Been there, Dan that! - Dan
Well, i'm off to wing it in China for a while, there is some structure to my plans i'm just not sure what they are yet! Thats not entirely true, i'm hopeing to do a bit of teaching somwhere whilst...

leaving soon!
Sheffield, United Kingdom
I'm not there yet but i'm hopefully meeting Helen in HK this sunday,
no photos yet either cos my camera is broken, how fortunate that i'm about to travel somewhere that has cool technical stuff that aint all that expensive...
My flight is tomorrow and i haven't packed yet so i'm off!
written by  Dan on March 7, 2008 from Sheffield, United Kingdom
from the travel blog: Been there, Dan that!

Made it!
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
So I got to HK safe and sound and met H and J too which was ace, we've been bombing it around for the past couple of days which has been good cos it got me knackered so I haven't suffered too much with Jet Lag.
Got my Chinese visa yesterday shortly after visiting the worlds biggest sitting down brass outdoor Buddha which was good despite all the conditions to its fame!
I also bought a camera, proper nice one for 90 quid including a 1 gig card which is rather excellent, the ridiculous amount of high tech shops here is somewhat daunting and you haggle almost everywhere even in the department stores. However Hong Kong is EXPENSIVE, it's like I never left home, its a pretty cool place and the high rises are impressive but I couldn't stay here for much longer than 3 or 4 days there's not a massive amount you can do on a budget so I'm getting a train to the mainland tomorrow to immerse myself in the ridiculously cheapness of China.
Helen and Jamie fly home tonight so I'm properly on my own from here on out, pretty exciting actually!
Will upload some photos when I've taken some...
written by  Dan on March 9, 2008 from Hong Kong, Hong Kong
from the travel blog: Been there, Dan that!

West meets east
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Despite the cost Hong Kong was a great decision, it was a gentle introduction into China with its bilingual signs and super efficient underground system. I was prepared for anything in HK and the city didn't dissapoint. The mixture of cultures was a big surpirise the majority of faces where Chinese on the underground but as I entered the HK streets for the first time in kowloon (the other side of the water from Hong Kong central) it was west african and central asian faces and voices everywhere. We (Helen Jamie and I) where staying in Chungking mansions a bizzare, scruffy building that once inside resembled some sort of space port market thing, its hard to explain but all the bussel was exciting, being gently harrased for cheap suits and fake watches every time you entered and exited just added to the charm.
You would think this sort of establishment would be cheap and i suppose by Hing Kong standards it was but by asian standards it certainly wasn't $15 to the pound, our room was 80 each for the smallest triple i had ever seen. Even fruit from the market downstairs was dear.
I was in the city for 4 days most of the time spent with H & J and they kept me busy whizzing us around to the sights. We went up the monorail to the Victoria peak viewpoint which was spectacular despite the persistant haze. The walk back was also great HK is surprisingly green in places despite the enormous towers which seem to crop up impossibly from the tiny island.
Other trips involved trawling through colourful markets mostly full of tat and a boat trip to Lantou Island, a strange place 3 times the size of HK island and much less developed it was here we visited the sitting brass buddah.
Downtown Hong Kong is spectacular, having not been to a city with highrises before i was taken a back by the awesome office blocks and financial buildings. Sadly i was still cameraless at this stage so missed a few good photo ops.
Kowloon at night across the south China sea, from Hong Kong island.
Its when your in the central area of Hong Kong that the true reason for this city reveals itself, the place is like a financial hub with the other bits a similarly important financial city would have missing. Its clear that the British rule HK was under and lack of restraints it then gained molded this city onto an abnormal place in comparrison to the rest of Asia. Its hear that your wallet takes the biggent beating too especially if you want to have a drink with alcohol a minimum of $50 a bottle in bars, often up to twice that.
H & J flew home wednesday evening, i was sorry to see them go as the last year without them back in britain had been strange. I then paid $120 for my single room and prepaired myself for my lone trip to the mainland.
written by  Dan on March 12, 2008 from Hong Kong, Hong Kong
from the travel blog: Been there, Dan that!

First big train trip
Guangzhou, China
Armed with my shiny new chinese visa i headed to Hong Kong station to catch a train to the mainland. I knew that the surrounding area of China was still expensive and also very poluted so i wanted to get in land a distance. $130 took me the 2 hour trip to Guangzhou a smog belching industrial hub and one of Chinas massive cities. From here i intended to catch a sleeper train that evening to Guiln 13 hours North West.
After passing through customs and changing my HK$ for Yuan I am heartily greated by a couple of "tourist information" gents. They ask where i am going... i tell them (mistake). I'm pretty sure, despite what limited travelling experience i have had, i should now not to talk to touts by now, its strange you get yourself ready to act tough and then answer there first question without thinking!
Surpisingly enough they where full of crap as i was told i would not be able to get a train until tomorrow, that i couldn't buy tickets from this station and that they would book it for me at the "same price" of 1700. As soon as he said that I bailed, my lonely planet said you could by them downstairs and it should cost around 200. I legged it down the closest stairs into the ticketing section of the station, I eventually located the long distance checkouts and was greated by a chinese computerised board of destinations. A bit stuck i asked around and eventually determined which large line i should join, 20 minutes later i was at the front but was greated by a blank face when i asked for my ticket. I was then directed to another que with an english speaking clerk and was allowed to jump to the front, i was quickly sold a ticket and paid 209 yuan... travellers 1, touts 0.
I was informed i now had to head to the other station about 5km west so i walked toward the taxi que, again being one of few western faces in the crowd I attracted more attention, "You want taxi?" "Where you go?" ... "main station" I said (er twat your talking to them again, man i really need to toughen up)
"150"
"no thanks" i join the back of the normal main que
"ok you name price"
"20" (er your still talking to them Dan)
"no no it very long way, 100"
You get the idea.
We settled on 60 and then i bailed and joined the que anyway, that bemused him and he followed me for a while before scuttling off.
I got a regular cab it cost 25.
2 - 0
The main station is enormous, apparantly one of the biggest in China, there must have been 5000 folk outside some of which looked like they had been there for days, many of those faces looked Mongolian so i guess they where a long way from home too.
Guangzhou station, the station is in the far left, with all the folk outside!
I had 4 hours before my train left and the left luggage department looked chaotic so i decided to hang around, I took a picture then noticed all the police and remebered the stories about people getting arrested for taking pics of important buildings so i put my camera away.
Eventually i ventured inside armed with my 1 yuan (7p) pot noodles as recomended.
Finding where to wait wasn't too difficult as i now knew my train code (in english letters and numerals) so you just follow the signs to your designated waiting area. Around 20 minutes before the train was due to depart there was a shout and the whole waiting room rose and stormed off. I followed the throng assuming that there had been a change of platform, that was the case and we stepped out onto the platform.
As i entered my carriage the situation changed dramatically from the organised chaos of the staion I entered the calm, clean and orderly haven of the train. Greated by a ticket lady assigned specifically to my carriage i swapped my ticket for a card with my bed number on it. I find my bunk, take off my shoes and scramble onto my slightly small but comfortable bed. There are 3 beds on each side of our little bay with cotton sheets, pillow and quilt covers. We also have our own supply of boiled water. We get our own tea lady too who sells fruit and plated meals. I tuck into my deluxe pot noodle and drink some green tea. The pan pipe moods music isn't great but my earplugs are to hand so no worries there. The bumpy train pulls off and I settle for the night, leaving the polution behind.
My bed on the train
written by  Dan on March 13, 2008 from Guangzhou, China

Tired this morning
Guilin, China
My train arrived at dawn and i was concerned that the the hostel wouldn't be open.
I wonder out the station completely ignoring the taxi touts who are nothing like as bad as suggested in Lonely Planet! Helens directions for the hostel are a big help and i'm in my dorm for 7am, also bore the firt fruit of my YHA membership a whole 5 Yuan off!
Its quite chilly here so my jumper and jeans are back on.
Scrambled eggs for breakfast.
I'm still really tired, didnt sleep much on the bumpy train, so i'm just gonna chill out in the comfy hostel today. WIll head into Guilin this evening and tomorrow, then onto the river cruise.
written by  Dan on March 14, 2008 from Guilin, China

The rain sets in...
Guilin, China
Guilin was wet, the first day i was there was a write off and anyway i was knackered from my train trip so i just recouped in the hostel common room reading my book and watching CCTV9 the english language chinese telly channel. I ventured out in the evening for my dinner, yet to get my courage up regarding street food so i headed for a restaurant recommended by Helen and the lonely planet. It was ace 2 dishes rice and beer for 40 yuan. To be honest i ordered too much food, i keep thinking because stuff is so cheep that you need to order a couple of plates else there wont be enough, half an enormous bowl of green beans and a fair chunk of szechuan pork later i discovered i was wrong!
I had all Guilin's landmarks pencilled in for the next day and after a solid nights sleep i head out into the city, its overcast but fresh. I found my first destination "solitary beauty peak" an old princes place and gardens with a hill at the back of it from which you could get great views of the city.
I paid my 50 yuan and the heavens opened.
The main Palace, thats the hill in the fog behind!
I ventured on looking in the little museum which promisingly had an english introduction but as soon as you entered became a solely chinese affair,, its fair enough i suppose its just nice to know what your looking at.
The steps down
I wondered to the peak and up the steep steps the view at the top was non existent as the rain had wiped out any scenery behind a dense grey blob.
The not so good view down from the top. Straight ahead was grey!
There was a smattering of Chinese tourist around all sensibly armed with brollies and as i headed out the park the rain got heavier and the streets cleared. I was going to go to the main park which contained 7 more similar peaks but i sacked it off a trudged back to the hostel.
The afternoon followed that pattern of the previous as i read some more of my book whilst keeping an eye on the ridiculously clipped tones of the chinese news presenters.
Next morning I jumped on the bus to Yuangshou a village about 80 km south that apparently contains some of Chinas most dramatic scenery, hopefully i will be able to see it!
written by  Dan on March 16, 2008 from Guilin, China

Amongst the Karst Peaks
Yangshuo, China
The weather here started bad too but it doesn't take away from the scenery. Yangshuo is a fairly small town very popular with tourists there's a whole section of the town devoted to them but its not too bad quite noisy and comparatively expensive but its nice and relaxed. I had planned to do a hike on my first day here but the weather was dreadful so i jumped on a bus to my destination instead. The little fishing village of xingping, it was suggested in the lonely planet for its old town, which was tiny , but certainly worth a look, everything you would expect from a stereotypical old chinese town, rows of small houses with lanterns hanging down and bicycles strewn in the street. It was nice to wonder around and i was the only western tourist there, the chinese tours where present too but they seemed more interested in getting the extortionate ferry trips.
I had intended on getting a boat back down the Li river but it was too expensive to hire one alone so i got the bus back instead. Its definitely the main problem with being a single traveller, trying to get on tours and certain modes of transport can be really worthwhile if there is 3 or 4 of you but its just not viable if your alone. Can be a bit frustrating.
a very chinese looking street
Yangshuo is famous for its scenery, in particular the karst peaks. The best way to see them is to hire a bike and venture out. On my second day i joined with a chinese speaking malaysian and we both hired bikes for the day and headed out. The route should apparently have taken us about 3 hours but it stretched out to 6 due to a combination of photo stops a shoddy map and 2 punctures, neither of which i suffered i'm glad to say.
more of the town tucked into the mountains
The scenery is spectacular (i'll post up some pics when i've got a slightly quicker computer) The mountains rise from nowhere like big green teeth. They look like the kind of hills you draw when your a kid, ridiculous rounded lumps with vertical sides.
Was walking through the touristy part of town that evening in search of some dinner when i bumped into a chap from uni, wound up having dinner with him and the rest of his tour group which was ace! They where in town for a couple of days as part of a whistle stop tour of China.
Dan complete with pink ladies bike and crazy hills!
Getting a bus back north tomorrow morning so im off to bed.
written by  Dan on March 19, 2008 from Yangshuo, China

Ping 'an and the Dragons backbone
Longsheng, China
I got the bus from Yangshuo on yet another wet day in China. I took 3 buses actually over several hours but it was well worth the effort to get to the old chinese village of Ping 'an.
As the bus closed in on our destination up a winding mountain road we entered a bank of clouds and I cursed my luck again thinking that my trip all this way would be wasted. I was dropped off at the village gate and was still in the cloud. Ping ‘an’s centre, where I would be staying in one of its many guest houses, was about 20 minutes walk up the hill. So flanked by prospective landladies I trudged up the steps. The place looked surreal shrouded in cloud, the strange, gravity defying, traditional dong style houses looming out of the mists. However as I reached my selected guesthouse I also got above the clouds so I now found myself in an ancient chinese village that looked a bit like it was floating in the sky.
Ping an' village and the looming clouds
The area is famous for its rice terraces first cultivated in the 14th century they follow the contours of the hills, up to altitudes of around 1300 meters, seemingly endlessly. All of the fields are still in use so there are funky bits of bamboo irrigation system dotted about the place too.
I had set aside the nest day to walk amongst them.
So next morning I set out on my walk, I intended to head away from the touristy area (there were a ridiculous number of chinese tourists here too) and walk to the next village along the ridge. The other reason to get off the main tourist route was to get away from the particularly persistent local tribal woman who were insistent that I should photo them with there apparently Guinness world record breakingly long hair. Once onto the path to the next village I was completely alone and didn't see a sole for the next 3 hours, it was ace you’d walk through a bit of pine and bamboo forest turn a corner and be greeted by yet more ridiculously engineered fields. The effort the went into the original creation of these things must have been immense.
One of the famous bits, "7 stars acompany the moon"
I reached the village and then headed back to my hotel, there was a round walk but it involved another 3 or 4 hours of my time and there were rumblings of thunder around me. The weather had been kind up to then, a nice fresh breeze to walk in but it didn't take long to change the well trodden paths turned to streams in moments as it began to poor down and I was soaked despite my best efforts to leg it back to the hotel. Was well worth the drenching though, the highlight of my trip so far!
Endless crazy fields
The storm worsened and continued all night but by the morning it had passed and the weather was glorious, just in time for me to catch my bus out of there!
written by  Dan on March 22, 2008 from Longsheng, China

Back to Guilin
Guilin, China
Its sunny and warm here, first real blue sky since I've been in China. The streets are busy too, its as though the population has doubled. Just bought my train ticket to Kunming which went with no hitches. Not much to do now till my train tomorrow, went to the sichuan restaurant again last night, had eel, was very nice!
written by  Dan on March 23, 2008 from Guilin, China

Kunming by train
Kunming, China
Just arrived in Kunming, 1265km and around 18 hours on the train. The train trip was fun i was in a bay with 6 middle aged women who kept giving me bananas and laughing at me when i tried to climb into my bunk which needless to say i'm a bit to big for. They also had a water bottle with sand and 2 or 3 tiny crabs in which they looked after really carefully for the whole trip, most odd.
Arrived in Kunming at midday and jumped in a cab after deciding against the slightly vague bus directions lonely planet has in the book. The taxi driver was ace, he got lost too and i sat there for 15 minutes while he rang up the hostel to figure out where to go, he also spoke no english and had decided i was trying to find somewhere to eat not sleep but lots of frantic pointing at characters soon sorted that out. He cheerily drove on finding the hostel after an epic 30 minute drive through the city. I haven't mentioned how mental the driving is yet have I, i'm sure you can imagine. We got to the hostel and i tried to tip the chap but he wouldn't have it and gave me a discount instead... legend!
The hostel is really nice and chilled I can imagine it being a bit of a hippy haven if it where really busy but there doesn't seem to be to many people here. Will be checking out Kunming over the next couple of days so i'll report back soon.
written by  Dan on March 24, 2008 from Kunming, China

