Well i made it to Oz, no yellow brick road to follow but a few golden beaches. which is where I'm off to today.
Got into Sydney on the 22nd and have been stopping at the blue parrot hostel in Potts point, right next to the red light area of Kings cross.
I did the whole sightseeing thing, walking around taking photos, chasing a rainbow around Archibold fountain in Hyde park and trying to get a good shot of St Mary's cathedral. almost worked. (see my flickr page) also walked round the botanical gardens and down to see the Opera House and Sydney Harbour bridge.
Yesterday meet up with a few folks I know and went climbing to the local wall, its expensive and not as good a as the walls back home but after not climbing for about a month i decided the exercises was required and after a 4hr session my arms started to feel the burn but I'm not too disappointed with my performance as i did some of the harder routes and boulder problems in there. Still only climbing around 7a ish tops.. boo.
Am thinking off heading up towards surfers paradise to see if i bump into Dan and Jo, if not am sure fun can still be had and it will be a little warmer there, although it feels a bit like a British summer in Sydney and despite it going dark early and the lack of rain i could easily be fooled into thinking it was.
Will put some extra photos on here soon, Later folks.
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Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Macau
Wow, Shame its been raining non stop since i got here, but then again that appears to be the story all over china at the moment, The work up near Shanghai was washed out and apparently Yangshuo has suffered from some flooding, a few bars and cafes have been paddling pools over the past few days with the added problem of power cuts, glad I'm not sat in Yangshuo right now.
Macau is a funny old mix of quaint buildings with new fancy casinos and hotels popping up around them. They drive on the left and have some great food, Egg tarts are wonderful plus proper coffee again.
I have a week in town before i leave for Australia so with a bit of luck i will get some nice weather and i can get some good photos and explore the town a bit more, although walking around in the rain isn't a problem as it's still very warm, as i haven't had a warm shower for a week I'm tempted to strip off and stand outside with the shampoo. not sure if that would get me arrested though.
I went to a few of the casinos yesterday and wasn't able to work out how to gamble, most of the games are Chinese so it's hard to figure out how they work so after a few attempts on the slot machines which are still fairly confusing, last of the of the big spenders I gambled all of 20 Patacas, about 2 pound and broke even, so i guess gambling doesn't work for me.
Just as well as most of the tables have a minimum bet of 100 pacatas, however non of the casinos will accept the local pacata so you need to bet in hong kong dollers,
Well that's all for now I'm off to find some more egg tarts, yum yum,
Macau is a funny old mix of quaint buildings with new fancy casinos and hotels popping up around them. They drive on the left and have some great food, Egg tarts are wonderful plus proper coffee again.
I have a week in town before i leave for Australia so with a bit of luck i will get some nice weather and i can get some good photos and explore the town a bit more, although walking around in the rain isn't a problem as it's still very warm, as i haven't had a warm shower for a week I'm tempted to strip off and stand outside with the shampoo. not sure if that would get me arrested though.
I went to a few of the casinos yesterday and wasn't able to work out how to gamble, most of the games are Chinese so it's hard to figure out how they work so after a few attempts on the slot machines which are still fairly confusing, last of the of the big spenders I gambled all of 20 Patacas, about 2 pound and broke even, so i guess gambling doesn't work for me.
Just as well as most of the tables have a minimum bet of 100 pacatas, however non of the casinos will accept the local pacata so you need to bet in hong kong dollers,
Well that's all for now I'm off to find some more egg tarts, yum yum,
Sunday, June 1, 2008
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.
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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.
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Friday, April 25, 2008
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.
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.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Yangshuo & birthday
Well I turned 29 last week and a celebration was had in chinaclimb the day before on Saturday the 8th.
As per tradition in china a fair amount of cake ended up in my face, and their was a large quantity of alcoholic beverages consumed which led to something of a hangover but fortunately the only work i was required to do was to head to Xinping Sunday night in preparation for a school group from Hong Kong who we have spent the past week trekking climbing and Kayaking with.
Today again is my rest day and i intend to do as little as possible (mostly catch up on some reading) but will no doubt be out climbing most of the coming week.
China and Yangshuo are starting to grow on me and iv been having a great time in this land of Karsts. with a bit of luck i can even get out to look at a few new routes over the coming weeks and perhaps even lose the belly that appears to have grown over the Xmas and New Year periods. I hope everyone is having as much fun as me this year and thanks for all the birthday wishes.
As per tradition in china a fair amount of cake ended up in my face, and their was a large quantity of alcoholic beverages consumed which led to something of a hangover but fortunately the only work i was required to do was to head to Xinping Sunday night in preparation for a school group from Hong Kong who we have spent the past week trekking climbing and Kayaking with.
Today again is my rest day and i intend to do as little as possible (mostly catch up on some reading) but will no doubt be out climbing most of the coming week.
China and Yangshuo are starting to grow on me and iv been having a great time in this land of Karsts. with a bit of luck i can even get out to look at a few new routes over the coming weeks and perhaps even lose the belly that appears to have grown over the Xmas and New Year periods. I hope everyone is having as much fun as me this year and thanks for all the birthday wishes.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Hong Kong, East v West
Hi all
Well i made it to hong kong on Friday and spent the weekend climbing with some friends,a few of whom i met when i was back in yangshuo over the Xmas period.
Am just about to set of to apply for the China visa this morning which will probably take the until the end of the week to process.
I'm stopping with a lad call Bon whom lives out on the Island of Lamma, which despite being a fair size the Island is sparsely populated in comparison to Hong Kong, perhaps it because it has no cars and better still no McDonald's, KFC or any of the other big name monstrosity's which appear to exist on every street corner in Hong Kong and on the mainland here, makes for a wecome change.
Well im off to sort out the visa and wander around town, take care all and a happy chinese new year. which was great back in yangshuo.
Well i made it to hong kong on Friday and spent the weekend climbing with some friends,a few of whom i met when i was back in yangshuo over the Xmas period.
Am just about to set of to apply for the China visa this morning which will probably take the until the end of the week to process.
I'm stopping with a lad call Bon whom lives out on the Island of Lamma, which despite being a fair size the Island is sparsely populated in comparison to Hong Kong, perhaps it because it has no cars and better still no McDonald's, KFC or any of the other big name monstrosity's which appear to exist on every street corner in Hong Kong and on the mainland here, makes for a wecome change.
Well im off to sort out the visa and wander around town, take care all and a happy chinese new year. which was great back in yangshuo.
Monday, January 21, 2008
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.
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.
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