Today we caught an 18 seater bus to the Water Town about 100km northish from Hangzhou. It picked us up from the hotel at about 7am and on the way through the city Kwan’s father intercepted us on the side of a busy road to give us breakfast! It was a bag of Baou (no idea how to spell it but it’s pronounced bow) and they were like soft doughy pork wontons and they were great. The trip took us out of the city which was what I was hoping for so we could see a bit of the ‘heartland’ so [View Full Entry]

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I've got to say that it's not easy to keep up with this blog, especially when my typing skills are hopeless. Been doing a fair bit of walking and sightseeing around Hangzhou over the last 2 days and they say a photo speaks a thousand words so I thought I would just add a few photos and write about them. A few observations though; Traffic can best be described as fluid motion, if there is a gap that is physically big enough for a bike/car/bus to fit into then you can expect that a bike/car/bus will flow into that gap. Lanes [View Full Entry]

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No breakfast again! We really must get out of this habit! Bed was very firm once again but not uncomfortable. Room was OK but aircon wasn’t working properly so no respite from the warmth and humidity, not as bad as further south though. We are staying at ‘Hangzhou The New Hotel’ (built 1913) next to the West lake. It is a very beautiful area with lotus gardens and many walkways around and across the lake, pagodas, temples, teahouses, boats on the lake and golf carts driving around it. Kwan met us at about 11.00 with a friend Dana who speaks fairly [View Full Entry]

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Skipped breakfast this morning - had another sleep in. Fai picked us up at 9.30 to take us to the track where John was working on his bikes, it was a practice day and he was getting in a few laps. The Chinese government has tightened up security and stopped issuing multiple entry visas due to the Olympic Games and problems with Tibet so John can only make it to the track once or twice a month. John suggested I take one of his other bikes for a ride and I thought it’s not every day you get the opportunity to [View Full Entry]

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After a bit of a sleep in and breakfast we decided to have a bit of a wander around Shatin. There is a river next to the hotel so we wandered down there hoping not to be caught out in any more downpours. Strolled through the cultural museum and saw lots of old stuff which was actually quite interesting considering New Zealands heritage of note barely stretches back more than 150 years. We caught up with John again at around 4.00 to catch the ferry to Zhuhai, China at 7.30. This involved the normal customs things like passports, boarding gates and [View Full Entry]

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John showed up around 8.00 and after a couple of Coronas at the hotel took us to one of his local eateries in Tai Wai. The place consisted of an open corner of a building with wooden tables inside and outside on the pavement. The tables outside were covered by an awning but the torrential rain that was falling made everything a bit damp so we ate ‘inside’. It was good to be able to sample the local fare with the help of someone ‘on the inside’ so to speak, it also reduces the risk of any nasty surprises either during [View Full Entry]

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This has been a long day - and it’s not over yet. Luckily we managed to get a little shut-eye on the plane and had a beautiful pre-sunrise colour show before breakfast, then descended into and overcast and wet Hong Kong at around 6.30am. John unfortunately couldn’t meet us at the airport but gave us a few instructions on how to use the local public transport to get to our hotel. We were a bit nervous at first but with a little common sense and help from friendly locals it turned out to be really simple. We’ve now spent most of [View Full Entry]

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Not long to go now! The to do list is just about complete and our adventure is almost upon us. We fly out of Auckland on the 12th June at 11.30pm and I think we will be doing some sleeping on the way to Hong Kong. After a couple of days in HK we will make our way up the coast through Huang Chau (spelling?)and Shanghai to Beijing. There we will join up with our Sundowner tour on the 29th June and travel by train through Mongolia and Russia, ending up in St Peterburg on the 19th July. We then fly [View Full Entry]

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