More Yangshuo

Hi everyone!

After the aforementioned wonderful bike trip, we were thoroughly exhausted, but decided to explore the town at night. We met a few foreigners who were working in China, and had a few drinks with them before retiring for the evening. We may or may not have attempted to play beer pong, but were told that it was too late at the bar.

The next day we rented an electric scooter and made our way south to the water cave. We spent the better part of the tour being shown rocks that looked like various objects (dragon's head, woman looking in mirror, etc.). Honestly, it looked like the inside of a cave. I think anyone who spends a lot of time in a cave begins to see things, and thus, someone decided it would be a good idea to show this to tourists. In Chinese. However, we did encounter a mud pit, which was dirty if fun (and good for the skin too) and some hot springs. We took many pictures, as always, but I think that the other tourists took more pictures of us than we did. Apparently white people in caves are quite a novelty. The driving in China is interesting. They have their own rules, which they even follow occasionally.

The following day we decided to be adventurous and go rock-climbing. Neither of us had ever climbed outdoors, and it showed. It was rainy, it was wet, and it was an amazingly good time. It is very different from indoor climbing, and much more enjoyable. We went with a Chinese company (Xclimb), and were very impressed with the quality of their equipment and guides.

Finally, on our last day in Yangshuo, we decided to take a boat trip on the famous Li River, and do a three to four hour (24km) hike. We ended up spending 4 hours on the boat, due to some purposeful miscommunication on the part of the organizer, who was worried we would miss the bus, and only hiked for 45 minutes. We were not happy with this, but the portion that we did hike was sensational (we also got most of our money back). I know I have said this before, but Yangshuo is stunning. The town is vibrant, at night and during the day, and it really is an outdoor sports paradise.

Generalizing once again, I have an example for those of you who have never been to China, and do not know what the people and the culture are like: China is like a doorway which is a few inches too short for you (a foreigner) to enter comfortably. There is another way in, but since you are a foreigner, you are not told about it. Near the doorway are ten staff members, who are talking in a corner. None are looking at you, though other people constantly offer to sell you things you do not need. In order to be helpful, five of the staff members have hung a sign in the doorway which says "Make sure to watching head". They were genuinely trying to warn you, but have taken ten inches of room in the doorway in order to give you this message. If you crouch down, you can just make out the beautiful landscapes, dirty construction sites, great opportunities and crowded squares on the other side. With some effort, entry is possible, and well worth it. Just watch your head!

Notes:

1. food = not bad, lots of spicy beef for me

1a. finding a chicken foot in the chicken I ordered = not so good

Thanks for reading!

First Days in Yangshuo

Hi everyone,

In order to begin our tour of southern China, we flew from Shanghai to Guilin, boarding the plane as the final boarding call was being announced. We stayed in Guilin for one night, and not finding much in the way of sights there, decided to make our way to Yangshuo by bus in the morning.

Yangshuo is simply beautiful. The town itself is teeming with tourists, mainly because the trips from the city are fantastic. We are staying at a hostel which is very nice but which did not find it necessary to install western toilets. Chinese toilets are rather annoying, as they are on the floor and require much squatting.

On our first day, we walked around the town, had a vendor draw caricatures of us on T-shirts, and went to a bar with some people we met. It was fun, and it is clear that Yangshuo is a good place to be at night, but the nightlife is nothing compared to the daytime activities.

The next day, we decided to rent bicycles in order to see the Yulong river. It was at once exhausting and one of the best things that we have done on the trip. As I was riding a mountain bike through a narrow path, my inner 12 year old boy came alive. Having spent much time riding my bike as a child through Dollard Des Ormeaux, exploring new constructions and old, unused trails, I felt quite at home navigating these paths. That said, I have never had to swerve to avoid a rooster, nor been induced to stop by the sight of a half submerged water buffalo. The path was occasionally too difficult for riding, which meant some parts of the paths were walked, bikes alongside. The views were spectacular, though we did not see too much of the river on the way there. The idea was to ride along a country path until we crossed a bridge, then ride some more, and finish the day by taking a bamboo boat ride down the river. Having missed the country road (thankfully, because we heard it was treacherous) we took the main road to the bridge, and biked back through fields, people's farms, dirt and stone paths and flora and fauna. It rained briefly, which was surprisingly welcome as it had a cooling effect. Ilana had some trouble on the more narrow pathways, and though she toughed it out, she was happier along the paths more traveled.

