Texture (9)

And so for the final installment of your favourite texture adventure (at least from this trip)

Kunming market, China

2 flash hotels in 7 months, and at both we get storms... At least the photos are nice! Ramada, Goa, India

Stairs at the Salvation Army accommodation in Bombay (Mumbai), India

The evidence of reclaimed land. Bombay (Mumbai), India

Street junk. Markets in Bombay (Mumbai), India

Concluding Sunsets

Perhaps it is appropriate that as our trip reaches its twilight days, so should we find ourselves admiring slow red sunsets again...

Looking west from our Houseboat in Kerala (Alleppey)

Another house boat sunset, Appelley, India

Palolem, Goa, India

And one sunrise in recognition of the new beginning that awaits us...

Victoria Gate, Bombay, India

Bond... James Bond

Udaipur. One of the most romantic towns India has to offer. Stunning architecture, a gorgeous man made lake, and of course there's Bond.

In 'Octopussy' James bond immortalised this town and the Island Palace that she (Octopussy) ruled with her all female staff of unspeakable deliciousness.

So how best to re-live this experience? Might I suggest this:

• Seek out the highest building so that you can mix both fine food and views of the Island Palace with your Bond screening


• Be lucky enough to have three different hotels compete for the award of best fireworks display


• Conclude the evening in the passionate embrace of a harem of stunning bond-esq girls

Well I was lucky enough to have two of the above...

Signs to Make You Wonder

They make beer out of children? Jaisalmer, India

Every rock star wants to see their name in lights it seems. Australia's superstars of soft male vocal rock are branching out into the restaurant business in Udaipur, India

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Nightclub in Hangzhou, China

Bangles on display, Jaipur, India

Apparatus to track solar movements, Jaipur, India

Jain Temple, Jaisalmer, India

Ceiling of a Jain Temple (notice the 12 statues), Jaisalmer, India

On the path to Mehrangar Fort, Jodhpur, India

It's Hot!!!

Taj Mahal

Magnificent!

Oh, and a little silly...

Bald Faced in India

Two months is a long time between shaves, but I'd promised myself I wasn't going to shave just anywhere, and the barber's in China were all to formal and enclosed, I mean, who wants walls, glass and fake lighting? I'm still staggered that I couldn't find a street side option anywhere in China, but that's okay - I did as soon as I arrived in Delhi.


The options in Delhi are endless, but this one I particularly liked - maybe you can guess why from the images.

Panda-monium

Yes, bad puns and more bad puns. Poor Ros... She has to put up with me on a daily basis!

A pause in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan Province, provided us with the opportunity to visit the Panda Breeding Research Centre - a fantastically well run facility that houses many pandas (both Giant and the cute Red variety), and has a great track record for breeding pandas successfully in captivity. I think the photos speak for themselves. If you get the chance, you have to visit this place.

Some Chinese propaganda that I endorse

Chinglish (More Silly Signs)

First, I return to an old favourite, the street sign. Good to know that trucks that are on fire are not allowed down this street...

Dali City, China

Though I don't know what the intention of this sign is:

Lucky we were warned about this one. Lijiang, China (it was actually a cobbled road, so perhaps they had the 'antonym' function on when they sent this through Babelfish)

The term 'Chinglish' would be familiar to anyone who's visited China, much as 'Japlish' is to travellers to Japan. As these highlights show, this is a travellers delight - thank you Shanghai underground, for these gems:

This one reads more like a haiku...

Very sound advice

Hmm... Guesses anyone?

Yes, immediately!!!

Nasty Wine

Okay, China isn't famous for wine, but I was still surprised to see this 'Nasty' wine while in a shop the other day...
Okay, so you might have guessed that this is actually short for 'Dynasty', but still the initial impression is lasting! Giving into curiosity, Ros and I decided to try one of their 'Dry Reds' (12% alcohol) - this is the bottle below.
Let me enlarge the text at the bottom for you:
Yes, that's right people "Constantly drinking this wine is good for your health!"

