Sweating my vagina off as I type this on yet another train to Chengdu. This
train also doesn't have air con but atleast the fan works. This journey is 24.5
hours. After all these trains the 4 hour coach to Liverpool will be a piece of
piss.
We enjoyed Yangshou, apart from the lack of sleep. We were in an 8
bed dorm. Me and Lee shared a bunk, I was on the top one and him on the bottom.
There was a Chinese lad staying on the top bunk across from me. He was only
there for 2 nights but by the end of it I could have strung him up by his stupid
pony tail. He came to bed around 5am each night, obviously staying up to watch
the Euro's. But what he'd done is set an alarm for 2.45am on one of his phones
to wake him up for the games, not that he ever went to bed beforehand anyway, he
was always downstairs from 10pm onwards. He then left this phone in his locker.
So 2.45am comes and we get woken up to the sound of some shit Chinese RnB song
which lasted about 30 seconds. At first we just thought it was a call so we
tried to go back to sleep, but it kept going off every minute for about 15
minutes. We were on the 5th floor so going down to get him wasn't an option.
After a while Lee had enough and went over to the lads locker and ragged it open
and gave me the phone. I couldn't get the battery off so I had to just switch it
off. I saw another alarm was set for 7.20am but because everything was in
Chinese I didn't know how to switch that alarm off. Needless to say we were
woken up again at 7.20am. This was after him coming in at 5am waking us all up
again. I leaned over and shook his bed to wake him up and he went down to turn
off the alarm and went back to bed.
I was visibly angry so you'd have
thought he'd turn his alarms off, but the next day the exact same thing
happened. I was so angry. I shook his bed so hard and shouted at him. He shit
himself he didn't know what was goin' on getting woken up by some crazy white
girl swinging off his bed going nuts.
We hired a couple of mountain bikes
and went for a cycle round the river. It was really nice. Haven't been on a bike
in years, I was kinda scared when we set off thinking in my head that it was an
absolute given that I'd return with bloody knees and no teeth. The last time I
was on a bike I put my head straight through a parked car so as you can guess
I'm not the most competent of cyclists. After a while I found my feet and got my
confidence back and I was grand.
On our ride we saw loads of water
buffalos and hens with their chicks, and we took a bamboo raft across the river
with our bikes. At one point we stopped and had a dip in the river. It was
so nice, but when we got out we were covered in what looked like tiny leeches
and some other bugs. We stood there for about 10 minutes whacking these bugs
off, they were everywhere!
The ride took about 5 hours so we treated
ourselves to a fat burger and chips afterwards mmmmm...
We met a few lads
there who we went on a night out with. There was an Englishman, a Dutchman and
an American. Sounds like the beginning to a bad joke. They had all taught there
at some point. We went to a hostel bar called Monkey Jane's as that was the only
place open showing the football. It was a place especially for foreigners, so
when Jane started saying she hates foreigners infront of the whole place it
really pissed me off. So I shouted at her, "how are you gona say you hate
foreigners when every single person in here is foreign?!! We pay your fucking
wages you silly lady! Absolute idiot!". She had pissed us off before that too.
Lee ordered noodles and they cost 4 and Lee gave her a 5 note then quickly
realised he had the right change and swapped it and she said, "fucking rich
people wasting my fucking time". WHAAAAT I didn't hear this at the time but when
Lee told me I was fuming. Why would you make your business for foreigners if you
clearly hate them? She was a tosser though. When people stopped paying attention
to her to watch the football she went over and turned it off. She seemed like a
bitter middle aged woman having a midlife crisis. You know the type.
What annoyed me the most though was that the people we were with were
making excuses for her, saying "don't take offense, it's just the way they are".
No. No it isn't. That was just rude to a different extent. It annoys me how
everyone keeps making excuses for these people. What would it take before they
say enough is enough? Argh!!!
So I'm finishing this entry in Chengdu now.
Our hostel is boss but it's a bit creepy and they're playing creepy music which
doesn't help. We met a Chinese girl on the train who, shock horror, was really
very nice! To make sure we got to where we were going she took us to our hostel
(which was two buses from the train station) and even up to our room bless her.
We like Chengdu already. Can't wait to see the Panda's, woohoo!!!!
Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Monday, 18 June 2012
'Road to Yangshou'
Fenghuang was really quite nice. It was really old; buildings on stilts on the
river side, all the guesthouses are all wooden. There were loads of old tiny,
cobbled lanes like in Brighton and that was really nice for a mooch. Got lost
sooo many times though. Some things there looked so traditional. More often than
not we'd see a man on a tiny wooden raft fishing wearing one of those hats that
looks like the lid off ya duck pancakes pot. The people were much more friendly
there. It had a bit of everything really. It was lovely to walk around in the
day and it seemed to have a good nightlife too.
We stayed in Fenghuang for four nights, our next scheduled stop was Yangshou, but it would seem that it is virtually impossible to get to. You have to get a 1 hour bus to Tongren, 12 hour train to Guilin, then another 2 hour bus to Yangshou. We thought fuck that for a game of soldiers, so we stopped over at each segment of the journey.
Tongren was a bit of a shit heap to be fair, but we had to get a room as our train left from there at 4.46am. We were just going to sleep rough in the station but it stunk off piss and vinegar, so we got a hotel across the road from the station. We paid over the odds (£14.80) but we had to be close by as we're not sure what the taxi situation is like after hours. Anyway, the hotel was LUSH. So lush infact that it had a plaque in the room with a picture of a girl with her tits practically out and a number underneath to dial. Oh and a pack of prophylactics with Sarah Michelle Gellar's face on some one elses body. Poor girl, bet she hasn't got a clue.
