Finally out of the city...

Its been a few days since the last entry, still having trouble getting onto the blog so were doing it in a roundabout way. We caught the sleeper bus from Chengdu to Lijiang. The driver was quite happy to put his foot down on some rather uneven roads. We got the back 5 beds between the 4 of us and it was actually suprisingly comfortable, was very bouncy though, got ourselves a bit of sleep but we did all hit the beds above us during the night on some of the stronger bumps.

We got to Lijiang at about 9am, 2 hours earlier than we were expecting, which was nice, although we were all pretty warm and comfortable in bed, didn't really want to get off. We found a nice cheap hostel in Lijiang old town (2.50 each for the night). It was nice to get somewhere that wasn't a big city, it seemed a lot more relaxed so we hired a bike each and went for a bit of a cycle around. The bikes had certainly seen better days so we took it easy and took the first aid kit with us just in case one of them fell apart. All the bikes survived and we all had a good time on them, was nice to have a change from walking or getting a taxi.

The following day we got a bus from Lijiang to Qiatao. This is where we were going to start the trek along the tiger leaping gorge. It was something we had all been looking forward to and we certainly weren't dissapointed byit. We left our bags at a hostel at the start of the trek and just took the basics with us, food, water, towels, toothbrushes, etc. We actually had to dig out the suncream aswell which made a nice change. We set off at about 1pm, later than we'd planned but still enough time to get us to a decent place to stay for the night. We walked 2 hours up to the naxi family guest house where we had a bit to eat and a drink. After that we walked another 3.5 hours up the "28 bends" which are a set of hairpin bends on a very steep path. We made it the top though and views were certainly worth the climb. Stayed the first night at the Tea Horse guest house. It was very basic but a really nice place to stay, and again the views were amazing.

The following morning we got up at 7am to go and watch the sunrise, we should have asked the hostel owners though, they were laughing at us when we left, we came back at 8am with still no sign of the sun, they told us then that the sun doesn't get over the peaks at that point until 9.40am.

I've wittered on quite a bit now and Simon's put hundereds of photo's up which I've got to start captioning so I'll stop there and let you all know the rest of our Tiger Leaping Gorge experience tomorrow!!

Paul, Simon, Colm and Rob

Warriors and Buddhas

Well... had a mammoth post all set up and was feeling quite pleased with myself for getting on the blog, unfortunately I tried to save it and it vanished so here we go again with a more condensed version this time. We left Beijing on monday after collecting our vietnamese visa's, was all straight forward. Got on the train down to Xi'An with our panda hats, a few beers and some music, went quite quick for 12 hours.
Got to Xi'an and booked a train straight out again the next evening which only gave us 36 hours, should have spent a bit longer there really but never mind. On the second day we went to the teracotta warriors which were really spectacular. Farmers found it in 1974 when they were digging a well and since then they have unearthed 2000 different warriors and pieced them back together. They were built and buried to protct an emporer after his death.
That evening we got the train from Xi'an down to chengdu where we went to see robs highlight of the trip, a 71m high buddha built to protect people on the river beneath, was really impressive, well worth the trip down there. Yesterday we got up early and went to see the panda's at the research centre. personally i thought it was a bit of a let down, was nice to see the pandas but they were letting people into the enclosures for 50 pounds to stroke and hug the panda's. Today we're heading to lijiang on the sleeper bus, takes 23 hours which should be an experience....
Paul colm simon and rob

China, Beijing!

Hello everyone!

Sorry that we haven't been updating the blog recently but the Chinese government has blocked the website (and facebook). We landed in China with no problem whatsoever, (we were expecting them to be really strict but it was easier than getting into India. Simon and I met up with Colm and Rob at about 11pm after being ripped off by a taxi driver, he was the only driver there and he got out the motor and turned the engine off so we had no choice bu to give him what he asked for!! It was really nice to meet up with the guys and its definately completely different to travelling with just the 2 of us!

The next morning it was up and out to get the visa's for Vietnam, the one thing we hadn't sorted before we left. When we finally got round to getting to the embassy they told us we couldn't pick them up again until Monday (5 days later). It wasn't a bad thing really because its meant that we've seen loads of different sights in Beijing. The first thing we went to was a section of the great wall. Walked all the way to the top and then back down again, which took about 1.5 hours. We got lunch and a trip to Mings tomb included in the price.

The following day we went to the Forbidden City which was really close to Tian'amen Square which is in turn really close to the hostel. It was quite good looking round but it was really cold, the wind is the worst thing, I've had to buy a coat and Simon's bought a hat and a pair of gloves. We did walk to the top of a hill that gave us a really good view over the city. We also went to the national stadium (Birds Nest) which was really spectacular and then when the lights came on at about 6pm it got even better.

We're hoping to get some pictures uploaded pretty soon but for some reason it doesn't seem to be working.I'll try and get up in the morning and put them up if I can manage it (its a bit tricky working out wha the computers telling me when its all in Mandarin characters)

Paul, Simon, Colm and Rob (uploaded by Richard)

Pictures on photobucket tomorrow (hopefully)

The final few days...

So, as Simon mentioned he didn't have the best of times on the train up to Delhi, after 24 hours in bed he was well enough to the next morning to move hotels, so, having spent 50 pounds on one night we went back to the more familiar grounds of a 5 pound a night room. Simon spent the rest of the day in the room again although he did make it out in the evening for a little bite to eat.

