thoughts on blogging

well as you can see I’m not a habitual blogger. When I started the blog it was intended to only be a travel blog, but I haven’t had the heart to discontinue since every now and then we do some awesome things (and its a better option than emailing pictures to 10 different people….not to say only 10 people care about my life, of course its more than that! hah!).  So that being said check in every now and then, but my days full of work, unpacking, cooking, cleaning and relaxing just aren’t interesting enough to write about.

But, what is interesting is that Greg and I finally moved into our house!! Finally the end to 6 months of living out of suitcases, guest houses and other peoples generosity **Thank you dad! We still miss the Sofitel and everything Chinese, and a big thank you to Bob and Cherie for having us the past 6 weeks, we could not have asked for a more comfortable and enjoyable stay (especially us newbies to Alaska, thank god for blackout curtains!)**

We finally got internet and phone yesterday (YEA!) While we still don’t have TV, our favorite night time activities have been fixing old bikes and lawnmowers, and shadow puppets on our enormous white walls….yes, that’s right. shadow puppets.  It is super nice to finally get settled in somewhere but we are starting to remodel our kitchen in just a few short weeks, so I’m afraid we’ll be plagued with boxes and packing paper strewn across the floor for another couple months.

So here are the first pictures of the house. And as we make it through the remodel I’ll keep a picture archive and post sporadically.  Our plan is to demo and install almost everything ourselves so there should be some interesting pictures…haha

Click a picture to see more!

neverending light

Well, I haven’t seen darkness in three weeks, but who needs to when it’s sunny all the time!

My mom wants to see my beautiful face so I feel obligated to post some pics of our first two weeks up in Alaska.  Quick briefing:  Greg started work right away and just two days before I started at my new place of employment, Camp Fire USA. Evenings and weekends have been filled with bbq’s, bike rides (some better than others), hiking, and trips to the Jernstrom Family Lake Cabin (JFLC).  Pictures are below – click on any one to be linked to my webalbum.

We made it!

Biking along Turnagain Arm

Greg’s big birthday!

Water fun at the JFLC

Check out the webalbum for more pics!

15 bears and counting

No cell phone reception, no restaurants, no town but there is a dodgy hotel on the side of the highway with free wifi…that’ll do.

So far we have 15 bear and 17 caribou sightings. Plus 2 moose, a couple hawks, bald eagles and a bunny.

We drove 15 hours yesterday and 13 today, we could make it to Fairbanks tomorrow night with just two nights on the road….we’ll see though maybe we’ll just camp somewhere instead.

Fresh out of hibernation, too hungry to run when we stop to take pictures and Greg wants me to camp outside? I don’t think so!

I’m sure the never ending daylight will be a topic in many of my future posts, but, it’s 9.30pm and the sun is shining high in the sky. We have a lake view from our hotel and it makes me want to grab my bikini and go sunbathe. Well, except for the snow on the ground.

upward and onward

Well, as if traveling around the world wasn’t enough to make 2009 an exciting year, we’re also saying goodbye to friends and family in Washington and moving north to Greg’s hometown, Anchorage Alaska.  We’ll take a little over a week to drive up the Alaska Canada highway before we settle down in Anchorage.

Greg and I have extended the invite to come and visit Alaska to dozens of people from family to friends met in faraway lands and we hope you all will take us up on this open offer.  Stay tuned!
Love,

K&G

confu, golf, crazy food, holy mountains and sucky cups

Just captions and pictures this time.  Sorry it took so long for an update, I wanted to wait until I had lots of cultural goodies to post. It’s hard to write about how cheap my pedicures are or how we spent our last evening eating foie gras and frog legs with the Sofitel GM in a fancy french restaurant an elevator ride away.

First some introductions.  This is my dad’s support network here in Jinan, his driver Mr. Li and his family.  His wife and children have joined us for tours around the city, several delicious meals and little ‘bing bing’ and 11 year old Kyleen have provided many smiles.  Kyleen is learning english, and we had lots of time to practice.  Mr. Li’s sister is Jade, she has been my dad’s interpreter as her english is good and Mr. Li is just learning.  She has also been a tour guide and good friend so we have spent a lot of time learning about chinese culture with her…including the proper way to get my nails done and feet rubbed. hah!

First real game of the year for Greg and I, dad has been here already a dozen times, I think we did alright but this picture might say otherwise.  If you look close enough I think you can tell that I am mid-curse word as my drive skidded to a stop 20 yards in front of the tee box.  Also please note my huge guns.

