Stories & Scars: March 2011

BYE-BYE BEIJING

Day 6, March 27th

Last night was our last night in Beijing. After all of the walking we have done for the past few days, we decided to stay at the hostel, shower and rest. It was much needed. I was so exhausted and stuffed from the Peking Duck, that I only had a cappuccino for dinner.

Today has been nothing but a waiting day, which is nice. We are all still wiped out from being on the go for three days straight morning to night. We had talked about going to the Summer Palace today, but after our experience at The Forbidden City we decided it wasn’t worth the trip out there. It would likely be just as packed.

Mom being "patient".

For lunch we headed out to a place that was recommended by the staff of The Red Lantern. They said it was traditional Chinese food, cheap and had an English menu. They were two for three. Nothing was in English and no one there could speak it. But, it was definitely the best meal we have had in Beijing the entire time. I handled all of the ordering, which consisted of a confused look followed by pointing. They didn’t even understand Coca Cola. I had to get up and lead the staff to the kitchen and point to the Coke. But, we ended up with a great meal and were ready to head to the train station.

Three people loaded down with huge backpacks and likely unable to speak Chinese is not an attractive fare for a taxi in Beijing. And they let us know. No one would stop for us. So we walked to try to get to position ourselves better to get a taxi. We got split up a bit and dad ended up alone, hand out waving down a taxi. He got one. And then mom and I emerged out of the madness. I’m sure it was daunting for this little guy. We all crammed into the taxi, and despite the traffic, made it to the station in about 20 minutes.

Car #12

The train station was not easy to navigate with both “kids” and our huge backpacks. But, we kept moving and made it to the huge waiting room. One question about the train was if food would be available on the train or if we needed to bring our own. Here is where we broke one of our main rules…Don’t buy/eat anything we can get at home. We bought a bucket of KFC chicken with drinks, corn and bread. Mom and dad kept pressuring me about getting these porters that they saw everyone else using. I gave in, we got a porter. Initially I thought, and dad thought, and mom worried, that we were being taken to the wrong train. I kept saying to myself, “this was y’all’s idea!” All was well and we were soon standing outside Car #12, waiting to climb into beds 13, 14 and 15.

We would soon be saying goodbye to China.

Our news digs for the next 30 hours.

For me, China was an interesting experience. Actually, I feel as though I didn’t get a good feel of China, but only a snapshot of one tiny aspect. It would be like spending a few days in Manhattan, NY and saying you’ve seen the U.S. But, despite being here only a few days and only in one city, a few things left an impression. I never saw one overweight person. Not one obese person anywhere. Not in the city or out in the country when we went to The Great Wall. That could be a product of the kind of food they eat, the way it is prepared or how they eat it. I certainly eat a lot less when I am working with chopsticks.

Another thing that stands out is the visible environmental footprint the individual person in China has. It seems extremely small. From what they have, to how much they eat to their waste. It just feels as though, on an individual level, the Chinese people are either conscientious of their consumption or operate with a survival mentality.

I know that if we had seen a lot more of the country instead of staying in the city most of the time we would have had a completely different experience. But, time didn’t permit this go round and Beijing was a lot of fun.

For those of you wanting to see a comparison version of this adventure and another example of the difference between Patton and Pile, check out TnGOnTheRoad. That’s Dad’s blog about the trip. Bare bones. Information. Logistics.

Mom has looked at some of my photos from the trip and her exact words were, “Kevin, these are better than good. It doesn’t even look like you took these. These look professional.” Thanks?

Pointingly yours,

Bed #15

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THE NOT-SO-FORBIDDEN CITY

Day 5, March 26th

An intimate moment in the Forbidden City.

Some places you travel to are just checklist places. You go so you can say you have been. The Giza pyramids in Cairo, Egypt are like that. The romanticized beauty of the pyramids is heavily diluted by the overly commercialized efforts to turn a profit. There is a Pizza Hut directly across from the entrance to the pyramids. But, you can’t blame the people. They are just trying to make a little cash during the most difficult of times. Nevertheless, their overt exploitation demeans the very history they are cashing in on.

The Forbidden City is the same.

Protecting The Forbidden City.

Rock structure in The Forbidden City.

Today we slept in a bit and headed out for the Forbidden City, driven more by curiosity, and less by a desire to see it. This is another one of the national Chinese treasures. It, along with the Great Wall, seems to be one of those sights in China that people from all over the country make a pilgrimage to see. It felt like half of them were there today. The City his huge, 430,000 square meters. But, with so much of it reconstructed (it was built in the early 1400s) plus the many gifts shops and basketball courts within the city walls, it is almost impossible to understand the history of this place or the importance it holds in the psyche of the Chinese people. Add on top of that the fact that there were thousands of people there, the three of us kept looking at each other saying, “At least we can say we saw it.” It literally felt like a theme park on a busy weekend with long lines and no rides. Oddly enough, there used to be a Starbucks in one of the shops lined up with all of the other gift shops. Apparently, that crossed the line of decency in capitalism and it is no long there. A triple grande soy caramel latte certainly would have made that experience much more enjoyable. We hustled through as quick as we could and checked it off of the check list just as fast. Done.

