Hayaku: A Time Lapse Journey Through Japan from Brad Kremer on Vimeo.

Go to Vimeo and watch it full screen in HD.  Brad should be on the payroll of the national tourism board.  H/t Jeffrey Friedl.

Last weekend I had the privilege of trying four different BBQ places in Lockhart, the “BBQ Capital of Texas”.  For my money Smitty’s was the best all around – particularly the pork ribs.  I put Kreuz in the #2 spot.

More pics below the fold.

Smitty’s

Kipp + lunch at Smitty’s

The pits at Kreuz.

Although it’s hard to sum up all of the traveling we did I’ll offer a few observations.  First, it is amazing how easy it is to get around the world.  The internet, message boards, Skype, and the emergence of English as a lingua franca all make arranging travel pretty straightforward. Currency exchange and power plugs are increasingly simple.  Corruption and personal insecurity are, I think, much less of a threat than newspapers would have you believe – aside from tourist pricing and some crooked cab drivers I did not encounter a bribe solicitation or theft on the entire trip (except possibly a suitcase lost in transit by British Airways/Swiss).  At no point did I get hassled by customs about carrying several thousand dollars worth of electronics.  Electronic communication is ubiquitous – I saw locals on cell phone calls in the middle of the Serengeti and using a BlackBerry in rural Laos.  Every country I visited had Visa ATMs, and only in Laos and Tanzania was there any inconvenience in finding one that took a Mastercard.  I had no food related health problems despite eating plenty of street food, and in the two cases where I needed medical supplies the local pharmacies were easy to deal with.  Renting cars in Germany and South Africa was easy and renting mopeds in Southeast Asia was done for $6 with no paperwork.  The only time I really had travel headaches was in China when I were forced to cut out the Tibet leg of our trip.

A few highlights of the trip – you’ll notice there’s a lot of food involved:

• In Thailand, visiting temples, eating constantly, and learning to SCUBA
• In Cambodia, visiting villages, seeing the ruins of Angkor, and learning about the years under the Khmer Rouge
• In Laos, cheap seafood restaurants, watching locals on the Mekong river, elephant rides, and fresh baguette sandwiches from the hardworking lady in the Hmong market near our hotel
• In Vietnam, eating pho and cha gio from street vendors in Saigon and piles of fresh mangoes near the beach in Nha Trang
• In China, walking the Great Wall and learning to bargain in Beijing
• In Germany, driving a BMW on the Autobahn, walking around German farms, and sunset dinners on a patio with fresh food from the garden
• In South Africa, watching sunrise over Cape Town, seeing whales playing off the coast, and driving through the incredibly scenic area near Hermanus and the wine country
• In Tunisia, traditional meals with old friends at a 300-400 year old family home, hearing the call to prayer throughout the day, and seeing artifacts in situ from at least three ancient powers (Arab, Roman, Punic/Carthaginian)
• In Tanzania, descending into the Ngorongoro Crater, seeing herds of elephants in Tarangire National Park, and spending an afternoon with hunter gatherers in a nearly extinct ethnic community (Hadzabe)
• In Italy, St. Peter’s Basilica and our daily Nutella gelato

Obviously traveling light helps when one moves every few days.  I had a daypack and a carry-on suitcase with wheels; as I bought souvenirs or cycled through books it was easy to send them home via mail or with people we met during the trip.  About half of my bag was actually made up of electronics, which could have been done a little better but not much.  I took a 14″ laptop, Canon SLR (20d), backup SLR (Rebel XTi), 17-55mm/2.8 lens, 100-400mm lens, extra batteries and cleaning supplies, a pocket sized camera (Canon SD450), and a 60GB iPod to back my photos up to.  I wasn’t thrilled with carrying around the 100-400mm zoom as it was longer, heavier, and lower quality than my 70-200mm, but given our time on safari it would have been a real loss to give up the 200mm-400mm range.  By the end of the trip (Italy) I was tired of carrying the SLR and pro-weight lenses and would have happily traded them for a high quality compact.  If I had bought a new laptop for the trip I would have targeted the smallest size (12″) that could still fit a large hard drive.  Although it would have been nice to ditch the laptop completely it was enormously useful for using WiFi and processing photos on the fly instead of facing a stack of tens of thousands of images to go through when we got home.

