I can't access blog any more while I am in China. Going to Tibet for 8 days on 27th November, reach Nepal on 4th Dec (2 days before my birthday!!!!!).
See you on the other side!!!!
Tuesday 23 November 2010
Sunday 21 November 2010
Terracotta Warriors
I quick update with a few pics from the Terracotta Warriors:
It was amazing:
Now off to find a pub to watch the North London Derby
COYS
Could manage to post that before the match but here is me in the bar street Xian after the match (taken by a Gooner..)
It was amazing:
Now off to find a pub to watch the North London Derby
COYS
Could manage to post that before the match but here is me in the bar street Xian after the match (taken by a Gooner..)
Friday 19 November 2010
Xian
This morning I arrived in Xian.
My last couple of days in Beijing were pleasant involving wandering about and chilling out. The last night was a bit crazy as I went drinking with the owner of a Beijing Irish bar and his mates which led to a hungover train journey to Xian.
The train ride itself was fine, I went hard sleeper this time (as opposed to soft sleeper in Russia). Hard sleeper meant that I was in a six bed open compartment with three levels of bunks. I was on the top bunk which gave me about two foot of headroom I.e. None!! The journey took 12 hours, I slept through most of it.
Tomorrow I'm booked on a tour to see the Terracotta Warriors....
My last couple of days in Beijing were pleasant involving wandering about and chilling out. The last night was a bit crazy as I went drinking with the owner of a Beijing Irish bar and his mates which led to a hungover train journey to Xian.
The train ride itself was fine, I went hard sleeper this time (as opposed to soft sleeper in Russia). Hard sleeper meant that I was in a six bed open compartment with three levels of bunks. I was on the top bunk which gave me about two foot of headroom I.e. None!! The journey took 12 hours, I slept through most of it.
Tomorrow I'm booked on a tour to see the Terracotta Warriors....
Tuesday 16 November 2010
Touristy stuff
I've spent the last couple of days in Beijing on the tourist trail.
Yesterday I went for an explore of old Beijing by foot. It was really nice to wonder down the hutong alleys and get a taste of the real place.
Today I went to the summer palace and gardens. Based around a huge lake, these parklands and temples were probably the nicest I've seen in Beijing. Here a few pics:
On another note Mike and Pete have headed off to Shanghai. With me going on to Xi'an its the end of our two week adventures. It's been a blast, all the best guys!!! Watch out for them pesky taxi drivers....
Yesterday I went for an explore of old Beijing by foot. It was really nice to wonder down the hutong alleys and get a taste of the real place.
Today I went to the summer palace and gardens. Based around a huge lake, these parklands and temples were probably the nicest I've seen in Beijing. Here a few pics:
On another note Mike and Pete have headed off to Shanghai. With me going on to Xi'an its the end of our two week adventures. It's been a blast, all the best guys!!! Watch out for them pesky taxi drivers....
Sunday 14 November 2010
The Great Wall
Today we went on a tour to the Jinshanling stretch of the Great Wall of China. It was a 3 hour drive and meant a 5.30am start, but was well worth it.
Jinshanling is one of the less touristy parts of the wall and also one of the most authentic as little restoration has been done so far.
The walk along the wall itself was tough going, I considered it practice for the Himalayas. The views from the higher towers made it worth the climb though:
Anyway I'll leave you with a few pictures:
Even with a dodgy iPhone camera you certainly get the idea!!
Jinshanling is one of the less touristy parts of the wall and also one of the most authentic as little restoration has been done so far.
The walk along the wall itself was tough going, I considered it practice for the Himalayas. The views from the higher towers made it worth the climb though:
Anyway I'll leave you with a few pictures:
Even with a dodgy iPhone camera you certainly get the idea!!
Saturday 13 November 2010
More Beijing
Time for a quick update on my doings in Beijing since we last spoke...
I started off by visiting the Forbidden City. Although it was amazing to see, I was a little bit disappointed that Roger Moore wasn't doing the audio guide commentary as promised in the Lonely Planet!! That said it was really interesting and certainly huge! I ran out of time walking around so missed the treasures :o(
I also happened to be leaving as the sun set and the Chinese Army marched across Tainanmen Square and lower the Chinese Flag. Which reminds me, it was weird at the start of the week to see the Union Flag flying alongside the Chinese flag from all the government buildings when Cameron was in Beijing! Anyway I digress....
A trip to Beijing zoo was worthwhile for seeing the Pandas. It was certainly a depressing zoo though with, in particular, the Lions, Tigers and Elephants in tiny cages. It reminded me of London Zoo when I last went in the late 80's before the new animal cruelty standards came in.
