Hi everyone,
Just a quick update before we get on our boat and sail down the Yangtze. Well at least we've been told it's the Yangtze lurking out their beneath the grey skies... to be honest it could be the Amazon jungle for all we can see outside!
fog on the Tyne.. or is that the Yangtze?!
Michael Fish would probably grimace and describe the weather here today as grizzly (i.e. grey and drizzly). So we have all of our fingers and toes crossed that it might improve for at least some of our four days on the boat... otherwise you can expect a pallid looking and blinky-eyed pair to emerge on Saturday, having spent four days playing scrabble whilst consuming all of the 'Great Wall' Chinese wine, chocolate and cashew nuts that we've just bought from Carrefour!
We've enjoyed the last couple of days in Chengdu - which we spent mostly mooching about - and drinking tea - lots of it! Green tea, black tea, jasmine tea, chrysanthemum tea... we've had it all! We've actually been doing a bit of a tour of Chengdu's historic teahouses, which are mostly located in city parks - some of the last remaining parts of 'Old China' and where the older Chinese people seem to hang out during the day - and we think they have the right idea!
Getting away from the smog and chaos of the city is definitely the way to go here, and the old folks seem to have a lot more fun than the bright young things working in the concrete metropolis, as they while away the day playing mahjong or cards (many placing a little wager to make things a little more interesting!), or joining in one of the Tai Chi, dancing sessions or karaoke. Yes, anyone can turn up and sing karaoke in the park - and at any one time there are four or five different booths - all pitching out Chinese pop at top volume. Chinese people don't seem to go in for peace and quiet all that much!
´tie´chi and dancing in the park
We did also try to go up the Mountain we mentioned in the last entry, but didn't quite make it - thwarted by the grizzle once again. We don't seem to be very good at mountains. Or communist mausoleums... maybe we'll have to take a detour via Cuba before we come home!
We did however manage to get a bus out to Leshan - a town about 100km from Chengdu which is famous for having the world's largest buddha statue - full stop - no 'reclining' or 'with golden fingernails' caveats this time!
the giant buddha looks out at some of Leshan's newer buildings
stop it - you're tickling my toes!
He was pretty spectacular anyway, regardless of his record-breaking credentials - with toes the size of Phil and ears the size of a bus!
the Chinese seem to have a peculiarly fatalistic view of health and safety
In other news we are very excited to have some more visitors coming to see us in June - the lovely Miss Humphreys and her friend Vanessa. They will be meeting us in Rio on June 28th for cocktails on Copacabana beach and travelling down to Buenos Aires, via the Iguacu falls with us. We can't wait and are also looking forward to watching our blog readership soar as two lovely ladies join our entourage!!
