Laos: Rivertime Ecolodge, Vientiane

Laos itinerary
Wednesday 18th July arrival around 5pm at the Rivertime Ecolodge, 30km outside of Vientiane
Thursday 26th July: Vientiane- Luang Prabang
Tuesday 31st July: Luang Prabang- Vientiane
Thursday 2nd August: Vientiane- Kuala Lumpur

First stop: Rivertime Ecolodge, Vientiane
We were picked up at the airport in a truck. Seb and the boys jumped in the back to ride to the lodge. The weather was much warmer than Kunming, clear sky though it rains now and again for a few minutes and the sun appears again. As we drove through the capital city of Laos, it struck me how much calmer people were, more patient with each other even if “they go mad behind the wheel” but nothing like in China. There were a lot of trucks and that surprised me too until we got to the lodge. The main roads have tarmac, the other roads, though they would not necessarily qualify as country paths are all dirt roads! Trucks make a lot of sense in this country especially in the rainy season.

Upon arriving at the lodge, it looked just like on the website (rivertimelaos.com): huts built in the jungle along the river; the floating restaurant is moored just along the bank and as night descended on us, the view was absolutely magnificent. Such beauty and peace! We were going to stay here a week and it was going to be a week of “R&R” as Leo says (and by that, read rest and relax). The lodge, being out of the way in the country, offers a number of activities: pool (built on the floating restaurant; you swim in the river water with the current but it is all enclosed so safe and fun!); biking, kayaking, rice farming, that kind of thing. So, we have been enjoying the bikes and riding to the next villages etc… but mainly we have rested and relaxed! It is lovely to just be.

In no particular order: reflections, facts, impressions, reactions, thoughts…

Vientiane airport

Vientiane airport is a pretty good indicator of the country. For a capital airport, it looks more like a regional (not by Chinese standards, having said that!) airport. The officers are so laid back, that would be the first indicator of the famous “Lao way” and “Lao time”.

Lao time: not a myth!

People here are very relaxed. And yes, we are on holiday, but we could still be busy! The weather and attitude help to just take a step back, and watch life go by.

Surrounding the lodge

Although the lodge is a mere 30km outside Vientiane, you are in a completely different world: dirt roads and the earth is rich and red which means when a truck passes you by, you are covered in red dust (no need for make-up here!); villages all around where everyone has a rice field at the back of their house for their own consumption as well as for a bit of trading; calves and chickens roaming freely on the road, all lean and small just like the people; every house has a front shop and sells eggs, cabbage, drinks (there seems to be the same choice everywhere and that comprises of Pepsi, 7-Up, water, Beerlao and a few more orange and green drinks), a few packets of what would equate to crisps of sweets dangling from the ceiling; some people will cook food such as Pho or papaya salad and as you sit down they serve you whatever they have (since we have no Lao between us, we just go with the flow).

The Hmong market

We asked the owner of the lodge where the market was and he indicated about 3kms away. We’ve been to many markets in many places and countries: small villages in France or England, in China, Vietnam, Thailand etc… but this one was surprising on several accounts. First of all, its size: a small quadrant with a few tables in the centre where on the left people cook and on the right, vegetables are sold. This is surrounded by stalls selling clothes and stuff and that is it. The “main road” leading to the market bears a few shops on either side where you can buy the basics. There is definitely no extra here. It touched me how little there is to sell. But it matches what we have witnessed so far: people live off the land mainly and sell whatever surplus they have. The choice for anything is limited.

We are in the countryside and it is a developing country. Five years in China, where food is abundant in quantity and choice, skewed our perspective on other countries in South-East Asia. Laos must be one of the poorer ones but the people seem content.

Staying in the jungle

The walls are alive, all the time. It is of course more prominent and definitely strange, though not scary, at night. The key is to not wake up. If you do, you might be awhile before you fall back to sleep as your attention will be diverted by a range of noises from dropping, scurrying, screeching, screaming, singing, scampering to the wind dancing in the leaves. Quite a spectacular entertainment really!

Sickness

And yes, one of us had to be sick with an unhappy stomach and this time, it was me. I figured, however, that just like in China, people get sick and also get better so I went and bought some orange pills that I will now call magic pills since not only my stomach is right as rain but I have no name for them! All good!


