Grant and Helena's world tour 2012

The drive into Calcutta (officially spelled Kolkata now in India) did nothing to alter the city's reputation of being very poor. The first impressions have already been mentioned: basic airport, a taxi that definitely had seen better days etc. It continued along these lines - a road full of potholes, sided by shacks. Then we saw a couple of men sleeping on the pavement, then ten more, then fifty, a hundred. In the excruciating heat, they didn't wear anything but their undergarments. We did see a couple of women but there were definitely more men. At first you don't believe your eyes -"Did you see, those people were...", but sadly you get quickly "used" to it. Some of them slept in their rickshaws or on the boot of their taxis, which effectively serve as their work and home. 

Despite it being after midnight, we saw lots of activity, people walking about and trucks doing work. We saw at least two herds of goats being moved around by their...shephards, which, in most cities, is a rare sight. We also experienced the most ambitious speed bumps ever. We think we understood the logic: with speed bumps that most resemble a recently ploughed field with huge concrete furrows, even very scruffy cars (the only type you see in Calcutta!) would have to make the effort to slow down.

Many cities have poor areas but generally you will eventually pass through some nicer areas as you approach the centre. We kept waiting for that to happen throughout our 40 minute taxi ride, but it never did. In our three day stay, we never discovered any classy areas of the city, shopping malls, or any buildings resembling European city features - the whole place felt like a very run down small town / slum. 

When we at last arrived at out hotel on Mirza Ghaleb street, it still felt like we were in a rough neighbourhood. We would later learn that the well to do Calcuttians  live well outside the city and that's also where the luxury hotels are. We would also realise that our area, by Calcutta standards, wasn't rough at all, and our hotel was true bliss with its air conditioned room (thanks to the wedding present from the Brussels crew!).

Calcutta  was until 1911 the capital of British India and it is rich with colonial architecture, albeit mostly in a state of very poor repair. Our first venture the day after having arrived was to visit the Victoria Memorial. It was supposed to be finalised in 1901 (for Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee) but wasn't completed until almost 20 years after her death. The building, built out of white marble is truly impressive, and to our surprise, well maintained. The building was full of visitors but only a handful of Westerners. This seemed to be the case everywhere we went in Calcutta - probably the 40 degree heat had something to do with it!

Victoria Memorial

As often is the case here, special rates for foreigners

The building also included a couple of exhibitions, one on the topic of Calcutta's colonial history. When looking at one of the displays showing everyday colonial life of a British gentleman (everyday starting with being dressed by his servants) , Grant was approached by a couple of friendly Indians, asking where he was from. Grant promptly responded "Sweden!", slightly ashamed by the exhibit in front of him, and the Indians politely commented that it is a very cold country, then moved on.

Back outside the building we wandered through the beautiful park at the slowest pace possible. We heard some live music and as we couldn't resist the sound of the tabla and sitar we went to see what was going on. We found  a big audience gathered under an outdoor shelter on plastic chairs. As it was all in Bengali we could not follow what they were saying but we would later read that they were celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of poet (and Nobel Prize laureate) Rabindranath Tagore. The woman we had been making a speech was Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of  West Bengal. She is the chief minster of a region with 91.3 million citizens (more than the UK and Sweden combined) and a sign of her importance is the fact that she the previous day had met with Hillary Clinton, who currently is touring Asia to promote "The New Silk Road". Ms Banerjee was also named one of the 100 most influential people in world in 2012 by Time Magazine.

While enjoying the music and observing the audience, we were struck by the fact that we never saw such a big group of people in China that was so quiet. The crowd was being very attentive to the music being played and the speeches that were made.

Celebration of what would have been the 150th birthday of poet Rabindranath Tagore

Despite being a Nobel laureate, we can both admit that we had not heard of Tagore before, despite him being labelled "the ambassador of Indian culture to the world". The next day, however, we decided to visit his house, which today is a museum. Calcutta is known to be cultural and intellectual centre and visiting Tagore's  house, we started to understand why. Born into a privileged family and very intellectually gifted, his house became a meeting point for the Calcutta intellectual elite. An intellectual superstar, he met a number of international dignitaries during his lifetime, including Einstein. His home was by far the nicest we saw in Calcutta and, even better, nice and cool.

Tagore's house

Tagore himself

Seeing the cultural sights was of course interesting but equally, if not more, entertaining, was to walk  around Calcutta and be amazed by the chaotic atmosphere and everything that was going on. Traffic is utterly mad and often there are no pavements to talk about - you better just keep out of the way of the stream of rickshaws, trams, cars and buses. There are people everywhere going about their business, it seems that there is not a  millimetre of space that is not taken up with some commercial activity. Everything is for sale.

Calcutta

Enjoying a sweet lime juice

Need something sharpened? This guy will do it for you (and note the guy on the left who sees a potential customer)

A chai in the street - 3 rupees (5 Euro cents)

Coming to India from China is pretty interesting. It might be too early to draw comparisons... but that hasn't stopped us before. The similarities are obvious: populous and developing countries, Asian, super powers, "flexible" (i.e. no) queuing system etc. But there are also some interesting differences, the most important being the language. The fact that so many people speak English opens infinitely more possibilities to interact and talk and it makes it easier as well as more dynamic. Secondly, it feels as if during only a few days we have been met with more smiles than we received throughout our two weeks in China and people are definitely more "polite" in the sense Europeans understand it. Indeed, the majority of Indians we met in Calcutta were extremely charming. Indian customer service is exceptionally good as well. Thirdly, Indian crowds are not as loud as Chinese crowds and you don't see people screaming at each other the way we often saw in China (we could never figure out when they were just having a conversation and when they were actually having a row). 

