Lost in transition

Yet another week...

2009-02-27T16:18:00.000-08:00

...has passed. So what have I been up to? Last Sunday I went to Toby's Carvery with a bunch of mostly new people for a traditional English roast dinner - delicious! After we hit a pub for drinks, and got some entertaining live music to go with it. Nothing was more amazing than my French friends insisting on singing their own songs though, while the rest of us pretended not to know them all that well! The weekdays have flown past since then; I am getting busier at work, and have tried to spend my spare time in the so-called real world - althoug I have to admit, mostly I have watched old episodes of Top Gear and read books :D Not all of it though! I went to have dinner at Natasha's flat, and I've had coffee with people (well, with Filipe) and ... oh well, I guess that was it. It's been a lot of reading lately, graduate theses as well as diving into Daniel & Jason Freeman's Paranoia - the 21st Centry Fear - which is quite interesting, and an easy introduction to the theme if you're not a paranoia geek (like me). Oh, and I have joined the student gym; probably the achievement of the week. Climbing shall commence on Sunday ! - if the Spanish don't bail on me (again).

Calendar for Tiril's B&B has been added!

2009-02-19T16:54:00.000-08:00

For those of you contemplating to visit - and you should contemplate it! - I have added a calendar to my blog that will show the times I am out of town or already busy with visitors [red] and what weekends I have no special plans [green]. If the space is green, you can bet on me being in Edinburgh around that time, with space for people who can entertain themselves while I am at work...

Lost in transition

2009-02-09T16:31:00.000-08:00

Who would think that it could ever take 18 hours to get from Tondheim to Edinburgh? I most certainly would not, but that was still the time it took me from my flight left Værnes until I arrived at Edinburgh International Airport--by bus. My flights took me via Amsterdam, where I had a lovely break with an art exhibit in the New Church and dinner at a lovely local café. Departing from Schiphol at 21.15 all seemed well, until we reached Newcastle and it turned out that snow is a shocking thing not only to Londoners but also to Scots. Clearly the stout country fed on porridge and haggis struggle to remove snow from runways, and so the KLM flight landed in Newcastle (where the snow blew away on its own) and sent us to Edinburgh by bus. Oh joy. I crawled into my own bed at 6 am this morning--the wonders sleep can bring...

Edinburgh so far

2009-01-30T13:19:00.001-08:00

My lack of blogging in recent times has--yet again--been due to a lack of internet connections. This time not so much the availability, as the practicality. Who would think it so impossible to have internet installed in your own home!? But oh, it takes time, clever considerations, and--in my case mostly--luck. Whereas British Telecom and other broadband providers have been unbelievable difficult to deal with, the neighbouring flat have graced me, Cèdric & Anthony with their connection (for a minor, not-yet-negotiated fee). And so, 21 days after moving in, I am finally online without the National Health Services restricting my movements because I should be working!

So, the brief update is that I have moved to a flat in Bruntsfield, a rather student dominated part of Edinburgh with plenty of little cafés and shops. We're not really talking Obz or Grünerløkka here, but once the weather gets better I suppose it picks up... There is a huge park right across the street from my house, and so I see trees as I wake up in the morning, which I suppose is a luxury in a big town. Edinburgh itself is a really lovely city, truly Medieval in style, with a charming atmosphere. I work at the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital in Morningside, where I am located with the Early Psychosis Support Service. I really enjoy it at EPSS so far, finding my work very interesting and my co-workers friendly and lovely. However, the coming week I am back at NTNU for compulsory classes. My flight is at 5.50 am tomorrow, so I guess I should get packing... Expect further updates on Edinburgh when I return.

The unebearable choices of living

2009-01-07T15:08:00.000-08:00

When do you decide that you can live in a place? When do you leave the "this feels like home" behind and go for a place that is ok, but missing at least one of the things you'd like to have if you could--that nice kitchen, the really lovely flat mates that you just clicked with, the perfect location, the stunning room, the price that allows for plenty of fun ... Is it after a week? When you start work? When you're desperate for internet so you can download more Top Gear episodes? At flat no 20? Is it when you run out of shampoo and have to get a new, full, heavy bottle if you want that good but affordable stuff that Boots has on sale? Those are the questions I am asking myself in the afternoons, while at the same time contemplating how many groceries I am willing to buy, or can possibly eat before the weekend, so I don't have to carry them. Do I go for the place that it makes sense to go for (but that my gut doesn't like, for some unknown reason) or do I wait for the weekend and the people who are not home yet but would love to show me their flat once they're back? I got the shampoo (although I wasn't at Boots, and it wasn't on sale) and I didn't compromise--yet. Tomorrow will show if I feel I have to, or wait my nerves out for the (more) perfect combination of factors that make a place "home".

Back in the so-called 'real world'

2009-01-06T02:34:00.001-08:00

Just a quick update--I have not vanished; however, as I returned to Norway for a week only, most of my energy was absorbed by the general concepts of Christmas, family, New Year's and moving to another country...

I am currently in Edinburgh, Scotland, where I will be living for 6 months. The city is undoubtedly lovely, people are friendly, and work seems very promising! I work at a unit for young people experiencing a first episode of psychosis at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital--very exciting. I am currently staying in Budget Backpackers in central Edinburgh, awaiting to find the perfect room in a flat; in the meantime I try to enjoy myself as much as I can.

[More notes about my life here in Scotland should follow.]

Photos from Japan

2008-12-17T07:20:00.001-08:00

Ironically, after so long without photos to show you, photos is all I can get on within a reasonable amount of time.. So here goes; my week in Japan!

Fukuoka

The Shinkansen bullet train

This train eventually took me from Fukuoka to Tokyo, then Tokyo--Kyoto, Kyoto--Hiroshima, and finally Hiroshima--Fukuoka.

Downtown Tokyo at night

Temples of Kyoto

Hiroshima

A lovely city; the highlights obviously related to the war history. Photos to come soon.

Big in Japan

2008-12-10T08:19:00.000-08:00

Waking up in Korea, thinking I was getting on a bus to somewhere else in Korea, I was ut on a boat from Busan to Fukuoka, Japan... Yes, somethimes these things happen. After 5 hours ow wandering between endless amounts of ATMs, getting rejected yet again, I managed to get 20,000 Yen out of my credit card and the night was saved. More updates to come once I can figure out how to get a steady supply of money, thereby finding time for other activities.

Arriving in Taipei, Taiwan

2008-12-05T04:05:00.000-08:00

I just arrived. More updates about Sapa and Hanoi are coming, and Taipei as well--once I get to experience it! For now I'll be looking for food while I wait for Christiaan to get out of the bath tub and find me.

Sapa

2008-12-03T22:59:00.000-08:00

As the train pulled in to the station in Lao Cai, I realised that a few months of being tanned and wearing flip-flops had made me forget how cold the world can be. Freezing! The weather was treacherous like a Norwegian spring; warm and sweating in the sun, cold and pleasant in the shade, and then, all of a sudden, chilling you to your bones as the shades turned into evening. The sun rose as the minibus took myself, Holly, Jenny, Kirsty and Emma to the mountain city of Sapa; revealing a stunningly beautiful scenery of rice terraces along the sloped mountain sides.Stumbling into the first decent looking place for breakfast it turned out we were all set if we wanted to; the manager could organise a local guide for a home stay, with profits going back into the community. We decided to go for it--and had two amazing days with Chi, a woman of the Black H'mong tribe, originally from the Lao Chai village (not to be mistaken for the city with train station). We walked there with some of her friends and family, meeting the rest of her family along the way; or at least the women. I saw men every now and then, but in general Vietnam--both in the cities and in the mountains--is a country where I've found myself swarmed by women in most situations. Having a female guide was a pleasant change, and during the trip she answered questions we did not know we should ask, cooked amazing food and had the local hosts (of the Dzao tribe, in another village) serve us multiple shots of "happy water" to keep the the general mood happy. And it was! (Despite the cold...)

Halong Bay

2008-12-03T21:47:00.000-08:00

Part of traveling is the transport leg to what you really want to do, getting to know your group of travelers on the road. The bus to Halong Bay included some rather anonymous individuals scattered inbetween a bunch of hung-over guys with pen markings all over themselves; one of which I had met the night before as he ventured into the female dorm to find a toilet in his rather drunken state. As the morning unfolded, his name-brother and friend kept feeding the bus with never-ending random facts. My plan to sleep a bit on the way was made even more difficult by our guide; a British-sounding, Italian-looking beach bum kind of guy--called Stacey. No kidding, a boy named Stacey. He demanded that everyone to tell their name and something about themselves so we could get to know eachother and have fun... That plan stumbled at the second seat already, as people wondered what sort of a name "Tiril" was? Evidently, everyone else had normal names, like Charles, Jenny and Simon. And Stacey. And they thought my name was weirder still. In the end I found myself absolutely squashed between Simon and Stacey as I tried to doze off in my seat, and despite the name-barrier we got to know each other anyway. Arriving in Halong Bay was breathtakingly beautiful--and the place was lovelier the farther away we got from the city. The rugged karst formations seemed to be dotting the water endlessly, with scattered floating houses and fish farms inbetween; small mourings, fancy houses and even more floating homes. I had booked a three-day trip, and the first day was a relaxing one; enjoying the scenery, spotting the kite birds that soared above us every now and then, kayaking, swimming and drinking beer. As the night arrived I got to feel some of the Vietnamese winter, though; freezing in my cabin on the junk (i.e. boat) and huddling up in my woolen long-sleeve! The second day arrived with more lovely, sunny weather--and a total of 5 amazing climbs up the karsts...absolutely amazing! The climbs were easy enought to start with, making it easy to enjoy the view--as the afternoon progressed I felt my fear of heights kick in a bit more as I traversed narrow ridges and lunged for the safe hold I could not see. In the end I fell down enough times to give up the last top, but it was still great fun. The night was spent on Cat Ba Island, before we slowly made our way back to Halong City and the bus to Hanoi the next morning. Feeling somewhat battered most people seemed to head for a bed or a beer--myself, Holly, Jenny and Kirsty found tickets for the sleeper train leaving for Lao Cai (Sapa) the very same night, and hit one of the lovely local reastaurants before catching our sleeping ride up in the mountains.

