19.09.09
Saying goodbye to my new friends and heading off to Guilin to start my train journey north into Sichuan province for the penultimate stretch of my China journey. On board I know that the train leaves at 1.30pm and arrives at around 2.30 the next day, but in my head it's just over 12 hours. A woman who lectures in psychology back in the UK promptly puts me right and tells me that we have a 25 hour journey to Chengdu and I realise that I'm back approaching trans Siberian train journey lengths. I spend my next day chatting to her about her travels and mine and then meeting a Chinese man called Han from Chongqing, about 4 hours away from Chengdu. I think he wants to speak to me to practice his English and he tells me how he works in Guilin selling minerals and rocks like Quartz, Granite and Marble to people in America, France and Germany and is travelling to Chongqing as that's his home. He has learnt English by listening to a tape in the same way that I am trying to learn Chinese and considering he hasn't learnt it from a teacher his English is extremely good. When he finds out that it is my birthday in a few days, he offers to take me out in Chongqing and says I will not have to worry about anything while there. I am tempted, but I need to get to Chengdu and then move on to other parts of Sichuan Province and Chongqing would mess with my schedule. He's on business trips to America next year and also France and so wants to learn English so his travels and business will be easier. He is definitely up there with the business men of China and I think he isn't joking when I said he would sort my accommodation and everything else if I went to Chongqing.
Lights off at 10pm and the sleeper carriage becomes a bedroom on wheels transporting us 50 or so sleepers north back into the mainland of China and up away from it's tropical south.
Thursday, 24 September 2009
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Day 58 - Yangshuo
18.09.09
None of us could get a room in 'Giggles' for tonight, so we all head into Yangshuo town and manage to get a hostel with a room for all of us. Albert decides to stay and do some m
ore work, joining us later, while me, Wolfram and Muriel head off on a bus to Yangdi for the 24km trek to Xingping. When we reach Yangdi we manage to avoid being scammed by a woman who tries to sell us a one way ride across the river to the start of the trail for 15 yuan, when we can buy an official trail ticket that gets us three crossings for 16 Yuan. She's a menace.
The start of the trail leads alongside the river and past small villages, farmers and their animals, rice fields and the peaks of the area. We stop off for some lunch that we packed with us and then continue on towards Xingping meetin
g Albert at the last crossing. He hired a bike and travelled in the opposite direction to walk back with us, we catch him chatting away to the locals at a shop, improving his seriously impressive Chinese language skills. It turns out to be a power walk 
back to Xingping as nightfall is setting in and we need to make it back for our 7.30 bus or face being stranded in Xingping. On the route back we pass the famous scene which is on the reverse of the 20Yuan notes. In the sun set it is beautiful and there is even a bamboo raft on the river to make it exactly like the picture.
When we get back to Yangshuo safely on the last bus, it's the feast of the trip so far and we end up having eels, snails, rabbit and beer fish (a catfish cooked in beer). It's a great meal if not a little pricey, but it is Yangshuo tourist central and is a lot better than my bill at the Giggling Tree, which turned out to be quite large considering I was only there for two nights. I thought the buy now, pay later deal would get me. After dinner it's off to the local bars where we drink until the early hours and meet some Canadian girls and a guy from Manchester called Frank. My fellow Brit was the best of your obnoxious and sarcastic home grown talent and opened his introductions with true British Sarcasm towards Canada, Germany and Switzerland. Me
and him ended up having a good old English sarcasm insult death match and I am embarrassed that the only British guy I meet while in out in Yangshuo is an arse. To everyone else it just seems as if we are having a quirky conversation, and Albert is loving it and said he wished he could speak English well enough to be sarcastic. The night ends well and it feels good to have a good night out, they say it's a pre birthday celebration and I hope the 21st turns out just as good.
None of us could get a room in 'Giggles' for tonight, so we all head into Yangshuo town and manage to get a hostel with a room for all of us. Albert decides to stay and do some m
ore work, joining us later, while me, Wolfram and Muriel head off on a bus to Yangdi for the 24km trek to Xingping. When we reach Yangdi we manage to avoid being scammed by a woman who tries to sell us a one way ride across the river to the start of the trail for 15 yuan, when we can buy an official trail ticket that gets us three crossings for 16 Yuan. She's a menace. 
