INDIA

Tomorrow, I will embark on a new adventure, but not with my usual travel buddy.  Steve just got home from the Falkland and South Georgia islands in Sub Antarctica.  He will stay home and keep the house clean. My daughter, Jill Kinyon and my daughter in law, Denise Kinyon and I are going on a Mystical tour of the Northern Triangle of India.  We will leave SEA-TAC and fly to Dubai and then land in Delhi, India where we will spend the first 3 days of our trip.  Along the way we will see the normal tourist sites and the not so normal.  We will travel by train, bus, and maybe jeep in some remote areas.
The first adventure after Delhi will be taking a train to Pushkar, India, where our timing will coincide with one of the biggest CAMEL fairs in the world. Yep!This 5 day fair is timed to coincide with the full moon and draws pilgrims from all over to the many temples surrounding the Lake. This fair symbolizes a period of joy and respite from everyday life for the many Hindus that worship at the lake with their camels.  I think we are going to see many colorful and interesting things going on.
We will tour historic and World Heritage sites and also venture into the Ranthambore National Park, where we will stay in eco lodges and hopefully see the elusive Bengal Tigers in one of India's largest natural preserves.
Yes, we'll see the Taj Majal, but we will also  get to go to villages of remote Indians , like the Meena Tribes who still live in mud huts and and the Mogya Tribes who used to hunt the Tigers but now get incomes from other avenues.
The big challenge right now is getting to the airport.  We are having a Big Intense storm that has canceled many ferry runs and closed the Hood Canal Bridge. We were leaving to spend the night at the airport and can't get off the Peninsula.  So the adventure has already started!

CHINA!!

We were in such a big country and it has many complexities.  My impressions ran the "yin and yang" gamut, but maybe that is appropriate. Many people say they would never visit China. It Is NOT an easy country to navigate oneself, but we persevered with our guide, and tried to immerse ourselves in the predictable, and the less predictable. China is the 3rd largest country in the world, but holds almost 25% of the world's population. It is a developing nation with a Capitalistic economy, controlled politically by Communist leadership. I found this facinating. It is not your "old" China. The young and the educated are moving in droves into the big cities where there are many more opportunities than in rural life. They are leaving the old traditions behind, and it is changing things. China has just lifted their one child limit because so many young people are not having children at all. $$ is a big motivator, and paying for a life in the city is expensive, plus, most Chinese people still take very seriously the tradition of caring for one's parents. 

Random thoughts: everything you heard about the smog is true, but give credit to many many sanctions the government is trying to implement to change this. On the other hand, it is a very clean county with no littler. There are alot of rules (most of them sensible). I was surprised how little English was spoken unless you were in a tourist building. I was surprised how few "westerners" are tourists. Most of the tourists were the Chinese themselves. People were very kind EVERYWHERE, and happy we were there to visit. Infrastructure is tremendous as far as roads, airplanes, airports, rail. It is modern, clean, easy to travel and very very organized. We flew four times with in the country, rode subways, boats and buses, and never had a glitch. We learned alot about Chairman Mao, good and bad, and there are still many people who were helped by the revolution. China has some wonderful ancient sites and a very complex history of feudalism, dynasties, nationalism, and communism. We touched on all of these as we saw the magnificent Great Wall, Tianamen Square, Terra Cota Warriors, and so much more. 

I am really glad I went and got to see it now that it is changing once more. If you dont think much about China, look around your house and cars. I emptied my suitcase in Beijing and 90% of everything I packed, I was bringing back to China!

EATING AND FOOD

Well, we had a lot of Chinese food in China! Big surprise! Some things were always similar, and other things not. We were ALWAYS served at a large table with big lazy susan in the middle..always. It is just the way groups of people eat in China. They would basically bring a fresh cooked dish for each person and we would all share. No serving utensils.  Most of the time it was chopsticks, but a few resturants would bring forks if you asked. Some of the food was similar to what we eat in a Chinese restaurant here. Depending what provence or area we were in, sometimes the food would be spicier, or more noodles, or more meat,but always soup was brought half way through and always rice. Dessert was rare...actually never. chinese are not big dessert eaters, neither do they eat much cheeses or milk.  Watermelon sliced, came at the end of the meal, and then you knew they were done bringing food. Mostly tea was served,we could usually order a beer. Liquor is heavily taxed in China, so most people drink tea or bootleg. We had a lunch where our guide brought each table a bottle of the local 120% proof. Yep! Served in the tiniest glasses ever. I drank mine, but holy cow! My mouth would have exploded if a flame was around!

One night we had a special dumpling dinner, only served in that area. Small little pillows of dough stuffed with an endless selection of delicacies like meats, sausages, roasted pumpkin, sage, vegetables. It was fabulous beyond words. We could hardly move after because of stuffing ourselves. The Chinese love to have festive times around food, so it was always fun.  I liked everything, but think I may take a break for awhile from Chinese food.  We never did get chicken feet or any of the REAL exotic strange stuff I know they eat in private. They were very aware of "Western preferences".

Tibet was different. No lazy susan, bland, rough food...yak, goat, potaoes, and even Indian food as of their strong ties with Nepal. So Chapaties, and even an odd pizza.  Their staple is a barley paste dough, and I tried everything. The hotel we stayed in had a wonderful fancy variety of food, even King Crab and sushi, but out in the town, expect the common food of Tibet...which isn't really gormet as it is  substancial.  

