Shanghai at Last

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We have a lot to tell you about since the last time so we will break it down in to seperate days, starting with Sunday.

Sunday

So on Sunday morning we headed up to Luoyang bus station to travel to a town called Dengfeng which is very close to Shaolin Si, the monastery where Shaolin monks originated from. A 2 hour coach ride later we arrived in Dengfeng and began the search for a hotel that is listed in the guide book as being cheap and fairly good. As soon as we stepped out of the bus station a taxi driver immediately called us over and we showed him the book with the name of the hotel. It seemed he either did not understand or wanted to take us somewhere else but he was only charging 5Yuan so we jumped in. He dropped us at an expensive looking place that was also in the book and the lady greeting us told us the place we were looking for was "broke" and we could stay there instead. Yeah right at nearly 3 times the price we didnt think so and walked off to find it ourselves.

Just down the street we asked some locals but unfortunately they confirmed it had in fact shut down so we hopped in a taxi and headed up to Shaolin Si itslef to see what we could find up there. Shaolin Si is basically a mountain range where the monks built a monastery and nowadays they teach kids from about the age of 5 up to maybe 18 Shaolin Kung Fu. Around the monastery is a little village with English named hotels and restaurants obviously for the tourists because it is in the middle of nowhere. When we got out the taxi we were swamped with offers of hotels, they dont waste any time so we told one guy ok and he took us to his little place. The hotel (if you can call it that) was a small little building down an old dirt path lined with crumbling building and basic shops. There were dogs and chickens walking about and piles of shite everywhere. The room was not too bad surprisingly altough the toilet was again a bit smelly but what more can you expect for 3 quid a night?

Later that day we went to the local cafe/restaurant for a bite to eat and found the best menu yet - Pork, Hares, Donkey or Dog - the choice is yours. We went for the scrambled egg a la tomato and sticky fried rice. The owner looked dissapointed but i dont think we cared!

We also tried out the 'Wine Bar' which was actually also a cafe which didnt have any wine or music and we sat outside on our two wooden chairs (no table) drinking lager from the bottle. It was actually very nice to get out of the city and sit out in the warm night in the mountains. It is totally pitch black as there are no street lights up there only the light from the "bar" behind us. It was the first time we have been able to see the stars at night since we got here as the smog is so bad in the cities.

Monday

We were up out of bed by 7.20am, we were supposed to be up earlier but the alarm didnt go off luckily there was a rooster cock-a-doodle-doo-ing outside so we were woken up. We walked up to the Shaolin Si and paid in after a little while (we didnt realise it only opened at 8am). We walked through the gardens looking in the temples,and the monks had all just got up too as we seen them washing there faces and bodies with basins full of water outside.

We also went through Pagoda Forest which was where the monks had built lots of pagoda's amongst the trees in the forest. We continued to walk on and it was only around 9am and already it was absolutely boiling. There was a cable car that you could get to the top of the mountain and that was really stunning, the scenery was so nice but our camera had run out the batteries so no pics. When we got to the top we got off and had a walk around and actually had noodles for breakfast as there was nothing else available!!
We got the cable car back to the bottom and then walked back to the training centre as the monks were demonstrating Kung Fu.

Each monk had something that they fought with like nunchucks, swords and wooden sticks. They were all different ages and all of them were so good, one of them prepared himself mentally then wooden poles were smashed against his back and over his head. Another monk held a piece of glass and a balloon behind it, whilst another had an ordinary pin in his hand, again he prepared himself and then threw the pin with such force it broke through the glass and popped the ballon that was on the other side!!! it was really impressive!!
They all did there own things at the end and they were showing how they would use there weapons, kicking an jumping in the air doing backflips and all sorts of moves that you only ever see in action films, it was ace!!!.

We left and went back to the hotel and packed our things to go back to Luoyang, as that is where we would get our train to Shanghai.
We got on a bus which was so tattered and full of chinese folk,a little old lady flagged it down and assured us it would take us to Luoyang, so we took her word for it and hopped on. Luckily she was right and 2 uncomfortable hours later we were there back in BORING Luoyang.

We went to train station and were so hacked off when we were told there would be no trains to Shanghai for 5 days, we could not bear to stay any longer but ended up going back to the hostel we originally stayed in for one more night. The receptionist called the train station for us who confirmed there would be no more trains for 3 days, so she called the bus station and booked us on a sleeper bus which would take 13 hours, we did not really fancy it but could not bear to stay in Luoyang for much longer so agreed and we went to pick up the tickets. Later that night we just had some food and an early night.

Tuesday

So it was Tuesday morning and we had hours to kill before our bus to Suzhou. Suzhou is another city very close to Shanghai - the plan was to get off the bus and get on another that would take us direct to Shanghai. The Sleeeper bus left at 5pm and we didn't have anything to do except walk the streets lookng for internet cafe as the connection in the hostel was down. Donna was still feeling really bad - never found out why - and i was starting to get stomach cramps although luckily the runs never came! It was another blistering day but we trooped on through the traffic and eventually found a place on the third floor of a shopping centre. It was the biggest internet cafe i have ever seen (admittedly i havnt seen many) with hundreds of computers. It was proper busy mostly with kids sitting about playing games and watching dvds. It seems loads of people either dont work or have days off through the week. You see the people on the streets working but still it is always busy everywhere no matter what day it is.

After booking our current Hostel in Shanghai we went in search of food and found a place that did familiar food. Not wanting to risk a bout of the runnies we both stuck with Spaghetti Bolognaise which was actually really good. And they gave us a fork too - I was trying to think of a plan of attack with my chopsticks but we didnt get any!

