Day 12/13 - Bangkok

We arrived in Bangkok in the afternoon, put on our backpacks and made our way to the hotel via subway. We picked the Eastin Grand +Eastin Grand Hotel Sathorn  as it was rated well and right off one of the subway stops. I don't feel so foreign here with our backpacks on as there are tons of people doing the same at the airport and train station. That hasn't been the case up until now.

From the subway, we passed a few huge malls and tall skyscraper, maybe Bangkok was going to be more advanced than I anticipated. Our hotel was fairly new, so we had a very nice room. After about 6 hours of driving and two flying over the past 36 hrs, we both wanted to work out. Holy cow was the gym nice. I rode the bike on the 14th floor looking at the hotel across the street as people played in their infinity pool. Having walked passed ours to the gym, I quickly lost motivation to workout. Seems to be a growing theme. I did 20 minutes, some stretching, a few weights before jumping in our pool with my gym shorts on. The pool was a great surprise as I did not know they had an infinity pool! Luckily, Kristen worked out for an extra hour, so I got some relaxing time at the pool!

At this point it was getting dark, so we showered and headed to the Silom district for dinner. We picked an authentic Thai restaurant. Ironically, when we sat down, it as called Oldies Cafe decorated in 70s US decor and playing oldies music. It was interesting to say the least. Despite being American decor, the food was awesome, all for about $14.

We walked back to the hotel where we saw just about everything for sale. We were offered all sorts of sex shows, ping pong shows, etc. all the scams warned against on the internet. We just took in the hustle bustle scenery. These sidewalk shops set up and tare down each night. Lots of work. Below is picture of my favorite tshirt for sale.

Kristen wasn't feeling well so we headed to bed early.

Day 13
We started today off with some needed relaxation. We had a delicious breakfast at the hotel. The hotels put on huge spread of breakfast and lunch items in both local and Western cuisine. We worked out and relaxed at the pool for a few hours. It was nice to finally spend some relaxation time. However, it was a last of two days in Bangkok, so we wanted to see some of city during the day.

By the time we got ready, it was about 2:00. I wasn't feeling the greatest, but we headed out. We took a longboat up the river to the Grand Palace, which was supposed to be the top thing to see in Bangkok. However, we did not arrive until 3:20 so we could not visit. What kind of touristy spot closes that early. The crazy part of this excursion was the amount of scams going on. Kristen had read about them, and sure enough, we heard them all. They wanted to help us navigate to our next journey. They could sneak us in. They could get us cheaper tickets to the temples. On and on. We really didn't want to be bothered by them, but they were everywhere.

We walked the street markets which looked like a 1990s rummage sale. It baffles me on how they got all of this stuff from America and other western countries. I was starving so I had some pad Thai from a street vendor which was delicious. We made our way to two other temples which you can see from the photos. I was really not feeling well so we didn't stick around for long at each of these.

We decided to take the public transportation on the river. It was supposed to be 3 baht ($0.10) instead of the 125 baht ($4) we paid to come. After about a 20 minute wait, we realized why it was only 3 baht. It may not have been the smartest thing we did in Bangkok. The boats were packed. The only reason we stayed on was because we were literally at the back corner where we could dive in the water if there were issues. However, the black smoke from the exhaust was disgusting. I have no idea where they get the engines. One other public boat tried to come to one of the piers where we were letting people on and off (we had to make 7 stops) and it literally hit the back corner were we were standing. There were some type of government officials on the pier taking pictures of our overcrowded boats and they witnessed first hand the craziness of it to all. Two weeks ago we read how a ferry in Thailand sank from being overcrowded. We now understand how that is possible. We couldn't even make it in the inside to pay. At least we didn't have to pay to risk our lives.

We eventually made it home safe and a shower never felt better. Between the people, the crowds, the exhaust and the view of the trash filled river, we were happy to be clean. At dinner we discussed how our government is not perfect and there is wasteful use of our tax dollars. However, we are happy to over pay to avoid the unsafe and unsanitary conditions that are in some of these countries.

We got dressed up and made plans to hit the crazy nightlife of Bangkok. Indian for dinner, rooftop bar for drinks, Nana Plaza to observe the crazy red light district, and RCA area for a late night club scene. Unfortunately, I was feeling awful and barely made it home after rooftop drinks. I was disappointed as I wanted to experience the night life in Bangkok, but I just couldn't make it. I needed to lay down. Oh well. It wasn't meant to be. I still don't know what I ate that Kristen didn't.

