asia 2016 (beijing - part 1)

Firstly I have to apologise for the delays to writing for all of my avid readers, having Google blocked in China is difficult and even with VPN, finding the time to type stuff up and then copy and paste it across was too much for me (to be bothered with). So here I am sat on the flight to Tokyo, just been informed that we are delayed. I think I am experienced enough in the way of the Chinese now to say...typical! I have loved my time in China very much but something I definitely take away is that the Chinese authorities literally do not care if you have an issue or somewhere to be. They do everything in their own good time and if they can be bothered (more on that later). I will have to break my Chinese trip into 4 parts I think. 2 for my time in Beijing, 1 for my time in Shanghai and 1 for my general feelings and to talk about some funnies that have happened whilst here.

So for the first part, Beijing is a huge city. In the UK we all learn that the Chinese have a massive population etc etc but you do not actually appreciate truly how big that is unless you come here (or attend Imperial College I guess). The metro system does not experience an off-peak time and I think I managed to get a seat twice on all the journeys. As I've mentioned before in other posts, I do like to walk everywhere but this seemed impossible in Beijing as everything is so far away. That said, you can not fault the transport system, it is efficient and quick despite having to go through a security check every time you enter a metro station. I was very fortunate to have a friend in Beijing who I met when he was studying in the UK, without him I would have been stuck as hardly any of the officials speak English and Chinese is a little bit beyond my ability to learn coherently in such a short space of time, especially as a slight 'mispronunciation' could mean something completely different even though to me, it sounds the same.

Day 1 started with a trip to the Forbidden City. This huge complex of royal buildings was the seat of power for the Ming and Qing dynasties but now has a huge portrait of Chairman Mao hanging on the front and sits opposite where his frozen corpse is kept (and displayed in the morning - grim). I should note that I didn't visit Chairman Maos corpse as a photograph of the man who started the destruction of Chinese culture is not somebody I really care much about. Back to the Forbidden City, getting inside is fairly cheap at 60 RMB, it would have been cheaper as they do student discount but the lady on the desk did not believe that a 28 year old could be an undergraduate. I have many photographs showing the beautiful architecture in my Google Photos. One comment I made to my friend when walking through the FC is that one always thinks of Emperors, Imperialism and the general power of the dynasties when walking through these buildings but does anybody actually think of the skilled workforce who created it. The detail and small intricate differences in design all have meaning and the people who built this place must have been extremely skilled. I didn't even realise until pointed out that the guardian lions are actually male and female, you can tell which is which by the objects under their right paws - males have a ball and females have a lion cub. Looking outward, females are always on the right and males are always on the left. All the statues are in 5s or 9s as this had meaning for the emperors etc etc. All very fascinating stuff and totally different to what I have been used to in Europe.

The second day, I was due to fly to Shanghai. That day also marked the start of the mid-Autumn festival. This is where Chinese people essentially celebrate family. It is popular to eat Moon Cakes with the idea that when members of your family are not present or scattered all over the world, you all eat the moon cake and it is as if you are together. I was lucky enough to be invited to my friends family for lunch and it was an absolute feast. One of the uncles also took great pleasure in getting me to try the Chinese spirits which I can best compare to petrol. It was so strong. I had some amazing conversations with everyone (one uncle could speak English and another could understand me but not really speak English) about politics, their home affairs and it was interesting to get the real Chinese view of things as we in the west have a very definite view in my opinion when we think of China and Chinese people.

Lunch over it was time for the airport and Shanghai.

asia 2016 (hong kong - part 2)

I am currently writing my blogs out of synch as due to my own lack of organisation I am now in China and the Chinese block everything Google, Facebook, Snapchat or IG related. Therefore I will just finish off about my time in HK and then do a new post to talk about the interesting experiences of mainland China.

