The waiting game..

So after much debate, and consideration we've decided to try our best to get into Tibet. We've picked a 13 day tour of Tibet that includes trips out of Lhasa to Shigatse (3 days) and to Lake Namtsho (2 days). We've decided not to go to Everest base camp on this trip due to cost and the sensitivity of the issue. We find out tomorrow if our permit is approved, and it if is we leave on Saturday the 12th to Tibet. The price is steep but so is the mountains that circle the Tibetian plateau, as you need to be part of a guided tour to get the correct permits. Which means whenever we leave Lhasa we require a guide and truck to take us anyone. Even still I am becoming prematurally excited.

So yesterday, today, and tomorrow we wander the streets around our hostel, play ping-pong, fight off homesickness (does anyone know some treatment options?) surf the slow internet and wait, and wait... So in conclusion we are somewhat well rested (only somewhat due to the 24-7 construction taking place next door, I've finished my book, and just passing the hours until we hopefully get to spring into action and fly off to Lhasa on Saturday morning.

Tyson and Sara

Chengdu and Panda Bears

Bamboo is tasty...


I'm camera shy...


Sara's trip is now complete..



Hello,



So we're in Chengdu now and yesterday we couldn't get into our blog for whatever reason, but we're in now. Chengdu is a large city filled with smog and new construction but everything here is quieter and slower, and maybe even less polluted than in Beijing. Even still Beijing was clearer with it's army of street and sidewalk sweepers (not only the vechiles but the people too). Yesterday we had quite the meal for dinner, Sara didn't really enjoy it. We ended up in this resturant in the tourist old part of town. The menu had english subtitles and the choices included everything under the sun, and had pictures. Sara was almost sick at this point and was not in a happy mood. We ordered steamed vegetables and fried beef. All meat in the Schuian (sp?) province is spicy, and this was no different. I really enjoyed the vegetables, but Sara was sure I was going to get sick. The tea was also delicious, and agian Sara thought I was going to get sick. Sara waited till when I was almost done eating when the rice was brought out. You see here in China rice is considered a filler to be served at the end of the meal. Yesterday evening I was feeling a little bit sore in the tummy area, but I ended up being fine. It was really nice to read all the emails we recieved last night from people.

Today we got up and at 7:45 left for the Chengdu Panda Research Center. I've never seen Sara so excited to get out of bed in the morning, not ever, and never at that time in the morning. The research center is only 8 kilometers outside of town, and so we arrived shortly after it opened at 8am. We first went to an enclosure that held 4 young adult males. One was definitely a trouble maker, going around posing for the cameras, pushing over some of the others, and temperatorly waking up the one who was asleep. After about 20 minutes there it was off to the baby panada area. In that enclosure there was 8 panda cubs who were approximately 9 months old. All pandas are born around the same time as pandas only ovulate once a year. They were very cute, following around the keepers with the food, climbing around, falling down, and play fighting. And eating and sleeping which is almost exclusively what they do. They say 16 hours a day they spend eating. They were very cute and we got a few great shots out of the hundreds taken. We couldn't figure out how to hold a baby panda, but we found where you can touch a 1.5 year old panda, and Sara jumped up and down many times. She was very excited, and I think she enjoyed the experience. Yeah i was excited... except just so you know Panda hair is not soft it is bristly like a brush. (sara) After that we went and saw the red pandas, which was not what we expected. They look like raccons, but after spending a couple of hours watching giant pandas you start to notice the similarities, such as how they walk and eat. It was a nice facility over all and the crowds were not bad. We decided to take the afternoon off, while I finished my book. We were also able to make our way successfully through a large store that housed all the goods you would find at Wal-mart. Although there are seperate checkout for the fruit and veges where the price is affixed for the final cashier.

About Tibet. What we are hearing now is that you do need a group permit with a guide attached to go into Tibet. However you do not need a guide while in and around Lhasa. So what we are going to look into tomorrow is whether we can go to Lhasa for a while, do some day hikes around there and then do a short side trip with a guide so that we have a guided permit, although the itinerary needs to be pretty set. Wish us good luck.

Tyson and Sara

Summer Palaces, Beauty Salons, & Souveniers

The long corridor at the Summer Palace (Sara was feeling artsy and took lots of pictures)


The octogon temple


Empresses temple to worship

Same octogon temple

Sara on the 17 gate bridge, beside a cute lion!