The rooftop bar was awesome. It was on the 61st floor and had only open sky above us. 360 degree view of the city. It was the first time that heights really bothered me. I am hoping that it is because of illness. We only had the iPhone so not sure how the video looks on a computer screen.

We called it an early night and were excited to fly to Phuket the next day. We really need a vacation from vacation. Just some beach relaxing time. No subways, no navigating city streets and crowds. Simple life of eating and relaxing and hopefully some recovering.
Click here for Bangkok pictures!

Posted with Blogsy

Day 11 - MeKong Delta

We had a different tour guide today who drove us about 2.5 hours to the MeKong Delta. We were both very excited for this day as we had booked Vietnam for this experience. It was not a let down. The pictures highlight our excitement to put on a pointed hat and cruise on the river. It amazes me that people still live like this, floating on the river or living right next to it in what we wouldn't park a car under at home.

 

One thing I have to say about Vietnamese is that they are extremely resourceful and creative. They use and reuse many of the natural things around them. They grow the different types of rice for the season, burn the outer shell for cooking, then replant the remains as fertilizer. They use the mud from the river to make bricks and all sorts of random plants and materials for items in their shops and homes.

 

A few highlights of the day:

1) Kristen told our guide for the day that we were NYU students from NYC traveling after our exams. She had been told in India to always lie about your profession to be either a student, social worker, or teacher. This way people won't try to take advantage of your money.

2) To date, I have not seen a sign for rent or for sale. Now obviously I do not speak any of the native language, but even where signs are in both native and English, there hasn't been anything that even resembles.

3) To date, no windows in local buildings or hotel have screens. Interesting as Mosquitos and bugs can be problems when opening up for fresh air.

4) a conversation in the car to MeKong:

Me: if you had to pick, would you rather live in Vietnam or China?

KT: That is difficult, but I guess Vietnam as you have a little more freedom. That's like asking if you would rather eat cat or dog.

Me: (without skipping a beat) Dog for sure.

KT: (with a look of horror on her face) you would eat Lou?

Me: Of course not. But I am allergic to cats

We both laughed at my quick response to what Kristen thought was a tough and complicated question.

5) I got a bit uncomfortable in one moment when the guide asked me a question: "I heard in America, some bitches..." I didn't hear the rest of the sentence as I was shocked at what he said. A few sentences later, I realized he meant to say "sand beaches". Freaking hilarious. Luckily I have an English to English translation guide with me, Kristen.

6) Kristen continues to be annoyed when they assume I am Mr. Kristen Thomas. When we use a credit card under her name, they ALWAYS assume I am Kristen. Obviously, no woman should have their own personal credit card.

7) I continue to be annoyed that everyone thinks we are friends since we don't share the same last name.

Pop Rice - Step 1

Pop Rice - Step 2

 

After visiting the Delta (the pictures do way better justice than my words), we made a detour to Can Thou for the night. We were supposed too fly to North Vietnam to visit the beautiful Halong Bay. However, the typhoon is hitting today so we are leaving Vietnam early to spend a few more days in Thailand. We are hoping to get to the airport any minute to hopefully catch the end of the Alabama/LSU game in the airport. It is 9:30 am Sunday here, so the game is probably halftime. I don't expect the channel to be available but hopefully we can get the audio via wifi.

 

Vietnam pictures click here

 

Posted with Blogsy

Day 9/10 - Vietnam

Day 9 
We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) at about 1100 am. We breezed through security and customs and were excited to have a half day to explorer HCMC. We came out of the airport to look for our tour guide. No signs with our names to be found. Very frustrating. We arranged for pickups at the cities that do not have subways that are easy to use to get to our hotels. HCMC does not have that and they don't speak English. Here we are with no ride/guide. We found the hotel worker for the hotel we were going to check into and he called our tour company. They were 30 minutes behind. She came running to meet us and apologized profusely. Not the best start, but hey, we had our English speaking guide so we were set.

