Blogs from Asia - page 13313

2 weeks later, with Xian and Beijing behind us, we're 1000 miles further north, 1000 miles further east and the temperature is a bodyshocking 20C lower. We've dug out our ski clothes, last used in Alaska, to combat the -10C conditions here in Harbin, North East China. Interestingly we are still in the same timezone that the whole of China lives by, so called Beijing Time. It starts to get dark here before 4pm , while in far off west China, 5000km away, it won't do so for another 4 or 5 hours. Timezones in Chinas neighbours in the east and west, russia and uzbekistan, differ by a whopping 6 hours! You gotta love these chinese for ignoring commen sense that the rest of the world takes for granted. Before arriving in Beijing we calculated that ... read more

With our 15-day visa in Laos quickly coming to an end, we needed to start making choices based on time management. We decided to forgo earlier plans to visit the Plain of Jars, which is Laos’ site of archeological mystery and intrigue, a kind of "Laotion" Stonehenge. As the name reflects, the Jar of Plains is an expanse of fields, filled with variably sized stone jars of unknown origin. The largest one weighs 6 tons and the jars are believed to be around 2000 years old. Research has been challenging due to remnant landmines and other ordenance, which is just recently being cleared. Archeologists from all over have proposed theories to explain the random stone jars but all remain speculation. Local legend, our favorite explanation, claims the jars were made for the fermentation of rice to ... read more

Finally a hotel with unlimited hot water! Unfortunately the shower is another one that is reluctant to emit water in anything other than a dribble, so I got another chance to practise my bucket bath technique. As I left my room, I bumped into the Canadian guy, who explained conspiratorially that he had already told Jitu that the evening's entertainment had been overpriced. I spoke with Fifu later, and he was very fair about it all. In fact he even asked me to name my price, and I suggested 50% of the cost, which he accepted. This was not the only demonstration of good service that I had during my stay. I went over to Jaisalmer Fort today. It towers over the rest of the town, and appears to be hewn out of the solid sandstone ... read more

Today is Dec 6, 2005 morning. Our last entry was made on Nov 27, morning. That same night, we went to a cultural show presented by the children of Luang Prubang. It was sponsored by UNESCO. The show has about 10 programs, including children singing, dance, puppet shows and dramas. The music, dance and drama were all related to their lives and touched on violence, hygiene and immunization, harvest, meeting mates. It was refreshing to see some of the older children (about 17, 18) participate in the dramas and puppet shows. In other countries, they would have preferred to go to bars and karaoke. On Nov 28, we did not do much but rest. We did go to the Red Cross Massage clinic and had our lao oil massage. In the evening, we had a delicious ... read more

Hi, Munnar is a beutiful hill station in Kerala, famous for tea plantations. Thausands of dunams of tea spread around. It is really nice to see all the tea pickers (only women) at work. It appears that there is tea (and rice) in India as well (and plenty of) and not only in China. At about 21.00, everything is closes and the town is dead. The most interesting incident that happaned to me in Munnar was a sexual harresment. It has been about 2 months since the last time and actually I was starting to think what the hell is wrong with me? Don't the Indian men like me anymore??? So here is the story: I was walking on the narrow crowded foot bridge while a man, walking in front of me to the opposite direction, ... read more