an experiment in culture shock

The other night we discovered that the local bowling alley has an archery section. Bows and arrows and beer don’t seem like the greatest mixture, but we decided to check it out. It turns out that archery is fun, if not the greatest team sport. Oh, and no worries about the alcohol mixture, all that concentration meant no one ordered any beer. In my first go, I was told that I’m a fast learner.

Tomorrow, Tony and I are off to Shanghai for another week vacation.

While I was home for a quick two and a half weeks this summer, I got to go to Wyoming. Teton Village to be exact, which is just between Jackson Hole and the south entrance to Grand Teton National Park. I don’t know if it’s because I was such a city girl growing up, but I was never too excited by the idea of a national park. Probably because I hadn’t really ever seen one, except for the Redwoods. The Redwoods were very cool, but I was also 17 so I guess I tried not to be impressed by much.

Wyoming? Gorgeous. The bit of Idaho that I saw? Gorgeous. Grand Teton and Yellowstone? Well, if you haven’t been there, you should go. If you have been there, you understand why I have difficulty explaining how amazing it is. And lastly, the Four Seasons? Spoiled me for life. I’ll never be the same again. I suppose that is unless I’m traveling on my budget and then I’ll be fine with the cheap hotel.

As photos of stunning natural beauty tend, these do not do the place justice, but here they are. Just to prove that I was there.

From Jackson Hole

It is the end of my China adventure, though Tony gets to continue his, and now I’m on my way back home to Houston for a few weeks.

Our last few days in Jinghong were a mixture of activity and laziness. We rented bikes one day and rode out of town and into some of the smaller villages (activity). It was nice to get away from the noise of the city and see some of the local areas. Then we spent a day eating and playing cards at Mei Mei’s (laziness).

After our slightly extended stay in Jinghong, which turned out to be quite nice, we hopped on a flight to Lijiang. Lijiang, it turns out, looks like China. At least it looks like the China that you see in American movies and in photos. This fact is not lost on the Chinese as there were far more Chinese tourists in Lijiang than westerners. While in Lijiang we found some lovely places to relax, sit, eat and read and then quickly left to hike the Tiger Leaping Gorge.

Stunning and beautiful don’t really suffice in terms of description of the Gorge. Tony’s quote that I think he took from Russell Brand put it best: “It’s like being hit over the head with a rainbow”.

The trip was lovely and I have the photos to prove it.

From Adventures in Yunnan