kqb@piggy.UUCP (Kevin Q. Brown) (03/28/86)
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( L O N G M E S S A G E )
I recently returned from a four month round-the-world trip (actually just
New Zealand, Australia, and parts of Asia (Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore,
Indonesia, China, and India) but I did circumnavigate the globe) and I have
a few comments about the places I visited. These notes are not comprehensive;
I have tried to include only information that I found particularly interesting
or not readily available in travel books. I have left out (most of) my list
of Western-educated, English-speaking doctors, American Express locations and
phone numbers, vaccination information, etc. because you can easily obtain
that information yourself. ** Enjoy.
- Kevin Q. Brown
...ihnp4!piggy!kqb
** You can get your own (updated) list of English-speaking doctors, climate
charts, etc. by writing to IAMAT (The International Association for Medical
Assistance to Travellers), 736 Center Street, Lewiston, New York 14092,
(716) 754-4883. One good source of information for vaccination requirements
is the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta (404) 329-3311.
New Zealand (Oct. 14 - 24)
-----------
I saw only a little bit of the North Island (and none of the South Island,
which has the best scenery), so I have a good excuse for visiting New Zealand
again.
Currency: NZ$1 = 100 cents. US$1 approx. NZ$1.57
Telephones have two buttons, one on the front and one on the side. Insert
your coin, dial the number, wait for someone to answer, and only then
push the button on the front (to tell the telephone to take your coin
and let you talk to the person at the other end). If nobody answers,
push the button on the side (to return your coin) and hang up. (I lost
a few coins before I figured all this out.)
No tipping.
Auckland
Friendly, clean, and windy with a beautiful bay. It tends to shut down after
5:30 PM on weekdays, after noon on Sat., and all day Sun. Knowledge of
where to eat late at night or on weekends is valuable. Greenpeace is
popular in Auckland, which is where the Rainbow Warrior was sunk.
Downtown Auckland has many nice bookstores, but the books are rather
expensive (since they are almost all imported).
Accomodations:
Book ahead during peak season (Dec. - Feb.).
Aspen Lodge, 62 Emily Place, 796-698, single NZ$24., double NZ$36.
includes breakfast. (Discount available if advertisement stamped at
airport information desk.) Located in downtown Auckland, a short walk
from most places of interest or to mass transit. Friendly people, small
and personal. Free local phone calls, lounge room with TV, free tea and
coffee anytime. Proprietors maintain a list of good value accomodation
throughout New Zealand.
Restaurants:
High Street and Lorne Street have several nice vegetarian restaurants.
Badgers, 47 High Street (by the Hard to Find Cafe), 397-893,
11 AM - 8 PM Mon - Thur, 11 AM - 9 PM Fri., closed weekends.
Pritikin and dairy food.
Dominoes, 2 Lorne St, 8 AM - 9 PM Mon-Fri, 9 AM - 9 PM Sat, 3 - 9 PM Sun.
Rotorua
Road Services provides a NZ$20. Auckland to Rotorua trip via the
Waitomo Glowworm Caves (admission included). Good value.
Rotorua is a tourist town with fast food restaurants (not nice veggy
restaurants as in Auckland). It has a sulphur smell from the geothermal
activity. Since the thermal region centered on Rotorua is large (150 mi.
by 20 mi.), anyone wanting to see the sights needs a car or tour.
The nearby Agrodome has a demonstration of sheep dogs bullying 16 different
breeds of sheep. The header dogs have the most intense stare I have
ever seen.
Australia (Oct. 24 - Nov. 6)
---------
I saw only Sydney and Melbourne, which means I'll have to visit again someday.
Americans need a visa to visit Australia.
Currency: A$1 = 100 cents. US$1 approx. A$1.4
Australian telephones come in different colors, some for local calls, some
for including neighboring South Pacific countries, and some for the whole
world. I remember a red telephone with an incredibly heavy handset that
would make a good weight at a Nautilus.
Buy your opals in Australia (or Hong Kong) since 95% of the world's opals
come from Australia. In Melbourne the Black Opal Boutique (3 The Causeway,
Melbourne, Vic. 3000, Off Bourke St. opposite Myers, (63-8125)) had
better prices than the tourist-oriented shops on Exhibition Street.
Sydney
Explorer Pass, A$7.00, 20 stops, good all day, get on and off the bus at any
of the stops. Good value.
Hyde Park has a giant chessboard that is used during lunchtime.
Restaurants:
Pizzas do not have much tomato sauce. (Ketchup shortage?)
Sanur Indonesian restaurant, 336 Victoria (at corner of Surrey) in
Darlinghurst. Lunch 12:00 - 3:00. Dinner 5:00 - 11:00. The Gado Gado
(veggies with spicy peanut sauce) cost only A$3.90 (plus A60 cents for
rice) and was the best I've ever had.
