The Story Continues Part Two of Three

The next day (day 2), after playing in the pool again, we headed to town on the 4:00pm shuttle. We were all excited to see Taylor's new shirt understanding that if it was up to snuff we would all be picking out fabrics for custom tailored garments. The drum roll please...


Quality fabric, check. Excellent fit, check. Nicely styled, check. Taylor approves, check. Houston we are ready for launch. Cameron, Ryan and Taylor all pick out more fabrics to have two shirts made each. Ryan starts murmuring about having a sport coat made, so does Taylor. Ryan asks to have a rash guard (surf shirt) made for boogie boarding since his chest already has abrasions from two days of boarding, so Taylor decides he needs one too. The fun is just beginning. I pick out fabrics so she can copy my favorite Patagonia top. We are all giddy with visions of grandeur. Then we begin negotiating on price for all the goods. Good deals abound! With such great prices I am ready to send word to all of you to send me your measurements and I will have a new custom tailored wardrobe made for you too.


"Ok come back tomorrow" our gals says. I want to leave a big kiss on her cheek I am so excited. Tomorrow it is!!


Tomorrow (day 3) - Same drill, breakfast, pool, 4:00pm shuttle, head to our tailor. More excited than the previous day we await the unveiling. Sport coat, perfect fit. Shirts, Ryan's is great.( now imagine the sound of a balloon bursting), Cameron's shirt is too short and small through the chest, Taylor's the same bad fit. Stunned as to how that could be since the first shirt Taylor had made was beautiful. Was it bait and switch? Rash guard, well lets just say the boys were swimming in theirs, way too big. Plus, the neck hole that is supposed to fit snug was as loose as a shirt collar. We left Cameron's rash guard as a pattern, so what went wrong?


My turn, and I'm hoping for better odds. NO SO! My tops showed so much cleavage that I could have been a hoochie mama on 4th Ave!

She was very appologetic and promised to fix everything. "Come back tomorrow, OK?"

"OK, I'll come back tomorrow."


Tomorrow (day 4) - Same drill, breakfast, pool, 4:00pm shuttle, head to our tailor. Everything that was wrong with the boys items she fixed, sort of. Cameron's shirts were roomier in the chest but still too short for 100% satisfaction. "Look, I make longer" she reports but they are the same length as before. Cameron settles and so do I just to put an end to this saga.


My turn. Again no good! Now it's too loose and therefore still too revealing. I wanted to push the red game show button that buzzes and the announcer politely says "try again." What is so difficult about making a ladies top. (If you are wondering what top it is, check out the Hong Kong bus photo. It's the black one). She offers more adjustments but I need to come back tomorrow. I say "no tomorrow, next day."
We are all tired of traipsing into town to try on clothes. Every time we come in we have to fend off the hordes of sales people. It gets irritating.


The next day (day 6) - No good again.


The next day, next day (day 8) - I am at my wits end and decide that if the tops are not right I am walking away. I will pay for everything else but not the four tops. They turn out just ok. Not a great fit and no where close to my original, beautiful, perfectly made, favorite top but they might suffice.


I tell the gal that I don't want the tops any longer. Quality no good. Poorly made. I don't want them to fall apart on me two months down the road. They are good enough for me to wear now but not superb. She offers me a 20% discount. I want 50%. It's 50% or I leave the tops here. She agrees. I pay. Off we go glad to be done with this whole experience!

The Golden Sands

Yesterday we flew from Hanoi to Hoi An on an A323 Air Bus. When we arived we walked down a ramp and got onto a bus. The bus took us to the terminal and we went inside to ask for a taxi, but before we got to the counter a man who my mom met the other day in Hanoi gave us advice so we would not not pay to much money for a taxi.

The taxi driver said he was lost when we were only about two kilometers from the hotel so he asked a woman on the street who was his friend for directions. The woman gave him directions and gave my mom a card for hand made shirts and pants.

Once we got to the hotel a man got our bags and took them into the hotel. We went into the hotel and sat down on the couch and a server gave us mango juice while my mom checked us in.

Yummy Mango Juice

Cheers!

The next morning we got up and went to breakfast. I went to the buffet and came back with eggs, donuts, fruit, ham, cheess, pancakes, toast, and juice. After a delightful breakfast we went to our room to do school work. It took us a long time to do it beacuse we had to do double the work than usual beacuse we had to catch up. It took us about two and a half hours to finish.

