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Yangtze River Cruise
Our boat, the Victoria Katarina Pam's main request for our trip to China was to take a cruise on the Yangtze, we were all glad she suggested it. After several intense days of travel and site seeing, it was the rest and respite we needed before our next adventure. There's something so soothing about being…
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Chongqing
From Xi'an we flew to Chongqing where we were to board the boat for our Yangtze River cruise. We arrived hours before we could get on the boat so our driver took us to this beautiful park. Chongqing was once called “ChongKong” by foreigners because it was such a huge financial hub. It continues to…
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Xi'an II
My favorite part of Xi'an was the Muslim Quarter and Great Mosque. I'd read rave reviews about this part of town on tripadvisor and other blogs and so I wanted to check it out. It lived up to its reputation. The streets are lined with amazing market stalls, small alleyways separate the buildings leading…
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Xi'an I
Terra Cotta Warriors Pit 1 One thing I didn't realize before, but that you can see is that the bodies were made separate from the heads. Notice the headless body in the bottom center of the photo. The hole you see in the center of the photo is from a modern well. Amazing that this…
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Beijing III
I continue to be shocked at how populated, build up, and advanced it is here. I knew that Beijing and Shanghai would be modern, developed cities, but I expected the others to be more like large villages. My ignorance has been blaring. Even “small cities” in China number in the millions of occupants. With Chongqing…
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Beijing II
I'm not quite sure of the best way to go about sharing and documenting this trip. I'm taking SO many pictures and we're seeing so many incredible things that I'd love to share. If I feel like I'm experiencing China for my younger sisters, nieces and nephews then I suddenly see it through various…
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Beijing!
After a restful night's sleep Tom and I arose perky and ready to go at 5:30AM. (Much to the chagrin of my in-laws!) We set out first thing to explore the hutong (historic neighborhood) around our hotel. I was intrigued by the maze like structure, “make do” mentality, and sheer tightness of the living…
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Flying through Tokyo
We had a three hour layover in Tokyo before heading to Beijing. I was shocked by the landscape we saw flying in. I guess having heard how overpopulated Japan is, I figured I would see nothing but skyscrapers and high rise apartment buildings. Instead, what I saw was this: miles and miles of rice…
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Rusticating with cousins
Scotland playing ball with his cousin Bryce The first leg of our trip was spent with my folks in Moxee, WA gettting Scotland adjusted in preparation to leave him for two weeks (Ack!) Five of my other siblings were also there! It made for a mini-reunion, which was super fun. My parents live on a…
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Seattle!
Welcome back to the Cascades! Yesterday, we trampsed around Seattle for a few hours seeing it with fresh and excited eyes- our new hometown! The Seattle airport is one of my favorite to fly into because of the views of the Cascades and specifically Mt. Rainer. Mt. Rainer We met our landlord, Laura and saw…