Beijing and the Brother

At home in our luxury suite aboard the fantastic Z14 super train.

Two Chinese guards posing for their Tiananmen Square protectin' shot.

The single member of the Chinese Ice Hockey team arrives early for practice.

Mao!

Attempts to protect both Communism and Mao himself, were dissuaded by the stern looking guards who had the job covered.

Forbidden City.

Temple of Heaven.

Just Protectin' one tiny length of an enormous wall.

Taking a break on the never-ending steps.

China takes a quick bite outta ole Dev.

The 'Z' class train from Shanghai to Beijing was by far the nicest train I have ever ventured on and is worthy of a direct comparison to the much hyped 'Super-Cama' class of Argentinian buses. Trevor and I hung out for the majority of the ride in the "bar" car, until we were kicked out and quarantined to our rooms where we continued the festivities via some wireless Nintendo action and smuggled beers. Arriving in Beijing early the next morning, the temperature difference was immediately noticed and appreciated by yours truly (rather tired of the heat and humidity, as I'm sure most of you back in Vancouver are as well...). After spending the last 4 days in the bustling capital of China, I must say that for some unknown reason, Beijing ranks extremely high on my list of cities visited. The huge streets and walkways make it easy to get around, everyone is very nice and the overwhelming presence of the seemingly robotic soldiers everywhere means you don't have to worry about any funny business.

Our first full day in the city saw the two of us visiting the (in)famous Tiananmen Square where we caught our first and luckily only glimpses of what living in a totalitarian state can be like when we saw an innocent looking fellow running for his life from police, then beaten down and dragged away in front of a crowd of several hundred, all of whom, including myself, too fearful of repercussions to even think about taking a picture of the event. Not sure what the guy did to deserve it, but the look of absolute fear on his face as he was running and his fairly decent clothes added a lot of unanswered questions to the situation. Walking up through Tiananmen we strolled under Mao's never-blinking gaze (as well as the hundreds and hundreds of video cameras) and entered into the Forbidden City. Originally set up as a home for the various emperors of China, who spent nearly all their lives in the large, yet small area, the City was comprised of dozens of the typical Ming dynasty looking buildings and art work, surrounded by a giant wall and moat. Very cool just walking through the thing as well as enjoying a Forbidden Hot Chocolate from the Forbidden Starbucks that now exists inside the city walls. This particular establishment has made quite the stink here in recent months and made for an interesting side quest.

The next day Trev travelled out to the Great Wall, while I stayed behind and toured the city, spending most of my time in the Temple of Heaven park. My main reasons for going down there is that it was rumoured to be the home of a few cool architectural pieces that based on where you stand etc, can project even whispers to the other side of courtyards. For the .8% of my readers who have read Gary Jenning's "The Journeyer" (you know who you are!), I assumed this was the area that Marco Polo often visited while he was staying here (or as it was known in those days, Khanbalik), but was saddened to learn that this was all built several hundred years after the Mongols were pushed out. Speaking of the Mongols, I also spent this day securing my much lauded Mongolian visa after travelling through the DMZ known as the "Embassy Block", and on into the friendly little Mongolian embassy, where they were so excited I was going to their country that they basically gave me the visa for a 1/3rd of the price, as well as armfuls of pamphlets and brochures.

Trev left yesterday afternoon on a 28 hour train ride south back towards the Vietnamese border (in which he has a ticket for standing room only...poor bastard) while I made my way across town to the 4 star hotel in order to await for my incoming kin. Dev arrived a few hours later and after the pleasantries and greetings were finished, we got down to work on finding out where our train tickets had vanished too. 3 hours later, after securing said train tickets through a painful process of hand gestures and broken cell phone calls, I took my fellow Committee member and brother on a short but informative tour of the immediate surroundings of our hotel, including the outside of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.

