Rafting on the Guadalupe...err, I mean Li River

I think I was able to post the Beijing pictures but since I can't see the blog someone will have to email me and tell me if it worked. We are currently in Yangshuo where we are surrounded by beautiful scenery. It's a nice spot but we're heading out tonight for our much anticipated 19 hour train ride. I'm sure the bunks will be plenty long for those tall men in our group (haha). The train ride is preceded by a 2 hour bus ride and followed by five hours more so it will be a long travel day.

Here's what we have been up to:

April 20 - Kunming

We flew back to Kunming in the morning and had the day to ourselves while the rest of the tour group went to the Stone Forest. It was your typical American day....we headed to McDonald's at Matt's request. Yes, we could tell he was finally feeling better because he was making demands for Big Macs and fries. The dipped cone I had for dessert really hit the spot. In the afternoon we did some shopping and went to...Wal-Mart! Hey, as long as we are here we figured we would check it out to see how it compares to an American Wal-Mart. It's in the city so it is four levels. Other than that there are definitely a lot of similarities....it had the clothes, toys, automotive, sports and all of the other sections you would expect. It was pretty barebones like in the U.S. except for the food area which was decorated with different facades in each section. It had fish tanks with live fish as it is customary for people to select their fish while they are still alive in China. Also turtles and frogs...I had to leave at the sight of the poor little guys.

That evening Mom, Dad and the Don went to a dancing and singing performance at one of the local theaters. They later reported that it was very well done but there was no leg room in the seat (go figure). Matt and I went out for dinner and were able to enjoy some duck served with the head intact. I guess that clarifies things if there is any confusion about what you are getting.

April 21 - Kunming

Our guide took us on a walking tour of Kunming. First stop...another temple. We have really seen a lot of temples now. This one was interesting because there was a Tibetan, Chinese and Thai temple all in the same spot. One stop worshipping. The Thai temple was built when Thai tourism to China picked up about 5-10 years ago. After the temple we continued on to the local food market where we saw every type of rice noodle imaginable, veggies, frogs, eels, chickens, etc. The poor little frogs make me sad. They are just so cute. On to the bird and flower market which was located on a nice shady street. Again, an interesting spot but I found the living conditions of the birds and fish to be pretty sad. They were packed into cages and tanks with very little room to move.

For lunch we had the famous "Cross the Bridge Noodles." It didn't go over well with our group. We were brought plates of unidentifiable food thought to be fish, chicken, herbs, quail eggs, nuts, chilis and other items that we couldn't even venture to guess the identification of. Everything is raw and they bring a hot broth to the table and you are instructed to start throwing the stuff in (meanwhile praying that it will cook so none of us are stricken with something bad). In the end, you toss in a big pile of rice noodles and voila! You have soup. It was pretty bad. We took several pictures to document this interesting process so hopefully we will be able to post them at some point.

We left in the late afternoon for out flight to Yangshuo. The plane was delayed so it was late and dark when we drove in.

April 22 -23 - Yangshuo

We woke up on Saturday to breathtaking views. Yangshuo is surrounded by beautiful, vegetation-covered limestone karsts. We rented bikes and rode them to a tributary of the Li River where we took a relaxing two-hour bamboo raft ride downstream. The scenery was stunning - almost magical. We had comfy seats to sit on and our bikes rode along with us! Every 20 minutes or so there was some excitement as we had to ride the raft over a small dam...it was a pretty good time. There were beer ladies all along the river (we were thinking we could do this on the Guadalupe River this summer if we need some extra cash). Some enterprising young people set up rafts with digital camera and printing and had a photo service set up. It's pretty funny to see a bunch of computers floating around on bamboo rafts. After the rafting trip we rode our bikes to a local house for lunch. Along the way we were accosted by women selling water and postcards. They are pretty aggressive and chased us all the way to the house. Then after lunch the woman serving us even whipped out the postcards! We hightailed it out of there and headed for Moon Hill. Matt, Dad and I climbed lots of steps to get to the "top." A lady selling water followed us the entire way up, fanning Dad most of the way. We found out that we could actually hike to the tippy top if we wanted to so Matt and I headed up through an overgrown path. We were rewarded with amazing views at the top. Our lady was waiting for us when we got back to the steps and she followed us the whole way down. Down at the bottom all three of us were drenched - the weather has changed dramatically since Zhongdian. Here in Yangshuo it is hot and extremly humid.

