After Kuching, it was a bus and a boat north to Bako National Park. I just turned up and got a bed, which may of been fortunate as the next day was full. After arriving I went for a walk. Selected the Bintang walk which loops through the forest and takes 3-4 hours. First a short walk along a boarded walkway to get to the start of the trails. Then the first 1km was hard work, being in thick rainforest is very humid. Hot and sweaty as the path climbed sharply in the first section. I breifly saw some proboscis monkeys crashing through the jungle, although I was never to get a very good look at them. After reaching a peak, there was a bench to rest upon and a taped off barrier behind. I had a peak down the crevice and it was a LONG way down.
Then jungle thinned out and gave way to rocky ground, some small pitcher plants don't offer much cover from the sun. The path had a trickle of water running through clay and sand, on top of hard black volcanic rock. Very different from the rainforest which I soon re-entered. Got back to the headquarters and slurped down a bottle of water and a coke. Considering going for a second walk but I was knackered. Watched the bearded pig (who has a giant nose and tiny eyes) roam about. Looking for scaps, didn't exactly seem wild or bothered by humans. The macques were less bothered by humans again, and sat watching the cafe waiting for the moment to pounce and steal anything they can get their sticky fingers on. A few raids into the canteen to steal bananas!
Later I took a short stroll down the boarded walkway and watched the proboscis moneys from a distance. Also in the distance I saw a big creature walking like a crocodile, but I think it was a monitor lizard.
About 8pm a few of us went for a night walk with a guide and our torches. The guide spotted a big spider, and a fluroscent mushroom but otherwise we saw very little, but there can be no guarantees as it's not a zoo!
The next day I had to check out at 11am, but arranged with a couple of people to share the boat ride back at 3pm. So went for a another walk this time to the next beach along, signposted as only 800m it should be easy, right? Nope, seemed like the longest 800m I've walked. Up and down a lot as you go over the cape to get to the next bay. One scary point where you have to go across a small hole, the top of a grotto, but the only way is by walking across tree roots! After that I descended down and came out at the small bay. I saw some mudskippers which were cool, looked strange closeup. They were all sitting on the same rock peeking over the top.
I headed back to headquarters as I was out of water, and got some food. After lunch I decided on final walk up to the cape above the main beach, nice view up there but I didn't take my camera. Back on the boat we were zooming along when we did a u-turn, there on a pipe in the middle of the river sat a crocodile sunning itself. We went quite close enough in the boat! Then back to the mainland where after waiting for a while got the bus back to Kuching. The next day I flew up to Kota Kinabalu.
Kota Kinablu centre is a long strip of roads sandwiched between the seafront and the green hills behind. Actually I think some of the flat land is reclaimed from the sea. Having a look around, it seems a bit more rough and ready than Kuching. Large market as the seafront, rows of shophouses, lots of basic coffee shops/restaurants. I had some nice beef sate from one. However things take an upturn as you enter one square where there is a popular new mall and pricier restaurants and the like. I had nice fish and chips at a restaurant, served in the pan for some reason. (I still prefer newspaper) Of course the chips, weren't chips but fries. Still never mind, eh? As it was the weekend I went for a beer. Walked into an Irish pub were a Malaysian band (with a japanese drummer) were playing The Shadows. Then a Philipino singer joined and they played some other old songs. I had a look elsewhere, as I was walking past I heard another band and the singer saying there were going to play another rock song so I walked in there. But he was being sarcastic as they launched into a rendition of My Way. I was conned!
On Sunday there was a flea market where you could buy some jewellery, biscuits, maybe a siamese fighting fish or some nailclippers? Mostly junk! Or stuff I can get cheaper in Thailand. As there is approx. 10 baht to 1 ringgot easy to compare prices. Tomorrow I shall head off to Mount Kinabalu National Park, but finding out more information I don't think I'll be doing the climb.
1) You need to book accommodation on the mountain way in advance.
2) If you want to have a chance of having a clear view you should arrive at sunrise. Which means you have to get up at TWO AM and climb up in the dark with a torch. Hmmm
Of course it could still be cloudy :)
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Kuching
After some roti canai for brekky (okay brunch). It was off to the Cat Museum, Kuching is the city of cats after all. Hopping on the city bus took me to the museum, well the bottom of a big hill upon which the museum resides. After sweating my way up it was inside to the cat-o-rama.
Where else can you find such tenious links to cats as here? Like the Cats in Music section, with posters of Cat Stevens and Curiousity Killed the Cats. I particularly liked the dress up the cats as musicians section :) And if that wasn't strange enough I bought a ticket for "Katz" where 10 people dress up with cat makeup and costume and dance around. Kinda of Andrew Lloyd Webber meets tribal dancing. Didn't seem very popular as there was only 2 other people watching. I was dragged up on stage to show my blow dart pipe blowing skills. Performing admirably I nailed a balloon on my very first shot.
Then it was back to Kuching where the Sunday market was taking place (as it was Saturday...) I picked up a pair of Raybans for 3rm (about 50p!).
Next day I had a look round the Sarawak musuem which had some decent art pieces, some good longhouse models, and some so-so natural science exhibits. Across the road some archieological stuff from the caves, way back in the good old days 40,000 years ago. Some more rain, seemed to be easing off, so I mad a dash and nearly got struck my lightning, seemed to explode right above me, gave me a headache. AND the rain quickly came back on strong.
After looking at the price of the tours, I decided it was time to do some DIY so I rented a crappy motorbike and set off for the Crocodile Farm, quickly getting lost. I stopped and asked somebody, showing them my not very good map. They could point me in the direction of the Orangutan sanctuary only, no problem I wanted to go there as well. So I set off for Semmengoh Orangutan sanctuary and after a while I came across a sign for the crocodile farm, carefully navigation! Crocodiles tend not to do much except when they are eating, so they just lay around looking sleepy. A few other animals but nothing much to talk about, just don't let the rabbits get mixed up with the crocs.
After that I try to find the orangutan sanctuary, at one place the road was being worked on so I stopped, and then the starter died. After lots of kicking, it engaged and I was off again but I ended up miles away going towards "Borneo Road" or some such place.
I decided I better turn around, again getting stuck where I had to stop for roadworks. Started again after 5 minutes. By this time the petrol was getting a bit low, so I pulled into a Kampung and found a corner shop which sells petrol by the plastic bottle. After filling up, I cooled off with a coke on the bench outside, why the locals kids gawked at me, then ran away. Feeling refreshed I hit the open road again determined to at least get back to Kuching. As I was heading back, I whizzed past the sanctuary, a quick u-turn and I got inside. The engine cut again and I decided I would be quicker walking the last 1km if I wanted to get there in time for the feeding. The orangutans are semi-wild so they roam free, but usually turn up for the free food when hungry. They have 23 in all, I think 4 turned up. Looking very non-plussed about the camera-snapping tourists. Just turn their backs!
Anyway I made it back after a few more cut-outs (Note I'm blaming the motorbike not me!) Actually the traffic here is quite reasonable. Especially once you get out the city, not that many motorbikes :) A lot quieter than Chiang Mai! Just a shame about the lack of signs. After being on the bike most of the day I'm now a rather red shade of red from sunburn. I'll have to hide inside tomorrow.
Where else can you find such tenious links to cats as here? Like the Cats in Music section, with posters of Cat Stevens and Curiousity Killed the Cats. I particularly liked the dress up the cats as musicians section :) And if that wasn't strange enough I bought a ticket for "Katz" where 10 people dress up with cat makeup and costume and dance around. Kinda of Andrew Lloyd Webber meets tribal dancing. Didn't seem very popular as there was only 2 other people watching. I was dragged up on stage to show my blow dart pipe blowing skills. Performing admirably I nailed a balloon on my very first shot.
Then it was back to Kuching where the Sunday market was taking place (as it was Saturday...) I picked up a pair of Raybans for 3rm (about 50p!).
Next day I had a look round the Sarawak musuem which had some decent art pieces, some good longhouse models, and some so-so natural science exhibits. Across the road some archieological stuff from the caves, way back in the good old days 40,000 years ago. Some more rain, seemed to be easing off, so I mad a dash and nearly got struck my lightning, seemed to explode right above me, gave me a headache. AND the rain quickly came back on strong.
After looking at the price of the tours, I decided it was time to do some DIY so I rented a crappy motorbike and set off for the Crocodile Farm, quickly getting lost. I stopped and asked somebody, showing them my not very good map. They could point me in the direction of the Orangutan sanctuary only, no problem I wanted to go there as well. So I set off for Semmengoh Orangutan sanctuary and after a while I came across a sign for the crocodile farm, carefully navigation! Crocodiles tend not to do much except when they are eating, so they just lay around looking sleepy. A few other animals but nothing much to talk about, just don't let the rabbits get mixed up with the crocs.
After that I try to find the orangutan sanctuary, at one place the road was being worked on so I stopped, and then the starter died. After lots of kicking, it engaged and I was off again but I ended up miles away going towards "Borneo Road" or some such place.
I decided I better turn around, again getting stuck where I had to stop for roadworks. Started again after 5 minutes. By this time the petrol was getting a bit low, so I pulled into a Kampung and found a corner shop which sells petrol by the plastic bottle. After filling up, I cooled off with a coke on the bench outside, why the locals kids gawked at me, then ran away. Feeling refreshed I hit the open road again determined to at least get back to Kuching. As I was heading back, I whizzed past the sanctuary, a quick u-turn and I got inside. The engine cut again and I decided I would be quicker walking the last 1km if I wanted to get there in time for the feeding. The orangutans are semi-wild so they roam free, but usually turn up for the free food when hungry. They have 23 in all, I think 4 turned up. Looking very non-plussed about the camera-snapping tourists. Just turn their backs!
Anyway I made it back after a few more cut-outs (Note I'm blaming the motorbike not me!) Actually the traffic here is quite reasonable. Especially once you get out the city, not that many motorbikes :) A lot quieter than Chiang Mai! Just a shame about the lack of signs. After being on the bike most of the day I'm now a rather red shade of red from sunburn. I'll have to hide inside tomorrow.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Arrive in Kuching, Borneo
About ten hours after leaving Chiang Mai I arrived in Kuching, in the West of Malaysian Borneo (an island split between Malaysia and Indonesia). I dumped my bag and went out for a look around. Seems like a modern clean city, on the taxi ride through town didn't see many people walking about. The Sarawak river runs through the city, splitting it in two, although most of the built up area is on the flat south. A fort on the north rises above the city, and a new construction of a large dome takes place under floodlit cranes. A cluster of large hotels are situated near the riverfront. As I was thinking there wasn't many tourist around, a big cluster of people spilled out the Hilton. Walking towards me a separate couple of tourists pointed at the group behind me and asked "Is that David Beckham? Yes it is!"
So I turned round looking at the tour group again, maybe David Beckham and his entourage? Nope, they were pointing at the 20 foot advert of him selling a phone.
After wandering around some more, I settled into a basic restaurant for some turmeric beef, which wasn't really worth the wait! Back to the hotel and find out that it next door is the dreaded top-volume karoke bar, a power cut saves the day and I get some sleep. I move into a quieter hotel the next day. Kuching being a compact city is easy enough to walk around for the most part, although the heat and humidity can be rather oppressive. I decided to visit the Sarawak Cultural Village a 40 minute drive away. After chatting with the hotel owner I purchased a "tour" i.e transport and entrance ticket, which was marginally cheaper and the van picked me up from the hotel. I was the only one in that van, passing along some nice green scenery, with a steep forest-clad pinnacle rising up from the ground. At the village there is a variety of longhouse (traditional architectural houses for the locals). The longhouses sit on stilts, with an angled log, with narrow notches carved out serving as steps. Inside a few local people sitting about, when I said I was from Scotland, one of the guys said he used to support Celtic (boo!), until he bot bored of football (hah!). Now more interested in rugby, aah, the benefits of satellite TV.
I managed to snare some free fruit from a leftover party, after a quick snack, it was onwards to the Penan tribe. Well actually it was just one guy. More of a lean-to shack rather than a longhouse as the Penan are traditionally nomadic hunters (although the government tries to settle them). Here the had a long metal rod, which has used to burn through a piece of bamboo. Just turn the rod back and forth for a MONTH and you have a blowpipe. (Hope you don't make a mistake). I stepped up for a go at the blowpipe skills, deep intake of breath, press lips against the pipe and quickly exhale! And the dart dribbled out the end...
At least the next few times it worked better, couldn't hit the target of a can though. With a poisoned tipped dart, hunt of all animals is possible.
Next stop was the Orang Ulu house, a huge longhouse built nestled into the hill. Upstairs they were playing music, something resembling a guitar, with a large flat bit of wood, with a few strings, odd placed frets, and tuned for droning. Then a few people danced around, kinda of slow and graceful, until I got dragged into it. After that, a quick stop in a sword hut, where with a fire and some belows, some hammers and somebody that knows what they are doing you can get a sword.
Another house had a medicine room, with something akin to wood oragami, with birds and insects representing the physical manifestation of illnesses, with the local quack would identify and cure. (At least I thinks that how it works!) The last hut was the Chinese pepper house, where the pepper is collected, thrashed and dried. Some samples of "Bird's Nest"
which is hugely expensive, collected at great risk and then served up to big wigs. Hmm, I wouldn't of thought bird mucus wouldn't of been that tasty.