Hello everyone,

This is our last night in Beijing, oh where has the time gone. I know, long walks around old imperial courtyards in the blistering heat. Today I had a heat headache when I woke up and it didn't go anywhere all day, but the Summer Palace was on the agenda, and so away we went. The guide book said that you could take bus no. 808 directly from Quinen (spelling may be wrong) straight to the summer palace. We saw a number of 808 buses, but couldn't find the stop. So we decided to take the subway instead. A transfer and a taxi later we were there. I agree with Sara, that the summer palace was much nicer than the forbidden city. Spread out around a lake on a hillside were the same beautiful temples and palaces. I was surprised to see a number of temples dedicated to Bhoddisatva, I guess I don't know my history all that well. Some artifacts that were on display were 3000 years old, and while not quite as intricate as some of the newer pieces, were amazing due to their age and being cast out of bronze. The site as a whole was less crowded, and there was places to escape the crowds and the sun. As well there was a nice breeze coming off the water. After many hours of strolling around the grounds we headed home. Again we saw a number 808 bus, but agian no 808 stop, and we definetly looked for one (yes i can say we SURE did!!!! in the blistering heat.. from sara) So the taxi and metro would have to do. On the way from the metro to the hostel we did a little shopping. All the street venders have been pushing this metallic magnet things that they flip in the air and sound like a cricket. I wanted some, and paid 3 times what Sara paid for her's 5 minutes later. Sara also learned how to use them much quicker than me, and the noise that it makes is too much for a hotel room. I'm thinking of forgetting them here tomorrow already. Or maybe I'll pick up a couple more to give to small childern in Canada whose parents don't email us (Jen, Melissa this is directed at you). Finally after dinner we went to the upstairs of a beauty salon. Which can only mean one thing.... massages. Sara had a foot massage, while I also had a foot massage. After walking around so much these past days, did it ever feel amazing. Yep that is right we are living the high life here in Beijijng!!! We probably would have had more massaged but we didn't have enough cash with us. I think they just wanted to see if Tyson's body was as hairy as his legs!! They were buggin him in Chinese about it.. i chuckled! Anyways tomorrow we are off to Chengdu, to see some Panda bears (I have been waiting for this FOREVER... panda bear here I come!!! from sara), go to the Opera,, go to some tea houses and see what the situation is in Lhasa and Tibet (which Tyson has been waiting for for a much longer forever).
Take care,

Tyson and Sara

The Forbidden Palace not so Forbidden!!

In China Children do not wear diapers like they do at home, how convienent to be able to just squat whith out pulling down your pants and holding them up above your ankles.. its harder than some of you think.. trust me! This is a little girl enjoying her day at the Forbidden Palace!

Bronze Dragon at the Forbidden Palace. Dragons are everywhere... but I already forget what they signify!

This is a little artistic photo of one of the places in the Forbidden Palace!

I would upload more photos but it takes so long and the internet is not as fast as at home!

Good Evening,

Today we went to the forbidden palace. It was packed!! I guess it does not help that it is a Chinese holiday. The palace in itself was huge! It has 8,000 rooms and it took us a long time to get around. While impressing at the start, by the end I was a little bored. I guess I had to start putting it into retrospect of the history of it and how no one could enter the palace except the emperor and his people, and not that long ago where the Chinese people allowed to get in and see what this palace was like.

Tonight we are very tired, and it is just Sara posting this because Tyson is already in bed. We have been going hard for the last couple of days trying to fit in all the sight seeing before we leave Beijing. Tomorrow is our last full day.

We got some not so good news the other day about Tibet. Apparantly some Americans went to Everest Base camp and protested and burnt a chinese flag while holding free tibet flags in the air. This has caused all Independant travelling to be cancelled due to these protests. Which means that if Tyson and I want any hope of getting into Tibet we will have to join a tour group and it is very expensive for they have also raised the prices of that. It seems that the Chinese Government is not impressed with Westerners and they have put military and police everywhere to enusre that people are only staying in Lhasa where they can be closely watched. This will probably mean we will have to rearrange our intineary. We will know more when we get to Chengdu on Monday.

