Its been too long between drinks and we are sorry. We've been far too busy living it up on a 4 star cruise down the Yangzi River. Now before you all loose your minds at the idea of how much a 4 star cruise would cost in Australia, just remember we are in China!
The cruise was amazing, we spent about 3 days cruising down the river from Chongqing to Yichang. For those unfamiliar this is a projecxt spanning 17years and has caused much upcry from environmentalists and locals alike. Many people have needed to be relocated and mother nature isnt getting the best treatment. However the pros (from what we understood) heavily outweight the cons. Once completed central China will be completely powered by the dam and the thousands of lives that are lost every few years will be prevented as the river flow becomes more controlled. It was fascinating, so much so Jarratt bought a book! Ha! We also visitied all three gorges, travelled upstream on a smaller boat, visted feng du (a ghost city) and the dam itself. The tour of the dam was very funny, as our local guide alice introduced herself. "Hello, My name is Alice and I'll be your Dam Guide". The trip all and all was wonderful, met some great people and the only downside was the attack on Bec from Mozzies. She was that itchy she was nearly hitting her head against the Dam wall!!!
Once we finished up on the cruise we boarded a plane and headed to lovely Shanghai. Although we have been here for 2 and a bit days we dont have the time to elaborate now. So stay tuned for more Bj adventures!!!!
All our love, Us.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Saturday, August 11, 2007
How hot are we! Boo Boo Boo (No No No)
So we arrived in GuiLin and the weather seams to be getting hotter!!!! We're also getting far more attention then ANYWHERE else we've been. Jarratt is getting giggling chinese girls taking pictures of him on their phone. And every man is stopping him to tell him how BEAUTIFUL his girlfriend is. Turns out white skin and small noses are huge hits in China so we're both gorgeous here! hahahaha!
GuiLin is a very picturesque town. We arrived by plane at about 7pm and made our way to our hostel via bus and taxi - very interesting! We had been told to expect NO English in China but thought people were exaggerating. But there is NO English in China! Menus, Signs, Tour Guides (although promised to be in English) are all in Chinese. But how awful does that sound we ARE in China after all, how ignorant are we! We've picked up the important words though: Hello - Knee how; Thank You - XieXie and NO! Boo Boo Boo Boo Boo!!
GuiLin has been amazing! So much so bec bought a book full of just pictures! The chick was asking for 100Yuan, Bec got it for 40Yuan.... turns out we're getting good at this negotiating price business. We have spent the past few days really exploring the city and surrounding areas. The first day we travelled out to Longfield to see another minoriy group known as the Long haired women. They keep all their hair, even the parts they comb out and all their haircuts, they then spin it into a long plait like style and twirl it into a bun on top of their head. The villages are also amazing where they live. Words do not describe so heres a picture:
GuiLin is a very picturesque town. We arrived by plane at about 7pm and made our way to our hostel via bus and taxi - very interesting! We had been told to expect NO English in China but thought people were exaggerating. But there is NO English in China! Menus, Signs, Tour Guides (although promised to be in English) are all in Chinese. But how awful does that sound we ARE in China after all, how ignorant are we! We've picked up the important words though: Hello - Knee how; Thank You - XieXie and NO! Boo Boo Boo Boo Boo!!
GuiLin has been amazing! So much so bec bought a book full of just pictures! The chick was asking for 100Yuan, Bec got it for 40Yuan.... turns out we're getting good at this negotiating price business. We have spent the past few days really exploring the city and surrounding areas. The first day we travelled out to Longfield to see another minoriy group known as the Long haired women. They keep all their hair, even the parts they comb out and all their haircuts, they then spin it into a long plait like style and twirl it into a bun on top of their head. The villages are also amazing where they live. Words do not describe so heres a picture:
The 'steps' are actually rice and corn crops staggered and create the effect of miles and miles of stairs. Its pretty impressive! We ended the day with a fantastic performace of acrobatics and ballet - even Jarratt enjoyed it!
