Aug 2006

Excited at the prospect of some western luxuries in Hong Kong, and not disappointed.

Got the bus from the airport over to Hong Kong Island, and to our accomodation in Causeway Bay. Alisan Guest House is well placed and as described in all the guides, and Tommy Hou and his people are very friendly and very helpful. We felt very safe and secure here - recommended. Also, HK is quite expensive, and HKD320 a night here isn't too bad.

Chris was here back in 1996 and the place seems to have changed massively - quite surprising at the level of investment here.

Spent the afternoon getting our bearings, and enjoyed our meal at Curry King.

Transport around town is real easy - the underground works well, and I don't think they even bothered to translate the word 'points failure' - London, take note!

Buses also a cinch and everything is very clean.

One not-so-good is simply how busy the place is, just millions of people.

After a good nights sleep, the next day took us to Victoria Peak, via the steep train to the top. Fantastic views of the city below (we're about 480 metres up) and across the bay to Kowloon and the New Territories beyond. Would also be a good view at night, but we didn't make it.

We walked a bit further up to the actual peak itself, strolling through the (ex) Governor's Garden - this time getting views of the south of HK island.

We took the scenic walk back down - a good workout for the calves!

In the afternoon, grabbed the Star Ferry across to Kowloon - only HKD 2, bargain! and strolled around for a few hours, including a visit to the Space Museum (ok, but limited) and watched an IMAX film about Speed, okay.

Once nightfall came, we watched a fairly poor tourist show by the clock tower, a kind-of 'water and lights' extravaganza. However, would recommend the light show that takes place across the skyline of buildings back over on HK island - runs daily at 8pm.

Very hot and muggy here, shame still no pool, but soooon...

We split up the next morning to see different things - Chris took herself off to the Wong Tai Sin Temple, also the bird and goldfish market. Paul enjoyed playing with the interactive exhibits at the Science Museum, and wished he could have stayed longer, but we met up for lunch at Langham Place, one of the many 'huge' shopping centres scattered around.

Shopping in HK is pretty good, lots of choice and if you look hard enough, plenty of bargains. At the markets there's the usual tourist stuff, and bundles of fake goods, though nothing to tempt us this time.

Took the number 6 bus from the main terminus in Central out to Stanley, which is south of HK island and a pleasant retreat from the bustling city areas. The beaches are quite small, but nice to laze for a while as the sun came down.

Our last full day was spent mainly in Central (along from Causeway Bay) and we look at some of the big buildings, including IFC2 and a visit to the 55th floor - there are another 33 floors, but no access for us, despite our pleas that we had a meeting arranged with the 'man at the top'. Actually, Paul was quite glad it was only the 55th - it's quite high up and he's sure that the building was moving.

Walked through the aviary in the heart of Central, which was about 1000 degrees - also enjoyed the gardens and fish pools, though saw a dead turtle, unless it was just floating along with the current.

Headed back over to Kowloon for a tasty curry at Chungking Mansions, then a wander around in the evening, amongst what seemed to be the whole population of HK! (6.9Million!).

Up early the next morning to get a parcel of stuff to the post office, then the return journey to the airport for the 2 hours flight into Bangkok.

Paul and Chris

Despite the crush at the Xi'an train station, the overnight train to Beijing was surprisingly pleasant and comfortable, and all enjoyed various bits and pieces of picnic and beer.

Arrived into town at the crack of dawn, and thankfully permitted to check into our hotel (still no pool!) way before noon, though took a while to actually get into our room, which was 'fine', and we had CCTV 9, hooray!

First day we took ourselves into Tiananmen Square - we all know what happened there - and around the centre of town.

Three of us took lunch in one of the restaurants, which was little more than a street stall, but usually a good place for local food, at local prices. For a meal that would normally cost a pound each, we were thrown to be served a bill for 120 Yuan, about 8 pounds. One argument later, though neither side knew what the other was saying, we left 65 Yuan and bolted.