The train to Guilin wasn't as good as our other sleeper train. First of all there wasn't a ladder to get up to the top bunk were we were. There was a teeny fold away step on the inside part of the lower and middle bunks, so you couldn't even use them really without poking someone in the eye with your big toe. You had to do some Spider Man shit to get up and down, which left you sweating. That brings me to my next point: there was no air conditioning. And to add insult to injury there was a fan in each of the cabins, but ours didn't work. I was hotter than the sun. Oh and the beds hadn't been changed from each person to the next. When we got on I thought a section of my pillow felt wet. I sniffed it and it smelt like sweaty, greasy barnet, ew!
We've been stopped for photo's countless times now. Really don't get it. I know they're very blocked off from the rest of the world and on TV and on billboards it's only Chinese people, but they see honkies in films and stuff so why the fascination? One lad the other day, must have been about 18, 19, after he took the photo he walked away and actually shouted out "YES!!!", (well the Chinese equivalent), and punched the air. Really though???! We don't mind at all but we just can't fathom it.
We're in Guilin at the mo, leaving tomorrow for the bus to Yangshou. Oh that rhymes. It's okay here but not much to do really. It's got hotter as we doth venture south. Yesterday we just walked into a big hotel, asked at reception where the pool was and spent the day there. We tried the same again today but we got caught. They wanted to charge us 8 squid each just to use the pool!! Erm jog!.. So we walked about a half hour to the next hotel instead and they only charged us £3 and we got towels too. Good times.
Arr I am going to miss the kitten at this hostel, he's sooo cute. He's the smallest kitten I've ever seen. I've named him Barry. Don't know what his proper name is but I think he'd prefer Barry given the choice. Shit, think I've burnt me face again. Will I ever learn?
We stayed in Fenghuang for four nights, our next scheduled stop was Yangshou, but it would seem that it is virtually impossible to get to. You have to get a 1 hour bus to Tongren, 12 hour train to Guilin, then another 2 hour bus to Yangshou. We thought fuck that for a game of soldiers, so we stopped over at each segment of the journey.
Tongren was a bit of a shit heap to be fair, but we had to get a room as our train left from there at 4.46am. We were just going to sleep rough in the station but it stunk off piss and vinegar, so we got a hotel across the road from the station. We paid over the odds (£14.80) but we had to be close by as we're not sure what the taxi situation is like after hours. Anyway, the hotel was LUSH. So lush infact that it had a plaque in the room with a picture of a girl with her tits practically out and a number underneath to dial. Oh and a pack of prophylactics with Sarah Michelle Gellar's face on some one elses body. Poor girl, bet she hasn't got a clue.
The train to Guilin wasn't as good as our other sleeper train. First of all there wasn't a ladder to get up to the top bunk were we were. There was a teeny fold away step on the inside part of the lower and middle bunks, so you couldn't even use them really without poking someone in the eye with your big toe. You had to do some Spider Man shit to get up and down, which left you sweating. That brings me to my next point: there was no air conditioning. And to add insult to injury there was a fan in each of the cabins, but ours didn't work. I was hotter than the sun. Oh and the beds hadn't been changed from each person to the next. When we got on I thought a section of my pillow felt wet. I sniffed it and it smelt like sweaty, greasy barnet, ew!
We've been stopped for photo's countless times now. Really don't get it. I know they're very blocked off from the rest of the world and on TV and on billboards it's only Chinese people, but they see honkies in films and stuff so why the fascination? One lad the other day, must have been about 18, 19, after he took the photo he walked away and actually shouted out "YES!!!", (well the Chinese equivalent), and punched the air. Really though???! We don't mind at all but we just can't fathom it.
We're in Guilin at the mo, leaving tomorrow for the bus to Yangshou. Oh that rhymes. It's okay here but not much to do really. It's got hotter as we doth venture south. Yesterday we just walked into a big hotel, asked at reception where the pool was and spent the day there. We tried the same again today but we got caught. They wanted to charge us 8 squid each just to use the pool!! Erm jog!.. So we walked about a half hour to the next hotel instead and they only charged us £3 and we got towels too. Good times.
Arr I am going to miss the kitten at this hostel, he's sooo cute. He's the smallest kitten I've ever seen. I've named him Barry. Don't know what his proper name is but I think he'd prefer Barry given the choice. Shit, think I've burnt me face again. Will I ever learn?
Tuesday, 12 June 2012
王八
We're in Fenghuang now, in Hunan Province. We arrived last night from
Zhangjiajie. The mammoth 20 hour train journey to Zhangjiajie from Shanghai
actually wasn't so bad after all. We've learnt that for any long train journey a
sleeper is an absolute must. It didn't feel like 20 hours at all and the beds
were quite comfortable so we got a half decent sleep. There are about ten or so
doorless cabins to a carriage with six beds inside each, with two bottom bunks,
two middle and two top. We had the two middles and we're so glad we did. Every
Tom, Dick and Harry comes and sits on the bottom bunks during the day because
they have enough head room to sit up properly, whereas the other bunks don't.
The Chinese people don't seem to mind this, but if I were on the bottom and
people came and sat down on my bed I'd be drop kickin' them off quicker than
they could say chicken fried rice.
