And the mystery destination is...

Well, lots of folks seem to have figured out where I´m at, but only after I led them down breadcrumb paths. The "moo" clue seems to have been a red herring for many of you, but I gave you another HUGE clue in that last post.

If you recall, I said, "But don't cry for me--the change also means I'm going somewhere I've wanted to visit for years."

Come on, pop culture junkies...

Don't cry for me, ARGENTINA!

I'm in BUENOS AIRES! Just a short 36 hours on four flights (Hong Kong--Tokyo--LAX--Dallas--BA). Whew. But it's worth it.

I made the decision to come here about a month ago. I was in the middle of nowhere, only foreigner in town, wasting time at the Internet cafe. Just happened to run a search on Kayak.com for HKG to Buenos Aires (pronounce it right, people: BWAY-nos EYE-race), and what do you know? The cost was about half what it should be.

So I slept on it, and bought the ticket the very next morning. Now for me, this is a very logical decision. I thought, If I don't get to take another long trip like this again (God forbid), where would I be more disappointed to never have visited: Southeast Asia or Argentina? It was an obvious answer for me, as Argentina had been a finalist for my big escape country. I opted for New Zealand instead, as unemployment here is very high and New Zealand was practically begging people to come.

What's to like about Argentina?

Well for starters, I speak Spanish (more or less). It will be a welcome change after being unable to communicate with anyone in China unless I'm ordering beef noodles or buying a bus ticket.

Secondly, it's a beautiful country. Buenos Aires is supposed to be an amazing city. And outside of the capital, there's everything from rain forest and glaciers to amazing lakes and endless plains. Not to mention such famous locales as Patagonia, Tiera del Fuego and Iguazu Falls.

Throw in a little culture: Tango, futbol, gauchos, mate, futbol... Oh, and it's known as the most European country in America. How's that for cool?

And last, but most definitely not least, the food. I've been salivating for weeks thinking of my first Argentine steak--the best in the world, allegedly (hence the "Moo" hint). And thanks to a huge Italian population, Argentina also has copious amounts of pizza, pasta and gelato. And of course there are beef empanadas, beef sandwiches, beef hot dogs...


Now, how about some initial impressions?

For starters, summer is definitely on its way. High today is about 85 fahrenheit. Whew.

The city does have a European vibe, with some long, green boulevards and many squares, often bordering a church.

Argentine men ogle, whistle and holler at any woman younger than their mother (a huge contrast from conservative China).

My first meal... a milanesa napolitana. This is beef scalopini (mine was as big as a dinner plate), topped with a thin slice of ham and cheese, with some tomato paste and a bunch of oregano. Four bucks well spent.

The rest of the day is going to be dedicated to rest. I´m at about 44 hours without sleep right now (me and planes don´t get along).

Photos and more commentary to come soon!

In Tokyo

well at the airport anyway. I have three more flights before I reach my destination.

The moo refers not to sacred cows but to tasty cows.

not India

Lots of guesses for India. Well, I'm at HK intl airport right now an I promise you a flight to India wouldn't take 35 hours.

Guess again.

And I'm off!

Well, it's been a fun ride in China, hasn't it? Two-and-a-half months of great memories, delicious food and welcoming people. But as with all good things, this must come to an end.

However, the best is yet to come. Very soon, I will depart for my next destination. Now, I should forewarn you: because of this change to my itinerary, it's likely that my trip will be about a month shorter than I initially had planned. I'll probably be coming home around the first of March (brr). But don't cry for me--the change also means I'm going somewhere I've wanted to visit for years. And the stunning scenery of this place means more eye candy for you. I also will get to have some amazing food (day two of my return to the States: join a gym) and experience a culture as rich as China's (if a little younger).

Now, as I'm certain you haven't yet guessed where I'm going, I will give you one last clue:

Moo.


I promise that's more helpful than you think.

I will see you all in a couple days!

Adios!


PS: I lied. There actually are multiple clues in this post.

The coolest city in the world

I love Hong Kong. I was here in 2004 and I am thrilled that I got to come again. It has an energy like nowhere else. It's a bit like New York, with perhaps a little bit of San Francisco thrown in. There are people everywhere. It's an international city.

