The Return to XingYi: Tomb Sweeping 2017

This trip was actually before going to GanSu but I couldn't find the pictures. That problem has now been solved and here is the update.

Bacon in the gorge.

About a year ago, I think for Tomb Sweeping festival, Sara and I decided to go to XIngYi and visit the gorge. Then train to XingYi is 5 hours and about 80 yuan, a flight is 40 minutes and 200 yuan, we booked the later as it gave us an extra 2 hours in bed before needing to go to the airport. We got up, made a picnic and jumped on a  plane.

 XingYi is a tiny place in a very poor and often over looked province, which I think is a shame. Some of the most amazing places I have been are in Guizhou and almost no-one knows about it. In fact, I recently send some one my Chinese coworkers here and they were amazed at how beautiful, cheap,convenient and undiscovered it is.

Our first stop was MaLing gorge, which I went to a few years ago. Unluckily for us then, the weather wasn't great, and although we didn't actually get too wet, our pictures were rubbish. This time the weather was dry and fully cooperated with us. We climbed down into the bottom of the gorge, wandered for a bit before stopping for bacon sandwiches.

Last time I was in the gorge there was a long loop track which took in the highlights and key views, now there path carries on past the bridge and keeps going around the corner of the base.

Its is as amazing as I remembered it and we spent hours sitting and taking it all in before heading to the hotel.

As Guizhou is still off the beaten track, we booked into a 4 star hotel for the night and only paid 250 yuan for the night.



The next morning we went out to the second scenic area 10,000 peak park. It has a gold buggy looking thing for shuttling people between the viewing platforms. We soaked in as much green and nature as possible before heading on the bus back to the airport.

Yurt Life: National Day 2017

View from the train window

After my night in the campsite and another night in the hotel, I jumped on a train to ZhangYe. It was an incredibly boring train journey with absolutely nothing to look out so I lay on my bunk and read my book, 8 hours later I arrived.

I had booked into a "luxury yurt" as part of a campsite next to the Rainbow Mountains Park. I pretty much only booked out of intrigue of what a luxury yurt was and enjoyment of saying the word yurt. I arrived and was shown around. There were about 40 yurts and a restaurant and that was it! Finding the right one was tricky and finding it again in the dark after going to the bathroom was trickier still. I lost count of how any times people tried to get into mine.

The yurt itself was indeed luxurious, nicer by far than the hotel I had just stayed in. Everything was clean and freshly painted. I was very impressed.

The campsite was about 400 meters from one of the gates to the DanXia Geological Park which made for a very easy commute. I walked down, paid for the tickets and was directed to the bus station.

The park has a network of jump on jump off buses that go just about everywhere. For the most park, I didn't have to wait long and the buses weren't too busy. Although it wasn't far between the viewing platforms walking between them wasn't allowed.

All in all there are 9 different viewing areas of varying degrees of impressiveness. Most involved a huge amount of stairs to a wooden walkway which was usually covered in people chilling out and generally being in the way.

I had read reviews online of people being disappointed in the park and the colours of the mountains. They  weren't the vibrant blues and reds that I had seen on google but they were absolutely impressive!

The park is huge but as a visitor there aren't loads of different areas that you can go and get lost in or wander off to get away from people. Regardless, I had a great time and think it was completely worth visiting.

Sand, Stars and The Camel from Hell! National Day 2017

From the Oasis to the campsite was a collection of lucky breaks.

The first being that the campsite organizers emailed me directions to get picked up and I actually got it! If I had missed that one I would have been stuffed.

After that one, they called me. My Chinese not being great I grabbed a bored looking ticket lady and begged her to talk to them for me. Not only did she talk to them  but she threw me on the back of her and drove me down the road to where they were based. I am not entirely sure how she managed to just disappear from work without getting in trouble but either she did or she really didn't care.

At the reception, we were bundled into a minivan and driver about 25 minutes into the middle of nowhere.

