Articles from this Category
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 […]
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 […]
26 November 2007
Thoughts on Leaving China Today I left Yangshuo for Hong Kong via Guilin (city and airport). I’ll miss the cheap eating … up to two big beers and three ice creams per day: A 600 ml beer is CNY5 (about EUR0.50) for locals and 2-3 times the price for tourists. There’s now a good choice […]
25 November 2007
Today I decided to take another bike trip this time south towards the Big Banyan Tree and Moonlight Mountain. I didn’t have a good start as the road was very busy with buses and trucks … and hence dusty. It could have been worse as I met some people who said they were white (from […]
24 November 2007
Big day out Today I have a cycle and rafting combo trip organised. The man that sold it to me said I’d start by getting on a bus with the bike to an out-of-town point before rafting and cycling back. After breakfast I picked up my mountain bike (EUR1 per day) and cycled to the […]