Alright, I have the feeling you guys must be loosing track of where I'm at and where I've been. So I'll just cut the crap about scooter adventures and dramatic Chinese songs for a sec and place a good old-fashioned, plain and dry message. Let's see if I can do it...
At the moment I am in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, which was hit by the earthquake. Chengdu remained intact though, so I haven't seen any trace of the destructions yet. I arrived yesterday evening by plane from Shenzhen, a Special Economic Zone right next to the Hong Kong border. Shenzhen is e-nor-mous. I believe it is the richest city in China, and to get to the airport I took a bus that drove along tall building after tall building, flat complexes after flat complexes. Before I came to China I found it hard to imagine what a city with 10 million or so inhabitants in China would look like. I've seen Londen, Paris and the lot, but in China, there are over a 100 of 'London's', Paris's' etc. Well, it takes a lot of square blocks with flats, called 'estates'. Driving through Shenzhen was just 40 minutes of estate after estate and in the centre it was packed with flashy business buildings. And I think I've only seen a fourth of the city. It's impressive, but I must say not my piece of cake. If I had to choose a place to live, I would prefer a town like Yangshuo where we were before we keft for Hong Kong. Details on the way.
Anyway, I booked the flightticket, very Chinese, the day before. Flying here is so cheap and easy! It may not be the most environmentally responsible way of travelling but hey, put yourself in my shoes: either I take the train from Shenzhen to Chengdu, which I havn't checked but I'm guessing takes around 42 hours and costs around 50 euro's. Or I buy a flightticket for 80 euro's and install my ass on a plane for two hours. Keep in mind, I have a backpack that weights 21.8 kilo, plus a small rucksack of about 3 kilo's. oh yes, the trainticket is also harder to book; long lines, no English, people shouting their ticket wishes over your shoulder to the counter lady while you try to book a hardsleeper that may not be available in the high season (now).
Ok, I admit it is less 'adventurous, and less 'backpacky' but honestly I'd rather be adventurous doing a cool tracking tour through traditional villages than sitting on ze train. Anyway, you get the point. So much to tell, I need to learn to set priorities.
Priority 1: how did our scooteradventure on Hainan Island end? Recap: We stood there on the side of the road, heavy rain clouds closing in and my scooter paralysed. Well, we managed to wave down to guys on a scooter who took a look at it. One sped to the nearest village to get reinforcement. After ten minutes he returned with a buddy and a rope. They tied the rope around my scooter and while I sat on the back of the newly arrived scooter, they pulled it to the village. And at that point the clouds broke and what followed was the heaviest rain shower I've had in years. It was almost like hail! Completely soaked we entered the village where the dudes started fixing the bike. Ofcourse, they didn't have the right part because we were in the middle of nowhere. So after calling the hostelmanager and discussing with the guys (well, he did because they didn't speak any English), they decided to drive to the nearest bigger village to prove their luck there. We waited for two hours in one of the most depressing towns I've seen. It was just one big road, with concrete pavements on the side, parked full with motorbikes, all along the pavement. Not a pretty seght. And it was filthy; people selling crap, like dead fish, on little blankets that were soaked from the rain. Brr, ugly. Finally the guys fixed my bike (we were lucky with that) but than ofcourse wanted too much money, so we had to negotiate with a couple dozen spectators; villagers who obviously had nothing to do all day but stare at the funny bargaining foreigners. We were happy to leave. The way back was pretty though, so in the end an experience worthwhile.
For the rest of our stay we did what you normally do on a Bounty Island; nothing. D and T moved to a beach resort which offered incredible discounts because it was low season. Janneke and I ofcourse profitted from that by hanging around in their pool that had a little island and a slide that gave me a bruised spine. Their hotel also had a hittle pool filled with small fish. For a bit of money you could sit in the pool and the fish would eat your dead skin. I can tell you this; it tickles! And when you sit real still, the fish grow more confident and really go nuts after a while: a true feeding frenzy! Because the poor beasts looked so starved we did two sessions. If you're interested I should warn you; my left index finger got permanently damaged...
