Over two months late for the post i was supposed to make the next day.
I really ought to be punished for this, I feel sad and bad for writing to you and expecting your return when I, myself struggle to return too!
I left off with up to my first week travelling China - below is up to day 16 from my notes so bare in mind how present it may sound despite being no where near China. Also there would be some moments where I would write in my note exactly what I am doing or write about yesterday's event. The grammar is poor but it's my blog, a blog. The excitement is in the writing you see, you have to make it feel natural, as though we're talking.
But this is only for those who are interested - if you remember anything I last said from day 7, this would probably make more sense to you (but if you quickly read my 2nd to my last post it would probably help)
Day 8
We arrived Guilian at 11.14am, the next day. The piercing weather was just so bad it hurt. We waited for a minibus to take us to Yangshuo which costed CNY20. Only £2 for a hour and a half ride!? Are you reading this!!
Yangshuo is a backpackers dream! It was a sleepy farmers village until the 90s when sadly tourism took hold but it still had a rural wear to it. It offers great food, bars and activities - it sounded so good!
11.34pm
The tight fitted bus finally came. it had limited space, probably fit up to 60 people so it made sense to pay so little.
Duration: 1.6hours
We then had a car take us to the small town of Yangshuo and after a short walk: checked in at Monkey Jane hostel in a 4 bed dorm. Lunch was until 3pm then it just started pouring, rain drops in every gap of the air - we tried to wait in the stalls until we gave in. I was a walking river, honestly!
Our activities were cancelled so instead we went up the rooftop which was wowsha! Another fabulous view in China of the area.
We decided to take a walk around the village also to see what the day would bring - it had stopped raining then. We went by the flowing river and attempted to climb the big rocks but that clearly failed because we are wimps like that (well no, we both cant swim really). We went around the local parts and watched people on the streets selling food, fruits and hats in ways that one purchase could change their life, or could it? We walked through the shopping street with ladies trying to charge us stupid prices for a bracelet or a scarf just because we were foreigners which is an unfortunate. I don't have the money they think I have and never in a million years would I ever believe a scarf costs £40 - not in China, grow some common sense.
Luckily, a friend from the hostel showed us a very local and cheap noodles restaurant where we eat for a low as 40p! I cried on my first bite (mainly because it was so spicy and I surprisingly couldn't handle it but mostly because it was so so good!)
We met some other travellers in the area and swapped ideas and plans as well as life points - always rewarding!
We spent the evening at the rooftop bar where we were given a free bucket - vodka, orange and sprite. Thai style. I missed this!
I was wavey too quick! Hadn't drank in weeks so this was like a new thing again and i dont think i was enjoying it. We watched the guests play beer pong with the owner and if you beat her, you win a free tee. Bare in mind she had a very big beer belly! She competes every night so you never actually win.
It's a good money grab scheme.
Bed was soon after 11pm.
Day 9
9.30am we joined a cycle hike trip outside the village. We rode alongside such beautiful landscapes and next to the road! It didn't feel unsafe but I felt uncomfortable having big lorries that just wouldn't move away from me on the road, never mind what I am doing there! Shortly after half an hour to Yulong, we arrived for Bamboo Rafting down the Lijiang River. I liked the rafting because it involved splashing through mini waterfalls and seeing the mountains beside us - some looked like turtles, most just looked like mountains! Ha, I tried learning how to raft but again, that was a flop, the erm, rider wasn't amused with my failure but I had a laugh! We arrived at Gongnong bridge before continuing our cycle hike. But only just after the rain poured very heavily briefly before. We rode nearby for a hike uphill to see the Moonhill which is a hole in a rock due to years of erosion, so the fuss was the hole and it looking like a moon in the sky further seen away. It was 800 steps up but the view was worth it! The heat was tearing my skin apart and I sweating with downpour from my forehead - it wasn't pleasant! We took a short break for lunch where everyone called out a dish to share.
I don't really eat vegs (sorry mum) and the Chinese live on vegs :/ so most of the dishes are played with by me until I finally give in to try them and gag. Most of the time I'm able to swallow it and say its okay.
