http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/JulieandAlex/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from JulieandAlex en-us Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:05:40 +0000 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:05:40 +0000 Hey We love you guys Have a great Thanksgiving without us J and A http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kagawa/Marugame/blog-454808.html As the weather starts to cool I'm realizing that our crazy summer in Japan is nearly over. The sweltering heat and humidity has given way to warm days and warm nights. Although I'm grateful for the cooler days I'm sad the summer is drawing to a close.It's been incredible just really incredible. After my brothers came in June Robert and Janet made it over here for two weeks. Then Alex and http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kagawa/Marugame/blog-432615.html Well it's been a crazy few weeks. Robert and Janet finally got to home visit us in Asia. The original plan was for them to visit us in China but as many probably already know we got delayed in Shanghai for 33 days. Man the Chinese government does NOT mess around All disappointment over that trip aside we were elated to have them come this July. I actually think that this was the better trip a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kagawa/Marugame/blog-426072.html Just because we haven't updated in a loooong looong time I thought I'd throw out some pictures of what we've been doing. My brothers came to visit about a month ago and we' took a trip to the Philippines and S. Korea before that so we have tons of photos that need sharing. Here we go http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kagawa/Marugame/blog-419723.html Stop all the clocks cut off the telephonePrevent the bratwurstshaped dog from barking with a juicy boneSilence the yips andor pianos and with muffled drumBring out the coffin let the boogers and mourners come.Let aeroplanes circle the house each morning barking and moaning overheadScribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.Put crepe bows round the red peppers NO white necks o http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Minnesota/blog-401997.html Taking a few cues from our boy Chuck Klosterman here's the most overrated underrated and most accuratelyrated bullshit from the trip. Plus all the random Americantype shit that helped us along.Most OverRated1 Chinese tourist sights in general they hype them up so much but they're usually boring and crowded 1a Forbidden City in one particular2 The helpfulness of the China Lonely Plan http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-381666.html keep checking it out if you must....Things that suck at first that you eventually get used tobabies pooping in the streetconstant diarrheabeing offered cigarettes upon meeting someone new and being required to accept it to avoid insultubiquitous prostitutionconstantly having to waste time haggling over even the most minor of purchasesThings that suck at first that you eventually start to likeAss http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-381663.html Julie and I have been in Japan for about a week now and we're really excited to try to put our thoughts about it into writing. But before we can pick up again and kick off the Welcome to Japan series we figured we'd better issue a longoverdue Farewell to China closing to last year's bilbo bloggins. And anybody who ever uses the internet during the months of December and January knows that http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/blog-381662.html Writing about Japan instantly invokes reflection on China. For those who don't know we're working at an English school in Marugame Japan. Marugame is where the ninjas...I mean samurai...well ok nothing crazy happened here. But it's a pretty sweet town and we have pretty sweet jobs teaching youngsters how to cuss in English. China .... even after I've been out of the that country for months I http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kagawa/Marugame/blog-379255.html We' re in Cat Ba Island in Vietnam As Alex pointed out yesterday marked the first day in 8months that we didn't wake up in China. It feels good realllllll good.. Would be even better if Alex and I didn't both have a coughcold thing. This is sort of a how we did it in case anyone else needs information.Our route Left Shanghai via 24 hour train to Guilin then hopped the 1.5 hour bus to Yan http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Cat-Ba-Island/blog-337980.html I think it's safe to say I'm a little Chinaed out. I'm past the point where I want to yell at everyone. Alex and I have simply ended up in a Zen mindset realizing that our immediate future is out of our hands.But the good news is that we are supposed to pick up a real valid visa not even back dated or anything on Monday. We'll be flying out on Monday night to Yangshuo to pick up some of our st http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-332867.html If you really want an update on our situation just reread my last blog. Because for all the phones calls and visits to the PSB turn out exactly the same They refuse to give us any information and they can't tell us when they CAN give us any information. They can't even tell which department we should speak to about it.The American Embassy will help us but we have to wait a few days. And even http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-326631.html Because of all this red tapeI'll keep this brief. We arrive in Shanghai September 9th and went to PSB to renew our visas the next day. We were told that we could only get a 10 day extension. Since we ALREADY HAD 10 days left on our visa good till September 18th we asked for our passports back so we could maybe do a visa run to Hong Kong and then make it back in the country in time for Alex's http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shanghai/blog-325188.html Lesson 1Scaring Asian children sounds like a lot more fun than it's worth. Every freaking time I'm playing with children on this continent and I slyly work out trying to scare them playfully mind you something goes wrong. On two separate occasions in Thailand and Laos I tried to scare some children with whom I'd already been sharing gringoplaytime gringo works in any language btw. B http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Kashgar/blog-320918.html ....I have ever doneSO if you've finished my last post you will recall that we went on an awesome 4 day hike in the mountains aroud Urumqi that culminated in a 7 hour hike with my 30 pound pack on the last day. After this I was understandably sore. I mean like walking funny kind of sore. my calves were tight and aching and my thighs were killing me even when I was just standingThe guys we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Kashgar/blog-317222.html I feel like I've just completed an epic journey worthy of multiple references to Lord of Rings and various other epic journeys through the wilderness. Mostly because our last few days have been filled with nerdy geeky literary and cinematic references and the scenery just happened to match.On Wednesday we got a ride hired a jeep out of Urumqi at the relatively early hour of 8 am. By 12ish http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-315501.html I just finished a really nourishing meal consisting of a piece of fried flat bread covered in sugar and bowl of milky tea that tasted like a cross between cream and beef broth. Despite the funny taste my mouth was so happy to eat something that WASN'T Chinese foodWe're in XinJiang the most western province in China and the people are a mix of Uighers Kazaks because Kazakhstan is just a bus r http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Xinjiang/Urumqi/blog-313756.html As dark rain clouds gathered Alex ascended the first route up the steep cliff. His muscular manly fingers gripped the sharp edge of the limestone karst cliff as he gazed up up up......Only 22 meters high Ha I could do that in my sleep he thought to himself. Down below Julie looked up lovingly full of the kind of confidence that only comes from experience. Only 22 meters high Ha He c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangxi/Yangshuo/blog-300065.html So Yangshuo flooded. The main street West Street that tourists frequent was under water for 24 hours or so. Because the street deadends at the Li River the shops closest to the river were swamped. People were taking boats to deliver food and water. The water has receded today but check out the pictures. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangxi/Yangshuo/blog-287475.html Well we hit the ground running. That's all I can say. After 2 weeks of travel Alex figured we had logged some 50 hours on buses trains and planes.Our first stop was Kunming the City of Eternal Spring. You know how in springtime the weather is always a bit on the rainy side Kunming was like that. After our 18 hour train ride from Guilin which I thought was fantastic we dumped our stuff at a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Yunnan/blog-284080.html