Friday, August 23, 2013

Lightweight Backpacking


It’s possible to travel with a 40L backpack. It’s just small enough to take with you as a carry-on at the airport and large enough to take most of your essentials with you. Admittedly, you can’t fit everything you want into a 40L backpack but you may find out that you don’t need everything to survive.

Downsides of light travel:
  • You can't take everything you want with you (like an external monitor)

Upsides of light travel:
  • Easier on your body
  • No need to check in your backpack at the airport where it can get damaged or lost
  • No need to (but you may want to) put your backpack into the underside luggage compartments when riding a long-distance bus where it can get damaged or stolen
  • Less stuff to worry about losing
Here's what I was able to fit inside a 40L backpack:
  • Wear: 4 shirts, 4 boxers, 3 pairs of socks, 2 shorts, 2 long pants, fleece long-sleeve shirt, swim trunks, belt, contacts, glasses, sunglasses, lightweight shoes, hat
  • Electronics: 11" laptop, smartphone, e-reader, mirrorless camera, large external battery, adapters for the electronics
  • Toiletries: shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrush, floss, contact solution, eye drops, microfiber towel, sunscreen, razer, Purell, toilet paper
  • Safety: traveler's diarrhea medication, Tylenol, Pepto-Bismol tablets, UV water purifier
  • Other: 3L Camelbak, portable pillow, sleeping bag liner, mosquito net, 2 locks, ear plugs, notebook, pen

Note: If you will be buying gifts for yourself or others while traveling, allow extra space in your backpack or realize you may need to carry a separate bag for gifts.

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While traveling through China, you may have the opportunity to meet people from different parts of the world. It’s not everyday you’ll be sitting at a table having drinks and talking with a woman from New Zealand, a woman from Trinidad, a British man, a Dutch man, an Israeli, a student from Australia, and a smatter of Chinese students on summer holiday from different parts of China. However, if you’re hosteling through China, this could happen quite often.

At this point, I’ve learned a number of basic Chinese words and phrases. However, trying to understand what Chinese people are saying to me is still near impossible. If I’m lucky, I can make out a word or two like “nǎlǐ” (meaning where) or “jiào” (meaning call), or some numbers. If I hear “ nǎlǐ,” I'm usually being asked where I’m from or where I want to go. If I hear “jiào,” I'm usually being asked what I’m called (i.e., my name). Context usually tells me how I should attempt to respond. Hopefully, my listening skills will improve over time.

Here's a quick rundown of the places I saw after Yuányáng:

Kūnmíng

I stayed here for two nights. To be honest, I didn't really do anything except walk around the surrounding area near Green Lake and talk to people at the hostel (at Upland).

Dàlǐ

I also stayed here for two nights. The number of hiking opportunities here surprised me. There are paved roads with railings through most parts of the trails high up in the surrounding hillside around Cángshān. For who's benefit, I don't know because I rarely saw anyone on the trail. I spent about 11 hours on one of the days hiking around Cángshān and the place where I saw the most people was near the cable car drop off point near the top of the mountain. Actual, there are several cable cars running (some may be out of service) through the mountain and I would actually recommend riding them as they offer some of the best views of the surrounding area as well as the nearby lake, ěrhǎi.

View of ěrhǎi lake from hiking around Cángshān

Besides the hiking, I went to a popular bar called "Bad Monkey." There, a small fight broke out between a foreigner and a Chinese guy. It looked serious when, a few minutes later, a few Chinese guys came out of nowhere holding bats behind their backs. Fortunately, nothing further happened.

Lìjiāng

I only spent 1 night here. If you don't mind the crowds, I would say it's fun for a day.