Snaps from our walks through Calcutta

The Calcutta flower market

A similarity as well as a difference is that just like the Chinese, Indians seem to be fascinated by us here. There is plenty of staring, people are wanting to take photos with us (and often do, shamelessly), ask where we are from and so on. While the Chinese perhaps were slightly more impressed by Grant's height, it's Helena who gets the most stares here. Thankfully Grant's presence keeps most comments off, but not all of them. It makes us think that it could be very tough for women travelling alone in India.

A final difference is that the poverty is much more overwhelming here than in China. The misery is heartbreaking. We saw three year olds sleeping stark naked on the street and marginally older kids begging, and there are beggars and homeless everywhere. The dirt, litter mountains and mad traffic, adds to the overall image of chaos and poverty.

Sadly, many buildings that clearly were once beautiful are in a state of decay. We couldn't help getting the impression that the last Brit who left after independence turned off the lights. The several refugee disasters have taken a toll and over 30 years of communist rule haven't helped. It is estimated that 30 percent of Calcutta's population lives in slums.

The building for the English language newspaper The Statesman - not so statesmanlike anymore. We walked into a crumbling, pitch-black empty lobby where there wasn't even a light bulb to help you find your way

Everywhere buildings falling apart....

...but admittedly there were some nice ones too...

...including St Paul's Cathedral

The extreme poverty was of course what brought Mother Teresa to Calcutta and we visited the house where she established her charity, and lived for 50 years. Her story is an amazing one, having grown up in Skopje and moved to Calcutta to help the poorest people in the world.  Her missions are now found throughout the world, inclining Sweden and Scotland, and her work is continued by many followers. The hardship she put herself through is very clear when you see her small bedroom with a simple wooden bed and writing desk, located directly above the hot kitchen of the convent and with no air conditioning.  Mother Teresa is also buried in the house and her grave is a shrine for pilgrims - a large group of Indian school children were there the day we visited.

Mother Teresa's grave, surrounded by Indian school children on a field visit

On our last day we went down to the river Hooghly, hoping to catch a breeze on one of the many ferries trafficking the river. We took a few different ferries up the river between the different "ghats", enjoying the cooler air and the sights.  It gives you a different perspective of the city to get away from the crowded streets and alleyways.

The Hooghly river is full of ferries...

...and this is the one we got

In the 40 degree heat, these guys had the right idea

At the ghat - the communist party may not be in power anymore, but we sure saw its flag a lot

Grant with the Howrah Bridge in the background, one of the third busiest bridges in the world - 100 000 vehicles and 150 000 pedestrians cross it daily

We took the ferry to the Bagbazar Ghat and decided to go for a stroll there. Not sure if it's something many tourists do as we got lots of stares. Being close to the river and one of Calcutta's train station it was buzzing with all sorts of trade activity - we were busy trying to get it all in (and avoiding getting hit by cars and rickshaws).

It wouldn't be India without the holy cows

In the area between Bagbazar Ghat and Howrah Bridge

Our post on Calcutta would not be complete without mentioning the food, which is completely awesome. Bengal is known for its cuisine and it certainly did not disappoint. We ate brilliant curries and other local delicacies each day, and especially enjoyed the Bengali sweets at the famous K.C. Das restaurant with brilliant old-school service. Don't visit Calcutta for the beautiful buildings or the peace and tranquility, but do visit for some of the best food you can find anywhere!

Lunch in Calcutta one day

Scenes from KC Das sweets emporium - fantastic Bengali desserts with great old school Indian service

On Monday 7 May we sadly had to leave Hong Kong as we had a date with India. Being on a budget, we had ended up with an indirect connection on China Eastern airlines from HK to Calcutta with two stops, in Shanghai and Kunming. It was going to be a very long day.

We left for HK airport at 10am HK time and got checked on to our Shanghai flight. At check in, several bomb shells were dropped on us in quick succession: 
(1) our flight was delayed by over an hour, leaving us with only 90 minutes in Shanghai to make our connecting flight. Ok, should still be fine, but...
(2) our bags could not be checked through and we would need to collect them and re-check them for the second leg of the journey with China Eastern. Bizarre, but that should just about be doable...
(3) we would have to clear Chinese immigration again, even though we were only transiting through the PRC. By sheer luck, we had multiple entry visas so we could technically do this, but this could be seriously time-consuming...
(4) our second flight left from a different Shanghai airport terminal from the one we arrived into, and we would need to take a 20 minute shuttle bus to get from one to the other.  Ok, we'd better get ready to spend the night in Shanghai because there is no way we are making this connection...

We made the most of our delay to enjoy Pizza Express at HK airport. This would prove to be the high point of our day.

