Jen's Travel Gossip: October 2010

Friday, 22 October 2010

‘The Backdoor to Yunnan'.

Howdy everyone!

The road trip is officially over. Alex assured me that seeing the Chinese countryside would be worth the long journeys and roughing it a little bit…and for once he was right. Unfortunately we couldn’t complete the full trip that we had planned, but what we did manage to do was enough for me. Having spent the first 4 weeks of our trip in the Chinese cities, I really didn’t know much else of China. The places we stayed at during the road trip were mostly full of Tibetans. The people are surprisingly different and the Tibetan style buildings are very pretty. I’m glad I have left China knowing there is more to the country than masses of people, buildings everywhere, Donuts and fast food chains.

From Chengdu we took a 9 hour ish bus journey to Kanding (2300m). Alex had already stopped in this town before and so was not as impressed as I was. We spent 2 nights there in a really nice hostel run by an American guy and his family. They had the most adorable puppy, Mulan which you can see in the photographs below. From Kanding we took another 9 hour ish bus journey to Litang (4000m)…getting as high as 4800m at one point. On the day we arrived in Litang my opinion of the place was very low. I was feeling very ill, probably due to tiredness…and the rubbish room we had been given did not help. The place was absolutely freezing, we had a cold room, no electric blankets and no hot water. Luckily we were due to leave the next day…In the light of day, with the sun shining, Litang was a lot nicer than I had originally thought. By walking just 10 minutes through the town and into a field, it was so peaceful and the scenery was beautiful. The lack of transport during the day stopped us from leaving Litang, and the incredibly unhelpful staff at the bus stop (who spent their time watching women’s underwear adverts on TV) did not make the situation any easier. After talking to some travellers we were advised to head to Daocheng in stead of Xiangcheng. Again Alex attempted to get some tickets for a bus the next day for Daocheng, but the staff made it impossible. Luckily a minibus driver had over-heard the conversation and tracked Alex down at the hostel we were staying. Not long after, an American lady called Rachel also tracked Alex down and arranged for her and her husband Ed to come with us. Transport was sorted, and we had a room which was slightly warmer, with hot water…I was happy. Although our driver didn’t turn up the next day, Rachel, Ed, Alex and I headed off in a minibus to Daocheng, only 3 hours away.

We were able to stop a couple of times on our journey to Daocheng, taking some photographs on the way. When we arrived Rachel and I went to look for accommodation whilst the boys started queuing for bus tickets for Shangri-la. The accommodation was the worst I had stayed in. It was very dirty, particularly the bathroom… and dare I say it… we actually paid for a squat toilet. Still we had electric blankets, and considering we stayed there for less than 24 hours it was OK. We eventually got the bus tickets after a long wait… and many Chinese people trying to push in. Rachel was just like me however, getting aggravated by those who pushed in. Thank god one Chinese guy actually stepped in for once, having a go at one of the main culprits trying to get others to buy him a ticket. The pusher-inner ended up getting a ticket in the end which was irritating beyond belief…but I survived this torment!

The 12 hour journey was surprisingly good. Alex had already said that the scenery we would see on this part of the journey was meant to be the best… and it was amazing in places. Unfortunately it was very cloudy and so the photographs we took really didn’t do it justice. I couldn’t believe some of the conditions we drove through. At the very beginning of the journey we travelled around the mountains, in places over 5000m high, covered in snow and ice- the sort of conditions where the British would be advised to stay indoors…SNOW DAY! These buses happily cruise along in these conditions, on the edge of cliffs, going around many corners, unfazed by the fact we could slip of the edge and die! At another location the roads were just completely covered in mud… again, the chances of sliding on the mud to me seemed high. I was nervous every time we crossed another massive lorry! Although some would consider Shangri-la as a bit too touristy, I liked it. The town built for tourist purposes was very cute. We didn’t really explore much of Shangri-la, but seeing the old town was enough for me.