One of my favorite things about the city are the countless ways to get around. There are double-decker buses, double decker trams, a cable car to the top of Victoria Peak, numerous ferries running between the various islands and the Kowloon Peninsula (including the long-running Star Ferry, which used to be the only way to get to Hong Kong Island), a top-notch subway system and an enormous fleet of red taxis. AND in Central--HK's main business district--there's a huge network of above-ground walkways. You can go nearly anyway and never have to touch pavement.

I stayed the week at the apartment of Paul's dad, Denny. He's a teacher at the HK International School. I got quite a lot in, as well, though I neglected to bring my camera most of the time. We hit the night market one night for a bit of haggling for gadgets and souvenirs. I also was able to meet up with my friend Jimmy, a native Hong Konger who worked at the hostel where I lived in Wellington. I went to Lamma Island, which I didn't do last time. Had a nice fish and calamari lunch and a bit of a hike across the island. It's been a good week

Just a few photos, but I'm sure you'll agree with me that this is the coolest-looking city in the world.

From atop Victoria Peak (The Peak). You're as high as the tallest buildings. You might recognize the very tall building on the left from The Dark Knight.

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From Kowloon Peninsula during the nightly light show:

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The number of jumbo container ships coming in and out of the area is staggering. Hong Kong is a major port

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And lastly, one of my favorite buildings here, the Bank of China Tower. It's designed by IM Pei. Some Chinese thinks it exudes bad feng shui.

From China

I will post one final clue to my next destination soon; I've only got about 40 hours left in Hong Kong. I promise this last clue actually will help...

Guangzhou...meh

I told you last week I'd give you the rundown on Guangzhou. I'll save your time. It's a nice enough city, with the Pearl River running through it. There's a nice river walk the length of it. Some nice parks too. But it's really a big business center, especially in terms of trade. So I relaxed, did a lot of walking; but I don't have any super-cool photos or anything like that to share.

However, I'm in Hong Kong this week and will have plenty of great pics to share before I head off to my next stop.

Speaking of, perhaps you'd like another hint as to where I might be going?

OK, here it is: As I said before, it will take me 36 hours to get to my next destination. This trip also will talk me through two other countries.

Any ideas yet? I'll give you one last clue before I leave, and I promise that one will help.

Vivaaaa Macau!

Just a quickie to fill you in on Macau. As I said in the last post, it's gambling central. This special administrative region of China pulls in more gaming money than Vegas. Apparently, on average, its tables are immensely more profitable than Sin City's. I was stunned by how much it's changed since my last visit.

Aside from the gambling, there are a few interesting sights; many are related to the region's former life as a Portuguese territory. One of the most famous landmarks are the ruins of St. Paul's church. All that's left is a facade. As you can see, the ruins are blanketed with tourists.

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But really, we were there to gamble. Poor Andy and Dave...they lost a good bit of cash. But go me! I walked away $850 (hong kong dollars) up on the three days we were there. That's about US$110, or enough to fund my stay there.

The city's skyline continues to change. In the photo below, you can see a number of casinos, both in business and under construction. The monstrosity on the left is the Grand Lisboa, the newer counterpart to the Casino Lisboa, perhaps the most renowned and oldest casino in town. The construction to its immediate right is almost assuredly a new casino/hotel. The swooping brown building in the center is the Wynn and the building sticking out behind it is the Star World hotel and casino. To the right of that is the towering L'Arc casino under contsruction; in front of that is another Wynn--the Encore. And between the buildings of the ridiculously huge complex on the right you can catch the slightest glimpse of the MGM Grand.

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Holy crap.


And that's only one part of town. On a new strip of reclaimed land, the Venetian Macau opened last year. It's the biggest casino in the world. Absolutely ridiculous. And across the street from that is a huge new shopping complex. A number of deluxe hotels are in the works as well. It's all part of the new "Cotai Strip," allusion to Vegas intended.

Our favorite casino was the Grand Lisboa. It was huge and over the top on the outside. But the casino was quite pleasant, with high ceilings and a clean, uncluttered layout. There was no sense of the stereotypical "they never want you to leave" setup.

