Blogs from Hangzhou , China, Asia - page 27

West Lake Youth Hostel is on Nanshan Road and right beside the lake, just out of the main city area. It’s a fantastic little place, with such a nice ambience, friendly helpful staff who speak some English and within easy distance of restaurants, temples, museums, bus and of course the lake and the magnificent walk and paths and gardens. We booked a private room, with its own shower and toilet with towels and linen supplied; just bring your toilet paper. Tea and coffee facilities are provided in each room, with plasma TV and reverse cycle air con, a neat little home away from home. The hostel has no self-help kitchen, but instead has a cook and a little restaurant with both Eastern and Western menus, at quite reasonable prices. 16 -26Y for a bowl of noodles ... read more

well its been over a week since I wrote in here an i can tell you that I have travelled a good 2000 miles or so. Well first of all My Last entry was from Vang vien and thats were it got fun. I sadly said goodbye to zeke and pat and started to make my way north to a place called Luan Prabang. This was going to be an 8 hour bus journey which as in any long (or short) journey you need to be 100% healthy....... I was not . as soon as I sat on the bus I was already feeling cold and it was definately hot as hell on there as everyone else was sweating. I however, was wearing a hoody. My body was aching all over but i figured it was ... read more

We are safely back home from a wonderful, fun, and memorable week in Hangzhou (hon-joe) and a fascinating night in Hong Kong (a layover that turned into, gladly, an overnight stay). Every aspect of our trip went very well, from the long flights to making fast friends with our "posse" of translators, drivers, and real estate agents (7 people catered to us 4). We travelled with the Wilsons and we had a great time together. We travelled in business class, which I have to admit -- I felt like a redneck who won the lottery. Your chair folds down into a bed, you have your own TV, and the food and drink are abundant and tasty. The flight from JFK to HK was 15 hours. 15 hours!!! Lord, I thought I will not make it this ... read more

FIRST INSTALMENT I had the great privilege of travelling with a group of young Australian students to the cities of Hangzhou and Beijing in the months November 2005-January 2006. It was one of the great experiences of my lifetime, not only for the travel experience, but the university experience, and the wonderful new friends I made. The trip started for me with leaving my hometown of Otorohanga, New Zealand, and travelling by car to Auckland airport. Actually it started a whole lot earlier than that with the finding out about the proposed trip being done through the University of Western Australia in Perth. I'd been studying the Chinese language for a while, and thought the experience of actually attending classes in China would enhance my learning! However, I thought I might be outside the age limit, ... read more

Today we booked our only tour of the entire trip: a day trip to Hangzhou, about 3 hours outside of Shanghai. We had been excited for this trip and booked it for the main purpose of visiting a Dragon Well or Longjing tea plantation. Since it seemed far too complicated to arrange to get out to Hangzhou on our own, our tour ended up being almost a private tour with only 2 other people in the group with us. We lucked out and had a great guide named Maggie from Gray Line Tours, who was incredibly helpful and friendly. After an early start at 730am, we arrived in Hangzhou for a cruise on the West Lake. We saw a few man-made islands (one of which is sinking) as we took in the views along the lake ... read more