Not Another Novel Blog
The nicest overnight train yet brought us to Hangzhou. Having travelled south west, back towards Shanghai, it was noticeably warmer here. We arrived at the hostel early, finding ourselves unable to check in, we stowed our bags and headed out in search of breakfast. A Starbucks presented itself as the easiest option and we decided … Continue reading China – Country No.2 – Hangzhou
When we arrive in Beijing, it's aboard an overnight train. One of our group has the audacity to complain about other passengers using the toilet in the night despite keeping everyone in the carriage awake for the first two hours of the journey, putting me in a worse mood than I already was from my … Continue reading China – Country No.2 – Beijing
Everyone has heard of Shaolin. It's famous in the West for exactly one thing. Kung Fu. From Xi'an, we travelled via public bus. We had all kinds of nightmare visages of what this might entail but it was just a regular coach and as comfortable as you would expect.We are staying in a small village … Continue reading China – Country No.2 – ShaoLin
Xi'an, pronounced 'See an', is another big city and considered to be the gateway to Western China. Everything heading there goes through Xi'an, roads, rails etc. Though I find it hard to believe as China is such an expansive country. Xi'an boasts the biggest drum in China. The 700 year old city wall still stands … Continue reading China – Country No.2 – Xi’an
We arrive at Chengdu and meet FiFi. A lively, energetic tour guide. The trip to the hostel involved the metro and lots of stairs but we coped with our heavy bags, as we are yet to lose our Mongolian warm layers and coats. Chengdu is a big city. Big enough to be served by several … Continue reading China – Country No.2 – Chengdu
Time to meet our tour group, or so we thought. We headed to a hostel in Shanghai that is used by the Dragon Trip tour to meet a guide and our fellow travellers. No one showed up. No tourists, no tour guide. The desk told us to wait in the rooftop bar. Still no one … Continue reading China – Country No.2 – Yangshuo
Shanghai Disneyland boasts the largest Disney Fairytale Castle of them all, it's also the most interactive, if you speak Mandarin. This is my 4th Disneyland. I started at Anaheim, some 25 years ago, and have since been to Disneyland Paris and Tokyo. Shanghai is nowhere near as big as Orlando, it's just one park, but … Continue reading China – Country No.2 – Disneyland.
So, onward from Mongolia and into China. The great firewall is no joke, it's very real and makes the internet a tricky place to navigate. Nothing to do with Google will work here. My phone runs entirely on Google based software so it barely even connects. We have been sorely let down by our travel … Continue reading China – Country No2 – Shanghai
What can I say about Mongolia that you don't already know? Well I'm going to assume, like me before I went, you only know they have a lot of nomads, there are twice as many livestock as there are people and they once had a big old empire, courtesy of one Chinggis Khaan. First of … Continue reading Mongolia – Country No1
The Adrenaline Bundle - Part 2 We rose super early today and headed over to the Cloud Forest for a guided tour. It was really good and informative, the guide had bird calls on his phone to try and attract birds he could see flying around. It worked too. It was most interesting to discover … Continue reading Costa Rican Adventure – Day 5
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