Breezy Kunming
Kunming, China
Kunming is really nice, i stayed here a bit longer than i intended but it was worth the extra time just to check the place out. The hostel got steadily busier through the week mostly with Aussies because there was an international football game on the wednesday, a world cup qualifier no less between China and the Socceroos! There banter was that the Chinese had staged it in Kunming because of the high altitude (Kunming sits on a plateau around 1900 meters above sea level) the Chinese team then basing themselves here for 3 weeks and the Australians not arriving till the day before. It did the Chinese no favours as the game was a dire affair, a tedious 0-0 draw though the Chinese missing a penalty in the last minute was quite good fun! i wondered down to the stadium to see if I could pick up a ticket on the cheap and check out the atmosphere and there were a few available but not in my sort of price bracket. So i ended up watching it back at the hostel with some disgruntled Chinese.
Temple entrance
The day previous I had wondered around the city checking out the park and finding a (very expensive) book shop in the extremely cosmopolitan feeling university area. I also went to a Buddhist temple which was quite an experience, full of pilgrims I was the only westerner there, the temple itself was situated amongst green pools of water teaming with massive goldfish, even bigger toads and sunbathing terrapins. It was a really nice place actually a lot nicer layout than the ones i went to in Nepal, in China they seem to concentrate more on the whole temple complex being aesthetically pleasing rather than just the main temple. I also stumbled across the provincial museum and went inside to look at there display of locally excavated bronzes. They were incredible, really highly detailed and in excellent condition after being taken from tombs of previous dynasties warlords. Some of the drums and tables dated back as far as the Warring states period of 400BC.
Sunbathing terapins
Followed Lonely planes instructions to head to the muslim area for food only to find it had been flattened ready for the construction of yet another mall. I wound up finding an Uyghur restaurant and was giggled at whilst i perused the completely chinese menu. I plumped for the the only pictured meal which looked like Chicken, it turned out to be some sort of heavily spiced white internal organ, Possibly intestine, it wasn't the best but not to worry. I found another little muslim section the day after near the hostel and had some excellent kebabs, particularly good mushrooms!
Tunnel through the cliff
view south
Yesterday i got a couple of buses to the lake Dian Chi a massive freshwater lake just to the south of the City, I was heading for a collection of cliffs on the western shore which contained some temples and grottos that had been dug into the cliff face by a Taoist monk in the 11 hundreds. A fair hike up the hill (i didn't take the chairlift!) brought you to the cliff face and you could walk up and down the face along tiny passages and tunnels chiselled into the rock, was most odd.
Ugly deity
The freshly painted gods in the temples were a bit garish and strange too. That trip took up the whole day along with a stroll back off the hillside past another couple of temples with really nice gardens, oh and my bit of good karma for the day as i helped some locals push there broken down car UP a hill!
Cool temple gardens
Bought my bus ticket south today so now i'm just chilling enjoying the fresh, sunny and breezy weather today before my first experience of a night bus tonight!
written by  Dan on March 28, 2008 from Kunming, China

First impressions of Jinghong
Jinghong, China
Jinghong is warm, its right in the south of Yunnan province near the borders of Laos, Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand, its technically a separate little region called Xishuanbanan, most of the signs here are in Thai and Chinese and there are a lot of SE asian looking folk around. I got here early this morning, it was still dark, after an uncomfortable ride on the night bus, i knew it was going to be warm as i stepped off the bus at 6am because i was comfortable standing there in my shorts and T-shirt, after a bit of a trek and a failure to find a bed at my first choice hostel i got myself into a bamboo hut built on stilts in the traditional Dai style! its cool but not very soundproof. Had a bit of a kip and wondered about town to the Mekong river and into a few touristy cafe's that have loads of info on trekking and cycling in the area, there seems to be loads to do, and assuming i can afford to i hope to hang around for a while as there is a big festival in the middle of april which would be worth seeing, so i hope to pass the time trekking, cycling and probably reading, sounds good to me!
written by  Dan on March 29, 2008 from Jinghong, China

The curios incident of the big toe in the night-time!
Jinghong, China
I was really excited about Jinghong after lots of positive reports from Helen and the LP. However i wasn't as taken by the place as i had expected. The town was nice enough with palm tree lined streets and friendly inhabitants but there wasn't a massive amount to do within the city and i was struggling with the heat, humidity and mosquitoes. In comparison with SE asia it probably chilly but i was being properly northern and sweating a lot!!!
Jinghong though isn't praised for its town its there on the traveller itinerary for its surrounding jungle with lots of trekking and cycling possibilities and i had intended to do so.
Jungle is massive!
After my first day in JH recuperating from my first (and unfortunately not last, the only way back out was another bus) of chinese night buses. I went to check out the few tourist attractions the town itself had to offer, mostly parks and gardens.
water lilly
the botanical garden was really nice with all sorts of cool things you never see outside of the tropics. The whole place was like the little hot house at the botanics in Sheffield only there was three acres of it.
Botanics gardens - odd architecture
Met an Australian chap in there whom i had chatted to previously at the hostel in Kunming. We both expressed the desire to trek and both reported back the same problem of most of the treks only being available to groups of 2 or more. So we agreed to check out the options in the cafes later that evening. First though i was planning on checking out the much recommended blind massage school. So I searched it out with Chris and we signed up for a full collaterals massage! whatever that was. Turned out to be pretty good if a little brutal, mostly working on your spine there was a lot of pressure and use of the elbow. Was good though especially the head massage at the end.
We then strolled down to the cafe to check out the treks and bumped into some more folk form Kunming 2 Aussies and an Australian. Chris and I booked ourselves onto a 3 day trek and all 5 of us went to check out the local Dai barbecue scene. The scene was distinctly quiet a whole sort of market area by the mekong was set aside but there we few people there. We stuck in all the same and had such delicacies as bbq snails (removed from shells) which were good and slightly mouldy tofu (the equivalent to blue cheese) bad!
It was getting late but the day wasn't over yet, next a trip to the 24 hour sulphurous springs was in order to help digest our dinner? The springs were in the nearby village of Gasa so we piled in a cab and got there at about 10.30pm. Warm sulphurous swimming pool steaming in front of us we dived in got the gentle taste of eggy sandwiches in our mouths whilst floating around the pool. Now of course it is time for the curious incident which was to shape my travels for the next few weeks. Whilst extricating (a dainty procedure) myself from the pool i slid my right foot against the wall of the pool to aid my exit from the sulphurous waters and caught my big toe on a broken tile which painlessly sliced an cm square off the bottom of my toe. I felt something but not until i was wrapped in my towel did i notice the large amount of blood relieving itself from my foot. 30 minutes 2 tiny plasters a bunch of tissue paper and much debating with the proprietors as to whether they'd ring us a cab later i was sitting in said taxi pissed off and thinking i'd need a tetanus jab.
So no trekking then and after I dressed my foot properly, raiding the incredible array of medical equipment sent with me. I was left to contemplate what to do next.
Bikes i discovered was a good option as no pressure was placed on my toe.
rubber tree including rubber
The other Aussies and Swede were hanging around too so i wound up cycling through rubber plantations with them and playing roadside pool in the suburbs of JH.
roadside pool
A couple of days later i could walk fairly well too and now deciding i'd hang around with the Aus Swede contingent as they had a similar itinerary to mine (an option they agreed too) We booked ourselves on a mini Jungle trek to a local waterfall before catching a bus to northern Yunnan.
looking grumpy for some unknown reason
The trek was really nice, amazing sounds of the jungle and incredible high canopy, but after 4 hours in the jungle i was wet through so who knows what would have happened had i been out there for 3 days?!
the sun came out whilst we were in the clearing
written by  Dan on April 1, 2008 from Jinghong, China

Back north
Dali, China
Have seen the best weather yet here in Dali, deep blue sky and refreshing winds, deceptively cool as the sun is quite harsh.
Heading back north has seen me climb again and Dali is situated around 2000 meters above sea level. I'm staying in the old town, which is walled by grey brick. Its very picturesque and Chinese looking.
quiet streets usually shoulder to shoulder with chinese tourists
Arrived in Dali from a bus direct from Jinghong, a mere 17.5 hours to travel the equivalent length of south Korea i wont be doing it again in a hurry! The beds were even more ridiculous than the last bus wit beds that had metal bars down the sides that were too wide for my shoulders and the bed was too short to be able to lie comfortably on your side without sticking your feet into the aisle. The road was also insane, from about 10pm to 3am we were on a twisting bumpy road obviously climbing a fair altitude but not really suitable when your trying to sleep.
Not impressed with the leg room on the bus!
After arriving in the new town at around 10 am we then had to get to the old town, waiting for the bus as instructed by the lonely planet proved unsuccessful as it didn't turn up so we took a taxi for the 20 minute ride to the old town. Only as we drew up did i realise in my tired state i'd left my flask (kindly handed down by Helen) on the bus, that thing had already been round china once so i'm a bit gutted to have lost it. However my loss was eclipsed seconds later when Kiki realised she'd left her ipod under her pillow!!! Sadly it was an hour since we'd exited the bus so going back was no good.
The resulting sleep deprivation meant the next day was spent flopping around the hostel. The next day was more fruitful though as we spent the day (i'm still hanging round with the 2 Australians and the Swede by the way) checking out the town,
funky stream down the streets
walking along the wall and eating from the street stalls, really nice savoury potato pancakes, and generally taking in the place. the town itself is flanked by a large freshwater lake to the east and 4000 meter snow topped mountains to the west.
view west from the wall, to the montains
The next day we hired bikes with the intention of catching a ferry across the lake and cycling back round. However the LP's price of 2-3 yuan for the ferry had in fact increased to 50 yuan so we decided to stick on the eastern shore instead and check out some local villages. The cycle was nice but it got very hot and despite 3 liberal applications of sun cream the 7 hours cycling in the sun saw me get a bit burnt. I know have sandal marks on my feet like a proper englishman.
View on the bike ride
Due to extreme saddle saw today has been officially designated a rest day before another (short) bus trip north tomorrow.
written by  Dan on April 6, 2008 from Dali, China

Green Papaya salad
Jinghong, China
If you can find any green papayas this salad is ace, had it in the Mekong cafe in Jinghong.
1 Green (unripe) Papaya, shredded
1 carrot, shredded
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and chopped
some peanuts
a bit of garlic
lemon juice
a handul of corriander
seasoning, possibly a light soy or just salt and pepper
a splash of light vinigar
instructions
1. mix
2. eat
nice with beer!
written by  Dan on April 1, 2008 from Jinghong, China

A short time at Mama's
Lijiang, China
Lijiang is a strange place, its one of the few remaining complete old towns in China and is protected by UNESCO. Obviously this is great but sadly it means that the small chinese streets are insanely busy.
Its an incredibly picturesque town with streams, even more than Dali, running down the edges of the paths and little bridges connecting the maze together.
Stone bridge and cherry blossom. There were even goldfish in the streams
The must fun in Lijiang was the accommodation a simple comfy dorm run by mama Naxi (Naxi is the local chinese minority) she with her army of girls and Baba (her husband) ran the hostel brilliantly. Creating a really friendly atmosphere whilst never failing in seeming to go insane at every turn.
Back at mamas hostel
She organised everything including dinner for the many travellers staying there every evening, tickets and tours to anywhere and always making sure you where topped up on tea and fruit. All of this done at maximum decibel just to keep us on our toes! The hostel itself was in the old town but situated outside of the main tourist arteries so it was quiet too.
Lijiang old town, with genuine locals
To get a real taste of local Naxi village you had to leave Lijiang and head to one of the surrounding villages.
View during the cycle.
On yet another bicycle trip we did just that and it didn't disappoint, not only did we not get lost we also found ourselves in the silent countryside with great views of the local mountain and then quiet streets to cycle through were Naxi people were still living. Sadly in Lijiang the locals have sold up (apparantly perfectly happily) for tourist vendors to use there houses as shops.
Despite the crowds Lijiang is a great and surprisingly peaceful place and i would have happily stayed there a little longer but the weather was great and we (still with the aussies by the way) had a trek to do.
More locals in Lijiangs streets
written by  Dan on April 9, 2008 from Lijiang, China

Tiger leaping gorge
Tiger Leaping Gorge, China
One thing all backpackers seem to do round here in northern Yunnan is the tiger leaping gorge trek, for good reason too as it is stunning! Its only quite a short walk, 24 km and can be comfortably done in 2 days. Some understandably take longer just to take in the views.
Dawn
We got a bus from Lijiang in the evening and stayed overnight at the start of the trek to take advantage of the cool early morning setting off at 7am. It was a good move too as place soon became baking after the sun had risen over the mountains on the far side of the gorge. We walk about 16 k's the first day to a lodge up in the mountains where we stayed the night.
The view from the dorm!
The next day was mostly a descent right into the bottom of the gorge and its vertical cliffs where you can get right up to the thundering rapids and to the rock from which the tiger lept!
The river itself id the Yangzee by the way before it heads north east to Sechuan and the East across China.
I don't really know what else to say about the walk except it was beautiful so check out the pictures!
The GORGE!
written by  Dan on April 11, 2008 from Tiger Leaping Gorge, China

Into the Tibetan regions
zhongdian (Shangri-La), China
Zhongdian or Shangri-La as the government renamed it recently is a strange place. Perched on the hills of northern Yunnan at 3300 meters above sea level its inhabitants are 80% tibetan. It is a fast growing town as most of the traffic out of eastern tibet travels through it so there is a sprawling new city sprouting up around a small but pretty tibetan style old town. It was the old town in which i stayed in a pleasant little hostel, sadly though the dorm rooms didn't have electric blankets and the nights here i discovered got VERY cold.
The biggest prayer wheel i've ever seen.
First day in town was spent wandering the old streets, the layout here is very different with big tibetan houses and wide open streets. Sadly there was the usual tourist tat being sold but this place was far less busy than anywhere else i'd been thus far. The small town square also became a dance floor in the evening, all the locals turning up around 7pm to dance to local music being pumped out of someone's shop. It was really cool as everyone new the dance moves so you had around 100 people doing synchronized moves in a big circle for getting on for 2 hours!
The second day was spent at Ganden Sumtselling Gompa, the most important Buddhist monastery in southwest China. It was more of a walled village than a monastery with ancient mud walled houses surrounding the monastery which was perched on top of the hill. 600 monks still live and work there and they were very welcoming allowing you into all the parts of the temples. It was a colourful place with vivid tibetan frescoes adorning the walls and bright gold bells gently tingling in the wind.
Sadly that evening i ate something dubious and was struck down with my first serious bout of food poisoning. This meant my last day in Shangri-La was spent in bed.
Next day was spent on a bus and an incredible bus ride it was too passing a 4100 meter pass to the small hillside town of Deqin.
The ride it self is worth a note across dubious roads worth regular landslides and hunks of snow impeding progress. The view from the top was stunning with white peaked mountains all around. Sadly my battery had run out on the camera so it wasn't until the next day that i could start photographing the views. Deqins surroundings though certainly didn't disapoint!
written by  Dan on April 15, 2008 from zhongdian (Shangri-La), China

Eastern Himalayas
Deqin, China
Deqin is the last stop before Tibet. Its and ugly town crammed into a crease between the Yunnans highest mountain ranges, it is at 3500 meters above sea level West from here is the himalayas proper but the surrounding countryside is equally beautiful with great valleys down to the Mekong river and snowy peaks and glaciers reaching 6800 meters.
The countryside and trekking there in is the reason to visit this remote outpost and it was well worth the trip. So much so in fact i stayed here for a week in a tibetan guesthouse in the countryside village (about 10 houses) of Raringkha.
The first destination on arrival though was further from Deqin town, another village called Felai Si where you could apparently get stunning views of the local mountain range. We arrived there in the evening and stayed in a cheap bed with the intention of getting up at dawn to watch the sunrise on the mountain peaks.
We were very fortuante as the next morning after rising at 6am the view was clear so we watched unimpeded as the high peak of Kawo Karpo mountain turned from snowy blue to a warm orange. After breakfast we caught a taxi back towards town and jumped out at Raringkha and Tashi's mountain lodge a traditional tibetan house where we would base ourselves to do some trekking.
The crazy colour contrast. The pink is cherry blossom
To my great surprise the place was run by 2 Irish fellas one of whom had just been travelling when he was offered the job and had then invited his mate, a trained chef, to come and help him run it.
The place was beautiful with big comfy beds and huge kitchen dining room with a warm stove and plenty more areas to relax in.
They kept pigs and chickens and the communal meal in the evening was excellent. We had Paella the first night!!!
When we arrived there was only another Belgian couple there making 6 guests in total
but the place soon filled to 12 with the comings and goings of other travellers and families over the week. Er yeah intended to stay a few days up here but with such a comfortable, chilled out place to stay it soon turned to 6 night, though only Nick and I stayed the last 2 getting an extra trek in for good measure.
A couple of walks where done while we where here one a 2 day effort that we did in 1 from Felai Si the aforementioned viewpoint down (very steeply) to the Mekong river then up the other side and across to the Migyong Glacier. Sadly we didn't get up to the glacier as we had arrived to late but the views where cool all the day.
After a rest day (and a bit of archery, the Irish guys had a bow) Danny and Kiki went back South whilst Nick and I stayed a couple more nights and did another day trek up the mountain behind the lodge. A tough 3 hour climb up Yak trails for us too the snowy ridge at 4500 meters with Deqin and the surrounding villages specks below. The altitude here really began to take its toll with deep breath in not really resulting in a lot. The last hour up in particular, probabably only about a kilometers steep walk, was especially hard.
The views though where incredible with a 360 degree panorama of the surrounding mountains.
Doing my Saroman bit!
Long bus ride back to Lijiang tomorrow morning, then up to Sichuan via a lake! Cant travel North from here as originally planned as the roads around tibet are closed to travellers.
written by  Dan on April 22, 2008 from Deqin, China

