Lily Hotel Lanzhou

... again....now this was turning into a bit of a mission...but lets be fair i didn't really have anything better to do (at least until the national day celebrations started)...so eventually a few phonecalls later (and in fact a couple of hours later) we met up. This however wasnt as easy as it sounded. Without wanting to sound racist chinese people look fairly similar (to the untrained/beer goggled eye) I knew she was fit that wasnt the issue the issue was me wanting to be able to ...

... least but the scenery that awaited us was worth it. But don't try to jump the queue at transfer points. There are 5 viewing points where you are let off the bus to take photos. The first point there is a 2.6km walk to the next station we decided to miss the walk and transfer to station 2 where we took some photos’ and the decided to join the queue to go to station 3 and as Gwen was out of breath a ...

... of a 1,000-armed Chenresig, where Songsten Gampo's cave and statue are located in the corner of the cave. The final cave was Neten Lhokhang, where Atisha taught and the practice of worshipping 16 arhats began. We spent time in Dawa-puk with a mid-50's year old monk, whose personality radiated a warmth so real, he ended up sporting a pair of sunglasses for a photo! This had been quite a unique experience, returning down the hill with none of the induced ...

... hahahaha!) Anyhow, it's time to wrap this up as my Steak Sandwich has just arrived! Along with another cold stubbie of Jim Beam and Cola. Beers N Noodles toya.....shane PS: Over Christmas I received an email about the 'Origin' of the Twelve Days of Christmas' song from several people. I loved the whole idea behind it and decided I'd look into it and add a few more things. I was so happy to get these emails as they ...

... perhaps he meant the food that people cooked at home. We had a hard time finding restaurants with customers, and we felt guilty asking the restaurants without customers to start the kitchen without us, especially when the food preparers and servers couldn't eat anything themselves. So we snacked in the daytime and ate some street food at night, including the best roast mutton kebabs we've ever encountered. So we are a little hungry as we hike toward ...

... Why the people around me can't be nice like you? I can't let my parents see my tears because of these things. They will be angry. They will criticize me. When I was saluting, I was crying. I was thinking of the day you left. I don't kown why. Now, I cannot stand parting with others. When I'm older I want to be a nice person like you. To help people who needs help. To do the really right things to the people around me. I think you are my hero in my heart. l miss you everyday.

... are important in China. How can this be, you wonder? You have, for instance, experienced a line in China. Your ribs have been pummeled. You have been trampled upon by grandmothers who are not more than four feet tall. You have learned, simply by queuing in the airport taxi line, what it is like to eat bitter, an evocative Chinese expression that conveys suffering. This does not seem upon first impression to be a country overly concerned with prim etiquette. But it is. True ...

... about 1 m and caused many roads to cave in. Any new strong aftershock or heavy rainfall in the area could trigger severe landslides and cause casualties, according to the quake relief headquarters at the site. The local government on Tuesday launched an emergency evacuation of 9,000 residents near the mountain. The area has been cordoned off and is under round-the-clock monitoring. for more news,please see: www.in-brands.com

... are in a government hotel where we caught all the staff round the back having to chant the hotel mission statement. Next stop 3500 metre high "Little Tibet" mountain passes - we'll buy some yak fur clothes to add to the burgeoning amount of junk that we are accumulating - just because bargaining over the odd 10p and seeing who in our party gets the best deal, on the worst piece of junk, is so entertaining. Watch out for holiday presents - or even Christmas!!!

... Mountains, and into a repeat of the previous day - gibber desert, stark mountains, transitions from desert to agriculture and back again, and god-forsaken wayside truckstops and villages. Our final rest stop was in the most barren, windswept howling desert we could imagine, a single building which could have been a cafe, with men lounging disinterestedly outside on the Chinese version of a charpoy, covered in torn-up cardboard boxes, and a brick toilet ...