Rather Late Blogs (2)

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Hangzhou - made famous (apparently) by the West Lake and the films filmed there - was, we were told, a must see! So we saw! It was indeed pretty stunning! We opted for 1 night there after an afternoon train there whereby we arrived to thick fog that we could barely see through and pretty nippy temperatures! A stroll around the north east of the lake and a rather lengthy (although extremely successful) food pursuit (Mmmmmm-mmmm do we like dumplings!!!) saw the first day kicked pretty well in to touch! However, it did mean that we had sussed the job out and meant that we could get up and go the next morning.

And that we did...well I did anyway. Leaving a snoozing Jen I went around the park to the East of the Lake for an early morning stroll! Wow - what an eye opener! I had no idea the Chinese were quite so active. Yoga, Pilates, Dance Classes, Marching, Baton Twirling, Fan Dances - you name it, they were doing it! It was absolutely fascinating!!!! Most people doing it looked over 40 and they were pretty good! Would have beaten me anyway! I know I know that may not be all that hard! But believe me thay were pretty impressive! The rising sun also gave the opportunity for some picturesque shots! Afterwards I headed back to find the old girl! And after a swift breakfast we opted to hire some bikes and cycle some of the lake!

In reality we actually ended up doing the whole thing and some bits twice (on account of Jen losing her camera - and us having to check - just in case!!!) Our first stop saw us gamboling around a rather beautiful park - most photographic evidence of which was lost along with Jen's camera! Then onto a pretty huge turtle pond, a pagoda and on to the expressways that span the west and north sides of the lake! These gave some pretty cool photo shots too, and offered some beautiful scenic views of China - again most of which we lost (thieving tykes!!!) Putting it mildly of course!!! Young cousins reading this!!!

The 3/4 mark saw us deciding to go for lunch! Although it was now around 3pm! That happens alot with us! Finding a rather good restaurant we ordered, and prompltly discovered that Jen's camera had vanished! We think she may have been pick pocketed - who knows! Its gone anyway! The food was somewhat overshadowed but it was still pretty scrummy!!! After that we headed back to the hostel and onto the railway station some what downhearted but having enjoyed hangzhou nonetheless!!!! And so it was, back to Shanghai!!!

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