A Voyage in the East

Nothing new to add so far today, just lying low, although I am feeling significantly better today and am considering renting a motorbike this afternoon (yet another post that my mother won't want to read!) I am looking forward to England's titanic match later on today in Germany. I leave you with a link to a site that demonstrates the genius that is Pink Floyd. You've probably heard of the story that the Dark Side of the Moon mimics what is happening in Wizard of Oz. Well here is the evidence!

So I was supposed to travel to Malaysia today, having finished my diving course, but now I am waylaid with a seriously explosive case of the tourist trot, so I think that I will be staying put for a few more days. And by the way, I saw a huge shark yesterday while diving!!!

Today was a superb day. I took part in two open water dives!!! Diving is brilliant fun. I saw all kinds of amazing wild life and did all the required open water skills. I also dramatically improved my buoyancy. Now when I am in the water it feels like I am weightless. It feels really cool. Tomorrow morning I have to rise early as I am in the ocean at 7:30 AM. After I have completed those two dives I will have my open water certificate. I think that I will go for a couple of dives in Malaysia. Currently I am planning to leave Ko Tao on Friday and head south, hopefully as far as Malaysia. I am going to spend a couple of weeks there, hopefully meeting up with my roommate from Korea, Alana, in a couple of weeks in K.L. I still have the Malaysia tourist theme song in my head from all the commercials that they had on CNN International when I lived in South Korea: "Malaysia truly Asia, as magic as you can be!" DRAMATIC!

First order of business on this Wednesday, June 28, 2006, I'd like to wish my beloved brother DOUG and VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Despite his dramatic return from Europe, Doug failed to cheer hard enough to insure that the Oilers would win THE BIG GAME 7, but I still love him very much, and I am sure that the Oilers will do even better next year! So I forgive him!

A couple of interesting stories about China, here and here, in the International Herald Tribune this evening. Letting people know who is BOSS for sure.

I am very proud of my accompishments today. I successfully completed, with no trouble, all the in-pool skills required to get the PADI certificate. Tomorrow, I will be going into open water. It really is like learning how to ride a bike!

So I've been at the beach for a couple of days now. I've chosen a beautiful spot to relax at. Ko Tao is a quiet, humble island of 5000 people. The beach is secluded and one can see the locals bring in their fish after a day at sea. All the restaurants are on the beach, it is wonderful, and the food is excellent. I've spent a fair amount of time reading: I finished reading the excellent novel War Trash and now I have started reading Warlords, which is an excellent examination of the psychological frameworks and relationships between Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin and Hitler. I started my diving course yesterday. Of course, I started to hyperventilate and had to leave the water. Later I got back in and spent half an hour figuring out how to breath under water, so I am going to resume the course proper today, and hopefully go for an open water dive tomorrow. Oh and tomorrow, June 28th, is my brother's birthday. So I want to say, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOUG!

Yesterday I attended a Canada Day Party at, ironically, the British Club in Bangkok. What happens when a bunch of Canadians celebrate their national holiday, albeit early, and cold, high quality Canadian beer begins to flow? A ball hockey game breaks out, under the sweltering Bangkok sun! It was a hard core, intense game, and I have some excellent photos of my face being loaded with grit and concentration! After the game we had an excellent dinner. Of course, a Canada Day party would not be complete without singing the national anthem. For this party, the organizers had downloaded the Canadian anthem, as sung by the Edmonton fans during game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Paul Lorieau only had to sing the first few words, and then the sold out crowd of 16839 took over. I was so proud of my compatriots! During the meal we watched highlights from game 6 and 7. I still find game 7 depressing to think about.

After dinner, I took off early. To be honest, I didn't like Bangkok at all, and was beginning to get the first pangs of depression. Thankfully, I was able to leave that godforesaken place early this morning. I caught a 6AM bus, which thanks to a cock up by the travel agent I nearly missed, for Ko Tao, an island in the Gulf of Thailand. As I stood impatiently waiting to be picked up, I distracted myself checking out all the guys who had picked up Thai women. I'd love to know what kind of transactions these really are. My guess is that many of them are sex tourists. Most of them don't look any different from the average guy. It is sad that people engage in relationships that aren't mutually respectful, but they do, and there is nothing that is ever going to change that, so live and let live I suppose.

The final part of my trip was aboard of catamaran. It was exciting, cruising the high seas at significant velocity. I am really glad to be in Ko Tao. I am already in a much better mood and I only just arrived. I should run because in an hour I have the first session of my PADI certificate course. That's right, I am learning how to dive! In four days I will be fully trained and looking forward to doing some dives later this holiday and in the fall in Vancouver!