It is difficult to explain the feeling of sailing across vast fields, hearing nothing but the sounds of nature, miles away from city life, surrounded by beautiful countryside. I must admit it is somewhat surreal. This was one of my favourite days on the trip so far, and if anyone is planning a trip to China, Yangshuo is a definite must see.

Ilana- The bike ride was absolutely amazing but I must admit that falling into a ditch while trying to get through those 30cm muddy and rocky paths was not my favourite part. The bamboo rafts were really cool and very enjoyable after a few hours on the bike as we were incredibly sore. It was an incredible day and I am looking forward to the remaining days in Yansghuo.

Thanks for reading!

Shanghai

Hi everyone,

Shanghai tastes like progress. By that, I mean that as you walk along the streets, and the construction grime rips at your face and gets caught in your teeth, you can taste the new structures which will soon be erected where now there are only plastic tarpaulins and scaffolding. The city is a strange mix of old and new, though "old Shanghai," in the true Chinese spirit, has been rebuilt such that it vaguely resembles its 1930s shape, but has been "restored" in a much better form. China itself does not have a taste for authenticity, rather, the glorification of tradition seems to be on the menu of most every city, but none more so than Shanghai.

We could not take a picture of the gargantuan buildings which appear to have magically sprung up from below without also capturing a crane working on the next skyscraper. The city pulses with energy, though the energy is singularly focused on business. The shopping was incredible, and as you may know, I hate to shop. However, fake markets are a lot of fun, not only because the articles fit within our budget, but because I actually enjoy bargaining. That said, it gets very tiresome to constantly have to divide prices by 3 before beginning, simply due to the colour of my skin (but more on that later!).

We were invited to stay with a gentleman with whom we had climbed Huangshan. Didier was a simply amazing host. We had the run of his place, and though he is a student working in Shanghai, he lives in a typical (okay, upper-class typical) Chinese apartment. It was eye opening to see how this segment of the population lives. Didier helped us tremendously, from giving us a phone to giving us directions, from directing us to the best restaurants (other than the insect plate, which is a story better left untold) to accompanying us at night. We could not have asked for a better host.

I now know what would happen if an anthropomorphic alien landed in the middle of North America. Didier is black, and for the Chinese, he might as well have been from another planet. While walking with him, the staring was multiplied tenfold. People were wondering whether he had stayed out in the sun for too long, and whether the colour would come off when touched. It was truly amazing to watch ostensibly civilized people react to Didier with such unabashed curiosity (that would be the nice way to put it, they were not politely curious, nor were they particularly nice about it). This may simply be the Chinese way, but discretion was not the chosen option for the vast majority of the people whom we encountered.

We decided to ship a box full of our fake, or at least cheaply produced, clothing to Hong Kong, where we will collect it at the end of our trip. This shipment was by far the most trying experience of the trip so far. Though I do not wish to generalize…I will. It seems that in this country no worker is capable of accomplishing a task without the help of at least three others. Even with such help (okay, labour is cheap, I know) they still tend to be no more useful than a basic computer. If they have not been told how to exactly accomplish a task, it seems that they are at a loss. When the 7^th person finally arrived to look at the box being readied for shipment, he took charge and finally the box was shipped for an exorbitant amount of money. That said, at a few hostels we have received help which required critical thinking. I do not wish to suggest that the entire society is incapable of thought, only that the vast majority of the people whom we have encountered desperately need an education consisting of more than simply formulae, no matter how advanced the formulae may be.

