Ni Hao
Here we are in China proper! We took a ferry up the Pearl River from Hong Kong, biked for 5 days, and here we are in Yangshuo, 65km south of Guilin. It's cold here but not snowy so far. China is pretty cool - not many people speak English but the ones that do are keen to practice. The people have been as friendly as anywhere we have been, with some going well beyond the call of duty in our aid. One girl in the street we asked for directions called the hotel we were trying to find to arrange for someone to come and take us there. The first few nights we were staying in towns that not a lot of foreigners go to so we get a lot of stares, and attract crowds of people in the supermarkets.
The first day of riding was miserable as it was freezing cold, rained on and off all day,and of course we got a puncture as well. This did not bode well. But since then it has been mercifully dry although still finger numbingly cold. The road we followed was busy but after Vietnam it seemed relatively peaceful. Did see 3 crashes in one day however...
The countryside has also been a nice change from the dreary bits of Vietnam and we are yet to see much of the hyperindustrial China that would make for very unpleasant riding. Rather it has been forested hills, rivers, and bamboo sprouting in every direction. Plenty of dilapidated little towns but they only take a few minutes to breeze through on the bike. Unlike the rest of the trip, at the end of the day we have usually found ourselves in a big city, with public transport, malls, fastfood and all the trimmings. A nice change to be able to get food easily. The towns down south were ghostly empty probably because of the New Year holiday but now we are into some more bustle.
The food here is good, on our first night we ordered noodles and they were hand-pulled in front of us. This invlves a lump of dough being rolled flat, twisted and pulled until miaculously noodles spring forth. None of this fancy-pants cutting the Italians rely on. We have also been getting into Chinese dumplings and much much tea.
Yangshuo's scenery is impressive with hundreds of karst cliffs surrounding the town. Our guest house owner is very friendly and has been teaching us some Chinese. Up until this point we have been struggling to make ourselves understood, no one even understands when we say the names of towns. Not sure the lessons will help much though as our pronounciation is shocking.
From here we are off north and into the province of Hunan that has been the recent victim of the worst snow in some decades. Great timing. Hopefully winter comes to an end at some stage in the near future.
Goodbye (in Chinese)
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Happy New Year, again
After spending our new years eve in Laos and in bed by 10pm we have come to Hong Kong for the lunar new year as celebrated by the Chinese.
Hong Kong RULES!! That was our initial assessment and we have pretty much stuck to it. It is such a friendly place. One of the touts even told me I was too angry before we readapted to the different way of doing things. It is so easy to be here, with signs at every corner telling you which way to the sights, an attendant at the Peak Tram told us that the more expensive option we asked for was not advised that day because the view would not be worth it, and even when we were told off by the Police for sitting on an illegal wall it was a pleasant experience (compare Vietnam where a whistle was blown and we were yelled at accompanied by vicious pointing).
We got our Chinese visa on day one, which was excessively easy. An agency did it for us, for cheaper than the Embassy charge, in a fifth of the time they take. They seem totally legit to boot. Then we did some major shopping, brake pads that were non-existant after the mud (we bought out the shops supply of 7 sets), new inner tubes as our cheapies are falling appart, new seat, polar fleece, neck gaiter, gloves, running shoes, dry bag to carry new purchases... The locals were also out for some serious shopping so the streets were absolutely packed in every direction you could look, which included up and down thanks to the subterranian malls, and concourses. Great fun just looking at what is around, from dirt cheap street markets to the top-o-the-top like windows full of watches all over $50,000.
Then there are the new years activities. A night parade last night covered children balancing in reverse pyramids - going from one on the ground to 5 across on the top row, lion and dragon dancers, USA cheerleaders, and of course the futuristic "Tourist Ostriches" from France. Tonight is the fireworks, with about $7,000,000 about to go up in smoke.
We have started the Chinese tour of world superlatives with the worlds longest escalator, and the worlds largest permanent light and sound display that sees the buildings lighting up in time to music. Many more to come, not least of course the most populous polulation - there is a city just north of here that is 10 million strong. Won't bother you with the name, you have not herard of it and neither had we. Nor had we heard of the 5 others that top 4 million within about 150km. We are off to one of them by boat on Sunday to avoid the bulk of the hugely populated area where HK meets the mainland, and then we are into China proper. A little nerve wracking after this blissful introduction.
Still, it is cool to be getting into the last country of our alliterative bike tour, with about 3 months to Beijing. Pray for good weather!
