Eastward Ho!: There's nowhere finer than China

China has been the biggest surprise for me so far, I thought that a month may have been too long to spend there and we would be itching to get on with the next country, but for many reasons most of us didn't want to leave.

One reason being our lovely guide George. He met us at the Kyrgystan border to take us through the 110km no mans' land, and from day one the whole group was smitten with him. Throughout our time in China, George was there to help in many ways including hospital visits for some of us, down to overseeing staff in kitchens to check that all was in order! We all became very attached to George and will all remember him fondly. Right now he will be at be at home and attending to his rice crop, harvesting in the paddy fields as his job in tourism isn't all year round.

George and Denis at the Terracotta Warriors

George and Steve

After leaving Kyrgyzstan in the morning in a flurry of snow, we headed through no mans' land and into China, heading for Kashgar. Arriving in Kashgar late afternoon, and what a difference half a day makes - we were in a hot dry environment, such a contrast to the morning.

The first week of China consisted of long hot drives throuh the Taklamakan Desert, taking our lives into our own hands everytime we stepped into the truck. The rules in China? There are no rules, it's everyman for himself. The trucks on the road far outnumber the cars, and all day it was a case of weaving in and out between massive trucks, sometimes you would see two or three heading towards you, and most of us had our hands over our eyes and some points during the day. We were just surprised we didn't see more accidents, and were all pleased that we had Jim to drive us.

So far on the trip, we have been able to communicate with people as most have a small understanding of English, or we have been able to point or gesticulate. In China, it was total contrast as almost all had no understanding of English and even gesticulating got you nowhere. This made life quite difficult at times but certainly made for entertainment. We were lucky that we had George the guide who could translate, and we also had Aoife who had been learning Mandarin at
night school, so her phrase book came in very handy!

We visited Turpan, the second lowest point on earth, and the heat was intense, but luckily it was a dry heat with no humidity.

Buddhas have been a key feature whilst in China, especially giant ones. In Dunhuang, we went to the caves with giant Buddhas that were carved into the rocks. They were absolutely breathtaking.

The next Buddha was the largest laying down Buddha in China, another awesome sight. The last giant Buddha was the one in Leshan, and the best was left 'till last. He was incredible, situated on a cliff side overlooking the river, he is 71 metres tall and was built between 618-907 AD. We climbed down the stairs to the bottom of the Buddha, then up the other side. No amount of
photos will be able to capture the size of the Buddha, it was just amazing.

He's huge!

Giant Buddha

Another key feature in China was the food, and soon chopsticks became our friends as every meal was eaten with them, so very soon we were all experts. Noodle soup became a lunchtime staple dish, and evening meals a culinery delight as we sampled the different foods on offer, and became accustomed to the chilli inspired dishes, especially in the schezuan region!

We couldn't go to China and not visit the Great wall, so it was decided we would visit the wall and have our last bush camp there. We set up camp, and CJ cooked our final bush camp meal, then we ascended the steps to the very end of the wall reaching the last fortress as the sun was setting. It was magical, a moment that we'll never forget, and we enjoyed some time there away
from the usual crowds that gather at other great wall spots such as Beijing. Arriving back at our camp just as darkness was setting in, we were greeted by angry police asking us to pack up our tents and move on. Apparantly we were near a military space and so the tents were packed up by moonlight for the final time, and we were escorted to the nearest hotel by the police and made sure
that we were checked in for the night.

It's a steep climb, but worth it

A great wall and sight

Susan admiring the view

Aiofe and Wendy at the Great wall

The girls at the great wall

Susan and Ben checking out the hotel gowns after de-camping at the Great Wall

Whilst in Xi'an, the first item on the agenda was visiting the Terracotta Warriors. These were found by a farmer back in 1974, and have slowly been restored and excavated ever since.They truly are a marvelous sight.

Terracotta warriors

The next day, Mandy, Emily, Zoe, Susan and I decided it would be a good idea to hire tandem bikes and cycle around the city wall in the searing heat. The route around the city is 14km which in itself isn't excessive, except when trying to cycle with bikes that have punctures and wonky seats! We hired 2 tandems and 1 bike, alternating along the route. Great fun and different way to spend
a morning in the city.

Emily and Mandy on a tandem in Xi'an

Emily and Me

Some of the guys headed off to Beijing for 5 days from Xi'an, so we said goodbye to them until we caught up with them again in Chengdu.

Our first morning in Chengdu saw us rising early so we could visit the Giant Pandas in time to see them having their breakfast before doing what they do best - sleeping. They were exceptionally cute, and we spent a few hours wandering around, watching them and also the red pandas before heading back to Chengdu for KFC! It was one of the few western foods eaten in a while and went down a treat!

Cute Giant Panda

Red panda

Doing what they do best....sleeping

Feeding frenzy at the pandas


Red panda

Very cute!

Towards the end of our time in China, the drive days were a total contrast from the earlier days when we were traveling through the desert, these days the scenery was spectacular with the most gorgeous lush green mountains and mystical clouds drifting over. We stayed in Leijang, which had a great vibe, especially as it was a popular tourist spot for mainly Chinese, but with more
westeners there than we had seen since entering China 3 weeks before.

We had been staying in places where there were obviously few westen visitors, and everywhere we visited the curious Chinese would take photos of us. We imagined that this is what it would be like to be famous, so enjoyed our short lived fame!!

Posing for a photo for Chinese man

Dali was the next touristy spot after Leijang, and had a great chilled out feel to it. It was here that the group all decided that a few days of pampering was on the cards, and hours of massages, reflexology and hair cuts commenced. I had a massage and a reflexology foot massage, then onto the hairdresser for a trim. My hair being curly, and the hairdresser not being able to understand
a word of english, was not a good combination, and after cutting of the right amount of hair he decided to blow dry my hair straight. My eyes were as wide as saucers as he spent ages preening and brushing and I could hear the sniggers coming from everyone as he was let loose on my hair.

The end result? Me looking like I had just stepped out of a 1960's movie set, I had been likened to Marilyn Monroe, Penelope Keith and Gloria Hunniford amongst others, and I couldn't wait to get back to my usual shaggy 'do'.

Another beauty treatment some of had done whilst in Dali was 'Cupping'. This consists of lying on your front whilst cups and suctioned onto your skin and then dragged up and down your back,before about 12 cup are suctioned onto your back and the skin is sucked up into the cups so tight you can hardly breath. This is then left on for about 30 minutes, halfway through more sucking of the skin is done. At the end you are left with massive red marks on your back, which
look like you've been attacked by giant sucking leaches. The marks slowly dissapear over the period of a week and apparantly take out all your impurities. I can't say I felt any more pure after having it done, but it was an experience, and probably never to be repeated again!

After a month in China, the only thing I concluded that I wouldn't miss were the exceptionally hard beds that we had been sleeping on at the hotels. The beds were as hard a concrete with pillows to match, but apart from that, it was a sad day at the border as we left China behind.