Venturing north: Hanoi

2008-11-27T08:37:00.000-08:00

Running from tailor to tailor--and then back again!--yesterday I managed to collect all my purchases, fill a big box with them, and ship it all home by airmail. Supposedly it will reach my Mom's home for Christmas; we'll see. Tired but happy I got on a moto (motorbike taxi--i.e., a guy with a motorbike and a spare helmet) with my backpack, to get to the bus that would take me to Huế and finally Hanoi--happily sleeping in a bed on the road! Well, that was the plan anyway, but as I'm sure you know--planning is highly overrated! The first bus arrived 1 hour after I was picked up and the moto driver hurried me for being late, as it was already 2 pm and 5 minutes past pick-up time! (They always pick you up 30 mins after pick-up time, so I delayed deliberately to get some fruit.) Then, at 3 pm this was, we left--and broke down within three blocks from the bus company's office. That is about 5 minutes of driving. Yet an hour or so later, we started rolling again, finally! Arriving in Huế I had to change to a sleeper bus, which was a sleeper bus alright. I got a bed at the very back, where you have five beds cramped together. Originally bunking me up with four local guys someone in the company thought a bit and by the time I was back from the toilet I was bunking with four other international girls. So far, so good! I even had a window bed, so fresh air could be abundant as well as a view if I couldn't sleep. All I needed was dinner, and they assured us--food stop is at 6.45 pm! Closer to 21 pm I got some sort of meal at the kind of roadside dinner the busses always stop by in Asia, and was finally ready to go to sleep like a little baby. That's when the driver decided we had delayed too much, and it was time to pick up some speed... You know those video games with car races? It looked like that from my point of view--and a grand view that was, at the very rear of the bus with a widow my own length, as I saw the lights of cars coming from the other direction, swerving a bit, honking! They honk a lot when they drive in Asia in general; most often just to say that "hi, I am here". Added with the zig-zag patern the driver took the bus in to advance on the other cars, the total amount of honking was coming close to unbearable... You'd think it would stop after a while, but as it turned out--I spent two solid hours awake, finaly gave in and took one of the valiums some other traveller had given med previously when I could not sleep, and dreamt that the bus was trapped in a traffic circle surrounded by angry elephants hinking and charging at us... and the I woke up in central Hanoi, it was 7.30 am and apart from the added sunlight--nothing had changed. The joy of Vietnamese busses is getting me to a point where I will be getting a train ticket for my next leg of independent journey--Sapa. Before that, however, I go on a small group tour to Halong Bay with my hostel. It's time for karst rock scenery from another world, kayaking, rock climbing and (jada, Jarle!) deep-water soloing! Woho! Don't expect to hear from me the next week, I'll be out having fun.

PS: Hanoi is beautiful, at least the old quarters, and water puppet shows are good fun.

Streets in Hanoi

The Temple of Literature

Tailors and ruins

2008-11-25T03:36:00.000-08:00

Winter is coming in Vietnam, with storms and floods dominating the weather in Hoi An. Although it's not really cold--I never wear any more than a long sleeve sweather during the day; sight-seeing really isn't the big thing as the water forces me from the streets into little cafes and tailor shops. What normally happens is that I find something very pretty and give my visa card yet another blow... Although still within bearable dimensions, it seems to be time to move on after two days at various tailors'! This morning I defied the pouring rain and darkness though, and headed towards My Son--the ruins of hindu temples built by the once mighty Champa kingdom, controlling the middle of Vietnam for several centuries at around 800-1000 AD. The Champa were apparently notorious for waging conflicts with neightbours both in the north and south , and were later crushed into oblivion. The remainig people converted to Islam at some point, with only a fraction of the 100.000 antecendants still believing in the Hindu gods the temples were built to worship. The ruins today are very worn down and mostly shattered--particularly as a reault of the Americans' B-52 carpet bombing during the war, when the Viet Cong hid there. They still hold plenty of beauty in their own way, and covered in mist with a backdrop of lush green and no more than 4 other visitors at the same time I had a lovely morning wandering around. Back in Hoi An I had the sense to get my bus ticket to Hanoi for tomorrow--before I found yet another lovely dress at yet another tailor's...

Hoi An: A 24 hours bus ride to the tailor's!

2008-11-23T06:03:00.000-08:00

My next stop in Vietnam was Hoi An, pretty much half-way up the country on the map, just south of China Beach where the Americans landed their first troops in the country. Yes, that is actually a geographical description that means my grandfather can figure out where I am, and although it is practical it is also a little scary. However, to get here is another story! It is late and I am famished, so I have to make this short, but let me say--despite being long (24 hours as oppsoed to the 18 hours promised by the agency that sold the ticket), it was truly entertainig! Highlights include a poor little boy who had to puke every hour or so; as his mom struggled with the smell the n'th time I offered here my little jar of tiger balm (Asian people use tiger balm for all sorts of smart things!)--to sniff, I though, but the boy nex to me rubbed it on the little boys tummy, and on his tongue! Oh my..! I made a rather weird crying sound; I had never imagines to put tiger balm on anyones tongue!--and so the entire bus laughed equally at me and the littl eboy trying to clean his tongue from the ghastly taste. Yet again the bus laughs, yes--it happens on most of my bus rides here. After that people seemed more eager to interact, and half of the people asked to borrow some tiger balm for this or that, lending a warm smile as they did. At the first food stop this paid off as help to order food, and one of my best meals in Vietnam! No need to say, it was a curry; my favourite by far. As the bus wheeled on along the coast for hours and hours, I had to chat with a lady who showed me photos of the buddhist monk son with a newly shaved head, befire she photographed me with her cell phone camera in the same manner. Then she tried to steal a small dog for me (this was at a food stop), but was discovered. Fortunately all laughed. Then she did as all Asians do--pinched my nose, smiled like an old grandma and exclaimed "Big! Beautiful!" and laughed warmly. The entiore bus agreed that indeed my nose was particularly big and beautiful. A little while later one of the guys working for the bus company told me he travelled alone too and showed me all the half-kinky photos of magazine girls in typical page 3 style he had on his phone. Needless to say; no explanation given as to why. Arriving in Hoi An at noon today I checked in to an amazingly cozy guest house--an old Chinese family home, complete with a small family shrine in the courtyard! My room overlooks it all, with old wooden patio doors leading to a tiny balcony and a view of the market and even a few tailors. Having strolled the city for a few hours I've found some cozy cafes, the prices for shipping stuff back home, and realised that I have to keep watch on my visa card as I am liable to order a new wardrobe from the amaxing stuff they tailor here.

The American War

2008-11-23T05:22:00.001-08:00

Saigon is a lovely city to explore byt foot, cyclo and moto--and I have tried it all in the few days I was there. The vendors try to charge you astronomous amounts of money for a small bottle of water, but in the end you the get hang of it (or at least so you think; who knows--they'd never go in on a deal if their end was too short!) and so you can see past the hassles and enjoy yourself. I went for a lovely stroll in sunshine and then rain to find the Pagoda of the Emerald Buddha--a peaceful retreat only one street away from a busy intersection, in a typical Chinese style and with a myriad of doves and other birds fluttering about as I sat down; then cooling me off with their flapping wings as they moved around to inspect me from one angle or another. However, as one explores Vietnam the more protruding part of history that one "have to see" is always related to the Vietnam War--or the American Agression War as it is named from a Vietnamese perspective. Saigon was a Viet Cong stronghold as strong as any, and the remnants of the war are not difficult to find. I started with the Cu Chi tunnels. Viet Cong's network of undergound tunnels had every function of a normal village. They would hide here during the day only to be able to come out at night, for fresh air and raids agains the Americans. The tunnels are an amazing web of tiny shafts, originally no more than 80 cm high some 40 cm wide--and with plenty of traps to kill you even if you manage to enter, unless you know where to go. They have anlarged a section for tourists to crawl through; the truly much bigger 130 x 60 cm space still made me claustrophobic, though! In total they had a few hundred kilometres of such tunnels, on three levels; connecting them to the Saigon river, to schools, kitchens, workshops, ... all the amenities needed to live and rund a war. In a similar manner, the area above ground was filled with any nasty home-made trap you can imagine; most of them designed to make it a horrible experience to discover them by chance... It did not take me long to realise that arriving there from a small American town, with no previous experience in wandering a jungel where an unknown number of invisible people want to kill you with metal spikes must be truly terrifying. Still, the Americans on my tour were smiling and happy as they posed on the tank that was left in the forest in 1970, after a landmine destrayed its belts. Sure we'll smile and pose on the remains of our country! (Yes, I did ask if they actually thought it fitting..) Their smiles were replaced with indignation and disgust at the end of out visit though, as an old propaganda film from 1967 was shown--"I didn't expect the propaganda!" might be a natural thing to say, it was rather anti-American; but what did you expect the Vietnamese side of the war at the time to be? And how could you not see it coming when they parade the tank and whatever else of yours they managed to destroy? To be honest, the variations over childish joy and pure indignation and hatred the Americans on the trip showed fascinated me just as much as the tunnels; it was like watchin little kids love the game and play it hard, but when they feel and their own knees got scratched, it hurts and they want it to end as it's no fun anymore. They seemed to forget to reckognise that at the same time, the Americans were not really much better than the Viet Con, bith in torture and propaganda. The photographs at the War Remnant Museum in Saigon have mainly been taken by Western photographs documenting the atrocities that were committed. More than anything else, the motifs are only sickening, making me realise that the Iraqi prison happenings are no new pehomena in American warfare; it's just that back then most soldiers did not have their own digital camera, and so their perverted ideas of "everything goes in love and war" was never digitalised and sent online to the extent that it is now.