So then it was time for the worst Journey of our lives. Considering the bus cost the same as a luxurious soft sleeper train we were hoping for a bit of comfort and perhaps a curtain to give a bit of privacy or something? Oh no - this was exactly where the saying 'like sardines in a tin' came from. Rows of four feet long bunk beds a foot apart all the way from front to back. Now dont get me wrong if your four foot tall like a lot of people out here it is probably not too bad. But for Mr and Mrs lanky here it was ridiculous. The driver, for reasons unknown at the time, insisted that we stay in the top bunks right at the front and this meant that if i layed out straight my feet were about a foot above his mates head and not too far from the windscreen. In hindsight im glad my feet stunk as his mate was the loudest most inconsiderate prick i have ever heard in my life. For about 9 hours constant he ranted and raved - almost like he was arguing with himself the whole way there. I wish i knew what he was going on about but it is not good when you have a bus full people trying to sleep and he obviously gets to kip the next day - unlike us. Finally he ran out of things to say and went to sleep at about half 3am - the same time as me! Donna was cuddled up on the next bunk with her Ipod in. Mine had run out of batteries. Unlucky. Oh yeah and they gave us the dog basket covers for blankets. Proper sweaty i say proper sweaty.

Optimistically we decided to put it down to experience and when the driver let us off we were hoping for a quick taxi to Suzhou train station and then an easy ride to Shanghai. However the driver had decided to drop us off more than 26km from the station. The taxi drivers threw themselves at the coach before the door had opened trying to get the white people in their cabs. Half an hour and 104 Yuan later we arrived at the station and got our tickets to Shanghai - we were finally starting to feel like it was coming to an end and we would be able to shower and chill out at last.

Wednesday

When we arrived in Shanghai train station, we showed this so called taxi driver the hostel we were staying and he said he knew where it was and that it would cost 60 yuan, we didnt really know how far it would be so we agreed and he said come with me to the car. We followed him through a few streets and presumed he had just parked there as the roads were so busy. His mobile rang twice and he spoke in chinese, then when we got to the car he put our bags in the boot and it was not even a taxi. We were really suspicious at this point but even more so when we got in the car, and another 2 people got in, me and Laurie just looked at each other and said 'no thanks'. We got straight out as it was so dodgy and took our bags and walked off back to the station. I dont no what was really going on but he was no taxi driver and even more dodgy when other people got in.

We flagged down a proper taxi who knew the way and it only ended up costing 18 yuan.

Heaven oh heaven we arrived at the hostel an the room is lovely, and we were given a king size bed too. We had some breakfast and then went and got showered and went for a nap as we were knackered after the bus ride from hell!!!

We got up and came down to the bar which is pretty dear but really nice--so us cheapskates went to the shop round the corner and bought few beers for 33p each--less than half the price in the hostel bar and twice the size!! We just sat outside the hostel as there are tables and chairs that you can sit at and later on went back inside to get some dinner which was crap!!
We had a game of pool and then headed for bed and decided to go to Ocean world the next day. It was so nice to have a big comfy bed and air conditioning--for 6 quid a night the rooms are better than most expensive hotels in England.

Thursday

So today we got up earlier and had a good old fry up. Well i did and donna had porridge. I have decided not to eat any more food here as it is not so good. When we walk about around here you can smell all of the street vendors and the food looks a lot nicer than what we saw in Beijing, Xi-An and Luoyang so its onto the real stuff from now i think.

Anyway on to Ocean World this morning. We have seen a few different Aquariums now but after wandering city streets for most of two weeks we fancied a change and got the tube one stop (proper lazy) to Chengfeng park - i think thats what its called. The park was great i felt like i was at a theme park at first, i dont know why because it only had go karts and pedalos but still it was fun to get away from the hustle and bustle for a few hours. The aquarium was ok, nothing spectacular or out of the ordinary although they did have a Little Mermaid section which Donna really liked - Its her favourite film (saddo)! Check out the picture!

They also had a show with a Balouga Whale which we went to see. I was interested to see what it was going to be like and we were both pretty dissapointed and felt a bit sad for the whale. We couldnt understand the announcer so we dont know if it gave you a bit of background information about it - like whether it was rescued or orphaned - but it seemed a bit cheap and tacky. You see the big American shows and can tell the animals are treated as well as possible but we didnt get that feeling here - more like the whale was performing just to be fed. I dont suppose we will ever find out but we are not in a hurry to go and see another.

And that leads us up to now - sat in the hostel about to go for some food. We both like the look and feel of Shanghai so far and will probably stay here a while. We have been looking forward to it for the last few days there is loads of bars and good food so it should be a fun few days. Hopefully we will be able to remember it by the time we write another blog. We have a proper tourist map and can plan our days properly so there should be lots to see. Enjoy the piccies and we'll write again soon....

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Comments

[Mum (Jackie)]

Donkey curry anyone?
Hi you two! I'm surprised you didn't try the donkey slapped between a couple of slices of bread with plenty of ketchup! Your journey to Shanghai sounded like a nightmare - I think you deserve a good long rest and time to reflect and unwind now as well as giving your tummies the chance to settle down! Sounds like you are having a wonderful time though and everyone is quite jealous and Donna looks lovely and brown! I'm posting your blogs to Grandma and she is thoroughly enjoying them too. Love to you both. x x PS: Have you got any suncream yet?!