http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/carey/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from carey en-us Sun, 27 Dec 2009 01:18:02 +0000 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 01:18:02 +0000 After yesterdayrsquos debacle we figure things had to get betterhellipwe were only a little correct with this assumption. The hotel we were in only had rooms for us for one night so we had to set out on a quest to find 2 new roomsmdashwe also found out it was a holiday weekend and Vietnamese were coming out in full force for the occasion. We finally find a place on the beach there were sm http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Cat-Ba-Island/blog-424911.html Thursday morning we depart our hotel at a reasonable 930am to catch a mini bus to Halong Bay where we will get the ferry to Cat Ba Island. Everyone advertises tours out to the islands but we figure we can do it ourselves. There is six of us in total the Fins the Irish girls Wade and I the Americans. Arriving at the bus station was a hectic mess the minute we exit our cab wersquore being http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Cat-Ba-Island/blog-424830.html Tuesday morning rolls around and wersquore all packed and ready to country hop. The group of us sans the American girls who did something else hike down to the bus stop and pile on for the 78 hour journey to Hanoi. The ride was lovely. As soon as we got away from the cement sidewalks of Nanning fields are bursting with different shades of green. The farmland seems to extend for miles circli http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/North-Central-Coast/Dong-Hoi/blog-424822.html As I lay on my hostel bed in Nanning I was rejoicing in the brilliant humming of the air conditioner and bathing in my satisfaction of finding a quiet spot for a few days. Just then I hear the beep of the door I had visitors. For anyone that has stayed in a hostel before there is a certain satisfaction that comes with having a 6 bed dorm room all to yourself. You get to make all the rules spre http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangxi/Nanning/blog-423251.html To get my moneyrsquos worth out of my 24 hours of internet usage I get up at a decent hour pack my bags and run downstairs to get to Starbucks. At this point I was made aware that Hong Kong is under a level 1 typhoon warning. Of course it would behellipI hustle out the door dismissing the many offers for lsquothisrsquo and lsquothatrsquo and get to my sweet haven Starbuckrsquos. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-423248.html My first night in Hong Kong was less than restful. My air conditioner is horrendously noisy but also a necessary evil for sleeping in the cramped closet space. Four times during the night I had to lazily drag myself to the end of the bed and push myself up to adjust the amount of cold air being pushed into my room. Never achieved the perfect temperaturehellipMy first full day in Hong Kong had http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Lantau-Island/blog-423245.html The ferry ride from Macau was quite pleasant. Although felt like I was back in China the way people were staring at me. While still in the Macau terminal I was quite a hit with my backpack. Apparently Muslims are quite entertained by my monsterlike strength. While I was in Macau I felt like people didnrsquot staremdashif they did it was quite brief. My lsquogame planrsquo for arrival i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Kowloon/blog-412106.html My stay in Macau was quite pleasant. I wandered the streets for a few hours during the daymdashwandered till I was properly drenched in sweat and would then return to the homestead and watch dvds till I couldnrsquot see straight. I managed to get through seasons 14 of Entourage and got to see a little of season 4 of Prison Break before I departed.Macau has a lot of Portuguese influence which http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-412092.html The taxi drops me off on a street corner I quickly recognize the store names 711 and McDonalds that are marked on my map. I throw my pack on my back and set off to round the corner. I find the lobby with glass doors and waltz in before anyone asks me any questions. I find the apartment number 20th floor and ring the bell anxiously awaiting what I will find. Suraj opens the door with a big s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-410157.html Travel days for me are never dull. I donrsquot know if it is because Irsquom blessed with ldquogood luckrdquo or if it is because Irsquom my fatherrsquos daughter and particular people and situations gravitate to me like flies to shit. Maybe itrsquos my uncontrollable urge to smile and laugh when I have no other response or my awkward way of not quite saying no more http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Macau/Macau/blog-410152.html I think I made ithellipalthough its not Friday morning and Irsquom not on my airplane yet I think itrsquos safe to say Irsquove jumped through enough hoops for the day. It started with a 8am wake up call from the woman who told me to finish my mountain of grading yesterday which I did. Only to have her tell me SHE was too busy for me to drop it off for her and I would have to drop it of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Chengdu/blog-409814.html So early morning. Thought I'd tackle the town I left the hostel with a few destinations in mind and some road names scribbled on paper. Feeling feisty I hit the road however my I quickley realized that the roads aren't clearly marked and I had no idea where I was in a matter of minutes. But when in doubt...just keep walking So I just weaved up and down streets looking around found lots of par http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/San-Jose/San-Jose/blog-327749.html So my time is winding up here faster than I can say ldquoHot diggity damnrdquo Itrsquos not that I donrsquot like it herehellipIrsquom just ready to move on. I landed a teaching position as a Summer Camp Counselor in Yangzhou which is a few hours from Shanghai on the East coast. Itrsquos only for 2 weeks but Irsquoll be teaching andor playing games with 712 year olds differen http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Chengdu/blog-404837.html A student of mine Wing wanted to take me out for the day I was reluctant only because she seemed to want to do A LOT in one day. I didn't feel the need to pack my day off with all her ideas but in true Chinese fashion no was not an option. Our day started around 830am a manageable hour we took the bus to the Panda Breeding Station which was only about 15 minutes away. Apparently we weren http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Chengdu/blog-404482.html After spending last weekendrsquos 3 day holiday weekend cooped up on my room I decided that the following weekend I best get out of town if not only for a day. I mentioned my destination to my students Leshan and 2 girls told me they had never been so they would accompany me. At first I was hesitant to accept their company but admitted to myself that it would be helpful to have their http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Leshan/blog-397656.html A quickie but nonetheless entertaining...I was asked to judge an English speaking competition at a local Petroleum company I agreed however I was not overly enthusiastic about it. After agreeing to it I was told that usually people get paid for this type of thing. Finding out that my English status was being exploited I was less than thrilled to oblige. I get picked up by a vehicle around 1pm http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Chengdu/blog-397655.html Back to blogginghellipmy absence hasnrsquot been due to lost enthusiasm quite the opposite. Life here has settled down to where the absurdities now seem normal. Buying my fruit and vegetables at the market no longer evokes sweaty palms and a racing heart. I visit a few vendors who recognize my face and only speak Chinese to me out of habit. They all know that I will smile and nod no mat http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Chengdu/blog-397650.html The morning comes all too quickly but with a lot to be done I donrsquot dillydally. Irsquom out the door and heading to the bus stop before my body even recognizes the day has begun. The Terracotta warriors were interesting not a lot to see though. The statues are housed in three separate buildings. I tear through the buildings with effortless speed only interrupted by requests for pictur http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shaanxi/Hua-Shan/blog-390465.html A weekend adventure with me goes something like thishellipA few hours late arriving into Xirsquoan Sheen didnrsquot take the hop from my step but it did slow it significantly. I exited the airport expecting to see my hostel van waiting with balloons and streamers welcoming me but was met with nothing. A quick phone call sorted out that confusionhellipthey thought I was arriving at 11a http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shaanxi/Xi-an/blog-390458.html This weekend I had the privilege to celebrate some sort of national holiday with China all I did to participate was take Monday off school. Originally I tried to get a plane ticket to leave town but was too slow on the draw and didnrsquot make it happenmdashhowever Irsquom all set for NEXT weekend in which we have a three weekend again due to a track meet here at the school. Therefore I http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Sichuan/Chengdu/blog-388352.html