A highlight of our stay in Beijing, and formally the last full day of our group overland trip, was a trip out to see the Great Wall. Rather than the nearest tourist point, the journey took 3 hours to a quieter spot. Wow, what a fantastic sight, especially on a beautiful day.

The climb up was pretty hard going, but we managed to get to all 15 (or was it 12??) towers before the trail stopped. Cracking views of the surrounding hills and into Inner Mongolia.

Whilst tough going up, it's also pretty tricky going back down - very steep, though only had to walk halfway, before taking the last mile or so in a cable car. Unfortunately lack of time and an element of fear stopped us from taking the Flying Squirrel (aerial runway) back down.

Next day, back in town, we visited the Forbidden City, closed to outsiders for 500 years, hence the name. This place was the residence for the Emperors and their Concubines - a huge area in the middle of the city, to the North of Tiananmen Square.

Unfortunately, a very disappointing trip - scaffolding and covers shrouding most of the important buildings, and limited access to the various exhibits. Where there was access, there was also a million other tourists.

The audio tour was not much better and seemed to always be explaining a completely different part of the City to where you actually were.

Unfortunately, not the best way to spend half a day.

Dinner that night was at the John Bull pub, and coming second in the (Ameri-centric) quiz. Second last that is.

The Summer Palace was very pleasant, with it's huge lake, though, again, lots of tourists and not very peaceful. Over 100,000 folks were comandeered to dig out the lake.

The Mao Mausoleum is a strange place, and visited by flocks of devotees every day (except the days where Mao is being re-touched). We joined in the Communist-style marching with the rest of the queue and made our way through to the viewing room. Must say, he does look a bit like a glow-worm, though very interesting to see such devotion from young and old alike, despite what you read in the history books, if such a true account was available. Of course, the customary Mao gift shop followed the viewing room, where all kinds of Mao-morabilia can be bought.

The remaining couple of days in Beijing were spent either in town or by the lake near the hotel, where more than one Coffee Frappucino was enjoyed at the lakeside!

Despite being a big, 'modern' city, it's a little tough getting around and it's always necessary to show taxi drivers your destination in Chinese. There's very little English spoken here, expect by those in the tourist trade. Also, therefore a shame when it comes to eating and getting into the culture, though certainly not impossible to get by.

Our group whittled down to the last couple of folk by Friday 25th, and we took our flight onto Hong Kong...

Paul and Chairman Chris

From camping out at the 'National Grid' Park we enjoy our last, long, day on the road and arrive in Xi'an.

Slightly tricky arrival as the truck squeezes down the back route to the hotel car park, taking out a China Telecom sign and a couple of kids (well, we heard a 'crunch' half way along).

Nice room, poor view, and sadly no pool yet.

Before the group met up for dinner, we had a walk around to get our bearings, then onto have some Peking Duck, which, here, is served with the head sat on the edge of the serving dish. Sure I saw it move....

There's a pleasant 'green' open space outside the hotel, where seemingly all of Xi'an congregate to fly kites. Not to be outdone, we joined in and only nearly decapitated 2 people, though at least we got airbourne, then tangled beyond repair.

Next day, a trip out to the Terracotta Warriors - at over 2000 years old, these were built for the Emperor to take with him into the afterlife, and only discovered in 1976.

There's still more to uncover, but exposing them to the air is problematic, a bit like the Mary Rose.

Chris and I had a chat about what we might take into the afterlife (if such a thing exists...);

Chris - a pony, chocolate (various), glasses, scuba diving equipment, Hoegarden

Paul - a car and some diesel, a laser gun, shoes, Ipod, Skittles

Chris went to the 'interesting' Steles Museum to see the stone tablets - some of the earliest examples of stone tablets displaying Calligraphy.

Only 2 nights in Xi'an before the adventure of an overnight train to Beijing...

