After a very early taxi ride to the airport and a short flight we arrived in a completely different world. Very wide avenues, not much traffic and most of it in very old and battered cars with a few WWII vintage buses and some trikshaws thrown in. It is easy to see that this city was rebuilt by the British, and not much has been done since, but it's just fascinating and we are having a great time.
The biggest surprise was Udi, Yogi's friend, who surprised Yogi in the airport. We all went together to our guest house and then took a walk with him in the downtown and visited the Sula Paya - a very large buddhist stupa which also functions as the main traffic circle of the city!
By then it turned too hot to be outside so we returned to the hotel for a rest. We had 2 rooms in the hotel - each with drk wood floors and walls and an A/C and a fan so it was relatively comfortable. The main problem is the lack of any window so it's hard to tell what time it is. The people are very nice, served us breakfast as we arrived and arrnaged our plane tickets to Mandalay for today. We had originally planned to take the night train but it seems the night train has been cancelled a while back...
The highlight of the day was the visit to the Shedawgon - a huge complex of buddhist stupas and pagodas. It's just unbelievable - all gold gilded or plated, a gazilion Buddhas in any possible size and color and tons of nats (the Myanmar spirits which are part of their version of Buddhism) all over the place. Was just stupifying.
We had a nice conversation with a n 85 year old monk who told us parts of his life story - he used to be Christian (went to the Missionarie's school), then became a Buddhist and also was an office in the Army. He was really charming. When asked about current conditions he complained that he cannot get chocolate and that the butter and jam are not as good as they used to be!
Finally we met Udi at the Sakura Tower - the tallest buidling in Yangon and had dinner with him on the top (20th) floor. This was a fancy restaurant and the food was rather awful... Not clear what we'll eat from now on as Yango is supposedly the gourmet capital... But the view was worth it - and we had a lot of fun.
We tried to read email but are unable to access it. The cellphone does not work either, so I think our main mode of communciation is this blog. Anybody who reads this might drop Avi a line and remind him that this is the way to know that we are well and enjoying ourselves! I am not sure if we will be able to read comments but it might be worth a short as I don't think email will work at other places either.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Koh Samui and back to Bangkok
After all the cooking and walking around on Saturday we did not feel like going back to the beach. Instead we ended up in a huge mall - it's one of the largest Cosco's I ever saw with lots of smaller shops around it. Einat had wanted to try Black Canyon Coffee since she was first in Thailand and this was the perfect opportunity, and it was indeed very good. We sat there quite a qhile people watching and sipping our drinks. My conclusion is that the Thais are really quiet - quite a lot of people in the mall but not much moise and not the horrible music/announcements you ehar other places - was very nice.
After that we also stopped in a night market on the way back to the hotel and Einat bought some sun glasses. I must say it was a relief to get back to the hotel intact after 2 days in the jeep - it clearly was not in the best of conditions and the driving on the LHS, with all the scooters zooming by was rather scary (but not half as bad as India).
Yesterday we spent the morning by the pool. We took the 1pm shuttle to Nathon - the capital of Samui - nothing to write home about, but they also had a small Cosco and a Black Canyon Coffee so that was ok. At 5pm we went to a 2 hour massage, body wrap and other assorted treatments - was nice but I am never a huge fan. And then we ran to catch the shuttle back to Chaweng Beach for a farewell dinner. We ended up in a wonderful Italian restaurant and enjoyed it a lot.
Today we spent some time by the pool and then checked out of the hotel, went to the airport and flew back to Bangkok. Yogi arrived before us at the hotel but he went out and Einat is waiting for him there. We will be off to an early start tomorrow - a 7:15am flight to Yangoon. Hope I can continue the blog in Myanmar - not clear at all.
After that we also stopped in a night market on the way back to the hotel and Einat bought some sun glasses. I must say it was a relief to get back to the hotel intact after 2 days in the jeep - it clearly was not in the best of conditions and the driving on the LHS, with all the scooters zooming by was rather scary (but not half as bad as India).
Yesterday we spent the morning by the pool. We took the 1pm shuttle to Nathon - the capital of Samui - nothing to write home about, but they also had a small Cosco and a Black Canyon Coffee so that was ok. At 5pm we went to a 2 hour massage, body wrap and other assorted treatments - was nice but I am never a huge fan. And then we ran to catch the shuttle back to Chaweng Beach for a farewell dinner. We ended up in a wonderful Italian restaurant and enjoyed it a lot.