So I have arrived in hot and steamy Bangkok. It is clear that this statement can have multiple meanings when one considers that there is a sign at the door of my hostel stating, in good English: 'No thaimales or thaifemales allowed in rooms.' The place is overrun with filthy backpackers who obviously have a different idea of a good time than myself and I am looking forward to leaving this town on Sunday for the Southern beaches and then Malaysia and Singapore. I will talk more about Bangkok in a minute, but first I want to talk about a few things that I didn't consider it to be prudent to raise while I was in the grips of the Chinese Communist Party.

First, I am convinced that our classes were being monitored by the government, in a fairly overt manner. One day, two Chinese guys showed up and started taking notes about what the Profs were talking about. Who were these guys? There was no reason why a Chinese graduate student would attend one of our introduction to Chinese law courses. The only explanation that I can come up with is that someone wanted to keep an eye on what we were being taught. Not that we were learning anything subversive as all the professors basically parroted the Communist Party line. This went to the extent that in our constitutional law class, while the prof was running through slides of all the important President's and Premier's in Chinese history, when he came to Hu Yaobang, the Chinese Premier who 'retired' in 1987 and whose death sparked the protests which lead to the Tiananmen massacre, his picture was not shown.

Secondly, I'd like to talk about what I saw while I was standing in front of the Communist Party headquarters, adjacent to Tiananmen Square. My friend Michael and I were standing in front of the heavily guarded entrance snapping photos and praising the peaceful and productive direction of Angolan - Chinese relations when we heard some screaming and shouting. We looked up and saw about 20 terrified homeless people being dragged off in the back of a police van. From what I've studied, the criminal penalties associated with begging and homelessness are harsh. The official reasoning for this, from what I ascertained in criminal law class, is that everybody is given an opportunity in a communist state. My guess is that these migrant labourers are going to be providing free labour for the next few years.

I found it fascinating to visit China, but I am also glad to have left. It was getting frustrating to not have unimpeded access to information. While I admit that there are shortcomings with western media, it is much worse when the government actively censors and controls what you can read or writes what you read and hear. Tune into the government news channel and you will get a constant stream about what the Chinese president did that day and how Chinese officials met with some minor official from country X and how China is hoping to have peaceful and productive with that country in a broad spectrum of fields. It is boring and repetitive. I enjoy living in a state that when somebody fucks up, be it the Prime Minister, CEO, Chief Justice, police officer or reporter, I can criticize them. It would also be scary, in a way, if China succeeds economically. It would definitely be a challenge to the liberal notion that only open societies can and will become properous. I'm not sure if I like the idea of having an authoritarian, ruthlessly capitalist challenger to the current world order.
So Bangkok. I arrived early yesterday morning. The previous night, we partied hard. Alison and I met a couple of cool people from England on the bus from Dali, so we went out for a meal and stayed up all night drinking at a bar with them. I managed to get myself so drunk that I did the "porecelin dive" and then staggered through Chinese customs and immigration. I arrived in Bangkok and checked myself in at the first hotel I could find. I looked around for a couple of hours and then crashed at 5PM. I slept until 7AM this morning. My room was terrible. Until 3AM I could hear noise from a nearby night club. This town is too crowded with tourists and I am leaving it. Today, I did a little shopping and then met my fraternity brother Dan Buijs friendly girlfriend, Melinda Wong. I don't know if Dan reads this blog, but I have to say that the guy has struck gold. I think he has the intelligence to realize it too, as he is also the guy who, for his Msc thesis, has figured out how the SARS virus works. I have some smart friends. Tomorrow Melinda and I are attending an early Canada Day celebration. The next morning I am going to head south to To Kao, where I may learn how to dive, and then I am going to visit Malaysia and Singapore for a couple of weeks.

Tonight I attended a Thai boxing match. Essentially, Thai boxing is kick boxing. I hope that the boxers wear cups, as the goal seemed to be to grab the opponent and kick the opponent in the nuts and head as often as one could.

Let me know if the last post didn't have photos. It would be kind of lame if it didn't. I can't see the blog in China. I'VE BEEN CENSORED!

I got up today very early (8AM) to listen to the hockey game online. I was shattered by the devastating outcome, so I decided to go drinking. After a few beers I need to go to the bathroom, so I took care to follow the instructions.









