Baguio to Manilla to Donsol to Bantangas to Puerto Galera (Mindoro Island)

Tuesday 24th May

After breakfast, checked out and walked to the bus station. Got a chocolate pastry from Mr Donut, same as last night, seem to have a sweet tooth at the moment, and cravings for coffee that I have never had before.

7 hours on the bus to Manilla, not too bad but noisy violent American movies on that you can't escape from, especially sitting at the front of the bus. Why can't they just show Toy Story or The Princess Bride or something?

Arrived at one busy bus station in Manilla and got directions along the way to the bus station for Legazpi but got lost in a mall so asked a couple of American guys for help and one of them walked me all the way through the mall and out the other side to the right place; I would never have made it otherwise. I was rushing a bit because the bus seats sell out fast, my bag was getting heavy and also I didn't want to take up too much of my helper's time - so I felt like I was in the Amazing Race. Very hot and sweaty as we dodged the traffic and the shoppers. But we made it, and I got one of the last seats for Legazpi tonight. Sat next to friendly old lady who was in town to visit her children. She said a typhoon is heading in the same direction as us.

As expected, the aircon on the bus was on full blast, so I put on my down jacket, and had fleece as a pillow and got some sleep.

Wednesday 25th May

Hopped off the bus at Daraga at 5:30am and was taken round the corner to the Jeepney terminal. Had to wait about 45 minutes for it to fill up, and then off we went through the countryside, past lots of villages to Donsol; this is where visitors come to see the Whale Sharks. After checking in to homestay and having a burger for breakfast, I got a tricycle out to the Whale Shark visitors centre. The boats had not been out this morning because of the bad weather, but I met a couple who had been out yesterday.

Anyway, the guy at the Whale Shark visitors centre said to just try tomorrow, and hopefully the weather will be better. Seems the typhoon has pretty much passed us by, but its still pretty grey and overcast, so I am not too hopeful.

Had a long cat nap then went for a walk down to the sea, and around the back of town. Donsol is not much to look at but it was interesting walking along among the locals and their bamboo houses on stilts in the water. As usual, good proper meals are hard to find here. Today I ate two burgers, an ice cream, 2 bananas, some pineapple and delicious garlic flavour Cracker Nuts.

Sat with a group of locals near the square, who were playing, for money, 'Red-White' which is a basic form of roulette. And I caught my first glimpse of a cock-fight as we sped past on the tricycle earlier.

Tonight I sat with some locals outside the burger stand, but I wasn't very sociable; probably because I am still tired from last night, and grumpy that I probably won't get to see the Whale Sharks tomorrow.

Thursday 26th May

Still wet and overcast so no point going to Whale Shark visitor centre. At 6am I moved to slightly cheaper homestay down the road. Nothing to do in town so slept, surfed the net and ate the same foods as yesterday. Chatted to the ladies whose home it is (I am in a seperate brick/wooden building next door). The typhoon has moved away to Okinawa, but still looks like the weather will be the same for the next few days; the guy at the dive centre reckons it will be Monday before boats can go out, I can't wait around that long....

Friday 27th May

The weather was the same at 6am. Pretty fed up after wasting four days on travel and sitting around and not getting to see the whale sharks, and not being able to undertake Plan A which was to Island hop, and probably not being able to watch the Champions League final.....

So at 6:30am I decided on a new plan; head to Mindoro Island, just south of Manilla. This plan only involves one short Island hop and so is not so weather-dependant. Packed up, and got in a minivan to Legaspi, 1 hour, and soon on a bus bound for Manilla. Along the way we passed through some very poor road-side villages. You could see how these people's houses would be so easily blown away in a storm, nevermind if the typhoon had struck.

The bus dropped me off at 8pm on the main highway on its way north, and I had to wait a little while to get a bus south, so had chocolate pastry from Mr Donut as comfort food since I was grumpy. It took me until 10pm to get here, Batangas port.....a long and expensive day on the buses.

Saturday 28th May

Still grumpy when I got up at 8am, but looked out of the window and there was some blue sky. Then reception called and said that boats are sailing for Mindoro this morning. So I packed up and walked down to the port and soon jumped onto a motorised Bangka. It was great to finally be out on the open sea after looking forward to it for a while. And a western guy on the boat assured me that I would be able to watch the football tonight.

1 hour later we arrived in the picturesque town of Puerto Galera. It is quite westernised (and will be sleazy later on) but at least that meant that I could get a decent cooked breakfast after days of just eating bad burgers and biscuits in Donsol, and there are lots of bars open all night, showing the football. Joy.

My hotel is right on the beach. And my cheap room has a kitchenette so I went shopping and got porridge and milk and bread and tuna and tomatoes from the supermarket; its good to be self-catering for a change.

After porridge I walked down to the beach and went snorkelling. Just off the beach there is sea-grass which I don't think I have seen before. The brown coral was pretty good, the plants swaying with the small waves. And there were some colourful fish, and a few large blue starfish which was cool. Shame I forgot to take my wallet out of my swimmers before I went in. Notes currently drying.

I walked along the main road, through the rainforest; 11km round-trip to the actual town of Puerto Galera. Not much there but the walk was enjoyable, got to see some of the Island life, the locals going about their daily business, a birthday party in a bus stop!

So after a boring last few days, today was much better and I feel like my adventure has kick-started again.

The fantastic Rice Terraces of Banaue and Sagada

Saturday 21st May

Up at 6am. Could only hear the river so went out to check the weather.  The view of Banaue from the hotel lobby, which was in darkness when I arrived last night, is great; some  rice terraces and the village, so no trouble motivating myself to get out there and explore. This is Banaue, where the surrounding Ifugao Rice Terraces are World Heritage listed. Ifugao is the ethnic group who built the rice terraces around 2000 years ago. 

So after breakfast, I hired a tricycle to take me to Batad Junction, 45 minutes bouncing along a very bumpy broken road, arriving at 8am. From the Junction, I walked up to Batad, which overlooks the rice terraces. Got a bit annoyed with local guys sidling up to me and offering themselves as guides, and me having to say no a few times before they would buzz off.

From Batad, I started the popular hike to Bangaan which goes through the rice terraces. I kind of ignored my LP and headed down the slope but soon lost my way (but I didn't need a guide!). Anyway, a couple of people pointed me down the hill but after a while I was a bit lost and confused cos there wasn't really a path. I took a few precarious steps, which involved me putting my hand in the bushes to keep my balance. But then I saw a woman working in the terrace, and she pointed me back in the opposite direction and I eventually found the small bridge mentioned in the LP, but not the path I was supposed to have used!

Anyway, after that I was on the right path, through a rainforest, with frequent views of the bright green rice terraces and the hills, and the sound of cicadas. The walls of the terraces are mostly about 3 or 4 metres high and you walk along the top of the wall above the terraces; often the wall is only about half a metre wide, and often there is an irrigation canal alongside. It was great to be right in among the terraces, as well as being able to view them from above and below. And this is one of the best times of the year to see them as they are bright green, yet I didn't see any other tourists and only a handful of locals. It was all pretty spectacular and I really enjoyed the five hour hike.

I eventually came out onto another track and walked for another 45 minutes before completing the loop at Batad Junction. By chance, I met a woman from Darwin who was just going back to Banaue on a tricycle she had rented and she let me share so I got on the back of the bike; it was very bumpy and I had to hold on tight and try not to headbutt the surrounding metal shell behind me, or the driver in front!

It was 2pm by the time we got back so no time to really do any more walking today, plus everyone knows it normally rains in the afternoon in these parts, and it did.


