Travels

Zaijian (Goodbye) China

paulinemendes — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 18:02:00 GMT

Our final couple of days in China were spent in Guilin recovering from our bike ride; walking in the beautiful Lakes Park and buying a second dose of delicious Chestnut cake. Shopping for clothes was a non event as Chinese female sizes are about a petite size 6 to 10. It takes broad shoulders to cop that, given the trendy gear available.

It has been a fascinating few weeks, with our experiences exceeding our expectations. It has been extraordinary in many ways and we feel we have gained a much healthier insight into this vast and beautiful country. Zaijian China!

Yangshao (Karst country)

paulinemendes — Sat, 18 Oct 2014 00:58:00 GMT

While expecting to wind down our travel experiences during our final week of travel, the opposite has occurred. There is tourism madness in the streets, colourful life, tasty treats, music, poverty, sadness and beauty. We have managed to fit in a Chinese cooking class with the Yangshao Cooking School run by an Aussie and Chinese partnership; and ironically a near neighbour in Oz. Local specialities included Beer fish, pork stuffed in flowers, tofu and mushrooms etc...

Then came the Bamboo rafting down the beautiful Li river with towering karsts all around...a relaxing and tourist driven exercise. An invitation by Chinese students on the streets and on an excursion from Hunan province to study English, took us to a lively Fruit Party with free local fruits and beer thrown in. Charming company was had with 20 yr olds keen to engage in conversational English. Some of them entertained with both classical and hip hop dancing on the billiard table!

Today was meant to be an easy bike ride in the countryside. After negotiating mountain bikes we ended up with a guide who took us on a 32 km bike ride! I managed a spill off the bike within the first 10 minutes then nursed my gravel rash and bruises for the next 6 hours, albeit with an occasional grin. Again spectacular karst scenery surrounded us amongst the quiet country lanes and fields. The village landscape is changing fast with 2-3 storyed buildings springing up as Chinese villagers inveest their hard earned yaun in larger dwellings. Sights included a 300 yr old house, water buffalo, farmers hand shovelling water into chestnut fields; and rock climbers scaling the steep karsts.

The contrast of the wealth of tourists with the poverty of those struggling to make ends meet is confronting at times. The disabled seem to be the worst off,often begging in the streets or eeking a living out of touting any which way they can.

Music is constantly in the air with performers entertaining guests at restaurants for payment. The vibrancy of this town is extraordinary.....

Tomorrow it is back to Guilin in preparation for our departure in a couple of days.

Ping 'an Rice Terraces

paulinemendes — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 11:23:00 GMT

A taxi ride and two public bus changes got us from Guilin to Ping'an - a picturesque rural village set atop the rice terraces. Harvest time is the most popular time to visit this region as the myriad of terraces with their yellowing rice is a pleasing sight. This is yet another tourist mecca. We found a home stay by following a local Yao woman to her home. Meandering green slate paths led us up narrow alleyways to her multi-storied pine abode. Surprisingly the green slate is the same as the green slate we have used in our mud-brick home. It looks like it originated in this region.

Tourists are well catered for with numerous gift shops and eateries along the alleyways. New buildings rising from the hillsides reflect the injection of funding from tourism. The meandering slate paths are host to foreigners from many lands, sporting cameras. They also provide access to locals going about their daily bsiness, carrying huge loads of rice, carts, leading ponies, selling fruit etc. Harvest time sees the rice farmers hard at work manually or mechanically cutting then threshing the rice. We were privileged enough to witness this centuries old tradition. The paths provide a great insight into rural life, traversing creeks, bamboo groves, conifer plantations, crops of spinach, sweet potato, taro etc. planted on slopes that are too steep for rice.

You know tourists are well catered for when after a steep climb you can indulge in Belgian icecream, cool drinks or mango ice-cream!!

Air quality remains poor and we are unsure whether this is related to smog, agricultural burning of rice crops or industrial burning of coal....

As for the long-haired Yao women, they are expert at cajoling tourists into taking photos of them wrapping their metre plus long hair into rolls atop thier heads, selling trinkets and fabrics . No qualms are harboured about quadrupling their prices, but haggling with good humour is commonplace.