This morning, after a restless night (Dev has jet lag, and I simply don't sleep anymore for some reason, thyroid...issues...?), we ventured out to the Great Wall. The driver took us to the wrong section of wall, but we really didn't care as it offered some spectacular views as well as a difficult climb or two up to the top. Hanging out there for a few hours (had much of the wall completely to ourselves) we then drove back to town and strolled our way through the Hutongs, tiny little avenue/neighbourhoods that were built in the city after the Mongols burned it down, at one point emerging out into this large inner city lake, full of ice skaters, ice carts and even a lone hockey player off in the corner.

Tomorrow morning we're up and out of here early in order to begin our 7865km train trip to Moscow and beyond!

Southern China

Cartoonish mountains surrounding Yang Shuo.

Shanghai of the past....

...and across the river, Shanghai of the future!

Building of the world's second tallest building, as seen from the world's fourth tallest building.

T-Bone takes a much needed noodle break during the ticket buying marathon.


I will take an inside-out rabbit with a side of giant fish head!

Ha Ha! Me love Bubble Tea! Ha Ha!!

Trev and I left Nanning the following morning and got our first taste of the Chinese rails as we headed a ways up north to the city of Guilin. We had a hard-seater (lowest class) for the 6 hour ride which meant we were inundated with the poorer locals peering over our shoulders gawking at our fabulous toys (mainly Nintendos & English books). Upon arriving in Guilin we set about pre-booking our next train ride up to Shanghai. The process was a lengthy one of comparing the strange Chinese characters from the guidebook to the imposing train schedule plastered across the wall. The bright side of the procedure being that I can now recognize the characters for Shanghai instantly and has become my first readable Mandarin word.

After leaving the confines of the train station, we grabbed a local bus to the town of Yang Shuo, a much smaller town set in the bizarre Dr. Seuss landscape that makes up southern China. Although normally quite touristy, Yang Shuo, as with every other part of China we've seen, was devoid of westerners being that we are here in the lowest of the low season. The two activities of the place are either browsing the strip of little cafes & shops or venturing out into the wilderness to get lost amongst the endless rice paddies. We secured some cheap knock-off mountain bikes for our first day in town, and after denying the guides their chance to guide us, took off down the nearest path in search of rural China.

Rural China was found approximately 15 minutes later as we were instantly lost amid the tiny villages and oxen paths that break up the rice paddy clumps. After a few hours of riding, we found a quiet spot by one of the rivers and settled down for a good two hours in the frigid temperatures to watch the locals go about their day. Every ten to fifteen minutes would see another few peasants meandering down to the river bank, laden with their baskets of rice, argue with the river boat captain about the cost of the boat and then either board the rickety vessel or leave in a huff back up the hill. Regardless of the outcome, each of them, after recovering from the shock of finding two strange white guys at their crossing point, would bombard us with their arsenal of English (usually "Hello Hi Hello") and then attempt to convince us through hand gestures and Chinglish to cross the river with them in order to lower the price of the boat. The captain of the ship (fully dressed in his 50 year old Chinese navy uniform) would then laugh, light another two cigarettes and discreetly ramble off something in Mandarin to us about each of the peasants. The process repeated itself until we could no longer stand the cold and is most likely still repeating itself even now.

After two more days of relaxing in Yang Shuo we travelled back to Guilin and boarded our previously bought, 29 hour train up to Shanghai. For this we chose a hard-sleeper (3rd class) and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality that this had over previous sleeper trains around the world, mainly India. The bedding was superb, the train attendants professional and it even had the added bonus of gently waking up its sleeping passengers with a blend of classical instrumentals slowly increased in volume over the loud speaker. Aside from capturing the rest of the carriage's attention with the utterly bizarre sock tug-of-war that I was forced into by one of the travelling sock salesmen (to prove the strength of his socks apparently...), the ride went by without much excitement and was fueled by a steady diet of noodle soups.

