Survived the bus ride and it was a couple hours shorter than we expected. All night we were stopping at toll booths or swerving and braking around other vehicles – not really conducive to sleep. A short hop in a taxi to Guangzhou’s main train station :gps:(GPS)::23.15054::113.25344:gps: and into the chaos of the queues once more. This time we were lucky enough to get a guy who spoke a bit of English and were able to book tickets to our next destination, Guilin (for when we are done in Hong Kong) – good thing too – any later and it would have been another overnight bus! There is nothing like the feeling of having a confirmed ticket in your hand, accommodation arranged and a solid plan – it’s the simple things when you travel that make life enjoyable!

We grabbed the next train from Guangzhou to the Hong Kong border at Shenzen – only 1.5 hours next to an old lady who hadn’t read the signs in the new trains that say ‘no spitting’ and in front of a kid who fragrantly lost his lunch. Walking across the border was more like walking through a shopping mall. Onto another waiting train/tube the price for which gave us a shock – we are used to paying about 20p for a tube ride, this one was £3.60, but it is some distance.

It didn’t take long to find our hostel (Lee Garden Hostel) in the terrible looking ‘Fook Kiu Mansion’ 8 floors above the bustling streets that are straight out of ‘Blade Runner’ (but less dingy) and exactly what we pictured. The hostel is clean, our room tiny and the Internet speed rocks with YouTube and Facebook back sans censorship. We sucked up a good few hundred megs (possibly gigs) of news and entertainment while relaxing and recovering from the last 24 hours on the road.

In the evening we headed out in search of a recommended camera shop and food. You don’t need to go far here. The place is packed with shops selling everything that shines and flashes (from 10+ carat diamond rings to iPhone 4’s) – it’s shopping paradise.

Hong Kong is great:
– People detour to throw garbage into bins.
– There are public ‘pay as you go’ wifi booths on the street.
– Traffic lights are respected by cars and pedestrians.
– They drive on the left (rest of China on the right)
– UK standard plugs in the rooms.
– You can flush toilet paper instead of depositing it in a bin.
– It’s FAR less crowded and feels calm and quite in comparison.
– You can get anything you want (food to fashion) as long as you are willing to pay.
– Ribena in the shops, definately a British influence.
– HSBC & Standard Chartered logos on the bank notes.
– Way more visible security ( cameras and deadbolts) – but feels very safe.

What a place ! Need to sleep now. Sightseeing to tomorrow. This one would be good for a LOL Full sized replica of Noah’s Ark

[Pictures: Walking accross the border – ‘Please leave the country by lift’ – should be fun :), Our Cameron Street neons]

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We set off to go buy our bus tickets to Guangzhou by jumping on the 808 local bus just down the road from the hostel. We always struggle with buses as they are never as simple as trains and metros to figure out. You never know which bus to take unless someone tells you, there is never a map at the stops or on the bus which tells you what route the bus takes and you are always in a constant state of confusion once on the bus trying to figure out when you need to get off.

Armed with Grace’s strict instructions to ignore all the people who tried to talk to us on the way to the entrance of the Southern long distance bus station we made it to through the usual chaos to the ticket windows. Sims turn to buy tickets, but he had the advantage this time of having everything we needed written down in Chinese (thanks Grace) so it was relatively easy. The 2:30 was sold out and the next bus only left at 5:30. Good thing we had gotten there early or we might of been staying an extra day in Hangzhou. With 6 hours to kill we jumped back on the 808 and managed to get most of the way to the silk museum.

The silk museum was free and we wandered around in relative peace and quiet, the crowds only arriving as we we leaving. After retrieving our back packs and taking care not to wake the slumbering guard who was supposed to be keeping an eye on them, we hopped back onto he 808. Stopped for some lunch then got back on the 808 to the bus station. Once you know where a particular bus actually goes you stick with it even if it means a bit of a walk to get to one of it’s stops.

The bus station was a marked improvement on the one in Wuhan. It wasn’t as big and seemed to have more staff. There was less yelling and a lot more seats. We still weren’t looking forward to 18 hours on a bus but we were crossing fingers that the bus would be in a better condition than the last one we took. It was! It was nice and clean and looked relatively new. The air con worked properly and nothing was broken. They even gave us tags when we put our bags in the hold, a good sign that these guys were jacked up (or that there were problems with stolen luggage). Plus we didn’t pick up any extra people to sleep in the aisles! A big chunk of our trepidation dissolved and we got down to the serious business of wishing the 18 hours would pass quickly.

