The Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge

International land borders, in my opinion, are some of the most interesting places in the world. The border between China and Nepal is no exception. After having been in China and Tibet for about 2 weeks June/July 2010 I was eager to move onto a new country and being able to use the internet without any restrictions. As with all things that are deemed government business and especially with anything involving Tibet, leaving Tibet was a headache. The Chinese side of the border is tightly controlled and despite the fact that we were leaving, they checked all our bags thoroughly. For some of us, they took our passports into a back room to scrutinize them further before coming back about 10 min later to return them. This bit was a unnerving because what if they saw something they didn't like and didn't allow us to leave the country? I'm sure they suspected me of being a spy since I'm of Chinese descent.

Several people lost their Tibet guidebooks to the Chinese authorities. I still cannot think of why they would take the guidebooks when you're leaving the country. The China guidebooks all have sections about Tibet but those weren't confiscated. 

After finally making it through Chinese immigration and customs, we walked across the Friendship Bridge. On the Chinese side of the bridge, there were soldiers lining the bridge about 5m apart standing at attention, ready to start firing at any time. As soon as you walk across the line on the bridge that marks the border, the tension that the Chinese soldiers bring is immediately gone. On the Nepali side, all the soldiers were hanging out in a small guard station beside a large metal gate. They were quite friendly and helpful in pointing us to where the immigration office was. To get a Nepal visa at the border, all you need is some USD, 2 passport photos, and your passport. 

Travel Finances

Despite the recent weaknesses shown in the US economy, the dollar is still king. It's still widely used as a baseline currency even in far flung places in the world. At the Tibet - Nepal border, you could only pay the visa fee in Nepali Rupees or in US dollars. Euros, Pounds, Francs...not accepted. So no matter where you're from, it's advisable to carry US dollars with you. It saved me a lot of headaches and money to already have my own supply of US dollars.

The next most important thing is to have a bank card which you can use anywhere in the world. My account with TD Bank doesn't charge me any ATM nor foreign transaction fees. In addition to that, they refund me the ATM fees which other banks charge me. In places like Thailand where the ATM fee is about 5USD per transaction this can really add up!

Having a credit card which doesn't charge you any foreign transaction fees is also really useful to have. My Capital One card works anywhere in the world (although sometimes I have to call them to authorize a transaction) and gives me a near up to the minute FX spot rate. When I was in Iceland, I used this card when I went out for drinks. On my statement, you could see that the price of each drink was slightly different due to the small shifts in the ISK-USD exchange rate over the course of the night.

Lastly, if you do need to call your bank or credit card company, I found out you can call for free via Skype. I don't know if it works for other nationalities, but my Skype account is US-based and I can call US toll-free numbers from Skype for free. That has saved me loads of money. 

Video of skydive over Lake Taupo, NZ

Finally...here's the video from my skydive:

Iceland in 4 Days - Nov 2009

Volcanoes? Check. Glaciers? Check. Lava fields? Check. Iceland is easily one of the most beautiful and dramatic countries I've ever been to. The island sits atop the Mid Atlantic ridge, the undersea volcano range which runs north-south from pole to pole. The geothermal activity has carved the landscape into what it is today.  The road from the airport to the capital Reykjavik is built atop a massive lava field and is the backdrop for a nice welcome to the country. Reykjavik is a beautiful city in the southwest of the island overlooking a harbour and backed by mountains in the distance. The city itself is small, charming, and very walkable. It's easy to walk the main bits of the city in one day since it's so small. It's totally worth it to go to the top of the Hallgrimskirkja cathedral where you can get 360 degree views of the city.

There are loads of adventure activities to choose from a several different operators. I chose to do a glacier hike and some iceclimbing. I was picked up from my hostel early in the morning and driven out to the glacier. The weather was pretty bad but thankfully I came prepared with thermals and waterproofs so I was pretty much unaffected. Despite the pounding rain and wind we suited up, strapped in our crampons and set our feet onto the glacier. Our guide started by showing us how to walk properly with the crampons and ice axe. After this brief lesson we hiked up the glacier, crossing crevasses, and stopping to take a sip of water from a small moulin. It was the best water I've ever had! We eventually reached a wall of ice on the glacier that was suitable for climbing. Our guide set up the climbing ropes and we took turn scaling the wall. Ice climbing is not easy at all. You need quite a bit a upper body strength in addition to technical skill with the axes and crampons. I made it to the top (really happy that I didn't spike myself with the axes or crampons!) then abseiled down. After the climbing we cautiously made our way back down the glacier and to the car park. There were delicious sandwiches awaiting us in the van which we all wolfed down on the way back to Reykjavik.

The other activity which is highly recommended is the Golden Circle tour. It's a day-long tour which takes you to some of the best sites around Reykjavik, including a visit to a geothermal power plant, the Þingvellir national park which is situated on the continental divide between the North American and European tectonic plates, and the famous geysers which erupt pretty regularly. I had a really cool guide who had the best accent and pronounced gigantic like "guy-gantic".

Friday and Saturday nights out in Reykjavik are awesome! There are bars and clubs everywhere and everyone is out partying and having a good time, or in other words taking part in the runtur. The runtur is not an official event, it's the weekend pub crawl that the locals do. Drinking on the street is legal and you can order beer to go from the bars. In fact, it's quite common to just walk out with your pint glass and then smash it on the street when you're done with it. There's a massive cleanup every morning to sweep away all the broken glass from the previous night. I'm guessing they have a good glass recycling facility somewhere in town.

I wish I could've stayed in Iceland longer and driven around the entire island. Iceland is a very expensive place to visit despite their currency collapsing during the recent financial crisis. A pint of week cost about US$8 at the time. Before the crisis, it was double that. Food prices are comparable with those in New York but everything else is considerably more expensive. That being said, Iceland is an amazing place and totally worth every krona.