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Published: July 21st 2008
We arrived back in Bangkok after sleeping reasonably well on the bus. We had a day and a night here before flying to Hong Kong. It rained so Gems' plan to sunbathe by a pool was thwarted. Did some blog, some t-shirt shopping on Ko San Road and had pad thais for dinner from our favourite street seller. The next day we got a taxi out to the airport and flew to Hong Kong. It was really sunny and clear so we had great views of the islands as we flew in. From the airport we took the very fast, efficient express train to Hong Kong Island then a taxi to Tun San Toy on Stubbs road where Katie and Phil were kindly putting us up in their flat. When Katie got home from work we went out to meet Phil at a restaurant called Dot Cod. Had lovely fish and chips! After this we went to the races, met some of their friends and had a flutter and a few beers. Went to a little english pub after for a few drinks. Katie and Phil were at work on friday so Gems and I took the bus up to Victoria
Peak where there is a shopping centre with a tower where there are magnificant views over the city. Luckily it was a clear, sunny day which was lucky as there's been a lot of rain , wind and fog recently. Had lunch in a very expensive cafe overlooking the city before getting the old fashioned tram back down into central - very steep tracks. Went to the The Mall at pacific place in Admirality and got some cycling shorts for our trip. In the evening we went for a drink in Kowloon so we could watch the light show, where the skyscapers opposite dance to cheesy music! Headed to the Soho area, with narrow streets full of bars and restaurants and home to the longest esculator in the world. Met up with Katie and Phils friends Stu and Aneka and 'Youngster,' who is 27 but looks 12! Had a nice Thai meal. Phil was out golfing all day Saturday so after a lie in the 3 of us got the ferry out to Lamma Island. There are no cars here so it feels very different to Hong Kong Island. Did a nice but sweaty walk across and round the island
looking at the beaches, stalls and spiders! At the pier we had a drink and a nibble which qualified us for a free boat ride back to Central. In the evening we had a night out in Wan Chai for Youngsters birthday. Lovely mexican meal with sangria, bars then we ended up doing karaoke in the happy valley. Bed at 6am! Dragged ourselves out of bed at midday and went up to the cricket club for some lunch. The weather has turned and the whle city is clothed in grey and drizzly clouds. Went to the cinema to see 'Wanted' with Angelina Jolie - good film. Said bye to Katie and phil as they'd be off to work early in the morning. Tried to stay up to watch the Wimbledon final but my eyes were having none of it. In the morning we got a bus to Stanley Market in the pouring rain and did some shopping and had lunch. After packing we made our way down to the MTR (underground) and travelled to Kowloon. Spent bloody ages, well over an hour, to get some american dollars for our local payment on the trip so weren't in the best of
moods when we checked into the West Hotel, the starting point for our 'China hike and bike' tour. At half six we met up with Jeff, our tour leader who is Chinese and speaks very good English. There are only 8 of us on the trip - Tony and Darcy, an Australian couple, Lizzie, a girl from England who's been travelling also, and Brooke, Stephanie and Charlotte, three 18 year old girls from London. After the introduction in Jeffs hotel room we went out for dinner together - the first Chinese food we've had here - it was very cheap but lovely. Had a wander around the Temple Street markets before bed. We met at 7am in the hotel lobby and got taxis to the ferry terminal in the pouring rain. The ferry ride to Gao Ling, on mainland China, was 3 hours long. As we passed through customs I was held back a while as they didn't think I looked like my passport photo! Must have been the beard and glasses as I can't have aged that much in 4 years surely?! We boarded our minibus and drove to Zhaoqing where lunch was priority. We were escorted to a
private room, seperate from the main reataurant for some reason?! Jeff chose the dishes well and it was a hearty meal including a tasty aubergine dish. Checked into our hotel at Star Lake and met up for a walk around some of the lake. The fish in one part were so numerous when food was thrown in that some just wriggled on top of the others out of the water! Some nice Karst scenery also. Next, we got fitted up with our bikes - nice aluminium Diamond Backs with Rock Shox forks. Spent a while in the hotel courtyard testing the gears, brakes etc. We then did a 10km loop ride around Star Lake and the town. Unfortunately Brookes brakes worked too well and she managed to go over the handlebars on the main road! Amazingly she was unhurt! You had to have your wits about you as the cycle lanes are also used by pedestrians, motorbikes, mopeds and even cars sometimes! We were segregated again for dinner but the food was lovely and the local red wine ok. The next morning we had a traditional Chinese breakfast in the hotel which included noodles, maize dumplings, sweet red sticky rice
