Feb 2007

Greetings fellow blog readers. This witty entry is coming from the continent of Africa, a long haul flight away from Hong Kong.

After a 12 hour flight from Hong Kong to Johanessburg, South Africa, we had officially ended our time in Asia on this remarkable trip. We had enjoyed it, but were ready for something new and refreshing. Actually before leaving, we volunteered to be on the bump list so we could enjoy a nice hotel for free along with some free food and it appeared promising, but in the end they didn't need us as they had plenty of room underneath the plane for us with the bags. Frigid ride down there.

Really cute little girl in Malealea, Lesotho

Joburg brought some immediate changes. The first was the ability to drink tap water without eyeing it suspiciously and also this odd concoction of lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, and salad dressing, the South Africans like to call it a salad. Haven't had one of those in a long time. We readily consumed both. Secondly, everywhere we have been in our travels, people have always mentioned the danger in Joburg. Don't go out after dark. Don't talk to strangers. Don't carry a camera. Don't do this or that. Joburg does give you a feeling of dread, but even worse than that is the fact that Joburg is ugly. Plus, the people we encountered there tend to be just a smidgen off. Probably the same feeling you get entering any town in New Mexico.

One redeeming quality about Joburg was their very well done Apartheid museum. This outlined the struggle that apartheid (segregation) held on South Africa from 1948 until as recently as the 1990's. Nadine and I were familiar with apartheid and that it was is in South Africa, but we never knew the complete story, and now we do.

Pregnant ladies are allowed into Lesotho

Our form of transportation around South Africa and Lesotho to this point has been mini-van taxis. Simply, and similar to Indonesia but not as crowded, it's a mini-van with 5 rows, 3 in each row, unless you are in the back seat, then there are 4 people. Instead of going from the capital of Lesotho, Maseru, to Malealea with one single van, you go a third of the distance, switch vans, jump on another van, go another a third of the way, get on another one and finally make your way there. A little more effort than one would like to spend, but it gets you there. That has been our only form of transport, other than our feet and horses.

We found people from Lesotho (Lesothians, Lesothanauts, Lests?) to be very friendly and warm. As we were crossing the border into Lesotho, a girl that we had been talking to on the mini-van from Joburg decided to help us through immigration, even though we are well versed in border crossings, and getting to Malealea, virgins to this experience, she helped us find the first van leaving. That turned out to be very helpful as we quickly passed through a parking lot of 100 mini-vans where we would have been roaming around searching for the perfect van for quite awhile.

We spent the next 3 nights in Malealea. A great place overlooking a valley with electricity from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and peacocks running around the grounds. This was the perfect place to sit back and take in the sites.

Our first order of business in the unbusy town of Malealea was to have a brie (bbq). This onslaught of beef, chicken, curry, veggies, juice, and dessert was just what we needed. I ate until my belly ressembled Nadines. Mine went down though.

Halfway on our hike to the waterfall

All of the great food from the brie gave us adequate energy for the next 3 days to take on a couple of adventures. The first was a several hour hike down a river valley and then up to a waterfall. As we made our way down the mountain on our own trail, as the trailblazers we are you know, and began following the river to the bend when a guy asked us if we wanted a guide. Being that the directions were pretty easy we really didn't need one this time. But later on this wannabe guide passed us as we stopped for a water break. As we resumed, he just kept walking in front of us on the trail, eyeing to make sure we were still following, and basically voluntarily lead us. We shared our food with him. So we followed and soon enough, we were at the feet of this 40 feet tall waterfall. We took time to swim in the foot and a half deep water. It was refreshing though!

Shallow swimming relief

Our second activity was a pony trek on horses to 400 year old Bushmen paintings down in another valley. Being the Texan I am, riding a horse was just like riding a bicycle, I didn't need my Dad's guiding hand. We rode through corn fields with mountains in the foreground without any problems. Nadine and her horse did have something unique in common. Being that Nadine is from Nebraska, she naturally has an afinity for corn, and so did her horse. Everytime we were close enough to corn, her horse Corny would crane his neck and bite the top off of stalk. I am sure Nadine felt the same way. Needless to say, Corny had a great corn meal that morning and we had a great time looking at old paintings of Bushmen and the animals they hunted from years back.