Finally there was a show which highlighted the tribal dances, one of them featured bamboo poles being danced around, one of these carefully timed pieces, where if it goes wrong, you get your ankle broken!
So I turned round looking at the tour group again, maybe David Beckham and his entourage? Nope, they were pointing at the 20 foot advert of him selling a phone.
After wandering around some more, I settled into a basic restaurant for some turmeric beef, which wasn't really worth the wait! Back to the hotel and find out that it next door is the dreaded top-volume karoke bar, a power cut saves the day and I get some sleep. I move into a quieter hotel the next day. Kuching being a compact city is easy enough to walk around for the most part, although the heat and humidity can be rather oppressive. I decided to visit the Sarawak Cultural Village a 40 minute drive away. After chatting with the hotel owner I purchased a "tour" i.e transport and entrance ticket, which was marginally cheaper and the van picked me up from the hotel. I was the only one in that van, passing along some nice green scenery, with a steep forest-clad pinnacle rising up from the ground. At the village there is a variety of longhouse (traditional architectural houses for the locals). The longhouses sit on stilts, with an angled log, with narrow notches carved out serving as steps. Inside a few local people sitting about, when I said I was from Scotland, one of the guys said he used to support Celtic (boo!), until he bot bored of football (hah!). Now more interested in rugby, aah, the benefits of satellite TV.
I managed to snare some free fruit from a leftover party, after a quick snack, it was onwards to the Penan tribe. Well actually it was just one guy. More of a lean-to shack rather than a longhouse as the Penan are traditionally nomadic hunters (although the government tries to settle them). Here the had a long metal rod, which has used to burn through a piece of bamboo. Just turn the rod back and forth for a MONTH and you have a blowpipe. (Hope you don't make a mistake). I stepped up for a go at the blowpipe skills, deep intake of breath, press lips against the pipe and quickly exhale! And the dart dribbled out the end...
At least the next few times it worked better, couldn't hit the target of a can though. With a poisoned tipped dart, hunt of all animals is possible.
Next stop was the Orang Ulu house, a huge longhouse built nestled into the hill. Upstairs they were playing music, something resembling a guitar, with a large flat bit of wood, with a few strings, odd placed frets, and tuned for droning. Then a few people danced around, kinda of slow and graceful, until I got dragged into it. After that, a quick stop in a sword hut, where with a fire and some belows, some hammers and somebody that knows what they are doing you can get a sword.
Another house had a medicine room, with something akin to wood oragami, with birds and insects representing the physical manifestation of illnesses, with the local quack would identify and cure. (At least I thinks that how it works!) The last hut was the Chinese pepper house, where the pepper is collected, thrashed and dried. Some samples of "Bird's Nest"
which is hugely expensive, collected at great risk and then served up to big wigs. Hmm, I wouldn't of thought bird mucus wouldn't of been that tasty.
Finally there was a show which highlighted the tribal dances, one of them featured bamboo poles being danced around, one of these carefully timed pieces, where if it goes wrong, you get your ankle broken!
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Enveloped in smog...
I’m moved from the guesthouse into a condo on Huay Kaew Road. Much bigger than my old room and with fridge, tv etc. Got a nice balcony up on the thirteenth floor (or 12A floor according to the room numbers) overlooking the city. Not that currently you can see much due to the farmer burning all the lands. Not just in Thailand but in Laos, Myanmar & China also, enveloping the North of Thailand in a thick smog. Hopefully there will be some rain, in fact the experts were flying around in helicopters trying to “seed” the clouds for some rainmaking, but the humidity is low and it doesn’t want to rain then it doesn’t want to rain, and the last rain in Chiang Mai was way back on the 12th October! Not helping matters is the fact the Chiang Mai sits in a geographical bowl and the low weather system sits on top stopping all the smog escaping. Still the weather people say it will be better this week with some winds to dissipate it.
Before all this icky smog arrived I had cycled down to Huay Tong Tao a few times. A pleasant lake area with simple wooden shacks dotted around the perimeter. I was there before 10 a.m. and it is pretty much deserted although I’ve heard it’s a popular picnicking spot with the Thais at the weekend.
I decided to have some toast, which was all going well with the bread, the butter, and the toaster all working nicely, however first thing on my shopping list is a knife…Speaking of food, I met up again with Dieuwke (who I met in India) she was here doing a massage course and we went for food at the huge moo kata restaurant where you cook you own food from the buffet. They were pouring out baskets of mangosteen which were disappearing almost instantly, people taking handfuls at a time. All the food you can eat for 100b not a bad deal as there is a great selection. But very hot there, we drank 4litres of water between us!
Still doing the Thai language class in the afternoon, if I want to get some lunch before I had to leave home around 12:00 and if I return on foot I don’t get back until 16:00, so half the day vanishes, leaving me barely enough time to loll around :) In the class there is quite a mix of people. A 19year old Japanese woman, a 70 year old Japanese man, a Greek Buddhist nun, an American, German and a Dane. (walk into a bar…)
Either the teacher speaks too fast or I listen too slow, as I have a hard time following along. I’m always the one in the class that doesn’t understand (wheres my dunce cap!) I think I might repeat the same class again, as plenty of people do. The German guy has been coming to AUA on and off for twenty years and he’s still on the second class! Still he at least speaks good Thai (and then forgets it again.)
Recently went along to watch the Old Firm game at the Irish Pub, showing in a small corner while the majority of people watched the English FA Cup game. I had some Irish Stew for dinner, not bad. I was the only one that jumped up when Rangers scored, so I guess the other people weren’t Rangers fans. Can only watch some of the early kick off games over here, unless you stay awake for a 03:00am kick off! I’ve got a DVD player in the condo so I joined a rental shop, and got my free gift (free with the 169baht membership) a stylish plastic clock adorned with teddy bears. I rented out The Banquet, another Chinese film. I’ll save you the bother of watching it, everybody dies! Speaking of films, after speaking with Sly I turned down the Rambo part, creative differences you see… (Actually I never heard back from them after applying to be an extra!)
Before all this icky smog arrived I had cycled down to Huay Tong Tao a few times. A pleasant lake area with simple wooden shacks dotted around the perimeter. I was there before 10 a.m. and it is pretty much deserted although I’ve heard it’s a popular picnicking spot with the Thais at the weekend.
I decided to have some toast, which was all going well with the bread, the butter, and the toaster all working nicely, however first thing on my shopping list is a knife…Speaking of food, I met up again with Dieuwke (who I met in India) she was here doing a massage course and we went for food at the huge moo kata restaurant where you cook you own food from the buffet. They were pouring out baskets of mangosteen which were disappearing almost instantly, people taking handfuls at a time. All the food you can eat for 100b not a bad deal as there is a great selection. But very hot there, we drank 4litres of water between us!
Still doing the Thai language class in the afternoon, if I want to get some lunch before I had to leave home around 12:00 and if I return on foot I don’t get back until 16:00, so half the day vanishes, leaving me barely enough time to loll around :) In the class there is quite a mix of people. A 19year old Japanese woman, a 70 year old Japanese man, a Greek Buddhist nun, an American, German and a Dane. (walk into a bar…)
Either the teacher speaks too fast or I listen too slow, as I have a hard time following along. I’m always the one in the class that doesn’t understand (wheres my dunce cap!) I think I might repeat the same class again, as plenty of people do. The German guy has been coming to AUA on and off for twenty years and he’s still on the second class! Still he at least speaks good Thai (and then forgets it again.)
Recently went along to watch the Old Firm game at the Irish Pub, showing in a small corner while the majority of people watched the English FA Cup game. I had some Irish Stew for dinner, not bad. I was the only one that jumped up when Rangers scored, so I guess the other people weren’t Rangers fans. Can only watch some of the early kick off games over here, unless you stay awake for a 03:00am kick off! I’ve got a DVD player in the condo so I joined a rental shop, and got my free gift (free with the 169baht membership) a stylish plastic clock adorned with teddy bears. I rented out The Banquet, another Chinese film. I’ll save you the bother of watching it, everybody dies! Speaking of films, after speaking with Sly I turned down the Rambo part, creative differences you see… (Actually I never heard back from them after applying to be an extra!)
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Back up to Chiang Mai
When I arrived here there were a few days left of the 3 month long Royal Ratchaphreuk flower festival, so I toddled along. That's a whole lot of flowers they've got there, over 2 million apparently, and a large side to walk round. They were selling season tickets with people going half a dozen time to see round all the exhibits. They had gardens from many different countries, imported into the site along with some companys having displays. Then there were lots of other gardens, among which the popular orchid centre. More here for the nosy. In a typical move nobody has planned what to do with the site now that the festival has finished, but a company had been contracted for the next two years for upkeep at the tidy sum of $$$.
Oh yeah, while I remember if anybody has a spare million baht (service not included!) they want to give me, I could go down for a fancy dinner in Bangkok. I have been hunting around for somewhere to stay, traipsing around Chiang Mai looking at condos, seems busy this time of year, but I think I have finally found somewhere to stay. Only problem is it is occupied so have to wait a few weeks to move in. Oh well.
In the meantime I should be studying my Thai as I signed up for the 2nd course at A.U.A. I took the first one last year, and now have realised how little I can remember. Also the book was a lot bigger than I remember now I need to memorise 250 pages in the next week. Could be a tough class!
I went along to the cinema and watched "The Curse of the Golden Flower", an expensive Chinese epic (handily dubbed into Thai!) with subtitles. The verdict? Needs more soldiers :)
Oh yeah! Speaking of movies I applied for a part in Rambo :)
Oh yeah, while I remember if anybody has a spare million baht (service not included!) they want to give me, I could go down for a fancy dinner in Bangkok. I have been hunting around for somewhere to stay, traipsing around Chiang Mai looking at condos, seems busy this time of year, but I think I have finally found somewhere to stay. Only problem is it is occupied so have to wait a few weeks to move in. Oh well.
In the meantime I should be studying my Thai as I signed up for the 2nd course at A.U.A. I took the first one last year, and now have realised how little I can remember. Also the book was a lot bigger than I remember now I need to memorise 250 pages in the next week. Could be a tough class!
I went along to the cinema and watched "The Curse of the Golden Flower", an expensive Chinese epic (handily dubbed into Thai!) with subtitles. The verdict? Needs more soldiers :)
Oh yeah! Speaking of movies I applied for a part in Rambo :)
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Back in Bangkok
So I arrived in Bangkok and decided to stay near the SkyTrain this time, I found a hotel tucked round the corner from the National Stadium. I was somewhat jet-lagged all the time I was here in bed before 10pm every night. But on the plus side I did wake up early, like 4 a.m. hmmm. Anyway I did manage to pop back over to Wat Po, which houses a giant lying down Buddha. Last time I forgot my camera, but this time I got some snaps, kinda of hard to fit it all in the photo though. The grounds around the main Buddha are also nice, the last time I was there they were almost shutting up shop, this time I had a chance to stroll around and look at the other temples. After that I hopped across the Chao Praya river to Wat Arun aka The Temple of Dawn. This old temple if pictured on the 1 baht coins, so almost familiar! Taller than I realised at 67m, but your not allowed to clamber up to the top.
I took the boat down to the central pier and then hopped off at Lumphini Park for a nosy about, but starting to feel tired I head back to the guesthouse, where I zonked out. Another day I had a look round the shopping malls, seems to be loads of giant malls now. I didn't realise some of them were so big. After getting lost in MBK I exited that and skipped (not literally) through Discovery and the Siam Centre to get across to Siam Paragon. This is the posh one were you can buy your Cartier watches etc. I opted to head over to the big IT mall, Pantip Plaza and picked up a cheapo MP3 player for less than 15 quid. Does the job, and as a bonus a pony scrolls across the screen when you switch it off. All the walking made me tired again and my feet felt like pancakes by the time I returned.
Another day I headed over to the nearby Jim Thompson House. This was a group of Thai style houses that had been assembled into a large single house, some linked together with walkways. Some of these were transported from up to 100 miles away and reassembled. It was quite interesting as there was also a tour briefly telling you the history. Jim Thompson seems to be credited with single handled making the Thai Silk industry what it is today. On his return he showed the editor of Vogue the silks used in Asia and the soon became very fashionable and desirable items.
I wandered off down and lane and notice a bridge over the canal, I had previously in Bangkok jumped on one of the small boats from Banglamphu. A bit of a squash, but it looks like that may be a thing of the past. Now large power boats hammer down the canal sloshing the water around the narrow canal in their afterwake, probably enough to sink any small boats!
After a few days in Bangkok it is back up to Chiang Mai again, where I plan to stay for a while.
I took the boat down to the central pier and then hopped off at Lumphini Park for a nosy about, but starting to feel tired I head back to the guesthouse, where I zonked out. Another day I had a look round the shopping malls, seems to be loads of giant malls now. I didn't realise some of them were so big. After getting lost in MBK I exited that and skipped (not literally) through Discovery and the Siam Centre to get across to Siam Paragon. This is the posh one were you can buy your Cartier watches etc. I opted to head over to the big IT mall, Pantip Plaza and picked up a cheapo MP3 player for less than 15 quid. Does the job, and as a bonus a pony scrolls across the screen when you switch it off. All the walking made me tired again and my feet felt like pancakes by the time I returned.
