DanDong: Peeking into the lives of North Koreans

At the end of March I went on a weekend trip to Dandong, a few hours drive North from the city I live in.  I went with a group of about 30 other teachers from the Maple Leaf high school and elementary school.  We had a big tour bus with two guides to lead us around the whole weekend.  It was a quick weekend trip, and so I was grateful to have people who organized everything for me and simply told me when to get on and off the bus.  Transport in China can be a big pain when you can only speak a few phrases to the taxi driver, and they often overcharge anyone heading to a tourist destination.  The bus was not authentic China, but it certainly was easy!

The reason we were travelling to Dandong was because it is one of the borders to North Korea.  The spot became famous during the Korean War (which is the title we know it as, but in China it is called the War of American Aggression).  It was a great chance to view history from another standpoint. I believe it was a weekend to benefit me as a social studies teacher, and as a world citizen.  The Chinese and Korean perspective was at times hilarious, but definitely worth hearing.  I am also grateful that we had a Chinese guide telling us all about the events.  He was very honest about what propaganda he was taught as a child, and about some of the stories the government still profess to be true.  No one will ever know the full history and truth of a war, but I now have some of the information from the other side.

The Yalu River at night

When we arrived in the evening we went to the bombed out bridge on the Yalu River.  The Yalu crosses between China and North Korea.  The bridge was bombed by the Americans during the war and the remains were left standing.  As you can see in the picture, the lights end half-way across the river, where the bridge deck ends.  Now there is a completed bridge beside the ruins, which brings loads of food to North Korea, and brings back an occasional load of coal.  The North Korean side of the river was dark, except for the governor's house.  People cannot afford to pay for electricity.  My first glimpse into North Korea was definitely an erie one.

The fake ferris wheel

Chinese soldiers and a veteran

The following morning we began our day back by the bridge.  We were able to see a group of young soldiers being taught by a Korean War veteran.  He even sang one of the old war songs.  It was a great sight to see, and I only wish I could have understood his story.  Our guide says he was telling a story about a battle he participated in.  

We walked to the end of the bridge, and could see a bit of the North Korean side by daylight.  There was a fake fair ground that was built after the war, which does not actually work or run.  A few men were fishing.  All in all it looked fairly normally...but strangely quiet and dead.  The riverside of a busy town should be packed with people and business, but in North Korea it was simply quiet.  The few men who were out were all dressed alike, in the typical China winter coat.  

An early tank

After the bridge we headed to the Museum of American Aggression.  It was a giant museum and very well organized.  The write ups were all extremely strongly worded - speaking out against the "tricks of the United Nations" and the "greed of the controlling Americans."  Personally, I ate it up.  I spent the whole two hours weaving my way through the giant display.  It was uniquely Chinese mix of truth and propaganda.  We were simply told to make sure we did not laugh aloud at the more overt examples of untruth!  However much was lies, the fact is the war brought a great amount of suffering to the Chinese people.  The government was sending out troops that were were already half starved, armed with weapons with no ammunition.  

Leah and Chris dressed up in their war garb (only 10 kuai at the museum)

Continuing on with our busy day, we made a brief lunch stop and then headed out on a boat tour.  We bundled up warmly and covered up our American looking faces beneath our coats, and were grouped onto boats.  As strange as this may sound, we were grouped by who looked the most Asian.  This did not make us feel particularly safe, as they were pretty adamant that the boat load of white people would be the least welcome.  I was placed on the whitest of boats, and roared off towards North Korea.  Although it was unnerving it was certainly interesting.  We bribed the guards with a pack of thrown cigarettes (worth a few months pay) and peered into their lives.  We could mostly only see guards holding giant loaded guns.   We were told to be discreet about taking photos, as there have been horror stories of guards having their families "cleared" by the government for taking bribes.  

