Asia Excursion

Before heading back state-side we planned one final set of travels, a whirlwind tour of Asia. The plan: 3 days in Hong Kong, 3 days in Seoul, and 5 days in Beijing. The destinations were chosen, in part, because we had friends to visit or to give us advice on what to see/do and that really made the whole experience that much more enjoyable. We had an amazing time and couldn't have asked for a better couple of weeks!

We left Melbourne on an overnight flight that got us into Hong Kong first thing in the morning. Fortunately we were able to check into our hotel room (we love Sheratons!) and freshen up before hitting the town. First thing on our list was to find a suit maker so that Josh could get some custom made suits. This was very easy - everyone in HK wants to sell you suits (or watches, or handbags, etc) - but we did our homework and found a reputable shop. Then we met up with one of Kristi's colleagues, Maria, who was visiting her family, and she spent the next couple of days ensuring that we were seeing as much as we could of what HK had on offer. We had a packed schedule, but it was great fun running around the city and taking it all in! We took a night cruise on the harbor where we saw the lights of the city through the rain; we spent a day exploring Central with its street markets, world's longest escalator, and temples; we bought Chinese chops; we went to the horse races and made made some unsuccessful bets; we traveled the many modes of public transport available; we got our fortunes told at the Temple Street night market; we visited the Giant Buddha and explored the Po Lin Monestary; and most importantly we tried all sorts of different Cantonese foods! We weren't game to try everything that Maria offered us, but we did try the bird nest soup (yes, made with an actual swallow nest) and a sea cucumber :)

After the fast-paced touring in HK we headed for Seoul, South Korea to relax with friends Jenn and Dow who have been teaching at an international school there for the past couple of years. Their apartment is located in the far southern suburbs of Seoul, which gave us a good feel for the normal Korean lifestyle. While there we visited the Korean War Museum, enjoyed a beautiful autumn day while walking around the fortress, toured the Changdeokgung Palace, bought souvenirs on Insa-Dong, experienced a Korean sauna (complete with foot-exfoliating fish, multiple sauna rooms with different temps and themes, massage chairs, baths, and people to give you a proper scrub), and found our love for kimchi! Although it took a bit more effort to eat with metal chopsticks, we were pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed all the Korean foods we tried :) More importantly we were so thrilled to have had the opportunity to catch up with good friends!

With the weekend past it was time for us to head to Beijing, the last stop on our itinerary. Even with five days on the cards it was hard to get around to everything we wanted to see, but we made a good effort as always. The highlight for both of us was by far the day we spent walking 10km along the Great Wall from Jinshanling to Simatai. We were fortunate to have a beautiful sunny day and the views were just magnificent! During our time we also watched an amazing (if not a bit creepy) acrobatic show, got lost in the crowds at Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City, wandered around Hou Hai, got a glimpse of the Bird's Nest from our taxi, strolled through the Summer Palace grounds, met up with Lin (another of Kristi's colleagues visiting her family) to check out the Temple of Heaven and barter on some last-minute much-needed souvenirs, and saw many street foods we would not touch with a 10-foot-pole! The last night we were in Beijing it rained, a lot, but we couldn't complain - we had been traveling for almost three weeks and that was the first inclement weather we encountered!

By the time we were done with the trip we were exhausted! We had such a wonderful time and couldn't believe all we had managed to see and do in such a short time. But then there was more...we made our way back to Melbourne, enjoyed a night of good-bye drinks with friends at the Belgian Beer Cafe, went to bed late and were up early to head for the airport, made it a point to stop for one last coffee at our favorite spot - St. Ali's, got to experience our first A380 flight from Melbourne to LA, and then made our way back home to Denver - all the while with Kristi fighting Montezuma's (or maybe Mao's???) Revenge. It wasn't pretty but we finally made it back home to Denver!