Size Matters

For some reason size matters.

Why is it that I love the small to medium cities, but find it hard to 'find my space' in the bigger cities? If I was a country boy, perhaps there would be some context, but I'm not. I've always lived in cities, generally always travelled to cities, and have never really had much urge to live outside a big metropolis.

After pondering this, especially in China, where I found the contrast so strong, I came up with these possible reasons:

1. Big cities have more pollution - especially in Asia. Bangkok, Shanghai, and other cities with 3+ million people that we visited in China were all shrouded in smog most of the time. When you can look up on a clear day, and the sun is a hazy mess, you're dealing with some serious pollution. (I will make one exception for Hanoi, where the smog actually seemed to increase the ambiance)
2. Nature is planned - I've come to love Sydney's pockets of wildlife, the by-product of an environment dominated by the harour and it's rivers, but not so in the cities I've been visiting in Asia. I've seen gardens so beautiful and meticulous that they can only be compared with Japan's (so I'm not saying that beauty isn't there - it can be in abundance e.g. Hangzhou), just they feel too man made for me to fully relax, as I can, say, in the grasslands of southern China, or a riverside in Laos.
3. People appear to be in transit, rather than living - I love seeing people doing their thing. Selling at the markets or in the street, pulling a horse/goat/buffalo/yak; and displaying their personality through clothes, gestures, and performances. This is, in general, absent from the bigger cities to the casual visitor - that that I lament at times.
4. Where is the tasty food? - An unfortunate outcome of city living is that there are enough people who require food, that it is tolerated when expensive and/or of bland taste. Eating in small cities (anywhere, everywhere in Asia) is usually so amazing that I have often rated my meals as the highlights of the day. Watching someone pull your noodles, slice your chilli's, or steam your buns can't be beaten for a total culinary experience.

So yes, this Blog entry is particularly self indulgent of me (it is my blog after all), but please excuse me, as I want to remember my feelings clearly when I get back and review this trip. I should conclude that it's not that I haven't enjoyed the big cities, I have, it's just that I often leave pining for smaller spaces where I am more in my element...

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Even more texture! From Tiger Leaping Gorge and Danba in China.

Corn drying at Naxi Guesthouse, Tiger Leaping Gorge, China

Bougainvillea at Naxi Guesthouse, Tiger Leaping Gorge, China

Danba, Sichuan Province, China

Danba, Sichuan Province, China

A girly entry... (guest Blogger, Ros!)

Fireman Stu and Jane the ex-intrepid leader managed to get us motivated about more exercise, and while we were in Litang, we wandered up past the Monastery to a hill overlooking the town and mountains beyond. A few yaks and their seedy babysitter for company, plus an incredible array of mountain flowers, clinging to the steep slope, and no doubt hoping not to become yak dinner...

Climbing a Mountain (2)

Maybe we're suckers for punishment? If you haven't checked out the earlier 'Climbing a Mountain' blog, then I suggest you review that one first. This time is was just Ros and I, and no flashpacking. Simply a large hill that starts at about 4,000m above sea level. We thought we'd acclimatised, and therefore it should be a 'walk in the park', but no.



We had to stop every 10 meters for air - that's a lot of stops - but we made it. Few!

This is Litang, with the hill that we climbed behind

The view from half way up, overlooking the Monastary that dominates the town

Hanging out with a local Yak farmer on the peak. We were pleased to see that he was out of breath whe he arrived also

Climbing a Mountian

Everyone we'd spoken travelling in the reverse direction (that is from the high altitude towns of Zhongdian 3,200m above sea level and Litang 4,000m) warned us about bad experiences they had adjusting to altitude, so we were cautious to plan a gradual accent to 4,000m+. By the way 'bad experiences' ranged from vomiting, to 6 days in bed with bad headaches - this is serious stuff.

