Li River
The Li River below Guilin and the towns of Yangshuo and Xingping are famous for the vast area of granite Karsts that surround them. We had read that with the sudden growth of domestic tourism, Yangshuo had gone through a growth spurt and had lost most of its charm, so we booked into a guest house in...
Chengdu
After checking in to Lazybones Hostel early evening, we took a short walk around the area to both familiarise ourselves with the new city and also to get the legs moving again after sitting down for so long. It was a buzz with people in noisy restaurants and delicious smells from everywhere. I was l...
Tiger Leaping Gorge
Lijiang and the surrounding mountainous region is home to Naxi people and is renowned for its beautiful towns, stunning landscape and laid back vibe. Towns like Dali had been back packer hangouts for years. Unfortunately, even at out leisurely pace, we couldn’t find time for all that was on offer so...
And into China
We wandered up the road in the direction the conductor had pointed. At first there were no real signs of a border but as we turned the corner the impressive border edifice came into view, its funny how countries try to impress their neighbors with the size of their borders, it must be a boy thing! W...
Slipp’n in Sapa
We arrived in Sapa 2.5 hours later and boy what a contrast! We were bombarded with ladies trying to sell us their handicrafts or take us trekking. Men wanting us to take a taxi. It was full on! We walked towards our hotel gawking in horror at the massive new hotels (Pete almost vomited at the hideou...
Chiang Rai
John and Tracy of Chateau Carter dropped us off at the Chiang Mai bus terminal mid-morning for our onward journey to Chiang Rai. The 200km journey through almost continuous road-works took a little over three and a half hour but the scenery relatively brown now after a long dry season made up for th...
Chateau Carter Review
Located in the grounds of the exclusive Chiang Mai Highlands Resort, Chateau Carter thrives on providing exclusive accomodation for the most discerning guests. Unfortunately a complete lack of advertising or SMO means that it has become a dosshouse for their dodgy mates. Read more; http://www.foxhat...
Finally we are on our way
Leaving Bangkok for the start of our journey was surreal. 30 years ago when we headed off on our first European adventure family and fiends came to see us off and wish us well, this time it had all the pomp and circumstance of a trip to the wet market, albeit with a slightly heavier shopping bag.......