Categories
India photo

A Kerala Vacation (for you!)

Ever since our first trip to India, we have suggested to our friends who were getting married that they should have their honeymoon in Kerala. None have taken our advice, but with the Kerala portion of our trip over I want to make another pitch for Kerala as your next vacation destination. First some logistics, then a suggested itinerary.

Logistics. Most people need a visa to visit India, but in our experience this is an affordable and quick process (as fast as same day in New York or Hong Kong). The default seems to be a six month multiple entry visa. Of course, India is far from the States, but new nonstops to Delhi mean that you need make only one connection, possibly making the Indian domestic segment (to Kochi) on one of the discount airlines, such as Jet. If you can fly more cheaply to Singapore (to where there are also nonstops from the U.S.), you can fly to Kochi on either Silk Air, Singapore Airlines’ regional carrier, or on discount Tiger Airways (also owned by Singapore Airlines, and probably for a fraction of the price as Silk Air). From Delhi or Singapore to Kochi is a shortish flight.

Itinerary. Kochi is the perfect place to start your Kerala trip. A harbor known since ancient times and occupied by the Dutch and the Portuguese (before the Brits), and with the historical city peacefully isolated on a peninsula (accessible by ferry or bridge), Kochi has a colonial ambience and a sense of connection with the past / distance from the modern present that I have experienced in few other places. It is a living city that has museum-like qualities, and can be walked for days. Please refer to my earlier posts for Kochi highlights.

From Kochi, where you should spend at least three full days, move on to a couple days in the Kerala backwaters. The backwaters are a network of connected lakes and waterways, which empty out to the sea. Sometimes narrow channels and at other times tremendously large lakes, the backwaters act as an alternate water-based transportation network as well as essential irrigation for rural Kerala. They are breathtakingly beautiful, with dense linings of coconut palms and peaceful village life on full display. Perhaps the best (and certainly the most luxurious) way to experience the backwaters is by hiring a houseboat, in the form of a traditional rice barge, for a day or two, complete with staff and meals cooked on board. The accommodations are fairly simple but the experience hard to beat (expensive for India, but the cost is still less than $100 per night).


Alternately, you can take public ferries, for negligible sums of money, and still enjoy the same view (but you should go for the houseboat–how often do you get to sleep on your own boat on gentle waters, with a staff of three?). The biggest center for backwater tours is Alleppey, which is a couple hours away from Kochi by bus.

From Alleppey, head south to the ocean or east to the hills, or both. To the south is Varkala. Varkala is highly enjoyable even for non-beachgoers–please refer to my earlier post. To the east are the steeply rising Western Ghats, which provide a cool break from the hot coast and are filled with spice farms, orchards and coffee and tea plantations. At Munnar (we have not been), you can admire the tea plantations while at Thekkady (we went in 2003), you can visit Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary which if not exactly filled with elephants and tigers (though they’re there) is still beautiful. In either Munnar or Thekkady you will be able to visit spice gardens, orchards, tea plantations and the like. You can spend a couple or few days at either Varkala or the hills, the former reachable by train and the latter by bus. Of course, as always in India, hiring a car is a comfortable and affordable option.

From the hills or the beach, you can return to Kochi for a day or two of shopping, and then return home. Within a two week period, you will be able to feel some serious history, enjoy cultural activities, sample rural life and see breathtaking tropical and montane scenery. You will have an opportunity to see the exotic side of India without being overwhelmed with touts and tricksters (as in other parts of the country). Everything is beautiful and relaxing, the cost affordable and of course the food tasty. [blog entry on South India food to come!]

