Vagabonding begins!

I was wondering if anyone here knew what Halloween was…I guess at least one person does!

When I first arrived in Chengdu, I thought that I had made a mistake.

Sure, it was a few degrees warmer than the mountains of Yunnan, but not by much. The sky is the usual big-Chinese-city polluted gray, and at first impression it reminded me of ZhengZhou, another major provincial dump of a city in Henan where I studied kung fu.

Like a lot of places it seems, however, that the longer I stay here the more that it grows on me – kind of like a tumor. But in a good way. There is a vibe here beyond just the concrete and construction cranes sprouting towards the sky in what seems like all directions.

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I was sweating, my heart was banging away inside of my chest, and my head was spinning. The food poisoning had probably not even kicked in yet!

Through bloodshot eyes I could see my own hand, giving another 2Yuan (.30 cents) to a smiling woman for a bowl of cold noodles. I managed to get my tongue, which had given up about 30 minutes ago and was probably looking for a way to get out of my mouth, to utter some very dangerous words in Sichuan…

“Wo xiang hen la, cheng”….or “I want very spicy, please.” She gave me a look as if to say “your wish is my command” and dumped another spoon of mystery spice into my bowl. It was going to be a good night.

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A catfish head picked clean of brains and meat by yours truly I tried not to show any signs of pain as the boiling oil splattered across my body. No, I was not on the ... [Continue reading this entry]

First, I would like to apologize for my half-assed writing lately. I read through my last 4 or 5 posts (which I made in the span of about 2 hours on the same day) and almost spit my green tea ... [Continue reading this entry]

About 3 hours into the bus ride, I knew it was going to be a long one. The bumpy and rutted road was winding through the mountains madly and we doubled back so many times that I was starting to ... [Continue reading this entry]

I beat feet out of the crowded Lijiang and into the quiet and sprawling Black Dragon Pool park. They wanted a whopping 60Y to enter (Chinese entrance prices are astounding) but I used a ... [Continue reading this entry]

"Mei you" Baba was shaking his head no with the phone in his hand. No more buses to Cheng-du today, so looks like I get one more sunny day in Lijiang. I can tell when it is time to leave a ... [Continue reading this entry]

The sun provided another perfect day for the last segment of our trek through the Tiger Leaping Gorge. We left the Halfway House GH, which I was not too sad about. I have never ... [Continue reading this entry]

We left the Family Naxi Guesthouse and hit the trail for what turned out to be the best trekking day of my life. We didn't exactly get an early start, but it did not matter, ... [Continue reading this entry]

I have never felt more alive. Sure, my shoes and socks were soaked, my nose was running, the skin on my feet was starting to break open into sore spots from hiking while wet, ... [Continue reading this entry]