Tiger Leaping Gorge

According to Lonely Planet, "The gorge trek is not to be taken lightly...even for those in good physical shape, it's a workout." Let me just say that if I can do it, pretty much anyone can. Still, you should keep your wits about you as there are some parts where a steep fall can be quite easy to accomplish. As Lonely Planet also points out, I would recommend doing the hike from Jane's Guesthouse to Tina's Guesthouse over two days of hiking. You can leave most of your stuff at Jane's Guesthouse for ¥5 per item. Then, after you reach Tina's, you can take an afternoon bus back to Jane's. However, you should do the hike down to the gorge near Tina's before you leave.

Going down to the gorge near Tina's Guesthouse

Shangri-la

After Tiger Leaping Gorge, I took a minivan from Jane's Guesthouse to Shangri-la. It was quite chilly sitting around 3200 meters above sea level. Altitude sickness can be a real concern here but I didn't seem to feel anything. I ate some form of yak meat with every meal I had here and it was all delicious.

View of the giant prayer wheel in Shangri-la which can be spun (with the help of many)

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Time sinks of travel

There are some time sinks to consider which can add up while traveling especially if you're moving from place to place quite frequently:
  • Time spent packing and unpacking
  • Time spent on a bus or train
  • Time spent checking in and checking out
The more frequently you hop around, the more time you spend on the above activities and the less time you have to do what you came here to do. Also, consider the additional effects of time spent transporting yourself. If you take a 7-hour bus to your next destination, you may be tired on arrival. If you've taken daytime transportation, many sights may be closed or in the process of closing by the time you arrive. If you've taken overnight transportation, you may not be well-rested. If you don't want to lug your stuff around all day, you will want to check in which will also take additional time. You may also be in an area with no direct transportation to your next planned destination so this may require some backtracking and unexpected days spent in places you've already seen -- not that this would be a particularly terrible thing, just a potentially unexpected addition to your itinerary.

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After a 23-hour train from Guìlín to Kūnmíng, a 7-hour bus from Kūnmíng to Yuányáng, and a 1-hour minivan to Duoyishu village, I was able to spend some time walking around the rice terraced mountains which have made this area famous. Weather here is about 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than Guìlín area and it's great to be able to step outside without being drenched in sweat.

Sunrise over Duoyishu village in Yuányáng

While in Yuányáng, I stayed at Jacky's Guesthouse which offered views of the surrounding rice terraces. I can only imagine what it looks like during the winter time when the terraces are flooded with water. Still amazing. However, I may have to come back.

Recently, someone taught me a useful phrase: tīng bù dǒng (听不懂). Roughly, it means, "I hear, but I don't understand." It's my most frequently used phrase here.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Getting to Xīngpíng from Hong Kong

I'm finally past the Great Firewall after receiving some help from a fellow hosteller. I'm currently in Xīngpíng, a small city 25 km north of Yángshuò, where I'll be staying for a couple days.

Xīngpíng looking toward the image printed on the 20 yuan

Getting here has been an interesting journey mostly attributed to my inability to read, speak or understand Chinese. I've been trying to spend some time practicing pīnyīn whenever I can and just starting delving into the grammar but it hasn't really helped in any situation yet. When push comes to shove, I degenerate to hand motions and single Chinese words repeated several times with some English mixed in as if it will help the situation. It doesn't help that I'm Korean since the first thing everyone thinks when they approach me is that I'm Chinese so they start speaking in Chinese to me. It also doesn't help that my Korean is terrible. There was one situation where I was trying to get directions to a place from a Chinese person. We couldn't understand each other. However, she told me to wait a moment. After a couple minutes, she brought a Korean person over to me. The conversation started off okay but after the questions got a bit more complicated, I couldn't understand. Sad times.

Here's a great way to get to Xīngpíng from Hong Kong:
  • 2-hour train from Hong Kong to Guǎngzhōu
  • 10-hour bus from Guǎngzhōu to Guìlín
  • 1-hour bus from Guìlín to Yángshuò
  • 1-hour bus from Yángshuò to Yangdi
  • 1-hour boat from Yangdi to Xīngpíng
Of course, this wasn't all in one sitting. It's good to take your time in this area.