Blogs from China, Asia - page 2236

It's always comforting to know that if I ever have any dental issues on my trip, all I have to do is go to the market in Dali, and there, between the banana stand and the guy who sells nuts and bolts, I can expect to get the highest quality of service. The techniques used here are state of the art. A string for extricating those rotten teeth, your latest in plastic prosthetics and the "secret ingredient" mouth numbing syrup (although I would go for that 60 proof stuff that they drink here instead). I might even get a suntan while I get treated!!! ... read more

Three more weeks, almost packed, and frequent "stomach-butterflies" encourage quiet thought and contemplation of what is about to be. The advantage of a first visit to Taizhou Teachers College in Jiangsu Province of China, in the summer of '05, make anticipations and expectations no longer unsettling, rather they have become important for their outcomes. When I first met my friend Arthur, the Foreign Affairs Director at Taizhou College through links on the Internet, I asked him if he understands, that at 62, I am considered a "Senior Citizen", not always a desirable commodity in the West. He responded in appreciation for my age, and in recognition for life's education and experiences, with success and failure, and insisted, that these are very good and important qualifications, and are respected and admired at his small college (some 8,000 ... read more

Today I hired a local guide, a university student named Sally, to accompany me on a bike tour of the countryside around Yangshuo. We had a blast - even included a short bamboo rafting excursion - and I am running out of adjectives to describe this place. I have taken over 100 photos in 24 hours and do not think I have captured what is really here. I will add some photos and video clips as soon as I possibly can so you can see what I am ranting about. But even though it rained and was sooooo humid and hot, the day was absolutely perfect. Sally took me to a local family run um......restaurant. For local food. Now when you order a chicken dish here it is not quite the same as at home. After ... read more

Here's a great idea: Take two people with no extensive camping/trekking experience, set them loose in the highest mountain range in the world and see how they do. Yes, i admit- i am an idiot. So, monday we spent at ganden monastary. It was a very quiet day of rest and relaxation before the big hike. Tuesday: Eric and Corrina (our irish trekking buddies) show up to the monastary with our guide early in the morning. The guide is talking with the yak man and working out last minute details. After a minute or two of talking with the guide, we find out that this man has never done this trek before. I'm thinking to myself, "what are we paying you for?" I admit, it makes me a little bit nervous. But the yak boy (who ... read more

So we have spent the last couple of days bumming around Lhasa, checking out the sights and feasting on 25cent chocolate and yak burgers. First up we saw the Jokhang, the most important and oldest temple in Tibet. It is full of pilgrims offering money, katag (white prayer scarves) and yak butter for the candles, and smells of the juniper smoke that is offered into the air. It is very dark and windy and filled also with chanting monks in burgundy robes - really atmospheric and like a whole different world. We followed the pilgrims round all of the tiny chapels where there were hundreds, even thousands of statues made from wood, gold, silver and precious stones - just jawdropping! We climbed to the roof and had great views over the city and across to the ... read more