Well after 2 weeks here trying to get my head around what I had experienced in the past 3 months I have managed to relax enough to get 3 good nights sleep in a row & now with my blog rants out of the way can get on with the travel info.

Firstly my theory about the burgeoning middle class in Asia is proving accurate as here on the island by far & away the majority of tourists are from South Korea.

Also I noted about 4 years ago a change in a few of the Chinese attending the Great Lakes College summer camp, they were spoiled rich kids! Now in talking with Mario the ex-pat Italian owner of the Luna Rossa hotel where I am staying he has noticed this year for the first time some Chinese coming to the island for holidays.

Only spent a day in Manila & then only left the hotel to find an ATM then came here where the prices aren’t bad at around $30 CAD for a beach front resort or $20 for one near the beach, around $6 for western food  or under $2 for what the locals eat.

The beach vendors are pretty laid back & not a problem (No time share morons) & have only noticed 2 beggars doing their daily rounds.

At the little place on a side alley where I get breakfast most days for 80 pesos I met a family of about a dozen Philippinos visiting from New Jersey who introduced themselves & we had a good talk at breakfast a couple days ago, not some thing likely to happen back in North America.

Have me a couple ex-pat Americans lucky enough to be able to do their jobs on line so have the best of all worlds!

Also a good place for any one looking for a wife as Philippino girls welcome westerners as potential husbands.

Other than that it’s just a beach town & I am not really a beach person. Have a flight booked for Bangkok on Tuesday, had considered going back & giving China another try but costs the same to fly to Bangkok as Hong Kong & Thailand is a lot cheaper + I still have a bad taste in my mouth about China & the theft of my Lonely Planet guide when I entered the country.

It,s true what they say about first impressions being lasting & that is what I will always remember China for; the police STEALING my book!!!! That coupled with a bunch of kids dressed in soldier suits harassing worshippers in Tibet doesn’t make for warm & fuzzy memories of that country!!

Actually from reports I have heard & my experience so far in Asia I have a feeling that I just might cut my time here shorter than planned & after OZ return to Guatemala for the balance of the winter. But time will tell!!

The reason being that in my travels I have experienced enough to see through the propaganda fed us in the North American media & the lies told by our politicians but when I express my views in my blog I am attacked as being naive.

However in discussions with fellow travelers & ex-pats, no matter where or what country they are from there is general agreement.

When I wrote that I had visited a Chinese Traditional Medicine Clinic it elicited the following response “Careful, could be melamine or some other crap in that $100 placebo you purchased. I wouldn’t trust any of the meds – natural or not? from China”

I had in actuality visited, by request not part of the packaged tour, the Beijing Traditional Chinese Medical health Preservation Research Center where I was seen by a professor there (won’t mention the name in a public blog). This consultation was at NO charge with no pressure to purchase the prescribed meds which had all ingredients listed on the package. As I have no family doctor in Ontario since mine retired & I joined the other 900 or so thousand forced to use public clinics, I took advantage of the opportunity.

So when this good Canadian makes such a moronic statement on my blog I took offense. Then a friend of mine in response to another blog entry accuses me of “not being nice” to the person that made the offensive remarks as “he is a nice person”. Then goes on to say that if I continue in this vein I will loose blog followers.

I fail to see how a racist bigot can be classed as a “nice person”, only in Canada EH!!

As any one who has been following this blog knows in the beginning I stated that some entries might not be popular & I am not writing this for money or recognition of any sort but as a log of my experiences & feelings at the time they occur so I can look back on them in the future.

I could care less if any one reads or follows it but it is open for any who care to do so!

Until now I have never deleted a comment but there has to be an exception to every rule & life is too short to waste time on close minded individuals so I will not approve any more comments from Oncearound.

An ex-pat Canadian enroute to residence in Guatemala!

This is especially apparent when when a typical uninformed Canadian salary worker makes a comment on my blog dismissing the whole of Chinese Traditional  Medicine as a scam then basically denigrates every thing Chinese & instead of merely deleting the offensive comments proceed to get in a mud slinging match with the sorry sole.

Well they say that recognizing the problem is 1/2 way to the cure so maybe now I can start relaxing & try & sort out & absorb all the info that has been  placed at my disposal since leaving on my trip & has been at odds with the propaganda we are fed in Canada.

One thing that has become apparent is that the western terminology of calling most Central & South American nations along with their Asian counterparts “developing nations” (the politically correct term  replacing 3rd world countries) is a misnomer calculated to mislead the masses into a false sense of security in these sad economic times. As the term leads to thinking that the west is vastly superior to these nations & while we may be experiencing a short period of hardship things will shortly return to the way they were.