Sunday 22nd May

I had deliberated about whether to have more time in Banaue, or whether to move on. Well, I stayed and explored some of the surrounding Ifugao villages and more rice terraces this morning and was glad I did; it was probably even better than yesterday. After breakfast, I walked out of town at 7am down and along rice terraces walls to the village of Poitan. I would certainly have got lost today without the help of the locals working in the terraces, although there were few of them about. The narrow muddy path linkng the terraces went steeply through the trees and across brooks, again with the gushing water in the ancient irrigation canals.

I came out onto the main road, and back up the other side which was a very steep climb, very sweaty and frequent stops to catch my breath, and admire the scenery. I seem to have bypassed one village altogther and found myself next to a couple of waterfalls. Again, a few locals got me on the right path. I could have continued walking to the viewpoint but didn't want to risk missing my bus out of town later, so I got directions back down to Banaue.

On the way down to Banaue, I passed through a few small villages, and in fact right past people's front porch which seemed a bit intrusive, although they smiled and said hello; but judging by the number of western tourists in town, thankfully, I might be the only one to walk through today. I hope that in 10 years time they don't have 20 or 30 or 100 people traipsing through their living space. The tourist infrastructure is all here in the Phillipines which suggest that they welcome tourists, but it seems to be off the radar for most backpackers.

Back down in Banaue I hired a tricycle to take me up to the viewpoint. After my initial frustration at the driver for trying to vastly overcharge me until I started to walk off, he turned out to be ok, and we sped 15 minutes up the hill. Of course, the view of the lush bright green terraces was wonderful, and a Filipino family insisted on having me in their family photo, which was nice.

The trike took me back down to Banaue and I grabbed my bag from the hotel and then sat at the 'bus stop' with a couple of older ladies, in a narrow strip of shade from the hot midday sun, and waited for the bus to Bontoc. Nearly finished Millenium III.

The bus arrived and looked pretty full and the conductor, quite reasonably, wanted to put my big bag on the roof, so I got up there too, with a few other guys and lots of other bags and boxes. I managed to get myself sat in the sunshine on someone's new, still-wrapped-in-plastic mattress. Of course the view from up there was great, and it was fun. It took less than two hours to get to Bontoc and only started raining just as we got into Bontoc.

In Bontoc I walked down the road and got in a jeepney bound for Sagada. I was the first on board and it doesn't leave until it's full, so I finished Millenium III while we waited, and fortunately it was soon packed with about 20 people and bags and off we went. It took an hour uphill in the rain, then we arrived in the small (population 1550) cool mountain town of Sagada, at 1477m. It was raining quite a bit but I went for a walk with my pac-a-mac on!

I went down the hill to the end of town, and turned off down a muddy, slippery path, through the misty forest, to the Lumiang Burial cave where there are 100 stone coffins piled up near the entrance; the oldest is thought to be 500 years old. It was all quite eerie with the cloud, rain and thunderstorm.

I walked back up to the main road and from there I saw the hanging Sugong Coffins which are suspended from the cliff opposite. Then I walked through the small villages of Ambasing, Demang and Dadgag and back to Sagada. It only took half an hour and the path went alongside the houses and the allotoments. Friendly little kids helped me find my way.

I went to the Yoghurt House for late lunch and had a huge veggie curry with rice; carrots, green beans, cauliflower, potato, cabbage. Healthy food.


Monday 23rd May

Up at 6am again. A beautiful sunny morning, blue skies and the surrounding forests and hills and the town looked great. Cafes not open yet, so I went straight off to visit the 'better' hanging coffins and to see Echo Valley. I walked behind the fine-looking church and up to the catholic cemetary, then upto the lookout.

I then went down a slippery muddy path into the forest. A short way in, there is a cave and then a narrow path up, where you can see the stone coffins suspended on the cliff. Then, using just the basic notes in my LP, I started the hike into the forest, hoping to pop out on a main road an hour later. But after a short while I realised that I didnt really know where I was going, and that I was sure to get lost so I gave it a miss and walked back up to the church and to the Yoghurt Cafe which had since opened. Tasty yoghurt with granola and jam,

Checked out of the hotel and got on the 9am to Baguio. My plan was to get off at Sinipsin and take a smaller road across to Kabayan from where I would hopefully get a guide and hike 5 hours upto where the mummies are. But when the driver dropped me at Sinipsin, the locals couldn't really explain how to get to Kabayan from there, so I got on the next bus to Baguio half an hour later. Later, the driver indicated another place from where I might be able to get to Kabayan, but it was the middle of nowhere with nobody about so I said I would just stay on the bus all the way to Baguio.

We arrived in Baguio late afternoon, so by then I was over the idea of going to Kabayan as it would take too long, with no guarantee of being able to do the hike tomorrow anyway. I like Baguio, and having been  here 9 days ago, its nice to already know where stuff is when you arrive.

Pagudpud to Callao caves to Banaue

Thursday 19th May

Got a trike up to the highway and had to wait just half an hour for the orange bus to Tuguegarao to come down the road. I flagged it down and got on; the bus was full and the aisle was lined with bags. They got me to put my bag behind the back seat then moved a small kid onto his Grandma's lap so I could sit down. Of course, everybody looks at the white man and kind of watches as you struggle to get by and deal with your bag, but if you just smile, they smile back and it's ok.

Arrived in Tuguegarao mid-afternoon and after realising I had missed the last jeepney, I had to get a tricycle out here to Callao. It's more remote than I realised and we went along some bumpy roads. Staying at a 'resort', it's probably 2-star but its comfortable and near the river, but no food, just a lady down the road selling hamburgers from her kitchen. And a lady by the river selling 'halo halo' which is a drink with mixed fruit, ice and Carnation cream - very tasty. The only other people staying here are in a large bible group singing and reading and camping.

Anyway, with 6 Filipina nurses and one guy from Miami, I took a bangka (long narrow wooden boat) along the Pinacanauan river to the Bat Cave. Every evening thousands of bats pour out of the cave above the river. well, not this evening. We sat there until it was dark and no bats appeared. On the way back we saw about a dozen fly out of another cave, and that was it; quite disappointing.

On the way back I popped into the resort office and chatted to the five security guards/staff. They gave me some of their brandy and chips. We talked about Angelina Jolie, their World Champion boxer Manny Pacquiao, pollution, India and football (Beckham is the only player they know, except for their national team, known as the 'Askals'?)

Back at my room there was a large spider on the bed. I took a photo of it and took the picture to show the security guards, who assured me it is harmless.


Friday 20th May

Awoken at 5:39am by the Bible group singing their praises to the Lord; more pop song than hymns, in English as well as Filipino. Got up at 7 and got my egg and bread breakfast from the lady down the road. Then crossed the river by bangka to the Callao Caves. That early, I was the only tourist there, and I hired a volunteer guide, a school kid on holidays. There are 7 chambers and the entrance to the first one is huge, and you can see into the next chamber where they have church services; there is a stone altar and some seats for the congregation, and they have weddings there, in the church. My guide gave me a refresher course about stalignites and staligtites which are made from limestone and can join to form a temple. But this cave is 'dead' meaning there is no longer water dripping, because of 'vandalim; the trees would normally absorb the water and pass it through to the caves, but the trees and have been destroyed so the process has stopped. That's what he said, anyway....There was a human-skeleton rock formation, and a lion-king one too.

My target for the day was to then make it from Callao caves all the way to Banaue and the rice teraces, if possible. A few people, without ulterior motives, told me it was not possible and that I would have to stop for the night somewhere along the way, but I wasn't convinced....