Transports

The country counts 3kms of train track from Vientiane to Thailand. And that is all! So, you can bus or fly. Initially, we were going to take the bus to Luang Prabang but a 12 to 14-hour bus journey was less than enchanting. Laos has regular domestic flights and that is what we’re going to do, fly there and back. We may not be true backpackers and that’s ok.


And here's the link for the pictures below:
file://localhost/Users/angeliquegougeon/Documents/Picasa%20HTML%20Exports/Laos,%20Rivertime,%20Vientiane,%20July%202012/index.html      

Day 15 (and last in China)

Tuesday 17^th July: Lijiang- Kunming J

It rained all night and was still raining hard when we got up. That limited what we could do for our last day. We were going to go back to Kunming on the sleeper bus at 8.30pm which left us the day to enjoy the region. We hired a driver to take us to Wenbi Temple in the mountains for the afternoon and back to the bus station around 7pm. Wenbi Temple is one of many temples in the surrounding mountains. This one is a fully functioning temple with monks living there, monks as young as 14. We took a walk in the mountains around the temple and loved the quiet; being able to hear the life; taking the time to be one with nature. And higher up the mountain there is a new temple that will only open next month. Still, the driver said we could visit it and it is quite magnificent. I thought about the reasons why I can’t enter a church in Europe and why in Asia I love visiting temples. It must be the feeling I get. I find churches dark, cold and overbearing. Temples, on the other hand, are colourful, with carpets on the floor and though cold inside, the vivid paintings of representations of their deities make it a welcoming place. Driving up to this temple, we were gradually engulfed in clouds and Leo collected “clouds” in an empty bottle of water. He was really chuffed with his cloud. I don’t recall walking in clouds before! I expected not to see anything just like when you are in the fog but no. It was a lovely and peaceful afternoon.

At 8.00pm we boarded our sleeper bus and unlike in France (I am the only one in our family to have ever taken a sleeper bus so it was quite thrilling), the Chinese ones have three rows of bunk beds- narrow and short but comfortable enough. Much better than sitting on a train for a whole night. Our last night in China on a sleeper bus! I think our children are lucky to have so many different experiences and they appreciate it.

Reflection

“Beijing is not China.” I have been told this many times and it is so true. Though I knew it was true, three years in Beijing has made me feeling smug and comfortable. Travelling for two weeks opened my eyes again and it was great, with high points and low points of course, but great all the same. I realised that only I know that I lived in this country for five years and experienced some of the Chinese ways. However, it doesn’t show on my face. To the people we met on our journey, we are white tourists foreigners. The worst kind: be a tourist and a foreigner. But I know different and that is some consolation.

I will miss China. It has been a wonderful five years when I have felt alive again and free. Now, we're off to Laos. 

Day 14 (Lijiang)

Monday 16^th July: Lijiang J L

The Old Town of Lijiang looked appealing so that is where we were going to spend the day. After a good breakfast at the Maple Leaf Inn in Shuhe, we took a taxi for Lijiang. There, it was bustling with holidaymakers, coaches full of people. The old town is beautiful and definitely old. Built on a hill, the houses are cramped one against the other and the cobbled streets are not made for high heels.  We walked up and down the town, along its vivacious river and though we enjoyed the charming views and the architecture, the town is saturated with shops to the point of implosion that it left us with a bitter taste. Unlike Tongli, there was not one street with just abodes and residents. Lijiang Old Town has been developed and abused into a commercial circus. A true shame!

So, we shortened our stay and left for Baisha village after lunch. We’d read in the guide about it and thought it would be a good option for the afternoon. A driver took us there and as we were driving through the village where there was nothing this time but people, we realised it would be best to keep him and ask him to take us back to Shuhe rather than leave us with no other means of getting back but our feet. In fact, the attraction at Baisha is the frescoes a couple of kilometres out. However, the local government has enforced a protection fee on top of the ticket fee and although you pay it once only and it allows you to visit several sites, since we were leaving the following day and had no plans to go back to Lijiang, we didn’t see the point. We asked the driver to take us to a temple in the mountain instead, then back to Shuhe the “back way”.  The temple was beautiful. We had rarely seen such a large temple before with benches and adornments on every wall as well as the buddhas. The drive back down the mountain gave us a spectacular view of the valley. Once back, the driver kept saying we had arrived but we didn’t recognise where we were. Never mind! It looked like a nice walk and it was. I think we actually ended up in the old town of Shuhe. Where we are looks too new and has probably been built to attract tourists and coaches. We went back for dinner and had the best and our last hotpot in China. 

