Tag Archives: unesco world heritage sites
China – Bejiing – I need a Hero, and he’s got to be fresh from the fight!
Yes those are some of the immortal words of Bonnie Taylor but was she really speaking about “The Great Wall of China”? Chairman Mao proclaimed that any person who wanted to be a real hero must climb the Great Wall. I can tell you that after climbing “The Great Wall”, I sure can relate to what Chairman Mao said, but back to the original point.
Now think of the words that Bonnie Taylor has in her song. Now let’s quote some of her immortal words and take a closer look at them. Let us look at these words,” I need a Hero, I’m holding out for a hero, ’til the end of the night. He’s gotta be strong and he’s gotta be fast. And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight”.
It is obvious that she needs a hero and he has to be strong and fast and also fresh from the fight. Hmmmm, now she is going to wait til the end of the night also. Now what could be the meaning of these words I ask you…Of course I ask rhetorically of course because I am going to tell you what they mean. I just wanted you to think about it it for a second. Ding times up.
The key is the context to think about these words. Now if you had heard what Chairman Mao said above and had in fact, like yours truly, [insert a smug look on my face here], had climbed The Great Wall, well everything would just fall into place. Let me save you some time now and succinctly state the meaning as clearly as I can, because it is only one that has been enlightened by the climb that can see it so clearly.
Bonnie was talking about waiting at “The Great Wall” for her guy to come back a hero from climbing the wall. He has to be strong and fast to be able to endure the challenge of climbing The Great Wall. Enduring that climb is what she is referring to as the fight. And, now this will toast your noodle, she is only going to wait until morning for him to do it.
She, Bonnie, must go for wussy guys or something because it didn’t take me all night to climb it and return – oh no not me. To give her and him, whoever he is, the benefit of a doubt, perhaps he didn’t start the climb until the late afternoon and underestimated what it actually takes and she was growing impatient waiting in the dark for him. We may never know exactly what her situation was that inspired her now immortal words.
But now you know the true story – believe it…or not.
Great Wall Bejiing, China
China – Xi’an – Terracotta Warriors
Xi’an Terracotta Warriors
What a truly amazing site to see! The whole place is really set up to be a contained tourist trap around the pits where the Terracotta Warriors are. Even at that it is worth the time. I should explain that rather harsh statement too.
Once inside the gate, you need a ticket for about 110 CYN you will see a few places to buy souvenirs and there are places to buy stuff in each of the “pits”. Back behind Pit #1 there is a restaurant. If you go on a tour through a company and lunch is included this will be the place you will eat at. Food is good we thought too. All over the grounds there will be people selling sets of the miniature versions of the Warriors. So far doesn’t it sound like you will be followed outside the buildings by people wanting you to buy things; then each building has a store and don’t forget the stores that are standalone selling stuff too. Believe me shopping is not a problem there.
Now the guys that are selling the sets, and they do everywhere, do sell pretty cheap. You just have to negotiate with them. Our guide steered us away from buying any from these guys. I guess he did that because he took us to a factory store. I can tell you though these guys do give pretty good deals if you want to get something for gifts and not have to pay the store premium price. But it is street goods so you have to watch what you buy.
Pit #1 is the one that you see when you see a picture of this place and there are other pits you can go through but if you want to see the other pits – go through them before going to Pit #1. Now that seems strange you are thinking. It would seem like going through them in order would be the best way. Well, you can do it that way if you want, but I wouldn’t having gone through them. Pit #1 is the best; I think you could spend a couple hours in there taking pictures if you had the time. There are other things worth seeing in the other pits but it seems like they don’t have the impact pit #1 has. Another thing to keep in mind is we were there on the off season and there wasn’t as many tourists there. I can only imagine what it is like during peak season.
There is an ok overview film in the theater the guides usually have you watch before going to the Pits – it does give you a sense of what happened and why no one knew about them. But I am not going to spoil that surprise – oh no not me
Vietnam – Tam Coc
Tam Coc, Vietnam
OK! So the picture looks small! It is a Panorama and this was a way to give a broader idea of what this place is like. They call this place the “wet Halong bay”, go figure that one. Halong is on the ocean and this is up a river with a marsh on both sides. Doesn’t that make them both wet? Like DUH!
It was an amazingly quiet trip being rowed by this little Vietnamese lady. But, she needed an Oscar for her performance on trying to get tips. Be very aware of this on any tour there. Her hands hurt, (note she rows this same route everyday); She was thirsty, (we bought her a drink that she didn’t open and kept until the end); She had a ships container of wares to sell us, (I don’t think so); You get the idea. Just remember, no matter how sweet and friendly they are, they are searching for the best tip they can get.
It take about 2 hours to go up the river and back but it is so very much worth it. We even saw Goats up high on the cliffs too.
Vietnam – Halong Bay
I know another tiny picture – but it is a Panorama. Look at it do you think you could get a sense for this place with a regular shot? I don’t think so.
After climbing up to “Tippy Top” I felt like Mount Everest would be a cake walk. There were many that turned back, to faint hearted to make the climb to the top. But fear not, this roving reporter will go to great lengths to let you know what is going on and what is worth the effort.
Even with a panorama shot this place really isn’t shown like it should be. What a pretty place it is to see.
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- HaLongP doc
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- Halong Bay Sunset
Yes the elements were endured to stay up on top to give you a view of the sunset. I think it was worth it too.
Enuf said 🙂
You need a visa BEFORE you an travel to Vietnam – its easy to do this ahead of time. I found this place http://www.myvietnamvisa.com/ for visa on arrival. Quick and fast – but make sure you have it done before you leave.
Lunch and candle light dinner
After doing our exhausting real estate tours we stopped to eat with a couple of friends and had a 4 course lunch. We had an appetizer that was chicken breast wrapped in bacon with sauce, beef potato soup. The entree of a shredded beef and peppers in a great sauce, with rice potatoes and veggies. This was followed up with a peach for dessert. It was way more food than we expected. We also had 2 bottles of water and 2 lemonades. The cost was $12 and change.
We didn’t want much for dinner after that huge lunch so while prepping dinner and working on the real estate post for yesterday I was ready to post and ready to cook when POOF, just like that, no power. So… in the darkness, your trusty roving reporter cooked a little Pasta Carbonara for dinner. It turned out pretty good and under the light of candles we had dinner.
Today we are off to the Dentist again. We will stop at the Super Maxi on the way back and pick up something for Thanksgiving. We won’t have time to fix lots we will save that for later.
Tata for now….