Shanghai, Suzcho

Cooling off, Moganshan waterfall.

Rare twin Pagodas, Suzcho
Countryside of Moganshan, near Hangzhou
COuntry traffic
Weaving a door / panel or bed base we never found out
View from 87th floor of Jinmau tower, Shanghai
Monika riding side saddle!
PAgoda tower, Suzcho.
Shanghai Skyline. Tallest building is World financial centre (rear of picture with blue outline)
Sellings!

World Financial Centre and Jinmau Tower
World Financial Centre at night.
Inside Jinmau hotel (Floors 50 -85 approx)
Bride on the Bund, Shanghai

Summer Palace

The marble ship built in 1755 and restored in 1893 after being burnt down. For a brief description go to :
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/summer/boat.htm
17 arch bridge

Roof of the Palace in the distance

Forbidden City

Looking SOuth over the central part of the Forbidden City towards Tianneman square.
Fountain made from single piece of stone.
Imperial soldiers uniforms.
One of many intricately carved ramps
Roof detail - Pagoda
Inside forbidden city
South Entrance
Tree with 2 legs
Ceiling detail

Beijing

What beautiful flowers.
Quack Quack Oops!
Praying mantis on the Great Wall
FIshing in the North Lake behind the SUmmer Palace, Beijing
Farmer cooking our lunch - trout!
Peace not Swine flu please
Tianneman Square shortly after 60th anniversary celebrations which involved a procession of 100'000 people. Here floats are on public display.
The great wall - a quiet spot we were lucky enough to find with our guide Storm. Only saw a handful of other tourists on the wall all day.
Walked up to this fortified building and it was hard going!
A view of the Beijing South railway station - impressive! Not the main station but a brand new structure with brand new trains to match - they travel at speeds of up to 350kph.

At the Chinese border the train was greeted to the sound of a majestic anthem played over loudspeakers on the platform. It was quite a welcome with probably close to a hundred uniformed officers ready to board the train for customs and immigration inspection. Arrived Beijing 11 Sept and met Monika at station, it was great to see a familiar face. It didn't take long to realise China is on a different scale to most other places - the crowd outside the main station meant a simple "meet you outside" was not going to be as easy as expected!

Nonetheless made it and over the next few days visited the Great Wall, Forbidden City, succumbed to a minor chest infection, ate some interesting and very spicy food, made the most of the awesome breakfast at the hotel and took in the sights and sounds of Beijing.

The French influence in Hanoi - Boucherie where you can order en Francais!
How many piglets can you get on a motorbike? I counted 7 on this occasion.
White Thai minority live in Stilt houses made of wood and bamboo. Very spacious.
At work in the fields at 7am - hard work for long hours.
Town of Moc Chau - venue for wedding.

Toasting the new couple with a small shot of Vodka - one of many toasts!

Karaoke King and Queen - nice body language.
A fisherman near Perfme Pagoda.
Buddhist monk who lives in this cave - one of 30 shrines in this remote region.

North Vietnam

I would have liked to put up China posts first but there just isnt time. The Great Chinese Firewall has meant I will just have to add bits and pieces as I go along.

So I arrived in Hanoi! The train from Beijing took around 40 hours and was pretty comfortable all the way. Only three of us continued past Nanning in China and they worked for a rail manufacturer in Vietnam. The Vetnamese trains use a narrower guage (1m) and so we changed at the border at 3am. The next few hours were very bouncy and it was slow progress into Vietnam. When the sun rose, however it was clear how fertile the country is with so much vegetation.

Spent a few days in Hanoi, a culturally diverse place with Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, French influences and rich history. Visited Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum and practiced my French in a small boucherie!

Took some bikes up to the countryside with my guide and was lucky enough his cousin was getting married... and I was invited! So I enjoyed a wedding reception at 10am, we ate large amounts and of course were drinking to health, futures, good luck and by 11.30 it was all over! The celebration lasts 3 days but we had to move on, so to a White Thai village Mai Chau we headed (after a good sleep obviously). Stayed in a bamboo house on stilts which is typical of this Ethnic minority. Walked amongst the paddy fields and relaxed in the countryside.

Then to Perfume Pagoda, a group of around 30 Buddhist Temples set in beautiful remote countryside and caves. Many are only accessible by river.

Today off to Hai Phong on the coast, and the gateway to Cat Ba Island and Halong Bay. Looking forward to it but the roads are crazy.

Mongolia

Where do I start?!
After a month in China and Mongolia there is a lot to show but the blog was restricted so I could not access it in China. You have heard of the great wall, well Facebook and my blog are victims of the "Great Firewall" that controls the Chinese internet to favour Communist media interests.

So here follows Mongolia where I was staying with a Mongolian family of 6 and 2 fellow travellers in a traditional 'ger' or round tent for my short stay of 4 days. This is a movable house designed my nomads which is made up of insulated floor, wooden frame, canvas walls/roof and rope. Inside it has multi fuel stove and chimney, furniture, water and various modern electrical appliances.

Bez my host works as an IT manager in the capital Ulanbaator's library. I met him at work and his children took me home on the bus as he travels by bike. Travelling by road in UB is a nightmare if you tavel during rush hour (which is most of the day).

So we ate great home cooked food, which relies heavily on dairy products (Bez has his own cows) and not much meat which is not in keeping with Mongolian tradition as usually every meal consists of meat! We played games with his children and learned about Mongolian culture. I was Bez's 75th couch surfer and that does not include groups! He has met a lot of travellers, but I am the first from Swansea to stay a t Bez's place!

Also made it to National park a few hours outside the capital. Rode some stubborn Mongolian horses and saw wild horses which have been reintroduced. From a long way away we were being watched by a huge elk standing on a boulder on the horizon a few kilometres away. He was only just visible with binoculars. A great sight! Time to let the photos do the talking.