Back to Shanghai, it was an amazing place to visit, but nowhere I would wish to live. The pollution is a big problem, as is the lack of English (which is surprising for a business town). We were also encouraged to attend a tea ceremony (scam) and visit an art exhibition (yep, you guessed it, another scam). We fell for neither. The streets are crowded not just with vehicles emitting toxic fumes, but with people constantly asking whether we would like to purchase bags, watches and the like. The first time it was amusing, the second it was vaguely irritating, and by the end I believe we would have preferred the fumes.

We went to a bar, where apparently we were the only white people who had ever ventured inside, because they gave us a gift, as well as free coffee. Being foreign has its perks as well! From the tone of this post one might think that I did not enjoy the city, but in fact I did. Simply, the lack of competent help is a part of the culture shock to which I must become accustomed. Having enjoyed our experiences, we now venture on to the south of China, where our adventures continue!

Thanks for reading!

Huangshan Pics

Please follow this link for pictures from Huangshan:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mnatlas/Huangshan?feat=directlink

A post about Shanghai will soon be posted.

Enjoy!

Hangzhou and Jiaxing

Hi everyone,

We returned to Hangzhou after Huangshan. We stayed in West Lake, which is a tree-filled part of the city. Hangzhou is in one of the richest provinces in China, and it shows. We recovered for a day before we met up with Scott, who is teaching English in Jiaxing. He came to Hangzhou to see us (but realy to see Ilana, as they were friends in Montreal). We went to a famous retaurant called (badly written) Lo-Wai-Lo. This is differet from La-wai, which is what they call white people here (it translates to old whitey). We spent most of our time in relaxing in Hangzhou, though we did see a famous pagoda, and a somewhat obstructed view of the city. We also made the decision to accompany Scott back to his new town. This was one of the best decisions we have made so far on this trip.

We took the train to Jiaxing, which is a tiny (by Chinese standards, it actually has like 3.3 million people) city. We sampled local food, as well as food from the north eastern China. It was unbelievable, and by far the best we have had since we have been here. It helps to have a guide who lives here, and who also has a girlfriend who speaks fluent Chinese. We also got to play with his dog Schiou-Schiou (sp?) and ride his electric scooter. Scooters are everywhere in China. The electric ones are good for the environment too! We went to a local grocery store, in which there were many things that I had never seen before. They seem to employ people simply for the sake of employing them here, they either have no idea what to do in order to help you, or they stand around looking lost, or they speak amongst themselves. It is really quite strange.

Scott lives in a very nice new apartment complex (minus the mosquitos, which were rather killer). They seem to be building faster than they can rent though, as most of the building was empty, and more buildings were under construction. We also visited the school where he is teaching. It was really cool to see what it is like to live in a city such as Jiaxing, and what life is like for La-wai who decide to teach in China.

Notes: people in this country drive rather intesrestingly. They pretty much ignore every sign that they can, and pedestrians are expected to yield to cars on the crosswalks (well, not expected, so much as if you do not yield, you may be hit). Unlike in Japan, there are many local car companies here, and people drive cars that I have never seen. However, they all look like old models of cars that are currently sold in Canada, the US or Europe. The sanitary standards here are still not impressive.
People stare at us pretty much everywhere. It is as if they have never seen white people before. This is understadable in Jiaxing, less so in Hangzhou. People on the metros are not... subtle. They simply stare, many mouths agape, at the appearance of foreigners on the train or bus or street. It is really rather odd.

Ilana- Hangzhou and Jiaxing were a lot of fun, and seeing Scott was the best part. He left for China a year ago and I thought I would not see him again until he came back to Montreal. I never thought I would actually be going to China anytime soon. Spending a few days with him was really great. Having a dog in his apartment was a plus. She was so adorable and climbed into my lap every time I sat down.

