Title: China

China was incredible! The ship docked in Hong Kong for 2 days and then sailed to Shanghai and stayed there for 2 days. It took 2 days for the ship to get to Shanghai but we had the option to travel over land and meet the ship so we had a total of 6 days in China. I decided to travel with some friends to Beijing to see the Great Wall of China and then meet the ship in Shanghai.

We spent the first day in Hong Kong. We went shopping at a market for a little while and then went to a temple. The temple was really cool and looked like typical Chinese architecture. We walked through the gardens and all around the temple. Then we took a train up to the peak of a mountain with a great view of the city. It was nighttime and the city was all light up. It was a beautiful view. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time there because we had dinner plans. Nancy’s family friends live in Hong Kong and they invited us over for dinner. They had a cook who prepared dinner for us and it was wonderful. We were all really excited to have a home cooked meal. We talked with them for a while and they told us all about living in Hong Kong. They had 3 kids. The oldest girl was 17 and the boys were around 10 and 12 I think. They’ve traveled all over the world and it was very fun talking with them.

The next morning we got up and ate breakfast and then went to catch our train to Beijing. Our group consisted of Kathryn, Sam, Tam and me. Several hundred students on the ship did a tour of the Great Wall through the China Guide. The China Guide cost $750 for 3 nights and they got to sleep on the Great Wall. A vast majority of the students on the ship either did that trip or a Semester at Sea trip. Our group wanted to save money so we did it independently. Plane tickets from Hong Kong to Beijing started at $300 so we decided to take a train. The train was 24 hours from Hong Kong to Beijing but it only cost $85 for a sleeper so we decided to do that. Tam and Sam ended up getting normal seats because they were only $50 and they wanted to save money. Kathryn and I decided to spend the extra money and go for the sleepers. The hard sleeper seats were 3 bunks high and we got the top bunks. The train ride wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought. We slept for the first couple of hours and then we got up and ate dinner. They went around selling food so we bought some and it wasn’t bad. The 2 Chinese guys below us started talking to us and asking us about the U.S. and we asked them about China and it was interesting. Later that night they taught us how to play Chinese poker. Kathryn and I didn’t really understand but they were helping us. At 10 pm they turn the lights out and we went to sleep. We slept until around 10 the next morning and then we got up and found Sam and Tam. We talked to them for a while and then went to the restaurant section of the train and ate lunch. A couple hours later we were there and it wasn’t bad at all. My only complaint is the bathrooms. They only had squat toilets. I have made it this whole trip so far without using a squat toilet and China was the last country where it would be an issue but I had to breakdown and use one. In 24 hours I had to go to the bathroom and there was no other option so that was unfortunate.

We got to Beijing and it was freezing! We checked into our hostel, which was really nice. They had very clean rooms and bathrooms so we were pleased. We got changed, bundled up and went to Tianamen Square and looked around. We also wandered through some gardens and enjoyed the evening. We had to be back at the hostel by 6:30 so we could go see an acrobatic show. The show was pretty good. They managed to fit 5 motorcycles into a big sphere, which was really impressive. We got dinner next at a small little hole in the wall restaurant and it was delicious! We all ordered food and just shared everything and it was so good!

We ended up signing up for a tour of the Great Wall and they picked us up at 7:30 am. It was close to a 2 hour drive to the wall. Once we got there, we had the option to take a ski lift up or a cable car. We went with the ski lift and the view was awesome. We had 3 hours to walk around and hike the wall. We went slow and took lots of pictures. It was so beautiful and we had a great time. There were a bunch of Chinese military guys there touring the wall and they kept asking to take pictures with us. It was so funny. I think it’s because of our blonde hair. We were excited to take pictures with them too though so it worked out. After we finished walking around the wall, we tobogganed down to the bottom. It was so fun! We went to lunch with our tour group, which consisted of around 10 people. I was talking to one couple who told me they had just moved to Oregon from Hawaii and I told them I went to school in Hawaii last year. It turns out the lady’s sister was my biology teacher last year and she’s one of my favorite teachers! I loved that biology class and it was one of my favorite classes ever. We were so excited to meet each other.

