dawnblazer's blog

Istanbul

2007-08-28T21:42:00.000+08:00

And so it is..Crossing Asia in 79 Days

2007-08-21T02:20:00.000+08:00

Today is Day 79 since I left KL. From Macau I went up China, Urumqi,Kashgar and into Pakistan after the racing event, and in the midst ofturmoil in Pakistan, I went into Iran, Armenia, Georgia and now in Istanbul Turkey. Geographically I have reached the end of Asia and entered Europe, overland.There were many twists and turns in the journey, and life will unfold her beauty before you when you let her.

Swimming in Black Sea

2007-08-19T23:10:00.000+08:00

Black Sea is not black, just like Red Sea is not red, both are beautifully blue in colour instead.In Trabzon, it was fun to swim with a bunch of happy local kids, played & fooled around a bit. One guy started to do some funny stunt with his bicycle & went straight down into the water, with much effort he dragged the bicycle up, but happily obliged when I asked him to do it again.

A Fine Walk in the Heavenly Svaneti

2007-08-17T02:15:00.000+08:00

Out for a walk towards the Mestia glacier, it was dwizzling a bit, the wind was cold, which actually made the walk nicer. Mestia is such a beautiful village with 20 odds watch towers sits on greenery, with icy streams run through, wild flowers awash the shore and snow mountainsas backdrop. Half way, mist came in and enclosed me, it was like walking in heaven.

Kazbegi

2007-08-12T03:16:00.000+08:00

Rustavi

2007-08-11T23:52:00.000+08:00

Tbilisi

2007-08-11T02:10:00.000+08:00

With Mtkvari River running across the Tbilisi town, Tbilisi is claimed to be one of the most beautiful cities in Caucasus. It is nice to walk along the riverside, to wander through the small lanes in old town, to have a cold beer anytime of the day, to take a sulphur bath when you are dog-tired.

Alaverdi

2007-08-08T23:29:00.000+08:00

Holy be Your Name

2007-08-07T02:06:00.000+08:00

Standing in front of these holy items, the whole history ofChristianity came alive.The fragments of Holy Cross, Noah's Ark, the bones of John theBaptist, Luke etc, were placed in this very room at Etchmiadzin,surrounded me with thousand years of significance. I couldn't help buttrembled when confronted by these important proofs.I have seen the relics of Buddha in Xi'an, China, the hair of ProphetMuhammed in Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, Turkey. Seeing these now inEtchmiadzin would make it complete as three most important religionsin the world echo to each other to bring forth peace and enlightenmentto mankind.However, great minds are meant to be misunderstood, because atdifferent levels they communicate.J. Francis Stroud says, "Religion is like a finger pointing to themoon, but foolishly we grasp or put our arms around the trappings ofreligion, ritual, dogma, and forget all about in which direction it ispointing us to go.…where the finger is pointing to the moon, all that the fool sees isthe finger."And started comparing that my finger is better than yours, my God isbetter than his, my war is holier...

Entering Republic of Armenia

2007-08-04T15:09:00.000+08:00

I read about crossing border from Norduz, Iran into Armenia would be slow, it turned out exactly the case. This Armenia border was guarded by both Armenian officers and also Russian soldiers, tried to ask the reason but the Russian soldier said it was complicated to explain why they were stationed there. It took me nearly 5 hours to get the Armenian visa and cross the border. It was late at that time and finally decided to stay at Inter Motel for the night before attempting to find any transportation to Yerevan.

A Dip in Caspian Sea

2007-08-03T02:54:00.000+08:00

Caspian Sea is about 30-minute walk from the small town of Chalus. This is probably one of the rare places in Iran where the strict dress code does not apply. The sea was quite calm when we reached there, there beach was full of rubble, the sea bottom which was near the beach had some sea weeds which was slimy to step on, after a few metres it was sands, the water was not too deep and we could go quite far out.

It was really fun to have a dip there and fool around, played and swam in Caspian Sea.

