In 2014 we spent two incredible weeks in Laos PDR. We spent a couple of nights in Vientiane before flying North to Leung Namtha to meet up with an old anthropologist friend of ours. From there we went South West on a bus to Huay Xuay, spent two days on the Mekong River (over nighting in Pak Beng) to the old Royal Capital and World Heritage City of Leung Prabang. From there we drifted down to the party town of Vang Vieng and hung out in an eco lodge and bathed in the Sung River from the locals. Our final day was spent back in Vientiane before flying home to Taipei. We had an amazing time. We saw temples, had challenging days, nearly adopted some puppies and saw some tragedies too. We learned many lessons on this trip and we are happy to share some of those stories with you below.
Beautiful Sunset on the Mekong River near Pak Beng
Our latest Sri Lanka travel blog is about Sri Lanka's own Little England. Nuwara Eliya is a small town in the highlands of Sri Lanka that, because of its moderate climate, was a getaway from Colombo for the colonials. Indeed: we were there in the summer and it was cold and I certainly didn’t have the gear with me to stay warm. The short time we spent there was the most uncomfortable in Sri Lanka. For us the town was a bit of a bust. The two main attractions are the tea museum and Land’s End. We didn’t get to do either. However, we did have a lovely walk through the town, Queenie managed to get her broken shoes fixed and we did enjoy the lovely Victoria Park in the middle of the town.
Our first morning in Sri Lanka (after a long breakfast) found us heading into Pettah Market, a wholesale market in the middle of Colombo. We went there because we decided to try to follow the one day Colombo tour detailed in the lonely planet. The market itself is a tough introduction to Sri Lanka. We were the only foreigners in the market (that we saw), it was hot, noisy and crowded. I was feeling sick and both Queenie and me were jet lagged. It was a tough place to be first up. At any rate, we soldiered through the market first visiting the Hindu Temple, the Mosque, the Catholic Church and the Dutch museum. Although it was tough we did have a rich experience in the market.
Tennoji park is a beautiful park in the middle of Osaka and quite close to where we were staying in Kyobashi. One of the reasons Queenie wanted to go there was to see the brown autumn leaves which makes Osaka so special in October.
Autumn Leaves - Tennoji Park (Osaka)
I think the video below covers most of what can be written here about the park, so enjoy.
As you can see in the video above, the park was fairly empty on a Saturday morning and really peaceful considering it is in the middle of the city. We loved being there. There were a lot of people paintin and some people doing excercise. There were also many beautiful flowers and scenes. The pictures below capture all this.
Queenie in Tennoji Park - My beautiful wife in a beautiful park
Autumn Leaves in Tennoji Park - the main reason for going to Osaka in Autumn is to see the trees changing color. It was really beautiful.
Beautiful Flower Display - This display was near the front entrance of the park area next to the lake. Really pretty.
Beautiful Park - looking at this picture it is hard to believe that this park is in the middle of a busy city.
Art Museum - The building is the art museum that is built inside the park
Kendo - This guy looked older but looked really fit.
As you can see from the video and pictures above, Tennoji Park is a beautiful place. If you are visiting Osaka it is probably worth the visit and add onto that the Art Museum and I am sure you will enjoy. We had a good time on a crisp but sunny Autumn day.
When we were in Khiva, Uzbekistan, we landed up eating dinner at a wedding party and on the second day we danced on the streets of Khiva. We had an absolutely awesome time and to this day Khiva holds special memories for us.
Wedding Couple on Parade in Khiva
We arrived in Khiva in the dead of winter. The Lonely Planet said that when travelling in Uzbekistan in the winter, Uzbekistan is yours. For most of the trip we had bumped into one or two other travellers, but in the ancient walled city Khiva, we were the only ones. Needless to say all the restaurants were shut and most of the guest houses were shut too. We had met an English teacher and her students and we were wondering through the streets late on Saturday night looking for something to eat when we saw a huge party going on. Our new friends told us that it was a wedding party. So me being me, dragged everything and everyone along to look. I poked my head through the door to see what was going on and before we knew it Queenie, myself and our Uzbek friends were dragged into the hall sat behind a table, plov was served for us and vodka shots were flowing my way. What an awesome experience!
