Blogs from Kunming, Yunnan, China, Asia - page 36

Well our first wedding anniversary was not what I’d call a ‘usual’ one - but was all the more memorable for being so different. After waking and exchanging both platitudes and gifts we got on with our day in Cambodia. This consisted of a beautiful breakfast & some last minute packing, a light lunch (I had the local delicacy ‘beef lok lok’ - YUM) and then off to Siam Reap’s international airport in our tuk-tuk (a carriage towed by a motorbike - the most common type of taxi in Cambodia). Now for such a tourist mecca, we had expected the Siam Reap international airport to be a bustling hive of activity. When we arrived our expectations were initially met as the airport was both new and smart looking. But something was missing. Where were all the ... read more

Warning: Photos of dog meat in the Market on this web page. Day one: We started a hike on November 28th with a guide from Jinghong named Sarah. We hiked in the mountains above the Mekong River. We started our hike on a dirt road and everything looked very cultivated. All the mountainsides were farmed. We walked past footlong worms, butterflies,caterpillars and water buffalo. We stopped at a small village with 27 families in it. For awhile everyone stared at us. It was a Dai village. Our guide took us to a hut on stilts were we were going to eat dinner and sleep. After dinner we explored the village. Natalie made a baby cry by looking at it. Back at the hut, they rolled out futons for us to sleep on, but they didn't help ... read more

In all the other countries we've visited, one or other of us has known roughly what to expect. However my knowledge of China before arriving here was restricted to two, twenty year-old books, the obligatory "White Swans" ("Communist China - a decent idea sent haywire by bonkers Chairman Mao and friends") and "Riding the Iron Rooster" by Paul Theroux ("US writer explores China by train hassling unfortunate locals "). Add to this my totally unjustified assumption that "China is probably a bit like India" and you begin to understand that our 5 weeks in China have always been a bit of a mystery and got subtly ignored during planning sessions. Still, when you know nothing you learn fast, and 10 days in China has given us things to think about. If I wasn't looking for unspecified ... read more

Tidligt op igen i dag Joergen (vores rejse leder) er en haard hund, vi skulle ud og se sten skoven, inden der kon for mange turister. Vi koerte af den nye motorvej ud til omraadet, det to ca. 1,5 timer. Sten skoven er et fantastisk omraade, paa over 21 ha, med op til 32 meter hoeje kalkstens stensoejler, der er eroderet ud af kalklaget fra en gammel havbund. Soejlerne har nogle fantastiske forvredne former som de typisk for naar vandet faar lov til at arbejde i fred over millioner af aar. Vi var rundt og se en pa en del af skoven, og vi mente at der var en masse mennesker, men Joergen forklarede at paa det tidspunkt hvor vi forlod omraadet, var det store ryk ind ved at ankomme. I sten skoven, lever en af ... read more

I present the dumb traveler award, I meet an old guy from Wisconsin on the Laos side of the Chinese border. It took 4.5 hours to travel 50km in the back of a cold rainy pickup truck, not a journey you would ever want to make twice. I exit the truck and he appears, my new best friend, we get stamped out of the Laos side and he asks me what we are going to have to pay to enter China, a little mistake that will take 3 days of bus travel over shite roads. Of all the countries in Asia which two can you think of that wouldn't issue American visas on arrival? Never seen a face get so white. Only 2.5 Ks of travel to get my first taste of a famous Chinese toilet. ... read more