Travel tip#9 - How high can you go?

How high can you go?

I am not a fitness buff.  I am not even the outdoor-type.  But I have summited Mount Fuji (3776m) and gone up to altitude as high as 5248m without falling sick.

Once you are at an altitude of about 2000m, you will inevitably feel breathless when you strain yourself.  But this is not Acute Mountain Sickness (AMC) or Chronic Mountain Sickness (CMS), maybe not yet. Hypoxia is a condition in which the body as a whole or a region of the body is deprived of oxygen resulting in what we generally called ACS/CMS.  When ACS/CMS becomes serious resulting in fluid build-up in the brain (HACE) or in the lungs (HAPE), it is fatal if not attended to immediately.

As a matter of fact, Acute Mountain Sickness (ACS) or Chronic Mountain Sickness (CMS) has little to do with a person's level of fitness, gender or age.  Herein lies the danger.  It is therefore important to be prepared, recognise the signs and symptoms and know what to do when faced with it.

Now, if you are going to Tibet (which is an interesting place for holiday), most of the time you will be above 2000m.  The altitude of Lhasa is already 3650m.  The first thing to do is acclimatisation.  When you arrive at Lhasa, for example, you do nothing on the first day.  Just rest.   Don't be a hero and insist on venturing out.  Some people think that they have paid a lot of money for their holiday and they are not going to idle around and waste a day or two.  You are only asking for trouble if you do so.

Just be mindful that you are at high altitude and do things slowly; don't run, don't jump, don't bent down to pick up something abruptly.  I even tell people to brush their teeth slowly.

Some people think that when going to Lhasa, Tibet, taking the train will enable them to acclimatise better as the ascent is more gradual compared to taking a plane.  Sure the ascent is more gradual but the trains are pressurised and therefore do not help in acclimatising.

Many people believe in consuming the Chinese herbal medicine HongJinTian as an antidote for ACS.  I am skeptical.  But if you believe in it, please go ahead; I cannot underwrite your life.   I would suggest that before your trip go and see a GP and get a prescription of Diamox.

If you experience giddyness, nausea, headache, perspiration, light headedness, prolonged breathlessness, consume the medicine based on the doctor's prescription.  If the symptons still persist, go to see a doctor as soon as possible.  The doctor will most likely put you on a drip.  Now, if the doctor recommends that you evacuate to a lower level, comply as soon as possible.  Even Everest climbers have died for refusing to follow advice to evacuate.

You may also come across tourist shops selling oxygen cannisters that look like insecticide spray. I am doubtful of its content.  Again, I don't want to underwrite your life; go ahead and buy if you want it as a precaution.  If you are travelling with an organised tour, make sure you that the tour coach carries a real oxygen bottle, the type used in hospitals.

One final point, avoid consuming alcohol at high altitude.

The 12 months of 2015

'The 12 months of 2015' is a customised calendar I made with selected sunrise and sunset theme I have shot in the past at various places.   I have intentionally not mentioned whether they are sunrise or sunset in this post as I would like to leave it as a teaser for the reader.  Sorry, no prize for the right answers.   Most of these shots are originally landscape shots.

2015

Huangshan 

A Chinese saying has it that,

"After returning from Huangshan (Yellow Mountain), you do not want to see any more mountains.  After returning from Jiuzhai (Jiuzhaigou), you do not want to see any more waters."

Huangshan (1864m) is located in Anhui province, China.  The saying above is testimony of its unparalleled beauty.  Most people go up Huangshan via the cable car.  I walked up all the way to the top all in 8 hours!  It was tough but absolutely satisfying.

Now before you jump to conclusion that the above shot is a sunrise or sunset shot, do note that I had stayed on the mountain top (in a hotel, of course) for a night.  

January

U Bein Bridge, Mandalay, Myanmar

U Bein Bridge, Mandalay, Myanmar.  The teak-wood bridge is quite an icon.  This is a popular location for photographers and it should be easy to find out if this is sunset or sunrise.  The shot was taken from a small boat on very shallow waters.

February

Jogjakarta, Indonesia

This shot was taken on top of a hill.  It should be easy to tell if this is sunrise or sunset.  The tell-tale sign is obvious.

March

Bagan, Myanmar

Yes, those are hot air balloons.

April

Xiapu, Fujian, China

Xiapu is famous for its mudflats but you can also capture some glorious sunrise and sunset scenes.

May

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

This is Brunei Darulsalam, Land of the Peaceful Abode.

June

Fisherman Wharf, Danshui, Taipei

Don't expect to see fishing boats returning with their catches in Fisherman Wharf in Danshui.  There aren't any.  The place is full of eateries and tourists.

