The Bloody Mary

It has taken me a year. Re-entry to stardard life was traumatic. I usually go through a "depressed" period whenever I return home from anywhere, but the dark period after I returned home from my amazing trip with ole Bry was extreme. It has basically taken a year for me to feel content living in chicago, and there have been times when I was sure I would move, and change my life drastically, but as it happens, i'm still there............ Well....not there in the LITERAL sense right now. Let me explain. Eleven months ago, Bryan was ready for me to finish up online and head out. He had every right to be. I had been taking my sweet time in an internet cafe in Saigon and Hill and Bryan were very ready to leave. I eventually left and we had the good fortune to just happen upon the Olympic Torch (I always for some reason want to call it the Olympic flag. But no, it's a torch.) Coming down Le Loi, right through the middle of HCMC. The faithful blog reader that you are (By the way, I echo Bryan's thanks and amazement that so many of you chose to waste your time reading our ramblings. Thanks a lot!), you will probably be thinking: "Yes yes, I remember this part: went to Nha Trang that night, Bad bus tix, worse mexican restaurant, pool with a frenchman, Reunificiation day. Don't waste my damn time". That little walk down memory lane was necessary to paint the picture for you of where I am sitting right now. I am absolutely certain that I am in the same internet cafe, typing this, and reasonably certain I am at the same computer (#10 : ole slowy! "go ole slowy GO!"). The internet cafe is exactly the same. The scores of loud male adolescents plugged into W.O.W., and me typing amoungst them, are the same. Much like the rest of HCMC. Exactly as amazing and overwhelming as I rememeber. I heard Hill and glen were up and moving back to OZ so I figured I had to squeeze in one more visit before they repatriated.

I guess this is kind of like drinking a bloody mary the night after getting wasted. The theory is that the alcohol in the drink kind of eases your transition back to normalcy, averting the dreaded cold turkey effect that causes a serious hangover. It's not a theory I tend to subscribe to as far as booze is concerned, but I'll take any excuse to go back to 'nam. It has been amazing to be back and chill in all the old haunts. It has certainly dredged up a whole ton of memories that I had forgotten. I have been thinking about the trip a lot while I have been here, and I am feel that the bloody mary has worked! I am actually OK with going back to Chicago tomorrow. This short trip has been wonderful, and going into it with the mindset that it is just a short trip to see family that just happen to live in one of the most badass cities ever has made it emotionally managable. I walked through the backpackers quarter earleir today and it got me to thinking. I am not sure I could ever do another trip that hinges so importantly on major backpacker destinations like Cambodia and Thailand. The whole culture is hilarious and absurd and so uniform that I have little interest in partying on Khao San any more. (Ok thats a lie) And the ubiquitous Vang Vieng tubing drunken exravaganza, the highlight of any fat, pale, obnoxious english person's life thus far, in Laos, no longer holds the same intrigue. (Also a lie) Before the trip I had a great love of people from the UK, now I have pretty much had enough of them. (Simply, A lie). This trip made me more mature and focused and decided (Lies! All lies!). I came back to Chicago ready to get a job and cut my hair (Horrible, remorseless LIES!). Ok. I can't wait to go again. People keep saying things to the effect of: "you've probably got it out of your system after that, right?". The truth is that no, I haven't and I don't think I ever will so love me or leave me ( please don't leave me.....i'm cold). Looking back on the trip, I feel it was amazing and wonderful, and easily the best thing I have ever done, ever, but I can also see how "inside the box" it was in many ways. before I went, I had all of these stories crammed into my head about how "nine aussies were framed in Indonesia and some evil drug dealer crammed their bags full of heroin and now they're DEAD and thats going to happen to you if you're not careful". I was defintiley a little bit nervous leaving Melbourne, but in retrospect that was just my own ignorance and lack of trust towards people I wasn't familiar with. That is perhaps the most important legacy of the trip as far as I am concerned. I have a much better understanding of the fact that it is always PEOPLE that live in these countries, all looking for pretty much the same thing you are. There is absolutely no reason to fear the people of a whole country. They are not evil, they are probably a whole lot more friendly and helpful than the people in countries where this blog is being read. Looking back, the times I remember the most fondly and that I feel were the most important to me as a person, were the times that I feel we were truely out there. For instance, the time we were on the train to Wudangshan, and everyone was coming up and looking at us, and according to this guy named Kevin, we were the first western people these poeple on the train had ever seen in the flesh. Now that's a feeling! Felt like fucking Maggelan or something (to be said in the voice of the wonderful and talented CB walker, whose quote brought me to tears when Bryan used it to end his last post. so right on).

