BioKen's Pacific Rim Trip Feb.-March 1998
After finishing my Ph.D. at UC Berkeley, I decided to treat myself to my
first ever international vacation as a graduation gift. And no doubt about
it, I had the time of my life.
Australia
I started my trip in Sydney, Australia,
where I
joined a 15-day bus tour with Contiki Tours.
We drove up the east coast, stopping in such places as
Point Byron (easternmost point on the Australian mainland), Surfers
Paradise (where I discovered the Bungee Rocket ride...), Fraser Island (the
world's largest sand island), Long Island (in the Whitsunday Islands),
Magnetic Island, and Cairns. I got to trek through rainforest in pouring
rain (watch out for leeches!), feed kangaroos,
hold
a koala and a baby
crocodile, feed the Long Island lorikeets
out
of my hand, go white-water rafting on the Tully River, take a hot-air balloon
ride over the Atherton tablelands, and snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef
(among other things). We had a great group, and a fantastic driver/tour
manager duo ("Good stuff," eh Nicci?). Paradoxically, the days flew by, but
it seemed like we had all known each other for more than two weeks by the end.
Once that was done, I stayed on in Cairns to learn to SCUBA dive, getting
certified out on the Reef. That was
absolutely
amazing.
Japan
My next stop was a jump across the equator to the Land of the Rising Sun,
where I stayed a week visiting friends in Osaka. It was quite a change of
pace (and weather - going from late summer in the tropics to late winter/early
spring) from Australia. The Osaka/Kyoto/Nara area of Japan is sort of the
cultural and religious capital, and we spent much of the time visiting the
major Buddhist temples and
Shinto shrines in the region, along with some castles, reminders of when
Osaka was the political capital as well. It was quite an experience to be in
a place with more than 200 years of history (enhanced by the fact that my
friend is a historian), and for really the first time in my life I felt like a
true outsider. While adults were too polite to stare, my "otherness" was
definitely reflected in the giggles and gaping expressions of the kids.
China
After Japan, my travels took me west to the People's Republic of China, where
I visited with my college roommate for a week. The first four days were spent
in the city of Qingdao, where Heng and his wife live. Although the spelling
has changed, Qingdao is famous for the locally brewed Tsingtao beer. I was
struck by how stereotypically "Chinese" the city seemed to me - uncertain
whether it was a rural area or a modern city. And the drivers were worse than
anything I had ever seen before (and I thought the Japanese drivers were
crazy!). I honestly feared for my life during my first taxi ride into town -
there was no sense that the driver had any inkling that he wasn't alone
on the road (or that any of the other drivers, bicyclists, or pedestrians did
either). After Qingdao, we went to Beijing, and I got to experience things I
never expected to do in my life: walk on the Great
Wall of China, wander through the Forbidden City, and watch people flying
kites in Tiananmen Square.
Hong Kong
I took the express train from Beijing to Hong
Kong (about 30 hours), where I spent my last week. I found Hong Kong to
be a city of contrasts: a 100-year old ferry line crossed the harbor, over the
tunnel for an amazingly modern subway system; a "jungle" of high-rise offices
and apartments sits right below a mountain rain forest on Hong Kong Island;
two blocks from the glitzy tourist strip in Kowloon are seedy apartment
ghettos. I had fun exploring Hong Kong and nearby Macau, although the
ubiquitous fog completely blocked my views from the top of Victoria Peak (I
rode the famous Peak Tram up, and then hiked
the
rest of the way to the top) and the nighttime harbor ferry tour I took (it got
so bad they refunded the money). Favorite spots included the Kowloon bird
market, dim sum on Hong Kong Island, and the
Travelator (a series of moving walkways and escalators that run halfway
up Victoria Peak).
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