No, we're not dead everyone! Just had a hectic last few days and I didn't get a
chance to update the blog. We're now in the hostel nestled safely in our bunk
beds after the worst journey of our lives (my life), but more on that later.
Gosh I can't even remember what's happened.
Erm ok, so after Kowloon we
took the ferry across to Hong Kong Island. Not as touristy round here, you can
walk down the street without being blinded by the neon lights which was a
welcome change. We didn't really get to see anything here, it was just a big
piss up really. We arrived on the Thursday and we'd seen a HK pub crawl
advertised in a few places and it had really good reviews. We were apprehensive
to try another pub crawl after the Berlin incident, we felt like we might have
been tempting fate! (For those that didn't read the last blog, Lee got spiked
and it was a mare!). The night was great. We had a really good time and we met
loads of people. I'd say there was about thirty people on the pub crawl. Quite a
few locals too. It's the cheapest way to have a night out. You pay £8 to the
people then you get free shots and discounted drinks in each place. Think we
spent £50 between us, so we spent alot less than at home despite it being more
expensive.
Lee became somewhat of a legend through his choice of attire
that night. After me shouting "double denim" at him a few times it seemed to
catch on. No one knew his name, he was dubbed The Double Denim Guy.
The
next evening after we'd managed to drag ourselves out of bed, we were headed to
the metro to go and see some sights, but we ended up bumping into a group of
aussie lads from the night before who persuaded us to go out with them again
that night. When they spotted us in the street they pointed and shouted, "DOUBLE
DENIM!!!".
The following evening though a bit worse for wear, we did
manage to go and see Victorias Peak. It's a big hill were you can see over the
whole of Hong Kong. The views were beautiful.
The next day was China
time. We got the coach to Guangzhou which took about 3 hours.
We're used to
just showing up at places blind with no plans, no accommodation, etc. But we
quickly realised that China was not going to be as easy. Very few people speak
English for starters. Why should they, I know. But everywhere we've been so far
everyone has been pretty much fluent so I suppose we've taken it for granted. I
thought we'd get by on actions and gestures but the people here (well, in
Guangzhou anyway), didn't seem interested in even trying to help. A stern No and
shake of the head was our most commonly received response. They don't like to
queue here either, or try to get past you. They cut in and if you're in their
way they will literally push you. Using public transport with a 10kg backpack on
has been awkward to say the least. Different strokes for different folks and all
that, but we'd arrived in China with the impression that we hated the
place.We stayed in Guangzhou for i think 3 nights, mainly to try and
make plans to decide what we're going to do in China and we saw some sights too.
We took a boat ride on the Pearl River which was lovely as all the buildings and
bridges were lit up. Whilst we were looking around we came across a park which
at first glance looked like a kids swing park judging by all the bright
multicoloured climbing frames and other apparatus. Upon closer inspection it was
infact a type of gym with adults swinging off the bits of kit. It was very odd.
Our hotel was slightly odd too, they seemed to have an obsession with plastic
bears. We went to a food market there, we saw chickens and ducks being prepared
to have their heads chopped off. When we saw them getting taken in and we
spotted the massive machetes waiting on the chopping block we made a move.
Chickens wouldn't really bother me, but I think seeing the ducks being
decapitated might have made me cry. I prefer feeding them bread in the park to
be honest! Although I am partial to the odd duck wrap. Mmm nommy.
On
making our China plan we've learnt that the key to survival here will be to plan
everything in advance and have addresses and key words/phrases written down in
Cantonese. We decided to come to Shanghai first, that's were we've just arrived
at now. The train took 17 hours. It was horrible. We were going to get beds but
they cost £67 each as apposed to £20 for a seat, goes without saying really that
we had to go with the seat. Never again!!!!! The seats were so uncomfortable,
they were fixed bolt upright and they were in fours and sixes with a table in
the middle so you had some div starting at you the whole time. There was no
armrest so you couldn't even get comfy for a kip. Some people didn't have seats
so they were sprawled out on the floor. Getting to the toilet was like having a
game of hopscotch. The loo was a hole in the floor and when I went some dirty
bastard had laid a big turd in there and made no effort to shift it. So there's
me trying to get rid of someone else's shit incase the person that came in
afterwards thought it was me. My efforts were futile so I had to settle on going
back out and facing the queue, pointing at the pile of poo, shaking my index
finger from left to right then pointing at myself. I hope they understood. After
all that I actually forgot to wee.
Facebook is blocked here. We can
access it through a proxy server but it gives you the mobile site, which would
be fine, but it's not even the proper mobile site. Can't see any notifications
or anything like that, so if you need us email us r.m.jones@live.co.uk ..right,
nap time I think, then off for an explore of Shanghai.
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