Hey guys, we are back in civilisation!! So hot showers and nice meals that wont leave you so sick that you're begging your mum to come help you hehehe!
Our last night in Ganzi was interesting, culinary wise. But first we apologise for not having put any photos as promised but we went back to the hotel to get another card because the ATM machine was not taking our other cards and we had almost no money left. And while in the hotel we turned on the TV to find out that in Beijing in Tiananmen Square they were doing the countdown to the 1 year until the Beijing Olympics and it was a huge show with dancers and singers and documentaries (and translated into english!!) so we ended up watching it and so when it was over it was already too late to go back to the internet so sorry!! Anyways, as for our culinary experience...we went out looking for a restaurant, there were a couple of food stands and it looked good but there were no seats so we had to go into a small restaurant. The owners were muslim and as always I pointed to some characters on our guide book that show food and she said something that I didnt understand...we saw them take out a chicken out of the freezer and then we hear numerous cuttings...we keep wondering what is in store for us when in arrives a plate with the entire chicken cut up into small pieces with the head and the feet and everything except the actual meat!!!! We swear they have never either eaten a chicken before or never seen how you are supposed to cut it!!! There was nothing edible and Jo kept saying "they must have taken out the white meat and kept it for themselves!!" so we tried our best and luckily there is always rice but we ended up our last night hungry and eating yet again cookies in our hotel room hehehe!
The next day we got an early bus to Kanding and we were joined by an American couple from Colorado that were doing a year's travels all over the world so that made the journey go faster :) Especially since our bus had problems with the radiator and the brakes (not the best when you are going up and down mountains!!!) As always the scenary was beautiful, we are really sorry that we dont have more time in China because we would have loved to stay in some of these villages just for a couple of days to do some trekking or visit better!
We were also worried because our bus took longer than it was supposed to because some parts of the road were still being constructed and we werent able to take out money in Ganzi and we were down to our last 1 bai (100 yuan = 10 euros) and we still had to buy tickets from Kanding to Chengdu and plus the guide told that there was no ATM in Kanding and that the bank closed at 5! So you can imagine our worry... we made it into town at 7 and on the way in we kept looking both right and left for an ATM, just in case our guide was already outdated (seeing how fast things grow in China!!)...Luckily our guide was super outdated for Kanding and as soon as we arrived and I asked where we could find an ATM (just in case) and we were immediately told where :) And after while walking towards a hostel we found many others!! Our guide told us taht Kanding was a bigger town but still very Tibetan and rustic...well, we found ourselves in a big city instead! And for the first time we had to stay in a dormitory (we paid 2 euros each for our beds!) because there were no spaces in the other hotels and because the city had changed so much so had the prices!!
We didnt do much in Kanding to be honest - it was the first time we didnt take any photos!! - and plus we went to eat and I got sick again!!!
We left immediately the next day to Chengdu...we got on the bus and it wasnt leaving on time and at one point a woman comes in and says something...some people get out so I tell Jo to get out too to see if its something to do with the bags...when he doesnt come back after 10 minutes I go outside to see whats happening and I see everyone looking at Jo and this other guy who had a bike...what happened was that the guy was taking too much luggage space with his bike and they were threatening to make him stay in Kanding...and worst he didnt know how to take apart his bike, so in comes Jo to save they day :) He was able to take apart the bike into pieces and get it to fit into the luggage space! The Chinese guy was very grateful after that :)
This was the best bus ride so far because the road was all new and a tunnel had been made that cut the ride into a comfortable 6 1/2 hours :)
When we arrived in Chengdu Jo had again to help the Chinese guy put his bike back together. The guy was embarassed...he kept saying "you are foreigners in China and you are helping me!", he wanted to take us out to dinner or help us find a hotel, poor guy :)
Taxis in Chengdu are terribly hard to find, especially during rush hour, we had to wait for 30 minutes with our bags on our backs, and it was raining and we had to "fight" with other chinese for the taxis and plus we didnt know the address of the hostel we were staying at because it was not in our guide!! So, when we finally got a taxi I had to say in mandarin "we do not know the address, can you please call this number and ask", the first taxi that stopped for us tried but he got no answer so we had to find another one, most didnt want to bother, but we finally got a nice guy that called and got the address!! They keep telling me my mandarin is very good but the worst is taht the accents are so different in every place that it is hard to understand them even if it is easier to make myself understood!!!
