So I'm here, but I'm tired. My cloths are tired. Every T-shirt that doesn't have a stain has a whole. The last pair of slacks I bought in London are tearing off as if I'd soaked them in acid. My shoes are tired. The hiking boots are coming apart and are not waterproofed at all anymore. The flip flops are pealing off. I've lost my computer mic. M...

I've left Shanghai but here are a few observations about that city: After the population density of Hong Kong (small geographical urban area but big population of about 7 million), it did not feel like there were millions of people swarming around me.. undoubtedly because Shanghai is much more spread out than Hong Kong. I definitely found that o...

The Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces, northern Guanxhi Province, China We took the bus out of Yangshuo back to Guilin, left our luggage save what we needed for 2 days of hiking at the train station there and took a bus to the sleepy town of Heping: the entrance point to the so-called Dragon's Backbone Rice terraces. These are over 600 year old fe...

20/9 Dali After a day of travelling on a bus from Lijang, we finally arrive at Dali. Dali lies in the shadow of a mountain on one side and a lake on the other, it has a very laid-back feel to the place. Within the old city walls, lies the 'ancient' town, the houses are quaint, 2 storey building with grey slate roofs covered in grass!?? However D...

We arrived in Dali it was evening and it was raining. We booked ito a hostel which was just outside of the the old towns walls and right up against the southern gate and by its name was very promising but because of the stink emanating from the toilet we decided to find another place to stay. With ease we found a cheap hotel, cheaper even than t...

So far Dali has been my favorite place I have seen in China. The old town has cobbled streets with streams running through the middle. The old town is surrounded by old, restored city walls with awesome Ming style gates on each of the four sides. The town lies in the middle of a lush valley full of rice fields with mountains soaring to 4200 met...

After two months of struggling to find a bit of character in Chinese cities, I'm beginning to realise that it's the smaller places I need to be concentrating on if I want to see anything other than the overdeveloped and anonymous. A couple of towns I've passed through had something undefinably appealing enough to be called character - Pingyao, Y...

************ the train from Kunming to Xiaguan, 7 hrs and that's considered a short train ride in China some of mates have done 36 hr rides in one hit. Least hard seat in China is padded, in Thailand and Vietnam its a hard wooden bench. Once in Xiaguan caught a city bus to Dali, then rang up a guesthouse Pete and Mike had recommended (the dragon...

Hey Hey and a Big G'Day to you all, Woke feeling like death this morning. I had felt my energy levels falling since the night I fell asleep in Yangshuo with the aircon on full. It's ok to do this if you sleep in the other bed, the one that isn't directly under the jet stream. I remember waking feeling like it was the dead of winter and jumping ...

It wasn't too early a start which was quite good as some of us were feeling a bit worse for wear. Today was my birthday and we had a six hour bus journey ahead of us, not the best way to spend a birthday, but hey compared to last year it was heaven! First of all we had to get back out of the gorge and back to Margo's to pick up our bags. We were...