Our plane left just after 14h00 and would take over two hours to get to Shanghai. Our connecting flight would leave at 18h00. We were never going to make that plane.  As we descended to Shanghai, we got the hostess to move us to the front of the plane so we could hit the ground running. 16h25 - the plane door opens and we literally sprint through the airport, clear passport control by queue barging and get to the baggage collection point. 16h40 and the bags are out (we've never seen bags arrive so fast). We sprint to the shuttle bus area and jump on the first bus we can. Nothing happens, the driver is enjoying a chat outside and is in no rush. Finally, he climbs on board and we leave. It's 16h45. Sure enough, by taking a back road around the airport perimeter, the bus deposits us at the other terminal twenty minutes later. We might make this flight after all! 

We needed no encouragement to do our best to get out of Shanghai. Helena ran ahead to check in while Grant collected the bags. We checked in, cleared customs and got to our gate with 15 minutes to spare before boarding. It was nothing short of a miracle.

The flight to Kunming was three hours long and uneventful. Clearly the Shanghai-Kunming route is not as glamorous as the HK-Shanghai route. We had an old 737 that had seen better days, no TVs and a repetition of the food we had been served three hours earlier minus the Haagen Dazs they had distributed on the HK flight. 

It was 21h00 when we got to Kunming. All we wanted was to be in Calcutta but we had another flight to take yet. Kunming airport is a strange place. The check-in area feels more like a bazaar, with open stalls selling all kinds of random produce. We had to wait in the small international check-in area for the desk to open and were surrounded by throngs of Indian men with densely packed plastic carrying cases - it transpired these were all Calcutta shopkeepers who regularly come to China to stock up on cheap clothes to sell in India.  The fact that it is worth these guys flying to China and using their limited baggage allowance to buy clothes to then sell at Indian prices in Calcutta really tells you something about clothing prices in China.

One of the Indian merchants struck up some banter with us and let us jump to the front of the queue. Of course, there was a catch - he was over his 30 kg baggage allowance and wanted us to check in one of his bags as our own. With visions of ending up in a Chinese or Indian jail for smuggling (which would be worse, one wonders?) Helena firmly told the guy "no". But we kept our place at the head of the queue and got a window seat with extra legroom as a result. We got the better end of that deal! The Indian guy went off to try to convince one of the Chinese guys to help him out.  We cleared passport control, stamped in and out of the PRC within the space of five hours - surely some kind of record.

Helena was one of three female passengers on the flight. The rest of the passengers were Chinese and Indian businessmen.  Here  was a fascinating opportunity to see how the world's greatest traders, the Chinese and the Indians, would interact when thrown together. In the event, this was the quietest we had ever seen a group of Chinese people being - they seemed to be as shocked as us by the quick talking banter of the Indians.  In the queue for passport control, one of the Indians very blatantly jumped to the front of the line and ended up being told off by the Chinese for his behaviour: brilliant irony in China, the country where no-one queues for anything!

Chinese v Indian businessmen: who would win? Find out on China Airlines

We hit the international departure lounge, a very dull place to spend a couple of hours. We took a few snaps, which give a flavour of the place.

Kunming International Departure Lounge - a thoroughly depressing spot

No-one is here to sell this stuff, and we guess no-one would want to buy it anyway

Eh?

The free water fountains were the best facility in the departure lounge - we never got to sample the "VIP Lounge" in the background

Fortunately we boarded on time and left Kunming behind just before midnight. On the bus to the plane we watched the masses of Indian merchants struggling to carry their "hand baggage" with them - on top of the 30 kg they had each checked in, every one had three fully stuffed shoulder bags to bring on the plane, bursting with cheap Chinese clothes. They were battling to get on the plane first to make sure they got overhead locker space. Thank God the plane was not full because it probably wouldn't have managed to take off otherwise!

We lost 2.5 hours in time difference and landed in Calcutta just before midnight local time. Getting off the plane felt like stepping into a sauna - intense, dry humidity. The airport we arrived into made Kunming look thoroughly space age - Calcutta airport is a real cattle shed. Apart from a couple of soldiers with pump action shot guns and some families sleeping on the floor, the place was practically empty. We booked a pre-paid taxi to our hotel and stepped out into the parking area to find the car. At the edge of the road there was a desk and chairs set up with a couple of official taxi people sitting behind it and a bunch of drivers loitering around. No-one seemed in any rush. The official took our voucher and called a driver over, who casually led us to his Ambassador taxi. You have to see these things to believe they exist: they look like something out of the 1950s and they are Calcutta's official taxis.

A typical Calcutta Ambassador taxi - looking like something out of the 1950s

One of the guys loitering in the car park asked us which hotel we were going to, and on hearing the name told us it had closed and we should go to another one with him. Thirty seconds outside the airport and we had witnessed our first Indian scam! We told him where to go and jumped into the taxi. He seemed unbothered - the scam had been distinctly half-baked - and just wandered off into the darkness of the parking lot. 

The taxi set off and bumped its way out of the dark parking lot: Calcutta here we come!

"So what is your best advice for someone who's going travelling?" Three months into to our trip, you would think that the answer would come easily. The question has been asked by Elizabeth, friend and flatmate of Grant's cousin Abigail, who's about to embark on a long trip around China after having worked in Hong Kong. Unable to mention one single piece of advice, we mention the importance of allowing yourself days off, not trying to do everything, getting recommendations from other travellers... Until the most important advice suddenly dawns on us - of course, there's one thing that makes more of a difference than anything else: "Let everyone know where you are going travelling and ask if they know anyone in these places. Try to meet up with friends and friends of friends wherever you can - nothing beats meeting up with "a local"."

