190 Days Already?

So, my postings have been fewer and further between these past few days because the Chinese government has a problem with my blog and keeps me from getting my words out there for all the world to see. But on my last morning in China I won't be kept down!
I spent the last week in Xian seeing the Terracotta Warriors and the pandas and just generally enjoying the city, with its bell tower and drum tower and city walls that just ask to be run.
After the worst train ride ever sitting in hard seats overnight for twelve hours with a third of the Chinese population in my compartment - I returned to Beijing for a little more Chinese KTV (karaoke) and I'm off for the airport at noon.
Six months have flown past and I'm amazed to be done. Some friends I've been traveling with for the past month are headed to Hanoi and I really wish I was starting over with them.
However, I will return to Aspen to teach 5th grade at Aspen Middle School - and that should be an exciting new adventure. Teaching that doesn't involve gansta rap and the ghetto!

Beijing

Highlights of China thus far:
Tianamen Square and the 4:57 am flag raising
Having my photo taken by LOTS of Asian people
Peering over Mao's picture at a sea of black heads
Touring gorgeous temple architecture being spruced up for the Olympics
Climbing the steps of the Forbidden City
Being driven around the park pond on a motor boat
Eating dumplings at the night market...
While others ate skewered testicles and starfish
Cheering on the 309 day 21 hour and 59 minute countdown marker for the Olympics
Loving the Chinese hospitality and friendly faces!

The Ger Camp

Driving down the bumpiest paved road in the world, with dust flying up behind the van we headed up the Mongolian "tourist" valley to our Ger Camp. Upon arrival we found three yurts and the most beautiful landscape. Craggy jagged peaks sticking through smooth green valley floors, with hawks circling the sky.
We immediately got on our horses and took off for a ride to Turtle Rock. It had been a while, but my short-legged Mongolian horse and I got along well. I named him Gladiator because his mane had been shaved off straight so he looked like a Roman Soldier with that brush on his hat. He only had a third gear, so we trotted most of the way, but on horseback is a great way to see the Mongolian steppe.
Beautiful stars, meat dumplings, and a gorgeous sunrise and now I'm back in UB headed to the train for China!

First Impressions on Mongolia

I arrived in Mongolia this morning after another two days on the train. We left Irkutsk, Russia at 9 pm, and arrived at the border at 1 pm the next day. We left the border at 8 pm that night. Yes, thats seven hours at the border!
I'm not sure what we were doing all that time, except getting a good look at the "vast lumbering Russian bureacracy" as Tad put it. Luckily, we all made it out of the country safely and had a pretty amazing time while there.
Mongolia so far is definitely in Asia. The people are an interesting mix of Inuit and Chinese in appearance and very warm and friendly. Our Honcho, Elmira, met us at the train. She is a cute little bundle of energy at 18 years of age. She already speaks Khazak, Mongolian, and English - that last two she has picked up in the past two years. With her as an example the Mongolian future looks very bright!
We are headed to the ger camp tomorrow to ride horses and sleep in a yurt. I'm excited to try the yurt Mongolian style!

Beaten with Sticks

Four days on a train, and you get pretty comfortable. I settled in nicely to that life. We filled our days with reading and eating and drinking and talking. One of our group members brought his laptop and we would have movie night every evening at eight. Not a bad plan! But, then again I wasn't sharing my compartment with a Russian Secret Forces Army Man, like our groupmates!
The Siberian countryside was beautiful, with rolling green hills and wide rivers - but it all starts to look the same from the window of a train.
So I was happy to arrive in Irkutsk, where we transfered to Lake Baikal, the largest freshwater lake in the world. It was beautiful - and freezing (5 degrees C) which we found out a few minutes after arrival, in our first and last lake swim!
We hiked up to some gorgeous overlooks and took a boat ride around the water. All exciting, but the highlight of Siberia was the Russian Banya!
The Homestead where we were staying just built their sauna, and we were only too eager to participate. There are three rooms in the banya, one with the coals and benches which is burning hot. The next with the freezing cold water buckets, to pour over yourself of course. And the last, which has a picnic table where you can sit and snack between steamings!
We started in the coal room for five minutes, then out to the cold water, then to the table. Again, coals, water, table. The last time you enter the coal room - someone is to come with you and beat you first with birch branches, leaves intact, and then pine branches! After six months of traveling with people, there is nothing more rewarding than beating them with sticks!
We all survived, and thoroughly enjoyed our third cultural "bath" experience.
Today we are headed back to the train and onto Mongolia, bring on that smooth train rock and roll.