In Saigon

2008-11-19T01:52:00.000-08:00

After a lot of discussion, waiting for "5 minutes only now" and a few minor threats, I got on a bus to Saigon this morning. I was the only non-Vietnamese person there--and today that apparently meant that everone should make an effort to say at least one word to me. Amazing! I have tried eating water lily seeds (don't eat them whole; peel them and then eat them, or else the entire bus laughs), learnt to say hello in Vietnamese by the local vendor women, eaten my luch with completely random, friendly old men from another bus, and had a truly long moto ride with a poor guy balancing my big backpack for a very decent price. They warned me that Vietnam is a continuously ongoing scam; and it seemed so this morning, but as I've left the border city this country has also become much friendlier... It is a quick stop though! Trying to do it all, which is always too much, I have only a day or two here in Saigon before I go on to Hoi An in the middle of the country. My tickets to Taipei have finally been booked (sorry for taking so long, Christiaan!) and Aslak is booking me onwards to South Korea as we speak. The globetrotting part is definitely picking up speed, but I am having a great time on the carusel and still looking forward to getting home for Christmas. But first; Vietnam has to be discovered ...

Boating my way to Vietnam

2008-11-18T04:01:00.000-08:00

New day, new country is always an exciting thing to be able to say--and today started pretty much so, as I got a bus to somewhere before venturing on a boat taking me down the Mekong to a border crossing between Cambodia and Vietnam. After a few whiles of waiting, a 1000 riles (USD 0.25) fee for a "medical examination" made by a "health camera" (which looked pretty much like any other CCTV camera to me), some bad exchange rates and a free coconut the boat arrived in Chaou Doc, Vietnam early in the afternoon. It took a bit of walking and looking before I could find a decent guest house along with an unnamed Aussie/Swiss couple I met on the boat (they had a map, I tagged along)--but I am currently residing at the roof toplevel of a charming guesthouse set in a typicalold French building, with varandah doors,a lovely double bed and hot water (that's a rare one here!) for the lovely price of USD 5. The joy is short-lived though; I already booked my bus to Saigon for 6:30 am tomorrow.

Exploring rural Cambodia: Mondulkiri province

2008-11-17T03:06:00.000-08:00

I have just spent a few fantastic days in Sen Monorom! The "capitol" of the Mondulkiri province is quite a charming village with its population of 7000--red dust, cattle, old motorbikes, a market and plenty of surrounding forest and jungle with the opportunity of visiting minority villages and trek by elephants to waterfalls descripes most of what I've been doing. The stay itself was amazing, with friendly people both in the city and the villages, amazing food! and a lovely time with my new Italian friend, Conchita. As much fun was the trip to get there and back; some 7-8 hours (and that is quick!), mostly on bright red dirt roads through a stunningly beautiful scenery of jungle. On the way back Conchita and I got a "seat" in the back of a pick up--and with 15 people outside, 6 people inside, a full garden ornamental shop at the base of the car, one banana palm and a small motorbike, we set off! Needless to say, it was an adventurous trip. Now I'm back in Phnom Penh for the day, heading to Vietnam tomorrow.

Phnom Penh

2008-11-10T02:33:00.000-08:00

Arriving Phnom Penh by bus from Siem Reap, I find it to be a rather lovely city. I'm stayin on the lake side, and--like all other places--photos will not upload on the internet cafes here... Sorry about that! So far I have seen the Royal Palace and its Silver Pagode, I have enjoyed a meal on the lake side, eaten local food at tiny food stalls with the locals, tested the night life with Mervyn and Simon, two nice huys I ran ito as randomly as one always runs into people when travelling; I have located the post office and bought tremendous amounts of stamps, walked through tiny streets with a local flavour of rubbish and food mixed together; seen the S-21 (Tuol Sleng) museum and tried to digest the genocide Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime forced on their people ... I really enjoy it here, but the impressions are many, and some of them indesidedly strong. I reckon I'll need a day or two to consolidate most of S-21, despite having had my nerves tested by years of WW2 history. Tomorrow is the start of the Bon Om Tuk, or Water festival--an event celebrated by boat races and plenty of joy! I will watch it tomorrow before I catch a pick-up to Sen Monorom in the more remote Mondulkiri province of Cambodia--known for its elephant herding hilltribes! Supposedly the road there is some 10 hours during the rainy season, but "don't worry, they'll get you there!" so it should be an experience :)

The ruins of the Khmer Empire: Angkor Wat

2008-11-06T19:07:00.000-08:00

Having spent 3 days wandering among the Angkor ruins, it is hard to summarise and describe the experience with words and sentences. The essence of my experiences at the ruins include far more than the mere sights--reading about the old Empire, how it worked, how the temples were built; realising that what is now vaste amounts of jungle must have been where they had all their wooden houses and some 1 million people lived at the most; marvelling at the shear size of the temples, the intricate building techniques, the details of the carvings. And at the same time, the maybe most majestic about some of the ruins is the fact that they are now ruins--the roofs of the towers caving in, the walls bulging with age as they threaten to come down, the jungle trees both supporting the big bricks of stone and at the same time threatening to throw them over at any moment now, to finally swallow the remnants of the buildings completely. The air around Angkor is dusty and sometimes busy, it smells from food during the day, but at dusk the smoke from the locals'fires and a scent of watermelon is carried on the fresh breeze that sometimes breaks away from the petrol fumes from the hordes of tuk-tuks and cars, all leaving the site in a darkening frenzy. I struggle to keep my bicycle on the road as they pass me, but the dark roads are enjoyable and arguably not so dark once the worst trafic is past me.

Day 1 was spent in a tuk-tuk with Norwegian Kristi and Lars. We left the hostel at 4.30 to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat. Sadly, it was more overcast than anything else, and as the sun arrived we never really got to see it rise. Angkor is an impressive sight in itself though! Temples seen included Banterey Srei, Ta Prohm and Bayon ... all amazing! Ta Prohm is where they shot Tomb Rider and the classical photos of the jungle trees crawling amongst the ruins; it is an amazing place to wander! I also loved the Bayon very much, will all the faces (and Ane's stores of them ringing in the back of my head). Day 2 I got up late and ventured out to the ruins on a bicycle--oh, the joy! Passing Angkor Wat I strolled past Phnom Bakheng and Baksei Chamkrong before I spent the whole day within the walls of Angkor Thom, seeing the Baphuon (closed for restoration), the Terrace of Wlephants, Phimeanakas and Preah Palilay. The latter two are rather small temple structures that have been damaged quite badly by the jungle--but there are no hordes of tourists there, so you are free to actually take in the impressive sight in your own sweet time.. I also went for a bike ride on a section of the outer wall of the city of Angkor Thom (from the north gate to the west gate), a most pleasant though bumpy ride with a stunning light as the sun set! Day 3 I decided to stay on my bike to be able to keep my own pace. Pedalling a great deal of what is known as the grand circuit, I visited Prasat Kravan, Banteay Kdei, Sras Srang, Ta Keo, Ta Nei, Thommanon and Chau Say Trevode. My most favoured moment was biking on the forest road from Ta Keo to Ta Nei--as a shower of proper tropical rains broke out I rushed along for coverange in the ruins, which were damp, overthrown by the jungle, and compeltely deserted...save for me! Walking around there, simply soaking up the atmosphere completed my three days at the Angkor ruins perfectly.

Meeting up with the Cambodian mafia

2008-11-05T07:19:00.000-08:00

As I arrived at Hualamphong, Bangkok's main train station, Sunday afternoon they informed me that ticket booking had closed and I had to come back the next morning to buy my ticket to the small city of Aranya Praphet at the Cambodian border. At 5am that very next - Monday - morning, I had had a whole night of packing and organising, some 2 hours of sleep, and a 30 min taxi ride through a dark and seemingly deserted version of the otherwise vibrant city. Even the train station seemed dead, apart from the ticket booths here they charged me 48 bath (less than NOK 10) for a 3rd class bert (the only class available). I dozed off most of the trip, and some 6 hours later I was trying to navigate the tuk-tuk offers to get to the border and into Cambodia. Getting a correct tuk-tuk price wasn't all that difficult--but you have to be scammed once in every country, right? And Thailand had gone pretty well so far, so... In short, the tuk-tuk took me and two Italian guys to a place whe we could organise our visas. At double price, obviously. I knew this was a scam, but couldn't stop it in time. Then the visa-guy tried to sell me a seat in a shared taxi from the border to Siem Reap--clearly at a bargain price, for him anyway. When I declined, he pointed out ""that all the money goes to me anyway, I control all the taxis, no point in not buying my taxi.." I guess that should have tipped me off! The charming fella, let's call him "Tony", walked a group of 10 people, including me, across the border before he tried to sell us all taxi seats or bus seats at double price. In fact , he tried to sell us every single scam the Lonely Planet has listed for Cambodia--pretty impressive! We all declined and walked off to get shared taxis to Siem Reap at a fair price. Tony and his driver followed us in their car, offering us a better price now but still scamming us completely from what I'd found in travel blogs online. It got to a point where I forced a smile and tried to make it into a joke as I told him he was crazy, and he was offended and told the other travellers I was both crazy and rude when I walked off. Whenever we asked a taxi driver for a car to Siem Reap, he would eye Tony and his driver stalking us, point to their car and tell us to get a taxi with them. A whole street of taxis, a whole street of drivers pointing to Tony. In the end, we really had no choice but to get a ride with one of his guys--and I was fuming with anger! Until I discovered that in many ways he was right, I must have come off as rather rude: When negotiating the prices I quoted prices per person, while he quoted a price per car... And so, as our young and friendly driver explained that the police and Tony's company owned the main road in Phoipet and noone else got business there, the lot of us got to Siem Reap paying way less than most people do anyway.