In the last few days, we have been very true to our own advice. Throughout our last days in China and Hong Kong, we have managed to meet many old and new friends which has resulted in many more highlights to add to our trip.

Meeting the Poe-Gorman family in Guangzhou

We knew that we would like Mike and Jean - as they are good friends to our top pal Olga, so anything else would have been surprising. Having taken the overnight train from Guilin, we arrived in Guangzhou early morning and took at taxi to the compound where Mike and Jean  and their two kids, Jacksan and Malena, live. We were met by Jean who took us to their house which was fantastic - spacious and beautiful,  and situated in the quietest and cleanest place we've seen in China. The first thing Jean got us was some tea and home made bread, which was simply delicious. Anybody who's been travelling knows how difficult it can be to find good bread! As if that wasn't enough, we had some home-made dumplings for lunch - easily the best we've had - ever!

After lunch we went into central Guangzhou. It's a truly huge city and due to the heavy rain we only covered a tiny part. It was however obvious that this is a booming city with much more money than other places we've been to in China. Following a recommendation from Jean, we visited a furniture shop selling both antique and new furniture, which is very popular with the expat community in Guangzhou. The owner gave us plenty of time to look around, even though we arrived just after closing time. The shop was full of beautiful antiques - unfortunately the freight of any purchased items would quickly more than double the price so we left emptyhanded, but it was nonetheless a great stop (and maybe one day...).

Back at Jean and Mike's house we got to meet Mike, Jacksan and Malena. Jacksan (who kindly let us sleep in his room) and Malena are both incredibly charming little people, full of energy and and it's impossible not to laugh when you're with them. Mike works for the US state department at the consulate in Guangzhou and Jean works as a banking consultant. We had a really nice evening with the family, great dinner and nice chat and we so enjoyed being in a nice home for a change (as opposed to all the hostels and hotels). It was great hearing about Mike and Jean's experiences as a diplomat family in Honduras and now Guangzhou  - we can only hope we can go and visit them at their next posting too! Before then however, we hope that their travels will bring them to Sweden.

Grant with Jacksan who kindly lent us his room!

Dinner with Jean and Mike

The next morning we were off early to take the train to "Asia's World City" - Hong Kong.

On the train to Hong Kong

Hong Kong

No sooner had the train pulled in at the station than we could feel that this was something very, very different. While Hong Kong might have been returned to China in 1997, it is by no means like China. It's clean, calmer, quieter (but not necessarily calm or quiet), hardly any noises of spitting, and there is such a thing as personal space here.  Another big difference is the people. While the population in the places we'd visited in China is quite homogenous, Hong Kong is a true melting pot. In addition to Chinese and Cantonese, there are Westerners, Indians, Nepalese, Arabs, Africans... Which just makes it such an exciting place.  Hong Kong really feels like its slogan - a world city. Walking the streets of SoHo in Hong Kong island, you can have food from all the corners of the world, and newsagents sell publications from everywhere. And that's perhaps the most important difference - there is still freedom in Hong Kong. No censorship, nothing blocked on google, Facebook works,  and you can buy the Economist and feel like you're in touch with current affairs again.

The Hong Kongers are guaranteed to keep this freedom though the "One country, two systems" arrangement, until 2047, i.e. 50 years after the handover. Who knows what then will happen; it all depends on what direction mainland China is taking. It is obvious that the freedom is pivotal for Hong Kong's wealth and vibrancy. Without freedom, Hong Kong simply wouldn't be Hong Kong. Guess you've realised by now that we like the place. A lot.

Exciting sightseeing around Hong Kong 

This item strangely did not make the cut

Humidity, anyone?

A lot of hills in Hong Kong, luckily the "travellators" (like conveyor belts) do the work for you

As mentioned, Hong Kong would mean a very social few days. However, the first meeting was not even planned. After our arrival and check in our hostel in Tsim Sha Tsui, we did a bit of sight seeing in HK island before heading back for some afternoon tea at the famous Peninsula hotel. 

The Peninsula - it's tea time!

In the queue Helena suddenly recognised Michaela, a former colleague from the Swedish Foreign Ministry. Michaela is posted in Pyongyang but was in Hong Kong over the week-end to visit her colleague Amelie, who works for the consulate general in Hong Kong. Having chatted all the way to our turn, we decided to have tea together. It was  massively interesting to hear about Swedish expat life in Hong Kong AND Pyongyang!

Afternoon tea at the Peninsula

The tea was a real highlight and we're glad we treated ourselves to this rare luxury -  delicious scones and cakes, a live orchestra, a beautiful restaurant... What more could you possibly ask for?

After tea we only had a few hours to get our appetite going for our next meal - dinner with Grant's cousin Abigail and her friends. Lecturing at Hong Kong university, Abigail has been in Hong Kong for about a year and will stay for another year. She clearly likes it here and it is easy to see why. In addition to enjoying the perks of being in Hong Kong, she also manages to spend time with her father's family. Between hard work and a busy social life, she's also managing to study Cantonese and impressed us greatly by ordering in Cantonese at the restaurant!

With us at dinner were boyfriend Robert and friends/flat mates Elizabeth and Bill who also lecture at the university. Just like Abigail, they're Yale graduates and scholars. We had a great evening with them and it is obvious that there are many reasons why Abigail is having a great time here.

