Saturday June 9, 2012

Today Namnang, his friend and I visited Kumbum Monastery (or Ta’er in Chinese), which is just outside of Xining. It’s a really big tourist spot, and I even saw some Americans. There was a huge weekend crowd, and I felt like I became part of the tourist attraction because during the time we were there about ten people asked to take a photo with me.

There are many buildings there and they date from the 1500s. I took pictures where I could since they weren’t allowed in some areas, especially the most beautiful interiors. They were doing lots of work around the area, paving and painting and rebuilding some parts. I loved all the colors used for painting and the fabrics. Everything is decorated. Inside each building there are lots of butter lamps and incense burning and it smells really wonderful.

 

 

 In the afternoon, we went to the Tibetan Medicine Museum of China and the Qinghai Natural History Museum. The museums are really impressive and must have been very expensive, so I was amazed how few people there were on a Saturday.

 After that, I met with Yixi Dolma downtown and met her brothers and a few friends for a drink down by the river. We walked Central Square and went to the shops, and got a sweet potato and corn cob which are really popular snacks here. I've eaten so many potatoes here! Later in the evening, we met some of her friends. There was a singing competition on the outdoor stage along with fireworks which was really enjoyable, despite the enormous number of people. We couldn't actually see the people on stage, but they were on a big screen as well.  

Xining: Friday

Friday June 9, 2012

Today I woke up early as usual and took a walk to find some breakfast. I finally found a grocery store and spent a long time trying to figure out everything in it. All the employees would come up and smile and say something, and I’m just assuming it was something along the lines of “Can I help you find anything?” I did find some oatmeal from Australia, and some sliced bread which I found is too sweet, but it will do with the peanut butter I brought with me.

For lunch, I went with Namnang to meet his uncle. We ate Tibetan food, and a lot of it. They kept bringing out dish after dish until I think there were nearly 10 different plates on the table. It was all really good though—lots of dumplings, mutton and yak meat, and a lot of vegetable soups.

In the afternoon, I met a girl, Yixi Dolma, that I had only talked to online before.  

She and I practice English and Tibetan together, so we knew each other pretty well and it was exciting to finally meet in person. She took me to Nanshan Park where we walked around and saw great views from the top of a hill.

Islamic building

In the park, there was a building where a monk was painting in the doorway.

He asked if I had an American dollar bill. I’m not sure why he wanted it since he offered to exchange it for RMB which I told him was unnecessary, so I gave him one and then he offered us some tea. We went to the cooking building next door and had some Tibetan tea which was good and tasted mostly like the sour butter they have. And then he scooped some food from a giant pot—some sort of meat, potatoes and noodles, so I ate that. And then tsampa, and then watermelon, and then he filled my Nalgene with tea and we were on our way.

The sky was dark in one direction and we knew it would rain soon, so we ran down the hill and got a taxi just as the thunder started. We stopped so Yixi Dolma could eat since she didn’t eat any of the food from the monk, but I was still incredibly full after that and the huge lunch earlier. Afterwards, we visited some shops which are not at all like stores in the US. There are tiny rooms that line the edges of a building which spirals up a few floors, so you just keep walking in circles past all these different clothing shops. All the clothes are different and hanging all over the place and there is not a wide selection of sizes it seems, so there's not really an option to get a different size if you find something you like.

For the evening, we planned to watch (or dance) some Tibetan dances, so we went to a nearby university and sat on the basketball courts watching students play waiting for the dancing. Right as it was supposed to start, it began raining again so they canceled it. I was exhausted by this time anyway, so we took a bus back into town.

I left the hotel and moved into a hostel yesterday because it’s a lot more comfortable being around other travelers, especially some who speak English. What’s not more comfortable is the bed. I thought the hotel bed was hard, but this one is a piece of plywood with something similar to a layer of quilt batting over it! Still, not bad for $6 a night…

Xining: Day One

 

I’m finally here! In Xining! I got here late last night because of a delayed flight from Beijing, and I was surprised to find that the friend of a KU friend that volunteered to pick me up was still waiting for me at 2 am, two hours after I was originally supposed to be there. In fact, he and his girlfriend and his brother who is a taxi driver were all there waiting for me holding a sign with my name at the airport. What a relief.

My first flight was absolutely wonderful, which was a good thing because it was the longest from Seattle to Beijing, just over 10 hours. They upgraded me to business class in Seattle along with Michael from San Antonio, a guy a few years younger than me who was also on his first trip to China. We were the only two non-Chinese in business class, but he was much less enthused than I was about the extra treatment and about going to China in general. He didn’t like the food and kept stabbing it with a single chopstick like a three-year-old and complained every time they made an announcement in Chinese he didn’t understand. That was every time because he speaks no Chinese like me. I hope he ends up enjoying the rest of his trip.