Tableside duck carving.

After that, we headed south down to a place called Qianmen Quanjude that serves traditional Peking Duck. Apparently, it is a delicacy here, more so than teh-sah-cols, cause there was no duck to be had at the night market. Quanjude was packed and we had to wait about half an hour to get a table. It’s a very ceremonious meal and one of the many chefs brings the roasted duck to your table and carves it there for you. You mix the duck with a little sauce and a few vegetables in a small pancake, roll it up and eat it. Throw in a cold Tsingtao beer and it was pretty good.

Mom learning to make a Peking pancake.

Once we were able to check Peking Duck off of the list, we found a Starbucks to regroup at. After a refreshing latte, we strolled through the Temple of Heaven Park, rode the rails back and to The Red Lantern and called it a day.

I would like to take this opportunity to compliment one of my little soldiers on spreading his wings. Dad was bragging about how, while I was resting in my room, he went off all by himself to a convenience store to purchase band-aids. He gave them money, waited for change and found his way back, all by himself. My little boy is growing up.

Checking off the check listly yours,

Peking Kevin

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HOOKERS, TESTICLES AND SNAKE

Day 4, March 25th

The night market.

Note to self: Never let dad wonder off on his own again.

GREAT WALL OF “OH MY GOSH!”

Day 4, March 25th

I don't know if I mistreated my sisters when I was younger. But, whatever penance I owe from our youth, we are square. When mom and dad get old and we are pushing them around in wheelchairs and they want to go to Branson, Missouri to see Mickey Gilley and eat at every discount buffet in sight…you two are up. I’ve done my tour of duty. Mom and The Great Wall of China. Pretty self-explanatory.

Let’s start from the beginning.

Mom chose Vietnam as her destination of choice. But, since we were in the “neighborhood”, she thought we should swing by The Great Wall of China. I guess neighborhood = continent. She has always wanted to see the Great Wall and showing her a map would do no good, so here we are.

Before the Climb

Up early and off we go.

For those of you that know mom, you know she will talk to anyone. Language doesn’t matter. She is her father’s daughter. Her conversation with everyone here always starts the same. “Hi, where are you from? We are from Texas. That is my son. He is teaching me how to backpack.” I know. She’s adorable.

That is how she greeted the Swedish couple going to the Great Wall with us. She talked ‘em up most of the way, which was cool with dad and I cause we could dose off or sit quietly.

We chose the Mutianyu section of The Wall that was pretty far removed from central Beijing so that it wouldn’t be as crowded. True enough, it seemed to be empty when we got there and we had it pretty much to ourselves for the first hour we were there.

The Climb

When we drove up, I heard mom say, “This is it?” Nice. Insult a Chinese national treasure. Sure, it never accomplished what it was built for, protection from invading forces. But, it is a source of great pride for the Chinese and you just slammed it before stepping out of the car.

Peaceful

Her tune changed once we started climbing and I quickly realized how much they listened to me. Another window into parenting, cause they didn’t listen worth (censored). I told them to train. Walk. Load up their backpacks and get used to being on the go. A few weeks before we left I ask dad how the training was coming along. He said they were thinking about doing it. They never got past the thinking stage. And now mom is on her hands basically crawling up the Great Wall. Every time we got to one tower and walked through it to see another one on the other side, she would yell, “OH MY GOOOOOOSH! You gotta be kidding me. Kevin, run up there and see what’s up there and wave to me if I need to come see it.” And so it went for six towers. Six steep towers. Until she got all of the way to one end and could sufficiently say that she had climbed/walked/crawled The Great Wall of China. Then, I had to get her down. I’m sure by the time we get back to the states she will recall The Wall as a breeze, no problem, up and down in a flash. Uh huh.

The Wall

Once I returned them both to flat land, I split off to see how far I could go before we had to meet up and leave. Of the 23 towers at Mutianyu, I made it to number 14. Along the way, I found some quiet moments where I couldn’t see anyone else on the wall with me. I know a major portion of The Wall is rebuilt and not original, but you can still feel the magnitude of this accomplishment. It is easy to understand why this is one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

After my dash across the wall, I finished it off with a tobaggon ride down to the bottom. Yep. They even have a chair lift that you can ride up and down from the base of the wall to the parking area. The three of us rode the chair lift up. I took the tobaggon down. Not traditional, but fun.

A little shopping, some good Chinese food and then the van ride back to The Red Lantern. Done. Mom can now say she has been to The Great Wall of China.

