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| |
 Cindie's
Guangxi, China Daily Blog Journal
Travel Writing, Blog, Travelogue
Pingxiang to CongJiang, China
(April 3 - May 21, 2003)
|
|
|
| April 3 |
Lang Son, Vietnam - Pingxiang, China. Terrain hilly, we
are still in karst topography, road paved and in good condition.
We set off from Lang Son in a cloudy mist we rode 18 km to the town of
Dong Dang where we had lunch before we crossed the border. It was
difficult to determine the right direction to go for the border, there
were no signs pointing us to the border. We asked the moto bike guys and
they pointed us in the right direction. We found the Vietnamese
immigration and handed over our passports for our exit stamp, many
people were crossing the border today, most of them were Chinese
returning to China. The Vietnamese official had our passports for
over 30 minutes they checked them on the computer and must have been
looking at every stamp we had in our passport, it was the longest I had
ever had to wait at a border. I was patient like I had all day and
waited for my passport calmly. We said good-bye to Vietnam and
hello to China. Before we left the Vietnam side a Chinese tourist
wanted a picture of Tim and I with her. We pedaled to the Chinese
side and I braced myself for the worst. The immigration building
was under construction and modern. I found a customs officer who
spoke fluent English and he helped me with the paperwork. First I
filled out our entry cards and then a statement saying that we were not
sick or exposed to SARS in the last 4 weeks. Then it was time to
get our entry stamp, they stamped the date (4/3/2005), that was it.
When I asked how long my Visa was good for she said 90 days. Whew that
was a relief. I asked how long our extension would be good for and
I was told an additional 90 days however, I would have to get that
extension at a police station. Well we will cross that bridge when
we get to it. I was happy that we had 90 days When
they came down to look at our bikes we asked if we needed to go through
customs and they said no you can go now. Whew, that was easy, we
did not even have our luggage inspected. With a happy heart we
peddled into China. The first thing I noticed was that I could not
read a thing not a bit of English and no letters only symbols. It
made our head spin trying to decipher what we were looking at. We
rode into Pingxiang and looked for a bank to change money. I got
and exchange rate of 8 Yuan to 1 US dollar. We then sat down at a
restaurant and pulled out our Mandarin dictionary. The owner of
the restaurant was very helpful and showed me the kitchen. I
picked out tofu, pork and onions. He whipped us up a delicious
lunch. It was pretty late in the day to make it to the next town
so we decided to stay in Pingxiang. We stayed in a fancy hotel for
70 Yuan ($9). There were grocery stores next door and we had a
blast (OK I had) shopping for food. They had more variety then I
expected, they also had strange things like packaged chicken feet. |
35 km |
| April 4 |
Pingxiang - Ningming. We woke to rain and waited
until midmorning to leave. The rain had let up but the roads were
still wet. We use to wait until sunny days to ride but given the
fact that we have not seen the sun in weeks we decided that we need to
push on. Our bikes have fenders and our panniers are waterproof so
riding in the rain is an option. However it is slower and for me
dirtier. I have to stay away from the spraying mud from Tim's rear
wheel. Ah well I just put on my amber colored glasses and
everything looks brighter. At least we get to ride today. The
terrain is more rural then we expected. The annoying motorbike is
gone, replaced with new cars, buses, and three wheeled motorbikes.
We rode through ginger fields today and the air was filled with the
smell of fresh ginger. The locals are timid, look indigenous, and
are genuinely surprised to see us. As we left town this morning a
guy on a tuk tuk kept pointing at my legs, as if asking why I was
wearing shorts, I guess he has never pedaled up a hill on a bike.
It may be damp and rainy but I still get warm riding up hill. We
reached Ningming and the rain began to come down hard. We scouted out a
couple of hotels and found one for 50 Yuan ($6.20). It had hot
water and a western toilet. All we needed to be comfortable.
