.

To The Mainland

Travel lesson #1: Never buy new shoes before a big trip. Everyone knows that, even me. So I bought my shoes two weeks before my departure...maybe more. What I didn't know is that Travel lesson #2 is very similar. That is never by new arch support insoles (sp?) right before a big trip. Naturally I like to see everything when I have the chance. Therefore, rather than catching the bus, like most tourists and locals, I want to walk as much as I. Great for experience, terrible for feet. I did luckily accomplish my goal of seeing as much of Hong Kong in a single day.

I took a 100 year old tram to Victoria Peak, which overlooks the city of Hong Kong. It has been raining basically non stop since I arrived (I thought 13 million chinese people was fun, imagine 13 million chinese people with umbrellas!). Fortunately it cleared up just enough to see the city of Hong Kong from the peak. I also enjoyed a 15 minute light show from the other side of harbor. All of the buildings on the island of Hong Kong light up to rythm and music at 8:00 pm everynight. Pretty sweet for a enormous sky line.

There is this little town in China called Yangshuo and it's neighbor of Guilin that in my 1.5 days in HK has gotten some good reviews. So after looking into it I realized there was a 7:00 pm bus ride from a border town in China (1 hour from HK). Perfect because on the upside, my feet could use a 10 hour overnight rest, even if it were on a bus. So before I know what I am doing I buy the bus ticket and have to get myself accross the border by afternoon.

Two good things: 1. I meet 3 guys from New York who had the same crazy idea. 2. As it turns out, some of the busses here in China are all sleepers. I didn't even know those existed. Of course the beds were not designed for anyone 6 ft, but the ride was pleasantly comfy and was actually more like 13 hours instead of 10.

The first city we stopped at was Guilin and it has definitely lived up to the hype. The landscape is covered with jagged hills and rivers. One other thing, there is very clear difference between HK where everything is in English and Chinese, and pretty much everyone speaks English and China where nothing is in English and very few speak it. The few that do are eager to start a conversation which is extremely friendly. After enough of these people approaching you to "practice English" you begin to realize they are sure eager to show you all the highlights of China, and I can only assume they make a decent living of of commissions for bringing in ignorant tourists. (Already I have purchased an "original" painting from a Chinese "art professor" who was thrilled to have me "sharing his art with America". I even took a picture with the guy! I'm sure none of that was true, but it sure tickled my fancy and now I need to figure just how to get this painting back to America.

Well I am beat and tomorrow is another big day as I'm scheduled to go down the river to Yangshuo. I've tried to load pictures but it keeps failing. I will try again when I find another computer. Till next time, Derek.

posted by Travelin' D @ 6:36 AM