Today we spent some time by the pool and then checked out of the hotel, went to the airport and flew back to Bangkok. Yogi arrived before us at the hotel but he went out and Einat is waiting for him there. We will be off to an early start tomorrow - a 7:15am flight to Yangoon. Hope I can continue the blog in Myanmar - not clear at all.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Koh Samui
We spent the rest of yesterday afternoon on the beach - Chenang is on another side of the island so the sea was a bit less shallow and there were a few waves. Our side of the island is completely calm and very shallow for a very long distance.
We had planned to drive out again for dinner but I was so tired we ate again in the hotel. The food is very good but as usual I get tired of eating outside very quickly.
This morning we drove back to Chenang to the cooking class we had registered to yesterday. This was a great class - we prepared a green curry paste from scratch, then made a seafood green curry dish with fish balls (like gefiltefish, but much better...) and a noodles-seafood dish and a tom-kah seafood soup. They were all excellent and the only problem was we could not finish a tenth of the food - hate to see such good stuff going to waste.
We are now exploring the main street - lots of shops and quite nice. Also lots of interesting looking restaurants, ice cream shops and cafes.... Now if we were not so stuffed...
We will probably go to the beach and then drive back to the hotel the long way - which will give us a chance to see a bit more of the island's interior.
We had planned to drive out again for dinner but I was so tired we ate again in the hotel. The food is very good but as usual I get tired of eating outside very quickly.
This morning we drove back to Chenang to the cooking class we had registered to yesterday. This was a great class - we prepared a green curry paste from scratch, then made a seafood green curry dish with fish balls (like gefiltefish, but much better...) and a noodles-seafood dish and a tom-kah seafood soup. They were all excellent and the only problem was we could not finish a tenth of the food - hate to see such good stuff going to waste.
We are now exploring the main street - lots of shops and quite nice. Also lots of interesting looking restaurants, ice cream shops and cafes.... Now if we were not so stuffed...
We will probably go to the beach and then drive back to the hotel the long way - which will give us a chance to see a bit more of the island's interior.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Bangkok and Koh Samui
After the Myanmar embassy trip we spent the rest of the day packing, storing equipment we do not need for now and wandering around the Khausan - tons of stores, eating spots (like in all of Asia people seem to be constantly eating) and lots of noise and bustling. We also took the ferry down the river and visited the flower market - we came towards the end of the day when people were packing up but even so there were lots of beautiful flowers. Lots of wome sit there stringing flowers and petals on strings and creating very beautiful arrangements which we think are mainly used in temples and such. I managed to sleep the whole night after not having slept at all the previous night so I got up very happy.
Einat got up complaining of a sore throat. Never a good sign...
We took a cab back to the embassy, collected our passports, went a bit on the Silum which is a fancy street with lots of high end shops and malls and airline offices, ate something and then said goodbye to Yogi. Einat & I took the monorail to Victory Monument, and were disappointed that the view was not better. We were supposed to catch the bus to the airport there but after circling about half of the permiter of the huge circle could not find it and the bag got heavier and the weather hotter... so we took a cab.
While waiting to get on the flight Einat started shivering and piling on all the long sleeved shirts (2) we had and her shawl. Even worse sign... The Advil did help and she got off the plane feeling reasonably ok. We took a shuttle to the hotel - a long ride made longer by the fact that the driver stopped at every resort on the way trying to find a room for some tourists who did not have a booking.
By the time we got to the resort Einat was again rather miserable and even the beauty of the place did not help much. Dinner was good, the night was misearble and in the morning I asked about a doctor. We were told the drive will take us to the Bangkok International Hospital - "it's a complimentary ride".
No wonder - this was the funniest hospital visit ever. It's beautiful - looks like a 5-star hotel, and the patients are treated as hotel visitors and charged accordingly.
The doctor was very concerned, explained that the previous antibiotics Eint got for her sinus infection in Vietnam were no good and prescribed 5 different medicines! Was no way to explain we really are only interested in antibiotics. The best was when he asked about her appetite and when she said it's not too good he suggest hospitalizing her! We declined politely... He also said she has to come back for a checkup on Sunday but we will forget that appointment (Einat is sure the ploice will come to our hotel to look for her).
