Mt. Massive

Last weekend my uncle, his wife's nephew (I guess that makes him my cousin...?), and I went on a climb up Mt. Massive just outside of Leadville, CO. We left Littleton at 3:30am and were on the trail by 6am with the outside temperature around 40 degrees. Since it was so cold and I was in my shorts I took the lead with a brisk pace to keep warm. While the first mile was easy enough, things soon got more difficult.

The night before we had decided on the shorter of two routes up the mountain (8 miles instead of 14 round-trip). Unfortunately that meant it was also the steeper of the two paths. That didn't prove too difficult until about halfway up we lost the trail in one of the many patches of snow that were still covering the mountain. After scrambling around over rocks for another three hours we made it to a point just below the summit where the two paths meet up. Even though it was noon and we had spent the better part of the morning scrambling over rocks we were excited to be back on a path and quickly made it up to the peak.

It was amazing to see over the surrounding mountains and the countryside around Leadville. However I was starting to feel the affects of the altitude with a growing headache and was ready to start back down. My uncle and cousin wanted to go back down the side of the mountain we had come up. In their pants they were ready to slide down a scree field and scramble on down. I had enough of scrambling over boulders by this point, and wanted to go down the gentler side of the mountain.

We ended up splitting up with me going down the longer, gentler side to one trail-head and the two of them going down the steeper side to the trail-head we had started at. One other appealing aspect of the longer side was a long stretch of snow from the peak that people had been sliding down. The slide gave me a good head start on the seven mile hike back to the trail-head. It helped me reach the bottom of the mountain first, but I was glad the others went the other way since that was where the truck was parked and there was about a three mile difference between the trail heads.


The day ended with my uncle and cousin picking me up and all of us driving back down to Littleton. All in all it had been a long day and I'm debating how soon I want to go back up and do another 14er. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Back Home

Well, for those of you who haven't heard, I've made it back to sunny Denver, Colorado. Getting a solid internet connection in Hong Kong was just as difficult as it was in Shanghai. And to be honest with you, I'd grown a bit lazy as this trip came to an end. Still I've added a few pictures from Hong Kong which I enjoyed immensely. From Victoria Peak to the Star Ferry, I was glad that I got a chance to see it.

Anyways, It's been a very exciting trip, but I'm glad to be back home. I hope everyone enjoyed reading and I hope to keep posting stories and pictures as I have more summer fun (this weekend: hiking up Mt. Massive).

Until then, take care.

Shopping in Shanghai

Well, today was my first free day in Shanghai as the class that I was with ended last night. There was dinner, a group reflection where we each shared our reflections for the trip, and a slide show of some of the best photos. It's gone by very fast and I was surprised to see all that we have done over the past ten days. After dinner about a third of us went out to a bar near our hotel and enjoyed each others company before we had to go our separate ways.

This morning, it was nice to sleep in and have a leisurely breakfast without having to worry about getting on a bus to go somewhere. After breakfast I relaxed in my room until going out to market. There with my friends we haggled over the price of shirts, watches, and belts. It was the first time I haggled on the trip and I was very much out of practice. Good thing my friends were better at it. What's more, as a pair or in a group, we were able to get better prices.

After we were done there two of us tried our hand at the subway system in route to a silk market. While it was incredibly easy for us to use the subway and get to the right station, the directions we had for the silk market were wrong and we ended up spending our time walking the street. By the time we were in a cab to the market, most of the stalls were closed so we had to head back to the hotel.

Now we're getting ready to head out to dinner. I'm not sure how late we'll stay out since my friends have an early flight to Hong Kong. I got mine here and made it a little later so I'll meet up with them sometime tomorrow afternoon once I fly in. I've enjoyed Shanghai and I'm looking forward to Hong Kong, but I can tell I'm starting to miss home. As we're deciding where to go for dinner tonight, we don't want Chinese food again but can't decide where to go.

I'm sure we'll figure it out. There are plenty of choices here...for the right price.

New China

Hi All,

I'm in Shanghai and enjoying the modernness of the city. Ironically though, my hotel room here doesn't have a working internet connection, so I'm writing this from the business center of the hotel and there are people waiting. Because of this I'm going to have to cut this post short saying that we toured around the city today with a few of us finishing for a wonderful dinner at Papa John's (we were getting a little tired of Chinese food). Anyways, I hope to have fuller posts and more pictures in a few days when I go to Hong Kong.

Cheers.

Of Rice and Wine

The day started late as we were allowed to sleep in on Friday. After a simple breakfast at the hotel, we were back on the bus heading down the mountain over the same bumpy road that we had gone over the night before. After a while we made it to the parking lot for an ancient mountain village of a minority population in China. Apparently China is made up of 56 different cultures with the Han people making up 90%. The culture we visited lived far up in the hills creating terraces for growing rice and corn.

After hiking around and learning more about the culture it was time to head back to Guilin. After another long bus ride we arrived back at the city. To show us their appreciation for putting up and being supportive during all of the delays over the past few days, our guides decided to take us out to dinner (instead of the free time that was scheduled). At a tea house in Guilin we had a meal that was made up entirely of dishes made with tea. To finish it off we had a bottle of wine made with local area flowers.

