Day 119- 127 Tokyo, Japan Mooshi Mooshi We arrived into Tokyo on the morning of May 7th and we greeted my G's friend Shino at the airport. It was a great reunion for G and Shino since they hadn't seen each other in some time. Shino brought us to her apt and had us settle in before going back to work. The two of us were exhausted and stayed in for hte rest of the morning to catch up on some rest. Eventually by late afternoon we pulled our selves together and ventured out of the apartment. We met Shino in Shibuya near the famous "dog statue". As most of you know, G had come to Japan a few years back so she was slightly familiar with the area but the two of us had our ... read more
Day 113 - 118 Kathmandu, Nepal So we never really planned on coming to Nepal and hadn't done any research on the place. Which of course left Steph a little unsettled with the idea of not having any info on the place, while G thought it was no big deal and was even kind of exciting with just wingin' it. We crossed into Nepal and gained two hours and fifteen minutes back in our lives and got our single entry visa for $15. Then the plan was to go to the nearby bank for some money - but, yeah, it was closed. We at least had some dollar bills on us to get a bus into Kathmandu, but there really weren't any taxis or buses at the border. We all walked down a little further and ... read more
Day 110 - 113 Tibet (Part II) The morning of April 28th, we said our goodbyes to Lhasa and made our way to the city of Gyantse, 255 kilometers south of Lhasa via the Gangbala Pass which reaches 5,000 meters above sea level. Along the way we passed the sacred Yamdrok Lake "Turquoise Lake", which was just stunning and completely deserving of the nickname. The color of the fresh water lake was a pristine turquoise that glistened under the sun's rays. We also passed the Kharola Glacier that our guide told us has been diminishing a rapid pace along with a man made lake created by Chinese for a hydro power dam. We got into Gyantse which is also known as the "Heroic City" due to its part in played in the British Invasion in 1904. ... read more
Day 104 - 109 Lhasa - Tibet So we really lucked out with sharing our train cabin with two really nice Chinese guys. They were on a tour 14 day trekking tour of Tibet with a handful of other people. The first night we chatted with them and even learned how to play a Chinese card game (that we have now forgotten because it was very confusing with the language barrier). We taught them an easy card game, the Israeli one - Yennif. And before no time it was time for bed and we settled in for the night. Since there was no one smoking in the cabin or hallways and just a few stops throughout the night, we each slept pretty well and continued to lay around till about 11AM. There was seriously no reason ... read more
Day 102 - 104 Shanghai, China We slept in on our first day in Shanghai, exhausted from the previous day. When we did eventually wonder out of our hotel, we realized we were staying behind the JW Marriot, which is perhaps one of the most beautiful skyscrapers. And one thing we have learned is that where there is a Western Hotel chain, there is Starbucks. And sure enough, we were right. So there we were with our raggedy clothes and fake Northface backpacks, sipping coffee and frappaccinos with rich business men and women in the lobby. We then headed to the People's Park en route to the Shanghai Museum. After just a few minutes steps out in the city, we realized that we could totally live here and had actually found another place in China that ... read more
Day 98- 101 Guilin and Yangshuo, China It was not a pleasant night sleep with all the snoring in our dorm room, but we managed to drag ourselves out of bed by 11:00AM the next day in time to checkout and get some breakfast. We were told while in Vietnam by a Hong Konger to skip Guilin and go straight to Yangshuo. So we decided to follow his advice (which was very good advice as Guilin is just another Chinese city with no real character). While eating we met two English guys - Stu and Leo and convinced them to come to Yangshuo with us instead of spending the day in Guilin. Our hostel in Guilin was right across from the train/ bus station and the four of us headed across the street. We had heard ... read more
Day 91- 97 - Kunimng & Kaili, China We for some reason we tend to go from one extreme to another . We left Laos, one of the least densely populated countries in southeast Asia for China, the most populated country in the world. It was a definite shock to our senses. We left Vientiane, Laos at a ridiculous hour for Kunming, China. In Kunming, we only went a few blocks in the taxi before we both looked at each other and realized we were no longer in SE Asia and that China was going to be a whole new ballgame. We checked into our hostel - Cloudland, which was actually quite nice and clean compared to places we've stayed in SE Asia and it was only 35RMB ($5.25) a night for a dorm room. We ... read more