Anyway - today (Friday) she woke up with very little fever, and we rented a jeep and drove to the next town. The jeep has very odd gears but Einat drives it bravely (on the left of course, which means that 2 out of 9 times she turns on the windscreen wipers when she wants to signal). We will go check out a cooking class soon and are debating a canopy-top adventure (the guy in this coffeeshop did not really think it's very good, but did recommend the cooking).
And of course the sun is shining the island is beautiful and life is good (but I did get a sunburn...)
Einat got up complaining of a sore throat. Never a good sign...
We took a cab back to the embassy, collected our passports, went a bit on the Silum which is a fancy street with lots of high end shops and malls and airline offices, ate something and then said goodbye to Yogi. Einat & I took the monorail to Victory Monument, and were disappointed that the view was not better. We were supposed to catch the bus to the airport there but after circling about half of the permiter of the huge circle could not find it and the bag got heavier and the weather hotter... so we took a cab.
While waiting to get on the flight Einat started shivering and piling on all the long sleeved shirts (2) we had and her shawl. Even worse sign... The Advil did help and she got off the plane feeling reasonably ok. We took a shuttle to the hotel - a long ride made longer by the fact that the driver stopped at every resort on the way trying to find a room for some tourists who did not have a booking.
By the time we got to the resort Einat was again rather miserable and even the beauty of the place did not help much. Dinner was good, the night was misearble and in the morning I asked about a doctor. We were told the drive will take us to the Bangkok International Hospital - "it's a complimentary ride".
No wonder - this was the funniest hospital visit ever. It's beautiful - looks like a 5-star hotel, and the patients are treated as hotel visitors and charged accordingly.
The doctor was very concerned, explained that the previous antibiotics Eint got for her sinus infection in Vietnam were no good and prescribed 5 different medicines! Was no way to explain we really are only interested in antibiotics. The best was when he asked about her appetite and when she said it's not too good he suggest hospitalizing her! We declined politely... He also said she has to come back for a checkup on Sunday but we will forget that appointment (Einat is sure the ploice will come to our hotel to look for her).
Anyway - today (Friday) she woke up with very little fever, and we rented a jeep and drove to the next town. The jeep has very odd gears but Einat drives it bravely (on the left of course, which means that 2 out of 9 times she turns on the windscreen wipers when she wants to signal). We will go check out a cooking class soon and are debating a canopy-top adventure (the guy in this coffeeshop did not really think it's very good, but did recommend the cooking).
And of course the sun is shining the island is beautiful and life is good (but I did get a sunburn...)
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Bangkok
After all the excitement the flights were very easy and I slept about 10 hours on 4 seats. Einat & Yogi waited for me and it was great to see them.
This morning we went to the Burmese embassy and will get our visas tomorrow. After that Einat & I will fly to Koh Samui.
Money running out on this internet connection...later.
This morning we went to the Burmese embassy and will get our visas tomorrow. After that Einat & I will fly to Koh Samui.
Money running out on this internet connection...later.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Thailand and Myanmar
This trip started out on the wrong foot - my flight from Newark to London was canceled, and BA put me on a flight 24 hours later. That really would have messed things up.
To make a long story short - I arrived at JFK at 10am today as instructed and after dealing with many nice people and having a few more mix-ups I am booked on a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong and a connection to Bangkok tonight. If all goes well I will arrive about 8 hours later than expected - definitely better than a 24 hour dealy. And the flight to Hong Kong is almost empty so I should get some of the sleep I did not get the last few days!
Einat & Yogi promised to meet me at the airport - we will go to the Myanmar embassy on Tuesday and after that Einat & I will spend 4 days in a Koh Samui resort before meeting Yogi again in Bangkok and flying to Myanmar on the 27th.
To make a long story short - I arrived at JFK at 10am today as instructed and after dealing with many nice people and having a few more mix-ups I am booked on a Cathay Pacific flight to Hong Kong and a connection to Bangkok tonight. If all goes well I will arrive about 8 hours later than expected - definitely better than a 24 hour dealy. And the flight to Hong Kong is almost empty so I should get some of the sleep I did not get the last few days!