Another day I headed over to the nearby Jim Thompson House. This was a group of Thai style houses that had been assembled into a large single house, some linked together with walkways. Some of these were transported from up to 100 miles away and reassembled. It was quite interesting as there was also a tour briefly telling you the history. Jim Thompson seems to be credited with single handled making the Thai Silk industry what it is today. On his return he showed the editor of Vogue the silks used in Asia and the soon became very fashionable and desirable items.
I wandered off down and lane and notice a bridge over the canal, I had previously in Bangkok jumped on one of the small boats from Banglamphu. A bit of a squash, but it looks like that may be a thing of the past. Now large power boats hammer down the canal sloshing the water around the narrow canal in their afterwake, probably enough to sink any small boats!
After a few days in Bangkok it is back up to Chiang Mai again, where I plan to stay for a while.
Update
Long time, no update!
Well I went back to Scotland for the festive period, a long journey but worth it to see some familiar faces and one new one!
It was cold back in Scotland, neccessitating four layers of clothing before venturing outdoors. Then when Hogmannay rolled around, a stormed kicked up and blew the trains away (well at least enough to cancel them for the evening)
The trouble with not updating blogs often is that you forget everthing that happened, so I'll just leave this entry rather threadbare.
Well I went back to Scotland for the festive period, a long journey but worth it to see some familiar faces and one new one!
It was cold back in Scotland, neccessitating four layers of clothing before venturing outdoors. Then when Hogmannay rolled around, a stormed kicked up and blew the trains away (well at least enough to cancel them for the evening)
The trouble with not updating blogs often is that you forget everthing that happened, so I'll just leave this entry rather threadbare.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Lombok & Back to Bali
After leaving Gili Air it was back to mainland Lombok and I decided to stop off at Sengiggi beach. A small-ish bay on the West coast, one of several judging by the bus journey, each is separated by a high pass up the mountains to the next. Quite a few boats in the harbour, and some yachts drifting further out to sea. I went for a stroll along the waterfront and was ambushed by students practising their English. Armed with notebooks and tape recorders they launched into a quick interview with the usual where do you come from? Still at least quite a few people had at least heard of Scotland. In fact, Highlander seems popular here. One guy asked me if the story was true! Probably thinks we run around lopping off heads in the quest for immortality. Braveheart, bagpipes, whisky and guys in skirts are the other cultural icons sometime known.
Come Saturday night time it was quite lively with a few bands playing in open air pubs. Playing mostly English language songs with the occasional local song thrown into the mix. Mixed in with the ever popular English Premier League kicking off at 10p.m. and the pub was fairly busy. Obviously a lot of Asians watch the footy as Chang and Air-Asia advertise yet only sell in Asia.
The next day I continued down to the capital of Lombok, Mataram. A busy little town I decided to take the local transport back to Bali, as I had mostly been taking tourist buses. Getting from Sengigi to Mataram was fairly easy, changed at one point and was shepherded onto the next bemo by the driver. I had a look at a couple of temples in Mataram but they were far from spectacular. Next I headed along to the Lake Park which was also unimpressive, a muddy square of water. The central point of town seems to be the mall. Feeling in the mood for a burger I headed into McDonalds, where it was crawling with kids having a birthday party. McDonalds seems to have got in on localisation big time. Strange to watch somebody in there eating rice & egg with their fingers.
Leaving Mataram was a bit tougher, I headed down the bemo stops and after agreeing a normal price hopped aboard. The ferry is about 10 miles away, it took over 2 hours to get there! Most of sitting in the bemo, waiting for other passengers. Now and again he would drive up and down the road, trying to get more people before returning to the start and switching off the engine. I slipped my hat over my face and tried to go to sleep, but it was too hot inside. Eventually he crammed enough people in so we left, to pick up more people by the roadside. Anyway I got to the ferry 30 mins before it left, I though I would of got the previous ferry 90 minutes before but never mind. As soon as you reach the entrance of the terminal people are coming up trying to sell you tickets. I just ignored them (like the Police!) and walked up to the counter. People who sell the real tickets sit behind desks and wait for customers, not run about chasing people! Onto the ferry and yet more people selling everything and anything. Food, water, tshirts etc. Then 2 minutes before the boat leaves they all dash off. Obviously they don’t get their tickets checked at the entrance, must sneak past the security guard in the morning, or pay him. Anyway it was back to Padang Bai, I was going to push on to Kuta that evening but I couldn’t be bothered, so I spent another night in Padang Bai. The next day I went to get the bus, but a local festival was beginning so no buses for two days, hmmm. After a walk around the ferry area, I quickly arranged for a chartered car, only 5000 more than the bus. Sharing with one other person who was going to the airport. Picked up another couple of people and then it was back to Kuta. Except the driver dropped us off somewhere else, and we swapped to a bus. No extra money said the driver and then headed off. And then more waiting…
Finally got back to Kuta. Just as well the woman who charted the car wasn’t in a hurry to get to the airport! A few more days in Kuta before my flight back to Kuala Lumpur. I had timed it for 30 days in Indonesia, more than that and you need to apply for a visa beforehand, at least that seemed to be the rules, although when I flew in to Bali the customs guy asked me if I wanted 60 days, you just pay double. I had some more strolling around here, getting to know the area a bit better. In the South, you have Tuban and then heading North you get to Kuta beach proper and Legian, and if you continue you get to Seminyak, which is the super posh area. One of the road is simply a line of restaurants up here. Another houses a couple of art galleries for those wanting to purchase some original pieces. A far cry from the cheep and cheerful stalls in Kuta. One night I went out, popping into the bar for a happy hour drink. All was quiet until around 30 Norwegians descended, they had spent a couple of months here for school and had just finished there last exams, so they were in high spirits. Somewhere along the line I ended up drinking whisky with a bunch of locals, before heading onto Joe’s Place as one of the locals played there on Tuesday, not that it was a Tuesday or even open, but I met up with a couple of people I had seen the first time I was in Kuta. So I had a few more drinks before staggering home. Didn’t do much the next day, except stay clear of alcohol.
Food! A couple of Indonesian dishes that I’ve liked here are Gado Gado, a healthy mix of crispy vegetables and Nasi Campur a mix of vegetables and rice, maybe some sate if your lucky. These are very open to interpretation and so finding a good restaurant is needed. The same dish can be totally different from one place to another. I had Nasi Campur in Bedegul and it was a pale imitation of the meal I had in Kuta. The added sate with the dish was lovely. Not too spicy, either.
Come Saturday night time it was quite lively with a few bands playing in open air pubs. Playing mostly English language songs with the occasional local song thrown into the mix. Mixed in with the ever popular English Premier League kicking off at 10p.m. and the pub was fairly busy. Obviously a lot of Asians watch the footy as Chang and Air-Asia advertise yet only sell in Asia.
The next day I continued down to the capital of Lombok, Mataram. A busy little town I decided to take the local transport back to Bali, as I had mostly been taking tourist buses. Getting from Sengigi to Mataram was fairly easy, changed at one point and was shepherded onto the next bemo by the driver. I had a look at a couple of temples in Mataram but they were far from spectacular. Next I headed along to the Lake Park which was also unimpressive, a muddy square of water. The central point of town seems to be the mall. Feeling in the mood for a burger I headed into McDonalds, where it was crawling with kids having a birthday party. McDonalds seems to have got in on localisation big time. Strange to watch somebody in there eating rice & egg with their fingers.
Leaving Mataram was a bit tougher, I headed down the bemo stops and after agreeing a normal price hopped aboard. The ferry is about 10 miles away, it took over 2 hours to get there! Most of sitting in the bemo, waiting for other passengers. Now and again he would drive up and down the road, trying to get more people before returning to the start and switching off the engine. I slipped my hat over my face and tried to go to sleep, but it was too hot inside. Eventually he crammed enough people in so we left, to pick up more people by the roadside. Anyway I got to the ferry 30 mins before it left, I though I would of got the previous ferry 90 minutes before but never mind. As soon as you reach the entrance of the terminal people are coming up trying to sell you tickets. I just ignored them (like the Police!) and walked up to the counter. People who sell the real tickets sit behind desks and wait for customers, not run about chasing people! Onto the ferry and yet more people selling everything and anything. Food, water, tshirts etc. Then 2 minutes before the boat leaves they all dash off. Obviously they don’t get their tickets checked at the entrance, must sneak past the security guard in the morning, or pay him. Anyway it was back to Padang Bai, I was going to push on to Kuta that evening but I couldn’t be bothered, so I spent another night in Padang Bai. The next day I went to get the bus, but a local festival was beginning so no buses for two days, hmmm. After a walk around the ferry area, I quickly arranged for a chartered car, only 5000 more than the bus. Sharing with one other person who was going to the airport. Picked up another couple of people and then it was back to Kuta. Except the driver dropped us off somewhere else, and we swapped to a bus. No extra money said the driver and then headed off. And then more waiting…
Finally got back to Kuta. Just as well the woman who charted the car wasn’t in a hurry to get to the airport! A few more days in Kuta before my flight back to Kuala Lumpur. I had timed it for 30 days in Indonesia, more than that and you need to apply for a visa beforehand, at least that seemed to be the rules, although when I flew in to Bali the customs guy asked me if I wanted 60 days, you just pay double. I had some more strolling around here, getting to know the area a bit better. In the South, you have Tuban and then heading North you get to Kuta beach proper and Legian, and if you continue you get to Seminyak, which is the super posh area. One of the road is simply a line of restaurants up here. Another houses a couple of art galleries for those wanting to purchase some original pieces. A far cry from the cheep and cheerful stalls in Kuta. One night I went out, popping into the bar for a happy hour drink. All was quiet until around 30 Norwegians descended, they had spent a couple of months here for school and had just finished there last exams, so they were in high spirits. Somewhere along the line I ended up drinking whisky with a bunch of locals, before heading onto Joe’s Place as one of the locals played there on Tuesday, not that it was a Tuesday or even open, but I met up with a couple of people I had seen the first time I was in Kuta. So I had a few more drinks before staggering home. Didn’t do much the next day, except stay clear of alcohol.
Food! A couple of Indonesian dishes that I’ve liked here are Gado Gado, a healthy mix of crispy vegetables and Nasi Campur a mix of vegetables and rice, maybe some sate if your lucky. These are very open to interpretation and so finding a good restaurant is needed. The same dish can be totally different from one place to another. I had Nasi Campur in Bedegul and it was a pale imitation of the meal I had in Kuta. The added sate with the dish was lovely. Not too spicy, either.
Gili Air
Leaving Padang Bai, we got the large ferry over to Lombok, taking around 4 hours. Then a bus up to the North arrived at Bangsal, where we got the public ferry over to Gili Air. The ferry being a long narrow boat capable of carrying about 20 people. No pier in at either end so you have to take off your shoes and clamber through the water onto the boat type while not dropping your bag in the water. Finally arriving at Gili Air we found some nice bungalows which had just been built by the French owner. Very nice and quiet place. Unusually quiet as the only means of transport around the island is horse and cart, no cars, no motorbikes here. The island is small enough to get around, a walk around the perimeter takes little over an hour. There is a small permanent local population of only 700 people living here, so when somebody says then know everybody they are not exaggerating.
Small restaurants dot the Eastern coast of the island. Most are simple places with small platforms with cushion for lounging on. Service is best described as “relaxed”. Most have a selection of fresh fish on display waiting to be grilled for hungry diners. If you look closley you can see that the fish have been caught by traditional spear fishing during the day.
A nice relaxing place for a few days. I often snorkled in the mornings, you could simply wade out to the coral from the beach. After talking to the guy renting the equipment he pointed me to a different site slightly further North up the coast. It was harder to get there as you either have to step on the dead coral shrapnel with your bare feet or stagger around with your flippers on. He saw me flapping around and then came out and showed my it is often easier to walk backwards with the flippers. Once there is enough water you can swim out further. He pointed out some different things, that I had noticed before most notable the clams. Swimming down to their mouths they would quickly closes up. Many different colors also. Another trick is spitting in your mask which makes it much easier to see and visibility is great here. A gentle current pushing you South along the coast so you don’t have to do much swimming. At one stage a huge dropoff occurs into the ocean, seems to me like standing at the edge of a cliff on a windy day! At the edges of the visibility some large fish swim in these deeper waters. During my time here I saw baracuda, angle fish, knife fish, clams, blue starfish, clown fish, mudskippers as well as countless unknown fish. Also got stung by some some small jellyfish, bit like a mosquito bite. Didn’t really notice until out of the water, but there are not posionous here so not a big deal.
In the afternoon, a spot of lunch at one of the beachside cafes and then spread out in the well balanced hamock on the veranda of the cottage and read my book. Maybe stop for a cool mango lassie, or drink a coconut. The days seem to drift by easily in places like this. Aah, life is tough :)
Small restaurants dot the Eastern coast of the island. Most are simple places with small platforms with cushion for lounging on. Service is best described as “relaxed”. Most have a selection of fresh fish on display waiting to be grilled for hungry diners. If you look closley you can see that the fish have been caught by traditional spear fishing during the day.