The picture of the dried fish, etc was taken out over my boat deck. One moring we were awoken early by loud talking and I got up and the Chiese on the boat were buying all sorts of fishy things from the Chinese boat people below. Lots of bargaining and nets filled with money and fish going up to the deck of the people who were buying.  Quite a racket, but quite interesting too!

CHINATOWN IN SHANGHAI

I forgot to say that as we were exploring Shanghai, it really didn't seem like China at all, so we went to see Chinatown.....IN CHINA! I thought it was funny. A place set in a big Chinese town that was so modern they had to have a Chinatown of old in it. It was very much like Chinatown in San Fransisco, New York, or Vancouver, except all the tourists were Chinese and it was very very crowded! Something strange about that. This is where all the "knock offs" are sold and buyer beware! They make everything look so legit!  And there was a Starbucks there...one of 180 Starbucks in Shanghai!

This am I was feeling bad and stayed in bed all day.  Steve went with some other travel matesto the  Bund(waterfront) and after they were turned loose, he made it to a real Chinese silk factory where he bought a silk comforter, which is supposedly better than down. You can use it all year round. He also bought me a beautiful scarf there.  After the real deal, he and another few people wanted to go to the fake area where there are are all sorts of "backroom" deals being made in jewels, watches, etc. he and another guy found a "Rolex" seller, but the guy was nervous and had to take them into a back room, something we were warned NOT to do. They each wheeled and dealed and ended up with an "authentic" Rolex.  Yeah.  We'll see...no box, no service, no guarantee. Hmmm. We'll have to see who got the best deal!

After being in bed all day, I rallied enough to attend our farewell dinner at a French Restuarant, the only non Chinese meal we had the whole trip. I wore my beautiful new scarf! But , as we returned to the hotel, I was feeling punk again!

SHANGHAI

Got our luggage off the ship...check out the pic! Old fashioned way but amazingly strong crew does it easy. Checked in for a night flight to Shanghai. We arrived about 10:30 to delightful weather and no smog. I was feeling sick and just wanted to go to bed. We were holed up at the Hilton. Sweet. I could be sick there. And miracles....FB and google were now allowed. I dont get it! We slept in and the next am took a walk in a beautiful park in the French Quarter. We have been doing a little Tai Chi some mornings with our guide. Always outside in a delightful setting.  He is making us a Tai Chi video that goes through the excercises we learned, and I plan to practice it.  I loved taking his instruction in China. Shanghai is different than the other cities we visited because it feels European and is even called "Paris of the West". It is on the Yellow Sea and a moderate climate, with a lot of Westerners, and English signs and English spoken, so it feels comfortable. As in all of China, guns are illegal, the police do not carry guns, and probabaly the only thing to ever worry about is pick pockets in the crowded markets. We went into Chinese grocery store to buy candy and look around and they took our water bottles.  But, as were were leaving they handed them back, even remembering who's was who's! funny! After communism, and expulsion of foreingners, Shanghai went into decline. But, it has recovered nicely  with banks and economics rule. The city is vibrant and bustling, and beautiful and by far my favorite place on the whole trip, even though I was feeling pretty sick by nighttime. Everyone went to a traditional Chinese acrobatic show after dinner.  I skipped it all, and just went to bed!

AIRLINES

We flew 4 small flights while in China. From the minute our Air Canada flight touched down in Beijing, we were very impressed with the Chinese airlines. The airports were beautiful, spacious and very modern and easy to navigate. Probably, the best airports I have ever been in in the world. The planes we spotless, efficiently boarded and ran right on schedual. We flew 3 different Chinese airlines. The crews were young, but there were alot,of crew for each plane, so things were taken care of immediately. They always served a hot meal, and while NOT gormet, they were adequant. This all in coach. The Chinese are masters at moving large amounts of people efficiently. Customs were quick also. Cars are all new. We never saw an old car in any of China. The cities have alot of cars, but not many trucks. The freeways are big and new and signage is everywhere. The rail system also is efficientand  the subway was a piece of cake, and we found no one there speaking English. We used "sign language" and people were helpful, but the subways were extremely clean and safe, and even tho they are packed with people, people are orderly and curtious. I was expecting chaos and crowding and yelling and misery. Every transport was the exact opposite of that, and we were impressed. I Love the picture of the different speeds on can go in different lanes. Why don't we do that? The Chinese are not bad drivers. No one speeds, the cars are all new,and people just seem to know how to drive. The only thing I thought was odd is they do not stop for people on foot! At all, even if you have the light in your favor or are in a crosswalk, they will completly ignore that and just keep moving. It is usually at a slower speed, but you have to be on your toes and ready to dash or die!

OLD and NEW

After sailing thru then gorges we entered the locks at the damn. Our passage  entry was determined by the lock master  and took over three hours. Unfortunately, our turn was in the middle of the night, so not much to see...but it WAS VERY NOISEY and kept me awake a lot. After breakfast and disembarking, we toured the site of this massive (and controversial dam). It is 5 times larger than Hoover dam and the largest dam of it's kind in the world. The subsequent lake is now the world's largest reservoir and the dam provides over 10% of China's hydroelectric power. We climbed all over the towers and the platforms and really got an in depth look. Once again, it was very very warm. We returned to the ship in early afternoon and sailed onto an area called Yichang, this a beautiful area with the old mixed with the new. We left the ship and went to a restaurant for dinner, then drove to the airport to await our flight to Shanghai. I was feeling coughy and bought Chinese. Cough drops, that were very strong.