A Year In The Ring of Fire

Well I am Home, I have sorted my job applications for the day and other menial tasks one has to do at home so I thought I'd get this finalised....  enjoy

I have been plotting and planning this blog post ever since I got to South East Asia as to me that signals the end of the trip, despite still being 3 months away at the time it feels like nothing. This was not to say I wasn't keen to carry on travelling, I was. In fact when Welshman decided to head home I seriously considered the same thing but it was never a viable option. I know I would have regretted it, there were still adventures to be had, people to meet and experiences to well, experience. Cambodia proved it was the right choice, the warmth of the people and everything coming together at New Year. (I'm actually writing this still in Cambodia with a solid 45 days to go before I even finish my travels but what I can recall about the year starts now). Being the cynical grumpy bastard I pretend to be, this is actually quite hard, recollecting on everything that has happened, from the amazing scenery to the wonderful people I have met. It has been such an amazing year that I can't understand what I ever did to deserve it. In travelling around the World you learn that despite everything it isn't that big (anymore) and we are all the same. Despite this it is big enough that I have come nowhere near seeing everything and there is still so much more to see. I have seen the worlds highest mountain and sailed under the stars, slept in a temple, a farmers house and many other locations (including an airport). I crossed the international date line twice as well as making it to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time. At every step and turn, sometimes just when you began to lose faith you would meet or find something that made it all worthwhile. So, A year in the ring of fire, Sauntering 'Vaguely' Downwards the year that was.

The Very Beginning, Night One - Hong Kong.

I couldn't quite figure out how to mention everything so I will do brief recaps/highlights of countries, you can find the whole adventure in the previous blogs. Starting in China I fell in love all over again, the people, culture, food and everything. I did all the things I meant to and had time left for some new things. I slept in a temple on a mountain, saw the Li River and even made it to Tibet where I met people who had never seen the Sea. I have since met people who've never seen snow. China was a good reintroduction to the travel lifestyle as it is fairly familiar to me. I'll chuck Korea in here as I was only there a week, seeing Clare who I hadn't seen in a while which is always nice.

Stupa in Zhongdian

Japan came next, a complete culture shock from China. I drank too much sake and ate raw horse. I slept in traditional Ryokans with Tatami mats with sliding doors. I saw the illustrious snowcapped Mt.Fuji, got lost on the Tokyo metro and spent a majority of my time in the 'Onsen'. Arriving 2 months after the Fukushima disaster I saw a country in mourning and repair, yet still very upbeat. It is this pragmatism and cheer that teaches you obstacles can be overcome even with the threat of nuclear oblivion hovering over you.

Nara, Japan

Canada was once again completely different(obviously) to Asia. I watched Ice hockey, predicted a riot and was impressed with the clean up effort afterwards; the best and worst of humanity in 24 hours. It was apparent it wasn't the Vancouvans who had really rioted as they spoke out against it. I saw a humpback whale with Mercedes and saw the most beautiful lake in the world, before walking on a glacier and witnessing bears in the wild(an everyday occurrence for Canadians). Canada was a land of natural wonder and odd food (Poutine)

Lake Louise

Continuing South I walked across Niagara falls where I learnt how incompetent bus companies in America are. I met my friend Welshie for some well needed companionship. We joked with police officers and visited most of the 'great american cities'. In America I was amazed at how generous Welshie's friends were with putting not just him up, but me a stranger too on the logic 'any friend of yours'. They not only put us up but often took us on tours or arranged them for us when they couldn't. It really made me address my half assed attitude to the same thing back home. They repeatedly went the extra mile at every turn. We met Savage and drove up the west coast witnessing beautiful nature and having hilarious adventures (the stripper, the lesbian and the transgender). I returned to Yosemite and it truly is one of the most beautiful places in the world. We saw both man and natures dark sides again, forest fires in Nevada and gambling addiction in Reno.

Lake Victoria

I parted ways with Welshman as me and Savage headed to Panama. We practised our Spanish with the hostel staff and had drunken conversations at 3am in the pool with lightning flashing above us. My naivety kicked in here as a I realised there is no land route from Panama to Colombia in order to get to Peru(the plan). In one of those amazing coincidences I learnt to you could sail to Colombia and so I ended up spending five days at sea sailing to Colombia which was one of the best experiences of the whole trip, and true to the subtitle I hadn't intended to visit Colombia but in the end I did, and I think I needed to. I fell in love with the way Colombian women move on the dancefloor and made it to Peru.

Puerto Lindo

Peru was easily one of my favourite places.Culturally I saw ancient lines, in a hilariously dangerous plane(now its hilarious), climbed Machu Picchu and hung out with monkeys in the Jungle. I cut short Chile just to adventure more in Peru. I met some truly amazing people and was invited to Peruvian birthday parties left right and centre. It wasn't all gravy in Peru there were times I questioned what I was doing and for a few days became unmotivated, but I think this was largely due to not having a proper coversation with anyone for about a week.  However everything transpired to turn the last couple of weeks in Peru in to another amazing time, returning to a hostel 1 month and a half later to still be recognised is a fantastic feeling. This continued in the few days I had in Chile, once again peoples generosity shone through. I met a girl who despite not having ever met agreed to meet and give me tips for Santiago(her mum works with my mum, so in typical mum meddling she passed on the details)

Local Peruvians

In New Zealand it was once again time to meet the Welshman, with a new companion the Stonelake. Old hockey boys from the Plymouth days. New Zealand is again a country of natural beauty. Driving around was a great way to see it as we could stop where and whenever. Once again the Welshmans contacts sorted us out with incredible hospitality, sometimes turning up no less than half an hour before and being lavished with wine. I popped in on my cousin Doug who has a house with a stunning view over South Wellington and the sea. I became frustrated with the New Zealand hostel system, a moniker of "for backpackers by backpackers" is clearly crap when every little thing is charged extra (and it isn't cheap to begin with). Despite this we had a great time in New Zealand, partied with Orlando Bloom (not really) and marvelled at the sites. Visiting Christchurch we saw the destruction from the Earthquake and it was sad to see that the centre has been ruined and the mood in town was rather solemn, while in Thailand we learnt that it had been hit with yet another Earthquake which is never good news. Australia was a write off because I can not afford to spend 3 weeks there.