Once I finnished I went to the pool and my brothers soon joined me. We swam and had fun for about three hours.

Then we went to our room and got dressed and went to dinner at our hotel. Our waiter could not speak english very well, he was still learing and training. I ordered pork tenderloin with mashed potatoes and gravy. The meal was delicious. Once we all finnished we ordered dessert. My brother and I got lemon cheese cake, my mom got apple pie, and my other brother got brownies. The cheese cake was not good at all, it tasted like eggs. After dessert went back to our room. My brothers and I were waiting for Star Wars the Clone Wars but soon found out that there is no Star Wars the Clone Wars on the Asia cartoon net work. So we crawled into bed, turned of the lights, and went to bed.

Hoi An Day One - Part One of Three

Our two weeks in Hoi An (November 18 - December 2) for me can be summed up in one song. A song from the Rodgers and Hammerstein's hit musical Oklahoma - I Cain't Say No. It's sung by Annie who's quite a pushover when it comes to "fellers". I rewrote the lyrics for me but the theme is, as they say here in Vietnam, "same, same but different."

I'm just a girl who cain't say 'no'

I'm in a terrible fix!
I always say 'Come on, let's shop, just when I aughta say 'Nix.'

When a person tries to sell me stuff
I know I aughta just walk away!

But as soon as I hear "for you, good deal"
I sorta wanna stay and play!

Our View of the Pool from our Balcony

Here's where our story begins. On our first full day in Hoi An we played at the pool then rode the resort's courtsey shuttle the 10 minutes into Hoi An Ancient Town as they say here. As soon as we hopped off the shuttle we were accosted by men wanting to take us on a ride in their rickshaws and motorbikes, ladies wanting to show us the "best clothes maker in Hoi An", vendors selling sunglasses, t-shirts and other touristy souvineer junk. We were proud of the fact that we said no to everyone and began to stroll down the street. What we were not aware of was that one sly, persistent gal who remained silent during the chaos was now behind us trying one last ditch effort. I kept saying no until she said the magical words "you just look today, no buy, just come see for tomorrow." OK fine I can do that, besides I wanted to know where the clothing market was anyway. She led on, we followed.

We met her "sister" (doubt it was really her sister) who showed us all the beautiful fabrics and told us she can make anything. I already had in mind that we are going to have new shirts made for the boys and replicate one Patagoina top for me but I don't mention that yet. Two minutes into the sales pitch I begin to say goodbye and that we will come back another day. The she says more magical words "I make one shirt for boy, tomorrow you see. You like I make boy more. You don't like, no worries." Now you tell me how anyone in their right mind could refuse such a glorious offer. I sure didn't. Taylor was thrilled to pick out fabric and get measured for his trial shirt. Tomorrow we shall see...

Hoi An Clothes

This weekend my Mom, Cameron, Taylor, and I and we were flagged down by a woman in Hoi An. She asked if we wanted clothes made and we said yes. So she took us to her shop in an old warehouse, there were many other clothing shops too. Once  inside we came to a small shop, it was not a very spacious shop either but it had a lot of fabric. She went right to work taking our measurements and we started ordering clothes like money grew off of trees.

The Finishing Touches on my Sportcoat

Once we finished, we went outside and another lady wanted to make us shoes and we said ok.  So she took my mom and my foot measurements. My mom had a pair cheetah flats and a tall brown boot made for her, Taylor a pair of leather sandals and I had a pair of flip-flops made. Across from the shoe shop there was a gift shop with unique gifts so we wanted to buy some stuff but it was crazy expensive. So my mom and I negoiated the price down a lot. So she packaged up the balancing dragon flies, spices and black pepper, coconut spatulas, and coconut bowls for us to take home.

Measuring for Taylor's Sandals

The next day we came back to town to pick up our clothes and shoes. When we got there neither of them were finished. So we went to two other stores which were recommended by some workers at our hotel. My brothers and I got pajamas and lounge pants and my mom had a skirt made all for a reasonable price. 

Perfect Fit

The next day we went back into town and picked up our clothes but my Moms tops were not done, and today as we speak my mom is checking on her clothes one more time.              

