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China day 5: Here come the Big Potatoes

holly — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:58 +0000

Today was the second day this trip that crossed off one of my bucket list sights to see. I woke up Christmas-morning early, and then spent hours drinking my body weight in tea at the breakfast buffet as I killed time. I just wanted to get going! There was so much to see! I wasn’t the only one, though. Two of the other agents awoke at 4am, convinced we had another super early morning and in a total panic because they thought they had missed the wake up call and were going to be left behind. Luckily they called and woke up the tour leader (well, not luckily for the tour leader) before rushing downstairs. That would have been incredibly funny in hindsight…

An en route souvenir stop at a terracotta factory selling scale models to tourists (4 out of 10 on the nice bathroom scale), and then we were at the Terra Cotta Warriors museum. The excitement was palpable. Because, as the guide said, we were “Big Potatoes”, our tour van pulled right up to the entrance gates and let us out, a much shorter walk in than the normal one from the parking lot. Sweet. From the outside it looked nice, a cluster of modern airplane-hangar like buildings with a very clean, busy courtyard connecting them, but it was once you stepped through the doors of Pit 1 that it all becomes real. The vast expanse of space stretching football-field length out in front of you, with the dug-out rows of marching Terracotta soldiers and horses lined up in greeting. Damn, I’m really here. I kept reminding myself to put the camera down every once in a while and just drink it all in with my eyes, as there was so much to see and so many amazing photos to take. In person, they are even cooler than they look in the media. Individually, their details are striking, but seeing them all lined up together really is what makes this so special. In spots there are ladders and tables erected as workspace for the archaeologists who are still actively recovering more and more pieces and rebuilding more of the shattered warriors, and opened, unfinished pits show the piles of rubble (feet and hands and scattered bits of torso) that they have yet to work through. I can only imagine what this place is going to look like in ten years, when hundreds more of the warriors will be standing sentry and all the buildings would have to be extended to house them all. And keep in mind, they still haven’t unearthed the Emperor himself, the man of honour whom all these figures are guarding for eternity. He’s still somewhere beneath the giant pyramid of grass (it sounds silly, but it really is a huge, pointy grass hill), located a mile behind the warriors museum. This is a living, breathing wonder of the world, changing on a daily basis. Oh well, I guess I’m just going to have to come back…

After the short movie showing the history behind the statues, we explored the gift shop (did you have any doubts?) and picked up copies of the souvenir guidebook. What was really cool was that the 85 year old farmer who had discovered the warriors while trying to dig a well back in the 80’s (he’s one of 5 men who found them, and one of only 2 surviving) was there in person, signing autographs and posing for pictures. Hell, he didn’t make much from his monumental discovery (go communism, the land belongs to the government, so they just take it back for free), so earning a living this way is dramatically better than going back to pig farming. He signed and dated my book, and having that date in there, commemorating this forever, is awesome.

Another giant lunch (really good) and then Pits 2 and 3. They have a dramatically different feeling from Pit 1, more polished museum style, as opposed to active archaeological dig, but really well laid out and informative. Many more pictures to be taken and souvenirs to be bought. It’s funny, in Beijing most of the tourists had been Chinese, but here, about half of them were the standard North American/European tourists, all clad in their fast-dry “travel” cargo pants and millions of pockets vests, giant cameras around their necks and two bored looking kids in tow, heads down in their smartphones, oblivious to the amazing sights beside them. There is definately a more adventure/backpacker vibe, and because of it the whole city had more of a tourist atmosphere. You could tell that these warriors really are the only reason most people come to Xian, that it’s more of a once in a lifetime pilgrimage than a place to come and stay for a while. I could have spent more time at the museum, staring down each figure in detail, but with the crowds (once again, this was super low season) you really had to keep moving to allow everyone a chance to witness the spectacle.