Some River

Looking forward to returning to Asia, Thailand was both welcome but a bit of a disappointment at times. The rampant over commercialisation found in parts is almost exactly why one wants to leave England. I also found the backpackers weren't so much here to see things, experience culture but more get as drunk as possible. Despite this we met some incredible people, some stunning sites and amazing experiences. It is often when I became disheartened that the best things happen, there are definitely places in Thailand I would return to. I spent my first Christmas away from home, which was a quiet time for reflexion of the previous year and what was to come. Although I spent Christmas eve and Christmas day alone (apart from Kevin)  it never really felt depressing to be alone at this time due to being surrounded by beautiful beaches and relaxed beach bars with fireworks. I wondered if people were thinking "What kind of decisions do you have to make to end up alone at Christmas?"; in my case pretty good ones. However I shared a thought for those whose Christmasses weren't so good, and recounted some of the sights/stories I've seen or heard that were not so uplifting. The second half of Thailand made me think I had been a little too harsh on it as first as I discovered the other, nicer quieter side to it. The Welshman decided to go home midway through and three months early and I can understand why. Either way I eventually re-found my zest and headed to Cambodia.

Rai Leh, Ao Son Tai beach

I almost instantly fell in love with Cambodia. I celebrated an amazing New Year on the beach with new and (new) old friends with fireworks galore. I finally got my sailing fix on and enjoyed some incredible seafood before I left beaches behind for good. I witnessed the dark history of Cambodia and then the incredible sight that is Angkor Wat. The people in Cambodia were amazing and some of the friendliest on the whole trip. With time running out I had to leave Cambodia, rather reluctantly and it is an almost definite return location.

Fishing at Sunset in Cambodia

With time running out the next stop was Vietnam. I started by taking a boat trip down this part of the worlds most important/famous river the Mekong to the Delta area. I acclimatised to the hustle of Saigon and learn't more about the Vietnam war than I had really previously looked in to and learnt the horrors of Napalm and Agent Orange. I headed north in to what was a cold and wet climate. Tet got in the way of a lot of my plans but I met friends from home and made many new ones, which is what its all about. I visited the scenic sights of  Halong bay and the Hai Van Pass before finishing Vietnam in the  UNESCO heritage town of Hoi An, I enjoyed my time in Vietnam but I had met others who had not had such a great time, being scammed as such it reminded one to always be aware and how different experiences shape your opinions.

At Halong Bay

Laos was the next and last new country I would visit on the trip making it country number 15. For a period of time in Nam I had considered skipping Laos due to time constraints but in the end after everyone I know who had been telling me I had to I found the time to include it and was glad I did. Half of all travelling is relying on word of mouth for places and you get an opinion that even the best guide book would fail to provide. I skipped Vientiane and headed to party capital Vang Vieng where I randomly met people I had met all around South East Asia, once again ramming home the 'it's a small world' theory. After leaving Vang Vieng it was time for cultural time in another UNESCO heritage city where I took in temples and met lots of elephants. Laos was a stunning country and I am disappointed I had so little time to explore, there are many sights I would have liked to get in but this is the nature and inevitably when time has become short. The last few months in Asia were almost a contrast to the first three where I had plenty of time and I operated at a slower pace but still managed to take (almost) everything in.

Temple, Laos

Returning to Thailand almost felt like a home coming, not just because it is the only country I revisited on the trip, and nor because I was returning to a familiar location (I was not, Chiang Mai was totally new to me) it was because it was the end, I had the prospect of seeing old faces with little agenda except to prepare for heading back to rainy England. I needn't say a lot here because it is all covered in the previous blog post. What I can say is that obviously being so close to returning home I spent a lot of time thinking about what I will do when back home and seeing If I have come any closer on figuring out what to do with myself. So far the answer is no. I was ready to return not because I am bored/sick of travelling but just because I am looking forward to familiarity and staying in the same place for a while. This is what I came to crave towards the end, stability.

Elephants by the river

People will probably ask me if I've changed or if I learnt anything on my travels. I am not sure if I have changed, I feel my perspective has slightly changed and I hope I am a bit more welcoming and can repay some of the hospitality I have experienced on my travels. Before I finally round up this year long review I thought I'd include some statistics/figures ranging from countries visited, books read to items lost/stolen;

Total countries visited: 15
Books read: over 30

I have taken over 20,0000 pictures.
I have gone through; 3 pairs of shoes, 2 side bags, 3 pairs of flip flops, 1 pair of shorts and 3 pairs of swim shorts.
I have lost; 2 phones, 1 towel and wash bag, a padlock and chain, 1 speaker, 2 t-shirts and most of my socks (Seriously I started with about 7 pairs, bought more along the way and I have about 3 left) :/
I have broken; 2 pairs of headphones, a pair of chopsticks.

On top of this I have mailed two boxes home and sent more stuff home with Welshie.


