Today we experienced the real China. We were out doing some shopping today and decided to walk across the bridge and see what was on the other side. And boy did we find it. The first thing we encountered was a street vendor selling tiger parts, various heads of different animals and dried sea horses that were laid out on the street to dry. I wanted to take a picture of the tiger paws but thought better of it. I did not want to have my camera taken away by angry locals. We discovered that we were in the middle of a very large street market that sold anything you can imagine. You will need to check out the pictures on dropshots.com. I took lots of pictures of the various wares that were for sale. Some of it was kind of disturbing. But it was very interesting to venture into a market system that has been operating pretty much in this fashion for 100’s of years. It was kind of intimidating but not scary at all. How often do you get to see a turtle “prepared” in the gutter right before your eyes. I plan to go back and take some video.
We went with the group to a wholesale toy warehouse type place. I felt like I was in the middle of the “Oriental Trading Company” catalog. It was hot, crowded, and there was nothing there of any interest to us so we hopped in a cab and headed back to the hotel. Now the cab rides in China are not for the faint of heart. I was holding Hannah and trying not to slam into the window while the driver “expertly” maneuvered through the afternoon rush hour traffic. Cars, pedestrians, bikes, and motorcycles all share the same lanes of traffic and somehow manage to mostly avoid running into each other. We learned immediately do not walk out in front of an on coming car. They will not stop.
We went out for a group dinner at a local Thai restaurant. I ordered rice and seafood served in a hollowed out pineapple. It sounded kind of exotic but tame enough. Well, the seafood included tiny whole squids and octopuses plus lots of chopped up pieces of the same. There were a few shrimp added in as well. I found a whole octopus hiding in the bottom and pulled it out to admire. The gentleman sitting across from me dared me to eat it. So guess what I did? Yep down the hatch. It was kind of chewy, but not bad. I thought his wife was going to faint.
Hannah is just as sweet as she can be. I say that even though she just got through a pretty good temper tantrum, but she is over it now. She still has not attached to either of us and is pretty indifferent to us. This is something that we are going to have to work hard on.
Tomorrow we are going on a group trip to a local park and then for some shopping. Sounds expensive. We are enjoying our visit to China but I think we are both more than ready to come home. We miss everyone terribly.
Pat |