The Only Thing That's Fun is Swimming

Since our trip to Vietnam, pretty much all we have been doing is having so many clothes made it's the equivilent of going to Old Navy three times a day.  Mom had to go to the ATM three times in one day because she is spending tons of money. We keep meeting workers at the hotel who tell us to go to "my sister's shop" or "go to my wife's shop." The only good thing about all this are my two pairs of red and blue satin pajamas that I had made .

So Handsome

Right next to one of the shops, there is a street vendor and she sells goodies.Taylor and I always get a donut. Ryan gets a meaty treat and my Mom gets the coconut bun or fried banana cake.

I have also gotten better at swimming because our hotel is a beach resort with a swimming pool that is 150 meters or 500 feet in length. It is supper dupper long, I mean, it would take Michael Phelps an hour to go to the end and back. I know that's an exaggeration but that is what it feels like to me. I would only take a half an hour so I guess Michael Phelps could do it in less than a minute. Swimming is so fun!!

My Brothers and I in the Pool

YeeHaw!

The breakfast at the hotel is awesome. There are sugar donuts and cinnamon sugar donuts, bacon, sausage, waffles, pancakes, eggs, yogurt, fruit, toast, buns, and any thing you could imagine. I get stuffed. It is really yummy.

Hanoi

In Hong Kong the boys and I said goodbye to Robert. He returned to Anchorage for business and we went to Vietnam for some R&R.That may sound funny to you since our adventure may be viewed as a 10 month vacation however, sightseeing, exploring, jet lag, packing and unpacking can take it's toll.

We spent one day in Hanoi before flying down to Hoi An, a quaint coastal fishing town. The taxi dropped us off in the middle of a busy intersection and pointed down an alley to say that is where we would find our hotel. We were all a bit unsure but with the information I had it seemed right. As we turned the corner we spotted the sign for our Splendid Star Hotel and the bellman standing out front waving us over. Yeah, we found it!

We checked in, settled in, ventured out for dinner, then woke the next morning to a delicious breakfast and headed out for five hours of exploring. Hoa Lo Prison aka "Hanoi Hilton" was high on our list so we started there. Two rickshaw-bike taxis took the four of us on an hour long sightseeing trip around Hanoi then dropped us off at the prison.

Oustide the Prison

The prison was built by the French in 1896, when they occupied Vietnam, to house political prisoners. Then Vietnam took it over in 1954 and also used it to house POWs. From 1964 - 73 it was nicked named the Hanoi Hilton by the U.S. POWs that were detained there. The first part of the self-guided tour told of how horrible the conditions were for the Vietnamese prisoners under French occupation. The later part of the self-guided tour told of how wonderful the Vietnamese treated the American POWs and nothing of the torture or solitary confinement that took place. It was sad to see the propaganda put forth by the Vietnamese but then again as I asked the boys "would you expect any different?"



Propaganda



From the prison we headed to the lake, Ho Hoan Kiem, in the center of town  for a leisurely constitutional,  lunch then to the airport for our flight to Hoi An.



On the Bridge



The Japanese Bridge over the Lake



Local Street Vendor

Cute Vietnamese Boy



My Hong Kong

On top of Victoria Peak

At the beginning of our journey I would have thought that all the adventure, experiences and new discoveries would keep any longing for home at bay. Much to my surprise it has not. There are times I find myself craving something familiar, normal or as they say in Asia "Western".

So when our plane landed in Hong Kong from Mongolia I was excited to see Starbucks, Burger King and other "Western" looking retailers. I found humor in my excitement because back home I don't frequent Starbucks (Kaladi Bros. for me) or Burger King, I try to avoid them.
My emotions of excitement and gladness also surprised me when we passed several streets lined with high-end name brand retailers such as Coach, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Tiffany. Brands I don't shop or possess but yet they made me feel right at home, almost giddy in fact because if I didn't know any better I could be in NYC, Chicago, SFO or LA, USA - HOME.

Shopping Galore

English, everyone speaks very good English too. I didn't have to talk slow, make hand gestures, or draw pictures to be understood. They speak-a-my language! Oh and polite, everyone in Hong Kong was so polite. We figured it was the British influence of the past 100 years. Then we speculated what Hong Kong would be like in another 50 years now that China owns them. That was a fun conversation.