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And to top it all off, the city was getting ready to host its annual Grand Prix, with streets getting barricaded and grandstands erected. Cha-ching.

After Macau, I spent last night in Hong Kong. I'm now back in mainland China--Guangzhou. This is another ridiculously big city. It's a business hub, and where lots of exports out of the country are arranged from. I'll give a full report later and will touch more on Hong Kong next week.



And now, how 'bout another tidbit about my mystery destination?

In this country, they don't eat with chopsticks.

And come to think of it, if anyone can guess my mystery location--via e-mail only--I'll buy you a beer when I get back.

Blue skies

It's a beautiful day in Macau, a special administrative region formerly owned by the Portuguese. It's not far from Hong Kong. It's also Asia's Las Vegas.

I was here briefly four years ago when I was in Hong Kong. It's changed incredibly since then. There were lots of casinos here then, but in that short time, the territory has surpassed Vegas in intake. There are mammoth casinos everywhere and as many more under construction. The skyline doesn't compare to that of my last visit. MGM Grand, Sands and the Wynn all have put up huge casino-hotels here. The Venetian copied its Vegas establishment and here it occupies a space of 500 by 500 meters, which is huge, for those of you not in tune with the metric system. I'll share some photos of this incredible place in my next post. (And yes, I've been hitting the blackjack tables; I was up but am now even).

But today's post will take you into karst mountain territory. As you'll see, I've got some incredible shots to share. I spent three days in Yangshuo (less than the planned week since I opted to join some others in Macau). We even got a sunny day there, during which I went on a nice bike ride through some backroads and paths, through pools of mud. Anyway, on with the show...

I spent a lot of time with a fellow Justin from Oregon (his real first name is Robert, if you can believe that), and Dave and Andrew from England. Lots of fun was had with these guys, and I'm in Macau with the English guys.

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A highlight of my time in Yangshuo was to head out on the river to watch some nighttime cormorant fishing. The fishermen tie string around the cormorants' necks and the birds swim along side their bamboo rafts. When a bird catches a fish, it's can't swallow it. It was really cool and I got a dorky photo op out of it as well.

From China

From China

And the next day, we found a fisherman on dry land and got some photos of him with his birds. I really like this photo.

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And now for the scenery. Stunning. No way to describe it. This is among the top three most beautiful areas I've been to, no doubt about it. As I mentioned before, a few of us went on a nice bike ride, but the three guys and I also took a boat cruise on a (fake) bamboo raft. It was a great way to see the river and mountains, even though we kept passing huge ferries. If I shared all the photos that I wanted to, I'd fill my Picasa folder, so here's just a couple that I like, so you can get the idea.

From China

From China

We had to cross the river with our bikes on bamboo rafts at one point.

From China

And then the next day, the rain came back. So I decided it was time to hightail it out of there. I'm glad I did because the weather here is great. But we had to endure a 19-hour sleeper bus to get here. We were delayed two hours due to a traffic accident, another 90 minutes because our bus broke down and many more minutes due to crappy roads. It was exhausting, but we made it.

And finally, I know I caught many people's attention with the promise of a mystery destination. I will be there in about two weeks, and you won't find out where it is until I'm there. But I suppose I could toss a clue or two your way to whet your appetite.

So here's clue one: It will take me around 36 hours to get to this place. But I won't tell you the mode or modes of transport I will be using to arrive there.

And another wimpy clue: This place, like China, has incredible scenery that is quite varied.

Does that help any? Didn't think so. I'll give you another hint in a few days

Through Guizhou

So I spent about a week hopping from place to place in souther Guizhou province. I saw some great Miao and Dong villages and met lots of friendly people. I'll keep this post short and sweet because I'm not in a writing mood today. It's been raining like a bitch for a week and a half. Just won't let up. Parts south of here are apparently horribley flooded, including northern Vietnam (So it's good I'm not going there in 2 weeks like I originally planned).

But I thought I would give you a little eye candy...


Bad photo, but Miao women in traditional dress, dancing and singing.