The start of the trail leads alongside the river and past small villages, farmers and their animals, rice fields and the peaks of the area. We stop off for some lunch that we packed with us and then continue on towards Xingping meetin
g Albert at the last crossing. He hired a bike and travelled in the opposite direction to walk back with us, we catch him chatting away to the locals at a shop, improving his seriously impressive Chinese language skills. It turns out to be a power walk 
back to Xingping as nightfall is setting in and we need to make it back for our 7.30 bus or face being stranded in Xingping. On the route back we pass the famous scene which is on the reverse of the 20Yuan notes. In the sun set it is beautiful and there is even a bamboo raft on the river to make it exactly like the picture.When we get back to Yangshuo safely on the last bus, it's the feast of the trip so far and we end up having eels, snails, rabbit and beer fish (a catfish cooked in beer). It's a great meal if not a little pricey, but it is Yangshuo tourist central and is a lot better than my bill at the Giggling Tree, which turned out to be quite large considering I was only there for two nights. I thought the buy now, pay later deal would get me. After dinner it's off to the local bars where we drink until the early hours and meet some Canadian girls and a guy from Manchester called Frank. My fellow Brit was the best of your obnoxious and sarcastic home grown talent and opened his introductions with true British Sarcasm towards Canada, Germany and Switzerland. Me
and him ended up having a good old English sarcasm insult death match and I am embarrassed that the only British guy I meet while in out in Yangshuo is an arse. To everyone else it just seems as if we are having a quirky conversation, and Albert is loving it and said he wished he could speak English well enough to be sarcastic. The night ends well and it feels good to have a good night out, they say it's a pre birthday celebration and I hope the 21st turns out just as good.
Day 57 - Yangshuo
17.09.09 
Today it's bicycle time. With Wolfram and Muriel, we rent mountain bikes from the Giggling Tree and head up to the Dragon Bridge on the Yulong River, which is about 3 hours a
way with a leisurely cycle and a few stops. The scenery along the way is outstanding, rice fields, peaks springing up from the ground in a way they can only do in Asia, ducks wading around in the streams and the river winding off into the distance. When we reach the bridge it's just in time for lunch and we feast on beer fish, various vegetables and some s
tir fried pork, washed down with an ice cold beer or two. What makes it even better is the fact that we are eating on several bamboo rafts tied together and are floating out on the river, it couldn't get better and the surroundings have to be up there with the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen. After lunch, it would be rude not to have a swim in the river and so we jump in and for some reason the local children either like me a lot or hate me and decide that
they are going to play with me. 'Playing', entails jumping in and bombing next to me so I get splashed and then teaming up to splash me, I'm not the strongest of swimmers by a long shot and at certain points I catch mouth fulls of water and am severely outnumbered, so I retreat to the shore and away from my attackers. We are shortly joined by Albert who cycles up and then we make the journey home, leaving a bit too late so we are cycling in the dark. My head torch comes in mighty handy.
The evenin
g sees many beers and a meal in the 'Tree's' restaurant/cafe/bar. It's deceptive as they don't take money off you there and then, instead charging it to your bill, so when you leave you pay it all together. It's a nice system as you don't worry about it, but at the same time you could run up a costly bill with out realising it. Watch this space.
Today it's bicycle time. With Wolfram and Muriel, we rent mountain bikes from the Giggling Tree and head up to the Dragon Bridge on the Yulong River, which is about 3 hours a
way with a leisurely cycle and a few stops. The scenery along the way is outstanding, rice fields, peaks springing up from the ground in a way they can only do in Asia, ducks wading around in the streams and the river winding off into the distance. When we reach the bridge it's just in time for lunch and we feast on beer fish, various vegetables and some s
tir fried pork, washed down with an ice cold beer or two. What makes it even better is the fact that we are eating on several bamboo rafts tied together and are floating out on the river, it couldn't get better and the surroundings have to be up there with the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen. After lunch, it would be rude not to have a swim in the river and so we jump in and for some reason the local children either like me a lot or hate me and decide that
they are going to play with me. 'Playing', entails jumping in and bombing next to me so I get splashed and then teaming up to splash me, I'm not the strongest of swimmers by a long shot and at certain points I catch mouth fulls of water and am severely outnumbered, so I retreat to the shore and away from my attackers. We are shortly joined by Albert who cycles up and then we make the journey home, leaving a bit too late so we are cycling in the dark. My head torch comes in mighty handy.
