Travels with Pat

     On Friday we boarded our bus in Paris and drove south through Burgundy.  Trees on the side of the freeway were adorned in fall colors.  In the city of Beaune our group toured the Hotel Dieu, a hospital museum depicting original sick beds and accouterments from the 15th century.  Then, Kathy and I ate Plat du Jours (daily specials) at Dame Tartine, a 40 person restaurant.
     As we walked back to the bus through an old part of the walled town, we checked out an ancient wine press and noted some 15th century carvings of wolves outside a home before driving on a winding road through wine country to our river ship docked at Macon on the Saone River.

      Since  our suitcases didn’t arrive with us in Paris, I simply wore my pink traveling outfit for the city tour on Wednesday and Kathy, my MT nurse daughter, wore her jeans.  (The bags arrived at 9 PM that night). 
     On Wednesday afternoon Kathy went to Versailles and former Chicoan, Emily Blake, who was living in Paris, met me at the hotel and negotiated reservations for the Folies Bergere for Thursday PM before we strolled to the nearby Cafe de la Place where we sat at an outside table.  Emily treated me to a creme brulee and black tea which came with a small cookie.
     Prior to our night out, the hotel concierge called a cab that would accept a credit card.  What a scam!  After the cab driver took us to the wrong address first, he kept the meter running while he tried to run my card to no avail.  We ended up paying 39 euros.  The cab back was only 10 euros.  The good news was that the musical “Zorro” at the Follies was excellent.  We were familiar with the story since we had seen the movie previously without the choreographed dancing, dual scenes and singing.  It was better than a flamenco performance with clicking heels.

     Rebecca, our guide, picked us up for an excursion to the World Heritage Site of Mt. Emei which hosts ancient Buddhist architecture built during the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317 – 420 AD).
One highlight of the Wannian Temple on the mountain top is a HUGE bronze statue of Puxian riding an elephant.
     This is not an “easy access” spot since it took us 2 hours from Chengdu, then after lunch we had to climb MANY stairs to reach the cable cars.  Of course there were pilgrims who chose to walk up the path.
     Even though Rebecca asked the cable car operators to slow down the cars, it required a great deal of pulling and pushing me until I finally committed to taking the leap to be on the car.  Two elderly Tibetan pilgrims who shared our cable car watched us in fascination.
     Once we reached the platform at the end of the ride, there were still MANY stairs to the temple, so I decided to wait in a garden area.  I quickly became an object of interest to the numerous Chinese who were resting briefly before going on up.  One teen ager asked if she could have her photo taken with me.  Yes.  Then her whole family rushed over to be in the picture.  I don’t think that too many Americans visit Mt. Emei.

     We were so fortunate to have clear skies for our visit to the Giant Panda Breeding Center since Rebecca, our CIT guide, said that it was usually overcast.  I saw Mei Lin, one of the first pandas to arrive in the US at a zoo near Chicago in the 1940’s : therefore,I was very excited to be seeing a number of pandas in more natural surroundings with a lot of dense vegetation, bamboo and climbing areas.  A stroke of luck was seeing 5 two year old pandas playing together on a bamboo platform. 
     A second area featured one year old pandas.  Then we walked by a glass enclosed area where 1 and 2 month olds were being cared for in incubators since mother pandas often reject one of their offspring if it’s a twin.
     Since we had our big meal at lunchtime in the Center, that evening, Kathy, my MT nurse daughter,  took her life in her hands to cross a very busy street with cars whizzing by to get some fruit from a local store and some Tibetan fried dough balls on a stick from a street vendor for a supper snack
     That evening, our driver picked us up to transport us to the Shu Feng Ya Yuh Teahouse where we saw a Sichwan Chinese Opera featuring stick puppets, hand shadows and an amazing presentation of Changing Faces and Costumes in a split second which left us wondering if there was more than one actor involved.  Traditional music accompanied the show which included a woman singing dissonant tunes with a strident voice and the Gaohu (a long necked 2 string violin).

     After a 2 hour drive from Gujillin and a very twisty, turning road, we arrived at the foot of the Long-ji Terraces.  These terraces were started in the Yuan Dynasty and for hundreds of years, the Zhuang and Yao people have been cultivating rice terraces in every corner of the valley in many shapes and sizes.  In spring the water in the terraces mirror the sky; in summer the seedlings roll like green waves; in autumn the terraces are yellow; and in winter, the terraces resemble a large warm blanket.
     My travel agent arranged for a sedan chair which 2 strong young men hoisted on their shoulders using halters and carried my canopied chaise up MANY stairs.  Since I am not a light weight person, they had to take several breaks to catch their breath before we reached the Li-An Lodge in Ping’an Zhuang village near the summit.  2 women porters with baskets on their backs carried our luggage round trip.
     When we descended the following day to meet our driver, I was able to relax in the chaise and look out over the terraces on our right and note the many shops on our left

         .
 

