Monday, April 24, 2000 I arrived in Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City to a thunderstorm but by the time I checked into my hotel, the sun had come out and it was swelteringly hot ? the water had created a sauna effect. My guide took me to visit the Museum of Vietnamese History where […]
Wednesday, April 19, 2000 Western culture has penetrated Bangkok with a vengeance. Everything from Blockbuster videos to Boots the chemist is here (Ernst in Phuket said he was so grateful when Boots arrived because he could finally buy bubble bath). I confess that I was ecstatic to see a Starbucks and immediately went in to […]
Friday/Saturday, April 14/15 I was equally sorry to leave the group and looking forward to having some time on my own and a break from constant sight-seeing and Chinese food. Everyone says you meet people when you travel alone. I hope this is true because otherwise it’s going to be a lonely couple of months. […]
Wed-Fri, April 12-14 As we leave the ship for the flight to Shanghai which is the tour\’s last stop, I notice everyone starting to make the mental switch for going home. I am looking forward to the beach in Thailand and some time to myself. People are talking about flights home, when they will next […]
Chongqing is located at the confluence of the Yangtzi and Jialing rivers. In the evening, we boarded the East Queen Cruise Ship waiting for us on the Yangtzi River. It is the most luxurious ship. Our cabins are on the 2nd floor with picture windows, TV, mini-bar, fluffy bathrobes and mini bathrooms. The top floor […]
Sunday, April 9 This morning, we flew from Lijiang to Chongqing (via Kunming). All flights were on time so we arrived in time for a Sichuan lunch. Everywhere we go we have been enjoying enormous banquets featuring local specialities. Sichuan food is the spiciest of all Chinese food. Today’s chicken dish was
Lijiang is another valley city surrounded by high mountains. It’s a 4 hour drive from Dali through the mountains and fields. Lijiang is the poorest area we’ve been to so far. The land surrounding the town is of poorer quality than in Dali. There are just over 1.8 million people in the area, 57% of […]
Thursday, April 6 Dali is a valley about 5,500 ft high surrounded by snow-capped mountains. It is the center of the Bai people who are related to the Thais and have a culture going back about 3000 years. The old town is mainly a pedestrian zone full of tourist shops. The local specialty is marble […]
April 4-5 Travel in China is an inexact science. Flights leave when they can, not when they?re scheduled. We spent 4 hours waiting for our plane to arrive in Kunming. The airport is fairly basic but we were getting used to unpredictable flights. We?re heading for a minority area of China. 93% of the population […]
April 2-3 In contrast to Beijing’s modern world city feel, Xian is more what I expected China to be like. Starting at the very chaotic airport which was overcrowded, inefficient and equipped with only stand-up Chinese toilets where balance is crucial! After finally getting all the bags, the ride into the city was in a […]