Our 45 minute bike ride home would have been fabulous if it weren't for the horn honking buses that passed by every 30 seconds. I believe I have gone deaf in my left ear. We all took a rest at the hotel before heading out to dinner. We were a little tired of the local fare so some of us sampled the local burrito, spaghetti and pizza. It was ok but it ain't Chuy's creamy jalapeno, that's for sure.

This morning we were up at 5:30 am for a 6am cruise on the Li River. It was a misty morning and the scenery was spectacular. Mid-way through the cruise we were pulled over by the police. Apparently private boats are illegal as tourists are supposed to use goverment-run boats. We don't know if a ticket was issued or a bribe paid but we like the way bribe sounds so let's stick with that. We did have to turn around and head back to the dock early but at that point it was pouring rain so not too big a loss. We brought our drenched selves back to the hotel and now have some time to wander the streets. There are so many shops in all the towns we go to that it is truly amazing they stay in business. Many of them are selling the same trinkets. Since we have limited space for purchasing maybe we'll spend some time at the massage place this afternoon - that takes up no space at all :-)

We're off to our big train ride at 5:30. When it's over we'll be getting on a 4 day Yangtze River Cruise. I doubt we'll have internet access so it may be a while before our next update.

Talk to ya later!

Matt is on the Mend

April 19 - Zhongdian

Matt appears to be on the mend so things are looking better on this side of the world. He ate his first substantial meal today and was very happy about that. I'm happy that he is sleeping through the night again because that means I am too.

We are up in the mountains and it is really, really cold here. We're running low on warm clothes and will be glad to be back in Kunming tomorrow, where it is warm. This morning we went to visit a Tibetan monastery where we were able to go inside the temple and see the monks chanting. Pretty cool stuff. The monks ranged in age from young boys to very old men. There was a lot of laughing and goofing around, even during the chanting (from the young ones, of course). The men in our group were able to visit the kitchens but no women were allowed! We toured the monastery and the village that has been built around it. We also learned some new things about Tibetan culture - according to our guide when the people die they are cut up into pieces and scattered around the fields in the countryside. The size of the bits depends on how nice a person you were...a good person gets very finely chopped while a bad person is left mostly whole. There is one designated chopper for each town. I swear, this is what he told us... Also, in some parts they wrap the bodies and throw them in the river where they are eaten by the fish. In these parts of Tibet the people don't eat fish. Interesting stuff. We also learned that there are three branches of Buddhism in China - Chinese, Tibetan and Thai.

Speaking of culture, we've noticed an interesting occurrence across toddler boys. We have seen many little boys that are about potty-training age with the seam ripped out of the back of their pants and no undies underneath! After careful consideration, we have decided this is to make potty training easier. All the kids have to do is squat down and the pants come apart and they are ready to go. Seems practical but I have to wonder if their little butt cheeks aren't a bit cold up here in the mountains.

No good news on the picture front. I'm working on the Beijing pictures now and it took about an hour and a half to upload 50 pictures. So it could be weeks before the rest of the China photos are posted. Cross your fingers for high speed internet access.

