We traveled by bus back to Guilin and from there flew to Kunming (pronounced "Kumin"). We visited various sites around Kunming, including caves, underground caverns and a pearl factory. We stayed at the New Era Hotel.
February 3, 2010 (Wednesday)
We then took a bus to visit an area known as the "The Stone Forest". The drive was beautiful and all of a sudden, there was countryside filled with stone formations, finally giving way to an area of huge rocks, now a formal Park area. We spent about an hour wandering through the huge rock formations.
That evening, we boarded another airplane to travel to Lijiang, where we stayed at the Shiner Hotel.
February 4, 2010 (Thursday)
We visited Shuhe, an ancient town, near where World War Two fighter pilots from the USA and Britain were based. It was really an old town and had some interesting goods and people. From there we went to Lijiang City, a most pleasant city or large town, bordering a stream running through it. We spent a very pleasant couple of hours visiting shops and viewing gardens and other interesting sights. We are at a fairly high elevation and nearing the country of Tibet. There are 56 different minority groups in China comprising about 7 % of the population. The Naxi Minority are prominent here.
“The Naxi women living in Lijiang are easy to spot, because of the way they dress. Blue, white and black are their favorite colors. Typically, their costume consists of a loose, wide-sleeved gown with a waistcoat on top, trousers, a pleated apron and a pair of embroidered shoes shaped like boats. The collar, sleeves and front of their clothes are embroidered with flowers. Often they also wear a sheepskin stole, with seven round patterns embroidered on it, representing seven stars that symbolize the remarkable talents and hardworking spirit of Naxi women.”
Naxi Dance
February 5, 2010 (Friday)
We then left to travel by bus for about 3 hours to a city named Dali. The drive was over a fairly high mountain pass and was very scenic. Erhai Lake is large and is bordered by Dali. We visited a cloth dyeing facility on the edge of Dali and then visited the Three Pagoda site, which was huge and extensive.
Our Hotel was one of the fanciest we stayed in on the trip. The city is small by Chinese standards, only three million. The next morning we made a brief stop at the old market. Ancient skills were in evidence everywhere. Dali is becoming a retirement center, because of its mild climate.
February 6, 2010 (Saturday)
We departed from the Dali airport at noon. A group of Chinese from San Francisco were on the same flight. The airport is located on a plateau, probably the result of a lot of dirt moving. Most airports are new and this one not very busy. We flew back to Kunming, where some of the group headed home. We stayed overnight in Kunming. We visited a beautiful park. We also went to a post office and mailed some of our excess goods back to Qingdao. It was very rushed and we could have sent a lot more. In retrospect, we took way too much clothing, but were traveling in many climates. For Hong Kong, I took two suits, where one pair of pants and a shirt would have been enough.
We left Kunming by air to Hanoi, Viet Nam. This involved getting a visa at the Hanoi airport to enter another country. It was very hot in Viet Nam. We were successful in getting everyone into the country. We traveled into downtown Hanoi on very small and narrow streets. Our hotel was a nicely refurbished place, but we didn`t locate the remote to control the air conditioning, so spent a very warm night. There were many French and other nationalities at the hotel. The usual market people thronged us at the hotel.
February 7, 2010 (Sunday)
It should be mentioned that throughout the trip, a fair number were sick from time to time. Sometimes the sick people just stayed in the hotel or bus as the case required. Usually it was a cold, which took a few days to pass. We visited the famous "Hanoi Hilton Hotel" where USA airmen were imprisoned during the war.
"The Hoa Lo Prison (Vietnamese: Hỏa Lò), later sarcastically known to American prisoners of war as the "Hanoi Hilton", was a prison used by the French colonists in Vietnam for political prisoners and later by North Vietnam for prisoners of war during the Vietnam War." - Wikipedia
The flight suit alleged to have been worn by John McCain was on display, as was his picture from a visit a few years ago.
Everywhere we go; there is reference to visits by Bill Clinton. He seems to have visited everywhere.
From there, we traveled by bus to Halong Bay, a distance of about two hours by bus. Again we traveled on narrow roads, going through many street side markets and businesses. At Halong Bay we boarded large sightseeing bus for dinner and travel into the bay area. It was a fantastic trip through unusual huge rock formations.
We stopped to visit a cave which turned out to be a large cavern, all set up for visits and with lights. Considering the remoteness of its location, it was especially unique. We stayed overnight at Halong Bay, which had a very rustic market. We stayed at the Mithrin Hotel.