A nice relaxing place for a few days. I often snorkled in the mornings, you could simply wade out to the coral from the beach. After talking to the guy renting the equipment he pointed me to a different site slightly further North up the coast. It was harder to get there as you either have to step on the dead coral shrapnel with your bare feet or stagger around with your flippers on. He saw me flapping around and then came out and showed my it is often easier to walk backwards with the flippers. Once there is enough water you can swim out further. He pointed out some different things, that I had noticed before most notable the clams. Swimming down to their mouths they would quickly closes up. Many different colors also. Another trick is spitting in your mask which makes it much easier to see and visibility is great here. A gentle current pushing you South along the coast so you don’t have to do much swimming. At one stage a huge dropoff occurs into the ocean, seems to me like standing at the edge of a cliff on a windy day! At the edges of the visibility some large fish swim in these deeper waters. During my time here I saw baracuda, angle fish, knife fish, clams, blue starfish, clown fish, mudskippers as well as countless unknown fish. Also got stung by some some small jellyfish, bit like a mosquito bite. Didn’t really notice until out of the water, but there are not posionous here so not a big deal.
In the afternoon, a spot of lunch at one of the beachside cafes and then spread out in the well balanced hamock on the veranda of the cottage and read my book. Maybe stop for a cool mango lassie, or drink a coconut. The days seem to drift by easily in places like this. Aah, life is tough :)
Monday, December 04, 2006
Lovina
Continuing North I reached the coast again at the beach town of Lovina. A lot smaller than Kuta, it can easily be walked around. Consisting of lots of restuarants a few pubs, and a stretch of sand. Although the sand isn't as nice here, bit darker but okay. I rented a bike and cycled over to Sringraja the state capital. Much busier here lots of traffic when I joined up with the main road. I had taken the back roads to get there, which was hillier but quiter. I stopped off for a look around some statues. I think it was of the locals trying to repel the Dutch, not a great idea when you have a spear and they have a gun. A bit of Nasi Goreng for lunch, I dropped in at one of the small restaurants that line the road. I doubt they get many foreigners, but friendly enough and tasty food.
I came back to Lovina and then jumped back on the bike for an hour before sunset. I headed out the other direction and ended up cycling through a small village. Trundling along the dirt path between the coconut trees, trying to avoid angry dogs. See a few people who look suprised to see me.
Back into town and I had a look round the pubs, a couple of bands were playing. The first band wasn't that good, so I had a look elsewhere. The unmistakable riff of Smoke on the Water came thundering through the air, so I went in there. And for the rest of the night they played reggae, sheesh!
After Lovina I headed to the East Coast, the town of Padang Bai. A couple of Dutch people were travelling down there also. We had arranged it through the hotel for the bus to take us, but as there was only three people we ended up in a battered old jeep. It was a nice road winding along the coast for sections, before heading inland past the large volcano and on through the stepped land of the rice paddies, before emerging back beside the coast. I had a seat up front, so had a good view of the trip. Once in Padang Bai, I spent a couple of days there. The next day I headed over to Candid Dasa, a short bemo ride away. More of an upmarket resort area, with pricier restaurants. Not much beach here. The Lonely Planet says the barrier reefs were harvested in the 80's to provide lime for the concrete mix needed for the big new resorts. However without the barriers, erosion rapidly destroyed the coast. Within a few years, Candid Dasa was a beach resort with no beach. Some concrete barriers have been added to try and cope, but the damage had been done.
Back at Padang Bai, I had a beer with Paula and Frank. We were all going to the same place tomorrow. The Gili Islands.
I came back to Lovina and then jumped back on the bike for an hour before sunset. I headed out the other direction and ended up cycling through a small village. Trundling along the dirt path between the coconut trees, trying to avoid angry dogs. See a few people who look suprised to see me.
Back into town and I had a look round the pubs, a couple of bands were playing. The first band wasn't that good, so I had a look elsewhere. The unmistakable riff of Smoke on the Water came thundering through the air, so I went in there. And for the rest of the night they played reggae, sheesh!
After Lovina I headed to the East Coast, the town of Padang Bai. A couple of Dutch people were travelling down there also. We had arranged it through the hotel for the bus to take us, but as there was only three people we ended up in a battered old jeep. It was a nice road winding along the coast for sections, before heading inland past the large volcano and on through the stepped land of the rice paddies, before emerging back beside the coast. I had a seat up front, so had a good view of the trip. Once in Padang Bai, I spent a couple of days there. The next day I headed over to Candid Dasa, a short bemo ride away. More of an upmarket resort area, with pricier restaurants. Not much beach here. The Lonely Planet says the barrier reefs were harvested in the 80's to provide lime for the concrete mix needed for the big new resorts. However without the barriers, erosion rapidly destroyed the coast. Within a few years, Candid Dasa was a beach resort with no beach. Some concrete barriers have been added to try and cope, but the damage had been done.
Back at Padang Bai, I had a beer with Paula and Frank. We were all going to the same place tomorrow. The Gili Islands.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Bedegul
After Ubud I continued North to Bedegul a small village which the bus pass through on the way to the North coast. I decided to spend a couple of nights, arriving around lunchtime on the first day I got of the bus at Strawberry Hill which looked like a nice guesthouse perched on the hills with extensive views across Bali. Only one problem, it was closed for renovation. Oh well, setting out on the road, about 1km with the backpack into town proper up and over the peak of the hill. Arriving sweatily into the main area I had another couple of choices and so settled in to have a look about. A couple of kilometres away lies Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, a Hindu Buddhist temple built on the edge of the lake. I jokingly crouched down and asked for “Anak” (Child) at the ticket office and the guy smiled and let me in for half-price. Though I noticed I didn’t actually get a ticket and the money went straight in his pocket, still they would be closing soon. The temple itself has a couple of small buildings with Buddhist style layered roof stacked on top of one another. Always an odd number of levels. In the pleasant gardens surronding the temple I came across a strange statue of a pig looking a bit out of place.
The next day the plan was to rise early and have a go at climbing the mountain beside the lake, but… Well I never was a morning person but I set out after breakfast (Yes, before lunch!) After skirting round the lakeside I passed the caves as mentioned in the guidebook and then that’s where problems started. The trail got fainter and fainter, merging into the beach, and then the beach merged into the forest, and soon there was nowhere left to go. I retraced my steps but couldn’t find a clear trail. Oh well I gave up, and never even got above lake-level! A guide has offered his services the day before but he wanted $30. Maybe it is a bring-your-own-machette-to-hack-your-way-through-the-jungle trek, rather than a clear path up that I anticipated. So I fell back on a hastily created plan B, I would take a bemo over to the next town and have a look about there. After a while I was bouncing along to Pancasari. However, it turned out to a tiny place no bigger than the village I was staying. There was a rather dirty looking market, a school and the bus stop. As well as a few houses and the omnipresent mobile phone shop. So I just strolled back into town, stopping off for a tasty strawberry milkshake as the area is the strawberry capital of Bali.
Off for some dinner in a an empty restaurant. I opted for some fish from the freshwater lake, ended up with a plate of gourami. These places here cater for the day trade, where people pass by on their way to somehwere else. Maybe a bus will stop and everybody will wolf down lunch before hopping back on the bus and zooming off. Rather strange when everybody else leaves making it feel a bit of a ghost town. Sitting at table for 12 people, and I seemed to be the only tourist in town. Still at least there was a bar tucked away in the corner of the market, but this caters only for lunchtime drinkers, as it was shut before sunset, not much of pub with hours like that! A quiet night then and then next day it was North again to the coastal town of Lovina.
The next day the plan was to rise early and have a go at climbing the mountain beside the lake, but… Well I never was a morning person but I set out after breakfast (Yes, before lunch!) After skirting round the lakeside I passed the caves as mentioned in the guidebook and then that’s where problems started. The trail got fainter and fainter, merging into the beach, and then the beach merged into the forest, and soon there was nowhere left to go. I retraced my steps but couldn’t find a clear trail. Oh well I gave up, and never even got above lake-level! A guide has offered his services the day before but he wanted $30. Maybe it is a bring-your-own-machette-to-hack-your-way-through-the-jungle trek, rather than a clear path up that I anticipated. So I fell back on a hastily created plan B, I would take a bemo over to the next town and have a look about there. After a while I was bouncing along to Pancasari. However, it turned out to a tiny place no bigger than the village I was staying. There was a rather dirty looking market, a school and the bus stop. As well as a few houses and the omnipresent mobile phone shop. So I just strolled back into town, stopping off for a tasty strawberry milkshake as the area is the strawberry capital of Bali.
Off for some dinner in a an empty restaurant. I opted for some fish from the freshwater lake, ended up with a plate of gourami. These places here cater for the day trade, where people pass by on their way to somehwere else. Maybe a bus will stop and everybody will wolf down lunch before hopping back on the bus and zooming off. Rather strange when everybody else leaves making it feel a bit of a ghost town. Sitting at table for 12 people, and I seemed to be the only tourist in town. Still at least there was a bar tucked away in the corner of the market, but this caters only for lunchtime drinkers, as it was shut before sunset, not much of pub with hours like that! A quiet night then and then next day it was North again to the coastal town of Lovina.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Ubud
Arriving at Ubud I was met by some people touting business as I hadn’t planned anywhere to stay, I went along with one guy who had a homestay. Ubud is like a conglomeration of seven small villages. Still a small fairly quiet place, especially after Kuta. I headed down to Monkey Forest for a stroll along past the snatching monkeys. Somebody had their bottle of water nicked. Some people were feeding them bananas, which were quickly munched down. Some just look kinda bored. Among the shaded trees is a large real-size sculpture of two komodo dragons, you wouldn’t want to meet the real thing on a dark night, they are huge! One of the locals was telling me they have a poisonous bite, if bitten you have ten minutes to live! Not sure where legend meets fact here.
The owner of the guesthouse was one of the singers of the Kecak dance at night which I went along to see. Set in a small temple it plays out a story from the Mahabharata. Lots of singing and some dancing, some strange costumes, more chanting. A bad guy appeared looking strangely like the Grinch. Then after the story, a man did some firewalking, well sort of. More like kicking the fire apart! The fire was started with some coconut husks liberally doused in petrol and left to burn down. Then the guy came out riding a wooden horse, like a witch rides a broom. Strangely reminiscent of the Muslim ceremony I saw in Singapore, except this was Hindu. Seems to be in a trance, as at the end a couple of people rugby tackled him off the horse, and he flopped down on the ground sweating.
The next day I took a long walk between some of the villages in the outskirts of Ubud. Very nice scenery of green forest and lush paddy fields, terraced over the hills. I reached a small temple where a carved wall depicts Ganesh and some of his mates. An old lady quickly flicked water on me and then hand out for the 1000 rupiah for the blessing. Huh, what? Oh well I gave her the money and she let me take some photos and then she was all smiles. I clambered out the end of the temple and along a small stream and emerged in a rice terrace, I ascended up the ridges and then I came back to the road. Not quite the way I planned to continue but at least I was back on track for my next stop Elephant Cave. Not much of a cave, it must have been a fairly small elephant as the cave wasn’t that big! I had a chat with one of the people in the temple, she was learning Japanese so she could be a tour guide, and of course English too. Back on the road I nipped into a small museum where the curator/security guard showed me round as I was the only visitor. Of course a small donation was required at the end! But no entrance fee, so I just gave him a little and he seemed happy enough. Not that much to see here, a few archeological exhibits with some sarcophagus for the formerly important people.
Another day and it was off for nosy round the new botanical gardens. After a long walk I eventually reached it, seemed a lot further than the <2 km I had read. Anyway I went to the ticket office and it said it seemed expensive at 50,000 and instantly I got special price, out with the 40% discount stamp. Prices do seem very variable here, although sometime they have a take it or leave attitude, other times they are happy to barter. Like the geezers on the beach selling necklaces, pendants, watches, etc have their “sunset price” for the end of the day! Anyway I had a stroll round the gardens which were nicely set out although the tropical section had been closed due to flooding. Spotted a strange long-toed lizard with a yellow flash along the side. Eventually I managed to get my photo of it, before it disappeared into the undergrowth. After strolling around the gardens I again set out on foot up past a small village and round to the place where the herons sleep. I asked somebody at the gardens about it and they didn’t think there was that many birds, but they were wrong, hundreds if not thousands crowded the trees. Very distinctive with there white body and red spiky feathered head, like Punk birds with red mohicans!
Back into town, and after working up a thirst birdwatching it seemed like a good chance to try the Bali Hai beer. A bit on the smooth frothy side, I’ll stick to the Bintang which is crisper, yes I’m a lager connoisseur!
The owner of the guesthouse was one of the singers of the Kecak dance at night which I went along to see. Set in a small temple it plays out a story from the Mahabharata. Lots of singing and some dancing, some strange costumes, more chanting. A bad guy appeared looking strangely like the Grinch. Then after the story, a man did some firewalking, well sort of. More like kicking the fire apart! The fire was started with some coconut husks liberally doused in petrol and left to burn down. Then the guy came out riding a wooden horse, like a witch rides a broom. Strangely reminiscent of the Muslim ceremony I saw in Singapore, except this was Hindu. Seems to be in a trance, as at the end a couple of people rugby tackled him off the horse, and he flopped down on the ground sweating.