Tiger Leaping Gorge

April 16-18 - Tiger Leaping Gorge

We had a rough couple days at the gorge as Matt has been hit by something nasty. He's been really sick and I haven't been feeling great either. I'll keep it brief - basically we had a terrifying drive into the gorge on a one and a half lane road with two way traffic, no guard rails and a sheer drop to the river below. Really, really scary stuff. You definitely have to have faith that the bus driver knows what he is doing. Our first day there we hiked 2 hours up to the "Half-Way House" (not Matt's first time in one of those) where the rooms were very basic and the bathrooms were open air public facilities. The toilets were nothing more than a trench with a 2 foot wall in front of it. It was possible to give the guests a full moon when pulling up your pantaloons. As if the facilities weren't bad enough, imagine how it is when you're sick and make several visits in the cold night. So the following day when we arrived at the next Guest House we opted to upgrade to the room with it's very own private, western-style toilet. Such luxury was well worth the $15.

While Matt and I slept, Giovanni and Dad took a nice walk along the gorge and stopped at a bar for a beer. Mom was in charge of nursing Matt back to health and stood guard outside our room. He is doing better today and seems to be over the fever so let's hope the rest of it gets better too.

Lovely Lijiang

April 14

Matt and I got up early again to take a scenic run around the old city. We made a couple soldiers anxious when we got too close to their gate but other than that it was uneventful. The city was peaceful in the morning, unlike daytime when the streets are packed with people.

We had a leisurely morning shopping and wandering around. After lunch we boarded a rickety old bus for our 3.5 hour trip to Lijiang. This was definitely a "local" bus as our shoulders were too broad to sit comortably side-by-side and we were eating our knees. The bus was at capacity and we were packed in like sardines. It was also a very sloooow bus and our 3.5 hour journey stretched to almost five hours. We were glad when we arrived in Lijiang.

April 15

Lijiang is a really cool old city. It has narrow cobblestone streets that wind around like a maze, fish-filled streams throughout and cute stone and wooden bridges everywhere. It is a little touristy but still manages to be very quaint. We have all agreed that this is our favorite place so far on the trip. Matt and I went for a walk early in the morning so we could snap some pictures before the crowds came out. While we were out we came across an adorable French restaurant selling the most amazing pastries. It was easy to choose our breakfast spot after that. While we were eating our strawberry torts and croissants we met the chef - a Frenchmen who came to China to visit 10 years ago and ended up staying!

We had to burn off some calories after our delicious breakfast so we headed to Lion Hill Park where we climbed to the top of the Wangu Pagoda. There is a fabulous 360 degree view from the top and we could see both the old and new city. It also gave us a great view of Snow Mountain, the city's beautiful backdrop. After the park we still had time for wandering the streets and shopping before our afternoon excursion with the group. We made a special trip to the giant Chairman Mao statue in the new part of the city so we could get a picture of Matt and Giovanni in front of it. They've been looking all over for a Mao hat.....

In the afternoon we headed to a nearby village, Bai Sha, where we met Dr. Ho, Medicine Man. He's a funny old guy who does herbal medicine and likes to talk up how famous he is. In front of his house he has tons and tons of framed articles about himself from around the world - even some New York Times articles. He was an interesting guy and we got a real kick out of him. In Bai Sha we also did some shopping and everyone had a good time bargaining. I managed to help Mom get a gift for 40 Yuan when the starting price was 360!

Before we spent all of our money we decided we better walk to the next village over, about two miles away. On the way we were able to see the fields of wheat up close. There are rows upon rows of crops. It is amazing to see the farmers out working everything by hand and carrying the manure out to the field in sacks on their back. It looks like it would be a hard life.

Back at the hotel we rested our weary feet (7.5 miles of walking today, about the same yesterday and around 12 the day before!). The boys had some beers and I headed here to blog. Tonight we are planning to see some traditional dancing in the main square and tomorrow we're of to Tiger Leaping Gorge for our two day trek. Our next update will be after that so cross your fingers we get all the old folks through it.