Scenic trek down to the Bushmen Paintings

Sadly we left Malealea, but we had to get moving. Our next stop was to Mt. Moorosi on the southern edge of Lesotho. After a couple of bus exchanges, we were in Quthing waiting for our bus to fill up. We ran over to some dinosaur foot prints that were reportedly supposed to be 1,800,000 years old, but I never saw the writing in the rock that you always find on a sidewalk back home in freshly drying cement, Chops was here, 1,797,093 B.C.. Interesting stuff, but the tiny office didn't give any information about the tracks. When I asked about the tracks, the lady handed me an old encyclopedia opened to the dinosaur entry. Hmmm . . .

As we returned to the mini-van taxi terminal, we waited and then waited a little bit more. To pass the time, Nadine and I began throwing rocks at a can. First one to hit the green Sprite can won, Nadine won. During the second round, as folks started to pass by, they looked at us curiously, and I took advantage of this to invite them to play with us. Soon we had a nice crowd around us, and I won the second round to my own personal jubilation. We then got to the point where this man and I were quizzing each other with math quizzes as a crowd was looking on. It was at this point, that the crowd really started forming. It was a great example of drawing in the dirt under the hot sun trying to figure out each other's puzzle with 20 other Africans and 1 American around us. We didn't figure out each other's puzzle, but it left us with a smile with the mental challenge from another country.

When our bus finally filled up and reached our Mt. Moorosi Chatlets, we were the only people there to occupy one of the 6 chatlets over the next 2 nights. So for the next two nights, we were simply entertained by three things in the area, the bright stars, a small forest fire caused by lightening, and sitting and talking on the porch while watching the tall mountains sitting there as well.

The stars shown brighter there than I have ever seen anywhere else other than the middle of Nowhere, Bolivia 6 years ago. You could easily see the outline of the Milky Way. Mmmm, Milky Way.

Tired of reading, I sat on our bed and for the next hour and a half, I gave Nadine running commentary on which flames were flaring up and which ones were dying out up on the mountain facing us.

Wide open Lesotho spaces

Finally, in our isolation, we took time to sit on the porch and just talk. Between topics we would also include, "dang, that is a big mountain," "whew, they flies won't leave me alone," and "this sure looks like the U.S." It was peaceful and perfect for belly rubbing.

The majority of our time in Lesotho was spent without one item, electricity. Because of this absence, we never had access to telephone, t.v., internet, and any other item that requires electricity, and we liked it. It was good to spend a week without the convenience of electricity. Maybe we all should do this for a day. Just head over to New Mexico for a little bit and you can experience the same thing.

Our short time in Lesotho was great, but to meet up with Nadine's friend Melissa on time, we had to spend an entire day on 5 separate buses to Durban. All were uncomfortable, but the worst one was in the back of a mini-truck with a hard shell as we were tucked in the fetal position for 50 minutes. We were so glad to be back in our hostel in Durban that night.

Back into South Africa, only two hot crappy vans left

This week's question with the first correct answer posted on the blog will win a postcard from South Africa: What's the oldest ever dinosaur footprints found and where? I could make a mother-in-law joke, but I like Clare and we are meeting up her in three weeks, so joke has been omitted.

Life is good. We are now here in Durban and will be here until we begin travelling with Melissa south down the coast of South Africa from Durban to Cape Town.

Peace
JW, NW, HDW

• **Photos for this blog entry will be added when a willing and capable computer presents themselves. Please be as patient as possible and try not to pee your pants waiting to see a video of Nadine and her Buddha belly***

Staring through Moon Hill

Greetings all. No video of Nadine's belly this week, but we do have a video. What might it be of this week?

Travelling south of Guilin, we went to the green, quaint town of Yangshuo. Now when you initially think of a town in China, you automatically congers up images of a town being 1 to 4 million, while a Chinese city being at least 10 million or more, but the town of Yangshuo wasn't that big, not even close, at least not yet.

