Asian Stories

Great Wall

I spent a few days in Beijing to see the sites. The forbidden city, summer palace and the great wall. I'd go see the great wall again if I got the chance. I did a day trip to see the Simatai (sp?) section of the wall. There weren't too many tourist, probably because the weather wasn't that great. Overcast with light rain now and then. I spent a few hours walking along the wall trying to make it as far as I could. I walked 12 towers until I was stopped by guards who don't let you go further. The landscape the wall was made on was very tough. There were fairly shear drops in places from the side of the wall. Naturally the wall followed the ridge of the hills rising and falling just as the hills did. A lot of it was very steep so that you would almost use you're hands while you climbed the steps on-top the wall. The wall was dramatic enough. Then the clouds started rolling in quickly, hugging the hills then sweeping up covering the wall then disappearing again. It was quite spectacular. Before I got to the twelfth tower the wall was in ruins. ( No it wasn't me, I think it's been like than for a while ). Right where the guards are, what remains of the wall occupies the top of a sharp ridge and shoots up at an unbelievably steep angle. The ruins continue on into the distance sticking to the most difficult and highest parts of the landscape to build on but the easiest to defend. I would have loved to have continued on. It would have been a little tricky climbing along the ruins on the ridge, but the view would have been something else. It's just as well I didn't because the weather closed in, and the rain came bucketing down. I hung around with the guards in the tower for half an hour. But the rain didn't go. So I got completely drenched on the way back. I bought a new T-Shirt at the shop at the bottom of the hill, so I could be partially dry on the three hour ride back to Beijing.


Martial Arts Academy
I enrolled my self in a kung fu Academy in northern China ( Jillin Provence )that accepts foreigners. I wanted to get some exercise, learn some kung fu and mandarin. Spent a couple of months at the Academy. It was in a castle on a hill by a lake. The facilities and management weren't the best but the training and Shaolin masters were great. They were incredible quick and very flexible, just as you would expect. The main thing I learnt was that there are no tricks to becoming that good, it's all just a lot of hours of hard work. After a short run in the morning at 5:30 we trained until breakfast at 7:30, then training began again from 8:30 till 11:30, followed by lunch. Then training again from 2:30 till 5:00. I was lucky with injuries as it was very hard on the body, I just had a saw shin for a couple of days and the odd bruise or two from some sparring. But a lot of the time after and before training when I had cooled down and stayed in the one spot for a while I could hardly walk just because my muscles were so tired. Most of the training was done outside in some clearings in the forest. In the end I had learnt a couple of Shaolin forms, some Chinese kick boxing ( san dar) , some Tai-che, and some mandarin. The kick boxing was lots of fun, and I think I'll keep it up once my trip has finished. It would be nice to learn some more mandarin as I've got a nice base to start with. There were lots of characters in the place. The students, masters, translators and management were for the most part crazy. Some of the people there: The was a soft spoken guy from Wales who made a point of attacking trees. A NY couple who were getting in shape before their trans-Siberian rail trip, and tour around Europe. A big, aggressive but friendly Aussie bloke, who liked punching the Chinese taxi drivers. An American who had to win every argument but couldn't. A spoilt Vietnamise American kid who had huge comfort packages sent to him every couple of weeks. I was there during Sept 11th. We found out through phone calls what was happening a day latter. As we slept through it. There was a lot of misinformation. It was quite weird being in China when such a huge attack occurs on the US. All the Chinese people were sorry for what had happened towards the Americans.

