As I'm getting so behind in my writing, I decided that it might be easier and more interesting to 'theme' some of my experiences - at least until I can catch up a bit. So, here goes:
SEX
Ha! Well that's a bad place to start. This has generally not been a feature of my trip, so don't get too excited! The only activity, on this theme, that has been consistently evident through the journey - at least since southern china - is the illicit! Prostitution in Russia is illegal and sanctions punitive and so, with one exception, there was no obvious evidence of the oldest profession. I was making my way back on the metro to my hotel in a Moscow suburb, having spent the day at the Kremlin and Red Square. The capital's subway system is a reason of it's own to visit Moscow. Many of the stations in the centre are testaments to Art Deco. They are mammoth, yellow tiled halls with bronze statues depicting heroes of communism, workers of the nation and animals! Some of the statues where worn, as polished as a messianic icon in a cathedral, by the many touches from moscavites paying homage as they passed. Even the dog had a shiney nose! I cant say I took too much to Moscow. However a few days travelling around her underground railway stations and I might feel the urge to buy myself a note book and an anorak! Not that you need a jacket, given the temperatures on the streets far above, the tube is toasty warm. It was on my second evening, as I walked from the station to my hotel, that I had my encounter with the 'babushka' in beaver fur (maybe a bad choice of alliteration!). A huskly wispered 'prostituka' emenating from a disembodied voice from somewhere within a big fur coat and hood. I had walked on a few yards before it occurred to me that I was being offered a service! Still, with temperatures of -22 (daytime) there were probably not too many punters wandering the streets looking for nooky.
I wasn't in Outer Mongolia long enough to witness any similar situations. Ulaanbataar is the largest city in Outer Mongolia. The country has just over 2 million inhabitants and half of then live in the capital. Outside of Dheli, UB has to be one of the noisiest places I've ever visited. It would seem that it is obligatory to sound your car horn from the moment you start driving and continue until you complete your journey. Other than this and the interminable cold wind that makes it, reputedly, the worlds coldest capital city, I didn't have time to experience much more.
China also has prohibition on the sex trade and, certainly in post-Olympics Beijing there was little to be troubled by, unless you go looking I presume. Except Shanghai! Or should I say Shaghai! First off, Shanghai is actually a nice city, as cities go. As I've said before, I'm not really a fan of big urban areas, but Shanghai has history and charm. I was fortunate to be staying in a very central area, not far from the Bund (riverside), at one end of the Nanjing Road. Nanjing Road is, sort of, like the Oxford Street of Shanghai. A paved area about half a mile long, it is lined with big department stores selling top notch brand western products. It's side streets are also home to some really good restaurants and street food vendors and it is a great place to indulge in one of my favourite activities...people watching.
On my first evening in the city I opted to take a pre-dinner stroll along the road. I'd already done the walk in the daytime and had got used to being approached by people offering to sell me cheap watches and bags. I wasn't quite expecting the deluge of rumpy pumpy vendors that were to assault my every step that evening. Within a few yards of entering one end of the concours, a man in a black leather jacket sidled up to me offering the usual fake goods but followed this hawking with 'you like massage? Very pretty girl. Give you good time!'. Waving him away, it was only another ten yards or so before the same again. After about five approaches, from male and female pimps, I decided to start counting. In the 30 minutes it took me to walk up and back along the road, I was propositioned a further 27 times!
Given that the Chinese authorities say that the game doesn't exist in their country, there are a lot of players in Shanghai. Either that or one very busy girl! I got used to the modus operandi after a while. I would notice a, usually, dark jacketed guy, or sometimes a middle aged woman, breaking away from a small group and tacking through the promenading shoppers and families on a collision course with my direction of travel. Sometimes it would be a pincer movement so that, if I slyly changed my trajectory, there would be another approaching from the other side of the street. But the dialogue, in poor, but well rehearsed, pigeon english, was invariable the same. The notable exception was the woman who, having her offers of watches, bags and pretty girl, rejected looked me in the eye and said 'ok. Roller skates?' Her words took me by surprise. Looking down she was proffering a pair of luminous pink 'healeys' that flashed as they revolved. Even she cracked a smile as I started laughing out loud, though I think the irony may have been lost on her.
There is obviously something about being a lone, fat, bald male that makes one a target for soliciting, as I never noticed approaches being made to men that were with other people. But it has led one friend to kindly label me 'hooker magnet'! I'm not sure that is meant in any way as a complement!
During my few days in Shanghai, I ran this gauntlet on a regular basis, partly because I wanted to get the the eateries, partly because it was the way to the nearest metro and partly because it was quite a fun game, playing dodgem along the boulevard. I have to confess, in the end I did weaken! I'm now the proud owner of a pair of a brand new pair of roller skates! Who has the key?
One of the things I wanted to do while away was to learn more (legitimate) massage techniques. Hong Kong and Vietnam have been full of spas and health clubs offering massage and I have had some excellent therapies, including having masseur walking up and down my spine. However, differentiating between the authentic offering and otherwise can be difficult. In general, opting for professional looking establishment, preferably linked to a decent hotel, does the trick. Even one of the ubiquitous foot massages - wonderful after a day walking around temples or museums - tend to include a quick shoulder and head massage. It is worth noting that, whilst not all that glistens is gold, not everything that is tarnished is foul. There are plenty of great massages to be had here and, at about £10a throw, great value.
Coming up next...Drugs.
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