off the map

it's been a week or so since i've written... sorry about that but we've been traveling and not near computers... many photos though so those will be updated in a week or so...

some of the highlights...

yangzhong
-paul LIKING congealed duck's blood
-meeting may and angela and having dinner with sam and his mom
-learning how to peel a shrimp with your teeth and tongue
-all the teachers in my office telling him he was very handsome
-all the kids in my classes petting his hairy arms
-singing karaoke in one of my classes
-me being very proud of him wearing dirty clothes for multiple days and not taking showers

kunming
-seeing the craziness of a chinese grocery store meat/fish section- just lots of people digging into bins of raw meat as they shopped
-a 58 hour train ride from nanjing to kunming. we were in a soft sleeper cabin so we had a few cabinmates for our journey... two were great but one was a nasty man that stared at us and ate like a pig and slurped, spit and hocked up snot as often as he could.
-going to a bar and doing cheers/bottoms up with some chinese dudes while watching girls dance michael jackson-esque dances to chinese songs

lijiang
-me falling 4 feet into a manhole... actually only one leg fell in the hole, the other was all twisted perpendicular to the one in the hole. pretty painful ankles and hip flexors... and go figure, we came here to do a 25 km hike in 3000m mountains! still did it though- with lots of tumbles and stops and a very patient paul.
-getting lost through all the little back streets- this city should be on the amazing race!
-staying with mama in lijiang. a great hostel with communal dinners and comfy dorm beds

tiger leaping gorge
-hiking tiger leaping gorge with a messed up leg and having a man with a horse follow me for 3 hours because he didn't think i could make it
-taking way too long and having to hike in the dark; seeing a big fat snake
-really beautiful mountains and the bottom bit of the yangzee river
-hiking with maggie, jessie, jenny and alec- sharing stories about china and traveling

we are staying in lijiang one more day so that we can celebrate the mid-autumn festival at mama naxi's and recoup after a few long days... then to dali and back to kunming before flying to shanghai on monday... pics to come.