On the Road Again

Well, Im in El Salvador now, but I just came from traveling in Guatemala for 4 days. Dont want to wite much now, so Ill just post a photo. Enjoy.


Flores, Guatemala

Updates

Saturday December 16, 5:35am

Final Thoughts

As the trip winds down, I think back on my journey. Ive come to realize, that I dont want it to end. I havent had my fill yet. I still have so much to learn, and so much to see. It all ended so quickly. Ive come to realize that I love this country and its people. Ive never felt more welcome by a people, than what I have felt here in China. I wonder if I will be missed by the friends I have made. I wonder if I will remember everyone I met. I also wonder what things I will forget. I want to learn more of the language, but I dont know if I will be able to if not immersed in it. I feel sad that I have to leave. I cant wait to see my friends and family again, but I truly am in love with a culture that I was not born into. Of all the places Ive been to, this is the one I can see myself moving to for a period of time more than any of the others. This I know: I will be back. Someday, somehow, I will return. Thats all I have to say for now. Farewell China.

Sunday December 17th, 5:31am Local Time, 9:31pm in ChengDu

Back in America

Im back. Made it okay. Now the real work starts, I suppose. I really miss ChengDu, but real life calls again. Im gonn have trouble re-adjusting to the time difference, but after a couple days I should be fine. Anyway, I owe you all some photos, so at long last, here they are. Ill possibly post more as time passes, but for now, this is what you get. Sorry for the hold up and lack of updates. Ill include a bit of info with certain photos. Enjoy.


Chris - A friend I hung out with a fair ammount of time in ChengDu


Art Museum


Dressed Dog


Golden


Leap of Faith - This meter and a half gap was 8 meters in the air. Scary as hell, but I jumped it. Its much worse than it looks. Really.


Clown - Part of the Sichuan Opera


Dragon Breath - More from the Sichuan Opera


Mao - Large Statue of Mao in the Ceter of ChengDu


Turtle Turtle - Turtle Vendor in ChengDu

Okay...

So I realize Ive been a bit lax in my posts, and I apoligize. Its been a bit troublesome for me to get online, and I just dont feel motivated enough to go through with the extra effort. I also have to confess that my shooting has slowed down. Things that I was amazed at when I first came here are now ordinary. I find myself pullingout my camera less and less. For the duration of this trip, that will change. Once I realized it, I felt very guilty about it. I am in China, and I should really be taking advantage of my time here. Other than that,Ive been doing well. I havent been expoloring as much, which I kinda regret, but like I said, that's all over now. Yesterday was the epitome of it, where I didnt shoot even one photo. I dont promise a regular update anymore, I will definately try a little harder to get your one-a-day. Anyway, here is the photo I owe you from 2 days ago. I have no photo from yesterday, but I will definately have one from today. Enjoy.


The People's Park

Tired and More Tired

Been really tired and busy, and I am only able to access the internet from inside the bar of the hostel. Sorry for the lack of updates. Ill post a photo for the past days, butI have yet to go through todays photos. I owe you 4, Ill give ya 3. Ive been doing alot, but I am really too tired to write about it all. Ive had a couple adventures, and a few mishaps, but all is well. Im just going to put up the photos. Maybe Ill write more about my adventures later, maybe not. Time will tell. I will say this: I bought a sword. America beware, I cometh with a sword in hand! Anyway, here are the photos. Enjoy.


