Woke up in non-China

If I close my eyes I still can feel the subtle move of the train cart on the tracks; if I listen well enough I can hear the never ending shushing sound of the wind outside... I turn my head and look outside the window; the lunar scenery is crisp and dusty red, boardered by layered mountains in the horizon. The people travelling in the same train with me have little interest for the beauty outside; I feel drawn like a moth to a lit bulb.... I feel helplessly drawn... my face is one with the window, my nose hurts but I need to see, my brain needs to photograph all, every single fold in the rock! People are intrigued, they do not understand my fascination, but soon they open their eyes WIDE like children and they start seeing it... beauty in its purest form spoiled only by a long concrete truck road.
After a while I get drawn into my day dreaming again... I was told Xinjiang Province is THE province to see in China; I have a feeling it will be the cherry for my trip. The speaker is on; someone annonces the next stop; I understand just Kashgar... it's where I get off.

I spent about 5 days in Kashgar and Hotan, and I must admit it has been a while since I was so amazed. Despite the bitter winter cold I explored as much as my legs could reach; I roamed around the cobbled streets, the enigmatic and labyrinthical old city, the market place with its food stalls packed with noodles, naan bread and skinned sheep... it was a true feast for the eyes! I was trying not to blink as that would have meant loosing a moment in this circus of colors, shapes and bodies. First class tickets to a one in a life time show: watermelon sellers, men waiting in line for lamb squires, elegant women with fiery red lips in their fur coaler coats, youngsters running and screaming next to walnut carts, bikers transporting on their knees anything from sheep to construction materials, mountains of pomegranate, grapes and apples lining the busy streets...

The old cities in both Kashgar and Hotan resemble ant castles with hundreds of entrances, complicated streets, 1 or 2 story buildings seemingly built by a 2 year-old with Lego pieces. Once entered you have the impression you teleportated yourself in a remote Afghan or Pakistani village... nothing speaks of China, nothing speaks of consumerism, globalization or global warming… There, time is just another measurement unit… like “pound” or “mile” for an Eastern European.

Xinjiang was also the place to endulge my mouth and stomach; Uyghur cuisine includes all of the tasty Central Asian foods such as kebabs, rice pilaf (polo) and dumplings but has also benefited from Chinese influence, making Xinjiang the THE province for food lovers! Hearty sour yogurt, raisin and vegetable pilaf served fried meat and pickled carrots, spiced oven hot naan bread, flavored meat and vegetable noodle soup, walnut or peanut sweets and numberless types of baked cookies. As if this was not enough, Xinjiang is also famous for its fruits… yellow eye grapes, Little Red Riding Hood pomegranates, belly fat green watermelons and sweet and sour mouth watering apples…

This was a true journey in space and time, a place to explore with all your senses… I close my eyes again this time to cross the desert and end this chapter… next time I’ll bike the Karakoram Highway…

Khayr khosh,
Miruna :o)

Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=173662&id=503129457&l=8c21933e0c

Mortal Combat: Huang Shan vs. Emei Shan

If the two mountains were to get in a fight and I was the judge of who would win... I would definitely know my winner from a mile away :) I visited Huang Shan right at the beginning of my trip in China, whereas Emei Shan I saw after quite some time towards the end.

Huan Shan (1873m) is a bizarre sight with tall slim peaks that rise from the green of Asian umbrella type pines. Partially covered in mist and sometimes shone upon by mild sun it gives you the impression that you are on a quest to return the old bonsai to its growing spot. You put your kimono on, remember what your Master told you and you begin the ascent; challenges at every step and your lessons on patience and wit come in handy :) Hide like a chameleon from the souvenir sellers; jump like a tiger the never ending stone steps, evade like a snake and speed like the road runner through the masses of holiday makers. The sights are truly majestic and when the last rays of sun caress the tips of the mountains you feel you are on top of the world; wind blowing hard, leaning against your friend for warmth and chewing seasame seed candy... best way to end a hard hiking day!

We spent the night in a totally out of the oridinary tent camp. The tents were placed on concrete next to a big hotel; just rows of Chinese packed tents hehe i-n-t-e-r-e-s-t-i-n-g! Never camped like this before! There was also another bonus for the day! We had 1st row seats to "Morning Spitting Show"; I woke up at 4:30am in a sea of sounds; my neighbours were clearing their throats and spitting like there was no tomorrow; they were preparing to go see the sunrise! Veeeery educational, inspiring and HILARIOUS!