The evenin
g sees many beers and a meal in the 'Tree's' restaurant/cafe/bar. It's deceptive as they don't take money off you there and then, instead charging it to your bill, so when you leave you pay it all together. It's a nice system as you don't worry about it, but at the same time you could run up a costly bill with out realising it. Watch this space.
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Day 56 - Yangshuo
16.09.09
In the morning I have the Chinese breakfast of noodles and vegetables with Wu Ming, which actu
ally goes down quite well, although quite heavy for early morning. She tells me of how she is studying and training to be an air hostess, which in China is a top job for a girl. She also explains how her parents have an arranged marriage for her to a man who is nearly ten years older, their view is that he is a successful business man and she will not have to worry about money or anything once she is married to him. 
Her view is quite different and she doesn't want to marry someone she doesn't know or care for. It turns out she has started travelling so she will be away come her marriage date and so avoiding the ceremony, she is in a massive dilemma about what to do and it sounds like an extremely hard situation to be in. For some reason arranged marriages is not something I associated with China, but apparently it happens quite a lot.
In the afternoon I make my way to the 'Giggling Tree', a converted farmhouse run by a dutch couple located around 4km away in the the countryside which is where I am staying for the next two nights. I decide to walk all the way and absorb the scenery, in total it t
akes just over an hour and I'm glad to get my pack off my back when I check in. It's a lovely place and the wood trims are all painted in a vibrant sky blue, the dutch couple seem friendly and there are lots of dutch people staying who fulfill the stereotypes perfectly. It turns out that Wolfram and and Albert are also staying here and along with Muriel (a Swiss girl) and Unai (a Spanish guy), we go and take a swim in the Yulong river which is nearby and beautiful. A great day and I think I have hit one of China's most beautiful places.
In the morning I have the Chinese breakfast of noodles and vegetables with Wu Ming, which actu
ally goes down quite well, although quite heavy for early morning. She tells me of how she is studying and training to be an air hostess, which in China is a top job for a girl. She also explains how her parents have an arranged marriage for her to a man who is nearly ten years older, their view is that he is a successful business man and she will not have to worry about money or anything once she is married to him. 
Her view is quite different and she doesn't want to marry someone she doesn't know or care for. It turns out she has started travelling so she will be away come her marriage date and so avoiding the ceremony, she is in a massive dilemma about what to do and it sounds like an extremely hard situation to be in. For some reason arranged marriages is not something I associated with China, but apparently it happens quite a lot.In the afternoon I make my way to the 'Giggling Tree', a converted farmhouse run by a dutch couple located around 4km away in the the countryside which is where I am staying for the next two nights. I decide to walk all the way and absorb the scenery, in total it t
akes just over an hour and I'm glad to get my pack off my back when I check in. It's a lovely place and the wood trims are all painted in a vibrant sky blue, the dutch couple seem friendly and there are lots of dutch people staying who fulfill the stereotypes perfectly. It turns out that Wolfram and and Albert are also staying here and along with Muriel (a Swiss girl) and Unai (a Spanish guy), we go and take a swim in the Yulong river which is nearby and beautiful. A great day and I think I have hit one of China's most beautiful places.
Thursday, 17 September 2009
Day 55 - Yangshuo
15.09.09
Arriving in Yan
gshuo early afternoon, the town seems very much like Guilin, except smaller and with more impressive scenery. The main street is nicknamed foreigner street and it has your favourite western hot spots such as a MacDonald's and even better, Sally's Bar, Wendy's Place, etc... On the river front you can see mountains and bamboo outcrops, bamboo rafts and it is actually quite lovely. The weather is quite misty, so visibility is p
oor and I am sure the mist is following me around China, although the epic downpour at about 4pm clears most of the mist and also leaves everything soaking wet. After monsoon season, I take a walk out of the touristy area and to the outskirts of the town and time is just right to see a local school release its students, who are wearing the brilliant school uniform of ... combat camouflage gear, Love China.
I brave a meal in a local 'hole in the wall' restaurant, which I know will be great food and costs me only 90p for as much rice as I can eat and then a plate of vegetables and meat of my choice stir fried up in a wok. It's such a good deal and they are everywhere in China, but you never see tourists in them as there is no English menu and it's quite intimidating if you have no idea what is going on, (I have no idea what is going on). In my room back at the hostel is a Chinese girl called Wu Ming and a guy whose name I have either forgotten or I like to think he never told me. His pictures of Tibet look amazing and although I will never be able to get into Tibet, maybe I can make a journey nearby.
