April 21, 2011

In the Suitcase: How NOT to tour China (but get to the Great Wall!)

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will have figured out that I am not a tour-group kind of traveler. I prefer the freedom, and the challenge, to plan my own itinerary and my own budget so I can cram as much out of a country or city in a short allotted time by my work. In my experience with tours, even the short ones I have booked once there have been unsatisfying. In Chiang Mai, Thailand we signed up for a two-day hike through the forests that involved several stops but due to time, we didn’t get to dip into the hot springs; in India, our trip to the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort was cut short because we had to stop into a marble factory for a shopping spree that would give our tour guide commission and ended up missing the entire Red Fort.

In China, we hopped on a tour bus that would take us to the Great Wall and to the Ming Tombs, plus feed us lunch. It seemed like a great deal – two major sites, lunch and transportation, all for 130RMB (about  $20!). Lucky us (note the intended sarcasm here), we ALSO got to tour a silk factory, a jade factory, an herbal medicine hospital (with free footrub), a cloisonne factory and attend a tea tasting.

How did we climb the Great Wall (usually an entire morning or day’s event) and see the Ming Tombs (another whole afternoon), eat lunch AND see all these great other factories? Well, seeing that the tour guide gets a little commission every time someone on her tour purchases anything at these factories, you can see where the priorities lay for her. The Great Wall we crammed into an hour and a half of full ascent and descent at an entrance that is not the picturesque ones you always see. (If you climb, you want to go to the Badaling entrance, which is more touristy for a reason, and has cable cars, but is a more pleasant walk rather than a mountain hike like the one we ended up on. Take a public bus that leaves from Qian Men by Tiananmen Square, which will go to the Badaling entrance). The Ming Tombs? Instead of the dramatic greeting of animal statues and entering the dusty tomb of one emperor, we strolled around some room with a fake banquet on the table and some furniture, then left (20 minutes). After that, it was unannounced shopping, shopping, shopping, and commission, commission, commission for our tour guide. We were supposed to see the Olympic stadium as well, which we did from the bus window. Needless to say, we were all pretty peeved (but we did cave and buy some nice things, which we know are government-guaranteed, authentic products and not knock-offs found in the street markets – so no lead paint in my mother-in-law’s tea set.) In the end, we decided not to deal with the Beijing traffic bus ride home and wandered the Olympic park on our own, then took the subway back.

Similarly, my aunt came across a $99 tour of the beautiful cities around Shanghai (Wuxi, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing) that included all meals, tickets and four-star hotels. However, our mornings were taken up by shopping, and afternoons driving, followed by an abbreviated rushed tour of some garden or temple or boat ride.

How do you avoid this? By doing it yourself. Thankfully, China is a well-traveled country today, and there are plenty of books, signs in English, and English-speaking helpers in hotels who can help you get around. You can also shell out a little more for a private car who will take you there, without taking you to the state-run shops, and allow you to browse as long as you’d like (ask your hotel to book one and be firm and specific that you do NOT want to go shopping). You can also take a street taxi and negotiate a price, but also be firm that you do not want to stop at any shops. Additionally, I’ve heard some hostels have non-shopping journeys as well, but ask to make sure. If you do want to go shopping, don’t try to do it the same day you head to the Great Wall.

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April 13, 2011

On My Itinerary: Chinese medicinal massage and more

We just spent two hours at a Chinese medicine clinic in the city of Wuxi getting beaten to a pulp on our backs, legs, head, face and feet while watching Chinese soap operas on the TV. In China, there’s not much mercy to be given: there is a lot of formality and politeness, and respecting of your elders and kow-towing to ancestors and all that, but when it comes to traffic, getting on elevators and subways, and getting your body massaged, there’s no politeness involved – no soft music and rose petals and effluraging of the muscles. It was genuinely one of the best massages I’ve ever had.