[Pictures: The slumbering guard at the silk museum as V makes a get-away, Wuhan bus station – much more civilized – this guy had matching shirt and newspaper]

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Our plan today was to explore the original ‘West Lake‘ a half hour walk from the hostel and not a bad one with all the surrounding greenery in spite of the heavy rain. This lake area of Hangzhou is really a fantastic change – more green and feels less crowded. We arrived at the Southern tip of the lake and decided to wind our way along the forest paths and bridges up its Western side. The paths were mostly empty – it was such a pleasure strolling along the wooden paths and over picturesque bridges. We paused to watch 2 guys in a boat with a leaf net fishing leaves and the odd bit of garbage out of the water. Leaves out of a 6.5sq km lake seemed a little pedantic.

We walked out of the park and eventually arrived at the Chinese National Tea Museum. Again it was reasonably empty and we wandered the exhibits while longing for a good ole cup of English Tea ! We still have to get around to a proper tea ceremony – budget depending – but have now at least seen all the teas in China. Just as we were about to leave the rain returned with renewed vigor. The walk back to the lake, around the Northern end, across the immaculate causeway and back to our starting point was a slog. The causeway was the only part of the day that was marred by masses of Chinese tourists. It is a stunning green space but its romantic atmosphere is ruined by hoards of tour groups and golf carts. By the time we got home we were exhausted after around 13km of walking.

Bad news was waiting at reception. Not for all the tea in China could the hostel staff find train tickets. Looks like we have to bus the 1300km to Guangzhou 🙁

[Pictures: V on one of the many bridges around the West Lake]

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Pouring with rain this morning but we really wanted to spend a little more time out and about in Shanghai before catching an afternoon train to Hangzhou. We headed out for a light breakfast and stroll around the well know Nanjing road shopping district. V found her China souvenirs – a pair a ebony chopsticks with silver and sea shell top ends – they are quite beautiful. Next time we see a hardware store we’ll get a piece of PVC piping so we don’t break them.

Nanjing road is packed with all the top brand shops from around the world and as we walked in the pouring rain we were approached by hawkers offering ‘watches, handbags and iPhones’. Showing just a wallet of pictures of the items we assumed they are selling knock-offs. So China. Just outside the Longines shop on an immaculate street you can go down a dark, dilapidated back alley and buy all the fakes you want.

We had no trouble with the 2hr train to Hangzhou – I guess we are getting used to the apparent chaos of Chinese train stations. – but getting to the hostel was another matter ! Tourist Information at the train station had a notebook full of English descriptions on how to get places which was very useful and a short walk to the ‘tall building’ described and we were on track and looking for a Y7 bus. Lots of K busses and a few numbered buses with Chinese symbols passed by but no Ys. We ended up walking all over looking for bus stops servicing the Ys, no luck. Getting hot and frustrated I insited we get a taxi – shift change meant we had to walk almost all the way back to the train station. When we finally flagged one down and showed him the address in my email he nodded and we were off. In showing him the address I/he (for sure wasn’t me) accidentally deleted the email (Note to self: When you delete a locally stored email on an iPhone that was synced from gMail via IMAP, it is gone until you get back online) – so now we had no way to re-examine the address. I was boiling. V, ever so calmly, got us out of the taxi when she thought we were nearby the hostel and she was within 300m of it (although it took a little wandering around to find it) – genius – I was picturing hours of walking in circles.

As soon as we stepped in to the hostel (Emerald Hostel) my mood brightened – amazing staff, great room, excellent dinner and all at a very reasonable price. With Grace (the wonderful) working on our train tickets, bellies full of excellent beef and peppers and an extra night here secure the frustrations of the day melted away.

What happened to the Y’s ? Well… they only operate until 17h and we started looking at 16h45. And the numbered busses with Chinese charaters are Y busses ! On the back they say Y7 etc – just in time for you to see them driving off.

[Pictures: Shanghai South train station – looks more like and airport, V at the misty Emerald hostel]

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Sorry, but we can in NO WAY recommend the Captian Hostel. This morning I woke to bed-bug bites all over my legs and after a miserable and expensive breakfast at the hostel bar/resturant I have had enough of this place.