July

Lake Inle, Myanmar

This is a pair of the iconic 'leg-rowers' in Lake Inle.  The fishermen use one leg to row the boat with the other keeping him standing.  Guess what they do with their hands.

August

Two dogs

There are two things I would like to say about this August shot.  First, guess the location.  Second, I think the two dogs made a difference in this shot.  Actually, the two dogs went into the water for a swim after I took the shot.

September

West Lake, Hangzhou

The legendary 'Broken Bridge' at West Lake, Hangzhou.  The bridge is anything but broken.  It got its name because when the snow on the bridge melts, it looks like it is broken.  It is one of the 10 classical scenes of West Lake.

October

Haikou, Hainan

I was looking out of the window of this restaurant by the sea in Haikou, Hainan Island, China and voila, the big round egg yolk was above the horizon.  I immediately grabbed my camera and dashed out of the restaurant to take this shot.  Of course, I did tell the waiter of my intention.  So, was I having breakfast or dinner?

November

Gardens By The Bay, Singapore

Singaporeans should not have problem telling if it is sunrise or sunset.

December

Mile, Yunnan, China

The name of this location is not pronounced as 'Mile' (as it would be in English) but 'Mi Le' as in Hanyu pinyin.  There is nothing very much to see in this city.  I was there en route to the beautiful Yuanyang rice terrace. There is this big cigarette manufacturer in this city that has gotten so prosperous that as a way to demonstrate its corporate citizenship (or rather to atone its sin) built a large resort with a man-made lake in the city.

Planned topic - Across the Qingzhang Plateau

Vista of West Lake from Wushan

Somehow, my piece on 'Circumambulating the West Lake' has been in the works for a while.    I thought I might just put up something short and simple on the West Lake in the meanwhile.

Hangzhou's West Lake is surrounded by mountains that stretch from the northwest to the southeast.  The stretch from the north to the east is flatland wherein lies Hangzhou city itself.  Two structures on the mountains are visible from the bank of the Lake.  In the north and closer to the Lake is the Baoshu Pagoda.  On the south eastern side and a little further from the lake is the Chenghuang Pavilion on Wushan (Wu Mountain).  Incidentally, there are many Wu mountains in China.

During my last visit to the West Lake, I decided to go up the Chenghuang Pavilion on Wushan to take a look at the West Lake from a different angle.  I was rewarded with a 360 degrees panorama of not only the entire West Lake but also the entire Hangzhou.  I believe not many visitors have seen the West Lake from this vantage point.

You have to pay an entrance fee to enter Chenghuang Pavilion which houses a tea house and a restaurant.  There were scarcely any visitors at the time of my visit.

The following are vistas from the top of Chenghuang Pavilion.

View of Broken Bridge and Bai Causeway

View of the Small Yingzhou Islet in the middle of West Lake

View of Leifeng Pagoda

Roof of Chenghuang Pavilion in the foreground and tiny Leifeng Pagoda in the background

As you can see from the photos, the sky was heavily overcast and it fact it was still drizzling when I took those shots.  It was the best I could do in such a weather condition.  I hope to return in future to shoot the glorious sunset from this vantage point.  Also, I must come with an ultra-wide angle lens and perhaps try to stitch together a panoramic shot otherwise I will not be doing justice to the view.

In my post The Blue Sky of Beijing, I have a shot of the glorious sunset over Beihai Park taken from a vantage point on the Jingshan Hill behind the Forbidden City.  I look forward to doing a similar one on the West Lake.

Travel tip #8 - How not to lose your luggage?

My colleagues and I had checked into the Seoul Plaza Hotel, Seoul at about 9 pm after a long flight from Singapore.  Only then did one of them who goes by the moniker of 'Eagle Eye' realised that he had carried the wrong luggage all the way from the airport to the hotel.   Apparently, he had exchanged luggage with someone else as his luggage could not be found in the airport.  Two wrongs don't make one right!  We were scheduled to have a business meeting the next morning and the attire was business suit.  So Eagle Eye had to go out to do some late night shopping.  He ended up buying an ill-fitting beige coloured suit which was probably the best he could find at that time of the night.   That made Eagle Eye looked like a lizard in the meeting the next day in a room where everyone else was wearing dark coloured business suit.

I was told of this case that happened recently.  Mr X was flying into Singapore and his luggage was overweight.  At the departure check-in, he did what most people would do.  He pooled his luggage together with a fellow passenger except that this fellow passenger was a total stranger.   To make things worst, his luggage check-in counterfoil was with the fellow passenger.  On arrival at Singapore, this fellow passenger had problems with his visa and was eventually turned back.  Poor Mr X was practically left with only the shirt on his back! 

So, how not to lose your luggage?

