Los Galapagos

Where in the world are we now?  

We've boarded a tiny boat in the Pacific on a fabulous archipelago. In 1831, a young naturalist set sail from England for a 5 year trip to explore this isolated land. His observations, and the conclusions he drew forever changed the way we look at the world. This is the Galapagos. Five years seems like overkill for us, so we opt for the shorter 7 day trip. On a small boat, named the Darwin, with 11 fellow passengers from around the globe, we travel from island  to island, marveling at the wondrous animals here. Each day, we take a couple of hikes and usually a couple of snorkels. It's staggering the number of animals we see! Hundreds of sea lions, some swim close enough for us to touch. We see two dozen shark circling below us.

 The baby seal lions were super cute. I almost filled up my memory card taking shot after shot of them. We are told not to get too close to the babies, since they recognize their mother because of her scent. If they smell someone else (and, there are days we are definitely odoriferous) the babies can forget the mother's scent. We also learn that the mothers, exhausted from child birth, leave the babies for up to a week to return to the sea to feed themselves. The babies stay on the shore without food or water, becoming increasingly frantic. We watched mothers return to shore, and babies scamper as fast as they can to meet them, trying to push the mother onto her side/back to allow them to nurse.

The birds are amazing. We see 3 different species of booby--red footed, blue footed, and masked. All developed different mutations as a result of the slightly different environments. There's not much drinking here--we are exhausted and only indulge in the medicinal beer after the late day snorkel to cleanse the salt water from our mouths. We could definitely get used to the notion of the afternoon nap, which we love. The plumbing, and the bunk beds on the boat are not nearly as alluring, and I doubt we will be adopting either the quaint use of the basura (trash bin) instead of the toilet for the toilet paper or the narrow, firm (read: hard) bunks once we return to terra firma. An interesting side note: it takes us longer to adapt to the land than it did for us to get used to being on the boat. All four of us took almost 2 full days to stop feeling like the world was rocking.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena?

We´ve flown down to Quito, Ecuador to visit Ethan, who is spending 2/3 of his junior year studying at the Universidad de San Francisco de Quito. Quito has the distinction of being the second highest capital in the world (behind La Paz, Bolivia). At 10,000´we find ourselves huffing and puffing as we ascend a single flight of stairs and have to remind Ethan Despacio, (slow) for the lowlanders. Ecuador, for those who do not know, lies on the equator. Ethan is in the northern hemisphere, and Siena is in the south. Amazingly, this was calculated in the early 18th century, and is still found to be accurate today. For those whose minds are always in the toilet, the notion that the water goes down in opposite directions is pretty much an urban legend. There are other factors which usually dictate the direction of swirling which have a greater effect than the weak coriolus effect. The monument behind the kids has a science museum that informed us of that and other interesting facts. Did you know that the equator is actually a 5 kilometer wide path? Because of the earth´s ¨wobble¨ there is no percise line to represent the Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the Earth).  We are also lighter here. Gravity is related to the mass of the object and it´s distance from the center. The earth bulges at the equator, and we are further from the center of mass of the globe. Since the circumference is largest here as well, we are traveling at a much greater velocity. Even though we are at the equator, the altitude keeps it quite cool. Temperatures vary from 60 to 75 degrees, with no humidity, and an incredibly intense sun.

The local brew is called Pilsener, not the most imaginative name, but a mighty tasty brew. It is a fairly light beer (with a name like Pilsener, what would you expect?). But the price is really remarkable--$.75!!! Ecuador uses US currency, except for coins, which they mint here. They do not have their own bills. Public transportation is wonderful. We take buses all over the city, for 25 cents a person. There is usually some kind of entertainment to keep us occupied, whether someone is singing, preaching, begging, or selling us medicine to cure inflamed kidneys (that´s what I think they were curing).

Ethan is studying at La Universidad de San Francisco de Quito. Here is the campus! And a picture of Ethan and his host mom. He tells me she does his laundry and makes his bed. I told him not to get used to it.