     Guillin is home to many limestone “karsts”(limestone mountains which used to be underwater 600 million years ago).  As the waters receded, vegetation started covering the karsts and they present an ethereal presence with mist shrouding them which has inspired generations of artists and poets.  Han Yu, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, wrote,”The river winds like a blue silk ribbon, while the hills stand erect like green jade hairpins.”
     What better way to see them than a boat trip on the Li River!  Our local guide, Rico, helped me negotiate the boat decks until we were on the top deck in a windowed cubicle with 12 German tourists.
     As our boat moved slowly down river (with 15 – 20 other boats), Rico pointed out many interesting formations while Kathy took a lot of photos.
     Back on shore we had a “risk your life” moment while we stood in the middle of traffic when Rico went to get our driver for the trip back to Guillin.

     The walled city of Xian was the capitol of the Tang Dynasty.  On our way to see the Terra Cotta Warriors we stopped at the Wild Goose Pagoda (652 AD) and the site of the 6,000 year old Banpo Village, inhabited by a matriarchal society which built 1/2 of each house underground.
     With the aid of a wheel chair which my travel agent arranged for me, I had a first hand view of many of the 6,000 Terra Cotta Warriors which Emperor Qin (Ching) ordered to be built in 221 B.C. to protect him in the afterlife- complete with a horse drawn carriage.
     Photos on the wall and a kneeling archer enclosed in glass show various colors used.  Contact with the air caused the paint to disappear from those warriors uncovered.  It was an awe inspiring event to be able to view these renowned figures – each one unique.  No wonder that it has been declared a World Heritage Site.
    

     Since my husband and I had already visited Beijing (Forbidden City and Great Wall) and cruised on the Yangtze River in 1997, my MT nurse daughter, Kathy, and I chose to go to Xian, Guillin, Longji Terraces and Chengdu.
     In the interest of expediency, we each took one carry-on bag plus a large satchel (as a purse) for me and a small backpack for Kathy.
     Irin met us at the Xian airport.  Even with 3 people pushing and shoving, I had difficulty leveraging myself into the van with a VERY HIGH step.  Finally, I knelt on the floor and managed to sit sideways on the back seat.  Because the hotel in Xian had overbooked, Kathy and I lucked into a top floor, 2 bedroom suite with all the amenities.

     When King Hoto Matua arrived at Easter Island – Isla de Pasqua – Rapa Nui – over 1000 years ago from the Marquessa Islands to settle this new land, he called it “the naval of the world.”  Since it’s one of the largest open air archaeological  museums (63 square miles filled with 1045 Moai (mo – eye) ), it has been declared a World Heritage Site.
     The only village of Hanga Roa (3200 pop.) hosts 12 hotels and 12 restaurants for the tourists who come to see these huge (10-14 tons and 20-30 ft. tall) monolithic statues.  The Rapanuians believe that these deep set sad eyed sculptures with their backs to the ocean and looking inland protect the people with their Mana (mystical force of their look).
     Some Moai are astronomically placed with attention to the constellation of Orion and the vernal equinox on Dec. 21 while a single Moai with 4 arms is aligned so that light from the sun hits it on June 21, the winter solstice.
     I thought that the quarry at Rano Raraku, the volcanic site where 95% of the Moai were carved,  provided an extensive look at many Moai in varying stages of development.
     Before we left this archeological wonderland, I bought 2 small Moai to watch over me.

     Fernando was our driver/guide to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar.
     Our first sight of the Pacific included hundreds of campomentos (small colorful makeshift shacks) which literally hung from the cliffs and helped lodge some of the 1/2 million residents of Valparaiso.  After seeing more of the colorful mixed architecture (Tudor to Victorian to San Franciscan) encrusted on some of the 45 hills, I understood why UNESCO granted World Heritage Status to this bustling port city.
     A floral clock marked the entrance to Vina del Mar, “The Garden City” where Kathy took a dip in the frigid water after we stopped at an upper scale restaurant overlooking the ocean.