Tiger Leaping Gorge

I arrived in Lijiang after a rough nights sleep on the train (not feeling well) and thanks to Gang Zhao, was driven by a friend of his to the bus station where she bought me a ticket, thanks Lili! At the bus station I met Anne and Leticia (Germany and Spain) who said they were off trekking too. On the bus we met Mirko and Yannik (Germany) so we had quite a good group of trekkers by the time we arrived in Qioutou to begin the trek. After dumping our things at Jane's Guesthouse and stopping for a pot noodle (breakfast) it was about 12pm by the time we set off. We were obviously not going to make it to Walnut Garden today. The trek was extremely beautiful but also all up hill so quite strenuous and we had a rather scary incident with a lady who after we had taken photos, demanded we pay her 3 yen each. We paid her 3 yen between us and she tried to block our path and attempted to throw stones at us, fortunately she didn't hit us. Then after yet more uphill climbing we came across another lady, this time selling snacks and marijuana (they grow it quite openly here). We thought at first it was some Chinese word 'Ganga' but realised quickly that it was the real thing. On we went and reached the 28 switch backs which absolutely killed any energy I had left in my legs. We all collapsed in a heap at the top and admired the view. Thankfully after that it was a fairly easy walk to the Tea Horse Guest House where starving and tired we decided to stop for the night. It can get dark quickly up here and we did not want to get caught between guesthouses. We shared a delicious Chinese meal (chicken and peanuts, beef curry, soup) and had a surprisingly hot shower before bed at 9.30pm (it's freezing up there!). The next day after a breakfast of muesli with fruit (heaven after a month of Asian food) we set off again on a much easier terrain of mostly flat and down hill. We passed people with donkeys, people fitting water pipes, goats and through a waterfall. We arrived at Tina's guesthouse for lunch where Anne headed off further along the gorge with another group and Leticia and I decided to head back to Lijiang (only one month in China, too much to do, too little time!). While waiting for the bus back to Jane's guesthouse and Lijiang, Leticia, a few stragglers from the other group and I went for a walk down to the gorge. It was beautiful. Then we all headed back to Lijiang on a gorgeous and sometimes hairy bus ride.

The beginning of the trek

A Yak

Trekking up hill with goats for company

Yacha Village, we stayed just beyond

A Guesthouse sign, yes!

The resident dog

The baboon at the Tea horse guest house

The view from the guesthouse

Breakfast with a view

Up in the mountains

A herd of goats

A line of donkeys

The mountain peaks

A very long waterfall

Leticia, Anne and me at the waterfall

Walking through with the waterfall above

The gorge

The gorge a bit lower

Me and the gorge

Kunming

China has blocked blogger, so thanks to James, I am able to blog via email.