Today our mission was the Shanghai Expo (Worlds Fair) – and what a mission it was ! About 45mins in a queue to get into the Expo which was a relief as we had heard horror stories of it taking hours. The place is huge (5.3 sq km and other dimensions as well) it sees more than 400 000 visitors per day. More info on Shanghai Expo 2010

Luckily it was overcast without rain as we spent over 10 hours walking around enjoying the architecture and popping into the odd pavillion (some required 1-2 hour long queues). We visited: New Zealand, Canada, Cuba, Australia, Urbania theme pavillion, China (which consists of a multitude of smaller ones that we strolled past), Future theme and the Cisco Pavillion. My favorite building was definately the British pavillion. V loved the Indonesian one but liked a huge list. The insides were all pretty arb and what you can get spending 30mins on the net but they all must have cost a fortune! If I had to choose a best inside of the ones we saw it would be the monster AV show in Auzzie one (which also had yummy beef pies in its food court).

The SAFA one was a budget box – I guess they spent all their cash on the World Cup and with no boerie roll vendors outside it made no sense – What else does SA have to offer the world ? 😉 Oh, and Spain was pumping (although ugly) while the Netherlands was closed – day of mourning after losing the final I guess 🙂

The expo was a great experience just for the whacky buildings (the architects must have had a ball) and my feet are thankful that they have been there and done that ! The Chinese seem to enjoy queues – they pull up their mini folding chairs and have a pinic with friends for hours on end. Some pavillions looked very intersting (like Japan) but the queues would not have been worth it.

On the way home we stopped at an Italian cafe for an early dinner and anniversary celebration but the main attraction was the ‘free WiFi’ sign outside. The place was empty but we enjoyed the ‘normal food’ and the funny waiter who was so excited about learning to make cocktails he gave us a complementary pair to try. We are odd. Our aniversary dinner and we were both engrossed in the web on our iPhones.

Well wined and dined we went to check out the Bund at night and spent a truly bedazzled hour starring at the buildings and lights before our aching feet sent us back to the hostel. What perfect end to a great day.

[Pictures: Click for the English Pavilion – the photo I took does not do it justice, Shanghai from the Bund]

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Today is our day 🙂 It may seem silly to count since we have known each other for around 11 years, but it’s our second anniversary ! Just want to say you are amazing my V and I love you more every day. Let’s never stop travelling this planet together. X. (PS When I go to the edge of space with my Helium balloon you can wait on the ground).

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13 uncomfortable hours later – that was a rough night ! After navigating the Shanghai metro we got to our hostel. Shanghai’s main streets look as modern as any western city with towering skyscrapers and all the typical branded high street shops and resturants. Although the hostel (Captain Hostel) is in a prime position near the Bund it is not impressive. No mixed dorm so V and I can’t even sleep near each other, no kitchen or common area, no train booking service and no WiFi ! We could not believe it. With nowhere to relax at the hostel we showered and headed out to the Shanghai Museum. Still drizzling we decided it best that I also get an umbrella – who needs a fancy Gore-Tex jacket when a £2.50 brollie does the job 🙂

I think we are pretty much done with museums for now but we did enjoy the money, arms and seal exhibitions. The place was packed with locals (as usual) but V noticed a large group of western couples with Chinese babies. Either a group adoption holiday or the ‘Welcome Gift’ provided by their tour package was a little unusual.

Next stop was to the train station to arrange tickets for the onward journey. We managed to get tickets to Hangzhou using the automatic machines – impressive – yip. The biggest frustration with Chinese rail travel is that you can only buy tickets starting from the station you are at so we could not book any further ahead. The system is computerized so I cannot understand why !?

Another metro trip and we were close to the ‘The Pearl TV Tower’ – the silly ‘onions on a skewer’ looking building that helps define Shanghai. With very poor visibility, extremely long queues (Sunday) and an outrageous ticket price we decided against going up to the glass floored observation deck – I was a little disappointed but at least we spotted the new Apple store.

More walking in a homeward direction got us to the ‘Bund Sightseeing Tunnel’. We should have gone back to the metro to get across the river but both of us were fading fast so it was into the breach. The tunnel goes under the river and is remeniscient of a ‘tunnel of horror’ ride with lots of flashing lights and noise. Best to skip it if you have the option. The plan was then to walk along the Bund but I only lasted 10 minutes – it is stunning (and crowded – no surprise) but I was feeling the effects of last nights bus ride. Will definately give it a go to tomorrow night.