Categories
India photo

Varkala’s Fishermen


Visiting the same place twice over a span of time gives you an additional dimension, and a chance to see the effect of time (and tourism) on a place. Back when we visited Varkala in 2003, it had of course already been a tourist attraction for decades, and so was well developed with the typical assortment of tourist amenities, such as hotels, restaurants, tour desks, souvenir shops, etc. [Varkala is also a place of pilgrimage, though the pilgrims and tourists in Varkala do not mix much, as the main tourist development along the North Cliff is almost exclusively a foreigner traveler ghetto.] We found on this trip, however, some four and a half years later, that the tourist neighborhood of Varkala had continued further north, for perhaps a couple kilometers. Hotels grow more seldom as you head up, but western beachgoers could be seen making their way along the now paved walkway up and down the headlands to beaches beyond. The tourists had also changed. We’d of course heard of the phenomenon of backpackers and more adventurous travelers “discovering” a place, and then that place being opened up to gradually bigger and more upmarket tourists, but not really experienced it firsthand (frankly, most of the places we go to are already well developed and well touristed, as we thought Varkala was in 2003). Varkala 2008 however was clearly much older, overweight and generally less hip (not that we really consider ourselves hip) than Varkala 2003.

 

Even the Falun Gong have arrived in Varkala!

Fortunately, the expansion of tourism has not affected certain things about Varkala. The sea and the cliffs were more beautiful than even our memories, and the newer development, though extensive, has been done in a relatively ramshackle style that does not detract as much from Varkala’s charm as, say, big, polished resorts would (one hears that Kovalam, a beach further south, has such resorts, although we have not been).

And, in the mornings, on some of the same beaches used by tourists later in the day, the fishermen still go out with their giant fishing nets to participate in a communal fishing process that entranced us in 2003. A large net is taken offshore on a small boat, while two teams of around 10 men each hold on to ropes at either end. After some time, the ropes are pulled in, drawing the net and the catch. The catch was, again, unimpressive (and somewhat depressing given the time and effort it takes to pull the net in).





After the “captain” first took his cut, the fish was sold rather than split for personal consumption, and the proceeds divided. As requested, we took turns pulling the rope, although not for the full five minutes asked for!

 

 

A random photo from Varkala

Categories
India photo religion

Syrian Christians of Kerala

Our bus departed from Ernakulam, the “new” city a ferry ride across the harbor from historic Cochin (in terms of geography, Cochin is San Francisco proper to Ernakulam’s Oakland); our destination, the city of Kottayam. The road from Ernakulam to Kottayam crosses over backwaters and the very first foothills of the Western Ghats, the scenery varying from palm trees crowding wide waterways to rubber trees planted in rows, healing from their harvest. The small towns we passed through however are notable not only for their picturesque scenery, but also for their places of worship–even for Kerala, where Christianity is well-known, there are countless churches in these towns, some new some old, seemingly far outnumbering Hindu temples or mosques. Schools tend to be named St. George, St. Anthony or St. Thomas, and even the occasional nun is sighted.

When one thinks of Christianity in India, the first thought is usually to the Catholic community in Goa, a remnant of the Portuguese empire in the East, but the actual history of Christianity in India goes much further back, all the way to apostolic times according to legend. According to the apochryphal Acts of Judas Thomas (apochryphal meaning that it is not one of the books generally recognized to be part of the Christian Bible), St. (Doubting) Thomas, one of Jesus’s twelve disciples, traveled from the Holy Land to India, spreading the gospel and eventually achieving martyrdom. Legend has it that he established churches in the now Keralan coast and the legendary site of his martyrdom in Chennai is graced with a church.

The “Thomas Christians” of India maintained links with the Christians of the Near East. One of the most significant delegations, in the fourth century, consisted of seventy-two families, roughly four hundred strong, who traveled from what is now Syria to the Keralan coast, descendants of which group survive today (more on this later). Further spiritual support continued over the centuries from the Middle East through the Syrian Christian Church, giving these Christians of India the name “Syrian Christians.” The Christians were fruitful and multiplied, and formed a significant community (of around 30,000) by the time the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century.