Tehran Bazaar

2007-08-02T01:59:00.000+08:00

We stumbled into some small factories roasting different types of nutsin the Tehran bazaar, the workers in each shop were very friendly,giving us all sorts of freshly roasted nuts, almonds, cashew nuts,pistachio etc to try.

Do You Speak English?

2007-08-01T15:43:00.000+08:00

Mashhad Hotel, Tehran, Iran

Miles from England asked in his typical English accent, "Do you have dormitory beds?"
Receptionist asked, "Do you speak English?"

Persepolis

2007-07-28T03:28:00.000+08:00

Hello, foreigners!

2007-07-27T15:47:00.000+08:00

Shiraz, Iran

In Shiraz, locals happily greeted us by shouting out loud, "Hello foreigners, hello tourists!"

Zoroastrianism

2007-07-26T15:38:00.000+08:00

Sven Hedin mentioned in his autobiography about his stealing of three Parsee skulls for research from the Towers of Silence in Iran, he went in with a bag of watermelons during the day time of hot summer when everybody hid in house to avoid the blistering heat, without notice he sneaked in the Tower of Silence and stole three skulls by putting them into watermelon bag and later sent back to Sweden.

Zoroastrianism was the main religion across the Iranian plateau before Islam entered this land, it was one of the first religions to postulate an omnipotent, invisible god, represented as an eternally burning flame in Zoroastrian temple. Zoroastrians refuse to bury or cremate their dead bacause of their belief in purity of elements, both methods would pollute either the earth or sky. the dead were indeed exposed in Tower of Silence to allow vultures clean up the corpses.

In Yazd, the home of Iran's largest community of Zoroastrian, I went to the site, where two Towers of Silence are set on two barren hilltops, there was no one guarded the gate, I hiked up the small hills, and found a small opening in the middle of high wall, stepping on small depressions I climbed up and went in through it, at the centre of tower there is a big concavity where the dead bodies were once placed in sitting position, priest would then observe which eye was taken by vultur first, if it was right eye, the soul would have good future, dim if otherwise.

Women in Black

2007-07-24T15:41:00.000+08:00

Most women here are covered in black chador, as imposed by law, exposed only the faces. The suggestion of this image as conservative and reserved is misleading. Since the town of Kerman, I have noticed the women in town outnumbered the men, they wandered freely, either by themselves or in groups, free to strike a conversation with stranger like me, after buying things from a shop, some even happily screamed out loud, "I love you!", what a culture shock!

Iran, Iran

2007-07-23T15:40:00.000+08:00

Entering Iran I straight away faced the problems of not having any information, no guide book, and not being able to speak or read Farsi. Hence all the most original methods were used, sign language, drawing, and cracked my head to look for information. First the bookshop had only Farsi books, then found some internet cafe, it was good to see a qwerty keyboard, went online to look for some information, finally made my way to the bazaara in Kerman with the help of two friendly bus driver and conductor.

"We love Taliban!"

2007-07-22T15:36:00.000+08:00

The Osama-looking shopkeeper made a face by pressing down his nose and then pushed out the ears, said in a joking tone. "This is Iranian, hey, why d'you want to go to Iran? Iranian are bad, they only think they are right, everyone else is wrong, here we love Taliban!"
In this border town, Quetta, there are in fact many supporters of Taliban. Quite a number of people, including a military officer, Khawar, warned to take extra precautions and not to wander around town. However, as Miles and I strolled from one market or bazaar to another for most of the afternoon, people were mostly friendly and hospitable, some even invited us for tea.

Sufi Night

2007-07-19T20:44:00.000+08:00

In the small courtyard of a temple which was coloured green and red, it was packed with people sitting closely on the floor, marijuana was passed around for people to smoke, the atmosphere was charged with strangeness.

