Sleepless in China

I don't think that I have ever seen a more beautiful sunrise than the one that occurred as we pulled into the port of Hong Kong.  Ridiculous skyscrapers loom over the waterfront and nestle up against the green mountains in the background.  Immediately, I could tell that this was a city worth spending days exploring.  Unfortunately, I only had about three hours.  You see, weeks earlier I booked a flight to Beijing that left the day we were to arrive in HK.  My plan:  go with the flow and somehow find my way to Shanghai to meet back up with the Explorer before it left me behind.  This being the case, I enjoyed a delicious meal of dim sum in a giant restaurant full of Chinese businessmen in Hong Kong, and then made my way to the airport via subway.  The airport was by far the largest building I've ever been in, or so I thought... 

Much to our liking, there was a bar conveniently placed directly next to our gate.  I decided to have a few drinks to make the next flight pass by more quickly.  Before I knew it, it was nearly time for boarding.  We walked to our gate only to discover that our flight had changed gates.  Since Chinese flights close the doors 15 min. before departure time, we had roughly eight minutes to get to the new gate, which was on the other side of the massive goddamn airport!  I sprinted for what must have been more than a mile, only to reach the gate and discover the flight had been delayed 30 minutes.  After catching my breath, I sat and talked to the volleyball players of Team India.  They were traveling to Guangzhou for the Asia Games, and they took up the majority of the seats on our plane.

I had a short flight to Guangzhou, China's main airline hub.  We were to have about an hour and a half layover here, before our two hour flight to Beijing.  Because our flight was delayed, we figured the first thing we should do was find our gate  The size of this behemoth airport put Hong Kong's to shame.  What we did not account for was having to pass through Chinese customs.  Since we were coming from Hong Kong (not officially considered part of China), we again had to present our passports to immigration.  By the time I got to the security line, I had ten minutes to make it to my gate.  By the time I was though, I had five.  I immediately took off at full sprint down an awful hallway separated by a dotted yellow line, like a road.  This time it seemed like two miles (although, if I could run a five minute 2-mile, I would have already been to Beijing for the Olympics a few years ago).  By the time I reached the gate, I was covered in perspiration.  Unlike the last flight, this one was not delayed and I barely made it.  The gate attendants were literally cheering me on as I ran across the moving walkway towards the door.  I found my seat, quickly ordered a rum and coke, and slept the whole way to the capital city.

I arrived in Beijing sometime around midnight.  Knowing I had no place to stay for the night, I figured I might as well make my way into the city and explore.  Unlike the rest of the places that I had visited so far, it was cold here.  I was far enough north to be affected by winter.  Seeing as all of the signs were in Chinese and nobody spoke English, I hopped on a random bus that everyone else was getting on.  The bus drove past Tienanmen Square before stopping in front of a government building.  I got off and spotted a KFC in the distance.  I wandered in and ordered a chicken sandwich.  When I went to sit down, I noticed about 20 Chinese hobos sleeping at the tables.  Apparently that type of thing is cool in China.  I woofed down my sandwich and fries before resting my eyes for an hour.  That's right, I slept in a Chinese KFC with a bunch of homeless people.

I woke up and found my way to a train station.  I bought a ticket for the overnight bullet train to Shanghai for the next night.  I then hailed a cab and told the man to take me to the Great Wall.  We arrived around dawn.  Wondrous views of the Chinese countryside whizzed by as I rode the small gondola to the top of the wall.  The sun had just risen and the November air was freezing.  In every direction I could see the wall stretching off into the horizon.  The walkway on top of The Wall twisted and turned up and over impossible mountains.  Some steps were four feet high while others were less than an inch.  Other sections were stair less but ridiculously steep.  The shear immensity of the structure is overwhelming.  The thing was built thousands of years ago, and is longer than traveling from New York to LA and back again.

I spent the rest of the day exploring Beijing.  I mulled around Tienanmen Square and saw the Forbidden City.  It was hard to imagine thousands of people being massacred in the very square I stood--and not too long ago either.  I saw the Olympic Stadium and the Water Cube before finally heading for the train station.  I had a few hours to kill, so I sat and drank rice wine in the station lobby.  It was at this point that I realized that I had been awake for 36 hours straight (minus the KFC nap).  When the train arrived, I climbed into my top bunk bed and slept the entire eleven hours to Shanghai.  If you are bumming it around Asia, overnight trains are a great way to get around and skip paying a hotel bill for the night.

