pants save man's life...or keep your valuables safe

Yes...It is true. I have a pair of pants that once saved a man from being killed. I am going to divert from China in this entry to discuss a more general subject that applies to travel anywhere. PICKPOCKETS! Yes they do exist. Certain areas in China are sometimes refered to in reference to this danger. Railway stations and things like that. In my case it was a market in Morocco.

A few years ago my wife and I and another couple were visitting my daughter in Maroc. She was serving as a volunteer in the Peace Corps. We were visiting another Peace Corps member who was serving in a very remote area in East central Morocco. We were all walking together through a typical crowded market. I felt my wife's hand in my pocket. I did not think much about it. I casually reached down and took her wrist and discovered that there was a young Morrocan man attached to the wrist. I think that we were both equally surprised. He ran off into the crowd before I had time to grab him. Well it seems that he must have seen me put some money into my pocket a few moments earlier and had decided that I was to be his opportunity for instant wealth. However I was wearing a pair of 'travel' pants manufactured by Royal Robbins. This pair of pants had a hidden pocket in the pocket that he had seen me use for my money. The pocket was hidden by a light weight plastic zipper. This was were I always kept anything more than 3-4 dollars. I felt secure then and I feel secure now when traveling and wearing these pants. They also have a couple of hidden pockets in the upper leg area. Royal Robbins deserves credit for saving this mans life. They probablly have no idea how some little thing like a hidden pocket could have spared this mans life. Oh, I have not really completed the story. It turns out that in the next village over a man had been beaten to death a month prior for a simular offense. In that part of the world people take care of these issues on their own and with little discussion. It was explained to me that the only thing that would have saved his life would have been intervention from the local police. There were no local police.
Pants like these can be had from most places that sell travel gear. There are, of course, other solutions to travel security. This was and is mine. You can decide for yourself what will work best for you. But do it. The worst nightmare while travelling is to lose your money and/or papers. Don't let it happen to you. Be proactive and deal with it before the fact, not after.

plastic bags, ballpoint pens, & forms

Its time for a few more handi-hints...
There are so many little things that can ease a lot of stress...Here are some, bigger ones in future posts.

• Always have a finepoint ballpoint or some sort of ballpoint pen to fill in forms. Especially on an airplane [unless the airport security people sieze it]. It is such a minor thing, but I mention this anyway because you are going to need the damn thing. Stick to blue ink. The PRC does not like red ink...go figure!
• When you go through Hong Kong Customs, US Customs, and especially the PRC Customs, always grab a few extra forms if you can. It is so nice to be able to fill out the forms while in your hotel room the day or evening before you go through customs.
• This brings up the next HANDI-HINT for the day. Stick all of those forms into a zip-lock bag. Now about zip-lock bags. Get the really good Heavy duty bags. Get different sizes. Use the large bags for different groups of things. One for underwear. One for T-shirts. One for dirty clothes. Some for 8.5x11 sheets of paper. Small ones for money, biz cards, and other small odds and ends. YOU CAN NOT HAVE TOO MANY PLASTIC BAGS. Some are going to rip out or die from broken zipper disease. Just remember...lotsa high quality HD ziplock bags. Also make sure to press out as much air as you can...poor mans shrink-wrap sorta thing.
• Oh yeah...another little thing. If you are over 65 [65...I think] there is a special line for people leaving Shenzhen. Look for the sign. It really helps. They may have this in other border crossings as well. I just don't really know. I always go in and out at Shenzhen because of my business needs.

travel in China - passport photos & GSM cell phones

Here are a few more tips for easing the travel experience.

• Need passport photos? Go to a local passport photo place and get 2 photos or whatever is the minimum. Then use the magic of your own printer and print out a whole slew of copies on glossy paper and put them away. Next time you travel, there they are. I travel to China often and have an area where I keep everything relating to travel. Left over currency, business cards, reciepts, etc. Take some extra photos with you in case you are at a remote border and need some passport photos for a new visa to cross into Burma or Laos, or whatever. Print them 4-up and use them for a bookmark.

