China

Unusual for an intensive travel I write my travel experience at the end of the journey. I’m currently on the final flight from Dubai to Vienna and just an hour travel time is left.

The previous two weeks I have been travelling with the Austrian Journalist Club (OeJC) through China. Starting from Shanghai over Shenzhen to Xi’an and finally spending a few days in Beijing we had a very intensive Journey. The daytime was always full of official meetings and learning to know country and people in more detail. After dinner night-life has started and we wanted to come in touch with the locals to get a better picture about China. It was very helpful for us to have as much controversial influences as possible.
Our first stop in Shanghai was a great beginning. Starting the journey in such a bustling city was an easy introduction to an uprising country. Everything is everywhere on the jump to become bigger and better. Maxims are standard in common vocabulary and the direction of progress is fast forward. I have been already 12 years ago in Shanghai and the change has been very dramatically. The development zone around the oriental pearl tower was fully completed, the Olympic Games have been held and now the Expo 2010 is going on. The transformation is of course not finished. In Shanghai still construction is going on as in the rest of China. Everywhere old buildings are wrecked down and new constructions erected. Also thousands of people are relocated in focus of national development.

The Expo 2010 is a perfect showcase to get an idea about the speed and seriousness of the wish to become a modern economy. We have visited the Expo twice and the dimensions of the exhibition area and the buildings are breathtaking. The most imposing landmark and one of the few buildings, which will remain after the Expo, is the Chinese pavilion. It is a red giant and constructed based on traditional buildings.
Shenzhen in the south is an uprising city with a long historical background. Many low wage industries are located there and its home to a big industrial development zone.  Thousands of farmers have been converted to industrial workers and their fames had to make place to new streets and buildings of all kind.
The next big stop was in the geometric middle of the country – Xi’an. Well known for history and the roots of unified China. The first dynasty has been there. World famous was the terracotta army of the first Dynasty. We’ve visited the national museum, the terracotta army and an Austrian-Chinese joint venture before heading to Beijing.

The capital city was the final stop on our tour through China. It was also a good example for the meaning of the words “big” and “mega”. Everything there is simply bigger than usual. Distances, building, squares streets etc.. Just around the corner usually means a short drive from 15 to 45 minutes. Walking just one block can be a nightmare just walking around for ages. There are many hotspots in the city like an art district, night market, Forbidden City and so on.

My personal impression from this trip is that I want to come back again and see how the nation can cope with the rapid transformation from a communistic society to a hi-tech country. It seems for me that there are a lot of efforts to make a better future like going green. At the other hand there are still a lot of restrictions that make it hard to believe that this kind of changes will be in a short time. Many people still are stuck in the system of former times and there are just a few signs of a transformation to a new democracy.

The Dragon Has Landed - Back In Austria

It's now almost a week now that I'm back in Austria and I still try to get used to "good" old Austria. I'm almost finished rearranging the apartment. During the travel a friend stayed in the apartment and she has had her stuff also in the apartment together with the other stuff that was already in. Now I am cleaning, washing clothes, organising winter gear and working on the computer. The stupid computer reboots every hour and I haven't found the reason yet. I have the feeling that this will cost me many hours to solve.

The trip back was quite a nightmare. Especially the part from the Dominican Republic to San Francisco. American airlines really suck. It's literally like riding on a truck stuffed full of people. No service, no fun! The biggest surprise was for me how luggage can be treated. In Atlanta I was sitting above the cargo door and could see how my luggage was loaded. First my two bags were thrown on the conveyor belt very rudely. At the baggage checkout before I had to remove a broken bottle of fine 8 year old rum because the bag was thrown around! I was in fear that that could happen again. Then I saw my surfboard. It was on top of the cart and to be sent up as the last and bulky piece. The baggage handler just threw it on the conveyor belt and didn't waste a second look on it before he took off to get another full cart. In the meantime the surfboard almost slipped of the belt and was ready to fall down. Luckily the guy came back in the last moment and threw it on the belt again. It was just the same as before. The board didn't get up and got stuck. This time the guy kicked it from the conveyor belt to free it for the upcoming luggage. The surfboard pack has fallen down at least from 1,5m height. Needless to mention that a surfboard is very fragile and it was also clearly labelled as fragile!! I was shocked and the worst thing was that I couldn't do anything. The guy was out there on the apron area and I was in the plane. I was sooo mad!
Fortunately nothing happened. My two bars of cigarettes have saved my boards and I have used a lot of protective layers for safty.


