Today we decided to explore one of the nearby watertowns - often described at the Venice of the west. Not just this one, but any of the numerous watertowns that you are able to visit are described the same way. We chose to go to Zhujiajiao because it's the closest one to where we are staying, and it also supposed to be one of the more authentic ones. It was a beautiful little town with lots of traditional things going on. When we entered the garden section we were totally shocked and amazed to see a group of students and teachers from Coomera Anglican College - including my former Head of Primary Graham Kirkpatrick and Alison Robinson who I shared a staff room with. There were also some of my former students there, one that I taught when she was in grades 4, 7, and 8, and is now in grade 11! We were reading last week in their weekely newlsletter that they were heading to China for their annual student trip, but never in my life did I think we would actually 'run' into them. It was really great to see them all and to catch up on things back in Australia. Jenene and I were both quite stunned for the rest of the day and couldn't believe what had actually happened. It was a really great twist to the day's adventures.
Part of the fun of travelling as real grown ups is that now we travel with more money than we did when we started this 10 years ago. This means that now we don't have to find the cheapest way to get around the city we are visiting, we can take taxis - and in China the taxis are quite cheap so it is a good way to get around. Of course old habits are hard to break, so we always try to use the local public transport at least once during each trip - tomorrow will be our subway and bus day.
An added bonus of taking a taxi in Shanghai is that you get to experience the thrill ride of your life. Our first trip into the city saw us flying down the motorway at breakneck speed using the other cars as markers as we swerved in and out of them. If we closed our eyes we could have believed that we were passengers in an F1 race car. However, with eyes open and seeing the delapidated state of the taxi, it felt more like we were in a getaway car after just having robbed a bank! Each bump that we hit saw the glove box jar open and come crashing into my knee - this was a blessing in disguise as I could use the hits in the knee to mask my muffled screams, hiding the fact that I was actually letting out 'rollercoaster' screams due to the erratic driving and the many near misses that I was confronted with.
Most times we compete with each other to see who will sit in the front, ride shotgun. Here however, even though Jenene gets motion sickness if she rides in the back, she is the first one in the back seat. I guess a little nausea is better than the night terrors I have been experiencing after riding up front with these wanna be Michael Schumachers. Serenity now!
I know it has now been some time since my last post and this one is getting a bit ahead of myself, but I though I would go ahead anyway. I know I still need to finish writing about our Cambodian adventure, and since then I have also spent 3 weeks traveling the US and Canada. Right now though we are in Shanghai so that's where I'll start.
Yesterday was out first full day in Shanghai after arriving Saturday afternoon. The weather forecast has predicted rain all day Sunday so we were prepared to chill out indoors all day and start our sight seeing Monday. The weather cleared up though so we got straight into it.
We took a taxi to Nanjing Dong Lu (Lu is Mandarin for Road) which is a pedestrian shopping street that links the People's Square to the river and the Bund. We started at the river and made our way through the building crowd. Nanjing Lu itself is a very westernised shopping area with major brand name shops and a range of cafe and snack style eateries. People's Sqaure is a mancured parkland with winding paths - it is very relaxing to stroll through, despite the crowds, and is a great place to take a short break from the madness of this crazy city.
After taking in the Square we made a spare of the moment decision to go check out Yu Yuan Garden Bazaar - we had read in the guide books that Sunday afternoon was not the best time to visit here due to the extreme crowds, but being seasoned traveller we thought we could handle it. We were wrong! Our trip through the bazaar was directed by the flow of the river of people that we somehow joined. One minute we were carefully making our way through the crowd, and the next we were shoulder to shoulder being moved through narrow alleys with no option to go in any other direction. We passed many nice looking shops that we simply couldn't get to without causing a major pedestrian pile up that would have resulted in a tangled mess of arms and legs, a mess that would have taken many hours to sort out. So we floated through the bazaar on our wave fellow human beings and were quite relieved to make it out the other side with everything still in tact. Lesson learned - if there is a consistent message in two or more guide books.....take heed!
Our second day in Siem Reap was spent on a boat exploring one of the floating villages on the Tonle Sap (Tone lay sup). We started our journey with a 25 minute tuk-tuk ride through rural villages to get to our boat.
For $40 we had our own boat, driver, and English speaking guide.This meant that we got to ask lots of questions about Cambodia and what everyday life is like for its people.Our guide told us he makes $50 a month!This may not be 100% true, but in all actuality it could well be very accurate.This was a mind blowing piece of information.It also meant that both Harper and Promise both got to drive the boat at various stages of our journey.
The Tonle Sap is a huge inland lake that if fed by the mighty MekongRiver.As a result, its height fluctuates quite dramatically two times per year. In the wet season the Mekong pours into the Tonle Sap filling it to capacity. During the dry season, the edge of the lake retracts by 6-8 km. This means that the floating house move this distance with the changing shape of the lake.
It was amazing to see how these people live – how they get their food from floating markets, the floating school, and the big pontoons with pool tables on them! Our guide took us to a local (floating) shop so we could buy some note books and pencils to give out to the kids at the local school. This was a great opportunity and Harper and Promise really got into the giving spirit and loved being part of the class for a short time.This place certainly gives new meaning to ‘waterfront homes’!
The only mode of transport
Promise keeping us on the straight and narrow
The local 711
School on the lake
The school's parking lot
The hood
Doing the groceries
Entering the village from the lake side
Morning shower - she dived into the water to rinse off the shampoo
After seeing the temples of Angkor Wat on Discovery channel a few years ago I decided that this was definitely one place I had to visit. Understandably it was with great excitement that we awoke on our first day in Cambodia to explore these man made marvels. Our driver was at the hotel to meet us at 8:30am and we were off for a big day of temple exploration. We spent a very busy day exploring and the kids were stuffed by about 2pm, so we headed back to the hotel so they could have a swim and a rest – after all, we had 2 more days to revel in our ancient surrounds. We spent the next day visiting a floating village (another blog post coming soon) before returning to the temples to do some more exploring.This was a truly awesome experience and one that I will never forget.
The overgrown ruins of Ta Prohm
The spot made famous by "Tomb Raider"
The kids do some adventuring
The balloons were a big hit with the local kids
Jenene and Promise returning from a quick run to the loo
The faces of Bayan
Entering the Bayan through the south gate
Harper showing the magnitude of Angkor Wat
Jenene and the kids with Angkor Wat in the background
Doin' a little reading waiting for another flight
Our little comrades - 1st National Congress of the CPC
Looks tasty doesn't it?
Zhujiajiao Water Town Local
Hangin' out in Zhujiajiao
Cruisin' the waterways
Catching up with the folks from CAC at Zhujiajiao
The frogs looked tasty - but I just couldn't do it
Picturesque Zhujiajiao
The little Red Book
Dong Tai Lu Market
Dong Tai Lu Local
Enjoying some watermelon
Yu'an Garden Bazaar - one of the most crowded places we've ever been