From my observations starting with my flight from Panama City to Havana last year the reality is quite different as there are lots of ordinary people from these “developing nations” traveling. Now masses of people traveling is a sign of a burgeoning middle class. While in Canada the middle class is shrinking at an alarming rate. The percentage of western tourists here on Borocay Island would be in the low single digits with a few from the US but have yet to see another Canadian.

Where are all the Canadians??? So far I have encountered 6 young Koreans, in South Korea, traveling on Canadian passports, 2 Canadian ex-pats one in Greenland who is living Boston & one working for a cement Co. in China & 2 Canadian travelers on the Kathmandu – Lhasa trek & not many more Americans. No wonder it is such an easy job for our Bilderberg approved leaders to hornswaggle an uninformed public into believing their self-serving honey coated version of the world!!

Also while in Korea I found that during the last downturn Hyundai divested itself of all but it’s core auto & heavy equipment manufacturing while the other parts were sold to companies that could assure they remained strong. While in North America GM carried on as normal until the wheels fell off then the TAX-PAYERS were forced by Obama to bail them out.

Technology in Russia, India & China has improved to the point where the auto sector is as good as or better than the US. The old Lada & Tata cars of yester year have given way to the new generation of world class vehicles which combined with low cost of production meaning the end of auto production in the west. Same as happened with the farm tractor production 20+ years ago BTW Miranda in India that bought out the International Harvester plant along with the rights to produce the tractor model produced there is still making tractors.

This all leads me to see a bright future for Asia but a severe decline in the standard of living in the west especially the US of A!

The following day my arrival in Beijing which I have documented was the high point although the tour to the great wall was fine with a small group of 2 arranged by the concierge desk not the tourist desk at the Novotel. We were warned to buy only at government stores to avoid scams involving over priced fake products. Seems that scamming tourists is the biggest industry in Beijing.

For the past 2 years Jerry at Great Lakes College in Toronto has been telling me that when I get to Beijing just call the school there & some one would be happy to show me around.

HORSEFEATHERS

I called Jerry from Lhasa letting him know when I would be arriving in Beijing but disappointingly though not unexpectedly, never heard boo from anyone. However this is not just a Chinese thing it’s endemic all over. Give good service at good rates & all the thanks you get, even in Canada is “so long sucker!!!”

Did email one of the teachers but her reply came 3 days later on the morning I was to fly to the Philippines, too late.

So I won’t recommend China for anyone’s bucket list unless they have a bit of a sadistic streak & enjoy arguing with scammers or a death wish then they can go to Tibet & start a political argument!

That said on the tour to the great wall my companion mentioned that he had a skin condition that ordinary medicine was at a loss to cure or even relieve & wondered if Chinese traditional medicine might offer relief. Now the tour guide said that it was early enough in the day that should be able to get an appointment at the clinic that day. Dream on Canadians. She got on the phone & made 2, one for each of us, consultation is free.

After our tour we stopped at the clinic where first our temperature was taken (Almighty WHO & their pandemic) then he had a consultation where the doctor said he would send for the specialist, who arrived in less than 10 minutes (yes Canadians 10 MINUTES NOT months!!!!). 5 minutes later diagnosis done & prescription written.

As I have no doctor in Crapanada & little chance of finding one at my age & was there anyway & cost was zilch figured what’s to loose. The diagnosis covered the minor symptoms I have (Crapadian licensed quack couldn’t even diagnose stroke symptoms HMMMM!!!) so I spent the approx $100 on a 3 month supply on natural meds that’s supposed to be all I need. Scam???? Not knowing. Will let you know in 3 months. Any way less than 1/2 hr for 2 diagnosis’, prescriptions filled & out the door. Definitely NOT Canada!!!!! Maybe Cuba or India!!!

At least I kept my promise to the policeman at the border who stole my Lonely Planet, I got to Beijing saw the wall & got the first plane out of Dodge with no plans to return EVER!!!

Trivia & food for thought, hmmm might be time to start those courses in Mandarin if you plan on remaining in Canada. The combined population of Beijing + Shanghi is greater than all of Canada!

Not impressed with the seamier side of Manila but was warned about that & have cheap flight booked to Borocay in the morning. Hello beach & DHL winter clothes home, never again caca blanca LOL!!!!

She is now in a nice new assisted retirement home in near the family, thanks in part to my daughters SIL who works there who managed to pull some strings. Guess I did some thing right in bringing them up.