Don't get me wrong though, there are also plenty of places in Hong Kong that scream Asia. We wandered down a few of those streets for the experience. Each street or area of town is know for selling specific items. So if you desire to purchase colorful fish or any size for your fish tank you go to the Goldfish Market, which you can smell a mile away. If you desire to buy a new song bird you head to the Bird Garden Market that you can hear a mile away. How about fresh cut flowers? You guessed it, head to the flower market. That was a beautiful, wonderful smelling treat for the senses. If you crave shark fin soup and have a good recipe from Martha Stewart's Asian Edition you can buy shark fin along with other weird dried seafood items in the Seafood District.

Assortment of Dried Seafood

And that's not all there are also streets dedicated to selling fruits and veggies, ginseng, rice, spices and the clothing mentioned above. The whole concept of "one stop shopping" is foreign to them.

A Multitude of Spices

During another fun conversation Taylor shared he preferred the "one stop shopping" we do at home. I told him that I preferred the district style shopping Hong Kong had to offer. Then we both agreed that in Anchorage for many reasons that style of shopping would be difficult.

So here's to Hong Kong, a city with the perfect mix of East and West.

On a Crowded City Bus

Oceans Park

My favorite thing in Hong Kong was Ocean Park. Ocean Park is a theme park on the back side of Victoria peak next to the ocean.

The Dragon

Ocean Park was my favorite because of the rides and pandas. They had regular pandas and red pandas also known as fire fox pandas. The red pandas are a cross between bears and racoons. Pandas are one of my favorite animals.

My favorite two rides were the Eagle and the Dragon. The Eagle was the best. I rode on it four times in a row! There was a tall pole with four beams sticking out of the top. Each beam had six eagle heads on it. You sat in the eagle and the whole ride ride lifted up in the air and then spun around. At the same time the six eagle heads spun around a different direction. My mom could only handle going on it one time.

Ocean Park was awesome!

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Skyline from Victoria Peak

Hong Kong is one of my favorite cities so far. Hong Kong consists of the New Territories, Kowloon, Hong Kong Island, Lantau Island, and the outlying islands. The center of Hong Kong is on the north side of Hong Kong Island where there five major districts: the Mid-Levels, Central, Admiralty, North Point, and Shaung wan.  In 1997 the British gave Hong Kong to the Chinese, and then the Chinese gave Hong Kong a period of time to govern its self until around 2050 when Hong Kong goes back to China.

My favorite part of Hong Kong is the Mid-levels. The Mid-levels consist of high-end apartments, a huge botanical garden with animals in it too, six blocks of great dining and an escalator system that goes for 2600 feet up the mountain!!! I liked this area so much because the atmosphere was very relaxing and hip.

My Brothers Riding the Escalator

Another day we went to Oceans Park, an amusement park combined with animal exhibits. There was a ride called the Dragon that did three loops and went super fast. That ride is my second favorite after the Millennium Force which at Cedar Point in Ohio.

Crowded Street at Night

Overall I thought Hong Kong was really cool. One thing that everyone said that would be amazing was a laser show that lit up the Hong Kong skyline, but when we watched it I thought it was sucky. There were only three lasers, a few buildings that lit up, and music that was synced to the lights. In the pictures it showed fireworks and fifty different lasers and the whole city lit up. Eventhough that was lame, I still loved Hong Kong.

The Ger Night

We arrived at our hotel deep into Gorkhi-Terelj National Park famished as it was now three o'clock. I could have eaten an ox. Oh wait I actually did - Ox tongue that is. Our guide ordered a few traditional Mongolian dishes to share and one happened to be ox tongue. It looked like thinly sliced roast beef and it didn't tast all that different either other than the additional slight game taste. It was decent enough for one slice, ok two, if you insist but that is my ox tongue threshold. No matter how much I cajoled, coaxed and bribed, Ryan and Cameron wanted nothing to do with the tongue.

Upon finishing lunch the three of us ventured out on horseback, with a guide, to see more of the national park. I have not been on a horse since high school some twenty odd years ago and it was the boys first time. They were so excited!

I forgot how hard the horse's trot is on your body. We were only half way into our hour ride and my insides already felt like they had been shaken to a pulp. Ryan's thighs and butt were sore and Cameron was as happy as a cowboy riding free. Guess that makes Cameron a natural.

We were giggling and laughing with glee almost the entire ride. And when we returned the boys asked to go again for a longer ride. With the sun setting and darkness upon us I arranged for them to go for another ride in the morning. It was such a gift for me to experience this with my boys.

