Blogs from Chengdu, Sichuan, China, Asia - page 105

Hi, After an exhusting week of travelling from Yunan to Sichuan through monutains in elevation around 3,000 to 5,000 meters (though beautiful landscape and people), I have arrived to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province. After no hot water, not to speak about running water at all, I have now good showers. After tempratures around zero, I got rid of my tiets, gloves, wool hat, etc. After Chinese people that they can hardly say more then 'hello', 'bye bye' and 'thank you', in the hostel here the people can speak fluent English. Life is much easier and comfortable here, in Chengdu. It is so good to be again in a big and a modern city. Its only problem is the polution. The sun, stars and moon are not seen, normally. In Chengdu, like in any other big ... read more

Chengdu is a sprawling city and pretty unremarkable in its traits. All the cities all over the world do in actual fact look the same. Once you get used to the aesthetic differences (cows in the roads, tuk tuks careering around or spitting old men) there is not much to differentiate once MacDonald bearing town from another. Yes, it is clear we are glad to be leaving Asia behind. A little prematurely perhaps as China is probably host to the best things we have seen but probably second to India as it has the worst food. There is only so much rice and noodles you can eat. In fact, Lara is now surving on a diet of Oreos. Having given up on the whole staying thin whilst travelling thing, eating is becoming a good way to ... read more

So yesterday we went to the panda reserve after I last blogged. It was very neat, and very different than any zoos in the US. First we saw a bunch of red pandas, who were very curious and cute! The don't have glass separating you from the animals, just a hedge and than a trench between you and the animal. We got to get very close, maybe 10 or 15 feet from all the animals. The zoom button on my camera is broken (fortunately I can still take pictures) so the photos don't do justice how close I was, but it was very neat. Then we saw a 6 month old giant panda. One of the people that work there had put him up in a tree and he wasn't a very good tree climber yet, ... read more

Following day, get up a little later and then Susan...our second link teacher, who lives above us...knocks on the door and takes us up one flight to her appartment where a nice lunch awaits us to be eaten. We chat meet her husband eat food and then depart feeling rather full. Later we again find ourself shopping in RenRenLe. Then Victor, comes around a grade 3 student, so we eat dinner together and chat and then Victor leaves and well yeh that was about it...days getting a little less filled with things. Monday and Tuesday consisted of thinking of lessons plans, shopping in RenRenLe, me cooking a lot of food - Chinese and Western - reading books, watching TV and not doing a lot else really. Having a walk around the city of Zigong...yes it is ... read more

BYE , BYE "CHINA" nach dem es nicht mehr abriss, das nichts ging und wir ueberall festhingen und einfach gar nichts mehr funktionierte wurden naegel mit koepfen gemacht. also aus huatugo sind wir dann doch nach drei tagen via nachtbus weg gekommen. es ging durch absolute wueste weiter nach golmud. da wollten wir dann eigentlich unser visum verlaengern und ab nach tibet. wir waren auf alles eingestellt. das wir absolut abgezockt werden, in dem wir eine unglaublich horende summe zahlen um die genehmigung fuer tibet zu bekommen die man braucht (absoluter touri abrip). oder uns illegal und mit vielen risiken da rein schmuggeln. tja nix da, wir haben einfach kein geld mehr bekommen. unglaublich in dem land, dass das geld erfunden hat und so liebt, wollte man uns keins geben. so mussten wir mit unseren letzten ... read more