In the train station before we left, Lee went to the shop to get some drinks for us and a Chinese girl came and sat next to me waving her phone in my face. I guessed she wanted a picture. So she took about three snaps of me smiling very awkwardly, then when Lee comes back she thrusts the phone at him and he had to take a few pictures of me and her together. We always notice people taking sly photos of us, but that was the first time some one's came up to us. I didn't mind but it's still a bit bizarre!
Since we've been in China we haven't seen any big supermarkets, so when we stumbled across one the other day we got all excited and went for a wonder. It's incredible what entertains you when you're away. We think it's the dogs bollocks wondering around supermarkets comparing prices and seeing what weird shit they have. They had turtles for sale at the fish counter in this place, they were tied up in little net bags and they were alive too. I devised a plan to set them free so they could at least have a shot but Lee wouldn't let me. It made me sad, I like turtles.
We had a butchers at the noodles as that's pretty much our staple diet out here, that and street food. We were well impressed when we spotted free tubs attached to the multi packs of noodles. We were contemplating buying a tub each so even when there's no kitchen at a hostel we could still have something to eat our noodles out of. When we saw we could have free ones...Oh my. AND they were microwaveable AND they have a seal so nothing spills!! We were buzzin' off our tubs until we went to bed on the train the next day. Told you it's incredible what entertains us.
Whilst in Zhangjiajie we went to their National Park. It is apparently the place where James Cameron got the inspiration for Avatar. His crew allegedly came here and took 4,000 shots of the mountains and then based the floating mountains in Pandora on them. I don't know whether this is true or whether the Chinese authorities have renamed one of the mountains 'Hallelujah Mountain', as a money making gimmick. Either way there is no denying the similarities. The views were absolutely spectacular. We were both in awe. I've bunged a couple of photos on Facebook but they don't do it any justice what so ever. If you're ever in China I would definitely say it was worth a visit, but make sure you take the Avatar DVD and a device to play it on because you don't half crave a watch of it when you get back from the park!
The next day we went back to the park and followed a different trail which takes you along the stream. It was pretty at first but it takes about 4 hours so it got a bit samey after a while. There were quite a few wild monkeys on this trail. We would stand back and take a picture and go 'ahhh' and move on. The Chinese people badger them, poking them with things, getting right in their faces to try and get the best possible pictures. Once one person goes close, another person gets closer, then another, etc. This dynamic goes on until the monkeys feel threatened and start to squawk and brace their bodies as if they're going to attack. One monkey was so close to attacking this man but a cleaner came past with a broom and waved it at the monkey and he backed off, obviously scared of the broom. Of course, we thought it would be brilliant if we saw some one get attacked because they would absolutely deserve it. Plus, ourselves and the locals haven't exactly been the best of pals up to now. So on our way out there were tonnes of monkeys chillin' out at the entrance/exit so we decided to just sit and watch for a while as we felt like it was a matter of time. Along comes this lady with a lovely big see-through bag of crisps, biscuits, sandwiches and...bananas!! This big monkey with her baby wrapped round her belly jumps up on the woman and snatches the whole bag of goodies out of her hands. She screams and legs it leaving the bag, and all these monkeys materialize out of nowhere, easily about 30 of them, and try and grab what they can. It was hilarious, every one was screaming and running and we were just sitting on the sidelines laughing our heads off watching the drama unfold. One little monkey took a pack of biscuits and shot back up the tree. We watched him carefully open the packet, eat a few, then opened the packet fully and sprinkled down the rest of the biscuits for his pals below.
We got speaking to an English lad in our hostel who's been studying out here in an English university for the past 6 months. He was with two Chinese friends. We couldn't believe some of the stuff he was telling us. In the university they keep foreigners and locals in separate parts of the building, and the foreigners have swipe cards so they can come in and out when they pleased, but the locals get literally padlocked in their rooms at 11pm. We thought it was absolutely crazy and their response was "why do we need to leave the room after 11pm? We have a toilet, the shops are shut...". This seemed quite logical and we couldn't actually answer the question, but wowzer. Can you imagine the consequences if they tried to do that in England??!
We have also found out that people that work at international hostels have to have checks every year which basically asks them about their values. Pretty much making sure they're not becoming westernised.
We're also always kept separate from the locals. In our hostel in Shanghai there was a Russian lad who's been living there for 2 months as he's working in Shanghai and waiting to sort out proper accommodation. Anyway, he had some Chinese friends that were coming to stay in the hostel. His room had 5 empty beds, he was in there by himself, so he told them to ask for his room number so they could stay together. They asked and they were told that that room was fully booked.
Last night we were watching the England France game and the TV room backs on to a dorm. A Chinese girl pops her head out and very rudely tells us to turn it down. I explained it was on volume 1 and it couldn't go any lower, but that wasn't good enough so she stomps out her room and comes back with the man who works at the hostel. PATHETIC. anyway, the point is we had to sleep in separate dorms that night as they were fully booked, but both rooms only had men in. The woman on reception knew this wasn't right as she asked me if I'd be okay being on my own in a room full of men. When I put my head in that girls room there were at least 3 free beds in there. So they're prepared to potentially risk my safety than to let me mix with the locals. Great thanks for that. I just squished into Lees bed in his dorm as neither of us were happy with me being alone, but still. Not the point.