She was younger and spoke good English which was nice. We did a city tour which was fun. We went to the Eastern Medicine Museum to see how they use eastern medicines to treat illnesses. We explored the Chinese market, yep, Chinese as they once ruled the country so they have a big presence here. All in all, a great start. +New World Hotel 

We checked into the New World Hotel and got lucky as they upgraded us to the Residence floor. Free happy hour! Full top shelf liquor and great food. President Clinton and Bush both stayed here when they last visited HCMC. Our floor had its own reception desk which came in handy since our room key frequently stopped working. They blamed one of our credit cards or cell phone. Who knows. The floor had its own private outdoor space which was great to sit for happy hour.

We had a cyclo tour scheduled at 6:00. I didn't exactly know what to expect. We have now seen rickshaws, tuk tuks, and now cyclos. So here is the differences:

Rickshaws: this is what we took in Beijing when exploring the hutong. Biker in front with a carriage like seat for two people behind him. The bike is manual pedal style.
Tuk tuks: this is the same set up, but the bike is motorized. We haven't been in one of these yet. Many people got around in these in Cambodia.
Cyclo: best concept yet. I had seen both of the first two when traveling before but not the cyclo. Here they put the passenger in the front so you get a better view. This makes sense so you don't stare at your biker the whole time. The downside is that it is only one seat in front. If there were two seats, the biker couldn't see.
This tour was awesome. It amazes me how different the city feels when you slow down and are not in a car. It is different from walking around as you don't have to pay attention to your route or each step. You simply put your feet up and watch the city live! My driver did not speak English which was perfect as I appreciated the quiet time.

We had a fabulous Vietnamese dinner at Hao Tuc. It has also been fun trying the different types of beers. To be honest though, most lagers taste the same. Sometimes I think they just taste better as they are less than a dollar!

Speaking of dollars. $1 USD equal about 21,000 VND. VND = Viet Nam Dong. This is very weird as I went to the ATM to get money out and hesitated to remove 1 million Dong until I realized it was only $47. I never got used to carrying around 500,000 bills.

We decided not to do some foot exploring as there was time for that tomorrow. I really enjoyed our first day in Vietnam.

Day 10
After a great breakfast on our floor at the hotel (business world travelers live the high life in these hotels!), we met our guide to head to the Cu Chi Tunnels and the Vietnam war museum. I was excited for today to learn about the War. Remember, we are in South Vietnam which is who the US Soldiers helped support in battling Communistic North Vietnam. I state this as Kristen and I were very shocked with the message that both sites highlighted. I am not going to pretend to be a Vietnam War expert and will not go into what I know to be the truth. However, the entire day was spent highlighting how horrific America was for fighting Vietnam. There was no mention at either exhibits that there was a civil war going on between their own citizens. There was no mention of France, China or other countries who were helping with the fight. It was basically, look at want America did to our country.

Our guide and all of the exhibits highlighted how much they celebrated when the US pulled out and Vietnam could celebrate their "Independence". After some fairly deep discussion with the guide, we had to agree that they were celebrating their unification as one country, as the north took over the south and the south actually lost their Independce. Anyways, enough war talk. After contemplation, it makes sense why the message is the way that it is. The communist government controls the message at these exhibits and of course they do not highlight that the north Vietnamese soldiers also killed Vietnamese citizens from the south. Also, many of the south Vietnamese citizens who did not want communism were either killed or left for America after the war.

What shocked us both was how one sided all of the exhibits were. Additionally we were shock at how our guide spoke at how horrific America was by randomly attacking Vietnam in order to colonize it and how proud she was that her country was smart enough and able to battle of America. She spoke how free and clean her country was and how communism was good for their country. This was the same sentiment we heard from other English speaking guides. What shocked us the most was later she described how she had plans to move to America in three years with her boyfriend. Her plan was to have her baby in America so her baby can have US citizenship.
All of this highlights to me a few things:

