Pauls blog may 15 2012
As I sit on our train ready to leave Beijing to Xian I think I'm going to sleep well. We have 13 hours. Got some cards. Will try and get a game happening
First week in China has given me a chance to see the new world powerhouse in full swing. So much development, so many people, too much pollution.
Beijing is a clash of old traditional ways with the new tech world. If you are over 50 you go to the park and exercise, play table tennis,dance or stand in a circle kicking a mini soccer ball with feathers. They are really good at it.
Highlight so far is finding our own stretch of the Great Wall with no one to see for a km. The length of the wall is over 1000km . I tried to imagine being a Chinese soldier on duty watching out for invading Mongolians scrambling up the rugged hillside. Good luck to them! Train is underway, time to settle in.
Half way across China via trains and buses last night in Chengdu before a mammoth 26 hr train trip south to the beautiful mountains and rivers around Guilin. With Leeanne, Tamara and myself in a 4 bed sleeper I bet we end up with a Chinese bloke yelling on his mobile phone, having the occasional 'hoik' before nodding off for a good session of heavy snoring!
Traveling through China gives you a chance to see some remarkable sights, both from a human interaction perspective and the natural wonders on offer. I loved riding a bike atop the city wall of Xian, built centuries ago to protect those inside from enemies. After visiting the panda nature park it is easy to see how fragile their future existence is. They're not real keen on having sex and to artificially inseminate seems real tricky, but there are some really dedicated people here doing
what I believe is a great job.
Mount Emei has this awesome gold Buddha close to 40 m high on top. To reach the top of the mountain you can walk up and up and up countless stairs for 50 or more Klms or catch buses and cable cars (which tour groups love).We chose to do a bit of both ....7/8 hours of stairs gave the legs a good work out. Thank god for anti-inflammatory drugs !
Still getting used to dorm rooms sharing with strangers, communal toilets( hard to squat with a dodgy knee) and rotating what few clothes I have. You don't have to worry about fashion in China. They check you out no matter what!
Found a piece of China paradise in a small town called Xingping.
Plan to stay here for a few more days to recuperate after the population overload of the last 2 weeks. A quiet, cheap hostel (about $7 each per night with private bathroom, a/c, and yes towels - beats my little dish cloth )
Had our first swim in the li river today. Found a quiet spot downstream away from the bamboo rafts and big tourist boats. The water is very clean here. High limestone mountains seem to poke up out of the earths crust as if some giant down below is sticking his finger up everywhere creating this unreal landscape. The river winds it's way through all of this. The best vantage point in town to check this out is to climb up one of the limestone knob mountains. The view is to die for, even if you sweat gallons in the process. 1170 steps.
Said our goodbyes to our big daughter Tamara today. She is making her way to India via Thailand. Won't see her til Xmas. I know she is a little apprehensive to take on this challenge, but she'll be OK.( and better for it in the long run)
I feel proud of my kids and love 'em to bits. My wife's pretty cool too!
Settling in tonight watching a Chinese movie on TV (great acting- not) Had dinner with Leeanne and Josh on the street. We sat with the locals on these tiny stools eating spicy veggies, beef and rice washed down with a couple of longnecks.( cost about $12 total for the three of us).Back to the Chinese movie , it's getting real dramatic. No one has spoken for a while - still don't understand it, gotta laugh!
Only 2 more hours and we arrive in Kunming. Another overnight train. This one was actually clean. I think I must be getting used to the men 'hoikers' and sharing a cabin with a loud snorer. Leeanne still has trouble with the filthy squat toilets. At least, as a bloke I can do my business without touching anything except myself!
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Yesterday, we farewelled Josh as he sets of on an overland journey to the UK. He will have a great travel companion in Sophie. They will have a ball together on the trans Siberian rail sipping vodka with the Russians. Josh is really starting a new part of his life now, aiming to work and live in the UK for some time. I hope everything he dreams of comes true! I feel grateful to be able to spend this last week with him. Some good quality time. Riding our bikes and mopeds through the outlying villages of Xingping and Yanshou was great fun. We always manage to find the hardest way when on our mopeds through muddy rice fields on the narrowest of tracks. How I didn't end up face first in a rice padi has got me beat!
