Beijing Nights

Beijing also had some great nightlife to match it's daytime attractions. When traveling solo nightlife really depends on who you meet up with and in Beijing I was fortunate to go out with some friends of a friend one night and local couchsurfers for two others.  

The night out with friends of a friend (thanks Weichen and Kate) started off at a tiny whiskey bar called Amilal run by a very cool Mongolian.  A few whiskeys later we strolled down Nanluoguxiang, a very trendy hutong full of tiny cafes, craft stores, bars, and gelato places.  We stopped at ____ bar for a few more drinks before heading over to a late night Dim Sum meal where I tried chicken feet for the first time!  I thought they tasted pretty good, though the tastiness:bone ratio was a bit high for my liking.

Amilal interior (thebeijinger.com) 

Another night out I met with a big group of couchurfers for one of their weekly meetups (the site offers much more than just a couch to crash on).  The one I went to in Beijing had a great mix of locals, local expats, and passing travelers.  We went to Haidilao, a Sichuan style hotpot restaurant where small groups sit around two big pots of broth and drop in various vegetables, noodles, meats, etc. to enjoy.  This meal was followed by a trip to a nearby bar called the Brick for further merriment before calling it a night.  Thanks Lydia! 

Couchsurfers at Haidilao

I met up with some of the same couchsurfers for drinks the next night as well, this time in the Goulou Daijie neighborhood.  I enjoyed some good drinks and conversation on a rooftop bar and also had a chance to walk around the Houhai lake area.

Houhai lake nightlife

Beijing Days

My first few hours in Beijing felt like entering a vaguely post-apocalyptic world.  The sun was blotted out by a thick haze of smog, the train from the airport broadcast a weirdly distorted replay of a women's indoor volleyball match, and the ramshackle alley in which I found my hostel was full of animals, garbage and electric bicycles.  Fortunately this impression quickly passed and I was soon learning to make dumplings at the hostel's dumpling party that night.  I spent each of the next four days visiting one of Beijing's genuinely impressive tourist attractions.

1.  The Forbidden City - I spent four hours wandering around this massive palace complex listening to my audioguide while weaving in and out of hordes of toursits.  I found the whole place impressive more for it's sheer enormity than any other particular aspect.  Even after four hours I had barely visited half of the 'sites' contained within.

2.  The 798 Art District - A former industrial park transformed into a collection of art galleries and cafes.  I feel entirely unqualified to comment on the artwork, but I definitely dug the in-progress reclamation of a massive industrial facility for purposes of artfun. 

                              

 3.  Summer Palace - Like the Forbidden palace, but with a big lake in the middle, the world's longest corridor (pictured), and a giant paddle boat made of stone!

4.  The Great Wall - Jinshalong section - My favorite site in Beijing.  It felt endless, was pleasntly untouristed, and was tremendous fun to hike along.  Only wish I could have spent more time there.

 This last photo was taken at ice cream and/or beer o'clock.  Sadly neither was available at the time.

Seoul

Airfare pricing rarely makes much sense.  The cheapest route I found from Tokyo to Beijing had me stopping in Seoul, South Korea.  Not having a real itinerary I decided to spend a few days exploring the city before carrying on to China.

I was rewarded by a splendid ancient palace and gardens, an abundance of delicious grilled meats (yay Korean bbq!) and more awesome cafes than I could shake a metal chopstick at.  My time in Seoul was generally pretty lazy, just walking and eating, but I did manage to participate in my first ever cooking class.  Daniel and Shawn of Ongo taught us how to make Dak Galbi and two other dishes (recipes here).  They all turned out pretty well, though I was so busy cooking/eating I forgot to take any photos...so it goes.

And now for some assorted photos of Seoul:

 A typical meal

Awesome teahouse where I drank five-flavored tea (thanks Jean for the recommendation!)

Gwangjong (sp?) night market where I had some Bin-dae-tok

my trip to Japan as told by another

My friend Sam, with whom I traveled in Japan for three weeks, has written a far better account of our trip than I will ever be able to produce. So to avoid wasting precious internet cafe minutes (and assuage guilt over not posting more) I've provided a link to her blog below:

http://caeterafama.tumblr.com/post/884933579/tokyo-weekend-tsukiji-fish-market

Our trip to Japan should begin with a post titled "Tokyo Weekend: Tsukiji Fish Market" written on July 31st. As I write this, it should be close to the top of the page, but this may change as time passes and tumblr updates (if so just go by the dates...).

Also, a huge thanks to Leo for providing many amazing recommendations on what to (not) do while in Japan.

Will write more soon!

Fuji-san

After a few days in Tokyo we left the city to spend a night climbing up Mt. Fuji.  We were lucky and caught a break in the rain for the six-hour uphill hike.  We started on the trail around 10pm.  It began as a wide path through a pine forest, but quickly gave way to a series of switchbacks up a rocky volanic surface.  The ascent was punctuated by numerous guesthouses along the trail, each containing a large group of tourists (mostly locals) preparing to make the trek.

As we neared the summit a queue actually formed and our pace slowed to a crawl.

 We arrived at the summit a very slow hour later.

Just in time to be greeted by views of a sunrise over the clouds.

 After pausing to drink coffee and eat some bananas we also toured the top of the crater.

The trip down was much faster.

It began raining the minute we stepped onto our bus back to Tokyo.