1) no doubt we are all lucky as hell to have been born in America.
2) how people can be very close minded when they are not exposed to what is available in the world. Kristen and I are very lucky to be able to explore the world to learn this also. This was highlighted when our guide said how proud she was that her city was clean. She said this as we were driving by the river in HCMC with all sorts of visible trash floating in it. No way would we take a swim in that water. She simply has never seen cleaner. HCMC is definitely cleaner and more advanced than Beijing, Xian, Siem Reap, etc... However, it is no where close to meeting American standards.
3) even though people know it can be better, they would rather learn that themselves. People in the masses would rather continue as they know it than believe someone else that it can be better a different way. This really interests me to learn more about our foreign policies. We can't continue to try and help people who don't want help. I appreciate the hard grey area as I do believe that the US has to help in many instances. Kristen and I talked about this a lot as it highlights why we step in when there is additional political gain when helping mankind of other countries. We have to prioritize resources in the US and abroad and at some point someone gets help and someone doesn't. That list must be very difficult for our country's leaders. Traveling has made me realize that we can most certainly help with many basic societal problems in other countries that would help millions of people. Prioritizing that compared to our own country's needs is very complicated.
4) Observing the exhibit on Agent Orange was not pleasant. I felt embarrassed to be American. I wondered how hypocritical other countries see us knowing that we nowadays advocate heavily agents chemical weapons. There is nothing that can be said to defend our decision on Agent Orange, it was simply wrong. I do reflect on trying to understand why we did it. Did we know its effects on humans? Ever since then, it appears that we have learned our lesson. It almost feels like the US is similar to an old drug addict who now tours schools to advocate against its use. Maybe we have learned our lesson. We must find a way to win wars in more diplomatic ways. I also reflect on how a few key individuals are empowered to make decisions like this. They truly do represent us. The rest of the world initially judges us as individuals based on the decision our country makes.

All in all, today's experience really prevent a recommendation for Americans to travel to Vietnam. The people here have been friendly to our face, but we are uncertain how they all truly feel or would feel if they knew we were American. Hard for us to understand, but many can't tell if we are European, Canadian, or American. I especially do not recommend if anyone has an emotional tie to the war. It upset both of us and we don't.
We did not feel comfortable taking pictures of the exhibits in the war museum. Images of war are brutal and were not necessary to document our trip.
We finished a day with free dinner at our happy hour and a stroll though the streets of HCMC. Some fun pictures and video of this experience.

Important to note: we are waiting until we are out of country to post this or any similar messages on Facebook. The guide stated that Facebook was supposed to be blocked, but most people could actually get on it. I definitely believe that speech is monitored.

Vietnam pictures click here

Posted with Blogsy

Day 8/9 Cambodia

Day 8

 

As I write this one day later, I am realizing just how much we are learning each day. However, we are learning so much in the moment, it is difficult for me to remember even the key facts the following day. I need to bring paper and a pen around with me to write down random facts and thoughts throughout our journey. Blogging helps, but is impossible to do in the moment. I am going to try my best to write down the highlights from one of our best days yet.

 

We started the day bright and early at 4:00 am as we wanted to see sunrise at Angkor Wat. Our 5:00 departure was welcomed by a very friendly staff and driver. Holy cow did everyone else have the same plan. So many people. It looked like a start of a huge race with everyone lined up for some great photo shots.

 

We were lucky as the rain had moved through the night before, so we got a dry and very nice sunrise. We were able to find some isolated spots for great pictures. The temple was built X centuries ago! Too many dates on too many sites yesterday. The interesting thing about Angkor Wat was that it was vacated hundreds of years ago when their water lines burst and the Thai invaded it. The jungle took over the temple and was only found in this past century. Ironically, a buddist monk had stayed behind to watch over the temple and was able to share the history of it when it was rediscovered. The Tomb Raider temple we visited later in the day showed how the jungle had taken over the temples as many of the huge trees are still place on the sandstone. It is really called Ta Prohm, but is nicked named Tomb Raider after being featured in Lara Croft Tomb Raider.

We made our way back to an awesome Western meets Cambodian breakfast. I had an omelette with a side of vegetable curry and warm waffles covered in chocolate chips! Best breakfast to date. In fact, I replicated it exactly again this morning before our flight to Vietnam.

 

Our only full day in Siem Reap was packed full of temples and learning about the history of Siem Reap. I enjoyed the Tomb Raider Temple more than Angkor Wat as you could feel the jungle surrounding the temple making it much more mystical. However, seeing the huge Angkor Wat Temple at sunrise was an image I won't forget. The sun rising putting a shadow of the temple on the pond was awesome!