Not being content with merely rabble rousing, I walked through the streets of Dali. Avoiding the 70 year old Grandmothers who seem to be the town's only dealers. I decided to get a hair cut.

Tomorrow morning we leave Dali. On Thursday I arrive in Bangkok. Stay tuned for a few more stories from China and the Southeast Asia deal. Gotta go, some dogs are having a fight.

Check out my travelling companion's blog. It is rated in the top 10 this week!

http://www.globenotes.com/6weeksineurope

Here is my prediction for game 7: Pisani will score the winner.

Today, after following Edmonton's triumphant and fantastic victory in Game 6. A victory that I expected and called for. We visited the most important Tibetan Monestary in Southwest China. It was stunningly beautiful. The art work inside the monestary was intricate and colourful. I'd love to know what the calligraphy actually means. The monestary houses 600 monks of all ages, who were busy conducting their daily chores. There is also a monestary next to our hostel. We spend a good portion of the day relaxing and watching them entering and leaving the monestary. One of them was even carrying a box of pepsi.

We have arrived in the town with many names - Shangri-La, Zhongdian, or my own personal favourite, the Tibetan name, Gyeltang. Both of us had the same impression of the town as we rode in the cab that ripped us off (no meter - 10 yuan, I learned my lesson, agree on the price first): this town is unpretentious, unlike the touristic town of Lijiang which we couldn't leave soon enough. We enjoyed a lovely bottle of Tibetan Dry Wine, which was both dry and sweet at the same time. I have to admit that it made as much sense to us as it does to you, but it did - I SWEAR. However, later our view of the town was slightly changed when we visited the 'old town.' This is the part of town that has been turned over to the horrors of Chinese tourism. I have to say Chinese tourism is bizarre. Everybody takes a guided tour, in their own freaking country. You see each group with their own brightly coloured hat with tour guides leading the way carrying the same, brightly lit, flag. In the 'old town', we came across some 'authentic' line dancing. Authentic as tourists from Taiwan and Shanghai can make it! Having said that, the prayer wheel was beautiful.

Soon I will leave China. I am going to Thailand. On St. Jean Baptiste Day, June 24th for those of you who don't know, I will be attending a Canada Day party. This makes as much sense to me, as I am sure that it does to you. It feels good to be beating the Quebecers to the punch, or the beer, as it may be. Because of the time change, I'll be celebrating my nation a good 12 hours before you guys!!! HA HA!

Travelling Andy has also added a couple of countries to the itinerary. I will be in Vancouver for 2 days - from August 11th to August 13th, and then I will be flying to England to see my Grandpa, as well as a quick visit to France!

It has been a few days since I have had a chance to check in. We have been busy seeing and doing things and intenet access has been slow and intermitant. We are currently in Lijiang, Kumming, a small, pretty village that is an important centre for the wonderful Naxi people (got to be careful spelling that one!)

Three days ago we met some cool Dutch people at our hostel in Dali. We were chilling by the pool having a few beers when some drunk 50 year old Chinese people arrived to celebrate a birthday party. Within minutes they were wanting us to dance. I have some excellent video of 50 year old Chinese mothers busting some drunken moves.

The next morning we were hung over as we got into the van that we rented to take us around the lake. We stopped in a village and drank tea in the house of some local Dai residents. Then, of course, they tried to sell us some useless trinkets, but Alison felt so honoured by their hospitality that she bought one. We also visited some local temples, which were so stunningly beautiful. Not many people who visit this vast country have the opportunity that we have had to see such a site. Afterwards, we wanted to take a boat across the lake to visit an scenic (and highly touristic) island. This plan was thwarted by the boat captain who decided to drop us off on the other side, much to the anger of our van driver. Later along the road we came across some stranded Chinese students who asked, in flawless English, if we could give them a lift. We agreed, which led to a cacophany of swears from our driver, as he had to figure out how to attach their bikes to the roof of our van.

Yesterday, we came up to Lijiang. We nearly got stranded half way here. At the top of the highest pass our motor started to make some weird noises. We pulled into a conveniently located mechanics shack. 15 minutes, and loads of swearing and ingenuity later, the engine was sounding normal again thanks to loads of water and some expertly applied wire. We arrived in Lijiang in one piece. Our first impressions were not that good. It is very touristic and in fact it could easily be ruined by an influx of tourism. Luckily after a little wandering around we found the authentic backstreets.

