The bus to Kunming was pretty uneventful. Met a Polish couple who actually live in Oregon. It’s always great to meet other English speaking people, I know I’ve said it before but I love chatting it up with them and hearing about their travel stories…especially in China. I think the consensus is the same among everyone. And we ALL have our stories…these two apparently had lost their last bit of understanding in Dali when they were taken advantage of. I’m glad I haven’t lost it yet with anyone, but I could easily see it happening. I found the perfect place for [View Full Entry]

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Upon arrival in Dali, I made my way from the bus stop to my hostel. I love how there is ALWAYS, without fail, someone or someones waiting there for you to take you to your destination for an absorbent amount of money. I guess they figure you don’t know where you are going and will pay whatever they say, but in comparing to my prior China experiences I have learned to just move on past them and either find it yourself or get a taxi further down the road. They all also tell you that it is SOOOO far away and [View Full Entry]

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This morning I left for Tiger Leaping Gorge, one of the deepest gorges in the world (it is roughly 3900m deep and 16km long). Again, being trustworthy (as every backpacker is) I leave the bulk of my crap in storage at the hostel. There was group of seven of us to make the trek plus our guide. I go back and forth on how I want to rate it. I spent twice as much money on this particular trip as compared with what other operators were offering, but that was for the English speaking guide and I guess other English speaking [View Full Entry]

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I am now on the train to Jinjiang/Panzhihua...12 hours! As the train was pulling up I saw all these beds that looked like soft sleepers and they were open with no doors and three up. I was nervous that my car would be similar. But still thought I'd be ok since I was one of like two people lined up in my area along the platform as opposed to the masses elsewhere. As it turns out the latter thought was correct. I am in a room with a guy who speaks some English...looks like a student, a man who looks like [View Full Entry]

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Made it to Leshan by 3PM. As soon as I got off the bus I was attacked by men who wanted me to take their taxi. I negotiated with them down to 15 Yuan from their start of 30 CNY (ps…CNY=RMB=Yuan)…I then realized that I needed to leave my bags at the bus station according to advice from Melanie and Mike. When inside inquiring, the nice woman also mentioned that I could take a bus to Leshan for 1CNY. Obviously, that was the best option so I left the taxi driver who was not happy about it. Since I arrived so [View Full Entry]

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I arrived in Chengdu on Tuesday. I was pretty happy to get out of Nepal just cuz of the political unrest and I didn’t want to be there if and when something sparked up. I flew through Lhasa and obviously had a window seat, but it didn’t matter since the view of Everest was average at best. On the bus from the airport to town, which cost me 10RMB, I was let off at the last stop in the middle of the city with no clue where I was. I already disliked it…don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Chengdu is fabulous [View Full Entry]

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So we entered Nepal at the border town of Kodari. I got my visa and my bag. This time I actually carried the bag on my back!!! Yes I did, maybe there is no proof but I swear it! The ride was beautiful for the most part and we passed by The Last Resort…yes a play on words, they offer bungee jumping (second highest in the world, and no I did not opt to do this) and white water rafting. I have actually been contemplating about the rafting but the higher part of the river is closed cuz there is too [View Full Entry]

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Our first day on the road to Everest, as I shall call this, was pretty much…yea you guessed it…on the road. I do have to say I am wildly impressed with the paved road situation for the most part and with the fact that I have berry service! So while I may not be responding to your emails in a timely manner as I am too busy admiring the scenery, I certainly do enjoy reading them so please keep sending! We were in the car for 10 hours today…well…total travel time from Lhasa to Gyantse was 10 hours, which could have [View Full Entry]

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My first day in Tibet was pretty much a travel day. We woke up at 630 to catch what we were informed was a 1030 flight. Short of the long, we left at noon…not too bad but when you’re given the run around about times and you’re getting up that early, its kind of a bummer. Anyway, we had another amazing view of Everest on our one our flight to Lhasa, which was two hours, 15 minutes ahead of Kathmandu. I had been given an aisle, but obviously kept my eyes open for a free window, which eventually surfaced and I [View Full Entry]

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My brief stay in Kathmandu was good. Definitely wouldn’t rank up high on the list of places of been but I will give it interesting and definitely a place to see. I am sure the rest of the country of Nepal is quite lovely but my taste of Kathmandu was at best average. One thing I don’t get is their time zone…it was a 15 minute difference than Bhutan…why bother changing?! I flew in the morning of September 30 to meet up with my tour group for Tibet. I had even a better flight and view of Everest on my way [View Full Entry]

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