Of Swiss aid, Swiss dogs and Swiss parents Von Schweizer Hilfe, Schweizer Hunden und Schweizer Eltern Ελβετική βοήθεια, ελβετικά σκυλιά και ελβετικοί γονείς De ajuda suíça, cães suíços e pais suíços İsviçre yardımı, İsviçre köpekleri ve İsviçreli ebeveynler Швейцарська допомога, швейцарські собаки та швейцарські батьки 瑞士的援助、瑞士的狗和瑞士的父母 瑞士的援助、瑞士的狗和瑞士的父母

Hi everyone, this is Owen and this is my podcast for Friday 6th November, 2015. I hope you are all well. Last month was a little busy for me. October 1st is the National Day of China. It's the time of the year when all Chinese people go on holiday. Everyone gets a week's holiday starting October 1st. Todos têm uma semana de férias a partir de 1 de outubro. You may have noticed lots of Chinese tourists in Switzerland that week. In China there are a few places that get very crowded, so it can be a good time to get out of the country. I spent a few days in Laos in South-East Asia towards the end of the week. Passei alguns dias no Laos, no Sudeste Asiático, no final da semana. Before that though my girlfriend's mother arrived in Yunnan for a visit and we took her to see two places in Yunnan. After that, Vittoria and her mum flew north to Beijing and I travelled south to Laos. So today, I'll be talking about the two places we visited in Yunnan and my trip to Laos.

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Our first trip was to Dali. A nossa primeira viagem foi a Dali. Dali is an old town, roughly eight hours by train east of Kunming. Dali é uma cidade antiga, a cerca de oito horas de comboio a leste de Kunming. Because of the distance we decided to take the overnight train. Devido à distância, decidimos apanhar o comboio da noite. Night trains in China can be quite the experience. Os comboios noturnos na China podem ser uma experiência e tanto. Ночные поезда в Китае могут быть очень интересными. Vittoria's mum seemed a little nervous at first, but we assured[1] her that she'd enjoy it. A mãe da Vittoria pareceu um pouco nervosa no início, mas garantimos-lhe[1] que ela ia gostar. Generally speaking there are four types of ticket on overnight trains: standing room, hard seat, hard sleeper and soft sleeper. De um modo geral, existem quatro tipos de bilhetes nos comboios noturnos: em pé, com banco duro, com cama dura e com cama macia. Standing room is for people who buy tickets at the last minute. Hard seat is for people who are travelling short distances or don't have much money. Hard sleeper is for people who want a bed and soft sleeper is the most luxurious way of travelling by train. We had hard sleeper tickets which gets you a rather narrow [2] but comfortable bed. Tínhamos bilhetes para as camas duras, o que nos dá uma cama bastante estreita [2] mas confortável. The bed isn't actually hard. A cama não é de facto dura. The hard sleeper carriage is an open carriage with lots of beds, three on top of each other. A carruagem de cama dura é uma carruagem aberta com muitas camas, três em cima umas das outras. I've always had great experiences with overnight trains here and this was no different. Sempre tive boas experiências com comboios noturnos aqui e este não foi diferente. We slept really well and arrived well-rested [3] for our three days in Dali. Dormimos muito bem e chegámos bem descansados [3] para os nossos três dias em Dali. The town is becoming very popular with tourists because they have tried to preserve [4] the traditional old buildings and streets. I remember visiting Dali a number of years ago and it's hasn't changed much. Lembro-me de visitar Dali há alguns anos e não mudou muito. From what I remember, there were fewer tourists then and more alternative groups - artists, musicians - from all over China. Do que me lembro, havia menos turistas nessa altura e mais grupos alternativos - artistas, músicos - de toda a China. People looking for a life outside of the big Chinese cities. Pessoas que procuram uma vida fora das grandes cidades chinesas. On our second day we rented bicycles and rode to a lake. No nosso segundo dia, alugámos bicicletas e fomos até um lago. We were there before the national holiday, but it was still quite crowded. When we arrived at the lake, we cycled past a middle-aged couple that stood out because they weren't Chinese. Quando chegámos ao lago, passámos de bicicleta por um casal de meia-idade que se destacava por não ser chinês. 当我们到达湖边时，我们骑车经过一对中年夫妇，他们很显眼，因为他们不是中国人。 As I rode past them, I thought: ‘They look rather familiar. Ao passar por eles, pensei: "Parecem-me bastante familiares. ' I also thought I heard them speaking Swiss-German. I kept thinking: ‘This is very strange but I'm sure I know that couple. Não parava de pensar: "Isto é muito estranho, mas tenho a certeza que conheço este casal. ' When we stopped, I told Vittoria and her mother: ‘I think I know that couple we just passed. ' I wasn't completely sure if it was who I thought it was but I had to find out. So I turned back and asked them whether they were from Zurich. When they said, yes, I asked them if they had a son my age. Yes, came the answer. Sim, foi a resposta. So I was right! They were the parents of someone I went to kindergarten with. Eram os pais de uma pessoa com quem andei no jardim de infância. I had to explain to them who I was, of course. I've changed quite a bit in the last twenty-five years. But what a coincidence [5]! Amazing how small the world is sometimes! I was also amazed to hear that they had driven all the way to China from Switzerland in their camper van, across Siberia and Mongolia. Também fiquei espantado ao saber que tinham vindo da Suíça para a China na sua carrinha de campismo, atravessando a Sibéria e a Mongólia.

