Email No. 4

-----Original Message-----
From: Motti Mor [mailto:motti_mor@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2007 8:38 AM
Subject: Trip to China (Part 3) - a few notes

Hi,I'm back to Cheng Du after a two-day trip to the biggest Buddha in the world and climbing a 3,000-meter mountain. It was nice but not as good as the time in the Tibetan mountains.

Now after almost two weeks in China I would like to share with you some experiences I've had.In Songpan after the horse tracking [Motti, do you mean trekking?] we had to wash our clothes (we really had to!!) from the horses and the smoke so we asked the restaurant lady. She said that there is a place which [we] can make it fast just 200 meters from her. So we went there but didn't find it so we started asking people and everyone sent us to another place. And when we reached the other place, they sent us to another place and so on.

A Chinese person will never say he doesn't know but send you to another place and will let the other one handle it.

After about 45 minutes we decided to go back to the first place and on the way, we found the place just two stores next to the lady's place.

But really the Chinese are very helpful and always want to help. So when you ask someone a question, suddenly you'll find 20 people surrounding you and trying to help. You turn your head and it becomes 100 and you find yourself walking in the street with 100 Chinese people walking behind you. Now, go handle 100 people that can't say "I don't know"!

The other day we went to a small internet cafe and there was only one computer free so we wanted to sit together. Arik sat down and I went to the manager to ask for another chair (in Chinese of course). He gave me a folding chair that even a 3-month-old baby wouldn'tbe able to sit on. It was a modle [what word did you mean here, Motti?] of a chair but still a chair. He basically said to me, "I gave you what you asked for. Whether you'll be able to use it or not is your problem."

When we were starting our horse tracking, the whole group already departed to the mountains but our guide received a phone call on his cellular (everyone has it!!!). We understood that he was informed of having a grandson. His boss, who looks like a town boss from the old western movies, didn't care so he came shouting at him to leave already. So we asked him do you have a baby? He said, "No, no baby. Baby baby." (A grandson I guess)

For now that is all.
Later....Motti

(Another interesting post from Motti!)