New things we have learnt:
– Sleeper trains are waaaay more comfortable than sleeper buses. In future we will rather wait a few more days to get on a train rather than take the bus.
– When booking accommodation and travel through an agent interrogate them rigorously to make sure you cover all the options. We should have learnt this one from Russia already.

[Pictures: The Pearl, Some other cool buildings and the app store ]

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The hostel is not great and what sounded like trolleys full of scrap metal being dragged over rumble strips outside our window at 5am was a little treat. We slept in – only getting moving around 9. It was raining a little and I had to drag V out to see the only site that I thought was worth seeing – ‘The Golden Crane Tower’. After a long walk through the muggy (think average temp here is in the high 30’s) and wet streets (no fun here because puddles generally contain more living organisms than what you would find in a septic tank) we arrived at the tower and an entry fee that we thought would not be worth it. Good thing too as V found out later that the tower was rebuilt in the 80’s and now has an elevator – how authentic !

Back at the hostel we relaxed the afternoon away browsing online and making calls in preparation for our 12 hour long overnight bus ride to Shanghai – John was supposed to arrange a sleeper train for us but apparently no tickets were available.

The bus station did not instill any confidence in our travel plans. It looked like complete chaos and again incessantly loud. We attempted to go through the boarding gates a few times but were chased back. Being the only westeners around we got a lot of attention and a few people offered assistance, which was great, but none of it was conclusive. Eventually (an hour late) we were ushered to a waiting old bus. It was a sleeper bus (ie: more or less flat bunks 2 high, 3 wide and ~10 deep) but very cramped, old and grotty – after some confusion about our bunk numbers we settled in. V had a bottom bunk – I was a row back on the top.

Each bunk had it own ‘features and benefits’; Both were Asian standard length (too short) and as soon as the bus was packed to capacity we pulled out of the station and promptly stopped to gather more ‘unofficial’ passengers. V ended up sleeping shoulder to shoulder with a guy who filled one of the gaps on the floor. My bunk was a delight – broken air vents meant I had cold hurricane force wind on my face combined later with dripping water as the bus started to leak. The saftey rail was missing – rolling over would result in a nasty fall so I slept with one hand jammed in a convient gap. The bunk itself was also not firmly attached to the framework – fun. To top it all off I could not believe it when people started smoking in a bus with no windows ! It was a very long night.

[Pictures: The view from my bunk – yip it was a slow day !]

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UFO in China closes airport! Sweet. We’ll be passing near there on the way to Shanghai tonight. Maybe we’ll see ET in a rice paddy 🙂 Will keep an eye out for alien body parts but could be hard to distinguish from local delicasies.

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Another very long and excellent day starting at crackers with announcements for the morning excursion :gps:(GPS)::30.87987::110.83702:gps: which we decided to skip. Elise was adventerous enough to at least go up the stairs to see what was around – we didn’t get off the dock barges. The rain overnight left the air cooler but humid with an eerie mist hanging over the gorges – doubt the photos will do it justice. Spent the rest of the morning back on the boat chatting while heading for Maoping :gps:(GPS)::30.84930::111.00030:gps: – the last port of call for us before a short bus ride to another highlight of our trip ‘The Three Gorges Dam’.

That is one piece of impressive engineering! As we entered the security check area our tour guide asked for all ‘knives and wine’ – guess they don’t want you to get drunk and try chip a hole in the wall with your penknife. From the viewpoint :gps:(GPS)::30.83482::111.01896:gps: there is a panoramic view of the dam wall and the locks. The distance makes it look less impressive than it is: 39km^3 of water, flooding the valley to some 600km (same as from Durban to Joburg) and housing the worlds largest HEP scheme! Hazy again and very hot, so we hope the pics are going to be ok. V could barely contain her excitement – very funny for me – it’s hard to hide that she’s a water engineer at heart – and now she has big bragging rights too 🙂 Our tour went around a few POI around the dam but unfortunately not across the wall or inside the HEP scheme – pity, but still excellent.

Another transfer by bus and onto a local (read ‘horrid’) bus for 4 odd hours of mind numbing noisy TV and discomfort to Wuhan. I think I have found what is holding the Chinese back from becomming world leaders – it’s the stuff they blindly watch and find entertaining on TV – like American 50’s slapstick with modern pop thrown into the mix. Even the live studio audiences have no idea what to do with themselves. They (en mass) are socially and mentally immature in comparison to the West. It was an education. Not one I would like to repeat – Worst transfer of the trip (so far).