Things like that, and meeting some truely ridiculous and wonderful people. a quick honor roll: To all the people that made the trip worth taking: Sydney Crew, Melbs Crew, Ben and Kim, Kyomi, Staff of smile, that guy Mark with the Thai hooker who went on the "trek", former english drug dealer who lives on Khao San rd, "bartenders" in Chiang Mai, Tina and Olaf, Tessie and the Gozzling, That drunk guy in BK on Songkrahn, Basically the entire population of Cambodia, Sara and Stella, Indian couple from KL in Sihanoukville, Hill and Glen, Sara and Rishi, Darren, Annoying german girl whose name I forgot, Dudes on the beach in Nha Trang, Qiaoru, French owner of shitty mexican restaurant in Nha Trang, Basically entire population of Vietnam, Bec, Tang (dude that looked like Jamiel in Hanoi), Si, rest of retarded english people from Halong bay trip, BJUVMAN, guy in Guilin that tried to help us by calling his sister in Guangzhou, that guy's sister in Guangzhou, Ozzie judge in HK that helped us find the peak tram, Cj, Tigerlily, Staff of Snurrbart bar in HK, kevin, little girl that simply would not chill out on train to Wudanshan, guy that paid for me when I was confused on train to Wudangshan, family that helped us in Wudangshan town, "I am a gay" dude on Wudangshan, "Fellow Americans" badass dude on Wudangshan, two girls on Wudangshan, Bus full of old people that let us hitchhike for free, girls in Shiyan, Blue bridge: you crazy son of a bitch what was your angle?, Han, Helen and Andy, Old chinese guy that knew about evanston, Andrew on Su Zho Hou, everyone on Su Zho Hou, Mio, Rob, Schang, the wonderful Sugimoto family, Love Express, Kaz, Mr. K, Bands that Performed at Marz, everyone else at Marz, Owner of bar that just served Johnny Black and finally I have to thank the man himself, who stuck by me through the whole thing, the one person I don't think would have left me for dead anywhere and the best person in the world to travel with: Bryan. Thank you to everyone.

It is getting late and there are still a few sips left at the bottom of my Bloody mary. tonight I will hit the streets of HCMC on a moto, something I would never trust myself to do. But then again........I've got a tour guide. (Cue "that" look) I have never been one for goodbyes. If I ever go anywhere again and something funny happens, you'll be the first to know.

cheersmate
Kap khun Kap
Cambodian one
Gum Ern Yue
Xie Xie
Duomo Arigato
Thanks
Patrick

6 weeks on...

so i suppose i have put this off as long as i can. it seems its time for the final update...

i guess i've been intentionally avoiding a final blog post ever since i got back, telling myself that if there is still one last update to be made, if there is still some news to tell, then our asian excursion isn't so far from being over after all. that if we leave the ending open, leave the readers wanting more, then maybe we're not really back just yet. maybe we're still adjusting, still unpacking. (i guess we'll just have to make a sequel...do i see patrick and bryan's crazy south asian, nepalese, western china adventure 2009 in the pipeline?). but the fact is, its already early august 'round these parts, and i guess 'round yer parts too, which means that somehow we've been back home for about 6 weeks. this is absolutely shocking to me.