It is hard to believe that an entire country can be run this way.  You can take a tour into North Korea, but would be entirely government sponsored - so they would show you what they want you to see.  That generally means busy halls full of actors pretending to be happy North Koreans.  I think my tour across the river was enough.  With North Korea in the news so much lately, it was good for me to learn a bit more.  All I can say is....what a crazy world we live in.

North Koreans standing guard

A snippet of the Great Wall

After the boat we headed to the Great Wall for a nice little hike.  This section of the wall was not near as impressive as the Wall in Beijing, was it was still an incredible sight.  It was nice to just get some fresh air and exercise after the heavy sights of the morning.  After a few hours of hiking we headed home for the evening.  

Conquering the mountain in our sweet Chinese sweatpants

The next morning we went to Phoenix Mountain to "conquer" the mountain.  Our guide's limited English was a great motivation for our climb.  It was essentially a hike up steps carved into rock.  There was supposed to be a chance to turn around for the "easy" version, but the announcement was missed and we were all sent to the top.  I was a "bit" grumpy, but the sun and exertion gradually lulled me into a better mood.  The hike was quite lovely, even if I had to squeeze myself through a little cave!  After reaching the top we took a rickety chairlift to the bottom and headed for a much needed late lunch.  

After a few hours drive we arrived back home to Dalian.  It was an interesting weekend, and I am glad I went.  I would not have been able to see as much as I did without a guide, and gain as much background information.  I feel I am a (slightly) better resident of China after this trip into the history of the country.

North Korea on the left, China on the right

Meg and I sharing one last hug before heading into North Korean waters

Our sketchy chairlift to the bottom

Covering up my whiteness

Qindao'in It!

This year I was a Model UN sponsor teacher at school.  Our club has about 60 students, and we took 3 trips to other cities in China throughout the year.  I was able to chaperone a trip to a city just south of us called Qin Dao (pronounced Ching Dow).

Our disgusting prize for "Best Club at Maple Leaf"

On a Wednesday afternoon we loaded our students up into the bus and headed towards the airport.  After about 20 minutes of driving our bus got a flat tire, and it was quite the ordeal to communicate with our driver that if the new driver did not arrive soon we would miss our flight.  We were able to (slowly) get a new vehicle, and it was the longest drive to the airport I have ever experienced.  Although I was obviously grateful he kept the kids safe, we cut our airport arrival too close and the only reason we made it on the plane was the fact that our flight was 45 minutes late.  After getting fifteen kids through airport security we loaded them onto a plane and took off for Qin Dao.  

A shot of the General Assembly

The conference was held at the most fancy hotel I have ever stayed in and the kids were really excited about their large clean rooms, cozy beds and bathtubs.  I was lucky enough to be the only female chaperone, so I got my own room!  

The conference began early on Thursday morning and went until Saturday afternoon.  The students spent their time making speeches, merging their resolutions with other "countries," and debating over their proposed ideas.  There was about 350 students participating in the conference, and our students were divided between 5 different forums.  Everything was done in English, and I was really impressed with how well they did and how confident they were speaking in front of such large audiences.  

One of our students making a speech in the Human Rights Council

It was a great place to chaperone, because all the events were held in the hotel - and the conference organized all the transportation for us.  Organizing a field trip is always a great task as a teacher, but being in China and not speaking the language makes it a hundred times more difficult.  Communicating with our student's parents to get permission is even a challenge!  However once we arrived at the event the students were very well behaved and it was easy to rotate from room to room, keeping track of the kids.  They had a few events in the evening and it was fun to see our super studious students relax and just play camp games.  They had a great time, got to meet a few new people, and take a break from tests and books.

My fancy hotel room 

We arrived home late on Saturday evening.  The kids were all exhausted, and I was pretty done in myself!  It was a great trip, and I look forward to more trips with MUN in the future!  Our next step is a Maple Leaf MUN conference we are putting on in May, that for some crazy reason I volunteered to direct.  At least I have a great conference to model it after!