We drove to a hole in a fence where an angry looking man was waiting with 30 camels. On we jumped and (I can speak for the rest of the group) sat nervously waiting for our camels to freak out. They were all tied in a long line, mine being somewhere in the middle, so when the angry man pulled the first one to his/her feet they all followed. Standing up was a little nerve racking but it soon settled into a slow relaxing plod pace. That was until we had been going about 15 minutes and mine decided he was bored of following the one in from and started walking perpendicular to the line of travel. In front and behind of me was a nice calm line of well behaved camels, all just minding their own

Cunningly disguised bathroom

business and taking in the scenery. Then there was mine who wanted to do just about anything but as he was told. The angry man was not impressed but as long as we continued to crab side step in the vague direction of the camp, he didn't interfere with us or tell us off.

The camp turned out to be one big tent with about ten smaller ones and a seating area in the middle. We were left to do as we pleased until sunset, when dinner was available. There was nothing there except miles and miles of sand. I took about a million pictures wandered about until I got worried I wouldn't get home before dark. I was the only foreigner and so, as always, an attraction in itself. Most people were very patient with my Chinese and all fussed over me unnecessarily. I was very well looked after, to the point of getting irritated with it.

Sunset was around 6.30 and dinner was endless kebab and potato sticks. The food was amazing, which just goes to show that I value flavour far more than spice and oil. We ate out fill and then the beer appeared.

To my horror, someone pulled out a KTV machine and set it up. I was in the desert miles away from anyone and anything and STILL KTV followed me and haunted my every waking hour. As is alway the case, one woman somewhere will take this as her opportunity to take over and sing every God awful sappy love ballad ever written.

I sat outside with the staff of the campsite (4 guys whose entire job was babysitting a bunch of tourists) and drank until well after midnight. About 3 am they came and woke me up so that i could see the stars. Unbelievable!

October in DunHuang: National Day 2017

The October National day rolled around again and once again, all flights/trains/buses/horses out of the country had been booked. I decided to go and investigate a different side of China. In my travels so far, i have climbed mountains, visited scenic areas, wandered about "ancient" cities of all ages, boated on rivers, swam in lakes, ogled at waterfalls, hiked through jungles and tried just about every type of food available. One area of China that I hadn't even been close to was the desert region in GanSu.

GanSu is a long skinny province in the northern middle part of China. It borders Mongolia, SiChuan, the Tibetan Plateau and Qinghai. Parts of the northern silk road ran thought GanSu as well as the Yellow River. In terms of geography and scenery, its incredibly diverse which made for an interesting trip.

There aren't any direct flight to DunHuang, which is in the north west part of the province, so I stopped in LanZhou airport for a few hours before getting the short 45 minute trip to the top of the province. During my second flight, we flew over the start of the sand dunes, which the old couple next to me were kind enough to photograph for me. It's weird, there is literally a flat brand new city that goes right to the edge and then city and roads stop, sand and camels start. The old people were very friendly and we arranged to meet for dinner than evening. (Donkey noodles and BBQ)

I was staying in one of the only hotels in the area that had the license to have foreigners stay with them. The pictures looked nice so I didn't mind paying the extra money. The pictures lied! The hotel may have been nice, once but it was a long time ago but it did. October in DunHuang was all baking hot days with sunburn and freezing cold nights with frostbite, no matter what the time of day, i was dressed wrong.

The hotel, as run down as it was, was in a fantastic location. Behind it was the biggest food night market I have seen in China. Harry had told me that food is a way of life here, he was not exaggerating. The food in generally is very comforting and almost familiar, its all breads, meat, potatoes, onions and flavour without the need for spice. The night market was the whole of three large city blocks with one long road connect them selling souvenirs and touristy type things. I could have stayed a week just for the market but I was there to sightsee too. I wandered around for hours trying everything that took my fancy before filling my pockets in preparation for the following day.

I had planned to get the bus out to the Crescent Pool Oasis before heading to the camp site I had booked for that evening.  It was an easy bus journey that left form across the street from my hotel.