with lychee seed, pork in bread, tea and some strange coated beef mince parcels. Loaded our bellies up then loaded the van up with our bags and were driven 40km out into the country - the Guangdong region. Today was our longest ride (around 80km) and it was very hot so frequent stops were made for rests and drinks. Its very well organised as the bus drives up front making sure everyones going the right way and the bike truck bring up the rear and picks up any stragglers or break downs. We stopped at a remote village school for lunch and, despite it being the school holidays, we had a large audience of schoolkids watching our every bite! We cycled through beautiful scenery up difficults climbs and down fun descents to constant shouts of 'hello!' from locals living in the villages along the way. We were all pretty tired so after checking into our hotel in Longshan, showering our sweaty bodies and having dinner, (included bucket of rice, bamboo shoots, omelette and tomato and a fish dish) we retired to our rooms early. It rained all night but had eased by the morning. After fried eggs, noodles and sweetcorn
fritters we walked along to the Dragon Caves. We walked through 3 beautiful limestone caverns which had been completely ruined by the addition of tacky lights and decorations and chinese lady dancing shows along the way! They had even sprayed some of the stalagtites with gold glitter! We were happy to leave and get on our bikes for a 40km ride to Wuzhou. We stopped for lunch in a small village all soaked to the bone by a heavy downpour. A friendly shopowner, who liked to laugh a lot, let us sit in his shop to eat (lucnches are mainly peanut butter and lychees). Shortly after lunch there was a long uphill stretch followed by a great winding downhill after refuelling on lychees. Again, the paddy fields and farmland, rivers and forests, provided lovely views along the way. We boarded the bus to drive the last section of highway into Wuzhoa city. Checked into our hotel - we're on the 15th floor with great views over the old part of town. Had dinner together, again seperated from the general public. Had battered aubergine in the shape of octopus, a nice pork dish and sampled the local beer. Jeff chose well
again. In the evening we spent some time in the biggest internet cafe I think I'll ever see - it housed maybe 400 computers! Breakfast the next morning was a struggle and most of it had to be packed up for lunch. Got on the minibus for a long drive to Shazi. Slept, read, chatted and stopped for lunch at a new petrol station where there were toilets for 'deformed people!' It started raining and was still raining when it was time to take to the saddle once more. Steph and Charlotte stayed on the bus while the rest of us set off, and after a while it dried up. The ride was fairly flat and just 26km long today but the scenery was stunning - huge limestone karst protruding from the lush farmland. We got on the bus to drive into Yangshuo, a lovely town situated on the Li river which meanders its way through thousands of Karst mountains. It is quite touristy so there are lots of nice shops, bars and restaurants. Jeff recommended a restaurant we eat at in the evening and he ordered us yet another array of tasty local dishes. This included the renowned beer
fish. After this the obvious choice was a karaoke bar, to continue drinking and sing to the strange arrangements of English songs. Jeff, Lizzie, Steph, Brooke, Charlotte, Gems and I then ended up in a club, the girls having impressed some male english stalkers who followed us there! On the way home I bought some noodles and a local man forced some rice wine down my neck. This wasn't a good idea as I was to realise tommorrow. Bed 3am. It was a nightmare having to get up so early the next morning but a bike ride was probably a good thing to sort the head out. Rode along bumpy roads through the amazing scenery, out to Moon Hill. Here we switched to foot and walked up to the extraordinary limestone feature. Gems knee is feeling a bit dodgy but she managed the trek up the slippery steps to the top. The climb was helped by the presence of a number a chinese ladies selling mango juice who walked up next to us with umbrellas to shelter us and fans to cool us down! After descending we got back on the bikes and rode back into Yangshuo along the main
road. Popped next door for a pizza lunch then I went to bed for the afternoon while Gems went shopping and to the local doctor for a vigourous massage on her knee. In the evening we went to see the local light show which is directed by a famous Chinese man who is also directing the Olympics opening ceremony. The hour long show on the lake had a spectacular backdrop of karst mountains which were illuminated. There were some great special effects, music and dancing but also a lot of flying creatures interested in biting us! We hadn't eaten since lunch so Gems and I had cheesy chips, spring rolls and half a duck and pancakes before rolling into bed at midnight. Woke up to more rain! Lizzie, Charlotte, Brooke, Steph, Gems and I met to do a Chinese cooking lesson. We were first taken down to the local market to buy ingredients. There were some gruesome things there. As if the snakes, insects, skinned chicken and ducks weren't enough, there was a section with dead dogs hanging up. Not nice. Back at cookery school we had a work station each with chopping board, wok and cleaver which they use
