Lots of round tums...Buddhas and Pandas

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Having never been on a sleeper train, I was unsure as to what to expect and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised despite the fact that cheapy me had asked for the cheapest bed and received the one about 30cm away from the train's roof! Nonetheless, a book finished in the 25 hours and some sleep had, I was ready to meet the pandas! The hostel we found was in a hutong just off the ancient section of the city. Sim's cozy guesthouse was a beacon of light with its cold beer and (sorry to say it) and glimpse of western food! By this time I was dying for vegetables that were not fried! Booked ourselves in for the pandas and the opera. I had wanted to take the longer journey out to the local nature reserve to try and find pandas in the wild but we had been told you are likely to see one only if you are very very lucky, so we decided to go to the local breeding centre. They have to be the most cuddly looking creatures on this planet, you just wanted to climb on in there and give them a huge squeeze. Especially the babies. 2 hours spent watching them feed and play, although you have to get to the centre very early because afterwards all they do is sleep; it was well worth the early alarm.
The weather in Chengdu was freezing, it felt like snow in the air but no such luck. No luck either for my washing which took 3 days to move from wet to damp....enough time to read the book called The Alchemist. If you haven't. You should.
Now the opera...again an experience to match that of the ceremony in Guilin. Absolutely bizzare but so funny. From hand shadow men to clowns with real explosive attached to their head. Chinese opera is bloody brilliant! I think the mice under our seats and the attempts at translation added to the evening's entertainment! This was followed by my insistence that we tried Sichuan's local dish called the hotpot. The HOT pot Hannah! Did the locals' red mouths and sweating faces put me off ordering a hot, Hotpot? Of course not. Did the nice Chinese waiter try to insist that I had one a little less spicey? Of course he did. Did I listen? You see where this is heading. I dont think I have ever come so close to fainting and/or throwing up in a restaurant before. Don't get me wrong it was delicious, but I couldn't feel anything from my neck upwards for a good while! Haha one day I might learn!?
Overall I am really glad we made the trip west to Chengdu, despite now I have a sore throat and a need to adopt pandas!

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