The very intense Security Council 

Phuket and Parents

The last stop on my vacation was Patong Beach, Phuket.  My parents were able to come and visit me in Thailand, and they went to Bangkok and Phuket.  I hadn't seen them in six months, so I was pretty stoked for some family time.  We arrived in Phuket in the late afternoon, and then went on the hunt for my parents' hotel.  It was definitely not where we thought it was, but eventually we had to hop in a cab and it was discovered!  We spent the first evening catching up over some good food and then headed for bed to get ready for an afternoon tour the next day.

**My camera broke after Koh Samui, and so I do not have any pictures from my camera of Phuket.  This means that although I have no documentation of myself and my parents together - it did happen.  I swear.**

Busy Patong Beach

The next morning we went on a half day jam packed tour.  We learned all about coconuts, rice products, buffalo, and elephant training.  Although it was pretty busy it was actually really interesting.  We also got to have an elephant ride, and see a pretty awesome training show with some young elephants.  They are so stinking adorable.  My mom was not so enthused about the elephant riding, but she survived.  After a tasty dinner with some sparky old British ladies, we headed home in a jeep.  We thought we had signed up for some sort of jeep off-roading adventure - but they simply drove us back to our hotel in a jeep.

Karst formations

Gypsy Island

The next few days we mostly spent lazing by the pool, reading and swimming.  Phuket is ridiculously hot if you venture too far from the pool during the day time hours.  It was lovely to relax with my family.  In the evenings we went out to explore and shop a little bit.  My dad discovered the fish spa and absolutely loved it.  I figured that once was enough for me though!

One evening we had dinner with Karl and Val (my China parents).  It was pretty awesome to see my two worlds coming together.  Despite the blogging and emailing, it is really difficult to paint a picture of how different my life is in China.  It was just cool to see both sides coming together (and to have some helping voices explain how crazy this country is!).

James Bond!

One day we signed up for James Bond Island tour.  The film "The Man With the Golden Gun" was filmed in the area, and they had quite a business of filling boats of tourists to the island and setting them up for photo ops.  We headed out early to the other side of the island to get on a jet boat.  It was a beautiful ride through small islands and karsts.  We stopped twice for canoe rides through caves.  The first stop was short, but still great.  We went through a small cave into a beautiful hidden bay.  The second canoe ride was the best though.  We were taken through a giant cave filled with bats, and on the other side was a cove full of monkeys!  Exiting the cave you had to duck to make it through.  At higher tide it would not be possible.

A packed Patong street.

After our canoeing we were loaded back into the big boat to go to the famous island.  We took a plethora of photos and then hiked around the rock cliffs.  Well, my dad, Nic and I hiked around the rock cliffs.  After James Bond Island we went to the floating gypsy village.  It was created when the settlers who came from Malaysia could not find enough room to stay.  So they created floating docks off of the land instead.  Over the years it has expanded, and now there is no settlement on the land - only on the water.  It would be a pretty strange live to live on a giant dock your whole life!  They even had a soccer field and a small school!  After lunch we headed to a beach for a few hours of sun and swimming, and then headed home for the evening.

Proof I saw my lovely parents

Another day in Phuket we headed down to the beach to sign up for some watersports. Nic and I wanted to go parasailing, but they only took you out for about a 3 minute ride!  (Plus they wanted Nic to hang off the top with no belt).  We quickly decided that banana boating was the better option, so we made my mom ride on the rickety wooden boat to take pictures and the rest of us climbed on.  It was a ton of fun, and it brought me back to my years of summer camp - riding the waves with a cabin full of kids.  On our last fall I landed on my dads ribs at full speed though, and he was moving pretty slowly for the next few days!

One of the stops on our James Bond tour

Getting driven around

Our time in Phuket passed quickly, but we had long lazy days.  All together we were there about a week and a half.  Nic left one day, my parents left the next, and I was left alone and sad my vacation was coming to an end!  I was alone for about 8 hours in Phuket - and to console myself I bought a bunch of jumpers, about 3 smoothies, and two desserts.  It is a good thing I did not travel by myself because my trip would have been so expensive!