Emei Shan (3099m) is one of the sacred mountains in China, a must see for every beliver, a pilgrimage place for many. The park is very large and it is very well organized, just a dream for tourists! Bus connections from one side of the mountain to the other, cable cars, small restaurants, gift shops and toilets conveniently placed. The reachable top - Golden Summit (3077m) has an impressive Buddha statue sitting quietly on top of a spherical temple. The views are said to be amazing at sunset and sunrise.

I went up to see Golden Summit which was mostly covered in mist but one can only use their imagination for the contours of the peaks scratching the horizon; I was fascinated by the golden Buddha statue, probably my favorite out of all the ones that I saw during this trip. The way up the mountain was quite slippery and dangerous because of the frost which set on the stone steps; I had to hire straw ice shoes for the ascent and decent. It was quite funny how vendors would stand next to the most dangerously slippery steps telling you how it isimpossible without their shoes. It was like a football match: spectators, supporters and the refere :) Most tourists would give it a try saying they do not want to buy but eventaully we all went and bought the shoes... the smartest thing to do! As for the rest of the visit, I do have to admit my guilt... I did cheat and saw only bits and pieces of the mountain; time was really short and I had to cover much more ground besides Emei Shan; after the summit I went and visited the lower part of the trail: Qingyin Pavilion and the monkies. I really liked the hike up through lush green bamboo and cliffs; it almost felt like a real mountain trail. The monkeys were funny; there is a section where they tend to hang around (you can mostly see them around the mountain but let's say this is their base camp); they are not scared at all by humans and are very rude; most of them steal directly from your hands or pockets!!! Heard several stories of people being attacked by them... and let me tell you, they are not small! :P

Without question, China has some amazing mountain ranges and spots that should be visited; however, the big drag is that they are covered in concrete steps, cable cars and too many touristy things; these places would be absolutely breath taking, sanctuaries of beauty and calm if they were just simple mountain trails as you have them in some places in Europe for example...be able to step on real earth, roots and rocks, walk in the shadow of trees and stop for incredible sights on the edge of a precipice; all of this with efficient but minimal intervention for human comfort. Unfortunately this is just a wish which does not seem to ever be possible just considering the work being done in the national parks, the sheer numbers of tourists and their holiday hiking routines.

Dark Side of the "Moon"

My trip around China has been going strong; changed plans a gazillion times, same for trains and buses, one or two travel buddies and lots of sock pairs :) Just to tell you some of the obvious, 2 months are NOT enough for China! Distances are huge and most of my time has been spent getting from one place to another; infrastructure is good however that does not change the fact that I know by heart the routine of the railway staff on long distance trains :D However, I have covered good grounds so far and I definitely have some quercky stories for rainy/snowy days..

My travels have not only been all "milk and honey". I believe most of the unpleasant moments that I experienced have been due to the huge cultural difference aka what I have learned to accept as 'normal' so far and what others do which totally contradicts 'normality' for me; I consider myself an open minded person but unfortunately I have my limits...

One thing that I have been having trouble accepting and just not being able to let it go is the way a great majority of people here regard personal hygiene as well as cleanliness in general regarding their "work and/or play" environment. I am neither saying that I represent a country that is top notch, you can "come visit and lick the streets" kind of country, nor that the other countries that I visited so far have no issues in this regard, however the concept has taken new proportions for me here...

On the surface everyone seems to be to some extent a hygiene freak: wearing masks over their mouths and noses, investing quite a bit of money in wipes and other sanitary napkins, trying to avoid big crowds or avoiding contact with "loose germs" :) BUT spitting anywhere and at any time no matter the circumstances is something of a national hobby; both women and men do it; after a really loud clearing of the throat which involves good lungs and vocal cords, phlegm drops on the pavement in a delightful splashing sound... on the street, in restaurants, trains, buses, virtually everywhere. Washing hands after using the toilet or some other activity that might usually require a thorough water and soap routine is not a must in most cases which turns your stomach if you dare to stop and think when you order a big steaming plate of hand made dumplings... Toilet etiquette is one last and probably my favorite; true, that there are a lot of toilets in China which have no doors and sometimes no walls to separate the different holes, however even if they exist people deliberately leave their doors wide open so that everyone can testify to their bowl movements in real time :) I have a story from every single toilet visit that I did :P

Disclaimer: I do understand that to some very large extent I am a "capitalist pig" who does not understand the realities of this country or nation. China still remains a country where an impressive percentage of its population live on less than $1/day. My beef is not with the people who clearly do not have the means for a clean spotless life (although no matter your living conditions, everyone should at least try to make an attempt at keeping clean) but with the ones who afford it and just neglect it.