I am learning that our phrase book will be our most valuable book for a
long time. |
42 km. |
| April 5 |
Ningming - Banli. Another rainy morning, I am getting
use to setting off in the wet. Terrain is hilly, scenery rural and
traffic light. It has been a relief from the high traffic volume
in Vietnam. We were not sure where we would be spending the night,
it is not obvious to us where the hotels are and where foreigners can
stay. We stopped for lunch and had soup and vegetables. The
noodles were actually spaghetti and the vegetables were cabbage and
roasted peas. I enjoyed lunch and it was just what we needed to
pedal on. We are still getting in shape from the long time off in
Hanoi. We came to the town of Banli and stopped for a drink. We
asked where a hotel was and we were pointed to a tall building.
The hotel was very basic. Two beds in a room with a TV, the sheets were
clean but the blanket was not. I used my sleeping bag for a
blanket. The bathroom was down stairs and was a squat toilet with
a hot water heater. The room was not clean enough for me to take a
shower. I passed on the shower and so did Tim. The cost of
the room was 30 Yuan ($3.75). We had dinner next door for 20 Y
($2.50). |
70 km |
| April 6 |
Banli - Suxu. The weather is improving and the roads
were dry when we set off today. Terrain was hilly to rolling.
I was hoping we would make it all the way to Nanning. The first
hour I rode hard to keep up with Tim and was bewildered why I was
working so hard. Then I looked down at my rear tire and noticed
that my tire was going flat. My first one in Asia! This flat
was sneaky too, it was a slow leak that gradually made pedaling hard.
After fixing our flat we stopped for lunch at a large town. We
stopped at a cafeteria type restaurant. It was easy to pick out
what we wanted. I had corn mixed with onions, tofu, cabbage, and
pork with peppers. Tim had corn with onions, bean sprouts, tofu, and
pork with peppers. The food was delicious. I grew tired
after 70 km and we decided to stop for the night. We stopped in
Suxu, one of the ugliest towns I have ever seen. The buildings
were functional only and everything was made of brick. We asked
about a hotel and were pointed at a new building. We had a room
with private bath for 20 Y ($2.50) the cheapest yet in China. We
did not have hot water. We got hot water from the clerk and made
our own hot shower. For me it is worth carrying our solar shower
for just these occasions. The people were pleasant in town and we
had another great dinner. Once again, I went into the kitchen and
picked out our dinner. I also asked for no monosodium glutamate
(MSG). In Hanoi I noticed that MSG is sold like salt, I do not
like the stuff and have to ask that it not be added to my food. I
do like that at all the restaurants the bowls are taken out of a hot
water bath and disposable chopsticks are provided. As a traveler I
like the disposable chopstick. It prevents me from getting sick. |
77 km |
| April 7 |
Suxu - Nanning. Terrain flat with a few hills,
road paved but very bumpy in a few places, head wind in the morning
changing to a slight tailwind by midmorning and traffic picked up to
moderate. The ride into Nanning was easy. Nanning has been
one of the easiest cities to ride into. The bike lane is separate
from the car lane and it is easy to ride through town. Nanning is
very modern with a few familiar sights like Wal-Mart, Pizza Hut,
and a McDonalds. It was a strange transition from the country
where carts are drawn by water buffalo, farming is done mostly by hand
and then ride into tree lined streets, modern skyscrapers, and orderly
traffic. There are only a few budget hotels in Nanning, we went to
the Phoenix Hotel and went in and asked for a room. The lowest
they had was US$64 a night and the highest was $850 per night (are they
joking, what could be worth that much?). I told the clerk that was
too expensive and she showed me some other rooms that were $10 and $12.
The building they took me to said Sunshine Palace. It was a bit
run down but I did not mind. I looked at both rooms and picked the
$12 because it was large enough to keep our bikes inside. |
45 km |
| April 8 |
Nanning, A sunny day, it figures. Time to clean
up and figure out the internet. I went shopping at Wal-mart today.
