We shouted over and over again. Truco! Truco! Truco!

It was as though no time had passed from our first meeting a year before.  Just as we had before, we sat around a table playing cards, unable to peel ourselves away from the game of tricks.

Truco is a popular card game in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Spain.  Designed around trickery (truco means tricks in Portuguese), the game revolves around bluffing and distraction.  Cheating is not the name of the game; rather the idea is to distract your opponent through fast play, loud conversation, funny stories, etc…  The game is fast and furious, at least when you get a hang of it – it’s the perfect game to play with a group of friends over a round of drinks.

And that’s how we found ourselves, a year later, in the exact same position as we were in DC- sharing jokes, telling stories and generally trying to distract each other from the game.

You never know when people are going to walk back into your life and sitting in the hostel one evening another surprise- in walked in an expat couple we had met in Xinjiang province. Small worlds collide in Chengdu and for a few days it felt like we were back at home hanging out with friends. Needless to say we spent a few extra days in Chengdu soaking it all in.

Thankfully there was a lot to do in and around Chengdu and we treated ourselves to a few special travel treats. Heading out to the country side we spent a day near Ping-Li, an old feeling village about 2.5 hrs from Chengdu. The town was touristy and although we spent a lovely afternoon being poled up and down the river on a reed boat drinking green tea and chatting away, the best part of the excursion was hiking through a tea plantation. Upon our arrival at the tea plantation we weren’t sure what was going on. We were served tea, but it became clear we had interrupted some sort of meeting. As time went on we became convinced we were part of a local communist party meeting, which may be in truth unlikely, but it still makes for a fun story.

Exploring the tea plantation and the bamboo forests surrounding it was peaceful and completely different than the chaos and hassle of big-city China. It was a relaxing way to spend a few hours and frankly one of the best things we did in Chengdu.

The other treat was the Chengdu Opera. Opera isn’t really the right word for the show we saw, it was more like a variety show, and although clearly for [mostly Chinese] tourists, it was very entertaining. From shadow puppets, to marionettes, to true operatic performances and violin-like solo’s, the show was lively and for the first time in a long time we had a taste of the local professional performing arts. Perhaps the most interesting part of the show was the up-close show by the tea-pourers. Holding the tea in large brass tea pots with spouts well over a meter long, the tea-pourers seemed to be able to shoot the tea out of the spout into your cup several inches away. It was an incredible presentation and not once did our pourer spill, even across four people!

IF YOU GO: Try to combine a tour of Ping-Li with a tea plantation. We hired our own taxi for the day through our guesthouse. Ping-Li is very touristy, but we enjoyed wandering around after dark. Trips to the Chengdu Opera shows can be arranged inexpensively through lodgings, and often freebies- such as a VIP upgrade (which basically just means unlimited green tea) transportation and a tchochky are included. We stayed at Sim’s Cozy Garden, after first staying at another less nice place….we recommend you do the same.

Thrilled to be with us, he took us to a small bakery stall for breakfast and arranged for us to ride in another mini-bus to Kazbegi. We were unclear what was going on, and his initial price was double what we were expecting, so we assumed it would be private. As we threw our stuff in the back of his friends shared mini-bus he was no where to be found. Our jolly, friendly and delightful Russian friend had taken our money and ran. Slightly perturbed, you can imagine my surprise when a few minutes later he appeared with small change to give us a refund. Delighted we shook hands several times and the mini-bus took off for the hills.

Kazbegi is the highest mountain in Georgia and we spent our time in the area hiking to a glacier, waterfall and monastery. The scenery was beautiful and although we were only 15km from Russia we never made it all the way to the border, which isn’t probably such a bad thing since we heard occasionally there are still shots fired across the frontier.

On our last day in Kazbegi, walking back from the waterfall near the Russian border, a white mini-bus stopped short on the cliff side road. “Italiani! Amici!” a voice boomed in the sunlight. Squinting to see the man’s face, I realized it was our Russian mini-bus friend from Tbilisi. Offering us a ride back to Tbilisi, we had a difficult time explaining that we already had arranged a ride back. With his passengers anxious to get back on the road, we exchanged phone numbers and went on our way. Standing with his number in my hand, Danny and I laughed, we could hardly communicate face to face, what on earth would we do on the phone?

That night, back in Tbilisi, we had our hotel receptionist call him and explain the situation. He was delighted to hear from us and called again the next day with his own translator. Although we shared only a few words in common, he invited us to his home the next time we were in Tbilisi and wished us luck on our journey.

If You Go: Mashrutka’s (mini buses) run regularly from Tbilisi’s Didube metro station to Kazbegi, expect to pay around 10 GEL for the 2.5-3 hr ride.  There is a hotel in Kazbegi but most travelers choose a homestay, which usually includes breakfast and dinner.  Expect to pay around 30 GEL per person for a double room, dorms are cheaper, but look first, many homestays cram too many beds into one space.  Trekking maps are available at the Mountain House, which also may have accommodation space and helps organize climbing and multi-day trekking trips.  Basic food & sundries are available in town, but the selection is limited.  There are tons of great day hike and day trip opportunities throughout the area which can be arranged in Kazbegi, ask at your homestay or the hotel.  Note that the Russian border is CLOSED to foreigners, only Georgians and Russians may cross.  At the time of our visit the area was very safe and quiet, but keep an eye on ongoing problems in bordering Russian states as well as relations between Georgia and Russia.