Dinner with Abigail, Robert, Bill and Elizabeth at a great Indonesian restaurant

The next morning we took a bus to Aberdeen Harbour. The days are over when the harbour was full of "boat people" living their lives on the boats, but there are still some houseboats and there is plenty going on. We took a tour around the harbour with a nice lady in her sampan which also is her home.  Her husband is a fisherman who's off for months at the time but our friend didn't seem to be lonely. During our half hour tour she pointed to two of her sisters, who also live in the harbour.

She explained that after a big fire around 30 years ago, many of the boat people were moved into apartment complexes by the local government, and pointed to some tall, pink buildings overlooking the harbour.

Our guide and the owner of the boat

The kitsch interior of the sampan

[i]Many of the people previously living on boats, now live in these buildings

A tour around the harbour really shows that it is bustling with life. There are fishing boats, kitchen boats that cook for the fishermen, repair boats, boats that sell fresh water, and plenty of houseboats. We saw lots of lovely dogs and learnt that most boats have one for security. Our guide knew exactly who had the biggest boat, how many people lived in the different boats and who had the best domestic appliances on their boats. We assume that there are very few secrets within the harbour.

Aberdeen Harbour also hosts the yacht club, which makes for a pretty stark contrast to the distinctly simpler houseboats. When we went passed the huge boats in our little one, we could see young men tidying and cleaning the ships. Our guide was a good source of information also here "That boat costs 70 million Hong Kong dollars!", she said, pointing to a beast of a boat. Hopefully the owners have the time to enjoy them.

The Yacht Club in Aberdeen Harbour

One of many boat dogs

The famous floating restaurant "Jumbo"...

...and its less impressive rear

It was very cool to go around the harbour in the boat and fascinating to see that there is still lots going on, although it's not as busy with houseboats as it used to be. Before continuing our sightseeing, we had a quick look at the fish market.

Fish market in Aberdeen Harbour

Next we took a bus to Stanley. On the way there we got a first taste of how beautiful and green Hong Kong is. 

Very happy after sunglasses purchase at Stanley

After getting ourselves some new sunglasses, it was time to head back to central for one of the most anticipated meals of the whole trip  - Dim Sum with the Cheungs! Together with Abigail we met with Abigail's aunt Helen and Helen's husband Roy for the most delicious lunch ever. The beauty with Dim Sum is that you get to taste lots of different things. We went a bit bananas with the ordering and it was all fantastic food. A new high point to add to our trip! 

It was great to meet up with extended family so far away from home. Helen and Roy were happy to tell us about life in Hong Kong and very interested to hear about our trip. Roy surprised us by telling us that his parents used to run three Chinese restaurants in Gothenburg, where Helena went to university, hence he had been there several times. After lunch, Roy, Helen and Abigail took us on a short sightseeing tour around Central which was very interesting - we discovered very cool areas which we otherwise would have missed completely and we got to know more about the history of the place. In SoHo lots of expats were out drinking beer, chatting, watching sports, almost like a Place Lux - only a bit older, wealthier and tropical.

Dim Sum with Roy, Helen and Abigail - simply delicious

Tour around Central

After lunch Helen and Roy dropped us off at the Peak Tram and after waiting in the long queue for a while it was finally our turn. The Peak Tram is a famous Hong Kong landmark and it was a pretty steep ride to the top! Here we unfortunately missed out on the view due to the extremely thick fog.

Waiting for the Peak tram

Not so much of a view but the pictures were interesting...

Our last meeting in Hong Kong was with Grant's university friend Pete Sabine. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Pete studied in Edinburgh and then returned to Hong Kong. In his spare time Pete DJs and after catching up over a few drinks we were keen to join him at the club and hear him play. The theme of the club was funk and while perhaps not our usual type of music, Pete's set was definitely the highlight. It's no exaggeration to say that he really put a lot of energy into the gig! This was our first real "authentic" experience of expat life in Hong Kong and we couldn't help feeling a bit jealous - Hong Kong just feels so cool.

Grant and Pete...

...Pete and Helena...

...and Pete on stage, giving it his all...

...and Helena and Grant

Sunday was our last day and we decided to go to the beach. Yes, that's right, Hong Kong has lots of beautiful beaches and the water is clean enough to swim in. We opted for South Bay on Hong Kong island. The water wand oil, the shark net reassuring, and it cured the light hangovers we had acquired -  we're not used to late, boozey nights anymore!

Enjoying Hong Kong beach life

Last but not least in Hong Kong, on our last evening we went down to the waterfront to see the the daily light show. It was very smart and does the impressive Hong Kong skyline justice (wish we could say the same about the music, but it sounded more like a very old video game).

Hong Kong light show

To conclude, Hong Kong is an awesome place and we were particularly lucky to have friends who could show us around and give us a "real" feel for the place. As mentioned many times before, that makes a big difference. We are very excited that we soon will have even more family in Hong Kong, and will hopefully be back to visit Jo and Iain in no time!

Our next destination was one of China's biggest tourist spots: Yangshuo, renowned for its dramatic limestone peaks and Li River setting. The journey to Yangshuo from Dazhai was surprisingly easy and we found ourselves in Yangshuo by mid afternoon on Sunday.  The scenery is indeed dramatic, but the most striking thing about arriving here was the crowds - tourism is big business down here.  Luckily we were staying a couple of kilometres out of town in a hostel in the countryside, run by a friendly, Kung Fu loving, Aussie expat.