Einat & Yogi promised to meet me at the airport - we will go to the Myanmar embassy on Tuesday and after that Einat & I will spend 4 days in a Koh Samui resort before meeting Yogi again in Bangkok and flying to Myanmar on the 27th.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Skiing
Avi & all 3 kids spent a week in Les Menuires, together with Na'ama who came from LA and Amir, Rakefet, Ido, Tal and Tomer who came from Israel. They had a lot of fun even though Avi fractured his shoulder and pulled a ligament in his knee, so he skied only for 2 days and came back wearing a shoulder brace and a knee brace.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
La Suizandina
As expected, we had no internet, and we lived to tell the story despite the withdrawal symptoms. So here is what I wrote off-line:
Loquimay, 3-25
We woke up to a glorious day - deep blue sky and no cloud in sight.
After the promised hearty breakfast (interesting musli with poppy
seeds and lots of other stuff), we drove to where we planned to ascend the Loquimay. The minute I saw the gravel we would have to deal with I became very suspicious, and after 45 minutes of stumbling in something which resembles coarse sand (every footstep went a few centimeters down), I decided on a strike. Anne & Avi continued to walk for another 30 minutes or so - to the ski lift, and then we stumbled back to the car (I considered another strike but it would have been no fun to stay forever in that barren moon-scape).
We drove down with a Swiss guy, Nicholas, who needed a lift back to his car (he also decided not to climb, but his 3 companions pushed on). He is a geology & geography teacher who also digs for dinosaur bones occassionally so he gave us a very interesting explanation about the composition of the pumice and basalt rocks we saw, and also some dinosaur stories. They are staying at Suizandina too, so maybe we'll see them later.
We drove down to Tollahuco - a park about 60 km away. The last 35km or so were on an unpaved road but the car took this bravely. We first stopped by some thermal pools and then continued to search for a waterfall. After walking for more than an hour through a beautiful
rain forest we turned around without finding it as we wanted to go
back on the unpaved road before darkness fell.
We stopped in Curacautin - a fairly large town and sampled a few of
its stores searching for food for tomorrow.
Now we are back in the guest house - showered and ready for dinner ina couple of minutes.
Conguilio, 3-26
Another wonderful day - a few more clouds but pleasant tempreatures - ideal for hiking.
After the same hearty breakfast we drove to Curacautin, and on to the natioal park Conguilio, in which lies the lake of the same name and a few other smaller lakes and lagoonas. The trip took about 1.5 hours on unpaved roads, but most of the time the roads were in decent shape.
The park is extremely well organized and maintained. We first stopped in an information center with a lovely display of the local fauna and flora, and then on to the start of the trail. We walked for about 8km through the forest with occasional views of the lake. The ascent was not too steep and the views were just lovely. The local trees are very different from what we know - in particular a very old species of tree - aracaulia (supposedly has been around since the dinosaurs). They have spiky branches shooting out from a spiky main trunk. The spikes are arranged in spirals around the branch (sometimes also around the trunk). Some of the trees were covered with moss which seems to choak the trees.
After a quick and windy lunch with a beautiful view of the lake we
went down to the car and continued towards Laguna Verde. We aborted
before arriving as we were driving through a lava field with lots of
sharp stones which seemed too dangeros for the car. We did look at
another laguna which seemed haunted - lots of dead trees around it and forboding lava fields around.
Anne and I are weaned from the internet rather successfully but Avi
needed his fix after 2 days of abstinence, so we stopped in Curacautin at an Internet cafe - decent speed and about $0.55 for 30 minutes. Not bad. All non-Internet places were closed as it's Sunday so we will need to replenish our fruit supply tomorrow.
That's as far as I got in Chile. By Monday morning I had a terrible cold so we spent most of the day driving around - we went over the Andes pass up to the Argentinan border, visited beautiful lakes, and saw hardly a soul - but did see lots of cows, horses, sheep, goats and chicken. It is amazing how sparse the population is. At some point we were flagged down by 3 girls who needed a ride to the village next to our hotel! (we were about an hour away at that point). As their English was not quite as good as our Spanish (!) we are not quite sure what they told us but we think they are from Santiago - working as comntemporary dance teachers in the local schools. Anyway - they were charming and we parted with kisses at the end of the ride. Part of the drive was through an old converted railroad tunnel - which is a very odd experience.
