Route 13 and 250cc's

I can't believe it's so long since my last post and there's been so much happening! My last post I mentioned that I was going off tubing.. I started around 11am and the plan was to have a mulberry shake at the Organic farm to start but Somehow I got talked into buying a Lao Lao (Lao Whisky) Mojito for underprivileged children and well really it was all downhill from there. I met a fun Irish couple who were buying buckets of Lao Lao and Vodka mixed with Thai Red Bull and the Lao 'amphetamine' drink M150 and I was soon involved with that. The tubing is actually pretty low key because the different bars are not very far apart from each other but the first 5 or so all have large swings and flying foxes that drunk people get on and drop into the water.. It was great fun from what I remember - the 5th bar had a giant slide which I went down in my tube and ws launched very high- after that the day is a bit of a blur. I don't remember getting back to town but woke up in bed at 10pm so I must have needed a sleep. The next day was difficult but I got up early to head to Vientiane - the capital of Laos, I took it pretty quietly that day and the day after as well. Vientiane is an interesting town, it is a bit Lao, a bit French and a bit of a big country town as well. There was some good food to eat which helped me to recover from tubing!

The first day in Vientiane I bumped into a couple of Kiwi guys from Wellington who I had met caving and tubing in Vang Veng. They mentioned they were riding motorbikes down through central and southern Laos. I soon was involved and after a few quiet days and Sauna and massage we met up with a local French man who was hiring the bikes. At this point Te, one the Kiwis, decided that he was too unwell (flu) to make the trip so it was just James and I who set of about 10.30am the following day.

We hired 250cc Honda Trailbikes so we could go off road if we wanted and the first day we headed into a National Park to check them out. Motorbiking is a great way to see a country and it was fantastic to drive through the many villages and towns and stop off if we wanted. James had a few problems with his bike at the end of day 1 and we ended up riding for a little while in the dark. Eventually at Vieng Kham we found a sign that said 'Nightclub and Guesthouse' so we pulled in to spend the night. It was just the 2 of us and a 2 piece live music group came on and we felt a bit embarrassed that they were playing for us - surely no one else would be turning up. Before long the place was pretty packed and a couple of quiet beers lasted a bit longer than expected. The next morning James bike wouldn't start so we had and extra hour or so to recover while they charged his battery. We covered a fair bit of distance on day 2 and didn't stop too much, we had our accommodation organised early and after a delicious dinner went to bed early in Seno.

Day 3 and we continued down Route 13 (which runs from the capital to Cambodia) until there was a dirt road heading east. This was our turnoff to head into the Bolaven Plateau - which is an area famous for its coffee and waterfalls. The dirt roads were pretty bumpy but our trail bikes handled them well. The problem was that my little backpack that was strapped on the back didn't like the bumps and decided to open.. It took me a minute or 2 to realise and by then a bit of my stuff was littered down the road. When I realised I panicked and quickly sped back to James who had stopped to pick up my phone, guidebook and some clothes. We spent a while looking for my Nintendo but I later realised that the Buddhist Monk who was gesturing at me as I sped back past him has probably got it along with a pair of socks and undies! We made it up into the plateau and found a nice place to stay in Sekong at dusk.

The following day we were planning to meet Te to organise Xmas but we wanted to head through the National Park and see some waterfalls before heading down into Pakse. We found our way and saw what is arguably Lao's highest waterfall (Nam Tok Katamtok) and also stopped at the top of another before heading across to Paksong. I misjudged one corner coming out of a village and ended up going over the handlebars of my bike which broke my glasses which put a few lovely scratches on my face. We had a small break before stopping for coffee in Paksong and it was great. We mad our way down to Pakse and it took a while to find the road out (old Lonely Planet maps are bad!) as we got a text from Te saying that Xmas was in the 400 Islands near the border with Cambodia. We made it down there after dark and checked into our bungalows on Don Det. I had a quiet night that night after my stack but of course it was Xmas eve so lots of Europeans partied late. Te had organised a Xmas lunch and early the next morning he and James went with the Bungalow owner to the local market back on the mainland. They bought a pig, 2 chickens and 2 fish and a fire pit was dug. We had a late lunch (or early dinner) as you do on Xmas and there was about 10 of us. Later on some of the guys brought out guitars and the numbers swelled a bit as we had a great fun night. I drank lots of water so the next morning wasn't too bad - James and I had to get the bikes back up to Pakse to return them.

We left in the arvo and decided to check out the World Heritage listed Wat Phu Champasak. We had to put the bikes on a little ferry to get them across to Champasak which was fun and the Wat itself was definitely a highlight. I managed to drop my bike again trying to find my way down to the ferry. We made it back into Pakse after dark and managed to get the bikes delivered that night. I checked into a nice Hotel (Pakse Hotel) and bought some iodine to clean up my grazes. I have a pretty badly bruised foot so I've decided to stay in the nice hotel for another night and have a rest before heading back down to the 'super relaxed' 4000 island to do some more relaxing until new years eve. Then I'll probably relax some more. Motorbiking was a great experience and probably the highlight of my trip so far. We were treated like rockstars in many places and driving along a road when school has finished you would get 100's of kids jumping, waving yellng and cheering. It was also a good lesson that I'm not a 22 yr old (like the Kiwi guys) any more and to remember that I'm on Holidays. I doubt there's be much to report on for a bit so Happy New Year everyone and look for more postings in 2009!

Different Towns - Laos? I'm not sure..

The day after trekking I decided to get the early bus to Luang Prabang with my friends Elle and Ben from my trek. Our Tuk-tuk to the bus station was stopped by a minivan driver and we jumped into that instead - it was faster and cheaper than the bus so a good start! We had a great Laos steamboat dinner that night.
Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World heritage site and it is really beautiful. No tall buildings and a great mixture of French and Laos architecture, many historical Wats and temples all on the banks of 2 rivers including the Mekong. It is so clean and nice that it didn't really feel like Laos anymore - it is definitely an international town.
I spent the first day exploring the town on foot and visited a few of the major Wats. I went to a great restaurant Tamarind - run by 2 women - 1 Australian, for lunch and had a tasting plate which gave me a good idea of Laos delicacies - yum.
I had a pretty quiet night as I think the trekking was catching up with me. Sleeping on wooden huts floors hurts your body!
The following day I had a lazy morning (More yummy food!) before catching a slow boat up the Mekong to the Pak Ou caves. There are 2 caves in a limestone cliff that contain thousands of statues of Buddha. We came back via a local village as the sunset over the Mekong...
(I'm not posting photos cause I think you will find better ones on the Internet)
As beautiful as Luang Prabang is, I missed Laos so it was time to move on. The next morning was a minivan to Vang Vieng which is also spectacular but again I don't think very 'real' Laos. The landscape is covered by huge limestone mountains and cliffs but Vang Vieng is also famous for it's tubing down the river - where many young people come and float down the river in tractor tubes, between many bars and the occasional huge slide, or flying fox or swing in the river as well.. So there are many bars and young women running around in bikinis which is not really Laos at all.
I spent my first day on a motorbike exploring the area and many of the caves that are in the limestone's mountains surrounding the town and ate some fantastic food at Vang Vieng's organic Mulberry farm.
I'm going to do tubing tomorrow because I have been hearing about it for so long.. Needless to say I might be off the air for a day or 2 after bar hoping all day long..