It was nice to experience true Chinese living, although I could have done without all of the staring from people on the street. Sometimes I smile, other times I stare right back at them until they realize that I notice that they are looking at me. But, I think at some point I will get used to the staring. Maybe.

We have made our way to Shanghai!

Thanks for reading!

Huangshan and a bit of Hangzhou

Hi everyone,

We decided to fly from Xi'an to Hangzhou.  Other than having to arrive incredibly early due to some faulty information from a travel agent, the flight was comfortable.  Airlines in Asia have yet to engage in the massive services cutting that has taken over North American Airlines, though apparently some discount airlines have followed the model.

Flying to Hangzhou and taking the bus was the best way to get to Huangshan, which is also known as yellow mountain, and is supposed to be one of the most beautiful in China.  We decided not to opt for the 24 hour train ride from Xi'an.  After flying in, we stayed for one night at a hostel in Hangzhou, left our bags there, and headed off to Huangshan.  Upon arrival, Mr Hu picked us up (seems like he picks up all white people).  He arranged a hostel for us at the top of the mountain.  He also owns a restaurant, which served decent food.  We climbed the eastern steps of the mountain, which was rather arduous.  Ilana was not feeling well, which made it doubly difficult for her.  We did not even consider the cable car on the way up.  In fact, that would have been a smart idea, because the eastern steps did not compare to the western steps, and we could have done a hike in between.  Upon arrival, we saw the last remnants of the sunset before having some instant noodles for dinner and going to bed early, as we wanted to see the sunrise.  The hostel was not exactly first class.  It was a large dance hall, in which the gentleman had booked our beds.  Unfortunately, when we showed up, we were told that only tents were available.  I do not fit in Chinese tents.  Having convinced them to give us beds, we then retired to some not very clean, not very warm beds for a short sleep before waking up at 4:30 to see the sun rise over the mountains.  The weather was rather murky, but we dutifully clambered for space among the many Chinese tourists at a small viewing point.  It was very nice, but, as someone noted, not quite what was in the brochure.  We then put more kilometers on our exhausted feet to reach the peak of the western steps.  Ilana opted for the cable car, while I decided to tough it out and walk down with some French people that we met along the way.  The views were great.

We then took the bus back to Hangzhou, which we will be seeing today.  Pics soon to follow!

Thanks for reading!

From the Forbidden City to Xi'an

Hi everyone!

We have done quite a lot since the last post! The day after visiting the Great wall, it was raining and rather uncomfortable in Beijing. Also, we needed to recover! We did go out for a nice dinner, but apart from that we had a relaxing day. 

The next day we visited Tiananmen Square.  This is known as the people's square, which is kind of amusing.  The police presence was overwhelming.  Between the soldiers and the cops, I couldn't help thinking how far this was from a people's square.

We crossed the front gate (I think this was one of two gates which were named something reasonable) and entered the Forbidden City. This site is neither forbidden, nor a city. However, it was spectacular.  There was some absolutely amazing architecture. The site is simply brimming with history from the Ming and Qing dynasties. We were offered a viewing by some art students (yep, it's a scam) and I not so politely declined with a "get a job". I think Ilana would have been nicer. After spending several hours absorbing the culture and history through the audio guide, we made our way to the park behind the City.  The view of the City was amazing, and the park was very pretty.  I apologize for all of the adjectives, but I cannot think of another way to convey the sheer grandeur of the place.

The next day, we decided to see the Summer Palace, having already seen where the Imperial Family spent the cooler months. I would very much enjoy owning a summer palace of that sort. It was amazing (more adjectives). I can fully understand why the family would have decided to spend their summers there. Buildings are laid out around a gorgeous lake. There is a temple at the top which offers a nice view, and the whole day was sublime. That evening we went out for some Peking duck, though I was not able to secure the real thing in Tiananmen because had we gone we would have missed our night train to Xi'an.

