Back to work lad.. and update

Well what I have been up to... contrary to popular belief I’m still alive and still in Oz.
It’s been a long time since I put a post on here and as you can guess I’ve done a fair bit between Yunnan and getting back to Australia.

I went back to yangshuo to meet up some friends from the time spent there earlier in the year and was happy to find them all in good health and enjoying life as much as when I left. A few have moved on like myself to other things but many of the faces I knew from my previous visit were still around and it was great to bump into Bon, Kev, and Donna who I knew from Hong Kong and whom were in town for a week climbing.

I helped out a bit at china climb and it was good to meet some of the new staff and catch up with friends. A few beers were had some climbing was done and Sonia joined me for a few days and we were able to get out to do a few routes together. Dan and Tyson were still around as were many of my other friends and I really enjoyed meeting up with everyone, I feel this is a place that will keep calling me back, it hold lots of great times and memories for me, and many more yet to come I hope.

Back in Guangzhou I spent a fair bit of time wandering around the city and trying not to get lost which is fairly hard. I think this is the most disorientating city I have been to as many streets look alike and have lots of flyovers and roads all over the place so you can’t see so many of the landmarks for orientating yourself.

Sonia and I stopped in a really nice apartment which she had found and there was even a pool in the building so we spent a few evenings swimming, we went out for dinner a few times with some of her friends and spent Halloween in a Reggie bar called Cunion. This had a really cool band playing and has good music most nights.

We did intend to go and see a free concert but it was rained off and the only thing we achieved was getting soaked in torrential rain & thunder storm that lasted almost an hour. However we did go to the circus which was great fun and worth the 150yuan even if just for the black bear riding a Harley style bike around.

As this was China and Guangzhou is known for its variety of cuisine, (Sonia tells me the only thing that fly's that they don’t eat is a plane and the only thing with four legs they don’t eat is a chair) we spent a good few nights eating out but most of the time cooked in the apartment, lots of hotpot was had and I miss the Chinese food now I’m in Australia. Despite a large Asian and Chinese minority in Melbourne the food just isn’t the same although it’s still good.

I have been back in Melbourne just over two weeks now and have (after sending many e-mails) found a job. It’s not as good or as well paid as I had hoped but this is because of the restrictions on my visa the market downturn at the current time and also because I can only do temporary contracts. However its work and it pays money so I can’t complain.

I’ve got an old bike for $140 that gets me around the place fairly well, although I did get told off by the coppers for not wearing a lid one day, almost told them to stop being so bloody stupid and do something useful for a change, fortunately I remembered that I’m not in China anymore . They have funny laws over here like wearing seatbelts in cars, lids on bikes, only cross the road at crossings and all that stupidness. Phew how can anyone have any fun with all these laws flying about? Next they will ban all walking as you could trip over...

I’ve found some accommodation at last, about 4km outside the city centre (CBD) in a really nice old house sharing with three others. It’s not bad for $800 per month including all bills, its fully furnished etc and is bang next to a train station which can have me within 500m of work within 10 minutes so that a bonus. It’s also not very far from a bouldering gym so I can try and get strong again and rid myself of the bit of a belly that I have from all this good food I’ve been having over the past couple of months.

I’ve spent the past couple of weeks or so sleeping on Maria’s sofa which is comfy but the situation isn’t really ideal even more so now I’ve found work. she’s been really good putting up with me for so long as my only contributions have been towards food, cooking and tidying up the place so I think she will be pleased I’ve sorted out some place, and will be moving Wednesday.
I just hope I can find more work after this contract finishes, and I can save some cash before heading back to the UK for the summer months. I figure after the winter I had last year I deserve a couple of summers in a row. Melbourne appears to be a nice place to spend the time. It has lots of really good markets with local produce and you can’t do better than the sales on Sunday when they clear all the food extra cheap as they don’t open Mondays, last week we got 2kg of sausages for $10, winner.

I guess I will start slowly slipping into a different lifestyle now I’m working but I will try to save as much money as I can.
Firstly as I don’t know how much work I will get in OZ.
Secondly as I don’t know what I’m going to do after returning to the UK and need to build a cushion whilst I figure it all out.
Thirdly I’m starting to think it may just be a temporary return as I have many things pulling me in different directions, there’s still so much I want to see around the world and so many places to go. With luck I’ve found someone who I can go and see them all with... this may just be the start of the adventures.