So to finish, I wrote the majority of this in Cambodia while I waited for a bus, it was an emotional recollection from the lows to the highs, but mostly due to the highs I got emotional. Setting out alone I could never have envisioned what was to come, before I set out I was apprehensive and wondered if I could actually make it a year. Some people think I'm brave for heading out on my own for a year, often I will hear "alone, wow I couldn't..." etc. Truth is, I am little fish in a big ocean with no direction and it was often other peoples faith in me that when stranded in a little village in Panama or in Peru in a tiny town at 3am for instance, that I didn't panic or throw it to the wall and carried on. I've met people who've been through much more hardship than I have ever had to endure and these people are inspiration, at home and abroad. They know who they are and if I tried to name them I'd feel bad if I forgot someone. At New Year in Cambodia we were asked, if there was one thing in 2011 we would have changed about the year, my answer "absolutely nothing" So as I wrote this in a bar in Cambodia back in January getting teary and not really caring who knew, thinking about it all, I'd do it all again in an instant (after a couple of months rest :P).

"You live and learn. At any rate, you live" - Douglas Adams
"Some things never change...some things do. .." Morpheus - The Matrix

My longest travel companion, Kevin & me in Vietnam at Hai Van Pass

The Would do again list

The ‘Would do again or recommend to a friend’ list

The idea of this list is simple, things that have stood out at being particularly good or memorable that aren’t completely re-creatable so without further ado in no particular order :

1.      Everest at 3am in the moonlight.
2.       Lake Louise and the Colombian Ice field & Glacier
3.       Whistler Zip Lining & Biking (even adults can do the zip, I did it with a group of retirees)
4.       Tiger Leaping Gorge, Yunnan, China (the walk no cheating)
5.       Pandaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas, Chengdu
6.       Mt Fuji, cycling around the lakes.
7.       Osaka Aquarium (absolutely huge whale shark)
8.       Roppongi Tower, Tokyo  at night (not actually sure its called that)
9.       CN Tower, Toronto.
10.   Cape Cod Road trippin’
11.   Lake Michigan swimming
12.   Songpan, Horse Trekking – China (cold as fuck but totally worth it)
13.   Floating the ‘San Marcos’
14.   Yangshuo River cruise and getting lost in the karsts
15.   Hiro’s parents getting you wasted on expensive whiskey (and basically being a westerner in China)

Top Of The World

The title of my blog being Sauntering Vaguely Downwards, it hasn't made a lot of sense that most of my travel has been Northwards (up) and up mountains. But Now i've been to the top of the world (or as close as im ever going to get) everywhere is now officially 'downward'. Thus here we go, travels in Tibet.

To get to tibet one must first jump through some hurdles set by the goverment, this was made a bit difficult as I was not in Chengdu when I was fixing the permit. Scans and emails later all was achieved and I had acquired a permit (which we never showed to anyone at all) Actually the permit I have is only a photocopy, the real permit was never really shown to us. Anyway enough permit talk.

Much more exciting, Trains. The train ride takes 44 hours. We had beds in the standard sleeping area. There was also soft seats, now seats on chinese trains are often over crowded places, I can't imagine doing it for 44 hours. Unfortunately we had to cross these war zones to get to the restaurant car. This meant crossing and climbing over people sleeping on the floor in amongst the rubbish they had thrown there. The train was quite uneventful except for some out standing views of the Qinghai plateau at about 3000 metres looking out on to what appeared to be an endlessly flat desert. Watched the sunrise come up over a mountain here too.

On too Lhasa then. Lhasa is the capitail of Tibet resising at an altitude of about 3400 metres. It has a heavy military presence, have regular patrols and you are not allowed to photograph them. This was my first taste of proper oppression (other than the internet firewall). The Tibetans themselves were lovely and welcoming, always having time for us and a genuine smile. The shops sell similar sorta touristy knick knacks and prayer stuff for the pilgrims. Pilgrims, literally 1000s of these guys, Lhasa is the Buddhist version of Mecca, well for yellow hat sect buddhism anyway.

The pilgrims come to see Potala Palace and Johkang temple mainly, as with all holy sites in Tibet the pilgrims walk around these sites a number of times. 3-5 usually. Potala Palace is 5km around and so the trip takes over an hour. Potala Palace is the home of the exiled Dala Lama, the legitimate head of state, in my opinion it is grander than the palace of Versailles. The sky is amazingly blue in Tibet as this picture of the Palace highlights. The guy who built it had 3 wives! One Tibetan, 1 Chinese and one Nepalese (actually wikipedia says he had five)

We also got taken to some quieter temples off the beaten track by our guide, this was not scheduled and was different. It had a much more intimate feel as we viewing actual pilgrims rather than tourists. We wouldn't have known or have had the confidence if we'd been alone. Despite spying on them they still didn't mind us trundling around, infact I think they were pleased.
Lhasa over with (3 days or so, in which Clare I only went to one bar) it was time to hit the road. 8 hours and a temple later we arrived in Shigatse, Shigatse was like a usual chinese town in that it was massive and messy. The temple we saw here had monks debating, ones would stand up and ask questions while those who sat down answered. This was shown on Michael Palins himalayas so thats worth checking out if you can.

Shigatse began day number 2 of 8 hours travel. This time the end goal was EBC (Everest Base Camp) this involved 4 hours on a bumpy dirt track of road. We also passed through some high passes of over 5000metres. We were rewarded with some glimpses of Everest far away in the distance covered by cloud. Not good omens, however this fear was not to last as we got closer it cleared up and we could see it in the fading light. However the best views were still to come. I apologise now squeamish people but its relevant. I felt really ill this night, and around 3am I got up to go outside and inevitably lost the contents of my stomach. (Either altitude or stomach bug). This in itself allowed me to see Everest, lit by nothing except a full moon and the stars in a completely clear sky. This is probably the best view I had but no camera, which can be a blessing. Anyway the clear sky held and the next morning we could see it all clearly as we walked to Base Camp proper, where the real hikers hang out in tents. They were all asleep tho...