The first major fissure in the Syrian Christian community of India happened as a result of Portuguese control, and the road from Ernakulam to Kottayam took us by the key site of Diamper. Initially the Portuguese looked favorably upon the fellow Christians (it is said that one goal of Portuguese explorations beyond the Cape of Good Hope was to search for a legendary eastern Christian kingdom), but then grew hostile as the Thomas Syrian Christians refused to pledge allegiance to the Pope in Rome and adhere to Roman Catholic doctrine. Finally, the Portuguese convened the Synod of Diamper in 1599 to cleanse the Thomas Syrian Christians of doctrinal impurities, which they saw as coming both from Nestorian heresies and from Hindu contamination. The Portuguese banned books, burned books and records and instituted other oppressive policies. When an emissary from Antioch was detained in now Chennai, some of the local Christians publicly revolted, taking the “Bent Cross Oath” at Mattancherry church (briefly described in my blog entry of March 3 and pictured below) in 1653. Others made peace with the Portuguese and the Roman Catholic church.


About two and a half hours after we left Ernakulam, our Kerala state bus arrived at Kottayam bus station, and we transferred into an autorickshaw to take us to some of Kerala’s oldest existing Syrian Christian churches.

In the northern part of Kottayam, a center of the Syrian Christian community in Kerala, different sects (resulting from further schisms) are represented by churches steps apart, and demonstrate some of the later history of the Syrian Christians of India. Heading from east to west on Kumarakom Road, we first passed St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church.



The Mar Thoma Church is the product of a schism in the Indian Syrian Christian Church that occurred under the relatively more gentle control under British rule. A 19th century prelate educated in the British missionary system determined that the local church should undergo reforms, a position not shared by all of his peers, and founded the Mar Thoma Syrian Church, which has since entered into communion with the Anglican churches in India, the Church of North India and the Church of South India.Heading west, we arrived at Cheriapally, “Small Church” or St. Mary’s Orthodox Church. Founded in 1579, Cheriapally remains close to its original structure, featuring a porch similar to a Hindu temple, beautiful altar and murals and an impressive old baptismal font.


The facade of the church is overwhelmingly Portuguese in flavor, reflecting the era of its construction despite the Syrian Christians’ doctrinal objections to Portuguese hegemony.


Cheriapally, as our church officer/guide explained to us, is an Orthodox Syrian Church, as opposed to a Jacobite Syrian Church. The 1912 schism defining these sects is perhaps the most significant and puzzling in the history of the Indian Syrian Christian Church. How did such an enduring, small and ancient community become divided yet again, this time less directly caused by outside colonial powers?

The history on this seems less certain, but it appears that the Syrian Christian Church hierarchy was damaged by a series of conflicts in the late 19th century, including a series of lawsuits brought over who had true authority over the church. The competing factions included those who believed that the Syrian Christian Church should adhere to existing indigenous dogma and practices, believed to be handed down from St. Thomas himself, against those who believed that the church should follow more closely the authority of the Patriarch of Antioch, the head of the Syrian Christians in the Near East. These differences were made more explicit in a synod called by the Patriarch of Antioch in 1876 to conform religious practice in India to that in the Near East. Finally, in 1912, the group favoring local authority invited the living “deposed” Patriarch of Antioch, Abdul Mesih, to India. It is not exactly clear why he was deposed, although some argue that the act was illegitimate because it was forced by the Ottoman Turkish authorities. Abdul Mesih in India established the so-called Orthodox Syrian Church, headed by a local Catholicate (based near Kottayam in a town called D
evalokam), as a semiautonomous branch of the Syriac Orthodox Church. This move was not recognized by the “official” Patriarch at the time or his successors, or by the so-called Jacobite Syrian Christians, who favored the authority of the official Patriarch.

Less than a hundred yards west of Cheriapally, on a small hill, stands Valiapally, “Large Church” or St. Mary’s Knanaya Church, one of the oldest existing Christian churches in Kerala.


Originally built just prior to Cheriapally, although much of the building does not speak from that date, the prizes of the church’s collections include two ancient crosses carved in granite, one older and the other a replica, which contain inscriptions in Pahlavi and Syriac.


The church and its treasures belong to the Knanaya, who are descendants of the delegation that came to India from the Near East in the fourth century. The Knanaya have remained loyal to the Syriac Orthodox Church based in Damascus, and plaques and portraits inside Valiapally feature prominently the connection between the church and the mother church in the Near East.



