“Ernesto Guevara: What do we leave behind when we cross each frontier? Each moment seems split in two; melancholy for what was left behind and the excitement of entering a new land.”
from diarios de motocicleta.

if i hadn’t already felt the urge to travel to south america, i would surely get the itch after watching diarios de motocicleta: the story of young che guevara on his south-american continental roadtrip on a bike named la poderosa (”the mighty one”). the film photography is simple and stunning, eye-catching in its rawness.

besides, roadtrips fascinate me, as i am sure they do to many other travelers out there. my only stint at a roadtrip was a 3 or 4 days drive through colorado, utah and wyoming, over a year ago.
it was beautiful and liberating, and we plan to go back to the states and repeat it someday, with a twist: we shall visit an itinerary of odd-named places. it will certainly include highlights like potomac, normal, breakneck, chicken, gringo, frostproof, ding dong and most definitely choconut. no kidding!

above, our detour to visit a place called cisco. :)

we went to qiandao (literally, thousand islands) lake last weekend. it’s a man-made lake near hangzhou, that resulted from the construction of a hydroelectric station: when the water rose, +1000 “islands” were born, hence the name.

the landscape is impressive, if sad.
while the ferry hops between the different islands (curiously themed and mildly touristically explored), one has the feeling of floating between mountain tops, cirurgically cut with level lines.

(more photos, on flickr.)

* since i broke the news to friends and family, i’ve been discovering some interesting thoughts on how the west sees china. the best one-liner reaction to the news so far has been an unexpected “and you’re not afraid of losing any organs?”, which, though ironic, translates very well what i’m trying to say.

other curious remarks include strange food-related topics or fear of us being turned into slaves overnight. i hope this blog will help some people change their mind about the middle empire.

* i’ve packed my suitcase, which is enormous, but weights a mere 23kgs. can you imagine, moving your life to another continent and carrying only 23 kgs, 5 of which are from the suitcase itself? the essential survival kit includes coffee, lots of medicine from mom, summer clothes, my crocs and photos of friends. lots of them.

* this 7th/8th april marks a new life in many ways. a much wanted finantially independent life, but also one where i share my ground with the person i love and in which we get to decide our own future. together. :)

* how did mom and dad deal with all of this? very well. they’re being supportive and dealing with it all in a calm and rational way. most of the time, anyway. i’m quite proud of them. :)

the photo above is from theshanghaieye. more here.