Resorting to Plan B

We had great plans for today to take the fast train out to Qingcheng Shan, however for the first time our plans and the outcome took different paths.  On arrival at the train station on the day before May Day everyone else had the same idea and, though we could have got a later train out we couldn't get one back and our train to Hunan leaves tonight!

Luckily Kim's sightseeing research had several other options so it was off to Wenshu Monastery and the Tibetan Antique market.


 Brent at Wenshu Monastery 

Tibetan Antique Markets were a sensory overload with a barrage of colour, people, smells and wonderful trinkets!  Wenshu Monastery was a serene and moving place, is it possible the famous five may come back Buddhists?

On the advice of a young Chinese man who had lived in London for 9 years we visited Kuan-zhai Lane which was a modern version of the Tibetan Markets but not to our liking, Chinese appear to prefer the new to the old although they are very respectful of all the old ways.

Brent taking on the locals at the Tibetan Markets and he got 11 out of 12 - won a panda bear and gave it away to the first child he saw.  If he had done 12 he would've won a huge cat which would've been great company for Johnson!

We once again found using the metro really easy plus it's a cheap mode of transport and less confusing than the buses as their destinations aren't in English.

Picked up a USB stick 8GB as that's all that was available and it was Y59 $12 for all the photo's which we're backing up.

Off back to Sim's to pick up Johnson from lock-up then on the train (soft sleeper, yippee). Russell and Brent have been hitting the beers which saw Russell jogging up and down the corridor waiting for the train to depart as 'no occupying while stabling' and he was bursting!!

Pandering in Chengdu

The Panda Research and Breeding Facility in Chengdu was top of Lesley's bucket list, Brent, Kim and Russell were more than happy to oblige so after another early start (7am downstairs) we headed off in the mini van.  We had to be there by 8.30 in time for the pandas breakfast and the time they are most active!

 Well most of them are active in the morning!

Kim considered smuggling one (or two) out for Gemma but there were too many keepers watching! They were just adorable and we spent several enthral led hours watching their antics and it was definitely a highlight for all of us.

We were surprised to learn that the Red Panda is also endangered and got some great shots of them as well......Sweet Potato for Brekkie!

Then it was time to head back to the van and back to town.

The afternoon was spent browsing through the Tibetan Quarter and Markets, what a blaze of colour and different foods.  We tried handmade toffee on a stick, smoked chilli tofu, Fried whole potato on skewers, beef filled puff steamed bun and that was just for a snack!

Spent a good couple of hours browsing and enjoying the sights and sounds.

As close as we could get to Tibet.....

Spicing it up with Sichuan Hot Pot

One of the must do's for us in the Sichuan Province was to have a traditional Sichuan Hotpot, so we wandered down to one restaurant recommended by Sims Cozy Garden Hostel, as usual had to ask for directions and the guy not only pointed us in the right direction but took us there, booked us in and then waited for our table to be called! The people here are just so helpful!

We had a split Hotpot, one for the meaties (spicy!) and one for the veggos (not spicy enough). Kim tried to put some of the guys chilli oil into the veggie one and was told No! No! But managed to sneak some into her bowl to spice it up.

 The whole meal including three large beers was Y113 or about $22.  One of the highlights of our time in Chengdu/Sichuan.

Dwarfed by the Buddha of Grand Proportions

Another early start today... 6.15 alarm and off to Leshan to see the Grand Buddha, the largest Buddha in the world (or so we believe). His big toe is over two metres high and his ears are seven metres!
Disappointing that the smog was very bad this morning but once we got to the Buddha it was less noticeable.

Had an amazing 3 hours exploring the gardens, temples, pagodas and of course the Buddha from all angles.

Met up with a couple of young mums with incredible backpacks.  Asked to take a couple of photos and ended up having all the other Chinese tourists scrambling to take photos of us with the babies and even trying to shoo the mums away so sit with us and have photos taken!  Hilarious... We are not quite sure how we manage to get ourselves into these situations but we enjoy the interaction and meet some great people.

Building Character on the overnight upright seats!

After trying all options over three days to get a sleeper train from Xi'an to Chengdu we decided to "suck it up" and buy 4 seats for a 16 hour overnight train journey!  We were convinced we had a bench seat with no padding so were mightily pleased to board at 7.30pm and find we had padded individual seats - no incline but we were happy!  That is until around midnight when we were lying face down on our blow up airline pillows and the train kept jerking violently and our noses were in danger of hitting the shared table!

Added to that Kim's pillow kept deflating and after blowing it up several times she gave up....