Back to Lijiang
Lijiang, China
Because of the problems in Tibet and the surroundings i am uable to travel any further north without backtracking. So a beast of a bus ride back to Lijiang followed by 2 days doing very little in the relaxing surroundings of Lijiang before another bus north east to Sichuan province.
Welcomed with open arms (of course) by mama though and plyed with bananas!
written by  Dan on April 25, 2008 from Lijiang, China

Lugu Lake
Lugu Hu, China
200 km North east of Lijiang is the second biggest freshwater lake in China, Lugu Hu. Surrounded by villages inhabited by the Mosu people one of the last matriarchal societies on Earth. Sounded really interesting so i took a bus there from Lijiang, 8 hours later we arrived and the view as we came over the Ridge and into the valley was excellent, a crystal blue lake surrounded by pine forest with a few villages scattered around the edge.
The decent view of the lake
Sadly as we descended to the lake the weather started to change and the clouds rolled in quickly turning the lake to a more average shade of dark blue. Not to worry my guide book points me in the direction of a little village on the north edge of the lake. "A serene little place where only you and a few other adventures backpackers will make it to" Not so the village it self has been flattened (the traditional house is a wild west style log cabin) and replaced with 2 story guest houses. Worst of all the work isn't finished so there's building works everywhere. Serious disappointment but its to late to go anywhere else so I got a cheap bed for the night and plan to move in the morning.
Next morning the weather has worsened, high winds and driving rain and the lake resembles the north sea. I head to the main town all the same and though its a similar story there the guesthouses have been around much longer so don't look so ridiculously out of place, the day though is a washout and I resort to my book.
rain sinks the rafts!
The weather on day 3 is no better so i took a bus back to Lijiang. That was the other thing the Lonely planet was wrong about. Hopes of carrying on north are scuppered by buses leaving at odd times and i didn't want to end up in a random industrial town at 1 am.
Massive disappointment all in all, as all the locals (sensibly) stayed in doors and got not real views of the lake or any chance to cycle or walk around it. In fairness its been the first failure in 7 weeks travel so my odds haven't been to bad.
written by  Dan on April 27, 2008 from Lugu Hu, China

Third times the charm!
Lijiang, China
Back again.
This time for 2 nights, more excellent hospitality at Mamas then a monster trip to Chengdu, bus east in the morning 7 am then a train north arriving 6.30am thurs morning.
Woohoo its gonna be fun!
written by  Dan on April 29, 2008 from Lijiang, China

Made it to the Du
Chengdu, China
An epic journey but we made it and Chengdu seems nice if a little hazy. Its certainly the most humid place I've been so far, though not to warm. The trip itself was a bumpy 7 hours bus from Lijiang to a town called Panzhihua in southern Sichuan. This place was horrid, thick layer of grime on everything from the surrounding factories. We took a bit of a risk too as May 1st is a national holiday and most transport is fully booked around this time. We got away with it, but only just, 4 Czech guys were behind us in the cue at the train station and only 2 of them got a bed for the 14 hours 800 km train ride north!
Slept ok on the train and arrived at 5.30 am getting to the hostel around 7 exactly 24 hours after we'd set off!
Will check out the Panda sanctuary tomorrow i reckon!
written by  Dan on May 1, 2008 from Chengdu, China

Big Buddah!
Leshan, China
Immediately after arriving in Chengdu we jumped into a minivan a drove south to Leshan to see the biggest seated Buddha in the world.
The last part of the crazy queue
Somewhat stupidly we went on May the first, a national holiday, to one of the most important and popular tourist destinations in China. Thought we'd got away with it at first as we only had to queue 5 minutes to get tickets but then after wandering up the hill to the top of the big fella I saw the queue. It was like Alton Towers on a bad day as the queue went on for 6 or 7 25 meter long sections before heading round a corner and up some stairs for yet more lines.
The main man
First instinct was to give it a miss but this Buddha was the biggest in the world and it wasn't like i was ever going to come back. So we joined the line and 3 hours and a couple of ice creams later got to the front and descended the cliff to the feet of the chap. He's massive (71 meters tall) and he's sitting down! Carved into the cliff face over looking the river he took 90 years to complete and was started in 713 AD by a Buddhist monk who wanted to calm the river waters and protect the local fishermen. Apparently the surplus rock from the carving was thrown into the river so it did slow down but locals say its the Grand Buddha, or Dafo, that is the cause.
Despite the madness it was an incredible experience especially standing at the bottom and looking up, it defies comprehension as to how they managed to do it especially when you consider that they included a water drainage system inside of the body to prevent erosion!
We returned to Chengdu that evening shattered and promptly booked ourselves on to a panda tour for the next morning.
written by  Dan on May 1, 2008 from Leshan, China

Pandas and stuff!
Chengdu, China
So next visit on the list was the Panda sanctuary just outside Chengdu. You had to get up early to get to the sanctuary during feeding time before they go to bed to sleep of there meals.
Daddy Panda
A note on Pandas. There a ridiculous animal, I knew they were cute and were nearly extinct but the latter is for good reason, they have the digestive ability to eat meat but instead elect to eat faffy sticks which have little nutritional value, not only that but they are clack and white solely so that they can spot each other from a distance and so don't have to fight over territory and waste there limited energy. Sadly and predators that spot them don't have the same inclination. Oh and to top it all off they struggle to mate so much that the sanctuaries have resorted to showing males a form of panda porn so they can work out what to do!
Just incase you weren't sure!
Despite all this there still ace, especially baby ones! They sanctuary has been doing well at getting results from mating too, though a lot of artificial insemination has been used. There were 7 cubs in the park this year, I remember, when I was about 13, 1 baby was a massive event with articles on newsround and stuff.
After this escapade the next couple of days in Chengdu were spent recuperating as we'd done loads on little sleep, got around the city though and its a really nice place with a big square and loads of shops, loads of people too, Chengdu has a population of 4.1 million and is the 4th or 5th biggest city in China. Its got some nice green spaces and lots of tea houses and temples.
Tried the famous Sichuanese hot pot, was greasy and pretty spicy but the beef we had was really good mainly because you cook it yourself in the hotpot in the middle of the table so it was really lean.
written by  Dan on May 2, 2008 from Chengdu, China

Horse trekking
Songpan, China
From Chengdu we took a bus to northern Sichuan to the Tibetan town of Songpan, there not a whole lot to do here , though its a nice enough town, other than to go horse trekking with some local guides. So after a night in a bizarre hostel above the bus station which cost 10 yuan we set off on our Mongolian horses up the mountains. The altitude is fairly high here (about 3000 meters) and I felt pretty bad for the horse having to carry me and my tent up a hill!
view back over the Sichuan mountains
Clear blue lake
By lunchtime we were at our campsite and from there we walked into a local park which contained some crystal clear lakes. Or at least it did when it rained the first 10 were all dry as a bone but the last 2 had water in and were beautifully clear. I think its because of the high ph levels in the water meaning that absolutely nothing grows in them.
We then strolled back to the campsite had dinner and built a fire. It was bloody freezing and the ground was hard too so after a restless night we rode back to town via at village and over another slightly smaller hill.
A nice enough trip but we didn't ride all that much, mind you i didn't mind and i'm sure the horse wasn't too gutted either!
written by  Dan on May 6, 2008 from Songpan, China

Terracotta fun!
Xi'an, China
From Songpan we took a bus back to Chengdu then a train that same day/night to Xi'an. Long before Beijing Xi'an had been Chinas capital city and has the artifacts and history to go with it. A massive walled (15km) city its now a very cosmopolitan place but its kept its history too with a lovely Muslim quarter and massive bell and drum towers in the centre of town. These were all explored on the afternoon of our arrival the mosque in the Muslim quarter being the highlight. Its a tasteful amalgamation of Muslim and Chinese architecture in a lovely garden. The massive prayer room with its turquoise tiled roof is especially nice.
We ate well there too, bbq lamb from a street stall we got loads for about a pound, smothered in green fennel and chilli, it was really tasty.
Next morning we went to see Xi'an's main attraction and the reason the place is literally full of western tour groups. The terracotta warriors.
The view as you enter the main pit
They were discovered in the 70's by some peasants drilling a well a few excavations later and the Chinese had discovered what they call the "8th wonder of the world"
1000 complete soldiers still stand and there gluing more back together as we speak.
There are 3 pits of soldiers all created for the tomb of emperor Shi Huang Di during his lifetime in around 200 BC (that's the Qin dynasty by the way)
He was one of Chinas first great emperors and thought his mighty rule would continue after his death so he wanted to take a great army with him. There must be at least another 10,000 soldiers in bits under the still un-excavated parts of the tomb including crossbowmen, warriors, chariots (they were wooden and have disintegrated, but the horses remain) and generals. It is a truly astounding peace of art especially the fact that each warrior is different to the next!
2 complete bronze chariots were also excavated next to the sight, they too are beautiful and incredibly detailed with working halters on the horses using hinged peaces of bronze. A little ahead of there time these Chinese. The weapons of the high ranking officers were apparently even chromium plated a techniques not officially invented until the 1930's by the Germans!
The afternoon was taken up by internet and train ticket shopping, serious long trip up next.
written by  Dan on May 9, 2008 from Xi'an, China

Miles from the sea
Urumqi, China
First of all, I'm fine and missed the Earthquake, disconcertingly close though as the road to Songpan passed though the epicenter of the quake and we were there 4 days ago. Scary to say the least. We didn't feel a thing up here and it took ages for any news to come through. Sounds pretty bloody awful in the rural areas in particular I think Chengdu is fairly untouched.
Urumqi is an interesting place, officially the furthest city on Earth from any sea, its in Xinjinag province which is a predominantly Muslim area of NW China, It also has 30% of Chinas oil reserves so its pretty affluent.
Urumqi itself looked a bit of a hole as we came in on the 27 hour train form Xi'an. The train was cool by the way it traveled all the way from Beijing, we just took the last 2500 km's. Spent most of the time entertaining the natives with my seriously lacking conversational Chinese!
After arriving and scratching the surface its not such a bad place, the buildings are fairly eastern blockish and painted fairly garishly but theres lots of different faces and scripts everywhere. The Chinese claimed the province officially in the 50's and moved a lot of Han Chinese over here to run the big businesses so theres a lot of regular Chinese faces too but you also see Central Asian and Turkish looking chaps along with Russians.
There really friendly too and they can cook, we found a massive bustling food market last night and ate yet more lamb and really good bread!
Nick is getting his visa for Kazakhstan today and tomorrow were going to head to an Oasis town just south of here. Most of Xinjiang is desert so theres going to be some interesting landscape to check out.
written by  Dan on May 13, 2008 from Urumqi, China

Hot to trot!
Turpan, China
Stepping off the bus from Urumqi in the afternoon I was hit by a blast of hot air, it didn't stop! The only thing i can liken it too was a massive dusty hairdrier. Turpan an Oasis town in a basin 200 km south of Urumqi is without doubt one of the hottest places i've ever been equally as hot as my short escapade into the sahara with Helen back in the day. And this was the town it was only going to get hotter once we ventured into the surrounding environment.
Turpan is famous for being the hottest place in China (it once recorded temperatures just short of 50 degrees) and its also the second lowest depression on earth (only the dead see is lower) at 154 meters below sea level.
Didn't just go there for the sauna like conditions though, Turpans surroundings contain some fabulous ancient cities and green valleys full of grapes.
So our single full day there was spent taking a car to the sights and coping with the heat.
We got 2 major sights in. Tuyoq a traditional Uigar village which is a major pilgrimage sight for muslims, its considered that 7 trips here equal 1 to mecca, the mazaar a tomb is the object of the pilgrimage as it contains the first Uiger muslim (Uigers are the majority race in Xinjiang province by the way) Also by the village are buddhist caves dating from the 3rd century AD.
1000 buddha caves
We walked up there only to find that they were all closed but just as we were heading back a local chap came puffing up the hill with a set of keys and opened them up for us. The paintings still remain though up to head height they have been picked away (apparently by German archaeologists in 1903 and those above have all had the faces chipped off by Mao's cultural revolution in the 60's They are still amazing with more than 1000 small Buddha's painted there, you'll have to just imagine though as no photos where allowed.
Driving back we went past what are called the flaming mountains, as the sun shines directly on them around midday they go orangey red because of the colour of the earth. Apparantly you can walk around them but only at dawn as its too hot the rest of the day.
Jiaohe ruins
That evening I clocked up a 3rd UNESCO sight in a month. The Jiaohe ruins is one of the worlds largest oldest and best preserved cities. Originally established by the western Han in around 200 BC it was carved on a plateau out of the rock, and flanked by 2 deep valley of water and green trees. It king of looks like Luke Skywalkers home in Star wars only there no robots! Its a crazy place as you can still make out the streets, houses and temples, spent the evening there wandering around and there where no other tourists to be seen.
After driving back to Turpan we strolled though the bazaar eating yet more shaslik kebabs and naan breads... I really need some vegetables!
written by  Dan on May 15, 2008 from Turpan, China

The silk road
Kashi, China
Kashi is the Chinese name for Kashgar the hub of the legendary silk road. Its the original multicultural city situated near the boarder and mountain passes to 4 other countries.
I arrived here on the train after a few more days in Urumqi helping Nick through a few money problems. I left him there getting ready to head into Kazakhstan so I boarded the train travelling alone for the first time in ages. Its quite exciting relying entirely on yourself again.
After arriving and sharing a taxi with an enormous old Uigher chap I dropped off my bags and had a stroll around the town.
Bakery
The weather is really warm today so most locals are lounging on beds or anywhere they can get shade. There's a small area of adobe style old town still standing though most of Kashgar has been modernised, these streets are lovely with fresh nan being baked on every corner and chaps working lathes, there's even the central asian staple of carpet shops.
No chinese faces here just Uighers and Kyrgyz, its important you use the Uigher greetings too, an idle Nihao gets a bit of a frown from the locals. its hard to believe that I'm in China at all.
written by  Dan on May 20, 2008 from Kashi, China

The Karakorum highway
Karakul, China
Kashgar is at the northern end of a road that spans the himalayas through to Pakistan, it was constructed about 10 years ago but the pass has been used for centuries as a trade route though to China. Apparently 400 workers died in the roads construction the road itself rising to 4800 meters at its highest point. I travelled up the Chinese side to check out the scenery, it wasn't a disappointment arid desert transformed to massive mountains, the largest being Murzag Ata (7600 meters) then enormous marsh lands surrounded by sand dunes and huge basins being grazed by anything from yaks to camels.
I was travelling with a French chap on his way to Pakistan, we took a car with a chirpy taxi driver mohammad who was a firm believer that 6 or 7 shish kebabs every Thursaday was good for your "capabilities" with the ladies!
Karakul Lake
We were dropped of at Karakul lake with some of Mohammad's Kyrgyz friends who snook us into the park (normally a 50 yuan entrance fee) fed us and let us stay in one of there yurts. The lake was very pretty shadowed by the aforementioned Murzagh Ata it was a steely blue, but perfectly clear when you were up close.
Whilst wondering around we were accosted by local shepherds wanting to show us there Kyrgyz bazaar usually a collection of local crystals and bits of tourist tat they were all really friendly and also offered us places to stay the night. We ate with the family and then slept, was really comfortable inside the yurt not cold at all.
written by  Dan on May 22, 2008 from Karakul, China

The end of China
Tashkurgan, China
Tashkurgan is the last place you can go along the KKH on a Chinese visa any further is Pakistan and sadly that's not on my itinerary for this trip.
The town itself is a bit of a hole, as most birder crossings are, but the scenery getting here was again spectacular and there was also an old mud fort thought by the locals to be over 2000 years old though in reality its probably more like 600.
Tashkurgan fort
I hung around with Arnaud for a couple of hours then got a car back to Kashgar.
written by  Dan on May 23, 2008 from Tashkurgan, China