Off to Cambodia!

2008-11-02T08:43:00.000-08:00

I will be leaving with the 05.55 am train tomorrow morning, planning on reaching Siem Reap by nightfall. Photos are not yet up as the internet seems to be broken and unable to transfer pictures at the moment. (Trust me, this upsets me too!) As my bags have yet to be packed, I will have to share my additional words about Bangkok with you once I end my adventurous train trip has been followed by an expectedly bad bus trip and I am in Siem Reap.

Ko Chang

2008-10-31T05:14:00.000-07:00

Ko Chang is a small island in the southern gulf of Thailand, a former national park,with plenty of opportunities for trekking, beaching, and generally enjoying jungle and rainforest. I had great plans for my days on Ko Chang! And the island is still all that--but as I have been eating antibiotics and painkillers in massive amounts the past few days I am not really my normal energetic self, and so most of my fun plans were suspended, replaced by a desire to spend a week in a hammoc, reading, recouperating, doing nothing, alone. However, catching a bus down here I befriended the Aussi woman in the seat next to me, Kim, and arriving at Lonely Beach we both found small bungalows by the water and agreed to go for dinner. Very randomly, so had Susan and Darren, two people I aquainted in Vieng Viang, decided to do--and so my original plans of recouperating in silence with my book have been replaced with wonderful company, fascinating discussions, general chit-chat and only a little bit of reading. Most of this, fortunately, done on a beach while tanning nicely. I haven't really seen any other bits of the island than Lonely beach, which is a strip of some 500 m of sand, five restaurants, endless amounts of bungalows, quite a few internet shops and general vendors, plenty of palms and a lovely beach. But I've had a good time, and I feel better. Tomorrow I head back to Bangkok where I should be able to upload photos before I figure out how to get to Siem Reap and Cambodia shortly after that.

Bangkok

2008-10-31T04:41:00.000-07:00

Leaving Ko Panang in the afternoon I arrived in Bangkok a little too early in the morning, but wide awake and ready to hit the big city! My friend Mikey, being a true gentleman, had offered me a spare room in his house while I was in town, so my first adventure was conveying his address to a Thai taxi friver and pray that I'd get to the reight part of town... With my first taxi experience in Bangkok in mind, I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself getting to the right door in no time, with no hassle and for a lot less money than expected. My second meeting with Bangkok was all the muvh better than the first in most ways, particularly as I actually had time to see the city this time! I have spent my days in Bangkok walking around the older parts of the centre, looking at the Grand Palace and the temple of the Emerald Buddha, seeing the Wat Poh where Thai massage apparently originated and they have a giant reclining golden Buddha, some 15 m long and 11 m high; eaten Pad Thai off the street vendors in Khosan road; braved the Chatachut weekend market--supposedly one of the biggest outdoor markets in the world with some 10'000 stalls, helped Mikey sorting out stuff as his wallet was stolen from his pocket, posted 11 kilos of stuff that I hope reaches home before Christmas (or you'll all be waiting for your Christmas presents!); gone back to Khosan road to browse the endless amounts of CDs, dresses, bikinis, slacks, t-shirts and what-nots they sell there; eaten lovely food with Mikey; taken taxis across town and had drivers try and explain the street layout to me while I marvelled at the endless mix of old and new, modern and ancient, worn-down and fancy that Bangkok comprises of. My most fascinating moment though, was my meeting with Thailand post: Having shipped originally 10 kilos of stuff back home from the branch at Chatachut market I wandered back into the myriad of stall for some food quick food--and spotted something I needed, but had not known of until I found it there (Karianne's Christmas present, actually). I pondered the matter and need for a short while and realised it was genuine, I had to bring this thing home, and sighed with the thought of carrying it all the way through Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan, Korea and China ... Passing Thailand Post on the way out of the market I had little hope but nothing to lose, and so I walked back into the office wondering if I could add this little something to my parcel. It took me two attempts to ask (the first time I ended up getting change for a big note, which I also needed)--but to my utter surprise, the guy that had helped me wrap the package in the first place smiled widely, as Thai people do, and said of course, why not? Somehow my faith in helpful Thai people seemed restored as we re-wrapped my box and he asked me to please fill in a new form for the parcel; better to have it correct, otherwise someone might make trouble for it, that's no good you know, miss.

Koh Phanang

2008-10-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

Asking other travellers for advice on where to go in Thailand, every single person I've spoken to has suggested Koh Phanang to me--and, after figuring out the full moon party with its trance-house-dance-drug-style might not fit me, added "the northern parts--you'll love the northern parts of the island!" And they were right. Renting a moped to go around the most of the island, I drove the some 10 (or is it 15?) kilometres across it, from Ban Kai in the south where I stayed, to Ban Chalok Lam in the north. The latter is a small fisherman's village, and offered the feeling I guess I'd been expecting but hadn't found in Thailand yet: The everyday Thai life. By all means, Thailand is a beautiful country--but often I get the feeling it only lives off of tourism and its derivatives; shops, markets, accommodation, and food. Even the island's elephants are there mainly for the tourists these days; standing in cages to be fed bananas... However, in Ban Chalok Lam, as I enjoyed a fruit shake on the pier, I enjoyed a more typical everyday life that goes on when the foreigners have left, with small fishing boats and busy villagers glancing at you rather than eyeing you for business. Moving my way westwards to Hat Salad, I found an amazing spot with small bungalows right on the beach, palm trees, hammocs--and very little apart from only that. I wanted to gather my things and get a sea-side hammoc on the beach, but--as one should expect I guess-- the taxi business is as corrupt on Koh Phanang as any other place. In the end, however, my main goal for my stay in Thailand--swimming, relaxing in a hammoc and doing nothing, maybe read, tan a bit?--came back to me, and as the full moon faded and the tide rose the water to above waist level again, I found that I was already at a lovely beach, so no worries then! Staying for a few more days, Bong--the lady running the guest house, turned out to be amazingly chatty when she had the time. Being practically the only person at the Panang Rainbows for a few days I actually did get to see everyday life in Thailand, as well as knowing her family.

Long time no writing...

2008-10-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry this place has been all quiet for a while! Laos simply would not let me upload photos, no matter where I went, and so getting online just to write--with such horrible and expensive connections anyway--just didn't seem all that tempting. Since my last post I made it directly from Pakse to 4000 islands at the very south of Lao, 5 km away from the border to Cambodia. taying on Don Kohng the first night was not so interesting, but Don Det is a truly backpaker's island, only without the Vieng Viang party-tubing factor. That's what you want, you say? Well, that's not what I want... I wanted a small shack of a bungalow on the beach, though--and that was what I got! Hooking up with 7 other random people form the bus down to Pakse the group got a bit big for me, though--and after a few days of lovely company but the downs of having to wait for democracy to take its turns around all diplocamtic corners, I caught a bus straight to Bangkok (Thailand) on the 15th of October. Travelling through Pakse, I carelessly left my lunch baguette in the first bus--and had one of my nicest moments in all of Laos when I strolled the local food market for a food stall and found the loveliest woman selling amazing noodle soup and something tasty I don't know what is called, but yum!--tasty! In fact, I think that was my best meal so far on the trip, if not only for the food then also for the lady and her photo posing for me with the dead chicken she would make soup with for the guests after me.. (Yes, I'd show you the photo here, but all these computers think my folders are .exe files, and so I cannot get to the pictures.) The bus trip to Bangkok was uneventful, but fortunately rather speedy. Arriving in Bangkok I made the mistake of getting a metered taxi from the northern busstation to the southern one. They're much cheaper you say? Right. Not if they take you half way around town first... He had a few charming tricks up his sleeve, but after almost six weeks in various Asian countries the tricks are rather easy to spot. In the end I told him off and gave him the money he should have, and from the lack of fighting back I reckon he knew he was exactly what I called him; a cheeting bastard liar. Getting on a new bus an hour or so later, I was finally headed for Surat Thani, and a boat to Koh Pah-Nang! Well, so I thought... The bus got to Surat Thani ok, and having 60 km left to get to Don Sak and the ferry--and 2 hours until the last ferry departed--I was happy and content. The bus ride took 45 minutes more than I had...and so I ended up on a ferry to Ko Samui instead. There are, undenoably, other ferries I could have taken; the problem is that when you'are at one ferry pier 60 km away from the other piers, they don't tell you that the night ferry still runs, 'cause it's not their company that runs it. Ergo, the night ferry does not exist at the pier you're at, and so you have to take the chance on it existing elsewhere, or you can go to, say Ko Samui. Enjoy! It was an ok night in a very decent hotel, though--with plenty of time for pampering my poor feet, skin and hair, so I had a great evening by myself! Finally arriving in Ko Pha-Nang the next morning, my Canadian friend Mikey, who has clearly stayed too long in Bangkok and got too used to local ways, picked me and my bags up on a scooter--I wish I had a photo! Ko Pha-Nang is a lovely little tropical island, although very typically living from tourism more than anything else. There are no fishermen on the beaches in the morning, no boats coming in that I can see...there are however numerous places selling you food, onward tickets, renting you bikes and offering you a beach-side bungalow for a more or less ok price. The weather has been a bit on and off, with rain showers every day so far, but I'll be staying here for a few more days until I head up to Bangkok again to have Mikey as my local guide for the weekend. I'm hoping to get some photos to you there, and some more words about what I've been up to.

