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Articles Tagged ‘– Reflection’

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Welcome to India: Part I: The Bad and the Ugly

Monday, December 17th, 2007

The eight hour bus ride from Pokhara, Nepal to the Sunali border of India actually took more than twelve hours.  It also didn’t take me all the way to Sunali, but rather dropped off 5km away.  So I am stuck in the back of a cyclo-rickshaw that is inching its way to immigration office.  Over the course of a half hour, I am able to catch my first glimpses of India, or rather my first obscurities.  The closer we get, the thicker the cloud of pollution enveloping us grew.  I thought China was bad, but here the haze is so bad that the even the ground at my feet appears faded.    [read on]

Things I will miss about Nepal

Sunday, December 16th, 2007

Nepal has come as an unexpected surprise.  I knew virtually nothing of this country, its people and culture.  I had no intention of staying very long, and was only using it as a stopover on the road to India.  This lack of knowledge and prior expectation set me up for a fresh perspective, unmarred by any previous prejudice.  What a remarkable experience it has been.    [read on]

Sanctuary Trek: Conclusions and Trail Thoughts

Monday, December 10th, 2007

Seven days of life on the trail, packed with many moments of solitude and reflection have lent some educational perceptions and exciting revelations. [read on]

How did I get here?

Sunday, November 25th, 2007

How did I end up here? Coconut cookies and pineapple juice. Partaking in some local herbal consumption. Hawks flying past the shaded seat I’ve found, hovering on a Cliffside above Lake Phewa-Tal and the city of Pokhara. In the distance, the Annapurnan Himalayas peak out from behind an absolutely massive cloud-cover which still fails to conceal their majesty! I take my eyes from the vista to look down on the motorcycle helmet in front of me. [read on]

Kathmandon’t

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007

One week in the capitol city of Nepal; far too much time to spend there. At first, it seemed like an oasis in my Asian travels. The excellent food, low prices and abundance of other western travelers seemed too good to be true. In the end it proved to be little more than a façade, luring weary travelers with its siren songs of home-style comforts. While I will not deny that proper steaks, pizzas and ice cream was a welcome change, I would have been just as happy with the local Nepalese food. [read on]

Impressions of China

Monday, November 12th, 2007

I’ve already called Japan a country full of contrast and contradiction.  For a while, I was thinking the same thing about China.  After ninety-two days in the country, I can now realize that the contrast is almost exclusively in my feelings towards it.  There are many wonders of nature to astound, interesting cultural elements to mesmerize and delicious tastes to please the palate.  However, there is enough pollution, crude habits and oppressive government bureaucracy to negate all the good.  It is definitely an interesting place to visit, but it would be difficult to feel comfortable living in the very disagreeable sense of society.  I’m just as happy leaving as I am with the time spent there.

It is hard to pinpoint any more exact impressions of the country because it is far too vast to generalize.  I wish I could explain in less enigmatic terms, but it is not possible to summarize China so easily.  All I can do now is move on to different countries and hope for more clarity in their cultures. 

See all of my photos from China

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7 Days in Tibet: Day 7

Monday, November 12th, 2007

. Escape from China .

4:30am: Awake for the trip to the Nepali border and happily get into a capable Land Crusier with a competent driver and a couple friends I knew from the train ride to Lhasa.  We make our way across the incredibly perilous and bumpy road through the Himalayas before the daytime road construction commences.  Fortunately it is pitch-black; although we are missing the amazing vistas in the Himalayan range, we are also oblivious to the extremely lethal four thousand meter drops on either side of the insanely rugged road that our Landcruiser is speedily bouncing along.  Our driver turns out to be a pro and navigates us safely to the borer with spare time to kill.    [read on]

Yak, Yak, Yak, Yak, TIBET!

Tuesday, November 6th, 2007

 

Yak-Steaks, Yak-Burger, Yak-Butter, Yak-Butchers literally on the sidewalks of Lhasa!  These large furry beasts are EVERYWHERE!  At first, the smell stuck me as being a bit unusual, but every day I linger I grow sicker of the overwhelming odor of raw yak meat…. although it does taste excellent after being cooked.  There are many more unique attributes of Tibet, but it’s hard to ignore the over-abundance and reliance on this cow like creature.   [read on]

Saying difficult goodbyes in the shadowless city

Sunday, October 28th, 2007

The city of Chengdu, center of Sichuan; China‘s “spiciest” province!  A land more accustomed to laziness, where an unfortunately consistent stream of bad weather reigns supreme.  It seems as if every single minute of the nine days in the city were plagued by an unbroken cover of grey.  Occasionally a glow of sunlight would show though a less dense patch of clouds, but more often a haze would form so thick that the horizon would be completely obscured.  At first the effect was tolerable, but soon the dreariness shadowing any desire for “Carpe Diem” was the only shadow to be found.   [read on]

Suzhou Satisfaction

Sunday, September 23rd, 2007

The longer I remain in this country, the more merit I find here. I partially attribute this to the slow acclimation and inevitable desensitizing to the oddities and initial culture shock. However, it seems that as I move onward through China, I am also ascending the ladder of quality in its cities and economic stability. Whilst I was first assaulted with poverty, dust, grime and pollution in the North, I am now surrounded by attractive avenues, fresh foliage and charming canals. The spitting and public defecation have all but faded and it appears the citizens here mostly enjoy a more civilized cosmopolitan demeanor. This is a pleasant change which is leaving me increasingly less anxious to leave China.   [read on]