Time to leave Everest for the 8 hour return trip to Shigatse and then the extra 8 to Lhasa the following day. Next day flew back to Chengdu which was easy enough, bringing an end to almost 6 days of solid travelling. (I spent ten days in Tibet, 8 of which were travelling days) Chengdu was kinda dull, I like it and I like returning but I was knackered. I gave the hostel staff the Lhasa beer I'd promised and promptly slouched in the garden to recap on the world and relax. On the last day I watched a football match, they were diving and acting up all the time just like normal, Chengdu lost to a rather dubious penalty.

Qingdao was similar, I ate some lovely sea food, walked around on some military ships and went to the brewery. Much to my annoyance the Submarine wasn't open to the public at this time, so thats twice in Qingdao I have now failed to walk around the sub.a In Qingdao I had arrived at 1am, they hadn't a record of my booking, and it was full... sensing disaster they actually stuck me in a double ensuite room for the same price as before, Travelling just like monoply ' Hostel error in your favour, advance direcetly to go' Qingdao's hostel also had lovely big fluffy white dog, and a rooftop bar overlooking the whole city. It was a pretty cool hostel, based in an old observatory.
The boat to Korea was entertaining, I met the only other westerner on it and we played some cards, talked about England, China and common stuff like that.

In Korea on the first day I did some cultural things, Joyghese temple which had lovely lanterns everywhere, Chungyok tower, a palace  a bell tower. Since then I have been socialising with the English teachers out here who have been very accomodating. Clar, this is where I pub crawled again - Goose to Underground to Whos, Back to Underground and then back to whos! Ha. Today I went to a play put on by expats about Vegas.

This brings us to here, tomorrow I may leave for Busan/Japan or I may spend it planning Japan a bit. It depends how I feel.
I may have left some things out, or not but ask away and i'll reply.

oh and heres some Scorpions, bugs and worms I ate :)

One Last Hurrah for the Shoes/Four Legs are better than two

Well, If you may remember in Xiamen I had my shoes fixed by an old man for a pound, well that lasted a month and my shoes are no more. I took them on one last trip, Horse Trekking in Songpan, Many people laughed at my shoes when I showed them the damage, including our guides on the trek, and then they showed me their damaged shoes. Here is a picture of the extent...

Shows how the sole has completely come off, over the trip the right foots sole almost came completely off. They have served me well for over 8 years but have now been consigned to the bin.
Anyway, me and my horse! ...

They were smaller than English horses. Mine was called Hui Hui and was cheeky but friendly. Although I had reigns, the Horse was always in control doing whatever it wanted. On some of the steeper climbs it got a bit hairy but I had complete faith in my Steed, also what they say in Animal Farm 'Four legs are better than two'.


Day one we trekked to a campsite where they proper survival style cut down trees to make a large tent and a fire (the tea was the first thing that went on).

Next and this is just to prove how damn cold it was, it snowed heavily all night long. Here I am entering my tent at 10 in amongst the full on snow...

Next day we awoke up to a winter wonderland, and a local farmer herding a load of Yak through our campsite!

This was a day of ascending the mountain, before we left 4 of our party went back to Songpan ill. This was in itself a blessing, because now it meant we could stay in the Tibetan families house as there would now be space. we went up to Ice Mountain but could not see it due to the clouds. A short trip back to the Tibetan House for lunch/dinner/fire/cards and it was time for bed, when I wake up it would be my birthday, and as a special treat the sun shone and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. We could see Ice mountain and all the other surrounding mountains. I hadn't seen a proper blue sky in China for a very long time so this was quite unexpected.

That's my horse trekking trip in brief. It was totally worth it and the freezing night in the tent only makes you stronger, Tibet may be even colder so this should be a good warmup. Am back in Chengdu while Tibet is sorted out, its warm here, like england, t-shirt and shorts weather. Yesterday I ate Scorpion, Centipedes, beetles and worms. Then we went out to a club where westerners drank for free.


Next up as mentioned is Tibet, all is going fine just waiting for a permit before an 8 day tour of the famous land, including a trip to Everest base camp. Then a flight to Beijing and a train to Qingdao for a boat to Korea, I will be sad to leave as I love this country but it's time for something different.
_____
In responding to a message from David, I realised my response might be of note, more observations of China. He asked me about the Royal Wedding, China as an unfathomable place, changes and signs of dissent so here we go;


'I've got oddly patriotic about the queen actually. Guess its being away as usually im a staunch republican.

Its still as unfathomable, some things just don't make any sense; Traffic, shopping, customs, and drinking all seems to vary from place to place. Its hard to go in to but this country is crazy and awesome at the same time. I.E Westerners drinking Whiskey (Chivas Regal) in a club for free just because we are western and they want more westerners to drink in their club, no idea why, it was busy and full of young, hip and rich Chinese. But I won't complain when the drinks are free :)  


Sichuan is closed to foreigners in places due to it being too tense but we've seen no trouble here at all. So apparently there is some dissent. But otherwise theres none what so ever, things are going well for China so must rich people don't give two hoots, and well the poor are quite happy just to go about there business.