On one of our last evenings D, T and I took a big bottle of vodka, some lemons and installed ourselves on the island in the middle of the deserted pool. We got incredibly drunk, finished one pack of cigarettes each, and as a finale took a dip in the sea which was three steps away from the pool. Wicked. Not so wicked the day after though; we were pretty poor company for J.
After two weeks of doing nothing, stuffing ourselves with delicious Western food, and waiting for my visa to get extended it was rime to leave Sanya.
By the way, I'm listening to 'You mei you ren gau su ni' (see previous message) and it may be slow, but it's really good, especially the second half! When you are watching the crap videoclip, don't, just listen, but do check out the video when it is at 4.47 minutes, there is a very funny scene with two penguins
.Priority 2: Guilin and Yangshuo. From Sanya, we took a plane to Guilin, famous for it's limestone peaks. And it is certainly famous for a reason! We arrived in the evening. We sat in the bus and even in the dark the landscape was bizar. As we drove to the city, sudden dark shapes of mountains would just pop up out of the blue on the roadside. it was a full moon and the light it shined (is this correct Englis?) over the peaks was amazing. More bizar, this was the same in the city! You're just, ladiedadieda, sitting in the bus and BAM! there's a limestone peak in your face. Awesome. We didn't stay in Guilin but took the bus ro Yangshuo the next morning. That it is a touristy area was very noticable. People kept harrassing us. Very annoying. They just stand in your face, if not on it (if they could), and keep asking the same thing even after you've declined 3 times already. There is no point in being polite, in fact, you have to become rather impolite to finally get rid of them. It just pisses you off. But there is nothing you can do except keep calm and hope they lose interests after a while. I manage to keep calm by thinking over and over:'But I'm glad I'm not in your shoes'. I mean, I probably would be that annoying if i had a shitty job like that. But it does put your patience to the test. J's patience broke down that morning in Guilin and she simply turned to the guy, and said 'What?!' a couple of times. What followed was a bunch of 'Fuck you. Fucking you. Don't come to China etc etc. from the guy. All this shit just makes you sigh and we were happy to get on the bus to Yangshuo.
Yangshuo is amazing. I looks somewhat like a Swiss Alpine village with cute cobblestone streets, small houses and a little river running through it. But than, the amazing part of course is the surrounding scenery. Through the houses you constanly get a glimpse of the amazing limestone peaks. It saves me a page describing the amazing nature if you just search google for pictures of Yangshuo. Ok, I see I've used amazing 5 times or so, I'll stop now. We were in yangshuo for 4-5 days and we went on a bamboo raft river cruise, walked along the river, checked out a place near the Yalong river and once again enjoyed all the western food in this tourist infested place. We sat on the rooftop bar of Monkey Janes hostel with a view over the peaks and the river and drank cocktails with a Canadian couple who we had met before in Sanya and accidentaly came across on the streets in Yangshuo! The backpackers world is small, even in China. In the third day i took a mountainbike and did a tour through one of the valleys. I came across the river, and tons of tiny fields with crops, rice fields, small pictoresque farmhouses, all along a rocky one way road. Absolutely fantastic. A bit warm though; temperatures were into the 30s. The first day was a bit suicidal; excited like little kid I had grabbed a bike to discover the countryside but hadn't paid attention to the fact that it was 2 pm and no clouds. I came back soaked in sweat and as red as a tomato with an irregular beating heart (sort of). But it was worth it.