The following day we explored the city and surrounding areas. Including the Solitary peak, Reed Flute Cave, Yao Mao Mountain and organised a cruise down the Li River for the following day. The Li River was a bit of a let down. It was great scenery but the cruise was poor. The only real highlight was that Jarratt managed to get two photos that he'd been chasing for a couple of weeks. One of a water buffalo (even though the ones bec took were MUCH better - haha), and the other of a fishing man and his birds! The cruise ended in Yangshu which is really just one big market surrounded by pretty mountains. We spend about two hours wandering around, drinking a coffee shake and watch a pretty impressive trademan balance on tippy toes as he removed tiles from a slanty roof without a harness. Another thing to go on our list of 'stuff that would NEVER happen in Australia!'. We then headed back to GuiLin.
Today we're spending the day doing absolutely nothing!!!! And Bec is loving it!!!! Tomorrow we head off to Chongqing to commence our 4star cruise down the Yangtzi River (3 gorge dam). Unfortunately we're fast running out of time and as a result Bec has to give up on her Pandas! She is heart broken!! Well till next time kids!
Take Care of yourselves! Love Us.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Oh Mickey!
Alright, obviously Bec wants to jump right in and tell you all about Disneyland!!! But lets start at the very beginning of our Hong Kong visit (Its a very good place to start! Hahaha)
We arrived from Vietnam at about 2pm and headed straight into downtown Hong Kong on the very affordable Bus from the Airport. We quickly learnt that Hong Kong is alot like Bec... extremely expensive and anally organised! We arrived at Chungking Mansions and swindled a very good deal for a room. Straight away we jumped on a ferry and headed over to central and up to The Peak. Caught the tram to the top of the Mountain racing up 550m at a 45 degree angle, took all of about 10minutes! The view from the top was amazing! We had planned to watch the Symphony of Lights from atop the Peak but quickly realised we were on the wrong side. We decided to bail early to 'avoid the rush' but ended up running into about a million people who had the exact same idea! So instead, we had a GENIUS idea of walking down the hill. An hour later we were back at the ferry port. Very funny stuff!
The next day we spent wandering the city, the Avenue of Stars, the Cultural Centre and Clock Tower, Kowloon Gardens and Temple Street Markets. Jarratt bought an extremely flash camera and bec bought her magnets! Ha! We also organised some transport things. Flights to China and Ferry to Macau. We also managed to catch the Symphony of Lights (from the correct viewing point this time) and on Saturday nights the show is accompanied by fireworks. Lucky us!
The following day we headed to Macau. We arrived on a ferry from Hong Kong at about 10:45 and jumped on a highlights tour of the island for which they paid us 300 Hong Kong dollars. We believe there was a mix up in cash and well who are we to complain! We visited Macau tower, The ruins of St Pauls Church, a few muesums (including the wine and grand prix muesum) and Taipa!
Yesterday we visited the Magical land of Disney! Where Bec lost her mind!!! We got the MTR there (Hong Kongs train system) and EVERYTHING was mickey! The handles were shaped like micky mouse, the windows shaped like mickey mouse... there was even statues in the train for each famous disney character! When we got to Disneyland, we enjoyed the rides and shows and topped it all off with fireworks over sleeping beauty's castle. The funniest part of the day was when we were having our photo taken with Mickey and Minnie, both respective mouses grabbed us and went for a massive pash!
Today we end our visit to Hong Kong and head to Guilin. We have had an amazing time here! Not looking forward to being misunderstood in China and struggling with that whole language thing. But, Guilin is suppose to be beautiful and should be a great introduction to the country!
Hope you are all well.
Lots of Love, Bec and Jarratt.
We arrived from Vietnam at about 2pm and headed straight into downtown Hong Kong on the very affordable Bus from the Airport. We quickly learnt that Hong Kong is alot like Bec... extremely expensive and anally organised! We arrived at Chungking Mansions and swindled a very good deal for a room. Straight away we jumped on a ferry and headed over to central and up to The Peak. Caught the tram to the top of the Mountain racing up 550m at a 45 degree angle, took all of about 10minutes! The view from the top was amazing! We had planned to watch the Symphony of Lights from atop the Peak but quickly realised we were on the wrong side. We decided to bail early to 'avoid the rush' but ended up running into about a million people who had the exact same idea! So instead, we had a GENIUS idea of walking down the hill. An hour later we were back at the ferry port. Very funny stuff!