Arriving in Wuhan we grabbed a taxi to our dodgy hostel (Pathfinder Hostel). Taxi drivers beware – don’t ever tell an Auzzie farmgirl that her suitcase won’t fit in the boot of your cab – you are just asking for trouble.

In the morning out translator is heading in a different direction. Thanks for all the help Elise – all the best – cheers.

[Pictures: Dam, Lock]

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Blarring anouncements followed by Chinese music woke us at 5:30 in preparation for the morning tour of the temple at White King Town. :gps:(GPS)::31.04427::109.54082:gps: We opted out of that one and went in search of breakfast. The Chinese eat dinner for breakfast lunch and dinner so we ended up with some sealed (read ‘safe’) cakes and snacks from a supermarket. The town was unremarkable and hot. All the stops require a long slog up from the river – it is obvious from the flood line that the river frequently rises at least 20m.

Back on the boat our new Auzzie friend (Elise) was proving very helpful. Having someone around who can translate makes a huge difference. She’s a university exchange student studying Chinese for 2 years. After a brief lesson on Chinese characters, which was very interesting, we can see some logic in it but it’s still all Greek to me (haha).

Our next stop at the Lesser Three Gorges :gps:(GPS)::31.10143::109.89240:gps: was brilliant and has made the trip worth while. Trading our tanker for a river tour boat we made our way up some utterly gorgeous gorges. It was incredibly hot and the haze meant that good photography was limited but WOW! The water was a beautiful jade colour – a welcome change from the brown muddy waters of yesterday. The Chinese have unfortunately started theme-parking the area with construction underway to build a concrete walkway high up along the cliffs in one section of the gorge.

Two hours into the six hour excursion we arrived at an apparently 1000 year old city (looks more like 10 years old). We were ushered around the restored old town centre as part of the tour group while the heat drove us into every shop looking for ice-creams. The town (endless blocks of flats) looks empty and very new – V suspects it could be one of the towns built as part of the relocation plan for the 3 Gorges Dam (will google it sometime). At the moment it seems to exist as a ghost town and a 60min excursion for tourist boats.

On the way back we stopped at a narrow section of the gorge and transferred to small river boats before heading up the actual ‘Lesser Three Gorges’. Even more stunning as the towering (800-1000m) gorge narrowed to as little as 30m. Unfortunately what would have been a peaceful experience was drowed out by the flamboyant and overpowering performance of the boatman. He was obviously telling some story of the gorge that the Chinese tourists appreciated and being the only NAs on board we were the butt of his jokes for sure. In any event we held firm and didn’t succumb to his pushy loud requests for donations – which had him targeting us for ridicule even more. Better luck next time chap! It was still an awesome ride (maybe 100 000 hotdogs awesome).

One of the people we chatted to on the boat was a retired Chinese-Malaysian guy named Goh. Very intersting and talkative. He lives in Malaysia but over the years has toured just about every part of China and South East Asia and has seen first hand the political and economic changes in the region.

The return trip felt infinitely longer with the tour guide’s rendition of Chinese folk tales bleeting incessantly from the boats PA system. It was a long day out in the sun – even the dodgy shower looked inviting, but the canteen menu less so. The Chinglish on the menu is classic – items like “Pull out a silk soil bean”, “The garlic burns the sheatfish”, “A round mass of food soup” & “Fairy whole duckses” sent us happily to our instant noodles 🙂

[Pictures: Stunning Gorges]

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Up early again ! Quick breakfast and onto the bus to the train station leaving behind another good, although massive, hostel. We took the high speed train – 200km/h – for around £12 each. The waiting area felt more classy (BTW, every train station in China so far has looked like Heathrow – just more chaotic and dirty). Although the train is modern you are reminded that you are still in China the moment people get onboard. Very loud and messy – was expecting to see a box of chickens being slung onto the roof.

Two hours and some spectacular moutain scenary later and we were met in Chonqing by John from ‘John’s Cozy Nest’ (www.lunyplanet.com). John took us to a fancy looking apartment/office tower in the city centre via the most insane elevated roads, bridges and intersections. No bicycles around (due to the hills) and the traffic is brilliantly routed around buildings and waterways. The place is also a forest of construction cranes – things are changing rapidly here.