.....and by means of six different vehicles, I did make it! First I took a tricycle from Callao to Tuguegarao (45 minutes) and from there (after some lively discussion with the bus staff and randoms) I got the bus to Santiago City (6 hours). The scenery was good, lots of green fields and hills. At Santiago, a tricycle took me to a minibus which had one seat left, and off we went to Bagabag (one hour). At Bagabag we could see there was a storm coming, but the jeepney came just before the rain and off we went to Lagawe, in the torrential rain. (1 hour). Had to wait for a while at the bus stop then got the final jeepney to Banaue, arriving at 7pm in the dark. Phew! A long day, but had a hot shower and a great veggie curry dinner.

Today,at one of the bus stations, as well the normal types selling fruit and nuts and water to people on the bus, there was a guy from Dunkin Donuts selling, well, dounts, in big white boxes; maybe MacDonald's will be next....I also noticed a couple of gun shops today. And I have seen a few 'no guns' signs around, like at the Marco's museum.

Fell asleep with the sound of the river rushing past below the hostel.

Vigan to Laoag to Pagudpud, The Phillipines

Monday 16th May

I was awoken at 6:45am by a knock on the door. One of the hotel staff had brought me breakfast of eggs, bread rolls and coffee. How good is that!? Especially so, since breakfast is not supposed to be included with the 'cheapie' rooms. It made my day start earlier than it might have which was good because I was off to the hospital.

I got a tricycle to Gabriela hospital, arriving at 8:15am. Registration for a consultation starts at 8:30 so I joined the queue; they take your blood pressure whatever is wrong with you. I was there because I had a teenager's-type zit growing on my top lip and it was getting bigger and uglier, and my top lip was swollen so I figured it was infected. I read my book for a couple of hours while waiting then got called into the consultation room.

The doctor confirmed that it was infected and got me to lie down. They put some purple paste around my lips to numb them, then used a large pair of tweezers to burst the zit and get the puss out. It took about 7 squeezes and it hurt. Alot. I whinged a bit and wiggled my feet about like I do when the dentist hurts me. After, they stuck a big white plaster along my top lip and gave me a prescription for pain killers, antibiotics and antibiotic cream. Seems like I did the right thing to get it seen to.

So today I have been walking around town with a big white plaster on my lip rather than a bit white zit. As I am one of only 2 white people in the town, I have had a few strange looks, but not too bad. I chilled out in my room for a bit to make sure I was ok, then started a tour of the town.

I went to Syquia Mansion which still has it's old furniture from when it was built in 1830. It has displays about Elpidio Quirino, a native of Vigan, who became President in 1948. Next I went to the Crisologo Museum which is the ancestral home of the Crisologo family which included a Governor and her Congressman husband. It houses the pink Chevy that the Governor was shot (but not killed in) in 1961, and information about the assassination of her husband at the local St Paul Cathedral in 1970. Vigan is also famous for making jars from the local clay. I finished at St Paul cathedral, which was ok. Built in 1574, it was damaged by earthquakes in 17th century so rebuilt with thicker walls.

Alongside Plaza Maestro, there is a small park with miniature world landmarks (e.g The Eiffel Tower, The Taj Mahal and the Opera House); each made from stone. The stones are very old and decrepit and the Opera House is clearly in need of some maintenance!

I had tasty meat, egg and veg empanadas in the afternoon and sat in the square reading my book. I have noticed that the local men's voices often pitch up at the end of sentences; not just like an Aussie accent where a statement becomes a question, but quite a few octaves a higher. It seems to be just the men; it sounds quite funny.

Tuesday 17th May

No breakfast delivered to my room this morning. Oh well. Got a trike to the bus station and bus to Laoag ('La-wahg' - it's in Ilicos Norte) was about to leave. Public transport is great here, I hardly ever have to wait. Two hours to Laoag. I wanted to hire a bike to visit the sights outside of the town, but nowhere rents out bikes. So after checking in to cheap and cheerful hostel and then extending my visa at the Bureau of Immigration, I got a jeepney out to Batac, where I went to the Marcos Museum and Mausoleum. The museum is only small and has some pictures of and possession of Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos. He was, apparently a World war II hero long before he was a corrupt President. Next door, his body is laid out in a glass box and looks a bit vampirish. Their ancestral home looks lavish from the outside but you can't go in.

Next I got a jeepney 4kms to Paoay '(Pow-why'). Here is the UNESCO-listed Paoay Church that was built in 1704; it's quite impressive and imposing, as it has earthquake-proof reinforcements. Next I got a trike to Suma where I visited the Malacanang of the North, which is the former residence of the Marcos family, built in 1976. Seems they were living in luxury at the people's expense. I got a jeepney back to Laoag; a pretty successful afternoon.

The reason why most Filipino's speak good English is that all of their classes at school are taught in English.


Wednesday 18th May

After tapsilog for breakfast, across the road, got on the bus to Pagudpud; I pretty much got the last seat, in the middle of the back seat, good timing. Two hours to Pagudpud, then they dropped me outside the Bingbong restaurant, so I could get a trike down to the Blue Lagoon and the Kapuluan Vista resort; its a bit expensive but I didn't realise there were cheaper bungalows available until I got here.

Spent the day at the beach; it's not as great as I had read, but it was pleasant and quiet, just a few families about, and I swam out to the coral, and the colourful fish. Didn't use my snorkel and mask because my top lip is still healing, but used the goggles I still have from when I was a kid. Read and swam.

Had dinner at my hotel. Ate chicken adobo. Adobo, often considered the national dish, means the meat has been marinated in garlic and vinegar. It came with potato, onion and lettuce. It was tasty, but as often happens, the meat comes on the bone and with skin attached so you really don't get much meat. I also enjoyed the complimentary margherita.

First few days in the Phillipines

Checked out and went across the road and caught the nightbus to the airport, at 5am. Bag was 5kg over limit at 20kg so rearranged stuff, then big bag weighed exactly 15kg. And they asked to see onward flight out of the Phillipines so good that I had that.

Took off a bit late but nevermind. The Cebu Pacific Air flight attendants ran an in-flight game, "sponsored by Centrum Vitamins. The only Vitamins you need". The first person to show them a particular item (e.g a boarding card!), won a cheap-looking pouch.

Because I had re-arranged my stuff I was completely unorganised at the immigration desk at Manilla. No pen. Then I kept the official waiting while I looked for the onward flight ticket. But he was patient and there wasn't really a queue. Then I got a bit annoyed when he stamped a blank page. So we were quits. The first 2 things I saw as I left the airport were a church and McDonalds which probably very much represent The Phillipines insofaras it is heavily influenced by America and by religion.

Got helpful directions of how to get to Angeles. Onto the shuttle bus (with Material Girl and Manic Monday playing) then a bit of wandering around some bus stops to right bus station for Angeles. Very helpful, English-speaking locals.

A couple of hours to Angeles, arrived 2:30pm. I could have carried onto Capas and Santa Juliana for Mount Pinatubo, but tired after hardly any sleep last night, and not sure how easy it would be to get there and where I might stay. So got what I think they call a 'tricycle', and I would call a sidecar, attached to a motorbike. That's a first for me and it was pretty funny. I had no idea what I should pay but it worked out at about $2 to a hotel I had read about so we came here.

Again, the hotel staff, and attached travel agency staff were really friendly and helpful. The travel agent agreed with me that it would be cheaper to get to the mountain independently rather than booking a tour with them. I went for a walk into Angeles. The bank was surrounded by guards with pistols and shotguns.

After a late lunch I had more of a wander around. It didn't really seem like the Phillipines capital of prostitution (as is sometimes said) until I went down one side road. This is obviously the main hang out for the ladies of the night and their older, white punters, although it was only 4pm. I found a bar where they have the English football and the NRL.

