The Panda Place

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Chengdu was our next stop. I was hoping that the further we'd go in China, the further we'd get away from all the cities and high rise buildings but no such luck. We did manage to find a cool little hostel though called the Mix and met some likeminded travellers. Got to watch the the England - Portuagal match at an Irish pub with a great atmosphere.

The main attraction in Chengdu as far as I'm aware is the Giant Panadas. They run a Giant Panda Breeding Research Base not too far away from where we were staying so we spent a morning learning more about pandas and getting to watch them eat and play. Catherine even got to hold one...

The main unattraction of Chengdu was the locals little spitting habbit. They are able to hoik some pretty impressive luggies in China but this is the place that stood out for me. If you're on a crowded street is almost like a hoiking chorus. It is not confined to age nor gender nor place as our tour guide demonstrated spitting can also be done of the floors of the panda museum. If you go to China, watch your step!

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Photos

Mr Panda
This is one of the giant pandas eating his bamboo breakfast. If I remember correctly, they eat about 20kg of bamboo a day and seem to sleep whenever they're not eating. Nice one.

Giant Panda # 2
This guy was so entertaining and very playful. His trainer had him running all over the place.

Catherine + Red Panda
Catherine paid a bit extra to be able to hold this guy for a minute or so while he munched away on apple slices.

Rickshaw Ride
After the pandas we went on a little tour of the city in search of some cool temples to look at

The Temple
Not sure the name of this one but it was really beautiful

Candle Stand
These candles were burning along with incense in front of the temple

The Water Park
We saw on the map that there was a water park not too far from where we were staying. It was really hot and the thought of going swimming was really appealing. We even invited some of the other hostellers. But, when we got there it wasn't quite the 'water park' we had expected.

The grass is always greener...
Another classic: "You care for the grass and the grass gives you comfort"

The Amusement Park
Since the Water Park wasn't a water park, we took a chance on the Amusement Park and it turned out to be just that. Here with the girls we met at the Mix Hostel: Laura and Louise

The Sleeper Bus
This was a new experience for me but not one I'm in a hurry to repeat. I'd never been on a sleeper bus before that actually has beds on it. These were more like coffins and if you are tall you dont fit. To make matters worse, they liked to blare the disco music as well as the horn. The worst part by far, and I know Catherine will agree, was the spitting. The driver did it (constantly) the driver's helper did it and to make matters worse, the little old lady sleeping below us did it too (also constantly) and situated the bin beside her bed as her spit bucket.

View of the coffin beds
There were 3 rows of coffins, two stories high and it was a 26 hour ride to Guilin