October is without a doubt my favorite time of year ~ something about the changing season makes me dream and write and plan and think. Of course, spending three days on a boat in the middle of the Yangzi River does nothing if not give me plenty of time to think! Too much time really, I've started drawing parallels between my life and the river... I need help. ;-) Honestly though I'd take the ocean over the river any day, if only because on the river you can never see the horizon. The highlight of the our 3 days on the Yangzi River was when we left the big boat to take smaller boats, canoes really, up a little river called Shennong Stream. Near the end the river is too shallow to navigate normally, so 4 guys called Trackers get out and pull the boat up the stream! It's pretty cool to see them, and it's not something they originally did for tourists. The local Tuijian people actually used this for transport and moving goods up and down the river. At the end we came to a beautiful lagoon, then the Trackers got a break because we went back downstream.
You may remember my initial misgivings about meeting this group, but they managed to find a place in my heart despite my best efforts. I had 4 Brazilians who spoke minimal English but were very very sweet (just for you Pri! ;-) ), 3 Brits, a Scot, 2 older Canadians, and one very odd German. The Brazilians were great because they were so enthusiastic about everything we did. Whether it was bike riding or visiting the pandas or staying in the monasteries, they told me almost everyday how great each thing was! Especially Rodrigo, who, every time he smiled he would absolutely light up. Even his eyes smiled :-D When we stayed at the monasteries in Emei Shan Rodrigo took to joining the monks for their 4:30am chants and prayers. We called him Santo Rodrigo for the rest of the trip, hehe. I also taught him and his sister Carmem to say "oh my Buddha!" instead of "oh my god" and they thought it was hilarious!
I had a little adventure myself coming down from Emei Shan -- and no, there were no rice paddies involved -- I got jumped on by a monkey! Yeah, he kind of ricocheted off my backpack in an attempt to get my water bottle :-O Nothing major, but I did consider titling this blog "Got a Monkey On My Back" .... (groans, I know) hehehe.
The others were fun too. The old Canadian guy and I kicked it off in Yangshuo by having SNAKE for lunch and drinking it's blood! (Happy Halloween?) Then we tried hotpot in Chengdu, which is a great place to get spicy Sichuan cuisine - it'll blow your head off :-O The hotpot was really fun and crazy, and I love Sichuan food because they have these great peppers that look like little black cloves but have a citrusy sort of flavor and they numb the sides of your tongue. Can be good when your mouth is otherwise on fire. There seem to be a lot of restaurant moments on this trip... the funniest of which was when we went to a Brazilian restaurant in Xian and I kid you not, they were playing Evita's "Dont Cry for Me, Argentina" on the piano as we walked in! so wrong, hahaha.
Arriving in Beijing was beautiful because they actually have changing seasons here, unlike Southern California. The day we walked out on the Great Wall was gorgeous and I have bunches of photos of flame red vines and multicolored landscapes, wow. I also have a photo of me riding a Flying Fox! (aka zip line) At the end of the Jinshanling to Simitai walk, one option to get off the Wall is to take this zip line down over a beautiful reservoir and then down to the village. Most of my pax were up for it so I sent the others down the trail and we went for it! It was definitely a rush :-)
On our last day in Beijing we got an unexpected blessing that really touched our hearts. We had a scheduled visit to Beijing Huiling, which is an Intrepid Foundation charity that supports mentally disabled adults; "huiling" means "intelligent spirit" in Chinese <3 I'd never been there so I didnt know what to tell my pax, and we were all amazed by it. After lunch a group of the students put on a program for us of singing and dancing that was too precious, culminating in a rowdy, dance-around version of Jingle Bells! The photo at the top is the boy who was acting as MC of the program. When he arrived at Huiling he was autistic and couldn't speak; they have since "found his voice, and found that it was strong" so now he is the show's announcer. :-O
For about a week after we got here to Beijing we've had trouble accessing hotmail and facebook (for various political reasons). In a normal environment this would annoying to say the least, but at the Intrepid Beijing office it was unthinkable! To not have access to hotmail OR facebook?! For a week straight our office looked more like a rehab center, poor tour leaders wandering around mumbling to themselves 'no... hotmail... cant... see ... facebook', rocking back and forth, staring vacantly. It was sad really. hehehe :-D Thank goodness the problem is getting resolved, because it really is annoying having some time off between trips and not getting to catch up with everyone back home.
Speaking of which, I've got a week off in Beijing before starting my final trip of the season. I'm intentionally trying to be antisocial this week, get some rest, and recover from the cold on top of a cold that I came down with. I'm also pacing myself because several times on this trip I'll be running into my friend EJ (trouble), and then she's coming with me on my birthday trip, so I'll do my best to be alive and coherent when I return home in a few weeks ;-) Only a month now guys! "I'llll be hooooome for Chriiistmas, you can cooount on meee" hehehehe And I'll be blowing up your phones when I get there.
~ Love you all ~
Currently Reading: History of Love, and Holy Cow
Current Injury: got tipped off a tall barstool, many bruises incurred