We arrived into Shanghai on the afternoon of the 19th and after semi-successfully navigating the city's metro system, finally found a place for an ugly $15 a night. Budget accommodations simply do not exist in this booming metropolis. Yesterday we spent the day exploring the city and instead of finding the much anticipated smuggling warehouses and opium dens of the olden days, we were greeted with what is becoming one of the most magnificent skylines of the world. Today was also taken up by a great deal of walking around, and included a trip up to the observatory deck of the world's 4th tallest building in downtown Shanghai as well as one of the most bizarre experiences of my life in the underground crossing of the Huangpu river. Think of all the strangest Asian cultural events you've ever seen and combine them into one terrifying 3 minute pod ride underneath water.

Tonight we board our luxurious Z class train for a short 14 hour trip north to Beijing!

Deeper into the Red

One gigantic bomb, made in the U.S. of A.

Another silent victim of anti-tank mines.

A stupid tourist bathing in Vietnamese sewage or "mineral mud".

A 200,000 dong meal, the picture really doesn't do it justice. I fully expect one, if not both, of the Lush brothers to order this meal when in Hanoi.

Searching the boneyard for any remaining meat. Note the salad remains untouched.


Random Hanoi shot.


Random Hanoi shot #2.


Chinese border post/castle, easily the most dominating border office I have ever entered.

The strange bus lunch given to me. The next hour was spent attempting to decipher what it says/is. Any help would be appreciated.

Shot from my computer in this giant internet cafe, the biggest I have ever been in. This being the card game/counterstrike wing. To the right of this is where what can only be described as a commune of WoW gold farmers continue their evil trade.

We successfully crossed into Vietnam the second time around, and after a three hour trip arrived in the wonderful world of Saigon. Our first full day in Ho Chi Minh City, as it's technically referred to these days, was spent recovering from our first night in Ho Chi Minh City, in which we sampled a few of the local establishments. The second day was occupied by travelling out to the Cu Chi area, about 65 km northwest of the city. This is the giant plot of land now famous for its huge tunnel networks that the Viet Cong created during the war against their dreaded Americans foes.

After watching a propaganda film, checking out some Viet Cong living quarters and being offered another chance to fire off automatic weapons (which we had to decline due to financial restrictions, but whose constant sounds added to the ambiance of the entire tour) we got a chance to crawl down into the earth and scout out how Charlie lived most of his life while his North American peers were wandering around above him with flame throwers and attack dogs. Being much larger than the typical Vietnamese man, the tunnels were a tight squeeze, but compared nothing to my previous adventure underground in the depths of that Bolivian mountain, *shudder*. Imagining being trapped in one of these tunnels (6-10 metres underground) while B-52s drop their payloads on top of you prompted new respect for these hardy little people. After arriving back from that tour we were dropped off at the American War Museum in downtown Saigon. Definitely one of the better museums I've visited as it was mainly composed of different kinds of weaponry left here when the yanks abandoned ship, as well as some stunning photo displays. The wing dedicated to American brutality was less than enjoyable, but obviously necessary.

That night we jumped on a bus headed north to the coastal city of Nha Trang. The bus deposited us in the city centre at 6am, just in time for us to hear the morning call that awakens all Vietnamese on loud speakers throughout the cities. We were only able to spend a single night in Nha Trang but because of transportation schedules this still resulted in two full days. The afternoon of our second day saw us scooting out to some temples and the local hot springs where for $4 we sat in giant baths of mineralized mud. I had never done this before so the novelty alone was worth the money, but I must go on record as saying I feel absolutely no effect from this mud bath or the following "mineral soaking sessions" that came with the fee.