We enjoyed this beautiful location which gave us an insight into life in rural China. Next stop is Yangshao - the karst region.

Guilin - Guangxi Province

paulinemendes — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 11:29:00 GMT

We caught 2 flights from Shangri-La to Guilin ...a much more expensive option than planned, but quick . It is warmly pleasant to be here after the chills of Shangri-La. The balmy climes suit us better.... and it has been out with the shorts and T shirt. The attractions of this region are the yellowing rice fields, the Li River and the limestone karsts...but in Guilin it surely must be the shopping!! Amazingly trendy clothes and the streets are shopping heaven for shopaholics!! We are in the Backstreet Youth Hostel hich is conveniently located near the cheap eats and shops. A Leisure shop a couple of doors down cater for all needs!!

Prices are sometimes comparably with Oz and at others a third to half what we would usually pay.... no comment on the cost of the 'special' leisure activities.

Unexpected cultural surprises continue to keep us interested at every corner. .... kissing fish spas where fish nibble your toes.....the man doing calligraphy in water in the park on the paving... the glass artist who made Neil a dolphin on request.... the bridge based streetseller selling slices of a huge chestnut cake.... the woman in leopard spot hotpants, fishnet stockings and platformed bright pink shoes servicing an official in Seven Star Park behind closed doors......

Shangri-La

paulinemendes — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 01:06:00 GMT

Shangri-la ....
Tibetan influence is well and truly apparent in Shangri-La a Tibetan Prefecture. Many women wear the clothing and headdress of their ethnic group. The houses, agriculture and terrain are all Tibetan in appearance.

A 3 hour bus trip took us to this town 4000 mts. above sea level. It was not as we expected. The terrain is mountainous and scrubby. Yaks graze the high plains. The Tibetan style homes being built are of enormous proportion with high rooves, beautifully carved windows and doors elaborate wooden framing. Massive conifer tree trunks are used as framing supports, with bright use of colours; mud-brick or cement infill and small windows. We figured the small windows must be used because it is so cold up here. In contrast the city houses had large glass houses built over outdoor spaces, presumably to capture the sun's warmth and provide dry spaces.

It is summertime but overnight the temperatures plunge to freezing and the mornings are crisp until the sun comes up. In winter, the mountains and ground are snow covered.

The town is spacious and has lots of well-built new buildings. The old city is being rebuilt after being destroyed, possibly by fire?Architectural highlights in the city centre include the Guishan Park Temple and its huge Golden Prayer wheel. Tancheng temple and the largest Tibetan Monastery in south - west China are other points of interest. We felt the exhaustive affects of the high altitude when climbing the steps to Guishan Park Temple but continued to enjoy the experience.
There are plenty of beautiful Tibetan artefacts available but prices are high in the Old City.

Not having a mobile phone here is a disadvantage as we needed one to book cheaper airfares, call accommodation and access WIFI at airports.
Domestic airfares out of Shangri-la were much more expensive than we expected.

Warning: avoid purchasing airfares the day before expected date of departure, as they escalate by the hour.
We stayed at the Laoshay Youth Hostel which is 6km out of town with views of the pyramidal Mt. Karakul as well as the surrounding ranges. A double storied Tibetan style building with a relaxed atmosphere, friendly English speaking staff and good meals. The chef was on his first 3 month job and was teaching himself to play the ukulele by video, for leisure.
The hostel location proved to be inconvenient, but it provides a taxi service for very reasonable fees.

We are escaping the cold weather of Shangri-La by leaving Yunnan province and flying to Guilin (karst country) via Kunming, to the Guangxi Province today.

Tiger Leaping Gorge to Shangri-La

paulinemendes — Thu, 9 Oct 2014 01:00:00 GMT

We enjoyed several half - day walks around the gorge with steep ascents and descents. Village life surrounding the gorge has mantained a subsistence approach, Homes had corn in the fields and drying on rooftops, vegetable gardens, half finished sheds, guest houses or homes, being built from locally quarried stone; horses, pigs and chickens. A week could easily be spent wandering along paths in the area.