We've never felt hostility like it, we're made to feel so unwelcome sometimes. Having said that, the other night we went out for an explore and an aussie girl came with us. We went into a bar and we were just standing on the sidelines taking in the differences. For example the man going round making people balloon bracelets, the dice games on each of the tables, the men dancing on the podiums and tables instead of the women. Then a man and a waitress come over to us and grabbed me and took me to their table. The other two followed me over and the men just bought us beers all night. I don't like beer so I stayed sober but Lee filled his boots. It was a great night. I got up on the stage dancing then Lee and Ellie got up, then the whole bar was up, doing the conga and all sorts, it was so fun! Haven't been out sober for a long time and it was the best night I've had in ages.
At first we found China really difficult but we're getting used to it now and we've found ways around most things. Picking up the language is impossible. We've learnt four words. Couldn't do the characters like but we know how to say them. Hello (nee-how), thank you (xie-xie), turtle (wang ba) which is an insult, pretty much means son of a bitch. And the most important, Vodka (foto ja). Sorted. We can go in a shop, say hello, buy vokda, thank them, then get pissed and abuse some one. That's our Saturday nights sorted.
In the train station before we left, Lee went to the shop to get some drinks for us and a Chinese girl came and sat next to me waving her phone in my face. I guessed she wanted a picture. So she took about three snaps of me smiling very awkwardly, then when Lee comes back she thrusts the phone at him and he had to take a few pictures of me and her together. We always notice people taking sly photos of us, but that was the first time some one's came up to us. I didn't mind but it's still a bit bizarre!
Since we've been in China we haven't seen any big supermarkets, so when we stumbled across one the other day we got all excited and went for a wonder. It's incredible what entertains you when you're away. We think it's the dogs bollocks wondering around supermarkets comparing prices and seeing what weird shit they have. They had turtles for sale at the fish counter in this place, they were tied up in little net bags and they were alive too. I devised a plan to set them free so they could at least have a shot but Lee wouldn't let me. It made me sad, I like turtles.
We had a butchers at the noodles as that's pretty much our staple diet out here, that and street food. We were well impressed when we spotted free tubs attached to the multi packs of noodles. We were contemplating buying a tub each so even when there's no kitchen at a hostel we could still have something to eat our noodles out of. When we saw we could have free ones...Oh my. AND they were microwaveable AND they have a seal so nothing spills!! We were buzzin' off our tubs until we went to bed on the train the next day. Told you it's incredible what entertains us.
Whilst in Zhangjiajie we went to their National Park. It is apparently the place where James Cameron got the inspiration for Avatar. His crew allegedly came here and took 4,000 shots of the mountains and then based the floating mountains in Pandora on them. I don't know whether this is true or whether the Chinese authorities have renamed one of the mountains 'Hallelujah Mountain', as a money making gimmick. Either way there is no denying the similarities. The views were absolutely spectacular. We were both in awe. I've bunged a couple of photos on Facebook but they don't do it any justice what so ever. If you're ever in China I would definitely say it was worth a visit, but make sure you take the Avatar DVD and a device to play it on because you don't half crave a watch of it when you get back from the park!
The next day we went back to the park and followed a different trail which takes you along the stream. It was pretty at first but it takes about 4 hours so it got a bit samey after a while. There were quite a few wild monkeys on this trail. We would stand back and take a picture and go 'ahhh' and move on. The Chinese people badger them, poking them with things, getting right in their faces to try and get the best possible pictures. Once one person goes close, another person gets closer, then another, etc. This dynamic goes on until the monkeys feel threatened and start to squawk and brace their bodies as if they're going to attack. One monkey was so close to attacking this man but a cleaner came past with a broom and waved it at the monkey and he backed off, obviously scared of the broom. Of course, we thought it would be brilliant if we saw some one get attacked because they would absolutely deserve it. Plus, ourselves and the locals haven't exactly been the best of pals up to now. So on our way out there were tonnes of monkeys chillin' out at the entrance/exit so we decided to just sit and watch for a while as we felt like it was a matter of time. Along comes this lady with a lovely big see-through bag of crisps, biscuits, sandwiches and...bananas!! This big monkey with her baby wrapped round her belly jumps up on the woman and snatches the whole bag of goodies out of her hands. She screams and legs it leaving the bag, and all these monkeys materialize out of nowhere, easily about 30 of them, and try and grab what they can. It was hilarious, every one was screaming and running and we were just sitting on the sidelines laughing our heads off watching the drama unfold. One little monkey took a pack of biscuits and shot back up the tree. We watched him carefully open the packet, eat a few, then opened the packet fully and sprinkled down the rest of the biscuits for his pals below.
We got speaking to an English lad in our hostel who's been studying out here in an English university for the past 6 months. He was with two Chinese friends. We couldn't believe some of the stuff he was telling us. In the university they keep foreigners and locals in separate parts of the building, and the foreigners have swipe cards so they can come in and out when they pleased, but the locals get literally padlocked in their rooms at 11pm. We thought it was absolutely crazy and their response was "why do we need to leave the room after 11pm? We have a toilet, the shops are shut...". This seemed quite logical and we couldn't actually answer the question, but wowzer. Can you imagine the consequences if they tried to do that in England??!
We have also found out that people that work at international hostels have to have checks every year which basically asks them about their values. Pretty much making sure they're not becoming westernised.