Kashmir
I arrived in India from Hong Kong on the 3rd of September. Met up with some fellow travellers at the airport. The taxi drivers took us for a ride ( so to speak ). He pretended not to know where the hotel we wanted to go was, and took us to a tourist office instead. We knew we were being had but the flight had arrived at 2:30 in the morning and we just wanted to find somewhere reasonably cheap for the night. We got some rooms around the corner from the tourist info office. In the morning we wandered into the tourist office to get a bit of free advise, not to sign up for anything. They were really nice, they bought us breakfast, invited us for dinner at their house ( which we did ). Chris ( Canadian ) was going to be in India the same amount of time. ( Three months ) So we decided to travel together for a while to save some money on accommodation. There was a camel fair in Pushkar in a couple weeks that we both wanted to go too but we wanted to do something before that. Winter was coming on so the tour agent suggested we go up north for a couple of weeks to see the sights before it got too cold. He suggested some trekking etc in Maricar (sp?) valley. After we talked to someone who had just come back from there, and saw that other people were going up as well, we negotiated a cheap price and signed up. We were going to take the bus up and get picked up along the way by a driver. It all sounded good. We said at the time that it sounded to good to be true. And sure enough it was. The overnight bus kept taking us further and further north. In the end we woke up and found that we were in Kashmir. We didn't really need to look at the signs, because there were so many soldiers and Army vehicles. The bus ride was 24 hours in the end and we were very tired. A driver did pick us up and took us into Shrinagar where we stayed on a houseboat. We thought we would make the most of it. We assumed it looked more dangerous than it was. There were two kiwi lads there, a retired English man, and a couple of days latter a German girl arrived. The house boat was really nice. Lots of intricate woodwork, and very spacious. There are hundreds of these houseboats on the lakes of Shrinagar ( main city in Kashmir ). During 60s and 70s it was packed with tourist, but now because of the war between Pakistan and India almost all are empty. We got out and about in town a few times. And got a few comments such as "You are enemy of Islamic" from passers by. But people seemed friendly for the most part. There were soldiers dotted everywhere. From little sand-bagged posts between shops to large barracks. There wasn't much uniformity in the soldiers uniform, or weapons. They all seem to have put together a little uniform for themselves perhaps with some help from their mums. Quite a few of the Soldiers looked far more Mongolian than Indian. These were the guys that looked mean and looked like they knew what they were doing. But if you smiled at them they would smile back and perhaps have a chat.

Trekking in Kashmir.
We ( Me, 2 other Kiwis, and Chris )attempted to get up into the mountains for a 5 day walk. The first day we were turned back by soldiers after a three hour jeep ride into the mountains. We were told that there had been an avalanche further up where 20 people had been killed and there was a rescue operation underway. We waited at the army checkpoint for a couple of hours but still didn't get through. There were a few other tourists being turned away as well. The trek itself was getting close to the front line. Not too close though. There may have been some incident that the soldiers didn't want us to be near. The scenary was spectacular. We were in the Himalayas in autumn! The soldiers brought us some tea while we waited to see if we could get permission to go through. We failed to get it and spent the rest of the day travelling back to Shrinagar.

Second Attempt
Two days latter we started off again. This time Julia from Germany was joining our 'expedition'. We were stopped at the same checkpoint. Our guide went into the town beyond the checkpoint to seek permission to pass. One of the other New Zealanders ( Darren )went to see how he was getting on and discovered he was being pushed around and hit. Probably for pestering the soldiers too much. They stopped when Darren arrived. Eventually a soldier volunteered to go down to the last village with us to get permission from someone there. We think he was just after a free ride to town. He popped into a building and got us a note from someone saying that we could pass, we had no idea who had written the note. We headed back up the valley. We were stopped before the check point this time at a bridge. Some made officer sitting on a chair with soldiers sounding him wasn't impressed with our note and shouted at us "Don't you know 30 people were killed up there!" We tried to tell him that we weren't going up as far as the avalanche, we were just going a few kms beyond the checkpoint to do bit of trekking. He still wasn't impressed and told us to go away. As we were getting in the jeep to go a convoy of military vehicles came past by with the mayor. We had seen this convey earlier in the day. The mayor was checking out a broken bridge. Darren flagged down the convoy ( god knows why ) and said we wanted to go up past the check point, and could we go with them. They said we should join the convoy. We jumped in the jeep in a hurry, and just got on the back of convoy as it hurtled up the valley. At speed we came to the check point and at the last second we were flagged down. We no longer had the note and the officer with the note had joined in with the mayors convoy and had already gone through. After some talking we were allowed through. We spent quite a while at the checkpoint giving our details. We were only allowed to stay up there two nights. As we were at the checkpoint a car returned from up the valley and was stopped. The driver got out of the car and was hit by one of the soldiers. They had snuck through with the convoy and hadn't stopped when they were flagged down. The driver swore at the soldiers as he was leaving. We thought the soldiers might shoot at the car as he left. No such luck. We continued on to Gagangir. Which was very a small town in the valley. It was a stunning setting. There was lots of hay stored up in the trees about 6 foot off the ground for Winter. So it looked like there were gigantic nests in each of the trees. Most of the locals were wearing the brown ponchos that everyone in Shrinagar seems to wear. The kids were very grubby and played with simple toys in the street. The locals hadn't seen tourists for a while. The mountains surrounding the valley were very close and very steep, covered in snow. We stayed in a house sleeping on the floor. We went for a hike up to the snow line of a nearby valley the next day. There were locals bringing out huge trunks of wood plus grazing their cattle up the valley. And before we left on the third day we walked up the valley to turn the corner and see into the next one.