All in all, it was a long two days on the bus and some beautiful countryside. Still, I'm looking forward to traveling on to Shanghai tomorrow night.

Water Adventures

Thursday was the start of the Guilin portion of our trip as we packed up a day pack and boarded the bus. Our first stop was the tour boat on the Li river. I wasn't sure about the views we would get since it was raining so heavily, but once we started down the river I was happily surprised. The area around Guilin is full of limestone deposits that have eroded over the years leaving massive karst hills that reach up into the sky like fingers. The rain clouds added to the atmosphere as they drifted between the tree covered hills.

After a few hours of drifting and a nice lunch, we reached the town of Yangshuo which was dominated by West street and its many vendors selling tourist goods. My friends and I enjoyed an inexpensive Gin & Tonic as most of the group bought pictures and bootleg DVDs. It wasn't long before we were back on the bus with the rain pouring down.

It wasn't until about 30 minutes into the ride when we came to our first adventure. A levy had broken and the street we were on was knee deep with brown flood water. After a slight traffic delay, our excellent bus driver was able to push through and get us on our way. The second adventure took much longer as we reached an even larger traffic jam. As we sat in rush hour traffic and the pouring rain our tour guide realized we were near a great noodle place. The guides asked for volunteers to go get noodles for the entire bus since we were way past our schedule and wouldn't arrive at our destination until late at night.

Me and nine others volunteered to go out in the rain and bring back noodles for the class. It was only after we had gotten out and down the street a ways when we noticed the cause of the traffic jam; an even larger flood then we had seen before. As we waded in, first to our ankles and then to our knees, we saw how all the rain had turned the street into a brown river with people in cars, trucks, buses, scooters, bikes, and on foot try to make their way through. Each time a truck with drive through quickly it would cause waves that would go up above our knees. We were relieved to get to the noodle place and enjoyed a meal before making our way back to the bus. We even joked that maybe the bus would catch up to us so we wouldn't have to go back through the flooded streets.

The traffic was not so forgiving and we soon found ourselves trekking back through the water and onto the bus. After spending an hour or two in traffic, we were moving again; up to a mountain retreat. Along the way we encountered our third adventure as we switched from one large bus to two smaller ones. Apparently the road up to the retreat was too small for the big bus. As we bounced and jostled along the way, there were several instances when we came face to face with vehicles coming down on the narrow road. After an hour and a half of this broken, bumpy road, we finally made it to our destination: a spa retreat right above one of the rivers.

After checking in and having a very late dinner we went out to the spas in the pouring rain. There were four spas in a row that got progressively hotter (with a bar down by the first one). After making my way up to spa after spa, I was still only able to stay in the top, hottest spa for only the briefest of moments. It was so hot, my skin couldn't tell if it was hot or cold, just that it was uncomfortable. After that I went to a pool that had little fish in it. Called, “Doctor Fish”, they would come up to you if you lay very still and suck away dead skin and debris. It was one of the weirdest things I've felt this trip. At first, it's hard to keep from jerking away as they tickle. Then, as more come my arms and legs felt like they were in a giant pool of soda. After a brief rinse off, I was definitely ready to call it a night.

The Future of China

Today we started early as we were checking out of our hotel. This would be our last day in Beijing. We piled into the bus and headed out to the suburbs where we were to meet with a company called the “Sound Group.” They're in the water purification business with several plants for industrial and municipal water treatment throughout the country. With a large degree of the water in the country un-drinkable (and some even unsuitable for industry) it's certain that the country needs it. After a presentation that nearly put me to sleep we had a chance to tour their factory. It looked much like a factory in America except for the lack of safety equipment. No hardhats were worn around heavy-lifting cranes and protective eye-ware was only worn by a few people doing welding. Guess OSHA isn't as stringent over here.

After Sound Group and a lunch of Subway sandwiches on the bus, we traveled to a high school in the suburbs of Beijing. Part of the itinerary was for us to give a presentation to the students. While our professor insists that someone had said back in America that they would play piano, there was no one that would agree to do it while we talked about it on the bus to the school. It was at that time that I mentioned that I played the guitar to our professor (half hoping that they wouldn't have a guitar for me to play).

The high school was devoted to communication which we saw as we looked in on classes of art, music, and photography classes. After a tour of the grounds came a presentation by the students. It was truly impressive the amount of work they had put into the readings, poetry, songs and play that they gave. The interesting point in the afternoon came when their script called for a piano and guitar solo from Daniels students. As the rest of the class looked around at each other somewhat panicked I got up and headed to the stage. I let them know that there wouldn't be a piano solo, but that I would play their guitar. With a couple of miss-played chords and some missed lines I was able to perform “Hotel California” while the crowd clapped and sang along. I was glad that I could save our school's face and be the hero in the situation, but I was also glad to get off the stage.

We finished the afternoon with a bit of group time with the students where we split into groups of five Daniels students and five Chinese students to a room. There we would ask questions of each other and try to communicate as best we could. Overall, there seemed to be a great interest in American culture and basketball. And while most of the students could carry on a simple conversation, it wasn't long before I ran out of questions that I could ask (and that would be understood).

We eventually finished our high school visit and left for dinner and the airport. Check-in was relatively easy and I'm now sitting in the terminal getting ready to go. Our next stop will be Guilin.