Statue of Mao


In Disguise


Good Vibrations

Multipost

December 2, 2006

Looks like I wont be able to upload this post on time, as there is no internet where I am. Well, there is alot to say, but I want to keep this short. We'll see how I do. So this morning I took a bus from the beautiful Jiu Zhai Gou to a place called SongPan. Its a really interesting little place that is nestled in the mountains. SongPan was a fortified post in the past, soall around the city, there is a big wall. Very castle like. When I arrived, I was looking fora specific hostel, which apparently doesnt exist, so I just ended up staying at a hostel across the street from the bus station. I was really looking forward to a shower, but alas, 'twas not meant to be. The water in this town is spotty, at best. Sometimes its there, and sometimes it isnt. Kind of a shitty situation. SOmetimes, I cant even get the toilet to flush. I fugure that its because the water freezesin the pipes. Yeah, its pretty cold here. So when I couldnt take a shower, I decided to wander the streets a bit. Its so cold here, that my wandering was litterally determined by where the sun was shining. It is a huge temperature difference in the shade, as compared to the sunlight. I took a bunch of photos, and decided that there wasnt that much to do. Icould go horse trekking, but that would require 3-4 days and a lot of camping in the snow. Ill pass. I dont want to use the time for that, and I dont particularly feel like camping in the snow. Plus, its like 500 yuan. Sure its only 80 bucks, but those 80 bucks go a long way here (Ive actually started thinking in terms of yuan now. I dont convert to dollars anymore. I am really gonna miss china...). So I got a Tibetan Massage, which is awesome. It hurts a little in the process, but you feel renewed afterwards. After the masage, I wandered a bit more, which let me to some interesting little streets, but I was really not feeling this place. But then I saw this temple on top of a hill. I went back to the massage place and asked if it was possible to go up there. I was told that it was, and I was shown the bottom of the path that led to the temple. I had to climb about 2000 ft, in the snow and mud. Good times. After an exhausting hike, I got there, took some photos, and made my way back down. What more can I say about it? It was real perty. Went down, and hung out with my new friends at the massage place. I was helping the lady with some English, and eventually, when dinner time rolled about, I was offered to eat with them. After dinner, I went back to my hostel, and decided that I needed to shower, regardless of the water problem. I took off my clothes, was down to my boxers, and then the power went out. After a fair amount of flailing in the dark, I found my flashlight, got dressed, and decided I was not going to shower here. Went downstairs, walked outside and went to find my friends from the massage parlour. They invited me to go have tea with them, so I did. Lights came on again about 20 minutes later, but by then, I was having a 5 fruit tea. Super sweet stuff. Too sweet for my pallet. Sat around 'till about midnight, then went back to my hostel. The door to my hostel was closed, and thats when I realized that I had left my key in the room, amidst the darkness. I tried knocking, and shouting to no avail, so I walked around looking for another hostel. Found one after a while, slept there, woke up, and made my way back to my hostel. By then, I had already missed the bus to ChengDu, which leaves at 6am, so here I am in SongPan for yet another day. Anyway, here is the photo. Enjoy.


Gate

December 3, 2006

Spent the day with some friends I made in SongPan. Not much to speak about, per say, but I did see a really strange vegetable or fruit. Not sure. Didnt take many photos. Just sat around and talked for a while, went shopping, prepared for the bus ride tommorow. Went to a brothel, and had a very good time with the ladies there. I sat and had tea and sunflower seeds with them. Thats all that happened. I swear. Actually, they were really nice ladies, and I was just curious to see the inside of a brothel. I was taken there by one of my SongPan friends. Didnt feel right to take any photos there, but the ages ranged from 16 to 35ish. Price? 150 RMB (about 20 bucks). It was really interesting. It was odd how everyone was so open about it. Afterwards, I went to bed. ALONE. Anyway, here is the photo. Enjoy.


Family and Friends

December 4, 2006

Long bus ride makes me tired. Internet no work in ChengDu. Bus took 10 hours. Many people vomit on bus. No fun. Not many photos today, as I didnt want to take show off my camera. Here is one anyway. Enjoy.


Rickshaw

More and More

Well, lets start with the bad news. Lost my cell phone today. Im not going to go into details about it, but its lost. So now the good stuff: Went back to the park today. Had another great day just looking at nature. Towards the end of the day, I met up with a group of people that were all going together. Pretty fun people. We all did yoga together. At first I was very reluctant, but a really pretty girl, literally, dragged me into it. Afterwards, we communicated for a while (not talked. that would imply that you know the same language) and finally, walked out of the park. All in all, a good day. Im putting up multiple photos today, but only half are of the park. The others are so you can see more friends. Enjoy.


Sonoko


Me and Elise


Curve


Fairy Land