The only thing left to say about Nepal is it’s only 3 1/2 hrs away from the border with Tibet & the 1st 1 1/2 hr leaving KTM is on roads under construction that are the worst I have seen. The infrastructure problems apparently stem from being set up for around 350,000 people but population now is 3 – 4 million (depending on who you ask) with a corrupt government that funnels the money away from where it’s needed.

That Nepal is an interesting small country where one can enjoy the jungle’s wildlife in Chitwan National Park, climb Mt Everest or do various treks, shouldn’t be missed if in the area but it is best not to stay in the Thamel area. IMHO

After the bone shaking bus ride to the border it,s off the bus & walk up the hill to Nepal immigration then uphill some more & across the bridge where first thing you do is go through medical screening for swine flu (thanks loads WHO for the asinine level 5 pandemic alert) then immigration & customs baggage X-ray & check then the same process with the police where all they are interested in is stealing your Lonely Planet China guide book because Taiwan on the map. Naturally I put up a bit of a fuss about this so have to be careful what I write here while still traveling in China.

A warm & fuzzy welcome to China!!! NOT

My plans for a 25 day stay that my visa allows have changed, think when I reach Beijing it will be a trip out to the wall then the 1st flight I can get to Manila, or not depending on whether or not Great Lakes College comes through on their promise to show me around?

So far Tibet has lived up to it’s mystic of being “The roof of the world” & just seeing Mt Everest, all be it from afar was just an out of this world experience that all 4 of us in the jeep expressed together “WOW!! Mt Everest I never really believed I would actually see it!”

Of coarse no one was prepared for the state of oppression caused by the presence of the occupying Chinese army + the police force made up almost entirely of Chinese or the fact that our guide warned us about political discussion or taking pictures of the occupying forces. This presence was evident in all towns we passed through on the way to Lhasa where it was extreme! Therefore I didn’t feel safe in writing these remarks in the draft of my blog where they were on my computer visible to any one who chose to look as one has no rights in China.

Our tour group of 33 + another small group is traveling in a loose convoy of 12 Toyota Land Cruiser’s 4 people each, stayed at a fairly primitive guest house in Nyalam with 4 bed dorms the 1st night. Each jeep’s passengers to a dorm. Our group consists of a 30 something Brit girl + a Polish girl a bit younger & a 22 yr old guy from Maryland who get along well.

The 1st day we only traveled an hour or so from the border then had to stop until dark as the road was closed for construction during daylight hours then another 3 hrs to the guest house.

Second day we crossed the highest pass at 5200 meters then later on got our sight of Everest which stayed in sight on & off for the next couple hours & was the highlight of the day. We then spent the night at Lhaste a bit higher class with only 2/room.

Third day we only traveled 3 hours, with a stop for some good photo’s of the local domestic animals including Yak’s, to Shigaste where we are staying in a hotel with real western style toilets en suite + hot water showers (Ah paradise!! as anything where you don’t have to walk outside to a squat toilet is 5* Royal treatment LOL) & even one English channel on CCTV 9, no decadent CNN!

Fourth day was a short hop to Gyantse to visit the Khumbula stupa & the Phalkhor Monastery & stay at the Everest Hotel which lacked the hot water shower. Although did manage to locate some Chinese peanut butter in the local market along with fresh oranges & bananas not bad for the last week of Oct but this whole journey in Tibet has been amazing & no one on it really believes we are here, it will take some time for it to sink in that we are actually traveling on the roof of the world.

Day 5 saw us drive the final 200+ km to Lhasa with a couple photo stops for the incredible views. So yes Dorothy Lhasa really exists but it’s NOT in Kansas & this farm boy from the Townships is sitting in the Mandala Hotel updating busman’s blog (providing this isn’t one big dream)!!

Day 6 & 7 spent visiting local monasteries, prowling the Barkhor St market adjacent to the Mandela Hotel & watching the worshippers at the Jokhang temple which “is the busiest place in the center of old city “ the Roof of the world” Lhasa city” so says the hotel brochure. Our hotel was in a super location providing access to a fantastic market area with ATM & internet only a short walk away, even got a much needed haircut along with a massage just down the street.

Now the occupying army presence in Lhasa was taken from the extreme to the ridiculous with kids in “clown” suits & riot gear carrying BIG guns strutting through groups praying before the stuka just showing off how macho they thought they were. That along with the persistent rumors of a country road outside of town where dissenters were taken & used for target practice kind of left one with a not nice warm feeling for the Chinese which wasn’t alleviated in Beijing!

Day 8 & 9 train to Beijing arriving the morning of day 10.