When we came in, two men first playing drums. Then one black shirt guy playing saxaphone. The Gongasain brothers camein at about 10pm, started playing big drums which were hang around their necks. The elder brother was huge in size, like a giant, with long hair, wearing a black and white patterned long shirt. They played drums in synchronize, the right stick was straight and smaller, so it was lighter when hitting the drum. The left one was shaped like a hook, giving out a lower but forceful sound. At the peak of the event, 7-8 people went to the centre of courtyard started to dance in to a trance like state, shaking their heads, stomping their feet, one's feet tied with a lot of rings, giving out rhythms of sound while dancing. Then some started to spin, crowds would shout "la lit pa", "yer le la" to call their spirits back, the elder brother started to spin with drum. The whole process went on several times, finally stopped at 01:30.

A Stroll in Lahore

2007-07-18T15:10:00.000+08:00

Lahore was a busy, vibrant and lively city full of vehicles, motor ricksas, bicycles, horse and donkey carts, with all the honkings added as background.

Since the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) incident, there were many polices stationed all around town, especially outside the major mosques, it was actually good to avoid wlking near them as they were always the easy target for suicide bombers.

There were many small stores along the streets in old city, selling all sorts of things like spices, food, cigarettes etc. Some building were in old indian styles which was very interesting. On the streets there were also horses, donkeys, goats, cattle etc, some goats were dyed with star-pattern by using henna. From old city it was easy to access to Badshahi Mosque and Lahore Fort.

Traumatized Islamabad

2007-07-16T14:28:00.000+08:00

High alert hs been declared in twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad now, heavy deployment of rangers has been made at various places in the cities. Foreign nationals have been advised to restrict their movements to avoid any possible attacks.

Some parties urged the government to publicly admit the mishandling of the Lal Masjid bloody stand-off resulting into loss of lives. Government declared about 100 people died, while the locals speculated the death toll to be about 1400 - 1500.

I could not enter the Youth Hostel at Sector G6, many roads are currently blocked and armed by police forces which makes one feels the strong undercurrent in the seemingly clam atmosphere. Curfew is still on around the Lal Masjid area. In fact, many towns in Pakistan are not really safe at the moment, might need to get out of here real soon.

Hiking Up the Ultar Meadow

2007-07-09T16:22:00.000+08:00

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This was by far the most dangerous hike for me.

In the morning Noriyoshi, Calvin and me went up the Ultar Meadow through the Baltit village and orchard according to the map drawn by Hiroshi. After follwing the canal, there was a small trail along the sheer drop face of mountain, having vertigo I felt dizzy when looking down and tried leaning towards the mountain side. After the trail, we could not find a proper way up, therefore started climbing on the rocky slopes, many a time I felt like dropping into the deep abyss, and inched towards the possible safer direction, with loose rocks bouncing and rolling down. With much effort we managed to climb up to another trail, by looking down, I did not know how we climbed up and wondered how to go down later. We kept missing the right track and had to climb up again and again. Finally we reached the Ultar Meadow at 14:00.The 6000m Lady Finger, Ultar I and 7388m Ultar II were just right in front, we rested for a while and went on to see a waterfall and the tomb of Hasegawa, who died while climbing the Ultar mountains. At 16:00 we went back down but again missed the right trail, going down on a steep slope, at one time almost found nowhere to proceed as there was a cliff below, the rocks were mostly loose with many thorny plants around, which made it very difficult to climb through and slide down, finally we found a section where the cliff was not too high up and thus we slid our way down from there.

It was just nice to walk on a flat steardy road.

Strolling Around Karimabad

2007-07-08T16:00:00.000+08:00

It was an easy and relaxing day as we just strolled around the streets of Karimabad, some travellers considered here as one of the blackholes on earth, because when you come in here, it is difficult to get out due to the charm of this small town. I have stayed here for 9 days now, every morning we woke up and decided not to leave.

Eagle's Nest

2007-07-06T23:32:00.000+08:00

Lady Finger Peak or Bubulimating, 6000m and Ultar Peak I

Wooden door of local house

Local house at hill side

Local kid
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Eagle's Nest, overlooking the mountain ranges

It was a long walk from Haider Inn through the village dirt road up to the Eagle's Nest, the villagers were mainly Ismailies and they were preparing for the celebration for the birthday of their leader Prince Karim Aga Khan. We were invited to taste the mulberry there and later we also got a free ride back down to the Karimabad.

