Flashbacks of 8 months meeting people

The end of a new year (can you remember it was new?) is almost passing just like these almost 60.000 kilometers that I passed so quickly. And I am still on the road finding my long detour back home. Whether this home is my home-country our a new home will be told by time, but 8 months were not enough to find this place. This flat world is not small enough.

Pretty much every day I think back. I think back of my family at home who lived without me around for the last 6 years, I think back about yesterday, about last week and last month and I think back of many other beautiful, sad or difficult moment. Mainly the happy ones though!

During my travels I met many people. I made a bunch of new friends of which a few I consider as potential best friends, and perhaps my Facebook friends got almost doubled since I left.

Kinabalu, what does that mean?

Photo: Old post office filled with graffiti at Kota Kinabalu - 12/12/10

Being rich with time, I was 'overstaying' in the city of Kota Kinabalu, so I've started asking around what means the word Kinabalu, used for both the City Kota Kinabalu and the mountain Kinabalu.

The first person was a father with who I was sharing my table at the bus-station restaurant during lunch, about 1 hour before the bus to which I bought a ticket,would be leaving, bringing me to the village of Ranau.
I had a conversation with him and he asked me many questions. He kept thinking I came from New Zealand, or maybe he kept saying I came from New Zealand, because I told him I am from Holland bur he didn't understand the name nor knew the country. So I wasn't surprised if he kept saying New Zealand not to be in the situation not knowing where I am from, or having to ask questions about my county in an awkward way without naming the name of the country. So he kept asking things about New Zealand, and I kept saying I couldn't answer his question as I had never been to New Zealand, "however in my country, in Holland, ...." is how I finished my response but he kept firing new questions about this country which actually carries a Dutch name.

Beaten by the weather of Mt. Kinabalu

Photo: While ascending to 3272mtrs, ¾ of Kinabalu - 10/12/10

The breakfast in the hostel would be starting at 7.00h, so the previous night I set my alarm to 6.45am. The next day I would be climbing the highest mountain of South-East Asia; Mount Kinabalu, on Sabah, Malaysia. A few minutes past 7.30am I found myself walking along the road to get to the entrance of National Park Kinabalu, another UNESCO world heritage. My way to the park was a 1.8km curving road slightly going uphill. I noticed the grey skies and I hoped that it would remain grey, and that they would take good care of keeping the rain within.

At the park there were a few papers to sign, arrange a mandatory guide, pick-up a packed lunch, a last toilet-break and go!go!go!
It is possible to hire a personal guide, or with a group so obviously it is much cheaper to spent the cost of the guide with other people. I read that it was normal for single hikers to to join other groups or other single hikers. I walked out, and straight away I spotted two foreigners who turned out to be from Southern England. I approached and asked if I could join them and share the guide. This was ok for them, and also for the guide, so I found myself a guide, and off we could go.

Riding a wheel chair at the hospital

Photo: All wrapped up on Borneo, Malaysia - 19/12/10

Since I did not make it to the top of Mount Kinabalu, and in meanwhile I returned to Kota Kinabalu from a trip to Kuching, in Sarawak, I thought I'll give it another go, and to be more sure of reaching the top, I thought to climb to mountain in one day up, to the top, and down again. Because during the night there is a bigger chance of rainfall, and I didn't want to catch the same unluckiness as the previous time...
Earlier I was planning to go to Sandakan, as my flight to Kuala Lumpur would be leaving from Sandakan about 5 days later. Mount Kinabalu is on the way to Sandakan anyway.

So I took the bus, and after about 30 minutes on the bus I realized that I forgot my charger for the photo camera batteries! What could I do? Get off and go back? But from the bus station it is another 30 minutes and two buses to get back to the hostel....I could perhaps go to the mountain and return to the hostel afterwards or the next day. Could I ask them to send to charger perhaps?
I decided to continue to the mountain and see if it is possible to climb the next day anyway. In meantime I send a text message to Jennifer and Will who I met on the way and who I joined the visit to Kuching, asking for the phone number of the hostel so I could give a ring for them to check on the charger and take it from the room before someone would steal it.
I found out that Jennifer and Will, who where planning on flying to the Philippines, were not allowed to board their plane because it´s required to have a return flight to visit the Philippines...and they were sooo looking forward to go!

In meanwhile I reached to mountain, and I walked up the stairs to the head quarter.