I spent two days in an awesome hostel in downtown Shanghai (five Euros a night?  I think so).  The city blisters with energy and lights.  Hands down, the most incredible city skyline these eyes have ever feasted upon.  The nightlife was incomparable.  My friend made reservations months ago at a club named M1NT.  It was the first time I was ever on "the list", and it felt strange.  The place was on the top floor of a tall building.  It featured two incredible DJs, a shark tank that spanned the entire length of the floor, and $15 drinks (thank god for plastic flasks).  Other than going out at night, I rambled about the city via subway and ferries.  I stoop atop the World Financial Center, the third tallest building in the world.  We ate great Chinese food (which consisted of me pointing at some mystery Chinese characters on the menu, and usually enjoying my unknown meal).  The late night street food was absolutely the best (try the pickled chickens feet, you won't be disappointed).  I awoke one morning to find the big blue MV Explorer docked smack dab in the middle of downtown Shanghai.  I felt as if I was seeing home again after years of being away.  I packed my backpack and made my way to the boat on foot.  Other SASsers slowly trickled in the rest of the day, returning from their own adventures through this crazy country.  That night, I went out with my friends for one last blast in China.  Definitely a night that I will never forget...  The view of the skyline as I looked out of my cabin window at the end of the evening will forever be ingrained into the back of my eyelids, like those strange translucent shapes that form when you close your eyes after looking into a bright light for too long.

China was an insane and exhausting adventure.  The culture is as complicated as it is beautiful.  I find it hard to describe the feeling of flying into a huge foreign city with no plan at all, no direction home, with nothing but what you could fit into a backpack.  A place where nobody speaks your language and all of the signs are unreadable.  If I were to make an attempt, I suppose I would say it was freeing, terrifying, and exhilarating.  Although, that does not even begin to describe what it was like--a theme that I imagine will be reoccurring when I return home.  Many people will ask me, "So Ross, how was your trip?"  Let me apologize in advance for staring back at you in bewilderment, unable to vocalize the emotions bouncing around in my mind.  Truthfully, it is impossible to understand what I have been through unless you do so yourself--perhaps a reason why the bonds that I have formed with people on this ship are so deep and powerful.  This blog is a vain attempt to clue you in on how I have been living my life for the past three and a half months.  However, I hope that you are getting some sort of idea of what this adventure was really like. 

I don't think I was ever as tired as I was when we pushed off from Shanghai.  Before I could catch my breath, we arrived in Japan two days later.  More on that when I can find the energy to continue.  I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving.  As bittersweet as it is that I am nearing the end of this journey, I am becoming increasingly excited to return home and see everybody.  Don't be surprised if I greet you all with an extra long hug.  I'll be in Hawaii in three days, but I'll try to tell you the story of Japan before then.  Check back tomorrow night for my ramblings from the Land of the Rising Sun.

The Best Part About Asia: My Sized Urinals

Days after leaving India, I found myself in the sprawling city-state metropolis known as Singapore.  Talk about complete opposites.  Towering skyscrapers dominate the landscape in this tiny little country.  It is what I would imagine all of the major cities of the world will look like in 100 years.  The place feels like an endless maze of walkways, subways, and malls.  At one point I walked out of a mall and tried to cross a major road.  I soon discovered a tunnel that led to the other side.  Upon entering the tunnel, I realized that it was simply a continuation of the mall under the street.  Even the center where the Explorer was docked was a mall.  Malls, malls, malls, malls, malls!

An extensive metro subway provides and cheap and easy way to travel to any part of the city.  Singapore boasts everything from infinity pools atop massive hotels (google: Marina Bay Sands) to a Universal Studios resort.  Like Mauritius, we were only docked here for one night.  Of course, that night happened to be Halloween.  We had a blast riding around the country on the subway visiting various bars and clubs.  At night, the entire city glows with a multitude of multicolored lights that line the sidewalks, buildings, and streets.  My friends still make fun of me for saying that the only thing I remember about Halloween night is the color purple.  Singapore is an awesome place, but if you go be prepared to spend quite a bit of money.  Drinks cost about $10 a pop and food is pretty pricey as well.  Also, try not to break the law as they will not hesitate to throw you in prison for years or shell out a few whacks from the cane.  Like I said, we were only there for two days, which was definitely enough to see everything and blow through a good chunk of change.  Before you could say "Singapore sling", we were already on our way towards Vietnam.

