So right now we are in China!! I am sitting at our Youth Hostel in Pingyao, China...Shanxi Province. This is a great city with tons of beauty and history....a real live ancient walled city! At night the city is ablaze with red lanterns strewn everywhere! Tons of food stalls lining the streets(Austin and I are eating everything in sight), bikes(the ones you have to use your feet for) everywhere...ready to run you over at any given moment, and just full of life! Yesterday, we spent the whole day riding around on our own miniature-wheeled bikes, exploring the city....here's a link...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingyao
Before we arrived here, via about a 10hour bus ride, we were frolicking through Inner Mongolia!! We took a Grassland tour on horseback, slept in a yurt...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingyao
Before we arrived here, via about a 10hour bus ride, we were frolicking through Inner Mongolia!! We took a Grassland tour on horseback, slept in a yurt...
...ate alot, and the next day, we went into the Gobi Dessert and rode special Camels with TWO humps on their backs...oh yeah...that's us...camel riding fools! You can see a pic of us fools on our page.
Before we got down and dirty in the grit and grime...we spent a nice time in Datong, China. There we visited the Hanging Monestary...
http://www.greatwalltour.com/greatwall_pages/provinces/shanxi/datong/hanging.htm
http://www.greatwalltour.com/greatwall_pages/provinces/shanxi/datong/hanging.htm
...one of the only places where 3 religions...Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism are combined to one temple. I'm not going to lie...it was pretty scary being up there with a million other pushy tourists, several feet in the air, trying to make way thru the most narrow ways...all while trusting that this HANGING thing isn't going to let go!!! It was all really really amazing though! That same day we ventured far off to the Yungang Caves...
Here there are millions of carvings of Buddha...all carved into the mountain! Some of these are soooo incredibly massive, I just don't know how they were able to carve with such perfection and detail! Of course...we didn't skip our Chinese Lunch:)
Drum role paleaaase.........WE SCALED THE GREATEST WALL EVER!!! While in Beijing, we were able to access some really great sites! That including a wonderfully difficult:) 6 hour hike on the Great Wall!! It was Absolutely the most wowing thing ever! We opted for a less touristy piece, and a stretch that wasn't fully restored, which meant in some places we were walking on original stone! Just wait for the photos! You'll be blown away!!! We also did the usual...Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Olympic Village, Peking Yuck...I mean Duck, tons of wandering thru streets...by wandering I mean eating, Lama Temple, Acrobat Show...fun fun fun, and tons more! We had a balast in Beijing!!! And just because I know you are curious....YES! The smog is as bad as they show on TV! One out of the 6 days we were there was a pretty day!!!!
And here we are...where we left off....INDONESIA YO! We left off chasing Orangutans and taking the jungle by storm!! We were in Aceh(pronounced A-chay) in Sumatra. There, Austin convinced me to slide down slippery slopes....fall 4 feet onto boulders...and slam my foot into boiling hot springs!!! hahaha! We did a four day/three night trek in the Gurah Rainforest! We managed to be lucky enough to spot 3 Orangutans in the wild....they were soooo cool. Not so cool with us being in their territory tho! They launched everything except their first born babies at us!!! One barely missing me:) We lounged around in our tents during the rain or in our own hot bath in the hot springs...having all our meals prepped for us...and just enjoying where we were! Definitely "ENJOYING THE MOMENT"!!!!
Now ya'll are up to date and can sleep tight knowing that we are having a baaaalast! That and the fact that I am long winded and will keep these shorter from now on:) Luv Ya...Mean it:)
Drum role paleaaase.........WE SCALED THE GREATEST WALL EVER!!! While in Beijing, we were able to access some really great sites! That including a wonderfully difficult:) 6 hour hike on the Great Wall!! It was Absolutely the most wowing thing ever! We opted for a less touristy piece, and a stretch that wasn't fully restored, which meant in some places we were walking on original stone! Just wait for the photos! You'll be blown away!!! We also did the usual...Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Olympic Village, Peking Yuck...I mean Duck, tons of wandering thru streets...by wandering I mean eating, Lama Temple, Acrobat Show...fun fun fun, and tons more! We had a balast in Beijing!!! And just because I know you are curious....YES! The smog is as bad as they show on TV! One out of the 6 days we were there was a pretty day!!!!
And here we are...where we left off....INDONESIA YO! We left off chasing Orangutans and taking the jungle by storm!! We were in Aceh(pronounced A-chay) in Sumatra. There, Austin convinced me to slide down slippery slopes....fall 4 feet onto boulders...and slam my foot into boiling hot springs!!! hahaha! We did a four day/three night trek in the Gurah Rainforest! We managed to be lucky enough to spot 3 Orangutans in the wild....they were soooo cool. Not so cool with us being in their territory tho! They launched everything except their first born babies at us!!! One barely missing me:) We lounged around in our tents during the rain or in our own hot bath in the hot springs...having all our meals prepped for us...and just enjoying where we were! Definitely "ENJOYING THE MOMENT"!!!!
Now ya'll are up to date and can sleep tight knowing that we are having a baaaalast! That and the fact that I am long winded and will keep these shorter from now on:) Luv Ya...Mean it:)
Don't forget....if any of you adventure seeker, fun-loving peeps want to meet us out here...get your booties in gear and pack up...lightly:)