Making the Most of the $5 Massage

So much to write about! We are now in Dali and have met up with my parents and Uncle John (aka, the Don, or Giovanni). We've joined our tour group and will be making our way across the Eastern half of China at warp speed. We are looking forward to a couple 19 our train rides in our near future (haha, that was a joke). Here's the recap on what we have been up to:

April 9 - Beijing
We had a great day of walking around and shopping. In the morning we went to the Pearl Market and I scored some new goods. Also walked around the rest of the market which had tons of clothes, electronics, shoes, souveniers, etc. They had a fish market on the bottom floor and it smelled so bad we didn't go near it. In the afternoon we went to Wangfujing, a popular shopping street. It's a packed pedestrian street with silk shops, a Rolex store, McDonald's and everything in between. We walked through some of the hutongs (alleys) and perused the souvenier stands. We partook in some of the local delicacies, mainly candied strawberries which consist of several fresh strawberries that have been covered in melted sugar served on a bamboo skewer. As you know by now, this is my kind of thing. They also had starfish, scorpions, octupus, beetle, grasshopper, etc. on a stick but I couldn't convince Matt to eat any. Dinner was at a nice little restaurant in a mall and cost about $7 for both of us. We had some noodles, wontons and dumplings and they were all pretty decent. We followed that with a scoop of ice cream from Haagan Daz and that cost just as much! We walked through the China World Hotel since we had read it was spectacular - it was very opulent.
Walking around the city we really noticed the pollution. There is a thick fog over the city that doesn't go away. Even on a "clear" day you wouldn't know the sun was out. The pollution hovers and is so thick you sometimes can't see buildings a block away. We read that it is so bad that on some days they tell people not to exercise and to stay indoors. Yikes.

April 10-11 - Kunming
We flew to Kunming (population 2 million) in the morning and it made for a pretty long travel day. This country is big! On the way to the airport we had some interesting cultural experiences. I hope not to offend people here, but this blog is meant to tell about our experiences, good, bad or indifferent. Soooo...here goes. We've been to China before and know that it is a very open culture when it comes to bodily functions but we still get a little surprise when we see it first hand again. Our cab driver was burping every few minutes and giving a satisfied groan after each one. I have to admit, it makes me giggle. But I really lost it when he started flinging boogers out the window. And then....he hawked a loogey and spat. Nice touch. It's just so different than what we are used to and, hey, bathroom talk and the like ALWAYS makes me laugh. More on all of this later in the post....
So, anyway, we made it safely to Kunming despite what looked like a crack on the engine of our airplane (we took a picture and you experts can weigh in). We met up with my very jet-lagged parents and the Don. We went out for a yummy dinner at a restaurant near our hotel and then everyone went back and hit the hay.
On Day 2 in Kunming Matt and I got up early for a run. The streets are remarkably quiet in this bustling city at 6am!! There were people out sweeping the sidewalks with giant feather duster looking things. Matt had a collision with a guy on a bike as the bicyclist exited an alley. Everyone was ok but I think the guy was a little surprised to see a redhead running down the sidewalk. After our quick run my lungs were burning. Matt told me to suck it up as clearly it was a result of me being out of shape. True enough, I am, but they were on fire.
We met up with the old folks (i.e. parents, uncle) for breakfast and then made our way to the train station to go to the Stone Forest 50 miles outside of Kunming. We got taken for a bit of a ride by the cab drivers who dropped us off in front of the bus station a block or two from the train station. So we had to hoof it over there and we had missed our train already anyway. So back to the hotel where we were able to arrange for a driver to take us.
Although touristy, the Stone Forest is pretty cool. There are amazing limestone rock formations and it's a big enough park that you can get away from the crowds. We walked around for a few hours and took in the beautiful scenery. On the way back we were in a huge traffic jam. Chaos is a way of life here and it is fun to be a part of it. The roads are insane, with cars, buses, bikes, scooters and donkey carts all running together. Intersections are comical and everyone communicates by honking their horn so it is noisy!
That evening back in Kunming we had our tour briefing. It appears to be the Golden Oldies tour as everyone appears to be at least twice our age. But, we can deal. Our guide is Eddie and we'll have to see how he pans out...... We've got 6 Aussies, 2 Canadians and us Americanos. As usual, we have made immediate friends with the Canadians. We had dinner with the group and we ate for $5 for both of us. And that includes beer, folks! Food was good too. The parental unit and Giovanni are making excellent progress on their chopstick abilities.