to cut everything. We made steamed dumplings and cooked a spicy aubergine dish and a peanut chicken dish. Most of it we managed to eat and the rest we boxed up and later gave to a poor old lady at the airport. We checked out of the hotel at midday and after a 2 hour bus ride to Guilin airport we boarded a plane for a one and a half hour flight to Xi'an. Had 2 chinese hamburgers onboard! Arrived in the ancient city of Xi'an and thankfully it wasn't raining! The weather was very hazy but hot and humid. After check in Jeff took us down the Muslim street, lined with food and souvenir stalls. Ate very cheaply (60p a head!) in a roadside cafe, the food included bbq beef, noodles with sesame sauce, lamb and bread soup and funny jellied potatoes which weren't very nice at all. Had a little wander around before bed. Gems and I got up early to go for a walk. After failing to find any fresh fruit we ended up having fried egg pancakes for breakfast from a street stall. Very tasty, very unhealthy. Checked out and drove for an hour to the
site of the Terracotta Warriors. We looked round 3 different excavation sites at the 6000 odd horses and warriors which, up until 1974, had been buried since around 200BC. They all face east and every one has a different facial expression. They were put there at the Emporer Quins request, to guard his tomb after his death. They took 40 years to create and were originally all painted, many are being left buried until a way of keeping the colour is found. One of the farmers who discovered them in 1974 when digging a well was there signing books. He looked very fed up and miserable. Had lunch in the restaurant there and looked round the exhibition hall which contained weapons and 2 bronze, silver and gold chariots unearthed from near the emperors tomb 1.5km away. It was far too touristy here, you couldn't move. From here we drove 2 hours to Hua Shan, a granite mountainous area, where we checked into a hotel in the foothills. Showered and bought supplies for tommorrows hike. The hotel had a bowling alley so we all had a game which was very entertaining! The girls were useless and Steph managed to throw her
ball clear of the lane and nearly hit one of the staff! Played a bit of ping pong and watched Steph perform her 'most strikes' punishment by swimming in the dirty, unused pool outside. ('the triplets' as we call them, get a strike each time they say something dizzy.) Had a buffet breakfast at the hotel with about 400 other Chinese guests. Checked out and took the bus 5 minutes to a public bus which took us up through the lower mountains to the cable car station. There are 5 main granite peaks which make up this vast mountain range at Hua Shan, the tallest stands at 2146 metres. Took the cable car up to a lower peak - fantastic views. Here we started our hike around the peaks, up and down granite steps which had been painstakingly carved out of the rock. Some parts required chains to pull yourself up by. It was very crowded with tourists and this spoilt the experience slightly as you had to wait around and queue in some parts. It didn't affect the majestic views though, when the cloud wasn't too thick - it tended to blow in and out very quickly. The best
view was from the East peak looking over the distant mountains with 2 smaller peaks connected by a ridge, below. You could make out the carved granite steps and a stone pagoda shelter. The drizzle provided a welcome cooling effect but didn't help with grip and Lizzie took a tumble but was ok. We had lunch up on the mountain and there were a few shakey legs going down to the cable car. We picked up the bags from the hotel and drove back to Xi'an to arrive early evening. Checked into the same hotel and went round the corner for dinner at a dumpling restaurant. Had a banquet and tried some of the 300 different choices on the menu! Afterwards we walked to a club called NoNo2 for drinks. The DJ gave us free beer! Unfortunately Charlotte had her camera stolen so the evening ended in tears despite me trying to cheer everyone up by forward rolling down the hotel corridor. On Wednesday 16th June we had a free day in Xi'an. Jeff took Gems, Lizzie, Darcy, Tony and I to the city walls where we hired 3 tandems. It was great fun riding around the 14km of walls
on the irregular paving going up and down slight inclines. After this we walked to a tea shop where we sat round a table for a tasting session, traditional style. Tried jasmine, green, black, iron buddha and brick teas from small cups. It was very tasty, my favourite being the jasmine. Had some street pancakes for lunch and wandered back to the hotel along the main shopping streets. After all we'd heard about Beijing the air is much cleaner and clearer than we'd expected with blue sky most days. Is is very conjested though. Got on the bus after showering at the hotel and drove to the railway station. When we arrived it was so crowded partly because of the school holidays and partly bacause train travel is so popular in China. Queued up to get into the main building like cattle being herded through narrow gates. Waited around a while then boarded carriage number 14 on the sleeper train. There were several compartments partitioned off from one another, each containing 6 bunkbeds, 3 high on either side. Gems and I were on the top ones, it was really cosy! Chatted, listened to music, eat dinner which we'd bought earlier
