March Snow

We had some snow last week and thought that was surprising and then I woke up to more snow yesterday. It snowed most of the day but not enough to give us a snow day today. Will this be the last of it? Can we have spring now?

It begins:

Later on:

--Sarah--

Chinese New Year Fireworks

Here are some photos and a video of the fireworks that go on during Chinese New Year here. Every single night. Right outside. For two weeks. When I wasn't trying to sleep, I loved it!

Here's the video:

More photos at flickr.

--Sarah--

Langkawi, Malaysia - Sunshine and Saltwater

For Chinese New Year this year, I escaped the cold Beijing weather and enjoyed the sunshine in Malaysia. We thought about staying here:

But, there was no vacancy. We didn't do much on this trip. Mostly, we read books, spent time in the sun, swam in the pool and ocean, and relaxed.

We were visited by wildlife poolside.

And on the walk to and from the pool.

We decided one day that we should probably leave the hotel and see something else, so we booked a trip to go check out the mangroves.

We visited a bat cave.

We saw some wild dogs.

We licked salty leaves.

We had lunch in a floating restaurant.

In the evening, we went to the night market.

When we got back, we canceled everything else, so we could lie by the pool and on the beach, read, relax, and swim. We also had massages.

More photos at flickr.

--Sarah--

Sun Outrage

Uh-oh. I better watch out.

It's so mad.

--Sarah--

Icebiking 2010

I wrote about the last time I went icebiking back in 2009. We went back in January and this time we had a much sunnier day.

Everything was pretty much the same as last year except this year there were strange little robots pulling kids around as well.

Here's a video of the freaky robots pulling the kids. Yes, that music is coming from the robot.

And once again, we went to the No Name Bar for drinks to warm us up.

More photos at flickr.

--Sarah--

Back to Delhi - End of Three Weeks in India

When we arrived back in Delhi, we were surprised to see that the weather had changed so much. It was now chilly and very foggy all day long. On the way from the airport, we went directly to shopping at an area recommended to us by several people. At Dilli Haat, there were lots of little stands in a clean environment. We were very happy but we didn't buy much.

We stayed again at our friend of a friend's apartment and again it was great to have a place to call home while in Delhi - even for just a couple of nights. I looked around to see if I could figure out where I would hang out, shop, and go out to dinners if I worked at this school and lived here. I found a couple places but not the variety I have in Beijing. We found Delhi to be dirtier and had many more beggars than Beijing (where I hardly ever see any at all).

We tried to see the Qutb Minar, but it was pretty foggy. We could barely even make out the top. The Qutb Minar is a nearly 73m tower that was started in 1193.

Next, we went to the Baha'i temple that is shaped like a lotus. It was completed in 1986 and is barely seen through the fog in the photo below. The Baha'i philosophy revolves around universal peace and the elimination of prejudice. Photos were not allowed inside the temple (neither was talking), but I can tell you that it was beautiful and peaceful.

Finally, we went back to Old Delhi to have a rickshaw ride around the small streets to get some photos.

Later, we met up with a guy who knows a guy who Carol met in Vietnam. He was great and took us out to a restaurant in an area where I would definitely hang out if I lived in Delhi.

We woke up early in the morning to head back to Beijing. And thus concludes my India trip. More photos might be added when I get them from the friends I traveled with, especially ones of me.

More photos at flickr.

--Sarah--

Back to Jodhpur

Back to Jodhpur. Jodhpur is called the Blue City because of the painted blue houses in the old city. The Brahmins were originally the ones who painted their houses blue, but now with it being a tourist expectation, many more are blue. I heard that Disney paid for painting and also underground wiring so there wouldn't be any lines blocking the view for one of their movies.

We arrived at 5am and were picked up by our new driver, Danesh. We slept at our hotel until 9am and then headed out for the Meherangarh Fort. This fort is still run by the maharaja of Jodhpur and its audio tour was surprisingly very good.

In the morning, we visited the Umaid Bhawan Palace Museum before going to the clock tower. The palace was begun in 1929 and took 3000 workers fifteen years to complete.

We said goodbye to our last hotel of India and left for the airport to fly back to Delhi.

More photos at flickr.

--Sarah--