in a way, i've gotten so comfortably settled back in to a normal existence (of course, how can i define a 'normal' existence anymore. frankly, i sometimes feel like the way the world works back home here is so ass-backwards from normal that it just comes off as fake. i feel like i'm on the set of 'the truman show' or something), and so used to the way things work here, its as if the trip never even happened. i can look at the pictures and see my face in them, and i can remember that first day walking through bangkok, or our moto rides along the southern edge of vietnam with 4 strangers that i don't think i'll ever forget, or a sleepless train ride into the heart of rural china, but it doesn't feel like me. and it doesn't feel like i was there. its as if i was photo-shopped into those pictures, and that all those memories were planted in my head. the trip doesn't seem real.

in another way however, i feel like i just got off the plane yesterday. people come up to me asking 'how did the trip go?', or 'how long have you been back?' and i have to remind myself to tell them that i've been back for 6 weeks already. and i don't know how that's possible. i can vividly remember that first day wandering aimlessly around sydney, trekking across the harbor bridge as dusk fell, or the following day getting stuck in a pub in 'the rocks' waiting for the rain to let up (it never did). and i vividly remember running into a shop in melbourne to buy a long sleeved shirt on the way to the mcg for my first afl match, and i remember the papaya salads on koh tao, and bar street in siem reap, the smell of our snake meal in hanoi, and that day we had to spend killing time in shiyan. i remember scrambling to get tickets booked to shanghai from beijing, my first taste of real ramen in fukuoka, wandering around kyoto waiting for jonathan and rob to show up, and the sunset from mt. hakodate. i remember it all so well that i feel like i must have just gotten off the plane yesterday. i don't see how i've been back for 6 weeks! i haven't even done anything!!

but according to the calendar, and everyone else that assures me it is in fact august 6th, we have apparently been back for 6 weeks. have i told you how shocking i find this? just kidding.

so what can i say about our trip, other than i feel like i never went and that i just got back, simultaneously. well, for starters i can say that i would go back to any of the places we were, at the drop of a hat, which surprises me. you see, before getting back to chicago, i figured this would have quenched the traveling bug for awhile. i felt like a person ready to settle in and calmly figure out what to do next, in the comfort of sweet home chicago. but if someone handed me a ticket for ho chi minh for tomorrow, i'd be on that plane so fast that...well, i don't know what...but i'd be on that plane really, really fast. so apparently, i'm not at all ready to settle in, and i'm pretty much planning another trip out in my head already. yet at the same time, i feel like the trip has really focused me. before we left, i didn't quite know what i wanted to do once i got back. i didn't know whether i should stay in music, whether i should just quit and find a 9 to 5, or do something else entirely, i had no plan at all. and now that i'm back, i'm more than ready to stick it out in music, figure out exactly how to make it work, and do it. i suppose the trip reaffirmed the idea that you can take a risk, jump head on into uncharted waters, and come out still breathing.

and there are other aspects of my life that have been affected by this trip too, but i can't think of them off the top of my head right now, and even if i could, i doubt you would want to hear about them. i'm talking about the smaller parts of life, the mundane things; like i said, the things you probably wouldn't want to hear about.

so how do i even wrap this up with a nice little bow. i guess, simply, i'm happy to be back, happy to see friends and family, happy to tell stories and show pictures to anyone willing to listen, and ready to get focused on the next chapter of life. but i'd be kidding myself if i said i wouldn't do it all over again. if someone came up to me with a plane ticket for sydney, and told me i could go back there, and do it all again, from start to finish, without changing a thing, i'd be gone in a heartbeat.

peace,
bryan

p.s. so there it is ladies and gentleman, the final update. i have no idea who is still reading this, but if you are someone who is, thanks for sticking it out with us. it was an absolute blast keeping this blog, both for everyone back home trying to keep up with us and for ourselves as a memento to look back on. it was always fun writing a funny story, or posting a disgusting video, trying to imagine the responses of certain readers back home, but all the while not really knowing for sure who was ever reading this thing. there were times when we felt that we'd better get a post up soon to keep the throngs of loyal readers happy, and there were more times where we felt like we were the only one's reading it anyway. but now that we're back, i can't count how many people have said to us, 'hey, how was the trip? we loved reading the blog?' so i guess it was a hit! so thanks for being such a good audience, and like i said in the very beginning, i hope it was at least somewhat interesting, a little informative, and always funny. and hopefully in the not too distant future, there will be a reason to start it up again. and who knows, maybe i'll put something up every once in awhile...just for kicks.