HK is probably one of my new favourite places. The mix of old and, I won't even say new as it's more like futuristic is intense. Everyone was friendly too whether it came to buying stuff or asking for directions. Although not a huge huge city, I walked everywhere and started to regret it by the end as my feet were on fire. The metro, or MTR, is quick and easy to use. I mentioned in my earlier blog (or I might not have but can't check as it's blocked) about the octopus card and that you can buy most things on it including food and for all the transport, the card also makes travelling extremely cheap. I am regretting only spending 4 days there so will likely find another cheap flight to visit again.

I would say one bad thing about HK though, the air-conditioning. It is near impossible to acclimatise to the humidity as when you walk indoors or just walk past a shop door, the air con is soooooo cold. In the international finance centre shopping centre where I hanged out to get wifi and a hot drink (whilst waiting for my train to the airport), the air con is sub zero I think and being there in shorts and t-shirt was not comfortable despite being a pale Northern European who should be used to it.

My final delight from HK was the fact you can actually check in your luggage for a flight at the train station! You can then just chill out and only have to go to the airport 40 mins or so before your flight so you can go through security. It is so so efficient, London could learn a lesson or ten.

Photos will follow and maybe the odd edit but for now, next stop Beijing.

asia 2016 (hong kong - part 1)

5.30am starts have never been cool in the first place especially when you have an 11hr flight preceded by a 6 hour transfer in Amsterdam. Unfortunately, the plan to to go out into the city (in Amsterdam) did not carry through as you have to be back ridiculously early for long hurl flights. Instead I enjoyed a cultural McDonalds and numerous Starbucks whilst trying to work on my thesis. The flight itself was with KLM and as a frequent Ryanair flyer, I was surprised at how much they fed and watered you for free - I could definitely get used to it. Also, unfortunately I was not able to sleep so as I am writing this I have to keep correcting typos. Sigh!

Arriving in HK itself and the process of collecting luggage etc was less stressful than I thought. Even going through immigration was relatively simple and despite a huge queue for the bus into Yau Ma Tei (the area I am staying), it was also an easy experience. The currency here is something confusing though, everything seems so expensive but actually £1 is equivalent to 10 HKD. The rain though was something else. I remember getting off the plane in Thailand some years ago and you get that damp, humid smell that tells you what part of the world you are in. HK was no different and it was also awful torrential rain to the point where you couldn't even see out the window due to the stream of water. To add to the pain, the hotel did not let me check in till 1pm (I arrived about 12, they said at first 1.30pm but must have felt sorry for me).

The room is nice for the money I paid and smack in the centre. It is located on a long road called Nathan Street which runs straight into the Victoria Harbour and overlooks Hong Kong Island itself. I couldn't help myself  but take some cheeky tourist pics (see below) and then off for some authentic food in the style of Korean BBQ buffet. I was introduced to it by a friend and you basically get your own meat and fish (all raw) and cook it at your own table inside a small, round heater metal thing in the table. I'm sure they exist in London but never found one, it tasted amazing! 

Walking down Nathan Street proved quite hilarious. It was packed with people and the famous flashing lights everywhere. It also had random Indian guys trying to sell pocket watches and rolex watches to all the white westerners. Surely not you say? But yes, they literally moved through the crowds and only seemed to target us. Strange - does that mean they think we have money or are mugs - or both?

Anyway, a successful first day with lots more to look forward too :D

asia 2016 (intro)

So I am finally all set to go on my 3 weeks of travels around parts of Asia. First stop will be Hong Kong followed by China, Japan and Singapore. I have decided not to make any definite plans other than to visit Beijing and Shanghai when in China. Unlike the other countries, China requires a visa and in order to get one, you have to book your whole journey and then tell them. God knows what would happen if they decide to not give you one after spending all that money. 

I hope to keep my blog fairly regularly updated and will be sharing all of the photos on my Google Photos album so watch this space.

This will also be the very first time I have travelled alone, maybe a blessing as I do not have to worry about compromising with anyone over when I wake up, eat, sleep and where I go etc.

I suppose I am lucky that I will not be having any teaching this term on a Monday as being jet-lagged and trying to learn does not seen compatible. 