Met some interesting people the first day of the train trip including an ex-pat Canadian working for the 4th largest Chinese cement company which alone does business equivalent to all North American companies (food for thought!) however most got off the next morning leaving the train quiet most of the day, then filling up once again as we neared Beijing.

Not sure if the design of the train cars was Bombardier’s or the Chinese but the old hard-sleeper cars on the Chinese Trans-Mongolian are preferable (IMHO) to the soft-sleeper ones on this train. A combination of little things adding up to making the 2 day trip more an endurance test than the enjoyable adventure of the 6 day trip from Moscow to Beijing.

After a bit in the queue he realises the folly of that approach as the chance of getting a driver that understands English is virtually nil. So he starts back tracking while thinking which plan “B” might-be best, as he stops to adjust his bags a young Chinese stops to offer assistance, he speaks no English but in a bit his friend who speaks very good English appears & when she is informed of the problem, takes charge asking what I want to do while in town & the price I want to pay for a room.

She then decides on a hotel that fits the bill with a central location & the 2 of them proceed to guide me to a place where a taxi can be flagged down, now this is rush hour with the temp hoovering around zero so they aren’t readily available but eventually, a couple blocks away from the station we have success.

Now these two kids have spent approximately 1/2 hr helping me & absolutely refuse any tip for doing so. Kind of restores one’s faith in humanity!!

The hotel turned out to be a Novetel & in the mid range price that I had asked for. Actually a bit more than I wanted to pay but prices in Beijing are up there & after the last couple weeks I deserve a bit of pampering + when finished with China I will be crashing on a beach some where in the Philippines for the 3 weeks allowed on a visa & saving the money I am spending here.

So once again have proven that having a bit of faith in destiny pays off  & as my Nepalese guide said “no hurry, no worry, have some more chicken curry” LOL

The Hotel Jungle Lodge (1 of 65 in the area) in Sauraha next to the park was excellent value for the money & Laxmi an incredible guide as he was raised in the jungle & has a home in it a couple hours away.

Have to get in a bit of a rant here as it always amazes me when some one to whom English is a second language uses better grammar than a lot of Canadians/Americans do. Now one of my pet peeves are the proper use of the words “can” & “may” so when out in the Nepalese jungle a local person asks “May I sit with you?”. This makes me think that the Nepal education system has to be pretty good as he said they start English lessons in grade 5 & his English was very good just needed a bit of practice. Now a lot (most) of Canadians would just say “can I sit with you” completely oblivious of being wrong. Oh well just reinforces my argument that our education system has gone to the dogs!

However the American was confusing the jungle districts, which are pretty laid back in Central America also, with the rest of the country. A girl from Tibet that is a nursing student in Delhi whom I met on the bus down claimed that the Tibetan & Nepalese people were too work driven & government controlled to relax & have fun than the Indian’s, this was the feeling I got also from my short stay in Delhi.

As to Kathmandu it’s a major disappointment, Bouda, the first area I stayed in was nothing to write home about & even the one restaurant bragging about being listed in Lonely Planet had so so curry & expensive beer, only reason I can see for the listing was free Wi-Fi which puts LP’s food listings in a questionable light!

Thamel, where I am now as my bus leaves from just across the street in the morning, reminds me of Havana on steroids but without the redeeming aspects of interesting Spanish architecture & the Prado, it’s a filthy place  occupied by in your face touts for hotels, taxis & tour companies whom you have tell to F*** off as they won’t take NO for an answer & the hordes of tourists that make them that way. There must be some decent food in town but I have yet to find it & haven’t had a decent cup of tea since leaving India!

I highly recommend a visit to the park & Praveen at Getaway www.Trekking-in-Nepal.com has been excellent.

More to come on northern Nepal

HORSEFEATHERS!!!

Another example of Canadian incompetence in a government regulated job.

My Capitol One only failed once in Korea but worked at a larger bank down the street when BMO failed once again.

My BMO debit card is useless about 50% of the time as Iceland & Greenland were a no go & approximately 50% of the countries I have visited the ATM’s only gave cash advances on credit cards not debit cards, guess as they can’t charge interest on debit card advances they just refuse to give them which is tantamount to theft as everywhere charges the 6% fee on your bill (some times hidden most times not) when paying by cc so if they won’t give cash on debit cards you are forced to pay the greedy banks 6% whether you like it or not!

So Canadians leave your government bank monopoly controlled cc’s at home & use a US one at least you know they will work & not be stuck with no cash by believing the lies told you by your bank!!

Not sure when I will be updating again as the trek to Lhasa doesn’t likely pass to many internet café’s & not sure what access in China is like?

Will post when possible as time allows.