A Royal Wedding Far Away

The wedding ceremony of the (newly named) Duke and Duchess of Cambridge is finished. I wish I were a British so I can enjoy a holiday and celebrate the great moment of the UK. This is so happy and exciting to see this couple get married. Watching TV for the live broadcast of the whole process of the ceremony is so spectacular. Also the whole world is celebrating the marriage which gives a good "news" to everybody. They are not our relatives or a friend; I am not a fans of the royal family; They are not a pop star who I like. But I am so joyful to see them going into the church and make the vow. Having heard so much sad news, like the earthquake & the leak of radiation in Japan, tornado in the USA, we long for something can cheer us, give something positive. Let us know, at the end of the day, good news would happen on us.

Hurray!!

The White Little Crystal

I have bought a magazine recently called Chinese National Geography (not related to the National geographic). The topic of this issue is Salt. The reports are really comprehensive which cover many aspects of that, from the history of production of salt in China to the health subjects of salt intake. Just a simple thing would have a huge story behind. An Idea arise in my mind: how about making a trip about salt? In China, there is a long coastal line which provides a good environment of producing sea salt. Many cities have a long history of this business and being famous of this. Not only the coastal cities, there are some inland cities in China which have salt production, the mineral one. They are all very special. (Link:Chinese Only)

http://www.todaydz.cn/html/20100519/1/content_1_1624.html
This is an ancient salt pan in DanZhou in HaiNan Province, China. They dry out the sea water to yield the salt on the stone. This practice has been taken for 1200 years.

Having a theme-oriented trip is good for knowing my own country and its history. What else can be a good subject? Maybe..Cotton or Wool?

History and Us

When we travel, we would like to see and experience the history of a city or country. Architecture, fine art, the stories and culture and everything telling us the development of all man kind and why we are being now, that's so appealing to seeing them and knowing them. Although everything is past or, perhaps, obsolete, it can give us a vision to our future. That's why we travel is not solely for pleasure, also to remind ourselves as a member of this global community. We are not only looking at our own history, but also the history of our home - the Earth. From how and when it forms and exists, there is no a complete answer. We are still searching. But more we know, understand and discover, we realized how "little" we are. And we are being more humble to everyone and everything. Few days ago is the Earth Day. If we believe human can make history, please let us make a better one.

The video is very inspiring.

A Fire in Sagrada Familia

When I read this news in the newspaper, I was a bit worried. Thinking is it totally ruined by the fire? Is the accident serious? Luckily, it's just burnt down some furnitures in the church. The Police has caught a man suspected to set the fire. I have been there few years ago in a summer holiday when I was studying in university. That was my first time in Spain. The memory is a bit vague to me right now. I still remember the moment in such stunning architecture, although I didn't take any photos there (How silly that my DC ran out of battery). As an architectural, art and cultural icon in Barcelona, It would be so bad to hear such news. This is such a great treasure that Mr. Gaudí left to us.

Salute to señor Antoni Gaudí!

The report said the work for finishing the church has 15 yeas to go. I wish I will go there again that year to celebrate the great work of architecture.

From First Orbit to A Model Frighting AIDS in Space

There are some news about space this week. I saw a film in You tube about the first man who travelled space in the 1960's. It was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the First Orbit. I have watched the film which is a video recording the scene of the Earth form outer-space from day to night. What touching me is the brave of human to explore the universe. The technology and the knowledge of the universe at the time was just a beginning. When you look at today you can go travel to the space soon (A spaceport is now building in America) and a Model will go space for promote an anti-AIDS campaign in 2014. Everything looks dream comes true. Right now all are still limited to a small group of people, the privilege one. Perhaps someday, sooner or later, that will become as normal as we buy an air ticket to another continent.

The Video is so spectacular

Human is keep exploring and discovering the world we are living in. This is so exciting to see the future.

Post Travel Mood

I have been back to Hong Kong for a while. Go back home, meet my friends and look for a new job. But everything happened in India is still hovering in my mind, just every sweet and biter in the journey and everyone I met in the trip. That makes me want to go travel again just anywhere can let me bring a backpack and go. I have set a target to myself. Hope everything can be realised soon.
My next destination

I hope I can travel to the Siberia, take the train from Beijing to Moscow. 7 days / 6 nights on the train sounds crazy, right? I believe that is something I should do in my life. 

