China – Beijing

32 hours and the last train I was to take through China, wohoooo! Stepped off to a cloudy Beijing, lashing with rain we walked for another 30 mins to the nearest metro station! Tried to get into the recommended hostel in a cool area of Beijing but it was full so ended up walking back with my rucksack to another hostel, that was alot dingier!

Managed then to bump into another friend from Shnaghai and ended up hanging out  for a good few days. So then decided to head to the Great Wall, trying to decide which part of the wall was a little more than trying, it was a mjor trade off from travelling for hours and on numerous buses to get to the remote parts or to go on the touristy parts which were obviously easier to get to, but we bumped into a Chinese guide who said he offers trips to the remote parts where we are the only ones on the wall and everything is aranged for us with only one bus and pickups. After bargaining him down we accpeted and the next morning we were on our way to the wall.

Coming towards the wall we were driving through quite scenic areas that looked alot like parts of Switzerland. Then the first sightings of the wall were fairly impressive from a distance so it was looking good, as not many of the sights in China havnt been that great. Once off the bus we had a 40 minute hike up to the wall, up some fairly steep climbing. The first steps on the walls were great, the view was amazing and the wall was falling apart in places but was  really authentic and there was no hawkers or commercial aspect to it.

As soon as we started moving along the wall we could see how old and original the wall was, it was overgrown in places and parts of the wall were falling off while we walked on it. You could see the wall built on the highest peaks  of all the mountains around the area and built on the shearest slopes, it was amazing that they actually built it but where they built it is unbelievable. There were a number of watch towers places along the wall some intact and others completely delapidated and tunnels running through them.

We had spent 6 hours trekking on the wall and began the hike down the mountain thoroughly satisfied with the day and ended up in a small hostel sipping back on a few cold beers remeniscing on our favourite parts. Over the next few days we visited the Summer Palace, a place of rest for officials during the hot summer months. Including some nice gardens a great huge airy lake.

We also visited the Olympic Stadium and village, wasnt much to see as the stadium closed, so we then went off to see the Forbidden City, the heat was unreal and was supposed to meet the guys there but there were hundreds and thousands of people everywhere and took us ages to find each other. It was fairly impressive but all fairly similar with the rest of the Forbidden City. Each of the buildings has a number of little statues on the end of the each of the arches which denotes the importance of the the building.

China – Chengdu

Another sleeper train journey, and I arrive into a Chengdu, more people and crazy traffic than anywhere else. After checking the map and the hostel being no more than a mile away I decided to walk. It was already pretty hot and after the first mile I was only half way on the map. Another mile later I finally arrived at the hostel recked and covered in sweat head to toe!  After a nice shower headed straight to the bar for some food and an ice cold drink.

First was to go see Mao’s statue, the walk in was quite long and the city was massive, full of construction works and multi-story skyscraping banks.After a good hour walk  I arrived at the statue and a massive square, Mao’s statue looked out down one of the main streets hand outstretched towards the south!

I bumped into two Irish people I met in Shanghai and we decided to head on the tour to see the Pandas in the Breeding Center. It was one of the coolest thing I had seen in China sofar, we saw different ranges of Pandas, older ones and baby ones. Up to 2/3 years they stay together in their groups of cubs, but after that the tend to be on their own and live solitary lives.

Apart from chilling out in the really nice cool hostel run by two ex backpackers, which had an amazing cinema room, snooker table, table tennis table and just a generally nice atmosphere!

China – Xi’an

23 hours sitting, 2 hours sleep, alot of spitting, eating and general noise for 24 hours, I know it sounds like a bad 24 episode but that was my experience on a hard seat from Shanghai to Xi’an. My god the Chinese can be disgusting, alot of them seem to have lots of respitory problems resulting in them constantly hocking up flem out of their lungs and spitting it anywhere and everywhere, also once they are finished slurping their instant noodles, does the rubbish go in the bin??? my god no why would it when there is a perfectly good window to throw it out of. Seriously their lack of common sense is astonishing. They do not sleep in the hard seat section so nobody else can with people litterally sitting in the isles hanging over ur seat and head they just talk, eat and make constant phonecalls on their multiple mobiles and have not discovered the silent setting.

Anyway I stepped out off the train to a mass of 100s of people standing in the lashing rain, it was impossible to get a bus and every taxi was full, I was going to have to walk again 3 miles with my rucksack in the rain, at least it was cold, eventually finding the hostel i had a shower some food and intended on going to bed but met to english lads who were teaching in Xi’an, the next thing I noticed it was 3 am and we were quite drunk in the basement bar. 48 hours, 2 hours sleep and have a blast! things were looking up!