Tuesday morning we packed up and made our way leisurely to Temuco to catch the 5pm flight to Santiago. We stopped in the local arts market but even Avi hardly found anything to buy there - Chile is really not a shopping country.
The flight back was long but uneventful and we slept quite a lot. Was great to see all 3 kids at home together, and by now (Thursday night) everything is completely back to normal. Was a great trip!
Loquimay, 3-25
We woke up to a glorious day - deep blue sky and no cloud in sight.
After the promised hearty breakfast (interesting musli with poppy
seeds and lots of other stuff), we drove to where we planned to ascend the Loquimay. The minute I saw the gravel we would have to deal with I became very suspicious, and after 45 minutes of stumbling in something which resembles coarse sand (every footstep went a few centimeters down), I decided on a strike. Anne & Avi continued to walk for another 30 minutes or so - to the ski lift, and then we stumbled back to the car (I considered another strike but it would have been no fun to stay forever in that barren moon-scape).
We drove down with a Swiss guy, Nicholas, who needed a lift back to his car (he also decided not to climb, but his 3 companions pushed on). He is a geology & geography teacher who also digs for dinosaur bones occassionally so he gave us a very interesting explanation about the composition of the pumice and basalt rocks we saw, and also some dinosaur stories. They are staying at Suizandina too, so maybe we'll see them later.
We drove down to Tollahuco - a park about 60 km away. The last 35km or so were on an unpaved road but the car took this bravely. We first stopped by some thermal pools and then continued to search for a waterfall. After walking for more than an hour through a beautiful
rain forest we turned around without finding it as we wanted to go
back on the unpaved road before darkness fell.
We stopped in Curacautin - a fairly large town and sampled a few of
its stores searching for food for tomorrow.
Now we are back in the guest house - showered and ready for dinner ina couple of minutes.
Conguilio, 3-26
Another wonderful day - a few more clouds but pleasant tempreatures - ideal for hiking.
After the same hearty breakfast we drove to Curacautin, and on to the natioal park Conguilio, in which lies the lake of the same name and a few other smaller lakes and lagoonas. The trip took about 1.5 hours on unpaved roads, but most of the time the roads were in decent shape.
The park is extremely well organized and maintained. We first stopped in an information center with a lovely display of the local fauna and flora, and then on to the start of the trail. We walked for about 8km through the forest with occasional views of the lake. The ascent was not too steep and the views were just lovely. The local trees are very different from what we know - in particular a very old species of tree - aracaulia (supposedly has been around since the dinosaurs). They have spiky branches shooting out from a spiky main trunk. The spikes are arranged in spirals around the branch (sometimes also around the trunk). Some of the trees were covered with moss which seems to choak the trees.
After a quick and windy lunch with a beautiful view of the lake we
went down to the car and continued towards Laguna Verde. We aborted
before arriving as we were driving through a lava field with lots of
sharp stones which seemed too dangeros for the car. We did look at
another laguna which seemed haunted - lots of dead trees around it and forboding lava fields around.
Anne and I are weaned from the internet rather successfully but Avi
needed his fix after 2 days of abstinence, so we stopped in Curacautin at an Internet cafe - decent speed and about $0.55 for 30 minutes. Not bad. All non-Internet places were closed as it's Sunday so we will need to replenish our fruit supply tomorrow.
That's as far as I got in Chile. By Monday morning I had a terrible cold so we spent most of the day driving around - we went over the Andes pass up to the Argentinan border, visited beautiful lakes, and saw hardly a soul - but did see lots of cows, horses, sheep, goats and chicken. It is amazing how sparse the population is. At some point we were flagged down by 3 girls who needed a ride to the village next to our hotel! (we were about an hour away at that point). As their English was not quite as good as our Spanish (!) we are not quite sure what they told us but we think they are from Santiago - working as comntemporary dance teachers in the local schools. Anyway - they were charming and we parted with kisses at the end of the ride. Part of the drive was through an old converted railroad tunnel - which is a very odd experience.
Tuesday morning we packed up and made our way leisurely to Temuco to catch the 5pm flight to Santiago. We stopped in the local arts market but even Avi hardly found anything to buy there - Chile is really not a shopping country.
The flight back was long but uneventful and we slept quite a lot. Was great to see all 3 kids at home together, and by now (Thursday night) everything is completely back to normal. Was a great trip!