Never going to Bransonly yours,

Number 14

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TRAIN AND TIANANMEN

Day 2, March 23rd

I have to admit, thanks to Patton, getting to the hostel was the easiest it has ever been. The driver was waiting for us, grabbed our bags, took us straight to the place to check in, then on to the actual place we are staying, The Red Lantern West Yard. It didn’t suck.

The courtyard at The Red Lantern

We had had a pretty long 25 hours in transit and all we wanted was food, a shower and sleep. Mind you, I am now in charge and am basically making this up as I go along. That would explain why we had what the three of us are convinced was pig ears for dinner, including the cartilage. I didn’t see sweet and sour chicken on the menu. Oh well.

Day 3, March 24th

This is business day. Gotta secure train tickets from Beijing to Hanoi, Vietnam. Our hostel could do it for us, but why pay them to do it when we could do it ourselves? Ummm, to save us the hassle. Doing it ourselves seemed to be a bad idea at first, but turned out to be pretty good in the end. To get to the train station we first had to learn how to navigate the Beijing subway system. Not too bad. The only problem is on occasion one of my “kids” isn’t paying attention and wonders off. I am thinking about putting them on one of those kiddie leashes. Now I know what it feels like to be a parent.

Tiananmen Square

The main train station is pretty overwhelming and we finally found an English speaking booth. We wanted the express sleeper train to Hanoi, but I think it was full and we ended up with the slower train. At least, that is what I understood. We’ll find out on Sunday. As long as it is a soft sleeper, we will be fine. We asked the people at our hotel and they had no clue about the express train to Hanoi. So I guess we did OK on our own. Train tickets, check.

Next was Tiananmen (translated means Heaven's Pacification) Square. The history of this place is well known, specifically the murders of many unarmed civilians by Chinese soldiers in 1989. But, no sign of that history anywhere, in the form of a memorial or anything. China would love to erase that bit of history altogether. There is this odd air of tranquility that feels forced. They have two giant screens with dancers and music to fill the square. There seems to be an effort to convince people that something so tragic could never have happened here. I’m glad we got to come here.

Mom and Dad in front of the train station

This morning when we left, as we walked out of the hutong (alley), dad and I looked at each other and pointed out a marker so we would know how to get back. We both pointed out the obvious yellow and red sign that said “Good House Hotel.” You couldn’t miss it. Now, after visiting Tiananmen Square, it was time to retrace our steps and find our way home. However, during the day our marker was taken down. We were flying blind. Not good. We ended up walking way past our hutong and got lost. After stopping for a quick bite where we had to cook our own food, we finally made it back to the Red Lantern and called it a day.

Flying blindly yours,

The Parent

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ENTERING THE DRAGON

Day 1, March 22nd

So, it has finally begun. I got off of work on Friday, gathered up what I needed on Saturday and Sunday and drove to my parents’ house on Sunday night. I got home a little before midnight. Normally, they would be asleep by now. Not this time. Questions. Lots of them. When you pack for a trip like this, you inevitably pack too much. There are always things you wished you hadn’t brought and then you have the internal argument with yourself about lugging it around the whole trip, or ditching it and buying a new one when you get home. But, they had snacks they wanted to bring. More specifically, she had 6 weeks worth of snacks she wanted to bring.

They needed a crash course in Backpacking 101. Focus on necessities…medicine, money, passport, good, worn-in shoes. Everything else can be purchased. Think about it, what in America isn’t made in China, Vietnam or Thailand. Sure, Mexico deserves her due for her contributions to manufactured goods in the U.S., but I would argue the lion’s share comes from Asia.

Another problem with preparing for a trip like this is that you want to prepare for all scenarios. But, that is impossible with a trip full of unknowns. You have to plan for quick emergencies to get you through the moment and then use the local resources to completely solve the problem. Even at home, you rarely have anything that lasts you 6 weeks. You always have to go get more. Same when you travel.

Now, my dad will be quick to point out that my shower gloves are not a “necessity”. I would agree. In a pinch, I can do without. But, even while traveling you should take the time to exfoliate. That’s just good hygiene.

As I mentioned before, dad planned and prepared more for this trip than all of the planning I have ever done put together. His “vacations” are like military operations. Objectives. Timetables. Check points. Papers and maps in clear plastic folders. Color-coded tabs highlighting his travel book. Clothes individually wrapped in plastic bags and wrapped with a rubber band.

Me…my vacations are like a military operation, if a military operation were a loosely formed idea defined by an ever changing, fluid experience that is propelled by chance, whims and curiosity, and timetables and check points were more of a suggestion or guideline which is never paid much attention. My packing style? It’s all just crammed in my backpack. Their backpacks were packed and ready to go days in advance. I finished packing about 5 minutes before we left for the airport. Literally.