Next stop, Hong Kong (via 6 hours transfer in Amsterdam, not so bad I guess!)

map and thesis (part 6)

And the end is here. Finally after 6 weeks of hiking, climbing, observing, noting, interpreting and sweating 90% of the time, I am finally back home in sunny Twyford. I say sunny because I was hoping for it to be cool and maybe even rain but actually it's 31°C so the sweating has continued.

The final few days consisted of tidying up my work and doing some last minute data collection, all good stuff to help bolster the thesis which is making good progress at the moment (well, the introduction is done anyway). Early on in the trip, we decided to end the whole adventure with a day or so in Barcelona. I remembered from my time inter-railing that a fast train from Madrid to Barcelona stops in Zaragoza. Ideal then that we could drop off the cars and then catch the train and lucky that I managed to get fairly cheap tickets on the internet.

Barcelona is not a new place for me. In fact it is the 4th time I have visited. In line with wanting to keep the trip as cheap as possible, we decided to book a hostel. Using the good old hostelbookers website (a favourite of mine) lead us to a 'very nice looking' hostel close to the Plaza Catalunya which is effectively the Trafalgar Square of Barcelona and therefore smack bang in the middle of everything we needed. All seemed perfect until we arrived at the hostel. I will not name names as it was not the most terrible place I have ever visited and actually, despite the strong smell of BO and weed, the guys we first bumped into all seemed very nice. Indeed, within 30 seconds they had invited us to a festival. However, the general feel of the place was just grim. The bed was grim, the loo was awfully grim, the shower was grim (and had things growing on the base). I like to review everywhere I go on TripAdvisor as actually it has provided a really great service to me when travelling but here I am torn. I want to give it a bad review but the people (who all seemed to work in the hostel - it was strange) were so friendly that I would feel a bit guilty. Decisions eh!

The beach, Barcelona

As we only had a day, it was nice to just relax and have drinks (a fair few), eat good Spanish food at the famous Bilbao Berria (my absolute favourite Spanish restaurant) and walk around the beach. As it was a Monday, most of the museums and such were all closed as is common practise in Europe. 

Tuesday came and it was finally time to get home. The usual airport monotony was stirred up by listening to some loud mouthed scouse 'girls' (covered in tattoos, piercings and an unpleasant expression etc) trying to convince everyone why they needed to skip the queue for passport control in their own unique way. Lucky me also got to experience two delayed trains on arrival in the UK, typical really. So that is the end of that. As mentioned in earlier posts, now is the time to start writing up all of my observations and then using knowledge I already have and with lots of reading, I can make my scientific interpretations. This will be the bulk of my thesis and I have a few months from now to get in the first draft.

As for my blogs, I have a family camping trip coming up this weekend which probably won't warrant a post as all we do is sit, chill and chat. I have a dinner in Oxford next week and my dearest mother is going to visit so as you can see, not a hugely interesting few weeks to come. The next big adventure for me will be my tour of Asia starting in early September for 3 weeks. I plan to visit HK, China, Japan and Singapore and of course, I will have to write about my experiences there with lots of photos to enjoy.

Until then :D

map and thesis (part 5)

I am writing this with just 2 days of mapping left to go. Slightly out of synch for what I would have liked to do however, life currently is just a countdown to heading home. For those who are interested in the geological part of this little adventure of mine, it is still confusing. Unfortunately as mentioned in previous blog posts, lots of small forests have grown all over the area completely covering everything. With such low levels of exposure we are near enough guessing what is happening. In the adult world of geology, they would have more equipment to bore down and collect samples, have access to chemical analysis etc but alas, we just have our maps and coloured pencils. Either way, it is almost done and I actually think I will have a decent (first attempt) map to hand in. The hassle now is writing the thesis. My upcoming trip is going to include some typing during flights I think. 

On the social side, we managed to take a day off to visit the historic city of Pamplona. In all honesty, it was much smaller than we thought so also visited the fort town on Jaca, town that can also trace  its routes back to Roman times and is famous for its 16th century fort. 