April 12 -13 - Dali
The following morning I was redeemed as Matt went for a run on his own and came back with burning lungs! Aha! So I guess the pollution here is pretty bad too...(and I'm not out of shape....ok, maybe just a little). Anyway, it's sad to see all the pollution. I guess this is what happens when there are so many people and so much growth but still it is disappointing to see.
After breakfast we hopped on a local bus for a 5 hour trip to Dali. It was a coach and fairly comfortable. We stopped halfway for a bathroom break in what looked like a pretty nice rest stop. After I paid my money I walked in to the bathroom to discover the stalls had no doors. And to add insult to injury they were squatters. Ok, folks, I don't mind the squatter but I can't do the public potty show. It was bad enough I had to see other people do their business. I was out of there. Luckily we stopped an hour later and I found some bathrooms with doors. The stalls were only waist high but that was no problem since you're low to the ground anyway!!! Of course, when I stood up I had a nice view of the entire bathroom. Once again, you just have to laugh. It's so different than what we are used to in the States.
We saw a lot of countryside on the way to Dali and it was full of terraced fields, rolling hills and lots of poeple working on their farms - all of the work being done by hand. We rolled into town just in time for dinner and had our first experience eating yak. Tasty stuff. After dinner we strolled the streets of old Dali. The old city is surrounded by thick walls and four huge gates. The buildings are traditional Chinese architecture style and the streets are filled with shops.

This morning (I think it's Thursday) we got up early for Tai Chi lessions at 6:30am. We have some pretty good footage of the crazy foreigners trying to be graceful. Quite an interesting sight. Then we took a chairlift mid-way up the mountain overlooking the city. There is a temple at the top and some (would-be) beautiful views. I say would-be because the haze (smog??) over the city and nearby Erhai Lake block the view. We took a great 11K hike from the top across the mountain to a cable car that brought us back down. It was fabulous hiking weather - sunny and cool - and we enjoyed ourselves.

This evening Matt, Mom, the Don and I went for massages. Three of us had the hour long foot massage (I'm hoping to get them hooked so I can do this 7 or 8 more times before we leave China) and Giovanni had the full body massage that cost a whopping $5. He said the girl had hands of steel and really beat the crap out of him so we're not sure if he'll be able to get out of bed in the morning. We've got bike rides and museums on the schedule for tomorrow. In the afternoon we leave for Lijiang.

Blog updates may be infrequent while we are in China as most internet connections we have tried have been very, very slow. We're not sure when we'll be able to upload pics but stay tuned. Also, an interesting side note - we can't view our blog from here. I've tried at several different places and it looks like it is blocked. I guess they know our type.....

My Mom has been sending updates home so I thought I would post those to give a different perspective of the trip (she is much more polite than me and I doubt there will be too many squatter stories).

Here's her April 11 update: We made it! It was about 36 hours from the time we left Sturgeon Bay. Found John in LA and along with 397 other people got on the flight to Hong Kong. Two hours out the captain told us we were making an unscheduled stop in Vancouver as in the hold we had a piece of baggage that was not supposed to be there. It was a very long, long, long flight. The delay meant we didn't wait as long in Hong Kong for the flight to Kunming. All the stewardesses are really pretty.

Kunming is huge. A taxi took us to our hotel which is nice. Jenny and Matt showed up about an hour later. We found a nice place for dinner and then at eight o'clock we hit our hard beds but at that point nobody cared.