Leaving Valiapally, I saw an elderly Indian lady, resplendent in sari and gold jewelry, step up to the hill on which the church sits, and cross herself. I did not know to which sect she belonged, and I suppose she may even have been Roman Catholic or Anglican, but through her gesture I imagined a continuity of almost two thousand years, from new Christians converted to a new and foreign God or descendants of voyagers from a distant land, taken root and somehow survived and even flourished despite great odds, even if now the trunk has borne many branches. And I wondered how this history would have played out in a different country, and whether India wasn’t particularly fertile soil for not only new native religions but also ancient and exotic foreign religions, from eastern Christian sects to Zoroastrianism.

I have read that Indian Syrian Christian churches have now been established all over the world, following the migrations of Indian communities. Perhaps, in the years to come, there will be other divisions, or old differences will be reconciled. But the continuity of the tradition seems assured.

Categories
India photo religion

Mattancherry and Jew Town, Cochin


Much of Cochin drips with history and atmosphere, but the most romantic part, for us, is not the colonial architecture and churches of Fort Cochin but the merchants of Mattancherry and Jew Town. Along a main road alternately permeated with the scent of ginger, pepper and chili, hundreds of shops and warehouses continue business as they likely have for centuries, trading in the riches of Kerala’s agriculture. Nearer the center of Jew Town, and on and near Synagogue Lane in particular, antique shops and Kashmiri carpet salesmen take advantage of the newer trade with domestic and international tourists, trying to greet each in their guessed mother tongue.

Jew Town now has only thirteen Jewish residents, but throughout much of Cochin’s history was the center of a large and prosperous Jewish community. Kerala’s first Jews arrived possibly before Christ and are called the “black” Jews. Later “white” Jews arrived later and flourished especially during the tolerant Dutch era in the 17th and 18th centuries (after suffering persecution under Portuguese control).

Our brush with one of the thirteen came when we visited the synagogue (the largest and best renovated of several which existed in and around Cochin). A young lady who collected the Rs 2 (~10 cent) admission, she explained that most of the Jews had moved to Israel, where they are dispersed but keep in contact with one another. [Wikipedia reports that there are Cochin Jewish synagogues in Israel–these may be interesting to visit.] She wouldn’t allow us to take her picture, but her outside appearance was typically that of a European Jew, showing that however long her family had lived in India, there did not seem to have been much intermarriage. [The flight of Jews from distant native lands to Israel is something we had heard of before, with the Falashas of Ethiopia. In some cases we assume that the decision is economic, but a contemporaneous survey of Cochin Jews showed that a principal concern was finding suitable coreligious marriage partners.]

Jew Town may no longer be Jewish, but religious pluralism survives, with Christian and Muslim places of worship steps apart hidden among the merchant houses (and no doubt Hindu ones also close by). The merchants themselves were also mixed, seemingly with no faith dominating particular lines of goods. [Although this may not have been true historically–I have read reports that Christians at certain point dominated the important pepper business.] Holy Cross Church, which at present appeared to be Anglican, is said to have been established in 1550 and has the layout of an Indian place of worship, with a more or less typical church contained within a small structured compound which is entered (barefoot) through a small shrine area. [See also my blog on Syrian Christians for an important historical event at this site.] A lady at the entrance sold religious paraphernalia.

Categories
India photo

Cochin, India


The “Chinese fishing nets” lining the shore of Fort Cochin are iconic, as is the native music and dance theater called Kathakali.

I’m not sure whether there is a record of when this design of fishing net was first brought to this Indian coast, but we have seen similar nets while traveling by ferry from Siem Reap to Battambang in Cambodia, on a river off of the Tonle Sap. Each net is operated independently by a team of fishermen, who pull in the catch together, assisted by a counterbalance of stones. The takes we’ve seen are generally unimpressive.