We caught a bus and were in Shangri-La within 3 hours. The landscape and style of housing has completely changed and has a very definite Tibetan look. There are yaks in the flat fields which are high plains and mountains surrounding the plains. The houses are large with small windows and double storied, with painted or carved wooden decorative detail. Some are made of rammed earth and others of concrete.The town itself has lots of large new builldings and is spread out. There is an ancient city which we hope to explore tomorrow and a National Park too.

Lijiang to Tiger Leaping Gorge

paulinemendes — Mon, 6 Oct 2014 20:46:00 GMT

Tiger Leaping Gorge,Tibetan Prefecture, China

A two hour and at times precarious bus ride has brought us to the stunning Middle Tiger Leaping Gorge in the Tibetan prefecture, a mere 15 minutes from the border of Tibet.There are several houses built from the slate and stone of the area...very rustic and the road to the gorge is littered with landslides and boulders Parts of the road to the gorge have also fallen away. The route can be stomach churning at times with steep fallaways into the gorge from the road.

There are plenty of international backpackers from Austria, Nederlands, France, U.K., Korea etc doing the 2 day walk. We managed a shorter half day walk today down to the very steep gorge where legend says that a tiger was seen leaping to a large rock amidst the gushing waters...hence the name. A precarious swing bridge leads to the rock and is maintained by locals. The Himalayan mountains on either side of the gushing gorge are about 2km high. and snow covered in winter. The gorge looks like white water rafting would be a perilous pursuit.

We have decided to spend a couple of days here, rather than rush on to Shangri-La , given the astonishing rugged beauty of the place. Tina's Guest House (an International Youth Hostel) offers food and lodgings and there are several other local Guest houses springing up along the walking routes. Yak meat is a delicacy in these parts and tastes a bit like an oxen's tongue.

The weather is clear, the sky blue and the sun shone warmly on us during our hike. A wonderful place to be!

Lijiang - Old City

paulinemendes — Sun, 5 Oct 2014 20:26:00 GMT

Awesome Lijiang (Old City) !

We are staying in the International Youth Hostel which sits conveniently near the Old City. I was expecting Lijiang to be similar to Dali Old City, but it is even more beautiful and awesome. It is slightly less invaded by tourists. The carved archtecture is extraordinary and set beside babbling water canals, potted flowers in bloom, carved windows and doorways and private garden courtyards. Many of the old houses are now inns or boutique hotels. The narrow alleyways are paved in cobbled stone and lends to stepping back in time. A truly wonderfully restored and maintained part of Lijiang in spite of the rampant tourism.

The restaurants, jewellery, clothing, art, leather, weaving, drums & music are abundant. The range varies from street sellers to classy and expensive boutique style shops. The prices are quadrupled for tourists, but bargaining is all the go and travelelrs can get good deals after haggling.

The variety of food has tempted us to try waaaay too much - roasted corn from a street seller, hot roasted skewered BBQ meat , mango, sweet purple grapes, watermelon juice, egg cake, steamed rice balls with sweetened nut fillings, rice baskets, fish & Tofu soup.....yummmmm! and there's lots more for the more adventurous and those who can read Chinese menus...or you can choose your live fresh fish from its basket in front of the restaurant!

Bon appetit!

Photos: Yunnan

paulinemendes — Sat, 4 Oct 2014 22:25:00 GMT

Pauline

Dali to Lijiang

paulinemendes — Fri, 3 Oct 2014 23:23:00 GMT

Dali to Lijiang

We reluctantly left our friendly, good value, and comfortable apartment accomodation (Rainbows Nest Guesthouse) at Dali Old City today to head by bus to Lijiang;- a 3 hour journey north-west of Dali. We thoroughly enjoyed the Bai influenced food at Dali and the availability of all day breakfasts.

We are booked into The International Youth Hostel in Lijiang which seems to have mainly young French travellers in residence. Our lack of Mandarin continues to pose challenges to finding our way around. But...again with a good amount of luck, while being hopelessly lost and heading in the wrong direction after alighting the bus at Lijiang, we were picked up by a taxi driver who rang the hostel, got directions and delivered us safely to it.