This morning we had a big buffet for breakfast - all kinds of new things to try. After that we took taxis to the train station to try to go to the famous Stone Forest about 75 km away. The schedule did not work out for the meeting we need to go to a six o'clock so back to the hotel we went. There we had the assistant manager find us a car and driver to take us there. It took 1 1/2 hours to get there and was worth it. We did a lot of hiking. The temps are warm; we were hot but a lot of people had a lot of warm clothes on. On the way back we got into a traffic jam. There is everything imaginable on the roads, cars, trucks, bikes, rickshaws, horses double decker buses, etc. Back in the city we even passed a Walmart Super Store!
Time to get ready to meet our group. So far we know there is a couple from Australia.

And here is April 12: We are now in Dali an old walled city where it is festival week and there are lots of people. This morning John, Matt Jenny and I participated in a Tai Chi lesson at 0630. The rooster had crowed but the sun was just coming up. We had a five hour bus ride yesterday (a pretty nice local bus - ac and a movie but not English of course). The scenery was nice and lots of farmers in fields with hoes.
We had a great dinner last night and took a walk around the town. We are still getting over our jet lag so went to bed early.
Off to more adventures.

Temples Temples

April 7
Our first day in Beijing. We wanted to check out the subway and also figure out how far away we were from the nearest stop. Our hotel was "off the map" so we weren't really sure and the people at the front desk couldn't really tell us. So we set out at 10:30 and had fun learning to navigate the streets (note: pedestrians do NOT have the right-of-way, no matter what color the little walk man is). The streets are insane - it's a big tangle of cars, bikes (7 million, we've heard), buses, rick-shaws, pedestrians and tuk-tuks.

Two hours later we arrived at the Guo Mao subway stop (I think our first and last time walking there)! We had some trouble trying to buy a ticket as our map only had English translations of the subway stops on it and we weren't able to show the cashier what type of ticket we wanted. She probably just charged us the max and told us to move along :-)

We made our way to the Lama Temple and checked out all of the different temples. Each successive building had a bigger Buddha in it, with the last one standing 75 ft. tall. It was awesome but what was most amazing is that it is carved out of a single piece of sandalwood. The wood came from Tibet and took three years to get to Beijing!! After it was carved they built the temple around it.

By 3:30 that afternoon we were feeling the jetlag and headed home for a nap before our dinner with Matt's brother's friend's parents (is that complicated enough)? The taxi ride across the city cost about $3 so I don't think the two hour walk to the subway will be necessary anymore. The Metcalfs met us at our hotel and we ended up eating there. Matt and I were impressed by their ability to communicate in Chinese - it's no easy thing to learn to speak Chinese. We had a great time with them and they gave us several good tips on things to do and see in the city.

The hotel slightly redeemed itself as I asked about heat and they brought us an electric heater. That has helped immensely on the chilly nights here. So once again we curled up on the couch and watched some lame movie on TV before falling asleep.

April 8

We were up early and headed off to the Temple of Heaven. Chinese temples are huge. There are usually a lot of buildings involved and often lots of park space, moats, etc. So it took us a couple hours to make our way through. We were really impressed with the older Chinese folks out enjoying their Saturday morning - lots of people were doing tai chi, dancing, playing paddle ball, or just generally being active. We got suckered into looking at an "art exhibition" and ended up buying a painting on a scroll.

For lunch we made our way to a Sichuan restaurant in the Lake District. Even though the menu had English translations no one in the restaurant spoke any English so ordering was still a game of sherades. We had a really spicy chicken dish that was essentially a huge bowl full of whole red chiles with a few pieces of chicken, tofu and mushrooms in it. It burned my mouth just to look at it. We also had some beef and mushrooms and sweet and spicy eggplant (really good). We were pretty pleased with ourselves for managing to make it through a meal without any English.