Well, as we nearly arrive at Kunming, it is just the two of us now. Somehow, I feel the real journey is about to start. Leeanne and I will be relying totally on each other for the next 6 months or so. The experiences we will encounter, the places we see, and the people we meet along the way will pave the way for the next phase of our lives. Let the ride begin!
1 year on since Gaye left us. We thought of her and her unreal family in Davo.
How quick a year goes by . Love to the Bugellis and everyone who was lucky enough to share moments with Gaye. Xxx
The last week we have worked the legs really hard. It's seems everything we wanted to do involved serious exercise of some sought. Maybe this will be the norm. Forever moving with weight strapped to your shoulders!
Tiger Leaping Gorge was probably the most challenging couple of days and the most awe inspiring views we have had in China. We get dropped off at the start and send our backpacks on to were we hopefully finish ( the bus driver kinds of nods as we anxiously leave our packs with him..everything you do here is full of mystery due to language barriers.
Anyway, we stock up on water in our day packs and head up and along the gorge. The climb takes you around the cliff face looking down into the river below which you can hear roar with all it's power and it's so far down. There is barely enough room to pass somebody in parts. Safety is not on the agenda here! You stop to take in the moment in between watching every step you take. You know it's safe and get reassured when you see a sign reading " Warming don't go dangerous" . OK already warm enough, sweating gallons, kind of understand the dangerous bit though! Leeanne's fitness is unbelievable. There is no way she would have made this 6 months ago. Sometimes I'm even trying to stay up with her!
So after a couple of days of up and down mountains and more bus rides up and down mountains we land in Shangrila. So close to Tibet but so far away!
You see, the Chinese government close the border into Tibet when they feel. We met other travelers planning on crossing but weren't allowed. Sometimes you can't argue with the power brokers! And the Chinese are powerful.
At over 5000 m , Shangrila has a Tibetan feel to it. The air is thin ( you can buy cans of oxygen for about $3 if you feel altitude sickness creeping in.)For the first time in a month we kind of feel we aren't in China. People are basically Tibetan. More laid back, relaxed. We eat yak meat.
This is our last night in China. Tomorrow we leave our comfortable room in Jinghong and jump on a short 5-6 hr bus ride down south and across the border into Laos, a country we have visited some time ago and loved so much.
Jinghong is set on the Mekong River and is real mix of China, Thailand and Myanmar. The landscape is sub- tropical, less traffic, not many foreigners.
I think we have seen maybe 4 non Asian people in the past 3 days here.
So, as we leave China I reflect on our last 5 weeks in this amazing country.
It is easy to understand why so many tourists don't like China or get annoyed easily attempting to travel through the place. The people arent over- welcoming and the constant language battle is tiresome. But, in saying that, I feel privileged to witness a country so much on the move - not that I agree with how fast it is moving. Their demand and appetite for energy is unquestionably the highest the world has ever seen. Everyone, I mean everyone, has access to power, transport, mobile phones, and food. Agriculture is well planned. You just have to travel on long distance trains or buses, look out the window and see vast crops of green vegetables. Many mouths to feed! The landscape can be breathtaking outside the bigger cities.
After 5 weeks in China. Starting in Beijing and travelling down the middle of the country, across through the SW Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces. We stayed in hostels, travelled on public transport, mainly buses, long distance trains and one internal flight from Dali to Jinghong ($50).
We have eaten mainly with locals. It is easy to get some kind of noodle, rice or vege dish. Our favorite breakfast has become dumpling soup at the local market in whichever town we find ourselves in. Never thought I would ever start the day with a good dose of chilli for breakfast, but it works!
With tens of thousand footsteps behind us I say goodbye to China and thank you ( shi shi )
