Beijing: The Skyless City

Beijing has no sky. The closest thing to it is a permanent haze of industrial and automotive pollution. My first days here I assumed it was overcast, but nothing changes, mornings and afternoons are indistinguishable. The dirt is not as obvious as the absence of sky suggests, however. On nearly every street an orange-uniformed peasant sweeps with a straw broom and a hinged tin canister. The jumpsuits are always too big, rolled cuffs scraping the street, fraying. It is definitely too soon for this liberal travel guilt, but what do you do and how do you escape knowing that your approximate daily budget is more than what 1 billion people in China earn in one month? The average income of city dwellers is 2-4x higher than the country's peasants, closer to $1000 a year.

What else? The crippled pawns in the shopping district, placed near bowls they can not even reach, so many bicycles, traffic congestion, the heat and cement combining and ensuring insufferable stickiness, the spitting - everyone speaks of the spitting, people staring at my shoes, and even in this big city some things are incredibly cheap. My hostel is reasonable, a bunk in a 6 bed room, about US$6 a night with free breakfast. Other meals are reasonable from US$.25- US$3 for street or simple restaurant food.

Yesterday I went to the Great Wall. I was under the delusional impression that the walk would be pleasant. Against better judgement, I went with a group put together by the hostel. We were plunked at the base of a moderately sized mountain and climbing it brought us to Tower 1 of the Jinshaling Wall section. The hike took just under an hour and we were meant to hike to another section of the Great Wall, Simatai, at Tower 30. Now, the distance covered and exertion required for covering one or two towers is completely reasonable. It was terribly difficult and strenuous to cover as much as we did- about 4 miles along the wall after the 2 miles uphill hike. I was happy that the group spread out and I was by myself almost the whole time. The haze of Beijing followed us to the wall, unfortunately, making photos look ominous and dingy.

Tomorrow morning I take a 30 hour train to Ulan Bator, Mongolia. I'm ecstatic, as Mongolia is one of these places that I fantasize about as an anthropologist. It is second only to Borneo, which I visited two years ago. The plan is to find 1-3 other solo travelers, buy horses and gear and set out for a couple weeks. That seems easy enough.

Here is a quick reference so you can see what time it is where I am... I made this to have in my notebook:

Arrival/Questions

Sunday: After one hour of sleep, movers moved most of my things to storage. Monday: Seven hours of sleep, an errand frenzy, cleaning, additional packing... Tuesday: Operating on three hours of sleep, I sold the car mere moments before giving up and selling to CarMax for a pittance. I also moved two full loads of goods to the storage unit, visited with friends, and stayed up all night waiting for the morning departure... Wednesday: After arriving way too early, I found out my "flight" was actually two flights and we wouldn't just "touch down" in Jersey, there would be a plane change to a 777-200. Only 100 of 250 seats were occupied, and after 18 hours of travel, I landed in Beijing, China. It is just after 11pm here, 11am EDT and the last time I slept more than 10 minutes was 51 hours ago. Nothing much to say about the city yet, except I had to wait 3 hours after my arrival for a proposal of marriage and both footless and armless men spoke to me in Mandarin. And, pedestrians do not have the right of way.



In place of a meaningful post, I invite you to ask questions and I will do my best to answer all of them. Some recent questions (ask again if you like): "What is your budget?," "Are there places you would not return to?," "How do you know where to go?" and, always a favorite, "What makes you think you can do this?"

MoneyMoneyMoney

One Month in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia

(click for larger version)

I'm sure you wouldn't be surprised if I told you I write a lot when I travel. I also keep a list of my expenses. Is list even the right word? Because I write down every penny and keep the log reflective of my wallet at all times. Doesn't everyone?

Dealing with new currencies is fun and frustrating, but I love the magical moment when I think to myself: "Well, then, how many Ringgits or Zlotych (currency converter) is this US$20." After about 2 or 2.5 weeks of mugging around, local currency becomes second nature. Even though they seem like strange and king-sized bills, reverting back to the good ole' USD happens pretty fast, though.



What I've done here is type up the expense summary that I created on the plane back to the US on this last trip. Here is a small version of my scanned logs (9 pages of a squared, large size -5"x8.5"- Moleskine).



Pre-trip Expenses

Air.................................................................$718.08
Houston --> Singapore ($652.08)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia-->
Sandakan, Malaysia (Borneo) ($66.00)
Guidebooks....................................................$32.41
Journal.......................................................... $19.43
Shots.............................................................$121.78
Hepatitis A + Tetanus/Diphtheria ($75.83)
MMR (Mumps/Measles/Rubella) ($3.00)
Typhoid ($42.95)
Film (36exp x 11 + 1 roll b/w) ............................ $35.71
Day Pack........................................................ $23.00
Clothes...........................................................$26.50
Shoes ........................................................... $108.23
Misc................................................................$20.00
Total Pre-trip Expenses $1105.14