Once we were settled in, we checked out Yangshuo's West Street tourist area. We were there during the 1 May, which is a public holiday in so-called communist China and consequently West Street was packed with tourists, ready to spend RMBs. The tourists were overwhelmingly Chinese but with many westerners as well. Luckily these are not the megaphone-following type tourists we have seen elsewhere, but well-heeled Chinese couples and families enjoying the town. The shops here are full of local art, souvenirs, pirate DVDs and all the usual stuff you expect in a backpacker town. It is also the first place we have been in China where there is such a concentration of western food on offer: pizzas, steaks, KFC, McDonalds, coffee shops etc. The guidebook will tell you that some backpackers find Yangshuo to not be authentic because it has become too westernised (it certainly doesn't bother us!). But the interesting thing is that it is mostly Chinese tourists cramming into the pizza joints, shovelling down Big Macs and sipping on cappuccinos! For the swelling Chinese middle class, Yangshuo is a tourist playground where they can sample exotic European food while doing all the other usual tourist sights of the area. Yangshuo doesn't need foreign tourists; it's got more than enough domestic tourists, thank you very much.

The contrast between old and new China and the division between rich and poor was very visible in Yangshuo. On the one hand you have the wealthy middle and upper class, spending money and cruising in their Porsches, and on the other hand the country side around Yangshuo is full of farmers working hard on the land - all manual labour. We would see them out on the fields when we left out hostel early morning, and they would still be out there working when we got back at night. They did not seem to have the chance to enjoy workers' day on 1 May, for them it is hard work, every day, all year around. Considering that 80 per cent of China's population are farmers, that's quite astonishing. We hear a lot about the new China and how it is going to conquer the world, but travelling here has made us realise that it still has a long way to go before it is anyway near so-called Western standards.

Yangshuo's West Street - tourist central and a place to enjoy a taste of home while buying dodgy souvenirs

Scenery around Yangshuo is stunning

The centre of Yangshuo is very lively at night

Life for most Yangshuo residents is tough - farmers in the rice paddies toil all day, feet soaked in water and mud, in unbearable heat

While Yangshuo is crowded, it is a pleasant place to spend some time. Seeing the newly wealthy Chinese on holiday is an interesting activity in itself. They like to show off their wealth, driving large Chinese or imported European cars, and spending lots in the shops and restaurants here. There is also a trend among the nouveau riche to grow a single fingernail long as a demonstration that they do not have to perform manual labour.  This behaviour may seem a bit crass to visitors from Europe, but then it is hard to think of any country in the world where people today are living so immeasurably better than the previous generation.  These guys have every reason to enjoy their money.

We saw the spending power of China's middle class very clearly when we went to Yangshuo's sound & light show on Monday night, which is directed by film maker Zhang Yimou of Beijing Olympics ceremony fame.  The large seating area was packed with Chinese families paying EUR 30 per ticket; that is a serious amount of money in China, where you can easily eat dinner for under EUR 5. The show itself was phenomenal. The karst peaks behind the river were illuminated while a cast of 500 boatmen, singers and dancers entertained the crowd on and beside the water.  There may have been another hundred lighting people and other technicians operating the set. The scale is hard to comprehend. This was China making the most of its principal resource: people!  

The show lasts an hour and is on every night at three different times. That must make it fairly repetitive for the performers but very lucrative for the people behind the show!

Some shots from the sound and light show in Yangshuo - a phenomenal demonstration of people power

During the day on Monday we did the number one tourist attraction in Yangshuo - hiring bikes to ride through the countryside.  A couple of things were against us in this venture - a useless map and humid heat approaching 40 degrees.  After a few wrong turns and some tense riding we finally made it out of Yangshuo alive - as mentioned , traffic in China is just mad, on a country road.  We were rewarded with great scenery, but the day was so hot that it wasn't long before we were stopping for lunch in the shade.  

Enjoying the scenery around Yangshuo on our bikes and trying not to think about the humidity

Look Mum - no hands!

Enjoying lunch in the shade by the Li River

We hear the duck is good at this place

After the exertion of effectively cycling in a sauna on Monday, we took things very easy on Tuesday. We spent the day in Yangshuo doing a bit of shopping and managed to find a very professional-looking massage centre, where we enjoyed a 90 minute head-to-toe Chinese massage. Yes, even us backpackers had a few knots in our backs - surely not stress-induced! - which the two local masseurs ironed out while we sipped very tasty ginger tea. The upper spinal chord massage was verging on being deeply unpleasant, but the rest of the  body massage and the 40 minute foot massage was just what the doctor ordered. We felt like we were walking out of there on new feet once they had finished!

On Tuesday evening we finally went out on the Li River to watch a local fisherman at work, using a fairly unconventional style. As the sun set, fishermen on the Li River set out in the shallows of the fast-flowing river on flat reed boats with lights on the front (traditionally a lantern; these days a high-powered electric light).  They use packs of trained cormorants to fish for them, serting their birds in the water to swim and dive around the boat.  The fishermen stand on their boat, watching the birds by the lantern light and calling to them like a shepherd to his sheepdogs. 