Northern India Journey - Day 32 Finale - 13/1/2011

Finally. Yes, the day had finally come. It's time to say goodbye to India and back to Hong Kong to resume my normal life and find a job.In the morning, I grabbed the last chance to go around the city. I went to St. John Church and the flower market next to the Howrah Bridge. I went to the airport in the afternoon. I passed though 2 security check points in the airport and show my e-ticket. The staffs in the airport were nice. They didn't sure the detail of my ticket and help me to ask. My flight was first go to New Delhi and change to another one to Hong Kong. When I was back to Hong Kong was already another day. What a long journey.

St. John Church

A lady carried the flower.

My Last lunch in India.

Northern India Journey - Day 31 Kolkata - 12/1/2011

It's time to count down for the trip.This is the second last day in India and the last day for the volunteering. Owing to the availability and my schedule, I could only have 2 afternoon in the charity centre to do some works for the children. In the morning, we went to the Indian Museum. The museum was a beautiful Victorian style building. The collections was massive and all-rounded. But we found that the way they preserve their treasures was a bit odd to us. They can put the antique status in an open area and exposed. We saw a mummy put inside a wooden glass-covered box with something like silica gel.

The "exposed" art

Then, we went to the house of Tagore. This was my first time to know this great Nobel prize winner poet by my friend's introduction. The house keep the whole decoration as the time when Tagore's still alive which is quiet oriental style rather then Indian way. After the visit, it's time to meet the children again.

Outside of the House.

Northern India Journey - Day 30 Kolkata - 11/1/2011

In the morning, we went to Victoria Memorial. The building was beautiful but it's strange to see a western style building in India. Collections of art and picture were great and comprehensive. After this museum, we went to the St. Paul Church next to it. But it was closed at lunch time. So we'd better went to the centre we registered for volunteering. The centre is specialised for severe handicapped children. We helped the staff to do laundry, and feeding the children who even have no ability to eat by themselves. We didn't help much, since we only came for few hours a day and we don't have any medical skill to take care of the children. The kids also have no or little communication skill. Of course, we did reduce some of the workload of the staff so they had more time to take care of the children. I think doing volunteering should be well prepared and need to devote a long period rather than a few days like me.

People said that is a mix of Taj Mahal and the White House

You can always see dogs sleeping on the floor.

A painting on the wall with a poem by Tagore.

Northern India Journey - Day 29 Kolkata - 10/1/2011

Arrived in Kolkata in the morning, I followed a man, who said he was a taxi driver, to a "white" taxi, later I realized that it wasn't an official taxi, to Sudder Street to find hostel. There was no private bathroom, and I had to collect hot watch outside with a bucket. That was my first time in India to have a bath without shower.

I, then, went to the China Town in Kolkata. The China Town wasn't very big and I barely saw any Chinese there. There were still some Chinese style buildings and temples in the area. I went to a temple, which was difficult to find, located in mid of the area where poor people living in. I met the keeper in the temple and asked why there were only a few Chinese people in Kolkata. He said there was used to be millions of Chinese lived in there, but when there was a Sino-India war in 1960's most of them moved to other countries, like UK, the US, China and Taiwan. So what I saw was a sized down China Town. But I still found some influences from that period such as there was a street called Sun Yat Sin Street.

TinHau Temple

A notice I saw in Kolkata about the dinner for the in inauguration of the new China ambassador.

In the afternoon, I met up a friend I knew in Jaisalmer, We decided to do some volunteer works in Motherhouse which was established by Mother Teresa. There was a briefing section at 3. So we went to Park Street Cemetery for a short visit. The staff there were very nice, he asked us to write down something on their memory book.

The tombs inside the cemetery.

We went to Motherhouse, there were lot of people coming there for volunteering. I saw there were lots of Americans in the hall, they came in groups as if they joined a scheme or what from their home town. After the briefing, a sister talked with everyone there to ask which centre or type of people they would like to serve, as there are about 8 to choose. During the time, we meet 2 people also from Hong Kong, that's amazing to see Hong Kong people in India. We shared a lots about our experiences in India.