D&C
PS no photos as this place does not have the facilities
Hong Kong RULES!! That was our initial assessment and we have pretty much stuck to it. It is such a friendly place. One of the touts even told me I was too angry before we readapted to the different way of doing things. It is so easy to be here, with signs at every corner telling you which way to the sights, an attendant at the Peak Tram told us that the more expensive option we asked for was not advised that day because the view would not be worth it, and even when we were told off by the Police for sitting on an illegal wall it was a pleasant experience (compare Vietnam where a whistle was blown and we were yelled at accompanied by vicious pointing).
We got our Chinese visa on day one, which was excessively easy. An agency did it for us, for cheaper than the Embassy charge, in a fifth of the time they take. They seem totally legit to boot. Then we did some major shopping, brake pads that were non-existant after the mud (we bought out the shops supply of 7 sets), new inner tubes as our cheapies are falling appart, new seat, polar fleece, neck gaiter, gloves, running shoes, dry bag to carry new purchases... The locals were also out for some serious shopping so the streets were absolutely packed in every direction you could look, which included up and down thanks to the subterranian malls, and concourses. Great fun just looking at what is around, from dirt cheap street markets to the top-o-the-top like windows full of watches all over $50,000.
Then there are the new years activities. A night parade last night covered children balancing in reverse pyramids - going from one on the ground to 5 across on the top row, lion and dragon dancers, USA cheerleaders, and of course the futuristic "Tourist Ostriches" from France. Tonight is the fireworks, with about $7,000,000 about to go up in smoke.
We have started the Chinese tour of world superlatives with the worlds longest escalator, and the worlds largest permanent light and sound display that sees the buildings lighting up in time to music. Many more to come, not least of course the most populous polulation - there is a city just north of here that is 10 million strong. Won't bother you with the name, you have not herard of it and neither had we. Nor had we heard of the 5 others that top 4 million within about 150km. We are off to one of them by boat on Sunday to avoid the bulk of the hugely populated area where HK meets the mainland, and then we are into China proper. A little nerve wracking after this blissful introduction.
Still, it is cool to be getting into the last country of our alliterative bike tour, with about 3 months to Beijing. Pray for good weather!
D&C
PS no photos as this place does not have the facilities
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Mud, rain and cycling
Hi
Hanoi is in a Tet frenzy, cleaning the streets, selling gift baskets, and having more chaotic traffic than usual. We spent a few days cycling around the countryside to escape...
Day 1: The word "muddy" doesn't adequately describe the state of us at the end of day one. Our bikes, our bags, and our persons (ah, the indignity) were hosed down before being allowed into the hotel. Still, we got out of Hanoi without getting lost, maimed or killed, no small feat.
Day 2: After a climb over a mountain pass in dense fog (cold, wet, miserable, etc) we popped out the other side into a stunning valley. Inadvertently ate dog meat for lunch - it's orange and fatty and tastes like, well, dog. We felt a little guilty and uncomfortable, especially as there was a dog sitting by our table staring at us, so we left most of it in our bowls. We spent the night in a fantastic village of stilt houses in the middle of rice paddies surrounded by mountains - very peaceful.
Day 3: Brilliant riding today on a small highway which we often had to ourselves. We followed a river valley, meandered through rice paddies dotted with karst cliffs, and were generally impressed by the scenery. Hit 4000km today! Arrived in a tiny town in the pouring rain, and again out came a hose.
Day 4: Ah, the innocence of us on day one - we didn't know what true mud was! Well, today we were enlightened. At one point the bikes wouldn't even move, so clogged were they with mud. After wrecking our brake pads we arrived at Cuc Phuong National Park where we spent an enjoyable afternoon in the freezing cold looking around the Monkey Rescue Centre.
Day 5: Another sodden ride, another hosing down. We stayed the night in Ninh Binh and convinced ourselves to get the bus back up Highway 1 to Hanoi. Although this proved to be no quieter or any less dangerous, we were at least warm and dry and not hosed down on arrival.
We're leaving here tomorrow (Tues) to fly to Hong Kong. In the meantime we're cleaning bikes (all that hosing and they're still not clean), and cramming in as much of Hanoi as possible. Yesterday we had the very weird experience of going to see Ho Chi Minh's body. This definitely rates at one of our top Vietnamese experiences. First we were ordered to arrange ourselves into two lines of two abreast, thanks. Our bag was searched and X-rayed, then we went through metal detectors. We were ushered through a huge complex by whistle-wielding guards (and they aren't afraid to use them!) and finally found ourselves at the doorway to the mausoleum itself. I (Claud) was pulled out of line and my bag searched again (maybe I have a shifty face??) before finally being allowed in. The interior was dim, the lights were red, and Uncle Ho was flanked by four guards. The man himself was pale and waxy, and the only noise inside was the shuffling feet of hundreds of tourists. Very bizarre, we are already looking forward to Mao.
