Wanderlusting - Asia

China Doing Van Gogh - from Forbes

greg — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 13:39:19 +0000

So, Heather, I was eating my burrito and reading Forbes about Chinese painters who mimic the classics and sell them. It seems like a great idea for these Chinese painters. The story claimed that they work in painting camps as a big group, so I was curious if maybe you've seen one and what the conditions were like there as opposed to any other industries. It's a little less polluting than a chrome factory or something like that, but paint can also have it's downsides depending on the c

Indian Travel Site

greg — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 22:35:12 +0000

So, we're thinking about traveling to India and I've been looking on this site for hotels in India. They have what seems like a comprehensive search function for hotels that includes quite a bit of information and also has special discounts available through the site - with 1000+ hotels in 200+ cities that feels comprehensive, but in a country as Large as India I'm not sure.

The trip is very much still in the early planning stages, but it's a definite goal of Nikki's for some time in the future.

My favorite character from Chinese fiction--the Moneky King!

HeatherFife — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 09:22:24 +0000

A typical fate for a tourist in South East Asia--the moto burn

HeatherFife — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 09:21:39 +0000

Just another monotonous day

HeatherFife — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 09:21:00 +0000

Mr. Feely Hands

HeatherFife — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 09:18:00 +0000

Easy Riding

HeatherFife — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 09:16:38 +0000

Look at me--I'm such a tourist! Don't hate me animal lovers

HeatherFife — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 09:14:43 +0000

Call Me "The Easy Rider"

HeatherFife — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 09:13:48 +0000

I'm happy, for right now.

HeatherFife — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 03:11:06 +0000

So, this is a blog where I basically just complain about how hot and how hard it is to do anything here and also I try to make myself look really cool and independent. But I needed to write it to validate the last two days of my life.

So, here is what I have to do re-learn this summer: Never assume anything and that I love and hate this place.On Wednesday I went to the Vietnam Embassy to pick up my visa. The embassy is about an hour away by public transportation and you have to stand the whole time, switch subways, and go to a totally different station at one point. And keep in mind it is ridiculously hot and humid. Anyway, I shouldn't have assumed my visa would be ready after 4 working days. They told me to come back on Monday. So since I was sort of in the area I took the subway to the Beijing Train Station to buy my train ticket from Beijing to Hanoi. When you get off the station there are like a million people all saying "Fa Piao" over and over and over again. It is like you are in some Buddhist Temple and everyone is saying their mantra out loud. "Fa Piao" means "receipt" they are illegally selling people fake receipts so that people can use them to get money from their companies, I think. That is what I read in some book. But I don't understand why they all wait by the train station. Anyway, I wait in line for a good 40 minutes, there is a lot of pushing, there are a million people everywhere sleeping, selling things, and don't forget the loud speaker with the annoying shrill voice screaming things the entire time to everyone. I finally get to the window and I tell the lady the speech I have practically memorized by now: I want to go from Beijing to Hanoi on a hard sleeper on August 24." She says through her microphone so everyone and their mother can here, "We don't sell those tickets." I guess I shouldn't have assumed that the train station would be the best place to buy a train ticket. I know a lot of people just go to travel companies and pay an extra amount of money so that they don't have to deal with the hassle but I hardly ever do because A. I am totally cheap and B. I sort of like getting the tickets on my own (which I am changing my mind about right now...) Anyway, I ask the lady where I can buy a ticket. She says, "I don't know, why don't you check a tourist company." By then it was 4:30 in the afternoon, it would take me an hour to get home, and I was so exhausted so I just had a Popsicle and went home. (I eat 3-5 Popsicles a day to get me through the heat)