Day 63-66

We are home!  It seems like we have been gone from this life for much longer than 10 weeks and it feels good to be home.  At the moment I'm really dragging from jet lag and can't wait for bed but it is only 4pm so I have a way to go. I slept good our first night home but Bob didn't, and last night he slept good and I didn't.  Hopefully we can recover quickly because we sure have a lot to do around here!

I just wanted to finish documenting the end of our trip so we would have a complete journal of the "experience of a lifetime".  We hope all of you have enjoyed our journey.

Friday, Nov. 4th we boarded the tour bus leaving Guilin to take a ride on a river boat down the Li River ending up in Yangshou.  Now at this point in the tour Bob and I have pretty much had it with the bus and people that don't want to share the best seats and the mad rush to get the best seats and all the germs flying around from so many that were sneezing and coughing.  By this time most everyone was sick or had gotten sick including Bob, Sandy and Sue.  I was thinking I was going to be lucky but I got it on the last day in Hong Kong which made for an interesting flight home, which took 19 hours!  Anyway this river boat ride was supposed to be a highlight of the entire tour through some beautiful mountains found only in this area of China.  We were the last to leave out of about 15 boats filled with tourists which meant it wasn't exactly peaceful and we were the recipients of everyone's exhaust.  I couldn't believe how many boats were on this river all catering to the tourist trade.  The ride was supposed to be 3 hours but ended up being 6 due to low river levels.  There were a lot of 'not happy' people especially with the antiquated squat-a-potty's that didn't flush. We were all so ready to get off the boat and on with our day and I was looking forward to seeing Yangshou since Kari & Jason just loved this quiet little town when they were there 10 years ago.  Well it wasn't quiet and it wasn't small and quaint as I expected but filled with all the tourists that got off the boat along with a few million other people, loads of souvenir stalls and lots and lots of people selling $5.00 rolex watches AND a McDonald's and KFC!  Not a good day but it ended with the last of our 5 flights going to Hong Kong.  Hong Kong was great with so much to see and do.  We toured Hong Kong island on Sat. morning and I fortunately got motion sickness winding our way up to Victoria Peak so we were able to ditch the bus and have an afternoon on our own.  We went to the mid-level escalators which go up Victoria peak for 1/2 mile.  It's basically a people mover and went through some great neighborhoods.  After getting off half way up the mountain we decided we would just hike the rest of the way up to see Hong Kong at night.  Well it ended up being quite a hike and at times almost vertical but the view at night was fantastic.  The line for the tram was so long that we decided to hike down hopefully in time to meet the Singer gang for the light show over Victoria harbor.  It was a great night until our camera got stolen out of our backpack.  We were devastated!  How could anyone be so low as to steal a tourist's memories of their trip.  We felt so violated.  It was a sad way to end the trip but fortunately we had been backing up all of the pictures on our laptop as we blogged and only lost the last 3 days, plus Jim and Frank had been taking pictures so we downloaded theirs.  Hong Kong for the most part was great and I would go back there again.

Bob and I had a wonderful experience in China and really enjoyed getting to know and understand the Chinese culture and people.  Our time at the Maclellan center was definitely the highlight and we really wish all of you could have seen it and and met our new family there.  The 3 weeks touring China was the icing on the cake.  We still think taking a tour is the way to go in such a large and challenging country and for the most part Grand Circle Travel did a pretty good job.

Once again, thanks for joining us on this journey.

Hong Kong island

Farewell dinner

Light show over Victoria harbor

Day 59-62

We are officially ready to come home.  It's funny how at the end of a trip, no matter the length, all of a sudden you're ready to go home and we reached that point today.  We leave for Hong Kong tomorrow for our last 3 days and we have been looking forward to seeing that city. After a whirlwind tour we will take the torturous flight home. 