Arriving in Yan
gshuo early afternoon, the town seems very much like Guilin, except smaller and with more impressive scenery. The main street is nicknamed foreigner street and it has your favourite western hot spots such as a MacDonald's and even better, Sally's Bar, Wendy's Place, etc... On the river front you can see mountains and bamboo outcrops, bamboo rafts and it is actually quite lovely. The weather is quite misty, so visibility is p
oor and I am sure the mist is following me around China, although the epic downpour at about 4pm clears most of the mist and also leaves everything soaking wet. After monsoon season, I take a walk out of the touristy area and to the outskirts of the town and time is just right to see a local school release its students, who are wearing the brilliant school uniform of ... combat camouflage gear, Love China.
I brave a meal in a local 'hole in the wall' restaurant, which I know will be great food and costs me only 90p for as much rice as I can eat and then a plate of vegetables and meat of my choice stir fried up in a wok. It's such a good deal and they are everywhere in China, but you never see tourists in them as there is no English menu and it's quite intimidating if you have no idea what is going on, (I have no idea what is going on). In my room back at the hostel is a Chinese girl called Wu Ming and a guy whose name I have either forgotten or I like to think he never told me. His pictures of Tibet look amazing and although I will never be able to get into Tibet, maybe I can make a journey nearby.
Day 54 - Guilin, Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces
14.09.09
The Dragons backbone rice terraces are supposed to be one of the architectural marvels in Ch
ina. Terraces for rice fields have been carved into the side of the hills stretching over 500m the hills and covering a huge area. A bonus before I even arrive is it costs me only 35 Yuan to get there as opposed to the 65 Yuan the hostel told me it would cost, obviously just wanting me to take their tour. The journey takes in some amazing scenery and once there I hike up to the top of the terraces for some amazing views down over the valley and the villages. This is minority village area: the people dress in bright vibrant colours; it seems the women never cut their hair and it curls around in massive buns on top of their heads, when they let it loose, it's longer than them; the houses are built on stilts and seem to accommodate whole family groups, not just the immediate family. I decide to take the trek from the north town of Dazhai to the south town of Pingan, which seemed like a good idea, until I realise I'm running out of time and end up pacing through the countryside to make sure I can catch the last bus out and back to Guilin. When I do eventually rea
ch Pingan if I wait for the next bus I will miss my next connection, so I decide it will be a good idea to run about a mile on a steep down hill road to the main crossroads where I can intercept more transport. As I strap on my rucksack tight and make the descent cars that pass me beep and the people on board take pictures or cheer. About half way down a motorcyclist offers me a lift, but I kindly refuse as by this point in time I think I am some kind of action man marathon terminator, I let him drive on a bit before I start running again as I don't want to overtake him. The plan works and I make a connection and catch my bus back to Guilin, feeling good for the exercise, yet in need of a shower.
On the hills I met two guys who I recognise from my hostel, they are making the trek in the opposite direction and back at Guilin I run into them again and they have moved rooms into my dorm. Wolfram and Albert, from Germany. Wolfram is a cartoonist and has been working on a project in China for the past few weeks and Albert (Wolfram's cousin), is training to be a lawyer and has been in China for 6 weeks studying. They are going to Yangshuo in a couple of days, which is my next destination and mention some treks around the town that we can do, plans have been laid.
The Dragons backbone rice terraces are supposed to be one of the architectural marvels in Ch
ina. Terraces for rice fields have been carved into the side of the hills stretching over 500m the hills and covering a huge area. A bonus before I even arrive is it costs me only 35 Yuan to get there as opposed to the 65 Yuan the hostel told me it would cost, obviously just wanting me to take their tour. The journey takes in some amazing scenery and once there I hike up to the top of the terraces for some amazing views down over the valley and the villages. This is minority village area: the people dress in bright vibrant colours; it seems the women never cut their hair and it curls around in massive buns on top of their heads, when they let it loose, it's longer than them; the houses are built on stilts and seem to accommodate whole family groups, not just the immediate family. I decide to take the trek from the north town of Dazhai to the south town of Pingan, which seemed like a good idea, until I realise I'm running out of time and end up pacing through the countryside to make sure I can catch the last bus out and back to Guilin. When I do eventually rea
ch Pingan if I wait for the next bus I will miss my next connection, so I decide it will be a good idea to run about a mile on a steep down hill road to the main crossroads where I can intercept more transport. As I strap on my rucksack tight and make the descent cars that pass me beep and the people on board take pictures or cheer. About half way down a motorcyclist offers me a lift, but I kindly refuse as by this point in time I think I am some kind of action man marathon terminator, I let him drive on a bit before I start running again as I don't want to overtake him. The plan works and I make a connection and catch my bus back to Guilin, feeling good for the exercise, yet in need of a shower.