The next day I took a long walk between some of the villages in the outskirts of Ubud. Very nice scenery of green forest and lush paddy fields, terraced over the hills. I reached a small temple where a carved wall depicts Ganesh and some of his mates. An old lady quickly flicked water on me and then hand out for the 1000 rupiah for the blessing. Huh, what? Oh well I gave her the money and she let me take some photos and then she was all smiles. I clambered out the end of the temple and along a small stream and emerged in a rice terrace, I ascended up the ridges and then I came back to the road. Not quite the way I planned to continue but at least I was back on track for my next stop Elephant Cave. Not much of a cave, it must have been a fairly small elephant as the cave wasn’t that big! I had a chat with one of the people in the temple, she was learning Japanese so she could be a tour guide, and of course English too. Back on the road I nipped into a small museum where the curator/security guard showed me round as I was the only visitor. Of course a small donation was required at the end! But no entrance fee, so I just gave him a little and he seemed happy enough. Not that much to see here, a few archeological exhibits with some sarcophagus for the formerly important people.
Another day and it was off for nosy round the new botanical gardens. After a long walk I eventually reached it, seemed a lot further than the <2 km I had read. Anyway I went to the ticket office and it said it seemed expensive at 50,000 and instantly I got special price, out with the 40% discount stamp. Prices do seem very variable here, although sometime they have a take it or leave attitude, other times they are happy to barter. Like the geezers on the beach selling necklaces, pendants, watches, etc have their “sunset price” for the end of the day! Anyway I had a stroll round the gardens which were nicely set out although the tropical section had been closed due to flooding. Spotted a strange long-toed lizard with a yellow flash along the side. Eventually I managed to get my photo of it, before it disappeared into the undergrowth. After strolling around the gardens I again set out on foot up past a small village and round to the place where the herons sleep. I asked somebody at the gardens about it and they didn’t think there was that many birds, but they were wrong, hundreds if not thousands crowded the trees. Very distinctive with there white body and red spiky feathered head, like Punk birds with red mohicans!
Back into town, and after working up a thirst birdwatching it seemed like a good chance to try the Bali Hai beer. A bit on the smooth frothy side, I’ll stick to the Bintang which is crisper, yes I’m a lager connoisseur!
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Bali
And so it was off across the Equator for the first time, no doubt I’m supposed to be tarred and feathered and hung overboard for Trident to devour should he wish, but I skipped this ritual by taking the plane. Arriving at Bali, Kuta is just a short taxi ride away. I got dropped off at the edge of Poppies 1, the small narrow lanes here are known as gangs. They are a bit small for cars to pass along mostly, although plenty do try. I navigated my way sucessfully to my guesthouse of choice (The Oberoi was full!), a minor miracle that I didn’t get lost. That however was not to last long, on the next days exploration I was lost quite a few times. Around here there are lots of small restaurants known as warungs, lots of tourists shops selling the usual clatter and lots of guesthouses. If you head the right way you will pop out at Kuta beach, a long curve of decent sands, with decent waves. Of course Bali is surfing land, people traipsing about with their boards talking about “barreling through tubes”, yeah like totally dude!
As you walk around Bali you will get assailed with cries of “Transport!”, guys with motorbikes or taxis looking to take you for a ride. If you don’t get used to ignoring them then half the your trip will be spent saying “No Thanks”. Although Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim country, Bali itself is actually Hindu. Or a slight variation on traditonal Hinduism as they are allowed to eat beef. Good for steaks, bad for cows. Dotted around the ground all over Bali are offerings to the various Gods. These are small squares of banana leaf, colourfully filled with flowers, paper, maybe some fruit or rice and generally topped off with a Ritz biscuit! Back down on the beach a bit further north of Kuta at Seminyak, I encountered a ceremony, where people were decked in fancy clothes and had large parasols. I didn’t really know what was going on looked like some sort of ritual. They threw some food and a bird into the waves, and then turned around and left. The bird got thrown about a bit in the waves, but eventually made it back to calmer waters, looking somewhat worse for wear. One guy plucked it up from the waves and placed it on dry land, but it just keeled over backwards. Nobody else seemed interested in the fate of the bird, so it must of served its purpose.
As th suns drops down out the sky, Kuta beach has the perfect view for sunsets. The surfers are still out there, not much daylight left. A few locals have grouped together for an energitic game of volleyball. Further south, the beach is lined with makeshift football fields as the guys scamper around in the sand chasing a round ball of air. No jumpers for goalposts here, a couple of sticks or two mounds of wet sand will do.
I had chatted to a couple of people at lunchtime, a Swiss woman and her Balinese boyfriend who owns a bar, so I met back up at nightime. There was a small band playing some live music, who were pretty good. A few more people turned up and we headed out to some of the clubs. No cover charge here so people straggle from one club to another until one of the clubs gets busy. Anyway by the time I made it back I was near enough supposed to be getting up for my bus to Ubud the next day. Suffice to say I slept in a bit, still it was a good night and I managed to get the ticket changed so the day after I did head off to Ubud.
As you walk around Bali you will get assailed with cries of “Transport!”, guys with motorbikes or taxis looking to take you for a ride. If you don’t get used to ignoring them then half the your trip will be spent saying “No Thanks”. Although Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim country, Bali itself is actually Hindu. Or a slight variation on traditonal Hinduism as they are allowed to eat beef. Good for steaks, bad for cows. Dotted around the ground all over Bali are offerings to the various Gods. These are small squares of banana leaf, colourfully filled with flowers, paper, maybe some fruit or rice and generally topped off with a Ritz biscuit! Back down on the beach a bit further north of Kuta at Seminyak, I encountered a ceremony, where people were decked in fancy clothes and had large parasols. I didn’t really know what was going on looked like some sort of ritual. They threw some food and a bird into the waves, and then turned around and left. The bird got thrown about a bit in the waves, but eventually made it back to calmer waters, looking somewhat worse for wear. One guy plucked it up from the waves and placed it on dry land, but it just keeled over backwards. Nobody else seemed interested in the fate of the bird, so it must of served its purpose.
As th suns drops down out the sky, Kuta beach has the perfect view for sunsets. The surfers are still out there, not much daylight left. A few locals have grouped together for an energitic game of volleyball. Further south, the beach is lined with makeshift football fields as the guys scamper around in the sand chasing a round ball of air. No jumpers for goalposts here, a couple of sticks or two mounds of wet sand will do.
I had chatted to a couple of people at lunchtime, a Swiss woman and her Balinese boyfriend who owns a bar, so I met back up at nightime. There was a small band playing some live music, who were pretty good. A few more people turned up and we headed out to some of the clubs. No cover charge here so people straggle from one club to another until one of the clubs gets busy. Anyway by the time I made it back I was near enough supposed to be getting up for my bus to Ubud the next day. Suffice to say I slept in a bit, still it was a good night and I managed to get the ticket changed so the day after I did head off to Ubud.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Wandering Around....
After Hangzhou I got a cheap flight down to Guangzhou staying again on Shaiman Island. It is so much easier finding your guesthouse when you’ve been there before! And now just a few short months later they had built a handy bridge over the highway. A few nice restaurants dot the island, perfect place for a slow lunch. Next a short train journey brought me back to Hong Kong again staying in the same place, the somewhat crumbling and optimistically named Mirador Mansions. From the outside of the building the surface is pitted with air-conditioning units, cheerily dripping water on unsuspecting pedestrians far below. A huge mixing pot of cultures is in evidence just by the way people dress. From saris to burkhas to suits and back, you’ll see it here.
I took a stroll around snapping pictures, coming across some sort of demonstration that had brought out the local TV crew. Although I doubt it was adhoc as small area was tagged as the demonstration area. The only other bit of English writing said “Legislation Now!”, so I’ve no idea what it was about. The Hong Kong media must be a lot freer than the mainland Chinese media. Down at the ferry there is people handing out leaflets about how practioners of a religious group, Falun Gong, are persecuted. According to them prisoners are being used as organ donors. Hospitals will arrange for liver transplants from freshly executed prisoners. More .here.
Onto Macau, which has a couple of fancy new expensive casinos added since last time I was here! Reports indicate it is expected to overtake the Las Vegas strip profit, and become the world’s premiere gambling spot. Did I mention the new six star hotel, they were fully booked so I had to stay elsewhere :) Oh yeah, one of the casinos is underwater…. strange place Macau. I opted for a rather delicious dinner in a nearby restaurant of which Macau has many. It was from here I flew over to Bangkok and into the fancy new airport. For some reason the Air Asia flight were already flying into Suavbhumi airport a day before the official opening. As they were only a handful of flights it was very quiet, allowing me to change my money and get onward transport without too much a headache.
A short stay in Bangkok, the most memorable event being sipping a beer on the 83rd floor of the Baiyoke Tower. Interesting to try and work out the layout of a big city from up in the sky. Back down on ground level a stroll around Khao San road is always interesting the ideal people watching road! Dotted around are people getting their hair braided, just browsing through the stalls, or sitting in a roadside café watching people watching the people go by. Good place to pick up some new books as well, I offloaded my LP China and bought a couple of novels. Food ranges from simple food on a skewer to the ubiquitous rice with something/anything dishes. I spotted a “British Café” which had fish and chips, but it didn’t really taste like home, where’s the grease??
I had to decide to nip back to Chiang Mai and pop into the dentist as they had advised that I need a filling, but I was flying to China the next day. I had one look at the dentists in China and decided it could wait. They are like barbershops where you are sat in a chair beside the window and then your teeth are all pulled out because of a verbal misunderstanding. At least that’s what I imagine would happen. I did go into one place but stumped them by asking if anyone speaks English.
So back in Chiang Mai but the next free time is not for ten days, and so off again. This time a winding bus ride through the hills to the valley hangout of Pai. A cluster of guesthouse, cafes and bars set pretty much in the middle of nowhere. A few long timers hiding out here, not surprising as you can get a house in beautiful surroundings for 4000baht/month. T-Shirt vendors sell shirts proclaiming “I did nothing in Pai” and yes it is a relaxing place, kick back read a book, listen to some music at night.
Quite lively on Friday with a few band playing on a stage in the main street. Some “imaginative” ska dancing was seen. Winner of the best dancer goes to the guy with the mullet, as he was also making the singer laugh when burning down the dancefloor. In contrast Saturday seemed dead, didn’t seem to be anything happening, maybe it was too early in the night, maybe it was Sunday? Easy place to lose track of the days! Anyway I decided to rent a bike and the weather gods decided to throw a bucket of rain on my head. I pushed on to Pai Canyon regardless. A curious natural phenomenon where a tiny ridge pathway is left while the surrounding ground has been eroded into a sheer drop. Only about 1/2m wide at some points, you should watch your balance if you don’t want to die! After surviving that I jumped back on the bike and past a World War II bridge built here. The idea being to push Japanese troops up from Bangkok to Burma. Over the river I looked about for a place to get a drink. I asked a Thai restaurant having a somewhat confused conversation. I thought they had coffee, but they were saying there is a café around the corner. I found this Café Del Doi, nice views over the Pai River here. After a refreshing grape juice back on the bike and past a handful of elephant camps, and just beating more rain to head back into Pai town proper.
I jumped on the bus onwards to Mae Hong Son, a small town of only 7000 people, but curiously enough with its one airport. A fact very apparent when I headed up to the temple on the hill and had a look out over the town. The airport runway strip appears slap bang in the middle of town! Trekking is probably the most popular activity out this way, but I just bought new shoes and have blisters breaking them in. Cue “Aaaaaw” from the audience. I thought I might take a bus or songthaew out to Fish Cave to have a look around, but after talking to the guesthouse staff it seemed that was ruled out. I would be able to get there, I just wouldn’t get any transport back! Oh well, at least I was given a free bottle of Lychee Wine, which taste as good as you would imagine. Some more live music here, although more traditional Thai music than most in Pai. There is a carnival in town at the moment bringing all the excitement with it. The most popular thing has to be bingo, closely followed by a game of pop the balloons with the darts and win a cuddly toy. Although it was mostly traditional music, it did lapse into reggae for a few songs, which was a bit unexpected. Shabba!
Heading back to the dentist in Chiang Mai, I broke the journey with another couple of days at Pai again. On the bus I met a young English bloke, Rob, who had been teaching English in a Karen village. The Karen are one of the best known hill tribe as some of the tribes wear the golden neck bracelets which depresses the collar bone giving the appearance of a long neck, hence the long-neck Karen tours. Although where Rob was teaching they didn’t have this practice. Having been on in the sticks for a couple of months, he was salvating at the wide choice of Western food in Pai. I think he lived of fish for two months. After a satisfying dinner, I had the exotic pork chops, we headed out to the edge of town to a bar called BeBop. But as there was a power cut nothing was happening, no music. Still at least you could see the Milky Way!