Our greeting to Yangshuo was interesting. Several times in our trip, we have been dupped by touts, but in Yangshuo, we outsmarted a scamming tout. The Cliff Notes version is that a tout waited at the bus station and latched on to us and told us of a great hotel and what a great deal it was. Along the way to the hotel, I asked two Israeli guys where they were staying and how much they were paying, just to size up the local prices for a room. While we looked at a nice room, this tout sat down and began writing out a receipt at the end of the bed, rather than downstairs at the lobby desk. Very odd. Maybe he had intentions of staying with us for the night too. After realizing everything was a little strange, we packed up and hit the road Jack. At a more reputable hostel, the owner warned us about a guy wearing wire glasses and guilty of ripping off tourists, the same guy we were just talking to, but he didn't get us!!!

Downtown Yangshuo

We took advantage of the time in Yangshuo to chill and wander the cobblestone streets and enjoy some excellent food. And everywhere we ate, literally every place, we had a great meal, not a single sorry dish, and all of the juices were freshly squeezed.

Walking around Yangshuo, my eyes spied several basketball courts and teenagers running around with a basketball in hand creating my goal for Yangshuo, play some ball. In my search to find a court and a game, it got to the point where I followed kids holding basketballs. Yes, I was stalking Chinese kids. Their response was one of bewilderment. Why was this tall white man following me? Is he working for the government? Did I forget to share my lunch with someone? Why is he still following me? RUN!!! Eventually by happenstance, I found a game with players that were actual adults. This is after I had reached the point that I didn't think I would find a game. I didn't follow anymore Chinese teenagers around town after I got to play a couple of games. My remaining basketball needs were fulfilled with Nadine as we played pop-a-shot 4 times a day in the city square.

Not a bad view on our bike ride

Nadine and baby got some exercise as well, but Nadine did all the work while the baby just sat back in its' comfy womb-chair. We rented some bikes and went out to the Chinese countryside and to Moon Hill. At Moon Hill, it's not a rite of passage to pass through the cave and moon someone, but the thought did cross my mind a couple of times. It's actually a large domed-shaped hole at the top of a mountain and perfect for photos of the green rice paddies below.

Now Yangshuo is a great place, but we had places to get to before leaving on a jet plane, and we couldn't linger too long and the next stop was Shenzhen.

Hammer Pants in Action Overlooking Hong Kong

To reach Shenzhen, we took a form of transportation we hadn't taken before in our travelling experiences, a true sleeper bus. On the bus were three rows of small, narrow, short beds. Each one was made for a passenger to sleep while travelling overnight. Great idea in theory for most Chinese folks, but for me it proved to be too narrow for my wide shoulders and too short for my long legs. Instead, I threw the blankets down in the aisle and slept there in a mummy position.

Shenzhen took us back to the reality of China, large skyscapers, loads of people, rather clean, and shopping galour. We believe that shopping happens to be the #1 Chinese pasttime. Everywhere you go, people are running from shop to shop with a big plastic bag in hand. We bought a couple of dvds and later found out one was dubbed into Russian. Anyone want a russian movie? I'm sure if it was Внезапно повернул назад Гора, my Pepper friends would be the first to ask for it.

From Shenzhen, we crossed the border to ultra-clean, ultra-modern, and a slight reminder of home in the city of Hong Kong. We've enjoyed this city, a little change from the majority of cities we've visited in Asia. We took advantage of the city to enjoy some Burger King, come to daddy Whopper Jr., the quick and efficient public transport, and some great sushi.

Downtown Hong Kong at day and at night

In Hong Kong, we rode a required tourist trolley up to Victoria Peak, the perfect lookout point over downtown Hong Kong Island and all its' neon lights. We did this, not once, but twice. Once at night and once during the day.

Macau

Four days was too much time for us in Hong Kong, so one day via a high speed boat, we ran over to Macau. While Hong Kong used to be an English territory, Macau used to be a Portugese territory, while New Mexico is still a territory of Texas. That last point is a little known fact, but it is true, and we can still secede from the Union. Back in Macau, there was a notable Portugese influence in the architecture and language. All signs were in Chinese, Portugese, and English. Just as often you as you would hear Chinese spoken, someone on your other side would be speaking Portugese. And just to balance it all out, I would start speaking really loudly in English to even it out. Yes Nadine, I do want to have lunch.

I guess I haven't given Nadine enough kisses

Firm like mutton and was anyone looking?