Technically, the rest of the day was scheduled as “leisure time”, but we were on such a tight timeline and everyone had such big dreams of what to see and do, we actually just divided up into two groups for yet another adventure. Half of us went with our guide to get a foot and neck massage, while the other half (me included) went to the Xian city wall for a little bike ride. This was no Great Wall, it was actually more sturdy looking, wide and fat, gray stone with big decorative towers and guardhouses spaced intermittently along it’s top. We rented our bikes from the south gate (CAD$3.50 with a CAD$8.50 damage deposit – technically we could have taken these bikes home with us for only CAD$12) and were off. Sort of. The bikes were circa-1950, so it took us a few tries to find ones where the chain didn’t fall off every time you tried to pull the pedal, or where the pedals themselves were rusted still. Eventually, one girl actually just took one with no brakes at all because it was the only one close to her size, and she just carefully coasted to a stop when needed. Needless to say, no one took the bikes home. This was so much fun. It’s so peaceful up on the wall, you’re still surrounded by the heart of Xian, but you feel removed from it, safe up in your perch in the clouds. You can look down and see the hustle below you, then keep pedaling on in comfortable (relative, this is China) silence. And it felt so good to get some exercise and (un)fresh air. The stone pavers were really uneven, being built 641 years ago and all, so we were swerving around like we were drunk, trying to avoid the potholes. Mainly because we thought that if we hit one the bikes would just start falling apart beneath us. Tourists and locals waved and laughed at us as we rode past, gladly moving out of the way of the crazy Canadians.

We returned the bikes (they did give us one of those surprised “you brought them back?” looks, leading me to believe they go though a lot of bikes. So, if you’re ever in need of a rusted and barely functional piece of crap for your biking pleasure, Xian is the place to go!) then kept our legs moving by walking from there to the Drum tower, which is conveniently also one end of the Muslim Market. En route we stopped in at a McDonalds for some drinks and fries, as there is very little more comforting than McDonalds’ fries when traveling internationally, and to use the bathroom. McDonalds always have good bathrooms. The market shopping was good tonight, we found a quieter side street that was just as filled with stalls, but had a third of the crowds. We brought home a pretty sweet haul, let me tell you. Talking a taxi back from the hotel was an adventure, too. We found a minivan taxi that didn’t have any real seats in the back, so we just sat on wooden planks slightly raised off the floor, and hopped in hoping the driver knew where we were going. I had shown him the address written in Chinese and the little tiny map on the back of the hotel’s business card, both of which he had nodded “yeah yeah” to, but taxi drivers are notorious for nodding like that and then driving around in circles for weeks, trying to figure out where to go. I like to call this a “cultural experience”, which involves a lot of blind faith, but in our case it worked out, and for a ridiculously cheap fare, too

So back to the hotel for one last night in my giant room, filled with a lot of “oh my god, how am I going to fit all this crap in my suitcase?” packing. Yep, you guessed it, 4am wake up call tomorrow!

Need Christmas gift ideas? Go abroad!

holly — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:06:16 +0000

My favorite time to go on vacation is the fall (well, technically my favorite time to go on vacation is any time, but you know what I’m getting at). The reason for this is not the lovely crisp air and possibility of a sample sale, but so I can do all my Christmas shopping in destination. It’s great. Combine that with Christmas shopping (my other excuse to go wild – within budget, of course – shopping time of the year) and it’s the best combination since cookies and milk.
What better way to cut down on costs? I always call vacation shopping my “get out of jail free” shopping – I’ve technically already spent the money buying the currency, now it’s just trading it for goods. So as long as I don’t overspend what I’ve brought with me and have to break out my debit card, I’m golden. It’s a second layer of protection to make sure I stay on budget. With exchange rates being what they are, the dollar goes farther in many countries, so you can also get bigger, better, more awesome gifts for your loved ones. And you can plan for this in advance, too. A couple of years ago I knew I was going to bring back Costa Rican coffee for everyone for Christmas (plentiful, not too heavy to carry, and world-renowned while not being budget-busting) but the guidebooks said that the quality was best in the whole roasted beans as opposed to the grounds. So all year I covertly checked with every coffee-drinker I know whether or not they had a coffee grinder. If they didn’t, they got one for their birthday! That year was great, I got built-in ideas for birthday gifts, too
Speaking of more awesome, instead of yet another scarf or gift card from Sears, I can guarantee your Aunt Mil is not going to get two of those hand-carved Guatemalan wine bottle holders from that tiny stall on the side of the tiny winding mountain road. That is going to be memorable. And knowing that you were thinking of them while on your great adventure, they appreciate the gesture more (in my experience, anyway). Plus, even if they don’t like it, they’re not going to return it (the airfare is too expensive) so you don’t need to worry about keeping the receipts.
The coolest thing, though, is that you can essentially get your loved ones anything, and it’s still special, because it’s from wherever. Seriously. Anything. “Yeah, it’s toothpaste, but it’s from Ecuador, so you don’t pronounce it Colgate, you pronounce it ‘Col-gaaat-eh’.” If someone gave you a couple of small pieces of wood tied together at one end with a string from the local Wal-Mart, you’d be thoroughly unimpressed. But if the same thing came back from Spain and were called castinets, now that’s cool.
So, if you’re having trouble coming up with Christmas gift ideas, just go on vacation between now and the holiday season, and everything will all fall into place for you. Simple, really.