Friday, March 24, 2006
Rain
Not much to report about yesterday except that it rained cats and dogs. We hung around the hotel all day. It did clear up pretty much by early evening so we took the boat from the hotel to downtown, walked around a bit and ended up in a nice pub/steakhouse for dinner. More pisco sour, a steak and fish. Was very nice.
The rental car is supposed to arrive here soon, and we will go to the next stop - Suizandina. Probably no connectivity until we are back.
The rental car is supposed to arrive here soon, and we will go to the next stop - Suizandina. Probably no connectivity until we are back.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Villarica and Pucon
Yesterday we had a very nice 'conference outing'. The buses left at 12:30 and luckily we were on the good bus - the one where they remembered to load the lunch bags. So we ate our sandwiches on the way and arrived at the base of the Villarica volcano around 3pm. The volcano is active and we saw lots of puffs of smoke coming out of it. We explored a volcanic cave and took a short walk in the forest, crossing a canyon on a hanging bridge and passing directly above a volcanic hole with smoke coming out.
We took the bus back down to Pucon which is a very cute and very touristy town - reminded us of place like Aspen. We strolled around town for a while and then had a very nice dinner in a hotel before driving back to Valdivia.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Valdivia
Dinner last night was very nice and lively. We started with a pisco sour, a cocktail which even Avi rather liked (not enough to get his own but we shared). Most of us had fish in various preparations - Chile is not known for its food but this was much better than expected.
This morning I explored Valdivia - and don't have much to report. I walked for about 5 hours and have probably visited most streets in town at least twice. I did go to the Historical Museum which I 'finished' in 10 minutes walking slowly and decided to forego the Moden Art Museum whose main claim to fame seems to be the nice views from its windows (the views were nice enough from the garden of the adjacent Historical Museum). But the people were friendly and my Spanish is improving by the minute. I even shopped for 1 marzipan bar. This area is famous for its marzipan - as it was settled by many German immigrants duing the first half of the 20th century. I like authentic German marzipan better but it was not bad - much better than the local arts and crafts in the market which were rather pathetic. I don't think we'll spend much time shopping here.
Today is overcast but I got a sunburn nonetheless (the hole in the ozone over the southern hemisphere...) - and the tempreature is just right!
Monday, March 20, 2006
Chile
New travels:
Eyal arrived Sunday morning from Seattle to babysit Yuval, and we left a few hours later for Valdivia, Chile. It was just under 24 hours door-to-door: JFK-Lima-Santiago. After about 3 hours in Santiago we caught the domestic flight to Valdivia which turns out has a stopover in another small town (whose name I already managed to forget).
We took a cab from the airport to the hotel - the weather seems wonderful, a deep blue sky and everything looks very green and lush and lots of water.
We have a great view of the river from our room and we met a bunch of friends here already. In fact we are going out with some people for dinner in a few minutes - hope we don't collapse into our plates...
More tomorrow.
Eyal arrived Sunday morning from Seattle to babysit Yuval, and we left a few hours later for Valdivia, Chile. It was just under 24 hours door-to-door: JFK-Lima-Santiago. After about 3 hours in Santiago we caught the domestic flight to Valdivia which turns out has a stopover in another small town (whose name I already managed to forget).
We took a cab from the airport to the hotel - the weather seems wonderful, a deep blue sky and everything looks very green and lush and lots of water.
We have a great view of the river from our room and we met a bunch of friends here already. In fact we are going out with some people for dinner in a few minutes - hope we don't collapse into our plates...
More tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
My (Edna) Last Day
This will be short - have to go for my last Chinese breakfast. Judes and I went to the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven yesterday with Jason. I forgot to bring the camera.....
We had dinner with Andy, Frances and 3 other Chinese professors. Lots of food, some of it quite good. The host gave me a doll dressed in a minority costume at the end.
Off to Princeton! Judes will leave tomorrow and hopes to meet Yuval in the airport before he takes off and Avi will be back on Sunday.
We had dinner with Andy, Frances and 3 other Chinese professors. Lots of food, some of it quite good. The host gave me a doll dressed in a minority costume at the end.
Off to Princeton! Judes will leave tomorrow and hopes to meet Yuval in the airport before he takes off and Avi will be back on Sunday.