Not quite a slow boat..

So motorbiking it was.. I met a great Dutch guy called Pieter who had been here for a couple of days and we got some bikes and checked a local treking company maps before heading off to find some waterfalls. First we headed about 20 kms out of town and then hit a dirt road for around 30 mins. We left the bikes at a river crossing and walked into a local village on foot. I was quite surprised to be greeted by a number of topless women with black teeth and lips from chewing beetlenut... Whoa - the villages here are a lot less developed than in China and we were made to feel quite welcome most of the time - including being offered Lao Lao (local rice whisky), but chose to leave after 20 mins or so. Whilst there we met some other Dutch people returning from a trek and they explained that the waterfall we were looking for was 3 hours walk, so Pieter and I got back on the bikes and headed back to town.
After lunch we headed the other way out of town - into the NPA protected area. It was great riding through the villages - the children were always running out and yelling hello and waving. We didn't have any luck finding waterfalls but had a great day exploring the local area around Nam Tha.
The next day I decided to head for a slow boat down the Mekong to Luang Prabang. When I got to the bus station the bus was already full so my plans quickly changed and I decided to head further North to Muang Sing, where the trekking was reportedly better.
I wasn't in town long before I booked onto a trek for 2 nights into the mountains and villages around Muang Sing and the Chinese border.

We started the next morning and visted a Mong village first (Ross?). Not long after that we left the tuk tuk and headed off on foot. The first village we got to was celebrating Buddist New Year so we had lunch in the Head mans house. It was a bit different and thankfully we left after a while and eventually enjoyed a great lunch with our guides.

That night we stayed in an Aka village that was really interesting. Again it was much less developed than any I visted in China including having no power. After dinner the local women came down and gave us a massage - as per their tradition for visitors.

I had a bit of an upset tummy the next morning but that cleared up by lunch which we had in a different Aka village, before heading to the place we would spend the night.
This was a young village and had recently broken away from a parent village in the area. There was a school there and lots of young families and kids. We arrived mid-afternoon so I ended up playing Kratow with the locals - something that I haven't done since Thailand 7 years ago. It provided lots of laughs for the locals and we had early dinner before another local massage. We were staying in the head mans house and later in the evening he turned on a generator so the local kids could come in and watch some TV. I had a few drinks with my Takraw friends and the next morning we headed off through a few more villages before stopping for lunch.
Where we stopped for lunch there was a new house that had just been built and we were invited into the housewarming for lunch. The locals were extremely friendly, and a little bit drunk and they forced quite a few drinks on us as well. It was good fun and I don't think I ate all that much but we had a great time meeting all the people in the village.

Eventually we had to leave as we wanted to get back to Muang Sing to catch buses back to Namtha..
We're made it and after a hot shower I'm back on-line checking emails before I head to Luang Prabang tomorrow..

The City Of Dawn and then beyond..

Jonghong means 'the city of Dawn'. It is the capital of Xishwanbana and a pretty relaxed town. It was nice to chill out here for a few days after trekking.. Well I got a bit of a cough/chest cold - I think coming back on the bus, so it was enforced rest! The city has lots of gardens and I spent one day riding out to nearby villages and temples before hanging around the city parks and gardens. Some of them had way too many Chinese tourists so I missed them out, but it was good relaxing.
Eventually I decided it was time to leave China. I will miss traffic lights with count-down timers, rubbish trucks that play much better tunes than Mr Whippy (so people will run out with their rubbish!), and yummy food but theres lots I won't miss too - Mostly noisey, noisely people!
So to Laos it was, due to not being 100% fit I thought I would be relaxed about heading for the border which meant spending the night in the town of Mengla near the border.. This was not a nice town to spend my last night in China in - particularly the Karoke bar in my hotel which was full of drunk men screaming into a microphone until much too late in the night!
I did get some last minute help to get some passport photos for my Laos visa just before the bus left, but then the border crossing was really easy.
I arrived in Luang Nam Tha around lunchtime and had a relaxing arvo to truely shake the cough. I thought a Herbal Sauna would help but the place I went to didn't have sauna yesterday, and I got talked into a Laos Massage instead... I don't think I'll be rushing back to them again - my nipples are still really sore today and I feel a little bit used...!
Today I've been biking around the area through local villages and looking at some of the local Stupa's. Laos is really relaxed. Well up here it is... It's a lot like a country town and everyone and everything is really relaxed. The town was dead at 9.30pm last night which was quite nice too.
There are many minority groups around and their local costumes look great. Some of them are the same people's that I saw whilst treking in China, so there is a bit of cross-over between the countries. I have been contemplating a trek here too, the turn-offs are the cost (treks get cheaper the larger the group - I am 1!) and also that many of the tourists are 'older', so that means the group treks are of the easy variety which I have a problem spending money on. Maybe I'll get a motorbike and see what I can find anyway!

Bana, Bulang and the Burmese Border

Leaving Dali was hard. After 3 weeks in luxury hitting the real world again was a bit scary but a special hi to Dave and Song and all the staff at Jade Emu for making me feel so at home. (Special mention to Della and Nancy for taking me out for dinner, and to Chen Li and Karissa for all their help!) It was also sad to say goodbye to Yuxiu who showed me lots of different places and experiences that the average tourist would not get to see.
So it was off the the Bana (Xishuanbana) in the hope of getting a bit warmer. I had a bad hangover when I arrived and spent most of the afternoon getting to know the part of town I was staying in. I had an email from my friends Alex and Evelyne (German and Swiss) who had given me some ideas about where to stay and what to do. At first I was too tired to do too much but for some reason I decided after dinner to ask about some trekking info at a Cafe Alex had mentioned. Within 5 minutes Anipa, a local guide was at the cafe telling me that he had a trip leaving in the morning! So I got myself organised before bed and the next morning we were off!
Anipa is a Bulang people. One of the many minority groups in Yunnan. We caught buses West, towards the Myanmar border, to Xiding where we had lunch at a local restaurant before hitting the hills.. (day 1 - 16kms)
We walked over a couple of mountains - through a lot of farming plots, past a massive Banyan tree, past a village with a large temple (Zhanglang), before we hit a small local village around dusk at 6'ish. This village used to hold many more families before a large number of them set up a secondary village 30 minutes away due to a lack of water. The secondary village (Manwa) is now bigger than the first and is where Anipa's family live, this is where we stayed the first night - in his parents house.