Chiang Mai night market – Amazing!

holly — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:56:05 +0000

It was probobly the friendliest shopping experience I’ve ever had, and it involved bartering. I know, I wouldn’t have believed it either, had I not experienced it. In fact, I found myself wandering around the market night after night and waiting for the in-your-face sales tactics I’d experienced in other night markets around the world, but never finding any. By just being nice, the stall-keepers had sold me on the Chiang Mai night market, and I loved it.

The market itself, no necessarily the items for sale, was the attraction. It’s beautiful, a crazy maze of colours, textures, lights, people and sounds, everything brighter, louder, more sparkly than it’s predecessor. It’s quite spread out as far as night markets go, although in places you’re still inevitably squished up against the other shoppers/walkers/stall walls (but then again, that just adds to the street market experience), and it’s large square footage means if you can’t find it here, you don’t need it. Sure, most of the wares on offer are souvenir kitsch – carved elephants, Thai pillows, T-shirts with the Chiang Beer logo on them – but it’s fun as hell to buy it. One of my favorite things I’ve bought anywhere is my intricately detailed tuk tuk sculpted from a Coke Light can, some wire and a couple of buttons. Carved soap was also a huge hit (we bought 5), where the artisan takes your standard drugstore bar of Dove and carves and paints it into a stunning orchid or mum or random pretty flower, then safely puts it in a small laquered box. They look great on display, and it’s also good to know that in case of a dire soap shortage, I have a backup.

Bartering scares me. I know a lot of people who love it, who attack bartering as a game and will do almost anything to come out the victor, but I always get overwhelmed by guilt and knowing that the item advertised for CAD$3 would be at least CAD$15 at home, I’m willing to pay the full price. Don’t get me wrong, I always barter, but I’m a soft sell. I think that’s why the Chiang Mai market and I clicked. The salespeople, being salespeople, would call out for your attention, but all you had to do was shake your head a polite “no” and they left you alone. I’ve been followed by annoying bootleg DVD pushers in Kuala Lumpur, so this was a welcome surprise. Not once did we have to pretend to be deaf (man, our sign language is so bad we’d probobly accidentally insult the royal family and someone’s dog) and could wander around for hours taking in the smells, sights and ambiance. The only people that were kind of in your face were the hilltribe women selling the wooden frogs that if you ran a stick up and down their backs, they croak. The women themselves were equally as friendly as the other salespeople, but that damn frog sound will follow you around for days!

If you ever visit Chiang Mai and you don’t visit the night market, you’re doing yourself an injustice. Even if you don’t like to shop, it’s a place that can’t be missed. I’m already trying to figure out when I can go back!

Grocery stores as a tourist attraction?

holly — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 01:22:13 +0000

Think about it. Have you ever walked around your local supermarket and stopped at the ”international food” section, looking at all the different uses for rice or the cool/odd/disgusting/unpronounceable sauces on offer? It’s fun, right? Or at the very least, interesting. Possibly even enlightening. Multiply that by fifty and you get why I always try to swing by a grocery store in every country I’m in.

Doing a bit of your own cooking (and by “cooking” I mean mainly buying bread and meat and making sandwiches or pouring your own bowl of cereal, unless you have a kitchenette) is always a great way to save money. Even if it’s just snacks, bringing your own granola bar and water bottle can easily save you $5-$10 a day, depending on your destination and appetite. That’s valuable souvenir money! So while you’re at the grocery, you might as well take a few minutes to walk the aisles and see what culinary treasures you can unearth. You never know if that brand of beer you had once ten years ago and could never find again is hiding around the corner, or if the chili lime chicken bouillon you find in aisle four is going to become the centerpiece for your new signature dish back home. And when someone asks you where you got it, you can be all mysterious and say “it’s imported.”

When in London, I’m all about finding the cool flavours of crisps. We have your standard salt and vinegar, ketchup and nacho cheese in Canada, they have roasted lamb and mint, chargrilled steak, pickled onion, seafood mayonnaise, crispy duck in hoisin sauce, turkey with paxo sage and onion… if you can braise, boil or bake it, they probably have chips to match. Southeast Asia is also good for this, though they have substantially more seafood options and their packaging usually involves more google-eyed animated characters. One of my coworkers in Spain said the prawn cocktail is great, though I’ll have to take their word for it. On one trip I actually kept a list, and found no less than 25 different flavours in one country in the space of a week. Think I tried two of them. And these flavours are, for the most part, incredibly accurate. The chargrilled steak I tried smelled like nothing, but once on the tongue, you were just looking for the side of mashed potatoes and steamed veggies.

