Silk Road trip - take two.
 

Just back from London after my second Kyrgyzstan - Kazakhstan trip. Local
tea was so-so, but I took with me my new portable bamboo gungfu tea
box/table and amazed people both in Bishkek and Almaty with Nai Xiang
oolong. On my way in the borders were closed and we had to cross the ancient
Silk Road Kaz-Kyr border on foot dragging our luggage through angry crowd.
On my way back Kazakh border guards at the same crossing fished out my Dai
bamboo puerh (from David Hoffman Silk Road Teas!) and there was no doubt in
their mind that this was pressed marihuana. Half of them wanted me arrested,
half - to let me go, saying that as long as geologists like myself find gold
and oil, who cares what they smoke! I was let go, but there was no doubt in
their minds that this was pot. I need to do something about this - I may not
be so lucky next time.
To be arrested in the middle of the real Silk Road for carrying puerh from
California Silk Road Teas would not be fun, especially during current
political turmoil.

Sasha.

Hehe Sasha you smuggler you...

I get my packages inspected by the post office quite regularly, boxes
with compressed bricks of a green leafy substance and Chinese
postmarks, it does get their attention.

Mike
http://www.pu-erh.net


On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 15:13:23 GMT, "Alex Chaihorsky"
> wrote:

>Just back from London after my second Kyrgyzstan - Kazakhstan trip. Local
>tea was so-so, but I took with me my new portable bamboo gungfu tea
>box/table and amazed people both in Bishkek and Almaty with Nai Xiang
>oolong. On my way in the borders were closed and we had to cross the ancient
>Silk Road Kaz-Kyr border on foot dragging our luggage through angry crowd.
>On my way back Kazakh border guards at the same crossing fished out my Dai
>bamboo puerh (from David Hoffman Silk Road Teas!) and there was no doubt in
>their mind that this was pressed marihuana. Half of them wanted me arrested,
>half - to let me go, saying that as long as geologists like myself find gold
>and oil, who cares what they smoke! I was let go, but there was no doubt in
>their minds that this was pot. I need to do something about this - I may not
>be so lucky next time.
>To be arrested in the middle of the real Silk Road for carrying puerh from
>California Silk Road Teas would not be fun, especially during current
>political turmoil.
>
>Sasha.
>
>

Alex m4/10/05
Sasha,

What I get from this is that if I want to cross the Kyrgyzstan-Kazakhstan
border with my stash, I need only pose as a geologist. Good news, eh? So,
where did you get the amazing and enviable portable bamboo gungfu tea
box/table of which you speak?

Welcome back.

Best,
Michael



> Just back from London after my second Kyrgyzstan - Kazakhstan trip. Local
> tea was so-so, but I took with me my new portable bamboo gungfu tea
> box/table and amazed people both in Bishkek and Almaty with Nai Xiang
> oolong. On my way in the borders were closed and we had to cross the ancient
> Silk Road Kaz-Kyr border on foot dragging our luggage through angry crowd.
> On my way back Kazakh border guards at the same crossing fished out my Dai
> bamboo puerh (from David Hoffman Silk Road Teas!) and there was no doubt in
> their mind that this was pressed marihuana. Half of them wanted me arrested,
> half - to let me go, saying that as long as geologists like myself find gold
> and oil, who cares what they smoke! I was let go, but there was no doubt in
> their minds that this was pot. I need to do something about this - I may not
> be so lucky next time.
> To be arrested in the middle of the real Silk Road for carrying puerh from
> California Silk Road Teas would not be fun, especially during current
> political turmoil.
>
> Sasha.
>
>
>

My recent order of bamboo puer tubes from China came packed with
shredded bamboo leaf. I use one of those mechanic tools with the
telescoping prongs for picking up objects too slide down the tube and
remove the leaf. Repack the leaf and pretend the tool is for your
work. The only way they're going to know the tube is nothing more than
bamboo is break it. Don't travel to Turkey because my bamboo puer
looks more like hashish. Or just travel to countries that have
substance sniffing dogs at the borders and hope you don't get one that
is a reject from the pound who'll wag his tail at anything.

Jim

Alex Chaihorsky wrote:
> Just back from London after my second Kyrgyzstan - Kazakhstan trip.
Local
> tea was so-so, but I took with me my new portable bamboo gungfu tea
> box/table and amazed people both in Bishkek and Almaty with Nai Xiang

> oolong. On my way in the borders were closed and we had to cross the
ancient
> Silk Road Kaz-Kyr border on foot dragging our luggage through angry
crowd.
> On my way back Kazakh border guards at the same crossing fished out
my Dai
> bamboo puerh (from David Hoffman Silk Road Teas!) and there was no
doubt in
> their mind that this was pressed marihuana. Half of them wanted me
arrested,
> half - to let me go, saying that as long as geologists like myself
find gold
> and oil, who cares what they smoke! I was let go, but there was no
doubt in
> their minds that this was pot. I need to do something about this - I
may not
> be so lucky next time.
> To be arrested in the middle of the real Silk Road for carrying puerh
from
> California Silk Road Teas would not be fun, especially during current

> political turmoil.
>
> Sasha.

>So,
> where did you get the amazing and enviable portable bamboo gungfu tea
> box/table of which you speak?
>
> Welcome back.
>
> Best,
> Michael
>

Actually you saw it - I bought it from the owner of that tea gallery that
you, Dog Ma and I visited in Feb in NY. Turned out it has enough space to
hold yixing teapot, glass chahai, set of 3 chabeis and sniffing cups and a
small tea can. It has an internal grid panel and the whole thing is made
from water-resistant polished bamboo so it ideal as a gungfu table.

