My around-the-world ticket couldn't include Vietnam, but it could
get me to Hong Kong.
A creative travel agent in Hong Kong said that the cheapest way to
get to Hanoi was to take a train to Guangzhou first.
I could have gone just before my flight, but I decided to spend a night
and day there as a sort of mini-introduction to mainland China.
I might not have chosen Guangzhou as the most, er, esthetic
introduction
to China.
Esthetic, no... authentic, probably.
I remembered my flight from Johannesburg to Hong Kong.
The woman sitting next to me lived in South Africa but was from
Guangzhou.
When I asked her to tell me how life in China had changed, she said "so
fast!"
I don't know what it was like before (I'd only ever been to Hong Kong),
but
I felt big changes happening.
My hotel, the Bai Yun, was surrounded by high-rise buildings, shops
selling designer fashions and other expensive stuff.
On the street, as I took pictures, several desperate-looking people
begged me for money.
Opportunists in an area full of rich foreigners?
I don't know.
But the contrast -- there, and in my two taxi rides -- was striking.
Maybe you'll see some of that in these photos.
To get a larger version of any picture, click on it; a new window
should open. When you close that window, this window should still be
here.
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Up the Sani Pass to Lesotho]
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Hello, Hanoi!]
[Tour start: Around the World 2003]
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(These photographs are Copyright © 2003 by Jerry Peek. Much higher-resolution versions of most images, and many other images too, are available at Jerry Peek Photography. Photos are available at reduced prices, or free, for non-commercial use.)