The Great Wall

It's Day 4 now and our last final day in the Beijing area. This morning we are taking a group trip and we are off to see the Great Wall of China. We left the hostel at about 10a and I was a little concerned because I had been told to arrive very early at the wall. This is one of the joys of booking through a small size travel company and arranging a private tour through the hostel using local guides...we visited a little touristed section the Great Wall that was in great condition and which was visited by perhaps a total of 20 other fellow tourists while we where there. How cool is that?!!!



I read some horror stories of the most visited section, Badaling, and the tours originating from Beijing to there. The crowds are suffocating and you can be forced to endure other add-ons such as visits to jade factories or other money-making ventures. Thankfully, our trip was nothing more than an authentic Great Wall experience. This section was completed about 300 or so years ago, one of the final sections completed to keep out the Monguls to the north. The wall was completed in sections, so some places are nearly 2000 years old and barely a trace can be found while others are still fairly new and in their infancy. This section was particularly steep, as I envision most sections of the wall are. We probably walked along the top for about 2 miles and probably ascended 1500 to 2000 vertical feet from the point where we started. The views were tremendous and you could see the snaking wall go on for miles along the ridges and mountaintops in both directions.







On the way back to Beijing and while still in the countryside, we stopped in at a small local establishment and had a very late lunch. The owners and some of their staff were busy outside skinning some unfortunate beast who was probably the tasty meal for some fortunate souls the following day. Meals in China are served banquet or "family-style", which is to say that several dishes are ordered with large portions and it is a free-for-all for everyone at the table to partake. For somebody that was scared of ASian food just a couple years ago, I find most of the dishes to be quite good and this restaurant was no exception. Tofu typically shows on the menu. We had green string bean mixed in with pork. Of course there is rice, and other meaty and veggie dishes (usually one of each mixed together). But the special menu item today was...donkey. Yum! I had my reservations. The meat was served cold and it looked exactly like roast beef. And...I loved it! It's very healthy and a lean meat as well.



Donkey wasn't the only culinary experience of the day. That night, our small group visited the night food market at the center of the city. There are lines and lines of booths hawking tasty unique dishes for the locals and appalled tourists alike. You had your choice of seahorse, locusts, fried strawberry/kiwi, snake and silkworm larvae. I decided to go for most bang for my yuan and give the fried scorpion a try. For about $1.50, you pick a kebab of about five LIVE small scorpions and they deepfry them for you for about 30 seconds so that they are served quite fresh. Scorpion is quite crunchy, as you might imagine. Just be sure to eat it tailfirst, or with the tail broken off, as I am sure the intact stinger might just hurt the tongue a little.

Beginnings in Beijing

I visited the main iconic highlights on my first full day, which was before our group was to meet at 6p. This took me to Tianenmen Square and into the Forbidden City. Tiananmen is the largest public square in the world. It his absolutely huge. Crossing the front is the portrait of the Communist Party's PRC leader when he assumed power in the 1940s, Chairman Mao. There is not alot visible in the square, as I am sure the Chinese government would prefer there not be too many reasons for the general public to loiter there. Security is omnipresent. I found a light security presence visible at most every other major public sight, but nothing overwhelming. One of the first impressions I have had the first two days is how capitalistic the Chinese society has become in many and most respects.



If you did not know or were not aware of the authoritarian government, you would probably find many commercial parts of Beijing bustling like few other places in the developing world. Things change monthly in Bejing and I have heard that visits that occur every year bring about many changes. Used to, Beijing and China were known for their heavy volume of bicycles, which was the main mode of transport. That has been replaced with a new cheap (30 cents per ride) state-of-the-art mass transit subway and thousands of cars. Beijing's population of 17-20 million sales nearly one thousand new cars every day!

The Forbidden City is closeby to Tianenmen, so I went there next. The Forbidden City was home to the Chinese emperor and the nobility for centuries and up until the imperial system was abolished in China's efforts to modernize in 1911. It's amazing to think about how vastly different China is today from the system back then in 1911 to where it is now. In the Forbidden City, the emperor and the nobility lived completely and totally separate from the peasant society. The general public was strictly forbidden to enter.