When it comes to military style “vacations”, he is General Patton, I’m Private Gomer Pile. And we’re both cool with that. Mom, she just wants her snacks. No surprises on either side.

Let me say that I’m definitely gonna make fun of my parents a lot on this trip (you should hear dad try to pronounce Chinese names), and they know it. But, I love my parents and the uniqueness of this opportunity is certainly not lost on me. I never imagined I would be able to have such an amazing experience like this with them. I am grateful for it.

Last night, they each got about 3-4 hours of sleep. I slept none. Stayed up the whole night to try to get a head start on the time change and jetlag. Actually, I really haven’t had a good night’s sleep for the past 5 nights. I’m exhausted before the trip even starts.

Our plane left out of DFW at 7am, we were at the airport at 5am, left the house around 3:45am. We all slept from Dallas to San Fran where we had a 3-hour layover. Then the big one…San Fran to Beijing.

The three adventurers at the DFW airport.

After 11 ½ hours, 6087 miles, many attempts to watch bad movies (even sequestered on an airplane, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader sucks), five cups of coffee, three horrible meals and one GIANT JACKASS using the back of my seat as a punching bag we landed in Beijing. I’m serious, this guy behind me was very particular about when and how far my seat was laid back and didn’t hesitate to let me know when it didn’t meet his expectations. After being packed in my seat for so long and unable to get comfortable, I finally got tired of being ordered around and just left my seat laying back. He worked out his aggression on my seat about 20-30 times and threw a couple of stink eyes my way during his bathroom breaks. He felt pretty tough and looked pretty tall and I looked pretty short…until I stood up to deplane and he was reminded that he was a towering 4’11”. I was hoping to stay awake for most of the flight anyway and Jackie Chan’s less talented cousin certainly helped. I’m hoping he is not an omen of things to come.

As soon as we got off of the plane and made it through immigration and baggage claim, it felt like a General Patton “vacation” right away. A driver was standing at the exit holding a card with dad’s name on it ready to whisk us away to our hostel. On our way to the car, dad officially turned over the reins of the trip to me. Mom just wanted one of her snacks.

Time to teach them how to give in to “the life.”

Tour guidingly yours,

Gomer

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THE GENESIS

Remember the old TV series “Kung Fu” with David Carradine as the young grass-hoppah, training and learning the ways of a Shaolin monk from his masters? Remember how he progressed in his training to the point where the student had become the teacher?

This is that story. Except I’m the young grass-hoppah and my mom and dad are the Shaolin masters.

I’m going backpacking in Southeast Asia for six weeks…and my mom and dad are coming with me.

I am a traveler. Have been for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Germany and Saudi Arabia and worked in Baghdad, Iraq (as the editor on the Saddam Hussein trial). Since college, I have backpacked through Central America, part of South America, the Middle East as well as Southeast Asia.

My mom and dad are experienced travelers in their own right. They packed up my sisters and I when I was two-years-old and moved us to Germany despite never having been outside of the central Texas area. They took us all over Europe and a bit of Africa. After returning to the states, my dad did multiple trips back overseas working in Sudan, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. My mom even got a job in Iraq and went with him for his final job in Iraq. Ironically, they were in Tikrit, Iraq at the same time I was in Baghdad.

Needless to say, I get my traveling spirit honestly. But, when I travel, I don’t plan. I don’t research. I show up. Ask around. Get ideas. And figure it out.

They have never traveled like this. They plan, they arrange, they prepare, they check, they double check.

Not this time. This time I am in charge. This time they have placed their trip in my hands.

This all started last year when my parents finally got back on the travel wagon and took an arranged trip to Israel. Everything was planned and taken care of for them. Times, places, everything was preset. They saw quite a bit, had no free time and spent a lot of money. I told them if I had been their tour guide and we backpacked, they would have seen just as much, experienced more of the local culture, all at a fraction of the price. My dad asked my mom where she wanted to go. She picked Vietnam. My dad said let’s do it.

On a side note, Mom has always wanted to go to Vietnam. It has been her dream destination. I made it to Vietnam in 2002, a little over 8 years before she is getting there. That still irks her a bit. And that’s kinda cool. She has beaten me to so many places. I’ll always have Vietnam.

So, here we are, father, mother and son backpacking together. No plan. No itinerary. No schedule. Just a travel book, a direction and an idea. All that is set is when we depart and when we return.

The adventure begins in late March when we depart Texas for Beijing, China. From Beijing we catch a train to Hanoi, Vietnam and then backpack through Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia, returning to Texas at the beginning of May.

Already, prior to leaving, dad has done more research on this trip than I have ever done on all of my trips combined. We’ll see if that persists or if he really gives in to the life of a backpacker. He swears that as soon as we land in Beijing, I take the reins. He doesn’t want to make another decision after that.

This is going to get interesting.

Student becoming the teacherly yours,

kevin

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