The trip between ports was so short that they did not bother scheduling classes as we traveled to Ho Chi Minh City.  After a few days spent recovering from Singapore, I was thrust into the amazing world of Vietnam.  The first thing I noticed was the absurdly tall tower perched right next to our ship.  The recently built megastructure includes a massive heli-pad which makes the building appear as if it were sticking it's tongue out at you (funny because helicopters have been outlawed in the city since the end of the war, sort of like saying "haha I'm so rich my building has a helipad for no reason").  The tower seems out of place compared to the rest of the city, but soon I believe the skyline of Ho Chi Minh will not be that different from Singapore's.

One cannot visit Vietnam without experiencing the traffic.  Motorbikes dominate the roads, alleyways and sidewalks.  Automobiles do not stop at intersections, but keep on going--somehow avoiding collisions with cross-traffic.  They simply look directly ahead and try not to hit whatever is directly in front of them.  Much like fish swimming together in a school, other motorists react and traffic flows smoothly through the intersection.  One of the most entertaining things to do in the country is to try and cross the street.  On multiple occasions, I stepped in the path of a sea of motorbikes.  As long as I kept walking at a steady pace, the bikes would bend around me and I would walk away unscathed--an environment that is very conducive to wandering drunk people.

Speaking of that, the nightlife in Vietnam is unbeatable.  Any place that sells 50 cent Tiger Beer is my kind of country.  The food (like everywhere else) is great.  Get some pho every chance you get, just watch out for the little peppers they give you.  One small slice in a large bowl of pho is enough to get your tongue going (DO NOT bite into a whole one).  If you feel like dancing, head to a club called Apocalypse Now (yes seriously) which has a nice outdoor seating area and sweaty dancefloors on each level.  Just watch out for the hookers...actually, that's a good rule of thumb for all of Asia.  The cheapest way to get around is to hire the motorbike drivers.  For a dollar they will take you anywhere in the city, plus you get a fun ride as you hold on for dear life on the back of one of those things.  Carry single dollar bills with you as almost anyone will accept them as payment.  Singles are very handy when shopping in a market or going out for the night.  When I was there, the exchange rate was roughly 19,000 Vietnamese Dong to 1 USD.  It was nice going to an ATM and seeing my account balance register in the millions.

Besides partying, exploring Ho Chi Minh, and pretending to be a millionaire, I traveled to visit the reason why the US lost the war in Vietnam, the Cu Chi Tunnels.  When I say tunnels, I mean insanely small gopher holes that the Vietnamese somehow crawled through for miles.  The one I went through required the use of my hands and knees, and it had been widened for tourists.  I've never felt claustrophobic before but these tunnels did the trick.  They were hot, muggy, and pitch black.  The area also was home to B-52 bomb craters, pit-style traps, and a shooting range.  I am proud to say that the first gun I ever shot was a fully automatic AK-47.  While my time here was a fun-filled day, I cannot imagine the hell both sides went through fighting in this environment during the Vietnam War.

In contrast to shooting guns, I took a peaceful trip to visit Buddhist temples and ride a canoe through the Mekong Delta.  These sights were interesting to see, but unfortunately the excursion was a SAS trip.  The one piece of advice I would give to anyone who is considering sailing on a voyage is to sign up for the least amount of SAS trips as humanly possible--unless you are keen on sitting on a tour bus all day with people who are too inexperienced to make their own travel plans.  Yes, I did just use the word "keen".  Between the new lingo I have picked up on this little jaunt around the world, and all the inside jokes I have with shipmates, none of you will be able to understand what I am talking about when I get home...which is in less than a month now.

My introduction to Asia was a very strange odyssey indeed.  We were all shocked by a culture that is so incredibly different than ours, yet is somehow so similar.  We were also shocked by the tragic death of one of our own in Vietnam.  I will spare the details of what happened on a public space like this blog, except to recommend that you all enjoy every second of your lives, because our clocks are always ticking.  You know, "seize the carp", or however the saying goes.

I just got done with an insane adventure through the lands of China and Japan.  I have 10 awful days on the ship until Hawaii, so I will have plenty of time to post more updates.  America here I come!  It is hard to believe that I am leaving my last international port in a matter of hours.  I have to say, I'm kind of bummed to be heading back to the States.  But listen to me, complaining about having to go to Hawaii.  Hope you are all having fun on Fall Break.  I'll be celebrating Thanksgiving in the middle of the Pacific.  No turkey day football for me this year.  Anyways, bye bye for now and check back in a few days for more ramblings.

Incredible India!