Day 13 (Dali- Lijiang)

Sunday 15^th July: Dali- Lijiang

We are staying in the Old Town of Shuhe, a few kilometres outside of Lijiang and though charming, it is very touristic; the concept of mixing modern and old, beautiful old structures (or redone to look old) with commercial needs is extremely popular in China and attracts millions of tourists.

The 4-hour bus journey that took us from Dali to LIjiang deserves a mention, however. The drive through the mountains afforded us spectacular sceneries of the valleys, waterfalls, rice terraces, all lush and green. That side of the afternoon bus journey was very pleasant indeed. What was less pleasant was the way they all drove on the narrow snake-like mountainous road. We should be used to it by now, after 5 years, but somehow driving recklessly in a city doesn’t seem as dangerous as driving recklessly on a mountain road where the ravine is winking at you. It was clear that our driver through doing this route everyday has become immune to the potential dangers and as any person driving in China, what matters is to get there and not stay behind another vehicle. This unspoken way of driving led to overtaking at the top of a hill at the beginning of a curve with zero visibility, overtaking a truck that was already overtaking another truck, driving on the motorway against traffic (that was a first for us!)… we could have been killed a dozen times. Augustin took pictures of every instance, they should be quite surprising and shocking, of course.

Fact

It is quite cool here and unexpectedly so, though we should have been wiser knowing we were coming to the mountains. It is summertime and as we left the north of China where it was hot and humid, we arrived in the south where it is cool and rainy! Lijiang is 2400m high in altitude and Dali 2500m. It explains this unexpected weather (unexpected for us).

Day 12 (Dali)

Day 12

Saturday 14^th July: Dali J

Bastille day for the French but not for us!

It was raining hard in the morning so we delayed our plans to go hiking. Destination: Zhongsi Temple. We left about 11.30am and walked to the foot of the mountain where we were greeted by a lady guard. There, Augustin asked her about the chair lifts and ensued a series of frustrating conversations. There are different sites to go to in these mountains. The local tourism office or equivalent has obviously done a lot to attract tourists by accommodating paths, buildings chair lifts facilities etc... in order to reach the peak or a temple or whatever. The lift going to the peak was really expensive, the other one, the one we wanted to take to go up to the temple or down was out of order. We were going to hike up and down. However, the mountains have become a national park and as such there was a paying fee at the entrance. The lady was adamant that whether or not we went to the temple, walking in the mountain was not free. Maybe her presence was justified that way: ensuring everyone that came bought a ticket. So be it! She counted them… twice, punched them, stamped them and counted them again. Quite the process!

But our 4-hour hike was worth it. Such beauty and peace. As we climbed, it felt like we were walking in the clouds; smoke emanated from our clothes; we crossed paths with only a few people. It was lovely.

Day 11 (Dali)

Day 11

Friday 13^th July: Dali J

A day the way we like them. After sitting on a train, on a bus, on a plane and doing a bit of walking, it was lovely to ride a bike. We took off in the morning and headed for ErHai (Lake Er), a massive piece of water in the valley of the mountain Cang where Dali is situated. Breath-taking views! We rode through the rice fields and reached the villages that line up the lake, all built on the same model and typical of the local architecture. The lack of noise was both strange and delightful. So close to the town and yet it felt like stepping back in time. The “West road of ErHai” as it is called follows the lake on its west side. There are barely any cars in the villages and no shops- just a few “corner shops” of first necessity. It seems the villagers are poor and self-sufficient. They ride bikes, motorbikes and drive small trucks that are used more for farming than leisure.

For lunch, I can safely say we had one of the best fish ever in China where we stopped, a restaurant on the main road as there weren’t any in the villages. To order, the owner and his wife invited us in the kitchen and we chose a fish from the “sink” where the fish were kept and vegetables from a rack. But when the food came, it was absolutely delicious.

We went back to Dali Old Town after 4 hours of cycling, tired but feeling good. Dinner of local mushrooms, Dali goat’s cheese "fan fried" and chicken lemon in one of the local restaurants. Interesting how the restauranteurs line the front of their restaurant with aquariums and vegetables. That is how they advertise their regional food. Also interesting how surprising China is: there are vegetables in this region that we had never seen before, not even in another part of China. I like the fact each region retains its identity and culture. 