We went back to the hostel after the Great Wall and gathered our stuff and Kathryn and I went to the train station. The two of us had to get back a day early but Sam and Tam were staying another night. Kathryn and I took an overnight train to Shanghai. I had an FDP, which is basically a field trip for a class, for my social issues class and Kathryn had to register for classes so we needed to get back. This train was a lot nicer and we had our own tvs. Unfortunately, the couple below us had a baby that cried a lot and they talked all night long. I was very mad because they kept waking me up. We made it back to the ship and ate lunch before heading out. We went to a market and shopped for a little while. The market was really cool and looked Chinese. We went to dinner and then Kathryn and I decided to go up in the big space needle, as well called it. It’s actually called the Pearl Tower or something like that. The view from the top was amazing. We really enjoyed it.

On the last day in Shanghai I had my FDP. We went to an urban planning museum and then met with a businessman who talked about renewable energy in Shanghai. It was pretty interesting. We ended up finishing early so I still had a little time before on ship time. I went shopping once again and I bought some fake UGG boots and a duffle bag so I can fit all the stuff I bought home with me. Shanghai is a great city. It’s humongous and there’s so much to do. I’d love to come back someday.

Vietnam and Cambodia

The ship was in Vietnam for 5 day and we had the option to sign up for a Semester at Sea tour to Cambodia. I decided to go to Cambodia so I was only in Vietnam for 2 days. I really enjoyed my time in Vietnam though and I basically shopped the whole time. There was a market pretty close to the ship and everything was ridiculously cheap. I got some polos for $4 and DVDs for $1. I bought tons of stuff. I also got a pedicure and a massage. The pedicure was $5 and the massage was $10. The traffic in Vietnam was insane though. Everyone drives motor bikes and the roads are filled with them. To cross the street, you have to walk slowly and steadily and just keep going and the bikes will go around you. It’s very scary and you can’t stop because then it will confuse them and you could get hurt.

My trip to Cambodia was awesome. The flight to Phnom Penh was 40 minutes and then we went from the airport to a museum. The architecture was amazing but the museum was a little boring. Then we went on a boat ride on the Mekong River and after that we visited an orphanage. The next day we got up at 6 am and went to the Royal Palace, which was beautiful. Later, we visited a genocide museum and the killing fields. In 1975 (I think), there was a genocide in Cambodia in which the Khmer Rouge killed around 2 million people. It was really sad and our guide actually lived through it and he told us about his experience with it. The museum had pictures of all the victims tortured and killed at that particular place.

Next, we took a flight to Siem Reap and checked into our hotel before going to dinner and watching a cultural dance. We got up at 4:30 the following morning and went to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise. It was really pretty. After sunrise, we ate breakfast at the hotel and went Ta Prohm Temple, which is where the movie Tomb Raider was filmed. I’ve never seen the movie but it reminded me of Indiana Jones or something. It was awesome old temple where there were overgrown trees and stuff. It was incredible. We went back to Angkor Wat later to finish touring it. Angkor Wat is the biggest temple in the world. We ate lunch and then went to some more temples before taking a flight back to Vietnam.

Singapore

We only had 2 days in Singapore. Our first day in Singapore was Halloween. They do celebrate Halloween in Singapore and some places had some decorations out. The first day I took a cable car to Sentosa Island. Sentosa Island is a little tourist island basically, and they have a Universal Studios. Some friends and I decided to go to Underwater World because they had pink dolphins. We watched the Dolphin show but it was nothing compared to Sea World. The dolphins really were pink though so that was pretty cool. The rest of it was just an aquarium. Next, we went to see the Merlion because Singapore is famous for it. It’s part lion, part mermaid. I had plans to meet up with some other friends later that afternoon to go see a show so I decided to split up with the group I was with and just go shop and explore for the rest of the day. Singapore is really safe so I felt perfectly fine going by myself. Singapore also has really strict laws. It’s illegal to sell chewing gum, litter, jaywalk, and all kinds of things. Singapore is also very clean and they have great public transportation. We took the subway and it was the cleanest subway I’ve ever seen. It was so nice. Later that afternoon, I met up with my friends and we went to see a show called Voyage de la Vie. It was supposed to be like a Cirque de Soleil kind of show. It was interesting but I didn’t love it. We went to dinner after the show and then went to Raffles for Singapore Slings. The Singapore Slings were $30 Singapore dollars which is like $21 USD. They were so expensive! Singapore taxes alcohol a lot so that’s why it cost so much. I just ordered a coke thinking it couldn’t possibly cost that much and it was $9 Singapore dollars! That’s about $6.50 USD. I was mad.