Starry Starry Night in Hunza Valley

2007-07-05T16:03:00.000+08:00

Up the roof we went to enjoy the starry sky, there were quite a number of shooting stars flashing across the sky, occasionally we could see satellites flying by. The nature is truly wonderous if the busy people could stop by for a while to savour.

With cold winds blowing and music played by some other travellers, relaxing on the rooftop was a wonderful moment.

Walking Along the Water Channel in Hunza Valley

2007-07-04T22:55:00.000+08:00

Local kids

Cattle house

A local suggested us to walk along the water channel to go though villages from Karimabad to Hyderabad, the water was milky greyish in colour but locals claimed it drinkable. Locals were most friendly and greeted us all the way. Along the way there were a lot of apricot trees, plum trees, pear trees, potatoes etc, and the 7788m Rakaposhi peak, Lady Finger peak and Ultar peaks were all in sight.

Baltit Fort in Hunza Valley

2007-07-02T17:50:00.000+08:00

Never expect the Baltit Fort was restored and preserved in such a good condition. The interior has brought forth a strong feeling of originality. The Baltit Fort is deserved to be a World Heritage Site.

The Baltit Fort was built 775 years ago, when the Hunza and Nagar were still independent traditional rival states, the marriage of Ayasho II, Mir of Hunza with Princess Shah Khatoon from Baltisan brought the Tibetan influence to the structure of the Fort because Baltistan was part of the Tibetan Empire in early days.

The ticketer Mr Alamgir invited us to his house to see his gardens which were full of apple trees, apricot trees, plum trees etc with some cows, goats and sheep. We then had salty goat milk tea and Hunza bread at his house. After that we went for another invitation by Sayeed, a cook in Baltit Inn, for dinner. The people in Hunza were way too hospitable, for 2 days we had attended quite a number of invitations in the village.

Passu, Pakistan

2007-06-30T19:33:00.000+08:00

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Passu is a small village in upper Hunza Valley, the snow peaks here are magnificent, a few travellers and I went up to the Passu Glacier, there is no clear route to go up the glacier, most parts are rocks piling on the glacier itself, the changing icy surfaces make the rocks wobble and thus we needed to pay extra attention while negotiating our way up and down, the scenery there is other-worldly, with cold breeze blowig all the time.

In the late afternoon we went on to see the hair-raising suspension bridge over the Hunza River, which is made up of about 400 widely apart narrow boards.

Khunjerab Pass

2007-06-29T19:17:00.000+08:00

The Khunjerab Pass is 4730m in altitude, the road that links China and Pakistan is the famous Karakoram Highway, the highest road in the world. I came from Tashkurgan through the Hongqilapu Checkpoint and went into Pakistan from this pass.

Sunday Livestock Market in Kashgar

2007-06-24T18:35:00.000+08:00

The Sunday Livestock Market in Kashgar has existed for centuries, much of the business process still remains unchanged since the yesteryears as people intensely bargain with high tones or whispers or hand-shaking to close a deal. Cattle, sheep or even camel trading occupy the main area with food vendors and craftmen line the edges of the market.

There was a stall in the market selling mutton soup, it smelt really good and I went up to try it out. The Uyghurs there were curious about me and asked some questions in Uyghur that I could not understand at first, but finally I figured out they were asking about my age, and the old guy told me with hand language that he was already 84 and left with few teeth.

Qipan Village

2007-06-22T15:25:00.000+08:00

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We hitchhiked a big truck to the next village from our last campsite to look for something to eat as the camp food was getting quite monotonous and boring, it was a small village just 3 - 4 km away called Qipan where few outsiders have visited, the friendly middle-aged truck driver dropped us at a shop which was full of people, mostly students, and guessed that it should be good because of the number of customers, the locals were curious about us but soon found us to be amusing when we started to fool around. It was really cozy and I took a nap there after the lunch.