Animal market
Kashi, China
Kashgar is famous for its Sunday Bazaar and animal market because of its silk road history. Tourists quite literally swarm the town at weekends to go and see them. I had a train to catch at lunchtime so only had time to briefly see one and had been reliably informed that the normal bazaar was just very big and touristy, the animal market on the other hand was an entirely different er... animal!
I knew it would be cool as we approached on the dual carriageway when we hit a traffic jam consisting of donkey carts. Mohammad (he spotted us again outside the hotel) fought his way through in double quick time with excellent (some might say excessive) use of his horn. He was also curios as to how many kebabs i'd eaten last night, he clearly had my best intrests at heart!
Massive bums!
At first glance the place looked a chaotic jumble of animals and men from all over the region buying and selling but on closer inspection it was well organised the first section was cows, apparently you can buy yourself a fully grown one for 5000 yuan (14 to the pound) Then came the sheep, some of these where huge, with even bigger backsides. Next was the really fun part donkeys and horses next to the area where they were all stationed was an expanse of gravelly land on which a lot of test driving was going on. Donkeys and carts hammering it around the track being watched by prospective buyers along with the occasional mongol style horse, seemingly barely broken in, try to throw its rider.
testing out the product
I could have stayed there all morning watching the old gents checking teeth and mussels of horses and folks sheering there sheep with a pair of regular scissors. Sadly though I had to leave to catch the train.
It was a fairly expensive detour to head out to Kashgar but I'm really pleased I made it, the Uighers are some of the most genuine people i've ever met and the town itself though being modernised all the time is still a great place.
written by  Dan on May 25, 2008 from Kashi, China

One last Nan!
Urumqi, China
To be honest I dont have a lot to say, just wanted to make the orange line go from the correct city for my flight tomorrow morning. Took a train back from Kashgar with little incident apart from banging my head on a shelf.
One last nan bread tonight, its going to be emotional.
written by  Dan on May 26, 2008 from Urumqi, China

Giz a job!
Kunming, China
Flew back to Kunming from Urumqi in 5 hours. After taking 2 months to get up there it sort of put it all into perspective.
I'm now looking for some work, probably english teaching to tie me over for the summer then back onto the travels again in September. This is all dependent on visas however so my plans may be forced to change.
Kunming hadn't been my first choice as a place to look for work, that had been Chengdu but i figured it wasn't really appropriate for me to head over there hawking my services at this time.
Will keep you updated as to any developments.
written by  Dan on May 28, 2008 from Kunming, China

Got a job
So it didn't take much searching to find a job, the English language training centres here are always looking for native English speakers to come and teach at the schools. They were so desperate they tried to get me to work before i'd even had the interview!
Got my first class this evening, an hour and a half on phonetics.
I've been given 9 classes a week to teach, 7 of which are at the weekends so I have most of the week free. They work on quite a tight syllabus too so my lesson plans are half done, I just have to elaborate on the tasks and make them a bit more interesting.
I'll hopefully have some Chinese lessons in the week but I'll have to see how much spare time I have first.
The school have given me an apartment too so I'll hopefully be able to save a fair bit of the money I make.
The only problem i've had/got is Visas, they wont give me a work visa unless I sign a years contract so i'm still on the tourist visa which expires next wednesday. I've been assured by the authorities that I can have the two 1 month extensions i'm entitled too but they keep changing the rules with the olympics coming up. All this means I definitely have to leave China in early August (assuming I get both extensions) so i've signed a contract until the end of July. Then i'll head to Laos I think.
written by  Dan on June 4, 2008 from Kunming, China

The apartment
View from my balcony
So i've moved into my apartment in Kunming will be here for the next 2 months, its a bit of a distance from work but thats more than made up for by the massive sofa!
Theres also plenty of amenities close by a big french supermarket and Cinema are within 10 minutes walk.
The living room
The house itself is part of a large complex of about 20 blocks, there quite tastefully designed and have lots of private garden area. We also have guards who are dressed in army cammo, a bit odd.
Kitchen, 2 bedrooms and bathroom off to the right.
Well anyway not a lot more to say, not done much this weekend apart from settle in and go to the shops.
Visa extension tomorrow morning barring any hiccups.
written by  Dan on June 10, 2008 from Kunming, China

Update
Well its been a month in my teaching job (got paid today!) and all is going well. Only had a couple of annoying kids and everyone i'm working with is super friendly. Apart form working i'm ashamed to say I have done little. Go to now the locals (shopkeepers mostly) and can live of about 15 yuan (a quid) a day with ease. This means the saving is going well and the money I make working should comfortably pay for my next 2 months travel, that just leaves the last 2 months but i'm sure i'll work something out.
All the team
Was roped into a school opening ceremony last weekend. Had to go along and show my face, they like showing off there foreign teachers here. I was made aware that I would have to give a speech at the ceremony but wasn't told it would be on the street!
A small crowd!
Also ended up giving an impromptu lesson and singing heads shoulders knees and toes!!! Probably a good job I didn't know it was going to happen just going with the flow seemed to work ok.
Still no word on the second visa extension I have to go down to the office next week. I'm sure there'll be no problems. Received my anti malarial kit from Mum in the post today anyway so If I have to make a run for the border i'm all set.
Got some other work on the side too. Reading an English translation of a Sichuanese mayors thoughts on a tourist attraction or something. Its going to be broadcast on the radio or something. Pretty good money about 60 quid for a mornings work! Will see if they have anything else to read as a few more of those almost equals my monthly teaching wage.
Going to one of the other teachers wedding tomorrow, don't actually know her but you should never say no to free Baijo!
written by  Dan on July 3, 2008 from Kunming, China

Visa ok
Just to let you know I got my visa extended yesterday with no problems. So i'm here for 30 more days, hope to be racking up the lessons to get extra spends for Laos etc. I'll be headind there around August 9th. Just as the Olympics finally get started. I hope it isn't so hyped in England in four years time, sorry for being miserable but its really starting to grate!
Apart from that news not a lot going on. The voice recording job went well, they said they liked my voice and might have some more work for me, which would be great as it pays really well.
Hope everyones keeping well back home, i'm starting to miss it a bit! Hear the weathers bad again, raining a lot here too. Big looming clouds and long thunderstorms then a couple of days of scorching weather and lovely warm evenings, then rain again.
written by  Dan on July 12, 2008 from Kunming, China

Explosions in Kunming
The Dan luck strikes again! I should definitely be made to stay at home.
This morning there where 3 explosions on buses near my work. Not my apartment I was nowhere near. 3 people have been killed, unsure of the motives etc.
Quite a good report on it here www.gokunming.com/en it should be on th emain page.
Just thought i'd let you all know/
Strange atmosphere is town today and my bus to work was very quiet!
PLEASE DONT WORRY TOO MUCH :)
Dan
written by  Dan on July 21, 2008 from Kunming, China

On the move again
So as the Olympics begin (at bloody last) my time in China comes to an end, for now at least. Its been great fun and not as difficult as I had expected. I guess I thought the infrastructure of the place would be less developed than it is and apart from a few nasty bus journeys (suspect I have another one of those coming up tomorrow) getting around has been easy. The locals have been great too with few unfriendly folks, though I never made it to the east coast which is notorious for being a amiable. I'll experience that eventually because i'll be back in 2 months travelling up the east coast on my way to Beijing and eventually catching a train or 5 home.
I didn't experience the culture shock I had expected after arriving here but there are certain aspects of chinese life that are either pretty filthy (persistent spitting of vile green flem is THE one thing that really got too me) or just downright insane, the driving can leave a lot to be desired sometimes. Other parts of the culture where really inspiring especially the Chinese habit of socialising all the time in big groups. They're a far more socially minded and uninhibited nation than back home. The food here is great too really cheap and quick to be served, much simpler and less greasy than the British Chinese takeaway, the vege's in particular are great. Beers cheap too, though I haven't drunk for the last 2 months. I don't really know what happened I just stopped. Will most likely pick up again in Laos as there local beer (imaginatively named beer Lao) is apparently one of the best in asia!
Some of the other teachers.
Kunming has been a good choice for a base this last ten weeks I'm glad it transpired that I ended up here though I wish there hadn't been an earthquake of course which was ultimately the decider between this place and Chengdu. The weather has been nice with cool breezes and sunny days apparently the du is sweltering at this time of the year. The city is pleasent too and its not to big so you can't get terribly lost. The bus service is also pretty amazing, this seems to be the case all over China. The UK could learn a lot form putting on plenty of simple services at an affordable price. Nearly everyone seems to use the buses here if not they're on a bike or a scooter. Another notable effort the Chinese are making environmentally is the banning of free plastic bags in supermarkets. This was implemented about 2 months ago and for about a week people would go to the supermarket, forget to bring bags and get pissed off at having to pay for some. But in no time everyone started to bring there own. This sort of thing would be so easy to implement back home.
This was my favorite class.
Said my goodbyes at school this week. The students seemed genuinely disappointed that I was leaving which was nice. Sometimes I was unsure if they where really enjoying the lessons because of there confused looking non English speaking faces trying to understand my odd accent. I've really enjoyed the work shame I couldn't do more as I would have liked to stay until the end of this term, not just for the 3 month bonus I would have received. Think i'll definitely look into teaching as a career when I'm back, its going to be a completely different experience teaching English kids mind.
So tomorrow evening I have a bus to the border then i'll wave goodbye to China on Sunday after crossing the overland.
I think I agree with Eric Idle "I like Chinese, they only come up to your knees"
written by  Dan on August 8, 2008 from Kunming, China

Welcome to Laos!
Louang Namtha, Laos
Landslide
18 hours travelling several different "buses" one landslide and two muddy feet but I made it and its lovely. Very quiet and relaxed compared to a certain neighbor. Raining at the moment looks like it has been for a while.
more soon!
written by  Dan on August 10, 2008 from Louang Namtha, Laos

Bit of a washout
Louang Namtha, Laos
All the treks were cancelled and the river was too high to raft on but Louang Namtha was still a pleasant introduction the the more relaxes Laos ways that I will be experiencing over
Busy Laos streets
the next month. Its a nice little town, incredibly small its actually the capital of the northern province of the same name. I've really got to get used to the scale of things here!
The old stupa and its replacement
Having little else to do I hired a tuk tuk to the local stupa a 20 minute, muddy and at times knee deep river ride later I strolled up the steps. The original stupa had been hit by a bomb in the Indochina war. It is claimed that it was over 400 years old but I doubt that very much due to the clearly visible steel rods protruding from it smashed and toppled centre. Its jungley looking with a tree growing from the centre and the new Golden stupa behind it makes a nice pic.
All around is green, Laos is green everywhere you look. It really is beautiful.
Bus ride on a new road to Huoayxay on the Mekong the next day. The road is already starting to collapse.
written by  Dan on August 12, 2008 from Louang Namtha, Laos

My first leech and other tales from the jungle
Houayxay, Laos
Across the Mekong, Thailand on the other side,
There is little to do in Houayxay town itself it serves as a border crossing to Thailand across the swollen Mekong river and you can also take river boats from there to central Laos a trip i'd be taking later in the week. The town another one street quiet place is also home to the gibbon experience a trekking and zip wiring health and safety nightmare in the Borkeo national park just north of the town. The idea is you stay in tree houses up to 150 meters off the ground, zip around in the jungle canopy for a day and if your lucky see some gibbons.
view from the dirt road
Its a 3 day trip and due to the rain a tough trek is involved, during the dry season you just get driven to the local village and make the short walk to the first tree house. However because the river block the road this time of year we had to walk about 30 kilometres to the village first.
The walk wasn't to bad though it was very muddy and despite the morning rain still hot by lunchtime. Once at the village the mud only thickened and we had no option but to trudge through up to our shins. It was good fun until the very end when after 6 hours walking we had to ascend a fair few "steps" which offered little grip for my tired feet. So I slid my way up and finally arrived at the camp to be presented with a zip wire harness
A quick mention of my fellow walkers, we had a nice group of 7 2 Dutch sister form Amsterdam with unspellable names, Luca and Christian from Milan and Andrei and Kerry from London, the latter where on the honeymoon!
Zipping
So strapped up we tolled up yet more steps and came to our first wire. ABout 100 meters long it led straight to a tree house.
Zip lining is very easy and I felt surprisingly safe and comfortable doing it despite the fact that the closest decent hospital was back in Kunming. You just let yourself go enjoy the view and then brake fore you hit the tree at the other end.
The tree house was also great. With 3 levels it had a separate toilet and shower, a stove and 3 beds, sadly it also had rats. The night was spent trying not to think about how close the rat was to me though I discovered it got within at least a foot after finding a few holes in my rucksack the next morning. We also woke early in the hope of seeing or hearing gibbons but there where none as it was raining hard.
Tired and with stiff muscles we set of for a days zipping. The lines further into the jungle where spectacular. Starting seemingly just surrounded by bamboo and trees the ground would drop away leaving incredible views down beautiful jungle valleys the wires where up to 150 meters in the air around 50 floors and some where as long as 350 meters
The tree house for the 2nd night. Trying desperately not to drop the camera!!!
By the afternoon we arrived at the second tree house. A huge tree on the edge of a deep valley with a waterfall and river running through it. Again the views where great.
A loo with a view
The final day was spent hiking back out of the jungle a longer trip then going in and it took us through some paths that where actually streams here is where I met my first leeches. They walk like slinky's and are tiny so the sneak in unnoticed. Even the bite is fairly painless. I wasn't really checking until someone else got one then rolled up my shorts and found several around my knees. One was fairly large so had been there for a while but with a spray of deet insect repellent it soon dropped off and left a little hole. The problem comes from the blood thinner they excrete so they can consume your blood quicker, it causes you to look like your bleeding lots when in fact your bleeding very little, a touch disconcerting at the time.
Exhausted we got back to Hoayxai around 5pm and had a big strength regaining BBQ the Lao like to grill there meet so the food here has been pretty good up to know.
The trip was great fun despite the lack of gibbons and if your ever in Laos I would more than recommend it, maybe do it in the dry season though.
written by  Dan on August 15, 2008 from Houayxay, Laos

Slow boat down the Mekong
Muang Pakbeng, Laos
The slow boat
Took a 2 day trip down the Mekong the day after arriving back from the trek. It takes you and seemingly all the other tourists in this corner of Laos to the fine French concession and UNESCO heritage town of Luang Prabang.
The Mekong was fast and big as the last moths rains had seen it swell greatly so I was glad to be going down stream.
6 hours of sailing was pleasant enough, we then arrived in the small village of Pakbeng seemingly made fairly well off by the hundreds of tourists who must sleep there every night. We weren't held to ransom for a room though and there was plenty of space.
Was taught how to shoot a slingshot properly by some local kids, they where disturbingly good at hitting the leaf I had placed 5 feet away and where in hysterics as my shots went off at odd angles.
Locals showing me how to use a sling. I was shit!
Packed up with baguettes the boat left again the next morning this time with a few locals stuffed in to boot the the boat sat a little worrying low and lopsided in the water. The driver did alright avoiding the rapids and strange currents which caused whirlpools though and we whizzed down the Mekong making the 9 hour journey in under 7.
Luang Prabang is Lovely, booked myself into a smart hotel last night and I'll probably blow the budget for 3 or 4 days and make the most. More when i've explored.
dock at Luang prabang
written by  Dan on August 17, 2008 from Muang Pakbeng, Laos

A not particularly well deserved rest!
Luang Prabang, Laos
French style buildings
Its difficult to imagine I'm still in Laos, though LP is a small and quiet place it sticks out like a sore thumb when compared to the rest of Lao I've seen so far.
The reason for this is its French influence from the colonialisation (not sure if that's a real word!) in the 1940's and this combined with the towns long political and religious history (many seriously ancient temples and watts) creates a unique architectural and cultural mix.
Its really touristy but in a tasteful way with pleasant cafe's lining the streets but this has caused the town to be fairly expensive when it comes to eating and sleeping. There's still some bargains to be had though. the Barbecues and baguette stands do a roaring business with us scrimping travellers.
Local waterfall is blue in the dry season... its not the dry season!
I've far from scrimped this week though, after a weeks travel and trekking I decided to sack off trying to be frugal for a few days and lived it up a bit with a big comfy bed, lovely clean bathroom and TV for the princely sum of $11 a night. That's about twice my budget so i'll have to spend a few nights on the street to compensate.
One of many watts and extremely blue sky!
Done very little other than chill out these last four days, went to some local waterfalls which where really nice despite the bad weather, infact the extra water made them all the more impressive. There where a couple of pools in which you could swim and blue shelled freshwater crabs kept scuttling out from under the bushes. Roaming the streets has been another enjoyable pastime in the nicer spells of weather, the local monks strolling around with the brolly's useful for the scorching sun as well as the rain. Also been enjoying the Laos coffee, its pretty strong stuff, not quite an espresso but half way there at least, this is more than compensated for by the large mugs its served in.
Really hot today. I have a bus this evening heading east. I'm not really sure what i'm doing taking a 17 hour bus to the Vietnamese border, apparently there's some amazing scenery that not many tourists see because its a bitch of a bumpy road... sounds like a sleepless night ahead.
written by  Dan on August 21, 2008 from Luang Prabang, Laos

