Just a little blurb about how I spent my time off. I had 18 days between trips, so I did what every good tour leaders does with so much time - TRAVEL! :-) Maureen flew into Hong Kong the day after my trip ended so I flew up to meet her there. It was awesome to see someone from home!! We did the most break-neck tour of China ever, oh my god. 24 hours in Hong Kong, then we hopped a plane to Guilin. We spent two pretty leisurely days in Yangshuo, bamboo rafting, biking, shopping, and having good food, before we hopped another plane to Beijing.
With 72 hrs in Beijing we managed to see the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, rent bikes to ride around the city, saw the Temple of Heaven, and then climbed the Great Wall! We tagged along with my friend Spark's group for that, which was fun. They were determined to finish the wall in under 4 hrs, so by golly we did it in 3:45! ai yo!
Maureen went home the following day and I hopped a plane to Chengdu to meet my friend Julie's group and do a little training in some cities I hadnt been to but will be running my next trip through. I hate running blind trips so I took this chance to familiarize myself with the new places before bringing a group there. Julie's group turned out to be great fun. We went to a tea house Culture Show in Chengdu that was fantastic! It had bits of Chinese Opera, puppets, music, and comedy routines that were killer! :-) Then we got to see the PANDAS!!! :-D They are so cute, I cant wait to show you the photos! I even have a video of a panda having a sneezing fit, that reminds me of my Gramma, LOL. Priceless.
From Chengdu we went to Emei Shan, aka Eyebrow Mountain! Lovely eyebrows are a sign of beauty in China and this a beautiful mountain so they call it Emei ~ Beautiful Eyebrow! It is actually a beautiful place, some parts of the walk were breathtaking, and not just because it was 3500 steps UP! There's a place where two river streams come together and are crossed by two arching bridges between a pagoda.... a-s-t-o-n-i-s-h-i-n-g. Honestly to know that places that beautiful exist in real life is crazy. Part of the walk is really fun too because there are monkeys on the trail! All pax are given "monkey sticks" to beat them off with because they're theiving little devils. But boy do they make for cute photos, hehehe. At the top of the 3500 steps we stay at a 400 year old monastary that is amazing. Very old, very authentic, and offers electric blankets in the winter! lol :-)
I left Julie's group after Emei Shan and hopped another plane to Nanning(I should really consider frequent flyer miles!). In Nanning I was so excited to catch up with some friends we stayed with the first time I came to China, the Sielaff's. I've been in China 6 months and haven't had a chance to see them, so imagine when I got there and they told me they've just been in America for a year and only returned last week! Such perfect timing, it was wonderful. It was also an experience to be in an entirely Christian environment after all this time, very different. Anyway, I got to catch up with them for 24 hrs and have another little taste of all things American and Christian. I have a funny pic with their kids who were so young 5 years ago, but who are now all over 6 ft tall! I'm definitly the shorty in the photo. :-)
After my short 24 hrs in Nanning I caught an overnight train to Hanoi, with one day to spare before starting my next trip. Who said time off was supposed to be relaxing??
Currently Reading: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (strange)