Tomorrow we will endeavour to explore Lijiang's Old City in spite of the throngs of tourists we have been warned about.

The Three Pagodas & ChongSheng Temple - Dali Ancient City-Yunnan

paulinemendes — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 23:54:00 GMT

Day1

Our day began with a Chinese tea ceremony performed by a proprietor in one of the specialty Tea shops selling fine tea in incongrous shapes and sizes. Prices ranged from $15 to over $200 a kg. Our Master of the tea ceremony surprised us by initially overpouring the tea and then discarding the first 'draw'. It was seductive artistry and we succumbed to the theatrics with a purchase of fine aged jasmine tea.

Today also saw us walking for an hour from Dali to the Three Pagodas built around the 9th century AD. Tea plantations and a grand columned walkway lead to the temple complex.The Pagodas are doing their job - no dragons in sight! They are situated in the grounds of ChongSheng Temple which was once the Royal Temple of the Kingdom of Dali. It is one of the largest Buddhist centres in South East Asia. Situated spectacularly in the foothills of Zhonge Peak and overlooking Erhai Lake the temples link in perfect symmetry upwards with spacious granite walkways and steps leading between linked temples which house gold coated copper deities. Around 3 pm we were lucky enough to observe monks chanting and drumming within the temple.

I was enthralled by the beauty of the dragon influenced temples, the spacious and grand walkways, beautiful gardens and peaceful surrounds. Even Chinese tour groups could not fill the spaces. The temples are grand, the statues enormous and radiating peacefulness by the enormity of their presence. A must see on a travellers journey in these parts.

Hunger from 6 hours of wandering took us back to the Ancient city for a meal of beef noodles and eggplant -delicious!

The shopping opportunities are overwhelming -jade, silver, embroidery, ornaments, fabrics etc etc etc

Days 2-4

Dali has been a busy place as our stay coincided with a holiday week. We have easily spent 4 days in this delightful and interesting town wishing our Mandarin was better. Thousands of Chinese tourists thronged the narrow, ancient streets in the old city, There are very few foreign tourists in Foregners street...all are overwhelmingly Chinese on holiday.

Prices are steep at Tourist venues so we have had to be selective. The cable car ride to the top of the Eastern Himalayas was missed due to being about $56/CNY286 per person. So we settled for walking and visited the lakeside village of Caicun. A pleasant 2 hour walk to Erhai lake & Caicun past rice fields and flower nursery. This town is fast transforming with massive new hotels being built on the lakefront ,catering for an ever-growing Chinese tourist market.

The roads are filling with new cars and well dressed Chinese tourists and growth and development continues within and around Dali.

Onward to Dali (Old City) - Yunnan Province

paulinemendes — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 00:03:00 GMT

An early start today to catch the train from Kunming station to Dali Old City. Success!! We made it despite having little idea where to alight off the bus, which platform to head for and when to get off the train. Thank goodness for helpful locals who inevitably sus us out and assist by tellng us what to do in Mandarin!

Breakfast was by the station with an array of cheap eats to be had. Security at the station is tight, with bag checks on all passengers prior to entry ...probably linked to a recent terrorist attack with perpetrators being sentenced to death just this week. The train system is clean, efficient, timely and moves millions extremely efficiently.

Not knowing the language is a handicap, but I had my first Mandarin lesson today on the train by my neighbouring passenger, a kindly woman wo insisted on teaching me the correct pronunciation for useful words. My Lonely Planet Mandarin dictionary has been a boon assisting with identifying key words and phrases written in Chinese. I could hardly believe that we actually managed a basic conversation, interspersed with much laughter.

A 6 hour train journey and a half hour bus ride brought us to the amazing Old city of Dali. We prebooked a lovely apartment at Rainbows Nest on the Hostelworld site -very convenient and efficient. It has a Foreigners street which we eagerly explored. What a breathtaking feast of artifacts, jewellery, gemstones, food, clothing etc, etc. A lot more to explore around the town over the next few days.Tang Dynasty 9th century Pagodas, Cormorant fishing, hiking in the mountains, Bai town market etc.