Love C&D
Friday, January 25, 2008
In Limbo
Hi
We are still in Hanoi, pottering about the Old Quarter, eating a lot of great food (Hanoi really does have fantastic food), and trying not to freeze too much. We spent 2 nights in Halong Bay - one night on a boat, and the second on an island with only 4 guests including us (and about 16 staff). Halong Bay was pretty incredible - huge karst cliffs rising out of the sea (there are over 2000 of them ranging from 5-300m in height), and a few caves to explore. We went into "Amazing Cave" which is absolutely huge and filled with rock formations that look like turtles, elephants, feet, the Buddha, etc. These are mostly fairly dubious and I usually can't see them.
We went kayaking around some of the cliffs and past a floating village - over 400 people live on rafts and make their living from fishing.
On arriving back in Hanoi (after a harrowing journey with a very sleepy driver) we booked our flights to Hong Kong - we'll be leaving here on Feb 5th and arriving in time for the Chinese New Year, very exciting! We've still got 10 days in Vietnam and we've planned to spend 6 days biking around Hanoi to the "Halong Bay of the rice paddies" and a national park to see some monkeys. We're also going to go and visit Ho Chi Minh in his eternal slumber, and catch a water puppets show.
Weather here is absolutely horrible, wet, grey and cold, hope you're all enjoying the balmy NZ summer! (Except of course for you Kali).
Love C & D
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Finally
Hello again (hopefully...)
Turns out blogspot is blocked in most of Vietnam, so we have been unable to update our site. Friends of ours have found the same problem but for some unexplicable reason it seems to work in the two main cities but nowhere else in the country. China blocks it nationwide...
We arrived in Hanoi yesterday morning after a 13 hour bus trip - longer than our flight here but in a "sleeping bus" with beds so it was a comfy trip. The highway is just too dismal to make cycling worth it. Between Hue and Hanoi there is not much to see so 700km in the rain and traffic (see below) seemed pretty pointless.
After we left Savanhaket in Laos we headed east for 3 days into a headwind, nothing much to see for a lot of it. Certainly well off the beaten track here, so it was 3 nights in tiny towns, no English speakers, and somewhat boring end to Laos. There was a bit of interest on the last day as we crossed the Ho Chi Minh trail, the supply route for the Viet Cong. The countryside was really barren with nothing growing over shoulder height - a legacy of the deforrestation from agent orange (and white and blue). There were a few war wrecks around, the back end of a helicopter, some tanks, and anti-aircraft cannons.
The change into Vietnam was immediately apparent after we fumbled our way through the border. From a tiny village on the Laos side to a pretty decent town in Vietnam, with highrise hotels even. Unfortunately this has proved to be the downside of cycling here - it is majorly populated. 82 million people and in most of central Vietnam, only one road. The traffic is insane, with little to no regard for any road rules (presuming there are any??). Saw a car crash on day one, a dead scooter rider a week later, and several smaller scooter-on-scooter incidents. But it is the horns that are the real issue for us. It seems that you can do pretty much anything you like as long as you announce your intentions with a sharp burst on the horn. The louder the horn, the more liberal your interpretation of road etiquete can be. We have taken to riding with earplugs in but it is still a nerve wracking experience. Even on the backroads there is constant traffic, towns, and people yelling at us.
Some of the towns we have been to are great, and it was a real relief after the tiny villages of Laos to be able to find something to eat at will. The first town we stayed in (Dong Ha), the guidebook described as dusty and of no interest. We thought it was fantastic because it had a bakery that we visited 3 times in our 12 hour stay. We have spent most of our time here so far hanging out with Claud's parents and their friends in Hue and Hoi An. Both of these towns are really nice and it was fun checking out the old citadel in Hue, and wandering the streets of Hoi An that are lined with 500 tailors. The vendors are all very keen to get you in their shop, so there are many cries of "Hey you, you buy something!!" This carries on as we bike, with some pulling alongside on thier scooters and taking advantage of our inability to easily escape. The best offer we have had was for some 7 foot high solid marble lions. The difficulty of transporting these on a bike was of minor concern to the seller.