This is a picture of the crater of an active volcano.  People live here, and supposedly have some of the longest life spans around. No polution, no stress, lots of exercise. There is land available, and the running joke is it comes with it´s own free crematorium. There´s a hotel at the base, and we are hoping Ethan will have a chance to hike down and experience this unique locale. We have neither the time, nor have we acclimitized to the altitude. We would, quite simply, never make it back up.

Do you have any Ecuadorian restaurants in your town? I´m guessing not. The food is fairly monotonous. Chicken, rice, potatoes pretty much sum up the cuisine. There is always Aji (some kind of hot sauce, sometimes bottled, sometimes home made) on the table to provide some flavor. Unfortunately, I cannot upload the pictures. I hope all is well with you and yours and our family wishes you a most Prospero Año Nuevo.

La Familia Beattie

The Beattie Bebida Index

Since there's an excellent chance we'll be drinking things other than beer, in deference to the culture and language,  we have opted to rename our signature ranking (The Beattie Beer Index). We spent our absurdly long layover walking along the beach in Miami. When we returned to the airport we had time to enjoy a Cuban style beer, Cerveza Hatuey, and a mojito. Both pricey (airport) but excellent. Siena, who is still under age in this country, enjoyed a delicious Key lime pie. We found out that the flight to Quito we will be in business class. At what point during the flight will we be over international waters so Siena can enjoy the "fruits" of first class?

Next chapter in the adventure!

We are off to South America. So excited to see Ethan tonight. We have one tiny, very unhappy traveler with us on the flight. Here's hoping he falls asleep . But,  I've been there.  Memories of walking with Siena out to San Francisco to avoid the jerk next to me telling what I should do to get her to stop crying.  Did he really think I wasn't trying? Now, the jerk would probably want to sit next to her.  

Beijing

After a week in Tibet, our bodies have mostly adjusted to the altitude. So, it must be time to leave! We fly down (quite literally, actually) to Beijing. Beijing might be the city on this planet with the longest history. Archeologists have found the remains of an ancient civilization—a great city was located here in 10,000 B.C. The skeletal remains of one of the earliest humans was found here, dubbed the Peking Man (an unfortunate name, but I assure you he is NOT served with pancakes and plum sauce—see below). Beijing has been the capital of China for something like 850 years, and there’s a lot to see.

The emperors of China lived in a huge city within a city within a city, called the Forbidden City. This walled complex has hundreds of buildings, all painted red, with white, blue and green ornate trim and gorgeous yellow tile roofs. These colors were chosen to represent the five elements, red for fire, blue for sky, green for water, yellow for earth, and white for the wind. Fire was a huge concern as the buildings are largely constructed of wood, and Beijing is quite dry. Large metal urns adorn the exterior of most buildings, but they are there for function—they are kept filled with water, to fight potential fires. Can you see the ceramic figures on the edges of the roofs? These are protectors, to ward off lightning and fire. And, it is HOT here. It is around 100 degrees every day of our stay in Beijing.

The Chinese are big on playing. After the day cools some, we spend one long summer evening wandering the parks of the Temple of Heaven. Here we played ping-pong, watched kites sailing far above us, joined a game like hackey sack with a sort of big badminton birdie, we try our hands at this weird giant yo-yo thing the experts whirl about (and find it is way harder than it looks!), we twirl long ribbons, like the Olympic rhythmic gymnasts, we watch Mahjongg, use communal fitness equipment, watch cards, and, of course, introduce them to the Frisbee. Despite the language barrier, we find the Chinese very friendly and lots of fun.

One evening, we take the subway to the Olympic Park. The Bird’s Nest stadium and the Swimming Cube are glorious at night. I don’t know if you can see in the picture, but the Swimming Cube is made of this rippling plastic material, like some giant blue bubble wrap, and the shape changes slightly with the light breeze blowing.