We joined a tour group that my father found through my aunt, a $99 all-expenses paid trip for Chinese non-citizens from the US, Canada and Australia. For a whole week we’re touring through the major cities around Shanghai which are famous for being picturesque, and so far each one gets better than the next.  It was through this tour we were able to arrange for the massages, though if you are traveling alone you could inquire with your hotel to set you up at one that is not going to try to sell you a bunch of oriental medicines as well. We started from the world-class city lights of Shanghai to the beautiful city of Hangzhou famous for its West Lake with pagoda vistas and cherry blossoms, to Nanjing with its rock gardens, Purple Mountain and ancient city wall, to Wuxi with its giant new Buddhist temple and the enormous metal Buddha standing in the hills. Before this, Jon and I jetted down to the glamorous and rising star city of Guangzhou where we became the country folk, craning our necks to look at the tall, space-age buildings forming the new skyline. Like Beijing and Shanghai, and much of China, the cities are building so fast with some of the tallest, most elaborate and forward-thinking designs in buildings that there’s no question that China will become the most advanced and powerful country in the world, within our lifetimes.

Jon is antsy for his computer back so I will sign off. Til later!

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April 4, 2011

On My Itinerary: Beijing!

View of Wanchun Pavilion at the summit of Jingshan Park, as seen from the Forbidden City.

14 flying hours later, 12 hour time difference, we’ve arrived in Beijing – the city that’s ever-changing, where the concept of self-consciousness went out the window with Communism. Ideas like waiting in a line for your turn, allowing people to get off the subway before getting on, or not pushing don’t quite exist, nor does picking your nose, hocking lugies and other gross behavior (however, only older men seem to be doing this). However, in this state of non-self-consciousness also comes a personal freedom, in which people go to outdoor dance classes and dance by themselves without a care in the world, where people aren’t shy to try something new and look stupid doing it, where they wear what they want and show true enthusiasm for something they like (“your child is so pretty!”) and true honesty when they don’t (“you look like you’ve gained a lot of weight”). It’s what happens when capitalism meets communism, and it’s a refreshing change from the artificiality and politeness and white lies we deal with back home every day.

Despite that our sleep cycle has been turned upside down, we’ve managed to march out to the Forbidden City, Tian Tan (Temple of Heaven) and the bustling night market of Wangfujing district to examine the scorpions (picture right) and starfish on sticks and tons of trinkets and other souvenirs and candy for sale (this after a four hour nap in the middle of the day today). My 5-year-old niece came on this trip with my sister, and she’s been a real head-turner to the locals who are intrigued by her half Chinese features that they all secretly are jealous she has: white porcelain skin, double eyelids and brown hair, plus she’s just that cute. She gets more attention than Jon with his completely white features, though everyone thinks she is his child. She’s been having a field day singing songs from Mulan, her latest favorite movie, and practicing her version of martial arts around with a new pink princess wand we bought for her along with a Chinese princess hat. the

On the rest of our itinerary: a couple parks built in the 1200s, some shopping, and of course, the Great Wall of China. Then we’re off to Guangzhou, then Shanghai. To be continued!



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March 11, 2011

In the Suitcase: travel vouchers

So I headed to Austin this weekend for the notorious South by Southwest film/ music/ interactive conference, where the world’s hippest and geekiest self-proclaimed techie heads in their skinny jeans, derby hats and Ipads all jetted in. It is such a huge event that every flight to Austin was oversold and every hotel was booked.

I became one of those oversold people, whose ticket type on American Airlines didn’t deserve a seat nor was I allowed to standby on an earlier flight unless I shelled out $50 – which my company would have paid, but out of principle I refused. My favorite is when the gate agent tells you your ticket type is the wrong kind, as if it was something personal and that I had purposely chosen this particular ticket type (W instead of Q, none of which mean anything to me). In any case, my ticket type was so low on the alphabet and therefore my status as a human being diminshed greatly that I didn’t get my seat until I arrived in Austin.

Meanwhile, the gate was giving away travel vouchers worth $300 if you volunteered to give up your seat for a later time. I was really in no rush to get to this conference and I would have welcomed the free ticket, which I would get to keep, not my office.

I’ve heard and read how easy it is for airlines to hand out free vouchers, and how difficult it is for passengers to redeem these vouchers for an actual flight. Just recently, American was slapped with a penalty for charging its passengers a $30 fee to use a voucher. a $30 fee!! The audacity some airlines have! They oversell their own flights and then charge people whse original flight they couldn’t even honor. Blech.

However, ‘ve used one voucher ever, and that was with United Airlines. They were kind after a delay from mechanical difficulty to hand them out to frustrated passengers. I used ours promptly to book a flight to a wedding in LA.