Well, after some more investigation and a phone call, it would have been easy enough and better to have continued on towards the mountain today and I could have started at 6am tomorrow. But it's too late now, I suppose I have lost a day but I can take it easy tomorrow and make my way there when I am ready.


Friday 13 May

Into town for breakfast; had tapsilog which is what the locals eat for breakfast. It's rice with a fried egg and some lightly-spiced beef - great. Got some water at the 7/11. The restaurant and shop staff are really friendly; they usually greet you when you enter and always say "Thank you, sir", in their American accent. It's nice. They speak filipino to eachother (but with a few English and spanish-like words and expressions, and they use Spanish for some numbers, times, prices and dates).

I got a jeepney as far as Capas. A jeepney is a colourful, elongated, souped-up jeep; it's cool. At Capas I got a tricycle along the country road to Barangay, to the 4x4 Association and Wendell, who will hopefully be taking us up to the crater tomorrow. I had hoped to go up early today, but since it is Friday the 13th, perhaps it is best to avoid the active volcano anyway!

The tricycle ride took about half an hour. The bikes and their sidecars are very clean, and the metal is very shiny. It's cool and comfortable in the town and on good roads, though when the road got a bit bumpy it was it bit like being in a tin can. I now know, after speaking to Wendell's Mum, that I paid too much to get to Barangay, but having only arrived in the country yesterday I am still sussing things out.

Wendell's family home includes, in a seperate building, a few large rooms for lodging. It's more than I need but it's the countryside so there are no hostels. There are a few 4x4's in the courtyard as well as chickens, turkeys and geese. I read for a while then went for a short walk in the bright sunshine, to find lunch. The village is set alongside the country road. The local kids said 'hi', and I said 'hi' back and then they kept repeating it, seeing how many times I would reply!

A few of the locals turn their front yards into an eating area. There were saucepans lined up outside one place but the lady said that each one contained intestines and she offered me noodles-in-a-cup as alternative. I bought some tuna too and she gave me some hot water and I had lunch in the courtyard, with her family milling around. I asked if there was anything different for dinner and she said they could make me sweet and sour pork and garlic rice for dinner. So after more reading and a cat nap and a heavy downpour, I went back there in the evening.

Karoake. It seems to be everywhere. I had to put my earplugs in last night to get to sleep, as somewhere there was a woman continuously destroying cheesy rock ballads. Still, it was Friday night in Angeles. And then today, while I was having lunch in the family's courtyard two women were singing karaoke under the porch. At the end of each song you hear the drum roll which leads to their score being displayed on the screen. I would guess the score was quite low.

Slightly freaked out during the evening. As i shut the door, one of those little lizards fell off bounced off my arm onto the floor. Then there was a big flying cockroach attached to my water bottle; I managed to usher it outside. Then there was a big storm and all the lights went out....


Saturday 14th May

Up at 5am and onto the 4x4 towards Santa Juliana and Mount Pinatubo. An anxious wait for an hour while they tried to find me a tour group to go with, as it would be too expensive by myself. But finally they put me in a 4x4 with 4 cool Filipino girls who had come straight from their call centre jobs in Manilla, and off we went.

Mount Pinatubo is a volcano, which erupted in 1991, killing more than 800 people. We passed along a wide flat valley, often driving through shallow rivers. After an hour so we got out and hiked the rest of the way. We walked through some deep narrow streams, which I had not anticpated so my boots got flooded. And then we ascended a little over rocks and through some jungle paths but it wasn't particualry strenuos.

After an hour we reached the spectacular crater which is filled with turquoise water. The clouds shadow over the green sides of the crater made it more picturesque. We walked down to the crater and swam for a while, it was swimming pool temperature and fairly clear. After a rest we walked back the same way and had free lunch together at the restaurant.

Since it was only 3pm I decided to see how far north I could get today, rather than hanging around and waiting for tomorrow. So I said goodbye to the girls and got a tricycle along the country road to the Jeepney terminus. I was first on the Jeepney but I hadn't realised it was going to travel at literally 1km/h while picking up passengers. As we moved away from the houses it did go a bit faster. The jeepney was soon packed with locals and I had a good chat with one guy. At the junction we shared a tricycle to the main road and he insisted on paying for us.

From the junction I got on the coach to Baguio, except after 10 minutes it turned out I was on the wrong coach. I got off and stood by the side of the road and flagged down the right coach. After 9pm we arrived in Baguio and I went to the hostel I had booked but there was a mix up and I couldn't stay there.

Luckily, after traipsing the streets with my backpack on a busy saturday night in the town, I found an empty dorm room to stay in. I dumped my bag and headed to the Red Lion pub to watch the FA Cup final. Coincidentally, I met some guys there who work in Tewkesbury. It was the birthday of one of the guy's at the same table so I got a huge piece of birthday cake to follow my large chilli con carne.

Sunday 15th May

The bus was a bit late leaving Baguio to Vigan, so I watched Scooby Doo on a TV set up on a market stall. Anyway, the countryside along the way was nice, its very warm and very green up here and we could see the South China Sea at times, although I struggled to look up from reading Millenium III. Vigan is an old Spanish colonial town. Just had a quick look around, the big church was full on this Sunday afternoon. Will do the sightseeing tomorrow.

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Hong Kong

Tuesday 3rd May

Slept in then checked out of Yangshuo hostel. Horrible loud cheesy dance music for an hour on the bus, locals seem oblivious to it. Arrived at Guilin. Dropped my big bag off at train station and went for a walk around the city, in the rain. The bank were suspicious when I went to change money, cos I have much longer hair on my passport photo. Then they tried to give me one large note, but we got there in the end. The town is ok, a few nature spots and the river, buit alot of it you have to pay to get to so gave it a miss. Had late lunch, spicy chinese veggie food with Latvian/Luxembourg couple from Poland.

On the night train, I had only been able to get a hard seat, not a sleeper bed. But not too bad, a small table between the facing seats, so like the locals, slept mostly with my head on the table.

Arrived at train station at Shenzhen, which is a special zone between China and Hong Kong. Got off the train with Safa girl and you go underground and check out of China. You continue underground for a bit further, following the signposts to Hong Kong and then checki in to Hong Kong, just like at an airport.

On to the clean MTR, metro, pretty easy to find Chung King Mansion which is a huge building on Nathan Road in the south of Kowloon. A few annoying characters hassling you to take a room or buy a dodgy watch, or hash, but ok; they are mostly from overseas.

The owners of the Ashoka hotel are from northern India, which I like, we had a bit of chat about the Golden Temple. He even carried my bag upstairs from the 13th to the 16th floor. The hostel is very clean and good value.

Got the metro across to Hong Kong Island and the Indonesian embassy. The security guard ushered me past about 60 waiting Indonesian ladies, to the front of the queue; well, what can you do? Anyway, the staff said I can't get a 2 month visa there, only one month, so will leave it for now.

Hong Kong Island is clean and easy to get around. Walked past some English pubs and Thai 'massage' shops.

Wednesday 4th May

sleept in. Pretty grey outside. Did a reckie to parents hotel for tomorrow. Walked north for an hour up Kowloon to second hand bookshop I found on Google, on the off chance of finding Millenium III, and also as to keep myself away from the tourist spots, saving them for when Mum and Dad arrive. Lo and behold I found a second hand copy of the book buried in a box on the floror. On the way back, passed local fish and veggie market. Watched the guy kill 8 fish by putting them in a pastic bags and smacking the bbag until it stopped moving. Ate red bean curd dumpling (bun?). Walked through Kowloon park.

