a travel guide to the adventurous life
Part III
by shaun roundy
| Index America Taiwan Hong Kong China Taiwan China America |
If there's one thing I've learned from |
Main Index | Multi-Genre | Persuasive
Fragrant Harbor
September 5, and I flew away from Taiwan for a three week vacation in Mainland China. Shannon, Mike, and Vicki, a Chinese friend, were there for hugs and a few tears. I'm glad I was sad to leave--it's proof that I had started over successfully, that Taiwan had become my home, that I had made good use of the past five months.
Once in Hong Kong, I applied for a visa to China through Small World Travel Company and spent four days reading and writing while staring over the water and getting equipped for China hopping--Nike hiking shoes and a solid internal frame back pack.
Translated, Hong Kong means fragrant harbor; "fragrant," of course, being in the nose of the beholder.
Limbo I
At Stanley’s Market, on the far side of Hong Kong Island, I found a comfortable backpack. Along Nathan Avenue on Kowloon, I found hiking shoes. Everywhere in between, I found all the other necessities for my three-week China vacation. Finally, along the Kowloon shore, I found myself gazing across the Harbor, waiting one more day for my Chinese visa to come through.
I had picked up a few books and tried to read while the refreshing ocean breeze blew off the harbor and through my hair. When I tired of reading, I would try to think. But I found nothing to think about.
My life in Taiwan had fallen behind me, but not far enough for me to look back and learn from it, to straighten out the new thoughts growing inside my head. Taiwan was not far away enough to find comfort in memories of close friends and good times.
My future, on the other hand, only a day away, was too far. I could not project my thoughts forward to prepare for what I would encounter, because I had no idea what to expect. When I ordered my ticket into China, I didn’t even know what city I wanted to go to. The girl at the travel agency said that most backpackers started in Canton, so I told her that would be fine. I’d figure out the rest as I went along.
It’s true that the present is the only time you ever really have, but that present usually tends to be very closely tied to both the present and past. With everything behind me or before me, neither staying nor going, I drifted in limbo.
Limbo II
It would have been different if I hadn’t been alone. While I’m very independent in many ways, adventure, beauty, exploration, etc, are comparatively drab and boring when not shared.
I guess I live through others. I need to see the excitement in their eyes. I need to push our boundaries, maybe because if I pushed my own much further, I’d be risking my life or safety, which I’d rather not do seriously.
Together, we could have found plenty to do. explored other areas(it’s cool to know the world, but not alone--you want memories that others get excited about as well.) sat and talked. seen a show even.
If someone had been with me, we’d have found plenty to do, I’m convinced. could have talked and explored, discovered, explored ourselves as well. found new territory within and without.
without realizing it, I found what happens to someone who lives through others when they’re alone too long.
no mirror, nothing to explore. maybe it’s typical to be lonely, so maybe that means we’re all mirrors and we all live through others to a large degree, we depend on them for revaluation.
sitting on kowloon. fun to know your way around the world, make places real, try to recognize spots on tv or in movies. and this was it--this was the world.
but not so fun when you're alone.
For the Children I
"I want you to have this flower on behalf of the Children's Relief Fund."
Dark hair, mustache, the man flashed me a few documents to "prove" the legitimacy of his cause and asked me to sign his book.
"K, but I can't afford to give you any money." His motives were clear, but I didn't mind the break from my book.
"Fine, don't worry about that."
I signed someone else's name and waited for the next line.
"Now, write a number in this column."
It was clearly a dollar amount donation column, he was tricky! "Okay, but I won't be giving you any money."
I wrote 300, the number "others" had written, but when I wouldn't give him the dollars, he got mad and asked me to return the flower.
For the Children II
"I want you to have this flower on behalf of the Children's Relief Fund."
Dark hair, mustache, a bit shorter than the first donation collector, he reached out to pin the flower to my collar.
"That's okay," I said as I brushed his hand away. My collar was too near my passport in my front pocket. I'd have to remember to move that to my money belt the next chance I got.
That afternoon, I picked up my ticket for the overnight ferry to Canton and carried my pack to the docks.
A Three Hour Tour
(to the tune of Gilligan's Island)
The ferry left only forty five minutes late. It was impressive, maybe a hundred yards long, but no bar and no band played on deck.
Once on board, I tossed my things on a bed in my tiny cabin, then went up on deck to meet other passengers and try to find some traveling partners. The first couple I talked to seemed suspicious and nervous. They must have been novices at the third-world-backpacking routine. I walked to the edge of the ship, leaned against the rail, and watched the lights of Hong Kong and Macao slide gently by on the water's surface and disappear into the darkness of the Pearl River.
Twenty feet toward the front of the boat stood another couple. The girl was English, and complained to the American guy that at American universities, you could get a degree in absolutely anything at all--including logging. The American took her accusations with a laugh and defended logging degrees with mock conviction. By the time the boat reached Canton just after dawn, we had become a trio on our way to Beijing.
Flora was from London, and Matthew, originally from Viet Nam, now lived in New York. Both were students in the capitol. Matthew invited me to stay at his dorm at the Beijing Language Institute--the country's top language school--for the week that I planned to be in the city, and the week passed by all too quickly.