Melbourne
Accomodations:
Regal Hotel, 149 Fitzroy St. (Tel. 534-5603), $17.(?) single, take #15
train to St. Kilda. This hotel is not at all fancy, but is (marginally)
acceptable. Don't take their breakfast. ("icks and fries")
Restaurants:
Gopal's, 139 Swanston, just North of Little Collins St., 12:00 - 2:30 PM
Mon - Fri, 5:30 - 8:30 PM Thur & Fri & Sat. Delicious all-you-can-eat
veggy food from the Hari Krishnas for A$5.00. (It's safe, no Hari
Krishna hard sell.) (Note: Auckland, NZ has a Gopal's, too, but I didn't
manage to go there.)
Acland St. bakeries (in St. Kilda) have delicious chocolate (rum) pastries.
Japan (Nov. 8 - Nov. 19)
-----
I was mostly confused and didn't understand what was going on around me,
but I managed to make my way through Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nara.
Currency: 1 Yen = 110 sen. US$1. approx. 200 yen
Bring your sandals (slippers) to Japan; they don't make them large enough
for Western feet. This is especially important in the winter, when you can
get stuck walking around a cold room in bare feet or socks.
The Japanese people that I met were courteous and the storekeepers were
scrupulously honest.
Food
Most restaurants have either a display or a picture of the items on their
menu. You just point at what you want.
Not surprisingly, most restaurants serve only Japanese cuisine. When you
get tired of noodle dishes you can go to McDonald's or Kentucky Fried
Chicken. I found other choices hard to find.
Navigation in the Cities
Use landmarks. They don't use a linear street addressing scheme as in the
West. They have a system of regions and subregions and the assignment
of numbers to the subregions is somewhat random.
Tokyo
The tourist information office at Narita airport is quite helpful, but the
bus from Narita to Shinjuku Station in Tokyo cost Y2600 (expensive!) and
took two hours to get there.
Tokyo is more like several immediately adjacent cities, each with its own
business district, than one city.
Vending machines (of hot coffee, cold milk, beer, etc.) are widely available
along the streets at all hours.
It seems to be quite safe to walk alone through the narrow (alley way)
streets at night (at least in Higashi-Nakano).
In Tokyo, the Japanese dress well. The men wear conservative suits and ties
and the women keep fashionable. Tourists stick out like a sore thumb.
The subways and railways work well.
The Kinokuniya bookstore in Shinjuku has foreign (English, French, German,
etc.) books on the 6th floor. (Many Japanese are interested in learning
these languages, especially English.)
Visit Yoyogi Park on Sunday to see the punk festivities. The dancing groups
dressed like American 1950's-style greasers are interesting looking.
The Akihabara district has several duty free stores. I bought a Canon LC-64T
calculator at the Yamagiwa duty-free shop for Y2980, about 2/3 the U.S.
price, which was almost as cheap as the HK$88.00 price for the same
calculator in Hong Kong. (I used this calculator as a very compact alarm
clock, which was important to me because I had to pack all my belongings
into one carry-on bag.)
Accomodations:
Several places in town are inhabited by foreigners who teach English to
the Japanese. I stayed at the Tokyo English Center in Higashi-Nakano,
which also housed several Japanese people (who paid extra rent for the
privilege of living with English-speaking people - that's how desperate
some people are to learn English). Only (somewhat messy) dorm rooms were
available for newcomers, though, so I would try another place next time.
Kyoto
Kyoto and (nearby) Nara have many excellent ancient shrines and temples.
At Uzumasa see the Eiga-mura movie village where Samurai shows are filmed.
The Tourist Center (075) 371-5649 across the street from Kyoto Station is
very helpful.
The subway is nice and modern, but only goes up and down one straight route.
The buses and trains take you (slowly) everywhere else.
Accomodations:
Tani House (492-5489), pretty Ryokan-style rooms, Y1400 dorm. (Bus 206 to
Kenkun-jinja-mae, near Daitokuji Temple, is slow but will get you there.)
Hong Kong (Nov. 19-25, Dec. 19-28, Jan. 2-12)
---------
Hong Kong is one of my favorite cities in the whole world. It's made out of
skyscrapers and lots of hustle and bustle. It's clean, the mail is reliable,
mass transit (buses, trams, and subway) works and is inexpensive, and, compared
with most of Asia, the telephones work well. It is crowded. It has great
shopping (and occasional great ripoffs), lots of consulates (for visas, etc.)
and even more banks. Also, the HKTA (Hong Kong Tourist Association) is well
organized and English-speaking people can get by with little, if any, difficulty.
Currency: HK$1 = 100 cents. US$1 approx. HK$8.
IAMAT doctor: (Kowloon) 3-723 1199, Humphrey & Partners, TST Medical Clinic -
72 Nathan Road, Suite 502, IAMAT Co-ordinators: Patrick T. H. Ko (3-386 963),
Francis K. Y. Liu (3-385 316), Peter N. B. Lo (3-378 110).