Kathakali is perhaps most notable for its makeup/costume and the expressivity of the eye and facial gestures which make up much of the actor’s performance. Like many traditional art forms, a full Kathakali performances runs well through the night, but shorter, pithier performances are available for tourists at several venues in Cochin. The excerpt we viewed was from the Mahabharata, one of the two great Hindu epics (together with the Ramayana) written before Christ that form a basis for much of storytelling in South and Southeast Asia. (Dances from Burma to Bali retell the Ramayana tales.)

Categories
Uncategorized

Essay: Day One

3K 692 HKG-SIN, 11 kilometers in the air

So starts our trip.

The beginning of our trip seems to me to be a good time to speak to my aspirations, my goals for the year to come. Hopefully, not mere New Year’s resolutions (this year started on March 1), but genuine guidelines to which I will return and by thinking continuously revise and rethink both what I am doing and what I am trying to do.

I most often describe what I am doing as a leave of absence. Others may call it a sabbatical. And indeed I am absent and resting, from my job for the last few years. But to take this much “time off” is too indulgent and to sightsee is fun but not enough (should not, must not be enough)–this is too big an opportunity. There is a void left by my departure from professional life. Time has been created (or returned to me). Perhaps even more significantly, I seek to regain my attention, my awareness of myself and my surroundings, which has been so often dissipated by the demands of work in the 21st century, whether in the form of thinking or anxiety about work, checking (or thinking about checking) my blackberry or sitting in my office, a setting too familiar, waiting for the London or New York day to begin.

Our travel skills are mostly solid. I will take advantage of Derek’s eye, and the visual and aesthetic record of our trip in his photographs. My writing skills are sufficient, and my knowledge fairly broad. And so I will do what travelers have done for centuries, which is to write about what I see and learn.

My writing will be grounded in the here and now, descriptive of the world in 2008. Knowing I cannot write a work of great scholarly or artistic merit, I will rely on my (and Derek’s) powers of observation and any insights I may have from my particular background, which, if not unique to me, is an asset I bring as well as the perspective I will have from visiting so many places in one continuous stretch of time (places are generally by their nature connected).

By writing, and thinking about writing, and by taking pictures, and thinking about taking pictures, we hope to be as present in our surroundings as possible, without some of the distractions of the modern day. And by observing, observing how we observe and observing how we are observed, we hope to learn something about ourselves, and be able to make use of such learning.

Tonight, we arrive in India.

Categories
China Hong Kong photo QuickTrip

Hong Kong QuickTrip: Hainan Island

Hainan is a fairly large island off of the southern coast of China, between Hong Kong and the Vietnam border. Known as something of a remote hinterland through much of Chinese history (the kind of place to which one gets exiled), Hainan has been aggressively developed for tourism, including especially resorts near the city of Sanya on the southern coast, as China’s Hawaii. I’m told that Hainan even advertises on U.S. CNN!

When my employer announced that we would have our office retreat at a resort on Hainan, I must admit that I wasn’t too thrilled. I thought that somewhere like Chengde would be far more exciting (somebody had even suggested Pingyao, an old walled city, by train). I thought the greatest benefit of the trip would be having another Traveler’s Century Club country under my belt. (Why Hainan is considered a separate country, I’m not too sure.) But, I must admit, even if Hainan isn’t quite Hawaii, Sanya’s resorts are well-executed and thoroughly enjoyable, and the natural environment clean and beautiful.

Sanya is a bit over an hour’s flight from Hong Kong, and flights are fairly plentiful. Flights are also available from Shenzhen Airport. We stayed at the Marriott Sanya Resort & Spa, which is not the newest upscale resort (the Hilton is newer and other hotels are opening soon, including a Ritz-Carlton), but tastefully designed along a wide stretch of pristine beach. The rooms and beds were quite comfortable, and the pool fun. The beach is sufficiently large, the sand soft and the water clear. The weather was glorious and warm (though we are told that there were some cloudier, cooler days before we arrived). All above expectations, though the resort experience was predictably totally isolated from any sense of being in China.


We also went on a couple tours. Of course, staying in resort hotels and going on group tours are not our usual travel M.O. at all, but at least the resort was comfortable and enjoyable. The tours were depressing. Monkey Island, as it turns out, is a thoroughly landscaped amusement park. The gondola ride to the park is beautiful, and there are indeed plenty of monkeys, but not at all in a natural setting. We did see one totally surreal “animal circus” performance, however.