The bus trip from hell... except i'm in Laos!
Sam Neua, Laos
I should have known when the chap at the bus station giggled and raised his eyebrows as I collected my ticket,
"You do know its 15 hours?"
"Yeah" I scoffed, thinking back to all those hellish chinese sleeper trips.
I'll start with my buying of the ticket from the friendly agent. He was a lovely chap and so is worthy of a mention, he too questioned why I wanted to travel to Sam Neua, "to see the Pathet Lao caves and stuff" i said.
He sort of gave me a fair enough face.
The only reason I mention this fella is because as I sat down to pay for my ticket and give my details I noticed what it said on his bright red shirt.
"Fuck off, wankers"
After enquireing as to his understanding of the phrase, discovering he had none and the resulting shy way he tryed to fold himself in half to hide it after i'd given him a general gist, I had a soft spot for the chap. Next day when I picked up the ticket and got the free tuk tuk to the bus station he proudly showed me his clean blue sloganless shirt.
I got to the bus station in plenty of time for the 5:30pm departure. Except the bus didn't depart at 5:30, "dont worry" said the sniggering but friendly station master. "I'll tell you when it arrives."
He didn't because his shift was over before it did, at 9pm his replacement guided me to the bus as it trundled in to the station. I could see from the warm glow out the windows it was pretty busy, only when I clambered in over the grain sacks and small children did I realise it was completely full. Even all the extra plastic seats they put down the aisle where taken. Somehow though they reorganised things. The surpisingly well spoken conducter said. "Dont worry sir, we'll sort you out a seat" Sure enough after a bit of jigging around everyone was still sat down looking quite comfortable and there was a spare seat for me. I made my way over and tripped over something. A young man bent down and sheepishly picked up the item, a poorley dsiguised automatic rifle wrapped in his jumper. Pleased I hadn't killed or at least mamed any other passengers I plonked myself down in the chair and was met by curios grins from all around.
We set off at the usual dawdling Laos bus pace picking up yet more stragglers and miraculously finding them all places to sit. I began to doze off, my head lollong around with knowhere to rest.
After what seemed like hours we stopped for dinner, many of the other folks on the bus had been travelling all day.
I looked at my watch, 10:30pm
We where soon off again and the lights where switched off so we could sleep. At the same time the driver switched on the radio and turned it up. It never go turned down till we arrived (no joke)
A sleepless night folowed, I remember hearing the strange whinings of Laos pop and leaning back to back with the chap next to me as we tried to get comfortable, it didn't really work.
The bus well and truely stuck at dawn
Suddenly we stopped with a loud clunk, it was 5:30am and still dark outside. Everyone peered through the windows, the driver gunned the engine, sighed then gunned it again. He said something and everyone began to pile off. It appeared we where stuck, I headed to the door and saw the mud outside. I had a bright idea, i'd put my spanking new flip flops in my day pack for just such an occurance, so I scurried back to my seat and changed shoes I got to the door and hopped out into what looked like a dry bit.
It wasn't, it was just very deep. I took a step and my flip flop ripped. I took anther towards safety and the other one got sucked off too. In a moment of ill thought out action I delved in after the sandals with my arms elbow deep in landslide. Pretty much everyone else on the bus nearly died laughing as i grumpily slopped around getting everything dirty, wet and cold. I soon gave up and trudged to the dry patch in front of the bus. The sun began to rise, it started to rain.
I've just realised how rediculously long this annecdote is getting! I'll hurry up...
Next we were all directed to grab onto a large metal cord and try and pull the bus from the mud whilst the driver gunned the engine some more. Thats right, I was standing about 10 feet in front of the 5 ton bus whilst he tryed to make it jump out of its hole as fast as possible. I felt really safe.
Thankfully it didnt work.
Shovels where used, no joy. I found one flip flop with it though the oter had dissapeared.
About an hour and a half in our rescue vehicle arrived, an old fuel lorry it chugged up the hill in front of the bus, got to the crest, stalled and broke down. Half an hours tinkering then a jump/rolling start in reverse nearly saw one chap lose his arm as he tried to put a chock under the wheel to stop it falling into a ditch.
The rediculous rescue vehicle
Then they got out the jump leads and within 5 minutes had it going. Next came a 25 point turn and another close call with the ditch as the driver forget he was still in reverse when trying to move forward. Finally it was hooked onto the bus and it was hoiked free.
We all piled back on, it stopped raining.
The last 9 hours went dissapointingly unneventfully and about 2 hous in half the bus departed and I got a couple of seats to myself and some much needed kip.
Arriving in Sam Neua at 4:30pm it had been exactly 24 hours since I left for the bus station the previous day.
Strangely though I didn't feel that upset or pissed off, just tired. The chatty comaradarie of the previous day had kept all our spirits up. Even the flip flop fiasco was pretty funny in heindsite.
Pleased to be off the bus I jumped on to another one to the stunning village of Vien Xai, found a lovely if a slightly insect infected bungalow got some dinner and was in bed for 7.
written by  Dan on August 21, 2008 from Sam Neua, Laos

Vieng Xai, 'The Hidden City' and 'The Secret War'
Vieng Xai, Laos
I've learned a lot of stuff i really didnt know sice I've been in Laos, not just that you shouldn't jump into knee deep mud and expect to keep your flip flops.
Cave entrance, bottom right
Vieng Xai is the birthplace and former capital of the Pathet Lao, the communist faction that replaced the royalty in 1975. This was after a 9 year long war, which they where supported in by the likes of Vietnam, Cuba and Angola against the Royal Laos forces whom where entirely funded and armed by the USA.
The bombing started in 1964 and stopped in 73 after a cease fire was called. The war was known as the secret war as the CIA kept it under raps whilst they where taking all the flak for there failed and costly attempts in Vietnam. I was unawhere that Laos was ever really involved in a war after the French eventually left post WW2, so the revelation that it is the the most bombed country per capita on the planet and that more bombs have been dropped on it than where dropped in the entirity of WW2 came as something of a shock. More stats later kids!
Vieng Xai was special because of its geography. Beautiful jungle valleys and tall karst mountains with hundreds of natural caves where a great place for the comunist leadership to hide out. They built there underground city in 70 plus different caves which would support a collection of 20,000 people. Most of whom where fighters but local villagers and the leaders familys lived there too. They went about there daily lives at night (farming etc) whilst a rediculous amount of unnefective bombing went on throughout the day.
Entrance to the emergency room
7 of the caves are open to tourists, most of them the former leaders (and eventual presidents and prime ministers) caves. They all had bedrooms, studys and meeting halls and also included emergency rooms with air filters in case of chemical bombs (these where never used on this area of Laos).
2 of the other caves where different, one was used for artillery and a barracks, the other was huge and had a theatre built inside.
I toured 5 of them with a similarly interested American chap. Our guide was great and there was tons of info. He made the mistake of mentioning a cuban delegations visit and that they had sent over some doctors and opened up a hospital in a massive man made cave about 10 km away, he'd once taken some journalists there! We bugged him to let us go and see an untouristed (thats not a word but you get what I mean) cave and he relented after we agreed to pay the petrol.
Next morning he picked us up and we drove off to the cave. Declaring that he'd last come in the dry season and making lots of "oh!" sounds he took us towards the entrance whilst beating away the jungle that had regrown since his last visit.
Entrance to the "Laos Cuban Frindship hospital" (cave)
We got to the door and entered the first corridor. Most of the useful stuff (sinks etc) had been ripped out by the locals but you could still make out the wards and there where medicine bottles strewn on the floor. We tiptoed through using our torches, it was huge, spanning under 3 different peaks. The best bit was at the end where the tiled operating theatres could still be made out.
It felt like we where the first people there since it had been closed in 75, we probably wheren't that far off.
The rest of the day was spent enjoying thr scenery and swimming in the local pond. It was lovely and warm.
Next day I took another long bus journey to Phonsavan and more war relics.
nb: my pics are a bit crap, dark caves dont come out too well :(
written by  Dan on August 23, 2008 from Vieng Xai, Laos

The Plain of Jars and more UXO than you can shake a stick at!
Phonsavan, Laos
Just one day here on the toursit trail theres not much else to see than the one attraction but its certainly worth the visit.
The biggest jar (at the back) about 7 feet tall
The plain of jars is around 1000 unexplained, hand carved stone jars spread across 54 different fields. The jars vary in size form regular jar size to about 1 or 2 tons. They are anything between 1500 and 3000 years old and nobody really knows what they where for. Some say they are burial urns others day they where for brewing Lao Lao whisky in after a chieftan won a big battle. They are truely remarkable because they are just sort of stuck there in the middle of the field for little apparant reason (stone henge style)
I strolled through the field with a small gorup and also visited and whisky distillery, a little different from the Scottish ones with large barrle sof fementing rice and yeast producing a fierce drink.
The aformentioned secret war was also battled heavily here and the whole province is absolutely covered in UXO (Unexploded ordanance) grenades, mines, and bombs of all sorts of different shapes and sizes are everywhere, Including the plains. On your trip through you have to stay within the marked area as the other parts have yet to be cleared. Theres also a Pathet Lao trench system running through the site and a blown up and subsequently stripped of useful metal russian tank.
More importantly whole areas of villages farmland are unuseable because of bomb craters and UXO in desperation these same villagers have resorted to selling scrap metal instead of farming, the same scrap metal is often UXO and this had caused a large number of deaths and injuries.
The numbers regarding amount of bombs in Lao are frightening. See picture, I hope you can read it, All the bombing in the south was on the roads into/out of vietnam, i'm in the middle of the northern red blob.
Info from the MAG office
Approximately 30% of the tonage of bombs dropped (by the way the US was guilty of dropping a large amount of extra bombs on Laos on its way back from Vietnam just to empty out the planes before landing!) is unexploded and MAG who are clearing Laos along with UXO Laos (the government organisation) have cleared 0.16% of the 30% guestimation since 1994. UXO Laos are thought to have managed the same since 2000 so its going to take about another 500 years at the going rate.
Heres a website with more info and a really good map of the bomb sites www.maginternational.org/laopdrbombingdata
written by  Dan on August 26, 2008 from Phonsavan, Laos

Fun and games in Vang Vieng
Vang Vieng, Laos
Vang Vieng is a weird place. A small little village on a big river surrounded by huge Karst mountains covered in green jungle. Its been over run by backpackers over the last few years and is now famous for tubing. Tubing is when you get an inner tire, get driven 3 km's up river start floating down and stop at the bars and huge monkey ropes on the way. Its becoming pretty popular and the less desirable Brits abroad types are coming up from Thailand to do it.
When I first arrived yesterday everyone was just finishing and I felt rather old as they all rowdily marched passed, pissed to there eyeballs.
But what the hell else is there to do, well Kayaking and caving is one option, so I booked my self on a tour which included all 3 for the ridiculously cheap price of $12 including a bbq lunch!
Despite my grumpy old man reservations I had great fun we took the kayaks 20km's up stream and took them over a few rapids then stopped at a great cave where you jump in a tube and hall yourself in on a rope. A little claustrophobic when we got off the tubes and continued through a small crack on foot, it was pretty chilly.
Next we had a great lunch and jumped back on the Kayaks down the river stopping at a couple of Riverside bars which had zip wires and huge acrobat style swings into the river, probably about 30 feet up. I stacked it with a splash and failed to hold on!
Then a bit more kayaking and we arrived back in town just before dusk.
Was much more fun than I expected, I really should lighten up!
Sad to say Laos is nearly over. Bus to the capital Vientiane tomorrow, hope to be in Bangkok by monday for more visa fun!
written by  Dan on August 28, 2008 from Vang Vieng, Laos

Bye Bye Laos!
Vientiane, Laos
Well its been awesome, Laos was all I expected and more, not a bad day in the 3 weeks (except maybe that bus) and to be honest i'm sad to leave.
Vientiane is pleasant enough. Its got street lights which was a shock and its really bloody hot. No hills all around its another town on the Mekong. Full of posh restaurant's and more Frenchman than is really necessary.
Just went on a tour of the sights yesterday with the massive Golden stupa the central attraction and a strange creation in the centre of town form the 60's a concrete Arc de triomph with Buddhist influence. Its pretty bloody ugly.
Other than that not a lot happened just been relaxing with a group of other travellers I met on the bus.
One incident of note, after a bit of booze went down to the BBQ stalls and decided on a shrimp (there bloody huge about 4 inches long) It was still alive in the bucket and when I'd picked the unfortunate one the stall holder simply picked it up and threw it live on the barely warm barbie. I felt bloody awful as it squirmed around for what seemed like ages.
Made sure I ate it though I think i've gone of seafood for a while.
Bus to Bangkok this evening, Bring on the riots!!!
written by  Dan on August 31, 2008 from Vientiane, Laos

A stuttering start
Bangkok, Thailand
Arrived at dawn and strolled down the Khaosan Road (Backpacker central!) to find a bed and was flanked by folks stumbling home from there nights out. Got a bed and a couple of hours kip then forced my self up to get started on the visas. I had planed on getting 2 this week but it aint gonna happen.
They'll only give me a Chinese visa if I have flights out of the country and I'm planning on taking the train to Mongolia so that doesn't bode to well. However these stupid Olympic regulations are supposed to end on September 18th so that gives me a week to get it sorted before I head back north. No worries there really just a pain in the balls. Only problem is the Russian visa, I need to get that asap as it takes a while and I don't want to hang around in Bangkok forever, I've got diving to do! So i'm going to have to gamble and get the Russian visa then hope i'm approved later for the China one. If the China one still fails then i've spent $120 on a russian visa when I cant get there but never mind. Ah! the joys of government regulations
Bangkok is hot, wet and bloomin enormous. Can't tell you much more.
written by  Dan on September 1, 2008 from Bangkok, Thailand

3 days is plenty
Bangkok, Thailand
Grand Palace
Hung around for 3 days and eventually managed to get my Russian visa sorted. However it takes 11 days to prosess so i'm off to Koh Tao to do some scuba. Bangkok is pretty crazy and not all that pleasant. Went to the grand palace which was spectacular but did little else in an attempt to save a bit of money. Did have an excellent cheddar cheese and Branston pickle sandwich though!!!
written by  Dan on September 4, 2008 from Bangkok, Thailand

Swimming with the fishes!
Ko Tao, Thailand
Sairee beach
Whilst I was in Laos I met a few travellers who'd come from Thailand and I had asked them what to do with my spare 2 weeks here rather than hanging around in Bangkok. It was pretty unanimous that I should go to the islands and the majority also suggested doing my scuba training. For some reason it hadn't really occurred to me but it seemed a bloody good idea as it is said that Ko Tao (ko meaning island, Tao is turtle) is one of the cheapest places to learn around.
SO i booked myself on a 4 day open water course (open water being the sea as apposed to a pool) and took the night bus and early morning ferry. The island is pretty beautiful though fairly touristy. Apparently really quiet in comparison to the other big tourist destinations round here though.
Diving was amazing the coral reefs here are beautiful and despite poor visibility at times (because its nearly full moon) I saw some pretty incredible stuff. Sadly no pictures as my camera isn't waterproof... actually it stopped working last night so there may not be any pictures for the foreseeable future :(
Enjoyed the diving so much and also dreaded the idea of another 4 days in Bangkok so I signed up for the advanced course too. Just finished that yesterday so I'm now certified to dive to 30 meters! Also did a night dive on this course which was insane (mainly due to the crazy waves) but diving with torches looked made it look like we were on the bottom of the deepest oceans. Was really interesting as you see completely different stuff including glowing fishes and plankton.
So i've done nine dives over the last 6 days and am just going to chill out now till Sunday when I return to the capital pick up my passport form the Russian consul and fly to Cambodia the next afternoon.
written by  Dan on September 12, 2008 from Ko Tao, Thailand