After getting off the boat we toured Chongqing stopping at the zoo to see the panda's.  Chongqing is in panda country and they have 8 at the zoo and a research center outside of the city with many more to observe and study.  We went to the world war 2 flying tiger museum which was really neat since my Dad talked about the pilots that flew those missions during the war. He was a navy fighter pilot during the war and he sure would have enjoyed seeing that museum.  I sure wish he was still with us so I could tell him all about it.

After Chongqing we flew to Xian to see the terracotta warriors.  It was absolutely fascinating.  I highly recommend it.  The problem however with Xian, is that the pollution was horrible.  We had wanted to rent bicycles and ride around the old city wall but we couldn't even see a block ahead of us, and since it was about a 10 mile ride, we decided not to do it.  Our eyes and throat were burning just standing there.  The pollution here is quite sad and it's a shame that we will leave with that being a big, negative, impression on us.

Wednesday we arrived in Guilin which was a wonderful change with sunny skies and warm weather.  We spent today biking through the countryside and small villages and hiking up 3 of the hill/mountains that surround this place.  It's really beautiful.

A few new tidbits we've experienced:  coffee served with milk and enough sugar to gag
                                           we got served dried cherry tomatoes for a snack on the plane
                                            foreigners are sometimes referred to as 'hello' people, or big nose people

                                            a hour massage only costs $8.50 here in Guilin            

gawking at us

really corny but we had to do it

panda 

                                                                                                             

terracotta warriers

split pants

biking in Guilin

hiking in Guilin

                                                 

Day 53-58

Yes, we are still here in China and approaching the 60 day mark.  Hard to believe we've been gone so long.  We are beginning to anticipate our return home which will be on Nov. 7th.  We hope there is no snow on the ground when we get home!  Kari was telling us that it has already snowed in New Hampshire.

So, here's an update on what we've been doing since we last wrote.  We were in Shanghai for 3 days and each day got better and better.  It is a fascinating city and as I said, a completely different feel from Beijing.  We took the subway to the Bund which is the waterfront walk along the river.  We saw it at night and during the day.  At night the lights on the buildings were phenomenal and quite the show.  It was lit up more than Vegas.  During the day we not only saw all the skyscrapers but also the fantastic European architecture which lines the entire Bund. The city is so modern, futuristic, western and rich. There is money, money and more money there.  It didn't feel like the China I expected to see there.  It's China's major port and a huge financial center and very interesting to explore which is what we did on Wed. instead of going with the tour group.  We took the day off to explore and take Sandy and Jim bargain shopping. I love to bargain and we found some good deals and some fun souvenirs.  We took the bullet train to Shouzo. 299km per hour, which is a smaller city that has been compared to Venice and is called the Venice of the east.  It's filled with canals, arched bridges, beautiful gardens and known for silk production.  We went to a silk factory which was really interesting and saw the process from silk worm to silk fabric.  It was the first factory tour that we actually enjoyed as the rest of them were major tourist traps.

On Thursday we took the fastest train in the world to the airport.  It's called the mag/lev train (magnetic levitation) and went 439 km per hour.  It took 7 1/2 minutes to get there.  We flew to Wuhan which took 1 1/2 hours and then a 5 hour bus ride to get to Yichang which is where we got on the 'luxury" boat up the Yangtze river.  It is not so luxury but much nicer than the economy boats that we've seen which most of the Chinese people take.  The first night one was pulled up  next to us and there were people walking all around in their pajamas.  Kind of strange but apparently they got on their relaxing clothes to stroll the decks!  This river trip has been very interesting especially seeing the largest dam in the world which is the 3 gorges dam.  It cost 30 billion to build, there's a 5 stage lock system that we went through which took 4 hours, it's very controversial especially since it displaced 1.5 million people and it's strange knowing that we are riding over flooded cities.  This has been a relaxing 3 days which has been nice and we will land in Chongqing tomorrow and fly to Xian to see the terracotta warriors.

