You Smell Like Cheese!

One of the crappy things about traveling through China at this time of year is the weather. It's so stinkin' hot and humid, it's unbelievable. I don't wanna complain, I mean, after all, I'm lucky to be here at all, but holy smokes it's HOT here! I used to find summers in Toronto to be quite oppressive, but the T.dot has NOTHING on China. I don't know how people here live with out air conditioning...I mean, it's just so damn sticky and gross!

One of the best things about traveling in China is how cheap the food is, and more importantly, how delicious it is! The Sichuan province is particularly well-known for its spicy food and tasty snacks. There's a special Sichuanese chili pepper that they use that will probably burn a hole through my stomach before I leave, but I just can't resist it.The typical Asian diet is quite low in dairy products, and so from the Asian perspective, we consume a lot of dairy; I was recently informed by a friend that most Asians think that people from North American and Europe smell weird....they think that our sweat smells like cheese! How crazy is that? I've gotta say, when I'm in Toronto, when I catch a whiff of a non-deodorized individual, the first thing that comes to mind is definitely not cheddar.....That being said, something I find incredibly curious is the lack of deodorant availability here... I'm running low, and I've been searching every drug store I've come across for a stick of anything, but so far, nothing......it could wind up being a stinky last few days before I get back to Hong Kong, but I guess no one will notice if they're not wearing deodorant either.

I've spent the day wandering around Chengdu, checking out a couple of temples, and eating popsicles. Nothing too taxing, nothing too exciting. I'm leaving Chengdu tomorrow morning for Songpan, where I'm going to embark on a five day horse-trek, which I'm super pumped about. After that...who knows. Every single person I've met here has told me that I should go to Juizhaigou, but I don't know if i have time.....I need to get back to Chengdu to zip down to Yunnan province for a couple of weeks, before heading back East.