After the dentist in Chiang Mai I flew down to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. I organised my plans for the rest of the year. One of the goods things about KL is the food and the fact I can read the menu (mostly)! Lots of Malaysian/Indian food is available for reasonable prices. Although I couldn’t find a thali, I settled for a Nasi Daging (spicy beef with rice) with a dosa (big crepe with a couple of dipping sauces). A simple breakfast if Roti Canai, flatbread with sauce and Milo Ais (Iced Chocolate Milkshake) Of course I had to have Ayam Goreng (Fried Chicken) always seems delicious in Malaysia. Another tasty dish was Ikan Bakar (Grilled Fish), stringray cooked on a hotplate. The fish was slitted and covered in salt, and then the sauce was rubbed in before being cooked on a hotplate with oil. Also very tasty, although the sidedish of sauce was too spicy for me. A stroll around, refreshed the memories, although I still got lost. Mostly in Times Square, a massive 10-13 level shopping mall, with 5 basements judging from the lift buttons (could be the carpark?) Next stop was a bus journey back up to the Spice Island, Penang. Well except all the buses were full, so I jumped on a bus heading North to the Cameron Highlands for a quick look about. Nice enough place, but probably better to stay outside the town in the natural surroundings, but that would entail an expensive resort! I took a stroll through the woods on a trail, heading up to the top of the hill and rising above was the watchtower. Good views from the top across the rolling hills, in the distance some rain coming in, back to the hotel! Next day I got the slow bus to Penang, going along down these winding roads takes hours
I took a stroll around snapping pictures, coming across some sort of demonstration that had brought out the local TV crew. Although I doubt it was adhoc as small area was tagged as the demonstration area. The only other bit of English writing said “Legislation Now!”, so I’ve no idea what it was about. The Hong Kong media must be a lot freer than the mainland Chinese media. Down at the ferry there is people handing out leaflets about how practioners of a religious group, Falun Gong, are persecuted. According to them prisoners are being used as organ donors. Hospitals will arrange for liver transplants from freshly executed prisoners. More .here.
Onto Macau, which has a couple of fancy new expensive casinos added since last time I was here! Reports indicate it is expected to overtake the Las Vegas strip profit, and become the world’s premiere gambling spot. Did I mention the new six star hotel, they were fully booked so I had to stay elsewhere :) Oh yeah, one of the casinos is underwater…. strange place Macau. I opted for a rather delicious dinner in a nearby restaurant of which Macau has many. It was from here I flew over to Bangkok and into the fancy new airport. For some reason the Air Asia flight were already flying into Suavbhumi airport a day before the official opening. As they were only a handful of flights it was very quiet, allowing me to change my money and get onward transport without too much a headache.
A short stay in Bangkok, the most memorable event being sipping a beer on the 83rd floor of the Baiyoke Tower. Interesting to try and work out the layout of a big city from up in the sky. Back down on ground level a stroll around Khao San road is always interesting the ideal people watching road! Dotted around are people getting their hair braided, just browsing through the stalls, or sitting in a roadside café watching people watching the people go by. Good place to pick up some new books as well, I offloaded my LP China and bought a couple of novels. Food ranges from simple food on a skewer to the ubiquitous rice with something/anything dishes. I spotted a “British Café” which had fish and chips, but it didn’t really taste like home, where’s the grease??
I had to decide to nip back to Chiang Mai and pop into the dentist as they had advised that I need a filling, but I was flying to China the next day. I had one look at the dentists in China and decided it could wait. They are like barbershops where you are sat in a chair beside the window and then your teeth are all pulled out because of a verbal misunderstanding. At least that’s what I imagine would happen. I did go into one place but stumped them by asking if anyone speaks English.
So back in Chiang Mai but the next free time is not for ten days, and so off again. This time a winding bus ride through the hills to the valley hangout of Pai. A cluster of guesthouse, cafes and bars set pretty much in the middle of nowhere. A few long timers hiding out here, not surprising as you can get a house in beautiful surroundings for 4000baht/month. T-Shirt vendors sell shirts proclaiming “I did nothing in Pai” and yes it is a relaxing place, kick back read a book, listen to some music at night.
Quite lively on Friday with a few band playing on a stage in the main street. Some “imaginative” ska dancing was seen. Winner of the best dancer goes to the guy with the mullet, as he was also making the singer laugh when burning down the dancefloor. In contrast Saturday seemed dead, didn’t seem to be anything happening, maybe it was too early in the night, maybe it was Sunday? Easy place to lose track of the days! Anyway I decided to rent a bike and the weather gods decided to throw a bucket of rain on my head. I pushed on to Pai Canyon regardless. A curious natural phenomenon where a tiny ridge pathway is left while the surrounding ground has been eroded into a sheer drop. Only about 1/2m wide at some points, you should watch your balance if you don’t want to die! After surviving that I jumped back on the bike and past a World War II bridge built here. The idea being to push Japanese troops up from Bangkok to Burma. Over the river I looked about for a place to get a drink. I asked a Thai restaurant having a somewhat confused conversation. I thought they had coffee, but they were saying there is a café around the corner. I found this Café Del Doi, nice views over the Pai River here. After a refreshing grape juice back on the bike and past a handful of elephant camps, and just beating more rain to head back into Pai town proper.
I jumped on the bus onwards to Mae Hong Son, a small town of only 7000 people, but curiously enough with its one airport. A fact very apparent when I headed up to the temple on the hill and had a look out over the town. The airport runway strip appears slap bang in the middle of town! Trekking is probably the most popular activity out this way, but I just bought new shoes and have blisters breaking them in. Cue “Aaaaaw” from the audience. I thought I might take a bus or songthaew out to Fish Cave to have a look around, but after talking to the guesthouse staff it seemed that was ruled out. I would be able to get there, I just wouldn’t get any transport back! Oh well, at least I was given a free bottle of Lychee Wine, which taste as good as you would imagine. Some more live music here, although more traditional Thai music than most in Pai. There is a carnival in town at the moment bringing all the excitement with it. The most popular thing has to be bingo, closely followed by a game of pop the balloons with the darts and win a cuddly toy. Although it was mostly traditional music, it did lapse into reggae for a few songs, which was a bit unexpected. Shabba!
Heading back to the dentist in Chiang Mai, I broke the journey with another couple of days at Pai again. On the bus I met a young English bloke, Rob, who had been teaching English in a Karen village. The Karen are one of the best known hill tribe as some of the tribes wear the golden neck bracelets which depresses the collar bone giving the appearance of a long neck, hence the long-neck Karen tours. Although where Rob was teaching they didn’t have this practice. Having been on in the sticks for a couple of months, he was salvating at the wide choice of Western food in Pai. I think he lived of fish for two months. After a satisfying dinner, I had the exotic pork chops, we headed out to the edge of town to a bar called BeBop. But as there was a power cut nothing was happening, no music. Still at least you could see the Milky Way!
After the dentist in Chiang Mai I flew down to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. I organised my plans for the rest of the year. One of the goods things about KL is the food and the fact I can read the menu (mostly)! Lots of Malaysian/Indian food is available for reasonable prices. Although I couldn’t find a thali, I settled for a Nasi Daging (spicy beef with rice) with a dosa (big crepe with a couple of dipping sauces). A simple breakfast if Roti Canai, flatbread with sauce and Milo Ais (Iced Chocolate Milkshake) Of course I had to have Ayam Goreng (Fried Chicken) always seems delicious in Malaysia. Another tasty dish was Ikan Bakar (Grilled Fish), stringray cooked on a hotplate. The fish was slitted and covered in salt, and then the sauce was rubbed in before being cooked on a hotplate with oil. Also very tasty, although the sidedish of sauce was too spicy for me. A stroll around, refreshed the memories, although I still got lost. Mostly in Times Square, a massive 10-13 level shopping mall, with 5 basements judging from the lift buttons (could be the carpark?) Next stop was a bus journey back up to the Spice Island, Penang. Well except all the buses were full, so I jumped on a bus heading North to the Cameron Highlands for a quick look about. Nice enough place, but probably better to stay outside the town in the natural surroundings, but that would entail an expensive resort! I took a stroll through the woods on a trail, heading up to the top of the hill and rising above was the watchtower. Good views from the top across the rolling hills, in the distance some rain coming in, back to the hotel! Next day I got the slow bus to Penang, going along down these winding roads takes hours
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Hangzhou
After a couple of hours on the train it was off to Hangzhou, renowned for its natural beauty. Well actual most of the scenery is centered around an artificial lake, so maybe not quite so natural, but still a nice place. Apparently one of the top places to live in China. Around the imaginatively named West Lake, inspiration for many Chinese painters and poets, there are a large number of cafes and restaurants many shaded by drooping trees. I suspect lots of money was spent in landscaping around here. Although most people outside of China probably have never heard of it, it has more people than the whole of Scotland (not unusual for Chinese cities!).
A swanky new shopping centre has just been opening promoting an on the up feel to the city, it seems to be a popular place to teach English, but more importantly it is THE place to go if you want to buy a pair of scissors, yep not just famed for it’s legendary West Lake it is also China’s number one place to stock up on quality scissor equipment! This was evident on a visit to the new museum, not quite sure if it is officialy opened as there was no ticket officer so no charge, extremely unusual for China, where most parks have an admission fee. A dazzling array of scissorial equipment was here in evidence, well okay there was a cabinet displaying a variety of scissors, i.e. different sizes. Round the corner lay a large collection of stuffed animals, showing the wildlife around Hangzhou.
Back outside some house boats cruise gently through the lake staying clear of the splattering of lillies. On the dry ground some sculptures lurk in amongst the park gardens. One sculpture however is in the lake, a large cow. Moo! Some work going on in the park with new sculptures, maybe for the Olympics. One other sculpture sits on the lake, looks like the God of Sea, but only two spikes on his trident/bident. In a noiser corner of the park, the crowds of old men gather for there is card games to be played, domino matches to win. In addition a few musicians scratch out their tunes, some better than others. Interesting to see the music sheets, with the tab-like notation not entirely sure if/how rythmn is notated, maybe it’s all in the interpration.
A swanky new shopping centre has just been opening promoting an on the up feel to the city, it seems to be a popular place to teach English, but more importantly it is THE place to go if you want to buy a pair of scissors, yep not just famed for it’s legendary West Lake it is also China’s number one place to stock up on quality scissor equipment! This was evident on a visit to the new museum, not quite sure if it is officialy opened as there was no ticket officer so no charge, extremely unusual for China, where most parks have an admission fee. A dazzling array of scissorial equipment was here in evidence, well okay there was a cabinet displaying a variety of scissors, i.e. different sizes. Round the corner lay a large collection of stuffed animals, showing the wildlife around Hangzhou.
Back outside some house boats cruise gently through the lake staying clear of the splattering of lillies. On the dry ground some sculptures lurk in amongst the park gardens. One sculpture however is in the lake, a large cow. Moo! Some work going on in the park with new sculptures, maybe for the Olympics. One other sculpture sits on the lake, looks like the God of Sea, but only two spikes on his trident/bident. In a noiser corner of the park, the crowds of old men gather for there is card games to be played, domino matches to win. In addition a few musicians scratch out their tunes, some better than others. Interesting to see the music sheets, with the tab-like notation not entirely sure if/how rythmn is notated, maybe it’s all in the interpration.
Shanhgai
Arriving in Shanghai the weather had got wet, it had decided to rain… and rain. Undeterred by mere rain clouds I set out to have a look around. The guesthouse seemed to be basically the top floor of an old folk’s home, every time you go down the stairs the same old Chinese people are sitting in chairs, dreaming. Being a bit of a distance away from the main downtown area meant figuring out the buses, always a challenge in a foreign country. At least the bus stop was right outside the guesthouse. The main bus route leads down one big road to the riverside. Only trouble with this is all the bus stops are called Yannan Road. I just stayed on the crowded bus until the end of the line which ends at the Bund, Shanghai’s famous historical district. Lots of European architecture, home primarily to banks & high fashion stores now. Across the river stands a giant tower, this can be reached by taking the tourist tunnel underground. Not quite sure who come up with this strange ride. You hop on a small four-person train carriage and it rolls away down the tunnel as the psychedelic light show begins. On through more lights and “meteor showers” and waving air-people before reaching the other side. All very odd.
Over the river there are some giant shopping malls and more rain! I headed into a small museum which had some wildlife exhibits, but in a very Chinese way. The stuffed turtle was covered in coins and notes, as was the crocodile. Money thrown in by visitors hoping for luck. I noticed another turtle with coins on its back and notes covering the floor, I was a bit surprised to see that it was alive! At least it has its shell to protect itself from the coins being thrown onto it.
Another day I headed off to the art museum which was really rather good. There was a large cultural festival being thrown around this time so lots of exhibits. Some of them were somewhat curious, such as the room filled with toy JCB’s whirring about. Or the multimedia area where a camera is placed above a table and then a processed image is projected back onto the table. This allows a rather strange display where it looks like a river of colour flowing across the table, controlled by the placement of the cups and saucers, or even a wave of the hand which leave a wake or ripple of light. Mmm, hard to explain! Later at night I went for a drink, I got a glass of beer and a 3quid+ bill, “Happy Hour” the waitress explained, yikes! Turned out it was 2 for 1 as another one arrived when the first finished, so not so bad. I saw a poster for the Scottish Woman’s Cricket Team, I wonder what was greater the number of players or the number of spectators? Well anyway I managed to make it out without being Shanghaied<
Over the river there are some giant shopping malls and more rain! I headed into a small museum which had some wildlife exhibits, but in a very Chinese way. The stuffed turtle was covered in coins and notes, as was the crocodile. Money thrown in by visitors hoping for luck. I noticed another turtle with coins on its back and notes covering the floor, I was a bit surprised to see that it was alive! At least it has its shell to protect itself from the coins being thrown onto it.
