Coming to you from Hong Kong
Can't believe how much time has flown - today is the last day of our China adventure! We're in Hong Kong at the moment, and getting ready to fly back to Beijing and catch the train first thing tomorrow to Ulaanbattar in Mongolia, the first stop in the Trans-Mongolian railway. Very pumped indeed!
But just to keep you updated on just what we've been doing since the last post...
Before leaving Yangshuo, we stayed for a few nights in Chaolong (about half-an-hour out of the town itself) at a pretty cool little hostel nestled in amongst all the limestone mountain ranges. Very quiet and peaceful, and given that it was raining pretty much non-stop for the whole time we were there, it was a great chance to relax and take a break - played some pool, huddled up by the fire and watched a few DVDs, got a lot of reading done, and pretty much just bummed around, taking in the awesome scenery. They had a cooking school there, so a few of us decided to try our hands at preparing some Chinese cuisine. Turned out quite a few tasty dishes indeed - my fave being 'beer fish' - which, as the name may suggest, is fish cooked in beer (with a few mixed vegetables thrown in) - very tasty indeed!
The next stop from Yangshuo was the Longji Rice Terrace region. So two public buses (again, another experience in itself - it's amazing the random people you meet on China's public transport!) and a few stops later, we arrived in Dazai to and trekked for about an hour up through the rice terraces to our guesthouse (followed the whole way by some very enthusiastic Yao women - Yao being one of the minority communities in the region - very colouful, friendly, and, it seems, deleriously happy people - they just laughed at anything an everything we said, even though they couldn't understand a word!). The guesthouse had amazing views of the valley, and the rice terraces look absolutely amazing, being carved into the mountains over hundreds of years, they give each hill a layered effect. The next day we trekked for five or six hours through the mountains and rice terraces to get to another guesthouse (in Longshen, amongst the Zhuang minority villages). It was cold, wet, muddy, and very slippery, but we were pretty much the only people out there, and found ourselves amongst some of the most amazing scenery we've seen so far - the view every time we got to the top of a rise was simply extraordinary.
Both guesthouses in the rice terraces were VERY basic in terms of the accommodation, but it made little difference - we had an amazing time mixing with the friendly locals, and getting out there and exploring our surroundings.
Then it was on to Hong Kong - after heading back on the bus and spending the afternoon in Guilin, we caught the overnight sleeper train to Shenzhen, walked across the border to Hong Kong, then back on the train to Kowloon, where our hotel was situated. It was also our last night with the group (which happened to coincide with St Patricks Day, so after exploring a little bit of this frantically busy city (and walking down the 'Avenue of Stars' - Hong Kong's tribute to their film stars such as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan) we found an Irish Pub and celebrated in style!
Steph and I had a few extra days in Hong Kong after the Intrepid trip officially ended, so we've been making the most of it - exploring the shops on Nathan Road and Hong Kong Island, took the Peak Tram to Victoria Peak to get an awesome view of the city's hundreds of skyscrapers, did a lot of walking around Hong Kong island, including a massive walk down from the peak (who needs a tram!), visited a few of the bars and restaurants in Lan Kwai Fun (very funky and popular entertainment district on Hong Kong Island) and revisited the peak last night to check out the view at night - and it's at night when you really appreciate the beauty of this city - there are some incredibly imaginative lighting themes on the buildings, and the colours and effects make for a pretty impressive sight.
Well, I guess that's it for now. China's been amazing - as you can probably tell we've been loving it. Hope everyone's enjoying the updates, and who knows, for those that have never been here, maybe I've provided a little inspiration to come on over and check it out.... :)
So the adventure continues. To Mongolia... and beyond!
But just to keep you updated on just what we've been doing since the last post...
Before leaving Yangshuo, we stayed for a few nights in Chaolong (about half-an-hour out of the town itself) at a pretty cool little hostel nestled in amongst all the limestone mountain ranges. Very quiet and peaceful, and given that it was raining pretty much non-stop for the whole time we were there, it was a great chance to relax and take a break - played some pool, huddled up by the fire and watched a few DVDs, got a lot of reading done, and pretty much just bummed around, taking in the awesome scenery. They had a cooking school there, so a few of us decided to try our hands at preparing some Chinese cuisine. Turned out quite a few tasty dishes indeed - my fave being 'beer fish' - which, as the name may suggest, is fish cooked in beer (with a few mixed vegetables thrown in) - very tasty indeed!
The next stop from Yangshuo was the Longji Rice Terrace region. So two public buses (again, another experience in itself - it's amazing the random people you meet on China's public transport!) and a few stops later, we arrived in Dazai to and trekked for about an hour up through the rice terraces to our guesthouse (followed the whole way by some very enthusiastic Yao women - Yao being one of the minority communities in the region - very colouful, friendly, and, it seems, deleriously happy people - they just laughed at anything an everything we said, even though they couldn't understand a word!). The guesthouse had amazing views of the valley, and the rice terraces look absolutely amazing, being carved into the mountains over hundreds of years, they give each hill a layered effect. The next day we trekked for five or six hours through the mountains and rice terraces to get to another guesthouse (in Longshen, amongst the Zhuang minority villages). It was cold, wet, muddy, and very slippery, but we were pretty much the only people out there, and found ourselves amongst some of the most amazing scenery we've seen so far - the view every time we got to the top of a rise was simply extraordinary.
Both guesthouses in the rice terraces were VERY basic in terms of the accommodation, but it made little difference - we had an amazing time mixing with the friendly locals, and getting out there and exploring our surroundings.
Then it was on to Hong Kong - after heading back on the bus and spending the afternoon in Guilin, we caught the overnight sleeper train to Shenzhen, walked across the border to Hong Kong, then back on the train to Kowloon, where our hotel was situated. It was also our last night with the group (which happened to coincide with St Patricks Day, so after exploring a little bit of this frantically busy city (and walking down the 'Avenue of Stars' - Hong Kong's tribute to their film stars such as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan) we found an Irish Pub and celebrated in style!
Steph and I had a few extra days in Hong Kong after the Intrepid trip officially ended, so we've been making the most of it - exploring the shops on Nathan Road and Hong Kong Island, took the Peak Tram to Victoria Peak to get an awesome view of the city's hundreds of skyscrapers, did a lot of walking around Hong Kong island, including a massive walk down from the peak (who needs a tram!), visited a few of the bars and restaurants in Lan Kwai Fun (very funky and popular entertainment district on Hong Kong Island) and revisited the peak last night to check out the view at night - and it's at night when you really appreciate the beauty of this city - there are some incredibly imaginative lighting themes on the buildings, and the colours and effects make for a pretty impressive sight.
Well, I guess that's it for now. China's been amazing - as you can probably tell we've been loving it. Hope everyone's enjoying the updates, and who knows, for those that have never been here, maybe I've provided a little inspiration to come on over and check it out.... :)
So the adventure continues. To Mongolia... and beyond!
posted by Steph and Dan Rasmussen @ 10:57 am
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