We rode nearby to The Goldwater cave which is an underground site of four mountains.
We had a tour around the cave and were shown all the rocks that symbolised certain objects and animals of people. We stopped by the mudbath pool which they say is very good for you and almost fell asleep in the hotsprings nearby. I could barely see anyone and the Chinese were snapping away to whoever had blonde hair or black skin.
The ride home was 35 minutes and was probably my favourite bike ride ever - riding pass fat cars and farm lorries beside mountains and rivers. Wonderful!
We had noodles at the local restaurant further away from the touristy part of Yangshuo. Paying only 40p for such a yummy dish again. Beef noodles with spices.
We then went to the health centre to try hot cupping! I wimped out as soon as Sophie began screaming.
They slide a fireball in a wooden cup before dabbing it on your back which then sucks up any toxins in your body in that area. It's supposed to relax your muscles really.
After a few days, Sophie felt nothing but if you had seen it, she looked like a transformed human dinosaur. The whole experience was partly hilarious apart from my cry.
Day 10
We took a trip to Xingping town which is outside of Yangshuo county about 2 hours away then took a visit to our local friend's family home in a village near XingPing up the mountains.
First we had a view of the landscape printed on the CNY20.
We went to the market for vegs to make the dinner that night then drove up to the village.
After being served nuts and green tea by the mother while we wait, we were taken to the uncle's house where the food was being cooked. The walk was by the cliff side and it was just beautiful and scary at the same time! You could see hills, mountains, farms, fields after fields argh just indescribable.
Once the food was cooked, it was served as each dishes were readyyyy! I mentioned before that the Chinese like to make several dishes and lay them out on the table then you serve yourself piece by piece filling your tiny bowl with vegs piling over your rice.
I was so full I felt so ill!
The ride home was an hour then me and Sophie went for a quick shop for cute buys before heading to bed after 2am.
Day 11
9.40am we met in the lobby for the minibus to pick up all backpackers to the station.
After 2 hours in the painful traffic feeling so uncomfortable, we finally arrived Guilian Station.
13.25pm was our train, after a short airport style custom and a quick food shop we were soon queuing up pointlessly to get on the train. Sophie was above the bed above me. Got it?
The majority of the journey was spent speaking with our Chinese neighbour, learning more Chinese and how to write my name! Also updating our diaries and chatting about life and life in general. I always learn more about Sophie each time we have the time to sit and chat.
Day 12
I slept at 11.43pm last night after Sophie finally fled my bed and took the courage to sleep upstairs in the cold and dark bed. The bites as you can imagine was a terrific misery. I woke up with 10 lumps in one place all stuck together as though it was a 'team attack'. I was violently itching my arms just as I got up in the early morning. It was 8.52am, the next day.
We had 4 hours left until we arrive Chengdu which we are staying only for one night. The joys of travelling!
My eyes fastened to the window ahead of me where behind were vast lands and monstrous mountains slowly passing. It felt as though we were still and the earth was constantly swiped until we reach our destination. I was lying down at the time of this thought; it all changed once I got out of bed to head to the loo I dreaded. It's a metallic hole in the ground where you can see the track beneath rushing pass with the train! I watched my urine flee then returned to bed to write.
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It's currently 10am and we have 3 hours left which is great! I didn't mind the long journeys anymore however this has been my longest - a total of 24 hours was to be spent on this train in carriage 7.
I could have flown to Australia at this length and I'm just going further up north of China.
I learnt that our 22 year old neighbour has never set foot in Shanghai and Beijing. He has only been to Yangshuo and Chengdu. I don't even know what to say :/
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I have just woken up at its 2.37pm? We were supposed to be arriving at 1.30pm. It has been 25 hours I have been stuck in bottom bunk carriage 7. ZhaoYao, our Chinese neighbour had just said we still have 5 hours until we arrive.
5?!!! That will be 31 hours journeying to Chengdu - we only planned this destination to see the Pandas overnight.
I bought pot noodles on the platform when the train stopped and sat back on my bed writing.
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3.20pm we were on the move but not as fast as it feels being on the slow train, hence the duration!
