandering into the cave and coming up with names and stories for the different stalagmites. However, Halong Bay was beautiful.

I was incredibly bummed to be leaving. I feel our short trip didn't do those four countries justice. We barely skimmed the surface. I hope to make it back to Lao, Vietnam, and Cambodia soon. I would also love to visit Burma. (I am actually writing this from Thailand but I'll talk about that in another post.)

Traveling in Southeast Asia redefined my idea of “dirty” and “travel time.” I probably became too comfortable being sweaty. I blame my years in sports. Ah, this is a super watered down description of our trip but I just wanted to get this post up. Maybe I will edit this post later and beef it up a bit. (Maybe...)

Three things I am grateful for:

1.       Travel buddies: Last summer I mostly traveled alone through the Netherlands and Belgium. At the beginning of my trip this time around I also mostly traveled alone. I thought going solo was my favorite way to travel.

“I am never bored anywhere: being bored is an insult to oneself.” Jules Renard, French author

My sister sent me this quote because she knows I don’t mind traveling alone. I can always entertain myself.

Although I do enjoy traveling alone at times, traveling with friends has been a fantastic experience. Before this trip, I had never traveled with friends for such a long people of time. For three weeks, the three of us were together practically 24-7. Poor康凯was also stuck with me for another week in China on our trip to Shenyang and Harbin.

Giggles and Kangky, I cannot tell you how much I loved every moment of our dusty sketchy van, bad pun making, beer and bananas, game cock冒险.

2.       Gratitude Journal app: I have been doing “3things I am grateful for” every day for over a year now. A few months ago I downloaded a Gratitude Journal app on my phone. It reminds me every 12 hours to make entries for things I am grateful for LINK. I have gratitude for my gratitude journal app. Ha.

3.       Spending Chinese New Year in Hong Kong
This is the first time I have been in Hong Kong for the Lunar New Year. Since I was a kid, I wanted to be here for New Years. When I was a kid I just wanted to be here to collect 红包. Now, getting red envelopes of lucky money makes me uncomfortable. I have even gotten lucky money from strangers. So awkward.

Now I am only four weeks behind and I have to blog about Shenyang, Harbin, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. I have been drafting them so it should be up... in less than a month. Pinkie promise.

新年快乐!