Another day I headed off to the art museum which was really rather good. There was a large cultural festival being thrown around this time so lots of exhibits. Some of them were somewhat curious, such as the room filled with toy JCB’s whirring about. Or the multimedia area where a camera is placed above a table and then a processed image is projected back onto the table. This allows a rather strange display where it looks like a river of colour flowing across the table, controlled by the placement of the cups and saucers, or even a wave of the hand which leave a wake or ripple of light. Mmm, hard to explain! Later at night I went for a drink, I got a glass of beer and a 3quid+ bill, “Happy Hour” the waitress explained, yikes! Turned out it was 2 for 1 as another one arrived when the first finished, so not so bad. I saw a poster for the Scottish Woman’s Cricket Team, I wonder what was greater the number of players or the number of spectators? Well anyway I managed to make it out without being Shanghaied<
Monday, September 25, 2006
Beijing
First stop, the largest public square in the world, Tiananmen Square, full of milling crowds. At the south end sits the Front Gate however the walls are now gone and the gate is fenced off. Heading onwards Mao’s Mausoleum draws flocks of Chinese tourists as does the Gate of Heavenly Peace where a portrait of Chairman Mao resides below which tourists pose for photos. Around the park stony faced policemen and soldiers keep things in order, standing beside socialist statues. About the only thing allowed seems to be kites, some are large, others are strung together to create a line of twenty or so small kites.
Continuing North you get to Forbidden City, a million square metres and 999 rooms, although not all opened to the public. The Forbidden City is actual a museum, hosting all sorts of exhibits of how life was for the Emperors and friends. Seems like they basically stayed walled up in the centre of Beijing unless they really had to go out, in which case get the sedan chair. Maybe they spent their days drinking tea beside the rockeries in the garden.
I headed off to see the Chinese acrobatics at night. They were excellent! All sorts of displays from spinning plates to somersaults. People flicking five bowls through the air from one foot onto their heads, while riding a unicycle! There was one bendy gymnast doing impossible things. If you can do this you might want to join the Chinese acrobatics.
1) Lie on your back and do a full length wise 360 revolution, like a slow roly-poly.
Okay, now point all limbs up and repeat with a wineglass (or nine) on the palms of your hands, base of your feet and on your forehead. Yes, they always have to face the ceiling as you rotate. You would bet your mortgage it couldn’t be done, sounds impossible right? But somehow it was done!
Next day it was off for a stroll along a few of the old shops. Some guy was trying to sell me tiny shoes “Ming Dynasty!!”, yeah sure. A few old posters being sold with translations such as “You workers are going good.”. As well as the usual chop shops where you can get your named carved on a stamp, of course they convert your name into Chinese and then you come back later and pick it up. They probably give you a stamp that says “Duty Paid” or “Made In China” and claim it is your name!
After that it was down to The Temple of Heaven park, a pot pourri of all sorts of activities going on here. From people practising acrobatics to playing tennis, and everything inbetween such as hacksack, dominoes, bat & ball, selling rolexs, Chinese checkers, ballroom dancing or playing cards, it was all going on. I demonstated my acrobatic atheletism by catching hoops on my head! I had been watching these a handful of people practising with a soft aeroba/hollow frisbee throwing and then jumping up and catching round their necks. Then one guy motioned me to join them, actually pretty easy as the skill is more in the throwing than the catching, just duck your head a little at the right point.
Speaking of ducks, that night I headed to Quanjude Restaurant for the famous Beijing Duck or Peking Duck as it’s still better known. Yummy! It was delicious. Didn’t get a whole lot of meat off half a duck, but it was good quality, although I left the head/brains.
Just for comparative purposes I tried it somewhere else again whilst in Beijing, more meat but not quite as nice.
Next day I had a stroll through the commerical district where modern Beijing is found. Shopping malls line the pedestrianised area, as the tills ring out. In contrast to this the old alleyways (called hutongs) are a step back in time. People live, work and shop in these narrow lanes. At the entrance rickshaw drivers holler “Hutong! Hutong!” trying to entice lazy tourists to hop on for a tour, but these are perfect streets for walking.
For some food I headed off to Xuan Wang Home Cooking restaurant where I had some tasty sweet & sour cucumber, a dish for all those cucumber naysayers! Along with this deep fried spare ribs with pepper salt, another very tasty dish. Although a bit too much fat for my tastes. Then it was off to the Summer Palace a large park complex with the old buildings inside. This took quite a while to stroll around!
I went along to the Beijing Opera. This was a performance aimed at tourists, so they had subtitles broadcasted on a big screen throughout the show. Although sometimes the English was a bit wonky, it started with “I have left the nunnery in a hurry!”. A girl runs away to find her boyfriend, she is helped by an old boatman. It was quite clever the way the old boatman and the girl moved around as if in a boat. There was a couple of other stories and even some gymnastics thrown in as people somersaulted through the air.
“He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man” – Mao Zedong.
With that thought in mind it was up early(ish) the next morning to jump on the bus to Badaling where a portion of the Great Wall resides. It was actually fairly tough going, it was a lot steeper than I imagined it would be, but there was some handrails. Great view across the countryside where the wall snakes along the mountain ridges off into the distance. Whilst quite touristy it wasn’t as bad as the Lonely Planet suggests, although I didn’t go on the weekend. Plenty of space to move about, and I was expecting vendors selling stuff anyway. Some people cheat and take the cable car up, strangely enough there was a camel lurking on a section of the wall. I think he was just there for tourists to jump on and get there picture taken though. After knackering myself out, it was back to Beijing where I decided to stay for the Beijing Pop Festival.
The pop festival was held in Chaoyang park in the east of the city. A two day festival where a few Western bands were playing. It was certainly a bit different from the festivals in Britain. For a start there was no beer! A huge police presence kept things under control. The area in front of the stage was cordoned off for around 500 seats. The standing area was a 100m back from the stage. In the centre, from front to back, of the standing area police sat every 5m, no people were allowed to stand there. Every hour or two they would stand up and march off as new police came on duty. I did see one Westerner getting carted off with two policemen a limb, legs over head. He was taken off to a policevan with blacked out windows. The music was okay although the headliners on the first night gave the impression of wanting to be elsewhere. Not much crowd feedback, fairly quiet and subdued. The only time things got going really was with big haired 80’s spandex rocker Sebastian Bach (didn’t he die in the 18th century?) took the stage! The Chinese seemed to know his songs and sang along. After a bit of pushing at the front, extra police were quickly drafted in to sort out the barriers. Supergrass finished off the event and within 5 minutes, they annoucement that the festival has finished please disperse came over the tannoys and so I headed for Shanghai.
Continuing North you get to Forbidden City, a million square metres and 999 rooms, although not all opened to the public. The Forbidden City is actual a museum, hosting all sorts of exhibits of how life was for the Emperors and friends. Seems like they basically stayed walled up in the centre of Beijing unless they really had to go out, in which case get the sedan chair. Maybe they spent their days drinking tea beside the rockeries in the garden.
I headed off to see the Chinese acrobatics at night. They were excellent! All sorts of displays from spinning plates to somersaults. People flicking five bowls through the air from one foot onto their heads, while riding a unicycle! There was one bendy gymnast doing impossible things. If you can do this you might want to join the Chinese acrobatics.
1) Lie on your back and do a full length wise 360 revolution, like a slow roly-poly.
Okay, now point all limbs up and repeat with a wineglass (or nine) on the palms of your hands, base of your feet and on your forehead. Yes, they always have to face the ceiling as you rotate. You would bet your mortgage it couldn’t be done, sounds impossible right? But somehow it was done!
Next day it was off for a stroll along a few of the old shops. Some guy was trying to sell me tiny shoes “Ming Dynasty!!”, yeah sure. A few old posters being sold with translations such as “You workers are going good.”. As well as the usual chop shops where you can get your named carved on a stamp, of course they convert your name into Chinese and then you come back later and pick it up. They probably give you a stamp that says “Duty Paid” or “Made In China” and claim it is your name!
After that it was down to The Temple of Heaven park, a pot pourri of all sorts of activities going on here. From people practising acrobatics to playing tennis, and everything inbetween such as hacksack, dominoes, bat & ball, selling rolexs, Chinese checkers, ballroom dancing or playing cards, it was all going on. I demonstated my acrobatic atheletism by catching hoops on my head! I had been watching these a handful of people practising with a soft aeroba/hollow frisbee throwing and then jumping up and catching round their necks. Then one guy motioned me to join them, actually pretty easy as the skill is more in the throwing than the catching, just duck your head a little at the right point.
Speaking of ducks, that night I headed to Quanjude Restaurant for the famous Beijing Duck or Peking Duck as it’s still better known. Yummy! It was delicious. Didn’t get a whole lot of meat off half a duck, but it was good quality, although I left the head/brains.
Just for comparative purposes I tried it somewhere else again whilst in Beijing, more meat but not quite as nice.
Next day I had a stroll through the commerical district where modern Beijing is found. Shopping malls line the pedestrianised area, as the tills ring out. In contrast to this the old alleyways (called hutongs) are a step back in time. People live, work and shop in these narrow lanes. At the entrance rickshaw drivers holler “Hutong! Hutong!” trying to entice lazy tourists to hop on for a tour, but these are perfect streets for walking.
For some food I headed off to Xuan Wang Home Cooking restaurant where I had some tasty sweet & sour cucumber, a dish for all those cucumber naysayers! Along with this deep fried spare ribs with pepper salt, another very tasty dish. Although a bit too much fat for my tastes. Then it was off to the Summer Palace a large park complex with the old buildings inside. This took quite a while to stroll around!
I went along to the Beijing Opera. This was a performance aimed at tourists, so they had subtitles broadcasted on a big screen throughout the show. Although sometimes the English was a bit wonky, it started with “I have left the nunnery in a hurry!”. A girl runs away to find her boyfriend, she is helped by an old boatman. It was quite clever the way the old boatman and the girl moved around as if in a boat. There was a couple of other stories and even some gymnastics thrown in as people somersaulted through the air.
“He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man” – Mao Zedong.
With that thought in mind it was up early(ish) the next morning to jump on the bus to Badaling where a portion of the Great Wall resides. It was actually fairly tough going, it was a lot steeper than I imagined it would be, but there was some handrails. Great view across the countryside where the wall snakes along the mountain ridges off into the distance. Whilst quite touristy it wasn’t as bad as the Lonely Planet suggests, although I didn’t go on the weekend. Plenty of space to move about, and I was expecting vendors selling stuff anyway. Some people cheat and take the cable car up, strangely enough there was a camel lurking on a section of the wall. I think he was just there for tourists to jump on and get there picture taken though. After knackering myself out, it was back to Beijing where I decided to stay for the Beijing Pop Festival.
The pop festival was held in Chaoyang park in the east of the city. A two day festival where a few Western bands were playing. It was certainly a bit different from the festivals in Britain. For a start there was no beer! A huge police presence kept things under control. The area in front of the stage was cordoned off for around 500 seats. The standing area was a 100m back from the stage. In the centre, from front to back, of the standing area police sat every 5m, no people were allowed to stand there. Every hour or two they would stand up and march off as new police came on duty. I did see one Westerner getting carted off with two policemen a limb, legs over head. He was taken off to a policevan with blacked out windows. The music was okay although the headliners on the first night gave the impression of wanting to be elsewhere. Not much crowd feedback, fairly quiet and subdued. The only time things got going really was with big haired 80’s spandex rocker Sebastian Bach (didn’t he die in the 18th century?) took the stage! The Chinese seemed to know his songs and sang along. After a bit of pushing at the front, extra police were quickly drafted in to sort out the barriers. Supergrass finished off the event and within 5 minutes, they annoucement that the festival has finished please disperse came over the tannoys and so I headed for Shanghai.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Datong
I got a hotel opposite the train station in Datong, they didn't speak much English. Turned out I don't get a key for my room, I have to fetch the service person to open the door for me, strange. And I had to pay what I thought was a key deposit! (Still I got it back when I checked out)
I headed downtown to have a look at the nine dragon screen. Which is a screen with nine dragons on it (What would you do without me??). It's 45m long and apparently the oldest glazed dragon wall in China. At least that's how it's advertised. As that took all of about 5 minutes to see, I headed off for some food. Californian Beef Noodles from Mr. Lee was the dish of the day. Seems a bit strange for an American to be selling noodles to the Chinese, no? Or maybe it is the beef that is from California, anyway not nearly as good as Pingyao beef. Although not that far from Beijing the locals don't seem too used to tourists. When I was walking about town, you would often hear "Hello!?"