It was similar yet different, all the labels were in Chinese. The
seafood section looked like a pet shop to me, all the fish we swimming
in tanks waiting to be scooped up by a customer. |
|
| April 9 |
Nanning. A happy birthday to my little sister
Denise. |
|
| April 10 |
Nanning - Binyang. Terrain rolling to
hilly. Wind from the east northeast. Today is a holiday where everyone visits their
ancestors grave. We heard fireworks throughout the day. Everything
was closed including most restaurants. We found a restaurant in Binyang and it
had all the meat laid out to pick. Heart, intestine, chicken with
the head and feet still on and then we saw a pan of puppy paws, yes
puppy paws, it made me so sad. We decided on chicken and Tim tried
to tell the guy to throw away the head, we did not want it. It was
comical because the guy never understood him because our chicken arrived
head and all. I am switching to an all vegetable diet. I
love the vegetables here, the only problem is they love to lace their
food with MSG, it can ruin a good dish. Our room cost 60 Y ($7.50)
it was originally 80 Y ($(10) and then I asked for a cheaper room and
they lowered the price to 60 Y, just for asking. It was quite a
chore finding a hotel. |
85 km |
| April 11 |
Binyang - Heshan. Terrain hilly to flat, wind from the
east northeast. Another wet morning. We are definitely in
the country side, the people are perplexed by us but friendly. We
had a great lunch that cost 6 Y ($0.75) each. This has been the
going price in the country side. We arrived in Heshan cold and
exhausted, it was the coldest day yet in Asia. As I was looking at
a room a women who spoke fluent English introduced herself to Tim, her
name was Sue. She directed us to some other hotels down the street.
I settled on one for 30 Y ($3.60). It was clean, had hot water and
was on the top floor. Stairs always too many stairs. |
90 km |
| April 12 |
Heshan. I woke up achy and we decided to take a
day off the bike. I slept for most of the morning and the
afternoon. Getting back in shape is always hard. Sleeping
seems to be the best cure. In the evening Sue came by with her
colleague Mr. Zeng. They took us out for a beer and rice porridge,
a rice soup with bits of meat. We sprinkled pieces of peanuts,
onions, cilantro and ginger. Very tasty. Sue and Mr. Zeng
are teachers, they teach groups of teachers how to teach English. (hope
that is clear). They both are fluent in English, I would hope so. We spoke
about some Chinese traditions such as keeping the same job all their
life and how people like to stay close to their roots. |
|
| April 13 |
Heshan - Liuzhou. Terrain hilly to a slight downhill
into Liuzhou. It was warmer today then the last couple of days.
Truly a spring day. The scenery was wonderful all day long, karst
topography and a few small towns. We wanted to stop at a small
town about 50 km from Heshan but it did not have a hotel. We still
had 50 km to go at 3:00 pm so we started to kick up the pace. We
were stopping and taking photos all morning long thinking we had all the
time in the world. Tim stopped a man on a motorbike to ask him if
there was a hotel nearby. That was a mistake, he spoke enough
English to make him dangerous. He ask us where we had come and we
said Nanning then he stopped us and said Nanning and pointed the other
way. We said yes we know. We want to go to Liuzhou. Ok
Ok bye bye. Then a couple of kilometers down the road he is
stopped in the middle of the road waving at us. We go around him
and he tries to stop me by jumping out in front of me. We kept
going and he motored up to Tim and tried to get him to slow down by
blocking him with the Motobike. Then he said talk to my friend and then
Tim was on this guys cell phone. It turns out he thought we wanted
to go to Nanning and that we were going the wrong way. He had go to and
come from mixed up. So we started riding again thinking that
everything was worked out. He handed Tim his cell phone 2 more times
before we got our message across. All he was trying to do was
help, no harm but scary with the motor bike. We passed three Chinese
cyclists on our way into town and stopped and took photos with them, we
could not resist. Nice guys. We landed in Liuzhou in the
middle of rush hour, but rush hour in a city of 1 million in China is
not as bad as rush hour in a town of 10,000 in Vietnam. This city
was laid out similar to Nanning with bike lanes and car lanes.
Lovely to ride in and a lot less congested. We saw signs that
indicated no honking so it was actually quiet in town too. Much
easier to deal with. We landed in the Nanjiang Hotel just before
dark for 90 Yuan ($10.90) and it comes with cable TV, all Chinese
stations, hot water, and unlimited internet access. we are
happy campers. oh yeah and a western toilet. Ah the luxuries in life. |
106 km |
| April 14 |
Liuzhou. The food has been very good and cheap
too. Tons of vegetables like eggplant with garlic, onion, ginger, and
chili pepper. Tofu pronounce doufu here, we have at almost every meal.