Thats all for now!! I am tired!

Lates,
Sara:) and Tyson although he is sleeping .

The "Secret" Great Wall of China

Kids in the village where we had lunch


Great Wall



Great wall in the other direction, just turn around and it goes on..

Our guide in one of the outposts (the one in the second picture)

Wow you guys and girls are getting spoiled with us posting everyday. But we like doing it because we like sharing with you what we are up too and its so nice to open emails and comments from home, so keep them coming :).

Today was an early morning up at 6:45 am in order to get ready for our travel and hike up the great wall of china. We had no idea what to expect coming into this hike, but it was absolutely amazing. To see the scenary, to be the only tourists on the wall, and to have a real local guide from a small village who did not speak a word of english but who was so kind in his own way. As usual never a dull moment in Beijing, the mini bus ride up to the secret wall was about 3 hours and that in itself is an adventure. We went through the city of beijing, saw the tourist version of the great wall which is in Badling, and let me tell you it was again from what we could see wall to wall people climbing this wall. We were so glad that we chose to do secret version of the wall.

The hike itself was about 4 hours long and it definently made us work. But it was well worth it, it was like i already said amazing, stunning, vibrant, and historical. The only disappointing thing was when we first reached the first outpost we were so excited to go inside and look around and take pictures but we were welcomed by a man who was trying to sell goods, like a tee shirt that said "I climbed the great wall", while i was a little interested to buy it, i realized that, that is not what this journey was about.. and i withdrew from evening attempting to bargin the man.

I agree with everything Sara has said so far about the day. My only regret about the day is that I couldn't keep going. There is so much wall, and all we got was three outposts, and a couple of kilometers of wall. Oh well. After returning to the village we were treated to a great meal prepared at a little guest house of sorts. Delicious, I tried a little of everything and nothing tasted bad, while Sara had about half of the stuff. All I can say about what we saw today, was that I hope some of the pictures show a glimps of the size and scale of the Great Wall of China.

Laters, Tyson and Sara

Tian'anmen Square, Tiantan Park (Temple of Heaven), and Free Public Exercise?

Click on the pictures to see them full size.

The Great Hall of the People from Tian'anmen Square

A little patrol, near Tian'anmen Gate

Tyson beside a side building at the Temple of Heaven

Sara doing a little post dinner workout, all that fat in rice you know.

A friendly game of table tennis

Greetings all,

Well today was an packed full day of adventure. This morning we both could not sleep past 5:00 am due to the huge time difference between here and home. We were also awaken by what we think was the Chinese national anthem that is used for the flag ceremony at Tian'anmen square that happens every day at dawn and dusk. So we decided to get up and go and see what Beijing was like in the early morning. It was, well it was pretty calm, still relatively busy but nothing compared to what we saw at 9:00 am at Tian'anmen square. At 7:30 am it was good, got good pictures and it was nice to walk around, then we decided to find some breakfast and got back there around 9:00 and the place was a zoo!!!!!

As most of you will know Tian'anmen square is the worlds biggest central square. It was pretty massive. We did not make it to the Forbidden palace yet or the museum we will save that for another day.

The temple of heaven was pretty nice, not as nice as we would have liked but it was a nice walk in the 30 plus weather.. haha.. i think we got a little sun burned. (I guess i should apologize when i saw "we" i mean me... and maybe Tyson but i shouldn't speak for the both of us). Anyways by far the best thing of the day was when we were coming home from dinner (mmm rice!!) we stopped by this what I thought was a playground, so we went in because i wanted to play.. but what we found out was that it was a public free exercise facility. It was amazing.. it had elliptical , bikes, and chest press that were made from metal.. it was super cool and free.. i think that is why the Chinese are so skinny, because they have installed such a great system of free exercise in the middle of the city.. I think i might bring this idea home to Canada. It was super cool, and Tyson just made a good point, it would be hard to do this in minus 20 weather.. .. but it was still really neat..

Well that is all i have to say for now, things are going good, still tired from the jet leg but getting a little better. Tomorrow we are off to do the "secret wall tour" (I know matt your saying , "tour"! haha.. but its the part of the wall that is not restored and is suppose to be way better then going to the normal restored part). Anyways wish us luck.