We visit the mediocre Beijing Zoo, where we spend most of our time watching the local celebrities, the Giant Pandas. I gather there is debate in the scientific community whether the panda should be classified as a bear, and we agree that they don’t really move like bears. There are not many left in the wild, and the rest of the world can’t seem to get the hang of breeding these endangered creatures, but the pandas seem to have no difficulty multiplying here. We watch a group of six roly-poly youngsters wrestling. It seems strange that this dilapidated, kind of dumpy zoo can breed them when the more modern facilities struggle with it, but I guess this is home, if a concrete cage can be.

One night, we attend an Acrobatic show. Centuries before there was a Cirque du Soleil, there were Chinese acrobats, diving through hoops, creating impossible human pyramids, spinning innumerable plates, and piling on to this bicycle.

Despite the unrelenting heat, we take a day trip for a long hike. Where in the World are Ethan and Siena? This structure was started in the 3rd century B.C. It stretches for 9,000 kilometers, winding over the most rugged terrain imaginable. Although it was originally built to keep out the northern invaders, it was never successful at doing this. Famously, Genghis Khan said, “The Wall is only as strong as the men guarding it,” before crossing it and conquering all of China. But, it was the world’s first elevated highway and greatly improved commerce and communication throughout its incredible length. Although we had heard this is the only man-made structure visible from space, we suspect this is purely urban legend, as I-75 is almost as long and far wider! This is of course The Great Wall. We hike from one entry to the next, a 10-kilometer slog in some rather hot weather. It is called the “Great Wall” not the great floor, though, and it is tough going. It is steep enough we need to use our hands for sections, and it is crumbling in many others, but it is awesome, truly one of the wonders of the world. The Tsing Tao pijiu (beer) we enjoy at the end of the hike might be the best beer we have ever tasted, and, no matter that the price is inflated because of the location, it soars to the exalted top of the Beattie Beer Index.

The food in China has not been as wonderful as we had anticipated. It has been good, and Siena and I take a cooking class to learn how to make our favorite Dim Sum. The exception to that is the Peking Duck. This bird is almost a religion in Beijing, where entire restaurants are devoted to turning out these bronzed beauties, carving them up tableside, and serving them with thin pancakes, plum sauce and scallions. These are rolled together and the delicacy is eaten like a small soft taco. And, like a taco, it is messy, but delicious. We try it several times during our stay here, to ensure we get the true experience!

We get up early one morning to beat the crowds and the heat and visit Tianamen Square, and we succeed in beating neither! This is the largest square in the world, and Kim and I argue about how many people are here—but regardless of the exact number, there are tons. We wait for almost an hour, with thousands of devoted Chinese, to see Mao’s mausoleum. The guy is looking good, even after 30 years dead! The building is reminiscent of the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. Mao himself is almost worshiped here. Chinese history is taught a bit differently here than at home. Here, Mao had nothing to do with the Cultural Revolution. The decade of mass murders, the burning of priceless cultural antiquities, the ostracizing of the educated was all perpetrated by Mao’s wife, not the big man himself, thus leaving his legacy untarnished. In China, our kids learn first hand about freedom of information (we can’t access our blog in China), freedom of speech (our friend here changed from being a reporter to being a tour guide when he could no longer tolerate lying to people), and just plain freedom, (Tianamen is CLOSED at night.)

This brings us to the end of our trip and we are ready to come home. On the 365th day of travel, I get my new passport back from the Chinese authorities and we head homeward. It has been an amazing adventure. We have enjoyed visiting places we had only dreamed of. We have met some wonderful people, ones that we hope to keep as friends for the rest of our lives. And, we’ve enjoyed being together. It has been such great fun, that, although we are excited to be going home, we are sad that it is over. I hope you have enjoyed reading of our trip. The next big adventure will be adjusting to our lives back home.