I crossed the border into China easily enough,but could not for the life of me find the bus station. Eventually just as I was drawing a picture of a bus to a taxi driver (he still didn't understand me!) a girl on a moped came to my rescue and even helped me buy my ticket! Then while I was waiting with a juice and two Japanese men thought they would talk to me and after that a 20 year old Chinese Vetinary student wanted to practice his English. He was about to spend a month in Vietnam and then Singapore and Kuala Lumpur before heading back to finish his studies.Then he was going to the US for 10 months to study agriculture as it is hard to do that in China. He said it is possible to finish your studies much quick than the four years if you study hard, so that is why he was on holidays and his friends were still studying! I think he must be super brainy. He seemed fixated with the idea that people in the countryside should be vastly different to those in the cities as they are in China and I said there is not much difference in England. I don't think he could quite come to terms with the idea that I was from the countryside. He also took me to a famous 'red light district' above a market which I would have had no idea that it existed. He wanted to take me as he was curious but did not want to get dragged into taking part as it t'wer. It did not seem very seedy to me, just some massage parlours with quite well dressed women working in them and some men having head massages. Obviously stuff happens behind the scenes but I could not see that and nobody appeared to be on drugs. Anyway I took the sleeper bus to Kunming which I could not sleep on at all. There are a lot of stories of theft (usually someone cuts through your bag and removes your cash) and though I always sleep with my money belt on, I was still worried about them somehow taking that while I was asleep. Also the roads were terrible and I was bounced around on the bed which I could not extend fully on. In addition everyone smokes inside the bus during the trip despite the numerous rest stops. So I was shattered and hadn't got a clue where to go or what to do when I arrived at the bus station (currently being built so more of a car park) in the pitch black at 6am. Nobody spoke a word of English, but luckily two ladies who were running a minibus packed me off to a central hotel. There I asked if I could use the phone, which apparently I could not. Around the corner I found a much friendlier hotel where I was able to call my couchsurfing host and while waiting for him to pick me up, I exchanged hello's with a friendly 2 year old girl. Gang Zhao has put me up in what used to be his apartment but now he lives with his wife. He is an English teacher and speaks excellent English. He took me on a tour of the city showing me what little is left of the old buildings and also to try the local specialty 'across the bridge noodles' where you are served a hot soup and some side dishes of meat and veg and noodles, and essentially you cook it yourself. Food certainly seems to be cheap here and I have been eating in street cafe's for about 80p for a large meal (portions are bigger in China which is a relief after Vietnamese portions!). Since being here I have come across the written about Chinese animosity towards foreigners. Many people stare in a quite unfriendly way and also I was turned away from one noodle restaurant with a simple 'no'. However, in contrast there have been super friendly people who have helped me out of difficult situations.

Overall Kunming is a pleasant 'spring city' (apparently it is permanently spring like and the trees never lose their leaves. But it has big city roads and freeways which were quite intimidating to me coming from Vietnam. What is nice though, is that everyone cycles on electric motorbikes so it is much quieter and less polluted than much of Vietnam.


Also while here I presented a talk about my travels and research at Yunnan University in Kunming for Gang Zhao's English students. This went well but had to be mostly translated by Gang Zhao as Chinese students learn English to pass exams not to be good at understanding or speaking. Thank you very much to Becky who at the last minute sent me many photos downloaded from my blog in Australia, thanks to you I had something to talk about!

Chinese border with Vietnam

The apartment block where I am staying

 

Yunnan University buildings with people performing Tai Chi in front

Yunnan University building. It is in a french style because the head of the university had studied in France



An old chinese herbalist's store

 

They sell turtles and rabbits here

Kunming CBD

The Golden Temple

West Lake Park

The freeway near the apartment where I stayed

A late night Chinese market

Sapa Rice Terraces

I arrived after an amazing realisation that I actually slept on a sleeper train, those earplugs I bought were a godsend. In Vietnam people are strangely inconsiderate and will talk loudly for hours even if you are trying to sleep. In my cabin of 6, one poor guy tried to turn the light out to sleep and another guy put it straight back on again because he was playing a computer game with 2 friends. Another British couple told me on the bus from Lao Cai to Sapa that they had had people coming in and out of their cabin until 4am and when asked to be quiet, they just laughed. People in Vietnam are VERY loud, which comes as a surprise initially as they are all so small. Nobody waits for you to pass, they would rather bump into you or run you over than be polite. I know I come from England the land of the repressed and polite, but still, some consideration for others would be nice.