Clever cormorants and their fisherman master on the Li River

These cormorants are impressive birds - they seem as comfortable swimming and diving through the murky waters of the river as they are flying over the top of it. There also seems to be discipline within the pack of cormorants and obedience to the fisherman as he calls to them. The big question, of course, is how to stop the cormorants eating the fish they catch.  An age-old agreement between man and bird? Well not quite, as it turns out. Each cormorant has a length of string tied around its neck, sufficiently tightly that decent-sized fish cannot pass down its gullet. They can eat any small fish through the string noose, but large ones will sit in the top of their throats - the fisherman then simply hooks the cormorant back into the boat, empties the bird's mouth of the fish, and sends it back out to work. That's a pretty easy way of fishing for the fishermen here!

When a cormorant gets a decent-sized fish, he'll have to share it with the master, whether he likes it or not

After watching the cormorants getting their dinner, we had worked up a hunger ourselves. We hit a really good vegetarian restaurant, Pure Lotus, for our final dinner in Yangshuo: it's particularly good to have vegetarian food in China, as it is nice to know exactly where you stand with your food once in a while.

Helena enjoying vegetarian dinner - no flapping ducks, croaking toads or snakes in sight

We really enjoyed Yangshuo. The scenery feels like you imagine China to look, especially where we were staying, slightly outside town. Even though it is such a touristy place, we really enjoyed our few days here both for the beautiful countryside and for the creature comforts. We left on Wednesday afternoon to catch another sleeper train to Guangzhou in the far south of the country, slowly making our way towards Hong Kong.

Arriving in Guilin on Friday morning after a long overnight train ride, we somehow managed to find out that we needed to take a local bus to another bus station and get on a bus to Longsheng. We feel kind of savvy when it comes to Chinese public transport now, or at least we're doing everything we tcan to avoid touts and this time it worked out pretty well. To start with anyway. The bus dropped us off in Heping as well, just like we wanted. Our hostel had said that once in Heping, we should "walk for 3 minutes, buy tickets at the ticket office and then get the local bus to Dazhai where we will pick you up". Simple. Of course, the ticket office was nowhere to be seen and none of the touts or taxi drivers seemed to understand what we were asking for - they were far more interested in selling their own services. Grant stayed with the bags and Helena went into town to find the ticket office, with no luck. Then finally, as so often in China, an English speaking Chinese person magically appeared and pointed us in the right direction. After a five minute walk down a nondescript side road, we found the ticket office.

We wanted to make sure the  hostel knew we were coming so they could "pick us up" and the people in the ticket office kindly called them. They passed us the phone and we were then told that the hostel was situated a 40 minute walk from Dazhai. The information sent to us about "pick us up" was a mistake. We couldn't believe it. If we had known, we would have left some of our luggage in Guilin but instead we were in the middle of nowhere with very heavy backpacks containing all our gear.

There was nothing to do but to wait for the bus. When it arrived it was full to the brim with people. As if by magic the passengers somehow managed to find space for us and our big bags, passing them between themselves on the bus. 

Busy bus

We then had around 40 minutes on the bus which was just a fantastic experience, driving through some amazing scenery on the winding road beside the river. The driver did the classic "honk the horn before the sharp corners and hope for the best". Traffic is simply insane here - the rules are : "there are no rules". The official statistics says that more than a 100, 000 die from traffic related injuries each year in China, i.e. someone every five minutes. This, however, is widely assumed to be an underestimation. The WHO mentions numbers like 250,000 or more. This is why we take the train when we can. Luckily we didn't meet any other vehicles where it could have been nasty on our way up the mountain road to Dazhai.

The key attraction however, was the people onboard the bus. People were extremely friendly and chatty. Having moved her daypack to let a passenger off, Helena put it down on some plastic bags. A woman quietly moved the bag to the side and Helena then saw that the plastic bag was moving - there was a hen in there. The people on the bus just laughed when Helena smiled apologetically (for the record: the hen survived the bus journey).

On another occasion one of the passengers called out and the bus stopped. He disembarked but the bus didn't leave. It turned out that he wanted to get some meat and the whole bus could watch him choosing his pieces of meat from a butcher with a stand next to the road, paying and then getting back on the bus.  No complaints as no-one seemed to be in any particular rush. This was more fun than we had had in a long time!

Time to get some meat

We arrived in Dazhai and were immediately approached by women wanting to take us to their accommodation and/or carry our bags. The women, belonging to the local Yao minority, were about half our size but there is no doubt about their capability when it comes to carrying heavy loads. We turned to the ticket office/entrance where the official  was on the phone. She suddenly passed us the phone and it turned out to be the girl from our hostel. She was very apologetic about the confusion over the e-mail and said that they would pay for a guide to take us to the hostel in Tiantouzhai, further up the mountain.  She also mentioned the possibility to get a porter for about 30 RMB but by now we were on adrenalin and our bags didn't feel too heavy, so we decided to take them ourselves. 

No lack of Yao women where the road ends offering to carry your bag

We were very happy to have a guide as there were a number of small paths to choose from with hardly any signposting. After about half an hour of heaving all our luggage up mountain steps we arrived at our hostel "Dragon's Den", located in what is the most beautiful spot we have seen in China so far - the Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces.

