Nomadic Newlyweds Do Nepal - The Video!

Our 3 weeks in Nepal - Video quality isn't the best as HD would take about 6 weeks to upload on this connection!!

Bikes, Bamboo and The Old Lady of Moon Hill - Yangshou, China

So after spending all of our time in China in the big cities, the next stop is definitely more rural. Yangshou is a small town in the south of the country and is blessed with beautiful countryside with the Li River and the karst limestone hills its most famous features, so famous in fact it is depicted on a 20 Yuan note.

The route there from Shanghai is not so easy, and to get to Yangshou, we must go via Guilin, a city about and hour and a half bus ride north of our intended final destination. We opt for a flight from Shanghai as opposed to the train (2 hours v 22 hours) and arrive in Guilin in the early evening. As we have a few extra days to kill before our Vietnam visa becomes active, we decide to spend a couple of days in Guilin, so we book into a hostel in the centre of town and head out for some dinner. Now after nearly 3 weeks in China, rice and noodles is becoming a little monotonous and we are grateful when we spot Paul’s Steakhouse and head in for some western style cuisine.

Heather orders a pizza and I order a steak, what arrives resembles neither, Heather’s pizza looks like a bad loaf of bread with some cheese melted on top, and I get some form of Gammon Steak (cooked ham), we also have a buffet included in our meal, but it looks as if its been on display since the rise of communism…. lesson learned. On our way back to the room we witness some bizarre outdoor karaoke, complete with a live band, a fountain show in the city’s main square (it’s no Bellagio) and the worlds largest man made waterfall, in the form of a 10 storey hotel with water cascading from the roof down its facade.

Next day, we go to explore our latest surroundings and with the ever present help of Lonely Planet, decide upon the Seven Star Scenic Spot, a supposed large public park a 20 minute walk away along the river. Along the river promenade are several groups of middle aged Chinese, engaged in various forms of dance, with the music being supplied by nightclub size, portable speakers. One older gent was just jamming out on his own in a style reminiscent of Ricky Gervais in the Office (UK). We arrive at the park, expecting to find a large expanse of green with karst limestone formations and forest, what we get is a Disneyland version, a maze of concrete roads and pathways, man made waterfalls and ornamental ponds and a myriad of hawkers. China has the amazing ability to completely over develop area’s of natural beauty, ruining them in the process, especially in areas of this small scale.

We wander through the park, seeing Camel Hill, which unsurprisingly is a group of limestone formations that look like a camel. Lonely Planet’s advice is that the Zoo is “best avoided” and after our experiences in Shanghai Zoo, we take little persuading. Further on we hear the haunting sound of a Lion roaring, which sounds more like a cry of desperation than that of the king of beasts, and with that sound ringing in our ears, we left the place as quickly as we could find the exit.

Camel Hill

The onward journey to Yangshou is painless, a short, comfortable bus journey drops us in the centre of the very tourist orientated town. Some say that Yangshou is too touristy, but after being away from western style comforts for a few weeks, its nice to have menus in English and shops selling recognisable brands.  That evening, we stumble across a Chinese funeral celebration in full swing. Two dragons dancing to live traditional upbeat music, while someone threw huge handfuls of firecrackers into an oil drum fire. What a truly amazing send off!

Funeral wake  – Chinese Style

Our hostel had a rooftop bar (sounds glamorous but is little more than a plywood bar with a few seats and low tables) which offers a variety of local delicacies, from dog meat, to a shot of snakes blood, with its still beating heart as garnish. We opted for a Tsingtao beer instead! The hostel itself was a little bit damp and dingy (what do you expect for 6 pounds a night) so we relocated to the aptly named Friend Hotel, who’s owner, despite having very little grasp of English, managed to communicate with us and always with a big smile on her face.

Our first excursion out into the surrounding countryside, was to see Moon Hill an 8km ride away. Based on our previous fortune with 2 wheeled transportation, we set off with some trepidation, but the tarmac was smooth and the bikes in good condition, so the ride was a pleasant one. After locking our bikes, we climb the 800 or so marble steps (yes more bloody steps) to reach the view point at the top. Due to some overnight rain the steps are slippery, yet we still pass Chinese girls who think high heeled shoes are the best footwear for the job. Halfway to the top we meet a hawker lady in her 70’s, who is selling postcards and cans of drink, being used to this we politely decline and carry on upwards. Not taking ‘no’ for an answer, she follows us all the way to the top, showing us a notebook a traveller bought for her, full of comments from people from all over the world. She insists that she takes a picture of us as she knows the best spot to stand and then Heather has a picture with her, as our 70 year old postcard seller throws the obligatory ‘peace’ sign. It is remarkable how hard this lady works for so little reward and for those of you reading that have a postcard from us from Yangshou, you now know where they were purchased!