We had an interesting experience returning from the Palace, as we had some difficulty locating the bus on which we had arrived, and decided to accept the offer of one of the gentlemen riding what is essentially a cart. We assumed that it would be quite expensive, but when he held out 8 fingers (the bus costs 2) we bargained him down to 4 before embarking. When we arrived, and handed him his 4 RMB, he refused, though we could not figure out what he was saying. A passerby who spoke English decided to help, and explained that he had wanted 80, but thought we agreed on 40. At that price, we would have kept up our search for the bus. In the end, the guy told us that he had paid 20 to get there, so reluctantly, we agreed. When I later asked him, he said he actually paid 12, but since we are foreigners, he figured 20 would be appropriate. So, we learned the lesson that even those with nothing to gain will still screw foreigners, if for no other reason than their race. We will simply be more careful next time. Since then we have been extremely careful, basically going on the assumption that everyone in the country is trying to harm rather than help. We have not been ripped off since, though I do not want to jinx it.

Please check out pictures of Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mnatlas/TiananmenForbiddenCitySummerPalace?feat=directlink

The night train took eleven hours. We met a nice Chinese student, with whom we spoke for a couple of hours before going to sleep. Before his college entrance exam, he went to school from 7am to 11pm 6 days per week. He also quit all of his extracurriculars, and was not allowed to see his girlfriend all year, even though they only lived two blocks away from each other. The Chinese are serious about their education! He also referred to Mao as "the great leader" numerous times, while insisting that he had freedom of speech (though not freedom of religion). He was shocked to hear that in Canada, one can send an insulting letter to one's political representative if one decides to do so. He actually said the words great leader as if that is the only way he would ever refer to Mao. Interesting cultural experiences!

Ilana slept well, I did not, as moving trains are not conducive to my sleeping lying down.  However, it was overall not an unpleasant experience. The bed was not too hard, and they provided hot water for instant meals.

Xi'an, however, was rather disappointing. The main reason for the visit was to see the terracotta warriors, and that we did. Honestly, we should have saved the money and looked at pictures of the warriors. They were much more impressive. That said, an army of warriors, all exquisitely crafted and each unique is a very interesting thing to see. We took a lot of pictures (as always) and had some good company. The hostel in Xi'an was clean and we were treated well. We went out for some good food from a hole in the wall place near our hostel, and it was some of the best food we have had since we have been in China. I thought that the spicy pork was divine.

Having been somewhat disappointed with Xi'an, we now head back east.

Thanks for reading!

Beijing Zoo / Aquarium Pictures

Ilana:

We would have taken pictures of more animals, but a lot of them looked depressed in their cages.

Take a look at the pictures we were able to take:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mnatlas/BeijingZooAquarium?feat=directlink

Great Wall Pictures

To see our Great Wall pictures, please click here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mnatlas/TheGreatWall?feat=directlink

The Great Wall

Hi everyone,

Yesterday, we went to the Great Wall.  It was an awesome experience.   First, we took a bus to Miyun, which is about halfway to Jinshanling.  We decided to hike from Jinshanling to Simetai (following the Lonely Planet instructions.  This is one of the mostly unrestored sections, not the Disneyland style wall which many people end up seeing.  We traveled with one person from our hostel, and met 2 others (who spoke Mandarin) in Miyun.  The 5 of us hired a driver of a minivan to drive us the rest of the way.  After some bargaining (this is China, one must bargain for everything) we agreed on a price and set off.  The driver was to pick us up in approximately 4 hours in Simetai.  Once we were in the van, and had arrived at Jinshanling, he decided to tell us that there was a parking fee in Simetai of 40 RMB, and that we had to pay it.  When one of the guys said no, he dropped it to 20.  I finally said no, we agreed on a price, and he relented.  They really have some nerve!