The bus drops you off near ish the park but it is pretty obvious where to go. Its basically a newly built road that stops at the bottom of a sand mountain. I bought my entrance ticket, left my backpack and wandered in the general direction.

From the ticket office to the pool itself is a short walk along a planked walkway. It was busy but not to the point of being crowded.

The pool was looking a little thirsty (I heard the spring that once fed the pool has long since died, so it needs filling up every now and again) but it did its job of adding to the weirdness of the setting.

Next to the pool is a small building, the honestly I still have no idea what it was for. Looked cool though. To the front, and sides of the pool building complex are steep dunes that I decided was a really good idea to climb. Now I am aware the I have never tried to climb a mountain of honey but this is exactly what it felt like. Every step my feet were sinking to nearly my knees, I took of my shoes long ago and tied them to my bag.

Someone had helpfully put a rope ladder up the side of the dune to make it easer to climb and give you something to hold on to. The whole route, about 200m long, was littered with people who had bailed out to catch their breath. It was tough! Although only 200m long it climbed nearly 300m so it was tough, steep and exhausting. The top looked like a battlefield with people who had just dropped to rest.

Now that I am looking back on it, the view was worth it but at the time it was much harder to tell.

Cabin fever in Kenting: Summer 2017

The bus journey from Kaohsiung is about 3 hours and for the most part, uneventful.

We drove through Kenting as the bus station was on the far side, the whole town follows the main road and is about 400m long. I got off the bus and walked back to my hostel. I had booked into one of the only places in town, in the Kenting Space Capsule hostel. Most of the hostels in TaiWan are more like the Japanese capsule style, which i had been intrigued to try. By now though I was getting fed up of not being able to stand up in my room and spending the whole time either on or in the bed.

The space capsule was more of the same, but nicer. I described this one as being something that reminded me of a hobbit house. the room had a sliding door with space at the end of the mattress for bags and shoes. It was nice for a few hours but as this post goes on, my descent into madness becomes more and more obvious.

I left the hostel and wandered about for an explore and to find some food. The beach wasn't far away and I had noticed some smaller bar looking places on the front. Nothing is far in Kenting and everyone seems to know where everyone and everything is, getting lost obviously wasn't going to be an issue.

I get to bar, order and beer and settle in to watch the sunset. It is at this point I notice the beach is closed. I ask the waitress what is going on and if they will be opened again any time soon. She just smiles and says something about the typhoon that was expected sometime tomorrow. Perfect, I had arrived into the most famous beach area of Taiwan just before a storm that forced all the beaches closed.

As no-one seemed particularly worried or phased by the storm I didn't really think anything of it. I sat on the deck for a few hours and then headed back to the hostel. By the time I got back, they had taped the windows and stocked up on bottled water and instant noodles. I was sent to the local supermarket to do the same and told I most likely wouldn't be allowed to go out tomorrow.

I spent a total of two days in the hostel, going stir crazy. There were only three other people in the hostel, two American girls and a French girl. Between us we did our best to keep occupied but it really was dull. We watched whole seasons of TV shows and played hours and hours of cards. Eventually the staff came and found us with news that McDonalds across the street had reopened and they were going to order something. A 400y order was placed and we all sat on the floor in reception feasting on nuggets and chips. This was the most interesting and entertaining thing that happened in my whole trip to Kenting. Needless to say, I will most certainly be going back!

I was offered a  seat on the first bus out of town back to Kaohsiung which I jumped at. A few hours later I was dripping on the mat in a hostel in Kaohsiung. There was food other than instant noodles and McDonalds and other people to talk to, bliss.

Regardless of the slight hostage situation, Kenting looks beautiful and it will stay on the top of my 'to return to at a later date' list. fingers crossed for some better weather next time though.

KaohSiung and the calm before the storm: Summer 2017

Kaohsiung is TaiWan's second largest city and the big port at the south of the Island. The train from HuaLian tok a little under five hours but the majority of the journey was spent on train tracks running right on the edge of the sea, which i thoroughly enjoyed.