Our guide was waiting for us upon our return to discuss our room options. Do we want one room or two, what sizes of beds do we prefer, etc? I noticed a half dozen gers outside on the hotel property and asked if they were available. Our guide looked at me like I was crazy. You see, a ger is the dwelling of the nomadic Mongolians. They set it up and take it down no matter where they roam and they are still used today. It's a large circular tent of sorts, made with a wooden frame wrapped in two or three layers of camel/yak wool blankets, covered with white canvas, complete with a wood fired stove and six beds inside.

This is not our ger but a photo from the web. Mine did not turn out. :-(

I asked again if the gers were available. Yes, if you really want. Yes, we really do. Heck, when's the next time we will be back here, gotta do it like the locals do, right? Our guide arranged to have hotel staff stoke the fire for us at midnight, two and five o'clock in the morning to ensure we are toasty warm. I couldn't figure out if personally stoking the fire was the norm or just for us, the three crazy American tourists. It was winter and the place was dead - summer is busy or so I'm told. I only saw one couple besides us staying at the hotel but we were the ONLY ones crazy enough to sleep in a ger! I know it was the Alaskan adventure spirit rearing up in me and the boys.

We loved our modest yet very functional accommodations. Ryan took the job of keeping the fire roaring and he did a mighty fine job at that. Cameron took the job of befriending the little dog that followed him around. He named him Fluffy Puff and wanted to invite him into the ger. After much begging, by Cameron not Fluffy Puff, I obliged. Cameron even wrapped up some scraps from dinner and fed them to Fluffy Puff. I loved that we were sort of camping in the middle of a Mongolian national park and everyone was happy.

Happy until Ryan's bowels began working against him making him run to the bathroom every few hours. Can't even blame it on the ox tongue. The problem was that the bathroom was located in the hotel building and that meant putting on shoes and coat and walking in the dark quickly. Ryan recoginzed right away that staying the entire night in the ger would not work in his condition. I agreed and asked the gal at reception if we could move to a room inside. Our request was granted and after spending 5 hours in the ger we spent the rest of the night in the hotel. We were all sad but realized it was the right thing to do.

Chinggis Khaan

Like I mentioned in another post, Robert and Taylor's adventure consisted of being flown to tour the thrid largest mine (copper and gold) for two days and one night. Since Cameron was too young to attend the official mine tour, we were being treated to our very own adventure, an overnight in Gorkhi-Terelj National Park complete with horseback riding and a night in a traditional Ger (will explain later).
On the way out of town we stopped to see Chinggis Khaan. This newly built monument of the great Mongolian ruler glistened in the sunlight upon approach. It's the largest stainless steel statue of its kind in the world. He and his horse stand 131 feet tall upon a beautifully designed building complete with marble, granite, chandeliers and a grand staricase plus, a larger than life replica of a traditional Mongolian boot.

We walked out on the horses mane to enjoy the panoramic view of the landscape and turned around to find Chinggis staring right at us.

When construction of the whole complex is finished visitors will be able to rent traditional gers and have a family holiday complete with a golfing, spa treatments and a variety of outdoor activities.

I read in brochure given to me that the developers hope this monument becomes to Mongolia what the Statue of Liberty is to the United States, the Eiffel Tower is to France, The Great Wall for the Chinese, etc, you get the idea.

A little further down the road our guide informes us that we will be stopping so we can enjoy a ride on a camel. A camel?!? I thought we were horseback riding. The camel was a fun add on our hosts thought we would enjoy. All I have to say is that camels are the funniest creatures I have seen to date. Seated between the two humps Ryan and Cameron enjoyed their first camel ride. My turn was next. Since there were two camels Ryan asked if he could ride again with me. His camel made quite a stink about going again so soon upon returning from an exhausting, long 10 minute journey. Everytime the owner would pull the reigns or smack his rear, he would let out a terrible moan that was easily interpreted as "Nooooooo". After three minutes of defiance, yes three minutes, he finally obeyed, got up and took Ryan for another ride. We all got a good laugh out of that escapade and our camel rides.

Welcome to Mongolia

Chinggis Khaan Welcomes the Sheldon Family

Arriving in Mongolia after three and a half weeks in China was liberating. We departed the airplane and easily walked through customs, no additional papers required, no body temperature sensor to walk through, no digital camera for which to pose, and it felt good. A free country!! My email and Facebook have been restored. I have contact with the rest of the world again. I guess the old addage "You don't know what you've got until it's gone" is really true.