We also noticed how high up we are: 2300 meters. At that height you begin to feel the thin air. Today we caught a Chinese bus to Snow Mountain, passing the world's highest altitude golf course (which is way too expensive for me) on the way. We took a chair lift to this splendid and quiet meadow, where we gasped for air at 3300 meters. We relaxed and watched the horses roam and took photos of the towering mountains in the background. Then we were innundated with requests for photos from Chinese and Japanese tourists. They spotted us and we had no chance to get away. As usual, I thanked them for visiting my country and told them that I hope they have a wonderful time here!!!!

Tomorrow we are thinking about going up to Shangri-La, which is where the tibetan world starts. We want to visit a couple of monastaries that are nearby. We will stay there a couple of days and then make our way back to Kumming for our respective flights. Mine for Bangkok, Alison for Beijing and then Montreal.

The last two days have been incredibly relaxing. In fact, I can't remember ever feeling quite so relaxed. Dali is an incredibly tranquil and calm village. People walk down the streets slowly here, and I have to admit that my pace is even slower than theirs! Yesterday, we visited a Buddist religious site called the three pagodas. It is the largest temple complex that I have seen. It stretches a third of the way up the mountain. From the top one can get a fantastic view of the valley and Erhai Hu lake. We climbed up and relaxed for a couple of hours. It was perfect because there were almost no tourists there. In a more crowded part of China such a place would have been overrun with tourists and people trying to sell you stuff.

In the town of Dali there are lots of people trying to sell you stuff. One's conversations with them can be quite humourous: Them: Boat Ride? You: No. Them: Horseback ride? You: No. Them: Ganja? You: No. Then finally, with rising optomism in their voice, Cable Car? You: Nope, I'm going to drink a beer and read a book. Two minutes later when one has one's cold Dali beer in hand (which in my humble opinion needs some work. It is not as good as the leading brand, Tsing Tao, which was originally started by the Germans), you hear, hey sir, Cable Car?

Tomorrow we have rented a driver to drive us around the lake. We are going to visit a local, "traditional" market, and visit a bunch of fishing villages, and yes, a few more pagodas. I seriously should read up on my Buddism and Taoism after this trip. We ran into a dutch guy and his attractive Thai wife, who joined us on our excursion to the Stone Forest, and we are hoping they will come with us. This evening, we are thinking about playing cards in the town square. Today, we found a place where groups of elderly men gather to play cards, so we think it would be fun to join them, and of course, become the centre of attention.

Like many exiled Oilers fanatics, I have been following the Stanley Cup playoffs online. I am proud of their performance especially when one considers that Calgary did not even win their first round contest. After today's tough loss, I think everybody should remember how proud we are of the Oilers for giving us such an exciting playoffs. I am sure that the boys will dig deep and take it to seven games. They can still win this thing.

Just wrapping up reading China Inc. Very interesting to read how China is beginning to heavily influence the global economy and is redefining the North American manufacturing sector. Thought came to me that the Chinese economy is going to heavily influence Canadian economic and political life. The manufacturing sector, mostly based in Ontario and Quebec, is going to have a hard time competing against Chinese manufacturing. Simply put, China can do almost anything they can for cheaper and higher quality. Alberta's economy is going to benefit from rising Chinese demand for oil, which will lead to more sales and a higher price. China will likely be one more factor in the gradual and relative shift of political and economic power from the East to the West.

A rhetorical question some would say, but the best answer that I have is three. One to actually pump the gas. One to push the button on the fuel tank so that the meter is reset, and one to watch and then take the payment from the driver. In fact, everything in China is incredibly labour intensive. Go into a restaurant and have 6 people serve you. Or more likely one person serve you (some of the time) and 5 people watch this person work.

Let me start off by saying that my Mum should probably not read this posting. Everybody else can continue, but Mum, I think you should skip down to the next posting!
Yesterday, we decided to visit the spectacular Stone Forest in the town of Sillan, which is a hairy two hour bus ride from Kumming. We got to the Kumming bus station having been warned to not take a tourist bus. So what did we do? We took a tourist bus. Despite our insistence the people at the ticket counter would only sell us tickets for a tourist bus. It turned out to be a good deal: 50 yuan, and the trip included a stop at yet another freaking temple! We also met a couple of other Canadians on the bus who we are hoping to meet up with this evening in Dali.
The stone forest is stunningly beautiful. Imagine 100 meter high coral amongst rolling hills. In fact the theory is that the stones got there because Southern Yunnan province used to be covered by an ocean, back in the days when the dinosaurs roamed in more places than Ottawa and Washington, D.C.!
Not content with walking along the paved paths with thousands of Chinese tourists, we turned off on one of the less frequented paths. We started to climb through caves and to elevate one of the stones. We climbed higher and higher. As we reached the top the path began to get thinner and the stones remained wet and HIGHLY slippery from the early morning rains. As we began to move from peak to peak one had to litterally step from stone to stone, clinging to the edge. Even the slightest slip would have meant falling 70 meters and instant death! But none of us fell. We arrived at the summit and took some amazing photos. I managed to control my fear of heights. It was wicked fun.
Today, we have moved on to the beautiful city of Old Dali. We have found a beautiful and cheap hostel. 50 Mao bucks will go a long way in this part of the country.

