We spent three days in Beijing in a hutong in the north of the city. It was fantastic. The place we stayed in was beautiful and had loads of fresh flowers outside and a roof garden where we enjoyed many cups of tea. We went to the forbidden city, the summer palace, the drum and bell tower and a tea ceremony.
We met a German fella Timo on the train from Mongolia and spent the few days in Beijing with him. The Chinese people loved his blonde hair, we didn't get a look in! In the evening time we went to ghost street which was full of restaurants and lit up with latterns or hung around on our own street which was really trendy an has loads of bars, cafes and restaurants or went to the night market where you get such delicacies as sheeps penis. We tried scorpians - crunchy!
The observant among you may have noticed Emmets new haircut. He asked for a trim and left with a shaved head. I will never forget the moment the razor was dragged across the top of his head! I think I might leave getting my hair cut until an english speaking country.
We then went to Pingyao which was so beautiful. We got our first internal Chinese train to there which consisted of a doorless cabin for 6 people. The lights were turned out at 10 and turned back on again at 6 in the morning along with Chinese pop music. It was good though, we got to chat to Chinese people, which is hard to do in hostels where you only meet other travellers.
Pingyao is an old walled town with loads of little courtyard houses and winding streets. We also walked around the city walls. It was a nice place to chill out for a couple of days and drink Chinese rice wine.
The next stop was Xi'an which didn't feel we got to see all of. We went to the terracotta warriors. The entrance fee was ridiculous so we chanced our arm and told them we were students to get half price tickets. Emmet showed his gym card and I showed my age card. Surprisingly it worked!
It rained and rained in Xi'an. Almost like Ireland. We ended up just chilling out. The one time we did try and go out for a walk we got drowned so soon gave up on that plan. We did find hurls and a sliotar in the hostel though. We also saw a kid crap on the street which we don't have a photo of for obvious reasons. They need poop-a-scoops for people and then they can put it in the Bustbin.
We then headed onto Chengdu to see the pandas. They were great - 'beary' cute!
We only gave ourselves two days in chengdu but it is a great place an we could have spent more time there. There is a really friendly atmosphere and people are out at all hours dancing in the street. We went to a park one of the days which was packed with people singing, dancing and even doing a cat walk show! There was an aul lad wearing a boxing glove there who wrote us messages on the ground with chalk. The ladies doing the cat walk were taking it very seriously indeed. Unfortunately for them, the aul lad didn't see it that way and pushed me (Emmet) up to do a walk with one of the ladies. We had a bit of a crowd going at this point with a few cheers, so I put one hand on my hip, crossed arms with the "model" and began to strut! Even gave a little twirl at the end and back down the red carpet. Oh yes, they had red carpet out for this. Anyway, it was a bit of fun and we really enjoyed our time there.
And of course climbed the great wall which was amazing. Unfortunanately we were unlucky with weather though. It was extremely foggy. We trekked out to a remote part of the wall for the views and only saw trees that were less than five foot in front of us! On top of this, the walk was a little more difficult than we had anticipated. Myself and Emmet didn't even have jumpers with us. So we went as far as we could and then just had a beer instead. Ah well, we will just have to go back another time!
We met a German fella Timo on the train from Mongolia and spent the few days in Beijing with him. The Chinese people loved his blonde hair, we didn't get a look in! In the evening time we went to ghost street which was full of restaurants and lit up with latterns or hung around on our own street which was really trendy an has loads of bars, cafes and restaurants or went to the night market where you get such delicacies as sheeps penis. We tried scorpians - crunchy!
The observant among you may have noticed Emmets new haircut. He asked for a trim and left with a shaved head. I will never forget the moment the razor was dragged across the top of his head! I think I might leave getting my hair cut until an english speaking country.
We then went to Pingyao which was so beautiful. We got our first internal Chinese train to there which consisted of a doorless cabin for 6 people. The lights were turned out at 10 and turned back on again at 6 in the morning along with Chinese pop music. It was good though, we got to chat to Chinese people, which is hard to do in hostels where you only meet other travellers.
Pingyao is an old walled town with loads of little courtyard houses and winding streets. We also walked around the city walls. It was a nice place to chill out for a couple of days and drink Chinese rice wine.
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| I woiuld like some Fries pulls out the rotten child, please. |
The next stop was Xi'an which didn't feel we got to see all of. We went to the terracotta warriors. The entrance fee was ridiculous so we chanced our arm and told them we were students to get half price tickets. Emmet showed his gym card and I showed my age card. Surprisingly it worked!
Next was Dali. A lovely little old town. We went out the first night and got talking to a German couple. There is Germans everywhere, and Dutch. We went for a cycle along the lake outside the old city. It was really nice. We got a bit burnt but that was the only bad part. We went into this small village, of which there were many along the way, but at this point Niamh was getting the food grumps, so it was better for everyone we fed her. You don't want to see her hungry! We found this little shop where there was a lady outside cooking. We got food there, which was been cooked on skewers. Tasty stuff, so we eat there with the locals, much to,their amusement. Then headed back.
The following day we went for a hike up this mountain to an old temple. There were thousands of steps. Literally thousands! It was really hot and we were wrecked by the time we got up there, but it was worth it. The views of the city were amazing. We had a little picnic and then headed back down.
So then there was the next place which was Guilin. This is where we met up with our Spanish friend, Hegias. Ugly bloke, wouldn't have much luck with the ladies (only joking, he is a handsome Dan). We went out to a cool little bar for a few hours and headed back about 12ish. Myself and Niamh decided we had a few hours in us, so we went back to the pub and sat there with the bar tender called liu liu who was sound. He started giving us shots of Jameson, which was great. We got back some time that night, got about four hours sleep and dragged ourselves up for a big action packed day. Not the best plan we've had since we left Dublin!
We all headed off to see the Dragon Backbone Terraces together. Got two buses out, the second of which was what you kind of imagine in rural China. Many people stood, there was a woman who kept falling asleep against my hip while I hung onto a bar for dear life as we flew around corners while overtaking all sorts of vehicles. There were chickens in a basket on the floor, everyone staring at us, but all smiling and friendly. We got to this village and then hiked to the next one where our hostel was. More steps. Headed off the next morning for a four or five hour hike to see the rice fields. They were amazing, better than you can imagine from pictures. Particularly then end part, where we got spectacular views looking down on them and the village, where we got lunch, just before the food grumps took over again. Ppppphew! It was hit or miss there for a second. Headed back to Guilin then for a well earned shower.
We all headed off to see the Dragon Backbone Terraces together. Got two buses out, the second of which was what you kind of imagine in rural China. Many people stood, there was a woman who kept falling asleep against my hip while I hung onto a bar for dear life as we flew around corners while overtaking all sorts of vehicles. There were chickens in a basket on the floor, everyone staring at us, but all smiling and friendly. We got to this village and then hiked to the next one where our hostel was. More steps. Headed off the next morning for a four or five hour hike to see the rice fields. They were amazing, better than you can imagine from pictures. Particularly then end part, where we got spectacular views looking down on them and the village, where we got lunch, just before the food grumps took over again. Ppppphew! It was hit or miss there for a second. Headed back to Guilin then for a well earned shower.
Our last stop in China was Yangshuo which is lovely. We went for a cycle the first day. We are definitely getting fitter. The second day we went to mud caves with hot springs which were deadly. We also honed in on our bargaining skills and brought the price down from 320 to 90 for both of us. We wandered through caves and then took a dip in a mud bath which was simultaneously wired and fun. Then we chilled out in natural hot springs which were very relaxing except for on the sun burnt areas!
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