Beijing & Xi'an in One Go

I set out for Beijing being scared out of my wits; I felt exposed and unsure of how I would manage with the little Chinese I could speak or understand. See, China was a challenge from the beginning; I knew it will be hard as I could not speak/understand the language therefore my smallest daily interactions would be hindered by this and the possibility of deeper and meaningful communication virtually zero. However, in Beijing at least, there was no need to be scared. Big city, well mapped with captions in Pinyin, some people spoke English and the rest were just very friendly and tried to help out the best they could; the subway system is a God sent (!!) and I also did quite a few kilometers on foot each day... soo pas mal :)

The week I spent in Beijing felt like much longer, maybe because weather was kind enough to give me all 4 seasons in such a short time; there was spring wind, summer sunshine, cold autumn rain and white puffy winter snow… the puffy winter snow lingered for a long while BRRR!!

I was a good tourist :D saw Tienanmen Square, visited Chairman Mao, spent a whole day in the Forbidden City, went for a stroll in the Summer Palace, shopped in the Silk Street, smelled burned incense in the Lama and Confucius Temples, climbed the Great Wall, admired the Olympic Complex and the new Opera House and ate all the weird and “foreign” looking street food like a pro! To spice it up a bit, I made time to visit the Bollore Group offices, had dinner with a very cute couple (friends of a friend) and lunch with the MC of AIESEC in Mainland China, went to a Halloween Party put on by AIESEC interns and ate scorpios at the Night Market with a German craftsman who spent some serious time in Sibiu.

I left Beijing for Xi'an with the feeling that the capital of this ginormous country is a livable enough place and it would take at least a whole year to fully discover all the good and all the bad.

Xi'an was a mad day trip (if I do not count the time to get there, that is...)! I ended up going to Xi'an with some of the people I met at the Halloween party (thumbs up for networking ;)) therefore my back was covered! Had people to hang out with which is always a big plus in my book :D Every pilgrim to Xi'an has to visit at least two things: the Terracotta Warriors and the Muslim Quarter; true that there is much more to do and see... but I decided to cram everything in one day and get the hell out of there before I get sucked into a bike ride to see the surroundings or a walk on the ancient wall :P

The Terracotta Warriors were quite impressive. I mean they are like most ancient relics... they are impressive through their significance and long standing grandeur however to regular eyes they are just simple reconstructions of times past. They are impressive but they seem such a huge task only to be buried and forgotten after completion... to some extent useless... Dennis and I wanted to outsmart everyone so we decided to go see the smaller pits first and then be astonished by the largest one... fate or rather bad reading off the freakin' signs made it that we entered the big pit 1st... we got out of there as fast as we could but the WOW effect was gone... Ahhh smart smarties :)

As for the Muslim Quarter, it was AMAZING... a real treat! We ate our way through the streets! Everything so colorful, food stalls everywhere with delicious or plain weird foods... hard to decide what you wanted to taste first... so we just tasted everything :) Weird desert rice cakes, walnut gelatinous pie, fish and ginger candy, mini egg sandwiches, rice pudding with strange not really sure what taste, dry fruit and vegetables (I had dried sweet carrot... yck!) ahhh BUT the best was this fried cabbage and onions filled pancake! DELICIOUS!!!

The trip ended with a visit to the Lights and Water Pagoda show... which we managed to enjoy exactly 1 full minute... we got there too late hahahah this actually makes it a better memory than if we had actually seen the show :D

It's like talking Chinese...

As most of you know, I am not the one to follow the crowds neither in impressions nor in direction... however this time I could not help it and decided to put my sheep suit on and follow "the road" to China, nowadays, the country on everyone's lips.