Headed to Siberia

Moscow has been wonderful - great borscht, Soviet concrete buildings, well decorated metro stops, Lenin mosaics, even very "charming" women selling tickets to the Kremlin.
We head out tonight on the train and don't arrive until July 5th at 10:00am! In Irkutsk, Russia at Lake Baikal. That's three days and four nights on one train, in one compartment! We are well prepared with anything that can be cooked with hot water (as hot water is the only thing readily available on board), chocolate, toilet paper and vodka. All the necessities!


So, mom if you don't hear from me for a while - I'm okay. Just in Siberia or then Mongolia!

RUSSIA

The grand finale!
We made it through the Russian customs on Monday, and arrived at our hostel, by Russian bus and metro, no problem. We met our group, which is the four of us, two British guys and one Aussie guy. Girls don't come to Russia apparently!
We had two great days in St. Petersburg viewing the tzars handiwork. Winter Palace, Summer Palace, the Hermitage. All beautiful and baroque and European. We also spent most nights touring the town until 2:30 or 3:00 am as the sun is still up and it feels like the middle of the afternoon. Surreal.
Last night we took the train to Moscow, where most things are dark, concrete and Soviet! Todays highlight was Lenin's body, in all its waxy glory. Red square with the Kremlin walls, St. Basil's Cathedral and the State Historical Museum is amazing. All very different architecture, with the solid red brick of the Kremlin, the snowy white roofs of the Museum and the cartoony onion domes on St. Basils.
So far, Russia is great. Interesting sights and good vodka!

To Hel and Back

I've recently returned from Hel! That is a small town in Poland on the Baltic Coast at the very tip of a long peninsula! Not very hellish, except for the weather - too much rain, at least if you wanted to lay out on the beach.
We stayed at Mamma Mia's and sang lots of ABBA. Ate some lody (polish ice cream), basically a twist cone sold on every corner. Each of these places is a tarp over and ice cream machine with a large fiberglass replica of the cone in front. Wouldn't I have liked to have been the person to think up those cones!
And got the beach once, and got a little sun while we watched the dark gray clouds roll in.
We had an amazing sunset last night, and got to sit on the beach and watch that slow, northern sun sink into the ocean. It was partly amazing because the settting didn't actually happen until about 10 pm!
Our Russian visa saga comes to fruition tomorrow as we depart for St. Petersburg. Communist mecca here we come!

Laugh to Keep from Crying

There are days when the traveling is amazing. Every moment is a new experience and the beautiful views, delicious tastes and inspiring sounds surround you.
Others, you have to work at it. The last twelve hours have been work.
My family left last night for Vienna, and I waited with them at the train station for a while and then had to make my way back to the hostel alone.
We were unfortunately sleeping in a twelve bed dorm last night, so when I opened the door at 10:00 there was a guy getting dressed, but he had only made it into his underwear when I entered! Okay.
The other nine people in the room went out last night, about the time we went to bed, so I knew I would be expecting them throughout the night. At about 2:30 some show up flip on the light, clumsily and noisily get their things together and go to sleep - without turning off the light. So, once out of bed.
Again some more folks came home, twice out of bed to turn off the light.
The last guy stumbles in at 4:30, and gets into bed. Just about then our resident snorer starts up, and the last one home starts mumbling something in his bed and then jumps out of bed. "F-this, and f-that.", he says. I'm not sure what was f-ing wrong because I couldn't understand his accent! Then he starts into, "I hate you. And I hate you. And I hate you most of all." He heads out the door, and I was greeted by him almost coming out of his shorts this morning where he passed out on the couch just outside the room. He slept right through the large Asian group eating breakfast this morning, so I doubt the snoring would have been that big of a problem!

We got up early this morning and headed to the train for Gdansk. In our compartment there is already a guy, who probably hasn't showered in a week, or atleast thats how it smelled when he helped me put my bag on the shelf above our heads!
This wouldn't be so bad, except that I've already been dealing with the worst smelling man in Poland back at the hoste! Take a freaking shower! They are free, and the hostel will even give you a towel!
But he sits down and the smell subsides, another girl joins us and we now have five people in this small compartment, but it will work. Until seat 33 shows up, and her beagle. That's right - six people and a dog! Plus the lady has no control over the stupid thing so it spends the first fifteen minutes of the trip licking my feet! I just kept repeated, I asked for this trip, I asked for this trip!