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From China

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Dong children in traditional clothes

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Sweet Wind and Rain bridge

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From China

And, oh yes, we had more road troubles. Really bad muddy patch. We're talking Willy Wonka's chocolate river. Buses and trucks stuck. We were stopped for two-and-a-half hours. I think it was all a ploy for some women to sell instant noodles to us for twice their normal worth. But you gotta eat, eh?

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A group of men, who I presume were there working on the road and a retaining wall, were quite helpful and spent the entire time pushing cars and trying to get everyone moving again. I can't imagine you'd see that happen in the states...without money being involved.

From China

So that's that. I'm in Guangxi now. Yangshuo. It's a big backpacker hangout. I'll be here about a week I think. On the river; beautiful karst mountain scenery. I will have some amazing photos to share later this week, assuming the rain lets up.

Also considering a trip to Macau, a special autonomous region near Hong Kong, to do some gambling. It's now officially bigger than Vegas. But we'll see.


And go Obama.

Misc.

A few random things I haven't bothered to share yet...


Restaurants When you go to an American restaurant, be it a nice French place or Denny's, there is a certain protocol that is followed. Someone shows you to a seat. You get a menu. Drink are brought. Order is taken. And food is delivered. There's also a certain ambience, from romantic to goofy shit all over the wall.

Not so in most Chinese restaurants. Unless you go to a fancy schmancy place (or one run by foreigners), you'd better lower your expectations. Chinese restaurants are typically brightly lit establishments, their walls barren, save for the ocassionaly beer poster. The kitchen is often right in the dining area, perhaps right by the door, so passersby can see what's being served up. Usually the menu's on the wall. Or there's no menu, so if you can't speak Chinese, you just take a look at their ingredients and tell the cook what you want. Dishes are served when they're ready. Tables almost always have three things on them: A container of chopsticks (if they're reusable, just hope they've been cleaned); a variety of condiments (soy sauce, vineagar, chilies, salt); and toilet roll or tissues (there's no napkins). Throw dirty napkins, fatty meat and bones on the floor. Hell spit on the floor or do a snot rocket if you like.

It's a very different experience.


Babies Chinese love babies and young children. One train ride sums it up pretty well. A boy, no more than 1 1/2 or so, was sitting near me. Everyone who passed touched him in some way: rubbed his cheeks, smacked his butt or held him. Complete strangers.

And babies in China do without quite a lot. 1--There are virtually no strollers/prams. Kids are carried on their parents' backs usually or even the littlest children walk. 2--I haven't seen a single pacifier yet. And lastly: 3--Diapers. The littlest babies might have them. We're talking less than six months (though usually quite younger). Little kids just have big holes in the crotch/butt of their pants. Potty training starts really early in China. Parents get their kids to go to the bathroom at certain times--often just on the street. You see little kids copping a squat on the sidewalk all the time. I have not seen one person get peed on from a diaper-less kid yet.


Annoyances Despite their kindness and great sense of hospitality, the Chinese can be horribly annoying. I give you the following reasons:

--Spitting. We're talking huge, throat-clearing loogies. They don't swallow saliva. They spit all over the street, out bus windows, on bus floors, in restaurants, internet cafes, etc. And they also blow their nose on their fingers, then wipe it off and make snot rockets. Yum. And they women are just as guilty--no lie.

--Noise. Christ. Sometimes I want to yell. But it would have to be quite loudly. They talk on their cell phones like they're trying to yell at the person sans phone. They use their cell phones as ghetto blasters in every sort of public space. They play TVs and radios way too loudly. And they make all sorts of godawful noise while they're eating. China's a noisy place.

--Smoking. Everywhere. The dude at the computer next to me is smoking now. On buses, in restaurants, on trains. But they do often offer me a cigarette, so I guess that's half a point back to them

Despite these irritations, as I've said before, the Chinese people are incredibly generous and good-natured people. And therefor I give you...


Chinese hospitality In no particular order, a list of things Chinese people have done for me during my stay:

-A police officer pulled over a cab for me when I was having trouble hailing one in Qingdao

-A woman paid for my bus ticket just the other day

-When I stayed at the Tibetan village, I paid $15 for a stay that could easily have been worth three times that

-Countless offerings of food and cigarettes (again, only half a point)

-A young Chinese guy on a train, who spoke very little English, declared us friends and gave me a kite

-Sim gave me a free ride and a few free meals

-Workers shared their yak-butter tea with me during their break

-Walking back to town from a village today (about 5 miles...it was downhill and great weather), several people stopped to offer me a ride, including a government car of some sort


That's it for now. As you can see, there's a lot more to my trip than pretty pictures and scary bus rides.

