Woke up, grabbed breakfast at the hotel, and got on the road to Yuli, up the east coast.
We made it to a guest house and checked out a tea plantation.
For Dinner, we walked around and found dumplings. The stall next to us was Jesus themed.
Woke up, grabbed breakfast at the hotel, and got on the road to Yuli, up the east coast.
We made it to a guest house and checked out a tea plantation.
For Dinner, we walked around and found dumplings. The stall next to us was Jesus themed.
We woke up, got breakfast at the hotel, and then drove around the southern tip of the island. We started by heading out to the lighthouse, then just toured around.
Walked across a suspension bridge to a little nature walk to the beach. Pretty nice!
After, we grabbed beef noodle soup, but not the beef noodle soup, dumplings, and headed back to the hotel. aAound sunset we walked down to the beach, hung out there for a bit. When we got back, we filled the jacuzzi/bsth/o-furo on the patio of our room and hung out. everyone else was in bed by 8:30.
We got up and got breakfast at the hotel, then walked over to the pier 2 art district. along the way, we walked through a park where old women were doing the flappy arm thing Ali Wong talks about and got some boba.
The art district turned out to be a bunch of really cute boutiques, so we had some fun shopping around.
At one, we headed over to the Rose House at the former British consulate for afternoon tea. Not bad!
After tea, we picked up our bags and rental car and drove to Kenting. When we arrived, we found a pretty posh hotel, grabbed some dinner, and then passed out.
Bad count: 0
Got off the plane, breezed through CBP, met up with Wade. It’s adorable seeing the two of the, together. They’ve been apart for about 24 hours, and both of them were practically glowing seeing each other.
Grabbed a couple steamed pork buns and a (surprisingly good) cappuccino at the airport, and then got on the train to the high speed rail, headed to…..somewhere. On the platform, we discussed how amazing high speed rail is. If Elon gets his way, it would be entirely realistic for me to go down to LA for brunch with Claire or Anand. Ugh, NIMBYs.
We got off the train, stashed our bags in lockers at the station, and then walked around the Lotus Pond, checking out the pagodas and tiger dragon man sculptures. After, we checked into our hotel, dropped our bags, showered (finally!) and got ready to head out.
The night market scene here is similar to Thailand, except clean, and (stinky tofu aside) not malodorous, so really only like Thailand in the barest sense.
bao count:12
Woke up around 8, got up by ten. had a cup of cofffee, considered starting to pack. it’s amazing, because just two years ago, I remember packing for a few week trip being a big deal. Now it’s almost an afterthought. ran a few errands, went climbing. showered, polished my boots, then finished throwing stuff in a bag. Broke down and decided to bring both computers. Met up with Dina, Blake, Hannah and Colin at Pesce e Riso for dinner, then stopped in at Lloyd’s for a bit of holiday cheer.
Got to the airport with plenty of time, but the check in line was huge, so they ended up pulling us and giving us all priority boarding. The flight itself was super easy, I slept through most of it. Dry, but otherwise unremarkable.
Woke up at 3:30 after going to bed around midnight to make the drive from Hinton to Calgary. The girls passed out most of the trip, while Wade and I passed the time bitching about work and admiring the landscape as it changed from pitch black mountains to sunny mornings over farmland. It’s a real pretty area.
All in all, pretty cool, but it didn’t compare to other days.
Got a nice dinner at Fiddle River. I had elk stroganoff that was amazing. Not gamey at all and amazing flavor. Wade had a wild game meatloaf that was super dense and tasty as hell.
We did some other hikes (where we mostly got eaten alive by mosquitoes), but really the only thing that matters is the valley of the five lakes. Holy crap.
In honor of Canada day, and not at all because everyone was feeling pretty rough, so we didn’t set alarms and slept in. I woke up a bit before everyone else and made crepes, nominally for Tiffany’s birthday. Sophie even bought a little candle that sung happy birthday in a wonderfully derpy way.
After breakfast, we lounged around until it was time to leave for tea. Once in the car, I promptly passed out for almost the entire hour drive. The tea itself was unremarkable, but the spread was astounding. Salmon , mushroom, and, tomato bruschetta, full sized egg salad sandwiches, scones, and a dessert spread that was incredible. We didn’t finish it all.
After, we drove out to Maligne Lake (I passed out again). Wade and I found a shady spot by the lake and took a nap while Tiffany and Sophie explored. Naps accomplished, we took a stroll along the lake.
The drive home was beautiful, then we made pizza and went to bed.
It was an “easy” day. Just 6 hours of driving and 12 miles of hiking, including hiking up the the side of a 10’k peak at sunset. We started at 11 and got to the new place at 2am.