The following day we had a train ticket booked to go to Chandigargh. This is one of the thigs that Simon has wanted to do throughout the whole trip so we decided that we would go even though he wasn't feeling 100%. The main reason for going was the rock garden. A man called Nek Chand started collecting rubbish and stone that no one wanted for about 15 years he built a garden on government land that no one else knew about. When they did eventually find out they made it into a tourist attraction which is now the second most popular attraction after the Taj Mahal. Its all incredibly impressive that one man can build all those sculptures with no-one else knowing, have a look at the pictures we put up of it. The other thing we liked was Chandigargh itself, it has no culture or history whatsoever but its a brand new city, built on a grid system like the american cities but because its new, the roads are all very good and there isn't the usual rubbish and sewage in the streets like we've come to associate with india. The train back took 5 hours but was fairly uneventful.

The next day we stayed around Delhi and did a bit of sightseeing, unfortunately the city was smothered with smog which got into your eyes and also visibility was really bad, not good for photo's! We went to the national railway museum and the gateway of India, that was about it though, we were both fairly tired and the smog was getting to us so we just played on the internet and watched a film or 2 in the hotel.

Day 5 round here was another early start (about 5.30am) to go down to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and the red Fort. It was definately worth the early start, we got a car and guide to take us around a few different sites, although we did have to play along while he took us to local handicraft sites.

Today was our last day, we took it fairly steady and didn't get up to early, we went to the Delhi fort but as the pictures will show you, the only day in the week it is shut is a monday, and guess what day we tried to go! We spent the afternoon at Huammans tomb instead which was very impressive and made up for not getting into the fort. Now its time to go for a bit of food and then its our last night in India, tomorrow is another early start to get to the airport in time and then its off to China to meet up with Rob and Colm.

we get there at 2pm GMT and we're both really looking forward to it, although its really going to be a shame to leave India, we've really enjoyed our first six weeks, only another 4.5 months till we get to Australia...

Paul and Simon

Done Varanasi, now in Delhi

So we eventually arrived in the cess pit of Varanasi after our nightmare train of 27 hours (was meant to be 14 hours).

We had a guy who free rode our rickshaw, got ripped off by our "guide" (we didn't even want one) for the rickshaw journey, and then got taken to a rather nasty but exorbitantly priced hotel. So good first impressions. And of course it was late, with the festival of lights (Diwali) being held that night so no room any where else etc etc etc. I am sure you get the picture of our pretty disastrous day. A couple of beers then bed.

An early rise to visit the Ganges, we took.

Along our stroll along the river front (with steps down to it or ghats). Saw a few of the cremations taking place (around 250 to 300 bodies burned here everyday, but only at certain places along the river). Very smoky and quite weird. Once the body has been burned for 3 hours they put it into the river. It is not completely ashes, i.e. the mens torso or the womens hips are not burnt yet, so alot of human remains are in there!

Then there are the locals washing in it, just next to where a dead body is. Thats India for ya.

Then to the train station to catch our carriage to Delhi. During the train I got sick, came down with sickness and diarrhoea, which was fun. My problems started getting worse towards the end of our journey (which involved a lot of toilet action), so I asked Paul to find the nearest hotel, in the guide book, to our arrival station. He did. We made a hasty trip to our destination hotel, money no object. I would of paid everyting in my bank to get back onto a toilet. To be honest it nearly was everything. Only 'deluxe rooms left sir......'. Fine by me, the hotel was amazing!! Hot shower, big plasma telly, comfy duvet cover, the works! I stayed in bed a full 24 hours, r and r. But it was time to move on, mainly the cost but also the room was booked.

So our last few days in India..............

Simon and Paul

Been and left Darjeeling, now in Varanasi

After our big trip to Zero point, the highs and lows (literally and geographicaly)

Its been a while since the last post, Simon wrote this one last night but the computer packed up and got rid of it so I'm having another go while he is in bed!

As we said before, the trip to Zero point in Sikkim was amazing, best thing we've done so far. From Gangtok we took a jeep up and down some very impressive inclines for about 4 hours to reach Darjeeling. The origonal plan for Darjeeling was that we'd only be there for 1 full day and 2 nights, after that we were going to get the train down to Varanasi. But... as we have realised on this trip "the best laid plans...". We couldn't book the train we wanted which meant 3 nights and 2 days in Darjeeling, and the only class we could book on the train was sleeper, more of that later!

We weren't holding out too much hope for Darjeeling, the people we met on the trip to from Gangtok said it was very dirty and dusty. We thought it was ok though, although the rubbish here was just as bad as everywhere else. The Friday in Darjeeling was a very productive, woke up at 3.30am to go up to Tiger hill where you have a spectacular view of Katchenzunga appearing in the sunlight, later on we had a walk down through the botanical gardens (they have loads of orchids there) to the Happy Valley Tea estate, it was quite interesting to see how its all done, its really quite straight forward. We bought some tea from them and were pursuaded to buy even more from a woman just outside the factory who sat us down and apparently made us the best cup of tea in the world!!

After that it was a walk up the hills to the zoo and the mountain instute, the zoo is doing a lot of conservation work for himilayan animals and the zoo had loads of exhibits about mountaineering in the himilaya's, mainly about attempts on Everest, including Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay, the first people to the top.

The saturday was quite a slow day in contrast, sent some parcels and the like but that was about it. The day after we had a quick jaunt on the toy train and then it was back down 7000ft to NJP where we were getting our train to Varanasi. This trip was due to take us 14 hours, we got on at 5pm and didn't get off in Varanasi until after 7pm the next day, over 12 hours late, it was apparently due to a damaged track which meant they had to detour us an extra 400km!

I will be back on later this evening to add pictures and let you know how we got on in Varanasi and our trip to Delhi!

Paul and Simon

PS. Finally caught up with some photo's again!