The Wonders of China and Northern India

 

Our next adventure starts in a few days (9 September) – a 21 day tour of China, Tibet, and Hong Kong followed by a 7 day tour of Northern India.  We have gotten the necessary visas, vaccinations (we needed a shot for Japanese Encephalitis for India) and the necessary prescriptions – malaria, high altitude sickness (Tibet is at 12,000 feet above sea level), and an antibiotic (in case I stupidly eat ice cubes again!).  Our remaining hurdle is to try and fit all our clothes and necessities in two soft-sided suitcases which can only weigh 44 pounds each, and two hand-carry cases that can each only weigh 11 pounds.  But we are seasoned travelers so we will prevail!!!

China – our first destination – is a land of contrast where the past, the present, and the future are all inextricably mixed.  From the capital of Beijing, we will tour some of China’s greatest monuments – a royal palace where for many thousands of years the common people were forbidden to enter; the Great Wall, a 13,170 mile fortification running from east to west in China; the Summer Palace, the grandest imperial garden in China.  In Xian we will visit the site of the Terra Cotta Warriors, where over 8,000 stone soldiers guard the tomb of an ancient emperor.  Chengdu is the home of The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, created to imitate the natural habitat in order for scientists to have the best possible environment for rearing and breeding this critically endangered species.  Hopefully, we will then fly to Lhasa, Tibet where we will spend 3 days exploring the city on the top of the world.  This part of the tour is still not a certainty.  It is up to the Chinese government as to whether the borders of Tibet will be open when we are scheduled to visit.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be able to partake of this once in a lifetime visit to Tibet.  We will then spend 4 days cruising on the Yangtze River where we will view the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest dam.  To build this dam, the Chinese government had to flood thousands of acres of farmland, wildlife habitats, towns, and archaeological and historical sites, which resulted in the relocation of 1-2 million people.  Our final stop in China is Hong Kong, a financial center that is one of the most densely populated areas of the world.  Ruled by the British until 1997, Hong Kong today is a Special Administrative Region of China which also includes Kowloon Island, the New Territories, and about 260 mostly barren and uninhabited outlying islands

From Hong Kong we will fly to Delhi, India, where we will begin our private tour of Northern India.  After a one day tour of Delhi, we will drive to Jaipur, known as the Pink City for the pink sandstone facades of the buildings.  From there we will travel to Ranthambore National Park where we will have three game drives and hopefully get a chance to see a rare Bengal tiger in the wild.  Our final stop before flying home will be in Agra where we will visit the Taj Mahal.

I hope to be able to post some blogs and pictures as we travel through China and India.  Although we will have some access to the internet in all our hotels, I am not sure whether it will be enough to upload blogs (and especially pictures).  And most importantly, I am not sure what China will allow to be uploaded – I know that Facebook and Gmail are blocked in China.  But we will stay positive and hope for the best.  We will be back in Colorado on 11 October.