So month four was predominantly in China and I have been lucky to see some amazing sights again.
The western end of the Great Wall in Xining was rebuilt last week and is very commercial. Whereas the Part of the wall in Beijing was as I expected. I got a weird feeling standing on something thousands of years old.
The Forbidden City is massive and I only appreciated it properly when when I had my early morning walk with Kim and looked at it from Jingshan Park. Kim left the group in Beijing which was sad as he was an absolute pleasure to travel with a real gent and so interesting to talk to.
Shanghai was as I expected full of huge buildings on The Bund which when lit up were fantastic.
I won’t forget the lunch in the canteen, belly of pork, green beans and rice – fab £2.50 and the man cooking noodles next to the hostel which were great for £1.80
I travelled a lot on the underground it almost felt like home apart from it never stopped in a tunnel and always arrived on time. Maps.me is a godsend. I couldn’t be without it now.
Of course then there were the Pandas (both types) at Chengdu – such beautiful creatures and so lovely to see them and a nice city too.
The real highlight for me were the terracotta Warriors. Being there made me feel very emotional for some reason just knowing I was standing near such history.
Would I go back to China? The constant bag and passport checking, the spitting and other behaviours of the people leave a lot to be desired. So I’m not sure.
“Not for all the tea in China” well there’s a saying I will never use again. It took us two weeks to find some Lipton tea!
I never realised how big China is. Thank god for VPN and iPlayer it got me through the long train/bus journeys. Some were over ten hours. I watched killing Eve series two and nearly all of Peaky Blinders.
We are now in Loas and what a difference it is. The people are quiet and polite and the place is chilled total opposite to China.
In Louang Mantha I was meant to have a rest day but ended up doing a trek in the forest which was advertised as “easy” – easy my arse!! Well I ticked that box so never need to repeat that.
Louangphabang was our next stop and what a lovely place it was. The night market was great and had everything in it. Food, clothes and souvenirs.
I had one of the best days of the trip when we went to elephant sanctuary and rode feed and bathed them. What lovely animals. So big but then so gentle with a mischievous nature. When we washed the elephants mine decided to dive down under the water taking me with her.
The day continued with a trip to a cave. A lovely lunch and ended with a trip to a waterfall where the fish nibbled you. Hilarious.
The next day was a quick visit to the local sights then I spent the afternoon/evening in Utopia a great bar on the riverfront updating my diary and chilling out. After 35 days I had my first glass of wine and it went down a treat as did number 2,3 and 4!!
Back on the wagon until I get to Singapore at the end of August.
Month 5 sees us heading to Vietnam and Cambodia which I can’t what to visit but got a few more days in Laos before that.
Keep safe everyone. Much love xxx