We are now in Kunming…back into the busy parts of China. We took a sleeper bus last night, and we have one more day to go before we finally enter Vietnam. I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring China, and as I mentioned before, the road trip has been worthwhile…but I am also relieved it is over! I was completely unprepared for the freezing cold weather and have had to wear the same clothes for the full week…disgusting. Luckily the Chinese and Tibetans think you’re beautiful just because of your blonde hair…either way, I have looked a complete mess during this part of the trip. I’m happy to be back in shorts! The toilets I have seen are completely horrendous. No toilets seem to have doors to the semi cubicles…and some don’t even have cubicles. Out in the countryside squat toilets don’t appear to exist, and rather you are forced to use a hole or a trench, where everything that goes in stays in the same place. You actually have to pay to use these toilets as well… At times we had to just find a spot to go around the mountains, which was probably more hygienic than finding a service station. I think Alex is the only bf in the history of the Universe who could be proud of their gf using these disgusting toilets…trying to high-five me every time I came back onto the bus. I guess I’m a proper traveller now…for the moment anyways.

xoxo

Cav's shop abroad! Kunming

Shangri-la

Journey to Shangri-la

Daocheng

Yak in Daocheng

Journey to Daocheng

Litang

Litang- Prayer wheels

Journey to Litang

Alex with Mulan- Kanding

Kanding

Sunday, 17 October 2010

Hangzhou to Xi'an to Chengdu...

Hello friends and stalkers,

There hasn’t been too much to blog since my last post…We stayed in Hangzhou for 2 nights. I really liked this place, particularly the hostel we stayed at (despite the early morning noise). Here the main attraction for Alex and I was the lake…unfortunately it was quite misty and so the photographs don’t do it justice. On the day we arrived we casually walked approximately 10km around the lake, having numerous popcorn stops a long the way. The next day we hired a rowing boat and spent an hour on the lake. Other than that Hangzhou was very chilled out, updating blogs, catching up on Eastenders and eating some Chinese food.

From Hangzhou we took a 22 hour sleeper train to Xi’an…it wasn’t too bad…although it was on this train that some of the Chinese’s bad habits began to grate on me. I was shocked to see parents holding their children up going to the toilet on the floor in the area that you washed your hands…even though there were 4 toilets free next door…(I sense many of my gfs faces horrified at this point…it gets worse!). As expected we only spent 2 nights in Xi’an, taking a trip to see the ‘Terracotta Warriors’ on our full day there. For those who have not heard of this tourist attraction, in 1974, whilst digging a well a Farmer discovered a cabin full of terracotta warriors. Since this day approximately 8,000 warriors have been unearthed, and it is likely that there are more. It is believed that the purpose of the warriors was to safeguard the first Emperor of China - Qin Shi Huang’s rule in the afterlife. As guided by the Lonely Plant we toured the 3 pits backwards… pit 3 being the least impressive and pit 1 the most. In pit 1 6,000 warriors have been unearthed…see photographs below… For those of you who don’t know, each warrior has a different face making it more impressive (Although you can’t really notice this from the distance we stood). There were thousands of Chinese tourists; all of which allowed you to take photos without getting in your way…

The 18 hour sleeper train to Chengdu was horrendous. Whilst cleaning my teeth I had the pleasure of observing parents taking their children to the bin bags to go to the toilet. I also felt very ill the majority of the night and for the next few days. We originally intended on spending just 2 nights in Chengdu, taking the tour to see the pandas and the gymnastics. The first evening we arrived we did manage to see the gymnastics which turned out to be a very unusual opera. Some parts were really good. In particular a puppet act, and a hand shadow act. The shadow act was brilliant. The man doing it made all sorts out of his hands, birds, dogs, horse, rabbits… even a dog eating a rabbit (Which Alex found hilarious.). We couldn’t see the pandas the next day as I was still feeling ill. Instead we went to get our bus tickets which ended up taking hours. We did see the pandas the next day though which was one of my highlights. I don’t think I have ever seen pandas in real life, and as they look slightly like my dog they reminded me of her. We have taken so many photographs of the pandas, so hopefully you will enjoy the ones I have selected.

