Tag Archives for kids
Skiing China 6: Happy Days in Beidahu
There’s not a lot to Beidahu: two hotels, some half-built condos, and a ski centre, an hour and a half’s drive from the centre of Jilin city. But we don’t need a lot. And, thanks to this wonderful offer, we have a room in a Chinese five-star hotel. With bath robes, slippers, a tub, a [...]
We Find a Chinese School
A bit of English language Googling around bilingual schools in Harbin finds a site for teachers of English as a foreign language, and a job advertised at a bilingual school. I Google around the school’s name in English, plough through a lot of investment sites, and eventually dig up the Chinese language site for the [...]
The Chinese are the most inventive nation on earth when it comes to winter fun, but skiing in China is a very new thing. And, as with other Western imports, the Chinese treat it in their own inimitable style. Take the ski train. This leaves Harbin every morning during the season, trundles three hours north [...]
Flat-Hunting in -30, in Chinese
And here we are, in Harbin, which is, if everything goes to plan, our home base for at least three months. We push through the surge and out of the station into the brisk night air. In Bulgaria, this time last year, I remember thinking how very cold -22 was. Harbin is way below that. [...]
Ice Skating in Beijing
When it comes to ice skating, like everything else, the Chinese do it differently. Very differently. And ice skating in Beijing is really something else. Especially on Qianhai Lake. It’s not just the unavoidable presence of the PLA, whether riding ice dodgems, guarding ice bikes, administering the ice slide or guarding the ice skates. The [...]
Everest Base Camp Trek – FAQ
How Much Does the Everest Base Camp Trek Cost? The Everest Base Camp trek can cost $400-$450 for shoestringers who walk in from Jiri, then straight in and straight out to Everest Base Camp, unguided, over 24 days or so, or as much as 20 times that for people who book luxury treks overseas over [...]
On Namche and Ageing
On Namche and Ageing Everest Base Camp the Lazy Way Day 17: Tengboche to Namche We moved our flights out of Lukla forward to accommodate extra rest and acclimatisation days. Now, for some bizarre reason about which Nir is vague, we are unable to move them back one day, so are stuck with the leisurely [...]
Coming Down from Everest Base Camp
Everest Base Camp the Lazy Way Day 16 – Pheriche to Tengboche The next day’s walking is, like Pheriche, almost new to us. It’s perfectly possibly to walk from Pheriche to Namche Bazar in a day, but Zac isn’t keen for an early start, so we wander up a ridge to look at the views. [...]
Mountain Goggles
Everest Base Camp the Lazy Way Day 15-16 – Gorak Shep to Pheriche When I awake, it feels that winter has really hit. Fat, soft snowflakes are drifting down, the earth a morass of white and grey, the sky like dirty cottonwool. As we descend through snow towards Pheriche, the yaks come with us, great [...]
We Made It! Everest Base Camp!
Everest Base Camp the Lazy Way Day 14 Sleeping in thermals, jeans, two fleeces, two pairs of socks and a snood, but neither hat nor gloves nor down outer layers, in a -30 rated sleeping bag under two quilts, we’re actually quite toasty at Gorak Shep, despite the cloud that’s come in. It feels like [...]
