Sri Lanka - Pearl of the Orient

I have finally got some photos of my trip to Sri Lanka ready to show you. Most people  have only heard of Ceylon (the country's old name before 1972) tea, but actually there is a lot to see and do there. It is a small island off the southern tip of India, and so holds a strategic position on trade routes between Europe and Asia. It was on the old maritime Silk Road, and had Chinese connections as early as the 5th century AD. The famous Chinese explorer Zheng He (also a eunuch in the Ming dynasty) visited Sri Lanka 6 times in the 1400s, well before Columbus got near America. Then followed the Portuguese in 1505, then Dutch and British traders.

The population is around 20 million, the same as Beijing or Shanghai roughly. Although a small island, it has a bit of everything...historical buildings, tropical flora and fauna, mountains, beaches, nature reserves, precious stones and lots of friendly smiling faces.

Our first stop was at Anuradhapura, an old capital from 2500 years ago. Numerous stupas and religious buildings remain.

Our first hotel was beautiful both indoors and outdoors.

We passed through several towns on the way to another World Heritage site, Sigiriya. Fortunately our minibus was more comfortable than this local taxi!

As expected there is lots of fruit around........

including red coloured bananas, a first for me!

The local people are very friendly, perhaps because of their buddhist teachings.

This town impressed me when I saw this sign.

However I realised there must be something wrong when I saw the bank building itself.

Sigiriya has a wonderful rock fortress built half way up this rock in the 4th century AD.

It is famous for its wall frescoes.

I got half way up, at the foot of the lions feet.

As expected there were many buddhist temples to be seen in Sri Lanka,

and lots of plants and flowers, and birds and animals.

We visited the famous Tooth Relic Temple at Kandy. It is said there is only one other such relic to be found, that is in Beijing (Badachu, see my blog of Aug 2009).

The tooth relic (of the Buddha) is contained in this golden case.

The Sri Lankan elephant is an important sub-species of the Asian elephant, but is in danger of extinction, with less than 6000 remaining on the island, and mostly kept in the nature reserves. It has been an important part of Sri Lanka's history and culture for over 2000 years.

This half elephant-half man is Ganesh, a god from the Hindu religion.

Hindu temple in Kandy, Sri Lanka's 2nd largest city.

.Arts and crafts based on local hardwood

Local batik based on local flora and fauna

Kandy was the capital of an old kingdom for over 200 yrs starting in the late 16th century, and was then subsequently taken over by the British. Nowadays, it has been taken over by Western food.......KFC on the high street of course....

We also managed to go to Adam's Peak, so called because a rock formation at the top is said by the Christians and Muslims to be the footprint of Adam, made when he was expelled from the Garden of Eden. The Buddhists claim it is the left footprint of Buddha, and not to be outdone, the Hindus say it is that of Shiva!

We got up at 1.30 am to climb the thousands of steps to the top with hundreds of others so as to see the sunrise at 5.30am

Coming down was much easier and not in the dark.

Signs of British colonialism at a roadstop at Ella.

Tea plantations at Nurawa-Eliya

Some of the tea ends up in souvenir shops, this one in the capital Colombo, in different blends from weak to strong to suit all tastes. It was certainly a very refreshing drink with milk added, but I think I still prefer Chinese tea!

One of many beautiful, uncrowded and uncommericalised beaches to be found all over the island.

It was strange seeing all these men sitting on poles, until we saw they were fishing. What a peaceful life!

Adding Visit to South Korea

I am so excited to report that my initial four hour layover in Seoul on the way back from Changsha has been changed to four full days.  I have always wanted to see Seoul because I have close friends who are either Korean (Jeounghoon "Johnny" Oh and Jee-Young Chung) or Americans working in Seoul (Jezreel Kang-Graham).  I collaborated with Johnny on a research project a few years ago about the newspaper coverage of the Korean presidential election and am thrilled to have the opportunity to see the culture first hand.

Apparently Jezreel, Johnny, and Jee-Young will all be in South Korea during my visit, so we should have a good time together.  I will be staying at Jezreel and his wife's apartment in Seoul and they plan to take me to whatever sites they think I should see.  I'm really hoping it involves more than Karaoke bars because I don't drink and there are few things in this world I do worse than singing.  I guess that's the whole point of Karoake, though.