Yulong River – Yangshou

Moon Hill

Heather and the Postcard Lady

Encouraged by our previous days cycling experience, we hire mountain bikes again and aim for the more testing destination of the Dragon Bridge, 10km away along the river, although the route there was along dirt farmers paths. The sun was shining brightly (for the first time in a while) and this made our surroundings even more spectacular. At times the route was a little confusing, but luckily for us a local lady was heading the same way, so pointed us in the right direction on more than one occasion.  This part of the countryside really is too beautiful to be able to put into words as the pictures below will demonstrate and we are busy soaking it in when a frog hops furiously into our path. “Look at that frog” shouts Heather, it’s at that moment, I spot the reason for this frogs burst of speed, the five foot long snake that is trying to make Senor Frog it’s lunch! “SNAKE!!!” I shout at Heather and we both skid to a rapid halt on the gravel pathway. The snake is as startled by us, as we are of it, and it makes an 180 degree turn and disappears back into the rice paddies, leaving Senor Frog to fight another day.

We are only 500m away from Dragon Bridge when Heather’s bike gets a puncture. Unsure of what to do we decide to head to the bridge and try to find a bamboo raft to take us back down river towards Yangshou. Fortunately for us, our local directions guru catches up with us and tells us she lives in the village and to follow her to her home so she can fix the puncture. We follow our little Chinese saviour to her home, where between us (mainly her I may add) the puncture is quickly repaired (not before she brings out chairs and insists we sit down while she fixes the puncture). The only way we can think of fully expressing our gratitude is by giving her a small amount of money, she is reluctant to take it, but we won’t take no for an answer and are soon on our way again.

Scenery on route to Dragon Bridge

Direction / Cycle Repair Guru

The bridge itself is a bit of an anti-climax, so we set about trying to negotiate a ride on a bamboo raft. Our lovely Chinese lady also happened to have a husband who had a bamboo raft and we feel almost obliged to use his services, but for the right price. The bikes are put on the raft and we take our seats for our hour long trip.

The tranquillity of the journey is only surpassed by the outstanding natural beauty of our surroundings. Our raft man cuts up a huge unidentifiable fruit and hands half to us, it looks kind of like a watermelon size dried up orange. I politely eat a segment and Heather gets stuck in, despite claiming she didn’t like it! Every few hundred yards, we had to negotiate a small waterfall (about a 5 feet drop), somehow we always managed to get stuck, with a good portion of our raft hanging in mid-air, before our raft man jumped out and repositioned us, letting us slide down to the lower level.

We’re dropped off with around 5 miles left to go and begin our journey back. We’re about a couple of miles outside of town when Heather’s bike gets another puncture, so our the last part of our journey is carried out on foot, with Heather, in between swear words, vowing never to get on another bike again.

Unidentifiable Fruit

Bamboo rafts on the Yulong River

Floating down river

We leave Yangshou by coach, for the 6 hour drive to Nanning, the jumping off point for the train into Vietnam. Nanning is a pretty non-descript city, there’s nothing wrong with it, there’s not really anything to see or do there…. kind of like Milton Keynes. After a day or so of exploration, we board our overnight train at Nanning station, destination – VIETNAM!!

China really has been an experience, both good and bad. I think we have both been shocked by the general rudeness of its people, especially somewhere where I thought their whole ethos was based on respect for others. I also believe you can tell a lot about people by the way they treat their animals and from the conditions in Shanghai Zoo to the dog fighting that we saw on TV, does not improve my image of the Chinese people. That said we have met some wonderful people along the way, but unfortunately they have been in the minority.

On the plus side we have seen some of the most amazing sights the planet has to offer; the Great Wall, The Terracotta Army, the shimmering lights of Pudong in Shanghai and the jaw dropping beauty of Yangshou. China really has been somewhere that will stick in the mind for a long time to come.

- Mark ‘saddle sore’ Cleverly

More pictures of Yangshou can be found here

City of lights with dirty secrets–Shanghai, China

Ok, let me start by saying I think China is a great country. It’s an economic powerhouse with the largest population in the world and can brag of an extraordinary history that goes far beyond what my country can claim. It’s landscapes vary from deserts to mountains to flat lands and it truly offers some jaw dropping sights. That being said, I am glad I am writing this blog thousands of miles away from China and can probably say with certainty that I won’t be returning. I’ve been putting off writing about our experiences in China because I never have much good to say about it when talking to friends and family and I never want to come across as insensitive and certainly never want to describe an entire country with stereotypes. But to be honest, this is our blog and my opinions so I’ve decided there is no need to sugar coat my feelings.

