Dali, China (14 July 2014): Figuring Out China

14 July 2014

Dali, Yunnan Province, China
　

At the lake

Anita’s gone. She has been gone for 3 days. She flew back to Minneapolis via Shanghai on the 11th. In terms of days, she flew back on Day 27 of the whole family’s Tip to Tundra tour from Bangkok (or Day 35 if you’re counting from Singapore). In terms of latitude, she flew back from 25°N, or 11° further north than Bangkok, where she arrived. That is about the latitude of Monterey, Mexico. But if you're counting in terms of broken hearts, that would be four for four. We all miss her very much.

Our first night in Dali was in the new city at the southern tip of Erhai Lake. We stayed in a skyscraping atrocity in a travelers’ dessert – except for the Wal-Mart, well, including the Wal-Mart. But suffice to say it was an adventure of the no-so-great type and the kids cried that morning that they hated China. After a couple of failed hotels. (Kunming’s hotel was a misadventure of the predictable type – new hotel, way out of town, kind of near the airport but not really, kind of near to nothing else in the universe, funky-weird vibe from overworked hotelier.)

The mood of the kids is so tumultuous that the large changes in our group dynamics – the departure of Lauryn and Karen in Saigon and Anita’s departure – are prominent peaks amid a range of other proud emotional mountains. Gracie, in particular, seems to careen from height to height, being set-off by the slightest comment from her brother or reprimand from her father. Traveling with her would be exhausting were she alone, not to mention a pair of siblings to help stir the pot. It must be exhausting to her, too.

"You must finish" 

But she rallies. Yesterday was a case in point. After whining from the moment she awoke, we rented tandem bikes and traveled down to Lake Erhai. She was my stoker and she raved throughout about how much she loved cycling with me. Beside the lake she (and her siblings) were the focus of much excitement and photographs from tourists of the domestic sort. Later, having worked our way back uphill to Dali’s three pagodas she fell victim to a photography accident, scraping her arm and becoming enraged. After returning the bikes we ended up at the Ya Ran Tang, a restaurant so infused with ideological vegetarian ferver that they won’t let you return your bowl unless you’ve eaten everything. Imagine how that worked with our family!

Here's what our adventures look like in a video:

Meanwhile, in the land of a one-child policy, a single father traveling with 3 kids is an aberration worthy of note. Stopped our tandem bikes beside the roadside for a drink of water, a passing farmer women stopped and inspected us. Then she counted the children – “yi, er, san ren,” (one, two, three people) then nodded before continuing on her way. Of course foreigners get stares pretty commonly in China, but I think we get extra special stares. They get included in pictures wherever we go. Not me, though.

Canyon in Cang Shan mountains

Kunming, China: From Laos to Yunnan (9 July 2014): Really? A sleeper bus?

9 July 2014

Bus to Kunming, Yunnan Province, China Sleeper bus.

Mountain roads. International border. Put those ingredients into the recipe for getting from Luang Prabang, Laos, to Kunming, China, and stir for 24 hours. Sometime around midnight we will cross the Tropic of Cancer (23° 26′ 16″). That’s what counts as a plan this summer. And so far – a cool 10 ½ hours into the journey – the formula is working great. From the tuk tuk that was sent to our hotel to pick us up at 6 am with the breakfast that our hotel had packed for us to the coordination of seats on the bus. We had been told by five travel agents that there was a bathroom on the bus – Gracie has sudden, desperate urges – so we were surprised and saddened to learn there wasn’t. But an every 2-hour stop schedule has even smoothed that out. Now we’re sailing on the smoother roads of China and I’m in a top bunk with my favorite youngest daughter – the bunks on this side of the bus are doubles-wides. Carrie and Liam are right behind me on another top bunk. Anita is underneath them on a double-wide all her own. I’m not making any claims about the linens being sparkling, but they’re clean enough. Don’t get me wrong – double-wides aren’t queen size, or even full size. But they are twice as wide as the 18” allotted to the passengers on the other side of the bus.

Outside, the journey has been nothing short of spectacular. The roads in Laos were nothing to boast about, but they were fine when they were paved and they were paved at least half the way. Twisting around hairpins on gravel or cresting hills on blacktop, we saw row after row of blue mountains extending into the distance. The valleys were draped with jungle and stands of bamboo. The villages were made of the same, with tile roofs, cinderblock and concrete regularly mixed in.

We didn’t know how we were going to handle this leg of the journey until we had arrived in Luang Prabang. Our guidebook didn’t mention the 24 hours bus to Kunming. Nor could we find in a guidebook or on the internet anything particularly extolling the virtues of southern Yunnan province. So as we looked around Luang Prabang, an ancient holy city perched on the banks of the upper Mekong River, we decided it looked like our best bet for slowing down and letting us catch our breath after a frenetic trip across Vietnam. No smoking on the bus. What a godsend!

Here’s one thing the kids and I made to stay out of trouble (will post on YouTube when we escape the Chinese firewall):

Luang Prabang, Laos, and Yunan Province, China Photos

Roseville, MN

Here are the pictures that Angus sent to me. I have not been able to copy the written posts. It is also not apparent to me how to write captions for the photos to let you know where the photo was taken. I'll be working on it and hopefully this post will improve. -Anita

Photos from Luang Prabang, Laos

Feeding bananas to hungry elephants outside
Luang Prabang

Temples of Luang Prabang are full-on fancy.