(I visited Dr. Liu after returning from China with bronchitis. He was fluent
in English and seemed quite competent. Also, the service was very good;
I called at 10:45 AM and got an 11:30 AM appointment. The consultation fee
was only HK$100.)
American Express has offices both on Kowloon (Golden Crown Court,
66-70 Nathan Road, (Tel. (3) 7210179)) and on Hong Kong Island
(Queen's Road Central). Pick up your mail at the Queen's Road office.
Their client mail section is well-organized; you can phone 5-8431888 and
find if you have mail without having to visit their office!
Airport: Kai Tak airport is in Kowloon. (Airport departure tax HK$120!)
Bus 201 will take you from the airport to Nathan Road in Tsim-Sha-Tsui,
Kowloon (near Chungking Mansions, the YMCA, and the Peninsula Hotel) for
only HK$2.50.
The Star Ferry across Hong Kong Harbour is a bargain! First class costs
HK70 cents and second class costs HK50 cents. Great view and pleasant ride.
The Peak Tram travels a steep ascent to Victoria Peak, which offers a great
view of the city, harbor, and neighboring islands. Take it once during the
day and once during the night, and take the bus for a fun, winding ride back
down. (I forgot the price but it won't break your budget.) At the peak
station you can walk along a (level) trail around the peak that has a set of
Par Course - style exercise stations alongside it.
Accomodations:
Chungking Mansions, at 40 Nathan Road in Tsim-Sha-Tsui, Kowloon, about
two blocks North of the harbor, has many budget guest houses. The
building is rather run-down looking and some parts are rather dirty,
but it's full of interesting travellers. The going rate for a single
(or double?) room is HK$60. / night.
On the 16th floor of A Block the Traveller's Hostel has a bulletin board
with lots of travellers' information & contacts. I preferred staying at
the Traveller's Friendship House, office on 6th floor, B BLock 3-661109.
(I stayed in one of their 17th floor rooms, which is desirable because
the Chungking Mansion elevators are too crowded on lower floors.)
For HK$60. / night I got a single room with its own color TV and free
use of a phone and a refrigerator in the hallway.
Restaurants:
It is not obvious where to find good and inexpensive Chinese food and
I was too busy taking care of business to find out for myself. (The
HKTA can recommend lots of good, expensive Chinese restaurants, though.)
Chungking Mansions has several inexpensive Indian restaurants where a
(vegetarian) meal costs about HK$15. Madras Woodlands on Minden Street, a
short walk from Chungking Mansions, has much better Indian food for HK$50.
China visas:
If you want to visit (mainland) China, you will save a lot of money if
you get your visa and make your travel arrangements in Hong Kong, not
the U.S.A. I was able to get a China visa for about HK$60. in two working
days and HK$100. in one working day from the Traveller's Friendship House.
(Time Travel Services on the 16th floor of A Block, by the Traveller's
Hostel, costs about the same for two days but more for one day service.)
Miscellaneous:
Cathay Pacific Airlines, which is based in Hong Kong, serves excellent meals.
For a city of 5.5 million people, Hong Kong has amazingly few theaters.
It is hard to find pay phones, but many businesses let you use their phones
free (for local calls).
For those people who need even more adventure, "milk runs" can be made from
Hong Kong to Taiwan and other nearby countries. This is actually a form
of smuggling; since Taiwan does not have good relations with mainland
China and Taiwanese want textiles, food, etc. from mainland China and since
Chinese goods are easily transported to Hong Kong, tourists can arrange
to bring Chinese goods with them from Hong Kong to Taiwan and sell them
to buyers in Taiwan. I wouldn't touch this with a ten foot pole, but it's
interesting to know that this sort of thing is going on.
Purity Laundry, ground floor of Chungking Mansions, offers same day
service for bulk laundry for HK$15. but sometimes loses some clothes.
Shanghai Central Dry Cleaning Company, 10 Austin Ave., 3-676580, costs
HK$13. and seems much more reliable.
For Ektachrome processing go to ColorTeknik Lab, 108 Asian House,
1 Hennessey Road, Hong Kong, 5-274862. They can also produce color
prints directly from the slides for HK$10. per copy (with a 10%
discount for multiple copies of the same slide).
On Kowloon you can make overseas calls from Cable & Wireless at Hermes House,
10 Middle Road, by the GPO and open 24 hours, but I preferred the Ocean
Terminal Cable & Wireless, which was not as crowded (especially shortly
before they close at midnight). Three minutes to the U.S.A. cost HK$42.
They have signs in the booths that instruct you to wait for the phone to
ring before picking it up (or else your connection won't go through).
What they don't tell you is that you have to wait for a full ring, not the
first tenth of a second of the first ring.
Singapore (Nov. 25 - 29)
---------
Singapore is just one degree of latitude from the equator and has a polyglot
population of Chinese, Malay, and Indian people.
