China 2009

This trip was organized with Chasseurs d'eclipses, specializing in eclipse hunts. We went in July, obviously for the 2009 total eclipse, and the weather was unsurprisingly hot and very humid. As for the trip itself, let's just say that, even more than any other organized trip, in China they take "organized" to a whole new level. I know some people who have backpacked through there, but I never did, so I will relate my experience just as I lived it, that is to say very guided.

We first visited Hong Kong. Just the road from the airport to downtown HK made you feel on another, more futuristic planet. Thin and tall buildings next to nature, extreme poverty next to extreme riches. The view from Victoria Peak lets you admire the metallic forest at your feet.

Then we entered the curiously named Repulse Bay, the chic and European neighborhood, named for the locals repulsing pirates in the good ol' days. And then the guide invited us for the first of many visits to state shops. After that, the bus took us to the Jumbo Restaurant, site of a James Bond scene, where we had a tour of the house boats before actually going to a "typical" Chinese restaurant. And when we finally had time for ourselves, we realized how much of a "gigantic mall" HK, and Kowloon particularly, really is. But when night comes, the daylight architecture treasures become rivals in ever changing lights playing and reflecting on the river.

photo courtesy of SV

The second day led us to Guangzhou, which provided us with the first typical image of China: pointy hats, bi or tricycle converted as heavy loaded vehicles, and construction sites... construction sites everywhere. The guide made us walk into a market selling terrible remedies, such as scorpions, kitties, snakes, turtles, ants, various animal penises... before going to a restaurant proudly showing his menu in huge jars containing snakes, frogs and other delicacies. Guangzhou is not the capital of Chinese gastronomy for nothing! Thankfully, our menu was thought for European palates...

Day three was for me the real beginning of the Chinese trip. We took the plane from Guangzhou to Guiling, and we saw the first karstic rocks... Instead of metallic structure, here the skyscrapers are signed by Nature.

Then we took the bus to Yangshuo, which is even more breathtaking, as it is more lost in Nature, and the peaks can be seen more closely from the paddy fields.

The next day, the travel agency took us on a cruise on the Li Jiang river, which was truly mystical, with the morning fog as a surprise guest.

The same day, we came back to Guilin and then took the plane to Xi'an, for the terracotta army, which was stunning. It's not specially beautiful, but the amount of work behind it just blows your mind. It all seems as if a magic spell binds these soldiers in this terracotta form, and that it can disappear at any moment. Really impressive, all the more when you know that they still need 30 more years to dig them all out!

photo courtesy of SV

After this long day, we took the night train to Beijing, which was rather comfortable, but of course, it was first of four classes.
Upon arrival, we were welcomed by the rain, but that didn't stop our guides from following our very tight schedule. First, Confucius Temple, then the Lhamas temple, where we could learn about the distinctions between the chinese buddhism and the tibetan buddhism (small and great vehicle buddhism respectively).We then went to the Tian'an Men square, where there were not many people thanks to the rain, and the Beijing Opera, so "avant-garde". And after dinner, we went to a chinese theater, with face-painted dancers and acrobats. It really was an experience I advice to anyone.

photo courtesy of SV

The next day was one of the big days. We started the morning with the Ming Tomb, in a highly Feng Shui positive valley thought by Emperor Yong Le. For Feng Shui followers, a river is flowing at the center of the valley, wind is always present, and two hills make the border of the valley, one shaped as a tiger ready to jump to its prey, the second one shaped as a Dragon waving in the sky. 

photo courtesy of SV

And the afternoon was... the Great Wall!

There really is no word for it. You see it so often on pictures, with every angle, but nothing compares to actually walking the same path as some of the bravest warriors in history. Now, tourists like us are the new invaders, but there it is. I don't think "Wall", even the greatest of all, is enough to describe this masterpiece. 

The next day another masterpiece awaited us: the Forbidden City

Unfortunately, it was on a Sunday, and you litterally had to battle with elbows and knees to see something through the wall of Chinese visitors. Fifteen years it took them to build this wonder, and we can only visit 30% of it, which is already a lot. It is not the only thing to sightsee, though, especially the Summer Temple, where our guide told us about Empress Ci'Xi, mean and extremely cunning woman, who did everything to retain the power. 

photo courtesy of SV

After this beauty from the past, we were guided to the Olympics site. The Bird's Nest and the Cube are formidably original, they could not have been born anywhere else than on this extravagant capital city, which artistically links Imperial, Communist and Post-modern eras.

Our next step before the eclipse was Suzhou, which with a Venice vibe and 9 UNESCO Heritage Sites is clearly worth it. Everything about these different places is zen, from the Civil Servant Park to traditional houses. 

photo courtesy of SV

I will not talk about the eclipse site, which was a seaside city with no interest, and I will directly skip to the Oh so trendy Shanghai, with its Bund, its site for the World Expo 2010 - at that time still under construction, Nanjin Road, and its characteristic buildings. Shanghai is the economical capital of the People's Republic of China, but you can clearly say that it is also its international gate. It's buzzing with activity all day - and night - long, and I think it was nice to finish with this.

So there was my experience of China. It was the firt time I was confronted with a completely different view of the world than the one I was born in. This bulldozer lifted by billions of people keeps going forward without questioning the colateral damages, moved by a philosophy shaped over millenia, that we Eurpeans cannot grasp entirely. It is the heritage of one of the most prolific empire in the world and one of the most drastic regime in human history. So even though this trip gave us the image of China that its government wanted us to have, it is easy to have your own opinion, based on little details or winding through octopuss cities... 
Even though I wasn't really motivated by China as a touristic country, I'm really glad I took this trip, because it made me learn something new about the world. That's why I advice people to go there.