I went to Songpan which was affected by the Earthquake two years ago, there were signs that said things like "Freeway 217 earthquake Ruins" and then you'd see a huge rock lying in the middle of the old road or a bridge halfway over a river and the rest lying in the river, was quite epic, there was as usual massive construction going along almost the whole 5 hour trip to Songpan.

China is different than before, but its also very similar. Tourism is going to change the place over the next few years and not in a good way in my opinion. Imagine one nice tourist town in Britain, then Clone it and turn every other tourist destination into an exact replica. Thats what China are doing with the 'tourist' sites. Identical roads of shops selling the same knock off souvenirs. It doesn't make any sense and im kinda pissed off with it. One of the unfathomable things I guess. In Songpan, Emma who ran the restuarant and tour advice was annoyed too, as they'd had a lovely sign made by some French guys for her restaurant but the government is forcing her to remove it and have a sign exactly the same style as every other shop/restaurant in the whole street with the same facade on the front too.  


Then they go ahead and label the place an 'old town' which can't be any further from the truth. Its stifling originality and makes no sense, why visit a town that looks the same as the last town you visited and sells the same knick knacks?Like I've said previously, China will be a very different place in 5 years. I wonder if they will see the error of their ways, but I doubt it, homegrown tourism is booming and no one seems to care that these roads all look the same. But this is why I go and do different things, climbing mountains, horse trekking, biking etc.


Also ironically everytime I have one of these 'Chinese Tourism Rant's' I inevitably end up doing the chinese tourist thing. Going to Tibet on an organised 8 day trip with a guide (minder) and driver. But the exception here is Im not allowed to do Tibet any other way.  

Chengdu and Around

I've been in Sichuan for a week now, I've also been in Chengdu for almost a week with a three day gap, this is partly because I didn't know what to do and secondly because there is a public holiday on, five days long so going anywhere is a massive hassle, we shall see how busy it gets later on. This time though I should be able to wrangle a photo blog diary update! excited?

A step by step account of Chengdu, Le Shan and Mt Emei.
First up a trip to the Panda's, here we learnt about the breeding programs - Male Panda's are sedated and then massaged with 'electric stimulation'. Fun. Anyway there were many Panda's hanging out in the reserve, mostly eating, with a few younger ones sleeping in trees.

Second day in Chengdu and it was a cycle tour time, usually the best way to get to see a city. Despite the crazy traffic, we all survived and ended the day in a very Sichuanese style spending too long drinking green tea in the Bamboo park. Other sites we saw included a church(Chinese on the outside, normal on the inside) a statue of Mao and a market with alligator meat and snakes for sale.

In the tea garden place you could get your ears cleaned, the impliments the people who do this carry, you wouldn't want anywhere near your ears!

Next up time to leave the city for Le Shan, Home of the Big Buddha. Photos shows this best. Then a quick bus trip the bottom of Mt. Emei for a two day trekking excursion. I slept on the mountain and walked about 40km plus over two days. Sleeping in a temple for one night. I met many Chinese and very few westerners walking the route, I also met some unruly monkeys - I had been warned about these monkeys from a couple of Danish girls in the hostel (they ate rice with ketchup :s) one of the monkeys had bitten her and stolen her Oreo's so I bought a stick which I have named "dragon beats monkey". The mountain itself is forested and very foggy, at the top it was snowy and icy. The Chinese family who I had bunked with and walked some of the way bought me a red Buddhist bracelet, before I decided I had walked enough and didn't fancy another cold wet night on the mountain and got the cable car back down to the bus stop.

Those padlocks on the fence in the last photo are placed there by young couples as good luck emblems. I have some artsy photos of them with the ice hanging off them. But this isn't the time for that.

After I returned to Chengdu I went on the countryside walking trek organised by the hostel, to call it a trek is a laugh after what I'd just done. It was basically an easy two hour jaunt around a country park(imagine Ashton Court) - The real fun was visiting 'Ancient Street' a typical Chinese tourist road selling nothing but souvenirs and mock costumes to take photos of yourself in. This being holiday weekend, was absolutely rammed (as shown below), it also meant that quite a few Chinese not so accustomed to westerners were set to take photos of us. We milked this and happily posed with them jokily charging five kuai (50p) a picture, one girl actually gave me some money but I gave it back. It was very fun being the centre of attention, its easier to enjoy the photo taking if you embrace it, I also took photos of the Chinese taking photos of us.

Thats most of the stuff I have done in Sichuan, one last thing Hot Pot... A big bowl of Chilli's and oil in which you cook your own food. Quite fun and entertaining, tonight I am going to traditional Sichuanese Opera which involves mask changing and fire breathing apparently. After that I will have the other good food in Chengdu, BBQ - also very spicy.

Tomorrow at the bright early time of 730am I am off to Songpan for Horse Trekking, and I am also tentatively looking into going to Tibet... Interesting times now I have a little direction again...

Until next time :D

China 3: Meiyou

First off, Its snowing :D (I am at 3000 metres but yesterday i was
barely needing a jumper.
This has two complications, there was no buses to Deqin today cause of
snow there, and there sure as hell won't be any today/tomorrow so due
to time I think I have to return to Kunming,(Deqin is 6 hours the
other direction and Kunming is a 12 hour bus journey in itself) more
of this later in a series of events I shall a call 'an interesting
series of debarkles'

So as the snow is limiting most activities I shall spill my literal sense.

The title of this email is Meiyou, Pronounced like 'Mayo' - its a damn
useful word to learn, it means "don't have" or "there isn't any" -
this can relate to buses/food/maps almost everything and happens on a
regular basis.