The hostel is brand new (some of it is still under construction) but it is super comfortable!! And it serves western food (im sorry if that sounds bad but when you have been sick or eating mountain food for a week you really dont mind getting something your stomach is used to!!)
Today we went to see the pandas!!!! That was great and we got to see baby pandas as well...they are soooo cute. The adult pandas just lay around sleeping but the younger ones were playing with each other and eating bamboo shoots...we got tons of pictures (which hopefully we will put up soon!!) Now we are going to visit a bit of the city but we have been told there is nothing special...
Tomorrow we go to Leshan to see the biggest Buddha in the world!
So, until then, Zaijian!!
lots of love,
Jo and Fil
Our last night in Ganzi was interesting, culinary wise. But first we apologise for not having put any photos as promised but we went back to the hotel to get another card because the ATM machine was not taking our other cards and we had almost no money left. And while in the hotel we turned on the TV to find out that in Beijing in Tiananmen Square they were doing the countdown to the 1 year until the Beijing Olympics and it was a huge show with dancers and singers and documentaries (and translated into english!!) so we ended up watching it and so when it was over it was already too late to go back to the internet so sorry!! Anyways, as for our culinary experience...we went out looking for a restaurant, there were a couple of food stands and it looked good but there were no seats so we had to go into a small restaurant. The owners were muslim and as always I pointed to some characters on our guide book that show food and she said something that I didnt understand...we saw them take out a chicken out of the freezer and then we hear numerous cuttings...we keep wondering what is in store for us when in arrives a plate with the entire chicken cut up into small pieces with the head and the feet and everything except the actual meat!!!! We swear they have never either eaten a chicken before or never seen how you are supposed to cut it!!! There was nothing edible and Jo kept saying "they must have taken out the white meat and kept it for themselves!!" so we tried our best and luckily there is always rice but we ended up our last night hungry and eating yet again cookies in our hotel room hehehe!
The next day we got an early bus to Kanding and we were joined by an American couple from Colorado that were doing a year's travels all over the world so that made the journey go faster :) Especially since our bus had problems with the radiator and the brakes (not the best when you are going up and down mountains!!!) As always the scenary was beautiful, we are really sorry that we dont have more time in China because we would have loved to stay in some of these villages just for a couple of days to do some trekking or visit better!
We were also worried because our bus took longer than it was supposed to because some parts of the road were still being constructed and we werent able to take out money in Ganzi and we were down to our last 1 bai (100 yuan = 10 euros) and we still had to buy tickets from Kanding to Chengdu and plus the guide told that there was no ATM in Kanding and that the bank closed at 5! So you can imagine our worry... we made it into town at 7 and on the way in we kept looking both right and left for an ATM, just in case our guide was already outdated (seeing how fast things grow in China!!)...Luckily our guide was super outdated for Kanding and as soon as we arrived and I asked where we could find an ATM (just in case) and we were immediately told where :) And after while walking towards a hostel we found many others!! Our guide told us taht Kanding was a bigger town but still very Tibetan and rustic...well, we found ourselves in a big city instead! And for the first time we had to stay in a dormitory (we paid 2 euros each for our beds!) because there were no spaces in the other hotels and because the city had changed so much so had the prices!!
We didnt do much in Kanding to be honest - it was the first time we didnt take any photos!! - and plus we went to eat and I got sick again!!!