Today I have exchanged my surfboard to a snowboard. If everything is fine I get a chance to go snowboarding at the weekend. In Austria there is still a lot of snow at the moment and I have missed snowboarding and the Alps really much. Back I will continue with my tasks and with picture processing, I still have a lot in the queue to process. Even the photos of the Africa trip need to be processed. I sure can say that it will not get boring in the near future.

Leaving The Caribbean

Finally my long trip is almost over. The bags are packed and everything is prepared for my leave tomorrow. Today there was no wind and also no people on the beach. It is really surprising here at "kite beach". Usually nice beaches in the Caribbean are packed with people. Here it just depends on the wind of the beach is full or not. Yesterday more than 60 kites where out in the water and a lot of spectators, instructors and friends on the beach. Today: not more than 10 people over the whole beach on a nice sunny day.

Leaving Cabarete is now a welcomed change for me. I love the Caribbean but I must admit that I prefer Bali over all. Maybe I start once a rum and cigar business there to adopt it too my needs ;)) Kitesurfing turned out to be quite nice but not overexciting. Its just the same bunch of people that preferred windsurfing a while ago. Surfing in the Caribbean is challenging but only to find some bigger waves. The surf beach Encuentro is truly a nice spot for surfing and relaxing. There are just a few people and mainly surfers and affiliates. The surf is as mentioned not too big and pretty shallow because of the coral reef. Several surf schools are lined up along the beach and also rent out all kind of surfboards in various sizes. It's a good idea to rent a surfboard there because the waves are usually not very high and you could end up bringing an own board and just have a few rides during your stay. It is also a wise idea to check the additional fees for surfboard transport on the plane. The prices are 100-200 USD per board!! Of course one-way.
One of the latest attractions here is the new circus that is currently setting up at the backyard of the gym. It's a trapeze!! Everyone who is willing and has no fear of height is invited for lessons. It's too bad that they are just finishing it now. It would have fun giving it a try.

Tomorrow, Friday, I have my big travel day. At noon I have to go via guagua (local minibus) to the airport from Puerto Plata. Then to San Francisco via Atlanta where I am happy to meet Joke and Will on a short stop-over. After that just straight to Frankfurt and from there to Graz where I'll arrive at Sunday afternoon. Of course if there are no delays and hopefully my luggage arrives as well. It's great to arrive at the last day of February so I can get started on Monday the 1st of March with my new plans :))

Cuba – A Trip Back In Time

The two weeks in Cuba have been a very special experience for me. It was just like a travel back in time! Crumbling buildings aside to fresh painted facades in pastel colours surrounded by old, classic US cars. It’s astounding how much contraction and renovation is going on. There is literally everywhere someone in charge to do small repairs, sweep the floor or do other necessary things to bring Havana back to former glory.

Travelling through Cuba is not so difficult but rather expensive. Life for Foreigners has some similarities to the Cuban life. It is difficult to find something you need and when you finally found it the price will surprisingly high. Even for public transport foreigners have to pay in CUC – The convertible peso exclusively for Foreigners to buy imported or “luxurious” goods. There are plenty of shops around where only the CUC is accepted. Many Cubans are in desperate need for the CUC because they can only buy things in Foreigner shops with CUC. The national peso is good to buy things for daily life including food and drinks.

To keep the costs down it’s wise to live in a “casa particular”. That is a private house that is entitled to rent out a room to foreigners. It’s usually much cheaper as a hotel and in addition much more comfortable. Another bonus is the close contact with the locals! In Santiago de Cuba, The first capitol of Cuba before relocated to Havana, the landlord of the casa particular was working in the famous “Canay” distillery. It was well known as the Bacardi headquarter before the revolution. Now many different brands including Havana Club are produced there. On his birthday he served me the finest 30 Year old rum I ever had.

In two weeks time it was easy to explore many cities and sights in Cuba. Many of them are recognised by the UNESCO and the Cubans are really proud of them. After the first days in Havana it was time to explore one of the many national parks: Viñales. It is a picturesque valley surrounded by high mountains. The soil is rich of minerals and agriculture has been practiced there since the Stone Age. Of course also a visit to a cigar factory was on the list after passing by endless tobacco fields.

