china dolls and rickshaws

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://www.akairways.com/pix/chamber/yurts.jpg

...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

...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...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yungang_Grottoes.

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:)

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:)

trips n dips

So, Austin and I are now on the island of Flores, Indonesia. We arrived here via sea sickness and a boat called Perama. Along the way, we stopped and smiled at the Komodos, or wait, did they smile at us:) haha...those pics will come within a few weeks!! We slept on the boat for 2 nights...well, at least we tried. But now we are in a one horse town with lots of trash on the roads....it is a fishing town called Labuan Bajo....basically ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do here but leave:) haha....it is just a town for departure and arrival to and from Komodo Island and diving around here...etc. Austin and I spent 4 lovely nights on an island around here called Seraya Island. Pretty much deserted except for one resort....well, small shacks along the beach with outside bathrooms....BUT ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTFUL!!!! I have never enjoyed remoteness quite like this before. The sun would rise through our window every morning at 5.30 am...and we would hop up to start a full day of lounging, eating, and snorkeling...really, that's about it! But all well worth it....saw beautiful Lion fish, tons of star fish, clams, reef fish, angel fish, and yes....A SHARK(about a 4 foot Black Tip Reef Shark that is no bigger than me)....but they don't want us....not enough meat(well that's what I keep trying to convince myself anyway...hahah)!!! But now we are back in Labuan Bajo and going to dive for the next 3 days...surely I'll see more sharks, pee my pants, and then get whisped away by the current:) Sounds like fun right:) hahha!!! We will also be touring Rinca(Rincha), which is an island right next to Komodo that also has dragons on it, and maybe more visible wildlife....we'll see....those wild things tend to be finicky....little poopers:) We only get to see the lazy ones that are lounging around the kitchen waiting for the lasted chicken head to accidentally roll off the chopping block:)
So long story and because my hands are tiring:)

Here's what we have done up.to.date.......
Senggigi, Lombok --Indonesia **departure city and starting place...saw temples and not much else, city for successful pic uploads
Gili Trawangan, Lombok -- Indonesia **Island for certification for diving....3 sharks here
Kuta Beach, Lombok -- Indonesia **Surfing some waves dudes!!! AP and I caught some fab surf and whipped our longboards through em man:) well....we took lessons anyway:)
Perama Boat....2 nights, 3 days aboard a wooden boat that must be as old as Giligan's Island....and we know what happened there:)
Labuan Bajo, Flores -- Indonesia **diving, chilling, island hopping, mountain trekking(coming soon), crater (spell?) searching(coming soon), 10 hour public bus riding(coming soon)....and......
THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES!!!!
To make you all feel better, I think about everyone all day everyday and have decided that NO ONE can make any memorable and great memories without me!!!!!!!!!! Okay, so that may be a little selfish, so you'll all just have to get your butts to Indonesia and visit me:) Bring McDonalds, Pizza, Peanut Butter Twix, Jalapeno bagels from NY Bagel in B.R., a soft pretzel with cheese, Pinkberry(i know...i gave in to the fad), FLAMING HOT CHEETOS, and Honey Bunches of Oats with ya too:) PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!