Expenses During Trip

Accommodation............................................. $78.93
Dorms ($52.20)
Private Rooms ($26.73)
Food..............................................................$160.38
Convenience Stores ($41.82)
Stalls + Restaurants ($98.49)
Beverages ($20.07)
Amusement..................................................... $61.58
Museums ($6.17)
Fees/Donations ($22.74)
Entertainment ($32.67)
Communication.............................................. $43.42
Internet ($15.59)
Post (?) ($3.90)
Calls ($12.39)
Cards ($11.54)
Travel ...........................................................$426.70
Bus ($20.99)
Taxi ($27.54)
Becak ($5.37)
Subway/Train ($35.22)
Flights (Medan-Jakarta and
Jakarta-Singapore) ($334.00)
Departure Tax ($3.58)
Other..............................................................$48.00
Toiletries ($2.15)
Laundry ($3.72)
Beggers/Buskers ($7.13)
Suitcase (for puppets) ($35.00)
Souvenirs........................................................$249.09
Puppets, etc ($118.09)
DVDs, Software ($131.00)

-------------------------------------------------------

Total Expenses During Trip $1068.10

Keep in mind that this trip cost a lot but it was reasonable considering the length and destinations. I've known people who spent more while in Cancun, Mexico for one week! Two years previous, I spent close to the same dollar amount (+ 15-20%) for the same amount of time in Japan, one of the most expensive places to travel. Even though my daily expenses were low ($79 for a month of accommodation!), I moved quickly and saw a lot. This is the secret to cheap travel- move slowly. With only a month, it was hard for me to do so. My monthly budget for the upcoming trip (fewer than 5 days to the anticlimactic sendoff) is definitely smaller. I should be more clear- I never make a budget at home and I never make a budget before going away. I'm a fairly cautious spender and things seem to work out.

Pre-trip Expenses ............ $1105.14
During Trip Expenses ...... $1068.10
----------------------------------
Total Expenses ...................$2173.24

village

village

This Indonesian village, Bukit Lawang, is located 80km outside of Medan on the island of Sumatra. I went there less than a year after the nightclub bombings in Bali and days after the parliament bombing in Jakarta. Despite these occurrences, the most dangerous thing in Indonesia was quiet desperation and the touts layered in touts, dipped in touts. It seems that nothing can help you deal with this kind of constant hassle (one of the things I'm most worried about in India).

I tried to get out of Medan as soon as possible- it was congested, noisy and stinky. But I like to think it was my fate to experience the motorbike of death- an essential experience in Asia. There is a free bus from the port to the city innards and a gentleman, whom I thought worked for the bus company (good one, Maya), convinced me to get off the bus with him so the "company car" could take me to catch the correct bus to my destination. We waited in a roadside restaurant, and after a while a friend of his showed up on a motorbike with trekking photos. He wanted to sell me his services. I was very frustrated (and famished because everything left me on the ferry of death, but that is for another time), and insisted that I get to the appropriate station. One of them took me with my bag on the bike and left his friend. I was a little worried, but even though we took a lot of back roads, there were always people around, and I knew I could yell for help! It turned out okay, and he never asked for any money.

Bukit Lawang, a small village known by its proximity to a dense jungle inhabited by the gorgeous orangutan houses a rehab center set up in the park. There are only three places in the world where these guys live on their own; the other two are in Borneo (two weeks previous to the village I was fortunate to see Sepilok in Malaysian Borneo. The third location is located in the South of Indonesian Borneo). The morning after I arrived, I made the trek up to a feeding station to see them. There were dozens! It was fantastic to see them interact after talking about them so much in classes. Lucky for me, there were not too many macaques to spoil the view.

The village is just east of a roaring river, the Bohorok. Tourists used go there like pack wolves, but it is suffering a drought in that way- like the rest of Indonesia. I go back to this photo more than any others from the trip. I long for the private room for under US$2 and the village woman carring a tray of snacks wrapped in banana leaves. It was raining when she came by, and I bought nearly one of everything. Maybe I can go back some day. For now, I'll try to find a Bukit Lawang in my upcoming travels.

Next up: How much does this cost? I'll tell you exactly what I spent, and what I spent it on

Start here: Where, now?

In the past several years, I have embarked on five international adventures lasting one month or more. For four of them, I traveled solo. The first started with a month in Copan, Honduras, working with the Instituto de Archelogico, and ended with howler monkeys, a skiff to Belize and near-death in Guatemalean mountains. The longest, to Europe and North Africa, was three and a half months. My most recent--to Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia--was a far-off two years ago.

I just finished graduate school (cultural and medical anthropology), and decided this was the perfect time for an extended "vacation." Hopefully I will be able to convey how traveling can be quite far from the notion of what a "vacation" is expected to be. Mostly this blog will be about the trip itself, and be forewarned that some of the most revealing experiences come from struggles with language, infinite trains, and the neverending search for a soft bed and warm food. I'll also start off writing about the last trip- mostly what everyone wants to know- how much does this cost?

So, whatever this is-vacation, travel, an adventure, holiday or backpacking, in less than one week I'm flying into China, and 6.5 months later I fly out of Singapore.

Those are my plans.