Funny I never really cared for Tofu in the states but I love it here, it
is not so runny here, firm, and stir fried with spices and it is very
tasty. |
|
| April 15 |
Liuzhou. Took the day off and explored the city.
I am just amazed at the amount of shopping. Everything made in
China is also sold in China. I have started checking the tags on
my clothes and gear and have noticed that over half our belongings are
made in China. Only a few things are still made in the US like a knife
and Titanium pots and a hat from REI that I am sure is now made in
China. |
|
| April 16 |
Liuzhou. The weather has been crummy so we
decided to stay one more day. We use to wait out the rain but here
it is not possible. The weather pattern has been rain at night,
wet in the morning, then semi dry early afternoon to late afternoon. |
|
| April 17 |
Liuzhou - some town 35 km outside of Liuzhou. We
started out with a light drizzle that we thought we could ride in, 30 km
down the road it began to really pour. We decided it was time to
get a hotel when we went through a small town with many hotels. It is
not hard to convince me to get out of the rain. -
Out of China: slipping past the
watchful eye of censorship. See the story
of how we were arrested and detained in China on this day. |
35 km |
| April 18 |
Ok I do not know the names of either town we stayed in.
We rode north on 322 until the town of Luzhai and then turned east onto
323 towards the town of Li pu. We were tired and stopped in a mid
size town with a hotel. I can not figure out why we are always on
the top floor. When ever I look at a room it is always on the
third, fourth or fifth floor. When I ask for a room lower they
always say it is full. Perplexing and tiring too. I end up
going up and down at least three times before we are all checked in.
The bargaining is not as difficult here either, when I ask for a
discount I usually get one and the price never changes once we agree on
one. I have found the people to be very honest even when it would
have been easy to take advantage of me. I even get the feeling
that people are trying to take care of me. Especially when we are
looking for a hotel, I still have trouble recognizing the sign for hotel
or inn and we have had people walk us over to a hotel and help with the
price. Very sweet. |
75 km |
| April 19 |
Yangshou. We started out in drizzle again, the
landscape changed to karst topography near Li pu, a large town. It
was pouring rain when we pulled into a restaurant for lunch. The
family was very nice, made us excellent eggplant and tofu dishes and
taught us how to count up to ten in Chinese. I am actually getting
some of it. Being able to count is crucial. In Li pu it was
raining so hard that we thought about staying the night but we only had
40 km to go so we decided to push on. The weather cleared some and
we had a pleasant ride into Yangshou. It was amazing the change just 10
km from town. Normal China to Tourist China in one kilometer.
I did not mind but it was so abrupt it startled me. We turned the
corner and saw a river with at least 15 bamboo boats with tourists in
them, tourists on bikes, and tourists in large buses. Not just
westerners either, Chinese tourists. This is a new side of China
for me. Then we rode into town and found West St. Wow, it
could be anywhere, most signs are in English, French and Chinese and
everyone seems to speak English. It made me realize that I have
only spoken English to Tim for the last three weeks. Amazingly we always
have something to talk about, I feel very lucky to have someone to share
these experiences with and manage to always have an interesting
conversation. |
83 km |
| April 20 |
Yangshou. We met up with Mary Ann again, this is
our fourth time. We have decided to teach English here for about a
week or so in exchange for food and lodging. We talked with Mary Ann,
had lunch with the school and were shown our room. We are suppose
to give three speeches a week, attend activities on the weekend, and
social hour three times a week. I will try and give a summary of
how it goes over the next week. I am excited about talking with
Chinese students, I want to learn more about their culture. |
|
| April 21 - May 10 |
Ok a week or so turned into three weeks. Working
at the school was so pleasant it was hard to leave. Check out our
web page about the school for photos. We worked at Zhou Yue, for
almost three weeks. We were going to leave earlier but it was in
the middle of May holiday and prices of rooms and food doubled that week
all over China so we decided to stay in Yangshou for another week. |
|
| May 11 |
Yangshou - Guilin. It rained this morning and it
made me wonder whether we were leaving or not. It finally cleared
at lunch and we peddled out of town about 1 pm. But first we had
to stop by the school and say good bye to Johnson. He said that
they would be up near the rice terraces this weekend and maybe we will
cross paths. Amazingly it did not rain on us on the way to Guilin.