After Yangshuo, we took the bus to Shenzhen to cross the border to Hong Kong from where J would take a flight back to The Netherlands. The bus we took was not your regular bus, it was a sleep-bus! Yep, with actual beds. The beds are put in three rows: two rows next to each window side and one in the middle. They are a bit short but for the rest pretty comfy! The only thing that wasn't so comfy were the road conditions. Gee, the bus swang from side to side dodging or driving through what must have been big ass potholes. I had a bed in the middle row and the small fences (not the right word) that were supposed to keep me in the bed were abit short. And a bit low. So everytime the bus swung from side to side I had to grab hold of the rail to make sure my legs wouldn't fall overboard, with me following my legs. So for most of the night I was just dozing of untill there was onother pothole. Really, the sleep-bus is a great invention and they should make more of them, but for taller people you need more straps to the bed. When it was almost light I decided to try out one of the window beds where at least there was one wall to support me. That was a genius idea and in the end I managed to get some sleep. We arrived in Shenzhen in the morning and it took us four hours to find the right bus, go through customs and take the train to Hong Kong Island where we had reserved a hostel.
Priority 3: Hong Kong. People, people, people. Neonlights, skyscrapers, amd more people. Our hostel was located in one of the busiest parts of Hong Kong; in between the big shopping malls on HK Island. It was nice to have some luxury. I don't mean the room, the room wasn't much better than the ones in China, but just the fact that people speak English. And that they have clean western toilets in which you can flush the paper instead of putting it in a basket next to the toilet (something I still find gross, even after 7 months). And the clean, bright luxureous shopping malls with no bargaining. Starbucks, the smooth flashy subway. These kind of things. Downside for me was that I found it a bit claustrophobic. Narrow pavements packed with people you need to dodge or that block your way. The sreets with the always tall buildings. It's just a bit crammed It looks pretty awesome though. it really looks a bit like London (but more crammed and narrow); you could really notice it had been under British rule.
But it's a pretty astonishing place; the many islands, the mountains, and the skyline of HK island. Worth it. But I didn't find the people that friendly. The people in our hostel were unhelpful, cranky bastards, really assholes. And other staff that is supposed to help you I found a bit uniterested and rude.
But maybe I also find this because I think I've had a bit of a China overdose by now. I find myself feeling more annoyed by small things and the people. For example all these stupid glasses that 60% of the people seem to wear (at least in HK). The geeky guys and the giggly girls, it just really annoys me now on occasions. And the friggin language barrier. You just can't communicate with people, and because of this I quickly put them off as geeky and giggly, simply because that is all you see. I have noticed my tolerance level in China falling from Very High in January, to Very Low at this moment. I just get annoyed quicker. I think it is a good thing I'm leaving for Nepal om August 16th. But these moments of annoyance put aside, China is awesome and it is a great place to travel; so much to see!
So HK. One more thing: the cockroaches. Everywhere. On the streets. I hadn't noticed untill the second day that they're everywehre. but once you spot one and you start looking, they are e-ve-ry-where. J and I walked to a bar and we saw at least 8 running down the pavements on our way. Goddamn nasty beasts! I just get a light heart attack everytime I see one blindly and brainlessly running to the middle of rhe pavement, so that if you don't look, you would step on it, something that janneke almost did. Gross man. Even writing about it creeps me out. during the day, everything is blossomy and fine. but when nighttime falls, the Beasts come out of their holes and roam the streets.
Ok. Happy thoughts now. Yesterday I put J on a bus to the airport and took a plane from Shenzhen myself. I am in Chengdu now, my last stop in China before I travel from Tibet to Nepal. A Dutch girl, N, who is Carmens friend and who I've met in Holland before, will meet me in Chengdu and than we do a private 8-day Tibet tour. Its pretty complicated to get into Tibet and you have to go through a travel agency. It's a bit expensive but I'm guessing it will certainly be worth it.
Time to end the story. the title of this piece has turned out a bit too optimistic. I tried to put credit on my account but failed because my mother already used her credit card for her own account. Instead of Skyping: SEND me your ADDRESSES! The people who already received a postcard from China needn't to ofcourse, but if you havn't received a card yet, sent me your address again because I've probably lost it.
People, hope you're having a great summer!
xxx B
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