Back at the hostel, the room and bathroom had been cleaned and we had clean towels and soap waiting. Very nice.


Thursday 5th May

The lifts have video cameras and you can watch them on the TV outside the lift on the ground floor, and there are friendly security guards around, which is good. There are Indian restaurants and shops on the ground floor so went down for samosa and chail, and away from the intense noisy drilling coming from behind our bedroom wall. Still, it was after 9am.

I walked across to the famous Hong Kong harbour and it was impressive. A bit hard no to compare it with Sydney and of course it doesn't match up, but it was still good and a pleasant walking alongside the water, eating ice cream and reading my book. There is also the Avenue of Stars where they have hand impressions in the concrete of famous Chinese/Hong Kong filmstars, and a photo exhibition by a French guy.

Walked all around the harbour, then came to a nice non-touristy plaza with a fountain. Good lunch and coffee. Eventually the sun came out.

Chatted with Californian and German roommate. Good to sharing with friendly, normal people. A comfortable stay so far, for less than $15 a night.


Friday 6th May

Same breakfast. Hong Kong is very cosmopolitan. Yesterday, at a restaurant, I was served by a Turkish man and Nepalese woman. The shops on the groundfloor here advertise phonecall charges to Tanzania, South Africa and Nigeria, aimed at the African guys, some of whom are dressed in their traditional long shirts, and always smartly dressed, clearly here on business. I like that. There is alot of business going on in this buidling, white collar and blue collar workers using the lifts; I helped a guy get some large folded cardboard boxes and huge rolls of bubblewrap in and out of the lift.

Met Mum and Dad at their hotel in the evening, great to see them. We went to a local restaurant, just down the road.


Saturday 7th May

Walked up to Parent's hotel and we walked down Nathan Street and to the harbour. Coffee and muffins at Starbucks! We got the Star Ferry across from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island (10 minutes) and then from Exchange Sq. on the bus to The Peak, Victoria Peak. It took us all the way up and the views on the way were great. At The Peak you look across the bay at the skyscrapers of HK Island and Kowloon, a spectacular view.

We got the famous tram down from the peak, its an old style tram and the journey is very steep. We stood up so we could enjoy the views once more. We got an open-top bus back to Central, skyscrapers rising above us on all sides.

After a rest we went out for dinner. The Chinese restaurants here are much more like in the west than in China, in terms of the actual food, the service and communciation with the staff. A much better experience for me than in the previous couple of weeks. But I still stay away from the street food.  After dinner we walked around the nightmarkets; no pressure from the friendly traders.


Sunday 8th May

Late start then we walked to the History museum. I normally avoid museums but the Californian guy convinced me to give it a go, and he was right. There a few levels, from natural history, early Hong Kong life, Chinese folk culture, the Opium Wars, the ceding of HK to the UK, the Japanese invasion. I rushed around a bit so will hopefully go back on Wednesday, when it is free.

We had lunch and then went to pleasant Kowloon Park where there was a martial art show; Kung Fu and sword display, not so exciting. There were some young ladies dancing, and a few bird displays. Why did they have 50 flamingos in a small enclosure, and a huge Rhinoceros hornbill flapping around when they should be in their natural habitats?

For dinner we had a great buffet and Mum and Dad's hotel. Seafood, salad, sushi, roast beef, strawberries, chocolate fountain; not your average backapcker meal! Thanks Mum and Dad.

Watched Man U v Chelsea in the pub across the road. Chatted with friendly oldham fan.


Monday 9th May

Late start. We got the Star Ferry again across to Hong Kong Island. Then straight onto another ferry to Mui Wo, on Lantau Island (an hour). Got the bus, great scenery of woodland, outlying islands, beaches and the the sea. Arrived at Giant Buddha site, with many other tourists. The bronze buddha was put up by the monks from the nearby Po Lin monastery in 1996. I couldn't help thinking that it was mostly a money-raiser for the monastery; there is also a touristy 'village' nearby. Anyway, we walked up the steps to the Buddha and walked around and enjoyed the scenery.

We walked across to the traditonal Chinese Buddhist monastery. The monks were chanting, but it was very loud, through loud-speakers and not very calming or spiritual and not somewhere we wanted to hang around and have lunch. So we went to the 'Village' and had subway instead!

Then we got the cable car, which was spectacular. It first passes over the forests with views of the bay, then alongside the airport, the planes taking off below us, to the side. Then is a steep descent down towards and over the water. The cable car then takes a 90 degree turn and follows the road bridge to Tung Chung metro station. We got the train station back to Kowloon and walked via some busy backstreets.

We had dinner at the locals restaurant again and then said goodbye to Mum and Dad. Always a little sad of course, but we certainly had a good time, as we always have when meeting in foreign parts.


Tuesday 10th May

Public holiday for Buddha's birthday. I had a long lie-in to help him celebrate. After Indian breakfast I headed out for a whistle-stop tour of the tourist sites of Hong Kong Island. Got the metro to HK Island, then on the bus to Stanley Market. Well, it is a tourist market selling the same old stuff as elsewhere, but it is in a lovely waterfront area with nice resturants and a short coastal walk, Ma Hang Park, among some trees and a small Tao temple. And the pier. Read my book and ate bombay mix-type thing. Bought a new pair of (red) swimmers. Almost bought the orange ones but realised that would clash with my orange t-shirt!

Walked along to find Stanley Fort, but the road had no footpath and the path which I thought might take me there came to a sudden stop, with a security guard (not sure what he was guarding), making it clear that I could not proceed. He didn't speak English so i mimed shooting a rifle and firing a bow and arrow, which, not suprisingly made him shake his head even more. So i gave up, walked back to Stanley and got the bus to Aberdeen.

The main attraction in Aberdeen are the floating restaurants. There is a free boat out to the restaurants but I didn't want to eat there, just to have a look. But you could only just see them from the jetty so I got on the next bus back to Central. I got a bit lost then walked up the 'mid-levels' travelator. Up, and up, and up. It passes through Soho, where there are many trendy boutique bars with tourists and the beautiful people. I went back down to the harbour and got Subway and a coke.

I crossed on the Star Ferry back to Kowloon and as I arrived the nightly Symphony of Lights show started. Most of the skyscrpaers on the Hong Kong side of the harbour light up and flash and create a fairly spectacular show, it was a good end to the day. Sat and read my book and looked at the lights as the crowds dispersed.

I have to say that Hong Kong has grown on me during my week here. Before I came, and when I first arrived, I thought it was just skyscrapers. But on my trips around, with Mum and Dad, and today, I have seen that the natural landscape here is beautiful here too, and reminds me of the coasal areas around Sydney. And things work, public transport is cheap and easy as is eating out.

Wednesday 11 May

Too lazy to go to the museum. After late breakfast I walked across to the outdoor swimming pool, which is in the middle of Kowloon Park, in the middle of Kowloon, under the skyscrapers. There are three outdoor pools and I set myself up in the shade. Many of the local guys like to wear budgie smugglers and wander round in naked in the changing rooms. Anyway, I sat by the pool for 3.5 hours reading Millenium, and getting in for a cooling-off swim after every few chapters. The pool wasn't too busy and it was a very pleasant way to spend a Wednesday afternoon.

Came back to the hostel and have repacked my stuff, ready to fly to Manilla tomorrow.

China

sorry it is so long. I did not have access to my blog in China...........


Sunday 17 April

Got to the airport with Connor, at 7:30am. Not the most organised airport in the world and we left 1.5 hours late, but all good. I had a window seat and the views of the Himalaya just below us was spectacular. so many snow-capped mountains, desolate, regions I guess no man has been to?