We're also always kept separate from the locals. In our hostel in Shanghai there was a Russian lad who's been living there for 2 months as he's working in Shanghai and waiting to sort out proper accommodation. Anyway, he had some Chinese friends that were coming to stay in the hostel. His room had 5 empty beds, he was in there by himself, so he told them to ask for his room number so they could stay together. They asked and they were told that that room was fully booked.
Last night we were watching the England France game and the TV room backs on to a dorm. A Chinese girl pops her head out and very rudely tells us to turn it down. I explained it was on volume 1 and it couldn't go any lower, but that wasn't good enough so she stomps out her room and comes back with the man who works at the hostel. PATHETIC. anyway, the point is we had to sleep in separate dorms that night as they were fully booked, but both rooms only had men in. The woman on reception knew this wasn't right as she asked me if I'd be okay being on my own in a room full of men. When I put my head in that girls room there were at least 3 free beds in there. So they're prepared to potentially risk my safety than to let me mix with the locals. Great thanks for that. I just squished into Lees bed in his dorm as neither of us were happy with me being alone, but still. Not the point.
We've never felt hostility like it, we're made to feel so unwelcome sometimes. Having said that, the other night we went out for an explore and an aussie girl came with us. We went into a bar and we were just standing on the sidelines taking in the differences. For example the man going round making people balloon bracelets, the dice games on each of the tables, the men dancing on the podiums and tables instead of the women. Then a man and a waitress come over to us and grabbed me and took me to their table. The other two followed me over and the men just bought us beers all night. I don't like beer so I stayed sober but Lee filled his boots. It was a great night. I got up on the stage dancing then Lee and Ellie got up, then the whole bar was up, doing the conga and all sorts, it was so fun! Haven't been out sober for a long time and it was the best night I've had in ages.
At first we found China really difficult but we're getting used to it now and we've found ways around most things. Picking up the language is impossible. We've learnt four words. Couldn't do the characters like but we know how to say them. Hello (nee-how), thank you (xie-xie), turtle (wang ba) which is an insult, pretty much means son of a bitch. And the most important, Vodka (foto ja). Sorted. We can go in a shop, say hello, buy vokda, thank them, then get pissed and abuse some one. That's our Saturday nights sorted.
Monday, 4 June 2012
Shanghai
We've been in Shanghai for 3 nights now, tonight is our fourth (well, not sure
when it is 'cause I have to email this to me Mum to paste as kel surprise
Blogspot is blocked in China too). We have enjoyed Shanghai. Not really much to
do here apart from wonder about, but there's alot of lovely places to wonder
about in.
We're staying on East Nanjing Road which is very central. It's in Peoples Square which is a massive high street at this end, then further down the road is a huge park called Peoples Park which is very nice. We passed through there the other day and there was a group of kids with their speakers out, Shufflin'. We were waiting for them to do something good but that was the only dance they could do. I was tempted to go and show 'em how it's done but I refrained. Thought I'd spare Lee the embarrassment.
We planned to soak up some culture whilst we were here as there's quite a few museums about the history of Shanghai etc etc.. We did try to go to one the other day, but we got a bit lost and stumbled upon the Insect Kingdom! Much more fun! There was loads of crazy shit in there, all different kinds of creepy crawlies we'd never seen or heard of. What we didn't like were the tags at the bottom of each cage; Thailand, Malaysia, Thailand, Malaysia, Malaysia, Thailand... Can't wait to encounter these bad boys, or not. The Stick Insects were our favourite, we were looking at the cage for ages before we spotted them, then when we did they were frickin' everywhere, they really do look like twigs! Doesn't take much to amuse me.
There's a place here that reminds us of Brighton. It's called the French Concession, and it's an area that has little lanes with boutiques, coffee shops, restaurants and bars. That was cool for a stroll. There was so many of what we call "shit shops", basically a shop that sells loads of different shit that is not useful to anyone, but everyone loves a mooch around and usually ends up buying some useless shit that just clogs up your house. Anyway, we love them, and the ones here are filled with really small cute stuff :-)
Earlier on we went and had a look at the national football stadium and Shanghai Shenhua's stadium to see where Anelka plays, then we came back and went for a walk around The Bund which is also a 2 min walk from our hostel. This is a walk way that takes you past the river were you can see all the buildings lit up, it was really pretty.
Haha the other night we were wondering around one of the many shopping centres and we were chatting away and I stumbled. I looked down and there was black and yellow tape covering one of those cases that covers wires, it was quite a biggun though. Lee was laughing because he said he noticed it right away and stepped over it, but 3 different people crossed it at the same time as us and they all tripped too. We got the idea to go to the floor above and stand and watch to see how many people tripped. It was hilarious, so many people fell over it. We made a video which I've just watched again now and I've got snot everywhere were I was trying to hold my laugh in so I didn't wake up the rest of the dorm. Definitely Youtube material.
This is our first experience of dorms. It's okay I suppose, it's annoying having to be dressed all the time, it wastes clothes too! Plus you have to bloody whisper all the time and you feel guilty if you get in late. It's okay though. I bet we'd meet more people this way too, the people that have been here have been mostly weird.
Despite my last post we have a lovely 20 hour train ride ahead of us tomorrow! We have a bed this time though. We're going to Zhangjiajie (don't quote me on the spelling there). James Cameron got the inspiration for Avatar from there. Remember the floating mountains in the film? They are in Zhangjiajie, except they are attached to the ground obviously. Can't wait. Oh and we have no internet in the hostel we're going to, so don't worry again if you don't hear from us, we're fine and dandy.