Now I just need the money to make it happen so if you happen to know the lotto numbers for this upcoming weekly draw do be so kind as to tell me. More posts will arrive as i will undoubtedly feel the need to let you know how sunny it is here whilst you sit in the gloom of a British winter but you have proper ale... however i recall seth saying he found Abbott or somthing of the like over here... lad, please tell me where.

Back in China

yep back again. I just can't stop away from the place. After a fine time in Oz and a few days RnR in Melbourne and crashing on Maria's couch, a few beers and some absinthe, it was time to head back to china.
After all i had a girlfriend i hadn't seen in almost four months, a handful of good friends to meet back up with and the promise of a trip to Yunnan and the Snow mountain.

Unfortunately the trip to Yunnan was crammed into a small space of time and we spent most of that on the road getting to and from our destination but it supplied a huge amount of quality vistas for us to feast our eyes upon and a yearning to go back for more. I have just added a number of photos to the flickr site.

We set out from Guangzhou by train to Kunming, unfortunately this wasn't booked far enough in advance so we had no seat or bed or anything reserved, except for the joys of overcrowded Chinese railways on national holidays... I could see this would be a fun journey, although we did manage to find just about enough room to stand for several hours until we finally made it into the dinning car once it opened.
We decided to eat slow and keep our seats. we payed a little extra and spent until near dawn sat drinking beer and dozing in the dinning car until a few free sleeper spots became available and we got some much needed sleep before our afternoon arrival.

From Kunming a couple of buses, fairly uncomfortable buses, took us to Dali when were spent the night in a wonderful hostel and awakened to see the sun rising above the mountains which cast exquisite shadows and reflections in the lake.
We spent the day driving around until our departure via bus and then mad speedy taxi van to take us to Zhongdian. with a brief stop in Lijiang to refresh.
We spent the next two days walking to and from Meili snow mountain Yunnan, i just wish we had time to spend a month here. but everyone else needed to get back to work so with great sorrow we made our way back and this time made sure we had a more comfortable journey and adequate space to relax in... well besides a mad taxi driver determined to break all land speed records and almost coming undone on one or two of the many corners which would result in a new air speed record for such a vehicle as a several hundred feet drop to a muddy river would await the unfortunate... however the driver would most likely remain unaware of this as he was too busy talking on his phone to pay attention to such trivial things as death. perhaps the next life would be better to him. Personally i like mine as it is thanks.
We also had time to take in the pleasure of the largest buddhist monastery outside of tibet (Songzanlin) .. a most pleasent way to while away a couple of hours.

I'm now sat back in Guangzhou sorting out my money so i can book a flight back to Oz and head off to see some friends in Yangshuo where this out of shape mess i call my body can enjoy some climbing for the first time in several weeks, hopefully it should help get me back into some form of fitness.

O I do like to be beside the seaside.

Well i have spent the past week in Sanya, which is on the southern tip of Hainan, China. The weather has been, well tropical sunshine, which is what you would expect, and only a little rain on two days.

With a combination of swimming and teaching the girlfriend to swim, she didn't drown so that's a bonus
Surfing (falling off a floating object into the sea then trying not to drown)
Diving, fun but unfortunately a bit murky on that day, got to see the rare and lesser known rusty beer can, but also lots of fish, non of which i could identify.
We went for a stroll with a few others from china climb and some locals we know up to Wuzhishang, (five finger mountain) from which we saw a beautiful view from the inside of a cloud. some tree crabs and a sort of beetle about the size of my little finger which rolls up into a pefect sphere when frightened. the height gain is about 1000m and the path rather than meandering around heads straight up the mountain with staircases of nature formed by tree roots holding back the clay soil, eroded by weather and man, who also deposits a fair bit of trash, but thats china. Not forgettingto mention the odd ladder or six to ascend the steeper parts.
Hanging around on top in a thunder storm wasn't the best plan so a retreat to safer ground for lunch and then the walk back down to find little leaches had attached themselves to our feet and ankles and were mid way through their own feast.


Whilst were on the subject of food, I dined on some good sea food and a bit of Russian food also as this is a big tourist destination for the Russians during their winter months.


Well i now have a 16hr bus ride to look forward to in order to get back to Nannning then on to Yangshuo which will take a further 5 hrs but will leave that until Tuesday i think.

Well photos to follow when i get time but as I'm working from the 7th until the 13th and then you may have to wait until around the 15th depends on how expensive the Internet cafes are in Macau.

---

Sent from Yahoo! Mail.
A Smarter Email.