The light dusting of snow on the mountains that suround Ulaanbaator reminded us all of home. Who knew that something as simple as snow dusted mountains could make my heart ache for home.

View from our hotel room

Since Robert was in Ulaanbaator as a guest of Ivanhoe Mines we had a nice young guide meet us at the airport and drive us to the hotel. Sana an 27 year old, umpteenth generation, Mongolian who within minutes was making wise cracks that at first went right past me until I wisened up. Sarcastic humor is usually non-existent with language barriers but Sana had it mastered.

We were estatic to hear that we had two down days in Ulaanbattor before Robert, Taylor and Ryan headed to the mine and Cameron and I set off on our own adventure. Two down days, what gift, since we were still recovering from our tortureous Tibetan trip.

Let me back up to Beijing to set the context for Mongolian Cashmere. In Beijing, at the fammed Silk Market, there was cashmere from Mongolia everywhere. I tried to walk away from buying because I wanted to say that I really "bought mine in Mongolia", not Beijing. However, everytime I said no the sales gal lowered the price. I walked out with a nice navy blue wrap cashmere sweater for $30.00! Feeling really proud of my bargaining tactics I told myself that if cashmere was this easy to come by in Beijing at such a steal it would FOR SURE be the same if not better in Mongolia.

NOT SO my friend, not so. Mongolia is really, really, proud of their cashmere! The dollar was not that weak against the Mongolian Tughrik either. As I told my sister-in-law on a recent phone call "Shannon, I could buy better looking cashmere for less at JCrew." Not only was it overpriced in my opinion, the styles were out of date and nothing special. If only I could go back to Beijing and buy more $30 cashmere sweaters.

Once I got over my pout I decided to embrace Mongolia and learn about the country's history at the museum. Chinggis Khaan is their biggest historical icon and is revered today as if he was still rulling the Mongol Empire he conquored so long ago. It is quite facinating to think that no one ever to date has conqured lands, united people, and rulled an empire as large as his at the age of 27.

My favorite part though was learning about Mongolia in the 1900's till present with it's slip into Communism and its entrance into freedom and democracy. I am always amazed at how people think Communism could be good. Then I asked a question to my family over dinner at a great Mongolian BBQ restaurant, by the way. "Do you think the Mongols knew what was coming when they asked the Bolsheviks for help in overthrowing the Chinese who occupied Mongolia at the time?" Do you think they would have still aked for help if they knew they would become the second Communist country? As a family friend likes to say "Communism is a good idea, it just doesn't work." Guess the Mongols thought it was a good idea too and later found that it doesn't work the way it's idealized.

You know a museum does a good job of teaching history when all three boys, upon leaving, announce unsolicited, "that place was really cool."

Horseback riding in Mongolia

Mom and I on our horses

This week my mom, brother Cameron, and I went horse back riding in Mongolia. My dad and brother Taylor went to three mines which were gold, cooper, and coal mines. When we got to the horse station, we immediatly got on the horses. We rode brown, tan, and gray horsees, my horse was brown. We started to go up the hill and then got to a small ridge it was a very beautiful site but all things can't last forever so we went to ther other side of the hill. Once over the hill my brother had to go to the bathroom so he went in the beautiful snow and ruined it with yellow liquid. After he finnished we went through a small town and came right back to the spot where we started. I was realived to get of beacuse my thighs hurt so much from bouncing on the horse.

I had a very fun time. So much fun that Cameron and I rode again the next morning. 

Everest

Mt. Everest

Our whirlwind trip to Tibet continued the next day with our trip to Mt. Everest. Planning a whirlwind trip to a city12,000 feet in elevation for sea level dwellers is not smart. We all spent the night suffering through variying degress of altitued sickness; pounding headache, nausea, dizziness. Fortunately our hotel had herbal remedies and cans of oxygen in the mini-bar. The rule on mini-bar items is NO consumption. In this case we didn't care how overpriced these remedies were, WE NEEDED OXYGEN!