The Bride
The Banquet
The wedding was alive with a live band playing Central Asian music and a dancer. All the men at our table (and they were all men except for Queenie and the English teacher and students, took to us immediately and started downing vodka shots with me. Little were we to know that later in the evening we were to dance and I was to give a speech. We were later told that weddings actually go on for three days and this party we were in was the brides sending off party (the groom wasn't present) and that the groom and bride would be joined the following day so we didn't actually get to see the wedding ceremony.
The Wedding Dancer
Queenie Dancing
On the second day in Khiva we were wandering between the old mud buildings of the town when we stumbled accross a couple of wedding parades(see picture at the top). The bride, the groom and their entire entourage walks with them through the streets of the town to show the world they are married. We saw two entourages. The first thing we noticed was the flimsy dresses the brides were wearing. This is significant because it was FREEZING (close to 0C). If you compare what Queenie was wearing in the video below you will actually notice the difference in attire. The second think that completely blew us away was that both groups stopped outside the music museum in Khiva and out of nowhere music started and people danced in the streets.
Dancing in the Street
Dancing in the Streets
Both the sending away party and the wedding parades are showed in the video below. We hope you enjoy.
These two events made our time in Khiva unforgettable. It would not have been possible without the hospitality and the open hearts of the people there. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts.
In 2009 Queenie and I went off to the Merchant capital of Japan, Osaka! Neither of us had ever been in that city before so we were looking forward to it. We arrived around 9 o'clock at night and jumped on the JR (Japan Rail) train direct from the airport to Kyoboshi, where our hotel was.
Kendo in the Park
The train ride from Kansai airport to Kyobashi took longer than an hour (closer to 90 minutes as I recall) but was comfortable enough. We were staying at the Keihan hotel right outside the station so it was convenient. What we didn't realize before going there was that Kyobashi was one of the main entertainment centers for Osaka. It was pretty interesting to arrive. Anyway, to start this journey off here is a video of us on the JR shortly after arriving in Osaka. Enjoy, and comments are always appreciated.
On this trip we spent a few days in Japan. We spent a couple of days in Osaka, a day touring in Kyoto and a day going out to Himeji Castle and then to see our friend Mike in Kobe. All in all it was a good trip. We will post more updates later.
Urgut Bazaar is one of the most authentic market we visited in Uzbekistan. The roads were muddy and dirty and everything from fabrics, to carpets to goat heads were sold. A truly original place and somthing that would be hard to emulate.
Queenie in Urgut Bazaar
Getting There
Getting to Urgut from Samarkand is easy: just take the bus. Many people suggested we rent a driver for a day, or hire a Mashrukta but at the end of the day we asked around and figured out which bus to take. It wasn't that hard! The bus was fairly cheap and since we were among the first to get on, we did manage to get seats. The trip itself from Samarkand to Urgut was (if memory serves correctly) about an hour, and it wasn't too uncomfortable although the bus did fill up the closer we got to Urgut.
Urgut Bazaar
Urgut Bazaar
The Lonely Planet we had says of Urgut that the town is "one of the best places to buy silk and old textiles in the country." However, the Lonely Planet continues saying "some readers report being disappointed by this markt, but that may be because they showed up on the wrong day. This market in only happening on Sunday and to a lesser extent on Thursday." Well we were definitely not disappointed, and we went on a Tuesday. The market itself was a hustle bustle of activity. From the crowded traffic in the street in the market entrance, to the bustling business of all the vendors and stalls in the market, the market itself was filled with color and sound. As the two videos show, the market is busy and the people incredibly friendly.
Outside Urgut Bazaar
Inside Urgut Bazaar
As you can see from the video above, the market is crowded with people and different foods. Actually, we found the market to be divided into distinct sections: food, fabrics, clothes, carpets etc. It was fairly interesting to drift through the different sections and see the different wares for sale. We later learned that the cotton for the fabrics and clothes was produced in Uzbekistan and shipped to Korea/China to be woven into fabrics and clothes. These were then shipped back to Uzbekistan to be sold. The controversy was that instead of building a fabrics/clothes factory, the government had invested a significat amount of money into building a car factory when they didn't have the technology or experience to do that.
Goat Head
Bread Stands
Spice Sellers
Oil Vendors
Fruit
Fruit
Bread
Fabrics
Fabrics
Carpets
Clothes
Lunch in Urgut Bazaar
One of the highlights for me was eating in the bazaar. We walked into the restaurant area of the market and found a restaurant serving shashlik (skewered meat) and plov (a traditional Uzbek rice dish). bearing in mind the market and restaurant didn't have the highest standards of hygiene, we were a little concerned but decided to try the food anyway. The food turned out to be awesome and we didn't get sick so the risk was worth taking.
