After Xi?an I headed West again. Another sleeper train took me to Lanzhou, the largest city in the Gansu Province, where I immediately caught a six hour bus to a small mountain town called Xiahe. The town has a large Tibetan influence because of the Buddhist Temple founded there which has a famous pilgrim?s walk…
I originally wanted to travel from Beijing to Pingyao, a small city with original city walls, but all of the trains were full. October 1st–7th is China?s national holiday, a time when everyone in the country has the week off work. Because everyone wants to travel at once there is a tremendous shortage of tickets…
A group of us piled into a tiny minibus at 7am for the four-hour ride to the Simatai section of the great wall. The rest of the group were dropped off at a different site and walked 10k on the wall to reach Simatai. I was content with walking the area around Simatai and not…
Although I stayed sick for a few days I pressed on to the main tourist attractions in Beijing. I decided to pay Chairman Mao a visit first mainly to see how the Chinese tourists react to him. Apparently the unofficial tagline here regarding Mao is that he was 70% right and 30% wrong. Before you…
China?s not working out real well for me so far. My first full day here was spent at the Temple of Heaven Park where I tried to understand why Coke ?light? costs more than Coke. I drew a bit and met a nice older German couple who invited me to visit them in Hamburg. I…
My flight from Tokyo to Beijing was uneventful. I used my last 360Y to buy a very large bag of M&Ms. ANA (All Nippon) has a camera mounted under the plane?s nose so you can see the land approaching during you descent. I?m sure I haven?t seen that on any American or European airlines. I…
Rather than head down to Hiroshima I decided to go to Takayama after Kyoto. After switching from the wonderful Shinkansen (bullet train) in Nagoya I took a small ?express? train into the mountains. The ride was very pretty but the mountains aren?t as uninhabited as you would think. The Japanese have to use every bit…
As some of you know, I try to take a photograph of myself doing a cartwheel in each city I travel to. I’ve amassed a good collection so far–in front of the Eiffel Tower, on top of Machu Picchu, in front of the Statue of Liberty… but this trip I considered stopping the tradition. The…
*This* is the reason I?ve always wanted to come to Japan. It wasn?t the geishas, the samurai or the ancient temples–it was the fashion. I?m not sure that you could call the cosplay kids fashion, it seems like they?re just teenagers that want some attention. In any case I think they?re wonderful, I would have…
I made a day trip from to Tokyo to a smaller town called Nikko. It is very famous for it?s well-preserved temples. Taking the Shikansen train (bullet train) was great because it goes so fast. I normally wouldn?t travel by the expensive train but I bought a Japan Rail Pass before I left home and…
Japan has turned out to be a very easy place to travel in. Most signs are also written in English so transportation is no problem. Tokyo is an interesting place. I don?t feel overwhelmed by it at all. There are a lot of people, but I?ve seen worse. Even the process when conductors pushed people…
My parents had a small going away dinner for me with my closest relatives. It was good to see them before I leave—all of my cousin?s kids will be so grown up when I get back. Tomorrow is my last day to get things together and pack. I feel like there?s so much to do…
After 5 business days of waiting I was given my Chinese visa. I’m glad I was given 60 days instead of the typical 30, it even cost the same amount—$50. The pick up process was a lot smoother than last week and only took a few minutes. Now I have to figure out where I’m…
I wasn?t sure what to expect when applying for my visa at the Chinese consulate in Chicago yesterday. I had imagined a large room with busy workers at large wood desks straight out of a 1940?s noir movie. If not that, I at least expected to sit down and talk with someone about where I…
I just finished up a conversational Chinese class at my local junior college. The decision between French and Chinese was hard to make but I decided that China would be more difficult to travel in without knowing the language than certain the parts of Africa that favor French. The course was 8 weeks long and…
With the end of July quickly approaching I have started nailing down travel plans and preparing for my trip. I received my airline tickets from Chicago to Tokyo (with a layover in L.A.) and Tokyo to Beijing. That will be one very long day, the trip from L.A. to Tokyo is over 11 hours. I…
I am looking for a camera that takes good pictures at 5 megapixels, has manual controls and is relatively compact. The smallest cameras out there right now are almost too small. I have seen increased camera shake and poorer quality results as cameras get smaller. I do want a small camera, but most digitals are…
I finally got the courage to call a few travel agencies for prices for Chicago> Tokyo> Beijing Chicago> Tokyo … Osaka> Beijing. So far, the lowest price I’ve been quoted is $850 ( for the first route) but I would have to get a train back to Tokyo (from Kyoto) which would add to the…
I have been trying out cameras lately. I decided that the smallest one I was looking at (Canon s500) is too small and has stupid buttons. If my tiny hands can’t navigate them then who’s can? I hadn’t seen the Sony DSC-V1 yet and I really like it. I can’t find a store that has…
I made a call to a travel clinic to get prices for shots and an evaluation. The norm appears to be $35 for the consultation. I’m going to get price lists from a few places but I will probably have to get a Mumps/Meales/Rubella shot and a Meningitis update. I know they’re going to push…