Walking in Taklamakan Desert under a Blanket of Stars

2007-06-21T14:23:00.000+08:00

After closing down Checkpoint 22, Hiro and I continued working as sweepers to accompany Cindy walking to the next checkpoint which was 10km away through a stretch of Taklamakan Desert which is full of light rubble. The night was truly amazing, the sky was full of glittering stars and galaxies, it was really great and surreal when we all switched off our headlamps and sat for awhile and enjoyed this wonder of nature.

We walked from 12 midmight and finally reached Checkpoint 23 at 04:15. Four-hour walk through the desert in the middle of night was actually a fantastic experience, although Cindy was apologetic to have slowed us down, I actually enjoyed it very much.

Blistering Hot and Freezing Cold

2007-06-20T21:56:00.000+08:00

Last few days we were experiencing the typical desert weather where the day time was long and blistering hot, nights normally arrived at about eleven o'clock. After the sun fell behind the hills, the temperature changed rapidly and soon it became freezing cold with winds trying to get into the tents from whatever holes or leaks.

On The Way to Damushi Village

2007-06-19T21:25:00.000+08:00

Today we again went through the rocky deep gorges and passed through countless muddy streams gushing down which due mainly to the unexpected rain.

The media team decided to set up the satellite system at the middle of the main road in one village and send out breaking news as the road to Damushi was inaccessable by one of the main vehicles. Villagers all flocked up and were curiously trying to decipher the strange behaviors of these funny looking people doing some weird stuffs in their village.

Langer Village in Datong Fork

2007-06-18T23:37:00.000+08:00

We went though barren and rocky deep gorges through road that was carved out from the hills, it was very cold and basically we just shut the windows as the truck struggling and negotiating through the bumpy road filled with rubble.

It was told that no foreigners had ever come to the Langer village and we were going to spend a night in local homes. The interior of their homes are normally covered with carpets and cloth with traditional patterns and main colours as red and blue, along one side of wall it was made a level up to be the bed or chair, the bottom are sands and thus feels softer when covered with carpets and it is actually comfortable to sleep on.

Tajikstan in China

2007-06-17T17:52:00.000+08:00

We set up the checkpoint beside a village after Federic and Dave marked the course along the gorge, these Tajiks were most curious about us but remained extremely friendly and helpful. The girl in bright red was recently married and she had to wear red clothings for the first three years of the marriage.

Leaving for Tashkurgan

2007-06-16T20:10:00.000+08:00

Tashkurgan County is located at the eastern part of Pamir Plateau, it borders Pakistan, Afganistan and Tajikstan at its northwest, where the Kunlun, Kara Kunlun, Hindukush and Tian Shan mountains come together. The second-highest mountain of the world, Mt. Qogir ('K2,' 8611 meters) is located partly in Tashkorgan, as well as Mt. Mutzagata, also known as 'K5' at 7546 meters.
We started the convoy from Kashgar, it took us about 7 hours to reach the basecamp of Racing The Planet, the weather was cold and windy in this summer time, I put on my Marmot light jacket and lent the NorthFace one to Sue as she was shivering even all windows in the truck were closed.

Operation Smile

2007-06-14T22:12:00.000+08:00

Operation Smile is a non-profit organisation for children with cleft lips or palates, we visited them in one hospital in Kashgar between our trainings. These parents were generally having positive attitudes even though checkered with misfortune. Operation Smile brings forth hopes for them by providing surgeries to repair the deformaties and leads them towards a normal life.

Behind the gracious looks of the parents, although there is a hidden worrisome, you can really feel the fortitude that has carried them along the hardships.

To visit their website, please go to: http://www.operationsmile.org/

Lost in the Old Town of Kashgar

2007-06-13T17:00:00.000+08:00

The old town of Kashgar is made of bricks, mud and some other simple materials, oozing the exotic air of traditional oasis town of Silk Road, a place that once visited by Marco Polo, Sven Hedin etc. Up until today when modernization has been creeping in from all corners, still the old town retains the charm passing down throughout the centuries.

The streets in old town jumbled up like a labyrinth, doors are comparatively small and ceilings are low, I wandered around and finally lost inside as some paths will just lead to other people's houses.

