From top to bottom

In exactly five months we traveled from Cartagena, Colombia to Ushuaia, Argentina (about 4000 miles as the crow flies) by bus, except for two trains and one ferry. It is our longest continuous journey by land. I like our route very much; of course, I did most of the planning. Yet I am still amazed by all that we have seen and experienced.

Ushuaia was not even in our original plan, but somehow it worked its way into our itinerary. The southern most city in the world and located on the Beagle Channel Ushuaia may be conceptually significant, but there is nothing unique about its physical feature. It feels like a tourist trap to us, maybe because many cruise ships pass and originate here, and the usual tourist attractions seem overpriced. We had to drum really hard to come up with some worthwhile outings. Our efforts did pay off. The first outing was a hike up towards Cerro del Medio, through a forest reserve, above the tree line, into the snow. The second outing was a coastal walk to Estancia Tunel with unexpected sightings of wildlife and beautiful views of the Beagle Channel.

Walking up through the beech trees on the well-maintained Cerro del Medio trail.


Great views to the Beagle Channal and Ushuaia as we walk above the treeline.


Sun-Ling heads for a patch of snow. That's Laguna Margot at left; Beagle Channel in background. We turned around just after this point as the weather deteriorated.


Stopped at Playa Larga for some beach combing on our way to Estancia Larga.


Sun-Ling looks out at the Beagle Channel on the way to Estancia Tunel.


Beagle Channel with cruise ship in the distance.


View of Beagle Channel from a meadow near the ruins of Estancia Tunel.


Patagonian Fox.


Came on a noisy flock of Austral Parakeets but were too far away for a decent photo - sorry.

Exuberant Argentinians

We have been doing a lot of walking to miradors in Argentina. Argentinians of all ages and shapes, solo or by groups, cheerfully ply the same trails. In the beginning, we would be coming down from a mirador, John would see someone not so fit and whisper to me, "they'll never make it." One time we even tried to warn this couple trying to mountain-bike up a trail that is really only suited for hiking. They pointed to their rental bikes, "those are very good bikes." After a while we realized that more times than not they do make it in spite of, or because of, their exuberant struggling. Now we cheer them on when we come across them.

Argentinians also seem to head out on trails any time of the day. John and I are used to being the last ones on trails, between my phobia for downhills and our propensity for dawdling. Not here, we would be heading back when throngs of Argentinians are still heading out. John would worry for them that they may have to walk in the dark. Nothing seem to faze them. To them, it is always vale la pena (worth the pain).

Their exuberance is rubbing off on me. I am hiking more, attempting more difficult hikes, and enjoying myself more. In fact, I have been thinking of finally giving backpacking a try after we get home.

A mirador "worth the pain" in Bariloche, Argentina.

Musings on quality of life and development

Being Chinese, food is of particular importance to me. Being around all the scrumptious food in Cajamarca really made me think and rethink. I used to feel sorry for people in developing countries because of their lack of "cargo" (see Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel). Now I feel sorry for myself because of my lack of access to abundance of "real" food. Furthermore, I envy climates where temperature control is irrelevant and plants flourish.

What makes a good life? Maybe Starbucks is only a consolation for the poor souls that do not have coffee trees, pastured cows, and sugar cane plants in their neighborhood. Maybe all "cargoes" are really consolations. What does development mean besides clean water, good roads, education, health care...? If China can be used as a cautionary tale for development, what are the trade-offs regarding autonomy, environment, family ties...? On the other hand I am grateful on behalf of the developing world for Chinese manufactured compact florescent bulbs, clothing for the masses, and affordable vehicles. It's so complicated..

Musings on coups & political instability

Three weeks before we were to enter Ecuador there was a mini or pseudo coup in Ecuador. Borders and airports were closed for one day. Yet one month after that we were taking a free tour of the Presidential Palace in Quito in all its glory. All it took was our passports.

Sun-Ling chats with our tour guide on the balcony of the Presidential Palace in Quito, Ecuador, where at the same spot one month earlier, President Correa had addressed a cheering crowd after thwarting an attempted coup.


The two of us near the end of our tour of the Presidential Palace.


We happened to have our passports that day because we had to gone to get our yellow fever shots at a public health clinic. The shots are required for a Bolivian visa and they cost $100+ in the US. We had expected to save some money in Quito, but were amazed that they were completely free foreigners and citizens alike. BTW, they were giving tetanus shots for free too.