Luckily I found a more vacant compartment and got a new seat, and we arrived in Gdansk which is a great city, and our hostel was only five minutes from the train station! It resembles a halfway house more than a hotel, but I'm still laughing!

Hiking the Tatras, Polish Style

We are in Zakopane, Poland now. About twenty miles from Strebske Pleso, Slovakia where we were two weeks ago. We could have walked over last month, but decided to take the long way around, by way of the Czech Republic!
We went hiking today, which considering that the chairlift was broken was a much bigger undertaking than we had first expected. But we made it up to the alpine lake, gorgeous views and it only rained on us a little. Apparently I am just meant to see these mountains only in clouds!
Tomorrow we take to the roads on bicycle!

Poland

Krakow
We have been in Krakow for three days now, and are loving the communist hospitality. Last night we went to dinner, or tried, but when we asked for a table for seven people the young lad said, with great disdain "Oh, no, impossible!" So we tried a different place!
Overall, the former bloc has been great, but there is still a little too much left to feel really comfortable. The folks here stand in line, with no frustration, for way too long. They are quite gruff and curt when providing service. And would not like you to know at all that they speak English.
Yesterday we hit Auschwitz, which was a day. We were walking through the camp at Birkenau and the wind blowing in the rain storm provided some relief from the heat, but with it came a burning smell that just comes from the ground. The entire area, an old farm, one massive grave, just pulses with the tragedy.
Today we shopped and piddled. Judy and Kendall took to the tourist golf cart tour! Tomorrow we head to the mountains. High Tatras here come the Evans!

The Family Has Arrived

I have had a huge shift in gears the last few days, as the Evans family showed up last week in Prague to join the adventure for a few days. Things have been entertaining, as they take on Europe for the first time for some and a long time for others.
After some serious flight delay in the US and then Paris, they all made it, followed slowly by their luggage.
We flew around Prague, and then were off to Cesky Krumlov. We checked out the castle and some of us rafted the Vltava river. If you are Jill or Katy you walked the river dragging your raft.
We are in Krakow now, learning about architecture and amber. Judy has already been yelled at several times and it is safe to say she would not have made a good communist - too chatty!

No more stops for wildlife!

Yesterday, we were driving along backcountry Czech roads, enjoying the rolling green hills dotted with red tile roofs. I love that every little town has a clock tower punctuating its skyline!
We had just stopped at a castle that had some birds on display. My guess is that the somewhat shady man smoking a cigarette not too far away with the large leather gloves would put on a show with the hawk, and other birds of prey. However, when we were there they were all tied to their own stump, the hawk even had blinders on.
As we turned a corner in our car, I noticed the wingspan of a large bird swooping down to a tree, so I slammed on the breaks and threw it into reverse and turned down the hawk's street. We turned off the engine and rolled in, as to be sneaky! We got a pretty good look, before the bird noticed our bright red car (not great for wildlife stalking!) and flew off. But, we got to watch those huge wings power off into the sky.

I put the car back in reverse to turn around, and was watching for traffic out on our bigger road, when I felt the back tires slip off the road! We had already been commenting on how deep the ditches in the Czech Republic are, and now we were about to really find out! Luckily, I was driving so the other three hopped out, Jen without shoes, and got behind the car. We had cooked up our plan of attack when a Czech lady drove up and started shouting questions in Czech. When she realized we only spoke English, the pity and amuzement filled her face, and she also ran to the back of the car.

When I felt the wheels slip the first time, my hands had done a little flying for the emergency break, and in the process I had turned on the windshield wipers. So the girls are all in the back trying to hold the car, and getting their fingers hit by the back wiper. They start hollering to fix it before moving the car. I started pushing buttons and moving the extra sticks on the steering wheel, but all they really got was shot by the wiper fluid! Luckily, we were laughing hysterically!

Because I am such a fabulous stick car driver, and I know special tricks with the emergency break, and because of my great defensive line in the back, we got the car on the road no problem. Crisis averted! And we made a new Czech friend!

Next time a bird's shadow crosses our dashboard, we will pretend it didn't happen!

Time keeps flying by!