I am currently sitting at a hostel at our next stop, Kangding. Alex has convinced me that a 7 day road trip around the mountains is the thing to do in China. I’m glad to be out of the city at the moment. Most of the Chinese are so friendly and have been so helpful on our trip, but as I mentioned previously some of their habits are quite disgusting. Someone burped in my face the other day and then looked at me like it was normal! Girlies be prepared for some toilet nightmare stories!

xoxo

Hangzhou

Xi'an

Sue

Chengdu

Thursday, 7 October 2010

Nanjing to Shanghai...

Yo Yo!

Youtube is finally behaving and I am almost up-to-date with Eastenders! Alex is insisting that I will have to let it go, but I refuse to give in. Who says a traveller can't watch TV?

From Tai'an Alex and I got an overnight train to Nanjing. I was pretty worried about the accommodation we booked considering the bad reviews it got, but it turned out OK in the end. Whilst in Nanjing we visited the Memorial Hall of the Nanjing Massacre which was really shocking and quite upsetting. I was fully aware that it documented the murders of approximately 300,000 Chinese by the Japanese in 1937, but was unprepared for the graphic photographs of people having their heads chopped off. The day brightened on the way home however when we discovered the most amazing donut shop (see below for photos). I have decided that England needs more donut shops! The next day we headed towards Purple Mountain with the intention of climbing to the top. We were told we had to get a cable car in stead (which was not actually the case), but this suited me fine as I had never been in a cable car before. Was quite scary for me at first as I think it looked incredibly unstable, but I did survive! We didn't really stay long at the top. It was quite misty and so the view wasn't brilliant. We walked down the mountain and headed for pizza! After an exhausting and frustrating 5 miles + walk later we managed to find the pizza restaurant, Alex blaming the Lonely Planet map for the trek in stead of his poor navigation skills the entire way round. The pizza was good, but not worth the walk as Alex insisted it would be! We left Nanjing on the Thursday and headed for Shanghai. As there was no slow, rubbish trains we ended up paying more for the super fast hour long train which suited me fine!

We stayed with Alex's cousin David and his gf Michelle in Shanghai which was incredibly kind and generous of them- the hostel we would have stayed at would have cost us a bundle, they let us do some needed washing, and they showed us around different parts of Shanghai! We went out with them for dinner several times and I tried food that I would never normally try (for anyone who is wondering, this food wasn't massively experimental for the normal person). For in-depth discussions on food please visit Alex's blog, www.alexanderjohnstone.blogspot.com. We also visited the French Concession with them, looking at some buildings and walking through the park. Here Michelle and I went zorbing which was exhausting but something I can cross off my 'list of things I want to do in my life'! Michelle also took us to a water town an hour outside of Shanghai with some of her friends which was really good to see. Unfortunately the masses of tourists and the smell of fermented tofu (which I have decided is the worst smell in the world) made the day more tiring, but still worth doing.

Alex and I also took a couple of visits to the Bund, which is like the equivalent to Canary Wharf. Again this was good to see, but was full of tourists. Close by was an art museum/gallery type thing which was surprisingly enjoyable! We also went to the world expo one evening, managing to avoid what could have been some monstrous queues during the day. The size of the expo made it very difficult to see the majority of the pavilions. We did however visit a few, and we were able to skip the queue for the UK pavilion as British citizens! I felt sorry for everyone who was waiting in the 2 hour queue as it was pretty rubbish. I was pleased with the model soldier I saw but the main feature was a model representing the seed bank (which I didn't know existed) in the UK. Spain was also kinda strange, representing their country with a massive mechanical baby (photo below).... the baby was very cool, strange, creepy all at the same time, how it represented Spain I don't know. Holland on the other hand was very cool (you should be proud Shell)... It was fun, had sheep everywhere and then lots of different models representing different parts of their country. We also did a bit of shopping in Shanghai, again not buying much, a jumper, some shorts and a million DVDs. I have managed to get Alex watching gossip girl and I think he is a Chuck Bass fan! David also downloaded some of season 4 for me which made me very happy! Looking forward to catching up...

Unfortunately due to the Chinese holidays we have not been able to get a train to Xi'an yet, and in stead we have gone to Hangzhou. Updates on the next part of our trip however will have to wait ...

xoxo