My dream office

Country road in Shaxi, outside Dali

Photos from Yunnan Province, China

New faces in an old alleyway in Shaxi

Peaking out of our reliable breakfast spot

Traditional Bai Family Courtyard, which was also our hotel

Town center temple. An impressive Ming dynasty-era complex

Boy and bridge

Chinese Internet Firewall Foils Blog

Roseville, MN (Anita's Blog)

Back in the States, leaving my family in Yunan Province, I am tasked with updating the blog.  China's internet firewall has prevented any a"ccess to the blog, which is why the posts have stopped.  It's taken me a while to figure out how to post, and I will now be attempting to cut and paste photos and entries from Angus and the kids into the blog.  We'll see how it goes.

It's so strange being home alone with my husband and kids a world away for the next 5 weeks. It is peaceful certainly, and there is plenty of time to work down my to do list. The first few times I texted and FaceTimed them it was hard because there were so many tears. "Why did you have to leave us?" was a question that I had a logical answer for (I had to go back to work). But it broke my heart and I so wanted to give them all real, not virtual, hugs and kisses.

Now, our recent FaceTime encounters have been less dramatic. The kids are having fun. They're talking about the things they are seeing and places they are going. They still say they miss me but their expressions are no longer gut wrenching and desperate. And now I find myself feeling sad in a different way. They don't need me as much. I think I am getting a glimpse of what I will be facing over the next 5-10 years as the three of them grow into adults and eventually leave to lead their own lives. I find myself becoming overwhelmed with feelings of pride and gratitude. My little ones' wings are definitely getting stronger. I can't wait to see where they fly. I take that back--I can and want to wait. -Anita

Hanoi, Vietnam: 30 Hours in Training

Luang Prabang, Laos

Halong Bay was the easy part (see previous post). The challenge was getting from the south to the north in time to get on board. Here's some insightful commentary on what that takes.

Halong Bay, Vietnam: Poetry from the Sea

Luang Prabang, Laos

Halong Bay was one of our target destinations for the journey -- as righteous parents, we hoped to be able to share the beauty of this remarkable ocean garden with our kids. Like Angkor Wat it was a place to which Anita and I had traveled before at a different time in our lives and it left an indelible mark.

There a video blog at the end of the post that also links from here

Last time we took a local bus and then a local ferry to a large island, mostly park, off shore known as Cat Ba. That was 1992. The ferry was a hopeless rust bucket, listing 10° left -- the kind of boat your mother warns you about if she thinks about listing boats at all. A 10-year old boy sat at the bow, puffing on a cigarette. This time we opted for an inclusive cruise through a reputable Hanoi guide service (http://kangaroocafe.com). In 22 years we've come up in the world. So has Halong Bay.

The junk-rigged rattan boat that was on the cover of our guide book and took over my mind was becoming a rare site in 1992. They're quite extinct now. Little wooden sapans have taken their place, pulling in nets or selling fish to cruise ships. The waters are filled with cruise ships like ours -- 6-20 cabin vessels with no hope of going too far from the sheltered bay. Gone was the sense of falling off the edge of the map and into a sea of beauty and miscommunication. But there is also a sense that they've recognize the need to crack down on the wild-westiness of the place so that more people can come and enjoy it without destroying it. 

Gratuitous scenery picture

Kayaking under mountains

And what about kids? Were they staring out the windows, entranced? Were they rushing from one side of the ship to the other to take in a new karst island rising majestically or the sight of small trawlers silhouetted by the sun? Maybe we could rent those kids somewhere. Instead we brought the kids who thought the ship was cool, thought their cabin was cool but were disappointed that it didn't have wifi. They thought the kayaking was cool, but would have preferred to have been swimming, and they only grudging joined us for the cave tour -- Liam is more accustomed to making caves in MineCraft and the idea of walking through a limestone showpiece and not being able to dig it or blow it up is almost unbearable. If they were moved by the scenery they kept those cards close to their chest.

Gracie: We're in this cave. What is it called?
Angus: Amazing Cave.
Gracie: Amazing Cave? Well
anyway, it is pretty amazing.

Squid fishing. Squid were safe.

After a night on the redoubtable Baitu Long Junk we were beached at our old island, Cat Ba. Twenty-two years ago a group of us hired a bus that we presumed would take us around the island. When the driver only took us to one place, the national park, and then proposed to turn around and come back we balked and argued -- culminating in Anita and I walking the 8 kilometers back to our hotel. But that Cat Ba has been replaced. Only the enveloping jungle seemed familiar. The city had been transformed from a sleepy backwater into something of a domestic tourism mecca, with a promenade, karaoke bars, 3 and 4-seat cycle rentals and lots of romantic young couples.

For this escapade we were joined by two English women who were traveling for 18 months, Billie and Marie. It is nice to have fellow travelers -- I'm used to making connections with other travelers from myriad countries, but those spontaneous meet-ups don't happen as much when you're putting your kids to bed at 9 pm. So we were grateful to have Billie's sense of humor and Marie's patience with Gracie's questions for a few days. Thanks guys! Have a great trip.

Here's the video I made to celebrate:

Cat Ba Island, Vietnam: Liam's Homesickness

Cat Ba Island, Vietnam

Liam's Blog: Hi I am Liam and I am writing to all of my friends and past teachers and even family in America or say Saki in Japan. I really miss all of you and it is extremely hard to write this without crying. I wish I was with you all. I feel bad I cannot play with any of you and I forgot to say I miss Blaze a lot too. “Thank you Nana Susan for taking care of him.” I would like if you all could comment saying how your summer is going. It was really hard to leave you behind and come here. Right now we are doing fine it is around 9:45 on the 1^st of July And I have been struggling to see the keys because eyes are filled with tears and when Mom gets back ask her how we are doing because Mom and the rest of us will keep in good touch I hope. 

And I almost forgot Heejae. I hope you are feeling Ok in Korea bye.

Liam would like people to comment. How do you
overcome homesickness?