The next day a visit to the Hanging Monastery. A monastery perched on the side of a mountain. The reaon for this was that the local people were having troubles with floods and so put the monastery 100m above the river safe from harm. Now after the 1500 years of silt it sits 50m above ground. The river had now been dammed. Due to it's location, it is protected from the wind at the sides and rains from above and most sun (a mountain opposite blocks the light for all but 2 hours a day). This had allowed the wood to survive for such a long time, which is just as well given that we were traipsing round the narrow passageways. Inside many of the buddhas were headless having been hacked off by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. The fingers were cut off the main ones, the guide said the guards were too scared to chop off the head of the main buddhas.
Next it was off to Yungang caves. The caves are reputed to hold over 50,000 buddhist statues! The main caves are 5-20, these are in the best conditions and hold the largest buddhas. Buddhas everywhere! Some big, some small, some painted, some bare. The big buddhas were carved from the rock, a small tunnel is created 20m above ground level and then the process of carving begins downwards. Dragging the dirt back out the entrance tunnel, the buddha emerges from the rock and finally the main entrance is carved away creating the cave.
I headed downtown to have a look at the nine dragon screen. Which is a screen with nine dragons on it (What would you do without me??). It's 45m long and apparently the oldest glazed dragon wall in China. At least that's how it's advertised. As that took all of about 5 minutes to see, I headed off for some food. Californian Beef Noodles from Mr. Lee was the dish of the day. Seems a bit strange for an American to be selling noodles to the Chinese, no? Or maybe it is the beef that is from California, anyway not nearly as good as Pingyao beef. Although not that far from Beijing the locals don't seem too used to tourists. When I was walking about town, you would often hear "Hello!?"
The next day a visit to the Hanging Monastery. A monastery perched on the side of a mountain. The reaon for this was that the local people were having troubles with floods and so put the monastery 100m above the river safe from harm. Now after the 1500 years of silt it sits 50m above ground. The river had now been dammed. Due to it's location, it is protected from the wind at the sides and rains from above and most sun (a mountain opposite blocks the light for all but 2 hours a day). This had allowed the wood to survive for such a long time, which is just as well given that we were traipsing round the narrow passageways. Inside many of the buddhas were headless having been hacked off by the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. The fingers were cut off the main ones, the guide said the guards were too scared to chop off the head of the main buddhas.
Next it was off to Yungang caves. The caves are reputed to hold over 50,000 buddhist statues! The main caves are 5-20, these are in the best conditions and hold the largest buddhas. Buddhas everywhere! Some big, some small, some painted, some bare. The big buddhas were carved from the rock, a small tunnel is created 20m above ground level and then the process of carving begins downwards. Dragging the dirt back out the entrance tunnel, the buddha emerges from the rock and finally the main entrance is carved away creating the cave.
Pingyao
Back in the good old days of the Ming and Qing dynasty this was a boom town establishing China's first bank. After the dynasty collapsed Pingyao remained pretty much unchanged and still has the old city wall round the centre. In 1997 Pingyao was listed as a Unesco World Hertiage Site.
I bought the ticket which allows you in to see most of the sights. The trick is finding them, as they are all listed in Chinese and you don;t get a map. Many old banks and their courtyards. Some job descriptions on the walls such as eyeing the colour of the silver. Stopping off at the main museum to have a look around. The exhbits range from a prison complete with brick bed and wooden pillow, to torture equipment and stocks. A strange wooden horse with a bed nails on its back confirms my intention to stay on the good side of the Chinese.
For some reasons lots of fire fighting equipement everywhere from buckets and spades to small bags of sands, they used to make sure a well had heated water in the winter in case of fire, no use trying to dip a bucket into a frozen well. Still most of the buildings are brick. Rather wet the next day and it just rained all day. I headed out for a quick look about and decided to pop back at 15.30 for a play. After getting soaked I found out the play wasn't on as it was supposed to be outdoors. Bit of a non-event.
I tried the Pingyao beef which is famous throughout China as being yummy and it is!
Very tender served up with potato a filling meal but excellent. So good I had the same next day as well. Set off the next morning on a bike to a temple a short distance outside town with a Canadian guy. Ended up pedalling through mud due to the amount of rain yesterday some of Pingyao was flooded, and where it wasn't muddy it was dusty. Not allowed any photos in the halls of the temple, which was a shame as the Canadian had brought a backpack full of photgraphic equipment. Inside was some strange carvings, reminded me of a backdrop for a play, with the mutiple levels of the carvings.
In the afternoon I headed up onto the city walls and took the 6km walk round the perimeter. Take some photos of rooftops and I even snapped a picture of the Ready-Brek pigeon. Pingyao is a bit more shambolic than most of the cities in China, more rubble and bricks holding down the roofs.
I bought the ticket which allows you in to see most of the sights. The trick is finding them, as they are all listed in Chinese and you don;t get a map. Many old banks and their courtyards. Some job descriptions on the walls such as eyeing the colour of the silver. Stopping off at the main museum to have a look around. The exhbits range from a prison complete with brick bed and wooden pillow, to torture equipment and stocks. A strange wooden horse with a bed nails on its back confirms my intention to stay on the good side of the Chinese.
For some reasons lots of fire fighting equipement everywhere from buckets and spades to small bags of sands, they used to make sure a well had heated water in the winter in case of fire, no use trying to dip a bucket into a frozen well. Still most of the buildings are brick. Rather wet the next day and it just rained all day. I headed out for a quick look about and decided to pop back at 15.30 for a play. After getting soaked I found out the play wasn't on as it was supposed to be outdoors. Bit of a non-event.
I tried the Pingyao beef which is famous throughout China as being yummy and it is!
Very tender served up with potato a filling meal but excellent. So good I had the same next day as well. Set off the next morning on a bike to a temple a short distance outside town with a Canadian guy. Ended up pedalling through mud due to the amount of rain yesterday some of Pingyao was flooded, and where it wasn't muddy it was dusty. Not allowed any photos in the halls of the temple, which was a shame as the Canadian had brought a backpack full of photgraphic equipment. Inside was some strange carvings, reminded me of a backdrop for a play, with the mutiple levels of the carvings.
In the afternoon I headed up onto the city walls and took the 6km walk round the perimeter. Take some photos of rooftops and I even snapped a picture of the Ready-Brek pigeon. Pingyao is a bit more shambolic than most of the cities in China, more rubble and bricks holding down the roofs.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Xian
** Due to my inability to read Chinese I clicked on the wrong button last time and didn't publish my posts, just noticed. So FOUR(4!) new posts for ya'll. This one being my hundredth post, I await a telegram from the Queen!
Arriving in Xian, nobody else seems to getting off the train which continued all the way to Shanghai. But at least I did get off at the right station. Actually on the Chinese trains you swap your ticket for a bit of plastic with your bed number and then 30-60 mins before the stop the conductor swaps your plastic back for your ticket (which you need to get out the station!). Well at least that's how it has worked so far.
My guesthouse was quite near the station, I just needed to turn right (or was it left) and walk along the road for 10 minutes. And then zonk out, never seem to sleep well on the trains. Anyhows, Xian is a large city with over six and half million residents, most of them milling around the train station. Not helping matters is the fact that there are several bus stations abutting onto this area. Large city walls surround the centre where the large bell tower sits in a traffic roundabout. A modern city it is filled with retail shops, shopping malls and lots of hairdressers for some reason. This being China, you don't just get a shop filled with shoes you get a street filled with shops filled with shoes, great if your Imelda Marcos. In the streets around there are some food stalls serving up chicken feet, pigs intestines and other such delicacies. I opted for a chicken dumpling, while it was certainly was a dumpling not sure if it was chicken (maybe sometime better not to know)
Next day I checked my guidebook, the 306 bus heads off to the Army of the Terracotta Warriors. Outside I had a brain freeze and jump on the 608 bus. Unsurprisingly I didn't make it to the Terracotta Warriors, but ended up with a tour of Xian Industrial Estate instead, ending at the bus washing area. By the time I make it back and re-check my guidebook half the day has gone, oh well there is always tomorrow.
Next day I checked my guidebook, the 306 bus heads off to the Army of the Terracotta Warriors. Outside I jump on the 306 bus, well not quite jump as there is a sizable queue of people (mostly tourists, hence the queue instead of a scrum). Arriving at the vast grounds, people jump off buses into electric carts to be taken up to the entrance. Or you could walk! I was mildly surprised to see that the price was still 90yuan, probably about the only tourist attraction that hasn't suffered a price hike, since my guidebook was written (way back in 2005)
Qin Shi Huang might have pegged it back in 210B.C. but his ego lives on. The Terracotta Army guards his tomb, and chances are, he may have been a bit of a meglomaniac. He did however unite China and standardise the currency and writing.
Inside you enter into Pit 1 and it is massive, football stadium sized, complete with football sized crowds! 230 metres by 62 metres, which by quick mental calculation (ahem) is 14,260 square metres. First discovered in 1974, only 4000 square metres have actually been excavated. So far 2000 warriors have been discovered, it is likely to hold another 4000! Originally all the warriors held bronze weapons such as crossbows, spears, axes, swords, halberds etc. Apparently more than 10,000 pieces have been recovered but are not on display. The warriors are lined up in battle formation, each crafted with unique facial features. Some horses are found at the rear of the pit wooden chariots were originally buried alongside. A bronze chariot has been recovered and is on display at the museum, alongside some impressive individual warriors and a fat guy who was the commander!
Pit 2 and 3 are much smaller, not nearly as much to see as Pit 1, although there is thought to be another one thousand warriors in Pit 2. Full excavation of the pits could take decades (That is what happens when you dig with a toothbrush!).
Back in Xian I had a gander at Big Goose Pagoda? (b-doom tisssshh!)
Set in pleasant garden surroundings, there was a few halls with some artwork to see. In the shop a wolf-headed man statue sticks it tongue out at you while menancingly holding a couple of sticks, strange. Also a black chicken roamed the garden! Did you know that even its bones are black? Well, now you do!
Arriving in Xian, nobody else seems to getting off the train which continued all the way to Shanghai. But at least I did get off at the right station. Actually on the Chinese trains you swap your ticket for a bit of plastic with your bed number and then 30-60 mins before the stop the conductor swaps your plastic back for your ticket (which you need to get out the station!). Well at least that's how it has worked so far.
My guesthouse was quite near the station, I just needed to turn right (or was it left) and walk along the road for 10 minutes. And then zonk out, never seem to sleep well on the trains. Anyhows, Xian is a large city with over six and half million residents, most of them milling around the train station. Not helping matters is the fact that there are several bus stations abutting onto this area. Large city walls surround the centre where the large bell tower sits in a traffic roundabout. A modern city it is filled with retail shops, shopping malls and lots of hairdressers for some reason. This being China, you don't just get a shop filled with shoes you get a street filled with shops filled with shoes, great if your Imelda Marcos. In the streets around there are some food stalls serving up chicken feet, pigs intestines and other such delicacies. I opted for a chicken dumpling, while it was certainly was a dumpling not sure if it was chicken (maybe sometime better not to know)
Next day I checked my guidebook, the 306 bus heads off to the Army of the Terracotta Warriors. Outside I had a brain freeze and jump on the 608 bus. Unsurprisingly I didn't make it to the Terracotta Warriors, but ended up with a tour of Xian Industrial Estate instead, ending at the bus washing area. By the time I make it back and re-check my guidebook half the day has gone, oh well there is always tomorrow.
Next day I checked my guidebook, the 306 bus heads off to the Army of the Terracotta Warriors. Outside I jump on the 306 bus, well not quite jump as there is a sizable queue of people (mostly tourists, hence the queue instead of a scrum). Arriving at the vast grounds, people jump off buses into electric carts to be taken up to the entrance. Or you could walk! I was mildly surprised to see that the price was still 90yuan, probably about the only tourist attraction that hasn't suffered a price hike, since my guidebook was written (way back in 2005)
Qin Shi Huang might have pegged it back in 210B.C. but his ego lives on. The Terracotta Army guards his tomb, and chances are, he may have been a bit of a meglomaniac. He did however unite China and standardise the currency and writing.
Inside you enter into Pit 1 and it is massive, football stadium sized, complete with football sized crowds! 230 metres by 62 metres, which by quick mental calculation (ahem) is 14,260 square metres. First discovered in 1974, only 4000 square metres have actually been excavated. So far 2000 warriors have been discovered, it is likely to hold another 4000! Originally all the warriors held bronze weapons such as crossbows, spears, axes, swords, halberds etc. Apparently more than 10,000 pieces have been recovered but are not on display. The warriors are lined up in battle formation, each crafted with unique facial features. Some horses are found at the rear of the pit wooden chariots were originally buried alongside. A bronze chariot has been recovered and is on display at the museum, alongside some impressive individual warriors and a fat guy who was the commander!
Pit 2 and 3 are much smaller, not nearly as much to see as Pit 1, although there is thought to be another one thousand warriors in Pit 2. Full excavation of the pits could take decades (That is what happens when you dig with a toothbrush!).
Back in Xian I had a gander at Big Goose Pagoda? (b-doom tisssshh!)
Set in pleasant garden surroundings, there was a few halls with some artwork to see. In the shop a wolf-headed man statue sticks it tongue out at you while menancingly holding a couple of sticks, strange. Also a black chicken roamed the garden! Did you know that even its bones are black? Well, now you do!
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