Day 9/ Day 10 (Suzhou- Dali)

Day 9/ Day 10

Wednesday 11^th – Thursday 12^th July: Suzhou-Shanghai-Kunming-Dali L

Our stomachs were crying abuse by the time we had dinner in Dali on Thursday evening- a proper meal, that is.

Bullet train from Suzhou to the airport at 12.25pm; flight for Kunming at 6pm; hotel in Kunming (Cloudland Hotel that did not have any electricity that day. The local government had cut the power. We arrived in a street lit by candles, though pretty, highly inconvenient in this day and age. Straight to bed!); bus the following day for 5 hours to Dali at 11.15am (initially, we were going to spend the day in Kunming then realised it wasn’t quite the city so decided to go to Dali instead to arrive in the afternoon and enjoy an evening there. Good call!)

Let’s talk about food. We love food but travelling and transiting, especially when we’ve had to alter our itinerary means eating when we can what we can. Here goes:

-Wednesday breakfast: Chinese breads in our hotel room. Good.

-Wednesday lunch: late lunch at Starbucks Shanghai Hongqiao airport. Not great.

-Wednesday dinner: on the plane and by far the worst meal ever! We only ate the bread. My god, it was disgusting! Not too many calories for sure.

-Thursday breakfast: western breakfast at the hotel. Like anywhere, local food best cooked by the locals. When they try their hands at a different cooking, the result is not that great.

-Thursday lunch: snacks on the bus.

-Thursday dinner: finally, a decent meal in Dali. Fish, spare ribs, vegetables. Fresh and well-cooked Chinese food.

We are staying at the Four Seasons Hostel (a charming hostel) in the Old Town Dali that is very pretty but extremely touristic which is translated by millions of shops like in Yangshuo, Pingyao, Zhouzhang and all these traditional old towns that have not been bulldozed during the Cultural Revolution but instead turned into gigantic touristic markets. Still, it is much nicer that any modern Chinese city lacking character completely. Last but not least, the weather is a lot gentler on us: no humidity, temperatures around 27 degrees, quite perfect. 

Reflection
China is very rich culturally speaking and that is one of the perks of travelling. You get to see and enjoy each region's architecture as well as food and people. Yunnan's architecture (or at least around Kunming and Dali) is quite pretty. The bus journey allowed us to get a glimpse of the villages all along the road. The houses are made of whitewashed walls and Chinese tiled roofs (often two layers of spiky roofs) though they do not look like the ones in Suzhou at all. The outside walls are all decorated with borders in blue designs and one side wall will bear like a crest. Each house has a different crest which was new to us. The houses are arranged in a sort of circular cluster which probably means the community evolves within its centre. Really beautiful!

Day 8 (Suzhou)

Day 8

Tuesday 10^th July: Suzhou  J

We headed to Tiger Hill, then after lunch lost our way along the river in the “Hutongs” of Suzhou to the Old Town and stopped in a tea house for a refreshing cup of jasmine tea. Delightful! Hot and extremely humid but delightful all the same.

Tiger Hill is about 4km northwest of the city; another scenic spot, though artificial, but going up the alleyways and narrow paths to the hill where the pagoda rests is rewarded with a wide range of gardens where the English translations of the different attractions are out of this world in terms of creativity. It is quite clear that the translations are literal from the Chinese characters and you end up with “Cloud melted the tea fragrance” or “Gully to the cranes” or “Education and limpid waters bring beauty to the sea” all as enigmatic as funny!

Entrance to Tiger Hill and start of our walk in the afternoon

To the east of Tiger Hill, we followed the path along the river that led us back in town. For a long time, we walked in what seems like Hutongs; it was quiet, albeit for the hawkers on the boats who tried to get us to hop on. There are quite a few boats you can get on and be dropped off down the river, but we wanted to walk and enjoy the scenery and atmosphere. Eventually life buzzed again as we reached the old town: first a few Chinese style “corner” shops, then markets, a man in his underwear (we have been used to seeing men with their shirts rolled up showing off their belly and one leg of trousers rolled up too, but just in underwear!), and finally touristic streets on both sides of the river but full of character and charm. Bbq for dinner. Another great day in Suzhou!

