Around the world...in a TRUCK!: China Part 2

Hello Again! Getting good at this Blog writing eh? Thought I'd left you but I'm back again with a bang. The eedjit abroad has struck again!

So when we last met I was in Xi'an a huge city with our first taste of Western culture and the magnificent Terracotta Warriors. Well that evening we got a sleeper train to Beijing. The Beijing trip was an additional add on to the trip and we would miss two nights in Xi'an and three nights in Chengdu but I figured it was worth it. So me and four of the women (later to be christened "Ben and his Beijing babes") went on a holiday within a holiday. We took the overnight train and stayed in first class cabins (naturally) the train journey cost about $80 but it was worth the upgrade when we got there the rooms were immaculate and the toilet wasn't even that scary (by Chinese standards). If you think it costs 60 euro for a 4 our journey from Cork to Dublin its a pretty good deal. To top it off we had wine and Pot Noodles..very civilised!

When we arrived in Beijing we waited an hour for a taxi to take us to our hotel. On a side note: Never get a f***ing taxi in China. The drivers won't take you if it's too far and if they have to turn around and if your foreign. And even if you do manage to find one that likes you if you arrive alive its a frickin bonus and nothing else, you have to tip them just to get you there without them killing you arriving alive costs extra stupid feckin.... Ok thats off my chest.

Beijing was an abslutely crazy city. People talk about how crowded China is but we'd been through the Taklamaken Desert and out in the middle of nowhere for two weeks the amount of people was astounding. Taking the subway was unreal just packed in like Sardines without oil! Having said that the Subway was amazing really modern and efficient brilliant stuff.. I'm a nerd for public transport..

We were in Beijing for four nights and we crammed everything in in that time. We didn't stop from morning till night getting up early and bed late. The second we arrived we went to the Forbidden City. The following day we took a bus tour out to the Ming Tombs and The Great Wall and the third day we went to Tianamen Square and I sat outside GAP for three hours while the women went shopping (best part of the trip) and saw the Olympic stadium. We also paid a visit to an Irish Bar and got soaked by a freak rain storm and then had McDonalds. We saw a really cool acrobatic show with amazing stunts, the best by far being when they got 20 girls on one bicycle whilst one girl was peddling it around the stage in a circle. Crazy shit!

Me outside the Forbidden City

Inside the Forbidden City

Ben and his Beijing babes minus Mel

Spot the Westerner

The Ming Tombs

Me on the Great Wall

Got mugged for a photo with a Chinese man! Also, you can see all the people that are there in the background

Tianamen Square

The queue to see Chairman Mao's body!

The Olympic Stadium

Irish pub after getting soaked!

There's so much to say about Beijing it needs a whole blog to itself really. We had an awesome time. My favourite part was being at the Wall. We'd already been to a different part but it was great being at the iconic part of it. What I didn't like was the sheer busy-ness of the place it made you feel really aggressive as you tried to fight through crowds to get to places. Also you can see from the photos the amount of pollution is unnatural. The sky is constantly covered in a thick smog and you can't see the sky or the clouds which was a bit strange but true all over China's built up areas. Oh, and did I mention the taxi drivers?

After the hectic four days we took a flight back down south to meet back with the group (who were waiting for us with flowers and tears in their eyes). We arrived late and I was glad to hit my bed at 2 am after a huge row with another feckin taxi driver because he wouldn't out the meter on stupid prat. But was it a lie in for me? No sir! It was time for one of the highlights of the trip for me: the Panda Sanctuary! We saw little ones and Giant ones and I enjoyed every minute even if I was grumpy and tired!

Scoffing bamboo

Doing an impression of me with a hangover

From Chengdu we began heading south. We had a good bit of driving to do but as before we still saw a lot of cool places as we went. As we went we got a good view of China's growing economic prosperity. The roads they're building there you wouldn't believe. Huge highways over valleys and tunnels 10 km long. Won't be long before China rules the world I promise you that.

We also got a good view of the people of China and even though the cities and the country as a whole is growing at a shocking rate. There's still people in the countryside who have never seen a white prson before.

The crowd we attracted when we stopped for lunch

As we travelled south we hit a town called Lijiang. This was the first touristy place we had been since we got to China (except for Beijing) and the change of scenery was very noticeable. Lijiang had a beautiful Old Town and was a really nice place to walk around. We also found our first proper bar which wasn't a restaurant or a Karaoke bar! We spent a lot of time in that.

Canal side restaurant, Lijiang

The waterwheel in Lijiang

After Lijiang we hit a place called Dali (Correctly pronounced daRli but pronounced dAli by English people and Dubs). We knew now we were well onto the tourist track again as the place was full of bars, Western food and Westerners. The effect it had on us was crazy as we went mad eating Shepherd's pie, Fish and Chips, drinking in bars and staring at other Westerners like we were Chinese people!

It was here that Zoe and Susan announced their engagement so a party was had! Congratulations girls.

Pagoda in Dali

The group in Dali

Everywhere we went in Dali you could get a massage. All the guide books said that the massage parlour that was run by a group of Deaf people was the best. It was! I got a back massage from this sweet old woman and she beat the shit outta me! I was like oh this'll be easy. Nope she didn't pull any punches. My back was clicking like a socket set. She even gave me a semi.. but no happy ending.
The funniest part was they were playing Westlife on the radio. Thats right. Westlife in the Deaf massage parlour... take that Louis Walsh.

Feel the pain!

Finally one last place to tell you about. This was the Giant Budda in Leshan. Its incredible to see these Giant Buddas and this one was no exception. Absolutely incredible.

Giant Budda Leshan

Now, I know I've gone on a bit in this Blog but just one more thing. All the way through China we had a guide who's English name was George. No China Blog would be complete without mentioning him. He was without doubt the best guide we've had on the trip. Nothing was any trouble, he would break his balls to help you if you asked him and he is one of the nicest people I've ever met. So much so I was actually quite emotional leaving him when we crossed the border. A top bloke and I hope to meet him again someday.