Jade had us over to her apartment for a home cooked meal, which was amazing! plus she had a lot of great chinese art work so we had a chance to decide what type of art we wanted to bring back.

Dad helped out with the cooking too, he’s really trying to interrupt the womans role here.

Some street food including crabs on a stick!

Of course with all the culture we’re taking in an afternoon nap was in order.  I think the guys were busy playing chess, and taking pictures of me drooling on the couch.

Greg and I went to climb Taishan Mountain, the most Holy of China’s Taoist mountains.  At least one climb is mandatory for all chinese Taoists and the hike is taken very seriously….all 6,700 stone steps of it. (as if Nepal wasn’t enough we actually chose to do this activity)

Unfortunately we had really terrible weather.  Rain on the way up and fog for our morning sunrise. Bummer, maybe we’ll do it again someday.

When getting married, many chinese hike up Taishan to bring a lock as it will bring good luck to their marriage.  I saw Greg lingering by the locks, then I saw a bolt cutter…hmmmm

Of course, on this, the most pampered leg of our journy, we even had a good connection waiting for us on top of the mountain, Mr. Zhang.  He met us at the top, brought us to our hotel and ordered us lunch.  Mr. Zhang then gave us a tour of the mountain and joined us for dinner.  He practiced his english with us and we really were grateful to have him share his time with us. This is pig’s foot btw.

We woke for our famous sunrise opportunity and found thick fog and heavy winds.  No sun for us

Imagine a gong ringing in the distance and war cries of tourists echoing around the blind bend of the mountain. And then you can imagine why Greg thought we were walking into an ancient battle.

The mountain is littered with many painted stones.

Mr. Zhang giving us our fair well as we get ready to walk down the mountain.

We just loooove the stone stairs.

Ridin first class

One of my favorites – the hotpot.  Sooo good.

I guess I could have given warning before the pictures….but, after the foot massages at around midnight I decided to get a suction cup type massage. It hurt and I now have big bruises.  Of course I made Greg do it too, but I think I have looser skin or something because my back is much more knarly

This is an hour later.  Also sweet Lee jeans right? Rhinstone incrusted too. Awesome.

Jinan is the ‘City of Springs’ with close to 100 springs bursting up around the city.  This creates canals and lakes, the perfect place to build many city parks.

This housboat on the main canal is also a teahouse, we had great tea there but had a hard time finding a spoon to stir the sugar.

Onto Qufu, the home of Confucius.  We visited temples, his home and his grave…along with hundreds of other chinese tourists.

Women step with the right, men with the left. And no stepping on the doorjam. I tried to fake out Mr. Li a few times and I think insulted some Chinese people in the mean time. oops.

Greg was looking for confucius, he wanted to have a ‘beard-off’. 

More good food, all this food is for 7 people.  And a huge pot of fish soup followed the meal.  It’s insane how much we eat here.

The gang leaving Qufu, including James and Maggie, two students here in Jinan who majored in English.  They found my dad and befriended him many months ago.  James has showed my dad many gems around Jinan and they both took us to an amazing dinner one night.  Their english is nearly perfect so having them on our Qufu trip was super helpful.

 

Greg and I are catching a night train in a few hours heading to Xian to see the Terracotta Warriors and the city itself.  From there we go straight to Beijing to finish out our trip.    My dad and Jade are joining in Xian where surprise surprise we’re staying at another Sofitel…saweeet…  and Jade might join us in Beijing where she has friends and of course the amazing skill or ordering the most delicious food for us.

Also, you can see more pics if you click on any of the above pictures – it will take you to my webalbum.

Ni Hao China!

The Beijing Train Station where we caught a night train straight to Jinan a few hours after touching down in the country.  We unfortunately could only get tickets in the seated section (rather than sleeper cars) and we were separated by a few cars so it was a long night of head bobbing and making new friends.

A little chinese golfing – our warm up before going to play at a large 18 hole next weekend was a little driving practice and a 9 hole ‘par 3′ that was more of a ‘par 2′, you could almost spit from the tee to the green.

The first of thousands of buddha’s

Some delicious lamb skewers from a street vendor

We spent our first afternoon with my dad’s driver and his family taking a tour of Jinan.  We listened to chinese language tapes in the car and all practiced our respective new languages.

Ah, the lazy susan.  She will provide hours of entertainment I am sure.

The view from our restaurant, lots of families come for fun here, swimming in the summer and boats in the winter. 