Lunch in Urgut Bazaar
Plov - Part of our lunch
Fellow Diner - this guy helped us order and chased off beggars
The People
Of course the best part of the market (as always) was the people. Always friendly, always smiling, always waving at us. We really did feel welcome and although we did draw a lot of attention our way, at no point did we feel uncomfortable. We were warned we should be careful of pickpockets so we made sure wallets and valuables were stashed away properly so nothing would get stolen but we we felt safe all the time.
Tajik Girl - notice the single drawn in eyebrow which is considered attractive in Tajik culture
Market Boys- these kids were so excited to see us and have their picture taken. They were really friendly.
Vendors Market Worker
Reviewing Videos
Mother and Daughter
Out Shopping
Vendor
Old Man
Market Workers
Family
Market Girl
One of the great things of walking through the fabric section of the bazaar was the color of the sunlight streaming through the fabrics. The light was soft and colored and almost magical and seemed really surreal and out of place in a place like Urgut. Truly magical and added to the color and the splendour of the market.
Streaming Light
Fabric Shimmer in Urgut Bazaar
The Bus Home
So after drifting around the market for a couple of hours it was time to head off back to Samarkand. We found the bus (pretty easy) and jumped on. Now the conductor on this bus was really funny: the bus filled up pretty quickly and when a lady with a baby got onto the bus he insisted I sit down and hold the baby. The baby was horrified. No matter how much we protested he wouldn't let us stand. Even when old ladies got on the bus he insisted we sit and berated anybody who tried to take our seats. He also berated anybody who didn't want their photo taken and took photos of everybody (we haven't included those here). The bus was pretty full but by the time we got back to Samarkand it had emptied out.
With the kid on the Bus
Crowded Bus
Bus Passenger
All in all it was an awesome day. We went to the market on the Tuesday and were duly impressed and would encourage all travellers to Samarkand to go to this market. It is colorful and loud and raw and real and it is what you are in Central Asia to see. Later on when we were in Bukhara we went to the local markets that were highly sterilized, super hygenic shopping places that show some level of modernization is creeping into Uzbekistan, but Urgut will take you back a few years, and its fun!
Tianamen Square is, as per the lonely planet, the center of the Chinese Universe. Most people have heard of it beacause of the student uprising that occurred in Tianamen Square way back in 1989. I have also read that Falun Gong members have regularly been arrested there for acts of protests. At any rate, Tianamen Square is one of the places a person must go if they go to Beijing. But once is enough I think!
Sculpture in Tianamen Square
Thousands and millions of words have already been written about Tianamen, and all of those are no doubt far more eloquent than anything we can say. What is Tianamen Square: well, it is just that, a big, flat square in the middle of Beijing surrounded by official buildings and the Heavenly Gate that leads to the Forbidden City. So apart from that we will not say too much about the square itself (and no, we didn't visit Mao's Mausaleum).
Mom in Tianamen Square
For Queenie and I it is the second time we have been to this famous/notorious bit of real estate in the middle of Beijing. The first time was way back in the winter of 2005 on the back end of a six week tour of China. It was the middle of a deep winter and the temperature at the time was -9C - FREEZING - and the square was empty (see China Travelogue 8: Lanzhou to Beijing). Anyway, this time around it was a muggy, hot, humid August day - and there were a lot of people moving in and out of the square. They even had a security check point with x-ray machines (this wasn't there the last time we visited)and it is probably only there for the summer (at -9C Queenie and I were the only two people in the Square).
Mom & Queenie in Tianamen Square
Mom & Queenie in Tianamen Square
The good thing about going to Tianamen Square this time was that we could actually get our pictures taken in the square. The last time we were here we took pictures but our memory chip got destroyed so we don't have any pictures of this part of our trip round China! Not good. So we go some pictures of us here and also a video (see below) but other than that, it was a fairly uneventful visit and walk through the square. If back in Beijing would I visit it again: depends on the weather. In the heart of winter no and in the heat of summer no - probably a cool spring/autumn evening would be nice, but there is nothing else that is compelling to draw me back there.
After visiting Tianamen Square we visited the Forbidden city (but didn't go in as too many people) and also Beihai. All in all it was a pretty awesome day.