The Great Wall was simply beautiful.  It really deserves its title as one of the great wonders of the world.  The scenery was gorgeous.  Once we arrived, approximately 5 older Chinese women decided they needed to accompany us, to help us along the way.  Resisting all of our "boo-yaos" (we don't want) they came along, annoying us and trying to sell us goods.  They were useful in taking a couple of group shots, but apart from that they smelled rather vile, and we would have been happier without them.  About halfway through, they got tired of us, or rather, they could tell that we were not very good customers, and went along their way.

We got very tired climbing along the wall.  Including our frequent breaks for pictures, we spent at least 3 hours before we even arrived at the halfway mark.  This is when the women left.  We then entered the most difficult part of the hike.  There were places along the wall which had fallen down and were difficult to cross.  In particular, two spots had rather high drops, where we balanced precariously on the rocks as we lowered ourselves onto the lower parts.  Ilana's fear of heights made this somewhat difficult for her, but she fought through it (with some handholding) and was able to keep pace with the rest of us. 

When we finally got to Simetai, after getting slightly lost, and spending a tremendous amount of time on the wall, simply soaking up the experience, our driver was none too pleased.  He had been waiting quite a long time, and had two other guys with him.  They were there to try to undercut his price, but they had worked out some deal.  The idea was that he would force us to pay him to take us all of the way back to Beijing, as the buses had stopped running from Miyun.  After hearing the exorbitant amount he wanted for this service, we stuck to our original plan and had him drop us off in Miyun.  As we were traveling with him to Miyun, the price to get to Beijing kept decreasing.  He also mentioned that he was not legally allowed to enter Beijing, because he did not have the appropriate taxi license.  (So he would have driven us for a crazy amount of money, but not for less).  Once we got to Miyun, we found the place rather deserted. The driver then decided that he had a friend who could drive for cheaper.  We all piled into a Jetta (yes, the 5 of us + the driver) and got back to Beijing.   It was quite an experience!  All in all we traveled about 200km each way.  It ended up costing us around 140 RMB for the trip, which is around $23 CAD each.

This was one of the most exciting days on our trip so far! The scenery was impressive, the struggle to get home was interesting and the company was great.

Today, we are both rather sore from the hike, and it is also raining very hard.  We will see what there is to do, but we may spend an extra day in Beijing in order to get to see more of the sights.

Thanks for reading!

Note: All posts will say posted by Mike while we are in China.  Ilana will write her name before her posts in the future.  The entry about the Zoo / Aquarium was written by her.

Note: We will uplaod albums of the Zoo and the Great Wall as soon as can.

Beijing Zoo / Aquarium

Our first day in Beijing was wet and gray. We decided to go to the zoo and aquarium since we thought going sightseeing in the rain would not be tremendously enjoyable, as we learned in Tokyo. Our tickets were expensive because we decided to do the whole package - zoo, pandas, and aquarium. I wanted to start off with the aquarium since it was what I wanted to see the most, but instead we decided to start with the zoo and do the aquarium last (always save the best for last!). We made it to the reptile house, where we saw a bunch of snakes and lizards. When we walked out we were on our way to the penguin house. The lady asked for our tickets and as I reached into my pocket I realized both disappeared. After a minute, we decided to retrace our steps and look for the tickets as we had not gone too far. On the way back, I found only one, thinking that someone else snatched the other. Instead of giving up, I decided that we should go all the way back to the reptile house to see if I had dropped it there. Lucky me, I found it within minutes. Success! Both tickets were in my hands and stuffed into my fanny pack so they would not get lost again.

Towards the end of the day we were ready to see the pandas, which of course are a seprate exhibit because they're super cool (and cute). As I reached into my fanny pack I realized that I didn't feel any tickets. I unloaded it and reloaded it about 3 times finding it impossible that I had lost them a second time. I started swearing because it was just so ridiculous. The tickets weren't cheap and it was the one thing I wanted to see more than anything else, but we had no tickets. Again. We couldn't retrace our steps this time because we had gone too far and it would have been impossible to find them.

