Today was an adventure in travel for me. Following the directions I was given I walked for an hour and nothing on the map matched the roads around me. It was a lesson in not seeing what was there, but what I wanted to see. It is amazing what we do with our minds and our lives when we start living it based on what we want to see rather than what is right before our eyes.
First, a note. English is on lots of things here. ATM's... people don't travel with travel cheques because ATMs are so accessible. The messages pop up in English. All road signs are sub-text with English. Many stores have English names on them. When I made the trip in 1981 there was nothing written in English. My how things have changed. Other than a different language and slightly different skin color; the people are the same as in any city. Boys and girls, men and women holding hands... one difference here is seeing boys holding hands with their fathers. Teenagers gaze at each other. Many of the billboards could be in any place in American.
One major difference is the traffic. There are bikes, scooters, cars, buses, rickshaws, motor rickshaws and a lot of motorized bikes, a LOT of them. There is a lane in some places that is just for bikes and motorbikes... occasionally a car coming out of a driveway will drive down it. Then it gets mixed with pedestrians. People do walk here, quite a lot.
After I got tired of walking it became time to flag someone down and get a ride. I started with an older man in a pedal rickshaw. The map I have is in English and Chinese. I pointed it out and he read it and indicated, no.... I thought he couldn't read the map. Then I talked to a man with a motor rickshaw and knew where I wanted to go. He quoted a price and I knew that was way too much (50 Yuan is about $7 and is more than I paid by taxi from the airport). I negotiated a lower price, but not too much really. I get tired of this negotiating for so little. It was a trip being in the this tiny vehicle in the flow of traffic. At the end of the ride I paid him with a bill higher than the rate (lesson #73, pay them with the exact amount you negotiated). he gave me a little back then took off.
The next two rides were in taxis. The mythology in the U.S. of the wild open Wild West is the best that I can do to describe the roadways here. If there are three lanes there might be one of the small vehicles slipping in between. Traffic signals are advisory and they have no compunction at honking their horns. This includes at the police if they get in the way. It was sort of fun to be zipping out of traffice, the taxi barely clearing a bus, zipping through cyclists. One of the remarkable things is to look at the vehicles... they don't have a lot of dents on them or scratches. There is a sixth sense that they seem to operate in. Even when crossing the street a person needs to be totally present in crossing because there is not telling from which direction the next vehicle is coming. There is no past or future, only the present. It is a meditation in being totally present.
The ride from the airport a couple days ago was in a car that floated on its shocks going 100km/h while laying on its horn to get people out of the way. There is something that really tickles me about this. They are cavalier about traffic but they don't seem to threaten each other. I've seen no road rage, mostly patience.
One of the reasons for the trip to the NW of the city was to get my ticket to Barkham for tomorrow morning. I've been told it is about a 12-hour bus ride. Hong Kong has recently implemented a no smoking policy in public places; I'm hoping that this spills over into the ride. It is something getting used to smoking in restaurants again. While standing in line to get my ticket there were people using sign language to help me get my ticket: we shared a view words. I pulled out my translation guide and we figured it out. As far as cost goes: a 12-hour bus ride will cost me about $14.
The last thing I'll post and get off so others can check their emails. I went shopping in the department store for gifts. It is so much easier to have the price on things and not have to negotiate. One can get a cheaper price on the street stalls IF you know the baseline. Otherwise they can charge you twice, thrice the price and I'll never know. It was interesting to be in this Chinese department store where everything looked familiar. It showed me how comforting it is to be in a store where things are familiar. There are rows and prices and things that I know from the picture on them. It is a clear indication of how we become adictted to what is familiar and comfortable. As one who hasn't liked to shop, it is amazing to know that I can find peace, quite, and comfort in something that looks like a department store.
Be well and I'm off to traditional Tibetan country tomorrow and I hope there is a computer to post from. Otherwise, it might be around 45 days before you read anything from me.
Ciao
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