The Yuanyang rice terraces in southern China near the Laos/VietNam border are huge. The stretch for miles and have 350 levels in places that stretch up the mountains from the valley floors. There are an awesome sight. Four of us, who made the bus trip down from Kunming together, hired a minivan for the day to take us around to the 8 different places. At 4:30 AM, there were clouds, but we could see stars shining. By the 5 departure, the village was completely fogged in. It was really eerie driving through with shadows of people walking along the side of [View Full Entry]

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From Mohan, on the border with Laos it was an easy bus ride of about 4 hours to Jinghong the capital city of what is called the Xishuangbanna region of southern Yunnan province. The name actually comes from Thai language: Sip Sawng Panna meaning 12 rice growing districts. Remarkably for Chinese standards, only one third of Xishuangbanna's population consists of Han Chinese, splitting up the rest in one third Dai people and another third in a variety of minorities, that can also be found in parts of northern Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. Unfortunately for me, the rain was relen [View Full Entry]

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Hejsa alle Tak for jeres mails, det er dejligt at horer hvordan det gaar derhjemme. Nu har vi vaeret paa farten i lidt over to uger, og vil lige fortaelle lidt om hvad vi gaar og laver :-) Vi tog fra Beijing d. 5 juni med nattog mod Gullin, vi kom i en kupe sammen med to kinesere hvor den ene kunne lidt engelsk, hvilket var hyggeligt da vi fik snakket lidt sammen paa den 22 timers togtur. Da vi stod ud af toget var der 34 grader, saa vi kunne tydelig maerke vi var kommet syd paa. Fra Gullin tog [View Full Entry]

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Well, I have all kinds of news. The internet has been unpredictable at best where I have been, and thus the long period without updates. First off, Clara and I decided to part ways a little early, because as we traveled more we found different things that we wanted to do, (don't worry it was very amicable, really just some logistical problems, no big fights lol). So, now I have been on my own for a few days, which I am loving! But, I am not really alone, as I am constantly meeting new and interesting people. For several days, I [View Full Entry]

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So because I'm quite far behind in my blog I've decided to consolidate some of the days together. 08/06/08 to 12/06/08 saw myself and Kathy traveling the Meili Snow mountains area. It was a 6 hour bus ride from Shangri-la but well worth the trip. Upon arrival we took part in my first ever Jewish Sabbat. We stayed in the best, most helpful hostel ever in Felasi (where we began our hike for Yubeng). It was called the Meili Youth hostel (20 RMB per night) and was run by this guy called Kelsang who was actually Tibetian and was stuck in [View Full Entry]

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Well I think it's fair to say that just over a week with Greer when I haven't seen her for three months isn't enough, but what with work holiday allowances we couldn't have anymore but we made the most of what we had. We decided to stay in Yunnan province to avoid too much travel which would likely leave us too tired to enjoy the trip. And in any case, if you want to avoid big cities and pollution, Yunnan is the place to be. Greer's arrival was obviously a great pleasure for me solely for her company. However she also [View Full Entry]

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There is a reason Lijiang is on the UN World Heritage list. At night with the lighting along the old canals lined with trees, and with the lighting on the curved eaves of the houses up to the pagoda on Lion Hilll, it is one of the most romantic places imaginable. It's so perfectly beautiful that even the Chinese stop and stare and try to photgraph it. I didn't even try at night. The old city covers so large an area, even with a map, you get completely lost in the tangled streets and stone bridges. The cobbled streets are worn [View Full Entry]

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We got up at 7:45am. We couldn't find showers last night or this morning so had to skip. Had breakfast at the resturant/kitchen whatever it was (with the friends we met last night). Breakfast was Naxi butter tea/milk with these fresh bun things. I think it was Tibetian style. 10 RMB (less than$2AUD) for 2. Said goodbye to Samicha - the cute pup and waited outside for a bus. So the bus didnt come but at about 9 this car driving up to Shangri-la stopped and picked us up. It was 25 RMB to Shangri-la/Zhodigan. When we got there we bumped [View Full Entry]

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We awoke to beautiful mountain views in the mountain at 7am. Delicious honey apple pancakes for breakfast (I know it was dinner but I could not resist this delicacy again). We left at 9:30am and eventually ended up at Tina's guest house. By the time we got there we had missed our 11am bus back to the start of the gorge and to get to Shangri-la. Mikk got a snickers at Tina's for 8RMB which was pretty pricey for China. We saw a sign that said down this way towards the ferry. It was a big hill with a 60 degree [View Full Entry]

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" A beautful flower does not bloom forever" - Naxi proverb So we (me Kathy and Mikk) got up at 6:30am to catch the bus from the new town at 7:20am for Tiger LEaping Gorge. We locked our bags at the youth hostel ( including some of my valuables which probably might not have been the smartest idea but it seemed like it at the time). We got a taxi for 6RMB and arrived at the bus station at 7:10am. Quickly brought a wholesome breakfast of bread and ice cream for breakfast and two bottles of water and headed for the [View Full Entry]

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