Backed Up Blog Posts - China Update

May 21

After 4 nights in Chengdu I figured I was due to be moving on. I spent my time there getting off to a leisurely start and walked approximately 4 hours a day for the 3 days I was in the city. I strolled the streets passing through parks and visiting sights. Aside of the walks I really didn’t do much but visit with other travelers at the Hostel Café located behind the Hotel I was staying at.

Some might say a 4 hour walk around a city doesn’t qualify for a rest day. I’m a very easy going person and don’t consider myself to be type A but one thing is for sure, I always like to be doing something. I’ve always had a difficult time sleeping in per se. I guess a rest day for me is a day when I do less, or get less accomplished, than normal.

This morning finds me in Juizhaigou village right next to the entrance of the Juizhaiguo Nature Reserve. It was another 10 hour bus ride to get here but the roads are good. Eastern Sichuan is a lot different than the western portion of the province. Roads are well maintained, streets are clean, there’s not near as much garbage about, and the public toilets are relatively considerably better.

Juizhaigou is a Unesco World Heritage site and is supposed to be an incredible natural wonder. The upside for it being a World Heritage Site is that a lot of money has been pumped into properly managing the reserve. The down side is, well, guess what? Chinese tourists flock to it by the thousands to pay an outrageously high entrance fee for a chance to snap photos of one another posing next to a lake or waterfall.

The entrance fee really is absurdly high. It costs 220 Yuan plus another 80 Yuan for a bus you really do need to use. The fee equates to $45 USD for one day. You must pay the fee each day you want to visit the park. For comparison, a car load can buy a week long entrance to Yosemite National Park in California for $20 USD, or, an annual pass for $40 USD. Buy a Gold Eagle Pass for American National Parks, which I think costs around $75 for the year, and you can come and go as much as you what to any National Park in America. Not to mention some of the American National Parks are pretty darned outrageously beautiful and totally unique to the rest of the world.

I awoke this morning to steady rain so I chose not enter the park because tomorrow is supposed to be much nicer. I’m staying at a guest house that caters to western backpackers and there a number of other travelers here. A group of Chinese decided to enter the reserve today despite the rain but the rest of us have decided to wait it out.

As far as high and wild travel goes I think I’m done for the reminder of my time in China. I’ll depart China on June 7 and plan to pass through Xian for a stop on my way to Beijing. I’ll spend my remaining time in Beijing until leaving for Mongolia. Aside of some long bus and train rides I expect the travel to be pretty easy for the next couple of weeks. Overall, China has been much easier to travel than anticipated.

May 24

Internet access in China has been difficult. Due to the amount of user traffic and Chinese control over internet information it can be quite hard to access the net via wi-fi at any time. Sometimes it’s just luck that you can even get on to check your email. Once you’re on it may only work for a little while before being inaccessible for the rest of the day. Since my blog is blocked I need a proxy to access it. Sometimes the proxy works but a lot of the time it doesn’t. It’s been quite frustrating and I haven’t really been able to find a flow for the blog as on other trips.

I’ve also kind of lost my rhythm in the flow of travel. The initial rest days in Chengdu were good. Perhaps I should have stayed another day or two. Such is the case whenever you leave a place you kind of like at a given time. You always look back and think you should have stayed a little longer.

The excursion to Juizhaiguo was one I wish I hadn’t taken. It first entailed a 10 hour bus ride. The following day was cold and rainy so I just hung out. Fortunately the next day was nice and clear but I paid a crazy price for admission and mindlessly followed another traveler which led to a poor use of time. In turn I had little opportunity to see some unique waterfalls which are the main attraction in my opinion. For the final day I endured another 10 hour bus ride back to Chengdu. I came down with some kind of sinus problem/infection the day I left for Juizhaiguo which just added to a loss of enjoyment. Not to mention there were plenty of high impact Chinese tourists to enhance the experience.

While returning to Chengdu I developed probably the worst case I’ve ever had of a stuffed up ear due to elevation change. Once back in the city rechecked into the hotel I had stayed at previously and called it an early night. I fell asleep totally exhausted and deaf in the left ear. Definitely a travel low and one of those days you just feel like packing it in and heading home.

Juizhaiguo is quite beautiful but nothing too special in my opinion outside of the waterfalls. The waterfalls are really wonderful but given the cost of admission, tons of tourist, and hassle getting there it wasn’t worth it for me. For another traveler it might be different. A Chinese tourist away for a long weekend with a bag full of cigarettes, an 8 gig camera card and his favorite loud buddies might find it to be a trip of a lifetime. I’ve spent a lot of time in some outrageously beautiful places in the past so my personal standards and expectations are probably a bit different than most.