At the end of the first day, I met my group and we got together to enjoy a Beijing traditional Peking duck dinner at a local establishment. Meals in China are typically served "family banquet style" where many dishes are selected and everyone at the table digs in, with chopsticks of course. The duck was delicious. The other menu items were too as well. The Chinese like their food spicy, so you have to be selective in your choices or you can quickly find yourself overwhelmed.

As for my group, we are small in number. There are five of us in total with me being the only male. Our group leader is Jenny Lu, with her adoptive first name. I'll introduce the others later.

The second day took us on a hutong tour of the Bejing ghettos. The term, hutong, is a Mongolian word, and is used only in Beijing to represent the busy residential areas with small and narrow passageways. The hutongs are very traditional and a majority of the Beijing public lived in hutongs until the Chinese government has made a policy of transitioning into larger residential complexs, with alot less character. The destruction of these hutongs and relocation of the families has been a major controversial topic in China. Unlike the shantytown favelas in Rio, the hutongs of Beijing feel almost completely safe. Also unlike the favelas, the government has complete and total control here, unlike in Brazil's favelas.

I struck out in the afternoon on my own to explore the famed Temple of Heaven Park. This will end up being the highlight of my Beijing city visit. The park is a huge ceremonial grounds for the ancient and semi-recent Imperial sacrificial grounds of the Taoist. I won't claim to know anything about the religion but the Chinese emperor and his processor would fast and abstain from meat, music and sex twice yearly for three days prior to the ceremony. It involved animal sacrific at the park and was meant to bring good harvest fo r the entire nation for the entire year. The ceremony was quite elaborate and any mistakes were always suggestive of a bad omen for anticipated bad luck that upcoming year. The Chinese temples there are some of the largest traditional and most extensive in the nation. Huge throngs of tourist come out to view the monuments. The entire sacrificial system, which was aimed toward the Imperial System, ended when the emperor was forced to abdicate in 1911.





Also, as pictured below, I had some time to visit the Lama Temple, home to the Beijing's Tibetan Buddist population...




Tibetan Buddist monk & a Tibetan prayer wheel

Decisions and the Start - China 2010

It has not been that long since I last blogged from South America. One of the benefits of taking a long trip at the end of a calendar year is that you can take another not too far into the start of a new year. I had originally considered going to Australia this year, but quickly changed my mind knowing that China was a possibility and that the Chinese currency, the yuan, will likely soon revalue. At the present, China is quite affordable for the American, but it may not soon stay that way. I wanted to take advantage of that opportunity while I still had the chance.

This year's journey includes a similar format as the South American one. I absolutely loved the social group trip so I decided to sign up with GAP's competitor, Intrepid Travel, for one of their China itineries that sounded really intriguing, "Backroads to Kunming". I didn't want to just do the standard tourist trail trip in China of Beijing/Xi'an/Shanghai like a number of outfitters do. I elected to go for one that gets you back into some lesser known areas and I hope this itinerary accomplishes that.

I started my trip with a drive to Atlanta and a flight to NYC-JFK and then a direct route from NYC right over the Northern Polar region to Beijing, a 13-hour flight to a new time zone 12 hours ahead of the United States. I was concerned about jetlag but have actually had little trouble so far. I took sleeping pills the first night but have not since. I had no trouble getting to my first night's stay in a hostel either. I took a taxi. Taxis are cheap here. A 20 minute ride cost me about $17 and I think the driver took it upon himself to collect a small tip or it would have been even cheaper.

Home...concluding remarks on South American and GAP Adventures

I am now sitting in the airport in Rio finishing up my blog entries for this trip. It's Saturday night and my flight leaves in two hours at 10:30p. In reflection, my 22 days in South America have truly been a great experience. I enjoyed the new scenery, cuisines and people that I have gotten to know in a part of the world I have never experienced before. I also got to explore a new way to travel for me through GAP Adventures. While I have not had a chance to reflect and compare this trip with some past travel experiences that have also been amazing, this one has been very unique and satisfying.

Main Memories-
Buenos Aires/Argentina - beef, beef everywhere. The city is vibrant and comparable to those in Europe. It lacks somewhere in "attractions" and was enjoyable for
the time I spent there, but will not be something I crave to return to, other than a short layover.

Uruguay - more beef, flat but interesting drives, a bit haphazard. Cannot say I ever have a reason to return but I was glad I got to experience it for the four days or
so we were in the country.