The drive to Everest basecamp took us over five mountain passes that started at 13,000 feet and peaked at 18,000 feet! At each summit the van would stop for us to use the "facilities", look at the local souvineer stands, take silly photos on yaks and buy some beverages. All I could stand was about 5 minutes before I began sick again. I felt decent if I was quiet and still. Plus, a few naps helped pass the time too.

The Road

Silly Yak Photo

As we drove through several villages we saw people threshing wheat, hearding sheep which at times would stop traffic, letting cattle graze and my favorite - afixing "cow pies" to the side of their brick fences or brick houses to dry. When properly dried the "pies" are pulled and used for heating fuel in the middle of winter. Wonder what that smells like. Hmmmmm...

Vehicles must yield to passing sheep

Threshing Wheat

We made it to our hotel/motel at 9:00pm after driving 12 hours! I was impressed with the accommodations out in the middle of Tibet. Bummer we didn't notice the heater above the door, operated by remote control, until the morning. We all slept in our long underwear, clothes, Mountain Hardware Compressor coats, hats and wool socks. No problem for a famliy from Alaska right? Not so, I was fffrrrreeeezzzziiinnggg. The altitude sickness that I was experiencing again had to be a contributing factor. Not sure about the science behind that one but my deductive reasoning says so.

As I was in bed trying desperatly to get and stay warm, Robert was up with Cameron who was vomiting most of the night. Around 2:30am Taylor came knocking on our door nauseous from a pounding headache. A couple of Advil, special Tibetan herbal medicing and a few good hits on the oxygen bottle helped Taylor fall asleep. It was a rough night! We were all questioning if seeing Mt. Everest was worth the torture.

We woke to a beautiful, crisp, crystal clear day. One more moutian pass an hour away and we would see the summit! Mt. Everest is much like Mt. McKinley/Denali back home in that you are considered "lucky" if you actually get to see the peak due to weather patterns obscuring the view most of the time.

We were indeed "lucky". We pulled to the top of the summit to see the entire range - five peaks above 8000 meters or 26,000 feet - not a cloud in the sky, 100% visible!! It was spectacular! T3here were mountains everywere, peak after peak after peak as far as the eye could see. You really felt like you were on the "roof of the world".

Now we had a decision to make. Do we continue on the basecamp to say we stood there or head back to Lhasa? Since you cannot actually see the summit from basecamp, and we were still feeling a bit lousy and we just had a "lucky day" view of Everest we decided to head back. It was unanimous!

Now I can say I have been to Tibet and seen Mt. Everest. However, at the risk of sounding like a spoilsport I think the view of Denali on a crystal clear, not a cloud in the sky day is hands down, without a doubt more impressive! Plus, you don't have to endure needless suffering.

Lhasa, Tibet

Welcome to Tibet - The Roof of the World

Our guide, a lifelong Tibetan of 33 years, and driver welcomed us warmly upon our arrival. On the drive to our hotel in Old Lhasa he gave us a brief historical overview but was excerising much reserve. This sparked my curiosity and I began asking deeper questions to which he responded with a face full of distain "My lips are sealed, the Chinese government won't let me answer those questions."

20 minutes into our drive the van stopped at a checkpoint looking building. I asked what we were doing. Our guide informed us, again with a look of distain, that the Chinese government imposes speed checks. You are timed from one checkpoint to another to ensure you are not speeding. If you arrive too early (speeding) the driver is fined a heafty sum. WHAT! That's crazy to me. The Chinese were not doing this in their own country, why here? One word, oppression.

Tibet or TAR - Tibet Atonomous Region - is controlled by China with an iron fist. China took Tibet with force in 1951. You can check out Robert's writings at www.acminc.com for the story or do a little historical research yourself like we made the boys do.

We figured we would check into the hotel, have lunch and then tour the Potala Palace. Not so, our guide told us our tour was scheduled for 11:00am and since our plane was a half hour late he called to see if we could push the tour time back until Noon. Tour? I asked. He explained the government schedules visits in one hour intervals to ensure not too many people come through the palace on any given day. Our reservation was changed to Noon and we had exactly ONE HOUR to tour the entire palace. Our papers were stamped at 12:58 - two minutes to spare!

Potala Palace

Next, our guide took us to Jokhang Temple on the Bakhor Street Town Square, the center of Buddist worship in Tibet and filled with hundreds of Buddist worshipers. It was like nothing I have ever seen before.

