Shell & Daniel

Back to Beijing.......

2007-07-05T07:27:03Z

After nearly a month in China we are finally back in Beijing and ready to head back to Bangkok, for a few days shopping before going home!! Back to mums lamb roast and some warm clothes, looking forward to it!
We left our kiwi and welsh friends in Shanghai and flew to Beijing, and it took us 2.5hrs to get from beijing airport to the city center, so we finally arrived at 1am. Walking through the streets at that hour was an eye opener as to just how many homeless people are sleeping on the streets. Back to the same hostel we stayed in last time, the bathrooms are awful but it has a central location, you cant win them all.
We met up with some english girls that we met in Xi'an and spent most nights with them in the hostel bar. After talking to quite a few fellow travellers we are all ready to leave china, our impressions of this place are the same, Beijing is so not ready to host an olympic games!! the transport system is outdated with tiny paper tickets, no ticket vending machines you have to line up at the window with a hundred other people pushing in front of you. They definently dont know how to queue in china, we learnt that the hard way so its all elbows and pushing till you get to the front of the line. There are even ads on tv trying to teach the chinese how to be respectful and let people off the trains before you surge on, and help old ladys cross the street. We think it will take a little more than an ad to change the way these people do things.
All the main attractions in Beijing are getting a bit of a face lift so its a bit of a shame for us as there are barricades and mesh fencing around beautiful temples. We went to the Temple of Heaven the other day, which has lots of great gardens and temples, the emporers used to come here and make offerings to the heavens for a good harvest. It is quite pretty inside but so huge we didnt see it all. We tried to go to the underground city today but couldnt find it and no one could help us with directions, and apparently it is closing for renovations.
The highlight of our trip to Beijing has to be the Acrobatics Show we went to last night. It was amazing, children as young as 6 or 7 were performing. They somersaulted through hoops, twirled plates, rode unicycles while kicking bowls off their foot and catching them on their heads! And the little diablo girls were fantastic, they must have been 6-12 years old and were using those yo ho diablo things while dancing around and doing flips. It was just so good.
Our last day here tomorrow so we are going to the silk market and see if we can find some cheap souvenirs.

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Xi'an to Shanghai

2007-06-28T10:24:55Z

We finished up our time in Xi'an by going to the panda conservation park. it is run by WWF so we thought it was better than going to a horrible zoo. Saw a couple of pandas, mostly just sitting there eating bamboo and sleeping alot. We werent allowed to see the ones in the new enclosure as they were sleeping and not to be disturbed! there were a few other endangered animals there but it was a very quiet place with not many tourists so it was very empty. it rained most days we were in xian and the weather was much cooler than shanghai.
we took the overnight train to shanghai, 16hours long and it was the greatest thing to be able to get off that train. we decided to go hard sleeper this time which was nearly half the price of the soft sleeper. the top bunk which i was in was like sleeping in the luggage rack, i was so close to the roof i couldnt sit up properly. the middle wasnt much better where daniel was. 2 bunks of 3 high in each section and there were about 15 sections, so over 60 people in the carriage- all chinese speaking so loud. i was the object of a lot of staring and pointing so just hid under the doona with my ipod on as the constant chinese music was getting too much. All night long you could hear men spitting, it was really gross.
Arriving at our hostel was great, the hot trip from the station left us running for the shower. we are staying in a really nice hostel, almost hotel quality.
Spent a day sightseeing - went to the shanghai museum, the propoganda poster art museum which was really cool, east nanjing rd which is a pedestrianized shopping strip and took a walk down The Bund, shanghai's most famous mile. it is basically just a promenade along the egde of the river and its best to go there at night when the city is lit up. The contrast from the old heritage sandstone buildings to the metallic, strange sky scrapers is huge.
we went to the Jinmao tower, the tallest building in shanghai and went under the river using the "Tourist Sightseeing Tunnel". Quite hard to describe but it is a tunnel filled with neon lights of every colour, flashing strobes whilst you sit in a little carriage and get to the other end. Nothing touristy at all about it, it was the most bizzare thing, but very asian-they love their lights.
we have met up with some friends that we met in xi'an and have been hanging out with them which is nice.
Back to Beijing next and we managed to find some cheap flights so dont have to relive the train experience!