Currency: S$1 = 100 cents. US$1 approx. S$2.1
It has a lot of public pay telephones, the mail works, and the water is
supposed to be safe to drink (although I didn't try it).
Tipping is discouraged, but some places add a 10% service charge.
The official guide to Singapore, available free at the airport, says the
following about long hair (on males):
"This is regarded unfavourably by the authorities in Singapore, and
male visitors are advised to have their hair cut if it reaches below
the top of the shirt collar."
The reason for this policy on hair length, I hear, is that the authorities
of Singapore realize that all long-haired males are drug addicts.
The way to get around Singapore is by bus, and you can buy a big book with a
city map and all the SBS bus schedules for only S$1.00.
You can buy a Singapore Sling at the Long Bar of the Raffles Hotel, where the
drink was invented in 1915, for S$8.50 (not cheap).
You can buy cassette tapes for only S$2.00 but the quality is not always good.
(Indonesia is a much better place to buy cassette tapes.)
Singapore has many new skyscrapers because they are tearing down anything old
to make room for the new buildings. It has several large shopping centers,
especially on Orchard Road, with lots of hair salons. Except for the large
food stalls with lots of good & inexpensive Asian food, I found Singapore
rather boring. It's also not very pedestrian friendly; jaywalking near
intersections brings a fine and several downtown roads have a combination of
barriers but no crosswalks that turns a 1/2 block walk into a 1/2 mile walk.
Accomodations:
I stayed at the Kian Hua, 81 Bencoolen, 338-3492, where a big single/double
room with a fan, sink, and lots of furniture cost me S$26. / night. Other
rooms cost slightly more or less.
Indonesia (Nov. 29 - Dec. 19)
---------
I visited Java and Bali and had a great time.
U.S. citizen tourists may stay 60 days without a visa.
Currency: 1 Rupiah = 100 sen. US$1 approx. 1100 Rupiah
Overall:
The traffic is exciting to ride in, but I wouldn't want to drive in it;
the cars, bemos, buses, etc. weave in and out, honking their horns
so they can squeeze back in their lane just in time to avoid crashing
head-on into the traffic ahead. The three-wheeled bemos are inexpensive
but also often packed with people as tight as possible.
The country has lots of pretty, tropical plant & animal life. I particularly
like the lizards that climb the walls & ceilings and eat the insects.
I found the people (usually) quite friendly, and it is not uncommon for
someone to just want to talk to practice his/her English. In some places,
though, the hawkers & bemo drivers really are excessive. A T-Shirt I saw
in Kuta described it well; "No, I don't want any f..king bemo, massage,
post card, ..."
The Indonesian language (which is borrowed from Malaysia) is quite simple;
it is phonetically spelled (and uses the same alphabet that we do), and
it doesn't have (or need) different verb tenses, plural forms of nouns and
pronouns, or genders for nouns.
Laundry is done by hand (not machine) and dried in the sun. On a cloudy or
rainy day your clothes don't get dry.
Indonesia has a lot of German-speaking tourists.
Street signs are often oriented at right angles to the direction of the
street instead of parallel to the street. (I got lost a few times before
I figured this out.)
You have to bargain for almost every product or service. (I find this
tiring after awhile.)
I didn't see many telephones, and the ones I tried weren't very good.
People smoke cigarettes a lot. A "No Smoking" section is a foreign concept.
I didn't see many signs of wealth in Indonesia, but I also didn't see hoards
of beggars as in India.
Cassette tapes cost Rp1500 to Rp1750 and you can play them before buying!
(Don't buy a few thousand tapes and ship them back to the U.S.A., though.
Customs does not appreciate wholesale violation of our copyright laws.)
Boxes of UHT milk (that stay fresh for months) are readily available, so you
don't have to do without milk (if you distrust the other sources).
Java
The orange juice is excellent on Java. The little boxes of ABC orange
juice beat any orange juice in little boxes in the U.S.A.
Jakarta
This is a dirty city, with oozing, open drains alongside the streets.
(It's hard to believe this is the capital of a country.)
The Sarinah department store has a nice supermarket in the basement.
Across the street from Sarinah, at the Visitor Information Center, guys
had better beware of one of the employees who is notoriously gay.
On my way back to Hong Kong I had to stay overnight at the Jakarta
airport because of the unfortunate scheduling of flights. The
airport security would not let me stay indoors, though, unless I
paid for one of their guest hotel rooms that cost U.S.$38. for six
hours, so I spent the night outside on a bench, where the fresh air
was free.
Accomodations:
Borneo, Jalan Kebon Sirih Barat Dalam No. 35, (near Jalan Jaksa),
Jakarta Pusat (Central Jakarta), Rp4000 single.