I think we left off at Yangshuo, I sailed down the Li river in almost
permanent fog, it was still pretty good watching huge karsts appear
out of nowhere. Having spent an enjoyable week in Yangshuo it was time
for Kunming. A nice sleeper train ride later and Bam, it the spring
city. It was almost 25 degrees, absolutely lovely although I was
informed it had snowed a week before. Kunming is a nice ish middle
class city, it even has a skater community. Having done the obligatory
temple/pagoda visit it was time to mingle at the hostel. Found the
irish contingent and as it was St paddys day time to find a guinness -
mission successful £6 a pint of watery BUT draught guinness. Ive only
mentioned this as it was st paddys day, but it was good to share
stories with the crew that accompanied us(irish, french, dutch) a
proper european invasion.

The next day I found a music bar with Country music and german beer on
offer, with an absolutely amazing fluffy dog! Some other stuff may
have happened in Kunming, and in a different order but it was time to
move on to the old haunt of Dali. I do realise this has started to
take a drinking slant, but I have done the cultural stuff in Dali
previously (lake, mountains, temples) and it is home to one of my
favourite bars, ever. The main goal I had set was to find some people
to walk Tiger Leaping Gorge with, and the best way of doing this is to
socialise anyway.

Bad Monkey was almost exactly the same with 3 major differences. 1.
Moved location. 2. Brewed its own beer (Wheat Beer, Red Ale, and a
stout. 3. Roast and Apple crumble. The beer and roast was excellent,
due to those to factors and Dali's lovely location, I could live here
for a long time.

Socialising in Dali

Even ferrets drink at Bad Monkey

However, mission achieved of finding (one person at least)- 'Wonton'
John; It was time to head to Lijiang for the Gorge. Finding 3 more
Kiwi's at 'base 'camp' we assaulted the gorge. Day one includes an
ascent of about 800 metres up a a section known as 28 bends. This
brought are elevation to about 2800m. This effort is totally worth it
for the amazing views and scenery. Probably the best thing I have
done. The gorge itself is rather big, surrounded by snow capped
mountains on either side, snown as 'Jade dragon snow mountain'

One day of walking later( 6 hours) we hit a lovely gusethouse (despite
hearing otherwise) had an amazing meal, the best toliet view
ever(sorry jacob an dave it topped the Peninsula) Breakfast view was
also fantabulous.

Next day was an easy trek to the point where you go down to the river.
Heading down to the river involved a 30ft ladder climb of almost sheer
vertical drop. Once reaching the bottom you could look up at the whole
gorge and do some bouldering (there was a sign telling you not to) up
to a big rock right next to the river - despite the sign, there was a
rickety wooden bridge to cross with a lady who charged us a pound for
the privilege.

Walked back the long way by the river to eventually return for a late
lunch and await the minibus back to lijiang.

On the way

Standing on the edge

Sun and Mountains

The river

Walking back

Lijiang is quite similar to Dali, an old town town with lots of
tourist shops. I bought a bracelet (oh yeah Liane, I have decided to
collect Bracelets from every country I visit) for 50p to go with the
necklace i bought on the gorge ( i have become such a girl). More
interestintingly Lijiang is home to the Naxi (at least it was) a
Matriarchal society. This was most evident in the guest house, Mama
Naxi's run by a eccentric bossy lady, Mama Naxi. She was lovely and
absolutely crazy, things had to be done her way and she would have
arguments with her husband in front of everyone and he would always
back down. It felt more like a home than a hostel, she did make you
feel very welcome. As i left she gave me a mama naxi good luck charm
thing - which to this point hasn't brought me much luck as brings me
to an interesting series of debarkles.

The bad luck run started with the Kiwi's, they left me and John to
carry on walking down the road to the ferry port instead of going
right down to the gorge as they didn't have time. They found the ferry
port after an hour long descent to the river - however no ferries!
Another Hour hike back up and they caught a taxi back to where we had
left them arriving two minutes after we had returned.

I left lijiang for Shangri-La which itself is another old town, being
spammed by the government as the FICTIONAL Shangrila - its old town is
so new its still being built. ( I did already know this) but it was
still quite disappointing to see it, what was better was the
tradtional tibetan towns we passed on the way here.
Upon arrival I inquired about the bus to Deqin, the whole reason of
being here "Meiyou mingtian" - None tomorrow, maybe the next day (i've
just heard there are none tomorrow or the next day) so no picturesque
6000metre mountains views for me, will have to setttle for the 5900
from the gorge :P
A bit disappointed with the whole of Shangri-La i went for some Masala
Chai and a slice of carrot cake.
Next for proper dinner, here on thinking that soups were usually small
i ordered a soup and some tibetan noodles (my first choices of Yak
with potato and rice was "meiyou") it turns out that Tibetan noodles
is a soup noodle dish and the soup i ordered was huge - OOPS I
couldn't finish either.

Then i went for a drink, I got hapy when i saw "london pride" on the
menu but alas, yeh I think you've guessed it.
Any this led to an interesting conversation with the chinese in the
bar, who sat completely on my own i had bought drinks for and they
eventually took me for my first KTV experience. Karoake in a private
room(luckily), they enforced me to sing so i was singing such classics
as the Bad touch, Backstreet Boys ( I want it that way) and Bryan
Adams (Everything I Do). Actually if anyones heard me sing you know
its not singing but that doesn't really seem to matter. It was like
glorified Singstar. You only live once.
Having done the KTV they got after hours food. Now this really
consisted of a DIY bbq, they bought an assortment of food, NO i mean
gristle. Chicken feet, bony meat etc. This was improved upon by the
arrival of Oysters with Chilli sauce.