Across the news, you constantly hear about SARS and other diseases, but there is one that is affecting a large number of my peers, pregnancy. Like no other time in my life, friends are catching this quite regularly and the result is an added member to their family. It is only contracted by women, unless you happen to be the Governator from California. I know of 7 friends off of the top of my head who are pregnant or just had a baby. So many congrats to our Peruvian volunteer friend Rene and husband Tim who just had a baby boy, Hoksila, and Anna who we know from TU (University of Tulsa) who had Gabriel. It seems that almost every month until October, someone we know is having a baby.

After 5 months and 3 days in Asia, Nadine and I are about to embark on a new stage of our trip, Southern Africa. For 26 days, we will run around South Africa and Lesotho experiencing a new continent and people. Should be fun and hot. Remember it's the end of summer here.

Congrats to Aunt Jane and Hien for both correctly answering last week's question. There were two correct answers, one for Nadine and one for me.

We hope all are doing well and healthy. Until next entry, you stay classy readers.

JW

To cross the Chinese border, you must successfully solve a Rubics cube

I am sure you can feel the excitement building with not just another blog entry, but the second installment of the State of the Belly Report. Don't worry, you won't be seeing my hairy belly, just Nadine's rounder one.

Last time you read, Vietnam was holding us up once again with a suit I had had made to my exact measurements. The first time the measurements were close, but the fit was Vietnamese (aka: tight). After another consultation with my little tailor, we hoped everything would be worked out second time around. The stitching of this fine English wool was keeping us away from our already diminished time in China. But when the pressure was put on this little Vietnamese lady, and she met the challenge head on and had it ready right at 2:00. Then I tried it on, wasn't singing soprano, thus happy with the fit, so I paid for it and left. Just like that I had a new fitted suit, and then just like that, I went to the post office and mailed it to the States. I hope it makes it there before I do for Easter.

That's a smile of relief

Tired of Vietnam and ready for a change of country, we boarded an overnight train and railed it to the border. Once at the border, we jumped on a moto-taxi and happily, no, eagerly went to the border. Just to finish our time in Vietnam, I exchanged 6 dollars worth of Vietnamese dong for Chinese yuan with a money changer. I received what I thought would be a fair exchange. On the other side of the border when I tried to buy something in the store for 6 yuan, they said I didn't have enough. The guy had given me the equivalent of 45 cents. 50 cent bills are smaller and have the number 5 on them, just like the 5 yuan larger bills. Even at the end of our time in Vietnam while crossing the border, we got screwed, but what a relief to be out of the country for $5.

The first destination in China was Kunming, just a short 12 hour bus ride from the border. Mind you, China is a big country, even bigger than the great state of Texas, so distances are far.

State of the Belly Report #2 from Kunming, China

To our surprise, we learned on the bus ride that it was snowing in Kunming. What?!? This was supposed to be the best time to visit this country with respite from the cold. Stupid random weather.

On the bus ride, we equally caught headcolds (everything is 50/50 with us, except in pregnancy, Nadine gets to carry the baby the entire 9 months) and were introduced to a few Chinese customs, hawking up big loogies and their incessant smoking. And I think these contributed to our colds since we had our heads sticking out the windows into the frigid wind to avoid the smoke inhalation.

Welcome to Kunming, China

During our week we have been in Kunming, it's not uncooth to sit in church and start hawking up a big ol' loogie during the sermon. That's just as common as yawning. If you have to do it, there's no reason to hold back. This hawking starts deep in their bellies and finishes up with a hefty hhkkkkssssss 5 seconds later, and for some reason, it just kills an appetite. But in the meantime, noone takes notice of it other than Nadine and I as we have that perplexed "how-did-the-bears-make-the-Super-Bowl-with-that-quarterback" confused look at each other. That is part of the culture and that is why we travel, to learn and experience and incorporate it into our lives. For that very reason and the addition of our colds from the bus ride, we are running around China spitting loogies like pros on every tree we pass.

A pretty awesome Chinese building we walked upon

Kunming is two things, cold and clean. We've enjoyed it all the same. Plus it wasn't Vietnam.