After our late lunch we decided to have the beloved foot massage. We found a place in our guidebook in the general area of our hotel and attempted to get a taxi to take us there. Either he didn't know it or he didn't want to take us there because he said no. So we decided to go back to the hotel. The traffic going back was horrendous and it took for-ev-er. I guess that is what happens when there are over 15 million people living somewhere. The other thing that happens is the taxi drivers don't always know where our hotel is - and they ask us for help! Ha. We did get slightly lost and the driver had to stop and ask for directions. He kept talking to us and of course we were useless.

After some quick grocery shopping we headed out to the foot massage place. I had had massages in Xiamen but of course we didn't know what to expect and couldn't really talk to the people working there. Even though they call it a foot massage really it's as much of a full body massage as you can do while sitting. They start with your hands and arms while your feet are soaking in a big wooden bucket. Then they work on your feet and legs for about an hour. After that they do your back, neck and shoulders. My guy was great and Matt's girl was too but she seemed to be beating him up...there was a lot of punching and slapping going on. In the end, it was fab, and Matt says he'll go back with me.

After the massage we headed for the Beijing Hotel and dinner at....don't laugh....Outback Steakhouse. This was Matt's redo 25th Birthday dinner. We were in Beijing on his 25th and were celebreating his b-day at the Outback for dinner. Unfortunately I had a migraine and we had to rush so last night was a redo dinner. It was about as good as you can expect but, hey, there's no better way to say "happy birthday" than with a bloomin' onion.

Jet-lagged in Beijing

We arrived safely in Beijing. The flight itself was uneventful except for some scary crazy turbulence 30 minutes before landing. It was the type where the captain comes on and tells the flight attendants "to sit down immediately" and "if you're in the aisle right now sit down on the ground and hold on." Whoa. Luckily we were strapped into our seats at the time....our Economy Plus seats. An extra 5 inches of leg room makes all the difference! The only good story I have from the plane is that I got locked in the bathroom. That's right, I was minding my own business and when I tried to get out the door wouldn't open more than 3/4 of an inch. Great...what should I do? I knew I was stuck because the door on the bathroom opposite me was wide open and wedged against my door. So I knocked...and I waited...and I pushed on the door and tried to make noise....and no one came to help me. So I knocked again...and rattled the door...and started cursing (inside my head). Just as I was about to push the attendant call button a guy came out of the third bathroom and closed the door that was locking me. Saved at last! I really need to file a complaint with United about that one....it was traumatizing!

So the flight wasn't that bad - except for the bathroom incident - but we did do a lot of sitting around yesterday as the flight was 7 hours late leaving Chicago. Yuck. We ended up getting a membership to the United lounge and hope to put that to good use over the next three months. The bar and snacks came in handy yesterday, as did the comfy leather seats.

We made it to our hotel ok but had some trouble checking in as there was a major language barrier. We had to prepay for the room and they refused to give us change. They said it was a hotel rule to only give change at check-out. After arguing for a few minutes and getting nowhere we decided it wasn't worth our trouble. It was already 10pm and we needed to go to sleep and get ourselves on the correct timezone. So we made our way up to our room to find that the pictures on the internet weren't that accurate, it is kind of dumpy and there is no heat! But, they do have HBO so we huddled under a feather blanket and watched Uncle Buck until our Tylenol PM put us to sleep.

We're off this morning to do some exploring...check back in a couple days to see how that goes!

See you in July!

We're off tomorrow for the three-month leg of our journey. Don't even ask me how long the flight to China is - I purposely don't know. I feel like I could use a few more days at home but am still anxious to take off again. Matt is really looking forward to India and I am super excited about Turkey (we get to stay in a cave hotel!!). The China tour should be excellent as well. Oh, and there is all that great food once we get to Europe :-)

We've had a good time during our short stay in Austin. Our friends are great and we had a lot of fun happy hours, dinners, lunches and phone conversations (for the long-distance crew). Thanks to all of you for putting up with our stories. You were probably starting to get sick of us so it is probably good that we are off again. And, hey, at least this was the last "good-bye" for a while....

Check back again soon for an update!