Many visitors came that night and I slept pretty well - in fact didn't get up till after 9 the next morning.
It was ok because we had a lazier day planned for day 2 (only about 14 kms). We walked past a local temple before hitting a border post for lunch. This town (Bada) was 28kms from the border but the last settlement so it had a customs office. This village was an Akha people village - the thing that distinguishes their costume is a piece of wood, like a prisoners stock that they wear around their neck..
We had lunch and pushed onto the next Bulang village (Manmai) where we stayed with another local family. The food was delicious, including some venison recently hunted from the nearby forest.















It was an early start on day three and after looking at the the local temple (which was large) we headed down into some rain forest. It was very lush and green and there were some huge trees which were great..
After crossing a stream it was back up hill for a couple of hours before another hill top village (Manxi). This was where my friends Alex and Evelyne had stayed, but since they were here.. just 2 weeks ago the locals have put a new road in, down the side of the mountain.
So instead of walking down like they did - this means that we got in the back of a tractor and rode it (in Neutral) down the mountain - at quite some speed. It was a bit scary at times - particularly, as you can see - it's not all that easy to steer around the hairpin corners. But we made it a long way down before the road got too rough and we then walked into town, which is another border town with Myanmar (Daluo) - this one right on the border - it was pretty interesting to see the diversity of peoples and cultures in China.

Anipa told us a story of the Chinese official who had the money to build the road from Daluo to Jinghong. Just over the border in Myanmar is a large Casino and apparently this is where the money for the road stayed.. Chinese people are now banned from visiting the Myanmar Casino over the boder, and so they should be because the current road is shocking. Jinghong has a massage center that is run by blind people and I was thinking of visiting after the hike... After the bus ride back - I am definitely heading down there too sooth some aching muscles.
Its a bit cool today in Jinghong so it seems that winter is chasing me south fast.. Laos here I come...

The Dali Community

It seems like not much has been happening over the last week, but when I think about it quite a lot has. I have been in Dali for quite a while now and it is a really great way to get a better understanding of the way people live and the way of life here.

I have been spending a bit of time at the renowned bar 'The Bad Monkey', helping one of the owners get a website organised. It is a bit hard working on old computers with bad software but we have done quite a bit.

Whilst I was in there one evening a local guy came in to look at getting a tattoo from Ollie (the tattooist). The local guy had a friend with him (Yuxiu) and after a while we were communicating, really we could only use Yuxiu's English, which isn't that great - but it is much better than my Chinese!

Duan Zhangdi decided not to get a tattoo but before they left I arranged to meet Yuxiu for some home grown coffee in the morning.

So the next day she introduced me to local Bai breakfast (pancake thing) called Er Hai (ear - the same as the lake here), because it is shaped like an ear. It was delicious. After that we went to Duan Zhangdi's hostel where Yuxiu had been staying for the last week on holiday. It is a house/guesthouse that is over 100 years old and had a great feel and character. After coffee we went to the local market because we were having a lunch where everyone had to cook a dish. It was the first time that I've cooked for a while - and even longer since I cooked Chinese but my dish got finished so it must have been OK (or maybe my friends were being polite!)

I got a bit of a shock when Duan Zhangdi put a chickens heart into my bowl - I think this was considered the best part of the dish but I had to graciously refuse.

I had been noticing for a day or so that my elbow was feeling a bit tender. I got a small cut on it when I fell in the dark at Tiger Leaping Gorge. The following day it had blown up a fair bit and was very red. I was sure of an infection and was hoping to see the building owner of the Jade Emu who is a Chinese Doctor. I missed him that day but I was lucky enough to get invited to a family dinner at Yuxiu's house. Yuxiu lives with her parents in Xiaguan (Dali new town) which is 20 minutes from Dali old town by car. Duan Zhangdi was good enough to pick me up and we had dinner with Yuxiu, her parents, her 2 aunts, one uncle and 2 cousins (who she calls brother and sister). It was a great experience - unfortunately I don't speak enough Chinese to really talk to too many of the family, but I really enjoyed the meal. Afterwards we came back to the Jade Emu for a bit of pool on Dave's pool table.

The next day my Elbow was very swollen. Luckly I saw the Chinese doctor when I got up (quite late), his immediate response was 'straight to the hospital for an injection'. I decided to head into Xiaguan as there are better hospitals there and rang Yuxiu to see if she could come with me. She agreed but unfortunately due to communication breakdown she was waiting at a different bus stop to where I got off and after an hour or so I headed off on my own.
It's quite an experience walking into a hospital where you can't communicate effectively. Luckily I had a note written by the staff at the Jade Emu and after I showed this to the registrar(?) she quickly took me around a few sections of the hospital and then pushed me to the front of the queue to see an outpatient surgeon. He couldn't speak English but soon had his wife on the phone to translate for us! She explained that the doctor thought I would OK after an injection but I needed a blood test. I managed this, and after that the surgeon send me down to some emergency doctors. These 2 could manage a small amount of English and wrote me notes. We considered 3 injections but they decided to give me some strong antibiotics instead (yay!). These weren't cheap in Chinese terms - probably similar prices to Australia, but considering that I didn't have to pay anything for the medical services, I was really pretty impressed with the treatment I received. (I fetl a bit bad being pushed to the front of medical queues!)
My arm is healing quite well now - Dave's brother Tim is here from Melbourne so yesterday I did the Cloud Belt path walk in the Cangshan mountains with them (again!).
It's getting cooler here in Dali so I think it's really time for me to head south soon. Xishuangbanna on the Laotian border is looking good.
Yesterday I visited Xiaguan and had "cross the bridge noodles" which were delicious for lunch. For dinner I went to visit some of Yuxiu's friends and we made and ate heaps of dumplings..