 

We had multiple bouts of rain, but ironically, we were always in the car or eating lunch when it rained. It was crazy how it all timed perfectly! We ate an awesome Cambodian lunch! I loved the food we had here. Coconut and red curry is my favorite combination.

 

Our guide brought us to three of the most prominent temples (Angkor Thom, Angkor Wat, and Bayon), some built in the 7th century. Yes, I wrote that correctly. How amazing. They had some renovation to keep them in good enough condition to explorer, but some aspects were still original. There are over 2,000 temples in Cambodia built between the 7th and 15th century. The older ones were built with bricks and the more "recent" ones built with sandstone. Some had elaborate carvings highlighting daily life at that time, while others were plain sandstone. They were built by the Kings in honor of the important people in their life. They were used for prayer. Originally, people of Cambodia were Hindu, but now more than 90% are buddist. The architecture of temples is a combination of Hindu and Khmer.

 

We made great time through the temples so we had time to see the local floating fishing village. This experience I will never forget. They fish at night and sleep and prepare for fishing during the day. I tried out our GoPro camera which I am a hoping I can turn off the wide angle as it makes things round in the photo. I did not have my lens cloth either, so the pictures are not great. I didn't want to risk having the nice camera in a old wooden boat.

 

The conditions these people live are amazing. No running water. Most drink right out of the river instead of going into the giant lake. They bathe and clean with the water. Most of us would have to be on deaths door of dehydration to even consider a sip. It is not surprising that 12% of kids die before the age of five. Despite being a floating school in their village, the literacy rate is only 46% and the average life span is 54.

 

It was cool to learn that there are at least three different types of rice grown here: dry, wet, and sticky. I have to learn exactly what the differences are and how they are harvested. We couldn't get YouTube to work last night to learn.

 

We made it back to the hotel to clean up and enjoy free happy hour again. I just love the service at the hotel. They brought us our much needed free laundry. A quick scare as they forgot Kristen's sweater, but that was solved after we produced a picture of it.

 

Although the food was amazing at the hotel, we wanted to eat local Cambodian food, so we ate in the city. Kristen had vegetable curry and me amok fish (recommended from our driver) and we shared an interesting omelette like egg dish. All were delicious.

 

The cost of food and travel in Cambodia is cheap. Draft beers on Pub Street were $0.50 with the most expensive cocktails $4.50. We found a local ice cream store that I felt I could trust and had delicious vanilla and brownie ice cream. 60 minute massages for $25 highlight the cheap travel.

 

We explored the night market, but have no room for or need for any items. Plus it was almost 9:00 and we were getting tired from our 4:00 wake up. We called our driver using our cell phone and headed back.

 

What a great day in Siem Reap.

Day 9

This morning I duplicated my delicious western meets Cambodian breakfast. Still shocked that I am eating curry at breakfast. I kind of wish I would have appreciated curry more when I was at Midwestern with my Indian classmates.

 

We left for the airport right after dinner. Upon finalizing my bags, I realized that I left my small Emirates Air travel bag on the plane upon arrival! This had my blackout shades, ear plugs, ear phones, and ear phone splitter! Only like $30 worth of stuff, but damn, some vital items when traveling a lot.

 

Some closing thoughts on Cambodia:

1) awesome food. We have been to three countries now (I am writing in Vietnam) and Cambodia has Chinese, Indian, and Thai influences.

2) very friendly people. Very happy to help make your day better.

3) cheap.

4) Hotel Borei was fabulous and comes highly recommended. Best hotel thus far on our trip.

 

Some random thoughts:

1) We did not really see Westerners in China. Most of our hotel and people on the plan out of Cambodia were Westerners. Being away from them for almost a week really highlights how much overweight our society is. We eat soo much more food at the restaurants. Maybe this was highlighted as one gentleman on the flight to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) had to be moved as he could not fit into one seat.

2) It was highlighted to me that big tour buses are not for me. It is amazing how much faster we can move through temples, restaurants and stops by either figuring things out ourselves or having a private guide. We end up seeing more in a much quicker time. It seems to me that these groups are always waiting on someone or something vs exploring.

3) Our hotel provided a driver and a guide. I wondered why the guide just didn't drive to save resources. I quickly realized how great it was to have them both. We would walk through a temple with our guide and exit on the opposite side and boom, there is our car. No need to waste time and energy to walk all the way back to the entrance. Additionally, the car was always air conditioned as it hadn't set in the sun while we were inside. For less than $40 a day, the driver was a no brainer as it helped us cut down on the amount of time we spent at each excursion. We covered a lot of Siem Reap in one full day.