We tried sleeping on the table, leaning left, leaning right, sitting upright and we have decided that sleeping sitting up is not as easy as it sounds.  Brent didn't even try, he read the whole of The Hunger Games in one night!

Kim was determined not to use the facilities and believe it or not didn't for the whole 16 1/2 hours.... Talk about mind over matter.

One of the highlights was meeting a lovely young guy Iwei (I-Way) who though he had limited English joined in our conversation and even played dice with us half the night!

When we finally got in half an hour late we all had elephant-itis of the ankles and calves and were very relieved to see the staff from Sims Cozy Garden Hostel there to pick us up... from now on its sleepers at any cost if we have anything to say about it!!!

Hilarity at the 7Sages

Decided to take a photo of ourselves in the mirror as we walked by and then spent the most hilarious 5 minutes trying to get everyone at least semi composed!!! Think the staff and other guests thought we were completely bonkers!

The foursome split up today with R and K going to the Terracotta Warriors and B and L going to the Huaqing hot springs.  The Warriors was a definite bucket list checked off for Kim and Russell and the camera was well and truly utilised capturing the amazing finds and restoration at the Warrior pits.

Brent and Les had a real history lesson and turns out that not taking togs was a really good idea as the ancient "springs" were probably last used 2000 years ago!

All of us really enjoyed the days activities and had much fun downloading the photos and comparing our day.

After a quick meal at a local restaurant it was off to the train station with some trepidation to catch the 16 hour train to Chengdu.... No sleeper available so it was upright seats all the way.  More about that later, but the intrepid travellers made up a new word.... INTREPIDATION!

In training for Ironman....

Decided that a cycle tour of The Wall was the easiest way to get a really good look at Xi'an, had a blast, the boys took their job very seriously and we made it safely to the other side.  An hour on a bike tested slightly different muscles to those normally used!  But what a birds eye view we got. Definitely recommend it.

For the evening activity we headed off to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda for a free fountain and light show that they put on every night, had the most kamikaze bus driver ever, got there in half the normal time.  Fantastic show and then off to dinner, though at our first choice restaurant the front receptionist ran away when she saw us, when she finally came back she just cried ... No, No, No and shooed us away.  Never mind the next one took us in.  So that ended ANZAC Day in Xi'an.   Another successful and fantastic day. Day 6 of 50!

Living it up in luxury!

We woke this morning to the gentle sounds of train wheels on the tracks.  The pre-ordered coffee arrived at 7am and the boys scored both lots of breakfast bakery goods.... The girls mistakenly bought "jam" pastries for breakfast which were in fact Ham pastries... We go hungry, the boys enjoy!

Arrived in Xi'an on time and made our way to 7Sages Hostel which turns out to be one of the top ten hostels in the world.  We can see why.  Fantastic!

Off on foot to survey the surroundings and get our bearings.  Visited the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower and found the Muslim markets. Wow the food market, we could have stayed all day.

Where do I start, too much food too little time!

Managed to find a Muslim version of Murtabak, after much sign language and "chinglish" sucessfully ordered two different varieties and they were delish, actually all the food so far fits into that category.

Spent a happy couple of hours browsing and both parties bartered successfully,  Russell now has a "Fidel" cap, Johnson got a Xi'an momento, Brent and Les got nearly matching "I Love Xi'an" T shirts - saves washing!

Hiking the Ancient Wall

Another great breakfast of thin pancake from the local street "chef" at 7am and we were ready for our trek to the Great Wall.

Rather than join the hoards of people visiting the most popular sections we opted for the Shixia Pass section that is only partially restored and definitely not for the faint hearted.

Beijing turned on a lovely day for us and we had some blue sky and even puffy white clouds!  Rather windy on the wall at times and we had to be very careful with our footing at times but wow! Amazing, probably only 30 or so people on the wall with us.  Got some fantastic shots.  Walked 2 to 3 Kms along the wall and sat for a snack and drink then ambled back VERY carefully to the car park where our transport awaited.  Spent three hours on the Wall and had a blast.

when you think you've reached the top ...

One can not be a hero who has never been to the Great Wall

A slow ride back to Beijing in time to pick up our bags and catch the subway to Beijing West Railway Station and board the T43 to Xian.  The intrepid travellers are revelling in the adventure!

Journey from Shanghai to Beijing

A brisk walk to Line 10 station with the peak hour commuters, like ants pouring into town. Grabbed a pancake/omelette from a street vendor to the amazement of every local in Hailun station area!

