Tibet and Everest

Views from the train.








Elle celebrated her birthday in Lhasa and was treated by a local chef to a cooking lesson. She leared how to make a Tibetan momo which is a Yak meat dumling that tastes alot like a tiny taco to me. Delicious! After a few days in Lhasa we answered a note to go on a six day land cruiser trip around Tibet ending up at the Mt Everest base camp. As we were reading the post two girls came up see who was reading there message and we all started talking and we sealed the deal. The trip was through some large mountains staying in a couple of small towns along the way and eventually camping in tents at the Everest base camp. The roads were spectacular and the envy of any w.r.c. driver and the monastaries were beautiful but the highlight for us was staying at the base camp.

Train to Tibet

Going to Tibet was high on our list of China adventures so we really wanted to make it happen and luckily we did. Although you can buy an air ticket pretty easily from a few places in western China there was no resisting a chance to take the world's highest train from Beijing to Lhasa. We opted for the soft sleeper car which has four comfortable bunk beds and is pretty luxurious for Chinese standards. The train ride was pretty incredible especially the second half travelling up through the mountains and gorges on our way to Tibetan plateau. For the most part the journey is very relaxing even though the quarters are very close. As the air gets thinner oxygen is pumped into the cars via a central system.

Although the train is billed as non-smoking in the cars and completely non-smoking during the latter half of the trip when major elevation gains are in effect there was no enforcement whatsoever during any part of the trip. I would not recommend this trip for somebody with allergies. On the other hand if you have always dreamed of becoming a smoker China could be your dream destination.
Train stats:
highest point on trip 16,737 ft
Beijing-Lhasa 2519 miles
47.5 hours

China

This was on our "secret great wall" tour that we did outside Beijing. It was really cool because they take you to this little village in a valley and you hike up to the great wall. When you get up there you're the only ones there. You can see from the picture that it's not restored to original form but it seems more of an authentic experience than the more touristy badaling wall which has a starbucks and a million hawkers on it. There was one guy who hiked (commuted) up there everyday to one of the touretts to sell t-shirts and beverages it was pretty funny because it's a pretty tough hike and he had quite a bit of stuff up there.
The amazing thing about the wall besides the enormous length is the fact that it's built on the crests of so many steep mountains.

Well it's been some time but here is the latest on our China adventure so far. We started things off in Beijing the site of the 2008 summer olympics and also the most poluted city in the world. Pretty hard to measure I'm sure but according to my lungs and nose this is an accurate statement. Our guidebook says that 7 of the 10 most polluted cities in the world are in China. This is not hard to believe from what we've seen. Besides the air quality though we are having a great time. Navigating around has been one of the biggest challenges because most of the signs are in chinese character only. There is also the issue of our two word mandarin vocabulary and the two word english that most people posses. Most conversations go something like this: "Hello watches"
"no thank you "
"Hello cd's"
"can you tell me where the bus stop is? "
"Hello watches"
So if you have ever wanted to go somewhere where you really feel foreign this is your place.

The site seeing here is amazing. The temples and parks and the great wall have been better than we imagined they would be. And the food has not been disapointing either. Menus can be a little difficult to decipher but pointing at the appropriate picture usually doesn't let us down.
Some items may you may not encounter on your chinese menu at home include:
spicy dog dumplings
stir fried scorpians
some type of worms
pig intestines
and pickled duck heads.
We don't have the cables right now but will be updating shortly w/ pictures and more chinese action.

Chiang Mai

This is Elle helmet on backward and ready to get on our hog (125cc scooter). We informed her about the helmet before we left.

The other is the stairs to Doi Suthep a famous temple in the hills above Chiang Mai. Everyone was carbing up on bbq'd corn on the cobb in order to tackle those stairs.

Bangkok

This is Mike and Danielle our good friends and ex-neighbors from K-town. We met them in Bangkok after we left Phuket. They stayed in a swank hotel in the middle of the city and this was taken at a German pub down the street. The large container has a block of ice down the middle to keep the beer cold in the 90 degree heat. It's nice.

This is the royal palace in Bangkok it's incredible and pictures can't really show the scale or level of detail.

This is the royal guard dog who sits outside the palace and eats very well in order to keep up his strength for guarding.

Thailand

THAILAND!

Thailand, Phuket

Well sorry for the delay I'm sure everyone has been on the edge of there seat waiting to hear what's going on. Or at least kill some time at work browsing the net. We did make it to Thailand and it has been fun. Despite it's proximity with Malaysia things are much differently here in Thailand. The tourism infrastructure is very developed in comparison and it seems you can't go ten feet without some product, food, service or tour being offered. They really have the hospitality down here as well. It's not called the land of 1000 smiles for nothing.

These pictures are of Phuket island in the southern part of Thailand on the Andaman sea. After striking out on the Malaysian surf scene I thought I would give it a go here. I have been pretty lucky because although this is considered the best place in Thailand to surf it's really fickle and doesn't regularly get much surf. Surfing is relatively new to Thailand and yesterday we watched the only contest they have during the year. Unfortunately the waves at the contest beach were about 1 foot so the local rippers were unable to showcase there skills. As you can see in the pictures this is a beautiful place so the even though the waves are not that good just sitting out in the water is pretty nice. Elle has even decide to start surfing again! Thailand surfing link: www.saltwater-dreaming.com