The other tour was to a Li and Miao minority village. The Li and Miao are two of the “native” ethnic groups of Hainan, to be distinguished from the Han majority that now dominates the island (and the rest of China). While I believe that some original Li and Miao villages exist on Hainan, and I by no means expected to see anything really authentic on a group tour, the place to which we were taken was a full-fledged amusement park, complete with fire-breathing little people. While some displays (of traditional homes, weavings, etc.) were not bad, the overall experience was dispiriting.

But the hotel, the beach and the weather were great! A solid choice for a quick beach getaway if you don’t mind staying at your hotel.

Categories
China Hong Kong photo QuickTrip

Hong Kong QuickTrip: Kaiping Diaolou

I first ran into the Kaiping diaolou while surfing the UNESCO site for World Heritage Sites. Little did I know that a World Heritage Site had been recently designated so close to Hong Kong! Some google searches led to some promising pictures, along with an interesting back story.

The diaolou, which means watchtower, historically were communal castles in small Chinese southern villages. They were built and owned communally, and the residents of a village would seek refuge in times of conflict or flood. In the early twentieth century, wealthy individuals, principally individuals who had left China to earn money abroad (in the United States, Southeast Asia or even Hong Kong) returned to Kaiping to build a different kind of diaolou—an elaborate multistory mansion. What makes them so interesting is that these individuals built these towers not only to show off their new wealth but incorporated foreign architectural styles, ranging from European to South Asian. There are over a thousand of these towers near the city of Kaiping in Guangdong Province (to the southwest of Guangzhou).

We had read that there were direct ferries to Sanbu Port in Kaiping from Hong Kong, so we headed to the HK-China Ferry Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui early Saturday morning. (Chu Kong Ferries website) The direct boats weren’t running, but the ferry company had arranged a direct shuttle from Zhongshan Port to Kaiping. The whole ride (ferry to Zhongshan, the bus shuttle) took about four hours. An alternate route, which we had also considered, was to take the train to Guangzhou, and then a bus to Kaiping. This of course would have taken longer, although we would have had the option of staying overnight in Guangzhou.

At Sanbu port in Kaiping were several minibus taxis. After some tough negotiations, we arranged one of the drivers to take us around to three different sets of diaolou for RMB 280 (about USD 35). We went to San Men Li, which has the oldest diaolou (built in the Ming dynasty), Li Yuan, which has an unremarkable collection of diaolou all built by one individual, and Zili Cun, which is probably the best set of diaolou (including the watchtower of Deng Lou just outside the town). Many of the diaolou are furnished in period furniture and can be climbed to the top for views. Almost all of the sites were well labeled with historical details in English. Despite leisurely visits to these sites, we had a few hours before sundown, and so we asked our driver to take us to Jin Jiang Li, which contained two beautiful diaolou in another rustic setting.

Admission to the diaolou is predictably expensive, it being China. A ticket permitting entrance to most of the major sites costs RMB 120 per person.

We returned home by bus from Kaiping to Zhuhai’s Gongbei bus station on the border with Macau. We could have taken the ferry from Zhuhai but chose to overnight in Zhuhai so that we could spend part of the day in Macau before heading home.

Categories
China Hong Kong photo QuickTrip

Hong Kong QuickTrip: Shenzhen

Shenzhen is, along with Macau, the quickest, easiest QuickTrip from Hong Kong (if you don’t count worthy destinations within the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region). Shenzhen is close enough to go for a day or even part of a day but has enough to entertain a visitor for many repeat trips (by population, Shenzhen is actually bigger than Hong Kong, and so it makes sense that it has a lot to offer). A border crossing and a significant difference in environment add to the feeling of adventure.

