A Program Note
Dear readers, You may have picked up that I schedule posts (about a week) ahead of time. This allows me to enter a new country and get acclimated (financially, physically, …
Dear readers, You may have picked up that I schedule posts (about a week) ahead of time. This allows me to enter a new country and get acclimated (financially, physically, …
Chengdu’s Tibetan neighborhood is located near WuHou Temple, southwest of the city’s center. Despite my plans to head toward Tibet itself, I felt a neighborhood visit would serve as a …
Chinese Spa Around 1 am Charlie, Jody and I arrived at a 24-hour spa. We spent the next four hours swimming around in four pools of varying sizes and temperatures, …
With my train arrangements in order, I joined a couple of British girls at the restaurant in Sim’s for lunch. They were in the first week of a …
” To repeat, ad infinitum, though train tickets are a lot easier to land these days, don’t expect next-day middle-berth hard sleeper miracles for the most popular routes. To …
By my fourth night in Chengdu I realized the days were flittering by and I had yet to begin arrangements for my Tibet Tourist Permit (necessary for all visitors) …
I awoke from my slumber around noon’ish. Charlie’s couch was quite comfortable, and his sleeping bag kept me sufficiently warm. As Charlie had to fly somewhere …
After the bus ride from the airport, we walked to a favorite restaurant of Charlie’s which served pork dumplings. A big bowl arrived for each of us, with …
Upon arrival back in Hong Kong, I booked a one-way flight from Shenzhen to Chengdu online for $80 (tax included). Thank you China Southern Airlines! I left …
I managed another Skype call to Michelle and set up a time to meet her outside a metro stop in her neighborhood. I invited Adam to join us for …
The logistics of taking the train from Hong Kong to the mainland China border (adjacent to the city of Shenzhen) could not have been easier. We passed through immigration …
Highlights – walking around town taking in the sights, sounds, and smells meeting and hanging out with John from Turkey touring the casinos: The Wynn (my favorite), Grand Lisboa, MGM …
Our last day in Macau was rather low key. We ran into some Nepali guys who were vacationing in China. They were quite friendly, and spoke fairly good English between …
Sleeping late almost every day is one of my favorite aspects of vacation. Even when my bed is as hard as a rock, the ability to schedule one’s …
In light of recent events, I am jumping ahead for a moment… Saturday, March 15, 2008 @ 3:15pm I’m sitting on a deck, watching the rain, the sound of electric …
We all slept until at least noon on Sunday. I got up first because my bed had the consistency of concrete. I couldn’t figure out how to heat up the …
I passed up several opportunities to visit Las Vegas with friends as I saved for this trip, so I decided to check out the Eastern version, Macau, an hour’s ferry …
If Kuta in Bali felt like a culture shock at first, then Hong Kong felt like a culture A-bomb. After a day or two, I started to feel comfortable. If …
I returned to the Indian consulate Friday morning to pay my Visa fee and drop off my passport. It was brought to my attention that I could only obtain a …
Day 5 in Hong Kong was dedicated to taking the MTR to Lantau Island, home of Po Lin, a Buddhist monastery containing Tian Tan Buddha statue, the world’s largest outdoor …