Spicy Sichuan

Relaxation at last!

After 16+ hours on the train, we finally made it to Chengdu! The train ride was actually quite pleasant - only 4 people total in our 4-person sleeper, a good chance to see the scenery, etc. Chengdu was hot, humid, and smoggy but we boarded the bus to get to our hostel. Unfortunately they were digging up the street to our hostel which made for an interesting detour through a deserted but incredibly nice courtyard house. We made it to our hostel and were very pleasantly surprised - it felt like an oasis. Nice outdoor area, ping pong table, bar, etc. And our room was nice and new with a great balcony area. Finally a place where we could relax for a few days!

We relaxed for a bit and then headed out for dinner at a place we read had good pizza. I like Chinese food, but I really can't eat it three meals a day...a good pizza was going to hit the spot, and thankfully it even surpassed Mike's expectations. A leisurely walk and some ping pong completed the evening.

We love Chengdu

We made ourselves get up early so we could get out to the Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Center. We're in the heart of panda country and wanted to make the most of it! And boy did the morning exceed our expectations! We got there early so that we could see the pandas while they were feeding. They spend a lot of the day sleeping so we didn't want to miss them being awake. It was great - they were so close to us. We went picture crazy...like over 70 - don't worry, I promise we'll edit. In addition to the great pandas (the big black and white cuddly things we all love), they also had red pandas which were pretty cool. The most exciting part was when we spent some yuan to hold and feed a red panda. Now we just want to take them home!

In the afternoon we ventured to the buddhist temple by our hostel. Huge grounds with several temples and numerous gardens. There's a tea garden (Sichuanese people seem to spend a lot of time in tea houses, wiling away the hot days) and a veggie restaurant. I convinced Mike to try the veggie restaurant since at least we wouldn't have to worry about weird animal parts in our dishes! We sat down with three other Aussies so we could share the dishes amongst each other. Mike was a bit bewildered by the concept that everything was veggie since the dishes had names like "shredded eel with spicy garlic sauce" and "beef filet with cucumber" but it's amazing what those monks can do with tofu! We really enjoyed most of the dishes we got...the Aussies' choices weren't quite as good...but a cool experience nonetheless. And the best part...the bill came to 34 yuan (~$4.25). Mike's ready to go back for dinner...at least from a cost perspective!

Now we've enjoyed a lazy afternoon, did some laundry, read our books, etc. Very relaxed and in vacation mode now! And tomorrow we signed up for a Sichuan cooking class so I'm sure we'll have some stories from that!

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