The most respected at the table eat the meat from the head of the fish…of course that was us.  We were also honored with eating the head of the chicken and Greg expressed interest in eating the ‘landing gear’ of the chicken but regretfully there were no feet left!

Well I guess we’ll see if profiling still exists in SeaTacwhen Greg tries to go through customs with that beard.

But by far we have been enjoying the ‘Sofitel Sanctuary’, coined by Greg – Delicious breakfast buffets on the 49thfloor, which happens to revolve; happy hours everyday in the Executive Lounge with imported wines and cheese; late night karaoke; a thick soft robe that has become a staple in my wardrobe; and an easterdisplay with live bunnies and baby chickens and ducks - Who could ask for more? Oh and the popular english phrase to learn is ‘you’re very beautiful’ so it’s an ego booster too!

 

Next up on the agenda is visiting the many parks surrounding the city, golfing a full 18, visiting Confucius’s home town, a trip to Xian to see the terracotta warriors, and of course Beijing and the Great Wall. 

The mighty Himalayas

The trek: Annapurna Sanctuary, Highest Point 13,550 feet

Day 1: Pokhara – Tikhedhunga (4.5 hours)

High – Fresh muscles, no blisters, best room in the guest house, an amazing lighting storm

Low – It’s the first day, of course no lows!

Day 2: Tikhedhunga – Ghorepani (5 hours)

High – We beat the snow storm by two minutes and sat by the fire the rest of the afternoon

Low – Climbed 3,280 stone steps first thing in the morning, bye bye fresh leg muscles.

Day 3: Ghorepani – Poon Hill – Ghurjung (9 hours)

High – Sunrise panorama of the Himalayas at Poon Hill (3200 meters)

Low – 9 hours of walking and the first blisters appear.

Day 4: Ghurjung – Dovan (7.5 hours)

High – Hiking all day with views of the mountains and missing the afternoon rains at a cozy guest house in Sinuwa for lunch.

Low – First realization that we may be underprepared in terms of rain gear and warm clothing.

Day 5: Dovan – Machhapuchhre Base Camp (7 hours)

High – Walking through avalanche chutes and snow fields and arriving at our first base camp!

Low – First signs of altitude sickness and infectious diarrhea (both in me). Everyone over here talks about I.D. really openly, probably because EVERYONE gets it, so sorry if this is too much info.

Day 6: MBC – Annapurna Base Camp (3 hours, normal time is 1 hour)

High – Our final destination, what could be more satisfying!

Low – Full blown I.D. and a 36 hour migraine (presumably from the altitude)

Day 7: ABC – Bamboo (6.5 hours)

High – Getting out of the cold weather! And of course walking downhill is much easier.

Low – We were caught in a huge thunder storm and all our gear was completed soaked. At this point I had taken in about three pieces of bread over three days and couldn’t hold any fluids so my strength was pretty minimal.

Day 8: Bamboo – Chomrong (5 hours)

High – My first real meal in three days, chocolate cake with a candle in it and a hot shower, a sweet sweet hot shower. What a birthday present!

Low – The ‘first real meal’ was at night so my forth day walking on empty was incredibly difficult.

Day 9: Chomrong – Pokhara (8 hours)

High – A sunny beautiful and easy day of walking through wheat fields and following the winding river down the mountain.

Low – None! It was such a rewarding experience!

More Pictures:

Greg pointing out our final destination, Annapurna Base Camp

Much of the walking was like this. Maybe I’m looking at the mountains and their beauty, maybe I’m deep in thought. Likely there is a huge staircase in front of me and I’m wishing I had a donkey.

Somewhere between MBC and ABC I think

Views from the top

One of the many stupas

Looks pretty daunting huh? Try not eating for two days and then doing it!

A porter carrying up his daily delivery to ABC

A porter pit stop obviously

There must be more stairs in front of me.

The last day walking out, looks so much easier!

A chicken porter

And of course the adorable children begging for ’sweets’ and ‘choco’