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The next stop on our trip was Shaxi. Shaxi is a little way north of Dali. Shaxi fica um pouco a norte de Dali. It took a few hours and a couple of buses to get there. Foram necessárias algumas horas e dois autocarros para lá chegar. It was my first time visiting Shaxi. Vittoria had visited once before about five years ago. We timed our visit in order to be there for the big Friday market. Programámos a nossa visita de forma a estarmos presentes no grande mercado de sexta-feira. 我们安排了参观时间以便能赶上周五的大型集市。 The town itself is incredibly beautiful. A cidade em si é incrivelmente bonita. It's a town with a very long history. It lies on the Ancient Tea Route which is sometimes also called the Southern Silk Road. Situa-se na antiga Rota do Chá, por vezes também designada por Rota da Seda do Sul. The Ancient Tea Route was a network of paths [6] which connected Yunnan with Burma, Bengal, Tibet and Sichuan. A Antiga Rota do Chá era uma rede de caminhos [6] que ligava Yunnan à Birmânia, Bengala, Tibete e Sichuan. From Yunnan they used to carry tea along the paths to sell and trade. Shaxi was an important stop on the route. I've been reading recently that the Chinese government is investing a lot of money in building a new Southern Silk Road. I believe they have already started a project which will connect Yunnan to North-Eastern India by road. Creio que já iniciaram um projeto que ligará Yunnan ao nordeste da Índia por estrada. Shaxi is a small town with a beautiful square in the middle of it. Shaxi é uma pequena cidade com uma bela praça no meio. All the structures and buildings are made of wood with the traditional tiled Chinese roofs. Todas as estruturas e edifícios são feitos de madeira com os tradicionais telhados de telha chineses. On the square there's an open theatre stage [7]. Na praça, há um palco de teatro aberto [7]. The stage faces the buddhist temple on the opposite side of the square. O palco está virado para o templo budista no lado oposto da praça. Apparently they used to perform to the gods as well as all the people in the square. Очевидно, они раньше выступали перед богами, а также перед всеми людьми на площади. The town recently received a lot of money and know-how to preserve the square. A cidade recebeu recentemente muito dinheiro e conhecimentos para preservar a praça. 该镇最近获得了大量资金和技术来保护广场。 The whole town was in very poor condition until 2001, when the square was put on a list of endangered [8] cultural sites. 整个城镇的状况一直很差，直到 2001 年，广场被列入濒危 [8] 文化遗址名单。 With the help of the ETH in Zurich and the local government they started a project to preserve the square and parts of the village. They did a fantastic job. It's really a magical place. Definitely the most beautiful village I have visited in China. We stayed in a very nice guesthouse right on the square. And the guesthouse had two huge but very lazy dogs. E a casa de hóspedes tinha dois cães enormes mas muito preguiçosos. One was a St Bernard. Maybe the ETH donated her to the village after completing the project. Talvez a ETH a tenha doado à aldeia após a conclusão do projeto.