Still in China

Well hi folks,

It's been a while since i last posted, Iv been busy and have slowly settled into life as a guide in Yangshuo.
The job is great fun and i find myself travelling around the local area with family's and school groups teaching climbing, kayaking, abseil, back country trekking and a host of other activity's. I've just got back from a few days of fun running activity's for 100 or so grade 10 children up in a place called Nambeihu, which is near Shanghai, so have been away for a week including travelling there and back by train.
The pay is rubbish if you look at it from a money perspective but the payoffs, spending days outside and teaching people new skills in a great environment make good rewards in themselves.
I now get to enjoy a few days off before the next groups come in so i hope to get out climbing and catch up with the girlfriend who has been down in Nanning finishing her final paper.

Life is much different here than i first imagined and a layed back approach is taken to daily life, although herding groups of children around can be fairly intensive and i find myself having to restrain myself from swearing at them occasionally.

I hope that life for everyone back home in the UK is good and hope your all well, I miss the peak district from time to time but know i will be coming back there a more fulfilled person and hopefully with a bit more focus and direction in life.

I still have another couple of months here, providing i can get my second visa extension next month, I will then be off to Oz where i will have to get back into the traveling frame of mind and with luck will find many more adventures to add to the ones I'm experiencing in China.

I think i will be back in China later in the year as I'm having so much fun here but as always that menacing aspect of money creeps up on you and i may need to earn some proper money in Oz before retuning.
I will try to post more often and give you a better idea of what I've been doing in Yangshuo which if you've not been is a crazy town but very addictive.

Back in Guilin

Well i have the essentials.... Beer and somewhere to sleep.
After the fun of Qingdao is said by to Craig who was heading via ferry to Korea then home to England's and caught a train to Shanghai.. the metropolis wanna be with neon lights and skyscrapers. the latest of which looks like a large bottle opener.. (photos to follow)

I had the surprise of finding myself in the same hostel and dorm as Mark who i met in yangshuo who had recently travelled up from the warmer climates of Hong Kong. The plan was formulated and we spent most of the day wandering around the back streets of the old town getting very curious looks from the locals, who probably couldn't understand why we chose to wander around what was to them the old poor and deprived part of town but which for us was a welcome contrast to the high rise landscape which is slowly reinventing Shanghai's skyline.

A stroll along the Bund which is a must for anyone visiting the city made for an amusing afternoon and is like a walk through the changing fortunes of Shanghai. The mile or so stretch next to the river passes the commercial heart of the town full of consulates, museums, banks and businesses which are housed in the imposing architecture of the stone fronted, art deco buildings which would be suited to any of the major city's of the world, but looks out of place when you look across the river to the 80+ story skyscrapers such as the Jinmao tower with its no climbing sign (which i was itching to climb as its just pure jug pulling all the way up) and its neighbour the great big bottle opener which is still being completed.

You can see how this imposing avenue now sinking due to subsidence would have marked the wealth and prosperity of the city like fleet street or wall st it makes a dramatic backdrop to this montage of cultures and society's.

After a day walking the streets we headed out in search of good food which is almost impossible not to find in Shanghai, street vendors, noodles, dumplings are all available in large quantities, for very little money you can eat until bursting, and then afterward we went in search of nightlife which on a Tuesday night proved fairly elusive but after a hike about town sinking a few beers and pool balls was managed and the day after i headed via Huaihua in Hunan province to Fenghuang. after a 23hr hard seat on a train and a few hours on a bus. I've had Novocain that left me with more feeling than sitting on a poorly padded seat for 23hrs.

Fenghuang is about as far from the neon and glitz of Shanghai as you could imagine. This picturesque riverside town home to Miao and Tujia minority's has loads of charm and meandering the streets of the old town absorbing the views with houses supported by stilts hanging over the river was a great but very cold way to spend a couple of days, made even more fun by a power cut and a hostel that had no heating no hot water and then no electricity. but such is life. food was good beer was had as was rice wine and i had a great but very cold time.

If arriving in the town was hard, then leaving proved to be something of a hazard. There were few buses running and the one i got on heading south to Huaihua ended up heading north to Jishou due to road closures. (perhaps they should take a look at some of the roads in Russian then ).
When we got of the bus and found that the train station was closed so five of us squeezed into a taxi and headed south to Huaihua where after getting out and pushing a few times and after some frantic overtaking we arrived alive and in one piece. much to the surprise of some.
Unfortunately on inspection and lots of waiting in queues i discovered there was no possible way of leaving the town that day so i spent the night at a cheap hotel and then with he help of a local medical student whom i meet the day before i managed to get a train to Guilin which involved 11hrs on the wonderfully hard seats in he cheap section of the train, however at least this time the carriages which were designed to seat 118 people didn't have 170+ people in them unlike the trip from Shanghai where the train staff literally keeps pushing people onto the train until you felt that the sides of the carriage would burst open.