Getting the Orange line in the right place!
Bangkok, Thailand
Not a lot to say came back for a night and wound up going to this insane Thai cabaret which you had to buy a bottle of Johnny Walker Whisky to get into. Fortunately there where a few of us so it didnt get to messy though I stumbled home in the early morning and woke for my flight not long later.
written by  Dan on September 15, 2008 from Bangkok, Thailand

Cambodia!!!
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
A 1 hour flight and 5 minute wait for my visa later and I'm in Cambodia. Really looking forward to the next 12 days here as I've only heard good things. Met Andrei and Kerry again (whom I did the gibbon trek with) and they have VERY kindly leant me there spare camera... so alls well!
Still recouping from sleep deprivation at the mo but i'll be busying myself again soon.
written by  Dan on September 16, 2008 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Killing Fields and Genocide museum
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Still suffering a bit from the cold so I really feel I didn't get round enough and slept a lot but i'll be back at the end of this little detour so hopefully have some more time then. I'm intrigued by the city and its colonial past and clearly very poor present.
Did a morning of tourism and it was about the most harrowing of my life. Went to the killing fields site an area of mass graves with a Stupa in the middle which Pol Pot used in the late 70's to murder approximately 200,000 people. Its not the only site in Cambodia he had around 2 million people killed during the genocide.
The place itself doesn't have a whole lot of information so I hired a guide and got a lot of extra info and understanding out of the visit.
I didn't realise that the Khmer Rouge was funded by Chairman Mao and the Chinese. I was also unaware of the reasons for the murders. Pol Pot was simply scared of intellectuals whom he felt wouldn't agree with his communist ideals so all such people were killed along with there entire families so there could be no reprisals. This included children and babies who where killed in a special area of the field called the killing tree, apparently babies would be smashed against it the same way you might hit a tree with a baseball bat.
Amongst the paths there where still many clothes and even teeth still in the ground though when the graves where discovered in the 80's the majority of bodies where dug up and buried properly though there skulls form the centre of the stupa. These skulls also show that no bullets where used in the killings only farm tools and bamboo canes. Some prisoners where also thought to have been buried alive.
The soldiers performing these actions where often very young sometimes only 12 years old, they had simply been brain washed or scared into doing the commanders wishes. Those soldiers who tried to escape where also executed, usually beheaded using the leaf from a young palm tree (it has an edge like a saw blade) in front of the other soldiers to warn off any further desertion.
It was a truly upsetting experience simply because it all felt so recent and real sometimes when you see these things its so far in the past its hard to imagine but with all the skulls and cloths still there it really brought it home.
And i wasn't finished there I also visited the main genocide museum which was situated in the old prison . This building had previously been a school but had been modified into prison blocks and torture rooms.
Once Pol Pot had gotten control of the country he ordered the closure of all intellectual and religious establishments defrocking monks and forcing everyone to support the Khmer Rouge. Anyone who resisted was accused of collaboration with the CIA and taken to these prisons. He also closed the country to foreigners and any who failed to leave in time where also arrested. a number of french, american, Indian and Australian doctors, officials and journalists where taken here and then executed.
The base population where sent into forced labour camps in the coutryside leaving the towns and cities deserted for 3 years.
The museum contains a lot of information along with some pretty horrendous photographs from the original arrest photos to later stages of peoples time there. Only 7 people who ended up in this prison survived the war.
After that emotional morning I did little else other than have a nap and read War of the Worlds.
Next morning I took a bus north to Siam Reap the site of Angkor Watt an many other temples. Hopefully slightly more cheery posts to come
written by  Dan on September 18, 2008 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Angkor Wat!!!!!
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Sorry for the delay on this one I actually wrote a long article about Angkor 3 or 4 days ago then there was a power cut and the auto save on the blog failed to do what its supposed to!!!
Cambodia is a doddle to travel in, its as flat as a pancake and the roads are wide. Bit harsh on the engineers in Laos with all the hills and jungle they have to get through but the same distances here can be got through in half the time.
So a fairly comfortable ride north to the town of Siem Reap the only event was the fried tarantula on sail at the lunch break. THis one had a missive bucket full of live ones and a plate around the same size of greasy looking 2 inch black blobs.
I didn't have one.
I hadn't realised that Angkor comprised of over 250 temples not just the 1 famous one as I had erroneously believed. The main tourist area has around 25 huge and beautifully built temples dating from between the 11th and 12th centuries. Most are Buddhist but some are Hindu.
They all have intricate carvings and fabulous arches columns and tall steep staircases and you basically get free run of the place (within reason) once you've paid you 20 dollar a day (2 for the price of 3) entrance fee.
The park has 2 sort of ring roads through it and I took the inner road on the first day hiring a bike for a dollar instead of the 15 dollar tuk tuk. Had a lovely day cycling along the shady roads turning a corner and coming across yet another outstanding piece of architecture.
What's so nice is the variation I thought I'd quickly get board at looking at the same thing but the temples all have big differences. Some are pyramid shapes. Others one level buildings (one of these had doorways that got smaller the further you went in) Others have square stone pillars some round roman style columns and one is built of bricks instead of huge stone slabs. My favourite though was the temple named Bayon which was a kind of circular pyramid of columns which had wonderful Buddhist faces on top of them about 2 meters square.
Next morning I had planned to cycle the second, outer, ring but I woke feeling awful and ended up in bed all day. Fortunately I had the extra day on my ticket so on day 3 I felt better but still not well enough to cycle a 30 km round trip so hired a motorbike and driver. To make the most I headed out to one of the distant temples 80km from the main park. It was worth the sore bottom. Beang Malia was designed by the same chap who built Angkor Wat but it hadn't had much of the jungle cleared from it. The beautiful building was crawling with fantastic ancient trees and long winding vines and best of all it just had a few boards through it and you where given complete freedom and encouragement from the wardens to boulder your way through and get lost in its dark hallways. I got there late afternoon (all the tour groups go early morning) and the only other tourists I saw where a few leaving as I entered so I had the whole complex to my self. In the evening sunlight through the trees it was truly stunning. My pictures don't do it justice whatsoever.
written by  Dan on September 24, 2008 from Siem Reap, Cambodia

Beach + monsoon = book
Sihanokville, Cambodia
Took a couple of buses down here from Siem Reap. Nice enough little town with some lovely beaches but I hit the bad weather. Was also thinking about maybe doing another scuba dive or 2 but i really need to save the money and the weather being crap made up my mind.
So I sat and read my book about how Nixon and Kissinger are pretty much to blame for leaving Cambodia in the lurch and wide open to Pol Pots resulting atrocities.
2nd day the weather was reasonable and I sat in a cafe by the beach getting harassed by hawkers and kids wanting tin cans or money. Good sunset the that evening and had some really nice fresh squid bbq'd, not a hint of rubber!
Would be a really nice place if the weather was good as its not that busy (yet, give it 5 years I reckon) so you get the white sandy beaches without so many Brits abroad unlike a certain country to the west!
Back to the capital next, fly to Macau soon.
written by  Dan on September 26, 2008 from Sihanokville, Cambodia

Food and football... happy days!
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Came back to try and do a Khmer cookery course but its a national holiday this weekend so most stuff is closed. Cambodian food is very good really excellent coconut based curry called "amok" much nicer than the Thai versions! Also do good salads had a very tasty meal yesterday of banana blossom and chicken in a cold salad similar to Lao laap (banana blossom has a sweet mild cabbage flavour/texture)
Had a chance to walk around the waterfront which is really nice and the palace and surrounding wats are striking too. Done little else but watch the footy last night... Hull beat Arsenal and Man United won because one of the worst refereeing decisions ever!
People in SE asia are mental for premiership footy by the way. I've seen loads of games over the last couple of months. Very strange watching English footy on a remote island in the gulf of Thailand.
Anyway, fly to Bangkok in a couple of hours then to Macau on Monday. Should be back in China by Thursday afternoon, really looking forward to it... bring on the tasty aubergine!
written by  Dan on September 28, 2008 from Phnom Penh, Cambodia

12 hours in Bangkok, one last green curry!
Got rid of some books and spent as little as possible in Bangkok. Was chucking it down with rain and actually cold!!!
Had a good green curry with shrimp for 50p. The street curry vendors (they make it fresh) here are excellent and really cheap. Definately the best thing about Bangkok, along with the good bookshops that have an great variety not just Maeve Blanchy, Tom Clancey and Patricia Cornwell!!!
Picked up a copy of Sun Tzu's The art of war for some relevent reading when I get back into China.
Off to do some real travllling again now, not to be distracted by western food and tourist friendly transport systems.

1 Hour in Macau
Macau, Macau
I would have liked to look round but needed to get over to Hong Kong cos I've got to get to the tourist agency early tomorrow to get my visa application in.
Airport landing strip was cool. Completely man made and sticking out into the sea so was convinced we where performing a splash landing until the last second when this little concrete strip appeared... not at all woriied, honest!
So straight out the airport and over to the ferry terminal for hour long ride to Kowloon but I've got the stamp in my passport so thats another country to tick off (if Macau is a country? answers please)
written by  Dan on September 29, 2008 from Macau, Macau

Bad time to come back! But it aint all bad...
Guangzhou, China
So coming back to China on the week of the national holiday wasn't too sensible. Wanted to get up to Shanghai asap but couldn't get a train for 2 days and then had to pay for a soft sleeper ticket.
The dorm I found in Guangzhou was full too so had to pay 15 quid for a single room.
Despite what I said last time Guangzhou aint all bad. Spent a couple of days with some other travelers, we strolled around the market and ate some good Cantonese food, something I hadn't managed previously!
Caught the train Saturday morning, 20 hours to Shanghai, was comfortable apart form the bratty 3 year old that ended up in the cabin. Chinese kids can be spoilt little shits!
written by  Dan on October 4, 2008 from Guangzhou, China

Not enough Chuffing money!!!
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Bought a new camera, got my 1month Chinese visa (triple the amount of previous 3 month visa) and paid 12 pounds a night for a corridor!
Had to stay an extra 2 days because of, guess what, the national holidays!!!
Had a nice time at the space museum and national art gallery though. Perticularaly good exibit of roman frescoes duf up from the lava of mount vesuvious. Local interest obviously.
Fake student card bought in Thailand already paid for itself twice! Do not go without if travelling to China!
written by  Dan on October 1, 2008 from Kowloon, Hong Kong

Meeting up with Alyn, at last
Shanghai, China
One of the main reasons I came to China was to visit Alyn an old work colleague and current mate from Sheffield. So its taken me over 7 months to make it here which I feel a bit bad about!
Was it worth the wait?
You'll see when I can be bothered to sit down write about it...
Just for Mr Honeymoondestinations here goes!
I arrived ridiculousness early on the train from Guangzhou, this sort of thing hasn't been much of a problem in the past as hotels are open 24 hours (usually) however poor old Al isn't so I woke him as my taxi arrived at the apartment at 6am, but the mans a trooper so he bounced out of bed and we hit the tourist destinations for breakfast.
The Bund
Worked out very well as getting to The Bund at 8amish on a Sunday morning means its almost empty unlike the rest of the time. Took the obligatory photos and some less necessary ones, next was Pudong which is the east side of the river Pu, don't trust my spelling on that one. The trip under the river was funny, the Shanghai tourist tunnel a strange monorail type thing with silly lights and voices saying random words at odd intervals in Chinese then English... meteors!!!... magma!!!... Yet another stroke of Chinese genius.
Then went to the aquarium which was super, some really big tanks with sharks, rays, seals and penguins. Not all in the same one but there was a tank with a lot of alligators and 2 ducks swimming around on top, stood there for 5 minutes hoping for a Jurassic park moment but it didn't come. Someone suggested throwing in one of the plethora of Chinese children ruining the view but it was thought better of.
The one on the left is the taller financial tower
Then went to look at the 3 prominent towers of the skyline first was the oriental pearl, which is in all honesty ugly and looks more suited to the futuristic style buildings you used to see on Thunder birds. Then came the really big 2 the Jin Mao tower, formally China's largest tower and the newly completed Shanghai World Financial centre which is currently the tallest in china and 2nd in the world. They are impressive structures though who knows how long they are going to last as authorities are concerned by the amount of construction going on on what was formally a swamp!
It was then time for lunch and a siesta followed in the afternoon by a trip to the shooting range which was a giggle. I was also a little disturbingly good. Must have been all the practice with the air rifle in scouts, shot a small handgun then a hefty Magnum, I came to the conclusion that guns are scary!
Next day Al went to work and I went to the Shanghai museum, the best bits where the really ancient (3000BC) Bronzes and Jades. After that I came back. There's not much more than a days tourism in Shanghai.
written by  Dan on October 6, 2008 from Shanghai, China

West Lake
Hangzhou, China
Hangzhou is famous for its lake. Its very pretty but its the most ridiculously pristine place I've ever been literally not a leaf is out of place. The lake was built for some emperor chap back in the day (as you can tell I've been reading up!) and is lined with hundreds of willow trees. Its also has some causeways which are really nice to cycle along, all very photogenic and lovely and I got lucky with the weather too as the full day I had there was the only day it wasn't really hazy.
Seemed a fairly affluent and slightly yuppyish city but it certainly wasn't an unpleasant place just a little bland. I wonder if the rest of China will end up like this as it gets richer?
The highlight was stumbling into some Chinese street opera and watching all the locals really enjoying the performances from whom I assume where other locals.
Back to Shanghai for the weekend.
written by  Dan on October 9, 2008 from Hangzhou, China

Boozed!
Shanghai, China
Came back for Friday night, one of Alyns friends Birthday was happening so we went out for a meal (tex mex) and had a lot of Mango Margaritas and Coronas. Stumbled in at 4. Had a very snazzy day Saturday having Brunch (at a proper brunch restaurant) then strolling through the French concession area drinking the odd coffee and eating cakes, How jolly!
Same evening went for another meal with some other of Als mates (amazing North Indian fare) and then went to a Jazz club who'd shipped over a group playing fantastic Franco American stuff. The club was ace absolutely packed with the dull red light and the whiff of cigars. Lots of classy people there and me with my curly mullet and skanky shoes, I felt a bit out of place.
Next day was recuperation then a train to Huangshnan in the evening. Alyn of course went to work the next morning, I really don't think I could keep up the expat lifestyle!
Anyway thanks to Al for allowing me to freeload a bit. I'm now back to skimping and probably not drinking much more til I get home!
written by  Dan on October 12, 2008 from Shanghai, China

Bootiful
Huangshan, China
Bonsai trees
Huangshan means Yellow mountain, though I don't understand the name for it is not yellow... Mind you its certainly a mountain!
There are hotels on top and it is recommended that you take a couple of days over your trip here being all soppy and checking out the sunrise. To be honest I'd have liked to stay longer but 2 factors changed my mind. My desire to get to Beijing before the weekend so I could get to the Mongolian consulate and because hotel rooms on top of the mountain where not cheep. I was already forking out 200 yuan about 17 quid just to go up and it was going to be at least the same again to stay.
Anyway all this meant I was intending to blitz the hill in a day and being the super fit specimen that I am I was going to avoid using the cable cars and walk up. However I was talked out of my only walking plan b a number of Chinese who quoted me times between 3 and 10 hours just to walk up the thing, this was in fact bullshit (it takes 2) but they had a point as I needed 4 or 5 hours to walk around the top plus photographing time and the last bus back was at 5 so I would have been pushing it for time. So I took the sensible if a little expensive option of catching the cable car up so after setting off from Huangshan city at 6am I was on the top amongst the crowds of tourists by 9:30am. After a couple of hours of close proximity with the throngs of Chinese tour groups all wearing there colour coded hats it was a welcome relief and a stunning view.
Huangshan is formed from a very hard granite stone which over the years had formed into vertical (or at least very steep) peaks which would normally erode but due to the strength have remained and also sport an array of pine trees that have grown into the gaps in the stunted style of bonsai trees. The combination creates a very picturesque and "Chinese" landscape which against a crisp blue sky really looked great.
I had made a friend on the bus and in the queue for the cable car, a chap from Shanghai who had similar views to large groups as I so once he'd checked into his hotel we struck off to the Western section of the mountain in the hope of leaving all the retirement groups in our wake.
We soon came across a large gorge type structure which reminded me of Tiger leaping gorge because of the way it just dropped down seemingly endlessly. As We got to what we thought was the end of the path a few huffing Chinese passed in the opposite direction appearing from a small path in the cliff face. We followed this down and soon realised that the impossibly steep cliff wasn't too steep for insane Chinese path engineering and so began the long decent down, peering at the opposite face and thinking how on earth were going to get back up.
The views where fab and well worth the knee crunching stairs and the assent wasn't too difficult as we where in the shaded side of the mountain and it wasn't as steep as the opposite side.
At least I didn't find it too difficult but soon found myself well ahead of Minglung (the chum) and was also passing other Chinese with alarming regularity. Either I'm as fit as a fiddle or the Chinese are rubbish at steps, I have a sneaking suspicion its the latter!
After waiting 30 minutes for Minglung to catch up and only halfway up the hill I said my goodbyes and carried on as it was getting into the afternoon and I was about 10 km away from where I needed to be to descend.
After reaching the top of the far side I carried on wondering the tops and the relentless up and down steps began to take there toll. Fairly shattered I got to the steps and cable car down saw the massive queue for the car and made my fatal error. I chose the steps.
Kind of looks polystyrene!
Fairly early on in the descent my muscles started to wobble and within minutes I was in a Monty Python style funny walk trying desperately to stop my knees from giving up on me. Pleasingly all the Chinese coming down looked similarly stupid so we all grinned at one another as we developed are own unique styles. It got less funny after an hour and a bit when I saw the sign that said I had another 2.5 km's of the 8 to go.
Eventually got to the bus station though and hobbled onto the bus.
I never really understood why people said they preferred stairs up to those down but now I completely agree. If you get in a bit of pain going up you can just stop and rest and it will go away but this doesn't work in the opposite direction, your not tired but your legs start acting like jelly!
All worth it though.
written by  Dan on October 14, 2008 from Huangshan, China