E#mail from Eyal (April 26)
today is the 4th and last of the rest days in bc, tommorow i will go up with dan, max and kuy (the german friend) to carry some food up to camp 2, and then continue up to camp 3 and start fixing ropes obove to camp 4. its a lot of work planned, but hopefully we feel good and manage to complete the task. the sherpas should be be up a couple days after us to help doing this job.
i think that we will stay on the mountain for about a week, and then
come down for the final rest before the summit attempt. i will probably go down to one of the lower villages alonge the trek to rest more properly, and the come back to try the summit.
i think that we will stay on the mountain for about a week, and then
come down for the final rest before the summit attempt. i will probably go down to one of the lower villages alonge the trek to rest more properly, and the come back to try the summit.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Beijing - April 25
First - all the latest posts from Summit Club mention the Seder Eyal celebrated at basecamp! http://www.everestnews.com/Summitclimb2005/everestnepal2005uaa04252005.htm (look at Mike O'brien and Maximo Kausch dispatches. Eyal even seems to have added a sentence to Mike's report).
After brekafast in the hotel and a cappucino in our favorite cafe we were picked up by Mr. Song and taken to the CS department in Chingua University. It's a brand new building in a very new part of campus. Andy's office is huge and very stylized and impressive. But then he took us over to see "Avi's office" - it's the office which is reserved for Mr. Li, hte riches man in Hong Kong who donated the building and it is a spectecular suite - we will definitely take photos of Avi using it....
Judes and I took a cab to ashopping center (basically an indoor market), and to our great suprise we spent about 6 hours there and shopped until we dropped. Very uncharacteristic!
We met Avi in the cafe around 7 and had a nice leisurely (western) dinner, and then collapsed into bed.
Today Judes & I are going with Jason to the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven and Avi will continue toiling away in his magnificant office. He enjoyed talking to the students a lot yesterday.
After brekafast in the hotel and a cappucino in our favorite cafe we were picked up by Mr. Song and taken to the CS department in Chingua University. It's a brand new building in a very new part of campus. Andy's office is huge and very stylized and impressive. But then he took us over to see "Avi's office" - it's the office which is reserved for Mr. Li, hte riches man in Hong Kong who donated the building and it is a spectecular suite - we will definitely take photos of Avi using it....
Judes and I took a cab to ashopping center (basically an indoor market), and to our great suprise we spent about 6 hours there and shopped until we dropped. Very uncharacteristic!
We met Avi in the cafe around 7 and had a nice leisurely (western) dinner, and then collapsed into bed.
Today Judes & I are going with Jason to the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven and Avi will continue toiling away in his magnificant office. He enjoyed talking to the students a lot yesterday.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Hangzhou - April 24
After gorging ourselves at breakfast on the hotel's verandah looking at the beautiful garden, we postponed our meeting with Xu to 12 as we decided we'd much rather stroll in the park by the lake than have lunch. All of Hangzhu was hanging out at the park - lots of families and everybody was eating. Even so the park remained spotlessly clean.
We were struck again by how few children you see and how each child has a whole retinue of doting parents and grandparents with it. That was a bit sad but the whole morning was just lovely.
We did go with Xu to one more Budhist temple, also in beuatiful park-like surroudings. The whole area was mobbed and it was amazing to see how many people burned incest and prayed. This is a 1600 year old temple but most of the statues were destroyed during the cultural revolution and were renewed since. Very big and ornate but exactly my taste...
The airport is very new and impressive. The highway leading to it winds through miles of new developments - all the houses are very similar, in bright pink and green colors with odd structures sticking out - very Disnelandish.
Jason waited for us at the Beijing Airport and it felt like meeting an old friend and coming back home. We went out for a non-Chinese dinner which was not bad at all. Today Avi is going to the University and Judes & I will explore some markets. We decided we need a guide-free day...
We were struck again by how few children you see and how each child has a whole retinue of doting parents and grandparents with it. That was a bit sad but the whole morning was just lovely.
We did go with Xu to one more Budhist temple, also in beuatiful park-like surroudings. The whole area was mobbed and it was amazing to see how many people burned incest and prayed. This is a 1600 year old temple but most of the statues were destroyed during the cultural revolution and were renewed since. Very big and ornate but exactly my taste...
The airport is very new and impressive. The highway leading to it winds through miles of new developments - all the houses are very similar, in bright pink and green colors with odd structures sticking out - very Disnelandish.