Late in the evening I went to the airport to spend the night curled up on a bench, and then flew to Bangkok and back to China the next morning.  I was home by about midnight on Saturday night, and had to go to work on Monday morning.

A not so hidden cove, piled with canoes

My five week vacation was incredible, and I already can't wait until next year!  Thailand is an amazing place to travel, and I was certainly not tired of it after five weeks (though the Thai government was tired of me, and I had to pay a fine for overstaying my limit!).  I saw everything I wanted to see, relaxed plenty and was active plenty.  I stayed well under my budget, got to catch up with friends, and spend quality time with my family.  It was a fabulous trip and I can't wait to go on another!

One of the monkeys in the cove.

Paddling Around Koh Phi Phi

Near the end of our trip, we arrived in the area of Krabi.  It was a pretty long bus ride across the country, so we spent one night in Krabi town before heading to Koh Phi Phi.  We didn't see much of Krabi town, and I am not convinced that there is much to see.  There was another amazing market though, and I had a great evening trolling for delicious treats.  There was a performance going on as well, and we were treated to little break-dancers doing their best moves and mini pop stars belting it out.  It was hilarious and super cute.  Mostly hilarious though.  The area was affordable, and probably would have more to offer if we had more time.

The Krabi area is one of the hottest in Thailand, and it was definitely a change from the cooling breezes of Samui.  We had one morning in Krabi before getting on the ferry, and so we tried to explore.  We had to keep stopping for ice cream and slushies though, so we did not get farther than the park.

The greenery of Phi Phi

After a quick jaunt on the ferry we arrived on Koh Phi Phi (pronounced P P).  We had booked a hostel ahead, and there was someone waiting on the pier with a sign for us.  PP has no roads, and so it can be a bit difficult to navigate if you are not sure where your hostel is located.  The man led us to the edge of town and loaded our bags up into a push cart.  He disappeared for about half an hour, but we figured he meant for us to wait (you quickly get used to this travelling in Thailand.  People are always pushing you on busses, sticking colour coded stickers on your shirt, and shoving you onto ferries).  When he returned he jetted off pushing our giant bags in a metal cart, and we breathlessly chased after him.  At high speed he pushed our bags all the way across the town (not a large town of course, but a decent size!).  He then loaded us and our bags into a mini little truck to drive up the mountain side.  We were dumb enough to choose the view hostel, and it was a pretty steep climb to the top.  The mini truck only went up and down the hill all day long.  However, it did not go down the hill, turn around, then go back up.  It simply went down the hill, was eased into reverse, and then navigated slowly back up the tiny path.  It was a sketchy and tiring trip to the top - but we made it.  Our poor little bell boy was drenched in sweat and ready to pass out when he delivered our bags up the many steep steps to our room.  It was quickly agreed that we would not be going up and down those stairs any more than needed!

The boxing ring where tourists can fight each other.  A very classy place.

After a swim in the pool to cool off, we headed into the village area.  PP was hyped up for me as the most beautiful place I will ever see so I was pretty excited.  However, when we arrived at the beach the tide was out and it was so ugly!   We had to wade out about 400 meters for the water to be over our knees, and sustained many cuts and scrapes from dead coral on the way.  I was filled with dread that we had made the wrong choice in coming to PP!  

After our disappointing jaunt to the beach we wandered through town to find some dinner.  The town area is actually really neat as it is just a jumble of small walking paths.  It is easy to walk in circles and get a little disorientated as the paths are only wide enough for about four or five people across.  I love the idea that the island runs without roads and I thoroughly enjoyed checking it out.  We even found a boxing ring that we hoped contained Thai boxing.  However, it was just a show for tourists to fight one another for free food and drinks.  We did not participate!

Seeking out fishies

Found them!

