Author archive
9 June 2012
Moving On I stepped out of my hostel around 0700 on an empty stomach bound for Zhengzhou. I stumbled on the shop next door which was selling breakfast. After taking a look at what others were eating on the sidewalk tables, I popped my head in and ordered four dumplings. I didn’t realise that these […]
8 June 2012
Jaded at the start already I had no super-early transport arrangements left so I was going to let myself settle into local time. But the early sunrise didn’t help so I was awake at 0530. I made use of the time by asking to do my washing at the hostel at 0700 which took about […]
7 June 2012
Getting going I woke about 0330 today. I have to be up about 0530 but an early night and the fear of missing my 0745 train to Kaifeng must have turned on my body alarm clock. It does take time getting around Shanghai by metro and I set off from the hotel at 0545 arriving […]
6 June 2012
Hell hath no fury like … Naomi, Chris and I happened to be booked on the same bus to Shanghai, so we shared a transport to Wuyuan bus station. So it was our third day of doing thing together. The weather was wet … in fact wetter than the previous days. The bus journey was […]
5 June 2012
Local and Foreign Companions Yesterday’s transport arrangement worked well and we enjoyed each other’s company. It was a nice blend of foreign (Brit) and local (Fuzhou) company. So we agreed to sight-see together again today. Like Indonesia, I get a semi-local experience through my ability to converse and interact with the locals. It was a […]
4 June 2012
This is the real China I woke at 0530 (to the sound of someone chopping firewood) due to jetlag which I fully intend to use this in my favour with early buses and trains ahead. I had slept very well despite the bed being so hard. It felt like a plywood board padded with blankets. […]
3 June 2012
Prices in the new China I set off with my daypack today for a 3 night trip to the Wuyuan area which is about 6h (less 20min rest break) bus journey away. The bus journey was uneventful as the roads were either motorway or very good. This is the new China. Sadly the new China […]
2 June 2012
After a good night sleep I felt like new again. I thought it would be a good idea to but the tickets for the bus tomorrow to Wuyuan. I did this at Shanghai South Long Distance Bus & Railway Station. It was all very painless except travelling by metro and foot takes forever as distances […]
1 June 2012
Sleepless flight We had the weirdest and shallowest take off out of Auckland. We seemed to hover over the lights of South Auckland and it took quite a while before we were away from suburbia. This must have been the Boeing 777 that thought it was an propeller aircraft (or an Airbus A340). I had […]
31 May 2012
Dreams to plans to reality The seed of this complex trip was the need to use up my Emirates’ frequent flyer points which were expiring (again). I had enough to take me from East Asia to the weirdest and most wonderful dream destinations in West Asia and Africa, like Sudan, Pakistan or Seychelles. After plenty […]