Like I wrote before, we visited Wusutu park, located just north of Hohhot on the slopes of the mountain range, on our day off with a small group. It was a lovely day to get out of the city, temperatures in the second half of September are still in the upper 20's (although it does really cool down at night) and the park itself was quite nice. After entering the gate, you walk down the lane where at the end the steps start that lead you to halfway up. Along the way are two or so places to stop for a refreshing drink or a game of pool, but more on that later. Then, at what you could call the first of many little hill tops, you have the possibility of climbing into a tiger's mouth... ... read more

After having spent 9 months in Hohhot, it was about time for me to go and see the grasslands which Inner Mongolia province is known for. On Monday morning the weather wasn't looking too good at first, in fact, the last few weeks we had loads of rain here in Hohhot. (something to do with Beijing not wanting any rain during the games...?) But luckily later on it cleared up so the next staff trip was on its way to Xilamuren, the nearest of the three grasslands near Hohhot. It was a lovely drive to the north of the city, where the road wound its way up the mountains. Due to all the rain these last weeks, the mountains were actually quite green, and it gave some nice views of the road and valleys we came ... read more

From Mohan, on the border with Laos it was an easy bus ride of about 4 hours to Jinghong the capital city of what is called the Xishuangbanna region of southern Yunnan province. The name actually comes from Thai language: Sip Sawng Panna meaning 12 rice growing districts. Remarkably for Chinese standards, only one third of Xishuangbanna's population consists of Han Chinese, splitting up the rest in one third Dai people and another third in a variety of minorities, that can also be found in parts of northern Laos, Thailand and Myanmar. Unfortunately for me, the rain was relentless, so a lot of exploring was out of the question. I got as far as the bridge crossing the Mekong, which made me really wanting to explore the whole length of it once. It's pretty amazing how ... read more

After the adventurous arrival in Luang Prabang by Lao airlines flying in from Hanoi, Vietnam, it seemed a likely possibility for a while that I was going to have to sleep under a bridge somewhere..... For anyone traveling the vietnam - Laos route; STOCK UP ON KIP BEFORE HAND! Apparently they don't want low currencies like the Dong, so seeing that I arrived in L.P. with just Dong, I was in a bit of a bad situation there. One of my fellow passengers on Lao airlines lent me a few dollars so I could have a baquette. After a bit of asking around and searching I luckily found a travel agency that wanted to exchange my money for a reasonable rate. I was so happy to be back in L.P. though, the mix of French colonial ... read more

Finally, a well deserved 17-day vacation. On the 1st of June, after finishing work at 17:00, I flew to Beijing where I stayed for a day. My god it's big..... On the 3rd I flew Shenzhen airlines to Nanning, in the far south of China, just accross the border with Vietnam. And that was also my destination. Nanning was nice enough and the room at the hotel for 90 Yuan was a bargain. The next morning at 08:00 I took the local train to Pinxiang which took only 3 1/2 hours. The border formalities went fairly quickly (I picked up my Vietnam visa at the embassy in Nanning) and walked through the massive arch that marked the border. On the other side a taxi took us to the town of Lang Son where a bus was ... read more