As I was moping through the panda area, which I couldn't even enjoy, Mike had a brilliant idea to ask random people if we could use their aquarium tickets had they already seen it. After a few tries, we finally found a family who had tickets and were happy to give them to us. While this was all happening, I felt like I was scamming people because I had a cover story and everything, except it was true. It went something like: "Hi, I have a very strange question for you... You see, we seemed to have lost our tickets. Twice. We were wondering if you bought any for the aquarium and wouldn't mind giving them to us if you've already seen it." I felt bad asking, but it only got worse from there. When we got inside the aquarium, we didn't realize they would scan the tickets. So, of course, when they scanned ours it beeped saying we were already in there and couldn't come back in. This is where Mike and my acting skils came in. I was arguing with the lady saying we went out for lunch and wanted to come back in. She said it was for one use only. I looked even more pissed off raising my voice saying that we paid lots of money and want to come back in because we stepped out to get some food. Meanwhile, Mike is looking frustrated in the background, helping me look more convincing. Seeing both of us, the lady sort of panicked and went to a higher authority and I guess he told her it wasn't worth it and should just let us in. And that's how we scammed-but didn't-the Beijing Zoo.

Beijing

Due to difficulties accessing blogger.com from Beijing, I will be posting in this format (email).  Unfortunately I cannot include as many pictures as I have previously.  Blame the Great Firewall of China.

Happy to be out of Osaka, we spent pretty much all of yesterday traveling.  The airport in Korea had free wifi access, which was a nice touch.  It is also so much nicer to fly between countries in this part of the world, we were fed, plied with alcohol, and had enough leg room (helps to have the first seats in economy).  We landed in Beijing and took a taxi to our hostel, which took about half an hour and cost about 12 dollars.  Welcome to China! We ate dinner tonight for under 10$, for two of us including beer.  Not to mention the fact that that was in a touristy area. 

Today we went to the Beijing zoo/aquarium, about which Ilana will post shortly. 

Osaka

Hi everyone,
I don't know exactly what we were expecting in Osaka, but we didn't get it. If concrete was soothing, and grey was beautiful, then Osaka would be paradise. Unfortunately, I don't really care for grey or concrete. In other words, the city was rather dreary. The one highlight was "Liberty Osaka" which is a human rights museum. We learned about Japanese minorities and their struggles, as well as their current situations. We were both very glad that we went.

The accomodations were alright, if somewhat small (the picture is no trick). Also, no one speaks any English where we are staying because there is a South American architecture convention in town. We are not staying in a particularly nice part of the city, but then again, we have yet to see a particularly nice part of the city.

We also managed to book our flight to Beijing, which involved dealing with a local travel agency (No. 1 Travel). They were relatively helpful, though we did have to find them, which was difficult without proper directions. However, we believe we got a decent rate.

Food note: I ate shrimp twice, one time it was very good, the other it was simpy edible.

We have booked one night at a hostel in Beijing tomorrow night; we will basically be traveling all day tomorrow, and will get to experience our first city in China in two days!

A few more random thoughts on Japan:

-heated toilet seats = really cool
-courtesy and respect = ditto
-not having to count your change = really nice
-culture and history = actually ancient, not just old
-spending lots of money = not so good
-amount of people who speak English well = not many
-amount of English menus found = many
-Japanese women = stylish and pretty
-pointing and gesturing = invaluable
-running out of things to list =

Monkeying Around Kyoto

Yesterday morning we went to the Iwatayama Monkey Park in Arashiyama to feed the monkeys. What we didn’t expect was the steep hike up the hill to get there. It was quite a walk, especially with a backpack full of water. On our way up, we bumped into a friend from our hostel in Tokyo and we arranged to meet later to see some temples. Once we made it, we were led into the feed room where were the ones in cages and the monkeys were on the outside being fed. We bought peanuts so we could feed them and take lots of pictures. There were some babies which were super adorable. The adults weren’t as cute, or nice for that matter. Mike tried feeding the little baby and the mother swatted his hand so that she could grab the food instead. We didn’t like her so we went to others.