I’m always drawn to snack-type foods, like chips, gum (oooh, there’s this applemint Dentyne in Thailand I loved so much I brought like 10 packs home with me) and candy, mainly because they’re cheap and small, so you can try something really experimental and, if it’s totally revolting, you can throw it out and you’re only out a buck. Meat always intimidates me (especially since you can’t always read the label), but one day I’ll have a place with a stove in some far-flung destination and I’ll go for it. It’s all about embracing the local culture. In Singapore this past march we discovered pea cheezies (for lack of a better comparison). They were made entirely of peas, green and shaped like a pod, but puffed up, deep fried and lightly salted to the cheezie consistency. Sounds strange on paper (hell, it looked strange in the bag, too, that’s why I bought it), but these were surprisingly good. In Costa Rica, tamarind drink, once you get past it’s industrial-waste brown colour, is incredibly sweet and yummy. I got all excited here when, on a day trip across the boarder to Seattle, I found some Tamarind Kool-Aid, but when I tried it back home it tasted kind of like cardboard. Total let down. Oh well, it’s a reason to go back to Costa Rica!

Also in Costa Rica I discovered my beloved coco pops (there is not a breakfast buffet worldwide that doesn’t have coco pops) are endorsed there by a space elephant named Melvin. That was just funny.

International grocery shopping can be a fun thing to do if you’re traveling with kids, too. While you’re picking up the necessities, you can challenge young Jimmy to find the craziest looking fish in the seafood department or weirdest-sounding product name (this one can be particularly fun if you can’t speak the language). Kids usually seem to gravitate to the gross, or what they think is gross, anyway, and this is where the cheaper options like candy come in handy. Treat them to one small thing, but make it the grossest they can find, and hear the giggles start. This can also be done locally, just check out the various ethnic food stores around your area and keep the kids entertained on a rainy afternoon.

For me, I think this all stems back to my Grandparent’s travels when I was a little kid. When they’d come back from driving across the US or touring Europe they’d bring me something we couldn’t get in Canada, like Barbie breakfast cereal, or Swiss cow-shaped chocolate, so now I always want to see what other surprises the world has to offer. This can also be a good way to buy a gift for that impossible-to-shop-for person on your list. Nobody ever turns down food, especially if it was brought into the country especially for them and you know it’s something they’ll like. The one exception to this was when my BF got a bag of dried bean and anchovy trail mix from Hong Kong. It’s been months and that’s still sitting unopened on his desk, but I can’t really blame him, the fish are dried whole in there, complete with the little dried heads and eyes. But still, because we got it at a grocery store as opposed to a souvenir place, the cost was low enough that I don’t give him a hard time about *sniff* rejecting one of my gifts.

Ever found anything spectacular/weird/memorable in the food aisle when on vacation? Let me know. But if not, try spending an hour of your next vacation at the supermercado and see how much culinary trouble you can get into!

Vacation Anatomy part 3: The memories

holly — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 21:01:10 +0000

“Two weeks away, feels like the whole world should have changed, but I’m home now, and things still look the same.” I think Dido puts it really well in this line from Sand in My Shoes, as that post-vacation letdown never gets any easier, no matter how often you travel. It’s over. You had spent such a long time anticipating this trip, and then you went and now… now what?

Now it’s time to develop those pictures, that’s what. Just because the physical part of your trip is completed doesn’t mean your vacation is done. Go through each exposure and laugh at the face you’re making in that one or how cool the Eiffel Tower looks in this one. Take out all those cool new souvenirs and remember the story behind how you found that perfect vase in a tiny little shop down a dark “oh my God, why am I walking down here?” alley, but it turned out to be a total treasure trove. Call up all your close friends and arrange to meet over coffee so you can give them the gift you brought back for them and describe all the cool things you saw. Yes, your vacation might be technically over, but it’ll still be fresh in your mind for months, years to come. Embrace this. Use the words “remember that time…” as much as possible and milk every good feeling you can out of your trip.

Of course, now that one trip is behind you, we can smoothly transition back into the Anticipation stage again. Travel is like a drug, once you get it in your system it’s hard to get out and it leaves you craving your next fix. So do it. Start thinking about where to go next. I mean, you have to do something with those vacation days, right?