From his neat and modern apartment on the 23rd floor in an earthquake prone country he persuaded us to rather take a two night trip on the Yangze and leave immediately – apparently the hydrofoil is like sitting in a plane for 12 hours and there is nothing to see in Chongqing. The price seemed reasonable so we agreed and he also made all the arrangements for us to get to Shanghai.

With a rough map we headed out into the back streets in search of an ATM. What a place! Alleys, walkways, endless staircases all form part of the maze. Everything is built on mountainsides – dingy and dirty – a world away from John’s apartment. We needed lunch and with no KFC or alike we picked an arbitrary street resturant. Confronted with a Chinese menu and no pictures V just ended up pointing at an option and asking for rice with it. Possibly we chose fried grasshoppers and they just felt sorry for us because we got an excellent pork and onion dish with our rice. PHEW !

John escorted us along with an Auzzie lady to the buses and the first leg of our journey to Wanshou. A four hour bus ride over more insane bridges and past unrelenting construction in beautiful mountainous countryside and we arrived at our boat (more of a rusting, smelly, barely river-worthy dormitory). Our 4 bunk cabin is only marginally larger and of lesser standard than the worst Russian trains but does have aircon and a TV. What is it with having TV when the plumbing is beyond shocking! Also our own shower albiet above a sqaut loo (yip, grim.. Imagine showering in cold water standing on top of the toilet you share with 3 others). It didn’t take long for the rank sewage smells from the loo to start wafting into the rest of the cabin – I could use nose plugs to complement my ear plugs.

Our cabin mates are a young Australian lady who thankfully speaks a fair bit of Chinese (there are a total of 5 ‘westeners’ aboard) and an older Chinese guy whose family is in the next room. Should be an intersting few days !

[Pictures: 200km/h in China, The view from the 23rd floor looking down at a rooftop garden 10 floors below, the menu V chose from (what a win, my brilliant V)]

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Ok. So probably only V and I (and Andrew) will get the title of this post. For those who don’t have a West Wing fetish – here is a hint.

Today was Panda day ! V and I (just don’t tell her) have been looking forward to seeing these guys for some time. We left for the breeding centre :gps:(GPS)::30.73939::104.13995:gps: very early so we could catch them eating and before it gets too hot. There were 3 minibus loads of travellers from our hostel. The short trip to the centre was more than enough time for the temperature to get above uncomfortable – another summers day in China.

The centre is massive and it was useful to have a guide lead us through the bamboo lined paths around the various enclosures. These bears are unbelievably CUTE – you just want to cuddle them. Apparently it costs around £100 to take a photo with them but we did not see the option on offer. V’s favorite where the Red Pandas, mine was watching the young pandas playing and the babies being fed. They seem so light, bendy and floppy with back legs that appear completely useless. All in all it was a wonderful treat to see them – well worth it.

Intelligent Design – I don’t think so !
If they weren’t so cute they would have been extinct ages ago. From what we learned these bears eat 60kg of one kind of bamboo per day and don’t move around much because the energy required is barely extracted from their food. They also aren’t too intersted in mating – again, it takes too much energy. Most births in captivity are through artificial insemination. Cubs are born utterly helpless. Blind, deaf and unable to walk for some time and first time panda moms are so freaked out by the experience they can accidentally hurt the cubs. It just seems that they evolved to become extinct. With only around 1000 left in the world – like I said – it’s lucky they are so darn cute. Also helps that they are big business, being adopted by huge companies (like KFC) or being sold off to zoos around the world.

After a dismal lunch at the hostel and a siesta we decided to check out a bit of the city. Chengdu is another monster city but did not feel as chaotic or crowded as the other cities. We wondered around the Mao memorial statue and park before heading off in search of ‘Mr Wang’s Tiny Museum’ of all things Mao. It must have moved or been really small because we could not find it. Popped in to the peoples park on our way to cache a GPS point my Dad had given us. Not much there but a stretch of riverfront parks complete with various Chinese board games being played and a chap having his ears professionaly cleaned. Crossing more hectic intersections on foot (life threatening) we made our way back by bus to the hostel area. The bus was so hot and cramped that V was feeling faint.

In search of the famous HotPot dish we walked around a number of side streets but we have gotten soft after having had hostel food for the past 4 days. Nothing looked appetizing and knowing that an understandable meal was waiting for us at the hostel if we failed we did not put in much effort.

The guide we had in Xi’an has been in touch with us via email and has made arrangements for a contact of hers in Chongqing to meet us on arrival – we’ll have to see if that works !