from india to nepal

Two bus riders much more happy about the 10 hour journey than us

Most of the above pictures are taken from Varanasi in northern India.  The city is a sacred city to Hindu’s with the River Ganges bringing it’s holy waters to the steps of the many ghats lining the shore.  ‘Ghats’ are simply steps that lead into the river.  On the shores of the river life is busy and can be quite personal, people come to bathe in the river, do their laundry and expunge of their dead.   Of course what shocks us most is what we remember most, even if it is not the best of memories.  Varanasi I think holds both the best and worst qualities of India.  Outside of the cacophony of the streets, the begging of children, the perpetual smell of dung being burned (fuel) and the unholy holy men, the city can be very impressive and serene if you plan your day right.  We took a popular sunrise cruise down the river to witness pilgrims doing morning devotions in the river,  men bathing and mothers doing their laundry.  The  centuries old temples and ghats that line the shore made for a remarkable morning.   The last ghat we visited on our morning cruise is known as the largest ‘burning ghat’.  It is highly regarded for Hindu’s to be cremated at the River’s edge and have their remains washed into the water.  This means that their family pays per kilo of the body and for a pile of wood (qualities and price can vary) which is stacked along the shore and professionally burned.  It is supposed to take between 2 and 3 hours to complete the cremation.  Greg and I happened to stumble upon a ceremony at about hour 1.  I’ll spare the details, but I still get queezy over my memories and forever burning wood will remind me of that day.   Varanasi was a good stop on our journey but we were happy to cross into Nepal where the air is fresh and the streets silent.

In Pokhara we spent the day getting ready for our 10 day trek into the Annapurna Sanctuary.  We’re really looking forward to being out in nature again and hopefully getting some great pictures.  We’ll be back around the 28th, until then!

K&G

festival of color

 

Just a quick update – we’re alive and well with just a short bout of illness.  We made it all the way across the county to Varanasi where we are holed up in a fancy hotel for cheap in the holiest of holy lands, the Ganges River. 

Before heading east we celebrated Holi in Jaisalmer and then I had to celebrate in the shower for a couple of hours trying to get bright dye off of my skin, hair, gums and ears.  It was a pretty crazy experience; child, adult, man and woman rubbed or sprayed us with powders and water dyes, once with a silver paste that smelt like rubber cement (we’re both thinking if we die early, it will be linked to that).  We were invited into homes to share food and drinks laced with opium – we were told frequently that many people are high on opium all through the festivities, no beer though, (and by laced I don’t mean they were trying to be sneaky, opium use is a very open and accepted activity, drinking and eating beef, not so much).  We were also warned by some chatty shop keepers that some people like to ‘play bad Holi’ which we unfortunately ran into in the last 10 minutes of our outing into town…nothing to cry about but we (I) were relieved to get back to our hotel and away from hordes of kids and teenagers.

side note: Why it’s good to be a man in India

1.1 billion- the population of India. And the number of eyes staring at me, all the time.

0 – the number of men who direct a question at me instead of Greg

13 - the age of the kid who made kissy faces at me from the back of a rickshaw.

52 - the number of cat calls when I appear to be walking alone.

12 - the number of wandering hands during Holi.

1 - the one occasion I wore a skirt. Mistake.

And finally, why it’s good to be a man in India – exterior plumbing. End of Story.

After Holi we hopped a night train to Agra and spent the day taking in our 2nd World Wonder of the trip – The Taj Mahal.  Afterwards another night train to Varanasi.

On the 16th we are heading north to Pokhara, Nepal where we’ll start our 10 day +/- trek.      

 

India. india india india

I am having a difficult time describing our first week in India.  I think I fantasized about SE Asia being this cultural wonderland where locals stare with curious eyes,  food so different you close your eyes and point, a freedom of tourists, and steadfast cacophony so loud you want to run and hide.  What I did not find in SE Asia I have found here in India.

Mumbai was chaotic but worth it.  Rajasthan has been a blessing and welcome relief.  We first went to Mt. Abu located on the southern border of Rajasthan, a Hill Station known to attract pious devotees on pilgrimages.  We visited a few Jain Temples that were made of white marble and had intricate carvings so delicate you want to break it off and eat it.  The main Jain temple, see photo below, was built almost 1,000 years ago and cost 120 million rupees in 1031AD.

From Mt. Abu we traveled to Jaisalmer in the far west.  We found a stunning desert fort rising from the sand like a mirage as we pulled in at sunset.  Our hotel is brand new, it overlooks the whole city and the ancient fort, a really nice treat.   A popular excursion from Jaisalmer is a camel safari which we of course did.  We are sore and sun sick but the two beautiful days in the desert will be a lasting memory.

We are staying in Jaisalmer for two more days to catch the Holi Festival, also called the Festival of Colors which from what I gather is a night of throwing colorful powders, pastes and water dyes on other people…should make for some good pictures.  Of course I’ve left out the religious aspects but this post is rather lengthy as it is – feel free to google Holi (ignore the part about possible hazards found in the color dyes, India is of course an adventure)

A few pictures are below, apparently the internet cafes are charged per byte transfer so we’ve been encouraged not to load many pictures.