Advertisement
Published: April 23rd 2011
This update is slightly later then anticipated but we have finally got round to making a new entry. So much has happened since we last communicated with you all that I think a very brief account focusing on the highlights is appropriate.
I believe we were in Shanghai last which is now exactly three weeks ago. From there we went to Xi'an on another horrendous night train but I feel we are adapting. In Xi'an the higlight has to be The Terracotta Warriors, although the chinese massage is a close run second after the train journey. Unfortunately you cannot get as close to the Warriors as you would like to, visitors view them from above on a walk way that surrounds their pit; nevertheless they are very impressive, the detail is incredible.
Next we flew to Chengdu where Abbie found herself a panda and named it Clarissa, do not ask me where that name came from, sadly Clarissa had to stay behind at the reserve. We also went to the Chinese Opera in Chengdu which in places made Cats being strangled sound tuneful, though in areas it was funny and the costumes were exquisite.
Until this moment, minus the discomfort of
sleeper trains, our accomodation has been very good but this changed as we arrived for two nights at a Monastary in the mountains. The rooms were adequate and Abbie and I did manage to avoid having one with broken windows or rats but the washing facilities were horrific! The showers were effectively in a cow shed with a hanging bulb next to the open ended pipe. One glance at these and the whole group made a commitment to baby wipes for the next few days. As we were meant to be going on a hike the next day this was going to be quite a suffering for ourselves and those surrounding us. Luckily a Norwegian couple found us a solution. It turns out the town we were staying in is famous for its Hot Springs, I'm sure you can see where this is going. So after five hours on the mountain we grabbed our towels and bought afternoon passes to the 5 star hotels hot springs which provided you with a shower afterwards, crisis averted! We did still enjoy the experience, having the monks wake you at 5am with their chanting sets you up well for the day and the
10pm curfew was good for all of us.
A relaxing few days cruising along the Yangtze admiring the Three Gorges was lovely. The staff on the boat were all extremely friendly the only downside was that there was not too much organised to occupy your time so the days did drag a little and playing cards began to lose its enjoyment factor a little. Passing through the shiplock was cool, although we did do it at 10pm-2am which made sleeping a little difficult.
Our next stop was Yangshuo, the prettiest place we went in China and most touristy; we relished the opprotunity for some western style food. The landscape here is at its most beautiful with karsts towering around you and we made the most of it by cycling for half a day out to the surrounding villages, it was nice to get out of the big cities. We did a cooking class here too which was entertaining as we all attempted to mould dumplings and cook a tasty Sweet and sour pork.
We finally borded our last night train on the tour and headed to Hong Kong, this was a long journey as we had to take a bus,
a night train, pass through immigration, take another train and then finish off with a taxi to the hotel. Our days in Hong Kong were our own so we dutifully went up the Peak which gave us good views but visibility was slightly poor. Hong Kong was a nice change and people noticed the change immediately as we saw a warning at the station of a large fine to anybody who was caught spitting, finally normal people!! It was also goodbye to squatter toilets, we were back in civilisation! The night life in Hong Kong was of course very good but it had more of a Magaluf/ Zante feel then the other places in China. Xi'an probably had the best club we went to, the chinese know how to move!
Our organised tour is now concluded and we decided that instead od spending another day in Hong Kong we would leave for Hanoi in Vietnam. This was supposed to be done via a complicated combination of two overnight trains and one bus to cross the border. As we would no longer have our amazing guide Milly with us we very much doubted our ability to complete the journey. The language
barrier in China is huge! Doing anything by yourself there is extremely difficult, particularly when you do not know the area you are in. Consequently we are ashamed to admit it but we took the easy option and bought a direct flight. Goodbye China, hello Vietnam!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.11s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0805s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Margaret
non-member comment
Greetings from Wargrave
It's lovely to get your news. Gemma is home now and I have enjoyed hearing all about her trip. It feels like life at home is back to normal now, especially as Alex is home for the Easter weekend. We enjoyed our visit to Yorkshire to see a drill display and to find out more about life in the Army. Alex has been doing well. Gemma is back training. I hope you continue to find lots of interesting things on your journeys. Take care. xxxx