After playing in the mud for a few hours we were whisked away to the train station where we boarded a 25 hour train ride up to Hanoi. Because of a lack of time prior to departure, we were stuck with seats instead of beds during the ride, which made for a fairly uncomfortable journey but nothing I haven't seen before. We hadn't heard good things about Hanoi from a single person, but both were pleasantly surprised to find this simply wasn't the case (aside from the absolutely awful smelling hotel room we had, for the first time in my life, a smell was actually powerful enough to wake me up in the night). Only having one day there, we decided to spend it simply walking around the old quarter and seeing what we could see. The amount of scooters in the city is overbearing as the little suckers dart and careen around the blind corners and narrow streets, but also add to the whole atmosphere of the place. For our second dinner there, we ventured to a place recommended in the guide book, where after the waiter explaining to me that what I ordered was simply too much food for one human being, I successfully ate a "Jumbo" order of BBQ ribs, something I haven't feasted on in many a day. The meal was honestly the same size as all the meals of the 6 person family beside us combined and after ripping the flesh from the last bone I felt a fantastic sense of accomplishment, followed by gluttony, followed by stomach cramping. Whether from the endless ribs or the population of bed bugs in my bed (whose bites now cover my body), I woke up several times during the night in cold sweats with a sudden urge to explode.

This morning we grabbed another bus up past the Vietnam/China border to the city of Nanning in southern China. So far, from the 6 hours I've been here, China is...intense. English anything has all but disappeared, making the counterfeit guidebook I purchased that much more of a precious commodity. The communication problems have reminded me of my none SE Asia days of travelling when everything wasn't so damn easy. The most recent mistake being how I just bought 6 hours of internet when I only wanted 1, hence the abnormal amount of pictures. Our plans to hit up Hong Kong before moving on to Beijing were nixed by the fact that you need a dual entry Chinese visa for HK, so instead we plan on moving on up through the countryside and onto Shanghai before settling in Beijing and awaiting the much anticipated arrival of my brother!

Almost out of Cambodia

After 25 years of desire, I finally got my hands on a fragmentation grenade.

Guns!

Killing Fields, each crater in the ground being an excavated mass grave.

Silent victims of Pol Pot's thugs.

Trev and I left Siem Reap early the morning after visiting Angkor Wat and headed to Phnom Penh, where we are now. The following day saw us catching a tuk tuk to the outskirts of the city where we intended to spray some bullets into the sky through one of Cambodia's unique "shooting ranges".

Upon arriving, we were each asked to have a seat and quickly had menus brought to us. I handed the slip back to him, insisting that I had already eaten and was here for the sole reason of firing weapons. He politely handed the menu back to me, at which point I realized that it was the most fantastic menu I've ever laid eyes on. All my favourite foods had been replaced with my favourite firearms! (except for Coke and Fanta...which were strangely still on the menu). Where burgers and BLTs usually prevail, the entire selection had been taken over by automatic rifles and handguns. In place of the more expensive dishes were the mouth watering treats of antiaircraft guns and rocket propelled grenades (both well out of my price range unfortunately). I quickly ordered an AK-47 with a side of Colt .45 and a hand grenade for dessert. The hand gun was fun to fire off but the real magic came with the weapon most revered by guerilla soldiers worldwide, the stock issue AK-47. Was interesting getting behind the thing you see featured in every newscast and I was totally blown away by the sheer power of the sucker as I emptied it's magazine into the sandbags 20 metres away. The hand grenade, which was thrown into a shallow pond, was merely the icing on a very strange cake.

From the shooting farm, we continued on in what can be known as Contradiction Day, to the Killing Fields. During Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime, the Killing Fields were the place where thousands of innocent Cambodians were taken to be quickly killed for standing in the way of his revolution. In the center of the field (the area where the mass graves have been dug up), stands a giant pagoda packed full of the excavated human skulls, many baring the cracks, splits and holes left from whatever instrument was used to end their lives. Fairly moving place to say the least, I picture it quite similar to what people have told me of the Concentration camps in Europe.

Leaving there we tuk-tuk'd into the city to the Khmer museum at S-21. S-21, ironically was a secondary school before the Khmer turned it into the city's main torture/extermination camp. Of the over 20,000 inmates held within, only 7 made it out alive. Walking through the makeshift holding cells and torture rooms, many lined with photos of victims taken before their "interrogations", you could almost feel the fear dripping off the walls. A necessary thing to see when in the city, but both of us were quite happy to get out of there once we had fully explored it. The whole day (well the last two events...) shed a new light on our little Cambodian hosts and everytime you see someone older than 25-30, you can't help but wonder what they've been through.

