Advertisement
Published: April 1st 2010
Edit Blog Post
Ahoy there!
So we last left you in Shanghai where we had a mammoth 18 hour train journey (our longest yet) to Hong Kong ahead of us. Although after the first twelve hours we had lost the will to live, Rich managed to lift our spirits by dropping an entire toilet roll from the top bunk onto a man's head, leaving a snotty trail of destruction behind. Luckily he was surprisingly understanding.
We finally arrived in Hong Kong delighted to learn that the cold weather that had made Jeni whinge all day everyday was long gone. It was immediately obvious how much more westernised the city was compared to many of the other places we have visited in China and it certainly has a distinct British feel to it. This being Rich's second visit to Hong Kong he felt confident he could show a Jeni a good time, and that he did. Starting with a crossing on the Star Ferry from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon, this was a perfect oppurtunity to experience the spectactular skyline, surrounded by lush countryside and breathtaking mountains. The sunset was the icing on the cake and a great way to start our time
in Hong Kong.
With Hong Kong being such a diverse city we made a big effort to visit all the contrasting sights, from the largest escalator in the world in Soho, to the incredible scenery of Lantau Island (including the giant Budda on top of the mountain), the hiking opportunities onb Lama Island aswell as the laid back charm of Peng Chau. None of these however could possibly compare to the majestic, world famous, spectacular ...... Pizza Express. Having recovered from the excitement of seeing the restaurant that back in the UK we had spent many a happy hour in Victoria Peak was calling us. Having travelled to the top by tram we were dropped off in the Peak Shopping Mall, which is where we were faced with yet another challenge, finding a way out (even Michael Schofield would struggle). After exploring every inch of the building we eventually discovered a door to the outside world and from that height the views were truly sublime.
During our time in Hong Kong we took advantage of the night life oppurtunities in Soho, the pub scene is clearly the best in the world, BAR NONE (boom boom). We made the
most of the endless happy hours and drank many cocktails that the sex in the city girls would be proud of. Since arriving in China one of Rich's main objectives has been to by a golden waving cat that you will find in any Chinese takeaway back home. He was overjoyed to discover one for an excellent price in the Temple Street Night Market and wasted no time snapping it up. Meanwhile Jeni had disappeared again, buying yet more clothes. While travelling it is always nice to see a familar face and that we did at 5:00am the following morning, when Steve (from the Pingyao posse) stormed into our room after a heavy night out waking us both up with a smooch.
After five days we grudgingly had to leave Hong Kong which we absolutely loved. This was probably for the best however, as it would be fair to say that the budget went out of the window on arrival.
The next stop was Guangzhou famous for its superb cantonese cuisine which we were hoping would live up to. As we arrived in the city we were immediately greeted with torrential rain made worse by the fact we could
not find our hotel. Having eventually checked into an alternative (which turned out to be far nicer anyway) we wasted no time in heading out for a bite to eat.
Feeling particulary peckish we ordered enough food to feed an army, which we are starting to make a habit off, this included a rather tasty squid dish accompanied by what we thought was a soy sauce dip. After fully coating the first bitesized piece we learnt we were wrong, very wrong. The next sensation we felt can only be described as excruciating pain, once we had recovered, 10 minutes later and realised we were not actually going to die we learnt that the sauce was in fact a chinese speciality, or to us more like wasabi on steroids. Unfortunately that was not the only food challenge of the evening, at some point we were also served up an unidentified seafood dish that we had not ordered, possibly oysters. Not wanting to be shellfish, we give them a look of disgust and sent it back (after trying it, naturally).
The city of Guangzhou itself didn't blow us away but it did offer a range of very interesting sights,we particulary
enjoyed Yuexia Park which had lots of monument and different scenery inside. This felt like a world away from the streets. We also managed to get a different perspective of Guangzhou on a night time river cruise, which offered some lovely views.
This leads us to our next and final stop in China Yangshuo, it was love at first night and we have already extended by two nights as we can't tear ourselves away. While the town is very pleasant and has everything you need, the main draw is the surrounding mountainious landscape, seeming from another world. As soon as we dumped our bags we headed straight out to see what Yangshuo had to offer. We were immediately approached by a chirpy tout selling bamboo raft cruises along the Li River for bargain prices, which we accepted, this was a spectacular introduction to the beautiful views of the surrounding area and enabled us to slip back into holiday mode.
The next day we felt the best way to take in the countryside was by bike, a tandem was the obvious choice. We visited a number of sights including Moon Hill (although only Rich made it to the top
as Jeni threw a strop and refused to go a step further, Quoting "you may think I'm feeble but don't stop loving me!"), the water caves & hotsprings and the Big Banyan Tree.
One of our personal highlights from our trip to Yangshuo was taking part in a Chinese cooking class. With only four people in our group it felt like a one on one masterclass and we learnt to cook three different dishes, Kung Pao Chicken, Beer Fish and steamed vegetable dumplings. Before being let loose in the kitchen we were taken around a local market to source our ingredients. This was not for the faint hearted however, as there was a great deal of livestock in cramped conditions and some dog meat.
On out penultimate day we decided to hop back on the tandem and visit another sight called the Ancient Totem Path. This was certainly an experience, and its hard to find any words that could possibly do it justice. We were taken on a guided tour through what was supposed to be an ancient stone age settlement, meeting the "indigenous population" looking bored to tears. The trip certainly had its highs and lows, the
highs when Rich taught the art of thumb war to one of the locals, and the lows when Jeni was singled out and violently bum shunted twice by a small pre pubescent boy.
Now we are coming to the end of our trip to China we have decided to end on high and booked tickets to see the light show which is directed by the man responsible for the opening cermony of the Beijing Olympics. We're sure it will be an illuminating insight into local Yangshuo culture.
Looking back over our time in China we have loved every minute and would visit again in an instant as there is so much more to discover. We have visited amazing sights, sampled some incredible cuisine and met some great people. Our next entry will be from Vietnam which we are now eagerly awaiting.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.06s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 8; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0341s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Steve
non-member comment
Take care u pair
So glad u sent me the link I can follow your progress.. Think more should be made of the barrier breaking dice game tho... As I said to rich sorry I missed ya in hk... Messy times.. In the words of vera Lynn "they'll be bluebirds over the White cliffs of Dover" .... Ahhh and you thought I was going to quote the other one...