It hasn't been long since I last updated my blog. In Vietnam, I began to recount our Long Trip. This morning, I’m writing from our balcony in Luang Prabang, Laos. We have an excellent view of the Mekong River, and last night, we enjoyed a lovely time watching the boats pass by. I've just had my coffee and am happily ignoring the breakfast dishes. The song "Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole is playing, and life is good!
Let's rewind to where I left off in my previous post. We were in China, just about to leave Shanghai. One thing I loved about Shanghai was the fresh fruit shop right across from our condo. Freshly cut fruits of all kinds awaited me there! While I was sad to say goodbye to my fruit supplier, I was also excited to move on to our next destination, Zhangjiajie.
We traveled by train, which I found to be a great way to get around. Chinese train stations are rather similar to those back home, but significantly larger, and there are countless people. The waiting areas feature shops where you can buy snacks or coffee. I purchased our tickets through Trip.com, which was somewhat effective. If there was even a minor issue with your internet connection, your purchase wouldn't complete, leaving you uncertain about your ticket status. I ended up with two sets of tickets because of this. Additionally, the app mentioned that you should collect paper tickets at the station before departure, but we learned on our trip to Linhao that you don't actually need to do that; the app ticket works just fine. Such inconsistencies really bother me. As Finns, we are very rule-oriented, and you might have heard of our ability to patiently wait in lines, whether it's for a free mystery bucket at a store or at the bank. We queue in an orderly fashion, and if someone tries to cut in, they’re quickly put in their place at the back of the line. Thus, I was quite shocked to see the chaotic scene when boarding the train. There were no lines or order. Conductors yelled at the doors for people to exit before boarding, but no one listened. Let's just say that navigating onto the train with larger backpacks was an adventure—though not necessarily a pleasant one.
We were there to see the mountains, and Zhangjiajie did not disappoint. The mountains were visible as soon as we got off the train. Finding our Didi driver was a bit of a hassle, but we managed. Didi is similar to Uber, but in China. Our apartment this time lacked a kitchen. It was supposed to have one, as mentioned in the Booking.com info, but it turned out to be just a kitchen counter. We had an electric kettle and a washing machine, but no fridge or stove. In this apartment and some upcoming places, I’ve wondered why, when installing a washing machine, there isn’t consideration for where to dry the laundry. Is it a matter of saving space? We could ask for a drying rack, but sometimes it is stored away. I don't know; it seems impractical to me. I had thought about this before leaving home, so we brought a ball of string just in case, which has indeed come in handy several times! The silver lining of this whole kitchen issue was that we learned to scrutinize the pictures instead of blindly trusting the descriptions. Several days of eating noodle cups taught us lessons about life!
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park was the place I was most eager to see, and it did not let me down. The views were breathtaking! Even though November is a slow season here, many people wanted to take in the sights, which meant waiting in lines—sometimes in the same line multiple times, as we unfortunately discovered! After being dropped off at the Bailong elevator station, we headed straight for it. To access the elevator that takes you up the mountain, we had to walk a flight of stairs, during which we entered a small queue. After waiting, we were informed that the ticket booths were downstairs, so we headed down. After trying the app (where you could also purchase tickets, but it switched to Chinese), we queued up to buy our tickets. By this time, the line for the elevators had grown to the bottom of the stairs, and we had to wait again. However, the views made it all worthwhile!
The National Park covers a little over 48 km² and is part of the larger UNESCO World Heritage site, Wulingyuan Scenic Area. The rock pillars are among the most recognized sights here, made famous by the movie Avatar, which featured scenes filmed in the Hallelujah Mountains. After exploring the sites, we waited once again at the cable cars to descend. More ticket hassles followed, and then we found ourselves waiting at the bottom of the mountains as we rode buses back and forth, unsure of which stop led out of the park since Didi drivers
I have been really looking forward to this trip, but every time I begin to write about it, I end up experiencing a frustrating case of writer's block.
After over nine weeks, the final day of our summer journey had finally come. Our departure from Hong Kong was set for seven in the evening, providing us with more than half the day to explore before our van picked us up. The issue was that we had already covered much of the peninsula and Taipa, and I struggled to think of ways to fill the remaining hours in Macao. Instead, we opted to visit the Chinese mainland city of Zhuhai, where we had made a brief stop in 2015. I had three objectives: to explore the border crossing between Macao and mainland China, to get a better look at the impressive skyscrapers we had seen from afar, and to discover if the Chinese had actually extended the city into the Inner Harbour. It seemed unlikely, but Google Maps displayed a network of streets filled with restaurants extending over the water. From the Macao side, I couldn't spot any signs of this, and I realized it was likely just a quirk of the map, yet I felt an unusual need to see it for myself.
It hasn't been very long (unlike the last time...) since my last blog post. I began sharing about our Long Trip while in Vietnam. This morning, I'm writing from our balcony in Luang Prabang, Laos. We have a fantastic view of the Mekong River here, and last night we enjoyed a lovely time sitting and watching the boats pass by. I just finished my coffee and am contentedly ignoring the breakfast dishes. "Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole is playing from the speaker, and life feels wonderful!