Sasha.

Alex .com4/11/05


>> So,
>> where did you get the amazing and enviable portable bamboo gungfu tea
>> box/table of which you speak?
>>
>> Welcome back.
>>
>> Best,
>> Michael
>>
>
> Actually you saw it - I bought it from the owner of that tea gallery that
> you, Dog Ma and I visited in Feb in NY. Turned out it has enough space to
> hold yixing teapot, glass chahai, set of 3 chabeis and sniffing cups and a
> small tea can. It has an internal grid panel and the whole thing is made
> from water-resistant polished bamboo so it ideal as a gungfu table.
>
> Sasha.
>
>
>

Aha. I remember it all now. Great tea making tray. Glad you found it so
useful. May I share its adventures and travels with Michael and Winnie, the
tea guys who sold it to you?

Michael

"Michael Plant" > wrote in message
...
>
> Aha. I remember it all now. Great tea making tray. Glad you found it so
> useful. May I share its adventures and travels with Michael and Winnie,
> the
> tea guys who sold it to you?
>
> Michael
>

Sure. It was used, argueably, in the first gungfu presentation (local tea
conesseurs never heard of gungfu) in Kyrgyzstan in recent years. Definitely
the first one after the "revolution". I visited the local Chinese tea shop
during my first visit (now it is burned down - there is no love lost between
Kyrgyz and Han) and saw only mediocre black teas and very old dried out
oolongs that nobody buy. The Chinese there were from Urumchi and knew
mainly green and black teas as they are used in predominantly Moslem parts
of China. Gungfu and puerhs were not even heard of there.

Sasha.

"Michael Plant" > wrote in message
...
>
> Aha. I remember it all now. Great tea making tray. Glad you found it so
> useful. May I share its adventures and travels with Michael and Winnie,
> the
> tea guys who sold it to you?
>
> Michael
>

Sure. It was used, argueably, in the first gungfu presentation (local tea
conesseurs never heard of gungfu) in Kyrgyzstan in recent years. Definitely
the first one after the "revolution". I visited the local Chinese tea shop
during my first visit (now it is burned down - there is no love lost between
Kyrgyz and Han) and saw only mediocre black teas and very old dried out
oolongs that nobody buy. The Chinese there were from Urumchi and knew
mainly green and black teas as they are used in predominantly Moslem parts
of China. Gungfu and puerhs were not even heard of there.

Sasha.

"Space Cowboy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> My recent order of bamboo puer tubes from China came packed with
> shredded bamboo leaf. I use one of those mechanic tools with the
> telescoping prongs for picking up objects too slide down the tube and
> remove the leaf. Repack the leaf and pretend the tool is for your
> work. The only way they're going to know the tube is nothing more than
> bamboo is break it. Don't travel to Turkey because my bamboo puer
> looks more like hashish. Or just travel to countries that have
> substance sniffing dogs at the borders and hope you don't get one that
> is a reject from the pound who'll wag his tail at anything.
>
> Jim

Jim -

BTW, the latest buy of Dai bamboo puerh from SRT was quite different from
the old and quite dissapointing. Dull and weak flavor. Do you buy directly
from China? Are you happy with the product? How do you buy it and where?

Cheers,

Sasha.

"Space Cowboy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> My recent order of bamboo puer tubes from China came packed with
> shredded bamboo leaf. I use one of those mechanic tools with the
> telescoping prongs for picking up objects too slide down the tube and
> remove the leaf. Repack the leaf and pretend the tool is for your
> work. The only way they're going to know the tube is nothing more than
> bamboo is break it. Don't travel to Turkey because my bamboo puer
> looks more like hashish. Or just travel to countries that have
> substance sniffing dogs at the borders and hope you don't get one that
> is a reject from the pound who'll wag his tail at anything.
>
> Jim

Jim -

BTW, the latest buy of Dai bamboo puerh from SRT was quite different from
the old and quite dissapointing. Dull and weak flavor. Do you buy directly
from China? Are you happy with the product? How do you buy it and where?

Cheers,

Sasha.

Use Google Groups and see the thread "My first Puer from China". Okay
I'll save you the trouble since it was somebody else who let the cat
out of the bag. It is a site called CyberSilkRoad. I'm trying to find
a source of empty tubes too hold other teas.

Jim

Alex Chaihorsky wrote:
> "Space Cowboy" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > My recent order of bamboo puer tubes from China came packed with
> > shredded bamboo leaf. I use one of those mechanic tools with the
> > telescoping prongs for picking up objects too slide down the tube
and
> > remove the leaf. Repack the leaf and pretend the tool is for your
> > work. The only way they're going to know the tube is nothing more
than
> > bamboo is break it. Don't travel to Turkey because my bamboo puer
> > looks more like hashish. Or just travel to countries that have
> > substance sniffing dogs at the borders and hope you don't get one
that
> > is a reject from the pound who'll wag his tail at anything.
> >
> > Jim
>
> Jim -
>
> BTW, the latest buy of Dai bamboo puerh from SRT was quite different
from
> the old and quite dissapointing. Dull and weak flavor. Do you buy
directly
> from China? Are you happy with the product? How do you buy it and
where?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Sasha.