tokyo: the epilogue

and so we have come to the end. the final showdown, the last hoorah, the closing credits, the epilogue. and what better place to draw this ridiculous asia trip to a close than the massive, space-age, megatropolis that is tokyo?

after saying goodbye to the small, quaint, relaxed, quiet town of hakodate, we hopped on the shinkansen and headed for the capital, ready to go out with a bang. we arrived in the late evening, and as was the norm by now, had put off booking a hostel until the last minute, of course leaving nothing available. so we put plan b into action, headed for the nearest capsule hotel, and checked in. now, if you are unfamiliar with a capsule hotel, they are exactly what they sound like: a room of tiny little sleeping capsules, stacked on top of one another, looking like a scene straight out of 'the fifth element.' after taking in the hilarity of our sleeping arrangements, a quick walk around the neighborhood, and a conveyor belt sushi dinner, we were beat, so we headed back to bed.

the next couple days were spent walking around the city's different districts (shibuya, shinjuku, ebisu, ginza, etc.), eating noodles and sushi, marveling at $150 mangos, and getting mentally prepared for home. on thursday morning, we woke up at 5:30 am to head to one of tokyo's major sights, the famous tsukiji fish market, the largest fish market in the world and the thing that essentially makes japan run. and it was incredible. almost any sea creature you could imagine, and many things you can't, is here. giant yellowfin tuna, red snapper, eels of all kinds, squid, octopus, clams, and tons of other fish, all being chopped up and sold to restaurants and sushi chefs. seeing it in person, its hard to believe there is anything still swimming in the oceans at all, if a market like this goes on every morning!! but this was not the time for conservation, and we treated ourselves to the the freshest sushi breakfast each of us had ever had. the rest of the day was spent very calmly, since we were all exhausted from the super-early morning. and that night, we at extremely well again since we were spending the night at patrick's girlfriend hana's, parent's place, who now live in tokyo. now super full and completely exhausted, we chilled with a few dry martinis care of hana's dad, and called it an early night.

our last day in tokyo was again spent walking around different neighborhoods, eating as much as we could handle, and reeling from the thought that it was our last 24 hours in asia. as night fast approached, we started searching for places that seemed appropriate for a last night. eager to get things rolling, we ducked into the first bar we could find, a small underground place for a few starter drinks, which quickly turned into several starter drinks and a rousing solo karaoke performance by patrick. after an hour or so, we left, headed straight for an arcade (which are very popular in japan) for a quick fix of mario kart. with our buzz fading, we left the arcade for another bar. again after a quick drink, we met up with a friend (hana's sister, mai), and headed for our next stop. after some aimless wandering, we stepped into yet another small bar for a quick drink. but by now, we were ready for a little more action, something a little more japanese, and intrigued by a group of japanese hard rockers mingling outside a club called 'marz,' we made our way over there, asked what was going on, and quickly went in. it was a small club, with a good stage set up with instruments, dark lights, a small balcony, and $5 beer (cheap by tokyo standards). we figured we had made a good choice, and when the mc came out in a head-to-toe deranged looking clown outfit, we knew for sure we were in the right place. at 1am, the first band went on, and they were awesome. at 2, the next band. at 3, the next band. all of them ridiculously awesome. there were 5 bands total, starting at 1 in the morning, and all of them kicked ass. we all agreed that it was one of the best shows any of us had been to, and it was the perfect end to this trip. when the last band was finally over, we stumbled out into the dawn-lit streets of tokyo, sweaty, drunk, ears ringing, voices hoarse, and minds blown, hopped into a cab and went home.