We had a very average day of riding as we headed back north to Hue, with a really busy highway 1, and then once we reached a side road to avoid the traffic we had to deal with occasional groups of people yelling "FUCK YOU" at us as we rode past (according to one Vietnamese man these are the people from "bad families"). The next day we went for a ride in the coutryside around Hue and were invited into someones home for a tea. This was all very pleasant but after giving us a bowl of noodles we were asked to pay for the duaghter's university fees. We were a bit taken aback and after a rather awkward and finally bitter exchange we left being told we were not nice people. This was after going to temples and being told we had to pay to lean our bikes on a tree, twice, and on the same day told that we had to buy a ticket for our bikes on a bus for the same cost as our seats. We feel rather as though we are seen not as people but just a potentially open wallet. The only people that show any interest in us are those that want money and as soon as it is clear you are not going to give them any they either go away or get angry.
We are off to Halong Bay soon for a 3 day cruise. As this involved giving someone quite a decent amount of money, it might be a pleasant trip.
D & C
Turns out blogspot is blocked in most of Vietnam, so we have been unable to update our site. Friends of ours have found the same problem but for some unexplicable reason it seems to work in the two main cities but nowhere else in the country. China blocks it nationwide...
We arrived in Hanoi yesterday morning after a 13 hour bus trip - longer than our flight here but in a "sleeping bus" with beds so it was a comfy trip. The highway is just too dismal to make cycling worth it. Between Hue and Hanoi there is not much to see so 700km in the rain and traffic (see below) seemed pretty pointless.
After we left Savanhaket in Laos we headed east for 3 days into a headwind, nothing much to see for a lot of it. Certainly well off the beaten track here, so it was 3 nights in tiny towns, no English speakers, and somewhat boring end to Laos. There was a bit of interest on the last day as we crossed the Ho Chi Minh trail, the supply route for the Viet Cong. The countryside was really barren with nothing growing over shoulder height - a legacy of the deforrestation from agent orange (and white and blue). There were a few war wrecks around, the back end of a helicopter, some tanks, and anti-aircraft cannons.
The change into Vietnam was immediately apparent after we fumbled our way through the border. From a tiny village on the Laos side to a pretty decent town in Vietnam, with highrise hotels even. Unfortunately this has proved to be the downside of cycling here - it is majorly populated. 82 million people and in most of central Vietnam, only one road. The traffic is insane, with little to no regard for any road rules (presuming there are any??). Saw a car crash on day one, a dead scooter rider a week later, and several smaller scooter-on-scooter incidents. But it is the horns that are the real issue for us. It seems that you can do pretty much anything you like as long as you announce your intentions with a sharp burst on the horn. The louder the horn, the more liberal your interpretation of road etiquete can be. We have taken to riding with earplugs in but it is still a nerve wracking experience. Even on the backroads there is constant traffic, towns, and people yelling at us.
Some of the towns we have been to are great, and it was a real relief after the tiny villages of Laos to be able to find something to eat at will. The first town we stayed in (Dong Ha), the guidebook described as dusty and of no interest. We thought it was fantastic because it had a bakery that we visited 3 times in our 12 hour stay. We have spent most of our time here so far hanging out with Claud's parents and their friends in Hue and Hoi An. Both of these towns are really nice and it was fun checking out the old citadel in Hue, and wandering the streets of Hoi An that are lined with 500 tailors. The vendors are all very keen to get you in their shop, so there are many cries of "Hey you, you buy something!!" This carries on as we bike, with some pulling alongside on thier scooters and taking advantage of our inability to easily escape. The best offer we have had was for some 7 foot high solid marble lions. The difficulty of transporting these on a bike was of minor concern to the seller.
We spent Claud's birthday in Hoi An and did a cooking class. A tailor gave her some flowers (Barbara was proving to be quite a valuable customer, easily swayed by the cunning sales technique of "You buy more?", so a bunch of flowers was probably quite a good bet to get us to return). There must be a particular flower or something that is given on birthdays as carrying them down the street people kept calling out "happy birthday".
We had a very average day of riding as we headed back north to Hue, with a really busy highway 1, and then once we reached a side road to avoid the traffic we had to deal with occasional groups of people yelling "FUCK YOU" at us as we rode past (according to one Vietnamese man these are the people from "bad families"). The next day we went for a ride in the coutryside around Hue and were invited into someones home for a tea. This was all very pleasant but after giving us a bowl of noodles we were asked to pay for the duaghter's university fees. We were a bit taken aback and after a rather awkward and finally bitter exchange we left being told we were not nice people. This was after going to temples and being told we had to pay to lean our bikes on a tree, twice, and on the same day told that we had to buy a ticket for our bikes on a bus for the same cost as our seats. We feel rather as though we are seen not as people but just a potentially open wallet. The only people that show any interest in us are those that want money and as soon as it is clear you are not going to give them any they either go away or get angry.
We are off to Halong Bay soon for a 3 day cruise. As this involved giving someone quite a decent amount of money, it might be a pleasant trip.
D & C
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