Jason waited for us at the Beijing Airport and it felt like meeting an old friend and coming back home. We went out for a non-Chinese dinner which was not bad at all. Today Avi is going to the University and Judes & I will explore some markets. We decided we need a guide-free day...
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Hangzhou - April 23
We had a Pessach miracle - we got off the train in China - in fact the city looked very rundown and ugly around there, went to lunch in a downtown restaurant (nothing to write home about) and then went for a couple more kilometers and were transported - either to Swtizerland or to heaven (the saying here is that there is paradise in heaven and Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth).
Our hotel is extremely fancy and is located on the shore of the Western Lake, which has the most beautiful and meticulously groomed park around it. The place swarmed with people (mainly Chinese tourists) and not a scrap of paper on the ground! And the lay-out and gardening are really unbelievably beautiful - they city must emply thousands of people to keep this huge pak (probably larger than Central Park) so well groomed.
We took a boat ride on the lake which we would have enjoyed more if the woman who was blaring away into a megaphone on deck would have fallen into the lake - her group looked quite unhappy too.
Then we continued to a tea village and plantation (where they have the 'best green tea in China'). The view around there is amazing - steep mountains covered with tea bushes and dotted with people picking the leaves. It is of course highly commercialized and the only way to get rid of the young woman who gave us tea and demonstrated things was to buy 1 can... But the scenery was definitely worth the investment.
Close by we looked at the Pagoda of Six Harmonies, and then returned to the hotel. Our guide here is Leon (Xu, pronounced Shoe) - nice and has excellent English - he spent 6 months in Madison Wisconsin as an exchange student.
We took a walk along the lake to find a restuarant and ended up in a strange place - an exquisite tea house in a very Japanses looking setting. They had a buffet there with very unusual buffet things like nuts and candy, but also noodles and eggrolls and such and the whole meal was dirt cheap. We still do not understand what kind of place this really was but it was very nice and tasty and different from the regular Chinese meals.
And finally - there is a partial photo of Eyal on SummitClimb: http://www.everestnews.com/Summitclimb2005/everestnepal2005uaa04232005.htm
Our hotel is extremely fancy and is located on the shore of the Western Lake, which has the most beautiful and meticulously groomed park around it. The place swarmed with people (mainly Chinese tourists) and not a scrap of paper on the ground! And the lay-out and gardening are really unbelievably beautiful - they city must emply thousands of people to keep this huge pak (probably larger than Central Park) so well groomed.
We took a boat ride on the lake which we would have enjoyed more if the woman who was blaring away into a megaphone on deck would have fallen into the lake - her group looked quite unhappy too.
Then we continued to a tea village and plantation (where they have the 'best green tea in China'). The view around there is amazing - steep mountains covered with tea bushes and dotted with people picking the leaves. It is of course highly commercialized and the only way to get rid of the young woman who gave us tea and demonstrated things was to buy 1 can... But the scenery was definitely worth the investment.
Close by we looked at the Pagoda of Six Harmonies, and then returned to the hotel. Our guide here is Leon (Xu, pronounced Shoe) - nice and has excellent English - he spent 6 months in Madison Wisconsin as an exchange student.
We took a walk along the lake to find a restuarant and ended up in a strange place - an exquisite tea house in a very Japanses looking setting. They had a buffet there with very unusual buffet things like nuts and candy, but also noodles and eggrolls and such and the whole meal was dirt cheap. We still do not understand what kind of place this really was but it was very nice and tasty and different from the regular Chinese meals.
And finally - there is a partial photo of Eyal on SummitClimb: http://www.everestnews.com/Summitclimb2005/everestnepal2005uaa04232005.htm
Eyal called! (not us, though...)
From an email from Miryam:
"Eyal called me just now to wish Chag Sameach. He is fine, has been up the mountain for three days to acclimatise, is now back at camp for a rest. The same procedure will be repeated once more, then the real climb will start."
This made our day! Chag Sameach to all! (a.k.a Happy Passover).
"Eyal called me just now to wish Chag Sameach. He is fine, has been up the mountain for three days to acclimatise, is now back at camp for a rest. The same procedure will be repeated once more, then the real climb will start."
This made our day! Chag Sameach to all! (a.k.a Happy Passover).