On the hills I met two guys who I recognise from my hostel, they are making the trek in the opposite direction and back at Guilin I run into them again and they have moved rooms into my dorm. Wolfram and Albert, from Germany. Wolfram is a cartoonist and has been working on a project in China for the past few weeks and Albert (Wolfram's cousin), is training to be a lawyer and has been in China for 6 weeks studying. They are going to Yangshuo in a couple of days, which is my next destination and mention some treks around the town that we can do, plans have been laid.
Day 53 - Guilin
13.09.09
Pulling into Guilin Station at an early 8am and the town is silent. There are the usual drove of taxi drivers vying for your attention, but once i got past them, it was clear sailing all the way to the hostel. After checking in to my hostel, I decide to take a walk around town and
over to the main park. As per usual there is an entry fee to get into the park and then some attractions have an additional fee on top of that. The geography around Guilin is the main attraction and the karst peaks that jut up out the ground from no where are what people mainly come to see. The park has a few of them and I decide it would be a good idea to try and climb up one, so about 30mins later, a few scratches, muddy hands and a feeling of 'was this a good idea',
I am at the top of one of the parks main peaks and overlooking Guilin. It doesn't look like anything special and I am mythed at how the city is a number one destination for Chinese tourists, it doesn't look appealing at all. There is also a zoo at the park which is actually horrific. A crocodile sits in a small concrete room with a pool about the size of a bath with less than a foot of dirty green water in it, black bears pace around concrete cells or sit with their heads pushed against the bars moaning, monkeys in cages groom themselves as if they have OCD or sit motionless. All in all it's a horrible place, but still people look at the cages and throw peanuts or seeds at the animals and whistle or clap at them to try and get them to do something. Unpleasant.
At night Guilin becomes a bit more interesting, my first task, printing off pictures to use as
post cards turns into a mission with a 10min dialogue between me and the printer trying to work out what size photos I want. I realise that I have over 1500 photos on two memory cards and no back ups, I really need to burn them to DVDs. Walking back to the hostel at, Guilin lights up around the lake, the pagodas and the river and it's a lot better than the day time. The down side to a
tourist town however is the seedier side and as I walk along the main tourist street people try and get me to go into their bars or ask me if I want a "massage". I guess it's all good training for what I hear is an onslaught of some places in Thailand.
Pulling into Guilin Station at an early 8am and the town is silent. There are the usual drove of taxi drivers vying for your attention, but once i got past them, it was clear sailing all the way to the hostel. After checking in to my hostel, I decide to take a walk around town and
over to the main park. As per usual there is an entry fee to get into the park and then some attractions have an additional fee on top of that. The geography around Guilin is the main attraction and the karst peaks that jut up out the ground from no where are what people mainly come to see. The park has a few of them and I decide it would be a good idea to try and climb up one, so about 30mins later, a few scratches, muddy hands and a feeling of 'was this a good idea',
I am at the top of one of the parks main peaks and overlooking Guilin. It doesn't look like anything special and I am mythed at how the city is a number one destination for Chinese tourists, it doesn't look appealing at all. There is also a zoo at the park which is actually horrific. A crocodile sits in a small concrete room with a pool about the size of a bath with less than a foot of dirty green water in it, black bears pace around concrete cells or sit with their heads pushed against the bars moaning, monkeys in cages groom themselves as if they have OCD or sit motionless. All in all it's a horrible place, but still people look at the cages and throw peanuts or seeds at the animals and whistle or clap at them to try and get them to do something. Unpleasant.At night Guilin becomes a bit more interesting, my first task, printing off pictures to use as
post cards turns into a mission with a 10min dialogue between me and the printer trying to work out what size photos I want. I realise that I have over 1500 photos on two memory cards and no back ups, I really need to burn them to DVDs. Walking back to the hostel at, Guilin lights up around the lake, the pagodas and the river and it's a lot better than the day time. The down side to a
tourist town however is the seedier side and as I walk along the main tourist street people try and get me to go into their bars or ask me if I want a "massage". I guess it's all good training for what I hear is an onslaught of some places in Thailand.
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