Why is there such political instability in a civilized society that gives free vaccinations for all? Ecuador and especially Colombia have far exceeded my expectations. They are nothing like the developing countries in Asia that we are used to. People here are polite and have respect for each other. Children go to school and do not beg. We constantly come across civic parades. Students have hunger strikes for international justice. The public transportation systems are efficient and affordable. I could go on and on. It is mind boggling to me why anyone would want to disrupt instead of advancing such civilized societies -- power hungry men. (:

Diabetes Awareness Parade - Latacunga, Ecuador


Cuenca - Parade with Igelsias de San Blas in background.

The world is my pond

Our route is complete. It looks like we'll be traveling into May. This week John and I are rereading "Walden"(HDT) for book group. While I still find the book overwhelming, I did have a revelation. Traveling around the world is my living on the Pond. It is my way of being free, contemplating the ways of the world, and meditating on the essence of life.

A new level

Recently, I have been spending all my time trip planning. I have stopped reading, cut back on cooking/baking, and even halted my Spanish lessons. But finally, our route is almost complete.

Now I am worried about two things.

• First, we are going to get robbed at knife point or have our backpack slashed on the bus. Not that I am into fear mongering; however, during my planning I would be innocently perusing travelogues for hotel recommendations or bus connections, and accounts of robberies would pop up like landmines.
• Second, I am going be debilitated by my altitude sickness. I was so pathetic in Lhasa, Tibet that I was faltering like an 80-year-old lady in poor health.
  

I must have arrived at a new level. Before, I would be concerned about finding nice rooms, hot showers, and vegetarian food. Compared to my new worries, I was so frivolous before.

Many times I have been asked and have asked myself what this ceaseless traveling is about. I now know it is not about pleasure or escape. I am seeking. But what? New experiences? I don't always know. Even when it happens, I may not recognize it. Later after some pondering, I may realize that I have come across it.

For me, travel has always been a metaphor for life. But what is life about?!

Freedom: India vs China

I have been meaning to write this entry for a long time. On the 20th anniversary of June 4, I should no longer put this off.

During our earlier 1997 India trip, we were so busy getting over culture shock, fending off scams, and keeping our wits about us, that the fact that India was largest democracy in the world eluded us. Being older and wiser and having lived China, this time the clues were everywhere.

• I had already covered TV in an earlier post.
• Every city, at least the ones you have heard of, but not even able to place on a map, has at least one English language newspaper, in addition to all the papers in the various Indian languages. We would get those papers at the door of our hotel rooms, in hotel lobbies, and castoff on the train, which is pretty much the same as when we travel in the US. In China there are not nearly as many papers, let alone the English ones, which I can probably count on one hand.
• Those Indian papers are very entertaining to read. In addition to their quaint usage of the English language, the content is interesting, though the format is the pretty much the same as in the US. There is a lot more news and commentary, ranging from International (e.g. presidential elections in US), Regional (e.g. how to deal with Pakistan), National (e.g. bashing politicians and political parties), Local (e.g. elephant stampede at a temple festival). Sports must be 80% cricket, 10% soccer, and 10% other. Bollywood stars get loads of attention. Every paper we came across had at least one piece on the movie Slumdog Millionaire.
• We left before the recent big Indian elections, but there were pretty many billboards. Since these are typically in the local language, is hard for me to tell what they are pitching. I had thought some were gurus looking to increase disciples. Yes!
  

In China, there is none of this press freedom. Don't even think about full fledged political parties or elections. There are plenty of temples and a few churches for the appearance of religious freedom. They all really report to Beijing. I would not be surprised that the abbot of a Buddhist Temple is a card-carrying Communist party member, much like the president of Bank of China. There are gatherings, but no organized clubs of any kind, unless it's about making money. The persecution of Falun Gong pretty much saw an end to that. 杀鸡给猴看 (Kill the chicken to show the monkey).

Most Chinese simply do not associate the word "freedom" to political freedom as there is plenty of personal freedom. For example, one of John's coworker's reported that he bought a car for the "freedom" to drive where he wanted.

There are four vices in the Chinese tradition, 吃喝嫖赌 (dining, wining, whoring, gambling).