Last night was again a night out clubbing and again it was expensive, full of westerners and okay, no better. It was call Vics though which I found funny... As it's my Sisters name)
Today started in the afternoon so I thought it would be a wasted day but we actually managed to achieve a lot. We stared off by visiting the Temple of Heaven Park which was really peaceful with some stunning temples and lovely grounds.
The lads I'm with had always planned to go and see a Chinese Acrobat show. This wasn't really something I was worried about but but I went along anyway. I was really glad I did, I was blown away! It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. In my life not just on my travels! I can't really explain how great it was. Have a look at their website to get an idea:
http://www.tianqiaoacrobatictheater.com/
We topped of the day by going to a local restaurant for some Peking Duck... Great day
Tomorrow we've got an early (5.30am) start for a trip to the great wall, so no staying up for the footy for me (not that I'd be able to watch it anyway)
So all that's left to say is COYS
Hopefully some pictures from the wall tomorrow...
I started off by visiting the Forbidden City. Although it was amazing to see, I was a little bit disappointed that Roger Moore wasn't doing the audio guide commentary as promised in the Lonely Planet!! That said it was really interesting and certainly huge! I ran out of time walking around so missed the treasures :o(
I also happened to be leaving as the sun set and the Chinese Army marched across Tainanmen Square and lower the Chinese Flag. Which reminds me, it was weird at the start of the week to see the Union Flag flying alongside the Chinese flag from all the government buildings when Cameron was in Beijing! Anyway I digress....
A trip to Beijing zoo was worthwhile for seeing the Pandas. It was certainly a depressing zoo though with, in particular, the Lions, Tigers and Elephants in tiny cages. It reminded me of London Zoo when I last went in the late 80's before the new animal cruelty standards came in.
Last night was again a night out clubbing and again it was expensive, full of westerners and okay, no better. It was call Vics though which I found funny... As it's my Sisters name)
Today started in the afternoon so I thought it would be a wasted day but we actually managed to achieve a lot. We stared off by visiting the Temple of Heaven Park which was really peaceful with some stunning temples and lovely grounds.
The lads I'm with had always planned to go and see a Chinese Acrobat show. This wasn't really something I was worried about but but I went along anyway. I was really glad I did, I was blown away! It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. In my life not just on my travels! I can't really explain how great it was. Have a look at their website to get an idea:
http://www.tianqiaoacrobatictheater.com/
We topped of the day by going to a local restaurant for some Peking Duck... Great day
Tomorrow we've got an early (5.30am) start for a trip to the great wall, so no staying up for the footy for me (not that I'd be able to watch it anyway)
So all that's left to say is COYS
Hopefully some pictures from the wall tomorrow...
Thursday 11 November 2010
Birdsnest
I've "borrowed" a VPN connection so I'm back for the time being.
Quick pics from the last blog:
Birdsnest stadium:
Quick pics from the last blog:
Birdsnest stadium:
Beijing
A quick update as I've managed to get on a computer that bypasses the Chinese block on social networking...
Beijing is a great city. It combines a modern capital with the bustle of an Asian city, or so I'm led to believe anyway, I'll confirm when I've been to another Asian city :o)
It's been pretty busy since I arrived which is all good.
The first night after we arrived we again hooked up with a load of the guys we stayed in Mongolia with and went out to few bars and a club called Mix. It was western style and played charty RnB... in spite of that it was a good night!!
The next day we (Me, Mike and Pete that is) went to the Olympic park and had a look around the Birdsnest Stadium and the Water Cube. We were a bit disappointed that we couldn't go for a swim but was well worth the trip. Not so sure about the absolutely packed metro system though!!
Yesterday we went on a trip around the markets, this turned into a bit of an ordeal with much excessive haggling, but in the end I brought a China national football shirt for 5 quid. Why I hear you ask? China are playing a friendly match in Beijing next Wednesday against Latvia and I'm hopefully going to go along....
Then on to Xi'an
Beijing is a great city. It combines a modern capital with the bustle of an Asian city, or so I'm led to believe anyway, I'll confirm when I've been to another Asian city :o)
It's been pretty busy since I arrived which is all good.
The first night after we arrived we again hooked up with a load of the guys we stayed in Mongolia with and went out to few bars and a club called Mix. It was western style and played charty RnB... in spite of that it was a good night!!
The next day we (Me, Mike and Pete that is) went to the Olympic park and had a look around the Birdsnest Stadium and the Water Cube. We were a bit disappointed that we couldn't go for a swim but was well worth the trip. Not so sure about the absolutely packed metro system though!!
Yesterday we went on a trip around the markets, this turned into a bit of an ordeal with much excessive haggling, but in the end I brought a China national football shirt for 5 quid. Why I hear you ask? China are playing a friendly match in Beijing next Wednesday against Latvia and I'm hopefully going to go along....