Cambodia pictures click here

 

Posted with Blogsy

Day 7 - Travel Day

Day 7

Travel day. We left Shanghai at 945 this morning where we are currently laying over in Guangzhou. All luckily has went well to this point. We had a tentative scare this morning as Kristen got caught with a knife going through airport security! Yep, you read that correctly. A knife through Chinese security. Luckily, the woman running the scanners simply confiscated the butter knife after Kristen showed her the bottle of Skippy peanut butter! Phew. We traveled with the knife from Beijing so we could make PBJ sandwiches when necessary.

 

I am a bit worried about Typhoon Haiyan that is approaching the Philippines. It shouldn't impact Cambodia, but will most likely go through Vietnam when we are scheduled to be there. We will have to keep an eye on the storm. Hoping it gets weaker and turns North.

 

A summary of my China experience:

I had low expectations of China since it wasn't high on my travel wish list. However, I am extremely happy that I have visited. Kristen and I complement each other well in traveling. She pushes me to places I probably wouldn't go and experiences I probably wouldn't undertake. I do the same to her. China is one of these times. It definitely opened my eyes to mass people. The number of people in China is hard to appreciate when you grew up in a town of 4,400 people. Even living in Chicago and visiting Kristen in NYC for a year, is nothing compared to the masses here.

 

Because of the masses, there is significantly more poverty, more trash, more pollution, etc... It highlights the importance of sustainability. This has constantly progressed in my life and will continue as we move to Portland. When Kristen and I went through our belongings to prepare for a move, we were shocked at how much stuff we actually had. Much of it we actually do not use. We struggled with what to do with it all as we did not want to simply throw some of it away. It was all usable stuff, we just did not need it. We ultimately decided to sell most of it for $1 at a moving sale. We pledged to not own so much stuff in the future. The hardest part is finding use for things you no longer need. No one wants to throw things in the trash. This has really set in for us seeing all of the trash and non-sustaining aspects of China. We are going to make much effort to buy sustainable items moving forward.

This pictures does not contain rain clouds, but smog!

Flying into Cambodia it looked like the area had a recent flood. We learned the next day that the rice fields next to the Tonle Sap lake (biggest in SE Asia and one of the richest sources of fresh water fish in the world) flood each year during the rainy season and floating fishing villages move in and out. Then the water levels go back down (~10 feet), the fishing villages migrate back to the lake and the farmers plant wet rice. No bad flooding going on, just yearly tides of the water.

 

The Cambodia airport is beautiful. Reminds me of the Grand Cayman airport. Tropical, lots of glass, with a warm humid air temperature. Our hotel, Borei, had full service, which meant all included transportation during the entire stay, drinks, food, cell phone, and laundry. It was the reason we picked it. Unbelievable service! Our driver and guide picked us up and we were given jasmine flower leis, which smelled awesome and was a great first impression. The hotel was absolutely beautiful. We had welcome drinks and planned our next day's itinerary.

 

We made it to free happy hour with any drinks possible. Great Cambodian food. We tried this amazing white crispy chip like food. We had Long Island ice tea, mojitos, wine, "round the world", and Mai tai. We sat outside in a covered patio overlooking a Siem Reap. Unbelievable start to Cambodia!

 

Full day of exploring tomorrow!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Day 6 - Shanghai (Day 2)

Day 6
Now that we knew the city, we were raring to go. Well at least after a good workout at the gym. I am finding that I am actually better off if I put in 20-30 min of cardio and some really good stretching. The days that I skip this, my legs are usually fatigued and tight much quicker in the day. We have definitely put in some walking time in China. We both have found it great to be able to just stroll around and feel safe.

We started the day going under the river on the Bund Sightseeing tunnel. We had read not to have high expectations, so we didn't. But just as the reviews said, it was something we wanted to do before leaving. The pictures show it best, dark tunnel with random neon lights.