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Xi'an

2007-06-19T13:17:34Z

We finished off our stay in Beijing, met a friend of a friend (who is chinese) and she took us out to dinner for beijing roast duck. Amazing!! it is such a delicacy and they prepare it very well. There are 3 different ways to eat it and the waitress shows you how - requires a bit if dexterity with the chopsticks!! def our best meal in china so far.
we arrived in Xi'an early friday morning after a long train trip down from Beijing. The hostel we are staying at picked us up from the train station which was really good, as the train stations are packed to the rafters with people and boxes and suitcases it is a crazy place!
Xi'an is a great city, only 9million people live here so it is not quite as big as the other cities in china. We went to see the Terracotta Warriors which was really cool. A farmer was digging a well on his property in 1974 and came across a pit filled with terracotta warriors in battle formation, then they found 2 others. There are thousands of life size warriors and a few horses but the chariots disintegrated as they were made of wood. An emporer built them thousands of years ago and buried them, he was the kind of guy that wanted to be talked about in the afterlife, mission accomplished! We both have little warriors to bring home and stand guard. Our guide that took us was hilarious and called us 'youth group' says he likes taking tours as it makes him feel younger. Chinas population has reached 1.3billion, isnt that crazy! so they have the 'one child policy' but he says that you can get around this and have another child if you know a doctor in the hospital and say that your first child is sick in the head or the heart. then u can have another!
Met some nice people here at the hostel and learnt a chinese dice game. There is a big muslim population here so they have a muslim quarter which has really good road side food stalls. Beef kebabs, naan bread and chicken sticks for the 2 of us cost a whole $2. The city is surrounded by the original city walls and a moat and we are going to ride around on bicycle tomorrow. Also going to a panda conservation centre on thursday.
Leaving for Shanghai on friday so will update you when we get there.

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China

2007-06-13T10:38:55Z

We arrived in Beijing on saturday and was surprised that it is not quite as hot as bangkok but there is a permanent blanket of white/grey smog in the air, so far we have not seen any blue sky or the sun. apparently the air in china is equivalent to smoking 70 cigarettes a day, nice....
we are staying in a youth hostel near the main train station, and have managed to navigate the subway but not yet the buses, they are just too complicated. China is much harder to get around than Thailand, hardly anyone speaks any english, even cab drivers dont know where to take you when i try and pronounce the word myself. it is very frustrating to say the least.
We spent a day in the Forbidden City which was nice, very big place we didnt see it all. The emporers used to live there and it was forbidden for common people to enter. lots of old relics and things to see.
also saw Tiananman square, and the big portrait of chairman Mao.
Yesterday did a trip to the Great wall. Was a huge day we piled on to a mini bus and make the trek out to Jinshanling about 130km out of beijing. Traffic is chaotic and the drivers are terrible here, lots of honking and driving off into a ditch on the side of the road to overtake trucks on a skinny road. its best to keep your eyes closed. we trekked from jinshanling to Simatai which is 10km and it was hard going. About half way i was beginning to think this was not such a great idea, i had thongs on and daniel chose the bare foot option, the hard core hikers with sticks and packs thought we were crazy. The wall itself is amazing, the walk was literally up 120steps, down 100 or so steps then up and down again for 10kms. the wall at jinshanling was built around 600 AD so is in pretty bad shape. some parts you had to hold on to the sides so u didnt fall. The local mongolian farmers have taken to harrassing tourists. Each person attaches themselves like a leech to one tourist and follow u for kms till u buy a book or tshirt or bracelet.Once u buy something they turn around and leave u alone. we got rid of 2 and then another one found us for the last few kms, she was hard core. it is very annoying to say the least. the view is amazing, rolling green hills and the wall just goes on forever. the smog was still lingering in the air so photos could have been better.
after 4hrs of walking we were knackered and today i can hardly handle the stairs in the street without wincing in pain!!
but was such a great experience.
off to Xian tomorrow night on the sleeper train.

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Phi Phi, Phuket & Bangkok.....

