Last night was so windy, my tent was like a boat in the steam, shaking all the time. I forced myself to sleep as my climb to the summit would be from midnight. However I failed, the sound of the wind was too loud and I didn’t sleep at all the whole night.

I got up in a very bad condition and started to prepare my day pack. I put on four layers of clothes for this very windy day, and I went to the peak like sleep walk. It was a 6 hours walk, from our camp to the peak. Very hard time especially in the last hour, I could see the lights from Stella point, but I couldn’t reach it. I was so sleepy, and took a nap on the way, maybe two, though my tour guide persuaded me not to do so as its very dangerous to sleep in the high altitude.

Stella point at sunrise time, though many people came back, we made it. After 6 days of hard time, nothing is better than this. I had a hug with my tour guide and Debbie, a tearful and happy hug.

There’s nothing special for this dinner, cucumber soup and rice. I talked a lot with Debbie about everything, she was quite happy too especially she made it after several days of a miserable stomach problem. We both asked a same question, what shall we do next? For me I don’t know, maybe a trip to Amazon or Egypt, but they won’t be as cool as Kilimanjaro. When I am in my small tent again, this is the last night I am staying in this home, outside those African people were talking as usual, but sounds quite happy, like us. Everyone felt relieved on this special day. If I can make Kilimanjaro true, then what else can’t I do?

It was very windy last night and I felt so cold in the sleeping bag, so I put on my thermal under-ware. It’s the first night I slept with clothes on and it wasn’t comfortable at all.
Debbie’s stomach problem became better after she met a doctor from England, and she started to eat some potatoes. It was a pretty short day, after about 3 hours walk, we reached our camp. We had dinner here and we could also see some people coming down from the summit. I saw two Denish guys who gave medicine to Debbie, also saw the American couple we met at the gate has finished the peak, and the Indian friend just came back from the summit. Some people gave up and it’s a pity that I don’t even have chances to say goodby to them. Those who made it shared us some tips, with an exhausted but happy tone. I can’t imagine what we will be like tonight.
From the base camp, there is a shortcut till the gate, and it only takes 5 hours, but this is a going down only route. I asked my guide why not have a climb of 2 days, that is just two nights at base camp. Surprisingly, he told me for income consideration, it’s not even an option for tourists. I think they must have asked suggestions from Americans before opening the routes, tricky business man.
It’s very sunny and windy in the camp in this area, and I feel like a burning pig inside. Tonight’s hike starts at 11:30pm, 7 hours walk to the peak, I hope we can make it, and I really miss a proper shower now.

I was wondering what would happen this morning as Debbie was so sick yesterday. Surprisingly she called me up this morning and asked me if I was okay.

It was a wonderful day, not so sunny, not so cold as well, as I wore enough clothes. First one hour was quite steep, but we managed it well. I saw some people come here with their family, like son and father, or daughter and mother. I would like to go somewhere with my dad someday when he is visiting me for my graduation ceremony in September.

Today I said goodbye to my two friends, one is a tour guide for two Japanese, the other is a guide for two Indians. Some African people are very nice to me, like these two people, but some obviously don’t like to talk to me. Today I also knew that many Tanzanians like China, for it brought cheap products to them, and also helped them to build roads or other infrastructures. It better to hear this from African people than hearing all negative comments from western media about China’s invasion to Africa.

Someone reminds me yesterday was Valentines day, and I am so happy that i can escape the commercial world for a while. Who cares what happens in the past few days, I can live very well without hearing any news or gossips. Tomorrow we will go to the base camp, then tomorrow evening we will climb to the summit, all amazing things will happen then,I can’t imagine how excited I will be at that time.

Debbie had some strange stomach problems this morning, since then it became a long day.

We need to go up and then down to our camp, almost 7 hours hike. We started pretty early but all the people behind us just came and passed us, I really don’t like the feeling but I really couldn’t do anything.

Lunch break was nice, Debbie had a nap and I ate lots of soup. But maybe because of too much food, I felt a bit headache in the afternoon. I asked the tour guide about the reaction, he said it was normal for this altitude. Strangely when I was in Tibet, I didn’t feel any headache but couldn’t breath well, but here all the reactions were new.

We spent about 4 hours in the afternoon till the camp and I was pretty exhausted. Some people are singing and having party outside of the camps and I am jealous of their attitude. Tomorrow is said to be another tough day, and I really need a good rest now.

It rained a lot last night, and I didn’t sleep well as our crew kept talking all the time out of the tent and I didn’t want to put my ear plugs in.

I woke up because of the heavy rain and I couldn’t go to sleep any more after that. When it stopped I thought it won’t rain today, but I was wrong. When we nearly reached the peak, it rained heavily again. On the one hand I like raining because it won’t be too hot, on the other hand everything is so dirty because of it. I wish all the rains will be sent to us in the first 4 days , not the days to the summit.

Today I learned my second sentences of Swahili: “manbo?”, ” poa.” It means the same as how are you? And fine. My first sentence was “jungo”, and that’s like hello. I wish I could learn more but I don’t think I am good at language any more, especially when I am travelling and I am trying to express myself clearly.

I met another tour guide from another group, and he really shocked me. He told me he was married with two twin boys, and he had two girlfriends, whom he met during the hike. If he told me he is Dutch, I will probably believe it, but in my opinion Africans are quite laid-back, they should not be as open-minded as this. I should see Africans in a new way, obviously not in a old school way, although I can’t do the things he described.

Tomorrow will be a 7 hours’ hiking, and it’s still raining now. I think my health is still okay for the rest of the days.

It’s half past eight, and I’ve finished day one, now I’m in the tent, listening to others talking in their language.