Then on to Xi'an
Tuesday 9 November 2010
Banned!!!
Just realised that Blogger, facebook and twitter are all blocked in China so none of my Blog updates have been getting through! As such there is unlikely to be anymore updates until I leave China for Nepal in a month or so!!
See you on the other side....
Friday 5 November 2010
Playing cards in a Ger..
So this has been my home for the last two nights
It's been a chilled out couple of days but not exactly activity filled...
Mongolia is great, the Golden Gobi hostel has a real traveller vibe, with everyone sat around having a drink, playing or listening to some music. Makes a real change from Russia.
So far before the trip I had a good explore of Ulaanbaator visiting the only Buddhist monastery to survive the 1930 soviet cull. It was worth seeing for it's 26 meter Buddha statue alone!
That evening I got up at 3.45 to watch the Spurs v Inter game, which was well worth it!! What a amazing result!!!
So far the trip has not been great, that said we played a lot of shithead last night.. I pretty much maintained my winning streak!!
Hopefully by the time I can post this we will have actually done some horse riding....
So to update, in the end we got a grand total of 1.5 hours of our 4 hours horse riding. Oh well, the place is stunning though! This is the view taking this morning after I climbed up tot the top of a nearby rock formation:
Tonight we're planning on a night out at the only major club in Ulaanbaator. Should be fun...
JT out
It's been a chilled out couple of days but not exactly activity filled...
Mongolia is great, the Golden Gobi hostel has a real traveller vibe, with everyone sat around having a drink, playing or listening to some music. Makes a real change from Russia.
So far before the trip I had a good explore of Ulaanbaator visiting the only Buddhist monastery to survive the 1930 soviet cull. It was worth seeing for it's 26 meter Buddha statue alone!
That evening I got up at 3.45 to watch the Spurs v Inter game, which was well worth it!! What a amazing result!!!
So far the trip has not been great, that said we played a lot of shithead last night.. I pretty much maintained my winning streak!!
Hopefully by the time I can post this we will have actually done some horse riding....
So to update, in the end we got a grand total of 1.5 hours of our 4 hours horse riding. Oh well, the place is stunning though! This is the view taking this morning after I climbed up tot the top of a nearby rock formation:
Tonight we're planning on a night out at the only major club in Ulaanbaator. Should be fun...
JT out
Tuesday 2 November 2010
Prohabition!!
Last night we discovered that on the 1st of each month you can't by booze in Mongolia!! After recovering from the shock we persuaded a local restaurant to sell us some, crisis over. Spent the evening in the hostel chatting with the other guys staying there and listening to some guitar.
Today I spent the day walking around Ulaanbaator visited the monastery with the 26 meter Buddha, very impressive it was to!! Sorry no pictures, not aloud unless you bribed the guard for $5.... which I thought was not really right.
I then went for a wonder to have a look at the Mongolian national stadium, where I watched some amazing archers practicing!
Time to chill out for the rest of the day to get myself ready for the footy tonight
COYS!!!!
Today I spent the day walking around Ulaanbaator visited the monastery with the 26 meter Buddha, very impressive it was to!! Sorry no pictures, not aloud unless you bribed the guard for $5.... which I thought was not really right.
I then went for a wonder to have a look at the Mongolian national stadium, where I watched some amazing archers practicing!
Time to chill out for the rest of the day to get myself ready for the footy tonight
COYS!!!!
Monday 1 November 2010
Ulaanbaator
So after 2 weeks without seeing a sole other than Russians. I'm back in a full travellers hostel, which is a really nice change. Hopefully go out for a beer tonight without having to sit on my own getting strange looks (not that that ever stops me!)
Also nice to finally be in a cheap country, only $5 per night for a room $1 for a good meal.
Booked onto a tour staying two nights in a ger camp including horse riding (not sure how I'll get on with that) along with other activities.
The hostel I'm staying at is great, really friendly and more importantly will have the Spurs v Inter game on one of their channels! It's not kicking off until 3.45am Wednesday morning which will make the 9am start for the tour a bit tough!! (obviously won't stop me watching though)
I thinking going to enjoy Mongolia...
Also nice to finally be in a cheap country, only $5 per night for a room $1 for a good meal.
Booked onto a tour staying two nights in a ger camp including horse riding (not sure how I'll get on with that) along with other activities.
The hostel I'm staying at is great, really friendly and more importantly will have the Spurs v Inter game on one of their channels! It's not kicking off until 3.45am Wednesday morning which will make the 9am start for the tour a bit tough!! (obviously won't stop me watching though)
I thinking going to enjoy Mongolia...
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