Leaving for Kashgar

2007-06-11T19:39:00.000+08:00

From Urumqi I left for Kashgar by a white coloured double-decker train No. N886. The ride would take 23 hours. This is one of the most exciting train rides thus far.

Not long after leaving Urumqi, came in sight was herds of two-humped camels grazing freely on a grassland with few small lakes around. The train continued speeding into a barren hilly landscape and went through a series of tunnels, it was a contrast when ranges of mountains with streaks of snow appeared as backdrop. Out of a sudden I saw a brown fox, with black nose and bushy tail, running wildly as the train went passed. I got excited because it is one thing to see a caged one, and another to see a wild animal. Then I noticed actually there were quite a number of small animals here and there on the plain, looked like rabbit or marmot which I am not really sure. Occasional there were some cone-shaped tents of shepards, they spread far apart on the grassland, some with herds of sheep, and some with horses, I found the life here congenial and absorbed all these into memory with rapt attention.

Urumqi City from Red Hill

2007-06-10T19:05:00.000+08:00

Red Hill, according to myth, is part of a dragon stained with blood. One pagoda was built in 1788 at the tip here and another at the next hill few kilometers away, to secure the town and save it from flooding.

It was quite a leisure walk up the 910.6m Red Hill, the weather was clear and the photo on the left was taken from a tower at the summit, actually behind the town is the desert. Turning right from that position (not in photo), snow-capped mountains from Tian Shan ranges can be seen.

Corn Bread

2007-06-10T18:33:00.000+08:00

An Uyghur selling different types of bread.

Putting dough into the pit.

Just stick onto the wall like this.

This is the corn bread made by Uyghur, very hard, you can eat with tea or tear it bit by bit.

Xinjiang Autonomous Region Museum

2007-06-10T17:42:00.000+08:00

The Xinjiang Museum had been relocated to a brand new and modern building since my first visit there.

The new museum has opened up 4 halls currently to display the lives and archaeological findings in Xinjiang area. Chinese, Uighur, Kirgiz, Tartar, Xibe, Tajik, Russian, Daur, Uzbek, Arab, European etc came around this area each with different languages and religions, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Shamanism etc. These displays have brought forth a sense of historical importance, with the rise and fall of vaious cultures, Loulan, Yanbulak, Qiemurqiek etc, a bustling place where all these differences mingled around.

Interior of Xinjiang Museum

The hunting rock painting of Altay Dunblak

Qiaerger deer-patterned stone in Fuyun County

Ancient female mummy, 3800 years old

Stone statue of No 2 Kainar

Freedom in China

2007-06-09T17:26:00.000+08:00

Normally I didn't really care much about the human rights or freedom of speech etc pressured on China by western countries.

But just a few days in China, I was surprised to learn that many popular websites are currently banned in China by GFW (so called Great FireWall of China) for the reasons I am yet to find out. Those websites like Blogger, Wikipedia, Flickr etc cannot be accessed or photos cannot be viewed, some even claimed that Google and Gmail had similar fate some times ago.

I always think that a ban in the freedom of expression is an indication of failure in education, a lack of confidence in one's righteousness but still wants to exert controls.

Normally when something is banned, it will not just stop that way, it is a human nature to find ways to go through, around, underneath, over it, for example, will a country which bans prostitution have no prostitutes? It will just go underground, and problems will be difficult to be assessed and rectified when neccessary.

The more something is supressed, the more it shows the suppressor's inability to handle different voices from an equal stance.

Civilized Anything

2007-06-08T17:01:00.000+08:00

It is not unusual to notice that there are a lot of banners with slogan hanging here and there in China, one word that comes out most often, I think, is 'civilized', for example, be a civilized citizen, civilized unit, civilized management, civilized user, civilized working, civilized driving etc, it has been used so widely until it has almost reached a stage where 'civilized' can just be coined to any nouns and verbs. 'Civilized' here simply means to be considerate, to think about others, to respect.