We stayed at a nice hotel to help nurse us back to the health, but our rooms were missing one vital thing, heating. Instead of a centralized form of heating or heater in the wall, they had heated mats in the bed. Not the most convenient, but it works. So whenever we happened to be in the room, we could only be found under the covers of our separate twin beds. 3 years of marriage and we are already sleeping in separate beds. Sad.

Early Sunday morning dancing lessons in the central plaza. Tango anyone?

So far in China, everyone that passes us seems to take notice of one thing, Nadine's Hammer pants. Not a single glance at me or at Nadine's face, they immediately turn to her black and white pregnant Hammer pants.

Some traditional Chinese checkers under a pagoda

One evening while I was watching t.v. and Nadine was fast asleep, I heard a common sound originating from her, her sleep talking. But this time, she wasn't speaking in English, but in French! This is all after spending a short stint on a bus and dinner at a cafe next to an older French man, and now, miracously, she is speaking fluently French. Maybe she has been holding out on me with her French, just so she could understand it when I would tell her in French Nadine, ta souffle pue.

A) We both like Teresa and Suzy, so we didn't eat there B) Lighting did occur while we were out there and we didn't climb C) If they can't get their sign right, who knows how good their surgery is

We did see some sights in the modern, clean, westernized looking city of Kunming, but those aren't as interesting as the individual little stories that stick out in our minds. Rather than visiting a museum and a few parks, watching the Super Bowl is more fascinating. The Super Bowl is the one sporting event that is a must see for me. The Special Olympics in New Mexico and syncronized swimming come in a close second, especially when your good friends are competing in Alberquerque, but the Super Bowl still is #1. I had seriously looked for places to watch the game for 4 days, but to no avail. I figured I would just try my luck with Chinese cable, but at 6 a.m. Monday morning, I turned on the t.v. hoping to find the game, but no luck. At 8, just for the heck of it, I turned on the t.v. again when miracously the Super Bowl was on in Chinese with the Bears up 14-9. That didn't last long. I sat there with a happy grin on my face and a heated mat under my butt. Instead of commercials during timeouts, they were exchanged for a view of the entire stadium from the stands. Pretty uneventful.

This kid has a full load in his pants!

With a couple of long bus rides ahead of us, the thought of a 24 hour ride to our next stop of Guilin wasn't inviting. We broke down and bought a plane ticket. That 24 hour bus was substituted for an hour plane flight.

Pull tabs still do exist

At the baggage claim upon arrival, something you would never dare to do or hear of in the U.S. happened, unless of course someone was shot in the process, as we stood waiting for our packs to arrive from the plane. After 8 minutes of waiting and there was only a handful of us, and there was no sign of anyone's luggage, a Chinese man decided to take things into his own hands. He poked his head through the opening out to tarmac wondering where his precious bags were. Then with a look of agitation, he climbed through the hole and started making his way onto the tarmac determined to find where the heck his bags were hiding or who stole them. It was at this point with a look of disbelief and laugh on my face, a lady from the airline and a guard with a gun chased him demanding that he return to the baggage claim. Like a kid with his Christmas presents taken away, he begrudgingly came back. Within a couple of minutes, all 12 of our bags came out accounted for. The ride into town on the airport shuttle, guess who sat next to me. Yeppers, the same guy who ran onto the runway. Hilarious!

Bridge says in Chinese : Bridge Made in China

With one day in Guilin, before we rushed to our next city, we walked around to every park with a climbable hill. The only negative about this was the fog, pollution, and/or cloud cover combination had made it impossible to see any real distance or sights from the aerial view. It might have been a river we saw, no maybe a building, not sure really.

We've finally arrived to Yangshuo. We only have 9 days left in China before we head on over to South Africa and a big change in travel from the previous 5 months. We should probably think about buying a guide for South Africa in the meantime. Could prove helpful.

Qixang Park, Guilin, China

This week's question: How many countries are there in the world and what percentage, carrying it out to the tenths, have we visited on this trip so far? First correct answer, and you don't have to show the math, but must have the correct answer, will receive a postcard in the mail from somewhere in the world.

Life is good and we hope all are doing well and getting excited for either Valentine's Day or the Chinese New Year.

See you next entry

JW

Our secret handshake and now you know. Did Nadine really snort?