Jokjakarta (Yogyakarta, Jogja, Yogya)
Yogya has lots of bicycle rickshaws (whereas Jakarta had 3-wheeled
motorized bemos) and motorbikes, but not so many cars.
Central Java is a good place to buy batik.
Borobudur, a big, impressive Buddhist temple, makes a good day (or half-day)
trip. Birth control is apparently an important issue because many
roadsigns on the way say "Cukup dua anak", which means "Two children is
sufficient".
Accomodations:
Yogya has many inexpensive losmen within a short walk of the train
station. I stayed in a single room at Losmen Gandhi (Gang II / Gt. I/75,
Sosrowijayan Wetan, Yogya 55271) for Rp1500 / night. (At Losmen Gandhi
you must learn how to use an Asian toilet and a mandi.)
Restaurants:
Excellent and inexpensive food is readily available at several
restaurants near the inexpensive losmen. They feature clever
Indonesian-style Western foods. A good meal costs about U.S.$1.00.
I ate mostly at Tiyas (Gang I / GT 50, Sosrowwijayan Street) and
Anna (near Losmen Gandhi). Tiyas may now have some good Indian food,
too, since I mailed a book on Indian cooking to Djani and Tiyas Natsir,
who run the restaurant. Anna has a tasty pancake special for Rp650
made of flour, chocolate powder, sugar, milk, egg, bread, and coconut
with whole roasted peanuts, sesame, pineapple, and liquid chocolate
on top.
Bali
The countryside is beautiful and the people have an interesting and
complicated culture that I don't understand. The predominant religion
on Bali is a form of Hinduism rather than Islam and they seem to have
gods for everything (except TV) and temples for worshipping them.
Bring a flashlight. The side roads are not well lit at night.
They have an effective method of preventing diaper rash in babies; the
babies don't wear any diapers or underpants at all.
Denpasar
Skip it.
Kuta and Legian
The Kuta sunset was the best I'd ever seen. It looked too good to be real.
The beach would be excellent if the motorcyclists and hoards of tourists
weren't there, too. Since Kuta is the main tourist area on Bali, it has
the most shops, the most hawkers and bemo drivers, the best restaurants
(with excellent fruit drinks), and the most motorcycles.
Ambassador Photo, on Legian Road, did a good job of processing my roll of
Ektachrome for Rp2500. (Mounting costs extra.)
Accomodation:
I stayed in a large single room (with a fan and private toilet / shower)
in the bungalos in the back of Bali Dwipa for Rs5000 per night, which
includes breakfast. (Some rooms are more expensive.) Friendly people.
Ask for Katimah or the owner Inengah Suka.
Restaurants:
Aleang Cafe (near Ambassador Photo and Perama Tourist Service on Legian
Road in Kuta) had a nice fruit honey muesli yogurt.
Widya Restaurant (Legian Road, Kuta) had a delicious Rp500 Pina Colada
(no rum).
Ubud
Ubud has more barking dogs than any other town I have visited. They
don't bite, but they love to bark.
The bar "Beggar's Bush" has an interesting "hoop the horn" game with
a ring tied to the end of a string suspended from the ceiling and a
horn mounted on one wall.
Take a short walk outside town to see their rice fields and their
well-managed irrigation system. You can also see the people threshing
the rice by hand.
Some of the older women working in the rice fields go bare-breasted
but none of the younger women do.
Accomodations:
I stayed at Matahari (Padang Tegal, a short walk from the post office,
ask for Iwayan Bradayadrya), which is a pretty and friendly place.
(Unfortunately, they were constructing a new building when I was there,
which resulted in a lot of noise.)
Candi Dasa
Two or three years ago no tourist bungalos existed at Candi Dasa.
It offers a nice, white sand beach that is not yet overcrowded with
tourists. You do, however, have to watch out for the coral (which
is not a problem at Kuta).
I saw a Barong and Mask Dance at a nearby village that was, I was told,
a real ceremony, not just a show put on for the tourists. Toward the
end one of the women went into a trance and started screaming and
kicking and had to be held down by the villagers. Then one of the
men became similarly afflicted. I didn't understand this but I was
told that it is not uncommon.
The food is not as good as at Ubud or Kuta and I didn't find any good
fruit drinks here.
The water pressure (at Natia Homestay) came from a local hand-pumped water
tower that had to be pumped several times a day.
The trash is still burned and buried alongside the road or the bungalos.
This was fine when the trash consisted of coconut shells, etc. but
the increasing quantities of plastic, cans, etc. will eventually
make this practice unacceptable.
China (Dec. 28 - Jan. 2)
-----
Visa
Go to Hong Kong to get your Chinese visa. Visas are difficult to get in the
United States without paying for a tour, and the tours are about 500%
overpriced. (See the section under Hong Kong for Chinese visas.)
All the budget travellers have the "Green Bible" on China from Lonely Planet.