Yuangtong Temple - Kunming

paulinemendes — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 18:59:00 GMT

A Sunday stroll in Kunming past Green Lake Park took us to Yuangtong Temple. We enjoyed this spectacular 8th century temple from the Tang dynasty set in spacious courtyards with pagodas surrounded by water. The pagodas feature beautifully maintained timber and art. Hundreds of turtles swim in the moat while pilgrims light incense, make offerings and prostrate in worship before deities. The setting is serene, yet in the middle of the city. It is a short walk to Green Lake park , filled to brimming unlike weekdays with locals dancing, singing and selling their wares. a cultural feast.

Tonight we are off to watch the Shangri-La Dynamic Yunnan theatrical performance. Pricey, but promises to be a fabulous celebration of Yunnanese culture.

Tomorrow we will set off on an 8 hour train journey to Dali, a much smaller town than Kunming.

The Bamboo Temple & Green Lake Park- Kunming

paulinemendes — Sun, 28 Sep 2014 10:20:00 GMT

It was an adventure getting there, negotiating the buses and being left on the side of the road, over 6 km from our destination as the rickshaw driver decided he could not make it uphill. Luckily a monk driving past in a minibus pulled up and saved us the steep climb.

The Buddhist temple was worth the effort. Beautifully constructed and located in forest, ornate and spacious. Bamboo rooves, Bonsai plants in a paved and tree -filled courtyard.

Th return trip was more successful with a little assistance from Swiss travellers about buses.

We finally found the elusive Green Lake Park and the evening was spent there listening to brlliant musicians improvising and playing tradtional instruments, fusion music, dancing, singing and generally having a good time. I managed to record some of the music on my iPad. A truly wonderful experience.

The Stone Forest

paulinemendes — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 11:14:00 GMT

A taxi trip, followed by a bus trip got us to this iconic venue about 2 hours from Kunming. We congratulated ourselves on getting there and back given the language barrier. Lots of gesturing and using your fingers for numbers seems to work.

A huge tourist drawcard organised in an inimitable Chinese style. Oversized information e - screens, huge tourist complexes being developed nearby, fine dining restaurant and a gleaming and spacious bus-station.

Bus loads of tourists, minibuses to drive you around , stone paved walking paths and serenity when you can get away from the crowds. The stones are a geographical delight, uplifted by tectonic shifts and weathered by wind and rain.

Getting back to our hostel on the local bus - a cheaper option by far at one 50th the price, and a challenge to our map-reading and directional skills.We did finally get off at the right stop.

After snacking at lunch a sit down meal in one of the alleyways was a welcome respite... though Neil thought I unkowingly ordered dog! ...fortunately my innards are intact this morning,

Kunming -Yunnan Province - China

paulinemendes — Sat, 27 Sep 2014 10:57:00 GMT

An easy flight from Melbourne to smoggy Guangzhou...a two hour layover , then onto Kunming. China Air was great, good value, healthy Asian food and beautiful hostesses ofcourse. Order is everywhere with glossy airports at Kunming too modern and gleaming. Exploring the city alleyways was fun with a mix of old and new China intermingled. Cheap eats, boutiques and expensive restaurants beside each other. The women are well dressed and petite.

The parks are the social centre with Chinese playing cards,exercising singing or dancing in the evenings. I was asked to dance by a local much to my delight and Neil's amusement.

Our hostel is cosy with more young Chinese travellers than foreigners. The colourful lime green bathroom caringly warns 'The pipe is long, after turning water on, leave cloth on so you do not catch cold' !

Our Mandarin is limited to hello, Good bye, thankyou and how much is that? Hope to improve on the vocabulary.

Planning a visit to the world heritage Stone Forest tomorrow, out of Kunming.

En route to Melbourne

paulinemendes — Sat, 20 Sep 2014 22:01:00 GMT

Just discovered we lost a table off the back of Neil's tuck in transit somewhere between Cann River and Lakes Entrance. Sorry Lach, that's not going to help your house move.Oh Mio!!

Travel China

paulinemendes — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 20:41:00 GMT

Looking forward to departing from Melbourne to Kunming in Yunnan Province, south-west China, on Septmber 24th with China Airlines for 4 weeks! Long Service Leave here I come...