The logistics. First, you need a visa (assuming you are not a PRC passport or travel document holder), which is pretty easy, especially in Hong Kong. You can go directly to the China visa office located near the convention center in Wan Chai, or you can go through an agent such as CTS or Swire. As a tourist, you are unlikely to get a multiple entry visa, but you should be able to get a multiple entry visa if you have the right credentials for a business visa or if you have a Hong Kong ID Card. The process will likely cost you over USD 100 if you are an American citizen (thanks to reciprocity), or somewhat less if you are from elsewhere. Citizens of countries other than the United States and the United Kingdom, I was told once, are able to get a special Shenzhen-only visa at the border crossing, although I am not familiar with the process.

To get to Shenzhen, you have two principal options: train or bus. The KCRC East Rail starts at Tsim Sha Tsui (or TST) East Station, goes through Hung Hom, Mong Kok and Kowloon Tong stations in Kowloon and heads up to either the Lo Wu or newly opened Lok Ma Chau stations, which are connected to border crossings (Luohu and Huanggang, respectively). The train runs every few minutes from around 6:00 AM to midnight and costs about HKD 35 (USD 4) for the run. The bus leaves from a few different locations throughout Hong Kong, including the CTS office on Hennessey Road in Wan Chai, and goes to the Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang border. Which you choose can depend on where in Shenzhen you want to go. The Lo Wu border offers the main Shenzhen train station as well as a down-and-dirty mall featuring all your immediate needs, such as counterfeit goods and tailors, while the Lok Ma Chau border is closer to other parts of central Shenzhen, Shenzhen airport and the amusement parks in Shenzhen. The bus costs a bit more but can be convenient, especially at times when the train isn’t running or on the way back from the airport (the guaranteed seat on the bus can be a little more comfortable than a potentially crowded train requiring a change of transportation in TST).

Attractions. What is there to do in Shenzhen? A lot. I am by no means an expert on Shenzhen, having only been up a handful of times during my years in Hong Kong, but below is a short list. None of them may be world-class attractions, but they’re good diversions for all or part of a weekend.

Restaurants. Food in Shenzhen is outstanding, and cheap. Shenzhen, perhaps because it is a city of immigrants from other parts of China, offers an outstanding array of restaurants featuring all Chinese cuisines. Many of these restaurants include outposts of famous Chinese restaurants based in other parts of China, including restaurants that have not yet made it across the border to Hong Kong. On our last trip, we went to Mao Jia, featuring food from Mao’s hometown of Shaoshan in Hunan province. Restaurants are well-decorated and spacious, offer a high level of service and cost about a third to a half of Hong Kong prices.

Shopping. I haven’t done too much shopping in Shenzhen, but right at the Lo Wu/Luohu border is a multistory mall featuring countless shops selling cheap but creatively designed clothes, jewelry, tailors, counterfeit goods (watches, handbags, DVDs), souvenirs, cheap electronics, etc. Quality can vary, but the prices are good. Shopping for genuine brand name goods is generally much more expensive in Shenzhen than in Hong Kong.

Spas. Shenzhen (like many other big Chinese cities) has many huge spa complexes (the one we’ve been to is called Pacific (not too far from the Luohu train station)). The best description of these spas is a Las Vegas casino, but with spa services instead of gambling. Pacific (the neon sign says “Pacific Lay Fallow Agora”) features large dressing rooms with huge jacuzzis, sauna and steamroom (and attendants who help you undress and dress), comfortable chairs with personal televisions in which you can sit eating fruit while getting foot massages, a restaurant, massage rooms, small sleeping quarters, karaoke, a computer room and many other facilities. Massages are quite affordable, of course, and use of the sleeping chambers (to nap or to save on lodging) is included if your bill exceeds RMB 138 (about USD 18).

Historical/Cultural sites. Surprisingly, within Shenzhen city limits or just outside there are several historical/cultural sites worth visiting. To the north in Dongguan city are the Humen fort, an Opium War site, as well as Ming and Qing dynasty villages. On the highway toward Shantou, within city limits, is an interesting fortified village. We have also been to Dapeng fort, which is somewhat far to the East (1.5 hours by bus), but a well preserved quiet old town.