But what is China?

Photo: Time for tea in laid-back Chengdu, China - 06/11/10

Perhaps there is no answer to the question what China actually is. Or maybe there are a million different answers and opinions. And just as you think you understand it, you find out that the opposite is true. Perhaps it is impossible to understand into detail, this very interesting country.

There is a lot of contradiction for example in the habits. In one way the people are very polite, but at the same time the most elegant people dressed up clear their throat at least two times with a sound that can be heard at the end of the road. And always after wards comes the spitting. Whether you are on the streets, in the bus, on the train, in a shop etc, they will spit. Even on the carpet! Though to be polite, with the toe of the shoe they rub the spit into the carpet so it won't disturb you. Even shopkeepers while customers are in the shop. It seems nothing stops them from spitting. Apart from a few 'no spitting' signs you can find in some places.

Their are many efficient inventions. Such as the trousers of little children. These trousers don't have an 'ass' so there is a big cut in the back of the trousers and when they need to go to the toilet, they only have to sit down :)
It made me laugh many times seeing these kids running around on the streets with naked butts! Even at a temperature of 5 degrees.
My second day in China, while walking through the modern and well paved shopping street, a little boy, who apparently did not have on of these trousers, stood in the middle of the street with house trousers at 'socks-level' and with his jacket and shirts pulled up completely he stood their smiling and naked doing his pee, wild turning from left to right to make sure the streets got watered everywhere :)

Exploring Nanjing in 1 day

Photo: Business and skyscrapers - Nanjing, China - 18/11/10

One day of wandering around is what I allowed myself in Nanjing where my night train brought me early early in the morning. It was still dark outside when I looked through the windows of the train onto the modern platform. Most of the Chinese clocks were about to announce 6.00am.
First trying to find the left luggage windows to leave my back, because in the afternoon the same day, a different train would be waiting for me to bring me even further north.
I got a little lost on the 3 floors counting train station as signs were not located very convenient but I managed to get my back taken care of so I was ready to take a few escalators into the ground and take the metro. From the north of the city I decided to take the metro to the south part and walk my way back up. I walked first aimlessly a little around and tried to find a good place to get a local breakfast. I found the perfect place in a side street where many local eateries where, with only locals. Many steaming pans on big fires located outside or in the entrance. My most favorite places are where their kitchen basically is located in the entrance or even outside.
I managed to order something by pointing at some noodle-slurping locals, and sat down next to them at a small wooden table outside along the street occupied with many cyclists and cycling market people or other sellers and buyers.

A pleasant walk along the lake; Hangzhou

Photo: West lake at Hangzhou, China - 11/11/10

In China it is very easy to rent bicycles, and this way of transport is promoted quite a lot to the tourists. After a good night of sleep in the hostel next to the west lake, I decided to go and rent a bike and cycle around town. It's quite a place, and most of the points of interests are spread around the city and the lake. Also I was told by some tourists that it's impossible to go around the lake in 1 day and especially by foot, since it is more than a 10k to get around.

Photo: Beautiful autumn trees - Hangzhou, China - 11/11/10

The day before while walking to the hostel on please autumn tree-lined road, I saw a few bike rental places along the streets; those places also being used by locals who own a chip card, press it against a chip card reader and one of the bicycles is being unlocked. I noticed as well that each rental place had a little information point and with a bit of luck they rent out bikes to tourists....

Mt. Huangshan in Cotton Paradise

Photo: Mountain Huangshan, China - 17/11/10

In the hostel in Shanghai I met Julien from Belgium. We got along pretty well and we both planned to climb Mountain Huangshan, a few hundred kilometers west of Shanghai. We planned to go on the Monday or Tuesday and checked for the weather forecast which gave us some disappointing information....clouds and light snow!!! Not exactly what you hope for to enjoy the wide views when climbing a mountain. Luckily on Wednesday the weather was predicted to be clear and sunny.
Since there are quite a few peaks on the top, and a long route was sat out, we planned to go in two days.
On Monday evening we took the night train K8418 leaving at 17.45 from Shanghai for which we had reserved bed in the hard-sleeper, carriage 8, bed row 9, with for me an comfortable upper-berth. There are actually price differences between the lower-, middle- and upper-berth, lower being most expensive, upper cheapest. Our expected arrival in Huangshan Shi, also know as Tunxi was early in the morning.