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After our time in Shaxi Vittoria and her mum flew to Beijing and I went to Laos. I only had a few days and it seemed a long way to go for such a short trip. However, it's been a number of years since I last went to Laos and Laos was always my favourite destination in South-East Asia. I bought a ticket in advance [9] for an overnight bus. It takes about twelve hours to get across the border into Laos from Kunming. I got to the bus station just in time and was looking around for my bus. I asked some people but they all pointed [10] in different directions. I still hadn't found my bus and it was due to leave when a man approached [11] me and asked: ‘Are you going to Laos? ' I said: ‘Yes. ' And he then said: ‘Sorry, there's no bus today. ' I was a bit confused, so I showed him my ticket and asked: ‘What do you mean no bus? I have a ticket. ' He looked at me and replied: ‘Ah well, you were the only person who bought a ticket. We don't drive to Laos with one passenger! ' Great, I thought. Just what I need when I have so little time. Exatamente o que preciso quando tenho tão pouco tempo. 当我时间不多的时候，这正是我所需要的。 Thankfully, though, I did manage to get to Laos by the next morning. Felizmente, porém, consegui chegar ao Laos na manhã seguinte. It took a little longer and I had to change buses twice but I didn't lose any days. Demorou um pouco mais e tive de mudar de autocarro duas vezes, mas não perdi nenhum dia. I decided to spend the little time I had in one place. I chose to go to Nong Khiaw which is a small, dusty village in northern Laos. And what a breathtakingly [12] beautiful place it is! It's on a winding [13] river and it's surrounded by limestone mountains. It's these mountains which give northern Laos its natural beauty. It is a truly stunning [14] part of the world. É uma parte do mundo verdadeiramente deslumbrante [14]. I rented a small bamboo hut on the river. I got to enjoy the sunsets from my hut, looking west along the river. The village is becoming quite popular with tourists due to the hiking and mountain climbing in the area. A aldeia está a tornar-se bastante popular entre os turistas devido às caminhadas e ao alpinismo na zona. I didn't do much of that. Não fiz muito disso. I rented a scooter one day and drove through the countryside. They will harvest the rice soon, so all the rice paddies were a vibrant green. O arroz vai ser colhido em breve, pelo que todos os arrozais estavam de um verde vibrante. I ended up in a village where they weave [15] their own fabric. Acabei por ir parar a uma aldeia onde tecem [15] o seu próprio tecido. Я оказался в деревне, где ткут [15] свою ткань. I bought a beautiful piece of fabric and then I continued my drive in the sun, past rice paddies and limestone cliffs. Laos was as I remembered it, very calm and quiet. O Laos era como eu me lembrava, muito calmo e tranquilo. Quite the opposite of China. É exatamente o contrário da China. Совершенно противоположное Китаю. In Laos it sounds like people just whisper to each other.

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Thank you very much to Kaethi for her message and Pia for the recipe. I had all the ingredients this time, so I gave it a try. It tasted delicious but, as you can see from my picture, it didn't look so good. I think the problem is my oven. It's a bit small and generally not very reliable [16]. É um pouco pequeno e geralmente não é muito fiável [16]. The cake rose [17] very nicely, but then it got too big for the oven so the top burnt a little. O bolo cresceu [17] muito bem, mas depois ficou demasiado grande para o forno e o topo queimou um pouco. Пирог поднялся [17] очень красиво, но потом стал слишком большим для духовки, поэтому верхняя часть немного подгорела. And after I took it out, it collapsed [18]. E depois de a ter tirado, caiu [18]. It still tasted fantastic though. For Vittoria's mum I baked a cake which consists of a biscuit base, a layer of chocolate ganache and dulce de leche cream on top. Para a mãe da Vittoria, fiz um bolo que consiste numa base de biscoitos, uma camada de ganache de chocolate e um creme de doce de leite por cima. 我为维多利亚的妈妈烤了一个蛋糕，蛋糕底是饼干，上面有一层巧克力甘纳许和牛奶焦糖奶油。 Kaethi, I think I earned plenty of Brownie points [19] with that! Kaethi, acho que ganhei muitos pontos de Brownie [19] com isso! As always thank you very much for listening. Should you have any questions, or any further cake recipes, please write them in the box below. Se tiver dúvidas ou outras receitas de bolos, escreva-as na caixa abaixo. You can listen to all the podcasts by downloading our app or by visiting our website www.podclub.ch. We now also have a vocabulary trainer that helps you learn new words from the podcast. Gerry will be back in two weeks and my next podcast will be on December the 6th. Until then I wish you all a great month. Goodbye!

Glossaire: Owen in China [1] to assure so. Glossaire: Owen na China [1] para o garantir. of sth. de algo : to say to so. that sth. will definitely happen

[2] narrow: not wide [2] estreito: não largo

[3] well-rested: how you feel after a good night's sleep

[4] to preserve sth. : here: to keep sth. : aqui: para guardar algo in its original state

[5] coincidence: an event that is unplanned and unexpected [5] coincidência: um acontecimento não planeado e inesperado

[6] path: a small road [6] caminho: uma pequena estrada

[7] stage: here: the place where the actors perform in a theatre

[8] endangered: at risk of disappearing or no longer existing

[9] in advance: ahead of time, beforehand [9] com antecedência: antes do tempo, antes de

[10] to point: here: to give directions with your finger

[11] to approach so. [11] para o fazer. : to move closer to so.to move closer to so.

[12] breathtakingly: extremely [12] de cortar a respiração: extremamente

[13] winding: with a lot of bends [13] sinuoso: com muitas curvas

[14] stunning: here: very beautiful

[15] to weave: here: to make fabric

[16] reliable: here: always works well [16] fiável: aqui: funciona sempre bem

[17] to rise: here: to increase in size when it is cooked

[18] to collapse: here: to become much smaller

[19] Brownie points: credit for doing sth. [19] Brownie points: crédito por ter feito algo. good