The next day we spent wandering the city, the Avenue of Stars, the Cultural Centre and Clock Tower, Kowloon Gardens and Temple Street Markets. Jarratt bought an extremely flash camera and bec bought her magnets! Ha! We also organised some transport things. Flights to China and Ferry to Macau. We also managed to catch the Symphony of Lights (from the correct viewing point this time) and on Saturday nights the show is accompanied by fireworks. Lucky us!
The following day we headed to Macau. We arrived on a ferry from Hong Kong at about 10:45 and jumped on a highlights tour of the island for which they paid us 300 Hong Kong dollars. We believe there was a mix up in cash and well who are we to complain! We visited Macau tower, The ruins of St Pauls Church, a few muesums (including the wine and grand prix muesum) and Taipa!
Yesterday we visited the Magical land of Disney! Where Bec lost her mind!!! We got the MTR there (Hong Kongs train system) and EVERYTHING was mickey! The handles were shaped like micky mouse, the windows shaped like mickey mouse... there was even statues in the train for each famous disney character! When we got to Disneyland, we enjoyed the rides and shows and topped it all off with fireworks over sleeping beauty's castle. The funniest part of the day was when we were having our photo taken with Mickey and Minnie, both respective mouses grabbed us and went for a massive pash!
Today we end our visit to Hong Kong and head to Guilin. We have had an amazing time here! Not looking forward to being misunderstood in China and struggling with that whole language thing. But, Guilin is suppose to be beautiful and should be a great introduction to the country!
Hope you are all well.
Lots of Love, Bec and Jarratt.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Same Same, But Better!
Good Morning (and Farewell) Vietnam!
After a rough start, Vietnam has turned it on in its final days! We have just spent the past 2 days floating around in beautiful Halong Bay aboard what the Vietnamese affectionately refer to as a 'Junk'. To modern day Australians this 'junk' would also be know as a cruise ship! For the bargain price of $35 we spent two amazing days and one night on board. We were also treated to kayaking, cave exploration and more food than we have eaten in the ENTIRE trip! The highlight of the voyage would have to be the night spent aboard; when after dinner our guides whipped out a karaoke machine! Together, we did a lovely take on Olivia Newton-John and John Travoltas 'You're the One that I want'. While Bec did a version of Piano Man (with a shout out to young A'sy) that would have bought tears to his eyes!
Tonight we wandered around the Old Quarter Area of Hanoi, treated ourselves to some pretty amazing fresh spring rolls and ended with a performance at the Water Puppetry Theatre! A VERY nice (cultural) way to cap off our rather rocky visit to Vietnam! Tomorrow we are on a flight over to very expensive Hong Kong. Excited to be starting in a new country but sad that now we are about half way through our trip!
Hope you are all well
Love Bec and J.
PS - Happy Birthdays need to go out to Carly (28th) and Keeylann (1st). Hope you both had wonderfully wonderful days! xoxo
After a rough start, Vietnam has turned it on in its final days! We have just spent the past 2 days floating around in beautiful Halong Bay aboard what the Vietnamese affectionately refer to as a 'Junk'. To modern day Australians this 'junk' would also be know as a cruise ship! For the bargain price of $35 we spent two amazing days and one night on board. We were also treated to kayaking, cave exploration and more food than we have eaten in the ENTIRE trip! The highlight of the voyage would have to be the night spent aboard; when after dinner our guides whipped out a karaoke machine! Together, we did a lovely take on Olivia Newton-John and John Travoltas 'You're the One that I want'. While Bec did a version of Piano Man (with a shout out to young A'sy) that would have bought tears to his eyes!
Tonight we wandered around the Old Quarter Area of Hanoi, treated ourselves to some pretty amazing fresh spring rolls and ended with a performance at the Water Puppetry Theatre! A VERY nice (cultural) way to cap off our rather rocky visit to Vietnam! Tomorrow we are on a flight over to very expensive Hong Kong. Excited to be starting in a new country but sad that now we are about half way through our trip!
Hope you are all well
Love Bec and J.
PS - Happy Birthdays need to go out to Carly (28th) and Keeylann (1st). Hope you both had wonderfully wonderful days! xoxo
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