Day 7 (Tongli)

Monday 9^th July: Day trip to Tongli J

Ever been to a water town in China? Tongli is definitely a must-see. A delight of meandering alleys and streets, and surprisingly much quieter than any other touristic destinations. We found ourselves in deserted streets with no shops and no people to speak of. Very unusual. It struck us how peaceful and calm the town was.

Lunch of fish and vegetables by the river followed by a boat ride. Quite lovely!  We had taken the bus from Suzhou (about an hour) and bought our entrance tickets to the old town there. With that, you can visit local homes and museums- except one which is the Sex Museum, but that didn’t matter. Our walk took us to two homes that were absolutely magnificent. The first one was the Zhu home and we had never visited before such a large house with a pond in one of the courtyards. We could even go upstairs in several of the buildings. An incredible house. The second one was the Bingnan home and again, a very large house made of several buildings that surround a pond. Leo fed the fish crumbs of crisps that he had kept in his pocket just in case.

Upon return we had decided to go for a boat ride in Suzhou but felt it wasn’t worth it in the end. The tickets have gone up tremendously due to the booming domestic tourism. So, we walked in the direction of our hotel until we found a place to have dinner. And this is where China in the evening comes to life: street bbqs and sellers of all sorts. A few inviting tables and bbq stands were what we wanted. Love eating outside! What was even greater was the fact that the bbq had loads of vegetables on skewers and that was a rare sight. Usually it is meat and meat and meat but not this time, though they had meat of course. A vegetarian bbq!

Reflection: It seems that in four years since Seb and Augustin had been here that every touristic attraction has become the milking cow of the local government. And this is a common trend across China. It is sad to think that as the people discover their country and its richness, the price is steep. 

Day 6 (Suzhou)

Sunday 8^th July: Suzhou J

Three visits today: Suzhou Silk Museum, North Temple Pagoda on the same street as the museum and Pan Gate. The Silk Museum, though displaying great samples of clothing and having explanations in English on the Silk Road, it was a Sunday and on Sundays the factory was closed and that meant we didn’t get to see the silk being produced from the silk worms to the weaving looms… L

Exiting the museum we could see a very tall pagoda: our next spot. It is called the North Temple Pagoda. Suzhou has tall pagodas all around the city and they are quite something. This one is 9 storeys high which you may climb and as you go up a level, the view grows and expands offering you an overview of the city. Suffering from vertigo, I still faced this challenge holding on to the bars and never looking down. My curiosity had the better of me.

It was time for lunch and this time the question was: cheap and cheerful or middle range? There was a tiny Muslim restaurant just outside the North Temple Pagoda and that is where we had excellent noodles.

Pan Gate

A bus ride took us to Pan Gate, a beautiful garden that Seb and Augustin had visited before but well worth a visit. Walking on the paths along the pond gorged with fish was truly pleasant for an afternoon activity.

Day 5 (Suzhou)

Saturday 7^th July: Suzhou J

11.18: right on schedule, arrival in Suzhou. Bought tickets to Shanghai but the lady would not sell us tickets from Kunming to Dali. Told us to buy them in Shanghai which means there won’t be any by the time we get there! Another trying experience.

Took a taxi to our hotel, checked in, had a much deserved shower and off to lunch. The Mingtown hotel is along the canal in a beautiful old street called Pingjiang Lu. The hotel is in a typical Suzhou house, whitewashed walls and black tiled roof. Charming!

We explored the area for a while and realised we needed to rest. A day on the bus plus a night sitting on the train had got the better of us. We went back to the hotel and had a lie down until 6pm, until our stomachs were growling again for food. After walking for a while in search of a restaurant that tempted us, we stumbled upon a “Gantonese Restaurant”. Delicious food and great entertainment as we tried our best to decipher the English translations of the dishes.

Pingjiang Lu where our hotel was

Reflection: though the weather here is very humid and the sky grey, there is a distinct difference in atmosphere from Zhengzhou. Suzhou is a pretty city even in the rain. But it is hot!

