A balanced travel diet... I love the way the two of you try and see a country from as many angles as possible. It's inspiring! I hope to use your China blogs as a reference when we eventually book our trip to china. Are you still in India? Safe onward travels. xx
Langmusi It is the towns and villages that are a must to see China's diversity. Langmusi looks like a great find. But what is a village? Only about a million people!
Langmusi Yes!! in China certainly. We completely underestimated the size and population in towns/cities. Booking trains a week or so in advance restricted us a little so would to go back to do the even smaller towns and villages. Just getting a bicycle was refreshing although in Langmusi this was not possible due to the wild dogs.
Thank you. Not many people think much goes into the planning but even though we researched our trip beforehand, we have to do it again on the road. Blogging and planning can take a while. The USA has been a killer for this as of late as we've opted to do buses instead of car rental to save us money. Keep seeing your really intriguing posts. I cannot wait to read them as we are going to a few of the same places in the south.
Rustic doorway. Its true. P especially loves a good rustic door picture. We took far to many in the end. But looking back at these pictures is a nice reminder of the quaint alleys!
Memories of Pingyao Gotta say I'm impressed your research is taking you to some wonderful highlights of China. We were in Pingyao one icy winter and the differences of our experience to yours are stark. Streets and courtyards, curved roofs, steamed breads, locals staring, walking on the wall were there, but we had ice everywhere and only a handful of tourists. Your pics show the glow of warm weather and red lanterns aplenty while ours show the gaunt of winter. The man with the golf buggy taking us to our hotel, that slid on the ice and slammed into a wall with us on it, took us to Yamen Hotel insisting Yamen was our hotel when I knew it wasn't. Your blog & great pics bring back fabulous memories. What a trip you are having! Please tell me...did you sleep on a kang bed in Pingyao?
Memories of Pingyao Wow, it does sound like a dreamy place to go in the winter. Truth be told we actually saw an image of pingyao in the winter and knew we had to go. Arriving in the middle of summer however was a little disappointing. Golf buggies and ice sounds like a terrible combination, glad you survived to tell the tale!!
Xiahe Really glad for you guys that you ventured into Gansu Provence...one of my favourites as well...the corridor of the Silk Road. So exciting that your taste of Tibet captured your imaginations and blessed your camera lens. Now you've gotta dream of getting to Tibet itself.
Xiahe Thank you. ? We're glad you enjoyed it too. A place we will always remember, it was soo unique and untouched.
It was also such a photographic place, glad we were able to take these photos as they are some of our favourite pictures from the trip too.
Love this post! Many years ago I put together an itinerary for a trip to Kashgar, and Xiahe was on it. The trip never eventuated, so I really loved reading your post. Oh and how do the loud bus horns in China compare to the loud bus horns in India? :)
Love this post! Thanks Ren. Xiahe was really special. If you get the chance you should definitely go. Kashgar also was on our list but we did'nt think we could make it in time. We hope to return. Problem is our list of must see places keeps growing.
The horns here are just as awful Ren. Especially the traffic on the small streets. Hate the fact that as you walk bikes that could easily pass you by will beep so loud, that you nearly fall from being startled by the noise alone ?.
India is a very loud place indeed. Slowly I'm getting used to it. But I can't say I am not looking forward to our time down south as its also very tiring. Exhilarating but tiring.
I'm pleased that you enjoyed your time in Xaihe... my parents were married there on 11 January 1949 and I returned for a visit on 28 March 2013. I blogged about both, so hope you will read them.
Enjoying Xiahe Yes we did, it was a beautiful place. I can certainly understand why you parents chose to get married there. The atmosphere was magical, the people friendly.
Cannot believe your parents visited over 60 years ago. It must have been very different and completely off the tourist trail. Happy you and your son was also able to witness Xiahe too. I remember reading that you, your son and mum visited in the the section about you. I look forward to dedicating more time to reading it ?
Go for it! Brilliant to have an itinerary and then chuck it for the promise of more adventure! How amazing that the most beautiful Buddhist paintings and statues you've seen so far are in a place few have heard of. I love that the Chinese are protecting the cave art as well as the dunes. So many dunes are full of those ATVs, which take away the peace of the place. You two stumbled into another heavenly place. Well-done!
Go for it! Thanks Tara. It was an amazing place not ruined my tourism. Tourism still made it mark but in no way near the same numbers as elsewhere in China. After travelling for a while we would probably say that China was the most impressive with preserving and protecting its history and beauty. There and Japan.
Great Blogs Ha, I just noticed they were actually published just a few days ago. Phew. I was dreading having to find a new blog that was 'my kinda blog'.
updates You got it. We're kinda behind in publishing. Up to date in writing but as we have to sort out pictures, ensure we have wifi connection and a free evening we roughly piblish a month or 2 afterwards. Its tricky blogging on the road but completely doable. Thanks for your lovely words about our blogs, as they reflect our opinions/personalities sometimes we question whether they will appeal to many so its lovely to hear people keep reading ?
Great Blogs Hi Guys
I started reading your blogs last week as part off my research for our upcoming trip in Feb. Your last blog is from end of June, have you stopped blogging? I really hope you add more soon. They are really good and very informative. Hope you are having a blast!
Tina and Rob
Great blogs Thanks Tina and Rob. Its lovely to hear you are reading our blogs before your trip. Hopefully it will give you lots of inspiration. Would love to read yours too especially to see your take on some of the places we visit, possibly give us more inspiration too. P.s. the research bit is one of the many fun parts. Enjoy.
Big picture Whoops, I thought the dish at the back was P's vego one. And thanks for including pictures showing the whole terracotta army site, I never knew that they were enclosed in that structure...I've only seen close up pictures of the statues before. Like you, whenever we come across big impressive iconic sites like this, we can't help but question the human misery that fuelled it all those centuries ago.
Hi we're Chris and P. We have quit our jobs and sold our house to follow our dream of travelling around the world for 12 months!!!
Let’s jump back about 2 years - We're driving to P's friend’s house for an evening meal when she turns and says "I've been thinking..."
And what a thought that was indeed. That thought turned into buying a dilapidated property and spending a total of 2 years 'doing it up' ourselves coupled with a new job and a wedding thrown into the mix for good measure. We even questioned ourselves at times on whether travelling would actually become a reality or be j... full info
RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew
A balanced travel diet...
I love the way the two of you try and see a country from as many angles as possible. It's inspiring! I hope to use your China blogs as a reference when we eventually book our trip to china. Are you still in India? Safe onward travels. xx