Confrontation.
We had all been tricked into coming to Kashmir. And decided to ask the owner of the house boat ( who we found was related to the two guys who had sent us too Kashmir ) for some money back and tickets out of town. He went a bit psycho and didn't make much sense. Amongst other things he accused us of lying. It's hard to have an argument with someone who insists on making no sense, and ranting about America and Britain. There was no way we were going to get any money out of him. We didn't really have any other course of action accept to get our tickets out of there and leave. He promised our tickets tomorrow. We felt a little vulnerable. Kashmir is populated by mainly muslims and America and Britain were bombing the hell out of the Taliban next door. ( We could see Shrinagar on the Afghan war maps on the BBC at night ) The house boat owner was a muslim so we didn't want to piss him off to much. We decided it was best to try to get our money back on safer ground in Delhi. With the two guys who sent us to Kashmir. In the end Chris and I left on the day we were meant to go. As the tickets kept being delayed. We found out later that the two guys who sent us to Kashmir were part of the Kashmir mafia and had spent time in prison. They also pay off the police. It also turned out that the tourist we had spoken to who had recommended the trip was being payed to give good recommendations. He had better hope he can run fast if we see him again. We got reasonable value for money, we were just tricked into going to the wrong place. There are far worse horror stories that we heard. There's a plan under way to get the tourist touts from his own employees. I hope it works out. Once we got back from Kashmir we discovered there were quite a few bombings and shootings while we were there and just afterwards. Whew!!

Agra, Taj Mahal
Saw the Taj Mahal in Agra. We were lucky enough to land there when it was World Heritage week and got in for free. Usual cost \\$20 US. It was well worth 20 dollars. You could go inside. It was well worth the visit. There was a lawn mower there being pulled by cows. I got a picture with the cows in the foreground and the Taj in the back. Cows should be on the Indian flag as they are everywhere. Almost every street has a few cows wondering around.

Pushkar Camel Fair
Got to the Pushkar camel fair early to see the camels being traded. There were thousands of camels covering the desert around the town. The camels didn't spit bike or smell. They were very well behaved. They are odd thought they really belong on another planet. It was like a convention of beggars, hippies, and Sadhus ( Indian hippies with turbans hardly any clothes and paint here and there ). Some of the beggars were pathetic. Lying in the middle of the street with painted injuries on there bodies and annoying whines. For some reason they were a lot of cows their that had what looked like a fifth leg growing out of their back. They were all decorated, and were led around by guys asking for money for a picture.

Varanasi.
Spent a few days in Varanasi. Saw a few bodies being burnt by the river ( Ganges ). They burn bodies 24 hours a day. then throw the remains in the river. There are guys in the river sifting the remains for gold etc. Depending on who you are you get to wear different clothes when burnt. Old ladies were gold for instance. Only some people can be burnt as well. Young people, leprosy sufferers, pregnant woman, and those who can't afford the cost of the wood don't get burnt, but are thrown in the water instead and weighed down with rocks. Dieing near the river ensures the reincarnation cycle stops and nirvana is reached. We saw one old guy being covered in a cloth after dieing right by the river. Lucky him.