The next few days there were a few things on the list, walking the city wall, seeing the Terracota army, the Muslim quarter and the arts maket and some partying. Decided to walk the wall day 3 after day 2 i needed to sleep. The wall was quite impressive looking from the ground, so paying 40Yen in I was hoping for good things. The view was quite cool and some of the buildings too, already Xi’an was a hundred times better as there was alot of old architecture, exactly what I wanted to see but was still a sprawling modern city.

Half an hour in I could hear drums being played somewhere in the distance, eventually peered over the other side of the wall to find a free performance in the park where about 50 people were playing drums and symbols, It was really cool to see and hear. Really dramatic style and was completely enthralled by it for a good 30 mins. Moving on I quickly realised that the wall was very similar all the way so only walked a quarter of it, which did take over 2 hours.

The next day I decided to go see the Terracota Army, I chose to get to it via public transport rather than the tour, the tour was to cost 190Yen where I could do it myself for about 100. Managed to find some more people who wanted to do the same so we headed for the bus. Taking an hour we arrived at the Warrior Museum which was like a little town in itself, carefully constructed so that you had to walk past every single shop and tout on the way in and out without fail! There are 3 pits in the museum pit 3 being the smallest, we took the LP advice and started in the smallest one and worked our way to pit 1. Pit 3 had about 10 statues in it that were quite hard to see, pit 2 didnt seem to have any in in apart from broken pieces but was about 10 times the size, we were getting worried at this point at there was supposed to be about 6000 statues. Entering into pit one we finally got to see a mass of warriors, it was quite impressive but still was not living up to the name as the 8th Wonder of the World, they had been excavating for 30 years and still were not finished and it all looked a little messy, with again hardly any explanations or info.

The Muslim quarter was interesting everything and everything sold here with lots of places to eat very cheap and reasonably well, some things were a little off putting like the cows stomach sitting out on a table with flies all about it ready to be eaten or sold by someone, then coming across a bike and trailer full of some animal spines just sitting in the open, it was kinda creepy and completely bizarre! The arts market was really nice, lots of caligraphy musical intruments jewellery, it was really nicely built and quite peaceful, nice and relaxing from the hustle and bustel of the main streets!

China – Shanghai

After a not so bad 20 hour journey in a sleeper i arrived in Shanghai train station, i step outside and the heat is unbearable, with 20KGs on my back I want to find the hostel asap! I find the metro with relative ease and hop aboard to find myself in the city center at the right station but not a clue which line to get on! so I decide to walk it, doesnt look too far on the map. 45 minutes later at 3pm I eventually arrive at the hostel dripping in sweat, my back aching and been bumped into and stared at by the extra 10 million extra chinese people than usual that are in town for the Expo!! iv never seen so many people.

Met a few people that day but didnt do too much, showered and rested and a few drinks with a chill in the hostel, the next day a few of us went to the Shanghai museum, with free entry it couldnt be all that bad, we arrived at about 11 and the queue was a mile long outside in the blistering heat, we decided to stay and queue, 40 mins later we were into the aircon how it was heaven!

Some really cool statues and wine vessels inside with some really nice caligraphy and artwork, although we were quickly realising that the Chinese dont do explanations very well in either Chinese or English! after a few hours we decided to have a ”cake party” om the museum, everyone buys one cake and you take a bight and swap to the right and keep going until uv tasted them all, was a bit of a laugh and some of us were more greatful than others!

Over the next few days I started to really not like Shanghai very much as it was just a huge concrete city with nothing really Chinese about it. We went looking for one of the older makets in hope of finding some old Chinese architecture as everything sofar could of been any city in Europe. We werent disappointed I eventually got to see those curved rooftops with dragons and all sort of creatures decorating the ends of the roofs. It was really nice to see but not that much. There was one area that was new but built in the old style, during the day it looked great but at night was lit up like a christmas tree, nice for a camera shot but quite tacky!

It was time to leave Shanghai and head for Xi’an to see the Terracota Army, I had been waiting to see these for years! So Off to the train station I went 4 days early to get my train ticket, youve probably guessed it all the sleepers sold out already!! all that was left was a hard seat, to which I had heard was only a wooden bench, the trip was due to take 21 hours! so I bought it, at half the price of a sleeper it was a bargain, and it couldnt be all that bad…could it!?

China – Hong Kong

Arrived in Hong Kong airport early enough managed to get on a bus relatively easily after managing to get my hands on a lonely planet guide for china for 30 Euro, bargain compared to NZ. Found a place to stay on Rowloon island north of Hong Kong Island. The ride in was really fascinating, huge green tree filled mountains suddenly changing into concrete skyscrapers and neon lights!

Accomodation proved to be quite expensive in Hong Kong and also no real comunal areas for backpackers as rooms were amongst locals apartments in a 20 story building! Food was reasonably cheap and good as was the transport from one island to the next! The first full day I decided to apply for my China visa which meant gettingthe ferry over to Hong Kong Island.