Each worshiper has a three inch thick mat to lay on the ground. Start standing up. Palms clasped in prayer by face. On their palms is what looked to me like paper french fry baskets that all fast food places use. Palms clasped in prayer move to hear center. Down to the ground on all fours, slide hands out in front (french fry baskets are necessary for sliding). Prostrate on mat on the ground. Stand up to begin again. Over and over and over people did this for hours.

Worshipers also prayed in this fashion making a pilgramage all the way around the temple on Bakhor Street. Faces, clothes, hands all dirty from sliding on the filthy ground. One young girl caught my attention. She was strikingly beautiful through her filthy face. The look on her face was sadness, dispair, desperation, pleading. I stood and watched her go by praying to Buddah. I was struck with my own sadness for her.

We continued to wander the streets around the temple. There were vendors selling all things necessary for proper Budist worship, others selling clothing, sunglasses, souvineers and food.I was so intrigued by the sights and sounds that for the first time in my life I can honestly say that people watching trumped shopping. Surprising I know but true.

Tiger Leaping Gorge Day 2

The 7:30am alarm came all too early. I woke up a little stiff from trekking 12 miles and sleeping on a rock hard bed but ready to begin the day. Breakfast was served at 8:00am and we were out the door by 9:00am.

The sky was a bit overcast and a light drizzle was falling. Robert's forecast was for the rain to stop when the sun warmed things up and caused the dew point to rise. Do I even have to tell you he was right!

On the patio of our hostel, ready to go.

The Plan - hike down 1.5 miles to the bottom of the Middle Gorge and get as close as possible to the "angry tiger river." Up, via ladder climbing, then walk 16 miles out of the gorge, through two small villages to the Yangtze River Ferry and drive 2 hours back to Lijiang.

Tiger Leaping Gorge of the Yangtze River

At the bottom

The hike down through a steep bamboo forest was aided by holding on to chains and cable. At the bottom a 5 Yuan ($0.75) toll was charged to climb on the rock that jets over the raging river, the one from which the legendary tiger jumped. The huge volume of water that was being squeezed through such a narrow valley caused water to spray the rock which made things slippery. Robert was a little too excited and had a decent fall but everyone else made is scratch free.

Angry Tiger River

After a half an hour of watching we headed to the Sky Ladder to get out of the gorge. The ladder, built by the local landowners, was completely vertical and hung between two rock faces on the mountain wall. We had two to climb. The first one had at least 50 rungs and the second about 20. It was crazy, scary, and required 110% focus and concentration so Robert risked his life for a few photos. We all speculated that if this had been in the U.S.A. we would have had to sign a liability release form, wear helmets, climbing harness, ropes, carabiners, have three guides, compete a training course plus a multitude of other features to ensure our safety and diminish the company's liability. 

Sky Ladder

     

                                        We made it to the top and out of the gorge!

At the top and ready for lunch

The 16 mile trek out was long but enjoyable. The boys showed our guide the thrill of "doney rolling." For those of you who have not hiked with the Sheldon boys I'll explain. This game is played by rolling large, round, donut shaped rocks down the steep hill to the river below. The person who's rock makes it the farthest is the winner. There is always tons of laughs, shrieks, and thrills as you watch rocks roll, fly, bounce and split their way down.

Since were lallygagging once again, taking our time, it was looking like we would miss the last ferry across the river at 5:00pm since we still had a ways to go. Our guide reassured us that we would get across the river no matter what. We walked through the last village at 5:50pm. OOPS!!


The Last Village

Our guide's confidence led him to ask a local family for the cell phone number of the ferry captain and sweet talk him into taking us across the Yangtze River. Yes, people in this remote Chinese village who still farm by oxen pulling a plow use cell phones!


Almost There

The Captain and his First Mate agreed and arrived 15 minutes later on horseback. They offered to let the boys ride the horses down the steep switchback hill to the river. Cameron and Taylor were the first to hop on then Taylor gave Ryan a chance to ride the rest of the way down. The boys were grinning from ear to ear as the horses did the work for them.

We made it to the bottom with barely enough daylight left for the Captain to see to pull start the diesel engine and the First Mate to get us safely loaded on deck. As we crossed the river the sun set and they left us in darkness to climb up the other side. The reward was watching gazillions of stars sparkling in the night sky.

Our Tiger Leaping Gorge is one adventure that will be etched in our memories for a long time.