Thoughts from Friday last

As you all are beginning your Friday, I'm ending mine. 

Wednesday and Thursday were a whirlwind of bus rides, boat rides, long walks, temple tours, tea farm tours, and eating very different foods - make that looking at very different foods and opting for something I could / would eat. 

We boarded the bus early Wednesday morning, and because of  the restroom options (or lack of options), I think most of us chose to eat a very light breakfast and avoid drinking too much water before we climbed on board with our overnight bags. Good plan, too! We did stop about two hours later at the equivalent of a rest stop. Squatty potties again. Some of the girls went back to the bus claiming they could hold out until we found "western bathrooms." Unfortunately, we were headed out of the major city and into the provinces.

One more thing about the rest stop. It had the most ghastly smell from the food vendors that lined the entrance. Literally we were gagging. 

Back on the bus, our unflappable tour guide Jack (that is his western name) laughed at our nose-holding and complaints. Then he explained that it was stinky tofu - a delicacy! Smells bad, but tastes great. At least he also agreed that it was stinky. I think it took a while to get the smell out of our noses and off our clothes. Stinky tofu indeed.  Something about letting it dry out and then frying it in old oil ...and that's when I stopped listening, knowing I wouldn't get close enough again to order it.

We went to a huge lake and took a boat ride around the lake--waving and taking pictures like tourists would do. Then we had the option of lunch on our own on Hefang street in Hangzhou. Wow!  Many shops, including traditional Chinese pharmacies - "No pictures! No pictures!" Lots of tea sellers and lots of strange food sellers. Susan and I wandered down the street, determined to find and order a bowl of noodles, but we only encountered odd fishes, eels, meat that could not be identified, and rice that was being served from vats with other things too close for comfort. [Below: "duck heads" and "new meaning to fish sticks"]

Like all the other students, we finally wandered back to McDonalds, and I got an order of fries and a Coke with no ice. Lots of folks are swearing that the BigMacs are wonderful, but I have made it through this entire trip not eating meat (a taste of chicken one day). I'm not about to try mystery meat from a Chinese McDonalds. 

The tour of Lingyin Buddhist Temple was great. It was sooooooo high, and YES, I made it to the top and looked out over the lake and the surrounding area. It was just like a view from the movies. Many people with incense and many, many statues of the Buddha. Very interesting afternoon. 

Dinner was about two blocks from our hotel, so we walked in a long line through construction detours, with lots of stares from the locals. Not too many Westerners make their way on that path. The restaurant was interesting (no AC in many of the buildings), and the one thing Susan and I remember was the green tea and sesame cakes for dessert. There was lamb, some pork parts, more various chicken parts, beef squares, tofu in a different form (but not stinky) and cooked cabbage, eggplant, and soybeans (my choices) with a big bowl of rice. 

We stayed in a hotel in Hanghouz, and we were all excited that we would have soft beds and good showers and real towels and and and.  Let's just say the shower was great, and the towels were absorbent - I loved that part. The beds were harder than the floor, and everyone woke up creaking and groaning. 

The tea village was about a 45 minute drive the next morning, and it was like riding through the mountains. The tea bushes were cultivated right up the mountain sides. It was very lovely. We got to visit the Dragon Well Tea Farm (all the famous people who visit China get to drink Dragon Well tea). We learned to brew a good cup of tea, sampled fresh tea (very good) and then got seconds with dried orange and hackberries or hawthorne berries (I can't remember which one). It was a good experience. 

Another temple, this one with monks in residence, and then a tour through China's first wetland park (think Mississippi River Bottom with different kinds of bamboo).  This involved about a 35 minute hike across a cobblestone path through the woods. This walk, of course, on top of two days of walking, walking, and walking. Thank goodness I know to wear sensible shoes! [Below: "Me pounding rice for rice cookies."]

Dinner that night was the first time everyone mutinied. We had oxtails, more lamb, a little rice, lots of tofu, some peppers, more cabbage (which I ate), and soup with chicken heads and other parts. Great news though - there was a bakery next door, and we all bought some kind of cakes or cookies or pastries for the trip home!!!