I met Debbie last night and she will my team mate in the last 7 days, she is from New York, a very cool Jewish girl. It’s actually the first time I talked to a Jewish so closely, well except for a strange English teacher when I was in university.

Today is the easiest day, just 4 hours of hiking. We did it in a pretty simple way, lots of talk, then we arrived our destination. I thought I did a five star trip with the company I booked, as they carried so much food with us. They brought us chairs, water, stove, and what i need is just carry my day pack and walk. Actually I thought i can feel clearly the difference between the tourists and those local people, though I have paid them, I didn’t take the ease for granted. I remembered the guy I met in Kampala, remembered those children who need help, I think I really should do more in Africa rather than just having fun.

Maybe it’s not a good time to think too much about the future, I should think more about what I should on the second day. A girl I met last night said she started to have some reactions from the second day, currently i just feel bad as I can’t have a shower but I hope I won’t have any other bad feelings tomorrow.

I didn’t expect to see much in Cambodia, many people gave me very negative comments on this country, as they thought travelling should be in an advanced country with more comfort. Though I would like to go and have a look, it was finally proved that it was actually a beautiful country.

It was not easy decide how many days I should stay in Siem Reap, not until in Tibet, I still thought one day would be enough, at least those temples were destroyed and quite similar, some of them should be enough. I met a girl in Lhasa, she had been to Siem Reap before and she told be she stayed for a week there. I was quite surprised, as even in LP’s instruction, all the temples could be seen within 2 days, what did she do there in a week. Then the girl said she didn’t go to temples every day, actually most of the time she just walked around and chilled out, and she still missed her days there. She also told me she bought a book called “The Beauty of Angkor” before she went there, the beauty was quite beyond what she just saw.

I couldn’t talk more about Angkor Wat in Tibet, as we soon jumped to the topic how to go to Mt Everest, but I remembered book’s name, and I also made a decision to extend my stay in Siem Reap to 2 days.

My first stop in Siem Reap was Banteay Srei, it was a disaster. I rode a bike for about 3 hours and finalled saw this small and crowded temple. It was described as the finest carving in Angkor, but I had seen much better carving in other places, and I couldn’t enjoy much. On the way back, I met the downpour and sheltered under a banana tree for an hour, I was quite pissed off and nearly lost the interests to the whole trip.

Soon the rain stopped, then I came to the second stop Pre Rup. It was nearly 6pm, and I waited there for the sunset. It was quite and there wasn’t so many people, I climbed to the peak, which was called the heaven by a tour guide. Gradually it became dark and dark, and the sunshine scattered over those statues little by little. All of a sudden, I felt those old statues became extremely beautiful. In front of them, facing to the ruins, I started to imagine how it was like in old days.In the same location, at the same sunset time, 1000 years ago, how was the people in Khmer Empire when this temple was newly built? Were they proud of this building and even their country?

I sat on a stone in Pre Rup for about an hour, looking at a girl’s drawing of a temple. Till it was completely dark, I came back to the hostel, and the pain in the morning also disappeared.

On the next day, in Bayon, I saw the book “The Beauty of Angkor” from a dark Cambodian boy. Among all the other English book, this Chinese book from Taiwan was quite special. I took it and had a look for a few minutes and gave it back to the boy. I didn’t buy the book, because I though I knew the beauty already, sometimes the beauty is not obviousl that can be seen from the picture, or even read from the book. Only if you were there and saw it, you would then feel it. Although Angkor Wat was quite boring in many people’s eyes, it was a perfect example of imperfect beauty.

I am glad I met the girl in Tibet, and I am also glad to make a right decision to stay 2 days in Siem Reap, though I would like to stay longer. Goodbye Angkor Wat, my beauty.

First of all, I don’t mean those who travel with five star hotel and business class flight, I don’t mean those who travel for business and spend a weekend in another city either, I mean those backpackers who travelled weeks and months far from their homes.

During each trip I’ll meet new people and hear different stories, though in most cases I’ll never meet them again. Before each trip I normally read Lonely Planet and plan the route carefully, and I am always happy to do something excessive than the recommendation, for a long time I think it is the only pleasure of travelling, till recently something changed my mind. I remembered when I was in Sydney I asked one mate what’s your plan today, he said I haven’t worked out. Also in Sydney I asked another mate what city are you heading to, he said I don’t know. Last night in Gold Coast I met a Canadian mate, he said he might buy a ticket to Canada tomorrow but he was not sure. After I introduced some good places in China, he said he might go to China but he was not sure either. This afternoon when I was back, guess what, his luggage was still in the room. I think this “not sure” is really a travel style rather than a simple unsure answer, it’s a pleasure which I have never thought before, full of unknowns, full of adventures, full of interests, I am just wondering if this is the reason that most of the backpackers enjoy the travelling by themselves.

Well, too much thinking, really not suitable in Queensland. Now I’m sitting on the table in my room, in front of me is the Fisherman’s Wharf, a big yacht club, some birds are flying freely in the sky, a lady is lying near the sea and enjoying the afternoon sunshine, and I am playing my iPad. Tomorrow is my last day in Gold Coast and I will finish my holidays in Australia and go back to China soon, now I’m kind of depressed, because I won’t be here any longer, I will have to be back to my daily life, this feeling is quite normal before the end of each travelling, but this time, plus one more regret, I never had the happiness of an unplanned travel.

But anyway I still enjoyed this trip, I climbed the harbour bridge, finished the most famous hiking way in Sydney, enjoyed the theme parks in Gold Coast and learned to surf, fair enough for a 8 days’ after exam travelling. Hope all the mates I met enjoyed their trips too, though different kinds of pleasures.