Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Memorable moments (June 14, 2008)

Now that I am ending my trip, I find myself contemplating the experience memory by memory. I have traveled from some of the highest mountains in the world (about 7000 meters, over 20,000 feet), the start of the Himalayas in China, down to the ocean and 30m (about 90 feet) under the sea in Thailand. I have had to wear hat and gloves to bed with a heated blanket and lived for weeks in a bikini. I have met and befriended people from every corner of the world - from Iceland to Argentina, Holland to Australia, China to Italy, Canada to Vietnam, and so much more. I have laughed really hard, cried a little, drank too much (once or twice), and learned to eat healthy (when not stuffing my face with delicious, strange street food). I have lived with just one small rollypack, grown accustomed to cold showers and squat toilets, and have lived through several rounds of attacks of killer invisible sea/sand fleas (to which I have an apparent allergy). I have so much I want to write and remember, but of course there are some places and events that stand out more than others. This list is my completely biased opinion from my own experiences.

Best City - Hong Kong - the only big city in Asia I would honestly love to live in - it’s like NY on steroids, but clean and ridiculously well-organized. impossible to get lost and 10 minutes from amazing nature.

Best village - the Khamu village about 5 hours walk from Luang Namtha, Laos. Entirely removed from civilization, filled with children playing, old people sitting on porches, animals, a simple school, pretty little river, surrounded by jungle and rice fields, complete with 3 shamans and a village chief.

Most surprising place - China. Surpassed all my expectations ... well, I was expecting more like India and found a country (seemingly) more developed than the US. Certainly cleaner, more organized and much safer than Latin America. It’s true, the Chinese are not so great at English, but they are much more friendly than I ever imagined.

Most picturesque hike - Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yunnan, China - imagine a raging river slicing through two mountains that go up to 18,000 feet on either side. Hiking along green fields with small Tibetan-inspired wooden guest houses along the 3-day trek. Breathtaking.

Most relaxed place - this is a tie between Luang Prabang, Laos and Koh Phangan, Thailand. Both Buddhist, filled with naturally growing flowers and tropical trees, hot weather and smiling locals. Though Luang Prabang has some rivers and no ocean, and the Thais on the islands are Rastafarian hippies. (same-same, but different)

My personal paradise - Tah Toh Lagoon bungalows on Koh Tao, Thailand. (see Paradise blog for more details)

Best experience on a moving vehicle - the “Slow Boat” ride down the Mekong in Laos. Imagine 50 young, interesting travelers, one big boat, 2 10-hour days with a strange, small village stop in-between. As a social butterfly, this was like a big garden filled with strange new flowers to meet, floating slowly down the muddy river surrounded by green jungle

Best friend - while I have made so many great friends, this is a shout-out to Helena, my favorite travel buddy - from jungle treks to beach bungalows, rivers to oceans, breakfast to dinner ... and dessert! Miss ya already.

Best ruins - Well, this has to go to Angkor, in Cambodia, but I also want to give honorable mention to the Great Wall of China. Two completely cannot-miss sights - but with conditions. You MUST bicycle around Angkor to avoid the groups and hear the buzz of the jungle surrounding the sunlit ruins in the early morning and evening light. It is magical.
And the Great Wall must be explored via a long hike at Jinshaling-Simatai, about 4-5 hours from Beijing.

Most romantic spot - a chinese-style wooden tea-house set somewhere up in the hills, among a forest with softly falling rain, sitting on silk pillows with doll-seized teacups and exotic, sweet tea ...

Most thrilling experience - cruising through the jungle over 60 meters above the ground on zip wires in the Gibbon Experience. Sleeping in isolated tree houses high up in the canopy and hearing the eerie sound of gibbons singing in the dawn hours after hiking through the dark

Best Coffee Shop - (what? in Asia? you ask ... yes, the French did colonize the area for many years and left a few of their refined habits behind) Joma Cafe and Bakery, in Luang Prabang and Vientene, Laos. Delicious, cozy, classy, clean and refreshing.

Best food - I ate great food everywhere. but to name a single country, I have to say China. Really all over had great food - from street-food to fancy restaurants (okay, I didn’t go to too many of those, but I can imagine), the food was incredible, inventive, with so many flavors and spices you just want to eat your fingers, only you cant, because you are too full. (I think I gained 10 pounds.)

Best fruit shakes - the islands in Thailand - which I had to live off of (no sugar, please!) to lose those China pounds, that and swimming an hour everyday

Best travel group - my Yunnan travel buddies - cant remember laughing so hard and eating so well! (and hiking and cursing so much)

Best motorcycle ride - Seam Reap, Cambodia, getting covered in dust and lost with my young guide telling me “dirt get in my eye, no can see!” just as I am thanking the lord I don’t have to keep my eyes open because I am not driving.

Best - and worst - bike ride - Dali, China - seeing the most amazing villages filled with cute chinese kids shouting hello, fields filled with workers toiling away by hand, surrounded by a sparkling lake and snow-capped mountains. And worst because the seat hurt from the moment I sat down, and I had to sacrifice a page out of my new book to sit on to give my poor bruised bum some rest. painful.

Best lesson learned - complaining does no good. (some of you might find this amusing coming from me, I know ... ) When traveling alone, there is no one to complain to. And no one to help better or change the situation but yourself. I have learned that if I am unhappy, I have to help myself get happy again, because it really sucks being stuck with an unhappy me. (my painful bike ride was a perfect example ... grin and bear it, baby.)

Thing I missed most - dancing and good music. I am pretty sure all foreigners traveling in Asia will concur ... this part of the world is NOT known for their music or their dancing. I have never heard such awful music as I have been subjected to for hours on buses and restaurants. And I have never seen such pitiful excuses for dancing. I am sorry, but even the “traditional dance performances” that I actually paid money to see in every country I visited were pretty pathetic. I think Latin American and Africa win out on this one.

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