We left Phnom Penh the next morning enroute to Vietnam, little knowing that we would be coming back into the city 11 hours later. Contrary to what a number of people told us (including the guest house and bus operator), free 15 day transit visas are only available at particular border crossings into Vietnam, a list which didn't include the one we were trying. So, after a 5 hour bus ride, we were turned around, told to get back on the bus and drive back to the capital to secure our Vietnam visas. After this incident and the money exchange ripoff while entering Cambodia, I'm beginning to realize that my 15 months of travel experience does not protect me from my own stupidity. Upon hopefully getting our passports back tonight (visas included), we plan to try again tomorrow morning. In the meantime, we're taking full advantage of the unexpected Cambodian TV station that is showing pirated versions of The Lord of the Rings movies back to back to back.

Holidays & Cambodia

Christmas Day in Thailand.

Myself, the older Stick, the Uncle, the younger Stick and the T-Bone.

Midnight on Khao San road, Bangkok.

Angkor Wat

For the second year in a row, Christmas abroad didn't quite feel right given the outside temperatures were up in the 30s. Once the Lush squad returned from their boating trip, we had a quiet Christmas Eve then awoke Christmas morning and quickly made our way to the Phuket airport where we picked up a travel worn Uncle Gerry. After another bus ride, then boat ride, then tuk-tuk ride, we were settled into our Christmas bungalow on the island of Koh Yai Noi. Most people have probably never heard of this place (including me until we were actually on the island) and it made for a very quiet, relaxed place to spend Christmas.

Trevor and I were up and at em early the next morning in order to zoom across the island on our little scooter, attempting to find some kind of communication place in which to contact our families. After some searching, we found a few dusty computers in the back of a tailoring shop and jumped onto Skype to hear from our distant kin. Once again, my never ending love of the internet was intensified, as from a tiny island off of Thailand I was able to have live video of my house back in Coquitlam. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and destroying poor James at our final games of Go. My last full day with the Lush's saw us long boating out into the surrounding islands, for an enjoyable day of snorkeling and lying around on the beach.

The next morning, after my final farewells to the Lush family (which of course includes my long time travel companion of Jason, *sniff* *sniff*), Trevor and I ferried back to the mainland and treated ourselves to a quick flight up to Bangkok from the wondrous Phuket airport. The following day had Ryan flying back in from Vancouver, and after some shopping and a couple meals, he was quickly on his way down south, after we also said our final farewells to one another (*sniff* *sniff*). Intentions to leave the next morning were thwarted by Trev falling quite ill and having to make an evening trip to the hospital, where he was quarantined from society for two days, during which I played Nintendo in my cramped little hostel room. Trevor was released on New Year's eve and we spent a rather quiet evening inside before venturing out onto Khao San road for the midnight festivities amongst the fireworks and bomb blasts.

Early the next morning we began a tiring 14 hour journey out of Thailand and into Cambodia to the town of Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat. Along the way, thanks to a crafty exchange booth and my own ignorance of the current Cambodian/Thai rate, I was robbed of a sum equalling that of most Cambodian's annual incomes. After a solid, but short sleep, we awoke this morning and chartered our own personal moto-chariot to tour us around the ancient headquarters of the Khmer empire. I've become a little...bored(?) with ruins after seeing so many while on this trip, but Angkor was still a fantastic sight and helped breathe some fresh air into my interests. It was a very cool site and a must see for anyone in the vicinity, as well as being a great place to simply sit back, relax and take it all in.

Tomorrow we continue our lightning trip through Cambodia as we make our way to the capital Phnom Penh, where we hope to visit the notorious Killing Fields and hopefully play Rambo with some surplus US weaponry at one of the local gun ranges.