Day 4 (Luoyang)

Friday 6^th July: Luoyang L

Our train was at 21.50 that evening so plenty of time today to go and explore the birth place of the Han dynasty in the old town of Luoyang, a 2-hour bus ride according to the guide. As guides go, ours dates from 2008 so we know that the prices have gone up, we didn’t know that the bus rides also increased with inflation! Here is how it went: at the bus station, Augustin and I were lining up when he heard a lady calling for “Luoyang! Luoyang!” he asked her what that was about and she was selling tickets. Usually, we’ve learnt never to buy anything off counter or take illegal taxis. But the tickets were ligit and had been bought at the counter so why not? She motioned to a guy who took us to a bus. We were meant to depart at 10.45. The bus arrived and it looked…dubious, not a bus you want to ride in for 2 hours. It was taking us to another station. Alright, what are we dealing with here? A parallel system? There, we boarded the bus at 10.45. After an hour and a half, we were still in Zhengzhou. We had been around Zhengzhou collecting people on the way in the most random places: around a corner at a junction, near a building site etc… Then, of course, it was breaktime for the driver! Time to go to the loo, time for a snack, time and time and time until he had finished his break. Quite infuriating, really! And there was nothing we could do. Once on the bus, stay on the bus and ride it.

We had timed our day so that we would have a few hours there to visit the old town, come back and take our night train to Suzhou. Eventually, the guy with the red T-shirt came back, started the engine and drove us off to Luoyang. Once there, the same as on the way there happened. He stopped several times to drop people off. I thought we were never going to get off. 3 and a half hours it took. So, the first thing we agreed to do was to buy the return tickets straight away and only buy for a direct bus back. Good thinking, though a guy on the bus told us we didn’t need to do that. As it turned out we did. China is a hard place for everyone: its own people, travellers, expats. You think you’ve gone through difficulties and that you’ve learnt the way but no.

At the counter, we were greeted by a really nice lady. Now, I have to say we have met very nice people along the way and it ahs helped tremendously. The fact that Augustin’s Chinese is superb and so fluent helps a great deal, that goes without saying. He has been able to communicate and sort out issues that might have been much greater were it not for his Chinese. I have lived in China for 5 years with no Chinese but when travelling it’s virtually impossible or expect all sorts! So, the lady at the counter told us that the last direct bus was at 4pm and that we should take it is we wanted to be back in time to board our train. Augustin had told her we needed to be back by 8pm for that reason. And, was she right? The direct bus took 3 hours! A nightmare!

We stayed in Luoyang for 1 hour and a half, had lunch and a walk around the bus station and that was it! I have to say that we had never had such a day: 6 and a half hours on a bus for nothing. This qualifies as a bad day if ever there was one. Had the guide been more accurate, we would not have chosen to go there for a day. Never mind. These things happen.

Back in Zhengzhou we went back to our little street food and had bbq again. It was easy and safe. Now, were off for 13 hours on the night train en route for Suzhou.

One reflection, though: there are many more Muslim people and restaurants in that part of China than in Beijing. We’ve always liked going to Muslim restaurants because their food is good and cheap, the people are welcoming,  and here we had plenty of places to choose from.

Friday 6^th July: night train to Suzhou L

21.50: time to board our train, 13 hours to Suzhou on hard seats. I had not experienced that before and it’s not fun. But patience and resolve are key. China is a hard place. 

Finding your seats doesn’t seem like an issue in any other country but here, they also sell standing tickets and people do that, either because they have fewer means or because that is all that is left and they must get to their destination so they put up with standing in the aisle. This also means that when you find your seats there is someone sitting in your place. Of course, that person knows and will move but the trains are extremely crowded and people stand against the side of the seats, hair in your face, elbows knocking against your forehead, that kind of thing. Leo and I sat together, Augustin and Seb across from us. Leo soon fell asleep and I tried all night to sleep a little but my neck was hurting really bad so I had to change position all the time and ended up half lying on top of Leo. Seb and Augustin barely slept and had to put up with a man eating out of a bag really smelly and disgusting food- and we’ve seen a lot in our five years in China, so that says a lot!

Day 3 (Shaolin)

Thursday 5^th July: Shaolin Temple  J

We were off to Shaolin Temple for the day.  No rain this morning, it looked like a promising day and it was. We bought our tickets and took a bus for Shaolin Temple or so we thought. China is surprising: as the domestic tourism is developing, so are tours and scams of all sorts. When the bus stopped, we were handed out tickets and asked to pay for tickets for a tour of 5 places to visit. All we wanted was to go to Shaolin but didn’t know exactly where we were. Luckily, we met two Chinese men who were in the same bus as us and showed us where to go to board another bus that would, this time, take us to our correct destination. A lady there tried to make us pay for tickets but we refused and explained we had tickets for the temple. She left. Second bus of the day. Suddenly, the driver tells us the two Chinese men that you can’t eat or drink at the temple and that amazingly enough, there was a restaurant on the way! This is quite typical in China. So, we stopped and had lunch there which was actually very nice: in the middle of nowhere with home-grown vegetables. It turned out to be a good idea.