Now, about Shanghai.

With another overnight train ride behind us (and we were happy it was behind us as we hadn’t been so lucky with our cabin mates this time) we decided to brave public transportation and use the metro to get to our hostel. Mark grabbed breakfast on the rooftop restaurant but I had my eyes on the bakery we passed on the way. We walked down the road and watched as all the owners of the seafood stands set up for the day. Smelly ice covered the ground as they filled the shelves and tanks with some familiar (fish, muscles, oysters) and some really strange creatures from the sea. Off to the side was a couple crates full of bullfrogs and snakes-not together of course- that seems to be a popular dish in China. Fresh as it was, I bypassed the seafood and grabbed a danish at the bakery that would come to eat at every morning during our stay.

Fresh Seafood every morning

Bullfrog..

We ventured into the city to get our bearings and headed towards the infamous Bund. The first thing we noticed was the pollution. We were in a city full of sky scrapers but you couldn’t actually see them until you were right next to them. After walking for about 45 minutes you could actually feel a burn in the back of your throat and our eyes began to water from the smog. I completely understand why so many locals wear facemasks on a day to day basis here because at times its hard to breathe.

We arrived at the Bund and pollution aside, it was a lovely part of town. The Bund is basically a river walk that overlooks the iconic Pudong skyline. On the city side the street is lined with art deco buildings that gave the walk a very European feel. The river side was full of tourists taking pictures and we were no different snapping shots of the boats coming in. The smog on the river gave it an almost mystical look and the sun was doing its best to shine through.

The view from the Bund

The next day we took the advice of our guide book and set to investigate the French Concession. I had visions of more European architecture with cafes and boutiques. Couldn’t have been more wrong. It was essentially a long road full of high street and designer stores. While it didn’t match my expectations it did say a lot for the ‘communist’ state in China. We stopped in a few of our favorite stores but quickly left when we realized how much Western clothes cost in Asia. We stopped at a major intersection with an Apple, Louise Vuitton, Coach and a large corporate office building flanking the corners and busy business men and women rushing by. This was a city like every other major city in the world.

We stopped at a Chinese culture museum on the way back to our hostel and browsed the ancient artefacts. We found some really great pieces but due to lack of sleep we just couldn’t find the energy to be interested for very long and actually ended up spending most of our time in the feature gallery of the Russian Alexandria.

A bit controversial to have a Tibetan mask in the Chinese culture museum but I thought it was cool

On the third day we navigated the side streets and alleyways to visit the Yuyuan gardens. These massive gardens were made for an aristocratic family and took 18 years to complete. After years of war and dilapidation they have been restored to their former glory and we were actually surprised by how pretty they were. Stone pathways wind through an array of various types of trees (I won’t pretend I know what they were), ornate pagodas were sprinkled throughout the gardens overlooking large ponds packed with brightly colored koi fish. Huge rock formations provided secret caves you could sneak away to and despite the guide books warnings of large crowds we were surprised by the serene atmosphere of this place. The garden provided an oasis and the sounds of the city disappeared.

 

The fourth day was largely spent looking for a museum that we ended up not being able to find. We ate in a Western shopping center that had a Hooters. To give you an idea of the cultural hygiene differences, we noticed large metal bowls sitting on top of the trash cans. These bowls were for the people to spit the huge chunks of phlegm they were constantly hacking up. Needless to say walking by these things made me a little queasy and we decided to spend the rest of the day hanging out at the hostel.  A friend that we met in Xi’an happened to book the same place so we had a few beers and chatted with some fellow travellers. That night we visited the Bund again to take some night time pictures of the skyline.

The Pudong Skyline

The Bund by night

Day 5. The zoo. This day is probably the main reason I have such a poor opinion of China although I was later informed that the situation is a common occurrence in most Southeast Asian zoos.

