by Andrew Delmenhorst | Feb 2, 2015 | China, Chronicles
Think of something you fear. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Conjure up the images, sounds and smells that accompany that fear. Did your hands start to sweat? Or your stomach turn flips? That’s how I felt whenever I thought about doing the Plank Road in the sky on a...
by Andrew Delmenhorst | Dec 20, 2014 | China, Chronicles
A sixty-degree incline of stone stairs stood in front of me – 103 stairs to be exact. Atop the stairs was Beiyue Hall, a splendid Daoist temple halfway up Mount Heng in the Shanxi province of China. Mount Heng, or Hengshan, is one of the five sacred mountains of...
by Andrew Delmenhorst | Nov 27, 2014 | China, Chronicles
I’ve lived outside the US for over 7 years. Most Thanksgivings, I was fortunate enough to spend time with other expats. Often, somewhere between carving the turkey and seconds of cranberry sauce, someone would inevitably bring up what they are thankful for. I...
by Andrew Delmenhorst | Nov 19, 2014 | China, China, Chronicles, How To
In the heart of Beijing, off the side of one of its busiest streets, lies a peculiar market. It’s where tourists go to test the saying that the Chinese will eat anything with four legs and isn’t a table. Actually, the saying shouldn’t be restricted to only four legs,...
by Andrew Delmenhorst | Oct 29, 2014 | Bolivia, Chronicles
The deep thud of the blast ripples along the stone walls of the mineshaft. The walls are laced with moisture, the liquid appearing out of nowhere and everywhere. The explosion brings with it a light breeze and the earth shakes around me. It is hot, damp and hard to...
by Andrew Delmenhorst | Aug 28, 2014 | Bolivia, Chronicles
“Travel far enough, you meet yourself.” David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas Thank you, Bolivia, for reminding me of who and what I am. I had forgotten. It’s been a slow process and I can’t pinpoint when it was that I started to forget. Maybe sometime during college, maybe...