Paul and Little Chris

Having left the peace and quiet (relatively) of the plateau, arriving in Lanzhou to the sound of car horns and traffic, together with the choking smog. Lanzhou is apparently one of the most polluted places in the world, being tucked at the end of a valley which houses numerous industrial works - mainly brick and cement factories and other aggregates.

Chris is missing Tibet already, though pleased to arrive in a modern hotel for a shower. Once again, nice sit-down toilets, and 50+ channels of classic chinese television. No CCTV 9 (only english language channel generally available) here.

Whilst nice to be away from the ground floor traffic on the 15th level, we seem to have the slowest lifts in the world - usually a 5-6 minute wait each time. Imagine the delight to find that your keycard doesn't work when you finally get to your room, with all your gear...

Nothing of particular interest in Lanzhou, but enjoyed more good food, and treated ourselves to 100 Yuan worth of bottled beer - 50 bottles in total (15p a bottle) and happily treated any local that cared to toast with us. Not sure if that's quite eco-tourism, but we were famous for a night.

Briefly back to the food - we ordered some BBQ skewers, which included liberal lumps of fat, which turns out to be a favourite here. In fact, so much a favourite that we came across a wok-full of sizzling fat-lumps. Yummy.

More clubbing here too, which included a free pole dance. Unfortunately, a skinny gyrating man in leather hot pants doesn't quite do it for me. Once again, the westerners get gawped at with their strange dancing behaviour - no-one heard of breakdancing before???

So, two nights in Lanzhou then more road-work as we make our way to Xi'an, via a camping spot (probably not quite official) outside an electricity sub-station. Drew the biggest crowd of the trip so far - I think a whole village came to watch us tonight - all good hearted and plenty photos exchanged.

Just one more long day on the road before Xi'an....

Paul and Chris

After 5 days of citydom, we get back on the truck to spend the next 5 nights camping and covering many hundreds of kilometres between Lhasa and Lanzhou.

Not a great deal to report, but the landscape changed dramatically - from snow capped peaks, to desert. The roads remained pretty good, so not so many bumps.

Sitting at the back of the truck was something of a wind tunnel, and grateful for being wrapped up in a blanket.

Whilst the landsacape was truly amazing, boredom did eventually set in and we played a game of 'Guess The Crisp Flavour'. Despite 4 different coloured bags, they all managed to taste the same - chicken-y, though I think they were some kind of spicy pork and egg.

Camping seemed like a chore to look forward to at the end of the day, but after a couple of days you get into a bit of a routine - I think we got an A-frame tent up in 9 minutes at best.

Camp fires were pretty cool, and Yak dung (dry!) does work well in place of wood, though we held back on the marshmallows.

As part of a travelling group, we were all assigned different chores (head of leftovers, tent management, chief of larder) as well as having to take a turn in cooking breakfast, lunch an dinner. Thought it would be a nightmare, but didn't turn out too bad in the end and no leftovers to discard on the day we cooked.

Most of us now past the altitude sickness, though glad to be heading down to less than 2500 metres. We were hoping to feel 'amazing' when we got back down to thicker air, but didn't seem to happen for us - maybe too long on the road/our backsides.

Many k's later, and we arrive back in civilisation - Lanzhou.

Paul and Chris

Now off the road for five days and into Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, and home of the Dalai Lama - well, it would be if he wasn't in exile in India!

The hotel in the pleasant end of town (the Tibetan end) and well placed for getting around the city, which is mainly walking!

First sight to see was Barkhor Square - on the face of it a tacky tourist area, with stall after stall selling the same crappy souvenirs or clothes. Looking past that, the area is highly atmospheric and you find yourself sucked into the clockwise procession alongside the pilgrims, making their way around the Jokhang temple. Whether spinning a prayer wheel, playing with beads, chanting ('Om Mani Padme Hom' - 'Hail to the Jewel in the Lotus')or 'prostrating' (the motion of their prayer position, stretching out on the floor as you make your way around the temple) - the sight was amazing! And yes, more smells of rancid Yak butter.