After this, I will be going places like its nothing - this is just ridiculous, the things I could do in this time.
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6.17pm
Sophie found a very large poo in the lavatory - missed the hole by a few inches. Luckily I ate moments before this traumatising event. I laid listening to music while Sophie writes about the Chinese economy in her diary.
Day 11 and 12 would be spent majorly on journeying to Chengdu.
I had 10 days until I will be back in London, back to the usual life, back to the ordinary - back to routines but back with my loved ones.
6:57pm
WE'RE ARRIVING
WE ARE FINALLY HERE!
CHENGDU!!!!
We had our bag checked before a ticket swipe to the metro - we took the line 2 subway to Tianfu Square (line 1) 7 stops. Change for Wenshu Monastery on line 1 (2 stops).
5minute Walk to Mr Panda hostel
Hotpot dinner was recommended but I wasn't hungry
Instead i strolled locally and shopped at the supermarket with teenagers following me around.
After my shower, we exchanged words with our dorm mates who were graduates and telling us loads of life stories to learn from!
I love meeting people like this!
Day 13
I woke up at 7.22am
And left at 7.38am for the World Panda Research Centre.
A bit about the Research Centre and pandas;
Firstly they are a family of Ailuropodidae.
And the world renown center was for research on endangered species, conservation education and eco-tourism.
Pandas;
- Only found ln remote afeas of china
- Feed on Bamboo shoots
- 45-50% are twins in captivity and in the wild, only one survives
- Predators include golden cats, jackal and yellow throated marten - attacks old, sick, very young or disabled giant pandas.
- Common parasites found in pandas are ticks, fleas, chorioptes
- They have pseudo thumb to eat, it holds the food
- A baby cub was born weighing 120g which is 0.1% of an adult's body weight
- The smallest found was 51g and it survived! AW
Got back before 12 to have lunch next door which I absolutely hated, I ordered beef fried rice and they decided to put everything else I didn't ask for on the plate - every spring onion I bit into, my tongue went numb! It was only 90p so I didn't cry about it. We then decided to take up the chance to get a massage by a blind masseuse - they were actually very good as they knew where to concentrate on and they would make sure the focus is there. My back is very poor so you could imagine the pain I went through. It was only £2.50 for the full body anyway - when it was finally over, I really needed a walk around!
I took a stroll around Chengdu with one of the guys staying at the same hostel. Within two hours, I had learnt so much about life after graduation - he was an Oxford graduate with a geography degree now just travelling with his wife after working stupid hard for 4 years. Both the couple had left their jobs as a break. His wife worked for the top law firm in London FF while he worked on different sales project under companies such as Unilever. They were an inspirational pair! They're set to travel the rest of the world together before they settle down! Massive winkwink to my boyfriend *heheh* I've been meaning to drag him on the plane with me! But in due time my dears.
Anyway - we visited Tianfu Square were Mao's statue was placed. There were so many police officers, military trucks and officer vans around the area so we tried not to look like tourists because it would appear that we were going to attack undercover. It was in the moment, in the moment. Thinking about it now, I feel silly but there were loads of them speaking on their walkie talkie as we walk by.
We headed to People's Park briefly before it was time for my mandarin class! The class was fabb - learnt more phrases, improved on my pronunciation for the numbers and learnt the rules of the past/present/future tenses.
Soon after we visited the Wenshu Monastery where we learnt a bit about the life of being a Buddhist. We were not allowed to step on door stop nor take pictures inside the temples - people were bowing heads and waving their incense leaving a trail of smoke across the air everywhere I walk. Some of the statues were over hundreds of years old - gold paints and extravagant jewellery. Dragon's sons outside temples as security of some sort which also has luck for those who believe in it - they say when you touch the head of the still dragon and then your own, it will give you intelligent. The inside life of a monk and a buddha - It was nice to learn something new anyway.
We shopped at Jinam Street (didnt buy anything though) and Sophie sang along with ex opera singer playing a wooden flute instrument - it was amusing and delightful at the same time. Sophie is unafraid of anything - she's the intelligent you'd need around!