• Dining: Today, people gorge themselves with every kind of food. In the past, by necessity or culture, Chinese pretty much ate anything that was eatable. The tradition continues even though there is a excess amount of protein, medical technology, etc., while the natural supply of certain "foods" are diminishing or extinct. I don't really want to get into that here. In India, Hindus do not eat beef and most are lacto-vegans. Muslims do not eat pigs. The two countries stand at the very opposite ends of the spectrum.
• Wining: In most states in India, the alcohol tax is pretty high. Not many people smoke to start with and no smoking signs are strictly observed. In China on the other hand, alcohol is widely available and cheap, though not to our taste. The effects of alcohol are not easily observed publicly, unlike smoking. This is how John puts it, Chinese men smoke everywhere, as Indian men pee everywhere. The only "No Smoking" signs that are observed are those on airplanes. No smoking hotel rooms are unheard of. In fact, you can easily smell your neighbors smoking through the walls? or electrical outlets?
• Whoring: In China, houses of ill repute can be anywhere, like next to a daycare, since there are no zoning regulations to speak of. If you are not careful, you may walk into one thinking you are getting a haircut - I once did that in Saigon, Vietnam. I learned to spot them, but did not spot any in India.
  
• Gambling: Mahjong and card games are all over China, in shops, parks, sidewalks, courtyards.... At first I had naively thought people were just killing time. Then someone said to me during our travels, "everyone in this town is either gambling or owns their own business. Those are the only two ways to prosper."

One of the favorite things we liked about India is the MRP, Maximum Retail Price. It is printed on all the packaged goods. This is very useful, especially for us travelers. In China, businesses feel free to charge whatever they want, whatever the market will bear. You are free to do anything to make money like polluting rivers, enslaving underage miners, and adulterating baby food until something bad happens.

An oppressive regime must allow excessive personal freedom, since the hold on the people is tenuous to start with, otherwise there may be uprisings to deal with.

TV: India vs China

Indian TV is amazing. We stay at very average places that do not solely cater to international visitors. Usually one third of the 30 to 60 channels are in English and most of the time there are three movie channels including HBO (same brand, different programming, I think), not to mention the movie channels in the local languages. Indians love movies. What's surprising is that a lot of the time we also get American channels that we know and love, such as History, Travel and Living, and National Geographic channels. They feel familiar yet weird, since we have not regularly watched TV for the last 6 years.

This is a far cry from China. Traveling in China we stay in the same class of hotels as in India, maybe lower, since hotel standards are higher in China. Though the TV sets are invariably better, the programming is dismal. If we are lucky, maybe one quarter of the time, we get the sole government run English language channel CCTV 9. Since all media is state controlled, all programs sprout the same party propaganda. Every now and then I would try to catch some local news on the Chinese language channels, but invariably I would be so disgusted by the same slogan that I grew up with;e.g., "Follow ___'s lead, uphold ____ principles ...." I end up clicking off the TV in frustration, cursing. Though CCTV 9 is only slightly more tolerable, when we do get it, I am glad of the change and watch in earnest, I have stooped so low.

When we were traveling in China last spring, TV was all about the Olympic torch relay, in excruciating detail; e.g.,which big wigs waited at the airport, the plane lands, so-and-so steps out and waves at the crowd.... Then the Tibetan protests happened. Happy Tibetans fill the screen....life is so much better now compared to under Dalai Lama....ungrateful Tibetans. All dissenting Chinese language sites were blocked on the Internet. English languages sites seemed to be censored less. We were glad when the earthquake happened -- I don't really mean that, not for the people -- as we thought we would finally see some real news. What a mistake! All we saw was the government troupes and officials leading the rescue efforts, and lines of people dropping 100 yuan notes into collection boxes. There was hardly any "disaster" coverage; that is, the destruction, the damage, and the dead. I could go on ranting, but it depresses me too much.

Another thing we noticed is that Indian TV commercials actually look like commercials to us, not that much different than the ones in the US. On the other hand Chinese TV commercials are so bland and cutesy, one would think we are still living in the 1950s. It's no wonder China is the only country in the civilized world where the young are turning to the Internet for entertainment more than the TV.

Having fun in India

We first came to India in 1997 for four weeks in the Northwest. When I got back to work, I was asked about the trip by some coworkers.

"How was India?"
"It's unbelievable, just like you see on TV. Animals, domestic and wild, mingle in the streets; people of every religion are engaged in activities, trade, transportation, and technologies that cross centuries; all generating waste that is left to perfume the air. By night, shelterless people slumber on the sidewalks, street medians, any kind of surface..."
"But did you have fun?"
"Uh... no, India was not fun. India is an experience."
"Hmm... will you go again?"
"Absolutely!"

There was so much hardship, misery, and suffering, that no matter how specular the Taj Mahal, I could not enjoy myself. Besides, we had to fend off beggars, street urchins, touts, scam artists of every kind. Yet every single day, we would experience something that was simply out of this world.

Now that we have all the time in the world to travel, it seemed that we could no longer put off returning to India any longer. John and I thought two months would allow us to finish off the rest of the highlights and we would then be done with India, though we had serious doubts about our ability to last two whole months in India.