I have been in China for almost a month and I find it head-spinning, interesting, revolting, huge, cryptic, gloomy, fun, exciting, annoying, weird, modern and old in the same time, better yet a real contradiction in terms dotted with your regular paradigms related to this vast and ancient land. Considering its size, ethnic mix and my limited exploration span so far, I am sure I will manage to have some eyebrows raised with my following "1st impressions since in China", but what the heck! I will still do it... heheh read it and just take it with a grain of salt ;)

Chinese Language & Writing
Now I totally understand the saying "It's like talking Chinese", meaning that it's complicating, confusing, nothing like you heard before, no point of reference nada de nada, people! Or at least for me. There was obviously no time to get at least some basic idea of Mandarin before I arrived here therefore you can imagine my blunt surprise. Outside the airport, major train stations, big city subway stations and a few other very touristic places most signs are in Mandarin; if you are lucky they might be written in Pinyin (an alphabetized version of the language) which helps to some extent to ease your mind and imagine that you can find your way on the map that you are so tightly holding on to. The truth is that after a few days you get more confident and the multitude of signs which resemble to huge neon "Gibberish" or "muşte" (for my Romanian peeps) get more familiar... so you can recognize "vital" signs like: entrance, exit, police, women (toilet), one piece of sth, yuan and some of the numbers. I guess after being exposed to them enough you start getting used to them and with a bit of effort you might start making some sense in this very confusing new world... but I am still waaaaaaay away from being there.
Mandarin is a tonal language... meaning that there are a lot of sounds written the same way in Pinyin however the used tone makes all the difference. So far the funniest example: depending on the tonality used "Qing wen, [...]?" means "Could I ask you a question?" or "Could I French kiss you?" ; soon after I made this discovery I decided to never use it again... or at least not before I handle well the tones :P
Nonetheless, I am doing the best I can; I am self-teaching myself Chinese... it does not always work but when it does it's a reason to celebrate like crazy :D Pijiu for everyone!

Chinese People
Well, in case you were wondering (#1 question when I talk to a friend), no, they are not that small:) Chinese people are usually small to average in height; most of older people are smaller in height but I can assure you I saw quite a few tall Chinese men; women not so many. They are a funky mix of old and traditional or old and not very tastefully dressed and of young and very fashionable (Tip Top Mini Top, ragnetul modei). Young guys play a lot with their hair style and sometimes have the most colorful spikiest things that you have ever seen rising 30cm from their scalp; women are very feminine sometimes boarder line girlish with wavy dark hair (long or short); they love to dress up to resemble dolls and OMG their skirts are VERY short... like short short! A lot of the men wear their fingernails long and they smoke a lot; everyone is gadget-ted up to their eyeballs and if they do not own a car they most likely have a bike or a motor/electrical bike.
Some other randoms: people in general wear masks to cover their nose and mouth, very Michael Jackson like, hide behind umbrellas in case it snows (they even use umbrellas when riding their bikes), men and women alike clear their throat out loud and spit on the street and most children pants have a big opening between their legs so that the kid can do their business with no need for diapers (it's a sight for sore eyes!! I still need to convince myself on the utility of this method...).
So far I have been feeling quite at ease and everyone that I interacted with were very friendly, curious and trying to help out. It is true that outside major cities or very touristic areas not a lot of them speak English (or any of the other languages that I can utter..) but Sign language, a smile and my little Chinese always help.

Chinese Food
Aaaaaaa the food. Even before coming here, I already knew that I like "Chinese food". Not as different as everyone warned me it will be in comparison to the Chinese food out of China, it is greasy, fried, meaty, very diverse and most likely very bad for your health long term but I LOVE IT ahhhhh Street food, restaurant food, cheap or expensive, it does not make a difference, it is all delicious!! Most of the times I have no idea what I am eating and maybe I should be happy about that... not because they eat "cats and dogs" as European folks would like to make you think... but it's rather the parts of the animal that you eat and the funky vegetables or roots hahaha...not very "appetizing" at first glance, but once in your mouth veeeryyy delicious :) When it comes to food I have 2 favorite pass times: trying weird street food & looking over the Chinese/English photo menus in restaurants which have the craziest translations EVER!!

As an overall view of things, China is bigger in "person" than on the map; extremely crowded, especially when it comes to visiting places; I was very pleasantly surprised to see how many Chinese visit their country; being in traffic or on the bus/subway at high hours is hell; pollution is high; most of the places visited so far have a sort of gray hazy fog in the air all day long (which ruins perfect photo moments heheh); there is a huge gap between the very rich and the very poor; incredible difference between cityscape and country side in terms of conditions, ease of life, access to normal things such as water, heat, transport, medical help etc. As my friend likes to say "You sometimes need to get out of the city, even if it is for a few kilometers to remember how China is really like."

Still have a month to explore, discover and adore; so little time, so big China :P Could any of you do me the favor of moving Christmas a few months back... so I do not have to jump on the plane so soon? Xiexie!

Pupici,
Miruna :o)

Vite Fait

Last two countries, last few feelings...