Vieng Viang -- Vientiane -- Pakse

2008-10-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Vang Vieng is a scenic little riverside vilalge turned into a non-stop backpacker party with wet 20-something Westernes in bikinis and swinnimg shorts. A heaven if you miss Thailand or want to get hammered--a rather odd place to be when you are looking to go trekking and see hill tribe villages.. Arriving there on Wednesday evening, I had already aquainted Swiss Sabina on the bus from Luang Prabang before I found Duch Susan in a random street. Together we spent Thursday exploring the surrounding rice fields, caves, local villages and roads around Vang Vieng--lovely! The village is also surrounded by small rivers and karst rocks; and it is amazingly beautiful. Going for 6 km on bikes, we were ready for a swin when we reached the Lagoon cave. After stopping for a lovely local lunch where they stressed that "this is Lao PDR--please don't rush" two hours had passed and the rest of the caves were missed out on as we peddaled home for a well-deserved beer. As sabina and Susan left the next morning, I rented a rubber tube to float down the river with Darren (UK)--apart from a rather deep cut in a minor toe, the trip was great fun! Vang Vieng is not really what I wanted in the long run though, so this morning I caught a bus to Vientiane, planning to head on to Pakse tomorrow. Unfortunately my small camera was stolen as i arrived here, but the big one is still with me! Internet connections (known as internert where I am right now) are painfully slow, or they think all my pics are .exe-files--so it seems photos will have to wait yet again.. Sorry! (I have plenty of great ones, though.)

Luang Prabang--keywords

2008-10-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

Arriving late evening in a random street in Luang Prabang, two friendly guys at a guesthose got me a tuk-tuk. It was, obviously, overprised; but when it`s less than 2 euros, who cares as long as you get where you want to get safely? The city of Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World Heritage Site--and a gorgeous one! With temples all over the place, dotted with a subtropical scenery and two rivers making the whole place into a peninsula, it is a haven of guesthouses, travellers, fruit shakes, tuk-tuk rides and potential trekking adventures. Among others. In fact, I think that almost whatever you are looking for, Luang Prabang can provide a little, heavenly version of it. So far I have checked out one of the waterfalls in the area for a lovely swim; cruised the streets for good food and new sights; checked out local temples, sampled the local massages; sprawled at the Hmong night market; enjoyed a slow-boat ride up to the Pak Ou caves lined with myriads of buddha statues; made new friends, eaten great food such as a Lao braai, had cheap drinks, and--to finish the nights off--gone bowling at the local hot-spot and the only place i Luang Prabang not affected by the cerfew (apparently because it is run by a guy who could be called "Tony")...

More photos will be added once I can get the net to upload them!

Entering Laos

2008-10-03T08:38:00.000-07:00

As I got on the sleeper bus from Kunming to Luang Prabang (Laos), the old and familiar feeling of starting a trip, going somewhere hit me--and it occured to me that I never had that feeling in China. Probably because there was so much to do before I literally jumped on the plane; but maybe also because China, despite its many differences from the West, is a very organised (in fact sometimes overly organised) country. The busses run in given patterns, on scheduled times, taxis have signs and metered fares, and prices--althoug you have to haggle--are to a certain extent set. Crossing the border to Laos this morning was like returning to Africa: All of a sudden we were delayed three hours for a customs inspection and a food break; the roads got ten times bumpier, the scenerey got subtropical and lush, people got somewhat darker, and the countryside was filled with charming little wooden huts with thached roofs. And I love it! And, just in case you wondered: Of course you can have a visa on arrival in Laos! Contrary to popular belief among the organised Chinese in China, not everyone has one in advance, and once the border is crossed the Lao-feeling affects the bus so that most problems are solved quite easily; they are perfectly happy to wait the 15 minutes it takes to get a visa on arrival. I navigated this fascinating scene with my newfound friend Ben (US), who added to the African/random feeling by his story of having his wallet stolen in Kunming and now lacking the money to get across the border and to his friend in Bangkok; we sorted this out in the end, though--as far as I know, I got off the bus after "only" 25 hours, long before Vientiane... In accordance with the cultural change, the Chinese bus let me off not on one of the three bus stations serving Luang Prabang, but in some random, rather big-ish street, claiming I was where I had paid to be taken. I had no idea where I was, and it was dark. However, the sounds around me were friendly, so no reason to despair; and within 10 minutes two local guys had hauled me a tuk-tuk and explained the driver where to take me to find my hostel. The temperature has got a bit higher, the sun has shone on me all day, and everyone seems to speak English--I cannot wait to explore the city tomorrow morning.

I will never be Chinese

2008-10-01T07:51:00.000-07:00

Having travelled quite a bit, I find that some countries make you feel at home while others are somewhat different, and although pleasant I will always remain a visitor there. China is one of those countries, at least for now. With its incredible population, most people are at best ignorant and uninterested in me and myt life here--at worst scamming, tricking and downright rude to foreigners in general. Taxi drivers keep passing me by, keep taking extra turns; people take random photos of you whether you want to or not; they don`t think it rude to say "hello" in an inticing voice and then crackle with laughter and chatter in their own language behind your back (about orchids for all I know, but normal social awareness assumes it might be me who`s the great source of fun). In short, I often feel like an animal in a zoo cage, as I often did in Africa--but, sadly, most Chinese don`t offer the same warmth when peering, pointing and downright staring as African people do...this is a nation that catches wild birds and put them in cages so they can sing for them when they please to listen. They celebrate their National Day by doing nothing other than having holidays, and they still sell milk in all stores, never mentioning the crisis from what I see. That being said, the cultures that clash when an independent, young European backpacker meets China, are powerful--and the power goes both ways. I would never dream of doing stuff they do--and they would probably never have dreamt that I`d do stuff I do. At their best, Chinese people are incredibly warm and welcoming; inviting you into their homes, offering you food, spontaneous advise and company, and woudn`t dream of taking money for the expenses they have when helping you because you don`t have your own cell phone. And you find them everywhere--on mountains, on busses, in a random park when you sit down to listen to the local elderly play music and sing together. It amazes me that all these characters exist in the same country, even in the same cities, and how running into the first kind almost always causes an encounter with the second kind. As I move on, some Chinese people will stay with me for life, for good and bad--mostly for the good.

Photos

2008-09-30T22:54:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, the net/computer will not let me upload photos right now.. I have posted pics from Tiger Leaping Gorge on Facebbok for those who are there, and will put some here as soon as I can! I`ll let you know when posts are updated.

Kunming

2008-09-30T22:38:00.000-07:00

Arriving yesterday [Tuesday] I was cursing the holidays, crowds of people and the general culture barrier that made it so difficult to ask for and get the help I wanted... In the end I took a break to go and see the Bird & Flower Market, which was claimed to have all sorts of oddities and weird fauna by the Rough Guide. Normally a fairly good guide book, the market must have changed character somewhat the last year--or maybe I just found the "jade-and-other-tourist-stuff"-section? There were randomly placed booths with amazing amounts of fish, turtles, rabbits, mice, flowers and birds; and one laydy sold orchids and waterlily plants for that little garden pond you`ve just always dreamed of. All in all, I wasn`t that impressed, though. What made yesterday a great day at the end, was my meeting with the wonderful Canadian family Bissky Dziadyk, who travel with a mac and let me back-up all my photos to DVD on their computer! Today [Wednesday] I have had a lovely trip to TGC Nordica, a Scandinavian-run arts centre that my friend Tone used to work at. Sadly, nothing special is scheduled there for the holidays and nobody were there when I arrived...but it was open, and had two lovely exhibits of paintings by Yan Renkui and Zhang Xingwang. I think Kunming could be a lovely city to live in, but for now I`m getting all China`d out--travelling as an illiterate is quite exhausting, and with the cultures clashing as well, it can be..well, let`s just say it`s an experience for life.

Final stop in China: Kunming

2008-09-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

It is China`s national day, which they--according to the Chinese I have asked--do not celebrate in any other way than having a week of holidays. Having holidays means that they travel, though; a great bunch of them to Lijiang, but some also to other places, such as Kunming. The hostel is fully booked here as well, but fortunately I had anticipated this and booked a bed (for the first time on this trip). The over-night bus from Lijiang to Kunming had two levels of beds in it (amazing!), albeit somewhat short. As we arrived at 6 am the night has been a little short, and once I can check in (i.e. once someone checks out) and give the Laos consulate my visa application, I plan on having a well-deserved nap in the city of eternal spring.

Tiger Leaping Gorge

2008-09-28T10:07:00.001-07:00

After a day in Lijiang I caught a bus north-west, to Tiger Leaping Gorge. Hiking together with Luke (UK) for some 8 hours the first day, we finally arrived at the Half-way House at 6 pm, soaking wet from hours of rain, and with pained feet! Hoever, despite a rather rough climb andlots of water, the last stretch was fantastic, with sunny weather and an amazing view of the Yangtze river as well as the mountains that make up the gorge. The Half-way House was an ok hostel with an proper (i.e. amazing) hot shower (you learn to appreciate hot showers when you travel in China..), crammed with hikers. The breakfast menu was not impressive though--but the rice porridge went down somehow, before we hiked some 6 hours more, down to the river and then along the river, in the gorge itself, to the tiny village of Walnut Garden a bit further up the road. The view there was even more amazing, and the weather was stunning--all in all, two perfect days! Arriving back in Lijiang I have had dinner and shopped a bit; tomorrow I will explore the town a bit more before I catch an over-night bus to Kunming.