Wow, what happened to the Smog! Today was the first day we have seen the sun. Until now, it looks as though it is a bright moon behind some clouds. Today, bright and sunny! Perfect as we were in Pudong, the financial district, to go up the Financial Tower. The cool thing was that they had built an elevated walk way for a few blocks in the middle of the financial district. This keep walkers and tourists off the street level. It was very clean and beautiful. It was definitely set up to show business travelers how prominent Shanghai is. The buildings and streets were well manicured.

I have always had a thing for architecture, so I am always excited to see a skyline or go up in the tallest buildings. The Shanghai Financial Center was no let down. They had well done multimedia as you progressed to the high speed elevator. What made this 100th floor viewing unique was that there was clear glass flooring down the middle and on the edges. Very eery to be 100 floors above ground and seeing through the floor. Pretty sure that Kristen's heart rate was about 75% max as we had to cross the glass a few times! We were soo lucky that the smog was the best for viewing today. Best does not mean it was not there or visible. The lower levels of smog allowed us for at least a decent viewing from above Shanghai.

We made our way back across the river via water taxi for a whopping $0.33 per person. We ate lunch at Yu Yuan Gardens at Nanxing Steamed Bun Restaurant where we once again found ourselves trying to order food with non English translation. It was Dim Sum style, so we just pointed to what looked good. We went two for four on taste. The bad thing about this is that we cannot reorder what was good as we have no idea what it was. We finished the meal with crab dumplings which is what they are known for. The dumplings explode with juices when you bite into them, very delicious.

We spent the afternoon walking around the old city and the French Conscessions. We walked past the biggest Burberry, Prada, Gucci, etc.. Stores. Enormous and glamorous store fronts. We loved walked in the French Concession (once we found it in the inner alleys). The French have a huge influence obviously in this area as they were early settlers before Shanghai became part of China. The little shops were fun to peruse. We sat down at an outdoor bar, selling German beer while blaring American rap music in the French Concession. We decided not to stay since the beers were $10 and it didn't feel right with that mix.

We made our way back to the hotel to get our laundry! We had it done at Laundry Express (once again advice from Trip Advisor). We had two loads done within 24 hrs for about $22. A steal compared to the Radisson which charged $5 for boxers alone!! We showered up and made our way to the Shanghai Circus World by subway.

We arrived about an hour early so we decided to look for dinner. There was a local place on the corner that was busy, so we braved it and went in. No English translation again, seems to be a theme. We pointed to two pictures, egg fried rice and lo mein noodles, and a bottle of Tsungtao (sing Tao) for $5! An American couple walked in after us and asked to sit with us since it was packed. We were excited to meet Americans as we have only met one American couple in China. They were on their "honeymoon" one year later. I think they were excited to meet Americans also as they both talked at the same time a hundred miles an hour. It helped make the dinner more comforting as the restaurant was all locals and filled with smoke.

Chinese people love their cigarettes! Holy cow and everywhere. Luckily, most of these interior spaces we traveled banned it.

The Shanghai Circus World was AWESOME. It was an acrobatic show that had to be the back up crew for the Chinese Olympic Gymnastic team. Each performance out did the previous. The last act had motorbikes circling the inside of a round globe. I had seen this before. However, when they had seven bikes going at once, it was unbelievable. Additionally, rarely was anyone strapped in for safety. We winced a few time as we thought someone was going to fall, but all was successful. It was a blast of two hours! No pictures as they were obviously restricted as it would be dangerous for flashes to occur at the top of a huge human hamster wheel.

We packed our bags for an early departure the next day to Cambodia.
Pictures of Shanghai. CLICK HERE

Posted with Blogsy

Day 5 - Shanghai day 1

Day 5
Well the overnight train was a bit rougher than expected. The soft sleeper cars where like having a padded blue gym mat to sleep on. It was quiet though and I managed to get some decent sleep. My tailbone just might be bruised for a few days. We ended up getting a quad sleeper, so we had two others with us. Luckily they were pleasant and spoke Mandarin to each other. The one guy was my age and knew some English. He sold osprey and icebreaker outdoors gear which I had on. He called my hiking bag a "kite". I took the top bonk so KT could have the bottom. I put in my ear plugs and on my blackout soft shades and fell asleep before the lights were off. I was obviously tired.

The bathrooms were decent as they at least had a sink, soap, and towels. More than most we have been in thus far. Most bathrooms have been fairly clean but they do not provide soap or towels. Hand dryers are common, but soap is hard to come by.