2007-06-08T09:57:38Z

we finished up our last few days on phi phi, celebrated daniels 21st birthday - we went on a boat tour to Phi Phi Leh which was so nice. Unfortunately it had been raining in the morning and was still a little overcast when we got to Maya Bay but was still beautiful. Did some kayaking, snorkelling and had to swim to the shore and climb through a little cave to get to Maya Bay. we were practically the only people there which was a nice change from all the other marine parks we have been to that get swamped by japanese, life jacket wearing tourists. the boys played soccer on the beach and we watched the sun set from the boat....very nice.
We also hiked it up to the viewpoint on phi phi don and it has the most amazing view of the island, and the sunset from there was gorgeous too.
We stayed in phuket for 3nights, splurged on a nice hotel in Kata (loz the Kata Thani can u believe it!) and it was paradise! 5 pools, 5 restaurants, the resort runs the whole length of the beach and the beach actually had waves!!! there is a 1st time for everything!
we caught up with brent, (a friend shell met last time in thailand) and he took us out to the catamaran he has been captaining all season. this boat is amazing, its airconditioned, full kitchen the works, only $700,000 AUD!! so we had a beer out there and watched the sun set, lots of sun sets i know....
went out for dinner in Patong with brent and some other friends of his and had mexican and a stroll down 'Soi Kathoey' with all the lady boys flaunting themselves. some of them were just down right nasty and u could tell they were definately half man, half woman.
But u cant go to phuket with out a look.
we are now in Bangkok and have met up with daniels dad for a few days (he is returning from Israel) so it worked out well. Did lots of shopping and saw some movies, Shrek 3 and Pirates of the Caribbean 3. Cinemas are very cheap here, $8 for a VIP seat and a blanket!!
Got our visas for china sorted and are off to Beijing tomorrow morning! so will keep u all posted on our adventures in China.

Phi Phi, Phuket & Bangkok..... remains copyright of the author shell., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Phi Phi Island

2007-05-25T12:05:26Z

we are now on phi phi, caught the ferry over from Railay which was no probs (not like our usual experiences). we have been here 3nights already. There is alot of rebuilding going on still so alot of the beach front resorts still arent finished. we are staying in a cute little guest house about 100mt from the beach, the beach itself is not so nice, nothing like the postcards any way. the water is quite polluted from the boats and very warm. we been swimming in a pool overlooking the ocean which is much nicer and we have a nice view of the water aswell.
been doing lots of lazing around, played some pool at the local irish pub and daniel found 1000baht (about $40) which was pretty lucky.
going to do the usual sightseeing of phi phi leh while we are here and then off to phuket next for a few days.
sorry nothing exciting to tell, but there is lots of sunshine here which is great!

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Railay

2007-05-17T11:01:19Z

See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.

hi all,
well the rain finally cleared for our last few days in Ko Samui, so we made the most of it and went out the Angthong National Marine Park. went to a few nice islands and did some snorkelling, climbed to the top of one of the islands and there is a beautiful lake in the middle. went kayaking and swimming, was good fun.
met up with dewar (an old friend of shells) and had a beer and catch up. it rained so much that night that we could hardly get a taxi - no one was game enough to wreck their cars. thought we might have to spend the night with dewar!, but all went well and we made it back.
Travelling from samui to Railay was quite an adventure, what should have taken 5 1/2 hrs took us 12hours!! we were put on mini bus to bus to boat to bus to some dodgy road side eatery to another minibus that broke down on the highway in the middle of nowhere! needing to pee and not much water left was not a good combination. the radiator exploded, water was everywhere so there was me and daniel, 3 brits and 3 israelis sitting on the side of the road in the hot sun. luckily about an hour into it a little ice cream selling man rode past on his bike, hallelujah!!! we bought him out of icecream. then it rained, so all bags inside and us crammed like sardines in a moist can, yuk. eventually help came ( in a BMW ) fixed the hose and we were on our way, till it nearly overheated, so we stop AGAIN!
eventually made it to Krabi, put into another minivan, then the back of a ute, then onto a long tail boat to Railay, got here right on dark then it started pouring, again!!
we finally found a place to bunker down and get dry and have spent the last week or so just taking it easy. swimming, eating, drinking, did some rock climbing - this place is renowned for its good climbing. we did ok, did 4 climbs of about 15-25metres. nice view from the top. we did it with some aussies we met from melb, both doctors so we shared lots of funny hospital stories. we decided to hang around a bit longer than expected but its so nice here so why not.
off to phi phi next.

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Rain, rain go away!!