Lonely Planet puts out a quarterly newsletter that gives you more
up-to-date information on Asia (and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the
world, too). Send $10.00 for a year's subscription to Lonely Planet
Publications, P.O. Box 2001A, Berkeley, CA 94702.
China can be quite cheap, but also quite hard travelling.
Use your own chopsticks to avoid Hepatitis B.
In China, if one person says "No", go ask another person.
Many people are very interested in learning English and like to practice their
English with the tourists.
Currency: US$1 approx. 3 Yuan. Y1 = 100 fen, 1 jiao = 10 fen.
China has a thriving black market. This is because China has two
currencies, FEC (Foreign Exchange Certificate) and Renmimbi
(people's money) which are supposedly equal in value, but actually not
because some luxury items (TV's, etc.) can be bought only with FEC.
The rate was only Y1.3 Renmimbi to Y1 FEC when I was there but it has
been as high as 1.9 in the past.
Guangzhou (Canton)
You can get from Hong Kong to Guangzhou for about U.S.$5.00.
To get to Guangzhou from Hong Kong, I stepped on the Hong Kong subway about
noon, paid HK$2.50 to go to Kowloon Tong Station, bought a HK$12.00 KCR
(Kowloon Canton Railway) ticket to Lo Wu, went through immigrations and
customs, walked across the border to Shenzen, walked around the corner to
the railway station, bought a Y9.1 (FEC) ticket to Guangzhou, and
arrived at the Guangzhou railway station before 7:00 PM.
Accomodations:
I stayed at the Guangzhou Youth Hostel, No. 2 Shamian 4th St.,
where a dorm bed cost Y9 (FEC) per night. This and another nearby
youth hostel are both across the street from the White Swan Hotel,
which is a big, modern, expensive, tourist hotel. (The staff at the
White Swan speak very good English and were quite friendly and
helpful even though I was not staying there.) At the Guangzhou YH
they put mixed sexes in the dorm rooms. (I was put in a room with four
Australian women.) It has a hot water shower and Western-style toilets.
To get to the "White Swan Hotel", I needed to have "White Swan Hotel"
written in Chinese because nobody at the Guangzhou railway station seemed
to understand English. (Fortunately, I had a map of Guangzhou that
had it listed in Chinese.) The taxi from the Guangzhou railway station
to the White Swan Hotel cost Y12 (FEC) - a bus would have been much
cheaper.
Restaurants:
You can get very good and inexpensive meals at the small food stall
near the Kiu Mei Cafe & Restaurant, which is less than a block from
the Guangzhou Youth Hostel. The bean curd with tomato was excellent
and cheap. Two main dishes, two bowls of rice, and tea cost only
Y2.80 Renminbi. Chinese businessmen ate there for breakfast.
Meals at the White Swan are much more expensive.
Yangshuo (near Guilin)
Yangshuo and the surrounding countryside have lots of steep, pretty
limestone peaks. That is why tourists come there.
I got to Yangshuo from Guangzhou for only Y17.4 by taking an
overnight ferry to Wuzhou and then a bus to Yangshuo. The ferry
left Guangzhou about noon and arrived at Wuzhou about 6:00 AM.
It was a pleasant, leasurely ride (during which I caught diarrhea).
The bus left Wuzhou about 7:00 AM, travelled up winding roads with
the windows wide open to get plenty of cold air ventillation, and
arrived at Yangshuo about 3:30 PM. (I wasn't the only person who
was uncomfortable; the Chinese guy next to me vomited on the floor
and one of the Chinese women had to hold her head out the window
several times.)
Accomodations:
The Good Companion Holiday Inn, across the street from the bus
station, charged Y6 FEC per night. (They kept tourists' passports
at the desk while they stayed there.) The room had no heat; it had
just a big, thick blanket and a hot water thermos (that they refilled
in the morning by just walking in without knocking). The lavatories
were outside and had Asian-style flush toilets. You could warm your
hands and feet by snuggling around a burning pot of coal brickettes
(and trying to avoid breathing the soot).
Restaurants:
Jane's Cafe was the top tourist cafe; they threw a big New Years party
and exploded a lot of fireworks. The food was fairly good, too. The
menu has a note by the section on chicken dishes informing you that the
skin and bones are free.
Miscellaneous:
Yangshuo is a little village, not a big, modern-looking city like
Shenzen or Guangzhou. People spit a lot. They hold their babies
in outstretched arms so the babies can urinate on the ground near
the sidewalks. The Chinese seem to really like good ventillation;
they leave the doors open when they walk in or out of a restaurant
and they open the windows wide open on the bus even though they
are already cold. (Maybe good ventillation is needed to prevent
carbon monoxide poisoning from the burning coal?) In Wuzhou they
throw trash in the river (which, in Hong Kong, could bring a
HK$5,000.00 fine and 6 months in jail) and then brush their teeth
in the river water. I did NOT see any dogs running around.