I have been in charge of the transportation, accomodation and activity arrangements for the group for about a month now, and I can tell the stress is seriously impeding my creative side! I can't think of any good stories to tell, even though funny things happen everyday!

So, instead here are the facts.

We've been to Venice, Vienna, Slovakia and now Czech Republic in the past few days. We got stood up for the first time on couchsurfing!
We learned to live like a Hapsburg in Vienna.
I navigated Slovenian traffic like a pro!
We traveled on our worst night train ever!
We saw a small corner of the High Tatras, in Slovakia. Really small, especially through the rain clouds that have followed us ever since Jen's cousin, from Seattle brought her weather here!
The people in Slovakia don't speak English, and they don't like you reading their People magazines without buying! But they do have Dr. Pepper which was an incredibly redeeming factor!
We ordered and enjoyed a dish in Strebske Pleso that was called "pasta with mildewy and mouldy cheese"! Honest!
The next four days are to be spent driving around the Czech countryside checking out old castles and cathedrals. That is the plan, but seeing as how they don't believe in roadsigns, we'll see where we end up!

My parents and my sisters join in a few days for another big family adventure!

Bowling in Slovenia

Nothing like showing up in the bowling alley to hear great American oldies music. And to know that the brand of bowling ball the world over, is American. Here are the beautiful American ladies having a little taste of home!

Croatia

Trying to remember what you´ve done the past few days - getting harder and harder.

Piran, Slovenia
Very cute coastal town, built on a hook out into the Adriatic Sea. Great Venetian buildings, and good gelato.

Split, Croatia
Shipping city with a Roman history. Diocletian had his retirement palace here, when everything was owned by the Roman Empire. He was the beginning of the end, by partially things off to four sub-emperors.

Dubrovnik, Croatia
The pearl of the Adriatic, at least according to Lord Byron and he wasn´t too far off. The old city was gorgeous, with great gelato! We walked the city walls, where you get wonderful views of the Adriatic.
In Slovenia and Croatia, the locals rent out rooms in their houses almost everywhere you go. There are signs labeling the ˝sobe˝ in every neighborhood, so we found a great on up on the hill, and were able to make ourselves some great pasta dinners!

Plitvice National Park, Croatia
This is a waterfall wonderland! Hiked it for a few hours on our way back north.

Venice, Italy
Well, its Italy, so of course its amazing! We spent the day there today, and felt like we were on vacation from our trip. Had some amazing gelato (are we seeing a pattern?), great pizza, and pigeons!

Back in Slovenia tonight, with free internet, which is a small piece of heaven and home, when you`re on the road. I can´t really check people.com when I´m paying 4 euro an hour!

We are headed to Ljubljana, where we will drop off my friend Kristen at the airport, and our beloved little car, and get on the train for Vienna.

Put Out to Pasture

The Lippizaner horses were bred here in Slovenia, when this was part of the Hapsburg Empire to supply Archduke Charles with stallions for his court. They are a beautiful white, with short stocky legs, and have incredible strength and intelligence. We went to the stud farm yesterday, and saw the mares and all the new colts. However, we were in a group with 15 retired British folks, who only wanted to know what happened to the horses when they could no longer work! Ironically, these horses retire at 27 and just graze the fields and enjoy life for another fifteen years or so. The Brits thought that way okay, and we find it pretty nice too. Retire at 27 okay, done!
I had been telling Lauren for a while how beautiful and white the horses would be - trying to pump up her enthusiasm. So, I read her part of the book and the line, "They are born a dark black ... " sort of threw me! But the sentence finishes, "then turn a mottled gray in adolescence before becoming white in adulthood."
We had a wonderful time touring the farm, and seeing the show. I love a good show! The horses side-stepped, and side-strutted, and stood on their back legs. I don't really remember that being a positive trait in horses, but when in Slovenia...!

We drove out to Piran yesterday afternoon, which is this cute little Venetian coast town. Our next week involves lots of Croatian beach time - tough life!

Catch Up

So, my last post apparently scared my mother into believing someone hacked into my blog and something had happened to me, so just to clarify - Mom, its me and Im fine! In fact I just beat my friends good in a game of Slovenian bowling!
We have had some great adventures since Budapest:

Eger, Hungary
This quaint little wine town in the heart of Hungarian wine country. We accidentally ended up renting a great apartment overlooking the square of Eger. This place was HUGE and beautiful, and since we´d been sleeping on the floor in Budapest, it was our own Hungarian castle! The owner of this place also happened to be the wine engineer for the Eger Vin Winery, and offered to host a wine tasting in his cellar the next night so we gladly accepted and got to try his 1983 vintage! The next day he gave us a tour of the cellars at his company and at the friends winery across the street. It was a great few days!

