Good morning Vietnam! (Saw that line coming, right?) You need to learn fast in Hanoi. Stepping out onto the street is quite a commitment and usually a risky manoeuvre. Motorbikes do not stop for anything (traffic lights turn red = time to mount pavement), so crossing the road requires guts, determination and a bit of luck. We stayed in the old quarter near Hoan Kiem Lake - a tranquil spot away from the motorbike mayhem. It was a great location - walking distance to many of the sights. The show at The Municipal Water Puppet Theatre was touted as a “must [View Full Entry]

---

---

The journey from Hanoi to Hue was another sleeper train. Our companions for the trip were three very entertaining Germans - Uvee, Max and Fred. Their bags seemed to contain only an extensive drinks cabinet (wine, beer, home-made cherry schnapps and some 50% number among others). They made the time pass by much more quickly, even if there were some disagreements when they tried to persuade Simon that travelling is much more fun when you leave your girlfriend at home. Not sure the one poor Vietnamese chap that shared our cabin enjoyed the late night… Hue was monsoon-like for the first [View Full Entry]

---

---

Even though the weather was shocking (constant rain resulting in flooding of the shops next to the river) we loved Hoi An. Days were spent mooching around the old city, shops and markets, followed by afternoons strategically drying off in one of the awesome bars with a pinacolada or two - thank the lord for Happy Hour(s). Our hotel was run by the Vietnamese equivalent of Del Boy - we were offered $100 for one of our mobile phones on several occasions. He took a real shine to it and even suggested ways of claiming on our insurance to get a [View Full Entry]

---

---

Having had several days of rain and gloom it was lovely to find some sunshine again - the weather in Hong Kong was great. We were on a tight schedule, so everything was taken in at a pace! We saw the awesome light show from the Kowloon side (after getting our seats an hour early, some grumpy woman tried to storm in at the last minute and block our view - grrr.) After taking the bargain Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island, we took in the great views from Victoria Peak as the sun was going down. The markets have [View Full Entry]

---

---

Getting here seemed to take FOREVER. The bus driver picked up friends, wives, babies going commando (messy) over the course of 4 hours. We then jumped on a 13 hour sleeper train - the most basic so far - and had to be ready to jump off at 4am. Finally we had another bus journey for an hour to Yangshuo. We all arrived stinking, hungry and tired, but couldn’t check in for another 4 hours. We were expecting big things from this place! It delivered. Having spent most of our time in Chinese cities, it was lush to be out in [View Full Entry]

---

---

Pandas Our tour took us to the Giant Panda Breeding Research Facility. The weather was fairly dismal, but the pandas appeared to be in their element, lying around and taking naps. The highlight would have to be the nursery, where there were eleven baby pandas in a giant cot. We watched as two babies were bottle fed by their surrogate (human) mothers. Unfortunately taking pictures is not allowed here, so you’ll have to take our word for it! We also saw a hilarious film of a first-time mother giving birth - the mother jumped with shock as the baby shot across [View Full Entry]

---

---

Our hotel was situated in the centre of Xi’an by the main public square, and was one of the nicest so far (all the hotels have been pretty good). The only issue we had was with the daily 6.00am provincial anthem, which belted out across the square as if a brass band was actually in the room with us. I guess China had decided it was time for us to get up. Time for sightseeing was a bit tight, so we blitzed through Xi’an’s other main tourist attractions in a day including the Bell and Drum Towers, Muslim Quarter (great food [View Full Entry]

---

---

We hopped on a cruise ship for our three day journey down the Yangtze River and through the three gorges. Unfortunately the weather was pants, and poured with rain for most of the time. Perhaps this was to be expected, given the name of our boat: “MS Fortune”, or “mis-fortune” as it was known (boom boom…) Fengdu Ghost City Our first stop on our “cruise” was for a visit to Fengdu. We had a fairly hefty hike to the top of Mingshan Hill, to a temple of the underworld - all the more spooky given it was Halloween&he [View Full Entry]

---

---

The sleeper train was an adventure - we were on the top bunks (of 3 layers, so fairly high) not good if you get vertigo! Shanghai is a total change, uber-modern, with a Starbucks on every corner... We went to the huge museum which was really good. Yesterday was Simon's 30th Birthday! We went up the World Financial Centre tower to the observatory on the 100th floor, its supposedly the highest man-made viewpoint in the world. We lucked out with the weather as the sun shone, so the views were fantastic. In the evening we had dinner with the group and [View Full Entry]

---

---

We met our first challenge soon after landing in Beijing. Having negotiated customs, the airport express train and the subway system, we were feeling pretty smug. All that was left to do was locate our hotel. Unfortunately our google maps printout was way out, after two hours staggering on our jet-lagged legs, we found a kind lady and between us, using our finest pointing and gesturing, we managed to get a taxi going in the right direction. Interest from Chinese people has been good fun - we've had a few minor-celeb moments, with Chinese tourists coming over and asking for pictures [View Full Entry]

---

---