So we planned 3 days in Zhongdian (Shangri la) to acclimatise, and ended up hanging out with some great people we'd met in Tiger Leaping Gorge (see Ros's Blog for more about this amazing place). One of these new friends, Jane, suggested that we climb a near by mountain. Well why not? A bit of exercise is a great way to test ourselves at 3,200 before rising further, so a plan was hatched.

First, let me show you the mountain - it's the one on the right.

View from a small hill behind the old town

Now let me show you the view from the top.

The small hill where the other photo above was taken is in the far left. Note the Prayer mound and flags to the right

Now the best bit - we 'flashpacked' it! We were mostly Aussies, pining wine, cheese, and great picnics, so we improvised. A few bottles of local wine (quite good actually), some 'to die for' yak cheese, and all the other accouterments you'd expect of a tip top picnic. If I was Leighton I'd say "Yeah, we do alright"

Jane and Stuart in the background (those who suggested the trip). You can't see the wine as it was being drunk!

Dancing in Zhongdian

Zhongdian is otherwise known as Shangri la and for good reason. This is a mixed city (many are in China I'm finding) where old and new sit side by side. The old town is beautiful with a cobbled square as its centrepiece, which is where we spent our evenings. At about 5 pm we'd arrive and feast on delicious yak, veggie and tofu kebabs (about 15c each), then as the sun lowered at about 7:30, the music starts, and the the first of the locals start dancing. Over the next 2 hours the crowd grows with locals the mainstay, supplemented by adventurous travellers here and there. The earnestness of the local involvement during this time was special, and while trying to dance along with them created its share of embarrassing moments, it was a wonderful time where smiles and chuckles were mandatory. Here are some shots we managed to capture...

Early in the eveneing - one cirle only (it grew to about 5 as the night progressed)
Ros getting in on the act
What did I say - it was fun!!!

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It's probably fair to say that I'm getting excited about colour too...

Dragon Pool park, Lijiang, China

Dragon Pool park, Lijiang, China

Dali Old City, China

Entrance to the 'old town', Lijiang, China

Park in Kunming, China

Welcome to China

It's hard to arrive in China without expectations. So much is made of the political situation, commercial growth, environmental crimes, human rights record and the average per capita GDP, that I'm sure most people arrive with an fairly base expectation of how the people live, similar to how we view the South East Asian countries.

I was this way.

Surprising then that I found Kunming in the southern province of Yunnan to be very impressive. As far as a city is concerned, it presents very well. Clean streets, excellent bus network, beautiful gardens, electric scooters everywhere are just some of the highlights. (Yes 'electric scooters'! So quiet. Every city should have these!!!)

Main train station

A not to uncommon sight: well dressed women with umbrellas as parasols

After 3 days in the city, I've left with the impression that many residents enjoy a quality of living similar to smaller Australian cities with the major exception of housing. Yes, housing is very important, but my comment on this is that there were apartments everywhere (it doesn't look like even the rich have free-standing houses), and you had to get quite a bit out of town to get to fairly decrepit looking estates. There were cars everywhere (including Lexus, Audi, VW etc), great clothing (in moderation), and fantastic food. The big difference was the relative pricing e.g. bus ticket 10c, basic lunch 40c, hostel bed $6.

Great parks to. This one even had a jumping castle (although there were kids on it, so I didn't get my chance. Bloody kids)

Just because it's a modern city, doesn't mean there wasn't any references to the past.

Dragon's Gate

The peak of the hills/mountains to the south of Kunming are home to an amazing array of caves, carvings and walkways built by monks about 400 years ago. After a beautiful 2 hour walk to the summit (see the flower photo blog for some images) we encountered the 'Sky Village', the translation of the sign below:

The two photos below give an indication of how the 'sky village' hangs over the picturesque green lake (I didn't ask why it is green):

This is an example of the work they did within the caves.

And these were our friends for the day - met us atop a mountain, shared heir horse-drawn carriage, and then assisted us to understand the site. We were very grateful!
Very impressive!