And back into the boonies

I'm in the middle of nowhere again. I've gone to the southeast portion of the Guizhou province, making my way toward Guangxi province and the backpacker town of Yangshuo. Last night, I stayed in a Miao (Hmong) village in a beautiful valley. While it's got a very touristy vibe to it, Xijiang is not the Disneyland of Lijiang, but a real village. Wooden houses are built into the hillside and the roads are stone. The people are incredibly friendly and hospitable. The woman sitting next to me on the bus today even paid for my ($1.20) ticket, despite my resistance.

Tonight I'm in a more developed town called Rongjiang. Tomorrow it's on to Conjiang (notice a pattern here?), where I'll venture down the road to Basha, which is supposed to be another nice village. After that, I'll make one or two more stops in this province before heading into Guangxi. About three more weeks in China, and plenty yet to see!

Hong Kong is next, where I'll spend a few days with Paul's dad, who's a teacher at the international school. There's been a bit of a change to the itinerary after Hong Kong, though, I'm afraid. I had been planning to go to Vietnam next, but that will have to wait til later, as something a bit more exciting is in the works. Where am I going instead? That's for me to know and you to find out. The only hint I'll give for now is that this place isn't among the countries I had initially intended to visit. That narrows it down by, oh, five. More on this later. And photos from these villages to come later as well!

Rain, rain, go away!

Thanks to a rainy day in Guiyang (Gway yahng), I'm providing you with your weekly vicarious living fix.

Where the hell is Guiyang you ask? Well, being the considerate guy I am, I've updated my map:


View Larger Map

Better? OK.

So, what have I been doing the last week that has prevented me from devoting my entire attention from entertaining you? I'm glad you asked. It began with a five-day stay in Kunming. There's not a lot to do there; but there is french toast and pizza. I had plenty of both. After shitloads of noodles, rice and unidentifiable meat, it was so nice to have some western food. But one can only sit on his ass and gorge himself for so long, so I packed up and headed south for the Yuanyang rice terraces.

And on the way, our driver decided to take out a truck.

From China

And yes, I was sitting where I took the photo from. Fortunately we didn't hit something bigger, or I might have kissed the windshield. And thankfully the driver of the other vehicle got out alive. This delayed our trip by about 90 minutes while we waited for the police and insurance inspector to come. Now in the US, our driver would have been at fault--he was trying to pass the truck on the wrong side of the road. But the driver did obey the Chinese rule of honk-before-you-pass, and he's got the bigger vehicle, so I think in crazy backwards Commy-land, the driver of the truck (who probably lost his whole livelihood with this wreck) is likely the one to blame.

Anyway, the unscheduled rest stop allowed me to meet some of the other folks on the bus, including Don (Australia) and Kristi (New Zealand), with whom I shared a room and explored the area with.

Home base for exploring the rice terraces is Xinjie, also called Yuanyang. It's a nice town, perched far up in the moutains--about 1,500 meters up.

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We scheduled a van for the next day to take us out to see the sunrise and sunset, and some villages on the way; there are specific sites that are best for each occasion. As it was raining when we got arrived, we didn't know whether the weather would cooperate, but realized that regardless, we'd probably be fighting fog at the least.

Weather 1, us 0.

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The climate allows them only to plant once a year, so during the winter months, they just let the paddies flood...so during a nice sunrise or sunset, the colors reflect off the water. Despite the lack of an actual sunrise, we were able to see some great scenes of the 1,000-year-old terraces (yes, that's a thousand years these have been in use). I'm sorry to say that the few decent photos I was able to capture don't do the beauty of area justice.

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From China

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Sunset didn't work out too well either. This is all we got before everything was blanketed with fog.

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But equally as exciting as the terraces were the people, many belonging to the Hani minority, who inhabited the area. We spent some time at a couple local markets and trekked a bit to some nearby villages.