Mark had wanted to go to the zoo since we arrived and we thought a day out of the city would be welcome. It started out like any zoo visit. We cruised through the reptiles and the birds and stopped for lunch at a restaurant inside. Afterwards we headed for the bears. As we were walking up the the Grizzly bear exhibit we noticed a small crowd forming so we rushed up to see what was going on. The giant animal was stretching up the concrete wall with his paws extended towards the people. I ran up to get a picture having never seen any zoo animal get so close to the crowd in zoos back home (there is usually a large moat or some barrier preventing it). Upon closer inspection I realized the bear was begging for food. The Chinese visitors were throwing all kinds in at it and the bear, clearly used to this, caught each piece in its mouth. When the bear had enough and walked away the man next to me threw his plastic water bottle at its head. I was so shocked I yelled at him but he had no idea what I was saying and as this is normal practice in the zoo he couldn’t see any reason for me to be upset. There were no zoo keepers, no security team, no one at all who worked there around to stop this from happening and we saw maybe 3 people the entire visit who had a uniform on.

The only picture we took in the zoo

With nothing more we could do we moved on and passed the next bear exhibit with two black bears. They were busy pulling apart pieces of trash that had been thrown into their enclosure much to the delight of onlookers. I was livid so we decided to move on. We saw a sign for Pet World so thinking it was a petting zoo we thought it would be a nice reprieve from the bears. As soon as you walk in you see lines of cages full of dogs. Domestic dogs, collies, beagles, dalmations, etc, all sat in tiny concrete cages. They were emaciated and covered in sores from the hard surface. Some were aggressive and biting at the cages as kids poked them with sticks while some just sat there with a resigned look on their faces. I was shaking with shock and we ran away trying to get away from the sound of the dogs crying and barking.

We decided to leave, I agreed to stop at the Panda exhibit on the way out. This, being the main draw for visitors at the zoo, was well kept up and the pandas were fat and happy. Still, a fat old man did his best to throw pieces of trash over the tall wall and again I yelled at him. We walked towards the exit, I was in tears when we walked past a baby tiger enclosure I heard a young boy say ‘they look a little happier’. I made a comment about nothing being happy in this place. The mother heard me speaking in English and came over to talk. Her and her family were from Malaysia and while the standards are low in their country they were shocked by the conditions in the Shanghai zoo. The kids spoke passionately about the Pet World and their mother told us that they cried when they saw the familiar pets in the cages. We left as fast as we could after that and decided to leave zoo’s off the list of things to do for the rest of our trip.

Shanghai is one of the most modern cities in China. Just a week before we arrived they finished up the Expo that attracted millions of domestic and foreign visitors. It’s hard to understand how a city known for its advances in technology can be so far behind in the welfare of its people (that’s another story) and its animals.

To read about the current state of animal rights and activists in China read here.

I’m still in the process of investigating what if anything can be done that might make an impact but unfortunately, I don’t think the Chinese government sees the state of their zoos as a priority.

Anyway,  our experience in Shanghai will forever be tainted by our experience at the zoo. I can’t help but to say I was ready to leave China.

-H

For more pictures of Shanghai look here

An Army trapped in time - Xi’an, China

We were picked up from the train station a little groggy from and overnight journey. We made it back to our hostel about an hour later to discover that all the lights were out. Not just in the hostel but in the entire section of the city near our hostel. Great. Luckily, it was a planned outage for works so we dropped off our bags and went searching for food. Our hostel was located on a narrow street that was lined with houses and small restaurants. The restaurants were essentially outside grills with kiddie tables and chairs lining the pavement for people to eat. There was no inside eating area or sanitary food preparation and most of the leftovers and trash from the diners was thrown into the street afterwards. Regardless, these ‘restaurants’ were packed every single day.

I would never describe myself as a picky eater but nobody could accuse me of being adventurous when it comes to my culinary choices. We realized after being in Beijing that China was going to be a bit of a challenge for me in the food department (I like to know what kind of meat I’m eating, I’m funny that way) and Xi’an was no different. We ended up at our safe spot- Mcdonalds- gross I know but desperate times..

Back at the hostel the lights had come back on and we got a chance to see how nice it was. Tons of stuff to do, lots of people hanging out to meet and best of all really cheep beer. We hung out there most of the day playing pool and ping pong, playing with the resident cats and sharing stories with fellow backpackers. We actually met a guy who is from the small town outside of London that we used to live in -small world. After more beers than I can count and some time later we headed to the Muslim Quarter to eat dinner. The Muslim Quarter is essentially a very long road that has been pedestrianized and is full of market stalls selling food and souvenirs. There’s hundreds of restaurants and even more people. It’s loud and chaotic and with every step a new smell hits you. As you walk by the vendors you can pick up kebabs freshly grilled in front of you, wraps (not the healthy kind), caramelized fruit and some local sweets that I never could identify. We settled on a restaurant that seemed pretty full of locals (always a good sign). There were about 6 of us so in true Chinese fashion we all ordered multiple dishes and everyone shared. The food was good and easily identifiable and we all had a really good time.

