Travel Blog Posts
August 1st 2007
Ailbhe - We had breakfast today at a cafe near enough to the hostel, though it was more ilke brunch really by the time Mark and Hayley had packed up and checked out. We decided to ckeck out the Hong Kong Art Gallery but left, decidedly unimpressed! Emma had some quiet time back at the hostel while we moseyed around the shops. Walked the feet off ourselves and got back to the hostel at about 4.30 or so. Went for dinner in Pizza Hut (stop judging us!) with Matt and Carl before Mark and Hayley nhad to leave for the airport. Walked them to the bus and said our goodbyes; very sad to see them both go. Had nice chatty times with Emms into the wee hours. Thursday 2nd August Ailbhe - Nice breakfast in a ... read more
July 31st 2007
Today we did the unthinkable - we had breakfast in McDonalds. Not proud of it, but it is one of the cheapest places to eat in this town. Mark & Hayley decided to go to check out Victoria Peak. Emma and I had visa and flight stuff to take care of, so we walked to a travel agency nearby and got some price quotes - all quite steep so we thought we'd check out what the internet had to offer. Got seriously waylaid by some amazing shops on the way back. Turned out the travel agent had the best deal, so booked the tickets there and got a late lunch in Pizza Hut - possibly the poshest one I've ever been in, all gleaming granite and soft lighting! Back to the hostel to wash up before ... read more
July 30th 2007
Got up, washed, packed and checked out before breakfast. We planned to take a ferry to Hong Kong at about 2pm, and we taxied it down to the terminal. Bought tickets to Kowloon and then negotiated the terminal building ( an exercise in how not to design a public space) to find our boat - there was one leaving so not a minute to spare. Boat journey was pleasant, only an hour, and the views of the Hong Kong skyscrapers as we chugged into Victoria Harbour were amazing. Made Liberty Hall look like a doll's house. Decided to be lazy and took a taxi to our hostel, on the 13th floor of Mirador Mansiosn on Nathan Road. The latter is pretty much the main street in Kowloon, and your eyes literally cannot take everything in at ... read more
July 29th 2007
If the rooms at the Hospidaria were below par the bathrooms facilities made up for it - decent showers and thrones - hooray! Got breakfast at a nice cafe just off the main square; Emma was overjoyed to finally get some OJ after the Yangshuo drought! Had a look around a church and then walked towards the seafront but had to take shelter from the heat in a weird little juice bar. Walked on towards the viewing tower via some extremely clean bus station tiolets ( I think China's unhygienic horrors are behind us!).Then we decided to split up for a few hours - Emma and Hayley wanted to get some retail therapy and Mark and I decided we'd check out the tower. The views were pretty good, once you squeezed past the Chinese tourists. Got ... read more
July 28th 2007
Emma- Hayley and I met Cindy for breakfast and she said she was taking us to her Dad's restaurant but when we arrived there, it was closed! We ended up having food in the hotel restaurant which was an experience to say the least. When we got out of the lift, the whole room turned and stared! We were observed the whole time we ate. It was hilarious. After breakfast we gathered our bags,said goodbye to Cindy, and went to the bus. Sad to say goodbye to her. Ailbhe-So after a fairly eventless journey, we arrived in Guangzhou, and quickly realised we wouldn't be staying long! Granted we only saw the outskirts and the area around the bus station, which are never des-res locations anyway, but we agreed that we would rather spend an extra night ... read more
July 27th 2007
Ailbhe- So a quick update on our altered travel plans- today we were travelling to Wuzhou, a town midway between Yangshuo and Guangzhou. The idea was we'd break the journey in Wuzhou, spend a night in Guangzhou,then take a bus from there to Macau,spend two nights there and then take the ferry to Hong Kong for another two nights, by which time Mark and Hayley would be due to fly home. Emma and I hoped to fly from Hong Kong to Hanoi. The bus from Wuzhou took about 6 hours I think, and we stopped a few times . It was at one of these that us girls had a hideous encounter with Chinese rest stop toilets. You can smell them before you see them, and they're obviously squatters- but a totally different class of squatter! ... read more
July 26th 2007
Ailbhe- Little bit of a lie in this morning, and another great breakfast. Emma and I headed to an internet cafe to try and sort out how we would get from Hong Kong to Hanoi, while Hayley did some souvenir shopping and bagged some serious bargains. Wasn't really sure I'd be up for the climbing; my leg was giving me some serious aggro but decided to pop some painkillers and hope for the best. The 3 of us( Emma was still nursing a cold so stayed behind) went to the climbing shop around 1pm and got fitted for shoes, then we were driven in a minibus to Wine Bottle Hill( looks nothing like one!) with the local guys who run the shop. Got all harnessed and helmeted; by now myself and Hayley are having second thoughts ... read more
July 24th 2007
Ailbhe- Started the day with another champion breakfast at the Global, and we were in the middle of planning our bike ride when a Chinese guy approached us out of nowhere and offered us his services as a guide. Somewhat suspicious and sceptical at first, but he knew the area really well and his price was pretty low so we said why not. Met up with him and noon to pike out bikes and head off. Seriously terrifying cycling on the main road- there's almost no point in checking to see what's coming- better almost to hope that everyone else is looking out for you instead! Got on to some smaller roads soon enought though, cycling alongside the river and then through an old village. It was so hot and sticky any time we stopped it ... read more
July 23rd 2007
Ailbhe- Up and out fairly sharpish this morning to catch our noon time flight to Guilin. Taxi to the airport, not a bad flight-nice food and spent most of it listening to tunes and grabbing some shut eye. Poor Emma's dodgy tooth started giving her hell as we were coming in to land, so we decided to get a taxi direct to Yangshuo. Absolutely flabbergasted by our new surroundings- lush green countryside punctuated by huge, karst rock formations, and no smog! Arrived into Yangshuo around 4:30 and after a bit of difficulty(surprise,surprise), found our hostel. Our room was on the top floor and we were sharing with a middle aged brother and sister from Taiwan- really lovely people. Had a wash and then headed ut to get some grub. Stupidly took our first dose of malaria ... read more
July 21st 2007
Ailbhe- Booked flights south today to meet up with Mark and Hayley, our fellow Moscow and U.B travellers. We'll be flying to Guilin, which takes about 2 3/4 hours, but to do it by land it would take the better part of 3 days. Eh,no thanks. Paid another visit to the Silk Road where Emma picked up another component for her all-gold-outfit, gold Puma runners! Also booked ourselves onto a tour of the Great Wall for tomorrow. Spent the evening watching DVDs! Saturday 22nd July Emma- Our tour was leaving at 7:30 so we were up the earliest we had been in a long while. The van was full until one person on it hopped out not 5mins down the road due to an unspecified illness. It took about an hour and a half to get ... read more
Tot: 0.083s; Tpl: 0.002s; cc: 11; qc: 89; dbt: 0.0542s; 1; s:notus w:www (50.28.60.10); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.7mb