The obvious thing to do is to made your luggage look unique and distinctive.  Most people do this by tying a red ribbon round the handle of the luggage as red is an auspicious colour in many cultures.  No one wants a white or black ribbon!   I do not want to discourage anyone from doing that but if you think that that is good enough, you are dead wrong.   Great men think alike and fools don't differ.

A more distinctive way is to tie a luggage belt round your luggage.  I find it strange why so many people are not doing it.  Luggage belts come in all kinds of colours and patterns. It is certainly more distinctive than a ribbon.  Besides identification purpose, a luggage belt makes it easier to haul your luggage and helps to bind your luggage together in case it opens up during handling.  

These days, shrink-wrap services are available at some airports for travellers to shrink-wrap their luggage in cellophane sheet.  Great idea, great service.  Not really!  Firstly, it is very difficult to handle a shrink-wrapped item (especially after it gets wet).  Secondly, good luck to you if airport security requires you to open up your luggage.

At some point in time in the past I used to paste stickers on my luggage.  But let me caution you if you want to do that.  Please ensure that your stickers are completely and absolutely innocuous.  Nothing should be culturally, religiously, socially and politically biased!  Not even your favourite football club.  The best sticker to put is the 'Fragile' sticker you get from the airport check-in counter.

Now, one more very important thing to do and yet people are not doing it;  take photographs of your luggage at the airport check-in counter.  The advantages are obvious.

And finally, NEVER pool your luggage with strangers and DON'T help to carry the luggage for any strangers.  Ignore the damsel in distress.  

Travel tip #7 - Watch what you say and do!

When you travel overseas, whether on departure or arrival, there is a very powerful person you have to come face to face with.  He is not highly educated, not highly paid, not high up in the organisational structure, does a very simple job, yet very powerful.  He is the immigration/customs officer.  Please respect him,  observe the rules and don't say or do anything usual.

You might have heard of the case of a family which was travelling overseas for holiday.  At the security gate, they like all the others were having their luggage scanned.  The child asked the father,  'Why are they scanning our luggage?'  The father replied, 'They want to see if we have any bombs inside.'  On hearing the word 'BOMB', the security team activated the emergency procedure, locked down the area and detained the family for interrogation and a detailed search.  The family's holiday was ruined.

Very often we do not say the right things and/or use the right words.  This is a case of a person not using the right words at the immigration.   This person was sent on a business trip by his company to its subsidiary in Denmark.  The immigration officer asked him what was the purpose of his visit.  He dutifully replied, 'To do some work.'  On hearing the word 'WORK', our innocent visitor was invited to a special session with the immigration officer and I believed he was eventually turned back!

Yet there was this case of a colleague who was visiting our company in Shanghai.  She wrote on her health declaration form that she was 'coughing'.  At the immigration, she confirmed with the officer that she was coughing.  She was duly led away by immigration officers and people in white coat.  I found out later that she was given a free medical examination.  Satisfied that she was no health hazard to the country, they eventually let her in. But she got a fright of her life and precious time was wasted.  She did in fact had a slight cough, a throat irritation that a cough drop would have done her good, not SARS or HxNy!  (I say 'x' and 'y' because I have lost track of how far the numerals have run.) But we Singaporeans are very honest people.  When you have a cough, you declare that you have a cough.  You cannot say otherwise.

There was one trip when I arrived at the airport in a East Asian country and was proceeding towards the baggage claim area.  Then I noticed an immigration/customs officer approaching a lady who was brandishing a copy of the Lianhe Zaobao in her hand.   The lady was duly whisked into a room for a chat with the officer.  Well you might not be aware that in many countries, you are not allowed to bring in foreign publications!  This lady has certainly violated a customs regulation.  So, please don't bring with you those complimentary newspaper you read on the plane when you alight.

Oh, yes, before I forget, please remember that while you are queuing up for immigration clearance, DO NOT use your mobile phone or take any photographs.  It is STRICTLY PROHIBITED.  Don't incur the wrath of the very powerful person/persons.

Travel tip #6 - What's for lunch?

Many Singaporeans when travelling overseas will invariably asked for chilly during meal time. Some want chilly sauce, some want cut red chilly, some want cut green chilly, some even ask for samba chilly.  And of all places, in western countries.  I think the restaurants and so on must be finding us very difficult to serve.  Anyway, I am not talking about this today.

When I travel overseas for holidays, I usually skip having lunch.  What I usually do is to take a couple of musli bars and down it with mineral water especially when I am on the road for the day.  If I do take lunch, it will be a light one or something I feel relatively safe, such as KFC or MacDonald.  Yes, I know even MacDonald or KFC may not be safe in some places.  It just goes to say that if KFC and MacDonald are not safe then what about the others?

Think of it, if you take a full lunch even in a restaurant, what if you have stomach upset after that and you are a 4-hour bus journey or somewhere up the mountains?