I think that the Chinese will make good Capitalists. The arts &
crafts vendors in Yangshuo showed some signs of good business sense,
such as charging different prices depending on whether you paid in
Renmimbi or FEC. An interesting place.
Escape from China:
I unfortunately caught a bad case of bronchitis in Yangshuo and
wanted to get back to Hong Kong quickly. Phrase books (and good
luck) were essential. Guilin was a short (1 or 2 hour) bus ride away
and a few Yuan (and use of a phrasebook) got me to the CAAC airline office.
The CAAC employee said that no seats were available that day for
either the Hong Kong or Guangzhou flights, but seats would be
available in two or three days. They had no standby seats on that
day's flight and no bus to the airport until (too) late in the afternoon.
I walked to a big hotel nearby, exchanged money, and found that the
hotel taxi drivers wanted Y24 for a ride to the airport. I walked
back in the hotel, got "Please take me to the airport" written in
Chinese, walked down the street a short distance and for Y5 got a
three-wheeled bemo ride to the airport. At the airport (using my
phrasebook) I bought a Y70 FEC ticket to that day's flight to Guangzhou.
(I got one of the three remaining seats on that flight.) CAAC has a
reputation as having one of the world's worst safety records, but my
flight went quite well and even the landing was remarkably smooth.
(They did, however, not bother to go over the emergency procedures,
seat belts, life vests, etc. They just took off.)
I arrived at the Guangzhou airport about 3:30 - 3:45 PM and the border
at Shenzen closed, I think, at 8:00 PM. This was too late to attempt a
Y9.1 train ride to Shenzen. CAAC offered a Y120 (FEC) flight to Hong Kong
(and it DID have seats available), and a taxi driver wanted to drive me
to Shenzen for the same price. I explained to him that his offer was
not competitive, so we started bargaining in front of the CAAC desk.
Finally, at 4:00 PM, when the CAAC flight was about to go and I had to
choose between CAAC and the taxi driver, he accepted my "final offer"
of Y80 (FEC). We made it to the border about 7:45 PM. The people at
customs did not even check if I still had the camera, walkman, etc.
that I brought into the country. They just wanted me to return the piece
of paper that said that I brought those items into China with me.
India (Jan. 12 - Feb. 5)
-----
India has more good things and more bad things than any other place I know.
It's amazing that it has a viable democracy considering its many languages,
religions, ethnic groups, etc. (If Indians from one part of the country want
to converse with Indians from another part of the country they often have to
speak in English, not their native languages.)
Currency: 1 Rupee = 100 paise. US$1 approx. Rs12
India has many millions of well-educated people, but it has even more
illiterates. The contrast between the rich and the poor is especially
noticeable in Bombay. (I haven't seen Calcutta.)
New Delhi seems to have a working phone system (I saw people successfully use
it), and presumably some other cities do, too, but phone service is often
so bad it is not worth the bother.
I watched my postcards get stamped at the post office (to ensure that nobody
stole the stamps) and, to my knowledge, all my postcards arrived OK.
The best guide to India is produced by Lonely Planet. A new issue is in the
works. (I met one of the authors, Prakash A. Raj, in Cochin.)
You can eat really cheaply if you want. I have had all-you-can-eat vegetarian
thalis for 3 to 5 Rupees.
India has two national airlines; Air India (mostly for international flights)
and Indian Airlines (mostly for domestic flights). Because of the (Sikh)
terrorist threat, both airlines have an interesting and useful policy for
checked baggage; before entering the plane, passengers must declare all
their checked baggage. Any checked baggage that is not declared will not
be loaded onto the airplane.
You can buy comic book versions of the Indian classics (in English), which
are lot easier reading than the Bhagavad Gita. They are put out by
Amar Chitra Katha, and are often quite violent, featuring plenty of
murder, mayhem, and morality.
The entire country is set on the same time, 2.5 hours before Hong Kong time.
Many Indians act as if the whole country is a big latrine. Whenever a man
wants to urinate, he just aims himself at the nearest wall. The women are
usually, but not always, more discrete. The cattle, which seem to hang
around anywhere they want, are not only walking wastebaskets (who will
gladly relieve you of your unwanted banana peels, etc.) but are also walking
defecators, so watch your step.
If the touts, beggars, etc. are pestering you too much, it is worthwhile to
to express your anger (yell at them, threaten bodily harm, etc.). This is
entirely different from, say, Japan, where expressing your anger is not an
effective way to conduct business.
Bombay
Inexpensive housing is in short supply. Many poor people from Maharashtra
are pouring into Bombay and living on the streets (with the rats). Bombay
has more beggars and deformed people than any other place I've seen. The
largest slum in Asia is near one of the Bombay airports.
Accomodation:
I stayed at the Rex Hotel, 3rd and 4th floors of the Mehra building,
8 BEST Road (Ormiston Road) between the Electric House and the
Taj Mahal Intercontinental. A single room with private toilet/shower
cost Rs93 per night. (The Stiffles Hotel is just below the Rex Hotel.)