Square in Shangri La

This effectively brings me to now. The snow hampering all travel plans
and sight seeing today which had just been a tibetan style buddhist
temple. But as its still a bit snowy, i'll add some observations on
China.

Obviously China is undergoing drastic changes at a massive pace, this
is most evident in the construction going on almost everywhere you
look. This wasn't so different to last time around. What I have found
different is the influx of chinese tourists, everywhere. The weekends
are particuarly bad, evident in Yangshuo & Dali (Yangshuo was so quiet
after the weekend i thought it was a different town) They still like
to photograph us, while in Lijiang me and John were eating dinner and
a guy set up outside with his tripod and stood for about five minutes
focusing on us!(Im not really complaining I do exactly the same to
them, I just try an be a little discreet) The problem with the tourism
is that any real sites of interest are quickly becoming tourist traps
with commercialism rampant, or with Shangri-La; completely fake - sure
the scenery is pretty good but the towns and people aren't so much
(the rough guides estimates 90% of the origianl Naxi population in
Lijiang have left) The real towns and people, will be ignored by the
chinese tourism and so they won't get a real picture of their own
country. (which is actually a good thing as then they won't be
assimilated)

Tiger leaping gorge is still quite remote and the roads not so good
yet, but they are building the roads and about a million new guest
houses along the road at the Gorge, clearly expecting tourism to pick
up which can be considered both good and bad. But most of the
religious mountains now have cable cars and few chinese make the
proper treks up to them to really experience them. In Yangsuo and
Guilin the peaks that were easy to climb (and no cable cars) I saw
very few chinese make the walk to the top, yet the bottoms were
aplenty with them. I feel that they aren't experiencing the same China
I am (well obviously but in a sense that they would get a similar
view)
If they build a cable car at Tiger leaping it will be massively
depressing, would remove all sense of reward from a trek that isn't
too hard. But that isn't the chinese way of tourism, walking and nice
views; its more about ticking off the list of sites and getting the
photo to prove it. Its a shame that facebook is blocked cause they
would totally love tagging each other in all the sites they have
visited standing next to the westerners :p.

Im probably a complete hypocrite, and am just collecting photos and
ticking of places i've been but I at least feel i want to discover
parts of China for myself, not be spoonfed them. This was the whole
point of going out to Deqin for a view of a small untouched area smack
bang next to a big mountain (also its pretty damn close to tibet and
that'd be cool). Finding the remote untouched towns is pretty easy
otherwise, just hire a bike and go for a ride. I did this in Yangshuo,
turned off the main road on to a little path and got happily lost in
the rice paddies.

In true touristy fashion though, the next step is to Chengdu (the
buses to Szechuan are also not running and western szechuan was closed
due to a tibetan monk setting himself on fire, so that route is out of
the question) for Pandas, Emei Shan (buddhist mountain, where it was
recommended i take the cable car up and walk down) and the great big
Buddha at Le Shan. After having a rant about chinese tourism im off to
do exactly that.

I hope everyone is well, I think I saw that the weather was quite
nice. Infact I know so cause my mum told me West Kirby was good.
Bye for now and write me back.

Added for the blog. After staying up rather late in Kunming listening to Rammstein with Germans I missed my train and have added this to the blog posts.

China 2: Mini Blog

The internets is too damn slow, it has taken about ten minutes to load this page.
I love Yunnan and Guanxi. Stayed up all night in Bad Monkey ala five years ago. Some trekking 2moro, mountains and rivers. Phone got stolen, I am fine.

Probably have to wait for a full update until the internets improve.

Beep Beep: China One

Day 13. Yangshuo, Guanxi. Total travel time 48 Hours.
 The title of this is cause, China is LOUD. Every thirty seconds some idiot hoots there horn for often no apparent reason.

I can access blogspot/facebook only because my hostel as a proxy running. Goodtimes.


Right formalities over with. Hello!
I guess i should start with a im safe and well, theres no earthquake in china (actually there was on the 2nd of feb in Yunnan, where im going next....that hasn't been reported in the uk...) or tsunami warnings, im too far inland for that anyway, although Nicola is on the coast and may have had a tsunami i don't know

I arrived in Hong Kong after a pleasant flight, i watched - Black Swan, the Expendables and RED. After not having noticed we'd landed (seriously) I got to my miniscule room, in the lovely warm bustle of the nuttiness that is Nathan Road Kowloon. When im not being sold "Suit--Watch-Hashish???" (the logcical step from a watch) I was busy avoiding cars/people. Anyway I watched light show and ate some food. Found a bar, sponsored by San miguel(not the spanish one). Staff here actually had matching outfits supplied by this company, they sorta looked like cheerleaders for beer, and radioed your order to the bar and then it appeared. I also saw two guys carry a cocktail as if it was the most delicate thing ever. Anyway enough bar talk...

Next day I sailed to Lantau and went to the big Buddha and climbed all the way up, on a bus. Got the Cable car back down, this was an epicly long cable car btw.Metro'd it home and over to aberdeen, which was a bit disappointing tbh. Quick trip home and then pub crawl with other expats. This was fun and ended up in a club some 20 floors up in some tall building. Slept too late for Macao (jetlag) and so relaxed and booked my train to Guanzhou where China really begins...