Vouchers are usually handed out on oversold flights, so if you’re really looking to score them and you have lots of free time on your hands, travel on the really busy times of the day - Friday afternoons, Sunday evenings, during conferences and popular events, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Easter weekend – those will usually do the trick.

You will always be placed first on the next available flight with open seats. If you’re really good, you can volunteer to get off the next flight and earn yourself another free seat somewhere.

Make sure you use your ticket within a year. Most expire after a year is up.

If you get bumped from a late flight and have to stay in a hotel or over a meal, ask for a voucher or how to get your meal and/ or hotel covered by the airline.

Now I arrived in Austin and the meeting I needed to go to doesn’t even start until 3:30, so I technically could have taken the voucher and hopped on a 2:00 flight from Dallas. Next time…

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February 18, 2011

Now Boarding: Delta miles don’t expire anymore

In a bold move to be different from the rest of the airlines, Delta announced this week that its frequent flier miles will not expire anymore. Yay!

Several airlines started adding end dates to the frequent flier miles that passengers work so hard to earn – forcing many to subscribe to magazines (using miles) they didn’t really want just so they could say they “spent” some miles before they expired.

The change is effective starting January 1, 2011.

 

 

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February 17, 2011

On My Itinerary: CHINA!

My Travel Hats is back from hiatus! It’s been a hectic start to 2011, albeit a good one so far, with many, many, many adventures to come this year. Since we just kicked off the Year of the Rabbit at the start of February, it’s only fitting to write about our upcoming travels to the grand land of China.

We’ll be traveling with my dad, my sister and five-year-old niece, who has been obsesssed with going to China ever since she watched the Kai-lan special about going to China. (You can watch the video where they sing “We’re going to China, we’re going to China, I feel so happy!”) In the Kai-lan special, they make friends with pandas who speak English. I hope my niece isn’t disappointed.

This will be my – I’m not sure, 8th? 10th? 12th? time to China. I was one of few American tourists who headed over there in the late 1970′s and then through the 80′s, 90′s and millenium, watching the country move through post-Maoist era into the consumer capital of the world it is today. It’s an incredible transformation to watch, and every time I go back there’s something very new to see. The last time I went was in 2005 for work and I toured the Birds’ Nest Olympic Stadium with a hard hat as it was being constructed.

Though I’ve been over there several times, this is actually my first time purchasing a guidebook. And boy, there are several. I finally settled on the Eyewitness Guide to China, because it has lots of pictures, and my niece would enjoy the pictures. I forget that China has 5,000 years of history, tons of temples and statues and tombs and summer palaces and winter palaces and gardens and pagodas. Even a small town in the middle of nowhere has so many interesting things to see and do and eat. Beijing alone can take a month to cover. Since we are Americans, we only have two weeks and cramming a whole lot of country into this short time.

Some tips for planning a trip to China.

1. Buy a guidebook with Chinese characters written on the maps. The more Chinese characters in a guidebook, the better. Cab drivers have no idea what you’re referring to when you point to the English version, or even to a map, and if you try to pronounce it (especially if you don’t speak Chinese) you’ll get nowhere. You should also ask your hotel to write down the names of places you’re going to, in Chinese, that you can just hand to the driver.

2. Everyone assumes you can get by with English. Correction: if you’re lucky, you can get by with English. Hotels will speak English (at least major hotels). There will be a lot of pantomime and sign language and a lot of confusion. If you don’t know Chinese and you’re trying to pronounce things out of a phrasebook, you’ll also get nowhere. The best you can do is have as much written out in Chinese as possible, including food allergies and where you’d like to go, and point.

3. There’s too much to see in China. If you’re a first-timer, you cannot miss Beijing. People are very attracted to Shanghai, but bear in mind it is just like a westernized city nowadays, so the real history and gems are in Beijing. I would spend a solid week in Beijing and the outskirts of Beijing, and maybe go to Shanghai, plus the surrounding cities of Shanghai (like Suzhou, Nanjing, and Hangzhou) and check out Xi’an – land of the terracotta soldiers.

4. Get a visa. You’ll need to get a visa, and it only takes about four days (if you have an embassy in town). However, the visa fee has skyrocketed for Americans to $140. (Don’t whine about the Chinese – Tanzania charged Americans $100). If you’re not American, it’s $30!