the next morning, or 2 hours later, whichever way you want to look at it, jonathan and rob woke up an hour and a half late, scrambled to pack their stuff, jumped in a cab, and booked it to the airport, narrowly missing their flight home. i stayed asleep. i finally woke up at noon, had a quick sushi breakfast, packed my things for the final time, and patrick and i headed for the train to the airport.

and there you have it ladies and gentleman. as quickly as it started, it ended, and now i sit here typing this from from the good ol' U.S. of A. but i know a better ending couldn't have been written, and tokyo really put on a show for us there at the end. the neon, the people, the food, the fish market, the rock show; it was the best way, and really the only way, to end this completely crazy, amazingly ridiculous adventure through asia, and for that, tokyo is amazing.

peace,
bryan

from kyushu to hokkaido

so here it is, faithful readers, as promised: an update... [cue comic book music]

...we last left our caped crusaders in southern japan, dangling over a boiling pit of deadly onsen water. the evil mastermind beppu had them firm in his grasp. luckily captain...

anyway, after a most enjoyable 3 days relaxing in beppu, we decided it was time to move on. the next stop: hiroshima. we arrived midday, and feeling energetic, headed straight to the island of miyajima to check out the famous big red gate standing in the ocean. and much as i suspected, there was in fact, a big red gate standing in the ocean. not really sure why, but the japanese seem to like this sort of thing, so we went with it. after miyajima, we headed back to hiroshima, and cursed with an early curfew that night, took a simple walk around the neighborhood, ate dinner, and crashed. the next morning we were up at the crack of dawn, or close enough, and quickly set out to see the atomic bomb sights of the city, which can only be described as haunting. the city has rebuilt itself remarkably since 1945, but its hard not to get a sense of the tragedy that occured there. but with so much to see and so little time, we left hiroshima by noon and headed for himeji castle to bask in some happier history. and after basking a little too long, we realized that there was absolutely no chance of us making it to our next destination, nagano, that night, so we opted for a night in osaka.

and pretty much nothing happened. we checked in, ate dinner, went to sleep, woke up, and checked out. we'll miss you osaka. back on the shinkansen, we were flying, and not one to pass up opportunities to see castles, we stopped along the way to check out the black castle of matsumoto. not to spoil the ending for anyone, but it is as they say...black. with our appetite for historic castles wetted, we took off for nagano, and being the procrastinators that we are, were forced to check into a traditional japanese ryokan for the night. we're talking paper walls, tatami mats, sleeping on the floor, a creaky (but awesome) old building, motherly matron, the works. it was truly one of the most enjoyable places i've stayed in asia so far. the next morning we did some temple hopping, walked around a bit, and parted ways with patrick the romantic, who was on his way to tokyo for a surprise visit for his girlfriend. now, i have been traveling with that dude for the past 3 plus months, and spent just about every waking hour with him, so his absence was a little strange at first, but nothing a good happy hour couldn't fix. so we went and found a bar.

after 2 nights in nagano, we decided it was time to venture on up to the island of the north, hokkaido, for a little wilderness before our final stop in the urban jungle of tokyo. we had planned on staying in sapporo, but due to an unprecedented 50 minute train delay, we missed our next connection and were forced to crash for the night in a small town named hakodate. and we couldn't have been happier. hakodate was awesome; small, relaxed, a bit chillier, great seafood, lots of history...what's not to love. and so we never made it to sapporo, and instead spent the next 3 days in hakodate, just walking around, drinking coffee, eating crab, squid, scallops, abalone (accidently), etc. by the time it was ready to leave, patrick had rejoined the group, so we said goodbye to the town and headed to our last stop of this ridiculous asia tour, the megatropolis that can only be tokyo. and it is here that we spend our final 5 days, taking in our final sights and smells of asia...something tells me it won't disappoint.