and Tony and I did some exercises and stretches directed by Lizzie (who's a physio.) Lights went out at 10pm and just after we'd dozed off the ticket man woke Lizzy and Brooke up by tickling their feet! Apparently this was just a warning that we were stopping at a station and to watch out for baggage thieves as we were near the doors. Didn't sleep too well and every time the carriage door opened a waft of pee came through from the toilets. We arrived in Beijing at 7.30am the next morning and had to wait in a horrendously long taxi queue for nearly an hour to get to our hotel in the centre of town. Charlotte was sick so went to bed for the day. After showers Jeff led us over to Tiananmen Square, the largest in the world where parades involving a million people have taken place the most famous involving students marching for democracy. The weather today was absolutely beautiful, if a little too hot. A short walk away we entered the Forbidden City, home to Emperors and his Concubines for centuries. Looked at the many temples which are plain in comparison to the Thai temples
but have very ornate roofs. Had ice lollies and strolled round the nice Imperial gardens which could have done with a bit of weeding and strimming here and there. Amongst other things we had fried aubergine and pork pancakes for lunch at a restaurant. Walked on through town to a very posh hotel called 'The Peninsula.' In the carpark we collected traditional Chinese bikes - 1 gear, wide sprung saddles and bendy handlebars which hit your knees when you turned a corner. Jeff's friend, John, then lead us on a ride through town. It was fantastic fun weaving in and out of other bikes, pedestrians, cars, mopeds and rickshaws. There doesn't seem to be any highway code whatsoever and it was a bit like playing a video game dodging the opening car doors etc. What made it really great was the variety of streets. As well as the main city roads we headed down narrow back alleys called Hutongs. We all met in the hotel lobby at 8.30 in the evening and got taxis to Hu Ha. Jeff had a well earned night off. We missed his local knowledge and expertise though as the rooftop restaurant we chose, although having
nice views, did a bad job of feeding us. Had a drink sitting on sofas lining the street in front of the lake. There was a great spanish trio playing guitars and singing. The night ended on a sombre note though as we witnessed an ambulance and police pulling up at the lakeside. 4 Chinese lads had been swimming in there and one had drowned. They had his body laid out on the pavement in view of everyone. In the morning we checked out of the hotel and took the bus three hours north to Huang Ya Guan where there is a remote section of the Great Wall. We checked into a guesthouse which had nice walled gardens but the bedrooms were a bit dirty. Had a rest then lunch in the restaurant which included nice pork and chicken dishes, pancakes, strange sweet potatoes (normal spuds coated in sugar,) omelette and tomato and drank date juice. Got the bus a short way to an entrance to the Great Wall, where this section started at a rocky mountainside. We trekked along the amazing feat of architecture, the misty, rainy weather adding to the atmosphere. Stopped frequently to go up towers and
take pictures. It is very steep in places and both Lizzie and Jeff had slippery falls. Arrived at the town entrance and the rest went back to the hotel, Tony checking on Darcy who has been in bed all day ill. Gems, Lizzie and I continued along further reaching the final tower on this section and the sun even came out for us. The wall is about 5000km long in all and was built to keep out the invading Mongolians amongst others. Later, we met for dinner before an early night. Saturday the 19th was the final day of the trip and we spent the morning on the bus back to Beijing. We took a detour and stopped off to view the birds nest Olympic stadium and the ice cube. They look amazing. Checked back into the same hotel as before and Gems went off with Lizzie and Darcy to the pearl market. I went off to find an internet cafe to blog and ended up walking round for over an hour in the heat. Asked several people to no avail and was about to go back to the hotel when I found a few computers tucked away at the
back of a CD store in a mall. It was only 10 Yuan for a drink and 2 hours usage. In the evening we met up for our final meal together. Jeff took us to a Peking duck restaurant where the duck and pancakes were gorgeous. All shared 10 scoops of different flavoured ice creams for dessert. Got taxis to an Irish bar after dropping Darcy at the hotel. Had a drink and moved on to a club called China Doll, a really cool place accessed by lift from street level. Had a drink and a dance and said goodbyes to everyone. Had a nice lie in, in the morning and checked out at midday. Said bye to the triplets and Jeff, who kindly sorted out our travel to our next accomodation. He's really been a fantastic tour leader. Got a taxi across town to Saga International Hostel which is situated in a nice Hutong. Here we were for our last 2 nights of the whole trip. Feeling very emotional. Can't wait to see everyone but am quite sad its coming to an end.
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