 This is the end... |
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This is the end...
I'm now back in England. What have I learned from my journey in the last 32 months? I've learned a lot but I've also learned that the more I know, the more I realise how little I know about the world.
At the end of the last blog 'Real Men walk the Wall' I left you in Beijing. On the 6th of July I caught the train to Shanghai, which was a 12 hour overnight journey. There were no soft sleeper places on the train, so I went by soft seat. In China the train tickets are soft and hard sleeper and soft and hard seat, rather than first and second class. It meant that I didn't have a bed for the night so I didn't get much sleep.
Shanghai
I spent 4 days in Shanghai. The weather was unbearable. It was hot and humid and rained a lot. The humidity was the main difference between Beijing and Shanghai. It still remained hot and humid when it was raining. Walking in Shanghai felt like walking through a sauna. I explored the old colonial districts of the French Quarter and the Bund, but the highlight for me was the Shanghai Museum. The most stunning and famous of the collections in the museum is the Ancient Chinese Bronzes Gallery - you can see some photos that I took in the Gallery in this blog.. The museum has state of the art technology and spotlighting, it is a world standard museum.
Outside of the old colonial International quarter the city is impressively modern. Much of the skyline is the product of the huge growth of the city in the last 20 years. The Pudong District across the river from the Bund has had a 19.5% annual economic growth rate for the last 10 years.
Guangzhou and Hong Kong
After 4 days in Shanghai I caught another sleeper train to Guangzhou in the South of China. (See my previous blog , 'The Immortals' for my earlier visit to Guangzhou) It was a 17 hour journey, but this time I chose to book a soft sleeper carriage. That little bit of luxury allowed me to get a nights sleep. I only spent a night in Guangzhou before catching a 3 hour bus to Hong Kong. I was in Hong Kong nearly 3 months ago when I first arrived in China. (See my blog, Dirty Foreign Mud) This time, I found Hong Kong to be very expensive after nearly 3 months on the mainland.
It was just a brief stay in Hong Kong before catching a flight out to London. I chose to fly from Hong Kong because it was so much cheaper than flying from anywhere else in China to Britain. I flew to Gatwick, London on the 16th of July with Oasis Hong Kong. The flight only cost £199, half the price of flying from anywhere else in China.
“To know and yet (think) we do not know is the highest (attainment); not to know (and yet think) we do know is a disease.”
Tao Te Ching by Lao-tzu J. Legge, Translator
Part of trip: Asia
10 Comments - Add Public Comment or Send Private Message
July 30th 2007 - katydid: No More Stuart?!?
Hey,
Just a note to say I've enjoyed your blogs. It will be weird to not see 'Stuart' any more! You've had a pretty amazing journey. Thanks for all the blogs!
August 6th 2007 - Armchair Traveler: Travel Books and other q.s ?
Stuart, you've mentioned the Lonely planet guide. My daughter is going to Uni in Hong Kong for 1/2 year. She will try to travel elsewhere in Asia. Besides, Lonely planet, are there any other travel guide books you found invaluable?
...and have you been able to settle back since your return to leeds. I imagine it would be quoiye difficult having been on the go for the past few years. How do you perceive your countrymen now?
Thanks for the great trip. I thoroughly enjoyed your comments along the way.
A.T.
August 7th 2007 - DR: Awesome
Journeys ended, journeys begun. I enjoyed reading along. Hopefully being home doesn't bring too much idleness. ;)
August 24th 2007 - arnie: end of the road?
Hey Stuart,
We traveled with you in South Africa, through Krugar a couple of years ago. I have been checking n on your blog on and off since then. Congratulations on finishing you grand tour, I suspect from the shorter than usual last few blogs you had a bit of burn out? It was an incredible feat, you really did keep up with your postings, your photography got better and better. I think a lot of people out there really did enjoy your efforts. What are you up to now?
I've accepted a job offer that starts on September 3rd. I was on camera number 3 when I returned to the UK. I suspect one of the reasons my pictures improved is because I upgraded my camera so many times during the trip. The camera I was using at the end of the trip was much better than the cheap thing I was using when I started the trip.
Hi Armchair Traveller,
To be honest the only guide book that I used on the trip was the Lonely Planet (despite my complaining about it!) Other guide books may also be worth a look, but I tend to stick to the Lonely Planet because I like the typeface and the lay-out in that particular guide book. I don't look at the Rough Guides because I don't like the typeface! It may sound a trivial reason for remaining loyal to Lonely Planet - but it is the only reason!
August 28th 2007 - John:
Good luck to you Stuart, I followed your blog from West Africa and enjoyed reading your Africa blogs the most. Your final blogs were a bit lacking in the anecdotes and stories about what happened to you on a pesonal level day to day that filled your earlier blogs. But never mind that, you did three years travelling, and some of the places you went and the things you did will be some of your best memories for as long as you live.
How you will deal with having to do a real job now after 3 years away I don't know.
September 11th 2007 - Carly:
Thank you for all the great pictures and blogs you've posted over the last few years. I've been following your adventures since Africa, when I stumbled upon it. Can't remember exactly where, but went back to the first one and read from the beginning until I caught up to you in relatively real time! Hopefully you'll post every so often to let all of us armchair travellers know how you are doing and if there are any more plans to travel in the future. By the way, how does it feel to be back to a regular routine? After I came back from my travels (quite a few years ago) I had a heck of a time adjusting to the norm and would work for awhile, then take off again. I also picked up work where I could (temping in English speaking countries, tutoring Japanese kids privately, even tried my hand at bar maiding and waitressing, which was a first for me and a last. That's tough being on your feet all day, when you are used to sitting at a desk.) All the best to you.
October 25th 2007 - le_flow: From a fellow traveller.
What else can I say than very well done. Almost three years on the road writing honest and informative blogs, taking better and better pictures. Thanks Stu. And a special thanks for the West Africa blogs ou wrote that we found very helpful while traversing the region our self. Good luck back home.
Thanks for the comment - I'm working in a call centre at the moment, for a company that collects money on behalf of the banks...but I am intending to return to Africa this January. I will have to give them notice, although I am going to ask them if they will take me back in May 2008 . I'm planning to cross North Africa, follow the Nile into Sudan - then go to Ethiopia. Djibouti, Somaliland and Eritrea.
Keep up your blogs, they are some of the best on travelblog.
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