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| cows at the temple |
I’ve spent most of my days here in Hong Kong wandering and exploring the city and surrounding areas.
This morning, Uncle Tim told me to take the 970 bus all the way around to Stanley (the beach/village/market I wanted to go to). As soon as I came up to the bus stop, the 970 bus pulled up so I just jumped on. Well I stayed on until it stopped at the Cyberport in some sketchy underground bus terminal. The bus turned off and everyone remaining got off. Not going to lie, the place freaked me out. There was no visible way out! So, I sat down on the ground and read. I finally found a bus going to Stanley and eventually made it. It was a beautiful bus ride along the coast.
I shopped in the market and made my way to a side beach. It was one of the most beautiful beaches with little pebbles instead of sand (which was nice, especially because I didn’t have a towel). I couldn’t think about what might be floating around in that water, but the temperature was perfect. The sunset was beautiful- probably because of all the pollutants in the air, but it was still colorful and pretty.
I did catch the right bus home- 973! It was pretty effortless and took me straight home.
tomorrow
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| streets of macau |
Joel left and Uncle Tim, Jin, Skye, and I all went to Macau today. It’s basically China’s Las Vegas. The Venetian there makes more money than all of Las Vegas combined. The place used to belong to Portugal so it has a very European feel in architecture. It was too hot to walk around much. Everyone had umbrellas. Damn the umbrellas! I’m just tall enough that they all hit me right in the face. Of course they don’t’ pay any attention until their umbrellas whack my head. I want to rip them all out of their hands!
Uncle Tim and I tried our hands at gambling and made enough in 2 hands of black jack and slots to pay off lunch. Nice!
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| even busy at night |
Last night’s bed was hard as a rock. We were laying there, trying to get some sleep and I was joking at how the pillow was so hard that it felt like a bag of rice. When I pulled back the Hello Kitty towel at my head, I found a bag of barley. Awesome.
We got up at 5 to fly back to Hong Kong. Mom sent us off with milk tea and handfuls of zampa for the ride.
We said our goodbyes and now we’re on our way to Guanzhou.
Uncle Tim went straight on to Hong Kong to see Jin and Skye and Joel took me to the tea market in Guanzhou. It was amazing. We spent hours shopping and tasting different teas. I had no idea it was so elaborate!
tomorrow
We went to an antique/junk and wood market today. I would love one of their motorized bikes for school next year!
We spent forever in the Tibetan Medicine Museum. A Chinese girl who’s studying in Beijing befriended us and gave us a personal tour of the place. The place is home to the longest Thangka- ½ a mile long1 It was mentally and physically exhausting to follow! So, when we finished, Uncle Tim and I got blind massages. My back really hurts from it. I thought the woman was going to go right through my back. And Uncle Tim looks like he got seriously beaten up- he has huge bruises/welts all over his back.
Tonight we went from a club to bar to restaurant then back to the hotel room only to see the sunrise across the horizon. We laughed, talked, and enjoyed one another’s company. I feel like I’m starting to understand more and more Chinese. I wish I could talk back though.
tomorrow
Today we had to find a new hotel, but there’s hardly any room anywhere between some bicycle race and the fact that we’re foreigners. One place finally agreed but said no as soon as Uncle Tim and I walked in. After some yelling and negotiation and bribery, they let us stay.
We found a lovely non-Chinese cafe (run by local missionaries) that had real, non-powdered coffee and fresh food. Finally something familiar!
We had a lovely day wandering the city. Walked around, stopped in some tea shops, then picked up some fresh fruit at the market for dinner and watched the sunset. A new one today- a monk was trying to discretely take a picture of me so we offered to get him in it too. We laughed- I’ll probably end up in between pictures of Kobe Bryant and some Chinese actress… my dream.
Uncle Tim and I went to a Chinese nightclub for kicks and giggles. Outdated hairstyles, paid dancers, fine American music, state of the art dancing, and the gender separation you’d see at a Middle school dance… oh boy! I just couldn’t take the place seriously!
tomorrow
Had another early morning. We got up to join the monks in the temple at 5:30. I had a nice meditation in the company of the few monks that showed.
Another long day in the car… first to Tongren to see a thangka museum. I guess it was cool but after a while they all look the same. I do admire the artists though. They must devote so much time and concentration- but what else do they have to do after all?
I was unaware of this but supposedly our very original plan was to hike around ending up at the Dalai Lama’s birthplace. It wasn’t until a week before we left that Jimpa changed the itinerary for safety reasons. So today we decided to try to get there by car anyway. The DL’s home and village have been completely taken off all maps. It simply doesn’t exist. He’s been marked as a terrorist in China- thus his departure to India, where he is now.
I was told to disguise myself as a Muslim, trying to wrap my noticeable, blonde hair into a hat. In case we were stopped, we had this whole story of trying to get to Xining via the country roads etc. Jimpa removed is front license plate- we had another story for that too. The road up there was treacherous, hardly suitable to be called a road. Every couple hundred meters we’d have to get out to lighten the car so it could get over these concrete bumps. Then we’d have to run back in so that the villagers hopefully wouldn’t see us.
Jimpa dropped us off to walk the rest of the way up the house and drove around the corner in case we needed a getaway. The 3 of us walked up to the huge wooden doors only to be turned away a woman who we suspect is one of the DL’s cousins. She wouldn’t let us in and she kept trying to say ‘police’ in English. From what I could see, the inside was beautiful. But we reluctantly turned away- it wasn’t worth risking. The landscape there was beautiful! Big, green, steep mountains with fields of a yellow flower (we think sorghum) and farm plots. I never knew that pea plant flowers taste just like peas!
We decided to head directly to Xining instead of camping as planned due to the fact that foreigners are totally not allowed. On our way, Jimpa showed us one of his favorite Rampi places- a dirty stand on the side of the road. I couldn’t watch the woman prepare it because the place was just disgusting, but the food was great! Go figure.
We kept driving through several fields only to get a closer look and realize they were marijuana plants. Right on the side of the road! hahaha
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| sweet mother of ganja! |
Xining is a much prettier place city than Lanzhou.
The first real stop we made here was a sauna/spa. Like I had expected- lots of stares, laughs, naked Chinese women running around. They would all talk at me at once getting progressively louder as if I would be able to understand them if they spoke louder. I couldn’t wait to take my braids out and wash my hair! But, in the shower, I couldn’t tell what was shampoo or body wash or conditioner. It all looked the same. I tried watching other women, but that wasn’t helpful. I ended up putting any and everything all over. I couldn’t get clean enough. After more harassment I was given paper clothes to wear into the big massage/lounge room. Mostly men in there- big men smoking and reclining in these beds watching TV. I met up with Tim and Joel and we got our nails trimmed by a large, very sharp razor. I just couldn’t watch- made me too nervous. They kept asking if my hair was real and if I would sell it to them. I like this place! They think my hair is actually pretty! But, my fear of balding has increased tenfold. I’ve never had so much hair come out between the showers and massages. We did get head massages so hopefully that will stimulate hair growth! My hair if finally blonde again now that it’s washed after a couple weeks. Gross!
