Unearthing Ancient China in Xi'an

With only two weeks remaining of our stay in China, Jerel and I visited Xi'an, China's (first) ancient capital, and the nearby Terracotta Warriors (8th Wonder of the World?). On Saturday, we toured Xi'an itself, ambling around the well-preserved city wall. While the excursion provided ample exercise and fresh air, the sights were...underwhelming. The best word to describe the landscape is "grey" - block after block of dusty, grey concrete streets and buildings.

In contrast, the city's Muslim quarter, with its lively alleys was a welcome pocket of colour. Sporting traditional headgear and in some cases, long beards, the Muslim Chinese sell everything from live sheep, to animal pelts, to animal carcasses. More appealing (to me) were the many stalls offering interesting nuts, spices and pastries.

The highlight of the weekend was Sunday's visit to the Terracotta Warriors. Approximately 2200 years ago, China's 13-year-old emperor Qin envisioned a large army protecting his tomb. He is reported to have employed 700,000 men over more than 30 years to build this army of clay, complete with life-size soliders and accompanying horses, chariots, and weapons. The exhibit consisted of three excavated pits, containing hundreds to thousands of terracotta warrior figures, some well restored and many others still buried and broken, resembling poor humpty-dumpty.

The vast collection of unique, life-like warriors provided a vivid illustration of of the dozens of ethnic minorities united under the Chinese empire. The early advances of the Chinese civilization evident in the sculptures and weapons were clearly a source of pride for our enthusiastic local guide and our many fellow (Chinese) tourists.

For more photos of our weekend in Xi'an click here.

Jungle Trekking in Chiang Mai

Maria and I followed up our beach days with a short trip to Chiang Mai (northern Thailand), where, unlike Phuket, the locals outnumber the tourists. We signed up immediately for a ‘jungle trek’, which promised visits to several hill tribes, elephant riding, bamboo rafting, white water rafting, and more... all in a mere 2 days. Day one began with a few inevitable tourist stops (butterfly farm, orchid farm), ended with campfire games in a remote jungle village, and epic hiking in between. Our group included four pre-army Israelis, two spirited young ladies - Sylvia (Dutch) and Mariana (Mexican) - and an exceedingly spry tour guide. Not long into our hike, it became clear where the ‘hill tribes’ got their name – I don’t think there was a single flat stretch all afternoon! The four Israelis in our ‘platoon’ breezed up the hills with their huge packs while Maria, Sylvia, Mariana and I, struggled to keep up the pace. Our guide did indulge us in the odd break, including a stop for fresh papaya right off the tree- deeelicous!

We were all a tad disappointed upon reaching the ‘village’ at sunset. We had been hoping to dine and carouse with the long-neck tribe, but it seems we had bad timing as the long-necks had taken a day off on account of a new baby. Hmmm….Interestingly, the 'abandoned' camp accommodated our group quite nicely. For dinner, we were served an attempt at curry and pickled vegetables, along with an apology that there were no spices (not even salt)…it’s a good thing we were all starving! Maria and I shared a cabin with Sylvia and Mariana, complete with paper-thin ‘mattresses’, old, smelly blankets, and a few ant farms on the dirt floor. Needless to say, we were all relieved when a diligent rooster signaled the end of a long night.

Day two was considerably more fun for us non-masochists. After a 'short' (two hour) hike, we reached the elephant camp, where the rest of the afternoon’s activities were based. We quickly went through the checklist of tour highlights - elephant riding, visiting the long-necks (follow the road sign and look for scarf stalls!), bamboo rafting, white-water rafting, and bathing in a waterfall (a natural waterslide which I don’t recommend trying if you value the skin on your tailbone!). We wrapped up our adventure with a painfully long and bumpy ride in the back of a truck back to town. Now that it's over, we're glad we signed up!

On our last day in Chiang Mai, we finally visited a handful of Thailand’s countless wats (temples), where we mingled with the monks, then spent the afternoon spoiling ourselves at the spa. At long last, we headed back to Shanghai via Bangkok. We were short on time so didn't get to see the heart of the city, although we did have a memorable walk at the park where we fed fish and turtles with a kind family that shared their fish food (bread). Apparently we timed our trip well as the airport was closed amidst political protests just a few days after our return!

For more photos from Thailand click here.

Sand, Sun, Surf and Scuba in Phuket

Maria and I are both ocean buffs so Phuket was a great fit for a vacation for the two of us. Our four days were spent entirely at the beach or on a boat (with the exception of time spent on essential activities -sleeping, eating, and getting massages). Life's rough, I know!

Maria joined the growing scuba diving contingent of the family and completed her her certification in the warm waters of Phuket (apparently much more pleasant than Vancouver's freezing, murky waters). We spent our first diving day at scenic 'Bungalow Bay', and on the second, explored a coral reef, a passenger ferry wreck and 'Shark Point' (no luck, depending on how you look at it!).

A memorable episode from our beach days is our swim to a tiny rugged island that beckoned us from the beach. Upon reaching the island, we marveled at the many creepy crawly creatures inhabiting the rocks, then embarked on a mission to find fresh fruit, hoping for a papaya or mango. Alas, all we could find were coconuts, which, despite our best efforts, stubbornly refused to share their juices. We eventually gave up and swam back, arriving tired and hungry and just a touch sun-kissed (sorry, Mom!) but exhilerated from the adventure.