The next day I went to Chinatown with a couple other people. We shopped at the markets and walked around for a while. After eating lunch I decided to try to find some Internet, since we have such limited Internet access on the ship. I didn’t do a whole lot that afternoon. I finished shopping for some postcards and then got on the Internet for a little while, before getting on the ship. Our on ship time was an hour earlier than usual and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t late. I really liked Singapore even though I didn’t do a whole lot. It was so nice and I could definitely see myself going back one day.

Blog Title: India

In India, I met my dad in Delhi and we went to the Taj Mahal. The first day we got to Chennai, I went out and found some internet and then packed and went to the airport. My flight was supposed to leave at 8:40 pm but it was delayed over an hour. I guess this is pretty typical for India. I made it to Delhi around midnight and Dad and I went to the hotel and checked in. We ended up stayed up talking for a couple hours. The next morning we got up and went to the train station and took a train from Delhi to Agra. The train station, specifically the railroad tracks, was disgusting. People went to the bathroom on the tracks and littered a lot. We took first class, which cost like $7. The ride was around 3 ½ hours and we sat with an Indian family. They has a little boy who was 10 years old and they were all really nice. They talked to us and asked us about Semester at Sea and what we were doing in India. The little boy had a cell phone and he showed me how to play the Sims 3 on it. We also met a guy sitting across from us and he was from India but he lived in Hong Kong for 4 years. It was fun to meet them on the train. We got to Agra, checked into the hotel and went to see a show. The guy on the train from Hong Kong recommended that we see this show about the Taj Mahal. The man’s wife died and he built the Taj Mahal for her. It was kind of boring and the acting was bad but there was some cool Indian dancing and that’s exactly what I wanted to see so I was happy.
The next morning, we went to see the Taj for sunrise. Everyone kept telling us to go for sunrise so we did. The taxi driver picked us up at 6 am and by the time we got in and through security, the sun had already risen. Nobody made it in before sunrise so I thought that was kind of dumb. The Taj was really pretty and basically what I expected. We had a tour guide that our taxi driver provided for us. I hated him. He was so annoying! We didn’t even want a tour guide but our taxi driver told us we needed one. The guy just wouldn’t shut up and he was full of useless, boring information. I really didn’t care and he wasn’t informative. On the plus side, he did take pictures of us so Dad and I got some pictures together. My iphoto isn’t working though so I can’t upload any. We went inside the Taj and there wasn’t much in there. There were the tombs of the man and his wife and it was intricate but there wasn’t much else.
After the Taj, we went to the hotel, showered and checked out. We hired the taxi driver for the 2 days we were there and I told him I wanted to go find some markets and go shopping. I wanted a magnet and find a painting. He took us to some really expensive stores with $600 carpets and $200 paintings. They weren’t even really paintings. I was starting to get mad because I wanted cheap touristy stuff. Next he took us to a jewelry store and I got really mad. I refused to go in. I had heard that the taxi drivers do this. Apparently it’s pretty common. They get commission by taking tourists to their friends stores so sometimes drivers will make a detour from where they’re supposed to be taking you and take you there to shop. Fortunately that never happened to me but it happened to a lot of other people. I eventually gave up on the painting and just wanted a magnet. We ended up finding one and then I didn’t want to shop anymore because I was annoyed so we decided to go ahead and drive back to Delhi. This taxi driver was supposed to drive us but then he told us that someone else was actually going to take us. We were again mad because he lied to us but it ended up working out. It was almost a 5 hour drive back to Delhi and we checked into the hotel once we got there and went to sleep. The next morning I had to fly back to Chennai and Dad went home.
The next day, I went on a Semester at Sea trip to a college. We spent the day with the Indian college kids and talked with them and they performed dances and sang for us. It was interesting to talk to all of them. We sat in a big circle and just talked for a couple hours. We had lunch with them and then went to a woman’s home for a home visit. She was really well off and her house was very nice. It was cool to see someone’s home in India. She showed us around and served us some snacks and then we went back to the ship. India was really dirty and extremely poor, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I had heard terrible things about India so I had really low expectations but it was ok. I had also heard that it smells really bad and it did smell but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I enjoyed my time in India but it’s not somewhere that I really care to go back to.