We hope all is well at home and would love to hear from you.

canal ride in Shouzo

Silk factory

Shanghai at night

Bargaining

Subway in Shanghai

Mag/Lev train

Market along the Yangtze

Isn't she cute

The "Fam" going through the locks

Captains' reception

Sampan ride

Our 1 sunny day

Gorge on the Yangtze

Frank & Sue on the train

Day 51-52

We have been quite busy with tour activities.  We've been to Tianamen Square, Forbidden City, Hutongs of Beijing, Temple of Heaven, Summer palace, cloisonne factory, jade factory, carpet factory - way to many factories.  It's interesting seeing how everything is made but then of course they would like you to buy at over inflated prices.

We left Beijing yesterday which was good because the weather got really cold and the pollution was really awful.  Our flight was cancelled due to mechanical difficulties and we didn't get into Shanghai until midnight.  Oh the joys of travel.  We are not exactly adapting to group travel but doing our best to cope.  I think we have made too many tourist trap stops and we are planning to escape on Wednesday to do our own thing.  It rained all day here in Shanghai so that put a damper on sightseeing.  Hopefully this bad weather will pass and we will see the sun again. It doesn't sound like we are enjoying ourselves but we really are.  It's fun to be with family and experience this together.

Shanghai has a whole different feel than Beijing.  It's much more sophisticated and western and hardly feels like China at all.  I'm surprised at the difference, however we really haven't seen that much of it yet.  We have 2 more days here before leaving for the Yangtze river.

Temple of Heaven Beijing

Forbidden City

Great Wall

Hutong pedal cab Beijing

Leaving the Macellan Center

Relaxed after our dry shampoo and massage

Our hair all looked the same

Day 49-50

I wanted to finish posting pictures of the Mac for those of you who wanted to see all rooms.  We did go back to show Bob's family, Sandy & Jim and Frank & Sue on Friday and also to say goodbye to all of the very special people that live and work there.  It was emotional to leave there but it was wonderful to have family see what we did.  Here are the rest of the pics.

Conference room before

Conference room after

Hospitality Before

Lounge before

Hospitality after

Lounge after

Lounge after

The workers

Pagoda in the garden

Day 46-48

We did not fall off the face of the earth.  We are still alive and kicking, but just not as fast, and actually quite slow.  Now that we can  relax we are really tired!  We just finished day one of our tour and feel as though we just got off the plane and are experiencing jet lag again.  Anyway, a lot has happened in the last few days.  Last I wrote it was Monday night and we had a big day ahead of us.  It definitely was the sprint at the end of the marathon and we sprinted all day Tuesday finishing florals, hanging more pictures, rearranging shelves, putting up more curtain rods, hanging more curtains, building a door to cover a huge electrical panel, painting outside doors, and placing mums all over the building to give it a Fall festive look!  After 6 1/2 weeks of planning and working we were really pleased with the results and received very positive comments from all who walked through the doors.  It was a good ending.  The staff took us out for dinner that night to celebrate the completion of "the project".

We left the Mac last night (Wed) at 9:30pm to come to our hotel to join the tour group.  We really didn't want to leave as it just feels like home.  We will go back on Friday with Bob's brother, sister and spouses to show them where we lived and worked and what we did..  It will be great to have someone from home see it.  On Friday we will say goodbye to our new family and friends.  We know it will be an emotional day.

Here are some pictures to show more of what we did which included re-purposing what was already there especially n the apartments and the new lounge area.   Unfortunately pictures just don't quite capture how it really looks and feels.  We wish you could be here to see it in person.  I can post more pics tomorrow.

One more thing -- We did survive day one of our tour.  We've been nervous about being on a tour since we love to travel on our own and on our own schedule.  I don't enjoy moving at a snail  pace behind an umbrella but having family with will be good and we will learn a lot about this huge country.  However, I am the youngest person out of 39, enough said!

Our apartment before

Our bedroom before

Our bedroom after

Keller's bedroom after

Our apartment after

Entry before

entry before

Entry after -antique panels

New lighting

New entry

New

Bob's mailbox and closet masterpiece

Old Great Room

Old Dining Room

New Dining Room

Great Room Before

Great Room After

New french doors

Here's the door that became a frame