What is YOUR experience of China? Do you have places other than the ones listed above that seem iconic to you?

Maldives 2008

Maldives is not a country you visit for the culture, to say the truth. Even if there were culture to discover, it's so overwhelmingly buried under the tourism industry that it is very hard to point out. Also, as each island is a resort of its own, I'm just going to give you an account of my experience.

We went in November, perfect period because the sun is shining most of the days (and when it's raining, it's purely refreshing), and there are not yet the Christmas holidays tourists. Once arrived in Malé, the capital island, the heat and humidity makes you more than welcome, and you can finally start the holidays. Once out of the international terminal, there is always someone to point out where to put your luggage for the next trip, as you are bound to take a seaplane to get to your resort island. And this trip alone is worth it: island jewels in a turquoise sea, it is splendid. And finally we arrive at our island, our little place in Paradise.

The first marvel out of your eyes, you realize that this paradise is only for the fortunates. Even though you already spent a fortune to be here, even the bottle of water needs to be paid for, and there are few things under 20 $...
But even then, the food is great, and once you face the sea while eating, you forget about money and understand that you know belong to the clichéd photo of lovers in an emerald and pristine sea. 

The island itself is very small, you can go around it in approximately half an hour, and all you see around is the sea. Remember the island jewels from the seaplane? You're now in one of them, lost in Paradise.

And then comes your first sunset on the island. Again, splendid.

But enough about the beauty of the island, you get the idea. Now there are two things that we packed outside of bathing suits: a small telescope, and diving equipment. If you have one of those, I truly recommend to bring them, as the beauties of the sky and sea have no limit.

During the first snorkelling, you realize very quickly all the riches of the ocean, and not far from the beach, the reef plunges deeper and, yes, it is possible, more riches await. Like this one:

With all those wonders, I couldn't resist diving, of course. I had been preparing for this moment, but I realized that it was the best way to spend your time here, so I even took the week to pass the Advanced Open Water PADI level, which allowed some extraordinary experiences, such as: 
- Diving by night. Marvellous. 
- Canyoning in the ocean. Thrilling
- Dancing with dolphins. Really emotional
- Spotting the Rays

But you have to remember to dive responsibly, otherwise, the maldivian government will remind yourself of it for you: exporting corals, even dead ones, leads to a fine of 2000 $ and a "temporary" travel ban of 5 to 10 years... 

So my last advice to you: you need to go to Maldives before the global warming takes this paradise away. Already several islands have disappeared, and all of them are threatened to have the same fate. So don't hesitate, you will not regret it, it is worth all the dollars (and there are a lot involved, that's true) you spent on it.

Mongolia 2008

I cannot say I have seen most of Mongolia, but I want to share my experience, because it still taught me a lot about this beautiful country. It had always been a dream to go horseriding in Mongolia for my 25th birthday. And Chance had it that it was also the year of a total eclipse. So this is one of my best travel memories. It was in Summer 2008 and the weather was generally fine, hot and dry.
This trip was organized by Cavaliers du monde, a french travel agency specialized in horse treks.

After arriving in Ulaan Baatar and visiting for a day, we took a flight to Ulgi, the capital of the Altai region, 80% of which is Kazakh, and where the trek was. Out of this small little town, roads don't exist anymore, and the russian vans drove us for six terrible hours to where we would meet the horses. Let's just say that it was very tiring. But the landscape was grandiose, so that made up for it. Unfortunately, compared to the heat of Ulaan Baatar, the cold here was very persistent, and the first night was a nightmare... When I couldn't stand the cold, I decided to move around the tent, and there it was, a nightsky such as you can rarely see nowadays. Even as the Moon was at its last quarter (as we approached the date of the eclipse), you could still see the Milky Way. It was simply stunning, so much so that I forgot about the cold.

When I woke up, all the horses were around the camp, and the guides soon matched horses with riders, before our first day on trek. My horse was nice and gentle, I couldn't complain. At the end of the first day of immense plateaus and milky river valleys, we took our first gallop in the wild. And that, my friends, was breathtaking. And the dream kept unfolding, as we ate dinner around a campfire with the kazhak guides singing traditional songs under the starry sky. It was just the beginning of a magical experience, with the cold of the first night only a memory. The days went by with a deeper and deeper understanding of Kazhaks traditions and way of life, among superb landscapes of mountains and plateaus.

Mongolia is really the country of Nature at its most primal state. Nothing seems to soil it, as habitations are separated by hundreds of kms. Animals simply follow the natural cycle of life, and kids learn how to live harmoniously among them.

There are no light at night, no barrier around yourts and paddocks, it's fascinating. Thanks to that, Mongols have a very different and very simple way of facing life. And it's curious that our and their ways of life so differ, but secretly each secrety envies the other. 

Kazhak cemetry

During, the trip, we saw several obos (those stone mounds that you can also find in Tibet, for instance), and even had the chance to eat a freshly killed sheep, mongolian style, and it was delicious!

And then finally we arrived at the official campsite for the eclipse near a lake called Black Lake. The guides made us taste Airag, mare's fermented milk, and we could assist to the naadans, the traditional games of the region: archery, eagle parades, and a peculiar game where the woman on horse is judged whether she has "artistically" beaten up her male partner handling her horse's reins. Yes, you have read that right.

To conclude, Mongolia is one of my best travel memories, surely because it was the first time I was so close to an entirely unknown way of living. I really advice you to see it if you haven't already, because it was really majestic, as I hope my story has shown.