Once at the temple, we were greeted by a great expanse of land called “The Shaolin Scenic Spot”, with gardens, paths to caves, temples and walks in the forest. An afternoon is not enough to discover everything there is to see but it was a lovely breath of fresh air. Of course, the first stop being the Kung Fu Academy it was crowded with people. There, we watched a show of young boys doing Kung Fu, and very skilled at that. As we continued our walk along the gardens, we got to the temple and although crowded, it is a beautiful place. Augustin wished his Chinese had been good enough to be able to talk to the monks as some acted as guides.

At the Temple

One low point, though: Leo was minding his own business and climbing one of the giant tortoise statues when he was grabbed by a Chinese man (we noticed that many of the tourists were Chinese that probably came from different parts of China discovering their culture but had not all seen many foreigners- their reactions towards us being that of stares, once again, laughs and generally uneducated, however bad that sounds!) who dragged him off the statue insisting he had his picture taken with his child. As I heard Leo shouting, I motioned to the man not to touch Leo and Augustin stood in front of him. Leo has been touched many times before but never pulled and dragged. That was not pleasant at all.

Leaving the temple, we took a hike in the forest and explored for the rest of the afternoon. Quite a lovely place! In the evening, we asked people for a street food and found ourselves a street bbq just the way we like them. A good day!

Day 2 (Zhengzhou)

Wednesday 4^th July: Zhengzhou  L

We arrived at Zhengzhou around 8am. As usual, we knew we had to try and I mean try and get tickets for our next destination, Suzhou, straight away. We were welcome by a slight drizzle and a grey sky. Not the best of omens.

No sleepers, just hard seats for Suzhou. Fine. As for the following stop which was going to be Chengdu, no sleepers and this time, no way, not for a 27-hour journey. I was going to try and book flights.

Lunch in the rain...

We got to our hotel- a Jinjian Inn (clinical but clean and cheap). The city didn’t seem particularly nice-a modern Chinese city with no character- and the weather was less than appealing. Got settled, decided to stay in town for the day, have lunch in a street food then go to the museum. As we left the hotel, it started to rain, within minutes it was pouring down, torrential rain. However, we weren’t deterred. Had a lovely and extremely cheap lunch of noodles in a street food under awnings that had seen better days. It was drizzling on our table as we were eating. Next, off to the museum. There isn’t much culture here but the provincial museum as it’s called is actually worth a visit. Later in the day, we thought we might go to the Yellow River Scenic spot (took a taxi back to the station for the 5^th time that day…) but the rain was so bad, we headed back to the hotel and chilled there. I booked some flights but had to change the itinerary- no more going to Chengdu: a longer stay in Suzhou and surroundings instead. Had a nice dinner in a Chinese restaurant- not many foreign restaurants here at all. Reminded us of Huangdao, just bigger. And definitely not many foreigners or let’s say not many westerners. I don’t recall having been looked at and pointed out so much in a long time: stares and gaping looks from the children… we must have heard the word “laowai” a hundred times and I’m not exaggerating!

China: Day 1 (Bye Beijing)

A new leaf in our book!

From Beijing to Brunei, our adventures begin on the 3rd of July 2012.

Tuesday 3^rd July: Beijing to Zhengzhou on the night train

Due to leave our apartment at 5pm, that is when we received a call from the police station… no comment.

We made it to the train station en route for Zhengzhou, leaving Beijing behind. A few tears and a few sighs. Although we were travelling and staying in China for another three weeks, this was the end of a chapter in our lives. So, it was with a heavy heart that we rode to the station. 


Reflection
We will have spent five years in this country and it has been amazing, frustrating and revealing. China is an incredible place and incredibly paradoxical.


I was asked at dinner a few weeks ago why I liked China and I couldn't answer. I looked at my friend who said to the Chinese lady who was asking me, " because you fit in." As simple as that.