bryan

"Kyoto-ns of fun" and "Beppu: Hot Stuff from the Center of The Earth".....oooooo

After the 5 day nap that was our time in Fukuoka, Bryan and I felt reasonably excited about heading to Japan's tourist Mecca, Kyoto. We took our time getting up there and when we rolled in at 6:00 to find the place that we wanted to stay in (evidently not seriously enough to make reservations) was filled up, we had to do a bit of scrambling to find a bed, but with the worldwide electronic network it was no problem. We checked into a spotless, wonderfully cheap (for retardedly expensive Japan) hostel called K's house and spent an uneventful night hanging out. The next day we had some logistics to work out before a certain 7:30 Rendezvous. At about 7:13, Jonathan and Rob walked into our room and we had a couple of hilarious minutes of pleasantries before heading off to conveyor belt sushi. The next day we rented bicycles, and after a brief refresher course, set off around the city in search of temples. After seeing some old stuff and some pretty stuff we got back to the hostel, completely exhausted and smelling delicious. After showers and hanging out, we had plans to meet up with a friend for Okonomyaki (Japanese pancake/pizza-ish thing). After Karaoke, the four of us were in fine spirits and got into a bizarre noise making affair with a local Japanese guy that enjoyed yelling and jumping around. The next day was filled with a trip out to Japan's cultural heart, Nara. We spent an enjoyable, picturesque, rainy day viewing shrines and dodging deer before returning exhausted and starving to our neck of the woods. Jonathan was keen to "interact with the locals", so we went into a tiny bar at the end of the street where the only patrons were two 70 year old men, that didn't seem the least bit impressed with my bid to break the ice by doing a Karaoke version of "We Are The Champions." We left promptly after. The next day we were back on the fantastic Shinkansen, headed for the traditional hotspring bath capital of Japan, Beppu.

Beppu is chilled out. Our Hostel had an Onsen (Traditional Japanese Bath) on the grounds and the first thing we did was partake in this ages old ritual. After a brief fruitless search for an ATM, we went into a local restaurant for Sashimi, Katsudon, gyoza, yakisoba, and Basashi (raw horse meat). The beer flowed freely and we stumbled home and into the onsen, which is open 24 hours a day. The next day we were up at 7:00 because we had to climb a volcano named Asosan. The volcano was awesome and we climbed it. Then we ate some food and drank some beer. We couldn't really get up early again so we decided to spend another day in Beppu's hilariously hot Onsens, pretending not to look at the naked old Japanese men that were our sole companions. Extremely relaxed, we sit here now biding our time and wondering what tomorrow should hold.
Patrick

the warm up to the afterparty

by the time we had arrived in osaka, japan, we were exhausted, unshaven, dirty, our wallets were empty, and i was now fighting a cold. we had five days to kill before our two buddies from back home, rob and jonathan, were due to meet us, and absolutely no idea what to do or where to go. so we didn't go anywhere. we grabbed the only two open seats in the entire osaka train station (this just happened to be a mcdonald's), drank some coffee, and contemplated our next move. after talking it through failed to get us any closer to a destination, we simply looked at the map, picked a place at random, and hopped on the next train we could. and so we have spent the past four days in the city of fukuoka (aka hakata) doing what we have needed to do for a long while. we've been taking it easy, doing our laundry, sleeping in, showering a ton, walking around the city with no real purpose, happily getting lost, eating, and seeing zero sights. it has been awesome. exactly what we needed after the whirlwind that was china.

and now we're in japan's cultural epicenter, kyoto, waiting anxiously for rob and jonathan's long overdue arrival, and the final chapter of this ridiculously awesome tour of asia to begin. in fact, they should be here any minute...

peace,
bryan

China, you Shanghai'd my heart

The remainder of our time in China was spent running around Shanghai, desperately trying to get tickets to a boat and the exchange orders for our Japanese Rail passes. We had to get all of this done in one day, and due to poor organization and a couple of major annoyances beyond our control, it took all day to do it. After all of the buisness was put to rest, we decided on heading to the famed "French Concession" for a cup of coffee. We had a hard time finding the "French" under all of that conceding so we settled on a happy hour instead. It was a cheap happy hour, and before we knew it, we were at Mister Donut drinking coffee and eating......Mister Donut. The next morning we were up bright and early to get to the boat that would take us to Japan. What followed was a period of enforced relaxation on the good ship "Su Zho Hao." 44 karaoke and book filled hours later we were getting off the boat in Osaka with under $2 (US) worth of Chinese money in our pockets. It did not take us long to figure out that (like their Chinese counterparts) Japanese ATMs do not want any people taking any money out of them ever.