Going back to Gabon after almost 3 months was not really my ideal plan... actually going back all together did not seem very enticing at all; but what can you do? Once you sign on the dotted line and you buy cookies with corporate money, you just pick up the plane ticket for your next assignment and smile heavily for the photo ;)

Just because my last assignment in Gabon did not have enough political insecurity spice in it with the death of the president and all the rest of the iatta iatta, I was "lucky" enough to get into the country 2 days before presidential elections! Imagine the thrill! Actually elections in themselves where quite calm and except the eye catching and omnipresent billboards with Ali'9 (the rest of the 20 something other candidates campaign posters were almost nonexistent), nothing could give away the tension of the 1st democratic elections in the last 40 years. However there were clear signs of growing anxiety as the days passed by and the Election Commission failed to bring a result forward: police and army were strategically placed around the city, public transportation became a drag, each morning less and less people would show up for work, eventually the land and maritime boarders were closed, more and more people gathered in the city center to demand the results and we were soon told that there was under no circumstances any going out after 19h00; and then one morning after the regular cup of tea while checking e-mail, I was told to drop everything... we had to leave then and there... they opened fire in the city... I was scared.
Things deteriorated quickly with confusing reports on TV; I was safe though and witnessed the coming into function of Ali Bongo with slight boredom after a 2 hour detailed result reading of every single vote received by every single candidate in every single possible place on this earth where as little as a single Gabonese voted (!!!) Ahhhh c'est l'Afrique! :)

The rest of the days in Gabon happened between work and France24 & Gabon News channels; things calmed down in Libreville but Port Gentil was hwat... I left Gabon for Congo Brazza earlier than initially planned...

After the restrictions in Gabon, Congo was a welcomed breath of freedom; Pointe Noire is small, comfy, a weird mixture of locals, international petrol platform workers and your usual hookers, a warm climate to satisfy most whims and during rainy season 10.000 mosquitoes per capita ;)I liked Congo as it represented the step before the end of my first encounter with the African continent; a time of restlessness and calm, a time for shallow friendships but also of deep bonding; counting minutes until the end of the day and crossing off days until the "last Friday". Lots of mixed feelings about my professional but also human experience, about my future ahead and all in all about the gains and loses of this African "battle".

Message in English to follow

Bonjour et merci pour votre message.
J'ai fini ma mission pour le projet WAY. Si vous avez besoin d'assistance merci de vous addresser aux Super Us.
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Bonne chance avec tous vos projets.
Cordialement,
Miruna

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On the Sands of Lake Tanganyika

Ever since I got to Burundi and throughout my entire stay there I felt a serious battle going on in my head between liking and disliking. By far the most African country I have visited so far, Burundi is a tiny hilly land washed by the waves of Lake Tanganyika. Thorn apart by totalitarian regimes and civil war, Burundi is finally peaceful, giving its people the chance to breathe and think about the future.

Most Burundians speak Kirundi and to some extent Kiswahili; French is spoken only when foreigners are around and even then spiced up with local flavoured expressions. People seem cautious more than anything and most of the time very inquiry with a touch of scepticism when it comes to foreigners and especially to French Speaking Caucasians. Although the genocide in Burundi was no where near the one next door in Rwanda, people can still tell you horror stories about mass killings between the two major ethnic groups; and roads and cities are adorned with monuments of grief in remembrance of the mass killings or with street billboards speaking against violence or the side effects of civil war.

The country side is absolutely beautiful, green hills to the left and to the right, large plantations of tea in the South and banana ones in the North. People live a simple life; they still dress in traditional clothes which delight the eye with a myriad of colours; women wear their weight in long bulky pots often made out of straw. Crossing through villages on a Sunday you can witness them come to life: people are out in the streets chatting, going to or coming from church, visiting family or just enjoying a meal on the side of the road, some others do not have the luxury as they have to work, however on Sundays everyone’s face has a smile painted on.

Bujumbura, the capital city, is small with long paved street that give it a feeling of a concrete city; however it does have its charm with small boutiques and local restaurants, street stalls and a generous beach which opens on the waters of Lake Tanganyika. The city calms down soon after night fall, as street illumination is virtually non existent; another recurrent habit of civil war…

After one month spent in Buja, thorn between a feeling of calm or boredom and a hidden feeling of uneasiness mixed with amazement, I left it all behind for my next destination.

This Buja state of mind will bug me for a while…
Miruna :o)