Joined the crush to go to Hongqiao Inter city station for connection to Beijing. Russell was overladen and to help him out Kim took Johnson for safe travel..... Unfortunately on checking after embarkation three stations later it came to our attention that Russell was missing in action he hadn't forced his way into the carriage! Thank goodness for cellphones - he was on the next train!

Johnson says "Where's Russell?"

Fast train to Beijing great trip, amazing service! 1318km at speeds of up to 304kmph. Lots of agriculture, very few people and almost no farm animals! Hit Beijing around 3pm and negotiated the Beijing subway and made it to Leo's Hostel just south of Tiananmen Square, quaint, charming street, what a location.

Got a bit peckish in the afternoon and to the amazement of the locals in Dazhalan Xijie we bought dumplings for Y2 (.40c) and sat in the shop and ate them - even the customers took photos of us!

A Forbidding day in Beijing

A day of History for Kim and Russell, a brisk walk from Leo's Hostel and after joining the madding crowds, and we mean CROWDS, of domestic tourists K & R spent several hours and a fair amount of shoe leather wandering Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Couldn't see it all, Russell declined to see the Hall of Ceramics AND the Hall of Clocks, enough is enough!

Brent and Lesley spent the day walking (unfortunately in the smog) to the Beijing main rail station to get the Xian /Chengdu tickets, trying to get ahead of the game was good in principle but failed in execution.  No sleeper bed tickets available so 16 hours on a seat overnight WILL BE character building!  842km and all for the rock bottom price of Y112 ($22)...

Continued walking into the city to the Silk St market then on the subway back to Leo's.

Booked our Great Wall ticket for tomorrow and popped across the road for a local Chinese hot Sichuan chicken and beef noodle soup.  Kim and Les settled for rather strange spring rolls?

Russell tucking into Spicy Beef Noodle Soup

Brent Enjoying Sichuan Chicken Hotpot

Sunday in Shanghai

We have the subway in Shanghai mastered, first stop Sunday morning is Fuxing Park, along with half of Shanghai..... Amazing to see everyone out enjoying their day off. From ballroom dancing, line dancing, karaoke, Christians singing, badminton and spinning tops to Traditional Chinese courting performance.

Kim, Russell and Brent soaking it all in!

The colourful costumes of the Traditional Chinese Dancers.

Next stop Yuyuan Garden markets then back to the Bund and across to the Pudong side on the ferry for Y2 (.40c). Then back through the under river tunnel almost like a cable car capsule but on rails under the river with a NOT amazing lightshow - interesting all the same.

Walked to Music St in search of a musical buddy for Russell, actually looking for a fold up guitar and found "Johnson" a full neck mini body guitar to fit the bill. Did consider a strawberry mini and even a soccer ball guitaralele (guitar/ukulele). So Johnson has joined the tour group.

Still rather cool in Shanghai so back to the Koala Garden Hostel and out for tea at a local restaurant we spied this morning. Turned out to be Korean which is quite different from Chinese but we enjoyed it all the same. Y118 ( less than $24) for four dishes and 2 large beers.

Last stop for the day to the Superette to get supplies for the Shanghai to Beijing train tomorrow.

 

The Adventure Begins

After a couple of delays with flights the intrepid travellers made it safely to Shanghai. Decided a taxi was too easy so took the shuttle bus to Hongkou Football stadium and walked to our Koala Garden Hostel! Not to let a two hour delay stop us we set off to catch up with the schedule. Sims bought for phones, made our second withdrawal of funds and off to the subway to head into Shanghai Central. Managed to have 4 railway guards assisting with the purchase of our first subway tickets and off we went.

A good walk to The Bund in 8 degree drizzle and a breeze remnant of good old Welly did nothing to dampen the spirits. Found an amazing little restaurant and thanks to the trusty little translation cards from Liv we were soon tucking in to shredded chilli potato, braised egg plant, braised garlic soy spinach, a duck dish and beef dish, two large Tsingtao beers all for the crazy cheap price of Y160 ($32).

What great people the Chinese are, so many people ( especially the young ones) so keen to help and point us oldies in the right direction!
A wander back to the subway and home for a 9pm off to bed! Phew what a first day.....

The Delaney-Clark household is completely packed for the the big day on Friday!!  Everything we need is in these bags for the next 7 weeks and I'm sure there's lots of things we don't need as well, so exciting ...

T Minus 3

The Packing begins

As we head into the final countdown before the adventure it's time to start the packing.  Looks like we might fit everything in!

T Minus 6