Blogs from China, Asia - page 2316

Kunming was our last stop in China and it was a great place to end the journey. Although it is still fairly busy and polluted here it is a little more relaxed than the rest of the places we have visited, the people are the friendliest we have met in China and they don't stare at you quite as much, probably because there are quite a few foreigners here. We were staying in a really nice hostel here that served great, and very cheap, food and drink, we've cetainly filled up for our trip to South East Asia, Andrew has inherited another nickname, we now call him "Doughboy" due to his unquestionable ability, and desire, to eat as much bread and bread like products that he can get his hands on, he's a growing laddie, or ... read more

So apparently everything is going pretty keen with my health. I have to continue taking the stomach medicine until it's done even though my stomach seems to be pretty fine. My ear problem turned into a sticky issue. Apparently I have so much ear wax that I can't hear. I went to the hospital again today and they had me buy some water type stuff. Then they put a thin metal straw on the bottle so they could dump it deep into my ear. It immediately came out into a small basin they had next to my head. It felt fine for a little while and was working but then I felt like I was about to pass out and was so dizzy I couldn't open my eyes. That made me extremely weak all over and ... read more

Our whole concept of good and evil in this world has been completely up-ended. For the entire first month, we've been coming out of each train station barreling through the throng of groping hotel hawkers and tour bus drivers who try to grease you with their car-salesman smile and luring English. They know just enough words to get your attention-- in a world of unrecognizable "bawkwai's", and "xiazhan's", you hear a "hello" and even though you KNOW it's from some sleazeball swindler, you're momentarily transfixed. And these guys have perfected their trade- they see your face relax for a second and they start reeling in. So if they're good, they use all 10 English phrases they know, lull you into this confounded comfort state and then bamboozle you with a slew of Mandarin to leave you ... read more

So as you know we sailed down the yanzee river( 3rd biggest in the world), we wanted to go down to see the three gorges and the massive dam they're buliding. which, when finished, will raise the water level 175meters, engulfing the gorges, covering towns and cities and displacing over half a million people. (see, you learn stuff too). Me and seamy wanted to go in style, we decide to book 1st class for a few pound extra and let the common muck like niall and hood and raff languish in second class. we couldn't wait for a few days of relaxation, crusing down the river, lazing about the pool, sipping cocktails and sunbathing. Our bus took us to chongquing and we spend the day walking about very little as we were still very very sore ... read more

We finally got tour the city we live in. The day consisted of going to the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and Temple of Heaven. The Forbidden City was a big where the King resided in. The place is huge and has many many rooms and bulidings. The place was for the king and his 3,000 concubines....hmmmm interesting.....I bet he had a tough decision everynight. The men that worked inside the Forbidden City had to be CASTRATED to insure the king's ladies weren't messed with. The Summer Palace was built for one of the Queens. She wanted a get-away from the Forbidden City. The king ordered the Summer Palace to be built for his mother. Within the park, there is a man made lake. He ordered that the lake be in the shape of a pear to ... read more