Anyway, Sapa was wonderful. It must be the only peaceful place in all of Vietnam. It was a lot cooler than Hanoi, but I loved retiring in the evening with a hot drink and a fire. The daytime was a bit misty and I don't feel the photos really do the place justice as it was just beautiful. I stayed in the Queen Hotel where I got a room for 7 dollars (shame I didn't travel with a partner in Vietnam as that price could have been for 2 people) and I took a guided hiking tour organised by the hotel of the surrounding villages and terraces. It was a funny start as having just arrived and not had breakfast, I asked if I had time to grab something before we left. 10 minutes later I arrived back at the hotel to find a motorbike waiting for me to catch up with the tour bus that had just departed without me. We zoomed down the road and caught up just as the rest of the group were having a photo stop. We began our 15km walk shortly afterwards with a lot of the hill tribe people following us hoping to sell us something. They head to Sapa every day from their villages and follow a tour back again, hopefully selling something along the way. They all spoke excellent English despite being mostly uneducated. The walk was fantastic and the rice terraces were stunning even in all the mist. They are just starting to plant the rice this month so the best time to visit to see them all green and lovely would be in July. We visited a school on the way which not many children attended, starting work in the fields or selling early. There was a very sweet boy sat outside reading. Apparently he is not allowed to go to school but still stands outside listening and borrowing books when he can. Along the way I found myself walking with an English couple now living in Newcastle, they were lovely and I ended up having dinner with them later. They too have been saving for years to go on a trip like this. They will be spending 4 months in China after Vietnam.


The beginning of the trek

Farm life on the terraces

A traditional house with a view

Vietnamese potbellied pigs, I used to have two of these!

The boy who can't go to school

 

The local school.

                                                             

More traditional housing.

Rachel from Newcastle and two of the local girls who followed us around all day trying to sell us something (I did cave in eventually)

 

Me and a nice view

A waterfall

 

Working in the rice terraces

Hanoi

I much prefered Hanoi to Saigon. It is quieter (though not quiet), has more character, it seems more friendly and the best thing is that I am not continually asked if I need a motorbike taxi (or yelled at as was the case in Saigon). Here I stayed with Angus who I met on couchsurfing and had an interesting evening trying to find him. My phone does not work in Vietnam (roaming is supposed to work but doesn't) which makes organising things that bit more difficult. After trying unsuccessfully to use a phone in a call centre to call Angus, I thought 'maybe I will just head over there and hope to bump into him'. This would be quite dumb in normal life but strange things like that seem to have happened to me while travelling. Anyway after walking around his street and realising that I was not going to bump into him, I walked a few yards down the road and bumped into 3 very nice Australian ladies who offered to let me wait at their friends house and use their phone to contact him. This tea turned into wine, which turned into whisky, so I was quite merry by the time I did catch up with Angus. In any case it was a very nice evening and staying with someone who knows the city a bit is immensely better and less aggravating than staying in the backpacker hotels with endless tours being shoved down your throat. Thank you Angus, it was good to get to know you and a very refreshing break from Vietnam in general!

While here I visited the embalmed corpse of Ho Chi Minh (the much celebrated leader who brought communism to Vietnam). It was rather spooky and we were led on a silent procession through (no stopping or photos allowed). He goes to Russia once a year for 'maintenance', even more spooky. I went to the temple of literature which was rather crowded with tourists so I did not get to enjoy the landscaped gardens too much. I had a walk around the Old Quarter with all its amazing markets selling frogs (freshly skinned for cooking), herbal remedies and strangely door handles. You cannot move around here for motorbikes and cyclos and a few times I nearly had my toes run over. I spent a good while reading a photocopied book (rip offs are to be found everywhere in Vietnam) in a lovely restaurant called the Ladybird (dinner for less that one pound!) where I came back several times. I found a swimming pool which was freezing but refreshing before the night train to Lao Cai (Chinese border) and then to Sapa rice terraces. Oh yes and the other thing, communism and Vietnam, hmmmm. Officially they have a communist government but everyone is selling mad, you could not get a more capitalist population if you tried.

I also found out that there is a lot of pressure on Vietnamese girls to look 'white' and more western. They use creams that contain bleach to whiten your skin.

Funny tortoise cemetry stones

The temple of literature

Streetscape by the lake

A traditional old merchant's house, now a museum

A traditional old merchants house

A traditional toilet, though updated slightly today, the principle is still the same. Group toilets with gullies are certainly an interesting experience.

The old East Gate to the city walls



A nice lamp shop

The history museum in a French and Chinese style

Crowns worn by the emperor in imperial times

A real gold book used in imperial times