We had a bit of a head wind from the north. We arrived in the city
and it was obvious that it had rained hard earlier. Somehow we had
managed to avoid it. We found a hotel, took an elevator to the 5th
floor and rolled our bikes into the room. The room at the Oasis
hotel was 100 RMB ($12.50) A luxury. We took a hot shower
and went out for some dinner. We turned the air conditioner on and
slept like babies all night. It has been so hot and humid it was
difficult to sleep with just a fan. |
65 km |
| May 12 |
Guilin. We went to the Reed Flute cave today.
We took bus 3 out to the cave, Lonely Planet said it was the last stop
but the line has gotten longer. The bus driver told us where to get off.
The cost to enter the cave was 60 RMB each ($7.00). Ouch that is a
pretty steep price for a cave. The cave was awesome, lit up all
the way. The annoying thing was the photographers set up here and
there. They would turn the lights on when they were taking a
picture and turn them off when they were done, so if you did not pay for
a photo you did not get a well lit up room. Other than that it was
a beautiful cave with large stalagmites and stalactites. We
decided not to stay too long in Guilin it is a bit expensive here. |
|
| May 13 |
Guilin - Heping. When we left Guilin we were not
sure where we would find a hotel and that will be the case of the next
couple of weeks. The first 40 km were flat. After lunch we
had a tail wind and a good thing too. We started climbing up
hills, the first real hills in Asia. The problem was it was also
very humid. I started sweating buckets quickly. We stopped
often for water but still I was hot. We took a rest in the shade
after 55 km and found a hotel. Well we thought we found a hotel.
It turns out that they do not take foreigners so they sent us on to the
next hotel. The next hotel about 5 km up the road. I looked
at the room and it was basically a flop house. So we moved on. We
steadily climbed and still not hotels in sight. I do not mind the
climbing it is just so humid I over heat quickly. We finally found
a hotel that would let us stay there for 40 RMB ($5). We had
dinner for 12 RMB. The building was made entirely out of cedar and
smelled great. |
76 km |
| May 14 |
Heping - Ping' an. A bus pulled in while we were
loading our bikes and we had quite an audience of about 50 people.
We knew we had a short day but also a big climb in front of us. We
stopped at the entrance and paid our 50 RMB each a whopping 100 RMB
($12.50) to get in the Long Ji Rice Terraces also known as the Devils
Back bone Rice Terraces. We ended up climbing 500 meters in the last 6
kilometers. The climb was on a good road and only a few steep
sections but the heat was tough. We stopped at the parking lot
where the gate attendant said there was a hostel but there wasn't any
then again he said we could not ride up the road because it was too
steep. I guess he was wrong on both accounts. We then road
up a flagstone and to a covered bridge. That is when they said we
could not go any further. We contemplated what we should do.
I was hot, tired and sweaty, I wanted a hot shower. Tim wanted to
think things out clearly so we took a look at the stairs. The
touts told us it was a kilometer to the village. We finally
decided to have our luggage portaged up and we would carry our own
bikes. Wish I got a picture of Tim carry his bike up those stairs.
The stairs were not as difficult as they looked. The step height
was short. I slowly brought up the rear. After a 10 minutes
we passed a guest house and then another one. Hold on. I am not
carrying my bike up those steep stairs. Lets stay here. I checked out
the room and the women said it was 10 Y ($1.25) per person, the view was
ok and they had a hot shower. Sold. I am not going any further.
We paid the porter 40 Y ($5), ouch, and had them help carry our bags up
to our room. In the process we changed room and we had the corner
room that viewed the steep steps that led further up into the village.
Cool, I can watch the world go by. We walked around the
village some but I was exhausted and we went to bed early. |
20 km |
| May 15 |
Ping' an. We decided to do the Viewpoint 1 and 2
circuit. We went to View 1 first. If you can only got to one
Viewpoint I would recommend Viewpoint 2, it is where all the famous
photographs are taken from. It was a sweaty day but we really enjoyed
the view. We walked part of the way to Danzi the village that our
school friends were at but turned around to have a view of the terraces
for lunch. We had lunch at Viewpoint 2. I was amazed to see
that porters were carrying people up to the Viewpoint. I guessing it
cost at least 100 Y ($25). Some people would not have made the
climb and others could have easily. The view is fantastic and well
worth the climb, just leave yourself time to enjoy the view. On
the way down the trail we stopped at the hotel with the internet cafe a
checked email. Then we headed down the trail and were surprised
when Johnson from Zhou Yue English College. He was calling someone
named Tim, then he looked up at us and was just surprised to see us.
