No Photos from this Trip

Thursday, June 26, 2008--Leshan (Continued)

It is expensive for Chinese to be tourists in their own country. Admission prices are similar to those to similar places in the U.S. and Europe. In their everyday lives, Chinese pay only 1 yuan (about 15 cents U.S.) for a cross-town bus. They can have a meal of noodles for 5-6 yuan (75-90 cents U.S.). But if they want to take the short boat cruise to see the Buddha statue I saw today, they have to pay 50 yuan ($7.50!). If they want to actually go to the Buddha and climb the stairs down and up around it, they have to pay another 70 yuan ($10). Many of the entry fees I have paid to museums, temples, etc., have been in the 40-120 yuan range ($6-19). Yet almost all the tourists I see are Chinese. It must hurt to pay those prices.

I ate dumplings for dinner tonight. I passed a place that was very busy. The dumplings everyone was eating looked different from the ones I usually find. Their tops were frilly and puffy so that they looked like white carnation flowers. I ordered 10 and made my dinner out of that.

Well, there won't be any photos of my trip this year. My camera was stolen tonight. Someone zipped open my bag without my knowing it and took it. I think I know who it was--a family. The father holding a baby walked up to me and told the baby to say hello. I reached up (away from my bag) and let the baby hold my finger for a moment. There was a wife and a son about 12 years old who were beside/behind me. So I figure they did it. I had read in the guidebooks that children were being used as pickpockets in China. Losing the camera itself is no big deal. It was an old one that I planned to replace because it is slow to find space on the memory card for letting me take a photo, it has a very small viewing screen, it doesn't take moving action images, etc. I'm just glad I didn't replace it before this trip. The big loss is the 350 photos I had taken so far on my trip that were on the memory card. In a way, however, it is liberating. I have decided not to replace the camera at the present time. Photos of everywhere I go are on the Internet. So now I plan to just go everywhere and enjoy seeing what I see rather than thinking about trying to get good photos while there. I think I may enjoy traveling more without taking photos!!

In the past several years, there has been a Disaster of the Year while traveling. Last year, it was my suitcase being stolen. Two years ago, it was my leaving my shouder pack on the bus when I jumped off quickly (yet, retrieving it with only a few items missing). In Argentina a few years ago, it was having my pocket picked. Of course, the worst Disaster of the Year was four years ago when Arne had his stroke and dying. I hope this camera being stolen will be the end of it this year. I would like to have the rest of the trip go smoothly.

Friday, June 27, 2008--Leshan to Chongqing

I took a taxi to the bus station this morning. Taxis really are rather cheap in China. And they seem to always use the meter. The 10 km trip to the bus station cost me 10 yuan (about $1.40). I got to the station at 7:30, and there was a bus leaving at 8:00. Unfortunately, it wasn't the best of buses. It looked nice outside, but it was well worn inside.

The guidebook had said that there was an expressway between Leshan and Chongqing, but that's not true. There is a 4-lane roadway most of the way, but it isn't an expressway. It goes through towns. And much of it is in bad shape.

A little boy sat beside me. He didn't like being by a foreigner, but he and his dad got on the bus when there were only two seats available. The father put the boy beside me and went two seats forward to seat himself. The boy was quiet and stayed as far away from me as possible as the bus bounced along. About an hour after they got on the bus, I noticed the boy lean forward and rest his arm on the handle at the back of the seat in front of him and then rest his head on his arm. A few minutes later, he threw up! What a mess. But because he was uncomfortable near me, he did it out in the aisle rather than between us. Fortunately, just a few minutes later we reached a normal rest stop. The people around me were making a big fuss about the smell, but I thought the food everyone had brought onto the bus was so overwhelming that I could hardly smell the puke. Anyway, I stepped out and around and left the bus with the others. While we were stopped, the lady conductor cleaned it all up. Before we departed, she moved me to another seat and put the father beside the boy.

My guidebook says that Chongqing is the place to splurge on a hotel because there are not many budget offerings. Well, I took them at their word. I'm in a 4-star hotel, the best that I have had on this trip. My room is on the 22nd floor with a view of the Yangsi River. The hotel was remodeled last year, so everything is nice and new. The bathrooms (toilet and shower compartments) have glass doors and glass walls out to the room. I can stand in my shower and look at the Yangsi while I bathe! The lights are movement sensitive, so all I have to do is walk into the bathroom and the light comes on. The TV remote control even has a designer cover for it that matches the tissue box, the tea box, the ice bucket, the services folder, etc. I am looking forward to their buffet breakfast. I hope it will be the best I have had so far!! Oh, for those who are wondering, the room is $38 per night from chinahotels.org. The posted rate is about $60 for my room.

Chongqing must be an official sister city to San Francisco. If not, it should be. Both are on peninsulas, both are built on hills, both have high rise buildings everywhere, both have frequent fog. It's sunny today, so I haven't seen the fog yet.

I made a decision to change my plans slightly today. I had intended just to take the one-day hydrofoil trip past the Three Gorges from here. I didn't want a cruise with all its side trips. I just wanted to see the scenery and figured doing it in one day would be best. But they have discontinued the hydrofoil service from here since the earthquake. It is necessary to take a bus 3-4 hours south of here and then take the hydrofoil. Also, the price of the hydrofoil has gone up to 450 yuan. So I have given in to tradition and will take the luxury cruise boat. I will have a private 1st class room. The trip will include about 4 side tours during stops. I will have to pay for meals onboard, though. I paid 1000 yuan for it. That will put me behind on my itinerary, but I had already figured I had at least 2 extra days that could be cut from other stops. I had thought, however, of using those for another stop higher in the mountains near Tibet. Now, I will have to see if it is possible or not to go there.