Hmmm, trains
Nanjing, China
The normally reliable train service let me down a bit.
Let me qualify that, no trains where late or anything its just I couldn't get a ticket. This usually isn't a problem due to the large numbers of trains (its said that theirs something like 8 million people traveling on a train in China 24 hours a day!!!)
Anyway during my first 5 month stint I never failed to get the ticket I needed but it seems the East coast is a different story.
Unable to get a direct train to Beijing from Huangdhan city I took a hard seat to Nanjing where I was told I would easily catch a connection to the capital. By the way "hard seats" are the lowest class you can get (apart from standing actually) but there not to bad, you've just got to be careful you don't leave your seat for too long as there seems to be the 10 second rule in China where if your not sat on it then its fair game. Well it wasn't to bad for a 7 hour morning ride and I arrived in Nanjing at lunchtime and went straight to the ticket office to get my connection and a bed.
With the words "MAYO" (don't have) tinging in my ears I was left a little shell shocked at the prospect of waiting in Nanjing for the next 2 days when the next sleeper ticket was available for the 1400km trip.
That was no good as it would get me to Beijing on the Sunday so I queued again and asked (with a little help from a English speaking chap) when the next seat of any king was available.
So with my hard seat ticket leaving at 1am in my sticky little mitt I went off to explore the city. A pleasent enough place with a huge park containing (guess what) a massive lake. I then jumped on the tube and trusting in my Lonely planet map went of in search of an internet cafe. After being pointed in the opposite direction by a lovely looking but clearly a little dim Chinese lady (that's not entirely fair rarely can a Chinese person give you decent directions, oh a she offered to help me by the way which is why I believed her...) I found it and camped out for bit passing the time.
I'm rambling sorry, got the train eventually and got to my hostel in Beijing (which is really comfy and quiet) at about 4pm Shattered form a fairly sleepless and stared at night. Still I can now say I've roughed it proper on the trains though I certainly wouldn't jump at the chance of doing it again.
written by  Dan on October 16, 2008 from Nanjing, China

The capital... at last
Beijing, China
My final destination in China is the big one. I think I've saved a goodie to last too I've only been here a day but there's a really nice vibe and the hostel I stumbled across on the web which is situated in one of the peaceful hutongs is lovely.
(A hutong is an area of small traditional streets and houses where your common and garden Beijinger traditionally lives, there's not so many of them left now as your friendly local communist government knocked a lot of them down for various reasons, one being the Olympics and those that remain have been spruced up with fresh slaps of concrete.
Well I've made them sound awful but they are still nice, honest)
After going to bed VERY early Thursday I had to get up at the crack again to get across the city to the Mongolian consul and despite a late scare regarding invitations they've issued the visa with no quibbles. So that's all the visas done and dusted (to my great relief). I need not apply for one ever again, or at least not until I do another trip, hmmm.
I then dropped in on the Chinese astrology museum, not something I'm massively interested in but it was close and cheap. Had some pretty cool Jesuit built instruments and was as old as Greenwich which makes it one of the first ever built!
The birds nest
Then went to pick up and pay for my Beijing to Ulaanbaatar train ticket which cost about 75 quid, another piece of the jigsaw home.
Inside the stadium
Jumped on the excellent Beijing subway and went to check out the Olympic area. Pretty impressive they are too and for 4 quid you can go in the main stadium and wonder around on the track and green. Lots of very odd dummies strewn around with stocking over there heads, bank robber style where on view. They where adorned in the various costumes from the opening ceremony and the medal ceremonies.
Also saw the waster cube which is a cool building but didn't stump up dosh to go in there as well.
NICE!
Got back to the hostel and got confirmation of my train ticket from Irkutsk to Moscow, a stiff 250 quid but it does take 75 hours. So I'm nearly all lined up for the trip home. Still 6 weeks away though so don't all get too excited!
written by  Dan on October 17, 2008 from Beijing, China

Beijing is Bueno!
Beijing, China
Just been taking it really easy this week. The hostel is really ace and too easy to just laze about in.
However i haven't just whiled away the days reading about how to survive robot uprisings and messing around on the internet, honest!
Had a trip to the flea market which was good fun lots of tat as expected but some cool communist bits and bobs and plenty of "Maomerabilia", if your REALLY lucky you might get some as I bought a fair few bits and bobs then had to have a practice pack to ensure I didn't need a new bag or a trip[ to the post office, fortunately neither is required, you'd think I'd be pretty good at packing my bag by now after about 8 months! It will be nice to not be living out of the same slightly tatty bag soon.
Smog over the forbidden city
Went to the forbidden city, was trying to do it on the cheap so I went to the parks north of the city from which you can get an excellent overview with the intention of not bothering going in if I was satisfied with what I saw, however due to the shocking smog I thought I aught to go down and have a closer look so I wondered down to the Northern gate which is actually an exit and was met by literally thousands of tour groups and in a moment of swanky traveler naughtiness made like a lost child looking for his mum and walked in through the exit, expected to be met by some sort of ticket inspector at any second (there usually everywhere in China) but non came and before I really realised it I was in!
Was well busy inside but impressive stuff. Didn't really know what I was looking at as I didn't have a leaflet, apparently you don't get one if you steal your way in...
Next day the weather was crap and that night the wind suddenly blew and it rained, the first time for me in about a month.
The weather was well timed as it blew all the clouds and smog away by the morning and at 6am with a very crisp blue sky above I set off on a bus ride to Jinshanling the starting point of a 10km walk along the great wall.
The weather really was perfect as you could see for miles but it was seriously chilly despite the lovely sunlight.
Lovely blue sky
The wall is everything I expected, truly impressive engineering takes it over impossible terrain it really is a super structure. Shame Genghis just road around it!
The walk was lovely a few steep parts in places and plenty of hawkers trying to sell you books, postcards and t shirts but it wasn't too busy and worked out fairly good value as the Thai student card once again came in to good use and also the tour company who where charging 18 quid each for the 3 hour bus ride there and back (expensive because there is no other viable option apart form taxis) only charged 2 of the 3 people in our group so we got there for 12 quid each instead, making it far more reasonable.
I'm turning in to a bit of a dodgy geezer I'm ashamed to say. I'll be nicking apples of next doors trees next!
written by  Dan on October 23, 2008 from Beijing, China

The Great Train Journey begins...
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
The trains destination
So I'm on my way home... The slightly long overland route though, traveling on the Trans Mongolian and Trans Siberian Railway then through a bit of Europe before getting to Berlin before the end of November. So i wont be gracing your couches eating cheese and chutney sandwiches and generally pissing you all of by complaining I have no money because I've been on holiday for 9 months just yet!
After convincing the taxi driver I wanted to go to the train station and not the airport I got n the train early on Saturday morning without any hitches. The cabin is a nice spacious 4 bunk with a door and I'm joined by an Aussie lady going to visit her son in Mongolia and 2 Mongolian sisters who are about to take the 2 of us under there wing for the next 31 hours of train travel.
Not that we really needed looking after but they insisted ad the trip was made most enjoyable by there tales of Mongolian culture ad custom andgeneral health and safety tips. I was also given a Mongolian name "Tengis" which means wide blue ocean, just like my eyes I'm told!!!
The border crossing where the most tedious part and after getting up at 6am no ne appreciated being kept up til 2:30 the next morning waiting for our passports to be returned on the other side. It takes so long to cross because there are so many people going through customs and we all have to "pass" the inspection AND the wheels on the train have to be changed as the Mongolians run there trains on a different gauge to the Chinese!
Arrived in UB the next afternoon about 1 hour late. Very cold.
written by  Dan on October 27, 2008 from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

A couple of days as a nomad!
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Well not really.
Jumped straight on a tour for the next morning after arriving at my guest house the Golden Gobi. A couple of nights in Gers (Yurts) one in the local national park and another with friends of the guest house owner in the middle of nowhere... theres a lot of middle of nowhere in Mongolia.
The tours are usually very expensive here due to the long distances traveled and all the guides and other guff that you are supposed to have.
However we where offered a more local experience without all the tourist spots and due to the park being close the fuel costs where also minimal, So a tour that would normally cost $50 a day (that 3 days not 2 nights) cost $45 dollars in total. A much needed bonus at the end of my trip now the money is running dry.
So we ( teamed up with a couple who lived in Beijing, 1 Aussie and a chap from Newcastle) where driven out to our Ger and left to our own devices in the beautiful pine forest park, walked around a fair bit then warmed up in the tent. The food wasn't too great, lots of dried dairy and grease but its all about keeping your energy up when you live in the Steppe. Went on a horse ride for the 2nd morning and visited a local monastery.
Massive metal Genghis
The first family didn't really get involved with us but after we where driven to the next family, visiting a huge 44 meter high statue of Genghis (pronounced Chinggis) on the way, we where soon put to work shoveling frozen shit and chopping wood (the girls where taught how to make dumplings) Next morning we helped the chap slaughter and butcher a sheep which was a great experience. I feel it really important people know hoe there meat is killed and the Mongolian process is very peaceful and quick.
The sheep is turned on its back. a hole is cut below the ribcage and the slaughterer quickly shoves his arm in to the beast and snap the main artery by the spine. A couple of puffs and the sheep was dead and no blood left it body. This is because the Nomads use everything from the body so during the butchering process the all the blood is scooped out, The ladies made it into black puddings using the intestines.
The sheep was put onto the roof after the job was finished to freeze along side a cow they had killed the day previous.
After our mornings work on the third day we returned to Ulaanbaatar. That evening went to see some Mongolian wrestling. Interesting no rules stuff with some of the biggest people I've ever seen all in one room! I'm not ashamed to say that I was shit scared especially when we strolled in a bit late to struggle t find a seat and discover we where the only foreigners in there. The Prime minister rocked up halfway through!
written by  Dan on October 29, 2008 from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Hyello Russia!
Irkutsk, Russia
A small can of beer to celebrate my succesful entry
After a slow train North, mainly because of the incredibly long winded border crossing/shunting operation that took approximately 8 hours, I have arrived in Russia.
Another comfortable train and fairly uneventful trip all the best sights where sadly missed as we passed lake Baikal in the night.
Irkutsk isn't just the grey city I expected it to be it has quite a few old wooden houses with ornate window frames and gutters scattered amongst the soviet style concrete apartment blocks.
Its expensive here but the food is good, particularly the salami style sausage, bread and Russian salads.
Weather not so great today, just hovering above zero so the snow that remains is fairly slushy and there's that fine rain in the air that really wets you through!
Traditional local wooden buildings, starting to get a little worn!
Strolled the streets this morning and went to collect my ticket to Moscow, slightly confusing apartment block the women lived in and after stumbling into a pet shop with an extremely large baboon I was directed upstairs where I had to enter number 11 apartment to get to number 12! After all that she doesn't have the ticket yet but she was a very jolly soul and we had tea and cakes whilst she assured me she'd have it by Friday.
Will go to Olkhon Island tomorrow to check out the western edge of Lake Baikal. Day long bus trip there and back but I've been assured by other travelers its well worth the effort.
written by  Dan on November 3, 2008 from Irkutsk, Russia

If you go nowhere else...
Khuzhir, Russia
I had been told about this place by everyone I'd met coming the other way from Russia. It was more than worth the hype too. I only wish I had a week to spare not 3 days
Olkhon Island is a fairly large place on the western edge of Baikal (the worlds biggest and deepest fresh water lake containing a fifth of the worlds fresh water and going to a depth of 6 kilometers, they reckon it will eventually halve Asia, not for a Millennium or 3 though!)
It has one major settlement, Khuzhir, and amongst it is a place called Nikitas Homestead a collection of eco lodges in which you can stay for 750 rubles a night full board. That is pretty cheap for Russia and the food is brilliant as long as you like your fish.
Shamanistic stuff
Once on the island there's a lot of it to see, including Shamanistic rocks (the local people the Buryas are the main inhabitants here and have been for centuries) lovely pine forest, beaches and huge clifftop coastline. Sadly you really need to hire a car or tour and have at least 3 days on the island to do all this and been as though the bus ride and ferry there take the best part of the day my 3 days spare really meant I was pushing it for time. So I spent the day the coldest I've ever been in my life but in one of the most stunning place. Honestly the pictures don't do it justice. Its so barren and incredible, the lake is also massive and blue (just like my eyes, haha) and I only saw the western edge where its about 10 km's wide the other side is 50 at least.
I don't really know what else to say about it so look at the pictures.
Oh... the Banya was excellent I think I'll build one that can also function as a wood fired pizza oven when I've got my own cottage on a cliff!
Waiting for Tatiana the tea lady, she's bringing my train tickets round bless her!
written by  Dan on November 5, 2008 from Khuzhir, Russia

The great train journey continues!
Moscow, Russia
Lenin mural at the station
and ends I suppose though there are more trains to come I completed the trains Siberian in one fell swoop. 6oookms and 3 nights on my own in a couchette I actually went a bit stir crazy as literally nothing happened. Until day 2 that is when in my bordem I decided to have a shave and during a vigorous tapping of the shaving head on the sink it popped off (one of those replaceable ones) and fell down the drain and into the Siberian wastes! No I didn't have a replacement so I took the rest of the trip with a half shaved chin, a chin that hadn't been shaved for a month so had lots of skanky beard still remaining. Ah well, worse was to come.
In a desperate measure to eat something resembling veg (all the food available is bread, meats, cheeses and pot noodles) I bought a salad from a train station, Russian salads are always covered in mayonnaise. Woke up the next morning, the last morning feeling very odd and by the evening when I'd struggled to my hostel on the metro after failing to get the taxis to offer anything below 50us dollars for the 2 km trip from the train station! (i took the metro) i was in a real mess.
Changing of the guard
Only 2 nights in Moscow and the next day was spent in bed.
Forced myself up on the second day when a couple of British guys I'd met in Irkutsk showed up, checked out the Kremlin with them, along with Saint Basil. Also popped in on the Lenin Mausoleum, which was a bizarre experience, being shepherded through by incredibly stern Russian army types to see a dead body that looked as though it had begun to turn slightly dusty!
Was shattered after the mornings escapades and feeling sorry for myself I returned to the hostel to warm up and wait out my train to Saint Petersburg, an overnight hop of a mere 8 hours.
written by  Dan on November 10, 2008 from Moscow, Russia

This is Europe!!!
Saint Petersburg, Russia
What a beautiful place, massive European buildings lining wide roads huge palatial halls and immense churches and cathedrals. Yeah I like Saint P.
inside the church of christ the savior
After arriving very early and still worse for ware I located my hostel and went to bed. Woke up at 3pm, sun went down around 4:30. I went to the church of Christ the Savior which was fantastic, the Interior in particular was far better than Saint Basils, it look extra atmospheric up lit in the night sky.
Was soon back in bed.
Next day I felt a lot better and walked up to the river and along to the Peter and Paul Fortress then to the famous Hermitage museum and spent the rest of the day in there taking my time over it huge collection of international art.
Last morning in Russia saw me arrive at the bus station an hour and a half early and get a bit weirded out by like of signage and other potential passengers to Tallinn. Eventually others started to appear and I was soon on the bus out of Russia. At the border crossing I had my passport scrutinised by the Russian border and was triple or even quadruple checked against my image. I wanted to remind the guy that I was leaving so he had nothing to worry about, but I kept quiet and smiled instead.
In comparison when reaching the Estonian side the guard there furiously checked all the Russian passport and demanded tickets and was about to do the same to me but then noticed it was a British passport and just smiled at me and moved on... God Bless the EU!
written by  Dan on November 13, 2008 from Saint Petersburg, Russia