I planned on three days in Kaohsiung but I could have stayed a lot longer. This was roughly the middle of my trip so I decided to splash out and get a nicer hotel (private) room, which turned out to be a mistake. I found a budget hotel on booking.com, followed the directions to to hotel, walked past it several times before giving up and asking in a dirty little laundry place. As luck would have it, the dirty little laundry place was the reception to my hotel. For future reference, carefully consult hotel descriptions and reviews on the internet before booking as they like to use photos from other hotels. It was too late and i was too tired to find somewhere else so I stayed. In the hotels defense, I did have my own room and that room had a bed, which is pretty much all that I can or will say in a positive review of the place.

Kaohsiung is a big city in that it is built up and spread out, with the sea on two sides its actually a long way to cross town. I spent a whole afternoon in the harbour before going up to the British Consulate. Honestly at this point, i don't remember the history of the place, all we need to know is that its the old British consulate from 1850 something that is now a museum. Its on the top of the hill so the views were beautiful, plus being higher up the breeze was incredibly welcome. They area is famous for its rose tea, so half way round the museum you get given a free cup and pointed at a table to relax for a bit. I sat there for nearly 2 hours perfectly content.

I spent the majority of another day by the lake, I found a little bar overlooking a water skiing training center which proved to be a great source of entertainment. In the time I was sitting there, two school trips turned up and gave it a go. Lots of fun!

It is on this lake that the dragon and tiger pagodas sit. The don't appear to have any history or function, other than being weird but cool things to look at and an interesting picture backdrop for lots of people.

Kaohsiung is no exception to the taiwan night market phenomenon, the only difference being the quantity of prawns on offer. i don't thing saying that 60% of the market was dedicated to prawns,  further 20% for crabs and the last 20% for everything else. It was unbelievable, cheap and so satisfying.


One of the final places i visited was the 'art district' by the harbour, which is an old load of warehouses that have been turned into an entertainment complex. Its mostly art gallery space available for rent and coffee shops. All of the outside apace was filled with sculptures. Add in the miniature train that you can ride around the whole area with and it all has a very chilled out, afternoon in the park feel.

My next stop was Kenting, the most southernly point of the island. Its only a few hours by bus (no train) which turned out to be very easy and cheap. This was the stop i was most looking forward to, as it boasts Taiwan's best beaches.

Luckily for me the weather was getting bad, continued on next page.

HuaLian and the dolphins: Summer 2017

HuaLian is a small seaside town about 2 hours south of TaiPei. Its not really a beach place but I hear its popular for surfing, not that we say anyone.

It's home to the largest night market in TaiWan and that is really saying something. It is set out in a T shape with nothing but food! The top of the T is a street about 100 meters long and it is 75% restaurants. Although restaurant is a little of a stretch. Its a huge tent full of benches, tables, upturned beer crates or mats. They were all placed very carefully behind the stall that served the food, it ended up a stripy chaos of seating with some of the best food I had on my whole trip. In general I was a little uninspired by Taiwanese cuisine. Maybe I have been living in the spicy capital of Yunnan too long, but I found everything either a bit bland or too sweet. HuaLian was the exception! We tried all sorts of weird and wonderful food. Wild boar and broccoli, Ostrich and spring onions and millions of prawns.

Other than food, we had plans to go to the Ocean Park. We know from google that it was somewhere nearby but that was about it. It turned out to be on a cliff just outside out town. I loved standing on various viewing platforms absorbing all of the blues and greens. Two colors which Kunming is seriously lacking!

The park itself is a cross between a small theme/water park and an aquarium. The rides weren't exactly adrenaline pounding but were fun. We enjoyed the pirate themes log flume the most, most because at the end we were covered in water, which cooled us off for an hour.

Apart from the dolphin show, we didn't have a plan for the park, so instead several hours were spent just aimlessly wandering about the aquariums and occasionally jumping on a ride. All in all a god day was had!

The next day we got a train to the south of the island for Phase 3.