Lijiang

2008-09-28T09:50:00.001-07:00

As all five trains were fully booked the day I wanted to go, I arrived in Lijiang (Yunnan province) by plane, at 1 am due to delays at the airport. Wandering the mostly dark streets, save a few red Chinese lanterns, the old city of Lijiang had a stunning look already. Daylight did not make it any less charming wandering the streets--sampling tea at local shops, buying some presents to send home, eating cheap, delicious food... One of my favourite places in China so far!

What to drink in China II

2008-09-25T03:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks to local expertise, I have found yet more wonderful drinks to try!

Walnut and peanut flavoured milk was the first new aquaintance--and not a bad one! A rather filling breakfast in itself, it has a fresh nutty quality to it, and a good taste. 4/6

Chocolate milk in a bag is pretty much only chocolate milk, but you get to drink it from a bag.. A little too sweet for my liking, 3/6. Update: The second bag, enjoyed without too sweet pastries to go along with it was in fact much better, and clearly a 4/6.

Black milk turned out to be milk with everything black that is good for you...black rice, black beans and black poppy seeds. Surprisingly this combination was not disgusting, although still an aquired taste; 4/6.

Random Chinese drink in a carton; 发酵的. I presumed it was milk-based because I found it with all the other flavoured milks. However--it tasts a bit like milk with peach (or apricot?), and it is, as the Chinese characers clearly indicate, sour. (Though it is neither drinking youghurt, nor actually soured milk, texture-wise.) A little hard on the sourness, it only receives a 3/6 as a drink. (But it would probably make an excellent popsickle!)

Buddhism galore II: Emei`shan

2008-09-24T09:20:00.001-07:00

The second part of my three days of buddhism galore was a two-day trip to Mount Emei--Emei`shan in Chinese. The mountain is one of the five holy buddhist mountains in China, and yet another of the mountains that have been stair-cased by some random, crazy emperor. I arrived in Baguo, the city at the foot of the mountain in the afternoon, planning to hike up the next morning. Unfortunately, I chose to listen to the Chinese local advice, and got a bus to the top and hiked down. Why is this not recommended? Firstly, it is much more painful. Secondly, there is a mental thin about going up a mountain. Thirdly, you can easily hike up and down in two days if you skip the rather boring summit crowded by hordes of Chinese who got the cable car up there--but this is the part all Chinese people brag about, so if you take their advice you try to do something you will not really appreciate. I hated the top and the temple, and I hated the bottom temples where the Chinese busloads skuttle along the lower paths for a few hours. But the middle--even though it was misty the whole way and rained rather heavily at times, I was soaked by the end of it and my shoes were ruined--I loved the middle! Just hiking (in stairs), no other people than the occasional local person carrying immense loads of heavy stuff past you, a monkey here and there, a snack-stand every now and then and a few temples inbetween, where you can spnd the night and get a lovely meal...it was heaven! (Or nivana, I suppose.) I spent the night at the Hongchiu Ping (Venerable Trees Terrace) having a lovely, calm eve in a bed literally 20 m behind their main temple and buddha statue.

Buddhism-galore I: Dafu, the giant buddha

2008-09-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

The past three days have been devoted to two major Buddhism sites in Sechuan, including the giant Buddha--Dafu--close by the city of Leshan. Arriving in Leshan I met a more rural and rugged China than I had seen so far, with rickety local busses and no English but plenty of sign language used to interact with travellers. I planned on getting a ferry across from the city to a temple at the side of Dafu. However, due to my lack of Chinese and the busdriver`s lack of English I was promptly let off at the side of the bridge they felt I should be at. So, starting at the northern gate I made my way on small, neat walking roads through hordes of Chinese visitors travelling in groups (min. size seems to be the 57 people a bus takes, plus one tour guide with a silly flag and a matching hat). Passing a pagoda, a few options to look at random buddha and cave stuff and even more Chinese hordes, I found myself next to the gigantic ear of Dafu much quicker than expected. A friendly Chinese family on pilgrimage explained the easier way to explore the Dafu for me, and I promptly set off on the steep climb down to the lower path along the shore--a beautiful walk leading to a fisherman village and a temple. The Dafu was impressive enough--his ears are 7 m long, and his eyes are 10 m across, and he is by far the biggest buddha I ever saw. However, I often find it easier to appreciate the little things that differentiate China from other places I`ve been: The greatness the Chinese seem to treasure so highly--everything in China is big--will often only make me feel alienated. (Fittingly enough; the Chinese Police posters stress that aliens, i.e. non-Chinese citizens, should report where they are to them.) However, the walk was lovely, the fisherman village was scenic and the potted plant garden in front of the cave tombs was really beautiful. Arriving at the monastery I thought of skipping it; I`ve seen a bunch of temples in China already, but a local monk motioned me in and so I decided to follow. In most buddhist temples, including this one, they ask you not to photograph the holy figures. In stark contrast, the little monk (I was a head taller than him) urged me to take photos of the different buddha figures, then literally pulled me into the main room of the temple and told me what figures to snap shots of. This was accompanied by Chinese explanations, of whom the figures were I suppose, but our only common word was "buddha"--so he kept showing me all the buddhas and showed mne that Bussha can be in your stomach. In fact, he insisted that buddha could be in my stomach, and proved this by rubbing it vigourusly. As the local, slightly forced tour of the temple grounds continued, the walk got more and more bizzarre--and in the end I have no idea of whether I was actually felt up by a monk, or simply had most of my sweaty body dried off with tissues! Walking back to the starting point I was sent off with some sort of greeting or blessing, while the weird monk wandered off in the gardens, still in his own little world. I got a bus back to town. It left when it was full of people, honked appropriately as one would expect in any rural, slightly undeveloped countryside, and after a few stops a lady walked on with a live chicken in a bag and another bag of vegetables that seemed to go well with...well, chicken. I just love it when people carry chickens on busses, I don`t know why, but the sight of her simply made my day as I was heading for the long-distance bus station to get to Emei`shan before it got dark.

Chengdu: Seeing pandas and eating yak!

2008-09-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

Arriving in Chengdu I`d greed to meet up with Fiona and Joanne (UK) whom I ran into in Xi`an. We spent the morning visiting the pandas just north of town--and boy were they cute! The park itself was not really spectacular, but the pandas were great fun to watch for a few hours. They had both great pandas and smaller red pandas, all eating bamboo and laying about dozing..

After lunch I located Jane at the Tianmen square, with the Chairman Mao statue, a famed landmark of Chengdu. We then moved on to the Wushan temple--which I had planned to skip (yet another Ming-style temple, you know)--but which turend out to be one of the best temples I`ve been to so far! Not really for the temple though, although it was only Y5 to enter and you can collect a bunch of insence sticks for free at the entrance if you wish to worship Buddha (he charges 3 sticks for a whish, apparently, but you have to come back and give thanks if it comes true), and there`s an amazing piond filled with turtles that will supposedly support the wishes of their donators as long as they live... The real treat is the teahouse inside the temple grounds, where local people come for the weekend to read, chat, play cards, and (obviously), have tea. We stayed there until they closed, moving on to Chengdu`s Tibetan streets for sightseeing and food. Entering a local eatery, there was a distinct smell of starch sheep in the room. As the food Jane ordered came to the table, the strong scent of sheep turned out to be the smell of yak--one of the main sources of food for the Tibetan people. We had some fantastic youghurt, yak meat with chili, dumplings with mashed potatoes inside (made with yak fat or milk, from the taste of it). Also, we tried some local Tibetan wine made from a special kind of wheat that only gows in the highlands. The food was delicious, so I chose to ignore the sprawling cockroaches I only noticed as we left the place...

I was originally planning on leaving Chendu tomorrow, to see the giant Buddha in Leshan and then climb Emei`shan (a holy Buddhist mountain this time)--which I still will, but Jane has invited me to stay in her home, so I`ll take the opportunity to explore Chinese everyday life here an additional day :)

Climbing Hua`shan

2008-09-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

Hua`shan, or Mt. Hua, is one of China`s five great mountains that one apprantly has to climb during a lifetime...one of them at least. Like all other great mountains, the Qing dynasty has taken the bother to car or schissel steps into it, so you can walk to the weirdest places in high-heels, often to worship Buddha at the top, just next to the little kitchen selling noodles and pickled duck eggs. No, I am not kidding you... Odd camping and food aside, my trip to Hua`shan was wonderful. Arriving there I asked a Chinese woman my age for help with getting tickets, and she suggested we`d make the trip together. Jane turned out to be an English teacher at a college in Chengdu, and we made friends rather instantly. We cheated a bit and got a cable car to 1640 metres--then we spent some 5 hours wandering from the north, via the south and to the east peak of the mountain, with a max height of 2154,9 metres. It was gorgeous! During the day we saw numerous staircases and walked an endless amount of steps, chatted to Chinese families, hd random photo shoots with Chinese people who like to have photos with random foreigners, ate a cucumber each, met a lovely cat, and got so swaty our pockets were soaked and our money got wet... At the end of the day we literally had to run down the whole mountain (some 45 minutes in stairs) to catch the last bus back to Xi`an, agreeing to meet up again in Chengdu.

Moving south to Chengdu

2008-09-17T21:17:00.000-07:00

I spent the loveliest day climbing the Hua`shan (one of the five great Chinese mountains) with my newfound Chinese friend Jane yesterday. I`ll get back to that--for now I`m catching an overnight train to Chendu to see pandas and find one of China`s holy buddhist mountains to climb... Be back soon ;)

Meeting new people and their culture..