We're staying on East Nanjing Road which is very central. It's in Peoples Square which is a massive high street at this end, then further down the road is a huge park called Peoples Park which is very nice. We passed through there the other day and there was a group of kids with their speakers out, Shufflin'. We were waiting for them to do something good but that was the only dance they could do. I was tempted to go and show 'em how it's done but I refrained. Thought I'd spare Lee the embarrassment.
We planned to soak up some culture whilst we were here as there's quite a few museums about the history of Shanghai etc etc.. We did try to go to one the other day, but we got a bit lost and stumbled upon the Insect Kingdom! Much more fun! There was loads of crazy shit in there, all different kinds of creepy crawlies we'd never seen or heard of. What we didn't like were the tags at the bottom of each cage; Thailand, Malaysia, Thailand, Malaysia, Malaysia, Thailand... Can't wait to encounter these bad boys, or not. The Stick Insects were our favourite, we were looking at the cage for ages before we spotted them, then when we did they were frickin' everywhere, they really do look like twigs! Doesn't take much to amuse me.
There's a place here that reminds us of Brighton. It's called the French Concession, and it's an area that has little lanes with boutiques, coffee shops, restaurants and bars. That was cool for a stroll. There was so many of what we call "shit shops", basically a shop that sells loads of different shit that is not useful to anyone, but everyone loves a mooch around and usually ends up buying some useless shit that just clogs up your house. Anyway, we love them, and the ones here are filled with really small cute stuff :-)
Earlier on we went and had a look at the national football stadium and Shanghai Shenhua's stadium to see where Anelka plays, then we came back and went for a walk around The Bund which is also a 2 min walk from our hostel. This is a walk way that takes you past the river were you can see all the buildings lit up, it was really pretty.
Haha the other night we were wondering around one of the many shopping centres and we were chatting away and I stumbled. I looked down and there was black and yellow tape covering one of those cases that covers wires, it was quite a biggun though. Lee was laughing because he said he noticed it right away and stepped over it, but 3 different people crossed it at the same time as us and they all tripped too. We got the idea to go to the floor above and stand and watch to see how many people tripped. It was hilarious, so many people fell over it. We made a video which I've just watched again now and I've got snot everywhere were I was trying to hold my laugh in so I didn't wake up the rest of the dorm. Definitely Youtube material.
This is our first experience of dorms. It's okay I suppose, it's annoying having to be dressed all the time, it wastes clothes too! Plus you have to bloody whisper all the time and you feel guilty if you get in late. It's okay though. I bet we'd meet more people this way too, the people that have been here have been mostly weird.
Despite my last post we have a lovely 20 hour train ride ahead of us tomorrow! We have a bed this time though. We're going to Zhangjiajie (don't quote me on the spelling there). James Cameron got the inspiration for Avatar from there. Remember the floating mountains in the film? They are in Zhangjiajie, except they are attached to the ground obviously. Can't wait. Oh and we have no internet in the hostel we're going to, so don't worry again if you don't hear from us, we're fine and dandy.
Thursday, 31 May 2012
End of Hong Kong, Beginning of China.
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.
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.
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Love love love Hong Kong! It's so westernised yet so different. Not majorly I
suppose, just little things - if people are ill they wear a mask so as not to
spread germs. There are hand sanitizing facilities everywhere. Everywhere is
spotless. We saw some one on their hands and knees today cleaning a drain cover
down a side street. Really?? Who's even going to see it? There is wifi literally
everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. On the buses, in the telephone boxes etc.
In the cinema they have something called popcorn shakers were you choose what
flavour you want on your popcorn and then you just bung it on. Effectively a big
salt shaker. I put apple cinnamon on mine mmmmm yummy! I then ate the whole
thing in the lobby. I usually manage to wait until the Orange ads at least. We
went to see Avengers. Sorry people, I thought it was a sack of shit!
An update on Lee's "diet", he got burger and chips in Colombo airport before we left. How long did he last...4 hours??? I absolutely hated him in the airport. He was fast asleep on the cold floor for about 3 hours and I was just sitting there wide awake. Think I managed an hour but I was shattered. I was so jealous.
As soon as we arrived in Hong Kong we got the bus to Tsim sha tsui in Kowloon. We hadn't booked anywhere in advance, but we'd researched a couple places in this area. We went to Chung King Mansions which is a building with 3 blocks with market type stalls and shops at the bottom and many hostels and apartments in the 20 or so floors above. It is a proper dive, just how I expected it. Small, dark, smelly rooms, battered furnishings, cockroaches etc. Love it though. Our building is where all the immigrants live. Most of the hostels seem to be run by Africans. The owner of ours, Samson, was saying that they come over and marry Chinese women to get visas. He says, "It's good, can't talk much because she no speak English, but sex is good", quality Samson.
After finding a place to crash for a couple of hours, it was time to wake up and go and watch Champions League Final. It started at 2.45am here, 7 hours ahead. Found it straight away, loads of places were showing it. This city doesn't sleep so everywhere was packed. Can't believe Chelsea the jammy bastards! 6am we got to bed. We've become nocturnal out here now. Nowhere closes 'til midnight so it's good, you don't feel like you've wasted a day when you roll out of bed at 2pm.
I love the fashion out here. I love weird clothes but I'd feel uncomfortable wearing them in England because every one is so judgemental. If I think the fashion here is good I bet I'm going to love Japan. I'm expecting it to be bonkers.