You can see all of the photo albums from the trip here.

I had a fantastic time in Tunisia – so much so that when people make me choose a favorite country from the trip I pick Tunisia. This had a lot to do with being able to spend time with local friends who could show me around and explain all of the cultural things I was seeing.

As an extremely brief primer for those who can’t place Tunisia, it’s a small country in North Africa between Libya and Algeria and just across the Meditteranean from Italy/Sicily.  It was a thriving Phoenician settlement from the 8th century BC, Roman/Byzantine from the 2nd century BC, Arab from the 7th century AD, and a French colony from 1889 to 1956.  Today it is 98% Arab & Muslim and moderately well off with a per capita GDP (PPP) around $8k, placing it between Colombia and Mexico in the wealth rankings.  Virtually everyone is bilingual in French and Arabic although English is not uncommon.  Its Mediterranean beaches are a common destination for budget European tourists but very few Americans ever get there. We spent a day in the country’s main city (Tunis) seeing the ruins of Carthage and the national museum, then proceeded to Kairouan for the remainder of the week.  Kairouan is a smaller city and actually has UNESCO World Heritage status due to its rich Islamic culture going back to the 7th century.  A regular tourist itinerary would have spent only about a day in Kairouan and then moved on to the southern/Sahara desert areas, the coastal resorts, and maybe an island or two in the Meditteranean; however since I was lucky enough to be visiting friends in Kairouan I relaxed a bit and was able to have a great time walking around town, eating home cooked meals, and marveling at North African history.  However the tourist attractions look amazing and I’ll hopefully get to visit them on our next trip (see Tunisia.com for some good explanations).

Tunisia is extremely well endowed with Roman era ruins, many of which have been reconstituted into Byzantine or Arab structures over the last 1500 years.  The irony  in the trip was that visiting Rome (the final stop) was a bit of a let down because I had to stand in lines and deal with masses of tourists when in Tunisia I saw things nearly as impressive by just walking up to them.  For example, in the photo album you can see the amphitheater at El Jem,  nearly as large as Rome’s Colosseum but with better access and 99% fewer tourists.

The coolest aspect of the trip was just enjoying the feel of being at home with friends in Kairouan.  Much of the old city dates back about a thousand years and the architecture remains largely traditional; three story houses that have room for several generations of a single family, all sharing a central courtyard.  My friend’s home was something like 300 or 400 years old and infinitely more functional than any 300 year old European home or, I think, many American homes 150 years old.  Despite being in the middle of the city amongst narrow streets and crowded markets the houses are a sanctuary of cool air and calm.

I will admit to having a few concerns about visiting an Arab/Muslim country as an American tourist in these times; however we had zero incidents of hostility, suspicion, or even anxiety.  Everyone I dealt with was friendly and I’m very much looking forward to going back as soon as possible. I realize it’s a destination that isn’t on most people’s radar so if you have any interest in going please drop me a line and I will be happy to tell you more.

South Africa photos are up. My itinerary wasn’t too adventurous, remaining solidly on the tourist track, but the landscape is spectacular and even in mid-winter the weather was too warm for anything but a light jacket. Cape Town earned my admiration for a fantastic poly-ethnic food culture at reasonable prices – like Houston but maybe even better.

From Cape Town I did quick day trips around Simon’s Town, Table Mountain, Cape Point, and the wine country. After a few days I headed southeast to Hermanus and from there to De Hoop nature reserve. Although I was only on the cusp of whale season I saw at least a couple dozen whales and a few dolphins and harbor seals as well.

Our first stop in Africa was Tanzania, and like most visitors we headed out for safari in the country’s national parks.  Although the country is one of the poorest in the world the safari experience consists of jumping from park to park in a daisy chain of good food, good accommodations, and innumerable wild animals.  Fees for the national parks are fairly high, limiting the number of folks crowding the roads and restricting the demographics of visitors to those willing to pay a for hot water and good food.  Thus we experienced a weird juxtaposition of “luxury” and “roughing it”.  About half of each day was spent getting knocked to pieces driving on rough and dusty roads, insects were always a problem, and amenities like internet service were unavailable.  Conversely the “tents” we stayed in had hot showers, 4 course dinners, and an army of wait staff to handle our bags, serve us coffee, or anything else to generate a tip.