Regrettably neither of us took the leap of faith that is to try some Yak butter tea - a nasty concoction, containing....you guessed it! Hats off to Justin for placing his firm order!

The Potala (spared during the cultural revolution - winter residence of the Dalai Lama and prior seat of the Tibetan goverment) is the main attraction in Lhasa. A stunning building, both inside and out, though a shame that so much of the inside is restricted access - you can probably get into 20 rooms, out of many hundreds. Therefore, considering the 7 hour queue for tickets the previous day (from 6am!), together with joining a scrum that developed from an orderly queue - something of an expedition!

Having said that, Paul chose to take up a mountain bike tour on the morning of ticket queueing, leaving Little Chris to fight off the chinese (in the nicest way).

Cycling through town a bit of an experience, and with the instruction to 'not hesitate or make eye contact', we faced up to the cars head-on, and survived!

From cycling to horseriding - Chris spent a day in the saddle and came across some local horsemen blessing the valley, in full regalia.

Lhasa also the first place for us to experience nightclubbing, Chinese-style. Again, feeling goldfish like as this group of westerners make their way across the floor! Was all in good humour and I'm sure we made some friends with our moves.

Next stop ....five long days on the road, and lots of camping!

For anyone coming to Lhasa - must read '5 Years in Tibet' - even though it's 10 years old, not much seems to have changed.

Despite still being at high altitude, the sun continues to scorch, and the thin air is playing havoc with dry, cracked, lips. We keep smiling....

Paul and Little Chris

Just two weeks into a 52 week trip and nightmare of nightmares happens - Ipod gives me the screen that suggests 'I'm broken'.

Fast forward a bit and it seems that Ipods don't like the altitude (my video Ipod at least).

Seems to go a bit funny above 3500 metres, but don't fret...

The route away from Everest took us several hours to a a small place called Shegar, where we met back up with the big truck and a waiting rice salad, and the stinkiest toilets encountered so far. Filth!

The afternoon drive and a bumpy road to Lhatse didn't quite go to plan. The Chinese have a different view on how to do roadworks - rather than close off a small bit and allow traffic to get around, they choose to close the whole road - both directions!

Five hours, and after a stream of curious locals climbing the steps to look into the truck, later.....and we manage to get some transport on the other side of the road closure to our hotel at 11pm. I use the word hotel quite loosely - and won't even mention the toilets. Oh goody, we need to be up at 6am the next day for a loooong drive to Shigatse.

Out of the wilderness, we stumble across civilisation and the nearest thing to a western hotel - really, it was quite nice and even more welcoming to know that we'd be staying for three comfortable nights, with a proper sit-down toilet and loo paper.

Shigatse is the second largest city in Tibet and the main attraction is the Tashilhunpo monastery - the seat of the Panchem Lamas. Briefly, the Panchem Lamas are 'second' to the Dalai Lamas.

The monastery is in a huge compound and brimming with chapels and chanting monks. One lasting memory is the smell of burning Yak butter, which is given as an offering by the pilgrims. Additionally, money (small notes!) is liberally scattered around the chapels, tucked here and there - seems to me (Paul) that you need to buy your way into a prosperous future. At least counting the money keeps the monks busy, very busy!

Chris was blown away by the whole religious experience and the kindness of the pilgrims and monks. Chris took the route of the pilgrims around the monastery and was fascinated by the devoted pilgrims spinning the prayer wheels.

Out of Shigatse for a day and to see the Pelkor Chode monastery at Gyantse. Whilst we had been accompanied by a Tibetan guide since the China border, today was the one and only time he gave a little history as we walked around the monastery - a real shame he'd not done so before, local knowledge really adds so much to a place.

Also in Gyantse was a steep walk up the Dzong (a fort), which was the sight of the battle between the British and Tibetans in 1904. The fort also contains the 'Anti-British' museum, giving the Chinese view of the 'invasion'. Felt like the climb to the top of the fort achieved a heartrate bpm of 188...

Paul, Chris and the pilgrims