The next day we headed out early to rent a kayak.  When we arrived at the beach we were relieved that it actually was ridiculously beautiful.  The sun was shining, the water was clear and turquoise, the hillsides were green - it was amazing.  We kayaked to Monkey Beach (actually full of wild monkeys) and snorkelled for about an hour.  We were able to spot some pretty amazing fish, even though the water was pretty busy with swimmers.   Then we headed over to a more hidden beach for some suntanning and more snorkelling.  Unfortunately the camera died before we got there, but it was awesome.  There were about three other people, and giant rock jutting straight out of the water right in the middle of the little bay where hundreds of fish were seeking out some shade.  We slowly made our way back to shore, and arrived exhausted from the paddling and the heat.  All in all we were out for about 6 hours.  It was a tiring adventure, but well worth it.

What you picture when you think of Thailand

Kayaking!

We spent the evening checking out the city again, and the next morning we just relaxed by the pool and then headed to the ferry.  We could have spent much longer on PP kayaking, snorkelling or learning scuba, but we had to keep going because my parents were coming to Thailand!  After an afternoon on a boat we landed on the largest island - Phuket.

Monkey island!

Sand and Sunburn on Samui

The next stop on the exploration of Thailand was the island of Koh Samui.  Samui is one of the largest islands, and a bit more expensive.  However, we really enjoyed our time there - and ending up spending about a week.  

As soon as we arrived on Samui it started pouring rain.  We were able to succesfully run to our place before the main downfall, and waited it out inside until it had somewhat cleared.  We had booked ahead a spot in the Chaweng area, but it ended up being totally out of the way of everything.  Google maps can be so deceiving when you don't know the area!  It was a cute little place, but I found a cockroach....so we moved the next day.  Nick pretended that he had picked it up and put it outside, but I knew better.

When the skies cleared we headed out to find some food (and where everyone else on the island was).  After seeing a stormy beach and downing some burgers, we headed back to our hostel.  However, the craziest rain storm of my life began about five minutes into our walk!  It was as if I was in a high pressure shower!  Although equipped with umbrellas, it was useless to even open them.  We finally were able to hail down a cab to rescuse us - but it didn't really matter because after mere minutes we were soaked straight through!  

Nice towels...not so nice bugs.

The start of the storm

After moving to a more central hotel, we settled into a routine for a few days of relaxing on the beach, eating delicious food, and checking out the market shopping.  The beaches of Chaweng were a bit crowded, and it wasn't really my style.  Still there were benefits to a crowded beach because you could get ice cream and corn delivered to your seat, and it was easy to steal plates of food from crowded BBQs.  If you are looking to meet new people, then Chaweng beach is the place to be.  I just wanted a relaxing place to nap and read, so we headed up the beach to Lamai after a few days.

My favourite Thai snack - mango with sticky rice.

Fresh corn on the cob!

Lamai is a less touristy area, with a smaller beach.  Rather than busy hotels, it was filled with cozy resorts full of old retirees and a smattering of young honeymooners.  I spent the first day planted firmly on my pool chair, getting thoroughly sunburned.  The lady who ran the resort was a bit shocked to see backpackers at her door, but she was welcoming and lovely.  The next day we climbed up one of the local mountains to check out the view, and then returned poolside for the afternoon.  The "hike" was essentially straight up a mountain road, so the rest was well deserved.  I think that we spent three days in Lamai, and too be honest it was one of my highlights.  I know that sounds super lazy (three days of doing nothing), but it was lovely.  Sometimes it is nice to take a break from run down hostels and treat yourself (if travelling is not treat enough).  We got a ridiculously good deal on the place, and it was well worth it.  We kept the bills down by trekking to 711 for snacks and treats, and spent the evenings watching English TV (a treat to me now!).

The stairs up to the pool

Climbing up a mountain road

 Checking out the ocean

Resort view.

Samui was not recommended to me as a place to visit, and we actually accidentally spent more time there than we intended.  However, I really enjoyed my time there - and think it is worth going back to.  There was plenty to see, and ample opportunity to relax.  We had to keep to a timeline though, and so onwards we went to Koh Phi Phi!

How I spent most of my time....fast asleep.