But First: China, In Remembrance

I had made my peace with China treating me like shit about 6 months before I got there. I expected restaurants to be closed to me and people going out of their way to pointlessly screw me over.　I was ready for it and I had already made excuses for it in my head. (When you've got 1.3 billion people in your country, you have no choice but to screw people) I was ready to see babies shitting all over public places and people spitting everywhere. I was practically fine with getting robbed. But from the very first person we met in China, there was none of what the media tells me Chinese people are like. OK, they do spit a lot and the babies go...when..... the babies have to go, but everyone was almost annoyingly kind. 5 different people devoted their entire days to taking us around for no reason at all. It was really Han, Kevin, Helen and Andy and the random girl that made China so special for us. The food is also great, but all of the best things we ate, and we ate some great things, were because they ordered them for us at restaurants we never would have had a hope of coming across. I will never think of food the same way again after realizing that at one point I had: a seahorse, 2 scorpions, a kidney, a silkworm, cow's stomach, a sheep's testicle and the best and spiciest thing I have ever eaten that involves eating an enormous fish and then progressively turning it into a delicious hot pot, all in my stomach at the same time. All of it was good. Besides the seahorse and the silk worm. They were crunchy and explosive, respectively. The history of China is obviously amazing and every site of cultural importance we saw was absolutely mindblowing, with no exceptions, outside Shanghai. China is constantly poetic in it's signage, i.e. "don't touch" becomes "a single act of carelessness leads to the eternal loss of beauty" or "no fires" becomes "when viewing the scenic spot, the fireproofing must be in your heart". The natural side of China actually lives up to the ancient paintings and classical images. And perhaps most astoundingly it is still possible to find peace and solitude in China. It rarely felt overly crowded (Note RARELY, not NEVER). In short, China was fantastic and the only reason I am not deeply depressed about leaving is that I am so sure I will return.
Patrick


china, china, china...where do i even begin to sum up a country as big, as historical (both ancient and recent), as influential, and as foreign as china, especially considering i was only there 2 1/2 weeks. i suppose i'll begin with the obvious: there are a lot of people in china. the most, really. 1.3 billion. but even with all the people, and in most instances because of them, china is incredible. from the minute we set foot in the country, the people were great. always helpful, very polite, and just a tad curious as to why we were actually there. i'll never forget the celebrity treatment we got in the guangzhou train station waiting room, the only two white guys in a sea of a thousand chinese people. and contrary to what everyone we had previously met had said, no one spat on us, no one was angry that we were there, no one scammed us (at least not too bad). in fact, because of the people we met, who graciously gave up their entire days to show us around, and this happened more than once, i have eaten two of the best meals i've ever had. meals i never would have even come close to eating had it not been for our people on the inside. the food in china is astoundingly good, and i can honestly say, that i don't think i've ever had as big an appetite in my life as the one i was experiencing in china (not to mention, my definition for 'edible' has been greatly expanded now that i've been to china).

and let's not forget about the history. i mean, i climbed an absolute crap load of stone steps up a really awesome mountain, with cool, old chinese temples along the way, to get to an even cooler, older temple at the summit. temples that are straight out of the history books, straight out of the classic paintings, straight out of "crouching tiger, hidden dragon." i mean, these were the temples where tai chi was created! how awesome is that? and then a few days later, i'm staring at an army of entirely individual, terracotta warriors that date back 2,000 years! and a few days later, i'm on a really big, really famous wall. and i could go on and on and on with history like this, but i'm sure i'm boring you, so i'll save it for later. so as i hope you can tell, i really loved china. the people, the food, the history, the landscape, the variety of everything, etc. i loved it all, and i can't wait to go back. although i could do without the smog, they really have a lot of it over there. the most, really.

peace,
bryan