We are embarking on a great adventure, one of learning and teaching. We will embrace our new surroundings and grow in a new culture.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Hot in Hanoi

Hello everyone! We are happy to announce that we are warm!

Yesterday and today were travel days as we made our way down from Yungshuo, China to Hanoi, Vietnam. It took us a few trains and a few buses, a little trek across the border, and we made it! The bus through the south of China into Vietnam was neautiful! The blue skies came out yesterday and have followed us into Hanoi! Our bus took us through dense crowds of motorcycles and scooters to finally land us somewhere near the old quarter of Hanoi. We arrive in the early afternoon, so we were able to find a cheap, but nice hotel, strip off the layers, and put on our flipflops!!! This is exciting!

We have been walking around the old part of the city and really enjoying it! There is a buzz in the air, and there are people, lights, sounds, smells everywhere! A particularly momentus event was our first street crossing...mom you were right, just walk right out into the sea of oncoming traffic, nice and steady, and they swerve around and manage to miss you!

We are going to take a few trips from here, first to the norhtern region of Sapa to do 4 days of trekking and exploring with the indigenous people, then to Halong Bay to see the towers karts mountains jutting out of the water. We are hoping to be in Hue or Hoi An for Christmas. It won't be the same as at home...sniff sniff!!! But we will celebrate with cold beverages on a beach!

We are happy, healthy and warm! The fist two weeks in China were an eye opener and a great experience. We're really excited about Vietnam! We'll keep you all posted! Lots of love, Karina and Christian.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Pics of the South of China

Hello everyone,

We are doing great. We had a good 4 days in Yangshou and know we are making our way down to Vietnam. We will cross tommorrow and we hope to make it a simple journey. In Yangshou, we walk around the city and it was nice. There are these hugh mounds popping up everywhere and they are beautiful. We had a bunch of good cheap food and walked around a lot.

We also went for a bike ride in the rice fields and it was very quiet and relaxing. The place is geared for tourists but it was nice to get out into the country side and see the farmers at work.
We also the chance to see the bamboo rafts travelling down the river although it was a little too cold for us. It would have been a little nicer if the weather was a little warmer but the scenery was beautiful.

We are off to warmer places, we hope.

Later

Christian and Karina

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Somewhere in China

We are now at a train station in the middle of somewhere in China waiting for a 7pm sleeper train to Guilin in the south. We have had some...um...intersting times. Def an experience!

Beijing was great because it was clean(er) and people spoke a tad of English. We took a 18 hour trian to Changsha. It was supposed to be 15hrs, but whatever! We arrived in the crowded Beijing station and were overwhelmed. And then we got on the train...love the 3 layer high bunk sleepers! We lucked out and got the bottom sleepers. But it was hilarious. WE got comfy and it was no prob. People looked at us as we ate our cheese and crackers...they were probably saying "where are your instant noodles?" which is what everyone had there.

We then headed to the town where Mao Zedong lived. It was a whole in the ground - smelly and poluted, BUT a small Chinese town. The bus there was crap. We were cramped into a winstar size thing, AND we hit a dog. I was mortified. They just yelled something out the window, stopped the van for a minute and then kept going. I was not impressed. So the bus ride was an experience and so was the village. It was tiny. Last night we had a slightly bigger than single bed with a room with no heat and no hot water. I was freezing, and we know its cold when Christian is cold too! But thats life down here, people don't have hot water at home or heating. We just went to a noodle restaurant and in the back the workers were washing themselves because at home they have no hot water. I realize the luxuries we have at home.

But we are heading to the south and we can't wait to relax and have some warmer weather. We are happy and enjoying having each others company. It's been wonderful doing this together, even if its only been a week and some. We can't wait for the next couple of months!

I hope you are all well. Thank you for your well wishes. We love hearing from you! We miss you all. We'll be in touch soon! Love from China.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Pics of China

Hello everyone,

We are travelling around the city and enjoying ourselves. We went to the Summer Palace yesterday and it was really picturesque. It would of been a beautiful place to escape the Summer heat. Today, we walked around the city. There is construction everywhere. It is unbelievable. They are getting ready for the summer Olympics. Here are a few pics from our travels. The first one is of the man-made lake at the summer palace. It is a cool place.
This is a pic of a door at the Lama temple. We have been visting some nice places at sunset so we are getting some nice pics.
As you can tell this is us on the Great Wall. It was an amazing walk, we had a great day.
A close up. The wall is so hugh.
This is Tianemen Squarwe at night. Not the best pic.

The Great Wall at Samaitai. It is a long walk to the top.
This is one of the buildings at the summer palace.
They say the wall ressembles a dragon because the wall climbs up and down the hills.
A pic of the Summer Palace Buddist Temples. The strucutre was grean and gold. A really beautiful contrast.

The summer palace has a pear shaped lake and the hill ressembles a bat. The builidings climb up the man made hill. It's a cool place.

Tommorrow, we are going to the South to where Comorade Mao was born. We are taking a 16 hour night train and arrive at 6Am. We hope it's a little warmer in the South. Then of to Guilin then maybe a Chinese beach and then Thailand.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Everything...and The Great Wall of China

Hello everyone!
Christian and I have arrived in Beijing and we have taken in so many sights just in the past few days! We arrived the 1st and took a bus through heavy traffic of buses, cars and bikes to make our way to downtown Beijing. It is HUGE!!! Compared to little ol' Jeju I'm feeling so lost!!! And the language...I was so happy knowing a bit of Korean and being able to read it and get around...here it is back to square one. Though we still use our Korean vocab of ney, aino, Kam samnida and anyoung, people just look at us funny! So we now know the basics in Chinese - nee how (hi), sure (yes) boo sure (no) shey-shey (thanks), and thats it!