Love, in all languages,
Kim, Wendy, Ethan and Siena Beattie

Tibet

We are off again, flying to the world’s highest airport. Denver brags about being “Mile High”, but this city is well over two miles up. Whether or not this is another country is under considerable debate, the people here feel they are; China vehemently disagrees. This is Lhasa, Tibet, and it sure feels like a different country to us. Of course, it just feels different being so high. We joke that you know you're at altitude when:
1. one flight of stairs, leaves you exhausted.
2. there’s an oxygen canister next to your hotel bed.
3. the sun is so bright, you go to put on your sunglasses, only to realize they are already on.
4. every thing is above the tree line.
Lhasa is actually in a valley, ringed by mountains. The country’s most impressive and important building is the Potala Palace.

This 1300 room, 13 story, towering edifice is built into the side of a mountain. Standing at its base, with our necks craned upwards, gives us a feel for its immensity. It was originally built in the 7th century, for the powerful kings that Tibet had (for a couple hundred years). Since the 14th century, though, Potala has been the home of the political and spiritual leader of Tibet, the head of the Buddhist world, the Dalai Lama. He hasn’t lived there since 1959, when the DL fled to India, fearful of kidnapping or worse by the Chinese government.
Tibetan Buddhism is vastly different from the Buddhism we saw in Thailand and Myanmar. To us it seems like a cross between Buddhism and Hinduism. Tibetan Buddhism (TB) has many different Buddhas and gods. There’re the Past, Present and Future Buddhas, the Compassion Buddha, the Knowledge Buddha, the Power Buddha. There are two leading Lamas in the religion, the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama. The former is the reincarnation of the Compassion Buddha and the latter is the reincarnation of Buddha himself. There is an interesting cycle, where, following the death of a Panchen Lama, the Dalai Lama selects the new Panchen Lama. Then, following the death of the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama selects the next Dalai Lama. Now, the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama have had some, shall we say, issues. Neither one is very pleased with the workings of the other. We are told there are now 2 Panchen Lamas, the one picked by the Dalai Lama and one picked by the government. There is considerable concern about what would happen to Tibetan Buddhism if the DL were to die. The Tibetan people are very devout, and we join hundreds as they circle temples, cities, even mountains, performing a “kora”, or circumambulation, of a holy structure.
Spinning of prayer wheels like these, with scripture stuffed inside, is a replacement for chanting the requisite words.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena?
It should be easy, as there’s a sign with the name on it. Mt Qomolangma lies at the border between Nepal and Tibet. It rises to a height of 8844 meters, or 29,035 feet. The winds at the top, touching the jet stream, can reach 250 mph—supposedly it sounds like a 747 engine. It was first successfully climbed by a New Zealander and a Nepalese in 1953, because “it was there”. This is the highest point in the world, better known to the western world as Mt. Everest. We are standing at Base Camp, where most expeditions to climb the behemoth start. As you can see, we are lucky to be here on a spectacular day
Tibetan food is good, though not great. There is yak on every menu in every conceivable dish. We eat the local Momos, yak dumplings. Siena and Ethan even had yak enchiladas and yak burger, respectively. The animals look like a cross between Highland cattle and buffalo and the taste is sort of a cross between beef and buffalo, too.

We try bobis, the Tibetan take on tacos, with an herbed cream cheese and vegetable/meat (read: Yak) stuffing. They have a special
breakfast treat, made with barley flour (no other grain will grow this high), yak cheese and tea. If you’ve never tried it, don’t. It is vile. They also make a local barley brew, Chang. It tastes like smoked vinegar, but not quite so good. One sip was enough for Kim; I valiantly attempted to finish the pint, but succumbed as well. The regular beers, Snow, Tibet and Lhasa, were all decent, if quite light, good for altitude parched throats, and quite cheap, about $1-$2 for a pint-ish at restaurants. This is fortunate, as our guide tells us Tibetans drink a lot of beer—splitting two cases between every three drinkers. The Tibetan people are very friendly, even without the case and a half of beer. They look more like Native Americans or the people of the Andes than the Chinese Han. They teach us several Tibetan words, then laugh at our pronunciation.