For me, the food was the best part on this flight. We got a full menu to order from, and even though I’m not a big eater when I’m traveling, I couldn’t help myself this time because it tasted so fresh. I suppose I’m an adventurous eater and like to try everything at least once.

I spent most of my time taking photos out the window because we passed by so many different places. That is until the flight attendant asked me to close the shade because everyone else was sleeping. I was just excited to be in the sunshine up there since Seattle had been so dreary and cold, so I kept it open a little and flipped up the shade every once in a while to look out for a moment.

When we finally got to Xining, we decided the hostel I originally reserved wasn’t such a great place—too out of the way and their hot water and electricity were off for some reason. So, we spent a long time driving around downtown to find a hotel room. We finally did and the three were nice enough to come inspect the room with me, start up the electric kettle and show me which the hot and cold water was.

Even though I wasn’t tired, I was in bed by 4 am, and slept a solid three hours but am now awake again and hungry. Unlike the first flight, the second flight’s meal was far less appetizing, so I ate the cabbage and some rice, and then two granola bars and ginger tea that I had brought with me when I got to my hotel room. 

 Alaska

 south of Anchorage

 Sea of Okhostk

 

on to Xining!

Monday, June 4: Seattle

My last full day in Seattle was a busy one. My cousin Melinda and I spent all day walking it seemed and playing around outside, even though we were a bit chilled. Luckily, there wasn’t too much rain.

We started near the University of Washington campus at an old gas company that had been converted to a picnic area with a great view.

 The library on campus is the most beautiful I’ve seen, with the world’s largest book, and the top floor which looks like a scene from Harry Potter. What a nice place to study.

 Since Melinda and I both love plants, we stopped by the greenhouse and the medicinal herb garden. The greenhouse warmed us up and had so many plants I had never seen. In the herb garden, there were lots of plants I knew from mixing tea, but had never seen in a non-dried form.

Next we stopped to watch dogs play at a dog park and picked out our favorites.

We visited the locks and watched two boats water-lifted up. This was fun to see, even though Melinda explained it’s a little awkward if you’re the one on the boat and all the tourists (like us) are watching. 

 We also ended up at the Burke Museum, which I had learned about during school, so I was happy to visit.

Sunday, June 3: Chukanut

Today, my brother decided to take me hiking to a place nearby called Chukanut Mountains. It was 8 miles roundtrip and we went up to a place called Raptor Ridge, a rock ledge at the top of one of the hill-mountains. It was a really enjoyable hike since I’m always fascinated by how tall the trees are and how green everything is here in the northwest. 

 There was a 10-mile trail race that day with some amazing runners. There were women and men not only running uphill at a pretty good pace, but a lot of them were just chatting away while they raced to the top. I, on the other hand, seem to be too accustomed to Kansas flat and so I was tired sore the next day, but in a good way. 

Bellingham

Today I spent with my brother in Bellingham. After all the sitting on planes, trains, and cars, I was ready to do some walking. After I got off the train, we went four blocks from his house to the farmer's market, enjoyed a samosa, and then headed up to see his campus at Western Washington. We ventured up to the arboretum which goes over the top of the hill the campus is on and by that time it started raining the usual rain. 

 We had walked for a while, so a large bowl of pho for lunch was very welcome, especially since it's a little cold here. After that, Graham took a nap, and I went to explore downtown some more. When I came back, he decided to go running, and so I started walking to the boardwalk. I walked the same trail and met him on his return at the end of the boardwalk.

After dinner, we went back downtown to see the "appliance derby", with cars of recycled appliances.

It was a little unsafe, as I'm sure you can judge considering that's an old refrigerator on wheels flying down a hill with homemade brakes. Some of these cars went out of control and straight into the hay bales, and one ran into a group of people. Still, people insisted on standing at the bottom of the hill, right in front of the track. I was prepared to run...

Washington

After a day of traveling yesterday, I landed in Seattle. I had driven to the airport with a friend who is also going to Seattle (and later China), but on different flights. Somehow at the bag check, our tags were switched so that my bag ended up going his route, and wasn't in Seattle when I got there. A few hours later when his flight got in, he found my bag at the baggage claim along with his, so my cousin and I drove to where he was staying and I fortunately have my things. Other than that, the flights were good and I even got to sit in the Economy Comfort section on one.

Salt Lake City

I'm now on the train to Bellingham to see my brother. It's a really enjoyable ride, and I even saw the USS Nimitz as we went by.