Jun 11, 2017 - The Markets!!!!!!!

We took our lives in our hands and boarded a double decker bus to Stanley market. Sitting upstairs at the front is very scary when you have a lunatic driver. The road is very narrow in places and when you meet another big bus you hold your breath. We half expected to end up in this cemetery on the side of the hill! It's very humid and 34deg so we walked slowly around the market and bought some gifts, then made our way back - being gluttons for punishment we again sat up at the front on the bus. It was obviously washing day as most people...

Jun 10, 2017 - Hong Kong - 20 Years On

Over the years we have been lucky enough to have enjoyed stopping at Hong Kong on our various journeys. HK was clean, polite, organised and then across the water, Kowloon was chaotic and always a bit poorer looking. . Well it is almost 20 years to the day (Monday, 30 June 1997 since the UK handed back Honk Kong, to China at the end of the lease. Now both sides look the same, if not worse. . Gone is the mystical way the hordes of pedestrians managed to travel the crowed footpaths without bumping into each other. Now they push and shove with...

Jun 10, 2017 - Honkers

A day trip to Macau was today's adventure. We took the turbojet over which takes an hour, then boarded one of the many free buses put on by all the casinos in Macau. Our intention was to go to the magic show at Studio City. All the casinos are huge and flamboyant The magic show is run 3 times a day and there are 3 magicians doing their thing. So the first 2 are about 15 minutes and the 3rd is very flashy, lots of laser lights etc. and about 30 to 40 minutes.. A very good show and very clever illusionists. No cameras allowed in the shows...

Jun 6, 2017 - Swayambudnath and departing Nepal

Our last two nights in Nepal were spent at the Kathmandu Eco Hotel, a bit of luxury in the middle of Thamel. Costing 35000 rupee including breakfast per night. Our room `Mandala` included prayer wheels,　ornately hand painted walls and ceiling, parquetry floor, A/C and a bath tub with a shower with hot water. One night we ate ate the Yak restaurant and again had Tibetan hot millet beer but it wasn`t as good as the beer in Pokhara. On our last day we visited the Swayambudnath stupa, or monkey temple. This is a large complex sited on the top...

May 18, 2017 - Hong Kong

We arrived in Hong Kong at 11 pm Brisbane time after a very long flight from Brisbane via Cairns and spent the morning with some retail therapy so Greg could indulge in his favourite pastime - bargaining with the locals. I find it very uncomfortable and have to walk away..... HK is always so busy. People everywhere, traffic, building works and of course the hawkers on every corner and in between, selling bespoke suits, massages and fake watches It's fascinating and draining at the same time. Where do they get their energy and when do they...

May 17, 2017 - Thamel - the noisy tourist hub

We are at Hotel Potala for two nights and our location is very central, being in the heart of Thamel which is the main tourist area. There are bars, restaurants and souvenir shops all around and the sound of music continues till around midnight. Yes truly party central. Grae's long hair invites offers of marijuana or hashish, nice! Our room is basic with a very narrow double bed, tv, wardrobe and side table. We have an ensuite with a shower, western toilet and tiny corner basin. The shower is not enclosed so the whole ensuite gets wet. The...

May 16, 2017 - Hong Kong/Shenzhen

A 4.30am start to the day yesterday, saw us fall into bed and sleep like the dead last night!! Despite our plane taking off 1/2 late we arrived in Hong Kong on time! Then we proceeded to catch a number of trains (maybe 4 or 5) which took about 90 minutes, to take us to Shenzhen, whereupon it isn't that easy to work out what to do - however, we finally managed to sort out the visas (Aus. 168 Ch Yuen (Tony $33,) UK 304 Yuen (Me $59) - USA 956 Yuen - (who'd be a yank???? $187). On to the hotel and put our gear into our room, took a pic or 2...

May 16, 2017 - Last Day of touring in China

Our first trip on this beautiful, hot, sunny morning was to the Jingshan Chinese Herbal Institute - oh yes, this would be Shopping Trip No. 7, that was heralded by our Local Guide on the bus as being an incredibly interesting Chinese Traditional Medicine Institute. Our group was led into the obligatory cloistered room and the door closed behind us - again! When the door next opened, a small army of employees came in bearing buckets with warm herbal foot soaks, and each of us took off our shoes and put our feet in individual tubs then we...

May 12, 2017 - The Great Wall of China

Today's special excursions were to 'Shopping Tours Nos. 5 and 6 and - oh yes, that's right - to visit the fabled Great Wall of China. Shopping Tour No. 5 was to "visit one of the largest Jade Exhibitions in Asia" which we did en route to the Great Wall. Not so much an exhibition, more your standard sales room. Our Local Guide gave us the now-expected long discourse on jade while travelling there on our bus, its origins, etc., then we were released into the Jade Salesroom - oops, sorry.... 'Exhibition' where we were stalked by dozens of...

May 11, 2017 - Beijing or Bust!

(Warm Prompt (hot tip): tap/click on photos to enlarge) Oh grooooaaaann! I feel like we only got in to our hotel, the Ramada Beijing NOrth, after 1:30am - oh yeah, that's right, we did - and here we are, all bright eyed and bushy-tailed (and if you believe that.........!) ready to go touristing again. Our group was on two different flights from Chongqing to Beijing last night and, unfortunately, our flight was the one that left Chongqing a little later so it was getting pretty late by the time we got squared away and into our rooms at the...

May 10, 2017 - Chongqing & Old Town of Ciqikou

We disembarked the President No. 7 on a very gloomy, wet morning - our worst day of weather so far but we have had some spectacular days up until now. The disembarkation was not so much difficult for some of us but, well, DIFFICULT! We trekked over irregular metal decks with sabotages placed strategically en route, then up some very steep, wet concrete steps - only to find even steeper steps higher up but at least they were under cover. The local people know this is difficult terrain for tourists who have been accustomed to a certain level...

May 9, 2017 - Shibaozhai Pagoda, Zhongxian County

Today's shore excursion was under very gloomy, wet skies. However, we've been really fortunate with the weather so far, so consider ourselves lucky. We docked at Zhong County to visit the Shibaozhai (Precious Stone) Pagoda, which is built on a steep hillside a short walk from the cruise ship. Access to the Pagoda is across a moving suspension bridge, so it was a case of “just don’t look down” for me. When the Three Gorges Dam was built, the rising waters would have submerged the lower three floors of the Pagoda but, the Chinese government...