Chickens feet

I had a few relaxing days in Dali, or maybe not so relaxing as they have involved recovering from having a few big nights particularly around the full moon! I was feeling a bit annoyed with myself so it was time to get out and see a bit more around the area.
Last Saturday I grabbed a bike at the Jade Emu and set off exploring the lake and its surrounds. First off I headed to Xi Zhou which is the most inland point of the lake and famous for its architecture. It was interesting to cycle through the villages and markets and all the kids and some older Bai people all run out and shout 'hello' as you ride through. It is also great to see lots of locals getting around in the local minority dress. From there I headed to the top of the lake where I stopped in a local restaurant for lunch before heading into the north east saying hello to more and more locals as I went and checking out the huge vegetable plantations that line the road. I eventually decided to turn around and after a very long ride back I made it to the Jade Emu just around sunset. I slept pretty well that night - maybe too well as the following day the plan was to head to Jizu Shan or chicken foot mountain.
After helpful directions from the Jade Emu staff I started my journey around midday, it involved 3 buses and a taxi ride. Jizu Shan is a sacred Buddhist mountain in China (1 of 5) and a point of pilgrimage. I waited for a while in a mini-van with a few others including a uni student, who eventually persuaded the driver to head off without a full van - we all payed a little extra. Overall the journey from Dali took around 4 hours before the mini-van dropped us off at a temple about half way up the mountain.
I was heading to the top so I could get up and watch the sunrise and found my way up the path after reading that the cable car that covers the last 2.5 kms shuts down at 5pm. I starting walking up at a pretty fast pace, the walk through the forests was beautiful - maybe a bit to hard to be rushing! I eventually made it to the cable car and it was still running - which I was quite pleased about - especially as I hadn't really had lunch. I attempted to get the cable car but the attendants wouldn't let me in! They pointed at watches and while I was gesticulating at them the last people got out of a carriage and it all shut down. I was pretty tired but it looked like my trip to Jizu Shan was also going to be a pilgrimage too.

I set off on foot and the first thing I came across was a staircase with about 500 steps up - some Bai women selling things including accommodation waited at the bottom watching me as I went up.

It actually felt quite good walking all the way up myself. The top is around 3200 meters up and I arrived at the top sections just at dusk which was really quite beautiful. I also had a few feelings of insignificance as I was trying to take photos on lookout points with no railings and huge gusts of wind made me sit down with fright!

I was the only foreigner on the mountain top that night and you could tell that they weren't used to having too many stay up there as there was no English and whilst the Chinese were eating large delicious meals I was eating small plates of vegetables which cost me a lot of money in Chinese terms.
It was pretty cold being so high up so I went to bed early - ready to get up for the sunrise.
It was still cold in the am but the colors in the sky were fantastic as the sun came up. I had a look around the temples at the top and climbed the pagoda before starting my decent.
The walk down through the forest was great again and for the first time in China there were birds chirping in the trees. There are a number of temples, nunneries and convents to visit on the way down and I stopped at them all aside from the few near the top I checked out the night before.





Eventually I made it down to the half way point of the mountain where the main temple for the mountain is and there is a memorial to one of the grandfathers of Buddhism in China. This temple was nice - particularly compared to a lot of the others which were much more simple and low key. I was feeling pretty tired by this time and after meeting up with a friendly Chinese girl I met the night before we jumped on a bus back to Binchuan which luckily for me headed onto Dali new town which is an easy stop from the old town and the Jade Emu. I've found some muscles in my legs that I must have previously forgotten about so it looks like a couple more relaxing days ahead! I was having a chat to the guys who own the 'Bad Monkey' bar in Dali - which is a bit famous for being here for so long - and they need some help with their website..

Some Yunnan Photos..

Hi,
The Internet is very slow around here and I'm having trouble getting some photos up..

Here's a few of my recent highlights in Yunnan. Mostly Tiger Leaping Gorge

Click this Link

Dali and the Jade Emu

After Lijang it was an easy bus ride to Dali to visit my third mate in China and the last pre-planned destination on my trip. It was great to get into Dali and see my mate Dave. His guesthouse has been open for around 6 months and is definitely the nicest I have stayed at in China. The Jade Emu also gets fantastic ratings on the big hostel websites so everyone thinks its great. I'm a lucky VIP guest and will probably chill out here for a week or 2.

Dali has a great feel and is perched between a mountain range and the 7th largest lake in China. It has been slightly developed into a tourist hub but not as much as Lijang so the numbers of people around is much less - again there are city walls and water or rivers running through the centre of the town.

I arrived to find my friends from the Gorge walk and had a bit of a late night to start with. My only real concern was that my Chinese visa was about to run out so the next day I rode a bike down the lake highway and it was really easy to get a visa extension. I had heard some horror stories about visa renewals so this was a big relief and I now have another 30 days to check out Yunnan. Surrounding the highway is lots of villages and acres and acres of veggie patches which is nice to look at and see the local Bai people working in.



The next couple of days I spent hiking in the cangshan mountains which sit behind Dali. The mountains are great - there are around 10 of them and they are all over 4000m high. There is a national park behind Dali and there has been a stone path (cloud pass) built into the side of the mountains which make for spectacular walks. You walk out around a ridge to look out over the villages and lake and then back into waterfalls in the valleys. The first day we walked up one of the mountains and caught a chairlift to the south down.. and the second day I caught a cable car up and walked a different section, north, to the same chairlift down again - after the chairlift we head quickly into town for some yummy food at one of the cafes/restaurants.






Hanging out at the guest house and I have really started to fit into traveller mode and meet lots of other people. I have also bumped into some friends I made in Shangri-la and they had a spare mosquito net which will come in handy for Laos which will be my next destination.

I have actually been in Dali for around 5 days now. It has seemed to be getting harder to find time to do postings to this blog. (Thanks to all the people sending me messages and posting comments.)

Yesterday I wandered up to the 3 pagodas which are probably the most famous things in Dali. They have been here since the 800's and are in lots of photos. Many travellers don't pay to go into the complex here because it is very expensive in China terms (around $25AU) and also because you can't climb the pagodas. I was just going to wander up there and take some photos but something drew me to pay up and go in.
The 3 pagaodas had a great feel and ther were some interesting artifacts that have been found when they were restored.
Behind the 3 pagaoda's I was quite surprised. There is a Buddist temple complex that is the centre of Buddism for Yunnan. The complex is only about 25 years old as the original one had been destroyed during the cultural revoltuion and I though that it wouldn't be as good as old temples that have a more historical feel.
I think the price of the entry kept most people away and there was nice buddist chanting and music being piped throughout all the complex and gardens so it was a really relaxing and peaceful afternoon. There are 1000 statues which are gold plated throughout the complex and one hall which contained 500 lifesize ones was amazing. I thought a few of them were live people! I ended up spending the whole afternoon up there and it was well worth it.