We should be in Shanghai in about twenty minutes, but most of the train is still sleeping, so unsure when we actually arrive.

As we were preparing for arrival, the Chinese lady in our quad offered us both what looked like little cylinder pretzels (KT thought they looked like a medium sized nut). They were soft like bread with a nut in the middle. They tasted like what I would imagine cobwebs taste like. It was difficult to even get down. I made a face that clearly showed I did not enjoy. Kristen was much better and appeared to enjoy hers. Knowing her, I could not imagine how she enjoyed it, but hey, maybe she did. The lady ended up giving her a huge bag full as she looked as though she enjoyed them. She ate three more! The funny part is once we got off, I asked and she said they were awful! Lol. "Why in the world did you eat them and look like you enjoyed them?" She did not want to offend her. I obviously did not have a problem doing so. The trash can at the hotel ended up with a bag of some nasty cobweb tasting pretzel/nuts!

Shanghai (Shung-hi, as all locals call it) was close to my expectations. Huge buildings, convenient and well organized transportation systems, clean streets, and high end advertisements everywhere. However, the sky was still full of smog!

We checked into our hotel, Radisson Blu, which was located on People's Square right in the heart of it all. Nanjing road, a pedestrian road similar but smaller than Times Square, is where all of the tourism is that leads to the Bund. The Bund is a walkway along the Huangpo River over looking Pudong, the financial district of Shanghai. The smog really prevented the skyline from being beautiful. It was cool to see it compared to the colonial landscape at the Bund. However, it is definitely no NYC skyline. I did enjoy walking on the Bund as it was nice to be next to water. We walked to the old city of Shanghai to check out the traditional Shanghai housing and business district. Huge contrast. It felt like a cleaner Beijing street with every square foot used for business or living. The traditional markets sold everything from lace, buttons, gadgets, clothes, silk, all sorts of Chinese food, and on and on. It once again felt as if everything you would need to live was within two or three city blocks.

At the edge of the Old City, we walked past what looked like a rental wedding dress store. Very random. Especially since the lady was washing the dresses by hand on the sidewalk.

Walking around, I was pleased to see how well organized the city was laid out. It was super easy to walk around and explorer the new and old Shanghai. After miles of walking we made our way back to Peoples Square for an afternoon coffee. We settled on Starbucks as we welcomed some familiarity. Ironically, two coffees and a scone was the same price as two soups, a beer, and dumplings at lunch.

We made our way to the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum as I had read good reviews on Trip Advisor despite its boring name. I really enjoyed the museum as it outlined Shanghai's development plan to 2020 and it's goals. It was very well laid out, technology everywhere showing its plans, a 3D video on the city and a huge model of the city's landscape. The hard part for us was believing everything that they said they were going to do. There was much talk about being environmentally responsible,etc... But no real substance on how they were going to accomplish. It will be interesting to see if they become the top international city they aspire to be. They definitely have the abilities and money. Not sure if they really want to pay for it to be done appropriately.

We decided to shower and walk back down the Nanjing to check out the skyscape at night. We ate again at a traditional Chinese restaurant. Funny story here...it was packed when we walked in with very little English translation. The waitress brought is to a table with four chairs, where two people were already eating. Kristen slide right in and I joined her. The awkwardness felt like minutes as we had no idea what to do. We were being seated with what looked like a Chinese couple on a date. Luckily another waitress was cleaning another table by the window and waved us over. Phew, awkwardness averted! We learned that just one pepper on the spice chart next to the vegetable soup equals about three in the States. Crab dumplings are the best. And just because the menu says crab or vegetable, there is always some sort of meat in the dish. And it is almost always impossible to determine what kind of meat. We have just decided to skip meat in China. All of you meat lovers, I would bet you would make the same choice. Again, we had beer, two bowls of spicy vegetable soup and crap dumplings for $10! Loving how cheap it is in China, if you eat at non-western establishments.

Pudong is definitely more beautiful at night. Not sure if the light rain reduced the smog or the lights look better against the darker skies. We snapped some pictures before heading back to our hotel for some drinks at the 47th floor. The one cool thing worth noting here was seeing a business traveler from England facetiming his wife and daughter. He was showing them the view from above.

 

Posted with Blogsy