Shop kak! (cheers, in Tibetan)
The Beatties

China, Part 4

Our next stop is Xi’an. We know our hotel is located right inside the south gate of the old city walls and we imagine a quaint, small city like Lijiang. We were shocked by the traffic and construction on our prolonged journey here from the airport. This is a big, Chinese city, of over 4 million people. We were driving in the cab in the city for a solid 40 minutes before reaching our hotel. The city walls are about all that is left of the former capital of China and the terminus of the Silk Road.

Our first exploration of Xi’an is of the city walls.

The walls have largely been restored, allowing pedestrians, bicycles and golf carts, for the lazy, to circumnavigate the original city. It takes us almost an hour and a half, with only brief stops to admire the occasional view, to complete the circuit. The perimeter is over 12 miles in length, and it is a workout, despite the flat contour and our use of tandem bikes.

Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? This is a relatively easy one. This is one of the most incredible archeological finds ever, and it happened recently. In the mid 1970s, five farmers were attempting to dig a new well. Unfortunately, after digging over 12 meters down, their buckets brought up ancient shards of pottery instead of water. Little did they know what they were standing on top of! Upon further excavation, there was discovered on this site, over 6000 larger than life-sized figures. When Xi’an was the capital of China, during the Qin and Han dynasties, the emperors were buried in the surrounding countryside. The first Qin emperor, Qin Shi Huang, united all of China for the first time. He accomplished a number of tremendous works during his brief reign: he commenced building the Great Wall, he unified currency, measurement and written language, and he built an amazing mausoleum for himself. Over 720,000 slaves and former warriors worked to complete the tomb. The figures were arranged in army formations, with rows facing east, towards the lands the emperor had conquered. Each figure is unique, with different hair, facial expression, weapons, position, and even the tread of their shoes. This is the Terra-Cotta Army.

It should be noted, that just after the completion and burial of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the local farmers got angry at the high taxes imposed on them to build said Wall and mausoleum, and revolted. They broke down the walls of the newly sealed tomb, plundered everything of value, damaged all but one warrior, and set fire to the place. Interestingly enough, even more recently, in the late 1990s, while digging for the new expressway to the airport, they found another burial site, of a Han Dynasty emperor. This emperor was less consumed by war than Qin Hi Huang, and his tomb reflects this, with figures of court life, and animals instead. Excavations of both sites are still underway.

Our time is not only spent on the ancient. One night, we visit the Big Goose Pagoda, where every night, the city puts on a sound, light and water show. We are told it is the largest one in the world. The fountains are open to the public, and Ethan and Siena, along with many Chinese, have fun romping through the various waterspouts. The fountains are synchronized to match wonderful music. While most is classical Chinese, the Grande Finale is Ein Kleine Nachte Musik (sp?). We arrive back at our hotel soaking but happy.

The food in Xi’an is wonderful. We try the local specialty. It arrives in the form of two round heavy rolls, each about 3” in diameter and 1” thick. We mimic the other diners and break the rolls into small pieces. A woman at the table next to us took half an hour breaking her rolls into miniscule pieces. We weren’t nearly as diligent, or perhaps, we were just hungrier. Next, the waitress took our bowl on a numbered tray so as not to confuse ours with others, and filled it with lamb broth, vermicelli noodles and meat. Yum. Good enough for us to have it again before leaving town. One restaurant had as the specialty, 3.8 meter long noodles they served folded up in a bowl. Such long noodles are hard to serve and to eat, especially with chopsticks, and it turned out to be a messy, and bland dish. The same place, though, had a shredded pork, served with pancakes, scallions and cucumber slices, like Peking Duck. And, as the total bill came to less than $7 for all the dishes and the drinks, who can complain about a little mess? The local beer, Han, is brewed by Tsing-Tao, and, other than having a very high alcohol content, didn’t have much else to recommend it. Our hostel provided a free beer for us (not to Ethan and Siena, though) for each night we stayed. It is interesting to note that sport’s bars are different here. Sometimes, they show NBA basketball on the TVs, but more often, we’ve watched fencing, women’s volleyball, and badminton.

Gun Bai!

The Beatties