Restaurants:
The Taj Mahal Intercontinental was too expensive to stay in (about
U.S.$100. per night) but not too expensive to eat in. The
Shamiana restaurant on ground floor had an excellent (vegetarian)
Rs42 lunch. The other restaurants are also worth trying.
Woodside Inn (vegetarian), opposite the Regal Theater (and to the
NorthWest) on Wodehouse Road has an excellent cocktail masala dosa
(with veggies, fruits, and nuts inside). I had it with a yummy
chikku ice cream milk shake, and soda water for Rs35.
Leopold's, on Shahid Bagat Singh Road, about a block North of the
Electric House, is lively and full of tourists, but the food is not
as good as at the above restaurants.
Dipti's house of pure juice, across from the Rex and Stiffles hotels,
has some nice 5 to 7 Rupee fresh juice drinks. (Some of the customers
that frequented there looked rather strung out to me. I heard that
Bombay has a lot of Western tourists that come for the "brown heroin"
that is cheap around there, and some of the people at Dipti's looked
like they might have had some. I didn't ask them if they were drug
addicts, though.)
Miscellaneous:
I found the Taj Mahal Intercontinental useful for everything except
accomodation. It has great restaurants, Indian Airlines and Air India
airline offices, a tourist information desk, a money exchanger, a good
bookstore, and more.
At night the cars don't turn on their headlights until they are about
to hit you.
Movies are cheap. I saw a Clint Eastwood show for Rs6.
Bombay has mosquitoes; bring your insect repellent.
Lots of interesting ice cream flavors are available.
Cochin
Cochin is a pretty place, the streets are relatively clean and even the
trucks are decorated with fancy, flowery paint jobs. The state of Kerala
has a large Christian population (dating back almost 2000 years) and a
Communist government. Cochin has mosquitoes.
Accomodation:
Several decent places are available. I stayed at the Blue Diamond
Hotel for Rs43 per night.
Restaurants:
The Sealord Hotel has a nice restaurant up one flight from ground
floor. Try Fish Veronique, which is stuffed with grapes, cheese,
and something else. (Be prepared to spit out the grape seeds.)
Miscellaneous
Fresh sugarcane juice is tasty.
See Kathakali dancing - great facial expressions and colorful costumes.
The tourist information center can recommend where to go.
Watch the "Chinese" fishing nets scoop up fish (at high tide).
A backwater boat ride cost me only Rs1 for a two hour trip (and another
Rs1 for the one and half hour trip back). Pretty palm-tree scenery.
Milma state-sponsored milk stands charge only Rs2 for a cold bottle of
flavored milk.
New Delhi
Airport:
Indira Ghandi International is 8 miles from the city center.
EATS provides regular coach service to the city for Rs10.
The government information desk at the airport was very helpful. The
guy there actually called (on a working telephone!) and made a hotel
reservation for me.
Birds fly around in the airport. While waiting for your 4:30 AM flight
you get to hear lots of birds chirping around you.
Accomodations:
Ashok Yatri Niwas, 19 Ashok Rd., Rs85 single. This is a big hotel,
with big hotel services - restaurants, laundry, tailor, barber, etc.
The rooms have different styles of furniture, etc. on different
floors. Eighth floor was strange, but twelfth floor looked normal.
Restaurants
Ashok Yatri Niwas has two restaurants. The Sarai restaurant has an
excellent vegetarian buffet for Rs25 from 12:30 - 2:45 PM and from
7:00 - 10:00 PM. Go to the Carvan 24-hour coffee shop only as a
last resort.
The railway station has good masala dosas for only Rs2.5.
Miscellaneous:
Either walk or use three-wheeled bemos to get around. The buses are
too crowded.
DTDC (Delhi Tourist Development Corporation) has a very good all-day
city tour for only Rs25.
Agra
The daily Taj Express from Delhi is very good. It leaves at about 7:00 AM
and arrives in Agra about 10:00 AM. Make an advance reservation at the
tourist section of the New Delhi railway station to ensure a seat. I
bought a 2nd class ticket for only Rs24.
Agra is unfortunately too spread out for walking to the sights, so you will
have to hire a scooter. (The driver will want to take you to shops
that sell carpets, marble, brass, and jewelry.)
Agra had mosquitoes.
Restaurants:
Zorba the Buddha is somewhat slow and expensive but the food is quite good.
(The motto is "No hurry, no worry, no curry.") It's a tourist restaurant
run by a follower of Bhagawan Rajneesh.
Khajuraho
Khajuraho is a small, relatively pleasant and relaxing village
with many 11th century temples decorated with erotic carvings.
Raja's Restaurant (by the Western group of temples) has nice tourist food.
Khajuraho had few, if any, mosquitoes.
END OF NOTES
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