All the walking has caused some more split heels so it looks like I'll have to take it easy for a few days.. but that shouldn't be a problem in Dali!
Luxury accomodation and I have a few books to read - the hardest decision is which restaurant/food should I try tonight!

The old town of Lijang

We got into Lijang in the early afternoon and went on a search to find Mama Naxi's guesthouse. Mama Naxi now runs 3 guesthouses with different price ranges but we eventually found our way to number 3 which is the backpacker version and where Mama gives you fruit and cooks a cheap family meal for everyone each night. It was nice to feel so welcomed and a great way to meet the other guests staying there.
The old town of Lijang looks fantastic - it has been fully restored to its old state and has about 8 rivers running through it - with the streets built around and over them.. The only problem is that Chinese tour groups also think it looks fantastic and there are heaps of large groups of them walking slowly through the street all day long so it can get a bit tiring walking around. I was surprised at the amount of Spirilina shops there(?)
Lijang is also the home of the "World Famous" Naxi Orchestra.. This is an orchestra that plays ancient music and uses ancient instruments - some of which there are not many remaining in the world. Baba Naxi got us cheap tickets and we went along to the concert hall.. The songs were interesting - the "president" of the orchestra started the group around 50 years ago and there were a number of musicians over 80 years old. The president is obviously quite famous in China and the majority of our concert was him talking - mainly in Chinese which got a bit boring after a while..
I decided on the second day that I would hire a bike to look at a nearby village that used to be the capital of the Naxi empire before Genghis Khan came through.. Maybe there would be less tourists there! Before I left I had a quick look in an English bookstore for a travel guide for Lao as this is where I'm planning to go next and maybe it would be my last chance to get one. They wanted about $50 so I decided not to buy it but while getting my bike organised I saw an Irish guy Myles who I had met over dinner last night.. He wanted to come bike riding so I waited a bit and as we headed of he told me about his travels and how he wasn't going to Laos as planned. He had a guidebook that he didn't want anymore so I decided to help him out and take it off his hands!
We got a bit lost finding our way to Baisha but eventually we got there and it was nice and small and empty too! It wasn't long before we were stopped by the famous Dr Ho and invited into his house/rooms for tea. How do I know he is famous? Because he told me! He told us about himself for quite a while and all the famous people he has met. He even pulled out Andrew Daddo's, channel 7 card and told me that he will be on television in Australia soon.. His story is quite interesting and he is a herbalist and has cured at least one person of leukemia.. I bought some herbal tea from him (feels great when you drink it!) which he makes with herbs from a nearby famous mountain..
When we left his home it was starting to rain so we decided to head back to town which was a long, cold ride! The rain convinced me that tomorrow was time to move on and head to Dali where my mate Dave has started a hostel earlier this year..

Like a Tiger

Shangri-la was great. It is a lovely town and not too touristy yet..! It was a bit cold at night and the altitude was affecting my sleeping a bit so I thought it best to move on to somewhere lower. I was hoping to walk Tiger Leaping Gorge but the guidebook suggested not doing this alone, while I was having some Tibetan food I heard a couple talking about 'Dave' and some suggestions he had made. I though "No it can't be", so I asked them if they had been to Dali - they had, so I asked where they stayed and yes - they had been staying at my friend Dave's new guesthouse - where I was heading for a visit while in the area. Before I knew it we were planning dinner and then the trek of the gorge!
Julie is from the UK and her partner Mikko is from Finland. They have been living in Finland and are on a long trip around Asia. Over a hot pot dinner I also met Nancy from Canada, who also knew Dave, Julie and Mikko and she was keen to do the trek as well so the following afternoon we caught a bus to Qiatou which is the town at the start of the walk.
We got off the bus around 5pm and were immediately met by Margo who is an Australian woman who has been living in Qiatou for 11 years - she suggested we leave immediately to get to a guesthouse 2 hours away before dark. This way we would avoid touts and other groups. After a quick bite and leaving most of our luggage with Margo, we set off with small (day) packs on the hike.
Tiger Leaping Gorge is a contender for the deepest canyon in the world. Starting the walk the views were fantastic - as the sun started to set it was changing the colors of the white snow topped mountains across the gorge.
We made it to the Naxi family guesthouse after dark - the last 15 minutes with no light was a bit tough. It was a great guesthouse though and we had a yummy meal before looking at a fantastic view of the stars.
The next morning we could actually see where we had arrived. The guesthouse was quite large and on a hill above a small village. The morning cloud was below us and it looked like you could walk across it.

The morning walk up the "28 bends" was the hardest part of the hike and after it you reach the highest point of the hike. We had lunch at another guesthouse before the afternoon hike and then stopped at the "halfway guesthouse" for the second night. This guesthouse has "toilets with the best view in the world" looking across at the snow capped mountains. Many other groups arrived that afternoon and it was a lively night.

The third day was an easy 3 hour walk to the actual gorge. Many people stop here, Mikko, Julie and I walked down to the gorge and then paid more money to do a trek along the river which was fantastic and well worth it. We stayed another night in Walnut Grove in the valley, with more spectacular views before getting a ride back to Margos and picking up our luggage, and getting on a bus to Lijang.

Shangri-la baby!

It's been quite a long 24 hours so I'll just do a quick update.
I left Shanghai (and the big Chinese cities) last night and did it by catching the worlds fastest train to the airport. The Magelev train is levitated on magnets and it took about 7 minutes to travle the 35 kms to the airport. It was definately the appropriate way to say goodbye.
I caught a flight to Kunming airport which arrived about 11.30pm and stayed in what was supposed to be a hotel but left a lot top be desired, I only got a few hours sleep as my next flight was at 6.50am and by about 7.45am I was in Shangri-la.
It was great flighing in through the clouds - we didn't have to come down to far as it is 3300 meters up and my sandles and t-shirt weren't really warm enough when we got out!
My shoes are back on and I'm glad I bought some thermal type stuff before I left as I think the nights are going to be pretty cold.
The sky is blue again and the air is fresh.. The sun actually gets quite warm as the day goes on so its really nice and great to be in the country side. This is a Tibetan area and there are alot of Naxi people around as well who wear distinctive clothing - mainly hats and headwear that is mostly bright pink and looks great.
I must have been quite excited as I hired a bike and visted a huge Lamastry (the biggest in SW China) (14 km return) and then climbed some more hills to get to a National Park area (16 kms return).
Thats my altitude training which should make me quite fit! Climbing those hills at this altitude made me think of the tour de France - not that I was going with any speed at all.
Having been up since 5 am I'm pretty tired and sure that I will sleep like a log. I'm not sure when I will be able to post and get photos up as the country side doesn't have quite the internet setup that the cities have.....night!