Everest base camp
Spent about 20 days trekking ( Tramping for NZ landers ) in Nepal from Jiri to Everest base camp. Climbing a little mountain called Kala Patter on the way. We took a bus from Katmandu as far as the road goes, and arrived at a nice little town called Jiri. The start of the trek. From now on the transportation system is porters only. Local guys that carry huge loads on their backs with a head strap. They carry loads up to about 100 kgs. It's very tough work and they have little rests every few minutes where they pirtch their load on a stone wall to recover their energy. They eat raw 3 minute noodles to keep themselves going. We gave them some trail mix now and then. We didn't use porters or guides to save money. Also you don't really need them. I was travelling with a Canadian named Chris. Who travelled India and Nepal with me. The scenery was spectacular!, Lots of valleys, mountains and passes we had to trek through. To get to the main tourist starting point ( where tourists fly into ) took 8 days of many ups and downs. If you add up all the up sections we climbed over 9000m, which is more than the height of Everest. We stayed at little guest houses along the way. The places were fairly basic but the food tended to be good. Chris got one place to make me a huge apple pie for my birthday, it even had candles! The local meals were the cheapest so we tended to get mainly those. A few of the villages were having trouble with maoists and were hiding their rice and other food. The maoists were camped in the surrounding forests and came down at night to 'ask' the villagers for some food. We saw three suspected maoists get arrested and paraded through a few villages. The soldiers ( about 8 ) tied their hands with some string and walked behind them. ( Take a look at my pictures section if you want to see one of them ) The families of the men followed along behind pleading there case. Don't know what happened to them. The caste system is very bad in Nepal and with what happened to the Royal family ( all shot by current King ) I don't blame them for fighting back, I don't think they know anything about Mao though, otherwise most wouldn't be doing it. We had no problem with snow. It was hot enough during the day, but did get very cold at night. From the top of Kala Patter ( 5540m I think ) there was an amazing panoramic view, Mt Everest included. Everest base camp was just around the corner from Kala Patter. When we made it to Everest base camp we were on top of a glacier. Which creaked a groaned, you could look up the path that they use to climb Everest and look through the bits of rubbish from expeditions.

Terrorists in India
The terrorists in India seem to follow me around. When I was in Delhi the Parliament was attacked. And in Calcutta the American Centre there was attacked. Four police died, many wounded when gun men arrived on motor bikes and shot them with machine guns. The shooting took place just around the corner from where I was staying. I had walked past the guards a couple of times on the night before they were killed. The were a curious sight so I looked for a little while at what they were doing. They were sitting around on chairs outside the building on the pavement. A lot of them had their backs to the road. Of course they all had those ancient bolt action rifles. One of them even had a bayonet. I'm not at all surprised they were shot to pieces and didn't get a shot off. I went to have a look at some of the pieces the next day. The Major of Calcutta dropped by to have a look at the same time. The soldiers used their sticks to beat back the crowd. I was busy taking pictures with all the journalists so they didn't hit me. Nothing happened in Mumbai ( Bombay ), but they did have to blow up a suitcase because they thought it was a bomb.

Movies in Bombay
I found my true calling. Got paid 500 Roupes to sit around by the beach. I was scouted out for a movie with a few other foriengers. We got the train a couple of taxis to a big seaside house. We all waited around for half the day waiting for the director and star to show up. Being India no one knew what the were doing but some how it got done. It was a nice sunny day so we didn't mind. In the end we were part of a crowd cheering the star while he sang and danced. Every Indian movie has singing and dancing. It was a bit of a puzzle figuring out what was going on at the start of the day. Because there were clowns, a dragon, a dwarf, a band, stilt walkers, Indian girls, and westerners all milling about. In the end the clowns were serving drinks, the dwarf sang and danced, and the westerners made up a lot of the crown. I'm not sure what happened to the dragon. Apparently the star ( Govinda ) is quite famous in India. I think I've seen him in some films. When we took the train back we noticed him on a poster in the train selling underpants. .


Martin's World Trip