Tokyo

My sister, Laura, and I walked all over Tokyo.  It's a sprawling mega-city with an impressive mix of the past, the future and some delicious food.  In a single day we saw the humanoid robot, Asimo (he can run, kick a soccer ball, and tell jokes in Japanese)

Walked through an emperor's 13th century duck hunting garden

Strolled aroud Ginza (Japan's 5th avenue?)

Visited tokyo's anime/electronic city of Akihabara

And finished the day by ordering some delicious soba (+fried chicken) from a vending machine.

On conversation in rural El Salvador

[this post was written in February, 2008]

On our way back down from the mountain,

after buying a chicken and getting some ice pops,

we stopped at Mike's host mother's house.

The four of us sat down and waited as Mike talked with Mercedes, the head of the household. Each exchange of words was followed by a long silence. I somewhat anxiously wondered if we were intruding. I would have fidgeted but for fear of startling the chicken tucked under my arm. Dogs lolled about. People came and went. Huge bags of coffee beans were delivered. I pondered the holes in the roof. Isn't there a rainy season? Eventually Mike bid his farewell and we all filed out.

I left feeling guilty about my inability to speak the language and contribute to the flagging conversation. Mike explained rather simply "there are no awkward pauses."

Springtime in Seattle

Back in spring of 2008 I traveled to Seattle for four months on my first consulting project.  I stayed in the city a few weekends and did a bunch of sightseeing, went on really (really) long walks, and explored the surrounding area.  Beyond the exceptional food and drink (largest wine producing state after California) I was most impressed by how close downtown Seattle is to the outdoors. Here's a view of the Cascade mountains just ten minutes outside of the city.

We drove through the mountains on our trip out to some wineries in Yakima valley.

During one my long walks I encountered a bridge troll.

I also saw lots of bald eagles.

And I walked past a big granary.

And this.

Lastly, I'll just point out that these photos were taken across a few different weekends, but the sky was consistently gray...that's springtime in Seattle.

Jungle

I went to the Jungle in southern Peru. Took an 18 hour bus ride on an unpaved mountian road to get from Cuzco to Puerto Maldonado. Really did kind of feel like being in the middle of nowhere. The town was dusty and full of motorbikes and surrounded by cleared out jungle. Timber and gold and cattle support the population. We spent a day recuperating from the bus ride and arranged for a 3 day trek into the jungle.

A fair bit of the sightseeing was by means of a boat tour around an oxbow lake. Saw lots of birds, a few different types of monkey, some caiman, turtles, fish, etc.


We also went on a bunch of walks through the jungle. It was secondary growth jungle, so not quite as overwhelmingly jungly as I had imagined, but still very cool. Saw more monkeys, a macaw palm lick (see photo below) big trees, learned about different medicinal plants, ate some brazil nuts, and saw a tarantula on a night hike. Tarantulas are really big. Also howler monkeys are really loud. Then we took the same 18 hour bus ride back to Cuzco.

lists from (Morocco)

First list
The two most nerve-wracking experiences of my time in Morocco - and my imagined worst-case scenario reactions for each (this post is for the rents):

I. Trek up to the summit of Sfiha Telj in the Rif mountains outside of Chefchaouen. Companions were a German sea captain (sails LPG boats around the world when not travelling) and a Californian studying in Granada (really a year off before med school). First 3 hours of hike were steady scenic climb up 4WD mountain road. Last 45 minutes were scramble up steep gravelly mountainside with two short fully veritcal climbs. Fear of falling enormous.

Scenarios - to calm my nerves I convuluted most imagined falls into the following sequence of events - a) rocks give way/pine needles slide down/i lose grip of rock, b) i quickly take stock of trajectory, push off the first rock i pass while falling and lunge for nearby pine tree, c) said pine tree acts like soft velcro, cushioning my descent, as i cling to branches, d) disaster averted i climb down pine tree to find small lemonade stand at its base and a taxi waiting to return me to my hotel.

Only peer pressure compelled me forward. It was worth it though - the horizontal summit was sublime. Delicious snacks and views. Then similarly frightening descent. Breathed enormous sigh of relief when back on main road.


II. Grand Taxi (fancy term for collective taxi service between cities) ride from Ouezzane to Fez. Ouezzane was a stopover between two cities. We had to switch taxis. Busy crowded smelly carpark field. Serious language barriers. Pigeon french/english/spanish/german while trying to negotiate second leg of trip. I was convinced to place my backpack in trunk of rusting mercedes. Lots of haggling over prices. I see two others enter car. What if they just drive off?

Scenarios - as the rickety mercedes lunges forward I quickly jump on to the back clutching the roof frame from both sides. the car, constrained by the traffic, moves slowly as i pound on the windows until the bewildered driver pulls to a halt. i retrieve bag and..., hmm, I didn't imagine much beyond this part

Of course, this situation instead ended with us agreeing on a reasonable price, my boarding the taxi, and an uneventful trip to Fes. Was I a bit paranoid? I prefer to see it as prepared.


Second list
Foods that I tried for the first time. As in really actually ate on their own and not mixed in with something else or as a Jolly Rancher flavor:
Fig
Prune
Date
Apricot
Pomegranate
Olives
Sardines
Anchovies
Avocado

I enjoyed all of them. One benefit of growing up an extremely picky eater (really - I didn't eat chicken until the end of high school) is the vast number of simple and delicious foods I have yet to taste.