The Cathedral of Royal Saint Mary, Pamplona

Spain is certainly a beautiful country but one has to wonder sometimes how it manages to function. Despite Pamplona being the capital of Navarre, it was such a quiet place. Bars and cafes were open but when you walk down some of the side streets it just appears deserted. The city is also famous for its bullfighting but this happened a few weeks past and now the very large stadium that hosts the event was closed and didn't offer the chance to look inside. I could not even get a good photo as the outside is surrounded by trees!

Since writing this blog I have not mentioned the fact that I have been driving, a function that none of my family would have thought me capable of. I passed my driving test through the army more than 5 years ago. The course they sent me on in order to get my license was up to two weeks long but with the option to take a test after the first week. Monday to Thursday consisted of meeting our (two of us had to share a car - can not remember the other guy though) very strange driving instructor who really did not seem interested in teaching. We would drive around a bit, do some manoeuvring then swap over and do it all again. My test was on the Friday, I did not feel ready. Upon meeting the driving assessor on the Friday morning I thought we could get this fail over and done with nice and quickly. We drove out of camp, went around some roads and parked on a hill where the assessor instructed me to turn off the engine. He then started to chat to me about my regiment, about his old regiment and his time in Northern Ireland. 15 minutes later I started off again with a hill start, drove in a loop and back into camp where he then assessed my parking (which consisted of me driving straight into the starting point). 11 minors later (unsure where they came from) and I had my pass. Boom! Luckily did not have to drive again....until now.

This would not normally sound very encouraging to most but actually it has been very simple (aided by the car being automatic) and nobody has died of fright from my dangerous driving.

So what is next. Sunday I head to Barcelona for two days of doing no geology at all. Tuesday I fly home and have a few days before heading off on a family camping trip to my fathers favourite place. More on that to come soon I think.

So sum up this post, here is a photo of a really neat little village we saw whilst driving to Pamplona that looks like Rohan from LoTR, it is built on a small hill and everything!

Until next time :)

map and thesis (part 4)

Only a short blog today as with only two weeks of fieldwork left to go, the week was dominated by a visit by my supervisor, Professor Charlie Bristow. The initial worry turned out to be unnecessary as he actually said my work was very good BUT, it appears both me and my mapping buddy made quite a big mistake in that we missed an entire formation (sigh!). Not to worry though as it turns out that in the ten years since he was last here, a small forest seems to have grown over all of the exposure and in the places where did did 'see it' we called it something else. Anyway, problem solved and ready to move on.

Much needed selfie before hiking around in the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park.

To that end I do not really have much to talk about this week other than the 13 hour Geo Tour we did yesterday (Friday 5th) which included visiting some geological sites located close to scenic Spanish towns, a quarry that was once the start of a very large basin millions of years ago and finally a trek to the crystal blue waters of the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park (at almost 1800m above sea level).

I have some photos in my Google Photos but I have never in my life seen such clear blue water. 

The day culminated in some fossil hunting in mudrocks from the mid-Eocene, I was fortunate enough enough to find a very good Echinoderm fossil (photo below, pen is for scale). So overall a hugely useful visit from my supervisor who managed to clear up nearly 3 weeks of confusion within an hour of arriving. Now I have 2 weeks to correct the errors made and finish off the final few field-slips. The stressful part is only just beginning though as I have to write the thesis. With my little Asian tour coming up in September and my draft being expected by late November, I have had to start drafting my thesis now. Not my favourite past time after a long day in 30° heat but needs must and all that.

One part of this whole degree that has started to niggle in my mind is the viva at the very end. Rumour has it that the main topic for the viva is the map and thesis. The examiner is expecting a thorough and proven understanding of the geology around the area, the tectonics affecting it etc. I can honestly say that until yesterday(ish), I was completely bamboozled. By the end of these two weeks I hope to have it cleared up.

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My dead fly count: demi-god level

Andy's dead fly count: god level

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