2008-09-16T06:09:00.000-07:00

I`ve found that China gives rather decent student discounts if you have valid student ID. More recently I`ve also found that it`s just as well, seeing that once I enter a smaller temple or the city walls, all the Chinese people want to take photos with me. And not just the guys, oh no! Their sisters, mothers and grandmothers want in as well. With a rather musty Norwegian girl in sweat pants and raincoat who didn`t care to shower this morning cause it`s so damp outside anyway... Another common scenario is the "Hello, you spiki Inglis? Can I speak Inglis? How are you, how long you travel China, you alone? You go where? I hope you like here, bye-bye!" that accompanies a stroll across a square or inside a supermarket. (Please note that spelling mistakes in this section are meant to indicate what was actually said.) The scene is normally replied with a "Yes; Sure (well, lets see if you can, please give it a go..); and various answers before I assure them that I like China and good-bye to you too! These chats normally last a few minutes at the max, and are always pleasant. However, my favourite so far is the (fortunately) less common Chinese man in his mid-thirties, noodlebelly neatly tucked into shirt and nylon trousers, with the Mao glasses framing his face who approached my on the Bell Tower one late evening-- "Hi, you speaka English? Yes. May I aska you, where are you from? Norway. Oooh, Norway! May I ask, are you alone? Yes, I am alone. Oooh, where you husband? I don`t have one. Ooooh, may I ask, how old are you? I`m 26. Aaaah. You no married? No, fortunately not (this was met by a puzzled look). Ah, ok, ok...where you boyfriend, he home? I don`t have a boyfriend. Ooooh, this is very unusual, you 26 year old not married, very strange. (I smiled politely at this.) May I ask you a personil qustion? (Well, what is a personal question nowadays--my age, in certain cultures, so why not..) Sure. Ah, ah, ok, so...what about the sex?" Yes, what about it? I found myself thinking, rather puzzled. As the conversation unfolded over the next few minutes it turned out this Chinese man had a theory that while any Chinese man could satisfy any Chinese women (because they demand so little), foreigners were different. In fact, he had seen foreign women have sex in films (oh great) so he knew it was different, and he wanted to try it. Was I busy this evening? Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, I simply told him my evening was all planned and politely declined his offer. However, in my innocence I assumed this man was way out of line simply because he grew up in a country short of women, and so he might not realise how to communicate with this otehr kind of people. This happened to be on the eve of the Autumn Festival, when all Chinese people gather with their family and eat Moon Cake, so I asked him why he wasn`t at home--to which he replied that his wife and 14-year-old son had to eat Moon Cake without him this year because he wanted to see the historical sights of Xi`an after a woork conference... Oh yes, aren`t they lovely. In all my years of travelling and weird offers of photo shoots with the local population, marriages and the like, this guy is the cherry on the icing. The man walked off politely enough after my no, but I doubt he thought what he asked was in any way rude to anyone--including his wife. I hope such ideas about women aren`t universal in China, although I`m afraid it`s not a unique situation: In Beijing I witnessed a woman and a man fighting over her handbag in a subway, him winning and starting to walk off after hitting her pretty badly. As the guy walked awat she screamed something and two subway guards stepped in. I expected them to take the bag back to the lady and escort the guy away. Rather, they seemed to tell the guy he could not leave the woman there and guided him back to her, urgin her to stand up and walk away with him so as not to make a bigger scene... And still, wherever I go I am met by smiles as long as I smile first (or back), and despite the fact that my Chinese is limited to saying "thank you" I have managed to manoever local buses, buy delicious food at local vendors with Chinese-only menues (or better, no menues at all!), haggle about prices with sweet little ladies selling jade Buddhas, and asking for directions most of the times whenever I`ve been lost. I suppose China is as multi-faceted as any other country, and that in time I should see more versions of its people as I tag along. Hopefully I won`t have too many more cherries to the cake ;)

What to drink in China?

2008-09-15T05:28:00.000-07:00

China offers a range of more or less new and exciting beverages. So far I have tried every new one I could find, and here are the ratings:

Almond milk was the firs new aquaintance--with a somewhat fake taste it still had the classic "nut milk" feel and went down quite well with noodles; 4/6.

The coconut milk was as delicious as expected, with a good mix of actual coconut stuff and milk, with a lovely nutty flavour--an absolute favourite so far! 5/6.

Walnut milk is a more unusual version, but it had to be tried. After long consideration I realised that it tasts much like the shrimp chips you get in Asian restaurants. The only good quality beeing its nutty milk texture, it gets a 1/6 and is rendered rather undrinkable (although I had to finish the can to be sure of it).

Chinese chocolate milk is not really new, but a local version of a classic, an easy going 4/6, albeit a little sweet and with too much fake vanilla.

Various versions of iced green tea have however made it to an all-time favourite position--particularly the iced green tea with jasmine--and I wish Wetern iced tea producers would learn from the Chinese (although they are a little heavy on the sugar here as well..); 5/6.

Not really a drink, I managed to buy an ice cream made from iced green tea with dates and some sort of frozen nutty-milk cover today, and although it was nothing like ice cream is supposed to be, it was delicious! A good 5/6 for a cooling snack (although this might change if it turns out the water was polluted and I get sick..)

The terracotta warriors

2008-09-15T04:40:00.000-07:00

Aquainting a pleasant Aussie traveller over breakfast, I decided to join him and look for the terracotta warriors of emperor Quin Shi Huan. Known as China`s first emperor after he conquered six surrounding kingdoms, emperor Quin is often described as a ruthess tyrant who made his emipre a standard for all modern states to come: As the first emperor to create a centralised state, issuing national standards for weights and measures, and ordering a unified script to be used for all of China. Quin also started the construction of the Great Wall, which made him even more unpopular with his subjects. However--his plan for his own afterlife is probably even more fascinating, and one of the main reason I came to China: Quin ordered the construction of an imperial city below ground. According to history written much later, it took 700 000 labourers some 36 years to complete the city--which supposedly depicts the world over ground with much grandour... The terracotta warriors were Quin`s army in afterlife. It consists of live-sized warriors and horses, made to be crossbowmen, charioteers, cavalry or infantry--and as far as we know every soldier was unique! You don`t think this is amazing? They were fired as a single piece of clay (which is still difficult to do), and so far they have excavated some 7,000 soldiers, horses and chariots. The warriors were discovered in 1974 by some farmes digging a new well, and have been excavated since, with work still in progress. Yes, that is a big toy army. The excavation sites are bildt-in, with huge halls covering them. I feel pretty confident that the park would have looked very different had it been at home, and the display could have been made much better--still, the actual warriors, standing in theur original pits where they were buried, ready for war, are an amazing sight for a pottery freak like me, and I had an absolutely fantastic day at the site. I took lots of photos, but still not able to find a net cafe where I can load them form my camera or iPod to a computer, I cannot show them to you quite yet... Sorry!

Lost in translation on my way to Xi`an

2008-09-13T22:23:00.000-07:00

The world is suprisingly small. I spent my last day in Beijing (for now) having breakfast with two Norwegian girls from my home universitybefore I spun off to the silk market to get a pair of shorts. (I`ve been wearing jeans all week, I`ve been warm.) I managed to insult the local salesmen with my haggling, so I take it I got decent prices. Finally managing to get all my stuff together, I caught a taxi to the Beijing West Railway Station--possibly the biggest railway station I ever saw, to catch my train to Xi`an, in the Shaanxi province, somewhat mid-east in China. Getting on the train was easy enough with a ticket marked in Chinese, nods and shakes. I had booked a hard sleeper, and was told I`d have the top bunk. As it turns out, the Chinese know how to do railway interior to fit in a lot of people; every sleeper carriage had ten compartments with six beds in each, three on top of eachother. There were no walls apart from the ones needed to keep the bunks in place, but along the open corridor there were little tables and folding seats. At the same level as the top-most bunk there was a long, continuous luggage rack. Today (Sunday) is the Moon Festival, an occasion when the Chinese gather with their family to eat Moon Cake, so the train was packed...and seemingly noone spoke a word of English, so I figured I`d be left alone for the 12 hour ride. However--knowing my train would arrive in Xi`an in the middle of the night, I pulled out my guidebook to figure out how to ask for the arrival time, so I could set my alarm. Puzzling together the given phrase "what time will the ... arrive in ..." with the signs for "train" and "Xi`an" I must have looked like a little kid trying to learn how to write all over again. As I finished one of my neighbouring passengers read what I`d written out loud (not sounding one bit like the pinyin I would have attempted if I`d spoken it) and started a conversation with me by writing in Chinese signs and then pinyin on a sheet of paper, so I could use my dictionary to look up the meaning of the words. Going on for about an hour or so, the five men travelling in the bunks surrounding me complemented my writing of Chinese signs, asked me how old I was, where I was from, told me they thought I`d been given a horrible bunk and that I`d made my tea too strong (then giggled)--and that I was a pig? The latter was cleared up when a Chinese woman working in Dubai joined the conversation and explained they meant the year of the pig, from the Chinese zodiac. We also clarified that 1982 is in fac the year of the dog, before they taught me how to say "one world, one dream" in Chinese. Then we all ate noodles, in an amazing display of individual Chinese people with a collective idea of how to do things when on a train: Wear slippers, bring bottle of tea, fetch noodle box from luggage shelf, fetch hot water at the end of the carriage, hum while you wait, slurp noodles. Chatter happily with neighbours inbetween. By 9 pm the entire carriage was calmly asleep. I got off at 4 am, already one hour delayd. Arriving at the hostel, it was easy enough to find--but alas, the door bell was out of service, and the 24-hour open reception was dark and closed. I tried to make a racket, but noone heard me, so I read for a while then slept outside the inner gater for about an hour before some early birds checked out and I got a bed at 6 am. Having slept in and had a lovely breakfast I am now headed out to ride a bicycle around the city walls, as recommended by Maja.