Amusement parks. Shenzhen features several large amusement parks. Splendid China contains miniatures of all of China’s great historical and cultural sites and is adjoined to a folk village containing homes of China’s various minority groups (from Uyghurs to Dong to Koreans, many of whom put on song-and-dance shows). Windows of the World includes scale models of famous world landmarks, some rides and a rather crazy over-the-top show, as well as indoor iceskating and skiing. Minsk World is an old Soviet aircraft carrier that has been turned into something of a Russian military amusement park, and is somewhat less worthwhile than the other two, though there is the novelty of being on a Soviet aircraft carrier.

Beaches. We’ve never been but are told that there are some nice beaches, where you can hang out or rent motorized vehicles.

Nightlife. We are told that there’s great nightlife in Shenzhen. We have been t
o one gay bar which was surprisingly lively and upbeat.

Travel to other parts of China. As I’ve discussed previously, Shenzhen can act as a gateway to countless travel destinations, mainly in China. The train station is right at the Lo Wu/Luohu border and the airport is a 30 minute drive from the Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang border. Buses leave for destinations in Guangdong province as well as Yangshuo/Guilin. And you can also take the new high-speed train to Guangzhou in about an hour.

Categories
Hong Kong photo QuickTrip Vietnam

Hong Kong QuickTrip: Mekong Delta

Corresponding recently with an American traveler who is planning a trip to Vietnam, I was reminded of one of the best short trips we’ve made from Hong Kong: Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. Outstanding aspects of this QuickTrip include convenience, price, great food and unbelievable contrast from Hong Kong’s urban bustle. 

For the Hong Kong traveler, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC, or Saigon) is one of the cheapest, most convenient flight destinations from Hong Kong. Not only are there twice daily Cathay flights and a daily Vietnam Airlines flight, but most conveniently there is a United Airlines flight, serviced daily by a Boeing 747, that is often sold at cheap fares and has a perfect schedule for QuickTrippers: a nighttime outbound and early morning return. Even for a weekend, you get two full days in Vietnam with a Friday night flight departing 8:45 PM to arrive at 10:05 PM and a Monday morning return at 6:15 AM arriving at 9:50 AM (okay, so you may be a bit late to work). For this QuickTrip to the Mekong Delta, I would recommend a three- or four-day weekend.

Since the flight arrives late at night, it’s probably best to sleep in Saigon the first night (the airport is very convenient to town, with cheap taxis making the short run). My favorite place to stay is in the Indochine Hotel, which runs about USD 20-30 per night. If you’re feeling really energetic, you can go out for a quick bite (say, bahn xeo at the famous Banh Xeo 46A, at 46A Dinh Cong Trang, off of Hai Ba Trung) or a drink at the eclectic and seedy Apocalypse Now.

Early the next morning, catch a bus from the main bus station (near Ben Thanh Market) for Vinh Long. (Before catching the bus, you can do like Bill Clinton and have breakfast at Pho 2000 nearby.) We find that catching a public bus while traveling provides one of the most natural opportunities to interact with local people on an equal basis. For the more comfortable traveler, hiring a car and driver for the weekend would not break the bank.

Vinh Long is about three hours away, and a restful town with a good selection of hotels (around USD 10 for a comfortable room) and restaurants. Food in the Mekong Delta is definitely some of the best we’ve had in Vietnam (your visit will likely take you near places that make shrimp paste, fish sauce, rice paper and other Vietnamese staples). By wandering around the waterside street in Vinh Long, you will likely run into at least a few local women offering boat rides (or, rather, they will run into you and follow you around). Prices are negotiable, of course, but good value even if you aren’t a great negotiator. Depart early the next morning to see the best floating markets at their liveliest. There will be other tourists of course, but they’re dwarfed by the amount of genuine commerce taking place. After Vinh Long, we left for Can Tho, a somewhat bigger city in the Delta that also offers early morning trips to floating markets and beautiful waterways. If you depart Hong Kong on Friday night, you should be able to have a peaceful Saturday arriving in the Delta, take boat rides on Sunday and Monday, and return to Saigon Monday night for your early morning Tuesday flight.