The big, big city and no I don't want to buy a watch thanks..

Well it's raining in Shanghai today, its amazing how quickly the temperature has dropped - so it's definitely time for me to leave. It's a week since my last post and I can't believe how quickly time is going.. even though it doesn't seem like I've done that much.
Shanghai is a big, big city and there is debate as to whether or not it's culture is the 'real' China.
It is 'the New York' of China and does have it's own culture but it definitely isn't like the traditional Chinese culture that the west knows - but that of a big city, which is ok, but not something I'll miss while on my holidays. Today my journey to the cities of China ends, and tonight I fly west to the Himalaya's and maybe some fresh air!
I decided to take it a bit easier in the big city and have had Thai massage, oil massage and cupping all done to help me relax. Massage is big in China and reasonably priced so it would have been rude not to try it all out. The cupping was a bit more thorough than I've had before, but helped loosen up some tightness I got while playing 18 holes of golf with Kane on the gold course attached to his villa. It was another great way to relax and you have to have a caddie, which just adds to the relaxation!

I spent a couple of days in central Shanghai checking out some of the local attractions but I have to admit the intensity and crowds made these fairly draining days out (hence the excuses for massage and relaxing!).
Last Friday was museum day. I started out at the Sex culture museum which has won quite a few international awards. A lot of the exhibits were a bit of fun and it was also good in that it recognised that women in Chinese culture have not always been treated very well. From there I caught the 'Bund sightseeing tunnel' under the Huangpu river which was nice, cheesy, multimedia fun with special lighting and music flashing into your space age carriage, before heading to the Shanghai Museum.
There was a big queue to get in but it was worth it as there was an amazing collection of bronze, sculpture, ceramics & porcelain, artwork & calligraphy, jade, furniture and minority costume, with some stuff dating back to the Neolithic age. I particularly liked the sculpture and jade and was surprised at how interesting the history of porcelain was!
I tired out by the early arvo and headed for some late lunch when I was accosted by more overly 'friendly' Chinese on the tea scam. One poor French guy was in the process of bailing some of them up and warning other tourists about the tea scammers which is really the only bad side of Chinese that I have experienced over here. Generally the people are really friendly and helpful - even if they don't know how to queue and spit a bit!
So I headed to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition center which was pretty cool. They have massive models of Shanghai, and you can also see all the plans for the future development of Shanghai and all the different areas or precincts. It was particularly Chines how some of the multimedia for the New Technology Precinct wasn't working! There was also a large section on the 2010 Expo which is going to be in Shanghai and the location for that looks amazing.
Over the past week I also spent time on the motorised scooter having a look around Hongmei lu which is where Kane and Sam live, and had fun trying out the public transport - and being helped out by friendly locals..
I also spent an afternoon in the French Concession area of Shangahi and the old town to get a bit of a feel for the town, the highlights as always, was going into the parks and seeing large groups of people doing Tai Chi together, playing cards and games and ballroom dancing together. It was really fun to see a couple of traffic police ballroom dancing in their uniform in the park. That evening Kane and Sam and I went out to a flash Japanese restaurant for some really yummy food - which is another part of the French Concession and Shanghai.
A big thanks to my friends Kane and Sammy for letting me stay with them and check out the ex-pat lifestyle in Shanghai and also hi and bye to Thomas and my new girlfriend Sophie...

If you are looking to buy a watch, some bags or jackets - theres lots of people who are willing to help you out in Shanghai. I made the mistake of not coming to China to shop... My backback feels big enough already!

back to shanghai - recovery

I had a bit of a sleep in Wednesday - I think I needed a rest after yesterday's walking. After walking past a bike rental right near the uni (where were you yesterday?!) and also walking past a restaurant I had been looking for, for the last 2 nights, I wandered to the Jiming Temple which was first built in 527 AD. It has been rebuilt a few times since, but had a fantastic large bronze Buddha that has been moved here from Beijing. The lake area around the temple looked great as did some more areas of the city wall that are still standing. I met Kane around lunchtime for the fast train back to Shanghai for some more holiday!

The long walk..

I only had a day and a half in Nanjing so I had to decide on what to do with my time. There is a large national park area in Nanjing that is host to many of it's historical sites and after being in big cities for a few days, day 1 was an easy choice. It is called Zhongshan or Purple Mountain National Park. I read an interesting book before I left home for China called 'Socialism is great' which is an autobiography about grwoing up in China in the eighties, and the author talks about climbing Purple Mountain and what it means to the local Chinese.
I got Chinese buffet breakfast with my room at the uni and it was good to give that a try and try some Chinese breakfast. I couldn't deal with congee first thing though..
After that I had a bit of a brain snap. I had already decided that I wouldn't muck around as I had limited time, and that I would ideally hire a bike and get to the park early. Apparently the park is really big and there was lots of ground to cover so I wanted to save my strength. That was the plan, but after walking for an hour I realised that I was nearly at the Yangsee river which was the wrong direction to the park... For some reason now that I'm in China I feel the need to keep walking/moving... maybe its all the people around?
I jumped in a taxi and it took me to the mausoleum of Dr Sun Yat-sen. He's the guy I first learnt about in HK and is credited as being responsible for freeing China from Monarchy and starting the Republic in the early 1900's.
I was in a bit of a grumpy mood but decided to interact with a few people to help fix my mood, there were plenty of Chinese tourists to take photos for and I met a schoolkid which then turned into meeting all the schoolkids in his group.
From the mausoleum I caught a shuttle bus to the 'scenic area' of the mountain. There are many things to look at here including an amazing beamless hall that was built in the 1300's with no wood or beams, some temples and a pagoda. From here (which is the right hand area on the wikipedia map) I started walking back towards the mausoleum (central area) and then decided to follow a path up the side of the mountain instead. (you can see what I thought I was walking up next to the blue roofs)
The shape of the Purple Mountain is like a dragon and as I headed up it started to rain. It was quite steamy in the rain but I pushed on as there were a few sites above the mausoleum that I wanted to visit. The higher I went the more dragons breath (clouds) moved in and the less visability I had - soon I couldn't see more than about 20 metres ahead. It was tough going but all of a sudden I found myself at the top of the mountain - where the cable car tower is located which is on the left hand side of the map! (I kept thinking of Miranda from Picnic at Hanging Rock) It was quite strange to find myself right across the top of the mountain - everything was shut on top of the mountain because the visability was so poor and the cable car was shut down too but it also meant that there were very few other people up there which was a nice change!
I visited a few sites on top of the mountain before I thought I better start heading down, as time was getting away from me. It was a long walk down and again my directions didn't quite work to plan. I tried to head down into the Ming tombs area (on the left of the map - below the cable car) but after a long walk and it starting to get dark I found myself at the entrance to the park on the very far right of the map! It was amazing to come out and see large sections of the Nanjing city walls which are 5 stories high, still in place.
We had been warned not to try to get a cab between 5 and 7 and it was about 5.45 so I thought I would head in the general direction of the university. It was interesting being on the street at peak hour and again before I new it, I was not far from the uni. I remembered a foot massage place that I found in a lane way when I was wandering around last night, so I headed for it as my feet were pretty sore. 1hour foot massage with a pedicure was awesome (and so cheap) so I managed to get a quick bit to eat and stagger home to rest my little feet! Looking at maps I must have covered well over 12 kms for the day which seems silly with bikes and cheap taxis - but none of these things were easily available. Regardless it will all be good training for hiking in Leaping Tiger Gorge later in my trip!