The Summer Palace

2008-09-13T21:56:00.000-07:00

I spent the entire Friday at the Summer Palace just outisde of Beijing city, by the Kunming Lake. Practically a small city outside of the city walls, it holds everything your mad-as-a-hatter Emperor or Empress needs. Story has it that the craziest of Empresses kept her son locket up in a building here for 10 years while executing his will. The same lady apparently also had 108 dishes prepared for every dinner. No wonder the palace gounds also hold a god-knows-how-many-stories Buddha temple, which is actually the main structure seen on most photos from the palace. A good four steep staircases are needed to reach it, and it wasn`t all that impressive once inside--but the building is amazing. I had two boat trips on the Kunming Lake just because it was such a lovely thing to do, and as I finally walked towards the Garden of Harmony (such a lovely garden!) and the exit, I aquainted a Chinese logistics student who wanted to talk in English. I took the rare occasion that has proved to be so far--and though I never learned his name (Chinese people never introduce themselves to me by name), I found out he had a most wonderful day because he had seen so much lovely scenerey and had been able to practice his English with three different people. I suppose that`s a good standard for any day.

Yonghegong Lamasery Temple

2008-09-11T18:18:00.001-07:00

My favourite place in Beijing so far is the Younghegong Lamasery--a temple dedicated to the Tibetan buddhism and the Dalai Lama--situated in the centre of Beijing city. The Yonghegong consists of some fiv main tmples, with two side temples to each main temple. Inbetween the buildings are little courtyards with pine trees, benches, and a sweet smell of the insence offered to Buddha from all the worshippers. The atmosphere was amazingly tranquil as I sat down on a bench with three local women. As we sat there I was browsing the pack of postcards I had bought, with pictures from all th main sights of Bijing. The local women next to me clearly peeked ovr my shoulder, and so we started the possibly weirdest and sweetest conversation I hav ever had.. As neither of us spoke a common language, I pulled out my guidebook which has th handy expression "I don`t speak Chinese" in Chinese. They laughed understandingly and seemed to think it nifty to have a book like that. Then they pointd to "American" and looked at me. I found my little dictionary and the word for Norway--and they all nodded approving, then told all the local police men who had gathered to look at us that I was Norwegian. Someone said "Norway" in English, but noone would admit to it when I asked if anyone spok English... As I started writing my postcards (the three ladies still looking, chattering and peeking at me), I found the word for grandparents, trying to explain what I was doing. The eldest lady nodded very approvingly to my writing postcards to my family--and then they asked to see the card I`d finished, chattering like a whole mad chicken farm at my Latin letters, before they smiled, waved and continued their walk to pray at the next temple.

The rest of my day included a friendly lunch with Chris from South-Kora, whom I met very randomly at a restaurant, and then a long stroll in the Houhai hutong with beers and dinner with Ivan from Serbia/Hungary and his unnamed friend from England--which was all very lovely, but nothing compard to the three ladies..

Beijing, sweet Beijing

2008-09-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

I`ve been waiting to write more in part because I wanted to have the energy to add photos and mike it all nice (and rather shortish, but intersting)--as it turns out, after my fresh awakening at 7 am in th morning to gt started early, no technical supply in this hostel will recognise neither my camra or my iPod, so alas; no photos yet.. But I`m still happily away, so her ar a few words trying to convy the ongoing cultur shock/exprience I am in:

Tusday started early with a trip to the famed Great Wall of China. And it was great... I went ther with my newfound Scottish mates Peter and David, and a bunch of other people from the hostel. The trip to get there was long, with surprisingly civilised driving compared to other countries I`ve been to, and after a few hours of bumping along we picked up our 72-year-old Chinese guide. He, obvioulsy, only spok one nglish word; ok!--with an xclamation.. W coudn`t figure out his name, but he guided us up th hills to a section of the Great Wall that was rather rugged and worn-down. The weather was rather crap too--foggy and a bit og rain every now and then--so I found myself expecting little fun. Howver, the fog cleared up somwhat, and as we walked along the wall for som two hours its condition got better, as did its greatness. Seing it strtching into the horizon in front of me was simply breathtaking! I`ve alrady decided to do an additional trip to a differnt section whn I come back to Beijing in December.

Wednesday. I was exhausted from all the travelling and walking, and my Scottish friends had left for Xi`an--so in lack of company and the mood to aquaint new people I caved in early on Tusday and sleep lat on Wednesday. Amazing! Then, as I was eating breakfast, contemplating what tempel to see, an American guy (Mark) offered me some fruit and recommended the cheap and lovely massages offered next door. I went along, and despite my stiffness and ticklishness making the girl say "please relaxe" in Chinese all the time it turned out to be a wonderful start to my day :) Walking out I found Tian`anmen Square just up th strt from where I live. Seing that it`s a 40 hectar square, I have to say I found it rather small and disappointing. It was filled with Beijing 2008-flower-stuff, Chinese pople taking photos of themselves in front of the Great Hall of the People, and a humonguos mausoleum for Mao. To me, the best thing Tian`anman offerd was a decent view to on of the few remaining Mao portraits, and an excuse to dive into Chinese history.. I proceeded to the Temple of Heavens (where the Long Corridor is, Maja)--rushing through the buildings in only 2 hours befor closing time wasn`t all that relaxing, but the park was stunningly beautiful, and the temple buildings were vry impressive and beautiful. However, the best fun was the Long Corridor, where old Chinese people were playing cards, singing, kicking small featherd "smurfs" (i.e. "somthings") around between them that looked like "basse", listening to the radio, reading, meditating...the corridor and surrounding park had it all!

(My apologies for any lacking e`s--they`re hard to get from this keyboard..)

In Beijing

2008-09-09T02:47:00.000-07:00

As it turned out, I was i the right street (as everyone insisted)--but it carried on for quite a strech, and the other part, where the hostel is, was the only street that wasn`t signposted... As I finally arrived I was bathed in sweat, feeling like 9-year-old who`d lost her "I travel alone"-kit, and wondering how on earth I could have been looking for a hostel for three hours without finding it! And yes, it was less than 15 minutes away--less than 5, in fact.. I propmpty celebrated my newfound home with a shower and a few hours of sleep, seeng that I had none on the airplane coming here and it was technically 7 am by my watch.

Being rather exhausted, I still managed to join a 7.30 am trip to climb the Great Wal of China. It`s been an absolutely amazing experience, but I`ll rather write something about that after dinner :)

Lost in Beijing

2008-09-07T20:40:00.000-07:00

My arrival in Beijing seemed nothing different from my arrival in any other foreign country at first - until the language barrier got to me... I am currently lost in Beijing, most likely no more than 15 minutes away from the hostel - an utterly lost! The streets are all signposted in pinyin as well as Chinese signs--but I`ve only got the address in a hand-written version from the tourist information desk at the airport, and alas; the signs look lovely, but are there three or four of them in the street name? And more importantly, what is the street name? Coming here I was directed to go staight ahead, then make a right. Yes, still straight ahead. Yes, still straight ahead. No, back a bit... No, no, no, make a left, right round corner. Me no know where is. Go back. Go straight. And so on... I`ve come to see most of the quarter, including a busy market street where most anything can be bought for a tenner. I try to smile, but without being able to talk I think I come off as somewhat odd--so when I ask for help, get none and still smile, the local elderly people have decided I`m great fun, and smile and wave back at me, using their entre bodies.. It goes without saying that the feeling of people having an odd touch to them goes both ways :) I`ve finally I located an internet cafe and a map with English street names and machine typed Chinese signs, so here we go again! I`ve only been looking for two hours now anyway: Yes, you make east down this road! You ask anyone!

Ready for take-off in 10, 9, 8 ...

2008-09-07T01:21:00.000-07:00

Unlike 7 am this morning I am now some 5 minutes away from having all my stuff packed...and I feel pretty set and ready to go!Over the night I've managed to wash my jeans and dry them, much thanks to innovative use of floor heating and floor mats in the early morning hours. I've also come to realise that I have promised to bring the smelliest hat on earth along for my trip, documenting its touring of Asia (takk for den, Nico!). As I got it, it was a lovely little thing. However, as daylight dawned on me and I tried to pack it, I realised it would contaminate my entire backpack...so, it is now thoroughly washed and perfumed, and I'll let you know how it goes. Finally, as time draws nearer the point where I have to leave and catch my airport express train, I now have time to think about the fact that I have no travel itinerary, so for the next 3,5 months I'll be making life up as I go... Got to!

Almost ready for take-off

2008-09-01T05:21:00.000-07:00

As I posted the first few words yeasterday it occurred to me that a lot of my friends obviously don't read Norwegian..so here we go in a language suitable for the more simple minds ;)

I am flying from Oslo to China on Sunday 7th Sept. My plan is to see quite a bit of China, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and then a bit more of China (including Taiwan) before I return to Oslo on the 22nd Dec. Hopefully whatever comes between the dates can be read and commented about here.

For now I am still in Oslo, realising that "all" my friends here now work and can only meet up during week-ends or in the afternoon. So my days are pretty open (apart from the graduate thesis I'll be handing in before I leave), but my eves are packed with fun. I am mostly not online, so give me a call if you want to reach me.

Testing 1-2-3

2008-08-30T10:22:00.000-07:00

Med tanke på min manglende nettoppkobling om dagen (kombinert med Anne Karens evne til å sparke i meg når jeg prøver å snike meg på nettet hennes) er jeg spent på hvor mye jeg får fikset på dette prosjektet før jeg drar. Men poenget er altså at jeg turer i vei til Kina om en ukes tid. Og jeg skriver som kjent gjerne epos på e-post når jeg er ute av gamlelandet. Så for å gjøre det hele noe mer frivillig å delta i--og så det blir litt enklere for min kjære mor--så blir det nå en blog. Juhu! So here goes, testing 1-2-3. Jeg skal få dreis på layout og stæsj sporenstreks.