It has been said that there are two types of people in the world, those who have been to India and those who have not.  If one wishes to truly come to terms with their own humanity, I advise them to walk the streets of Chennai (formerly known as Madras).  I thought that I was cultured, well-traveled, and had just about seen everything that the world could throw at me.  After a few hours of strolling through the city, I felt as if I was traveling again for the first time.

Overwhelming sights, smells, and sensations immediately assault the body.  The Indian air seems thick--a combination of humidity and pollution.  Dust and garbage swirl everywhere as an endless stream of motorbikes and rickshaws races through the streets.  Traffic rages with no order whatsoever.  The sound of horns is deafening as it echoes off the side of buildings.  There seems to be dirt covering just about everything in sight.  In less than a minute, you are sweating, dirty, and completely out of your element.  And then it hits you, that knee-buckling smell.  A smell that can only be described as the unabated stench of humanity.  A stench which will stick with you for the rest of your time in this extraordinary country.  It will penetrate your clothes, your hair, your nostrils, and your soul.  Weeks later, I still get whiffs of India on board the Explorer.

How comfortable can one be when they are constantly brushing past thousands of people?  People that stare without looking away and bump right into you without a second thought.  How comfortable would you feel if you were stepping over bodies sleeping across sidewalks, witnessing the worst poverty the world has to offer, watching adults go to the bathroom in the streets (not just #1 either), or refusing to donate to purposefully mutilated beggars?  However, thinking back on the time I spent in India, there is something strangely comforting about the nonstop, in-your-face bustle of the country.  The entire nation seems to buzz with an energy that rivals any other place I have ever been--an energy which somehow charges, and simultaneously drains, your batteries.

The music is amazing.  Walking though the streets, the bass-filled beats and high pitch voices can be heard blaring from every shop and stall.  I've always wondered why Bollywood movies randomly bust out into song and dance.  Now I know it is impossible to walk through the cities and not do so yourself.  Anyone who visits my apartment during the next few months will be subject to the best tunes India has to offer.

While the music may be addictive, the absolute best thing about India is the food.  Imagine heaps of meat and veggies thrown together with delicious spices and currys.  Everywhere I went, I just pointed at a random dish on the menu--I was never disappointed.  In the West they give you forks and knives.  In the East you use chopsticks.  In India, you eat with the best tool of all, your right hand.  In fact, it is customary to do most things with the right hand here because left hands are reserved for something else (toilet paper is hard to come by on this side of the world).  Actually, sit-down toilets are also pretty hard to find--lets just say if you come to India, you better have good balance.

A good chunk of my time was spent at a meditative yoga retreat known as the Art of Living.  I ate only vegetarian food and sat in silence for hours every day.  We learned advanced techniques from a certified professional from the Art of Living program.  The experiences I had during meditation are meant for me and me alone, but I can assure you they were profound and life-changing.

Speaking of profound moments, one day my friends and I visited one of the large Hindu temples in Chennai.  The temple was amazing, but the most interesting thing was the wedding that was occurring off to one side.  People were gathered around a young couple wearing traditional clothing who were adorned with hundreds of flowers.  We decided to watch the ceremony for a while.  As time passed, we began to make friends with the brides brother.  The next thing I knew, we were taking pictures with the wedding party, sitting with the grandparents, and hugging the bride and groom.  The family invited us to the reception where we enjoyed a traditional meal served atop a palm leaf.  To get there, we walked barefoot for about five to six blocks through the filthy streets, an experience that everyone should try at least once.  We later learned that the bride and groom had only met days before the ceremony.

India is an extremely beautiful and complex place.  By the end of any trip there, you will be very ready to leave.  The dirt, smells, sights, poverty and energy wear on every ounce of your being.  Strangely, days after leaving, I had a craving to go back.  I hear that's how it works with everyone who has been to India, even those who are from there.  During my six days in the country, I only saw a small glimpse of the incredible intricacy of this world.  While many SASers saw the Taj Mahal, I did not--an excuse to go back I presume.  Indeed, I still need to watch the sun rise on the Taj, witness a cremation on the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi, feel the energy that flows through Bombay, and visit the Bodhi Tree where Buddha found enlightenment.

So I have found that it is true what they say, once a person sees India, they will forever see the world in a different light.  Of all the places I have been, India is first on my return-trip-list.  I still have so much to write about Singapore and Vietnam, but tomorrow I already pull into Hong Kong.  My fingers cannot keep up with the pace of this voyage.  I promise to catch you up to date before I hit Japan.  Until then, keep it real out there in cyber-land.

p.s. My stomach was fine with the food in India.  However, the food on board the MV Explorer is a different story.