We got our visas for China sorted today, we pick them up on Saturday then we're going to leave for China that day or Sunday, depending on whether we can be arsed. Tomorrow we're going to get the ferry across to Hong Kong island and have a couple of days there :)
An update on Lee's "diet", he got burger and chips in Colombo airport before we left. How long did he last...4 hours??? I absolutely hated him in the airport. He was fast asleep on the cold floor for about 3 hours and I was just sitting there wide awake. Think I managed an hour but I was shattered. I was so jealous.
As soon as we arrived in Hong Kong we got the bus to Tsim sha tsui in Kowloon. We hadn't booked anywhere in advance, but we'd researched a couple places in this area. We went to Chung King Mansions which is a building with 3 blocks with market type stalls and shops at the bottom and many hostels and apartments in the 20 or so floors above. It is a proper dive, just how I expected it. Small, dark, smelly rooms, battered furnishings, cockroaches etc. Love it though. Our building is where all the immigrants live. Most of the hostels seem to be run by Africans. The owner of ours, Samson, was saying that they come over and marry Chinese women to get visas. He says, "It's good, can't talk much because she no speak English, but sex is good", quality Samson.
After finding a place to crash for a couple of hours, it was time to wake up and go and watch Champions League Final. It started at 2.45am here, 7 hours ahead. Found it straight away, loads of places were showing it. This city doesn't sleep so everywhere was packed. Can't believe Chelsea the jammy bastards! 6am we got to bed. We've become nocturnal out here now. Nowhere closes 'til midnight so it's good, you don't feel like you've wasted a day when you roll out of bed at 2pm.
I love the fashion out here. I love weird clothes but I'd feel uncomfortable wearing them in England because every one is so judgemental. If I think the fashion here is good I bet I'm going to love Japan. I'm expecting it to be bonkers.
We got our visas for China sorted today, we pick them up on Saturday then we're going to leave for China that day or Sunday, depending on whether we can be arsed. Tomorrow we're going to get the ferry across to Hong Kong island and have a couple of days there :)
Friday, 18 May 2012
So long Lanka
We spent another day in the Adam's Peak area (can't remember the name of the
town) to recover, then set off for Colombo. We've never booked accommodation is
advance, we've always just arrived and found somewhere easy. Sometimes there are
touts waiting and you get a good price. Because Colombo is the capital I
expected this but it didn't happen. So we spent hours walking around the city,
which is massive, with our backpacks on, sssssweating! We're not used to these
high temperatures after spending ages in the hill country.
We couldn't find anywhere cheap, it was all massive hotels. The cheapest price we could find was £28 per night, and when you're used to paying £4.50 it's a big increase. In the end we went to stay at the YMCA. except it wasn't fun to stay there, you couldn't get a good meal and you couldn't do what you feel - there was a 9pm curfew, FUN! Even that was £15, and surely you can't stoop any lower than a YMCA?
We're in the airport now. Our flight to Hong Kong is at 7.20am Sri Lankan time. Check in opens at 4.20am, so by the time we would have had to have left for the airport there'd have been no point in paying for a room, especially at those prices. We're just going to mooch around the airport and if we get tired have a kip on the chairs for a bit.
Check-out was at 12pm today, so we had to try and waste as much time in Colombo as possible. Wasn't really hard, it's such a big city. We decided to buy some more shit here whilst everything is cheap. Mainly toiletries; toothpaste, deodorant etc. Printed off our flight tickets. I would have completely forgotten, I'd have just showed up to the airport expecting to check in without a ticket. We went to an internet cafe and googled where McDonald's was, haha. Walked about 30 mins there and 30 mins back for it. HELLO BIG MAC!!! Lee says that he's off the fast food and take aways now. My ring piece is he! I give him a week max. I said I'd put it on here so you're all my witnesses.
After each country we're going to do a summary of the good and bad bits, so here goes!: (balls, looks like Martinez might be manager, ooer don't think am too happy with that. Ok anyway..)
Highlights:
1. For me a real highlight was when we got talking to a man who after saying we were from England he started to say how nice English people were. He said that after the tsunami people from Liverpool went and help build him a new house. I butted in to say I was from Liverpool and he kept on thanking me saying how lovely I am and how lovely my people are. He says they painted a Liver Bird on the side of his house and how much he loves it. Eventhough I did absolutely nothing, I was still so proud of the Liverpudlians and I was really proud to be from Liverpool for that moment. It really touched me, so that was nice.
2. When we went to the Matara ground and we met the coach and got the Nowotny badges. Whilst it was still one of my highlights, this one is Lee's more so, his obsession with football extends beyond mine. Plus he had some odd bond with the coach, it looked like they were in love. They swapped numbers and all sorts. Wit woo!
3. Releasing the buba turtles. This was so cool!!
4. Riding the elephant, obviously a highlight.
5. Climbing Adam's Peak!!!
Lowlights:
1. Being swollen generally (me). Had swollen ankles still two weeks into the trip. Burning my face and having a swollen alien head.
2. The aftermath of Adam's Peak (me again). Calves aren't half givin' me jib.
3. Being too hot!!
Likes:
1. The people (the ones that aren't utter bellends)
2. The lack of health and safety. Want to ride your 1 year old child on your motorbike handle bars? Swing off the side of a moving bus/train? Work on building sites in just your shorts and flip flops with no steal toe caps and hard hat? Come to Sri Lanka.