Northern India Journey - Day 28 On The Way to Kolkata - 9/1/2010

This day was another day for transporting. I found a shared jeep in Chowk Bazzar going to Siliguri. There were about 12 people in the car, really over-crowded, who were also going there. I sat at the back-most seat in the car with 3 other people, it's quite uncomfortable, especially the car would go though the crappy hill road. There was an India man sat next to  me. He saw me looked a bit ill, he pick up a bottle of fragrance (something like that, I'm not sure) for me and give me to smell it. I didn't feel better though. But the friendliness gave me a bit of joy in this journey.

I took a picture of myself in front of the mirror in the room.

The over-crowded jeep

Arrived in the train station in New Jalpaiguri after I took a auto-rickshaw from Siliguri, I had my late lunch in the station. There was no one can speak English, but a traveller help me to order the food. There was a few hours to wait for the train after I finished the lunch. I went to a waiting room to wait for the coming train, which was my last one in India for this trip. That also meant my trip would be over soon. In the waiting room, I met a backpacker, we are the only 2 foreigner in the room. Initially, we didn't talk but we noticed each other should be travel alone, and, yet, it was. We started our conversation by he asked me dis I want a tea. He was a warm-hearted person. He said we were traveller should help each other and if I need to go toilet or whatever could ask him to look after the bags. We also had dinner together and share our experience in India, mainly his as he had been in India for few months. He is one of the greatest people I have met in India. He also paid me the water. When I wanted to give him back money, he said don't bother about it, might be I can treat him a dinner in Hong Kong. Honestly, I didn't give him my contact, He's just being nice to people he met. This is something make my last train journey so unforgettable.

The waiting room

Northern India Journey - Day 27 Darjeeling - 8/1/2011

It was difficult to wake up in the early morning as there was really cold. The car was waiting for me outside my my hostel at 4:30 already which I booked yesterday for Tiger Hill. I was a bit late so the driver had to drive quite fast to Tiger Hill. There was a observatory tower on the top of the hill and a lot of people gather round waiting for the sun rise. Watching the sunrise is totally magnificent thing on earth. When the sun keep rising, there's a white object suddenly appear on the west side, which is Khangchendzonga! At the beginning, I could only see a small part of the mountain. When time pass, the whole view of the Himalayas was emerged to my eyes.  That's so beautiful and which is my first time to see the third highest mountain in Himalayas in such a close distance. After the sun rise, The driver took me to visit a Buddhist monastery. There were also many people who joined day-tour visit this monastery.

Sun Rise

First view of Khangchendzonga

There was so many people on the Hill

Finished the tour, the driver took me back to my hostel. I had my breakfast there. The boss invited me to take the breakfast on their rooftop. He was very wholehearted to show me the excellence view of his rooftop. I saw he was also breeding pigeons there. I was a bit admired his living style in a moment.

The view of Darjeeling

The lovely pigeons on the rooftop.

In the afternoon, I took a joy ride of the toy train. Since there was a serious landslide, most part of the toy train was damaged; The joy ride is the only way to enjoy the train. The train stopped at Batasia Loop and Ghum for the museum. The journey took about 2 hours. Before I went back to hostel, I went to the Observatory Hill to see the temple there.

St. Andrew Church

Temple on Observatory Hill.

Northern India Journey - Day 26 Darjeeling - 7/1/2011

Checked out from the hostel in the morning, I took a taxi to move to the one I wanted to stay. There was a restaurant in the hostel, I took a lunch there (I had my dinners in this place for all night in Darjeeling as I was too tried to find other restaurants, also there was a time limit for hot shower). When I had my lunch, an old man sat in the cashier asked "hey, young man, where are you from?". And I said, "Hong Kong". He felt quite excited. He told me that he used to work for British Army few decades ago. He followed the troop to serve in Hong Kong and stationed in Sha Tau Kok. He shared his memories in Hong Kong with me, told me what food he like, where he had been, he also told me his daughter was born in a hospital near Observatory Hill. I just felt like I was back to home.

On the way to the tea estate.

The beautiful view in Darjeeling.

