Indonesia - Toba Lake

Indonesia is an archipelago composed of 13.466 islands! Sumatra is the biggest one, located at the extreme west of the country, just south of the Malay Peninsula. We landed at Medan, the main city of Sumatra, to take a bus the next day in direction of Sumatra's main attraction: Toba Lake.

The 150 kilometres journey lasted six hours: half an hour in a taxi from our hotel to the bus station, four hours and a half in a crowded bus without any ventilation and an hour in a boat from Parapat to the island in the middle of Toba Lake.

This lake was formed in the crater of a supervolcano which errupted more than 70.000 years ago, creating a volcanic winter on the globe. Lake Toba is 100 kilometres long and 30 kilometres wide: the largest lake in Indonesia and the largest volcanic lake in the world!!

An island was formed by a resurgent dome in the centre of the lake: Samosir island, 630 kilometres square. Well technically it is an island within an island.. Funny to think about that! ;)

We rent a scooter to admire scenic tropical countryside and mountainous panoramas, not to mention homemade fish traps and buffalos bathing in the glittering waters of the lake which definitively looks more like a sea. Only the spray is missing.

The Batak people populates this island. They were once real cannibals, eating their ennemies after war victories. They are now on a different diet and more peaceful! Traditionnal Batak houses are easily recognized with their pointed curved roof.

 

Many european missionaries took over from each other (Dutch, British, etc.) and the protestant christianism grew on to become the local cult but tinged with ancestral animist traditions. Along the road, a church or a colorful tomb with strange architecture pop up every kilometre.

Church

Tombs

Funerary monument

Some Batak ancient vestiges are still visible: the Stone Chairs (surprisingly tiny) where a former king ruled and sentenced to death, a decapitation place and a few wood and stone statues.

Another things amazed us on the road: at every working hour of the day, children in uniform are walking out (or going in??) their schools. We did not understand if they had different schedules because they are so numerous. One thing is for sure, Batak people can count on its future generation!

School bus

Playing after school

In brief, a divine world to rest for a few days!!

China - Hong Kong

Before the British colonization, Hong Kong was a land of farmers and fishermen. Its metamorphosis in the last two centuries is amazing. Hong Kong was placed under British occupation in 1841 as a result of the first opium war. But the British decided it was not enough and after other wars and negociations, in 1898, Hong Kong reached the territory it still covers today: a peninsula and 262 islands! The 99 years lease ended in 1997 and Hong Kong was given back to the Chinese.

And what was retroceded? From rocky island Hong Kong had become a modern metropolis, one of the world's leading international financial centres and most densely populated areas. In 1997 Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was formally establised with a certain degree of autonomy and its own government. This statute will remain untouched for the next fifty years.

View from Victoria Peak

Hong Kong and its forest of skyscrapers.. a world of wild capitalism and frenzied consumption. Every type of food or good is available. We nearly bumped into a shopping mall at every corner of every street. The network of public transportation (tram, bus, subway, ferry) is really neat and efficient and covers the whole territory.

Boat traffic in Hong Kong harbour is so intense that freighters are unload away from the shores by lighters. Those strange boats with a huge crane bustle about like little ants. They approach the freighters on both sides and start loading or unloading the containers in the middle of the bay.

But even in the highly modern Hong Kong we found some typical Chinese features:

Temple Street restaurants

Mail boxes

On a more glamorous side, the Avenue of Stars follows the Hollywood Walk of Fame example but the celebrities are all Chinese. From the dozens we walked on, here are the only two one we recognized! ;)

Statue of Bruce Lee

In the rush for development Hong Kong had to face a rugged territory with limited lowland. So territories were extended in stages, won over the sea. We found the map below very vivid:

Map in the absorbing Hong Kong History museum

Three-quarter of Hong Kong territory is still countryside. Half an hour away from the skyscrapers, wild areas and sandy beaches are all around, perfect places for leisure and tourism. Like in a small paradise, one can swim in warm waters, sail around desert islands or treck in rainforests. 

This gives Hong Kong many advantages and allows a high quality of life for qualified foreigners. In fact we had the chance to be hosted by two very nice French expatriates who invited us in their busy daily lives. Another way to learn about a city and a lifestyle.

View from the Giant Buddha

On the top of Lantau island, near Po Lin Buddhist Temple, was erected a giant Buddha statue towering above from its thirty-four meters height the wonderful natural landscapes. A walk in the green vegetation took us to the Path of Wisdom: a forest of wood posts with Chinese inscriptions of them. A place for meditation.

Giant Buddha

Path of Wisdom

On this island we also visited a picturesque fishermen village, O Tai. Pedestrianized alleyways lead to unstable pile dwellings over the river. There fishes are still traditionally dried and salted. What a refreshing contrast with the blazing city life!