3. The food. It's a bit samey, but Rotti's are nommy, and so is the chicken curry the first 142648 times you eat it. After that gets a bit boring. Lee hearts devilled chicken (basically 'hot as fuck' chicken).
Dislikes:
1. The people (the ones that are utter bellends).
2. The sound of horns.
3. Tuk tuk drivers. You can't pass one without them asking you "you want tuk tuk?". You say no thank you and then they just change the order of their sentence, "tuk tuk, you want?". Next they start asking the same question but in a different tone. No, your offer for a tuk tuk doesn't sound any more appealing when you do it in a ladies voice. When we get fed up we ask them for a tuk tuk ride to ridiculous places. "How much to England?", "how much to [insert name of building we're standing outside of]?". The best bit is when you see their brain ticking over then they realise it's a joke. Most of the time they actually give you a price.
4. No personal space. Lee has a phobia of horrible skin, it makes him cringe when people touch him, and boy do people love touching you out here. Not in a touchy feely way, but like they have no problem sitting on your knee despite there being enough space for two bodies. They make no effort to move their arms if you're touching say on the bus for example, HATE that.
Ok so thats Sri Lanka! That month went fast. All in all had a boss time. Can't wait for our next adventure to begin. Bring on Hong Kong!
We couldn't find anywhere cheap, it was all massive hotels. The cheapest price we could find was £28 per night, and when you're used to paying £4.50 it's a big increase. In the end we went to stay at the YMCA. except it wasn't fun to stay there, you couldn't get a good meal and you couldn't do what you feel - there was a 9pm curfew, FUN! Even that was £15, and surely you can't stoop any lower than a YMCA?
We're in the airport now. Our flight to Hong Kong is at 7.20am Sri Lankan time. Check in opens at 4.20am, so by the time we would have had to have left for the airport there'd have been no point in paying for a room, especially at those prices. We're just going to mooch around the airport and if we get tired have a kip on the chairs for a bit.
Check-out was at 12pm today, so we had to try and waste as much time in Colombo as possible. Wasn't really hard, it's such a big city. We decided to buy some more shit here whilst everything is cheap. Mainly toiletries; toothpaste, deodorant etc. Printed off our flight tickets. I would have completely forgotten, I'd have just showed up to the airport expecting to check in without a ticket. We went to an internet cafe and googled where McDonald's was, haha. Walked about 30 mins there and 30 mins back for it. HELLO BIG MAC!!! Lee says that he's off the fast food and take aways now. My ring piece is he! I give him a week max. I said I'd put it on here so you're all my witnesses.
After each country we're going to do a summary of the good and bad bits, so here goes!: (balls, looks like Martinez might be manager, ooer don't think am too happy with that. Ok anyway..)
Highlights:
1. For me a real highlight was when we got talking to a man who after saying we were from England he started to say how nice English people were. He said that after the tsunami people from Liverpool went and help build him a new house. I butted in to say I was from Liverpool and he kept on thanking me saying how lovely I am and how lovely my people are. He says they painted a Liver Bird on the side of his house and how much he loves it. Eventhough I did absolutely nothing, I was still so proud of the Liverpudlians and I was really proud to be from Liverpool for that moment. It really touched me, so that was nice.
2. When we went to the Matara ground and we met the coach and got the Nowotny badges. Whilst it was still one of my highlights, this one is Lee's more so, his obsession with football extends beyond mine. Plus he had some odd bond with the coach, it looked like they were in love. They swapped numbers and all sorts. Wit woo!
3. Releasing the buba turtles. This was so cool!!
4. Riding the elephant, obviously a highlight.
5. Climbing Adam's Peak!!!
Lowlights:
1. Being swollen generally (me). Had swollen ankles still two weeks into the trip. Burning my face and having a swollen alien head.
2. The aftermath of Adam's Peak (me again). Calves aren't half givin' me jib.
3. Being too hot!!
Likes:
1. The people (the ones that aren't utter bellends)
2. The lack of health and safety. Want to ride your 1 year old child on your motorbike handle bars? Swing off the side of a moving bus/train? Work on building sites in just your shorts and flip flops with no steal toe caps and hard hat? Come to Sri Lanka.
3. The food. It's a bit samey, but Rotti's are nommy, and so is the chicken curry the first 142648 times you eat it. After that gets a bit boring. Lee hearts devilled chicken (basically 'hot as fuck' chicken).
Dislikes:
1. The people (the ones that are utter bellends).
2. The sound of horns.
3. Tuk tuk drivers. You can't pass one without them asking you "you want tuk tuk?". You say no thank you and then they just change the order of their sentence, "tuk tuk, you want?". Next they start asking the same question but in a different tone. No, your offer for a tuk tuk doesn't sound any more appealing when you do it in a ladies voice. When we get fed up we ask them for a tuk tuk ride to ridiculous places. "How much to England?", "how much to [insert name of building we're standing outside of]?". The best bit is when you see their brain ticking over then they realise it's a joke. Most of the time they actually give you a price.
4. No personal space. Lee has a phobia of horrible skin, it makes him cringe when people touch him, and boy do people love touching you out here. Not in a touchy feely way, but like they have no problem sitting on your knee despite there being enough space for two bodies. They make no effort to move their arms if you're touching say on the bus for example, HATE that.
Ok so thats Sri Lanka! That month went fast. All in all had a boss time. Can't wait for our next adventure to begin. Bring on Hong Kong!
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