My first couch surf
Tallinn, Estonia
Arriving in Tallinn on the very cheap bus from Saint Petersburg I jumped in a cab and directed my driver to the address in my notebook. I arrived at a strange looking, empty wooden house. Somewhat worried by the fact I'd been directed to a seemingly empty house I hung around for 15 minutes in the hope that someone would turn up. Having just resorted to accosting someone in the street in an attempt to use there phone, two smiley faces appeared with arms full of shopping. I soon discovered they where Erko and Louise and they bussled me into the house, a lot less derelict looking on the inside, made us all some sandwiches and told me to choose a bed.
This was couch surfing a project I'd heard about a couple of months ago where you contact people in cities worldwide and simply ask if they have space for you on there couch or if your really lucky a spare mattress. Theres no money involved just generosity and a keenness to let travelers in to your house.
The house I've arrived it is somewhat unique though. A group of young Estonians are living here but are also running the downstairs area as a community house that all the locals can come and use for meetings, functions or just parties. Theres also a kitchen and Erko or Markus cook every evening and people drop in pay 2 Euros and join in with the meal. Its incredibly laid back and friendly.
I had intended on staying here for a couple of nights but the place is so great and I needed to recouperate after my illness (which I was miraculously cured from as soon as I left Russia)
Tallinn is also a beautiful town with a great Medievil gothic old town with chocolate box like cobbled streets which are great to stroll around, really not a whole lot else to do here though I've been helping round the house a bit (they are still fixing it up, they only got a shower last week... after 6 months)
Started snowing yesterday, theres about 6 inches fallen now, most I've seen in years!
written by  Dan on November 21, 2008 from Tallinn, Estonia

Whiteout
Riga, Latvia
2pm on the boulevard into the old town
Well not really just more snow than I've seen in a while.
Couch surfed again in Riga, found the chaps house just as he was heading out, he quickly showed me around and then gave me a key before disapearing off to a social function. 2 fellow surfers turned up a moment later. Went out in Riga that night the weather was chilly but clear. Woke up the following morning to a gale and snow drifts all over the place. Apparantly Tallinn all but closed down so its lucky I left when I did.
Main square
Like the plucky tourist I am I braved the gales and had a look around the old town. Lots of bars and even more casinos which is a bit odd, also a disturbingly large amount of British boozers, even seen stumbling out of clubs at lunchtime, no wonder we have a bad rep here.
Early bus to Vilnius the next morning, really need to get a hurry on now to get to Berlin in time to meet Mum and Dad.
written by  Dan on November 23, 2008 from Riga, Latvia

Quick stop in Lithuania
Vilnius, Lithuania
Having arrived in the afternoon from Riga, Vilnius oldtown got the once over from my camera. Seems a lovely place actually, very quiet in comparison with Latvia.
Most of the archetecture here is Roccoco (it said so on a sign) and there are lots of pink churches and cathedrals scattered amongst tall and slim cobbled streets, nice for the afternoon but really not a lot else to see so Im not sure I missed much by moving swiftly on. Though I would have liked to have gone to the genocide museum housed in the former KGB headquarters, after eventually finding the place I discovered it was closed on Mondays!!!
written by  Dan on November 24, 2008 from Vilnius, Lithuania

SUPLIES!!!!
Berlin, Germany
As the Chinaman said whilst jumping out of a bush...
Im supposed to be in Poland, at least thats what the olds think but they are coming to meet me in Berlin tomorrow (on the overnight train as we speak) and I have sneakily got here early to scare the willys out of them at the station tomorrow and thoroughly ruin mothers itinerary. Mwahahaha!
written by  Dan on November 26, 2008 from Berlin, Germany

Last Stop
Berlin, Germany
So the surprise was successful and no heart attacks occurred. We had a really good long weekend in Berlin, obviously there is a lot of history here and we discovered a good way of getting round was on a walking tour. The chaps who run them take you to all the important landmarks along with a few other lesser known spots. We did one on the 3rd Reich and saw all the important areas in the Nazi regime including Hitler’s bunker which is now a car park, was quite a weird feeling being there.
Saw a few Museums too including Checkpoint Charlie which was very interesting but a bit dated and swamped with information in contrast the Holocaust memorial museum positioned underneath an amazing memorial was really well thought out and beautifully presented.
As a complete contrast we also went to the Pergamum Museum which holds huge bits of ancient architecture that was moved to Berlin in the early 20th century. It includes the Ishtar gate which is part of the walls of Babylon from around 600BC.
The parents got one back on me on the surprise stakes on Saturday as Helen turned up after saying she wasn't going to be able to make it.
I have yet to mention the Christmas markets, they where lovely and much Gluwein was consumed.
Train back to England on the Tuesday was really lovely even had a sink in the cabin. The train from Berlin stopped at Brussels where we got the Eurostar to London then the train to Doncaster and a local train to Sheffield. Took about 16 hours to get across which is pretty quick.
written by  Dan on November 30, 2008 from Berlin, Germany

Home!
Sheffield, United Kingdom
12pm on a quiet Tuesday and we arrive at Sheffield station and little has changed, except there’s lots of building work... er, yeah like I say nothings changed. Arrive home and greeted by a plump looking old cat, go and collect the dog from Kennels, yes she's still alive defying all medical predictions, she looks kind of like a table though or maybe a zombie, I cant decide, zombie table it is!
Its great to be home actually I can finally put my bag down, the straps have begun to really dig in to my shoulders oh and draws now I have more than 3 t-shirts to choose from. Mind you a fair few seem to be fairly baggy!
Well its been pretty epic hasn't it and I really have enjoyed almost all of it, in fact the only hard times I had where all involved in getting visas especially during those 2 weeks in Thailand. I was expecting at least a months worth of depression and home sickness but once I got going it was honestly pretty easy. The travelling around was a fair bit simpler than I had imagined too and I didn't get sick until 'Stalins Mayonnaise' got hold of my guts.
If you have a bit of spare time I'd certainly recommend you get over there, I know that’s easy for me to say having no commitments here and all but seriously should you ever get the opportunity.
I suppose you'd like to know haw much I spent.
Well I was budgeting on around about £500 a month including stopping for at least 3 months and working. I managed this for the first 3 months and then obviously when I stopped and got payed all was going swimmingly. When I got to SE Asian though things where more expensive than I expected and the Russian 2 weeks alone cost about a grand so in the end I spent £5000 in 9 months, remember though I was only on the road for 6 and a half. So not the most frugal of travelers but then I did spend nearly £400 on the scuba and like I said the Russian bit was a bit of a drain. Don't regret a bit of it though despite the fact I am now penniless and relying on the fabulous interest rates at the bank of Mum and Dad.
Crikey I’m tired too this travelling malarkey really knackering... think I need a holiday!!!
written by  Dan on December 2, 2008 from Sheffield, United Kingdom

Dan meets Jackie Chan

HK SoHo area.

eating faster than a speeding camera lens!

HK taxi

Hmmmm belly pork!!!

Boozing on a high rise.

continuing getting boozed with our host Mikael

in the freezing russian bar

More HK at night

things may be getting a bit out of hand

Even the lady selling tat comes in for the kill!

My bed on the train

Guangzhou station, the station is in the far left, with all the folk outside!

Steps to one of the palace buildings

Curley roof

Punter on the rive Li

The main Palace, thats the hill in the fog behind!

The not so good view down from the top. Straight ahead was grey!

Bridge and pavilion at the back of the gardens

The steps down

more rainy scenes in the middle of Guilin

vegees

mountains just off the main road

chinese tourists and cloudy peaks

a very chinese looking street

more cloudy hills

yangshuo town

more of the town tucked into the mountains

yet more town, yangshuo is bigger than it looks

across the Li river

The early stages of duck pancakes (for you mark)

The farmers market

A cormorant Fisherman

Banyan tree in the forground, apparantly 1000 years old!

inder the tree

the view on the bike ride

Dan complete with pink ladies bike and crazy hills!

more hills and orange bushes

The yulong river

More hills

My chinese speaking malaysian compadre and yet more hills

Ping an' village and the looming clouds

terraces

More fields and clouds!

proof i was there!

more terraces

One of the famous bits, "7 stars acompany the moon"

Even more fields

The to one is the path

Another famous bit, 5 tigers or sommat!

Bamboo and pine forest

cool little shed oh and more fields

Terraces again

Endless crazy fields

Roof of a Dong house

Abronze age table, from 400 bc!

A cowri shell holder

Entrance to the temple

Another cowri shell holder, i dunno where they actually held the shells?

Lighting insense

the central part, surrounded by water

thats the main bit of the temple at the back

Temple entrance

Big Goldfish

Even bigger toads!

Proper burning of insense

insense burning

Sunbathing terapins

Mahjong fun, out of my bedroom window

Some sort of holy teapot!!!!

Main street in Kunming

Viwe from the dragons gate temple, tucked into the cliff

The main shrine

Tunnel through the cliff

more view

Lost in translation

Crazy path

more cliff path

View of Kunming from the top of the cliff

view south

Chinese man who kept taking photos of/with me! apparantly i was the tourist attraction?!?!

Weird stone formation on top of the cliff

another ugly deity

Pagoda in the distance

Another temple on the way back down, this one seemed genuinly old

Cool temple gardens

Walkway through the gardens

Old temple covered walkway

Kunming food and produce market

This was just rund the corner from the hostel but i didnt fin it till my last evening

Locals selling there greens

hmmm, bbq crickets on a stick

Tastes how fish food smells!

Lijiang old town, with genuine locals

One of the more major streets.

The 2 big water wheels are the first thing you see when you enter the old town.

Main square and "snow mountain"

Stone bridge and cherry blossom. There were even goldfish in the streams

View during the cycle.

a dip in the freezing reservoire on the way home.

Back at mamas hostel

More locals in Lijiangs streets

Shangri - La old town

The biggest prayer wheel i've ever seen.

Dancing in the square

The gompa

Tibetan frescoe

crazy road

steaming lake on the way to Deqin

Local tibetans

Prayers at dawn

Sunrise complete

CHINESE TOURISTS!

Paella preperation

The view from the roof

Tashi's lodge!

tibetan lodge ceiling

Rarringkha village

bedroom wall

Tasty Paella

random archery!

Up the Mekong and the FREE footbridge

Bridge over the Mekong

As close to the Glacier as we got

The crazy colour contrast. The pink is cherry blossom

yaks

lichen

massive lichen

Doing my Saroman bit!

Big mountains

Deqin down the bottom

Along the ridge and up to the summit approx 5000 meters

The snowy ridge

The decent view of the lake

rain sinks the rafts!

The main street of the nicer village

The last part of the crazy queue

Clear blue lake

Drum tower

The main prayer room

It was really dark in the room and it looks as though the horse 2nd from right moved its head!

The 2nd pit consisted of just archers, crossbowmen and chariots the latter of which only the horses and crew remain.

Crossbowman

Charioteer

The smallest of the 3 pits. The emperors bodyguards

Apparantly these warriors were also only armed with wooden weapons as opposed to proper weapons like in the other 2 pits.

The view as you enter the main pit

The rows at the front are bowmen, behind are the main force of spearman and chariots

Xian to Urumqi train, view from the hard sleep top bunk

Fish, a long way form the sea!

Tasty lamb

Grape vines and the main tomb

Tuyoq town

1000 buddha caves

Hazy flamin mountains

Jiaohe ruins

The gorge down the side of the plateau

Houses

Inside a large building

Temple

remanants of buddhas

The emin minaret

Bus breakdown in the desert, on the way back to Urumqi

Main Square

Kashgar old town street

Bakery

The reaction to a camera being removed from a pocket!

Abakh Hoja tomb

The start of the highway, through the desert

mountains begin to crop up

roadside camels

mohammad

Sand dunes

Karakul Lake

Murzagh ata in the morning.

Our hosts

the road continues across vast planes

Tashkurgan fort

Dubios chinese architecture!

The animal market

Checking out a horse

Massive bums!

Sheep sheering

View from my balcony

The living room

Kitchen, 2 bedrooms and bathroom off to the right.

Meeting the locals

All the team

Giving the speech, thats my translator Victoria.

A quick game of stand up - sit down

Colours and Animals

A small crowd!

Some of the other teachers.

This was my favorite class.

Cablecar queue!!!

I'm at the bottom there on the steps

Looking into the canyon

Bonsai trees

Kind of looks polystyrene!

Astrology stuff

The birds nest

Medal ceremony snazzyness

Borth exit (entrance!!!)

Beware the red peril!!!!

Monument to the people, Tiannanmen square

The hostel cat, "little white"

Your friendly great wall Hawker

Note the wall defences up the steps, for defending the towers should the wall be breached!

Mongolia as it was would have been on the right hand (northern) side

Steep steps

Lovely blue sky

Looking east so this time Mongolia was on the left.

Continuing along the cliff

The trains destination

My compatriots on the train

Morning stop in the middle of nowhere, freezing

Soviet monument overlooking UB

Turtle rock, in the national park

Monastry

Inside the ger

The driver and a golden eagle

View over the park

Massive metal Genghis

The other sheep and goats make a run for it!

Skinning

The ladies get the lovely job of cleaning the offal

The camp in the middle of nowhere

Dicing meat for dumplings

Wrestlers

The stadium

A bit disconcerting to wake up and find the rest of the train gone!!! The Mongolian customs station.

A small can of beer to celebrate my succesful entry

Dusk view from the train

Ulan Ude station at night

Traditional local wooden buildings, starting to get a little worn!

Polish Gothic church

Orthodox church

Russian car ferry, for some reason you had to reverse off!!!

Fookin cold!!!

Main road in Khuzhir, Nikitas down the bottom

Town water pump.

Sasqwatch, Bear, Moose?

Nikitas

Shamanistic stuff

Frozen sand!

The lovely warm stove

Julien and I in our hall

Dinner hall

Lenin mural at the station

The Irkutsk Moscow Train

Krasnoyarsk station

Red square

on the train, dusk just outside Yekaterinburg

Lenins Tomb

Changing of the guard

Saint Basils

My hosts Markus are Erko

view over the town and out to the Baltic sea

Hell Hunt.. means gentle wolf in Estonian!

Main square

13th century Gothic town hall

inside the church of christ the savior

2pm on the boulevard into the old town

another big square

Cathedral door

Busy Laos streets

BBQ bananas

steps to the Stupa

The old stupa and its replacement

Across the Mekong, Thailand on the other side,

The road to the stupa, also the way to the airport.

view from the dirt road

Last village before the deep jungle

The river crossing

The gang, from left the 2 Dutch girls Kerry and Andrei

Luca and Chrsitian trudge up more steps

Jungle zip

Muddy feet, this was actually one of my cleaner moments

Zipping

Treehouse from the exiting wire.

The tree house for the 2nd night. Trying desperately not to drop the camera!!!

The long drop

A loo with a view

The slow boat

Inside the boat before its filled up with toursists (mostly french)

Locals showing me how to use a sling. I was shit!

dock at Luang prabang

Old Palace, now part of the museum

View over LP

Local waterfall is blue in the dry season... its not the dry season!

Playing Boulle

Local Watt and fishtail boat

Monks with sun shades

One of many watts and extremely blue sky!

The bus well and truely stuck at dawn

The rediculous rescue vehicle

Entrance to the emergency room

Russian air filter

Entrance to the leaders cave

Artillery cave

The theatre

Cave entrance, bottom right

Entrance to the "Laos Cuban Frindship hospital" (cave)

Info from the MAG office

The biggest jar (at the back) about 7 feet tall

lounging on a jar

The only one with a lid

Praying mantis (sp?)

Remains of Russian (Pathet Laos) tank

Grand Palace

More Palace

Frescoes

flamey spinning blokes and the moon!

Sairee beach

The Bund

The Pearl tower, clearly not actually all that big

The one on the left is the taller financial tower

Street opera

Almost too perfect

View along the man made causeway