Out in the parks we managed to see some incredible things; swarms of thousands of dragonflies, mating lions, herds of elephants, frolicking troops of baboons, and a bunch of predatory cats sitting around doing absolutely nothing.  Our favorite site was definitely the Ngorongoro Crater – it is just amazing to descend 2,000 feet into the crater of an extinct volcano and see a huge plain of grassland, marshes, and wild animals.  The natural boundaries in and out of the crater make it feel like the most incredible theme park I’ve ever seen.

The most surreal experience of our entire summer consisted of visiting a small band of Hadzabe Bushmen near Lake Eyasi. There are less than 800 Hadzabe people remaining and they all live in small nomadic groups on the barren volcanic highlands around Lake Eyasi.  After picking up a local who spoke their language and knew where to find a current campsite we took the Land Cruiser up to find them.  The hour or so we spent with them felt like something out of National Geographic – a “click” language, bare breasted women, an 11 year old bride, and using two pieces of wood to light the herb for their stone pipe.  The men go out hunting in the morning with poison arrows and, as you can see in our photos, managed to bag a frickin’ leopard with an arrow a few weeks before we got there.  My clunky writing skills make it impossible to convey how cool it was to visit the group but it is definitely something worth detouring to check out.

The new bride, age 11 or 12.  Tanzania photo album #2 (our Hadzabe visit)

I arrived in Beijing to find clouds, haze, and a breeze cool enough for long sleeves – all very welcome after spending a month melting in Southeast Asia.  Beijing is kind of surreal – intellectually it’s hard to reconcile the ultramodern freeways, malls, and skyscrapers with a country that, on average, is quite poor.  The disparity in wealth and amenities seems kind of like putting New York City in the middle of Bolivia, with all the consequent social tensions between the urbanites and traditionalists.

Although I’m getting to like Beijing more and more it has taken some time to warm up to.  I started with the notorious pollution, which gave me two days of depressing gray skies, 300 meter visibility, and obvious respiratory problems.  After being accustomed to walking around freely in the rest of Asia, Beijing’s sprawl, construction sites, and ideograph-only signage made exploring a little less fun.  Finally I had the pleasure of trying to change my travel arrangements without speaking the language or encountering anyone especially helpful.

I originally planned to spend a week in Tibet but in April a few Americans held a protest against the Chinese (PRC) occupation of the region. The PRC responded by disallowing all tourist travel to Tibet, later relaxed to allowing travel only when chaperoned every day by an official guide.  My first reaction was to blame the 4 American protesters who screwed it up for everyone else.  On further reflection it’s pretty obvious that the fault here lies with the PRC’s hamhanded response to any suggestion that the optimal form of government for the people of Tibet might be something other than occupation by PRC troops, systematic transfer of Han emigrants to crowd out traditional ethnic groups, etc.  At any rate I elected to nix that leg of the trip rather than jumping through all of these hoops and paying an egregious day rate to a chaperone.  Removing Tibet from the travel plans cost me a couple dozen hours plus $500 and, combined with things like currency controls and crappy censored internet access (Wikipedia and most blogs are blocked) left us with a general resentment of the PRC which has taken some time to overcome.

The other beef I will mention before moving on to why I’m starting to like it here is the language issue.  I’ve been spoiled with my other destinations by  having either plenty of English speakers around (Europe, Cambodia, India), speaking the language (Vietnam), or being able to fudge with sign language and cognates (Latin America).  China is completely different; the local words are very difficult to learn and pronounce and very few people speak any English.  If someone is speaking English to you, you are mostly likely either in a place catering primarily to foreigners or are in the process of getting scammed.  The first couple of days were tough – I imagine I had an experience about like a Chinese-only speaker would have if they showed up in Dallas with no English or Spanish skills.  For example, taking a taxi requires finding my destination in Chinese characters on the internet and taking a picture of the name so I can show it to the driver on the camera, or alternately a hotel concierge who understands where I’m trying to go and will transcribe the directions into Chinese for the cabdriver.  Dealing with airlines, train tickets, and other logistics is a nightmare without a translator since websites are not used much and reaching English speaking staff over the phone is like playing the lottery.  I am only trying to set expectations for other non-Mandarin speaking travelers, not trying to imply that everyone here is “bad” for not learning English.  However it is tough to imagine all of next year’s Olympic visitors getting around without similar headaches.