We left immediately the next day to Chengdu...we got on the bus and it wasnt leaving on time and at one point a woman comes in and says something...some people get out so I tell Jo to get out too to see if its something to do with the bags...when he doesnt come back after 10 minutes I go outside to see whats happening and I see everyone looking at Jo and this other guy who had a bike...what happened was that the guy was taking too much luggage space with his bike and they were threatening to make him stay in Kanding...and worst he didnt know how to take apart his bike, so in comes Jo to save they day :) He was able to take apart the bike into pieces and get it to fit into the luggage space! The Chinese guy was very grateful after that :)
This was the best bus ride so far because the road was all new and a tunnel had been made that cut the ride into a comfortable 6 1/2 hours :)
When we arrived in Chengdu Jo had again to help the Chinese guy put his bike back together. The guy was embarassed...he kept saying "you are foreigners in China and you are helping me!", he wanted to take us out to dinner or help us find a hotel, poor guy :)
Taxis in Chengdu are terribly hard to find, especially during rush hour, we had to wait for 30 minutes with our bags on our backs, and it was raining and we had to "fight" with other chinese for the taxis and plus we didnt know the address of the hostel we were staying at because it was not in our guide!! So, when we finally got a taxi I had to say in mandarin "we do not know the address, can you please call this number and ask", the first taxi that stopped for us tried but he got no answer so we had to find another one, most didnt want to bother, but we finally got a nice guy that called and got the address!! They keep telling me my mandarin is very good but the worst is taht the accents are so different in every place that it is hard to understand them even if it is easier to make myself understood!!!
The hostel is brand new (some of it is still under construction) but it is super comfortable!! And it serves western food (im sorry if that sounds bad but when you have been sick or eating mountain food for a week you really dont mind getting something your stomach is used to!!)
Today we went to see the pandas!!!! That was great and we got to see baby pandas as well...they are soooo cute. The adult pandas just lay around sleeping but the younger ones were playing with each other and eating bamboo shoots...we got tons of pictures (which hopefully we will put up soon!!) Now we are going to visit a bit of the city but we have been told there is nothing special...
Tomorrow we go to Leshan to see the biggest Buddha in the world!
So, until then, Zaijian!!
lots of love,
Jo and Fil
6 comments:
well well ni hau and everything.
Lots of animação ! essa da galinha foi mt boa ha ha ha.
Por aqui tb vai alguma animação hoje vamos a Beloeil e quarta feira dia 15 vou para portugal com n coisas para fazer.
Jùa comprei um laptop, espero que fique instalado a tempo para levar comigo e continuar a seguir-vos, mas antes tenho que procurar a tal internet banda larga lá nos Casais da Charruada.
E a propósito, quando é que regressam???
Muitos beijinhos.
zaijan
Haven't had much opporutnity to follow your route this time round, but I see some great pics already ! Keep it up... Hugs Pedro
alo pipinha & salut jo
grandes aventuras sim senhor!!! dado que a minha geografia chinesa nao e a melhor pipinha e so para saber se ao menos estao a evitar as chovas que por ai caem.. espero que sim e que a viagem continue muito excitante!! Le photos son tres jolie!! e muito obrigada por partilharem as aventuras connosco... se nos planos de viagem derem com portugal eu estou ca ate setembro... bisou XXXX sofia
Sim senhora! Mtas aventuras! Estou a gostar :)
A mim deram-me um conselho para evitar os contratempos gástricos: uma cerveja por dia para equilibrar a fauna interior. Se bem que demora uns dias a fazer efeito... O Michal está melhor mas ainda tem um buraco no ombro... mesmo assim o tempo está tão deprimente que vamos na mesma para PT de 21 a 9 de Setembro. Qd é que voltam??
Beijinhos e continuem com os posts e fotos! :D
Inês
Olá Filipa,
Estou a adorar ler os teus relatos e historias, ate parece que estamos a viver essa aventura na China contigo. Fico cheia de inveja por teres conhecido o proximo Dalai Lama. Continuo a ler atentamente e quando voltares encontramo-nos para trocarmos as nossas historias de ferias na Asia. Beijinhos Claudia Fortes
Hello from the "American couple from Colorado"! Thanks as well for helping us pass time on that butt-numbing bus ride back from Ganzi. We're admittedly a bit slow in getting to your blog -- we had to get out of China before the infamous Chinese firewall stopped blocking our Blogspot/Blogger attempts. Sigh. :) Great photos, as expected!
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