As you can imagine, after our previous experiences we were more than excited to get started on our trip. After shopping around we decided that our new tour would be with the tour company, Golden Gobi. Mainly because we had only heard great things about them, the were fairly cheap and they could leave the next day. What's more, we even found three fellow travelers who also wanted to leave the next day with us - We couldn't wait. In total we would be four Brits (two girls two guys) two Mongolian men (driver and guide) one Israeli (Oded had his [View Full Entry]

---

---

In retrospect, despite all that has happened, we'd wholeheartedly recommend staying a few good days in UB. Despite what? Read on. We arrived in Ulaan Baatar (UB) after the most relaxing 30-hour train ride ever. (we organised the deluxe cabin on the transmongolian railway before we left so we got it for cost price of $150 and it was 100% worth it!! We had a beautiful mohogany cabin all to ourselves, a table, comfy chair and our own washroom -the easiest 30hours ever!) Anyway, after trotting back and forth between hostels with no vacancy, we finally landed in a nice guest [View Full Entry]

---

---

On the ride from Tai Shan to Jinin, our camera was gone. Arriving 4am in Beijing after the lousiest bus ride we've had here, we were tired, pissed off, upset, hungry and seriously considering taking the first plane home. That was the first time we felt this way in our travel. Adding to our misery were the not-so-friendly staff in the only hostel that had a room for us (surprise: they only have a Deluxe room available. Yeah right.) Yupp, just the right way to start our 5 days stay in Beijing. Day 1: Going to the PSB (Public Security Bureau) [View Full Entry]

---

---

Mount Tai is known as one of the "Five Sacred Mountains of Taoism" and is described by the Lonely Planet as the most climbed mountain in the world (though I doubt this to be true). It is said to be associated with sunrise, birth, and renewal, and they say those who climb it live to be 100 (Which I sure hope is NOT true!). Just so you understand, this mountain is 1545 metres high with some 6,293 official steps. And for some unknown reason Oded and I decided it would be a great idea to climb each and every one of [View Full Entry]

---

---

Well for the first time in our blog, we are sorry to have to open with every traveller's worst news - our camera was stolen!!!!! :-( (The lucky news however is that one week ago we filled our first 1GB card, so we actually only lost one week of pictures) Due to this misforune, the next two blog entries will unfortunetly be pictureless. But do not fear, we have recently bought another camera and will be on track with our usual pictureful entries soon. Until then though, feel free to keep updated through our descriptions - we'll try and make them [View Full Entry]

---

---

Getting to Hangzhou from Guilin: 22 hour bus/train 1 day lost (and we don't have too many left here) 60 US Dollars (about) ------------------------------------------------------- Saving it by flying Guilin-Hangzhou (2 hours/$130): Priceless Arriving late (1am-ish) in Hangzhou, we were exposed first time to the prices of east-coast Chinese cities. The cheapest we found was a nice youth-hostel for $24 - quite a fortune in Vietnamese/Yangshou-ian terms. The Chinese proverb "Shang You Tian Tang Xia You Su Hang" - "Above [in Heaven] there's Sweet Paradise, Below [On Earth&# [View Full Entry]

---

---

Getting to Hangzhou from Guilin: 22 hour bus/train 1 day lost (and we don't have too many left here) 60 US Dollars (about) ------------------------------------------------------- Saving it by flying Guilin-Hangzhou (2 hours/$130): Priceless Arriving late (1am-ish) in Hangzhou, we were exposed first time to the prices of east-coast Chinese cities. The cheapest we found was a nice youth-hostel for $24 - quite a fortune in Vietnamese/Yangshou-ian terms. The Chinese proverb "Shang You Tian Tang Xia You Su Hang" - "Above there's Sweet Paradise, Below there's S [View Full Entry]

---

---

With all we'd heard about the legendary backpackers hangout we were quite excited to get there. And like everything so far, it did exceed expectations. Yangshou is not only a cool place to meet fellow travellers and make the most of English menus whilst stocking up on western food , it is also set in some of the most spectacular surroundings we've seen so far. I think the picutres can do it more justice than I can, but our few days here consisted of Oded and I getting a one and half hour massage (I mean we have been traveling for [View Full Entry]

---

---

Without question we left Vietnam with a positive feeling, but we were definately ready to continue on with our adventure. It was for this reason we dedicated a couple of days of missioning to get well into China: our schedule: 5am - leave Ha Giang 11am - arrive in Hanoi (At first we were upset to hear that we had to spend the night here due to buses etc. but to our surprise treated us well this visit and we actaully changed our opinion and found Hanoi quite a charming city to spend a couple of hours!!) following day - [View Full Entry]

---

---

The previous night we decided to give it a shot and to get to Northwest Vietnam - Meo Vac and Dong Van. The little info in Lonley Planet and Rough Guide promised the most stunning views possible in Vietnam - so off we went. Early in the morning, we took a shuttle to Lau Cai (1h/20k dong) and from there to Bac Ha (2.5h/30k dong). Bac Ha was a really nice surprise for us. Not a single foreigner in the horizon for the first 3 hours, nice and welcoming people and laid-back surroundings with not much to do except wait [View Full Entry]

---

---