Archive for November, 2007
Friday, November 30th, 2007
Seven Years Days in Tibet - Part II
On any visit to Lhasa, there are a few sites you just can’t miss. In addition to Jokhang Temple (as discussed in our last post), the must-see attraction is Potala Palace. As we arrived by bus from the airport, I suddenly caught a glimpse of the Palace. Built into the side of a hill, the [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in Tibet by Derek
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007
Seven Years Days in Tibet - Part I
Quickly after arriving in Lhasa, Tibet, I fell in love with the place. The more I travel, the more I seek out places that are truly foreign. I seek experiences that just don’t make sense. These types of experiences abound in Lhasa.
Lhasa has expanded to a population of over 250,000. Much [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Tibet by Derek
Friday, November 23rd, 2007
Free Tibet???
Until only a few years ago, the only thing I knew about Tibet was that lots of people who like the Grateful Dead, hugging trees and world peace (according to the many bumper stickers on their car) also wanted Tibet to be free.
The Tibet Autonomous Region is technically a part of China, but it is a world apart. [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Tibet by Derek
Thursday, November 22nd, 2007
So Much to be Thankful For
Happy Thanksgiving from Kathmandu! Although we’ll probably be without the normal Thanksgiving trimmings this year (not a lot of pumpkin pie to be found in Nepal…), we’re so glad to have a day to reflect on how much we’ve got to grateful for. Happy, happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
No Comments » - Posted in Nepal by Derek and Shanna
Sunday, November 18th, 2007
Things That Make You Go Hmm…
Including Macau, Hong Kong and Tibet, we’ve spent almost a month and a half in China. Along the way, we’ve observed many things that were different from our preconceptions of China and others that seemed just downright odd. In no particular order, here’s a list of a few of them:
Items You Will Not Receive When [...]
4 Comments » - Posted in China by Derek and Shanna
Friday, November 16th, 2007
Make New Friends, But Keep the Old
In the last few weeks, Derek and I have enjoyed one of the many benefits of long-term journeys: travel friends. On short vacations, one’s priority is often to catch up on much-needed time with family and other loved ones. When life on the road is more of a routine than it is a break from [...]
No Comments » - Posted in China by Shanna
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007
A River Runs Through It
It was time to escape from the polluted cities of China.
While I’ve always loved the city life, there is an unequalled joy of exiting the urban sprawl and heading to the mountains. I guess that love started for me at an early age, as my family hooked up the pop-up camper and hit the road [...]
5 Comments » - Posted in China by Derek
Sunday, November 11th, 2007
Cobblestone Streets and Ancient Scripts
If you were to mix together one part Boulder, Colorado, one part Venice and one part Beijing, your result surely would look something like Lijiang, the lovely southwestern town where we just spent a few days. Like Boulder, it’s situated in the foothills of snow-capped mountains. Like Venice, its old city1 is crisscrossed by canals, many of which [...]
No Comments » - Posted in China by Shanna
Thursday, November 8th, 2007
A Terra Cotta History Lesson
Our time in China has been nothing if not a lesson in the relative brevity of our own country’s history. This lesson really sunk in as, during our time in Xi’an, we stood in front of an army of terra cotta warriors and tried to wrap our minds around the fact that a Chinese emperor [...]
No Comments » - Posted in China by Shanna
Monday, November 5th, 2007
Duck - It’s What’s for Dinner
I’ve been to hundreds of Chinese restaurants in my days. They seem to be everywhere in the States, with Chinese entrepreneurs setting up shop in every shopping mall or available street corner. In many cases, the primary attraction of a Chinese restaurant is the buffet. After paying a nominal sum, you line up to gorge [...]