As of late I feel like I’ve been wasting time as I obviously haven’t been enjoying myself the past few days like I feel I ought to. Such is life and things can’t be perfect all the time. The plan now is to leave tomorrow morning for Xian to see of the Terracotta Warriors. From there I’ll press on to Beijing.

I’ll now be doing most of my travel by train. I’m pretty tired of long distance busses. The intention is to ride the rails all the way from Chengdu, China to Western Europe. One leg at a time, buying tickets as I go. I’ll pay a little more, when reasonably affordable, for a better berth or seat. I’ll also take night trains to avoid having to pay for accommodation along the way.

May 25

This will surely be another dated blog post but what the heck. Not sure when I’ll be able to update my blog again. I’m currently riding the rails on a long 19 hour trip to Xian from Chengdu. I made the wise choice to pay extra for a soft sleeper which is essentially a 4 bed berth with a door as opposed to a 6 person berth without a door. I’m sharing it with a nice young Chinese couple who are students. One speaks some English. It’s much more comfortable, there’s less riff raff, and it’s a lot quieter than hard sleeper.

The sinus problem I developed last week seems to evolved into some kind of a cold or something. Although I don’t feel particularly good I don’t feel all that bad either. It’s no surprise I’d pick something up considering all the bus rides, weather changes, tons of people, and the bad air of industrial China.

I had originally intended to do a 3 day hike up a series of mountains to some temples before leaving the Chengdu area. Considering how I’ve been feeling and the problem I had with my ear the other day I decided to head on to Xian sooner than later which I think is the right choice.

Being on a train for a long period of time is kind of like being on a boat at sea. The only thing I don’t like is that on nicer train cars you don’t have many options for opening a window. On a boat you can always fill your lungs with fresh air and bathe your face in the wind. Nonetheless, having chosen the upgraded berth allows me to relax and gives my body a chance to kick whatever kind of bug I’m dealing with while still getting from point A to B.

While in Xian I’ll go and see the famous Terracotta Warriors and hopefully be able to hop a train to Beijing for the weekend. I’ll be spending a good week in Beijing before heading to Mongolia. I hope to find some comfortable accommodation in Beijing where I can relax. When I’m not feeling well or am in a stressful city I don’t mind paying a little more for accommodation.

All in all I’d say China has been an experience of mixed reviews and I’ll save my final opinion for later. There are some things I like about China but plenty things I don’t care for. Most notably the cigarette smoking that has bothered me here more than any other place I’ve ever traveled. 300 million Chinese smoke. Also, Western China gets the award for nastiest toilets I’ve ever seen. Worse than India. Naturally, when you’re on the road and not feeling up to par a lot of things are not going to come across in the most positive way.

While in Beijing I’m looking forward to visiting a Chinese woman who I met on a train while traveling India almost two years ago. As is the case you meet people from all over the world when you travel and sometimes you actually keep in touch. Such is the case with Jenny. She’s a part of the new China. A young professional with a masters in linguistics and speaks very good English.

There is also a couple who I went to college with who now reside in Beijing that I haven’t seen in years. I hope to catch up with them but they’ve been difficult to track down. I don’t anticipate it’s too likely I’ll see them but there’s still a chance I suppose.

From here on out its Terracotta Warriors, The Great Wall, The Forbidden City, and catching up with a friend or two with rest in between……

May 26
I arrived in Xian at 5:30 am this morning. I finally gave into denial and declared myself officially sick when I realized I had lost my voice overnight while restlessly trying to sleep on the train. At this point I’m deeming my illness a bad cold with runny nose, sore throat and general malaise. Once out of the train station I celebrated my sorry state with a McDonald’s coffee. It was just enough to rally the required energy for finding some accommodation.

I checked into a cavernous single room with private bath in the basement level of a pseudo nice hostel. Somehow it seems oddly appropriate and comfortable. There’s a TV with one English news channel and the air from the air conditioner seems remarkably clean. So far I haven’t smelled any cigarettes and I’m praying I’ll go the night without the background odor of second hand smoke so prevalent in China.

I walked around a little this afternoon trying to figure out how I’d get to Beijing by Sunday but somehow a 10 minute walk felt like a little too much so I’ve hardly done a thing all day. The good news is that I think my faucet nose is slowing down and I think I have a decent chance for a good nights sleep.

I still plan to go see some Ricotta, I mean, Terracotta soldiers soon. If I want to avoid a bait and switch tour complete with pimps pushing “Rare” jade I’ll need to hop a couple of buses on my own… I’ll see how I feel in the morning……