Kitsch and Culture in Tokyo, Japan

I was watching a video on youtube the other day in which some British kids decided to document their visit to the US by going to WalMart. They showed processed lunchmeat which already had cheese in it, iced tea in what they called gasoline bottles, and rifles. What a nice video of America. Yes, those things exist, and yes they're gross, or violent, or in the case of the iced tea, totally normal in my opinion. But it's kind of mean to show that and not the beautiful things you can see in America, or the great food that can be found in gardens and at farmers markets. Why do I write the aforementioned in a Tokyo blog post, well, because Tokyo is kitschy, which I personally think is excellent, but it's not really a nice word, and I also hope to show the beauty beyond the kitsch.

The Incongruous City of Beijing

Our first lodging in Beijing was in a traditional area that hasn't yet been disassembled and turned into high rise, high density housing. It is an area of small alleys (Hutong) and roads just large enough for a single small car to pass.  An area where real people still live, kids play in the streets, and tourists are few and far enough between that the store owners don't speak much English, and consequently weren't keen to rip us off. Though not high rise, the housing is much more high density than most westerners would tolerate. As we soon found out, the ample public bathrooms were for the locals who apparently don't have toilets or showers in their homes. As we were told, it's a charming place to see old Beijing, save the occasional whiff of the commode.

Yangshuo's landscapes are amazing

From Hong Kong we went to spend a week in mainland China in an area known for its landscapes, and we were not disappointed. Since it's the mainland, getting there for cheaper involved leaving Hong Kong by train to Shenzhen, where we passed the border, then taking a cab to the local airport, a plane to Guilin, and finally a couple of buses to reach Yangshuo. The funny part is: this was the quick way that involved taking a 1.5 hours flight instead of a 9 hours train.

The trip was worth every minute though as the area is truly gorgeous and offers tons of things to do if you like the outdoors.

Hong Kong doesn't feel like a metropolis

From Bangkok we moved on to China. Our first stop was Hong Kong. Even if the British have "given Hong Kong back" to China, it's still very much its own entity with its own government and rules and so it's nothing like the mainland. For one, there is no censorship of any kind. So it's pretty much a different country.

We spent a few days there and were generously hosted by Fred, a friend from my early college years who moved there at the same time I moved to the US, and who I had not seen in 10 years. On top of being our host he was also our guide through a few areas of Hong Kong and a wealth of information about the way things work there. As always, it was really awesome to be able to hang out with someone who actually lives in the place we visited. You get a much more intimate look at the place.

More to see in Bangkok

We stopped twice in Bangkok. Once at our arrival from India, before Cambodia, and the second time as our last stop in Thailand after Ko Phangan. We stayed several days there but feel like there is still many things to see there (and I'm not even talking about all the temples).
After several months of traveling we've realized that we like to discover big cities by wandering around semi randomly. It's not a very effective way to visit a place but it's a great way to discover great neighborhoods or fun alleys. For example our first day there we just started to walk in the general direction of chinatown. We ran into a beautiful temple before following the river.

Hijinxs ensue in Ko Phangan

From the far north of Thailand we then went pretty far south to one of the many paradise islands Thailand has to offer. We were looking for something nice (which also means touristy) but where we could feel at home too. We opted for Ko Phangan, an island off of Ko Samui and were not disappointed!

One of the islands claim to fame is its full moon parties that are supposed to rage all night. Even though we were nowhere near the full moon, we made sure to stay far from the area where the event takes place so we would be away from the most touristy part of the island.

Back to old habits in Chiang Mai

After our stint in Laos we went to the north of Thailand to visit Chiang Mai. As we had done in Luang Prabang, we arrived there without a place to stay. We knew of one that was well rated and cheap and got dropped in front of it. In this case the place was sadly overpriced and not really good so we took our bags and walked around in search for a place to stay. After looking at a few guesthouses we found a good one and settled down. This is fairly easy to do since we're traveling in low season and most of the places have rooms available. It often allows us to get a cheaper price than if we booked online. We only do it in small-ish, easily navigable places where many hostels and guesthouses are available within walking distance of each other.