5. Vaccinations. Unless you’re going farming, and likely you’re sticking to major tourist cities, you won’t need any major vaccines. You should already be up to date with your regular vaccinations (MMR), hepatitis A and B, and polio. Typhoid and rabies only if you plan to be outside hiking or working in fields.

Stay tuned for more updates!

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January 21, 2011

MY TRAVEL HATS STILL EXISTS!

Just because we’ve picked up a very busy full-time job doesn’t mean we’re not still traveling. In fact, we’ve been to the island of Culebra (Puerto Rico) and to lovely Orlando, Fla. since the last entry. And we’re hoping to head to the great land of China in mid-March. So heed patience and stay tuned for more updates!

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November 29, 2010

Getting Lost In: Medellín!

(photo by Noah Bleicher) Oh, Medellín! With your daily rainstorms, fruit markets, $4 lunches, mobile phone girls, salsa tunes and Botero art that decorates the city the way Gaudi decorates Barcelona, it was not hard to love Medellín- pronounced “Med-i-shjeen”. We spent three days there during the first half of our Thanksgiving week trip to Colombia with our friends Noah and Marcela, who own and operate Su Casa Colombia, a tour guide/B&B business in the city.

Medellín was once ruled in fear by Pablo Escobar, the notorious drug lord. After his death, the Colombian government made great strides to sweep up the mess left behind and to give Medellín a second chance. In the past 20 years, Medellín has risen to become Colombia’s Second City and encouraging its residents to come out of hiding and enjoy its parks, museums, gardens, cafes, restaurants and shopping districts. Medellín still bears the reputation for crime, but on the contrary, we felt very safe. In addition, there are barely any other tourists – so get in before anyone else does. Like any city, visitors should be aware of their surroundings, don’t buy drugs from strangers, and don’t head into the poorer districts.

Stay: We stayed at Su Casa Colombia, which was Marcela’s grandparents’ home and where Marcela’s mother was raised. This typical middle-upper-class home has two levels with an open courtyard with hammocks, crisp white bedding, bright balconies where you are woken by fruit peddlers singing their songs of avocado, a pool table and a fun Colombian ring-toss game called Sapo. Noah puts together an excellent Colombian breakfast (or a regular American breakfast, since they are Americans) and organizes very full and fun itineraries to take you around town.

See: Fernando Botero’s art is the real gem of Medellín. This artist of oversized, overweight, expressionless characters creates a fun, round and humorous take on life, even the really serious ones. You can view his bronze sculptures at Palacio Municipal (including the Bird of Peace which, ironically, was damaged by a guerrilla bomb), Parque Berrio, and at the Museo de Antioquia which also has his paintings and drawings. We got an excellent walk-through from Marcela, who is an art expert and artist herself, and pointed out details we would never have noticed.

See also: A country of 98 percent Catholics, you can bet they have some interesting churches as well. The Catedral Metropolitana is made of 1.2 million bricks and is quite possibly the only brick cathedral you’ll ever encounter. The Basilica de la Candelaria, situated in Parque Berrio, is also another interesting design in black-and-white. There’s also the pretend church at Pueblito Paisa, a reconstructed mini-village of a typical Antioquian settlement atop a hill with sweeping views of Medellín. The other two percent may find spiritual peace at the Jardín Botánico’s orchid display, an architectural beauty in itself (right).

Ride: the Metrocable gondolas, which every city should implement to bypass traffic and provide birdseye views above. Medellín’s metro is the first for Colombia, too, and a very clean and impressive mode of transport about town. Otherwise, take a cab to your destinations – they’re incredibly inexpensive by American and European standards.

Dance: Participate in one of the free rumba classes in the Unidad Deportiva Atanasio Girardot plaza. This is one of the city’s ways of encouraging the community to embrace its parks. Or else try your steps at Eslabon Prendido (Calle 53 # 42- 55) downtown where live salsa music is played Tuesday nights. (If you don’t know what you’re doing, just move your legs around very quickly and try to look sassy).

Daytrip: El Peñón is a giant black monolith, which Noah believes to be an asteroid, but the ticket seller says is a result of plate techtonics. It is about two hours outside the city by bus. Catch a bus from the bus station (buses leave every half hour, ask the bus counter which one goes to El Peñón at Guatapé). More than 600 steps lead to the top for breathtaking views of the winding reservoir below. Afterwards, take a colorful tuk-tuk to Guatapé for lunch and to see one of the most charming towns on the planet. Every house is required to be painted colorfully, and entire streets are coordinated.