• Another big tip is to have a GSM cell phone. First part of the tip is to go to someplace like Ebay or craigslist and procure a 'throwaway' GSM <<<unlocked>>> multiband cell phone. [ 3 or 4 band, although you only need a 3 band for China]. Figure around $30-40. If you screwup and get a locked phone, then go back to craigslist and see if you can find a local person to unlock your phone. It should cost about $15. There are also services on Ebay and on the net. BTW I prefer a 'clamshell' type to prevent accidental button pushing. If you are into photos, then by all means get a phone that will take pics. It is not important to me, but maybe it is to you. The next thing is to get a Chinese SIM card. You can get one on Ebay or you can simply wait till you get to the PRC. China-Mobile stores are almost as common as McDonalds and Starbucks. They are very EZ to find. OK...Now that you have your unlocked GSM multiband cell phone you are ready for your reward. Load into your phone some Mandarin speaking PRC friends. If you don't have any Mandarin speaking friends then load in some Hotel front desk phone numbers or even Bi-lingual travel agents in the PRC. Or simply get a phone number off of a hotel biz card where you have stayed at previously. Now, when and if, you find yourself at a remote train station or bus station you have a translator in your pocket. In most cases you will not see any Roman lettering or English speaking people at all. You cell phone will bail you out. Another valuable aspect is for both you and a travel companion to be able to connect in case you get separated. Whew...a big sigh of relief when you are lost. Also very nice to be able to say hi to fellow travellers that you meet along the road [if they also have a GSM phone]. And lastly.... a nice way to call home. You can go almost anywhere and get your SIM card recharged with more miniutes. Newspaper stands, or another China Mobile store, and you are on your way.

travels in China

This is the first in a series of what I hope will be valuable tips for travelling in China. I have been to China about 10 times in the last 6 years. I have learned a lot of things that I want to pass on to fellow travellers. I will be covering some creative tips from landing at the airport to being homeward bound.

• luggage choices
• GSM cell phones
• money conversion cheat sheets
• bargaining
• student guides for free
• going solo
• trains and busses
• tour groups.....big mr. NO
• travel light
• but wait...there's more

OK...Lets start with luggage choices. It is really up to you. Here is my choice for me. I use a very large, high quality, 'hard shell' suitcase. I use this choice to accomodate my love of shopping. Before leaving I pack some bubble wrap to bring with me. What I don't use I abandon in my last hotel room. But you don't want to take time trying to find bubble wrap when you are there. In China they just use old newspapers. Not a very good choice for something highly fragile that you really want to bring home in one piece. Now if you love to shop and don't want to drag a large suitcase around with you there is another very good option. Buy one there. You can buy a very good quality hard shell suitcase for about $20-25 at any Chinese Dept Store. Not a bad choice. Another variation is a suitcase inside a suitcase. Go to a flea market, thrift store, or a whole bunch of garage sales and find a second suitcase to stick inside another. It can be a matter of luck. Too much trouble I 'spose. But maybe you will be lucky. But keep in mind how EZ it is to pickup extra luggage in China. You might also want to buy some of those big canvas straps that you see some foreigners using on their bulging funky suitcases. Along this line you can also buy, for next to nothing, wooven vinyl open top suitcases [bags] that work well but are not fashion statements. But they will certainally earn respect from other foreigners and for some are a fashion statement. They look good with 'croc' polyvinyl shoes.

BTW...everything in this blog will be countered by a future blog on travelling light.

So back to luggage. Another part of luggage is a small bag to carry over your shoulder at all times for your camera, phone, passport, water bottle, and those sorts of things. Again this is a matter of choice. Whatever you choose it should be like your skin. I can not say enough about this. It is easier for women to get into this [BTW I am a guy]. I use what I call a 'man bag'. It is a bota shaped bag that comes in 2-3 different sizes and simple bland colours. It is almost impossible to be attacked by a pickpocket. Yes there really are pick pockets out there. I will discuss in a future blog how a pair of pants that I was wearing saved a man's life in Morocco. Not a joke. Anyway these bags have lotsa pockets Too many really, but they are really very good for travelling. You can find them in sporting good stores with travel departments. You can also find the kind of pants that spared a man to live another day. A regular two strap day bag will work well if you use one strap only over your shoulder and sorta slung under your arm.