Iguacu Falls (Argentina/Brazil) - stunning and one of the most memorable stops I have ever had. The falls are as immense and surreal as the Grand Canyon and Yosemite Valley. I'm
not sure anything can top Yosemite Valley to me personally, but Iguacu comes close.

Coastal Brazil near Rio - mountainous coastlines, amazing panoramas, wonderful beaches, juice!, contrast between Copacabana and the favelas living side-by-side, diverse Atlantic rainforests

As for GAP Adventures, I highly recommend this type of experience. GAP is not the only company that provides a similar experience, but I really loved the social element of the trip. There was little downtime and I never felt alone. I met people that I will share this experience with from around the world. We all hope to stay in touch and hopefully I will get to meet and visit with many of them in their home countries. And maybe, I'll even get to travel with one of them again. The wealth of travel that each of them has provides me a network that will be invaluable in the future.

Rio de Janeiro - favela tour

Friday's excursion provided a chance to see the stunning contrasts of high society in Rio and the life of the vast majority of those living in Rio, those that live in the favelas. My American friend born in Brazil, Rafael, tells me that 8% of Brazil is the "haves" while the rest are the "have nots". Many of the have nots live in the favelas (slums). You've probably seen pictures in the past of the favelas in Rio or Brazil. We actually got the chance to tour such a favela.

Markus, our tour leader, leads trips into the Rocinha favela everyday. Rocinha represent just one of over 150 such favelas in Rio, but this particular one is the largest in all of Brazil. It's an opportunity for him to spread the story of the favelas and the day-to-day life of the people that live there. The favelas of Rio are a very, very violent place but the people seem to be very happy and most are content with the lives that they have. Markus shared that they surveyed many in the Rocinha favela and 83% were happy and content to stay as they were.

Markus, our tour guide...



Our tour began at the entrance to the favela, which sprawling up into the mountain in all directions before us. We had been warned about what to take pictures of and who not to take pictures of. 99% of the people living there are just the poor living their daily lives, working in the city and having an active part of the Rio's society. But 1% of those in the favela represent the violent lives that make the news in Rio and gives it its violent reputation. For this 1% represents the drug dealers, drug lords and gangs that run and control the favelas. The Brazilian government has no control of the favela or life there. The de facto government is instead the big bosses of the favelas, many of which live elsewhere under a veil of secrecy and possibly reaching far up into the government in Brazil and even surrounding countries.

Markus felt that our his tours were safe, as the boss of the Rochina favela had decreed that the gringos (whites) were off-limits. We started the tour by riding on the backs of motorcycles up the winding streets of the favela...talk about a hair-raising experience.
Traffic was uncontrolled chaos among those winding streets with motorbikes, buses and people everywhere. We rode on the backs of randoming chosen drivers, whom Markus assummingly knows, as they rode up. The ride lasted for about five minutes. We then started our descent from the mountain through the maze of narrow "streets". The favela's population has exploded in the last ten years...nearly doubling.

Markus brought us face-to-face with the locals. We interacted with local artists/painters who were using their talents and skills to organize a gallery and display their work. They chose productive routes to harness their talents rather than using it for dealing drugs. The drug life is very enticing to some. It provides handsome rewards, an exciting lifestyle, but usually at the price of their lives before they even reach 30. Markus also brought us to a local bakery, a market selling handmade bracelets made from colored telephone cable wires and also a daycare. The daycare was a not-for-profit that was established to help the working poor of the favela and their childcare needs. Each instance showed ways that life in the slums wasn't all about drugs and violence.

Unfortunately, the violence is ever present. The day we were there at Rocinha's, there was a war going on in another favela in Rio. We were in Rocinha as we passed TV monitors showing the news as the police entered another favela. The police are hated and despised in the favela, obviously by the drug dealers but also by everyone else in the favela. The stories he shared were griping. The wars can last for a month and can shut down whole sections of the city as these wars affects the lives of everyone in Rio, as the impacts are not limited to just the slums.

I've included some pictures of my four-hour trip into Rocinha. I am also including a link to Markus' organization doing work in the Rocinha favela... www.bealocal.com





All of the pipes and power lines in the favela are just a tangled mess. Wide streets have narrowed to just alleyways. The boundaries of the favela are set, so there is nowhere else to build but up...and up they do go.