Once I settled in to Beijing I headed out for the country’s star attraction: counterfeit luxury goods.  The Silk Street market is 7 stories of small booths selling everything from fake North Face jackets to fake Rolex watches to fake silk bedding and fake chicken sandwiches.  I might be making that last one up but I might not.  The vendors are absolutely hysterical – they are aggressive like nobody I’ve ever seen and any one of them could teach a negotiation class at Wharton.  Walking down the aisles I got more female attention than I’ve ever imagined, with about a third of the girls actually grabbing me by the arm and physically trying to pull us into the stall.  Once you’re in you may be forced into a chair with a girl basically sitting on your lap to keep you from leaving before you find something you like.  If you do find something you can expect the vendor to offer a ludicrous price loosely in line with what a genuine article from an authorized seller would cost (“I make special deal for you because I want you to tell your friends to come here in 2008!!  No joke – lowest price for Polo shirt is $45”).  I ended up walking away with Polo T-shirts for $3 each, 2 knockoff Hermes watches for $11 together, and assorted Gucci and LV handbags for something like $20 each….but not without a lot of salespeople checking my forehead temperature because I was “sick” for making such low counteroffers.  The market can be either enormously stressful or kind of a fun game depending on how you calibrate your expectations going in.

Having filled duffel bag with knockoffs for people at home I was free to check out the rest of the city.  All the stories about the frenetic pace of construction here are true.  The sidewalks around the hotel seem to get torn up in the evening, worked on overnight, and be freshly set with marble flagstones by dinner the next day.  Every fourth block is a high rise building in progress, and many of the buildings have 3 or 4 tower cranes installed where the US would use 1 or 2.  Rumors are that as many as a million people in Beijing were relocated for Olympic related construction although the government officially claims that only 6,500 households were moved.  Even the 6,500 number is mind-blowing – can you imagine trying to displace this many families for the London Olympics?

Beijing’s literal and figurative centerpiece is the Forbidden City-Tiananmen Square complex.  The Forbidden City is the 600 year old cloistered quarters for Chinese emperors; they lived and worked amongst 9,999 buildings surrounded by a wall and moat to keep the common folk at bay.  While the size of the complex is massive there isn’t a whole lot of explanation in English, the best buildings are closed for pre-Olympic renovation, and at least half the complex is off limits to visitors.  The whole experience is a visual fugue – endless repetition on the theme of red buildings, yellow roof tiles, right angles, and big open rectangular spaces.  Across the street is Tiananmen Square, the largest public square in the world and most notorious meeting area in China.  Again the size and history are impressive but the square itself is….just a big square, surrounded by a couple of grandiose federal buildings you can’t get into.

The Great Wall at Huanghuacheng.  More Beijing photos

The highlight of the “old stuff” part of Beijing was walking along the Great Wall in the Yellow Flower area, a/k/a Huanghuacheng.  You’ve probably seen the photos or heard about the wall on the history channel but there’s nothing like struggling up the steep mountain sections of the wall to really appreciate the majesty of it.  This was probably the most fun I had at any of the sights in China; this section of the wall was gorgeous, combined both restored and unrestored sections, and remained completely free of hawkers and other tourists while I was there.

Towards the end of my time in the country I spent a couple of days in Xi’an, a city of 5 million people and another well worn spot on the tourist trail.  Xi’an’s primary claim to fame is the Terracotta Army, a collection of 8,000+ life size model soldiers buried to protect an emperor’s tomb in 200 BC.  However I really enjoyed Xi’an itself – it is much more pedestrian friendly than Beijing with a more manageable level of shopping, construction, hawkers, etc.

Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an.  More Xi’an photos

I have mixed feelings about China as a tourist destination; the place is amazing with hundreds of things worth seeing but the logistical headaches of traveling here are substantial.  If you have the chance to visit in the company of someone who speaks the language I would jump on it; alternately I’d consider going with a tour group that provides a translator (the horror!) or at the very least trying to maximize the planning and booking you can do stateside rather than waiting until you get here and struggling with communication.