Day 434: Sunday 6th September - A new country, but no excitement Today is a potential turning point in my journey. The day itself is a long day and a long journey from Hong Kong to Tokyo via the Philippines, but it is more for my change in emotional state that I will remember the day. The day starts at 8am with an hour long journey through Hong Kong to the airport, which includes an exorbitant charge of 60 Hong Kong Dollars (£5) for the last section of about 10 minutes on the underground. It is an anomaly as for the [View Full Entry]

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Day 431: Wednesday 3rd September - The crazy ‘underworld’ of Chungking mansions How do you describe Chungking mansions to someone who has never experienced it? The Dorset girls tried to describe it to me whilst they explained why I should stay there. They sowed the seed but they couldn’t quite portray what it was all about. I don’t think you can, you need to experience it. Situated to the harbour end of Nathan Road on Kowloon peninsula it is where a number of cheap guesthouses are situated, hence its popularity amongst the backpacker fraternity. The upper floors of [View Full Entry]

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Day 429: Tuesday 1st September - Leaving China but not leaving China I have a two hour bus journey from Guangzhou to Zhuhai which is the city on the border with Macau. Macau, like Hong Kong, is classed as a special administrative region, so whilst it is part of China it is administered almost like its own country. Therefore, there are immigration controls whereupon I get stamped out of China, walk through the building and get stamped into Macau, without technically leaving China!! Macau is its own separate state in all matters apart from foreign policy and defence and like Hong [View Full Entry]

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Day 428: Monday 31st August - An unwise move: letting my stomach do my decision making I arrive at Guangzhou following an overnight bus journey on a sleeper bus at 6:15am. It was probably the best sleeper bus I’ve taken, but that doesn’t mean much. I slept okay but am still half asleep as I try to locate where exactly I am in the city. There are several long distance bus stations but I don’t know which one I’ve arrived at so I decide that the only course of action is to get a taxi. I get offered a fare of [View Full Entry]

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Day 424: Thursday 27th August - Travelling to Guilin Normally you’re in a rush to get on the way when your day is going to be taken up travelling. After two days in Chengyang though I’m starting to get used to this slow, slow pace of life and just take my time to get ready and enjoy my last few hours in this beautiful village. At 10am, I catch the bus to Sanjiang where I must wait a further hour to catch a bus to Guilin. I feel like an exhibit in the zoo as I walk into Sanjiang’s bus station [View Full Entry]

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Day 422: Tuesday 25th August - It feels like I’ve taken a step back in time to another century Today I swap the fantasy world of the Longji Rice Terraces for a world of yesteryear at Chengyang. I leave Ping’ An on the 9am bus, one last look up the hill at the surreal sight of the beautiful terraces. At Longsheng I part company with Jimmy and Maria who are going on to Guilin. I take a bus to Sanjiang, two hours away. As we approach Sanjiang, driving alongside the river we pass a number of impressive bridges and their refection [View Full Entry]

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Day 420: Sunday 23rd August - Arriving in Longji Rice Terraces In my last post, I had just arrived in the town of Ping’ An 36 hours after commencing my journey from Lijiang. Needless to say on my arrival, I take the first reasonably priced accommodation. I can’t be bothered to look around. Thankfully this gives me my own room to get a good night’s sleep. On closer inspection, naturally after I’ve agreed to take the room, I find the bed is rock hard. It hasn’t got what the average person would describe as a mattress, it only being an inch [View Full Entry]

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Day 414: Tuesday 18th August - A beautiful old Chinese town My overnight bus journey to Lijiang from Kunming started as the low point of my China trip but it ends up turning out for the best. The cheat in Kunming bus station and the bumpy journey in cramped beds were both unpleasant experiences, but had I not taken the night bus I would never have met the four girls from Dorset. In adversity solidarity breeds and as each of us had to endure the horrible man in Kunming bus station trying to cheat us out of money and the worst [View Full Entry]

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Day 412: Sunday 16th August - Intimidated by China I’ve done numerous border crossings on this trip but none have intimidated me as much since the first one in Mexico City’s airport on day one than the one today into China. I don’t know why this is, whether it is irrational or maybe the fear of the unknown. I pack my bags for the trip into China ensuring that my Chinese guidebook is deeply buried in my main rucksack. I’ve read stories that Chinese border guards will confiscate guidebooks as they show Taiwan to be a separate country from China. I [View Full Entry]

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Day 409: Thursday 13th August - Too fatigued to venture far After an hour’s bus journey from Lao Cai I arrive in Sapa at breakfast time. With no map for reference, I haven’t got a clue where the hotel I booked through the travel agency in Hanoi is. Tired after my overnight train journey from Hanoi, neither have I the patience to endure the constant requests for motorbike rides nor to buy something from the hill tribe women as I walk through the streets of Sapa looking for my hotel. I am not best pleased with what greets me at the [View Full Entry]

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