The amazing view from the Dragon's Den - but no sign of Duncan Bannatyne and his BBC pals

The Dragon's Backbone Rice Terraces rise up to around 900 metres and it's simply amazing to see. The terraces were built around 500 years ago following a need for more food and use every possible inch of the side of the mountain to cultivate rice. They have gotten their name from the fact that the terraces look like a dragon's scales and the range looks like the backbone of the dragon (supposedly). The peak season for tourists is in early June when the paddies are full of water. When we were there they had only just started to fill up (the farmers use well water,  hence not solely relying on the rain season to start). It's an impressive and beautiful example of human engineering.

Terraces all the way up from the river to the top of mountain

We decided to stay for two nights at the hostel and do a day hike the following day, not being so keen on carrying all of our stuff on to another hostel. After the initial confusion, our hostel turned out to be great with nice rooms and very friendly staff (who even gave us a discount for the second night). At night we couldn't hear anything but the sound of crickets, frogs and distant thunder and in the morning, a cockerel crowing. So much nicer than noisy traffic.

The recommended and, allegedly, most scenic hike, was to go the village Ping'An. However, as the estimated time for getting there was 3-4 hours, meaning a 6-8 hour return, we weren't sure. We were told that some of the other guests had gone half way to Ping'An the same day and we went to talk to them. One of them, a Chinese guy called Sun Shu explained that they'd gotten lost and ended up on a longer route. Now, however, he knew the quickest route to Ping'An - well, at least half of it.  He suggested that we walk together the next day. When we asked if he was sure he wanted to do it again he simply smiled and said "Well, I failed to reach the final destination". We thought it was a great idea to walk together and we agreed on a semi early start the next morning.

The following day turned out to be one of the best on the trip so far. The scenery along the Dragon's Backbone was simply stunning. It was very quiet, we only saw the occasional farmer and some horses and goats, and a couple of other hikers and of course plenty of Yao women.  We still haven't figured out where all the men were. Sun Shu said that they were "probably working in the fields" but we only saw a handful doing that. It remains a mystery... 

While quite steep at times, the hike wasn't too hard. The humidity made for quite a sweat but all in all it was very pleasant conditions.

Hard work for farmers

We came across these lovely goats on the trail

Halfway to Ping'An we passed through the village Zhongliu

Lost? Just follow Sun Shu

It was also great to spend the day with Sun Shu. Not only did he know the way and could ask people for directions when he didn't (without him we would probably still be out there somewhere), it was also very interesting and fun to get to chat to Sun Shu, only a few years younger than us, and learn about China and Chinese life today for people our age. We probably learnt more about the "real" China during that day than we we ever had before. Sun Shu was very much like us, with very similar views and values - he had even quit his job to go travelling for a couple of months. 

Also we finally understood what people around us were saying and asking and had different things we saw explained to us. A whole new world had openend up! Thanks to Sun Shu's guidance and Chinese skills we got to Ping'An in 2.5 hours. We can't stress enough that it wouldn't have been possible if we had walked on our own! 

At the viewpoint Nine Dragons and Five Tigers, overlooking Ping'An and rice terraces looking like - nine dragons and five tigers

More views

We had a nice lunch in Ping'An, we opted for noodles with egg rather than snake or frog, which the restaurants also served. We weren't tempted by the snake wine either...

Some snake wine with that, Sir?

At least, the food here is fresh...

Sun Shu kept emphasising that people in China eat everything and noting that we took great interest in this, he told us about different local "delicacies" around China, many of which we hope never to taste!

After lunch we started our walk back to Tiantouzhai. On the way back we met these two Yao ladies, who gladly posed for some photos for a few RMB. They told Sun Shu that they were not allowed to be in the village Ping'An, as it would mean competition for the local Zhuong women when it comes to posing for photos! Instead they lingered very close by... The Yao women traditionally only cut their hair once, when they're 18. They usually have three bundles of hair on their head: their own hair, the hair they cut off when they were 18, and a second bundle made up from the hair they drop everyday (which they collect). We were able to confirm this when they posed for our camera!

Two Yao women with their incredibly long hair. It came as no surprise to hear that a Yao woman is in the Guinness book of records for the world's longest hair!

Quick rest on the way back

When we got back we were very happy, and reinvigorated rather than tired from the walk. The hostel staff thought we were nuts for doing the Ping'An loop in one day and we started to wonder if they were talking about the same walk. This was by far our best experience in China so far, and unsurprisingly it took place in the countryside. No megaphones or tour groups in sight - just tranquility and amazing scenery. Adding to the great experience was the fact that  we had some amazing food at the vegetarian restaurant in Tiantouzhai, so good we went back two nights in row.

The next morning we headed back to Dazhai. Before leaving, we said goodbye to Sun Shu and said that we hope his travels one day will bring him to Europe.

Sun Shu - our new friend

We also got a photo  of this Tiantouzhai inhabitant who claimed he was a 100 years old and enjoys a bit of banter and photo posing with tourists.

The oldest inhabitant of Tiantouzhai? We want what he's smoking...

Despite going downhill, the packs felt heavier going back but luckily the walk wasn't too long. Down in Dazhai we were met by bigger crowds of tourists. The Chinese tour groups were disembarking. We realised that the 35 minute steep walk up to "our" village probably was too much for most of them and hence had protected us from the crowds, giving us the best couple of days in China so far. Back in Dazhai, we took a minibus to Guilin, where we would catch another bus to Yangshuo.