A bit more than an hour for a stopover at Lhasa. Was jealous of the tourists who had the Tibet permit that I could not get. I had to carry on to the next plane to Chengdu. I will hopefully get back there one day. One lady had her Lonely Planet Tibet book confiscated at Lhasa.

Chengdu is modern, has neon lights and skyscrapers, and except for the pollution, seems like a good enough place to start. Got the bus into town and straight into a taxi (with non-English speaking driver) to Holly's Guest House, which is very clean, has wi-fi and is good value and the staff are nice, and speak English.

Only other person in the dorm was an older guy. I gave him a chocolate oreo and in exchange he offered what I thought was green tea, so i politely accepted and got out my cup. But when I got back to him he was rubbing his head and I realised it was shampoo he offering in exchange for chocolate.

Monday 18 April

After cooked English breakfast upstairs, got a train ticket for Wednesday. Then to the bus terminal, took some finding, locals don't speak English, but got there eventually and got a ticket for tomorrow then started to look round the city. I walked up to TianFu square and to Chairman Mao's statue.

Around the square and up to WenShu Buddhist Monastery. There were a few monks around and some people were praying and bowing so no restrictions on religious expression here. Had noodles at the restaurant there, where the locals were drinking tea, chatting and knitting. Looked around the grounds at the temple and monastery and gardens.

Walked back down to the markets but it was girls stuff. Got an icecream and wandered to the fish market. Chengdu seems very westernised having come from Nepal and India, fashion is important and there are many big cars. And electric motorbikes and not much honking of horns so it seems like a peaceful city.

I walked back through the main square and towards the People's Park. Before I was close I could hear music and as I got to the entrance I could hear different types of music, it was like a festival. The loudest music was coming from a large patio where there were about 100 middle-aged women dancing in formation to cheesy techno. They were not lined up military-style but they were following the actions of five leaders. It was great, they didn't seem to be self-conscious which was cool, they were enjoying the music and getting some exercise together, and it's more fun than Tai Chi? I watched for while then went to some of the other gatherings. There was some traditional folk music and dance, and ballroom dancing and a guy singing Opera really well, while a couple of ladies swang their fans around, all amateurs I think, just enjoying it with other people.

I got a bit lost but then found the Qing Yang temple (also known as the Green Ram Temple) which is a Taoist temple and has a big Yin/Yang stone at the front. The temples are similar to Buddhist temples, and it was nearly closing time so I had the place to myself, though I had to peep through door jambs to see inside. I stroked the bronze ram, which is supposed to relieve you of your troubles.

Got dinner on the way back, stopped at a random restaurant where the menu was only in Chinese, so I pointed to one of the pictures on the wall, not really knowing what it was. It came in a huge round pot, I think it is intended for more than one person. It took a while to realise that it was fish cut into large pieces, all of the fish, head and all. Not really what I would have chosen. So I picked out and ate the fleshy bits and the vegetables and mixed it with lots of rice and left the 'yuk' bits in the bowl. Sichuan is known for its super-spicy food and this was no exception. Still, I got there in the end.
Good chat with Finnish girls at the hostel.



Tuesday 19 April.

Up, at 6:30am, taxi then bus at 7:30am to Leshan. Took a while to work out which bus station I had arrived at, then local young guy came with me on the bus and to a hotel, which was good of him. The hotels are posh and expensive here, especially when I am used to paying Kathmandu prices.

Went to a small local restaurant for lunch and pointed to a list of food written in Chinese in my LP, and they gave me momos  which was ironic. Leshan is overcast, it's always like this apparently. But it is famous for having the world's largest Buddha status (I wonder whether the ones in Afghanistan were bigger before the Taliban blew them up?) After more confusion and sign-language, I got on the small ferry and it took us out onto the river, from where you get the best view of the Buddha, who is 71m high. Impressive. I thought that the boat would take us to the other sights but it just went back to the dock.

I had to get the bus to the other sights and a close-up of the Buddha and for a while I was at the wrong bus stop, but with some local help I got on the right bus. There were lots of tour groups there. There are a few stone tigers and dragons on the way up, and then you have to queue to go down the narrow steps to Buddha's feet, so I was squashed tightly among Chinese tourists. From the base of the statue, it is a long way to look up to Buddha's feet.

I walked through the 'fishing village' and across a picturesque bridge across the narrow river and up the steps through the forest to Wuyou temple. Just inside the entrance were the four Buddhist protectors (Heavenly Kings) that I have seen in other (Chinese?) Buddhist temples. They are huge and scary-looking, yet colourful and kind of comical. Also Inside the adjacent Luohan Hall, are 500 terracotta 'arhats', (Buddhist disciples who have reached Enlightenment). Each statue is colourful, expressive and unique. They are in lines as if they are politicans in parliament.

On the way back to the Buddha, I stopped at the Mahaoya Tombs, where, during the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD25-220), people were buried in tombs in the rock. There were also some small stone objects they found, such as dancers and horses. I went to the Lingyun temple  on the way out.

I decided to find the bus station this evening, rather than tomorrow with my bag. It took about 1.5 hours and lots of asking people many of whom did not understand the Chinese writing in the LP (I don't know why). The bus station was almost deserted but one in an office said it's the right place, glad I didn't wait until tomorrow. Chatted there to German guy who is also having trouble getting in to Tibet. And along the way I got to watch the locals. There were a few groups of guys playing cards and checkers on upturned cardboard boxes on the pavement, a woman sitting with them doing her knitting. There is a clear mix of the modern (big cars, fashion) and the old (people pursing traditional interests).

Got the bus back to town, I hadn't realised you needed the exact change, for the machine, to pay for the bus. A young guy could see I only had a 5 yuan note, when you only need 1 yuan, so he just stuck a 1 yuan for me; the people here are very helpful when they can be.

Stopped for dinner on the way back. Decided to say, using my book as help, that I am vegetarian, hoping to get just veggies. The chef was very friendly without knowing any English, but then just made like a pancake out of flat (hot) chips with no other veggies. Oh, and rice. So again, not so successful having dinner, but at least it was a proper locals restaurant.

The bottled water here comes in 555ml and 1.555ml size bottles. And alongside the main street there is a larger-than-life bronze statue of a naked woman body-surfing on a crocodile. No idea why!


Thursday 21 April

Long lie-in in my lavish hotel room, then, after momos, got the bus to the bus station from last night. Grrrr, no buses to Emei from there, the guy and I must have misunderstood eachother. No idea where I should go except they pointed me back towards the town centre. Then I bumped into an English and American guy who teach there and they put me on the bus back to the bus station where I arrived yesterday. And a local girl helped me get a ticket and onto the the bus.

Arrived at the bus station at Emei, thinking the train station was across town but asked the bus driver and he pointed across the road, and there was the train station, glad I didn't just get on the first bus. Had a laugh and a joke with the taxi drivers and pedicab drivers who couldn't believe I didnt need their service, even though we never would have understood eachother anyway. I think I was in Emei town but it was more like an industrial estate with shops instead of machines. The people were not much help even when I pointed to the word for internet and email in Chinese in my book. Eventually a girl from an office helped and got me set up at an internet cafe while I waited a couple of hours for the train.

At the train station, they have a big gate to keep passengers in the waiting area, and off the platform. When the train is coming the passengers line up and then the staff unlock the gate and ushered us into orderly lines. When the train arrives, most people break the line and rush onto the train.