Guanzhou, well first impressions, its big, dirty and busy - everything wrong with China. However After a wash and chilling in my comparitively massive mansion of a room I explored, I warmed a little to Guanzhou. I walked along the less busy and nicely marbled waterfront, catching in the lights and bridges. The lighting as with most in china, is Neon and garish, it does make for nice photos(see later). I also explored Shamian island,. an old colonial concession with western buildings and a park. People come here in the evening to practice Tai Chi and Kung Fu. GZ offers some temples, which are like nearly all temples, however they do offer nice relief from the insanely busy roads. The mosque I couldn't enter but the grey minaret was a nice landmark. You know your near the temples because the number of hawkers and beggars nearly tripples. If anyone thinks the NHS isn't great, go to China and be horrified, I shan't digress but i've seen some messed up stuff already. Evenings I went on a river cruise which was quite fun and showed just how big GZ is, more neon'd buildings and an empty stadium with 4 huge screens all on. A huge waste of electricity! Anyway time to leave, little mix up with times meant I had to wait till 8pm, rather than 11am. But ten hours on a bus with a bed too...

Xiamen. Arriving at the silly hour of five am I found a place to have some breakfast, some dumplings. When the reasonable time of half six came around I rang my host and got the information on where to go. First impression of Xiamen were, its everything Guanzhou isn't, clean, less busy and by the sea. Hopefully Nicola doesn't mind me saying that her house was lovely. Tradtional Chinese affair with a open air courtyard, and two lovely dogs; Barry the licker(licked everything) and Shaoxingma (i've no idea how its spelt). Anyway eventually I got up and went to look at a big gun, used for repelling the English apparently, I commented to MuMu0 (again no idea of the spelling) Nicola's boyfriend that it wasn't doing a very good job. After this lunchtime, I had a chinese hamburger! amongst other things. Afternoon I climbed, Nantuo Sho temples hill, for excellent views of Xiament and the South China sea. Then I crossed in to the Botanical Garden(for free) and saw some Cactus' and Redwoods (laid by Nixon) Then a park, based on Central Park(it seemed to me) the first park I didn't have to pay to get in. Long walk home via a beer on the beach at sundown.  Dinner was a Chinese BBQ cooked in the courtyard, many people came over, chinese and westerners alike, songs were sang and beer was drank.
Slow day, haad dim sum for lunch/breakfast - some odd things and some gross things (fish stomach). Then Gulangyu island, another one of those old foreign hangouts. With western buildings and a rubbish aquarium. I should have known, it had fake fish. Evening was fish food and a foot massage, oh also some guy fixed my the massive hole in my shoe for a pound, which Nicola said was too much. On the way home we stopped in a 'private temple' for a beer - YUP. It'd be like if you built a church for just your family as people do, then said hey were not using this place 99% of the time, lets turn it in to a bar.

Left Xiamen for Guilin on a 17 hour bus journey - complete with bed and films. Ate some Blueberry flavoured crisps, actually pretty good.
Gulin - comparitively quiet and set in the middle of Guanxi, this is where the picturesque chinese scenery starts with huge Karst jetting out. I climbed two within the city, and then went to the park which housed about seven. (They had another presidential visit, this time Clinton) There were excellent views and this has probably been the best view/thing so far.... until today actually. Firstly Guilin ended with me sat in a bar on my own, there just was nobody around... anyway time to leave....

Yangshuo (where I am now) I have four days here to just chill and do things. Situated smack bang on the Li River its a hangout for everyone really, but more importantly it has bars with people in them :p Think Dali jacob/Dave but a bit busier and bigger. Actually Im really here for the impressive Karst scenery*. They are literally everywhere, particuarly looked good today with mist surrounding them. The river is also flat and full of bamboo rafts. I should cruising it tomorrow or the next day. I arrived yesterday and orientated myself, and as a loner what happens is people occasionally come and sit and talk with me, this time quite a switched on Chinese guy whose friends as he put it were "being boring in the hotel still". Anyway we shared some beer and a rarity discussed politics and economics. Quite nice to see him bring up the topic on what is usually a taboo subject in china. Today I rented a bike and cycled through the scenery, stopping at The Bunyan tree, where I inadvertantly bought a ticket to do some punting of my own on the river. This turned out pretty fun and tiring, some chinese folk wanted me to take a picture with them, and as I was rubbish at punting I couldn't escape and they boarded my bamboo boat. Then I ascended Half Moon Karst, for probably the best views so far, topping Guilin. I cycled home off the road along a muddy path via vice paddies and water buffalo. I wouldn't say I got lost along the way but more Hitchiker style I just didn't know exactly where I was.

*For Rosy, these Karst are basically the home of climbing in China. There are quite a few climbing shops in Yangshuo, and there was a plaque on Half Moon dedicated to some americans who established routes in the 90s.

This brings me to here, I was going to write some cultural stuff about tv and music - mostly about how rubbish it is.


Still to come.... here it is a detailed Itinerary...

Yangshuo - a couple more days here, going to sail the river, watch some fishing and generally mingle with the expats.


Kunming - a short stay here on the way to remoter Yunnan, its the train station. Then on to Dali for some more western style drinkin, lakeside cycling, then Lijiang as a base to walk Tiger Leaping Gorge.
Here I am unsure as to try an ascend Xumei Shan as well.

After Yunnan it'll be time to head to Sichuan to visit Dafo, Le Shan(biggest carved buddha) and then Chengdu, home of the Pandas.

From Sichuan, I will most likely stop off in Xi'an again, then to Tai Shan to climb another buddhist mountain, and live to 108 years old( so the legend says)
before finally getting to Qingdao and sailing off to Korea.

Anyway, time to go and enjoy the cheap (but weak) beer and some food. They sell all western food here, including pizza, which is surprising as Cheese is so expensive. Tomorrow I will have a steak.
I'll leave you with some photos... actually this failed. My bad.