We arrived in Mumbai on Jan 16th, picking up exactly where we left off the last time and headed to the south. Two weeks into the trip I began to realize that I am actually having fun. Could it be

• We are in a different part of the country?
• India has made a lot of progress in the past 10 year?
• We are different?

Whatever the reasons, I am beginning to catch the fragrance of jasmine garlands, beyond the constant assaults of human and animal waste that permeate the Indian air.

• Even though life is hard, people do have fun. They go out to eat, have sightseeing outings and picnics with family and friends. They take their grandchildren to the beach park. They smile; they laugh. The temple festivals are simply amazing.
• While the government may not believe in public toilets and trash collection, the public transportation, trains, buses, and ferries, are outstanding compared to the level of development (more on this later). It is easy and fun to travel around.
• I love the food. Most vegetarians adore Indian food. In the past, John and I merely enjoyed the occasional Indian food. In 1997, we got tired of India food pretty soon into our trip. This time we cannot have enough of Indian food. I can hardly believe it myself.

If the weather was not getting hotter and we did not already have plans to meet a friend in Nepal, we would keep on traveling in India. We are having so much fun that we are already plotting our next trip.

Things work out

Travel is the ultimate metaphor for life where the lessons are learned on an accelerated schedule. The most valuable lesson for me is that things always work out, only if I can overcome my nature to worry.

Before starting on our 6-month journey, we had a China-India-Myanmar visa relay. Unfortunately Hurricane Ike kept our passports in Houston for an extra 10 days. And after many desperate phone calls, hypothetical what-if's, and restless nights, we finally got back our passports back from the Myanmar Embassy 17 hours before we had to leave for the airport,

At the same time this global financial crisis is very unsettling for me. I have to remind myself, things work out.

Reflections on a summer at home

We started traveling on 1/1, came home on 5/30, and are leaving on 10/30. Just as our five months of traveling was a first for me (understandably, since we had never traveled for such an extended time), these last five months also turned out to be a first.

1. I lived the life a hermit. It was as if being home is an antidote for being on the road where we encountered the unfamiliar, were exposed to the elements, and subjected to the unpredictable. Most days this summer we stayed at home by ourselves, working on our house, studying and reading, and surfing on the Internet. Granted we did spend a whole month, in total, visiting family and friends out of town although we still have not managed to see all our friends around town. Before, we were always out doing things and getting together with friends....
2. The Danish word Hygge (hu-gah) is a feeling or mood that comes from taking genuine pleasure in making ordinary everyday things simply extraordinary. It's about owning things you only truly love or that inspire, being present in yourself and your life, putting effort into your home without being Martha Stewart or buying a bed in a bag. Words like cosiness, security, familiarity, comfort, reassurance, fellowship, simpleness and living well are often used to describe the idea of Hygge. -- Alex Beauchamp.
   

   I found hygge - word I learned in Copenhagen - at home. Before, we spent our vacations traveling and our holidays visiting family. We were never around home enough, let alone hygge. This summer John and I both had lots of projects around the house, both big and small. Now I walk around the house feeling peace rather than anxiety.

The hallway.



Our corner desk.



Making yogurt.

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star

Just finished reading Paul Theroux's latest book Ghost Train to the Eastern Star. I've read all of Theroux's travel books at least once and I enjoy them immensely. Not only do we experience exotic places as if we were there, but we also get spot on observations about travel and travelers, a review of the works of other writer's who experienced those same places, and often a bit of literary criticism or history of the English novel.

In the past 15 years, I've traveled to some of the places I read about in Theroux's books - India, Istanbul, Morocco, China - and others are on my list. However, with Ghost Train, I found myself in the new and interesting position of having already been to some of the places that he visits for the first time like Jodpur, Angkor Wat, Phnom Penh, and Hanoi.

I could ramble on about this book and Theroux but I'll instead leave you with the first two sentences of Ghost Train. Enjoy.

You think of travelers as bold, but our guilty secret is that travel is one of the laziest ways on earth of passing the time. Travel is not merely the business of being bone-idle, but also and elaborate bumming evasion, allowing you to call attention to ourselves with our conspicuous absence while we intrude upon other people's privacy - being actively offensive as fugitive freeloaders.

Traveling card

We are so serious about traveling, that we had some cards made. I had the help of a professional designer, Azure Yang, a coworker from Microsoft. I am very pleased with the result -- the design feels very much like us :).

The quote "A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving" is supposed to be from Lao Tze. Question for our Chinese friends: What is the original Chinese text?