The China population has been ranking top for long, it has become a custom for most people to fight for whatever they want without considering much about others, living in scarcity for so long has planted a concept that whatever you want will be grabbed by others if you are not fast enough and being too considerate, this mode of survival skill has been carried forth until the age of economic booming.

As Beijing 2008 Olympic is approaching, the government has worked extra hard with the hope to remove as much 'uncivilized' habits as possible from the public, in order to not leave a bad image to foreigners. However, smoking in a closed public area like lift, train carriage, or spitting onto floor or even carpet, peeing beside a road etc can still be seen.

Third Class Train Carriage in China

2007-06-07T16:18:00.000+08:00

One of the good ways to see the real life in China is to get on a third class train carriage. It was a chaotic mess (to outsiders) where people shouting, yelling, squeezing etc, trying to get the place they want, it is a situation normal to request in an unhappy tone, and refuse in an angry tone, and then quarrel will start by shouting back and forth between two parties.
Such situation happens frequently, because in third class carriage , many people are holding 'no seat' tickets, this type of ticket allows passenger to get on the train without confirmed seat, whoever buys such ticket will have to stand at aisle, or wherever he or she can find a place to squeeze in, the situation gets worse when there is no fan nor air-cond, and attendant, due to safety purposes -- afraid that stone or whatever object speeds in and hurts passengers, forces passengers to close windows, the whole carriage will tense up in a hot and humid condition.

On Space

2007-06-06T18:55:00.000+08:00

Since my landing in Macau and on the way up the China, I need to always adjust my own perception of space. It is not necessary for a room to be at least this big, or a seat in train that spacious. It would require some time for me to get used to what is considered as 'normal' space here. Even the train, in the so-called luxurious carriage, has lower, middle and upper berth, I could not even sit up at the upper berth, that is the place for you to sleep, not sit, anyway.

Macau

2007-06-05T18:22:00.000+08:00

Since my last trip to Middle East, I have strongly felt that my journey should not be just checking off places of interest one by one. Normally these places are frequented by tourists instead of locals, I went to the Ruinas de San Paulo, the landmark of Macau, it was almost full of tourists.

Some travellers opt to do something different, they avoid these places but spend more time at the market, coffee shop etc, where locals hang out.

In Macau, one of those places is the casino. One fifty over year old aunty warned me not to drink or eat anything provided by the casino, she claimed that one will be stuck there until one loses all the money; her husband and daughter did not listen to her and thus they suffered terribly, she was the clever one and never let anything in the casino to go through her throat, that was the reason she could win some money from the casino. Some others would blame the feng shui, to channel all money into the owner's pocket.

No matter what they blame, this has become a way of life in Macau, where you can see signboard asking people addicted to gambling to go for counselling.

Bon Voyage

2007-06-04T23:09:00.000+08:00

Today is the day I am flying off. The flight delayed for about an hour, heard that it is a situation normal for this particular airline. The rain was pouring at the departure time, and this was the first time I used an umbrella to go in a plane, quite a refreshing experience though.

After about 10 minutes of flying, there was a glimpse of clear blue sky; soon outside the window was a whole spread of blue as we were flying over South China Sea, the plane touched down at about 18:15, after taking the check-in luggage and out of airport, it was about 19:00.

The half balded guy at the airport information counter told me there might be no bus to Macau Square as the last one was at 19:00, but I was fortunate enough to get a bus no. MT2 to Macau Square and found a cheap hostel there. To say that it is a hostel is quite a misleading term, as most people would not imagine how it actually looks like. But it is quite common in this area, and Hong Kong perhaps, because the land is so scarce. The staircase is narrow and just looks like leading up to somebody's apartment, actually, it is an apartment consists of only 6 small, untidy and dirty rooms. A seventy over lady and a young guy greeted me, I haggled for a while and finally settled at M100 for a room with bath.

快乐的邂逅

2007-06-04T01:15:00.000+08:00

许多人为自己的人生套上太多的必需,必需考好成绩,努力向上,必需勤奋工作挣钱,必需有家庭有伴有孩子,而下一代则必需重覆这些必需.