44 hours on a train can do a lot to a man. In my case it made me tired and very smelly. It would be an understatement to describe the trip as eventful, so I will describe it as being at times eventful, at times boring, at times hot, at times cold, and I haven't even discussed what the bathroom looked and smelled like by the end of the trip.

Being the only foreigners on the train, Alison and I were immediately the CENTRE OF ATTENTION, especially Alison. I could easily walk down the corridor without having every body stare at my chest and ass. Alison didn't have such luxuries. I took particular amusement at the guy across from us wanting to introduce her and get her to speak on the telephone with his son. She struggled to find the mandarin word for engaged in the phrase book. I sat back and watched with amusement as 3 people tried to help her translate. It was very funny and was a happy break from reading China Inc. and playing endless games of Gin and Chinese checkers and sipping green tea. Alison had started off the attempt at international friendship by offering the guy some candy. He responded by offering her some gross looking prepackaged sausage. This would be funny enough except that I haven't mentioned that Alison is a solid vegetarian and until yesterday on the train hadn't knowingly ate any meat for 8 years! I was a good friend and told her that she had to eat it, less we create an international incident, and was holding a bottle of water so that she could wash it down.

The train trip passed through some diverse land. Mostly we passed by rice fields, but parts of the trip passed through various mountain ranges. There is a huge gap in the amount of wealth in the cities and the countryside. The countryside is very poor. It is also very crowded. At times we could see hundreds of people working the fields. There really wasn't any area we passed through where there were no people.

So now we are in Kumming. We visited yet another temple, and cleaned out our system with a vegetarian meal. For the past two days I have sustained myself on Raman Noodles, which is terrible for you. Tomorrow we are going to visit the Stone Forest, a couple of hours outside of Kumming. On Sunday we will go to Dali.

Shanghai is a city of fascinating contrasts. There is the old and very European architecture of the French Quarter. There are towering skyscrapers and post-revolutionary apartment structures. The city has a revolutionary history and a flair for capitalism. Like many great cities it is schizophrenic. The first meeting place of the Chinese Communist Party is situated within what is now one of the cities most noted shopping districts. The museum is literally a 100 foot walk from the nearest Starbucks. Shanghai is destined to become one of the 5 most important cities in the world. It is located at the mouth of one of the world's longest and most important rivers.
As China develops billions, if not trillions of dollars of commerce will come through this city every year. Until now HOng Kong has been the most important economic city in the Chinese world. That is going to change because of geography. 50 years from now, Hong Kong may very well be the New Orleans of China. At the very most, it will be the gateway to parts of Southern China. Now off to bed. Tomorrow we take the train to Kumming and the start of two weeks hiking, trekking and seeing China's minority communities.

Just arrived in Shanghai. Really quite tired. The train ride was interesting but exhausting. I booked my flight to Thailand from Kumming and arranged our train ticket. 44 hours on the train coming up! We visited the Bund this evening. It was incredibly stunning and I took some really cool photos. We had a couple of weird people approach us on the street and we thought that we were being set up to be mugged. So we hopped in a cab. Really tired, going to go and catch some sleep in the largest hostel room I have ever stayed in.

I went to see a dead man's body yesterday. Dead body's look weird. Chairman Mao really looked like he had a lamp inside his head. It was strange. And guess what was in the room directly behind his body? You've guessed it. A gift shop.

Finished my exam. Got to pack my bags now to take the train to Shanghai tomorrow: 14 hours on the train. It should be fun!

Yikes, I have my final exam tomorrow. Perhaps I should actually study....

A fascinating article by Jan Wong today in the Globe and Mail. I can't believe that it slipped through and I was able to read it here.

What a crappy bar: Propaganda. I swear, there was wood alcohol in their rum. I had 3 drinks and I feel as if I had twenty. Lesson learned. From now on I am only drinking from bottles that I open myself!