We found a great hostel that looks out over a busy main road...like all big roads here! We went to Tiananmen square and the forbidden city the first day. The weather was freezing, a shock from Jeju where we said our last goodbyes on the beach...ahhhh we miss those days already! Anyways, I'm bundled up in longjohns, thick ski socks, 3 sweaters (no joke), scarf, tuque, mitts and jacket. Absolutely bundled!!! I can't wait till sandals!!! Anyways, both the sights were really vast. The square was huge, with Gen. Mao mausoleum in the middle. There was also a long snaking line-up...we vettoed that little trip. From the norht end of the square we looked upon the Forbidden City. Still the unforgettable picture of Tao right above the entrance way. I had already lost feeling in my fingers and my nose was red, so I was a tad jaded, but the inside was also huge. Nothing here seems small. There were red and gold buildings lining the city. It was so vast, and it almost had a lonely and cold feeling. Very serious. But with a bright blue sky we loooked onto the golden rooves and tried to image how live was WAY back when...an impossible thought! My favorite place at the back was the garden, where the emperor would keep his concubins...sneeky emperor! It was beautiful with large stones that looked like coral, and mounds of volcanic rocks that created a holey mountain. Between the rocks were trees whithered and twisted by time. Definitely the garden was my fav place in the city.

We ventured later to a pack with a look out over the entire forbidden city. Though most of the main structures in the city are under construction ( as is most of beijing for the 2008 olympics) it was wonderful to see the grandeur and the glowing rooves among the high rises and neon lights!

For our second day we explored the silk street market. One word. CHAOS! So many venders, so many people, so much haggling! We really just couldn't deal! We got a few things like sunglasses and a much desired France soccer jersey, and I'm proud to say I finagled and weasled my way to good prices (I hope!) But really it was stressful, with too many people yelling "HEY lady, Hey MAN! Where you from? Canada? Ohhh, Canada most beautiful!" (Then we would start talking French) and they would say "Ohh no Franch more beautiful...JOLIE!" Madness. Another experience. We then dined on loads of food for about 8 bucks...I'm still trying to figure out the money. I'm converting from dollars to won to yuan...I'm so CONFUSED!!!

We then visited the Lama temple. Insense was burned by the fist full as people were offering to Buddha on Sunday. There was also the largest Budah statue 18m tall out of one peice of white sandal wood that was imported all the way from Nepal ( we snuck into a French tour and caught all this info...we are so sneaky!) Very serene and smokey, but relaxing compared to the hussle bussle of the city.

However, today was the best! With an early morning we hoped onto a tour bus and weaved up to the Great Wall.And what a great wall it is! Christian kept on sighing it was so amazing! A huge feat of engineering and a beautiful scene. We walked 10 km from Jinshanling to Simatai. We covered 2 sections of the wall, walking up and down the wall, through the watch towers, surrounded by breathtaking views or rolling mountians layered one upon the other in the distance. It was a stunning day of blue skies and we enjoyed the weather. Still bundled, but taking in fresh(er) air and clean surroundings. We were met every tower by locals trying to sell hot coco, coke, water, post cards, books... Just trying to make a buck in such a gigantic country. We wanded the wall and really enjoyed it! I would go back right now! We took so many pictures, it was incredible to see theis huge wall span as far as the eye could see, following the mountain ridge forever.Christian, along with a French man named Benoit who has biked from France and his visiting father, tried to figure out how it was built. Def a fab thing for Christian to see, since he loves architecture amd structures. We had lunch atop the Great Wall of China. What a wonderful life!

We still have many things to do here, throughout China, and this side of the world. Promise to keep you all posted! We miss you all and wish we could share this experience with you. We'll be back home June 207 so be ready to see a KABILLION photos!

All our love, Karina and Christian

Saturday, December 02, 2006

It's cold

Hello everyone,
We are having a good time even if it is really cold. It feels like a cold January month in Ottawa. It's around 0 but there is a strong wind that makes a lot chillier. We landed in Beijing on Friday. We found a nice place to stay and went to eat. We had some noodles and beef. It was good and real cheap. We both ate for around 4$.
Saturday, we were off to see the Forbidden City and Tianmen Square. The size of these two sites is amazing. The square was packed with people and we walk by Chariman's Mao Moseleum but I don't think we will go see him. The gates around the city are enormous. The building of these amazing walls is incredible. The man power that the Chinese must of used to build these wall everywhere 400 years ago must have been enormous. They are 100 meters high. We then went to the Forbidden City.
The Forbidden City must be at least 50 football fields in size. It was a Saturday so there were a lot of people. It was really interesting to see the different rooms and the history that goes with it. It must have been cool to be the emperor and have this hugh complexe to yourself plus your family although you wouldn't leave it. It had a hugh garden in the back. There is aslo this hugh moat around the City. It was really cool to see this place. We froze ourselves but it was worth it.

Today, we are off to the Silk market and hopefully to a Tibetan Temple. Beijing is pretty clean for the number of people. There is construction everywhere. The subway is really easy to use. I feel safe since we have only been in very touristic areas.

Tommorrow, we are going to hike a section of the Great Wall. We are going to walk between two points and have to walk across a suspension bridge. I can't wait. We are enjoying ourselves and having fun even if it is cold. We plan to go South a lot quicker to get back to real weather. I don't know how will do it when we get home, but it doesn't matter much since our next winter is in around a year.

I hope to keep you all updated every few days, talk to you soon.

Christian