Pudong and the train to Nanjing

My mate Kane works in Pudong in Shanghai, which is the New District on the opposite side of the river to The Bund, and the old areas of Shanghai that begun developing in the 1840's. The decision to develop Pudong happened in 1990 and it is the site of all the new fancy buildings in Shanghai including the much photographed Pearl Tower.
An early start and I had breakfast in town before heading up the tallest building in Shanghai - the second(?) tallest in the world behind one in Taipei. The Shanghai World Finance Center only opened in August this year and I headed up to the 94, 95 and 100th floor to test my vertigo. The experience is fully multi-media supported and very space age as well and it was a buzz. It was a cloudy at the top (I think it is often) so my viewing was limited but fun.
I hit the ground again and negotiated my way through the Pudong streets down to the Pearl Tower. I went into a museum in the base of the tower that is a museum of Shanghai and it was interesting to see how Shanghai has developed from being a International settlement with concessions for British, French and Japanese - to now being China's financial center.
I wandered down to the river to look across at the Bund before meeting Kane and getting to the station for our train to Nanjing.
It was a fast train to Nanjing - reaching speeds of over 250kph and took about 3 hours to get to our destination. Kane checked in with his business friends at the Sheraton and I was lucky enough to have the car continue to drive me on and drop me at the university. I got a room in a hotel run by the uni for a really cheap rate and after having a bit of a walk around in the dark trying to orient myself - I eventually chase a restaurant to eat in because it seemed busy. I think all the meals were for sharing in that restaurant but I had a pretty good go at eating food for 2 (it was yum) before heading back to bed.

Holiday in Shanghai

Friday was a lazy day - I was a bit tired from the train journey, so I took it pretty quietly until my old mate Kane got home from work. We just wandered up the road to his local 'bar lane' where there is a bunch of restaurants and bars, for a meal and a quiet drink... I should've known not to go out 'for a quiet one' but I did fall asleep very quickly when we did stagger in after 2am.. It was great to let go and relax - the most relaxed I've felt for a while.
Needless to say, after so little drinking practise for so long, Saturday was also a quiet day. We played with the kids and took it easy.
Sunday took my overseas 'cultural' trip to another level in that there was a spare ticket to go to the 3rd Shanghai Formula One Grand-prix. When in one of the populated and busiest cities in the world, why not push your anxieties about being in noisy, crowded places to the limits by going to the Grand Prix?!
It was a pretty interesting experience and I'm glad I've seen one, but I don't think I'll be rushing back. The Chinese organisers haven't quite got the logistics worked out, in that we had to fight to get some real food, and drinks of any sort were sold out in our section within 30 minutes into the race. The pollution in Shanghai is pretty bad and by the end of the day my eyes were sore and I felt pretty 'dirty' from the smog. The experience of driving home in Shanghai traffic made me understand why Ex-pats employ a driver to take them anywhere.
Kane is going to Nanjing for work tomorrow for a couple of nights so I will head along too. Nanjing used to be the capital of China, before the capital was moved to Beijing in the Ming dynasty, so I think that I have to go and check it out. It will be strange for me to switch back to 'backpacker' mode for a couple of nights before heading back to Shanghai for some more ex-pat living.

Seeya Beijing

I just couldn't help myself.. My last day in Beijing and I just had to get some more Ming'in in! I think it has something to do with the millions of tourists here but I just couldn't sit still, so I hired a bike again and headed out to see a few more Ming Temples.
In the same general area I was staying were 3 old temples from different religions - all built in the Ming style. A Taoist one (7th century), a Muslim one (10th century) and a Buddhist one (7th century) - all pretty old! The highlight for me was probably the Taoist one - there were a lot of Taoist monks around and they have so many deities, and temples to honor so many of them too. The really great thing about 3 of these 'little', hidden away temples was the lack of crowds, so it was almost relaxing!
Afterwards I went off looking for the city Drum and Bell towers on my bike, but I got a bit lost - a long way from home, so I decided to haul myself back, eat another delicious Chinese meal, and get to the Station for my overnight sleeper to Shanghai.
Beijing Railway station was crazy - lucky I got there early and found my way through the crowds, onto the sleeper. Sleeper trains are a pretty comfy way to travel (except for other passengers snores and early morning conversations!)
I can't believe now I'm in Shanghai.. Beijing went so quick and I was just getting the hang of it!
It's really nice to be back in the land of Ex-pat luxury with my friends Kane and Sam. Battery recharge coming up!

summer palace walk

summer palace walk
Originally uploaded by nezzajohnson

Be warned!

summer palace buddhists

summer palace buddhists
Originally uploaded by nezzajohnson

Buddhist temples on top of the hill at the Summer palace

The Summer Palace

Well Tuesday ended up being a bit of a write-off. I woke up with no energy at all and then remembered that I was supposed to be on holidays too!
My chest infection hasn't quite cleared up in Beijings pollution so I decided to try have a day of putting my feet up.
I decided to move out of the hostel I have been staying in, to a hotel across the road that is cheaper and cleaner..
After that (and a huge brunch) I went for a walk to the west - I haven't checked that direction out yet.. I bought some cream for my damaged feet and saw the Performing Arts centre which looks like a massive spaceship. I had a massage and bought a couple of DVD's which I went home and watched after a huge early dinner.