This was my first train trip in China and the train was great. Very clean and comfortable and they give you a duvet/doona, sheets and a pillow. They pipe through music and aircon. The music goes off at exactly 10pm.

The lights came back on at exactly 6am. I got off the top bunk and the locals told me when we reached my stop, Panzhihua. A guy I had chatted to before put me on the right bus to the bus station (i had a pretty good idea where to go from research on an internet forum). It took 50 minutes to get across town, but then I was straight on the next bus at 8:30am, 8 hours to Lijiang. The driver was multi-tasking : despite the 'no smoking sign' above his head he chain-smoked and also was constantly on the phone. I shouldn't really sit at the front, I would rather not know that he has one or no hands on the steering wheel.
The lady next to me was cleaning her false teeth in her hands with a tissue and at the same time seemed to be asking me to put my shoes back on, not sure why, they didn't smell, honestly.

Got a taxi here to the Garden Inn, its very nice and peaceful. Walked into Old Town, Lijiang, which is one of the most popular tourist destinations in China. And touristy it is. All the buildings are archetypal Chinese which is nice, but they are all souvenir shops, selling jewelery and tat, and the streets are packed. Its more like a Chinese theme park. The bars are like nightclubs and have dancers on the stage, loud dance music and there are small blocks of wood on the tables, that the punterssmack down in time to the music.

Went to a restaurant outside the tourist area. Pointed to the biggest picture of a meal, but they didnt seem to have it on the menu. SO I pointed to the rack of veggies again and got a plate of leafy veg and shallots!

The 6 bed dorm has just 3 others staying and its very comfortable and cheap. And there is always hot water and electricity which feels like a bonus after Nepal.

Friday 22 April

A bit of lie-in, as today was for looking around the town, and I kind of felt that I had seen most of it in a quick look around last night. After milky porridge I joined the crowds in the streets, though it was definitely quieter than last night.
The town has lots of small streams and bridges running through it and with the trees and the architecture it is quite picturesque. Went to the Black Dragon Pool Park, which, as well as the pool, has pagodas and bridges; just a nice calm place to hang out, a bit like a Japanese garden, though the Chinese wouldn't thank me for saying it. Had a good walk around the quieter backstreets of town.

I went to the new town to buy some soap and got a generic brand rather than the 'skin whitening soap' as I figure I don't really need that. And had to chuckle at some of the signs in the old town that are in English as well as Chinese, such as: 'Civilised behaviour of tourists is another bright scenery rational shopping'. Lost in Translation. The wooden signs are carefully carved so you would have thought they would get an English speaker to check it before they started carving.

My stomach has been a bit dodgy today, probably from the pork on a stick I had yesterday, but at least I had a kind of proper meal for lunch, tofu and veggies, then some very heavy bun thing, and flat noodles with a bit of chilli and garlic for dinner, hopefully indigestion will have passed by tomorrow. Pleasant walk in the evening, its a bit like Tewkesbury's mop fair with all the lights and the crowds. Had a quick look at the dancers in the bars again; it seemed a bit like Idol.
Met an Aussie guy who informed me that it's Easter in the real world.

The hostel is really nice. I had a time out this afternoon and sat and read here and the owners/staff were just sitting knitting and playing with the kid, but they smile and make you feel welcome. Am reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and its pretty hard to put down.

Saturday 23 April

I was planning to take a bike out to the surrounding towns but stomach was more upset than yesterday, annoying. So spent all day under the porch, sat up in my sleeping here at the hostel. Oh well, the weather wasn't great and they have free wi-fi. At 9pm the hostel called a taxi for 3 Chinese, an Irish girl and me to go to Lijiang the train station.


Sunday 24 April

Arrived at Kunming station at 7am. Got a ticket for Guiyang for tonight, put my bag in the left luggage and went next door for food at Dico's, which is a bit like KFC but classier and everything comes with rice. It was very grey and rainy but I didn't mind and set off to look around Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province.

Well, Kunming is mostly just a big modern city but the park was nice, the old town markets were ok and I had a look around the electronic shops. Had a great falafel in in a street of western-style restaurants. I normally try to eat local but that hasn't been too successful in China so chose to go for something more familiar.

I bought my train ticket for Guilin to Shenzhen (near Hong Kong) for May 3rd as I know that transport will be busy then for the week-long May public holiday. As it was, there were no sleeper seats left so I have only a hard seat, for 13 hours; oh well, should be ok.

Dinner in a decent Chinese restaurant. Beef tendons(!) and mushroom noodles(?). It looked and tasted good but.....


Monday 25 April

.....woke up on the train at 2am with indigestion and then an upset stomach, too much chilli in my dinner, or maybe it was the meat. So hanging around and in the toilet for a while.

On the train, the local guys ignore the no smoking signs around the ends of the corridors, and the guards smoke there too, even though there are designated smoking areas. The cabins have no doors so the smell was almost like being in a pub in the old days.

Arrived at Guiyang at 6am this morning. Looks like another big city, and its overcast again. Ideally I would have taken the bus out to some country towns from here but I realised that I don't really have time and since my stomach is still dodgy I might as well spend the day on the train (near the toilet) to the next major stop, Guilin, (via Liuzhou because there was no direct train).

So I treated myself to another (expensive) sleeper seat, rather than just a hard seat, on the train today, as I was feeling crook. I slept and read most of the way, but when I did sit by the window the scenery was cool, very Chinese with people working the rice paddies and karsts in the background. Hopefully, in the next few days I can get in among that scenery on foot or a bike.

Arrived at Liuzhou at 5pm, so decided to stay here for the night. It is a (big) pleasant town. It probably helps that it is warm and sunny here. On the edge of town are some karsts and a cable-car up to one of them.

As I checked into the hotel, the girl receptionist was virtually hyperventilating with the unfamiliarity of dealing with a westerner (although the hotel is in the LP, so I can't be the first!). She didn't seem to (want to) speak English, but was then able to write down "I will return your deposit tomorrow". Oh well, its mostly shyness and not wanting to lose face, and we got there in the end. The locals do sometimes panic when faced with a westerner.

I went to look for the bus station for tomorrow. Couldn't find it so 'asked' for directions from a couple of young lads who were just closing up their sports shop. One of them gave me a lift there across town on his electric motorbike, asking only for a photo of us as payment. I got one too.

So, given the two bouts of upset stomach in the last few days, I went looking for food that wasn't meat and didn't have chilli in it. Not easy in China. But I did have my first dumpling, and then some noodles, in both cases saying "Wo chi su ah", meaning I am vegetarian, and "Bu yao tai la", meaning "not too spicy". Both of these concepts seem a little strange to the locals.

I feel I have bypassed large swathes of south-west China. But with limited time, it makes sense to visit the Guilin area only, before heading from there to HK next week.


Tuesday 26 April

Up at 6:15, walked a km to the bus station. Bus to Guilin. Seems to be no bus from there to Longsheng/Pingan (according to taxi drivers) so had to go to other bus station. (I guess I could have checked at the ticket office but it is quite common to have to get yourself from one bus station to another). Anyway, a guy led me to another guy with a taxi motorbike, no English. After some miming and pointing and me asking him not to shout (a small crowd gathers around the white man even when he's not being shouted at, though the guy wasn't being aggressive, more like assertive), I jumped on the back of the bike.....

Well, you can't always be sure who to trust......I went across town on the back of the bike, my big bag on my back helping to balance us. The driver flagged down a moving bus which stopped and I got on, but the bike driver followed me on and we argued about the price. He wrote down '50' on my piece of paper which I thought was more than we had agreed but I decided to believe him and that it was a lost in translation issue so gave him 50.....