We had dinner with the school and it was a nice reunion.
 |
|
| May 16 |
Ping' an. If you are looking for a place to relax
and enjoy the surroundings in my opinion this is the place. I felt
very comfortable and welcomed here. The family was pleasant and
left us alone. It rained part of the day but I did not mind I sat
inside and read a book. We watched people come and go on the main
stone path into town. We saw a group of men moving a pool table up
the stairs on their backs. Amazing what they can carry, people, luggage,
pool tables everything is carried on their backs and the old people show
it too. I have seen more hunched over people here in China then anywhere
else. |
|
| May 17 |
Ping' an - Long Sheng. It was mostly a down hill
ride between the rain drops. Our plans are to ride to Sanjiang, 80 km to
the west on 321 then stay on 321 until Congjiang and then Rongjiang.
The we will turn north towards Leishan until we intersect 320 and head
east to Kaili where we think the next internet cafe will be. |
29 km |
| May 18 |
Long Sheng. We were ready to ride but the weather
is not cooperating. It rained rained rained today. The river is very
swollen. We spent the day at the internet cafe. |
|
| May 19 |
Long Sheng - Intersection 321/209. We looked at
the maps and it looked like a smooth sailing day, down hill along the
river, what more could we ask for. Hmm we soon found out.
The rain let up about noon and we set off rather late. The first 5
kilometers were smooth. Then we hit the road construction.
The road turned into a silty quagmire. Many times my wheels were
submerged over the rim, and trucks were rolling by while I was trying to
stay upright.
We rode 28 kilometers and came to an intersection where the road
looked good to the left. So we went left. After a kilometer
we asked a group of old men which way it was to Sanjiang. The
pointed us further up the road. We rode on and it seemed that we
were going in the wrong direction but I did not follow my instincts.
Eight kilometers later my instincts were confirmed and we were told we
were going the wrong way. Ugh. an extra 16 kilometers to the
ride today. We went back to the intersection and talked to a group
of surveyors, one spoke English. How far is Sanjiang? Is
there a hotel? How far is the construction? The answer was 30 Km,
no hotel until Sanjiang, and 7 kilometers. They said Sanjiang was
too far to ride by bicycle. The road construction continued for
about 10 kilometers and we found a hotel at 12 kilometers. When we
arrived at the hotel we were covered in mud and spent an hour cleaning
our bikes and bags. We took a room for 20 Y ($2.50) and had dinner
for 20 Y ($2.50). We turned in early and felt a bit achy like I
getting a little older every day. |
56 km |
| May 20 |
Rt. 209 - Fulu. The road was paved to Sanjiang
after that it was a pothole quagmire mess. We road along the river
for some time and then went up and over a hill and down along another
river. The towns at the top of the hill were very interesting.
I think the minority group may have been Dong because I did see a drum
tower, we also saw a wind and rain bridge that was very stunning.
