Alisandra

A few days ago, we left the rural southwest of Japan and headed for Kyoto, second of the three big cities we’ll visit. I’m coming to the conclusion that visiting only Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo would be the Japanese equivalent of coming to the US and just visiting Boston, New York City, and Washington, DC – lots of culture and history in these three big cities, but they’re not America. By giving us the opportunity to spend most of our time in Shikoku, Tom added the equivalent of Tennessee. If someone were to spend most of their US trip time in Tennessee, we’d ask them why, and would understand that by doing so, they were looking to understand the real America, not just the big cities. We took a small “people only” ferry from Naoshima to ... read more

MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS AND NOTES ABOUT TRAVELING IN CHINA Most buildings (business, government, homes) are made of concrete, so when it’s cloudy, it’s REALLY gray. From the train, ChangSha looks like the beginning scenes from Blade Runner or another post-apocalyptic movie. Streetlights are few and far between and buildings are not lit inside or out unless they’re in use, so the cities are DARK. When we were in Shanghai, we saw that even the neon-lit buildings in the Pudong district went dark at about 10 p.m. We took the “hard seat” train for a 5-hour trip, remembering our hard-seat trips in India a couple of years ago. I’m happy to report that they’re nothing alike! In China, hard seat means an airline-type seat that’s not as plush as first class, but much more comfortable and ... read more

After doing all his internet research, Tom chose two towns that were hard to get to on public transportation: Zhangjiajie and Fenghuang. To get to Z (my abbreviation), we had to take two trains and travel (for 20 hours) about three-quarters of the way around a circle of cities in southern middle China. To get to Fenghuang, we had a five hour drive on poor roads each way. Was it worth it? You bet! Z is a new city, only about 25 years old, and seems to have been built as a jumping off point for the parks and “scenic places”. We stayed in the Dacheng Shanshui Hotel, which boasts 2358 rooms(!) and an interesting “food street” restaurant. Although we sometimes had to compete with hundreds of unruly guests for our buffet breakfast, we got personalized ... read more

In this area, we have learned much about China and China’s relationship with the Tibetans. The town is part of the “Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture”, located right next door to Tibet. Our guide, an ethnic Tibetan and a Buddhist, gave us a great deal of information about Tibetan Buddhism and some knowledge about then history and politics of the area. Needless to say, he was careful. Shangri La town used to be called Zhongdian, but the government changed the name to Shangri La in 2002, hoping to attract tourists looking for the mystical place described in James Hilton’s Lost Horizon. We drove here from Lijiang, over mountains and past rivers and lakes and pastures where yaks are still grazing before heading for the higher meadows this summer. The city is definitely ready to receive tourists, as they ... read more

Here are some things we’ve learned while in Vietnam: · European tourists in Vietnam are incredibly arrogant and rude. They walk 3-4 abreast down the narrow sidewalks and streets, disregarding any other people. If you fail to get out of the way (and I don’t), they look at you in surprise when they run over you. They demand; they don’t request. And they smoke – everywhere and all the time. Don’t they have any anti-smoking education in Europe? · Western drivers wouldn’t last a day. The rules are different and focus on getting where you need to go without physical contact with pedestrians or other vehicles. The American concept of “me first” does not exist. · If you want to make fr... read more