New friends in a game of pool

The next day Mark was feeling a little icky (surely nothing to do with the cheap beer) so we decided to venture into the city. We went searching for the bird market. What is a bird market,do you ask? Well, we can only speculate along with you because we never found it. Maps that the Chinese hand out to tourists are notoriously bad so after coming to multiple dead ends we headed instead to the Muslim Quarter to check it out in the daytime. We had missed a large covered market the previous night so we walked for what seemed like hours fighting off aggressive saleswoman (‘ooh handsome man buy this Louise Vuitton wallet for the pretty lady, I give you very good price) we wound our way through the endless supply of knock off designer gear, chopsticks and t-shirts  and finally made our way home. The rest of the day was spent in fierce competition at the ping pong table. (I won, naturally)

The never ending market

 

The “Obamao” t-shirts were everywhere

FINALLY, the Terra Cotta Army. This was the entire reason I wanted to come to China. I have wanted to see this exhibit since I read about it years ago. We booked a guided tour through our hostel and headed out bright and early with a bus full of westerners led by Ja Ja. A little Chinese ball of energy that shamelessly flirted with Mark and the other really tall white guy (who was also married), mentioning more than once that she was still single and waiting for a Western man to marry her…Luckily, she was far too adorable to get mad at so we listened to her chat about her life and even let her con us into participating in the dreaded ice breakers on the hour long journey to the excavation site.

Once we arrived we started in Pit 2 of 3. This pit is still in the process of being excavated so tons of half buried statues lay everywhere. We stood looking into the dark pits and its impossible not to be amazed already by the size and number of the broken pieces in various stages of excavation. This pit also contains the fully restored statues.

Soldiers in various stages of excavation

The first was the statue of the kneeling archer, the very first soldier to be found. Ja Ja told us that the Chinese believe this is a magic statue for  a few reasons. It was the reason the entire army was found when the local farmer came across its head while digging a well, it was one of the few that was fully intact and it was the only statue that still has some of the original paint on it.

There was also examples of the other types of soldiers, the cavalry men, the standing archer and the officers. Also included are some of the horses that were originally attached to wooden carts.

The ‘magic’ kneeling archer

You can see the original red paint on his lower back

 

Next was Pit 1, this was a relatively small pit but it is believed to be where the officers were held. You can also see the horses and the outlines in the ground from where the chariots once stood.

Some of the high ranking officials and their horses

Ja Ja saved the best for last with Pit 1. Located in an airplane hanger are more than six thousand soldiers lined in rows. You can get close enough here to really recognize that each and every face is different. Their uniforms have creases in different places, their hairstyles are not the same, some wear hats to signify their rank. Some are fat, meaning they were higher ranking officials and you can see the youth in the faces of the lower ranking soldiers.

The largest of the pits with over 6,000 soldiers

On going excavations

Next we watched a film that was completely in Mandarin so we made up what we think it was talking about and then were ushered to the Emperors Tomb. Only recently opened to the public is the tomb of the emperor that ordered the infamous army to be constructed. Unfortunately, the tomb is only a hill that can be seen in the distance so there’s not much to be seen but Ja Ja explained the reasons the public can not go close to it yet. After some preliminary research on the tomb, scientists have discovered various booby traps the emperor placed so as not to be disturbed, one of which is a mercury moat around his grave. We snapped a picture of the hill and carried on to the obligatory gift shop at the end of the tour. Once inside Ja Ja introduced us to a local celebrity, the farmer who found the first soldier while digging a well. This man has been paid very well by the Chinese government but instead of lounging on a beach somewhere he hangs out in the gift shop, signing autographs and smoking cigarettes, to each their own I guess.

The Emperors Tomb

The farmer who discovered the army

Our crazy tour guide Ja Ja doing the obligatory Asian photo pose

Xi’an as a whole is very similar to many other big Chinese cities. It’s crowded and full of pollution  but if you sneak into some of the side streets you can see more than just the ever growing capitalism and Westernization. Senior citizens sit outside their houses and shops with their traditional communist regime outfits, groups of men playing Majong or intense games of cards, families gathered at restaurants enjoying the massive amounts of food that they order.  The biggest draw for us for Xi’an was the Terra Cotta Army and we we definitely did not leave disappointed.

-H

For more pictures of Xi’an go here.

Comments - Mistake!!!

Hello all!!

Ok, so it's my fault. The privacy settings were wrong and it meant that unless you were registered you couldn't leave us comments.... well all of that has now changed, so there is no excuse!!  

Looking forward to hearing from you all

Mark