Eat: En Casa de Oliva’s owner went around all of Colombia researching recipes and regional cooking to create her carefully planned menu. Carrera 43D #10-72 Poblado (encasadeoliva@gmail.com). Also check out the fruit markets, where you can sample fruits that don’t exist back home. Our favorite is the granadilla which we affectionately called “booger fruit”, because its insides resemble, well, a pomegranate. Another option is to stand around an empanada stand and eat to your heart’s content, then pay for the number of empanadas consumed.

Pack: Raingear, like a jacket, umbrella and preferably some kind of waterproof shoe. Plastic bags are good to cover up camera equipment.

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November 10, 2010

In the Suitcase: How to sleep on a plane

beencaughtsleeping.com

I have always slept on planes. Jon can never sleep on planes. In fact, I usually fall asleep before the flight even takes off, even if I’ve slept a full eight hours. It’s the hum and vibration of the engine on the runway that lulls me into sleep and I wake up when the plane is in mid-air. If I’m particularly sleepy, usually because I had to get up at 4am to catch my 6am flight, I will sometimes fall asleep  before the plane takes off and wake up when it’s already landed – but only on short flights like to Chicago. Those are especially cool because as the plane is parking at the gate at our arrival, I’ll turn to Jon and ask, “did we leave yet already?”

It’s not like I find airplane seats oh-so comfortable to curl up and snooze, either – and I don’t wake up from a long flight feeling refreshed like I’ve been to the spa. It is possible, though, to sleep upright – my dad always takes naps in a dining chair, and my grandfather slept in a barker lounger for years (of course, they do recline like first class). I’m also not a fan of medicating. However, here are some tips I’ve learned over the many years that have helped me maximize my sleep so I can maximize my vacation time.

The key, I find, is to already be tired. If you’re taking a red-eye, you should already be tired. If you’re taking a morning flight, sleep about 4 hours the night before.

1. Make sure you get a seat that reclines. Check seatguru.com to see which seats will recline. A window seat is even better, because you can lean your head against the window.

2. Get a neck pillow, an eye mask, and/ or earplugs. I like Brookstone’s travel pack, but it takes up quite a bit of room in the carry-on.

3. Inflate the neck pillow HALWAY – or else your head gets jutted out. Also it will inflate more as the plane changes pressure.

4. Go through your regular night routine: brush your teeth, wash your face, take out the contact lenses, etc.

5. Wear comfortable clothes. Constricting jeans is not what I normally wear to bed. Take off your shoes. Get a blanket or bring a sweatshirt.

6.  If you’re taking a red-eye and if you’re an exerciser, exercising six hours before your flight will also help your body go back to normal rest mode.

7. Though many critics claim alcohol does not help sleep, it’s Jon’s latest discovery: the mini-bottles of red wine. He’ll take one and then sleep a few hours. Another girl I traveled with to India went on a bar-crawl through O’Hare airport and then slept the entire 13 hours to New Delhi.

8. Read a book – don’t watch a movie. Something boring usually helps. Counting clouds helps, too.

Sleep tight!

 

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October 28, 2010

On My Itinerary: Colombia!

photo courtesy of Su Casa Colombia

We’ve decided it was time to take advantage of friends who live internationally and visit them all. So just like that – we booked a flight to Colombia (the country) for Thanksgiving. We’ll be flying into Medellin, out of Cartagena, just for one week, but since I was granted a whole week of vacation I figured I should take advantage of this American rarity. We haven’t planned much beyond that we’ll be staying with Jon’s friends, Noah and Marcela, who own a lovely B&B in Medellin (Su Casa Colombia), fly out to Cartagena on the coast and a UNESCO World Heritage site, and then the rest will take us as the Colombian coffee breeze goes.

Now that the country has cleaned itself up and become much safer for people to venture, Colombia is one of those up-and-coming tourist spots, as Panama and Nicaragua are. It’s a place I never thought I’d venture to and now I am. I couldn’t even find a guide book at the Union Station bookstore on Colombia. If any travel guide companies out there would like to hire me to write the first one, I’d be more than happy to.  Stay tuned for more on this latest trip!

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