[Pictures: Pandas ! ]

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We can hardly believe ! It does feel like we were cruising though Norway and Russia six months ago – guess that’s what happens when you do so much every day. Long way still to go and we are loving it.

Last nights train to Chengdu was a little delayed and by the time we got on board I was beyond exhausted. Have decided it was a bit too much sun the previous day. The ‘Hard Sleeper’ class (open carriage) was good. Would have been perfect if 3 kids hadn’t taken the bottom bunks around midnight. Full of energy and the associated noise. The bunks are comfy and people respectful (important since there are 66 bunks in each carriage). The trains look and feel newer than the Russian overnight ones we took and have hot water on tap and squat toilet (yay). We needn’t have taken food with us – plenty of carts made their rounds. I was asleep by 11 – didn’t even get through one ‘Skeptics Guide to the Universe’ podcast.

Just before arriving in Chengdu a young chap came to chat. Again very friendly. So far everyone we have spoken to is very interested in business/economics and would like to travel. This guy was unusual – he is interested in New Zealand and Holland. He has to complete 4 years military once done with his university and is hopeful that the country will change enough by then so that he can travel. The funniest/sweetest thing he asked was if we were ‘a pair of lovers’, his girlfriend was waiting for him at the station. Ag shame.

We arranged a free pick-up at the station and the hostel rep was waiting with info, maps and boiled sweets – excellent. Chengdu is massive (11 million people) and from the taxi looks like the other big Chinese cities – modernizing rapidly. The hostel, bearing my name (Sim’s Cozy Garden Hostel), looks to be great save for minor confusion over the room type we booked. More ‘Flash-packers’ (backpackers with cool tech) around – ipads, laptops, DSLRs etc – not that we should talk ! After a very late lunch and a beer (good value at 85p each) we had plans to walk and catch a museum but made the fatal mistake of sitting on the bed – we slept solidly for 3 hours until woken by the complementary fruit being delivered. Tomorrow Pandas! …Then we are looking at taking the Yangtze by Hydrofoil – too cool !

[Update: we have just come up for sups. This is a cool hostel. Friendly bunny rabbits hopping around – even near the kitchen 🙂 friendly but maybe not so bright ? ]

[Pictures: The view from the top bunk in our carriage. We had a top and a middle (prices are different for different bunks), hostel mission control – this places buzzes]

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V and I woke up feeling exhausted this morning – no idea why. After updating more of our galleries (the Saint Petersburg section is sorted and tagged now) we took a stroll to find some pastries we had seen the other day and have a look at the Muslim quater. That idea didn’t last long. Although quaint, the streets are lined with vendors selling more of the same, it was nothing special and the ever-present wiff of sewage was more than we felt like dealing with.

We’ll spend the rest of the afternoon on the couch at the hostel waiting for our train this evening (not looking forward to it). It’s very muggy and hot today, but the good news is that Chengdu is 5 degrees cooler (31 ish) albeit with rain forecast.

Yesterday was a ball but we did get a fair bit of sun. We walked down to the South Gate of the city wall and rented a bike to cycle around it. First time either of us had tried a tandem. Great fun but V was not feeling too confident 🙂 The rental was for 100mins and the wall is ~14km so you need a reasonably constant pace if you want to stop and take in the views occasionally. At the halfway mark V let me take the front seat – big mistake. For someone who eats black run for breakfast she doesn’t half panic when I take my hands off the bars 🙂 I got into quite a bit of trouble, but no accidents (thankfully) and it was fun to monkey about on top of Xi’an’s historic city wall.

It wasn’t long before we started discussing the energy efficiency of a tandem vs two single bikes and the physics involved. Wish we knew more but we reckon it’s definately more efficient on a tandem (as long as you don’t crash) if you look at reduced mass, wind resitance, friction etc). That being said I suspect next time it will be two single bikes.

After that roasting in the sun we headed along some of the old streets full of art and art supplies and into the Forest of Steles Museum. A collection of more than 3000 inscribed stone tablets and sculptures of varying sizes. After an hour we lost interest and took the long walk back to the hostel.

Found the hostels table tennis table at the rooftop courtyard. I have to admit, V is much better with a ping pong paddle than a boat paddle 🙂 and I don’t play too well after one beer!

[Pictures: V on our tandem – back seat driver, me at the stone forest – had enough, cute kitties at the rooftop courtyard (for Jacks)]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi