Jesse haggles for a backpack. He talks the woman down from 220 RNB to 120 RNB just like that. I am impressed by his skills, and laugh at his dramatic approach - he uses wild hand gestures and crazy faces.... read more

JUST WHERE ARE THEY BRINGING ME? By the time I reached Beijing on Friday night I was exhausted. (Go figure, huh?) So I rambled around the airport in a daze, trying to find internet connection to check on the hotel numbers Jesse had given me. I couldn’t figure out how to get online though - all the pages explaning details were in Chinese. So I just kept walking, figuring there had to be a tourism info desk somewhere. I finally found it, and they booked my hotel for me. I even paid for it right there. The girls working the desk were all young - and it seemed as thought they had just started at this job as they had a problem with the paperwork. But it wasn’t too long until I was following a strange ... read more

The Far East is a mystery to me, one I'm looking forward to unraveling for 18 days. Up until now, the most exotic place I've been is Papua New Guinea, which I visited at age 13. I spent 4 months traversing Europe as a 19-year-old college student. The past few years, I've become obsessed with the Caribbean and have visited the US Virgin Islands and Belize. I spent a lot of time in Mexico as a child, and have, of course, been to Canada. There are only 17 states I haven't taken road trips to or through. But the far east, the orient, the place were moveable type was created, this is new for me. Map of US states Visited US States Map img=http://maps.travelblog.net/VC/vs-us-alarazcacoflgahiiailinkskylamimnmomsndnenjnmnvnyohoksdtntxutwiwy.png Visited Countries Map img=http://maps.travelblog.net/VC/vc-a... read more