After lunch, I started visiting Darjeeling. I walked to a tea garden called Happy Valley Tea Estate, it declared that their tea was provided to Harrods. When I walked down to the farm, I didn't see any worker working on the farm, but there was a worker approached me who took me to look around the factory with only the machines. After that, he showed me a small house on the path and asked me did I want to drink some tea. I went inside the room to see and, of course, drink tea. In the house, there was an old lady, I think she was well known as there was so many notebook with comments from visitors all around the world. She was so enthusiastic that she taught me how to distinguish different qualities of tea, and she helped me to take pictures and make video. It's so funny.

Tea House

Children in the farm.

Northern India Journey - Day 25 On The Way to Darjeeling - 6/1/2011

I spent a whole day on travelling. The train arrived at New Jalpaiguri at 4 in the afternoon. I went to the car-park near the railway station. I had found a share Jeep to Darjeeling. But very soon, the sun set already. I was a quite nervous how could I get to my hostel. There was no taxi at night in Darjeeling. In the midway, the jeep stopped for refreshing and rest. I met the other passenger. They were from India army. They were very nice guys. They saw my panic face and try to clam me down.
Finally, we arrived in Darjeeling at 8, as expected, everything there was closed. One of them help me to find a hotel and bargain with the owner. Although it was out of expectation, I did believe that was a good starting point of my Darjeeling trip.

Northern India Journey - Day 24 Bodhgaya to NJP - 5/1/2011

First thing in the morning, I went to book a bus ticket to Patna so as to take a train to New Jalpaguri for Darjeeling. In this few hour, I went around in Bodhgaya to see other small temples inside and see the Big Buddha. I had also re-visited the Mahabodhi Temple. When I was in the temple, I met a child lama. He gave me a leaf for a blessing. I was so blessed.

The leaf given by a young lama.

The big Buddha. There was a tour from Thailand all wearing in white. 

In the afternoon, I went to the ticket counter as the staff would bring me to take the coach. I was a bit late, the staff took me there by a motorbike! That's funny. I, then, realised the bus station was my hostel. I could also get a cheaper ticket in my hostel. A bit silly here. In the coach, I had to sit behind the driver. It doesn't mean the seat at the back of the driver. There was a "room" at the front of the bus which for driver. Since there were too much passengers, some of us had to sit in there. 7 people squeezed together for about 6 hour journey was really harsh.

The driver room

Situation at night.

Taking bus in India was an interesting experience you should have. At night time, there was no any lighting on the road. The driver could only rely on the headlight to see the road condition in the dark. The bus, however, was quite a broken one. He had to twist the wire in order to turn on the headlight. There were also many cows would block the road. The traffic system was so bad in India, therefore, there was a special staff who help the coach run smooth. Finally, I had arrived the train station. Again, the train delayed as it's routine. I went to the waiting room to take a rest while the train was coming. The train would arrived at around 3am, but the train should be there at 10pm. There was no place in the room. I laid down my backpack and sit on it. Sometime it felt like all the people inside were staring at me, as i was the only foreigner inside the room. luckily enough, an Indian showed me a seat while one left the room. He was so nice.

Waiting room

Northern India Journey - Day 23 Bodhgaya - 4/1/2011

In the morning, we left the hostel to find a cheaper one as this was a bit expensive for us. On the way, we met a student who said he can help us to find some budget hostel. So the couple found a room in a monastery and I got a doom bed in a hostel organized by the tourism authority.

After settled everything, we went to Mahabodhi Temple to see the Tree with the guide of that student. There were a lot of Lamas and pilgrims from all around the world came here to pray or meditation. After the temple, he took us to cross over the dried Falgu River to see the Sujatagarh. We also visited a school which support the poor local children for basic schooling. In general Bodhgaya was a calm city as a holy place for the Buddhist. but this place was getting a bit touristy. I suggest people should visit there before it become too commercial.

Mahabodhi Stupa

Bodhi Tree

Crossing the River

Sujatagarh

After an early dinner, I said goodbye to the couple (We went to our own destination) and went back to my hostel. I realized that I was the only one lived in the dormitory! The hostel have 2 parts, one is a hotel and the other one is a 2-storey dormitory. It was a bit horrific. But I thought that I could get a big room in a single price wasn't that bad, right? There was no staff work inside unless you had any needs. The staff were nice they gave me some mosquito coils as there were lots of that.