Dan, one more time

Mary is doing an amazing job blogging -- I even read her blogs to heighten the experience of what we've done -- so I can't add much, except she hasn't commented on how absolutely exquisite it has been, and still is, to be on the ocean.

The Pacific, even when it seemed to threaten to capsize the MV Explorer (I was a little concerned once, but unnecessarily so), left me breathless and speechless. At times the hull of the ship dipped close to eye level of the tops of the huge rolling train of swells, some of which crashed across the deck at close to the highest level (deck 7). Then the ship would rise again and drop a few seconds later with a thundering thud that reverberated throughout the ship, and momentarily seem to stop dead in its tracks before inexorably plowing through the wave. Unlike Mary, I'd do the Pacific crossing again and again. It was as much a highlight for me as the Forbidden City and Great Wall!

We're at about 13 degrees N latitude in the South China sea, en route to Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. VERY calm seas now, with sightings of an occasional fishing boat and lots of floating trash, even though no land is in sight. I held part of a class outside on deck 7 today, on a gorgeous, sunny, warm, tropical, South China Sea day. Don't tell my provost, but I'm not sure I can ever teach anywhere except on a ship again.

Yesterday, I saw Chinese white dolphins, apparently a very highly endangered animal (only 50 or so left, so a species or subspecies doomed to extinction or extirpation). Also, I saw more dried shark fins than a healthy ocean can continue to provide. I tried to explain to our Chinese guide why eating shark fin soup was harmful, but he did not understand, and I desisted because I felt I had no credibility lecturing him about a part of his culture, however environmentally destructive it was, especially considering the huge environmental impact that I as an American have on the planet.

Tomorrow we're off the Can Gio Biosphere Reserve. We've been to 2 U.N. World Heritage sites, but no purely natural settings, so I am quite excited (not sure my mind and body can tolerate this soaring, perpetual level of excitement and enthusiasm. I don't recognize myself!).

I'll turn the blogging duties back over to Mary's very capable hands, but I wanted to make sure the oceanic parts of our voyage received their due respect.

From the Great Wall to the Great Mall

We flew into Hong Kong from Beijing ( I get a kick out of typing that), arrived at the ship to find it parked,I mean docked, right next to a huge very upscale mall. Exactly 168 steps from our cabin into the entrance, with a Thai restaurant on the left and a coffee shop with great wireless service straight ahead. The mall was huge, went on for blocks, 3 stories, with all designer stores, even a floor for children's designer clothes.(Dolce &Gabanna, Gucci,etc.) It was a bit much, but when in Hong Kong....we went for Thai food first. Hong Kong has an even more densely packed population than I have previously seen. They can build very tall high rises because they are not in an earthquake zone, and build them they do. There are plenty of run down homes too, hope I put up pictures to show both sides.(In the first picture here each little square is one apartment, more like a closet.) By homes I don't mean individual houses, didn't see any of those here, just high rise apartments. The whole trip so far has been a contrast of old/new, run down/sparkling, dingy/shiny. Japan had by far the least number of run down buildings, small, but clean and habitable looking. Hong Kong felt like we were at ground zero for consumerism. Am not sure who's buying the expensive stuff, as most citizens travel back into China where prices are much lower.
We went on a tour bus to Lantau Island, part of HK. We walked around a quaint fishing village, where Dan was able to see some endangered dolphins. I saw some women scrubbing clothes at an outdoor faucet, chattering away. We then climbed back on the bus for the trip up the mountain to see the biggest outdoor Buddha in the world. He was big, and rewarded our climb up the 278 steps with a mocha ice cream bar sold in the gift shop underneath. We milled around for awile, trying to delay the inevitable chair lift down the mountain. We had the option of upgrading to a glass-bottomed car, can you imagine?! That night we enjoyed the bright lights across the harbor as the ship sailed out...cross your fingers that I can upload some pictures. Much love to everybody who is patiently reading this and posting comments, which we love.

From Dan

Just a quick note: I remain stunned, overwhelmed, amazed, awed, bewildered, and extremely grateful. Today, while Mary updated her blog, I went on a search for shark fins in Hong Kong and, unfortunately, found them in spades.

But the reason I am writing is because we both are extremely thankful we have such great friends and family back home with whom to share these experiences. We're eating vegetarian with friends tonight overlooking one of the Hong Kong skylines (see picture above). The first toast is in your honor.

Up Against The Wall

Dan has already posted 2 pictures of the Wall, for which I am grateful, as there aren't any words. It was not cold up there, I know Mother will be glad to hear. We walked up a long hill, past alot of vendors, then took a chairlift the rest of the way. I looked to see where the lift was made: Japan. We had a couple of hours up there. I just wanted to walk and walk and walk, and Danny humored me. Finally, we were far from the Mandarin crowds! It was spectacular. There was a small village down in the valley on the other side, but nothing else. Yes, this was the high point for me so far. The toboggen ride down the mountain was very fun. Some students liked it so much they bought another ticket up just for the toboggen down, as if this were Six Flags! It was a great day on the Great Wall.

Beijing

Beijing was superb. First stop was lunch in a clean, warm restaurant with doors and windows closed! Then to put our stuff in the nice clean Marriot hotel, then to the Temple of Heaven, (no, I don't mean Starbucks) completed during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) where the emperor celebrated winter soltice by making prayers to his ancestors and making sacrifices. I did not ask what kind of sacrifices. The most amazing thing about this place was all the happy, joyful, dancing, singing Chinese people enjoying the large surrounding park. It is a meeting place for the people who are forced to retire at 50-55 years to give jobs to the young people. No wonder they are so happy! Then rides in bicycle rickshaws, a caravan of 50 of us, winding through the narrow streets of the hutong district, the small courtyard homes where families have lived for generations (which means I don't know how old they are). The government usually tears them down to build high rises, but has recently agreed to preserve a few areas. Probably because they saw the tourism $$$. Not unlike US. Anyway, we had a meal with a local family. Our meal "family" was a woman and her neighbor who live in the same courtyard and share a very rustic kitchen. The men were conveniently out for the evening. There would not have been enough room for them anyway. Sorry to prattle on so, but I relished this up close look at how they live, not to mention another delicious meal. Next day: Tian'an Men Square, yes, it's very big, awesome, crowded, and historic. Mao's mausoleum is there, only open a few days a year. It is bordered by 1950s Communist style buildings. Just beyond that is the Forbidden City, which is even bigger, more awesome and more crowded. (I've never seen such hoards or throngs of people. Someone said it's like leaving a UT football game, many times over. Of course, they were still celebrating new years.) The Forbidden City, completed in 1420, is supposedly a monument to dynastic China. I think it's a monument to the hard labor of the Chinese PEOPLE. Am glad they now seem to enjoy visiting it so much.

Chinese New Year Fireworks

We were to leave Shanghai at 5:30 A!M! on thursday. Wednesday night was a big night in the 2 weeks of celebration, mainly for fireworks. Knew we needed sleep, but went on deck at 11:30, because you could already hear them starting. It kept increasing and increasing until at midnight it was constant fireworks on all sides(because our ship was docked in the river right in the middle of it all). Explosions behind the buildings, which were all darkened for this, and in front of them, close up AND far into the distance and in between. I don't think my little camera video will do it justice. A student came up to see what was going on and said, "Sounds like we're in a war zone!" It was freezing out there, but I stayed to see what happened at midnight, which was just more of the same, because it couldn't increase any more. But it kept on and on. A new expression could be "....for all the fireworks in China!" And we thought they shipped them all to the U.S.