The Chinese Hotel is much noisier than the western hostel, but I had a good sleep and got up planning to go to the Summer Palace. I was thinking about riding a bike out there, it would have taken 1.5 hrs and I didn't quite have the energy, so I decided to get a cab. I jumped in one and pointed and gestured at the meter continuously. The driver wanted to charge me 100 Y to get out there, only when I threatened to get out he turned the meter on.
It was amusing how he pointed out things to my left a couple of times and then when we finally arrived at the Summer Palace the meter said 120 Y.. (he was distracting me from signs we were passing on the right). I knew that 120Y was too much, so I wrote down his taxi driver's rego number from the certificate in the cab and threatened to report him when he suddenly dropped the price to 60Y - which is what I expected.. Not an ideal start to a relaxing day!
When I got into the Summer Palace there were the biggest crowds I have seen so far anywhere! Unfortunately I can't get my photo's off my camera tonight, so if you want, you can see more of the Summer Palace here. It is pretty impressive - 4 times the size of the Forbidden City and it has large gardens and lakes. It became the home of Dowager Cixi (the Dragon Lady). She was still in power at the end of the Qing dynasty when China became a republic. She was interested in photography when it was first invented, and there were some really interesting photos of her and the palace from 1897-1908. I also saw some great Jade, porcelain, bronze and other artwork from the museums collection - some of it dating back to BC.
It was great to check out, but after another day walking around for 6 + hours I was exhausted.. The big question was the journey home and dodgy taxi drivers.. Good old Lonely Planet told me about a public bus that goes to my neighbourhood so I decided to do the local thing. The cost was 2 Y (less than 50 cents!) It was great to be in with the locals, although it was peak hour and so the ride took about 1.5 hours in traffic jams.. My feet were falling off and I popped into a local restaurant for dinner that I had seen a few nights ago.. A large group of Chinese came in so I moved around on my table to let them all sit together a the table next to mine, and before I knew it a few of them were sitting with me too! It was really great to meet some Chinese who were also tourists here in Beijing.. They were here just for the day to go and see Chairman Mao's tomb. It was a really good way to finish my day in Beijing - with the locals - I'm feeling a bit more settled in now and ready to move on to Shanghai on the overnight train tomorrow. Beijing is a great city - so much to see and do, but it is time to go - so much Ming/Qing Dynasty architecture does begin to look the same after a while - the magnitude of everything here is amazing and must be seen to be believed. I'm Ming'ed out on Beijing for now and getting down to Shanghai and back to the Ex-Pat lifestyle for a bit will help me kick the holiday mood in.

Beijing by bicycle

I woke up feeling a bit rough today from drinking beers last night. With my sore feet I decided that a bike would be a good option.
The pollution is not very good today and visibility is down but getting around on a bike was fantastic. This is the only way to see Beijing and although it is a little scary on the road at first you soon work out the way the road system works. There are large areas for bikes to ride in and cars some time end up in these sections too - no one travels all that fast when things get congested so I never really felt too threatened..
After checking out the moat and canals at the front, I rode north of the Forbidden City and it was great to see some of the other, larger Hutongs up there. I found my way to Beihai Park which is another massive park associated with the Emperors and Dynasties. There is a large White Pagoda in the park and quite a few temples dedicated to Buddha. It is also dominated by a lake.
There were lots of Chinese visitors here as well and I somehow managed to walk around for a couple of hours.
I had a most delicious bowl of Vietnamese Pho for lunch and then, to keep the Buddhist theme going, headed over to the Lama Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in Beijing. It was home for one of the Royal Prices in the past and again was pretty impressive. There is a Buddha that is 3 storeys high - carved out of a single piece of wood and some amazing statutes and ornaments. The temple was packed with a lot of locals burning incense and cowtowing before the many statues and effergies of Buddha but it was well worth visiting. When it started to rain a bit as I left I decided to call it a day and return my bike for now..

The Temple of Heaven

Well today is Sunday and I've decided I need to take my foot of the accelerator a little.
Being Sunday what better day to check out the Temple of Heaven - a large park in Beijing that has a couple of temples in it that the emperors used to go and prey and make sacrifices to Heaven at. I walked down to where I thought it was and found it after a little while.
The Temple of Heaven is really impressive - it is a circular, 3 storey, wooden building and the grounds and buildings were really nice to check out and walk around in. (I'm not going to post pictures here because the Ming Architecture looks a bit the same after a while - you really need to come and see the size of these places to really appreciate it properly)
One of the highlights of being there was seeing all the local Chinese people - I'm guessing because it's Sunday there were lots out and about in the parkland. Large groups would gather together and do exercise & chanting together, do some dancing, play something like hackysac - or have a group singalong - the group singing was fantastic and the enthusiasm people sang with made me nearly burst into tears!
I was feeling pretty good so I thought I would wander around some areas of Beijing that I haven't been before - it was a beautiful day and eventually I that decided I better eat. Time to try the ordering food thing again - I cheated a bit and picked a restaurant that had a menu with pictures. After ordering, I worked out that pictures don't really help anyway, because although I got the greens right, the dish that I though was a picture of beef with chili on it came out and it wasn't beef.. There were lots of small bones and not too much chili in it too (something to do with the chef coming out and looking at me when he was cooking?) It tasted OK so I got through most of it - when I made it back to the hostel I found out that I had eaten 'Spicy Duck' - not really spicy but I was pleased to find out it wasn't a completely unexpected animal!
I found my way to the remaining section of the Beijing city wall which was interesting to check out. Walls are definitely a big part of my interpretation of China - all the different city walls, the Hutongs are surrounded by walls and of course there's the Great Wall.
So much for taking my foot of the accelerator though - I covered what felt like a huge area on foot again today - when you look on a map though the area is really quite small!
My feet are not happy and I now have split and bruised heels.. Silly. (I wonder if that has anything to do with wearing shoes!) I decided that a few beers were required so I had some with Wayne and Ali from Newcastle/Sunderland. They just got married and are travelling for six months or so - before that Wayne has been in Iraq since 2003 and his book on his experience is coming out soon..