The road continued on, I can not believe this dilapidated road is the
same road we have ridden through the province of Guangxi. They are
working on the road, putting in drainage pipes, I hope this improves all
the landslides we go around. We started asking about a hotel and
were told to go up the road 6 kilometers. There was not a hotel in
that town but they did have a beautiful community well that was built
with tile and had wooden ladles to collect the water. The water
was crystal clear, I was impressed. While we were taking a break I
saw a bus go by with a group of foreigners. Ten kilometers down
the road we turned a corner and the entire bus load was sitting outside
a hotel. The only hotel in town. Lucky for us there was
still a room available. I looked at the room and asked the price
three times. The price I was quoted was 20 Y ($2.50), and I
thought that was a reasonable price. The family was already
cooking a huge dinner for the Dutch tour group so they just added two
more plates. The dinner was excellent and better than we normally
would have had. We went to sleep with a fan on and the power went
out in the middle of the night, it was hot and I opened the door and let
all the mosquitoes in the room. So much for sleeping. The
next day I asked for the bill and the owner doubled everything the room
was now 40 Y ($5) and dinner was 50 Y($6.25). He had told me then
night before that dinner was 25 Y and our room was 20 Y. Uggh the
old bait and switch there was nothing I could do but pay him. |
65 km |
| May 21 |
Fulu - Congjiang. We stayed along the river all
day and the road was dirt the entire way well almost. A small part
of the road meandered into the Guizhou province and that part was paved
for 5 km. I though the remaining 25 km was paved but it was not. We
stopped for lunch when it started to rain and the restaurant did not
have any food and they pointed us on to a little old lady. She
gave us a bag of cooked rice and a piece of meat for 6 Y ($0.75) it was
the worst lunch we have had in China There was a final climb
up before the town of Congjiang. As soon as we entered the Guizhou
province the road was paved the entire way to town. It was a hot
and tiring day. This makes it difficult to find a hotel I went to
one hotel and they turned us away, I went to another hotel and they took
me to the 4th floor, the room only had a fan and it was too hot to just
have a fan. We settled on another hotel for 88 Y ($11). We
brought out bikes in the room and turned on the AC. We went to
sleep early. |
65 km |
|
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===== |
|
|
INDEX #3:
SE Asia / China
11-22-04 to 9-15-06
December 16- January 16, 2005
Cambodia and Angkor Wat
Poipet to Tien Bien, Cambodia |
|
Best Place to see Pictures
Cambodia Thumbnail Pictures
|
(January 16 - February 17 , 2005)
Vietnam #1.
Tinh Bien to Cau Ganh, Vietnam |
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Best Place to see Pictures
South Vietnam Thumbnails
|
|
May 22 - June 27, 2005
Guizhou and Hunan,
China
Congjiang to
Zhangjiajie National Park China |
|
Best Place to see Pictures
Pictures of Guizhou, China.
|
(July 16 - Sept. 3, 2005)
Inner Mongolia and Shanxi, China.
Beijing to Xian, Shaanxi, China |
|
Best Place to see Pictures
Thumbnail pictures from Inner
Mongolia, China.
|
Full size Picture
Pages
-
Beijing to Jining, Inner Mongolia.
-
Grasslands of Jining, to Wuchuan (near) Hohhot
- Hohhot
to Bautou, Inner Mongolia, China
- Wudang
Lamasary
-
Bautou to Yulin, Shanxi, China with Photos from Genghis Khan's Mausoleum.
- Yulin to
Yanan, Shaanxi, China
-
Chairman Mao's Headquarters and Residence in Yanan, China.
- Yanan to
Xian, Shaanxi, China.
-
Terracotta Warriors #1
-
Terracotta Warriors #2. |
|
|
(Sept. 4 - Oct. 29, 2005)
Sichuan, China
Chengdu, to Zongdian, China
|
|
Best Place to see Pictures
Sichuan Thumbnail Photos
|
Full size Picture
Pages
- Giant Panda
Breeding Center #1
- Red Panda
in Chengdu, Sichuan, China #2
-
Chengdu to Kangding.
- Kangding,
Sichuan, located in Southwestern China.
-
Mugecuo Lake near Kangding, Sichuan, China.
- Kangding
to Xinduqiao
-
Xinduqiao to Tibetan Home Stay.
- Tibetan
Home Stay to 4718 meter (15,475 feet)
- to
Litang, Sichuan, China.
-
Litang Lamasary Tibetan Buddhist Monk Monastery
- Litang
to Sumdo, Tibet
- Sumdo to
Xiangcheng
-
Xiangcheng to Derong, Tibet.
- Derong,
Sichuan Province to Tibetan Shangri-La, (Zongdian) |
|
(Oct. 30 - Dec. 24, 2005)
Yunnan, China
Zongdian to Mohan, China
|
|
Best Place to see Pictures
Yunnan thumbnail photos
|
|
(July - Sept. 15, 2006)
Malaysia #3 and Singapore.
Taiping, Malaysia to
Singapore |
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Best Place to see Pictures
Malaysia #3 and Singapore
|
|
| |
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