It was soon dinner and i asked for a bowl of rice - I got it with soup to heat it up and it was free. I was loving China right at that moment! Sophie had fried noodles and ate that quicker than me having to do my hair - I have none! Hahaa
7.45pm
It was time to leave Chengdu, sadly only after a day - we took the subway to North Railway Station which was only two stops away. 'By the way the East railway station in Chengdu is the biggest railway station in the whole of Asia'
Our K6 train was at 21.14 and we boarded at ten to - carriage 17, bottom bunk 22!
Departure: 21.16
Expected duration: 15 hours
After eating a load of rubbish - I drifted off to my playlist playing wildly in my ears - I have no idea what time this was.
Day 14:
Woke up to the train radio at 10.02am and it was painfully bright!
Someone's hands were hanging off the top bunk and I was afraid to remove it so had to move around it for a while.
It's currently 10.50am and we have under 2 hours left (I hope) until we arrive Xi'an! Home for the next 2 days!
Arrival: 12.16pm
We took the 603 bus to Shyuan Hostel which was located in front of the south gate of the famous city walls around the first ring of Xi'an. If it is your first time to visit Xian, then you may wonder what are the most important things to do in Xian for a short trip of 2-3 days. I recommend the following described below ;
3pm
I took a stroll within the city walls which is the first of four rings in Xi'an. Sophie went for a bike ride on the city walls and went around. The day was just so disgustingly hot i didn't enjoy my ice cream!
I also went up the bell tower; (quick note) :
When travelling, do remember to bring your student card! I had forgotten mine at home so instead used a picture from my phone of my cinema card which had my face on it and an expiry date - passed mate.
Oooh yeah (inside joke). You know when jokes are not the same when shared with another person outside of the time when the joke was made. Yeah.
Anyway - I went up the bell tower which is central of Xi'an! It wasn't too high but high enough to see all around the city.
6pm
We decided to volunteer at the local soup kitchen which is next to Xi'an's biggest church. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to show pictures so we can't share our experiences in that way but when we arrived - we had bought peaches for the those who come to the shelter. I had learnt that they provide soup and dumplings every Monday Wednesday and Friday at approximately 7pm for half an hour. They are also given warm water to drink. It made me feel so good about myself having known about the place and actually visiting
I grew tired quickly.
Day 15
Time was flying and it was nearly the end of our travels in China!
Today we visited the Excavation site of Terracotta Warriors that Qin the emperor had created since he was 13! A visit to the Army of Terra Cotta Warriors is the main reason why you would go to Xian. The original site was found by a local farmer digging a well in 1974. Now it has turned into the most important attraction in Xian aswell as the Terracotta Warriors and Horse Museum.
It is located about 50km east of the Xian City. The museum includes Pit 1, Pit 2 and Pit 3 as well the exhibition hall of the chariots and horses. The Pit 1 is the largest of the three.
Again it was stupid hot that day and my water was boiling, literally. After the cinema exhibition, the three pits and the Musuem - we went to eat at the local noodles place nearby and ate handmade noodles made in front of you within minutes!
The journey back was an hour and a half away so when we got back we rested for up to an hour (as time was going) and then headed to the famous Muslim quarter in Xi'an. There I felt the real china town ha! Food stalls, scarf stalls, men shouting and squids flapping from sticks. People loved me far too much there - well my skin colour actually.
'Oh look a black girl' I've actually learnt how to say this in Chinese just by hearing them all say it!
We went to the market and visited the mosque in the middle.
We headed back and I went to the shop and this was where I had lost my phone!
I realised I didn't have my phone when I returned from the shop - I ran back and told them that I had lost it.
After two hours of this nonsense - I finally had it back. A street lady had retuned it as soon as I threatened to get the police involved.
I guarded it afterwards like it was my baby!
Bed was shortly after as we were heading to another place again in the morning.
Day 16
Check out at 10.30
11am we settled off to the mountain farm where we were going to stay for one night before we head to Shaolin!
The drive was an hour and a half and behind my window screen was greens after greens after greens.
Lets go see the real china!
Be back soon - I'll be! i promise! xxx