 Dry fish

China - Guangzhou/Macau

Pearl of South China, Guangzhou (Canton) is a significant harbour and trade centre. It was the first harbour autorized by the central authorities to trade with foreigners, in the 16^th century. This megalopolis of 10 millions inhabitants preserve two charming districts: the Chinese old district especially around Liwanhu Park and Liwan Museum and Shamian Island, the former Franco-British concession.

Liwanhu Park

 

Shamian Island

In 1985 was discovered an intact twenty centuries old tomb while digging to build apartments on a hill in Guangzhou. Fifteen bodies were positionned in five different rooms: the emperor and fourteen people sacrified to keep him company in the afterlife (concubines, cooks, musicians,...). The artefacts found in the mausoleum are displayed in an informative museum.

Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King

The museum also possesses an eccentric collection of ceramic and porcelain pillows. Don't worry, a soft cushion was added to prevent cervical pain and aching waking up.

Pillow in the shape of a child holding a lotus leaf, 12th-13th century

Cloud-shape pillow supported on lion-shaped base, 11th-12th century

Near this museum one can find Sun Yat-sen Memorial, a majestic pavilion which hosts a theater and an exhibition about the firt president of China, a local and national hero.

******

We then left Mainland China in direction of Macau. This Special Administrative Region is famous as eldorado of the game.

Grand Lisboa casino, a milestone of the city

Nonetheless the city mostly deserves a visit to admire its Portuguese legacy: colorful administrative and colonial buildings, churches, etc. It is always a surprise to meet a sparkling yellow or pistachio green building lost in 100% Chinese urban environment. Not to mention that all the street names and urban inscriptions are written in Chinese AND in Portuguese, even if the Portuguese language is not any more spoken in the streets.

View from São Paulo ruins

 Largo do Senado (square)

Largo do Senado (square), popular drugstore

This territory has also a cooking tradition of its own, mixing Portuguese, Chinese, Indian and even Malay culinary customs, an authentic expression of cross-cultural interchange. Portuguese dishes are easily findable like caldo verde (vegetable soup), peixe assado a portuguesa (fried fish) or sardinhas assadas. Yummy! ;)

 The Macanese cooking, Macau Museum

Meat sheets encrusted with sugar

Restaurant

It was in Macao that Luís Vaz de Camões, the Portuguese greatest poet, wrote a part of his epic masterpiece Os Lusíadas. He spent years writing in a cave on the top of a hill, now Camões garden. On his journey back to Portugal, his ship was wrecked in the Mekong Delta. Camões legendary act was to save his un-finished manuscript holding it in the air while swimming to the shore.

Camões cave in Camões garden

******

After six months without an haircut.. something needed to be done. Like Luis felt at home, Macau was the right place for it. And the military cut is the easiest one to explain in Chinese! ;)

China - Shanghai

Nanjing Road

Welcome to Shanghai, the economic centre and the most westernized city of China with its 20 millions inhabitants!! In fact Shanghai has known a radical transformation in the last twenty years: 3.000 skyscrapers are already standing, 2.000 are at the planning stage as the traditionnal districts are progressively erased. The city spread and became one of the biggest construction site of the world to contain the amazing population growth.

Nanjing Road is the local Champs Élysées where one can see the new Chinese middle class untertained by abundant fashion stores and chain of fast food restaurants. Still 95% of Shanghai's population live with less than 200 euros per month..

Nanjing Road opens onto the Bund. This large avenue is lined with old building on its west side, mainly banks and five star hotels, which could easily fit with a Brooklin or Chicago setting from the Thirties.
 

The height of the other side of the Bund was raised and transformed into a large walkway along Huangpu River. We went there a Sunday afternoon to discover this place is the favourite walk for Shanghai people. And in China, when it is crowded, it is really crowded:

On the other side of Huangpu River: Pudong, Shanghai's Manhattan! In 1992 this area of farm fields became a special economic zone, launching the success story.

Pudong by day

Pudong by night

Pudong was chosen to host Shanghai Science & Technology Museum. This very modern museum looks a lot like La Villette in Paris. Exhibitions on earth exploration, ecology, human health, etc. are really well conceived with numerous interactive games for young and less young.. ;)

The Chinese old town is an endangered district. This two kilometres square area is encroached by the modern city. What a change to walk through the narrow streets with mainly two storey houses!

A part of the city is called the French Concession, even if the French power left in 1943 after a century of occupation. European-styled streets still run across this foreign concession which is one of the trendy districts of Shanghai.

The pedestrianized Xintiandi District

Nowadays the city welcomes an important French community. We met some of its representative at La Crêperie, a restaurant serving real Breton galettes!

One can easily find many parks in this gigantic concrete city. And Chineses seems to make the most of it, dancing, practicing strange gymnastics or calligraphy, playing kite, etc.

Playing with fishes in Yuyuan Gardens

Mid-Lake Pavilion Teahouse at the entrance of Yuyuan Gardens

Dance lesson in Hongkou Park