But as he got off the bus, one of the ladies on the bus shouted after him, and the young bus conductor, and I, followed him off the bus, and the conductor made him give me 20 back! Later, the conductor gave me a piece of paper and it said 'next time get a taxi. Just he is a bad man'. I thought that was very good of him to first stop the guy completely ripping me off and then to let me know that the other guy was in the wrong.

After a couple of hours into the countryside, the bus stopped at the side of the road and a lady from another bus said 'Pingan?' which was where I really wanted to go. So i swapped buses and was soon joined by a group of 15 Chinese students, so had a bit of chat with them while the bus wound its way up towards Pingan.

The bus dropped us off and we walked 20 minutes up the steep steps to the Zhuang village of Pingan. This wooden village is set in the heart of some famous rice terraces. I was very hot sweaty when I made it to this lodge, at 2pm. I dumped my stuff, found lunch of noodles, egg and veg (so no stomach problems!) and then walked up the path and to the two viewing points, overlooking the terraces.

Viewpoint 2 is known as Seven Stars with Moon and viewpoint 1 is known as Nine Dragons and Five Tigers. I haven't been this close to rice terraces before and it is quite spectacular. They are developed for efficient and effective farming, but make for great scenery too. It is quite touristy in the village, but there were not many people on the path, probably because it was late afternoon.

Had 'potato curry' for dinner, it came out as curried (hot) chips. The owner was trying to too hard to be friendly.


Wednesday 27th April

4 fried eggs and toast for breakfast. Started hike at 8:30am. Walked up to the 2 viewpoints from yesterday and then another 4kms to the village of Zhongliu, on a long and easy path through trees and alongside the rice paddies. Played cat and mouse with annoying local woman who was trying to be my (paid) guide; I kept dropping back so she couldn't pretend she was leading me. But then she would stop too, so I raced ahead of her. Then 3 ladies in traditional costume wanted me to take their picture in front of a tiny waterfall, obviously for a price. Its touristy here and the locals are pushy and keen to cash in on their culture.

Anyway, the walk was pleasant and Zhongliu was nice, people working the fields, diverting the small river using bamboo cut length-wise. I walked back to Pingan, had lunch and read my book, then set out up a very steep hill for a village (Longji) in the opposite direction from this morning. After 40 minutes I met a couple herding their goats and asked them for directions and they pointed me back down the hill! It was very hot and I decided I was over the crowds and the tourism, and came back for an afternoon cat nap, but that never happened either as i faffed around for an hour trying to get a bus ticket for tomorrow. Managed to see some of the Champions League highlights on TV in a shop.

Thursday 28th April

Same breakfast as yesterday then walked down to the bus stop; bus to Guilin, 2.5 hours, and straight on a bus to Yangshuo, 1 hour. Well, as I already knew, Yangshuo is very touristy. It's a popular place because of the surrounding countryside, but the main pedestrianised strip is now full of bars and clubs belting out hip-hop, souvenir stalls and posh restaurants, not really what I came to China for! Looking forward to getting out of town tomorrow on a kayak.

The hostel is good, mostly English people. There are lockers in the room, but apparently one got broken into the other day and someone got their camera nicked so will be keeping my stuff close to me.

Pesky mozzies in the night, and a loud snorer, but slept mostly ok.


Friday 29th April

Left my valuables in the 'safe', which is just a locked cupboard in reception, but not much choice since I went kayaking on the Li River. There was just me and an English couple and their grown-up son on the trip. The minibus took us to Fuli, then the 'guide' gave us lifejackets, put us in kayaks and said "just paddle until you come to a bridge" and drove off. Well, it rained most of the time, which was fine, it was fine, warm rain, and preferable to the heat and sun of yesterday. There was not much current, only a few small rapids. The scenery was very Chinese, with tree-laden karsts on each side, among the mist. It took about 2.5 hours to get to the bridge. We left our kayaks, oars and life-jackets with a local, and got the local bus back to Yangshuo in time for lunch. 


Saturday 30th April

At the staff's request, this morning I swapped to another room in another building; that's fine, just glad to have a bed since the town is so booked up because it is the week-long Chinese holiday. In fact this room and the bathroom are bigger.

English Mike and I hired decent moutain bikes and headed out of town to the sights. Mike has been here before so he was tour guide and I didn't have to think. It wasn't exactly a relaxing ride in the countryside, as we were on main roads with buses and cars hurtling past beeping their horns loud enough to make you jump, as well as loads of other tourists on bikes. After 8.5kms we came to Moon Hill which is a 20 minute sweaty walk up to a limestone rock with a moon-shaped hole in it, with views of the karsts and the villages from the top.

We turned around and headed back past some touristy caves outside which is virtually gridlock so it was fun weaving among the near-stationary buses. Mike got dressed up in traditional costume to have his picture taken with moon hill in the background.  From there we took a circuitous route along another main road back to Yangshou.

We headed out the other side of town, again down a busy road. Fortunately there is a quite a wide cycle path alongside the road so you can stay out of the way of the speeding buses. It was a long, gradual ride uphill and we glad of having proper bikes with gears. Eventually we turned off and rode through a village to Dragon Bridge(?). From the bridge, the karst and river scenery is picture-postcard.

On the ride back to Yangshou the police made everyone stop and the main road was shut until some dignitaries had sped through in their posh cars and minibuses; was it really necessary to stop a few tourists from riding their bikes along the same road?

Have been craving soft-serve ice cream lately(!) so that was my first stop back in town. I was a bit slack and just had dinner in the hostel again, couldn't really face the crowds and noise outside again. Ventured up to the rooftop to eat. I have kind of avoided the bar since it is orientated to selling people as much alcohol as possible and I am not interested in that, but it was ok. Not sure why most of the other guests are dressed up to the nines and wearing lots of makeup, why would you come to Yanghsuo to go clubbing? But I had a good chat with a couple of like-minded traveller types, a Dutch girl, and a Phillipino girl, whom I grilled about the Phillipines.

Sunday 1st May

The offical start of the week-long Chinese holiday. This dorm is much noisier at night, booming from the nearby nightclubs. Thankfully I have good earplugs.

Slept in then went to the same restaurant for same American breakfast. It's overcast again and raining and on and off. Just pottered around and didn't really do anything, except following the Premiership online in the evening.


Monday 2nd May

Lazy lie in. Same breakfast, then went for a walk around the edge of town. First past the river where the ladies were setting  up their souvenir stalls at lunchtime. I saw a big waterbird standing on a piece of bamboo on the concrete steps that lead down to the river. I thought it was cool how it was just stood there, so took a photo. Then I realised it was attached to the bamboo, as was the bird next to it. And there were another two further along, attached to the bamboo, captive. They are cormorants and fishermen use them to catch fish. Well, they look like a smart, intelligent bird and shouldn't be captive as far as I can tell. From the captors point of view, this is a traditional way of fishing and subsistence but is it really still necessary?

Walked on and found some local restaurants where you could select your own food so finally managed to pile my plate with veggies which they cooked and served with rice. Wandered a bit more, along some main roads and back into town.

It was warm and sunny all day. Until this evening, as I walked back from dinner, it poured, everyone ran for cover and the streets were flooded. I took cover for a while at a shop entrance as I had no jacket. Then one of the guys sheltering with me ran across the road and came back with a huge 'umbrella', the type nomrally used as a sunshade at an outside bar. And before he had chance to think about it I had turned him round and we walked down the road towards my hostel under the 'umbrella', the 'river' gushing over our ankles. The locals pointed and laughed at us, it was funny. Poor guy didnt know how far we were going but it only took a few minutes to get me home and I thanked him alot.