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Only 48 Hours in Nanjing

Friday, September 21st, 2007

I only stopped in Nanjing for 48 hours. It seemed like a pleasant city, but wasn’t attractive enough to detain me longer. The time on my visa is running short and there are still too many places to visit in China before my three months are up. It is starting to appear that every country I visit will find a way to secure my interest until they’re obliged to kick me out.    [read on]

Xi’an:Armies, Mountains and New Ink

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

It has been nine days since I left the Kung Fu school and thankfully, the experience is quickly fading into a distant past. Every facet of life that was lacking during my time there has returned in full force.  Due to the hardships I recently endured, my sense of appreciation has also been greatly enhanced to enjoy it all the more!     [read on]

Liberation

Monday, September 10th, 2007

Ah, freedom… I can taste it again! I am happily writing this on my way away from Songshan and the hellish Kung Fu training experience endured there.    [read on]

Pingyao’s fifteen-hundred years of history

Thursday, August 23rd, 2007

After a hellish first experience with third class travel in a developing nation, I literally squeezed myself by force out of the overcrowded train car and into the dusty streets of Pingyao.  The first impression was of a more polluted but slightly smaller scale version of Beijing.  Clouds of dust kicked up by a constant rush of motor-carts, bicycles and motorcycles.  I heard this was an ancient walled Ming Dynasty City, but here I find myself in near third world urban sprawl?!?

Luckily the impression faded after passing through the city walls.  Inside is a straight up third world city still hanging onto an era long passed.  Old crumbling buildings covered in age-old dust wrapped around the random twists of cobblestone alleyways.  This is the type of place I’ve been waiting for since I started my travels.    [read on]

The Yin and Yang of Beijing

Saturday, August 18th, 2007

Would I ever want to live in Beijing?  Not even a possible consideration!  It is polluted, grimy, overcrowded and excessively hot.  After seven days here, my throat is sore and nose is stuffed from the smog.  Two showers a day would be barely sufficient to cleanse the filth from your skin, and fighting through the swarms of human traffic can be downright uncivilized at times.

Would I visit again?  Definitely!  Balancing all of the negative aspects is a city full of exotic culture, excitement at every corner, abundance of interesting excursions and endless supply of enticing cuisine.    [read on]

Character Development

Monday, August 13th, 2007

Five months deep into this adventure has taught me more than I could have learned in five years stagnating at home. I do know I am still far from an experienced traveler, but it is safe to say that I’m at least no longer wet behind the ears. It has been almost a month since I left the comforts of Gangneung, and I’ve found less and less time at a computers to update this blog.

So what has been keeping me so busy? Life… the way I want to live it. The weeks I’ve spent in Seoul kept me preoccupied with friends, playing music, taking photos and visiting the must see sights. I also took a twenty-five hour ferry into China and have been exploring Beijing for the last few days. Now I’m sitting in a quiet pavilion hidden in a secluded corner of Temple of Heaven Park and have pulled out my journal for the first time in weeks. [read on]

Goodbye Gangneung

Friday, July 27th, 2007

The last two weeks in Gangneung have been like a vacation from traveling.  Hanging out with Melissa and her friends at the beaches and suburbs was reminiscent of a summer at home.  It has helped me to shake a bit of funk that has been building up during the last four months on the road.  I was getting a little disillusioned and burdened by time limits and dwindling finances, so it was great to live a stressless life with no real agenda for a change.  A lot of my time there was spent wasting time in internet cafes and playing with the kids at Melissa’s school, but I did get into a couple photo explorations during my last week in town.    [read on]

The New Jersey of Asia

Friday, July 20th, 2007

On the ferry from Japan, I met an expat from Texas who has been living in South Korea the last three years. When I asked about his travels in Japan, he explained that he only does visa runs to Fukuoka and he’s never explored more than the embassy!  His reasoning is that South Korea is “the dollar store Japan”; basically that the cultures are similar, but everything is cheaper.  Obviously, we’ve had different experiences but I don’t believe he could be any farther from the truth.    [read on]

Back to Blue Skies

Wednesday, July 18th, 2007

I awoke to a perfect day; clear blue skies and a nice dry warmth.  Melissa lent me her bicycle and encouraged me to venture east towards the beach while she worked.  She literally lives on the edge of town and within a few minutes of riding I was surrounded by rural expanse, rice fields and swarms of gigantic dragonflies.   [read on]

Busan, South Korea

Tuesday, July 17th, 2007

I boarded the Camellia Line ferry at Fukuoka and waved goodbye to Japan. The IYTC card I picked off more than paid for itself by saving me about $20 off the ticket. During the trip I met a Texan who has been living in Korea for the last three years. He juggled, showed me a few card tricks and gave me some advice about what to expect when I arrived. I also did some exploring of the ship looking for photo ops before passing out in the communal cabin. [read on]