这种必需是什么呢?是一种狭隘的盲从,认为美满的人生,快乐的获取,只有一种既定的途径可达至.

但是人的心像个快乐的小孩,世界是他的乐园,美好的东西太多,有趣的玩乐无数,周遭尽是无限新奇的可能性.可是所谓的理智,就像个呆板的大人,喋喋不休的尽是催促他做些无聊的工作.

放开束缚吧!突然你会觉得天地豁然一片辽阔.

别太过认真,来这世上尽情的玩乐吧!这不是颓废迷失的放纵,而是稚子之心在神的国度里尽情的嬉乐,以心为本,探索自身的能量,赞叹世间的奥妙.

人生没有意义,这没有意义可不是一种消极,而是一种自由,正因为没有意义,每一个人皆可赋予自己个别的意义,是对是错只有你的心知道,问问自己,你快乐吗?快乐是一种上帝的肯定,违背心的意愿得到的将是惩罚,是郁郁寡欢,或百般无耐,你骗得了全世界,骗不过你的心.

相信你的心吧,当你的心快乐天真的笑着时,那是一种与神的邂逅.

Preparing for the Journey

2007-06-02T15:53:00.000+08:00

After having my breakfast, I went to an outdoor shop nearby to buy something for the journey, an Alpinepac Igloo 125 sleeping bag, made by self-seal interlocking polyester, which is at least half the size of my current Deuter one, then a Sea to Summit 30 litre Compression Dry Sack, that is supposed to be able to compress my cloths to half the original size, and Drylite Micro Towel. I tried to travel lighter this time, the aim is to get all neccessary stuffs into a 50 litre backpack, instead of using my old Karrimor Panther 75 litre.

Traveling light is the current trend, the lighter is the backpack, the easier to get around, we all know this, but at the time of packing, I always have the difficulty of getting it just right. Once I packed so light and realized later I was under-equipped in a freezing night. Over-packing is equally bad, the weight and size will absorb some fun out of the trip, and attract too much attention by shouting out loud the message --- hey, I'm new here!

This is the Compression Dry Sack with The North Face Triclimate Parka, and a few clothings inside, it forces air out through the eVENT fabric, which is permeable to air, but waterproof, and reduces the original size to half.

Leaping with Gratitude

2007-05-30T01:22:00.000+08:00

My heart is filled with gratitude these days because Kanna and Pillai have been taking the extra effort to offer me the freedom to quench my globe-trotting urge and an option to go back later. I have been lucky all these years to have great people around me, I still feel that I owe them a debt of gratitude because of my leaving.

However, inside of me there is a force growing stronger and stronger, a force of metamorphosis, and I think my changing process is going to be faster and faster. That is how growth should be, like snowballing, to welcome more growth and seek more possibilities by leaping forth, I might fall and it might hurt painfully, but I don't think it will make me less intelligent.

I have least intention to lead a monotonous life, staying at one single place doing the same old thing over and over again, life is thousand-cloven, all rich and wonderful, but I cannot see the new world without leaving the old, the new might not be the better, the important thing is my readiness to take the risk and go forth.

Into Uncertainties

2007-05-27T12:44:00.001+08:00

Just a few more days I will be free, in front of me are uncertainties, however, age has taught me the beauty of them, because within uncertainties, there are possibilities, and my life will change, I still don't know to which direction, but at least I can feel the excitement now, it's alluring, and fresh, and energetic...to walk into the world again with a child-like curiosity and playfulness.

It's a bit strange if after accumulating experience and knowledge throughout the years, what is left within me is fewer possibilities and confinement, learn all these years to tell myself what I can do and what I cannot, to shrink my own world with my own fear and lament about it. It is really funny if one can think in such way to reduce oneself to a safety corner.

Whenever I step into a terra incognita, the world opens up for me, now it's getting more and more exciting for me to go into unknown rather than feeling the fear. Unknown is an imagery monster with fear as its weapon, guarding the new world from the timid, the moment I decide to walk straight up and take it down, it dwarfs and vanishes.