BEIJING Palaces

Our official tour started today and we are delighted with our tour guide Iowa (not his real name of course but his Chinese name sounds similar). He will travel with us all the way to Shanghai and thankfully he is warm and funny in a very sweet way. 

Iowa escorted us through Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City and The Summer Palace with ease. Chairman Mao's presence is palpable in the square with his permanent portrait looking on from Tiananmen Gate and his even more permanent body on display in the crystal tomb. The patient crowds waiting daily to view the late Chairman in his preserved state hint at the massive population in China.

As the crowds inevitable drifted North to enter The Forbidden City I wondered what Chinese "commoners" feel as they step over these once forbidden thresholds. Do they view this fabled palace with reverent awe or do they wonder, as I did, how such opulent excess could be lavished upon one man (or Dragon Lady) while the majority subsisted on noodles or rice? 9,999 rooms -many filled with precious jades, tapestries and Chinese screen paintings - have remained virtually untouched and we commoners are now permitted to peer into unlit rooms to view a moment in history. It would take weeks to wander all the labyrinthian passages. To view the thrones in the Hall of Central Harmony and Hall of Supreme Harmony we employed the delicate art of pushing to obtain our views. It seems that is basically how it is done here. Other than at security checkpoints, the 80,000 visitors per day are not herded into tidy lines. Nor is every ledge and missing paving stone marked with yellow tape or handrail; and I'm finding this "here it is, have at it" approach surprisingly liberating and refreshing.

At The Summer Palace we boarded dragon boats destined for the base of the hills created by the dirt excavated from the manmade lake. With the beauty of the Western Mountains in the background I imagine the sublimity of having this as my private playground. I wonder if I, like the Dragon Lady, would be content sitting at the shore in my marble boat. Would I find the expanse of my private temples and pavilions, protected by walls snaking up the hills, to be a palace or a prison? Today, I am simply grateful for the opportunity to be here and to experience the majestic splendor.

BEIJING Temples

Blue skies and pleasant weather blessed Beijing today. And we were blessed with Temple visits North and South - Temple of Heaven (1420), Lama Temple (1744) and Confucius Temple (1302). I've never seen such exquisite or elaborate shrines as these. Temple of Heaven noted for its expansive grounds and beautiful park-like gardens; Lama for its golden-glittery buddhas (one standing upright and a Guinness record-holder); and Confucius for its library of original stone tablets. 

Rather than feeling contemplative after all the incense and Buddha worship, I am plum tuckered out from miles of walking. We continued the trend of meandering off course and creating an unexpected interlude. Our detour took us through winding Hutong lanes that surprisingly went from ladies selling vegetables out their front windows to shabby chic storefronts punctuated with American Cafes. We chose Vineyard Cafe, right across from the Confucius International Hostel. I have no idea how we got there and thankfully as we left our English speaking waitress put us back on course by pointing us in the direction of the Lama Temple.

BEIJING, China

36 hours in Beijing and so far its almost everything we'd heard it is, which is not to say that everything is going according to plan. We're here in China for a scheduled trip but flew in a couple days early to get acclimated to the 12-hour time difference and take in some of the sights not included on the itinerary.

Plan 1 - upon arrival walk to Wangfujing Street to check out the food cart vendors, duck in somewhere for a dinner and turn in for an early night to reset for the morning. Actual - at outset unknowingly took wrong right turn out of hotel lobby and walked up Dongsi North Road past single-story shop fronts which appear to be carved out of former Hutongs (old-city dwellings) that remain intact (and which we peered at down alley-like side streets) just behind this new, almost movie-set facade. We were enjoying the sights and somewhat delirious having been awake over 24 hours (other than 1 1/2 hours of plane sleep) and 35 minutes into our stroll realized we had not yet reached Wangfujing at the reported 10 minute mark. At that point I pulled the map out of my back pocket to get our bearings and determined that a subway station nearby provided a backtrack to our point of origin. Happy with that assumption we were beaconed by red lanterns to add a detour down what appeared to be restaurant row, complete with sunken tanks at doorways containing the evening's fresh catch. We finally answered our hunger pangs 2 hours behind schedule with corn from a food cart followed by divine sauteed mushrooms and various veggie creations that for $12 turned out to be way too much food.








