"Stories only happen to those who are able to tell them, someone once said. In the same way, perhaps, experiences only present themselves to those who are able to have them."
-Paul Auster
-Paul Auster
And so begins, or so ends, my journeys.
I am back in Lhasa. I have, and am currently, struggling with how to let you see what I have witnessed, taste what I've consumed, walk the steps that I have stumbled, laugh at my amusement, understand my confusion, and just generally go there with me.
I think it is only appropriate for this epic to start where I finished and work backwards. There will be 7 episodes: Qinghai, Xian, Hong Kong, Kunming, Thailand, Vietnam, and my return. Feel free to enjoy at your leisure, or not at all.
But because I can't resist, here's a teaser: Some lists...
New foods I have eaten: Amdo bread, Thai iced tea, pig tail, crab stuffed with squid, blood sausage, mangosteens, candied rice, "special" (which in Vietnamese means "intestinal") pho, BaBaoCha, Tim Tams, Naxi sandwiches, Thai apples, stick tea, guava, banana roti.
Modes of transportation I've used: donkey, scooter, yak, junk, train, trolley, plane, metro, motorcycle, van, taxi's galore, songtow, and any number of cars.
Things I've seen strapped to the back of a scooter: 2 massive erns, 5 years worth of diapers, a small tree, a basket filled with styrofoam cartons, a minimum of 3 passangers, small children, a whiteboard, a bunch of roses, 2 window panes, a lumpy gray sack 3 times the width of the scooter, 6 cases of beer, enough towels to stock a high school football team's locker room.
Things I have come to love: fading horns, wooden frogs, watermelon shakes, foreign import stores, outdoor squatties and accompanying yaks, asian tourists wearing the rice hats, glass noodles, birds in hanging cages, interesting locals, Thai dentists.
Cities I've been to: Xining, Shenyang, Xian, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Kunming, Lijiang, Chaing Mai, Hanoi, Halong Bay
Things I could live without ever experiencing again: "special" pho, idols being paraded through streets, agressive prostitues, 9 days without changing a single article of clothing, stinky creeks, Thai massages, blood sausage, seeing Unlce Ho, not being a witness to Danielle punting a rat in broad daylight, Bangkok airport tax.
Old firsts: The first place I saw a McDonalds and a Starbucks: Xian, the first place I saw black people and a church building: Hong Kong, the first place I saw a mosquito, woke up to forest sounds, and consistently got ice in my drinks: Chaing Mai
Buckle up folks... it was a wild ride.
I am back in Lhasa. I have, and am currently, struggling with how to let you see what I have witnessed, taste what I've consumed, walk the steps that I have stumbled, laugh at my amusement, understand my confusion, and just generally go there with me.
I think it is only appropriate for this epic to start where I finished and work backwards. There will be 7 episodes: Qinghai, Xian, Hong Kong, Kunming, Thailand, Vietnam, and my return. Feel free to enjoy at your leisure, or not at all.
But because I can't resist, here's a teaser: Some lists...
New foods I have eaten: Amdo bread, Thai iced tea, pig tail, crab stuffed with squid, blood sausage, mangosteens, candied rice, "special" (which in Vietnamese means "intestinal") pho, BaBaoCha, Tim Tams, Naxi sandwiches, Thai apples, stick tea, guava, banana roti.
Modes of transportation I've used: donkey, scooter, yak, junk, train, trolley, plane, metro, motorcycle, van, taxi's galore, songtow, and any number of cars.
Things I've seen strapped to the back of a scooter: 2 massive erns, 5 years worth of diapers, a small tree, a basket filled with styrofoam cartons, a minimum of 3 passangers, small children, a whiteboard, a bunch of roses, 2 window panes, a lumpy gray sack 3 times the width of the scooter, 6 cases of beer, enough towels to stock a high school football team's locker room.
Things I have come to love: fading horns, wooden frogs, watermelon shakes, foreign import stores, outdoor squatties and accompanying yaks, asian tourists wearing the rice hats, glass noodles, birds in hanging cages, interesting locals, Thai dentists.
Cities I've been to: Xining, Shenyang, Xian, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Kunming, Lijiang, Chaing Mai, Hanoi, Halong Bay
Things I could live without ever experiencing again: "special" pho, idols being paraded through streets, agressive prostitues, 9 days without changing a single article of clothing, stinky creeks, Thai massages, blood sausage, seeing Unlce Ho, not being a witness to Danielle punting a rat in broad daylight, Bangkok airport tax.
Old firsts: The first place I saw a McDonalds and a Starbucks: Xian, the first place I saw black people and a church building: Hong Kong, the first place I saw a mosquito, woke up to forest sounds, and consistently got ice in my drinks: Chaing Mai
Buckle up folks... it was a wild ride.