At 2 Yen about 20 cents for the ferry it wasnt going to break the bank and was quite easy to find aswell. IT took a while to find the embassy as Hong Kong elevators seem pretty strange certain ones only go to the odd floors and others to the even ones. others only go as far as the first few floors. Finally managing to get there on a thursday I wanted to be out of HK before monday so this meant getting a rushed Visa i.e. back the next day i.e. costing 3 times as much.

The next day got my visa and enquired about a train ticket to Shanghai. I was quickly learning this is where it gets difficult, Trains to Shanghai only go every second day and are usually full unless you book 3 days in advance and they only go on sale 4 days in advance, I had to wait till sunday evening to get a sleeper as it was going to take 18-20 hours.

I managed to see the light show along the Hong Kong island skyscrapers, it was famous for this show, a complete let down of a few lights and lasers and awful awful cheesetastic music! I wouldnt bother with it. I did go to see the largest sitting outdoor bronze buddah which was really cool, it sits atop the mountain range towering above everything and is quite a sight. The views from the top and around the area are something and definately worth going to see!

Apart from that and going to see the city from the Peak if you get a clear day there is not that much to do in Hong Kong. A little bit boring and just one big concrete block, nothing amazing. Not a fantastic start to China but ok!

Fiji – Mana Island

A larger island than the last and a bit more of a party atmosphere, but cheaper to stay, the food wasnt as good but definately more active. Bumped into one of the people who had left the last island a few days earlier and that started the ball rolling and soon there was a group of about 10 of us chilling all day by the beach, making coconut jewellery and outfits for Fijian dance nights.

Two of the guys were going to do a dive, but I had opted out of it as it was quite expensive to dive there, but 5 minutes before they departed i jumped on the bandwagon and joined the group! The dive was nice enough but not great, as Fiji was supposed to be a really good place to dive! it was, the vis was good but the thermoclynes were pretty severe. Not much to see apart from some small groups of fish, some coral that changed colour when you touched it.

For how boring the dive was the just added to the expense of the dive as I was expecting to see some good stuff. After that dive though the dive crew had gone on strike as they hadnt been paid in quite a while aparently so they closed up shop and subsequently forgotten to hand in my bill for the dive, so a free dive!!!! suddenly it was a nice dive! any free one is a good one!

We had a few more Cava nights in Mana and did a little exploring of the island. There were definately some good party nights and bonfires to be had late into the night! After another 4 relaxing days on the beach it was back to Nadi for one night then fly back to Sydney for night and onto Hong Kong! Overall I really enjoyed Fiji, a nice place to visit especially as a couple or in a big group of friends!!

Fiji – Treasure Island

Arrived in the airport at 5pm and hadnt a clue where I was goign or what I was doing, I knew nothing about Fiji and had no book or any information! Clearly this was obvious as a Fijian woman working in the airport took me to her office which happened to be a travel agent, that is one desk and a phone! She basically filled me on what most people do, the main places to go, sorted! Until the price! accomodation on the islands were fairly pricey and varied alot depending on the islands, having said that it did include all 3 meals throughout the day!

The first island I decided on was Treasure Island (Bounty Island) this was a small island that you could walk around in about 20 minutes that was supposedly the same as Beachcomber the famous party island. Which she said was overpriced and not as good as it used to be. So Bounty being half the price I decided on there for 3 nights! The next one was Mana island alot bigger and alot livelier but for some reason cheaper again but was very popular with backpackers! There is one company that pretty much controls all transfers between the islands so they make a killing on it and charge alot!

Out of the 600 fijian dollars 140 went on the boat transfer, which in total was about 40 minutes there and back. So I arrived with an English bloke and German girl on Bounty, it looked beautiful as we approached, white sandy beach in the middle of blue water, heaven we all thought! until we stepped onto the beach and most of it was dead coral and really sore, the resort did have a pool right by the sea though. But it actually was really good and everything just got better and better after that initial let down! It was a quiet resort but you could party a bit late especially if you bought a crate at closing time, they would fill an eskey up and just let you away with it until the early hours!

Then we hear about Kava, anyone who has been to Fiji with probably cringe a little bit with the mention of that word, it is a root of a tree ground up into a brown powder and mixed in water in a cloth like a tea bag, then the chief will pass around a small cup ful of this muddy looking water and you have to do a little ritual each time to accept the cup and you down it in one, initially its the most disgusting thing ever, then it wears off a little, then your mouth goes really numb and you cant taste anything. Everyone repeats this until the large bowl is empty! It was supposedly used for settling disputes and special occasions to bring people together!

Snorkelling was quite good there and the food was gorgeous too, well woth the price, made some really cool friends there and would definatelty recommend it if your are going there and would like a little bit of relax time!