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro is an amazingly visually appealing city, probably easily topping the list of
cities in that category that I have been to. It is a sprawling city of great contrasts as well. Rio is the second largest city in Brazil and I believe the third largest in South America. The metro area has well over 13 million people at least estimate. I imagine the exact number is far from known.



Our group arrived in Rio on Thursday afternoon after four hours of travel from Ilha Grande. We would have arrived sooner except for the massive traffic jam entering the city. Unfortunately, two bicyclist had been struck and killed along the main highway entering the city. I wasn't looking but it was pretty graphic according to some in our group and stuck with them for awhile.

My hotel for two nights was along the famed Copacabana Beach. Copacabana has many similarities with Miami Beach. Copacabana was a major hit a generation ago and is still heavily visited, but how been surpassed by Ipanema Beach as the glamour spot in Rio.




Behind the beach at Copacabana is situated the Christ the Redeemer statue that prominently overlooks the city. To the left is the tramways leading up Sugarloaf Mountain.

Most of our group booked a city tour that started as soon as we arrived. It took us to both major landmarks, Christ the Redeemer on Corcavado Mtn and the Sugarloaf tram. The views from both were absolutely stunning. The view from Corcovado was truly like standing on a high pinnacle with nothing but sky surrounding you. I don't believe I have ever been on a mountain or skyscraper before that gave me such a surreal feeling at standing on
the top of Corcovado in the prescense of Christ the Redeemer. The statue was built 80 years ago and the stance of Christ in the statue was decided upon by the people of the city.





Sugarloaf is very impressive as well. The tramcar dangles high above the trees as it makes two cable car ascents to reach the top.



One part of Rio that I really loved was the "juice" cuisine. I always enjoy my trips into Central/Eastern Europe because a wide variety of fruit juices are always readily avaiable, stuff that you could never find at home in the states. We are so deprived with just orange, apple and grape juices!!!

In Rio, they take it to the next level. There were at least 5 and maybe as many as 10 juice "bars" within a block of our hotel. These juice bars offer FRESH selections of as many as twenty different juices, such as cherry, passion fruit, mango, pineapple, banana and fruits you have probably never even heard of, such as a delicious caju juice. The availability in Rio was certainly another highlight to the city, certainly for me at least.

Ilha Grande, Brazil

We have been on our own Brazilian paradise island called Ilha Grande for the last 2 1/2 days. We arrived after a two hour bus ride and two hour ferry to the island. Ilha Grande was inacessible to the public just 15 years ago, as it was used by the Brazilian government
as a prison site/island for decades. The island is fairly sizeable. It takes about six hours to encircle it by speed boat. The population pretty small, just 500. It's commonly used as a cruise ship stop, probably coming out of/to Rio, which is just an hour's drive away. At least travel magazine that I read listed Ilha Grande as one of the Top 10 "island paradises you have never heard of".

Our group took it easy the first day when we arrived in the afternoon. We've been a pretty cohesive group of 15, so we routinely have dinner together. The couples sometimes splinter off, but most of the rest of us stay together for dinner or break off into small groups for activities.

On our first full day, we hired a boat to take off out to some secluded coves and beaches to have a cookout. There was plenty of snorkeling and we had purchased a soccer ball to throw around in the water. Another GAP group had joined us, so the numbers had now swelled to over 30 for the day. We had steak, chorizo (smoked sausage), hotdogs, salad and bread to go with our meal. We were out on the water for six hours. You can imagine a number
of us had sunburns as the sun is nearly directly overhead in the afternoon this far into the tropics.

On the second full day, my Danish friend, Mathias, and I set off on a hike over the top of the mountain and to a semi-deserted beach on the other side. The hike ended up being over 9 miles and climbed a 1500-foot mountain pass just below the island's tallest peak. It was a cooler day than we had been but the humidity is as bad or worse than Florida in the peak of summer, especially hiking through more Atlantic rainforest.

We found a wonderful pizza/pasta spot in town with some reasonable prices and ended up eating there at least three times while we were on the island. I found some mango and passion fruit juices, but nothing fresh. I'm hoping Rio has some of the frest stuff to try.

Today is Thursday morning and we're crossing back over to the mainland and then taking the short trip into Rio de Janeiro this morning. I'll have 2 1/2 days in Rio to conclude the trip. The GAP tour ends on Friday morning, so many of us will start heading home or to other planned excursions/trips over the weekend.



Our digs...





More foods of Brazil...