July27: interruption again

Before attending the outstanding Stratford production of Charlie Brown, my dear friend, Betty, treated us to ice cream. Maggie and Duncan chose their favourite 'bubblegum' flavour.
I think they like it because of the Blue Tongue factor, more that the actual flavour!

July 26: Sunset & Moonrise.

From our swimming pool, we had a view of the moon rising over the harbour for a few nights.

The sun was setting in the opposite direction, giving the lighting on the towers.

Amazing!



July 25: Man Mo Temple

High on the mountainside, in Old Hong Kong, we tracked down the famous Man Mo Temple.

Hundreds of coils of incense hang from the rafters, which are open to the sky.

The smoke from the incense coils spirals upwards, creating a smoky background.

The effect was magical!



July 24: The Three Pagodas

These lovely three pagodas were in Dali, Yunnan Province.

Of course there is a long history about these pagodas,

but of course I forget which dynasty and which year.

The one on the right was the last one added, and it was tilted by an earthquake at some point.

The middle one was formerly open to climb the stairs inside, but is no longer.

July 23: Interruption

I interrupt my 'China Memories' photos to publish an up-date picture of Marty.

Now 5 weeks, he is a robust little fellow!

July 22: Hong Kong Race Site

This is the view of Hong Kong harbour where the dragon boat races were held.

The barges in the background were brought in for the event to act as a break-wall.

In this race, a 2 km, Cascades is boat #2, and the boat behind has lost steering control.

In a 2 km race, there are three turns, at every 500m, so we see boats going in two directions.



Jluy 21: Peninsula Hotel

The gleaming floors of  The Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong.

Ah, the splendor of Days Gone By!!

Jluy 20: Lijiang

It was difficult to take photos without crowds of people in the picture.

However, I got up early this morning in Lijiang, and was able to snap this bicycle taxi offloading his passenger.

July 19: Home again

Now that I"m home again, I have a chance to look at the photos that I took on my DSLR camera.

This was taken coming out from the Terra Cottta Warriors in Xian.

At first glance, I thought that these two gentle men were statues;

then I realized that they were street performers!

I donated to their box and the next thing I knew, I was being ushered onto the rickshaw!

My teamies took this photo ... what fun!

July 18: Last day in China

This morning we went to Tienamen Square, along with several million other people!
The scope is vast, and the square is surrounded by equally vast and impressive buildings !
The Forbidden City is in the background.

July 17, Beijing

Helen and I enjoyed a rickshaw tour of the old section of Beijing called the hutongs, or 'small lanes'.
I will be home tomorrow!

Xian

Cycling on the Old City Wall... Such fun !

Xian

Terra Cotta Warriors!!!
The vastness is amazing!

Lamasery in Shangri la

In Shangri-la monastry, there is reconstruction after the destruction during the cultural revolution.

The re-building project is enormous !

July 15: leaping Tiger Gorge

Wow! This gorge was fast and furious with powerful torrents of water blasting through
The story is that in ancient times, a tiger kept across the gorge, stepping on a rock in the middle !
It must have been SOME leap!!!
It was a spectacular sight'

July 15: traffic jam

We had a chat with these sisters, aged 14 & 18, while we were stopped at a massive traffic jam / grid lock / traffic stoppage. We were on a bus traveling between Lijang and Shrangli-la, trying to get to Tiger Leaping Gorge.
As of now, we don't know the cause of this, but some German travelers decided to hike through it all and said that it was 'basic stupidity'!

July ? / Snow Mountain

We took a cable car to this lookout ... For a view of 5000m high Snow Mountain.
However, the cloud and mist were too low, but we saw glaciers and had a wonderful hike around Spruce Meadow.
This is the entire Group of Eight, wonderful travel companions !
Larry, Helen,Joy, Cathy, Kay, Mary, Louise & Peg

Lunch time!

From Dali

Here we stayed in a very old traditional style hotel within the walls of the Old Town. Today we came to Lijang by bus, through mountains and rice terraces ... And crazy drivers!!!
Our group of eight travelers is having lots of fun and laughter. And we are really happy with our trip so far!

July? / The Stone Forest

Outside of Kunming is a magical place called The Stone Forest. It is limestone rock, formed eons ago when an ancient sea departed and wore down the limestone rock.

July? / Kunming, China

We landed at Kunming to find this sensational, ultra modern, amazing airport.
Apparently it opened just 10 days ago !

Last night in Hong Kong

The races are over and everyone is heading out .
We are taking our gold and two bronze medals with us!
This morning8 of us fly to Kunming, in China.
The adventure continues!

July ...? The Podium

An all-Canadian podium sings their favourite song!

July ...?

Today we had a 'rest' day ... Read 'tourist' day.
On the way back from the old part of HK, we passes the original Apple store!
Fantastic view with magnificent staircase!

July ...?

Celebrations after the medal presentations ... Angie, Judy. Louise and Peg.

July ...?

Big hugs to my friend and team member, Lara.
Lara could not make the trip to Hong Kong, but we are all thinking about her!
Love ya, Girlfriend!

Gold Medal Race

Cascade struck Gold in our first race. The 2 km!

June 3: afternoon tea

We has a wonderful afternoon tea at The Peninsula hotel, in the style of Colonial days gone by.
Yes we have paddling practice every day, but I can't take my camera on board! The waves are crazy and wild ... It is exciting!!!

The Peak view

Sent by the iPeg

Begin forwarded message:

From: Helen MacKinnon <hmackinnon@me.com>
Date: 3 July, 2012 1:02:48 PM GMT+08:00
To: Peggy Cumming <peggy.cumming@sympatico.ca>
Subject: The Peak view

July 2: view from our room

July 2: view from our Room

This is the view from our hotel room, overlooking the pool and the Harbourfront.
The pool is wonderful ... A great view and a lovely social gathering place. It is perfect for early morning workout for me

July 1: Fireworks in Hong long

Celebrations 15 years since Hong Kong joined China. These fireworks were the most amazing and impressive that I've ever seen. We were on the ground surrounded by thousands of people, all cheering and ahhh-ing!

Spectacular!!!

Sent by the iPeg

Begin forwarded message:

From: Helen MacKinnon <hmackinnon@me.com>
Date: 2 July, 2012 9:20:45 PM GMT+08:00
To: Peggy Cumming <peggy.cumming@sympatico.ca>
Subject: Fireworks