Plan 2 - leave early to see Giant Pandas, subway across to Lame Temple and meander over to Olympic Village for nighttime views. Actual - awoke with a start at 12:30 pm (fully rested), quick hotel bite, then subway to Beijing Zoo. Several Pandas were getting their bamboo quota for the day so we had the pleasure of watching them munch and crunch in multiple cute poses. Ivy was in her large outdoor pen and was just waking from her nap - taken lying stretched out flat on her back - when we arrived. She was the most entertaining to watch as she sidled down her jungle gym in search of her snack. Suddenly the sky became ominously dark and we ducked back inside feeling it was a bit fortuitous to weather the storm under cover watching pandas work through mounds of bamboo. An hour later an entrepreneur arrived peddling ponchos and we innocently set out to see the lesser pandas. Unfortunately our storm brought flash-flooding to the Beijing Zoo so the animals were safely stowed indoors and we waded through mid-calf high waters to the exit.








Back in the subway we decide to postpone Lama Temple and proceed directly to Olympic Village, except it isn't exactly where we thought it was according to my pocket-map. But we forge ahead in the rain under cover of our ponchos in the general direction. We find what appears to be the former Olympic housing and continue on to a deserted stadium that is clearly not the Bird's Nest. Two young men appear and indicate they are deaf. Realizing our increased ability to communicate, Benedicta flaps her bird-shaped hands in gesture and they point us around the next bend. Eventually we see the upper outlines of the unlit Bird's Nest but have no idea how to get there from here as it is beyond a very busy roadway. Benedicta insists we stop for nourishment so after finding a pedestrian overpass we stumble into an exquisite establishment looking like the proverbial drowned rats. After several attempts at communicating our desire Benedicta hits on a word that works: "food"! We are led down a long hallway with many closed doors. One is opened for us and we are ushered into our own private dining room. We don't laugh at the absurdity of our scenario until the door closes discreetly behind our host. This time I ordered light - but tasty - as I was sure we would be washing dishes to pay the bill which surprisingly rang in at only 296 Yuan and our private hostess in our private dining room demurely refused to accept a tip.










Delightedly back on track we only made one more wrong turn (which resulted in a bit of shooing from a security guard) before reaching the back end of the Bird's Nest - having a superior viewpoint - and on to the central square with the Watercube holding sway with its frolicsome water bubble exterior.


In summary, 36-hours in I am thrilled with Beijing! I can get anywhere (eventually) on its very modern subways. It has been surprisingly not hot so far. The people are warm and laugh with and at us as we stumble around their city. We have seen very few tourists (other than those visiting from within China) some of whom stare at my white face and curls, or want to take their picture with Benedicta and her white hair. It is fun and surprising and lends itself to adventure. We have one more day to seek out our own desires before joining the tour for the major sights: Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Great Wall and more!

NAIROBI, Kenya

My dream destination has always been Kenya. Even when I went on safari to South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe in 2008 my heart was tugging toward Kenya. I think my love affair with Kenya started before the first time I saw Out of Africa in 1985, but it was definitely sealed upon repeated viewings. When I agreed to travel to Southern Africa, I reasoned that it was good because if I went to Kenya first I may never get to Cape Town.

Last year I answered an ad on craigslist on what felt like a whim but proved to be a divine intervention that came in a gift of many cherished dreams wrapped in one package. Within two weeks I had a job at a luxury African Safari company, focusing on programming serving children in Kenya, at a pleasant office a 15 minute walk from my apartment. What a script! One year later I am still in awe.

When I took the job I did not expect a trip to Africa would come quickly. "Maybe in a few years," I thought. But I wasn't anxious. I just loved having the opportunity to hear the safari specialists describe treks in the Maasai Mara, seeing photos of beautiful Kenyan children and knowing my efforts were making life just a little better for these precious ones. And then I was asked if I would fly to Nairobi for a 10 day work trip. So now I have been to Kenya. And I am sure of one thing: I will go back! My time on this trip was spent almost exclusively in Nairobi. I was driven through its gated enclaves, its urban-outdoor marketplaces and its muddy rows of tin-shacked slums. And I loved every part equally. I spent a day driving out to a rural village and was reminded of Oklahoma drives of my childhood and I ate almost every meal at the Norfolk Hotel and I went to a 3000 seat Pentecostal church and was the only white face. And I took very few photos because I was working hard every day. So here are a few sights that make me happy and remind me of Africa.