What I noticed today about Beijing:
1) Roasted Duck does not look that bad.. I might even try it before I leave..
2) Rickshaw drivers try to rip you off
3) Little chinese kids are cute!
4) The place is surprisingly clean.. like really the streets are so clean!
Thats all for now.
Lates,
Sara:)

Now for Tyson's view of the day's events. It was really nice and relaxed first thing in the morning. It was funny at that time to see walkways tapped off for one way foot traffic only, but it made much more sense later. Tian'anmen square while impressive was smaller than I had thought it would be. The great hall of the people was more impressive on the outside than the inside. Everyone in a tour group wears the same colored hats and follow the leader with some distinctive flag that they carry. Also if you want to see a 60 year old chinese woman run, go into the underground cross walks when the police decide to clear out the street vendors. While very crowded, things move in a very orderly fashion, and a line up that stretches over half a block you'll move through and a brisk stroll. The heavenly temple was interesting, and well put together for not using any nails. The painting and architecture was well done, but not as impressive as Buddist temples. Near the end of the temple I started to feel the effect of overheating, so dinner was a nice stop. Fried beef and rice with a large coke. My dad would love the area of town we are in, Dazhalan Lu street, is one of the last remaining areas of the city that is still full of narrow streets and back alleys, with small independent shops everywhere. Great place to get lost. It is sad that everywhere we look these old subdivisions are being torn down brick by brick to make way for modern high rises. The city is nice to walk around with friendly people who seem very uninterested in my curiosity. Only a few more days in Beijing and we already have more things that we want to do than we have days for, but that's okay either we'll have to return, or something.

Tyson

Safe and Sound in China

Welcome to China !




Ha.. funny story.. click on the photo to make it large enough to read, hopefully. Anyways we were on the plane and we came accross this comic and it was too funny not to post.. but dont worry we're safe, we're SAFE!!!



Well it is currently 6pm here, which translates into 4am there, and with little more than a short nap or two on the plane we've arrived with no hickups, it was almost too easy... hehe. The airplane food I think has gotten worse, and 8 month old childern cry, well some of them do anyways. Dreamgirls, not a good movie, Erogen wasn't either for that matter. Anyways Chinese customs was a breeze, the guy with our sign was waiting right where he said he would be, and bam, we're at the hostel. Driving through Beijing was amazing. Everywhere I looked they were taking down beautiful brick building and building 20+ story office and condo buildings. After checking in we walked through some market streets to a gate near Tiamen square, I'll figure out what one it is tomorrow. It took a minute or two, or 15 to get use to the market atmosphere again, but after that, it was a great walk. I kept wanting to duck down alleyways, but I'll leave that till tomorrow. The one thing that sums up Beijing in the 20 minutes I've spent in it, is clean. For a city the that houses the population of half of Canada, this place on the streets is cleaner than the inside of Canadian malls. So that is what I've seen, but I'll let Sara tell her point of view now.

Later, Tyson

Ha.. funny man that Tyson was.. he is right about a few things, the airplane ride was good, the food was mediocore but the crying babies were a little cute.. It has been a total of 20 hours travelling time and i feel like a walking zombie, but Tyson won't let me go to bed untill 8pm Beijing time.. !!!! Umm well since i have never been to a place like this the first thing that i noticed was well there is no seat belts in the back of cars.. Don't worry mom they can sure drive through the narrowest streets in town and not hit anything, im sure i would have hit like 10 people, a wall, and a roasting duck along the way! But other than that we are safe and sound.
Here are a few things that I have noticed about Beijing so far
1) If you do not get out of the way of a honking moving vehicle/rickshaw your dead! See in Canada we use our horns to tell someone to F--- off! but in beijing its a survival tool!

2) Water is 25 cents.. yah!

3) They listen to 90's music, oh yeah TLC!!!

4) Anything you want you can get in this city! (the 2 blocks that we walked, i almost bought a pet turtle.. haha)

5) ITS HOT OUT!!!! plus 28 with humidity... toasty!

6) There are green bananas mom just the way you like them!!

That is all i have to say for now, im soo tired..

Thanks for all of you who emailed us and commented it was GREAT to hear from people from home!

Look forward to writing more tomorrow!

Love Sara:)













PS: More Pictures to come, the internet connection is going really slow so tomorow we will try again.