The second trip was a road trip through Cuba. Beginning in Havana and visiting the cities Trinidad, Cienfuegos and Santa Clara before heading to Santiago de Cuba. All cities have their own charm and a large amount of fresh renovated buildings. The highlight for me was lovely Trinidad with the cobblestone streets. It was really peaceful there. Santiago de Cuba was great for all the music I’ve heard. Compay Segundo also is from this city and the people really love music. It can easily happen that people stop by when they hear music and start to dance on the street. I just was a little upset that I didn’t have my audio recorder with me. I had a lot of opportunities to capture great music. It seems that i have to come back again. Maybe after the next revolution ;)

After all it was really great to visit this special country. There are so many interesting little things like empty highways, old cars, cigars, well educated and warm people and a good sense for culture and music. Cuba is doing well now in tourism, environmental issues and sustainability. Of course on the downside the lack of basic human rights is also evident as press freedom, the right to speak a repressive political system and much more. I have visited many countries in Latin America and walked through many slums. Compared with these countries Cuba is miles ahead and still far behind. It only depends on the point of view.

La Próxima Estación: Cuba

 

Today I have prepared my entire luggage for the trip to Santo Domingo tomorrow. I leave all my sport equipment and other stuff I don’t need here at the extreme hotel for my return. The journey will be 5 hours with the late afternoon bus to Santo Domingo and from there to the international airport. I hope to find a comfy bench to spend the night on because the flight will be in the early morning over Panama to Havana. It’s for the same price as the direct flight from Santiago to Havana with the national Cuban airline. The reason I didn’t get the direct flight is that there was no possibility to book the flight online. Copa Airlines has a nice reservation system and I could manage to get the cheapest tickets.

The travel to Cuba will be for roughly two weeks and then I return back to the “extreme hotel” for a final week here. It has been a long time in the Dominican Republic and I am happy to be on the road again. December and January with tropical rain, power cuts and poor Internet connection left often only one combination: rum and cigars! Sure it was fun but after some time it gets really boring and with no alternatives it’s difficult not to get crazy. When I have talked with people that I plan to go to Cuba their response was: why? It’s the same there as here but much poorer!

I personally think that it will be quite similar. Both countries are pretty poor but Cuba will for sure suffer a lot from the long term US-embargo. People love to enjoy life on both islands and are happy even they are poor. I will also adapt to the situation on Cuba and will be off the Internet for two weeks. What a strange feeling not to be connected. But that should be a good experience as well.

On Friday the 19th I will be back in Cabarete again and ready for the final week. After that I’ll be on the long way home to Austria: Puerto Plata – Atlanta – San Francisco – Frankfurt – Graz. This long flight should cure me for a while from travelling – Lets see!

Final Travel Schedule

Today I've received my final travel confirmation here is an update about the upcoming travels in January and February. Also the trouble getting out of the US didn't cause touble to get the new electronic permit to enter the country. I am very curious if I will face a discussion with the immigration officers when I have to show my passport. Last time in Miami the immigration officers left the green card in my passport and I had to hand it over to a stewardess in the plane.

Here are the new and confirmed dates:

• Cuba: 03-02-2010
• República Dominicana: 18-02-2010
• San Francisco: 26-02-2010
• Austria: 28-02-2010

At the 1st of March I will be officially back in Graz, Austria. I will then prepare and organize my full schedule for 2010 and be back to business.

Back To Business

After weeks of rain, power cuts, crappy Internet and much more, it seems that everything is getting back to normal. Of course the crappy Internet didn't get better. Just from time to time the connection is good enough to transmit some photos, reports and mail.

Today was a very busy day. Surf is picking up, the wind blows constantly and even skating was great today. After a day of kitesurfing the event of the day was at the skate ramp. Pro skaters from different parts of the world came together for a nice session. Even the designer of the skate ramp Helmut Ludwig, an ex skate pro from Austria, was skating. A lot of good vibes and so many pro level tricks. It was great to watch and feel the energy of the guys! In parallel to skateboarding was a big celebration at the attached bar-restaurant. The leading world champion of kiteboarding celebrated his world-championship with free drinks and attracted a big crowd.

This is now the final, extended, week in Cabarete before the trip to Cuba. After Cuba I'll pick up my stuff in Cabarete and stay a few days here before I go on my final trip to Austria. I hope there to do all the many things there are already on my task list in quick time to focus on some decent snowboarding. After all the sun and warm temperatures I look forward to some action in the snow and already miss it.