Being on the road for 50 days the trip is coming to an end. We pull into Panama City and slightly celebrate/not really at all. OTHER CHANNEL @ www.youtube.com TWITTER @ www.twitter.com
After the success of our travel event in September ‘08, Touratech UK will be holding an event similar in March ‘09. For the latest news sign up for our news letter on our website. To register and book your place click here. www.touratech.co.uk
www.TravelsWithSheila.com Still up on the plateau of Yianjiajie in Zhangjiajie National Park, I was fascinated by a small assembly line turning out an extremely tasty snack called “Tasty Korean Walnut Snack.” It would be worth a flight to Korea just to nosh on them. The scenic walk over, Tony (guide) led us down a road and up a small hill for lunch in a local farmer’s restaurant. Another first that I fell in love with was crunchy ferns that tasted like skinny green beans. A person could travel through China for several lifetimes and always come across a new preparation or food. Love it!
www.TravelsWithSheila.com Travels With Sheila thought Tony (guide) was kidding when he said we were going to take a shuttle bus to the Bailong Elevator. What the….? The shuttle buses were jowl-to-jowl with tourists so we took a short 20-minute walk along the Zhangjiajie roads and, son of a gun, there was an elevator or life, whatever you choose to call it. The Bailong Elevator rises 326 meters/1069 feet up the side of a cliff to the top of a plateau. We couldn’t believe our eyes. The Bailong Elevator/Lift is claimed to be the biggest, and most exposed elevator in the world. That didn’t make ex-Marine (husband, Steve) happy at all with his fear of heights. Up we go…
One of our most favorite events of our adventure! We visited the Tanjung Putting National Park in Kumai (Borneo), Indonesia. The Orangutans were captivating to watch! see svbillabong.blogspot.com for more details.
www.TravelsWithSheila.com Kaijulou was another square tulou built in 1834 with three halls forming the main part. This tulou resembled a “palace-style building” and the first we’d seen with decorations on the inside beams. The inner yard formed a small patio enclose by the antechamber of the ancestral hall with cloisters on both sides of the central hall. Fuyulou tulou was the last tulou of the day and we were “dragging” and “sagging.” This is a “Five Phoenix” style tulou, so called because the roofs are at different levels. Fuyulou turned out to be very engrossing because the residents here REALLY did go about their daily business including intense games of cards in the courtyard with wads of Yuan changing hands. This was a “living”…”breathing”…tulou. Residents were eating, schmoozing, sorting tea leaves, walking around and standing on tables to kibbutz the gambling. A perfect last tulou for the day.
Music from Wagner’s Parsifal and Lohengrin. Clip from the WEBBER BROS movie “Fun with Hans on DBahn”.
www.TravelsWithSheila.com The Chuxi Tulou Cluster is another UNESCO World Heritage Site with five large circular buildings, 10 rectangular buildings and a 600-year old history. Very few tourists come to Chuxi because of the hard journey but when the road is finished…”they will come…” Unlike many of the other clusters, there are no modern buildings in Chuxi Tulou Cluster, only the old ones, and what made it even more interesting was the fact that we could go into the upper levels.
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www.TravelsWithSheila.com Zhongshan Road in Xiamen is a pedestrian only street loaded with stalls selling clothes at rock-bottom prices, “snack restaurants”, and even a sex shop located right next to a Disney Store! Oh yes, one cart was selling sea worm snacks…eww…. Who knows what the snacks were in the “snack restaurants” since everything was in Chinese. Even with an English speaking guide, the translation isn’t always accurate. Ah yes, I remember it well… one episode in a regular restaurant when I pointed to an item on a menu and said, “That looks good.” It was donkey. And no, I didn’t order the donkey for dinner.