Once we were done with the peanut bag, we went outside to walk around the area. There were monkeys everywhere. We were standing on a mountain with the most beautiful view of Kyoto, completely surrounded. While taking many pictures, I ran out of space on my memory card and had to take out a new one. As I was about to put the bag of SD cards away, my boss’s card reader (for the computer to read memory cards) that he lent me fell out and a monkey stole it and ran away with it. Once it realized that it wasn’t food, it put it down and we got it back (lucky for me!).

As we were leaving, we started seeing a bunch of monkeys crowding together and making lots of noise. When we turned around to look what was going on, we saw the caretakers carrying buckets of food. One of them turned on music *the can can* while the feeding was happening that it looked like a circus. Some of them were fighting and pushing each other out of the way. It was pretty hilarious. When we left, we met up with our friend, grabbed some lunch, and then went to a temple and walked through the gardens. It was a very relaxing afternoon.

For dinner, we met up with our Australian friends from the hostel in Tokyo and looked for a restaurant that is known for its pork cutlets, but failed because we did not have a name, just what was for dinner. After walking around and asking policemen where the restaurant might be, we gave up and settled for another place which happened to be excellent. It was one of those places where you take your shoes off and sit lower to the ground on a bench. Both food and company were wonderful. We couldn’t just end our last night together with dinner. What’s the one thing everyone has to do in Japan (aside from eat sushi)? That’s right. Karaoke. I never thought I would sing in front of people while I was sober but it was a lot of fun. We rocked out to some John Mayer, Bon Jovi, and other artists. When you have a room full of people who can’t sing, these things tend to be hilarious, especially when we’re all singing badly at one time. It was a great way to spend our last night in Kyoto with our friends, but I don’t think I will put anyone through that torture again… unless I had a few drinks in me.

Today, we saw the famous gates south of Kyoto which were really cool. Companies buy these gates to commemorate good things that happen. All the gates were similar and after walking around for half an hour, we left and made our way to Osaka.

Kyoto

Hi everyone!

On our last night in Tokyo, we went to Shibuya crossing. It was a lot like time square, and really something to see. The hustle and bustle of the intersection was catching. The trains in Tokyo stop at midnight, so there are tons of people on them, some rushing to catch the last train home, some just beginning their evening.

The next day, we made our way to Kyoto on the shinkansen (bullet train). It was actually sunny when we arrived! The weather really makes such a difference. Kyoto seems like a warmer and friendlier city than Tokyo. The people seem to be smiling more, and they are less orderly when lining up for the trains (not disorganized of course, this is Japan, just slightly less precise about where they stand).

We are staying at BaKpackers hostel, which is not as nice as the one we stayed at in Tokyo. There are bathrooms every second floor, the showers are tiny and the beds are rather crammed together. However, we will likely be longing for such luxuries further into our trip. We met a couple of very nice guys from LA, who went out with us last night and traveled with us all day today. Last night we went to a blues bar and listened to Japanese people croon English songs to which they clearly did not know the words. The atmosphere was electric though, everyone was having a wonderful time. Listening to a small, punky looking Japanese man sing "route 66" is quite the sight to see!

Today we decided to see Kyoto's famous shrines. We saw quite a number, which were incredibly beautiful. We walked around the city, took the bus, and generally soaked up the sun and the zen. It was quite an awesome day! We have not included the names of the shrines we saw, nor described the animals and plants, but if you would like to see what they look like, please see this link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mnatlas/KyotoShrinesTemplesFloraFauna?feat=directlink
Unfortunately the blog will not allow me to post that many pictures!

The weather is great, the people are great, and this is a wonderful city :)

Look for Ilana's first post tomorrow!

Thanks for reading!