2007-05-03T06:59:36Z

well as you can guess by the title, it hasnt stopped raining here on ko samui for the past week. yes thats right 7 days straight of rain and thunderstorms. we are getting cabin fever. on the first day of rain the morning was actually sunny so we rented a bike and visited the grandmother and grandfather rock formations. these rocks are on the edge of a beach and have an uncanny resemblance of male and female genitalia. hordes of thai toursits visit, laughing and pointing-very funny really. then the heavens opened up so we thought we better get back and it was an interesting ride as the road was slippery and daniel couldnt see as the rain was pelting in his eyes. thank god for 7-eleven, we hid in there till it was safe to go home. so we have left the spa resort place and all the starving people getting their colons cleansed are now staying at coral cove. this is such a nice beach and we are literally right on top of it, so we are eagerly awaiting a nice day when we can actually lay on the beach and get some sun, its been 4 nights here and still no sun.
apparently the rain has come from china, well we wish it would go back there!!
so no real news to speak of. we went into chaweng for dinner one night, its like a mini Patong. very seedy, daniel got to see the lady boy drag queens in all their glamour and i think it was all a bit much for him. he was not as impressed as i was - they were quite pretty!!
we were planning to go to the full moon party on kophagnan but couldnt find accomodation anywhere on that island, so thought it best to leave it than sleep on a beach and get robbed. over 10,000 people went (not surprising there was no rooms left) and i think it rained anyway!!
so thats all for now, the rain just stopped so we can make a run for our room!

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Ko Samui

2007-04-27T04:13:39Z

well after a adventurous trip back from Koh Chang (got dropped off the bus in the middle of a 10lane highway crossing lanes of traffic) to the awaiting taxis who couldnt for the life of them work out how to take us to the hotel we wanted to go to. we had an early morning flight 6am and didnt want to be too far from the airport - so we just decided to go to the airport and change taxis and find someone who could write the address in Thai. finally found the place and settled in for the night. Up at 3am to get to the airport and luckily went to the right one, they have just opened a brand new airport theat is international and domestic and still use the old 2 airports just to confuse everyone. Ko Samui is not as hot as koh chang, still in the thirties but at least has a breeze so much more comfortable. We are staying in a health resort spa. its not very fancy but has lots of fasting programs and colonic irrigation - do it yourself in the bathroom kinda thing! very fancy but not for us!!
looks like lots of nice things to do here so will keep you posted and will try to attach a photo next time as these computers arent too bad. hope all is well at home xoxoxoo

See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.

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Last day on Koh Chang

2007-04-22T11:48:03Z

hi all,
well today is our last day on the island, we have had a lovely few relaxing days lying by the pool and the beach( someone has to do it!!) so today we thought we would be a bit adventurous and go snorkelling. went on a full day trip around a few islands and took dans new underwater camera for a test drive! it was so good, lovely clear pictures and lots of fish swimming everywhere. Coral was not so colourful but i think that may have to do with the hoards of boats that anchor there every day with hundreds of asian tourists ( they snorkel in a life jacket fully clothed) very amusing for us to watch, half of them cant swim properly and about 6 of them got pulled back to the boat by the guys working on the boat as there was a strong current and they nearly got swept out to sea!!!
so its been a long day in the sun and my bum is a little burnt from lying face down on the water, our snorkels were tops so glad we took our own. We are off to Koh Samui next so will keep you posted.

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Koh Chang

2007-04-18T08:33:11Z

See the itinerary of this trip, and details about each destination.

Finally reached the beach after a few days in stinky Bangkok and a 6hr bus ride to Trat. Trat was definently the stinkiest hole i have been to, we had to stay there for the night before catching the ferry to koh chang and our accomodation was less than desirable!!
we stayed in a little room over a filthy, stinky canal- complete with mosquitos and sewer smell. mattress on the floor and a shower over the toilet. Daniel drank a 'bucket' with dinner (whiskey, red bull and coke - literally in a bucket) and was well tipsy by the time we got back to the room, and felt lousy the next day.
Been on Koh Chang now for 3days, stayed in the Tree House last 2 nights but no fan in a little bungalow filled with more mozzies was too much sweating for us to handle so we moved further down the beach today. The temp never drops below 30 here, even at night time. Hired a motorbike yesterday and daniel drove us round the island - it is pretty big but not all developed. Got stuck on a dirt track that was really rough and had a little stack, was pretty funny only got a few grazes on dans knee (dont worry mum no broken bones). We are staying on the nicest beach, its a bit shallow though and the water is not very cold but still nice to have a swim. Lots of parties and BBQs going on at night time very social place.
we are hoping to go snorkelling tomorrow and see some nice fish!
sorry for the lack of contact but it has been hard getting to an internet cafe and our efforts of buying a sim card for the mobile werent successful. our phone isnt compatible with their cards.
Hope all is well back home
luv shell and daniel xoxo

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One week till departure!

2007-04-06T19:35:23Z

hi all,
we are busy packing up our flat ready to start our trip to thailand. will keep in touch using this site.
shell & daniel

One week till departure! remains copyright of the author shell., a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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