On to Slovenia - We spent one whole day on the train from Eger to Budapest to Ljubljana, where we were met at the train station by Katja our next Couchsurfing host. She is 24 and lives in the upstairs apartment of her parents house outside the city and we think she hosts couchsurfers because she needs extra stimulation. She showed us around the city at warp speed in her little bare bones car! She was wonderful and her house was awesome. Out in the country so we got to see a real Slovenian family, and their home! She even took us to a party/concert thing up on the mountain, and we tried a Slovene delicacy - wine and coke together! Just pour out half the coke in your bottle and fill it with wine!
Ljubljana was a great little city with a castle and an old town, and a nice Russian consulate who gave us our Russian visas after four trips to the embassy in two countries. We got denied in Hungary flat out, and Slovenia was much kinder. That is after we filled out job applications, complete with questions about our connection with biological warfare, and our experience with the military. Don´t worry I didn´t tell them I use to be a whiz with a bb gun!

The real fun started when we picked up our car on Friday - a little wagon of sorts, that fits all five of us and our bags nicely! (My friend Kristen joined us in Ljubljana!)
We headed to Bled, where Tito vacationed, and to Lake Bohinj - gorgeous alpine views and great hairpin turns!

A Mothers Day Tribute

To my dear mother: You have given me feet established in a firm foundation but wings to fly wherever I dream of going. You have loved us but not fettered us to your apron strings. Your wisdom is boundless and your wit the same. Your physical beauty is only surpassed by your internal beauty. When the sun shines, it shines only on you! What a JOY it has been to have you as my mother, and now I call you friend. Love, Your oldest child, Jayme

Another Normal Day

My trip home from work in central Budapest requires several buses and a tram, but I like living in the country so the hassel is worth the effort. The view of the mountains from my back door is worth every bump and jostle from the city. Plus some days things happen on a train that you just never want to miss.
Today I got on the #47 tram, and was followed by four girls, probably American, guide book open. They were chattering about the difference between a tram and a bus, and whether they needed a tram, and was this a bus. I knew it did not matter, so I didn`t say anything. They stayed on the bus and were talking about that damn statue park. Why we let that man put all those statues up again is beyond me, but at least it was far out of town. I`m still not sure what the attraction is, not too many people make that trek, but these girls were in for a ride. The bus we were on ends, and to keep going now you have to get on the tram #47. Too bad this is my stop, I`d love to see how they do.


I boarded the tram #47 to head out to my village. I had come into Budapest to do some shopping. There were some tourists on the bus, and I thought wow, they are far away from the sights. I listened in to their conversation to see where they were going, and they mentioned the statue park. I chuckled to myself, all we wanted to do was get those bad reminder statues down, and now people come from all over to see our trash basically. I wasn`t sure how they were going to get there from the tram though. At the end of the line, just a few stops down, I was passing these girls on the tracks, when I heard, "Do you speak English?". Okay, I wanted to get home but these poor girls were in trouble! I walked them across the square and down to the bus stop. I thought they needed bus 3, until they could connect to #50, but I confirmed this with another Hungarian woman at the stop. I showed them on the sign and the map what they wanted and told them where to get off - I hope they make it. I told them to take the red bus to the yellow bus home, that will be much faster. I don`t know who told them to take this route but it was bad information.

I drive route 50 from the mall out into the country and then back to the shopping mall. Mostly I just have country folk coming into town to pick up some items at the big mall, and then heading back out to their farms, so when I pulled into the station and saw four tourists waiting at my next stop, I was intrigued. Especially since that stop was the next to last and I the bus did was go to the station, unload, turn around and head back the other direction. But, they got on rode one stop and got off. They unloaded with confused faces, but then just started laughing histerically. They started walking circles around the station, like they were looking for a sign, or some sort of information. When I started to turn around to wait at the stop they came running across the street. I knew then they must be headed up to the statue park, nothing else for foreigners to do in this area. So, they got back on the bus and rode up to the park. They got off at the park stop, and headed in the right direction. I sure wish I knew how to tell them the park is closed this time of day in English!