Jee-Young asked me what I wanted to see while I was in South Korea and I told her I mostly want to see the DMZ (The Demilitarized Zone).  She gave me a puzzled look, but I love history and would love to simply "feel" what that place is like.  I also indicated I wanted to see the Blue House (which is where the president resides).  I find it amusing that we have a White House and the South Koreans have a Blue House.

I hear Seoul is a vibrant city and very modernized.  I'm looking forward to being there, but I would also like to get out of the city and see the countryside.  One of my biggest regrets about my visits to London and Amsterdam was that I never made it out of the city.  How shameful is it to go to the Netherlands and not see a single windmill?  Well, that's my story!  This time, I WILL venture outside of Seoul and see some of the more traditional-looking parts of the country (whatever that means).

The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) at the 38th parallel serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea

The Blue House in Seoul

Aerial shot of Seoul, Korea

Continuing Preparations for China

I'm now three weeks away from my trip to Changsha and couldn't be more excited.  I now know I will be staying in the foreign student building and that it will be equipped with television, phone, internet and personal western-style bathroom.  I guess there is a community kitchen, but I don't anticipate I will be doing much cooking while I am there.  The food is supposed to be very cheap and so why not enjoy the local cuisine?  

My classroom will also be fully equipped with a projector and sound.  My usual teaching style in the U.S. is to bring into class an outline of the major concepts I want to address.  I systematically go through those and then illustrate them with either examples from my own life or video illustrations from news or popular culture.  Often, I will engage the class in discussion about these topics.  I hear from my Korean friends that my style is not going to work very well over in China.  For one, I tend to introduce topics in just lecture format before I illustrate them and we discuss.  With English being the second language of all my students, I'm not certain how easy it will be for them to listen to me without visuals.  So, I will put some of my material up on a power point, even though I am worried about powerpoint "overkill."  

Also, I sometimes access online content on the fly because not all of my videos are stored on my hard drive.  I am frantically trying to ensure that all my illustrations are saved and ready to go.  I likely won't be able to gather any that I forgot to bring with me later because of what is known in the Western hemisphere as "The Great Firewall of China."  I also need to be ready for moments when I think I've got some good material and I just get stares because I am big-nosed, bald, overweight (by their standards), and a little hairy.  Oh yeah, I'm 6 foot 2 inches as well, which will make me a giant over there.  I doubt the students will participate much in the beginning, but I'm going to make every effort to help them to get to know me and to feel comfortable with me.  I expect I will need to adapt much more than they will, however.

(I know it's a small thing, but the fact that I see "Welcome" and "Information" on the signs at the Changsha airport makes me feel a little better)

Boutique Hotels in China

Hotels seem to be the main concern of clients going to China. Some people ask for quaint Chinese traditional Boutique Hotels. Expectations can vary. Although there are few, more and more of these boutique hotels are becoming available depending on the area. Prices vary widely from inexpensive to over $500 per night. The one here is one I stayed at in a quiet area of LiJiang. Called the Bloosom Hotel (they have two)One has been built new and the other one shown here that I stayed in was remodeled from an old traditional guest house. Cost during November was $125 per night.  One thing you need to know is that many do not have heat for the colder seasons. They supply an electric heating pad under the mattress pad.

I requested an electric space heater and I think because I am a tour operator they filled my request. Modern bath facilities are normal however do not always expect them in remote areas.  Great facilities with a common t.v. lounge, library and open air court yard, and email available. Breakfasts were basic but very good. For more information on hotels, contact me anytime. interlak@eskimo.com   Click on the photos for full screen viewing

Mosuo Weaving in LiJiang

When in China you can find many unique products to bring home. One of them shown here are the wrap around scarves made by the Mosuo women of Lugu Lake.
These special patterns are woven as you see by the woman and either made in many shops or brought into the tourist town of LiJiang which is north of Kunming. LiJiang at 6000 feet above sea level is one of my favorite Old Towns to spend a few days of relaxing and shopping especially during the hot summer months. The Old Town area of LiJiang has many local shops where you can see products being made by hand such as leather ware, art, jewelry, hand made paper, clothing and many other products. If your tour does not include LiJiang we would be glad to do an extension  tour for you to include this area and others of interest to you. Our 25 years of experience and travel in China to the far corners of the country is our long suit in doing specialty tours to your interests and needs. Click on the photos for full screen views.