Well the good news is that iv just about finished my first drink and will soon be ordering another, not that i need it to aid me sleep but i relieve's the discomfort that i now feel from such a luxurious method of transport over the past few days.

Well its time for the second beer. photos will follow but beer is of a higher importance at this time.

North Again

Well after a relaxing time in Yangshuo with much climbing and drinking over Xmas and New Year I left my climbing stuff with a newly acquired friend who works at one of the climbing companies (China Climb) and headed north with Craig, a lad from New Zealand whom I travelled from Xi'an down to Chengdu with.

Craig and myself left Yangshuo on the 3rd and headed north to LuoYang in Henan, where we went to see the Longmen Caves, the hostel we were at had some fairly cheap Chinese Baths, giving me the chance to relax for a few hours in the evening after sweating in a suna etc...

On the 5th we headed to Kaifeng which has a large and wacky night market full of great food which we wandered around for dinner after having visited the Iron Pagoda (not made of Iron). Where we were fortunate enough to witness a spot of fishing.

Then it was off to Ji'nan and Tai'an so as to go up Tai Shan, the holiest mountain in China and after all 6660 steps from 250M to 1545M and now after passing through the gate at the top I'm a celestial being... According to the book (lonely Planet).

The route has many small temples and lots of chinese writing on the rock faces one section in peticular is 25m high with 1m characters.

I'm now in Qingdao for some well ernt beer, and from where Craig gets the ferry over to Korea for his flight home, The town feels more European than Chinese which is more than likely to do with the legacy left behind by the Germans whom it was leased to in 1898 until 1914 when the Japanes held it until 1922 and then later it was a marine and naval base for the US from 1945 to 1949.

The plan is to then head down to Shanghai and then head back to Yangshuo via Hunan province, probably stopping at Fenghuang. not sure of any other stops yet.

Now in yangshuo

Well after the fun of Beijing I headed down to Xi'an to see the Terracotta Warriors and enjoyed also the biggest water fountain show in Asia at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda which was fairly impressive.











After a few days in Xi'an I travelled with a few other folks and went via Chengdu, which incidentally has the best egg muffins in China, too Yangshuo where I feel right at home as its been raining constantly for the last couple days.




However this still hasn't stopped me from climbing and the weather is set to improve from Tuesday.
It feels a little strange being in China for Xmas but I'm tempted to have either Beer fish or Cane Rat as my Xmas dinner, to be honest the fish sounds much better and looks fairly nice. I've also realised that my climbing has suffered over the past few weeks but I'm determined to rectify that and have also set myself the task of finding the best apple pie in Yangshuo. Unfortunately I'm having problems with uploading my photos but i will try and find a better internet cafe sometime next week if I'm not busy climbing or eating... Hope everyone has a great Xmas, unfortunately due to China's internet setup I can't access the comments on the site but will enjoy reading them all in the new year, the Chinese new year which i will probably spend in Hong Kong before flying to Oz.

Beijing is great shame about the locals.

Well arrived in Beijing on Monday and have seen lots of the main sights but would need more time than iv got to see everything. unfortunately wherever i go i get pestered and yelled at by locals trying to sell me cheap tacky souvenirs or other rubbish which is starting to get annoying. have avoided most of the people who also try to rip you off by asking if you want to go for a cup of tea which will end up costing as much as they think they can scam out of you.

Other than the normal annoyances of Asia am having a great time. cycled to the Summer palace and a few other places which was interesting given the condition of the bikes you get out here (not sure the wheels were round and the bearings were well worn but all the bikes are in this sort of condition and what can you expect for about 60 pence, have been to the Forbidden city and also walked 10km along the Great Wall yesterday which was worth getting up at 5am for.
Was wanting to go to Yinchuan to see the 108 pagodas but they are about 85km from the town and all this would take two or three days to get too from Beijing and is lots of messing about so have decided to scrap the idea. Am going to head to Xi'an to see the terracotta warriors and then down to Chengdu, then Chongquing before heading to Yangshou for about the 25th and stop until after new year. not sure on plans after that but feel like i need a rest week as all this travelling gets tiring. Have heard that the old Portuguese port of Macau is nice so will perhaps head over there in the new year. For now I'm going to enjoy yet another cup of tea and put my feet up for a while as they have been well worked over the past week or so.