Louie2016

Another super busy day. I think that this tour was a bit over- ambitious in its activities. Early mornings and late nights and a lot of travelling in the last 4 days is taking a toll on me, and everyone else on the tour! The day started off well. I got to have oniom rings for breakfast. The hotel we stayed in last night, although nice, didn't have much selection for western styled breakfast. The Chinese seems to like meals at that time of the morning. Noodles, soup, big meats. Not my thing. But the coffee is good and strong! Before leaving the Hangzhou area, which is quite quaint, if you can call that size of a city quaint, we took a painted boat ride on the West Lake. Now that has such a romantic story ... read more

Today I am in Suzhou and Wuxi. we are staying the night in Wuxi. Pretty "town" of about 3 million! The weather is less than desirable. It is cold. Because we are on or near water it is very cold. So didn't dress appropriate today! Bright and early we went to what I imagine would be a beautiful scenic picture area, but honestly it was so cold and right on the water that it could have been avoided. Once we boarded the bus from Suzhou to head to Wuzi! We stopped at the Harley Davidson store. Which is odd as in the Shanghai area we were told motor bikes are illegal. Never-the-less Harley was brought in to cater the the rich who can ride the bikes in the country. just cannot in the cities. Next we ... read more

Today after breakfast we visited the Three Gorges Dam. That damn dam! Very interesting and very protected! We had to go thru security, like airport security to see it. (pictures to come) Sadly today is a travelling day. After the dam visit we boarded the ship for our last hour or two to get us to Sandouping where we stopped for lunch and continued travelling on a bus to travel for 5 hours to get to an airport that would take us to Shanghai. The day was very, very, very long. China is a HUGE country with lots to see, but if you are thinking of going, study the map and see how far apart places are. Lots of time spent travelling. ? And going thru airports is painful... you cannot bring a lot of things ... read more

woke up very tired yet very excited for today! Today is the day I get to go to Feng Du Ghost City! which is also known as the "gateway to hell"! The history behind this place is very colourful and mystic! Although some aspects could be considered creepy, like upon entering you have good and evil statutes you pass that make a haunting sound. But at the same time, I found it very peaceful and serene. I totally could curl up with a blanket and a good book. I did make it across the bridge and wasnt pushed over by an evil spirit. Yay me!! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fengdu_Ghost_City Later in the day we visited another bogota. Very beautiful! I seem to be enthralled with all the structures here, but with also all the dogs roaming the streets. So ... read more

Nothing much to report back today. Without complaining much or using colourful language to describe my less than desirable travel agent.... She didnt book our domestic flights....l so this morning, bright and early headed to the airport only to dicsover her major error. We couldn't get a flight out to make the terracotta soldiers tour on time, so we have to stay in Beijing one more night And meet up with The tour group tomorrow. Oh yah did I mention that we were left abandoned at the Beijing airport, not knowing what the heck was going on. Our tour guide, nice lady, did what she could but had to leave with the 29 other people. Her parting words were " call this number in 10 minutes, they'll have it figured out". To which we said "how ... read more