Now don't get all "child abuse" on me. This guy isn't smoking dope. It's common in Yunnan for folks to smoke their tobacco with bongs. Even their cigarettes.

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Water buffalo are the tractor of choice in the region.

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Harvesting rice.

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Paving a road. The women carried baskets of sand on their backs while the men mixed it with cement or sat on the ground smoking cigarettes. Chinese women are the hardest workers I've ever seen.

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And who can resist taking a photo of a cute little girl in traditional clothing?

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Even though mother nature had it in for us, we still had a great time. And I ruined my shoes.



Sooner or later... I knew I'd run into dog meat. Found it. We saw several shops in the area that specialized in dog meat. We even made a running joke that all the dogs we came across were named "dinner." Not so funny, though, was when Don and Kristi actually witnessed someone butchering a dog. Thankfully I missed that one, but apparently the knife wielder found it entirely unnecessary to do his task humanely and simply sliced the dog down the middle and let it bleed to death, barking and yelping all the while.

I will not be trying dog meat (and let's not get into whether I may have unknowingly).

Nu Jiang valley

I had heard that the Nu River valley in western Yunnan Province is a beautiful, untouristed area. It was part of a resupply obstacle called "The Hump" (due to the high mountain ranges) in World War II. I shared that information with some of my fellow travelers and Paresh from England and I decided to check it out for ourselves. We weren't disappointed.

The Nu river (Nu Jiang) starts in Tibet, flows through western Yunnan and enters Myanmar, where it is called the Salween. It is entirely undammed. It is powerful. The current makes the Misourri look like a kiddie pool (and, amazingly, we saw a group of young boys playing in the Nu). There are dozens of areas with strong rapids. The photo below only begins to show the river's power:

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To follow the river in Yunnan, you must start in Liuku and work your way north. The river is surrounded by imposing mountains, which are dotted with small farms. Some of the fields were as much as 1,000 feet up the side of the steep mountains. I'm sure they don't go in to town regularly. We covered about 300 kilometers and walked the last 10, where we saw the best views of all. I'll just let the photos speak for themselves:

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From China

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As you can see, some incredible scenery. And lastly, an interesting sign we came across. Basically it says, if you cut the power lines, we are going to beat the crap out of you. Ahh, communism.

From China

And now I'm in Kunming, after taking my first-ever sleeper bus. A sleeper bus is three rows across of two beds high. The bed was just long enough to hold me and just wide enough for me to put my arms at my side. Not ideal sleeping conditions but it got me here. Kunming is just another million-plus city with lots of concrete. I plan to have some western food and perhaps enjoy a bit of nightlife. But in a couple days I will move on again--I just don't know to where.

Ganja?

Dali is a great town. There's a new city (that no one visits) and the old town, complete with city wall and gates. It's a backpacker haven. It also seems to be the stoner capital of China. And the drug dealers are everywhere. They're not who you'd imagine them to be, either. Ladies, often in the traditional clothing of the local people, sidle up alongside wandering foreigners and make known what they have to offer. "Ganja?" they'll whisper. "Hashish? You want to buy?"

To escape the skunky smell that seems to hover over the city, I rented a bike and went off around the nearby lake. We're talking a big lake. I pedaled for something like five hours the first day and covered more than 35 miles to the other side, where I spent the night in a small town. The next day, I wimped out and only went a few more miles before I took the ferry back to the other side. My ass and hands hurt from the less-than-perfect road conditions.

It's rice country, and it's harvest time, so I had a good glimpse at farm life in China. They cut the plant and then bash it into a basket to release the grains of rice, which is later spread on the ground to dry, often just on the road or highway.

Of course I snapped a few photos on my way around...

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From China

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...some nice views there, if I do say so myself.


Lastly, I've updated my map to reflect my travels so far in China. Play around with it and check out where I've been.


View Larger Map


Today or tomorrow, I'm heading out to some less touristed parts. The Hu river in very western Yunnan runs from Tibet, through Yunnan along the Myanmar border and into Myanmar in the south. It's apparently quite a beautiful area. May be away from the Internet again for a few days (the agony!), but I'll have more up soon enough.