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.
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.
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