February 8, 2010 (Monday)
Today we returned to the Hanoi airport and flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia. It was very warm here, but sunny. Below is a picture of some of the hotel staff at the hotel we stayed in.
Siem Reap (also known as Ankor Wat) is the home of ancient Hindu and Buddhist temples built between the 9th and 12th centuries and which were then lost to the world until a French Explorer Henry Mahout found them around 1860. There are at least 12 major sites and we visited 6 of them. Siem Reap does not have regular taxis, but rather motorcycles pulling a wagon type vehicle called "tuk tuk" that can hold up to 4 people.
February 9, 2010 (Tuesday)
The temple complexes are huge. The one called Angkor Wat, covers 81 hectares (nearly 200 acres). Here is a picture of some Buddhist Priests that were at the top of one of towers.
As the temperature was very hot and the street merchants very aggressive, we soon tired of these visits, which was shame. We picked up a couple of books about the Khmer Rouge (Red) terror years of 1975 - 1979, which was a terrible time when the communist inspired Khmer Rouge killed everyone but the peasants, some think around three million people. The movie The Killing Fields is based on this time period.
“The Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), otherwise known as the Khmer Rouge, took control of Cambodia on April 17, 1975. The CPK created the state of Democratic Kampuchea in 1976 and ruled the country until January 1979. The party's existence was kept secret until 1977, and no one outside the CPK knew who its leaders were (the leaders called themselves "Angkar Padevat").
While the Khmer Rouge was in power, they set up policies that disregarded human life and produced repression and massacres on a massive scale. They turned the country into a huge detention center, which later became a graveyard for nearly two million people, including their own members and even some senior leaders.”
February 10, 2010 (Wednesday)
Some of the group met some LDS missionaries. There are 4 in this city, with a branch of about 100 attending. Our local guide has a LDS girl friend. We visited more temples (3) today.
February 11, 2010 (Thursday)
Today we traveled to a river area where fishermen live, including those living on boats anchored in the open water. There were alligators in cages on the boat where we stopped. Many of the fishermen are apparently escapees from Viet Nam. There was a floating Catholic Church on the water. The boats are power by a unique motor drive system, or paddling.
Below: "lunch and leather goods on the hoof" - direct quote from Burton
Kindergarten
Typical Lake Child
Stacey speaking, "while I was looking for pictures I came across this blog that has many pictures of this type of community. Feel free to check it out."
Siem Reap Tonle Sap Lake
Later in the afternoon, we boarded another airplane to go to the former Saigon (now Ho Chi Min City).
February 12, 2010 (Friday)
Ho Chi Min City has about 8 million residents and about 7 million motor scooter or motor cycles (so it seems). They are everywhere and often have up to 4 persons on them or more, or loaded with goods. The local guide told us that Americans were the largest investors in the country in 2009. There is more than one way to win the war, I guess. We stayed right in the middle of the city, where it was really busy.
We visited the Reunification Palace,
the War Remnants Museum
and a place called Cu Chi about 70 kms away where they have protected the Viet Cong tunnel system.
The propaganda is pretty fierce about all the bad things the Americans did against the Vietnamese people. Some of the group could not stand today’s version of events and expressed themselves. Dinner was on a boat traveling on the Saigon River.
February 13, 2010 (Saturday)
Today we traveled by boat to visit people and villages on the Mekong Delta. It was short boat ride from Ho Chi Min city and had some very interesting things to see and do, including a ride in a cart, drinking honey tea, purchasing extremely cheap goods, having the chance to wear a python (skipped that one). We had lunch among the trees.
This is New Years Eve in Oriental countries. Yellow flowers were on sale everywhere as well as bushes and trees, all of which had to be transported by scooter or motorcycle.
There were some interesting loads to be sure. The streets were filled with people walking, riding and generally celebrating in a polite and reasonable manner. Some stayed up for the big midnight blowout. We were awakened by the fireworks (which are still going on four days later). It was fairly quiet the next morning.
February 14, 2010 (Sunday)
We departed for a city called Guangzhou (China) to stay overnight (because we would have arrived in Qingdao very late). Guangzhou does not normally get cold, so they do not have heat in their hotels. We nearly froze. Marvin the tour guide was ill and there was only one other person with us. We were very glad to go to the airport the next morning.
February 15, 2010 (Monday)
Flew home to Qingdao and were driven right to our apartment. The distressing thing is the amount of snow everywhere and it is still cold. Because most of the students have gone home, the central heating system has been turned off. We are saved by two small electric heaters. The heater below looks similar to this type of heater, only the ones we have in our apartment aren't this new.
