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Our thougths on the trip so far / Nos pensees sur le voyage jusque la.

Sunday, February 11th, 2007

We are now more than half way through our trip. What can we say? India was the most mind blowing country. It was the shock of our lives in terms of environment, food, climate, people, customs…China was an amazing country that has a very rich history and so much to offer, and with language difficulties that always kept us on our toes, but still has a long way to go. After 2 months in Asia, we were looking forward to go to an environment we were more used to. Australia was fun and it was great to have the day to day luxuries. But for some twisted ways we are getting bored. The challenge is not there anymore. We have found that 6 weeks was enough in Australia, and after 3 weeks we were longing for India, its poverty and happiness, the struggle to find a train ticket and the dirty surroundings. If we had been working in Oz, it might have been different, but we did not and it was just a matter of finding something to keep us busy. We were not doing anything there that we could not have done in Europe or on a normal holiday. We have met many people in this sitation, who started in Asia and end up in Australia /New Zealand. They love it at first, and after a while, it is “Ok”. We are looking forward to go to the islands and see something different (and Anne needs to seriously improve her french because it has gone downhill) and experience new challenges. But we fear that the US will leave us feeling the same way as Australia and New Zealand, and we’ll probably cut it short. You’ll have to wait and see, just like us.

 

Nous voila maintenant a plus de la moitie de notre voyage. Que peut-on dire? L’Inde fut le pays le plus incroyable. Ce fut le choc de notre vie en terme d’environnement, de nourriture, de climat de gens, de coutumes… La Chine est un superbe pays a l’histoire riche et variee, qui a beaucoup a offrir et avec des barrieres linguistiques qui nous obligaient a faire attention. Apres 2 mois en Asie, nous avions vraiment hate de retrouver un environnement familier. L’Australie etait super et c’etait fantastique de retrouver les petits luxes de tout les jours. Mais pour quelque raison incomprehensible, nous nous ennuyons. Le defi n’existe plus. 6 semaines furent plus que suffisantes en Australie et apres 3 semaines nous regrettions l’Inde, sa pauvrete et sa joie, la bataille pour trouver un train et la salete environnante. Si nous avions travaille en Australie, ca aurait ete peut etre different, mais ce n’etait pas le cas et a certains moments c’etait dur de trouver de quoi s’occuper. Nous ne faisions pas d’activites que nous ne pouvions pas faire en Europe ou lors de vacances normales. Nous avons rencontre beaucoup de gens dans cette situation, qui ont commence en Asie et finissent en Australie/Nouvelle Zelande. Au debut ils ont adore, puis c’est devenu plus banal. Nous avons hate d’aller dans les iles et de voir quelque chose de differents (et Anne a besoin d’ameliorer son francais car c’est catastrophique) et avoir de nouveaux defis. Mais nous craignons que les Etats-Unis nous laisseront sur notre faim, comme l’Australie, et pensons couper notre sejour court. Comme nous, vous allez devoir attendre et voir si c’est le cas.

China & Hong Kong: Conclusion

Friday, December 22nd, 2006

It is hard to sum them up. Hong Kong is very modern and it is now stagnant compared to the rest of China. Mainland China looks like a giant building site, where a couple of mountains are no obstacles if you want to develop an area. [read on]

Last pictures of Asia / Dernieres photos d’Asie

Friday, December 22nd, 2006
We just added some pictures from the Asian leg of our trip. Nous avons ajouter des photos de la partie asiatique de notre voyage.

Last day in Hong Kong / Dernier jour a Hong Kong

Friday, December 22nd, 2006
After a 3.30-hour bus drive from Shamian, we arrived back in Kowloon. Christmas is now in full swing but it is still so warm that we can't get our head round it. We stayed at the New garden Hostel last night, ... [Continue reading this entry]

Shamian Island = cheese/ Ile de Shamian = fromage

Wednesday, December 20th, 2006
As planned we went to the wonderful French restaurant in Xian called La Seine. We had the most amazing service and food. 20 pounds each for 6 course meal in a room overlooking the main road leading to the Bell Tower and ... [Continue reading this entry]

More Photos

Sunday, December 17th, 2006
We have added more pics, this time of the Terracota Warriors. There are about 8,000 unique sculptures, discovered by chance in 1974. They were built never to be found and there are no indication as to who has made them. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Video Terracotta Warriors / Guerriers en Terre Cuite

Sunday, December 17th, 2006

We can feel our legs again / on peut enfin sentir nos jambes!

Sunday, December 17th, 2006
Just a quick post to let you know that we are in Xian where it is warm 8 degrees (anything is better than Beijing). It is quite weird not to have to wear 2 pairs of trousers :) (not kidding). ... [Continue reading this entry]

Bye Bye Beijing / au revoir Beijing

Thursday, December 14th, 2006
We are leaving Beijing in a couple of hours to go to Xian on an overnight train. Beijing is an OK city, with a lot of history and many places to visit. Depending on your interests, you can enjoy the ... [Continue reading this entry]

Video Great Wall / Grande Muraille

Wednesday, December 13th, 2006