30th July 2007. diving in Koh Phangan.

Dam i had to get up early today, 7am. Not fun at all. But was it worth it ???

got picked up from the bungalow, had to sit in the back with all the bags and tanks, which was a little shit, as everyone else got inside the car. Nevermind. it's still sunny so thats a good thing.

Went all the way to the north of the island to dive, Took a boat about 1.5 hrs out to a reef called sailrock. Instructer was called dillion, i think. Well we will call him dillion anyway. He was dutch, that was traveling around, and was running out of money so with his last baht, he did his dive masters course and has been here ever since. How cool is that !!! i think about 5 years, he has been diving for 15years.

So got to the rock, had a quick instuction of what all the equipment is for. got told a few hand signs, like ok, up and big fucking shark. which is quite a good one. You make a round ball thing with your hands and get bigger. (hope that makes sense) then tap your hands together with fists, and then make a fin with your hand. big fucking shark. Kind of scarey he is telling me this sign, but hey you do get sharks here, so good one i suppose.

That was that. Into the water. Wow its not natural to breath underwater and it took me a good 5-10mins to be able do it. but once you are under the water looking at some beautfully coloured fish. you just forget and have such a good experiance. IT was truely amazing. Can't explain really. People that dive will understand.
Did one 40 min dive in the morning, Went down to 12m, which i think is pretty impressive for a first ever dive.
Saw lots of different fish, can't name them sorry. Yellow, blue, white, green. Dam all colours, Even the coral is beautful so many different colours. Saw an eel swimming in and out of the rocks. Puffer fish. shit load of urchins.

Then got back up, i started with 200 air, and ended up with 60. Had some food on the boat, just a thai curry, wasn't bad. Then back in the water, for another 40 mins. Again down to 12m, again used the same air. this time i saw more fish, more then i did the first one, And i saw my first big arse showl of fish, must of been about 300 fish together. Was really beautiful to see, just like the nature programs they all swim together in the same direction and shit. Wow truely beautiful.

So finsihed the day at about 14:00, got back to my bungalow at 15:00. Went down to the dive shop, the instructer said he would right me a log book. well he showed me how to write a log book. This was because i told him i was going to learn to dive. He wanted to arrange that these dives where part of the course, but i told him i would rather dive more. So No Worrys Man !!!

So had some food. actually i had a really nice pizza, best i have tasted. Diving takes alot out of you. However micheal chris and i went back to the silvery moon (first bungalow) and meet up with all the people we were chilling with there. they all made me go out. Yes made me, lol ;)

So ended up going out, didn't think i was gonna make it long. But i arrived home the next morning at 7am. So i was up for a whole 24hrs, which i thought was dam good as i was diving and shit.

anyway night was really good, i just got to that nice tipsy feeling and left it there. God there are so many fucking people, it was kind of hard to get round the place. although i did manage it.

Again more fire and things, didn't see anyone get set on fire this time, thanks god. but there was so many pissed people, women men. Ladyboys, urgh!!! and they actually do get off with men, very scare thought. Its strange, they just go up, stroke a man and he's like, way hey, and thats it they get it on. Some people are so stupid, and i mean how many women actually just go up and stroke someone then starting kissing and shit.

Yes they do that to me all the time (women not ladyboys, careful now) but im the legend what do you expect. So it doens't happen to normal people. lmfao.

So good dive, good day, good night. Did again get burnt on the boat, got to watch that in future. Actually i brought some high sun lotion, so hope that helps.

29th July 2007. Koh Phangan

Moved bungalow today. The silvery moon i was staying at, had no rooms from now till the 2nd august.

Moved to Seasun resort today. Again got a bungalow with micheal and chris. This is a better bungalow, for a start there are no fucking big spiders in this one, or that can get in. But this one is more spaceous and therefore we don't seem to meet many people. Shame, as the last one only had one big table so you all kind of sat round it and meet each other, this one has lots of little tables. Dam.

Well at least i am not alone. Beach seems a little worse aswell, there are stones on this one. but hey still better then england. hahahaha.

Didn't do alot, going for a discovery diver tomorrow, so i can't drink. boooooo. Nah its ok, if i can do the dive that is.

28th July 2007. Koh Phangan

didn't have a hangover today. Yippee.

Decided to have a day on my own today. Again didn't do alot. Checked out the island a bit more. Still there is not alot to do at all on this island i tried the "waterfull".

Went to haad rin which is the beach party place. checked that out during the day. Wow what fit women are here. Yummy. Can't wait to party and meet some people. And the town looks so different in the light. Quite small, but the biggest town on the island.

Sat down had some dinner, read my book a a bit of a nicer beach. Tried to explore the top of the island, like chris micheal and i tried before, and got wet.

However on the way up i noticed big black clouds, so thought best to turn around. It appeared micheal had the same idea, as we passed each other, gave a hoot hoot, and it turns out he also turned around because of the clouds. So hopefully i will get to the top at some point.

Got back to the hostel, played some more cards. And guess what went out again. This time with 2 germanys, eddie, chris. (two in the middle top pic), linda (on the right) and dutch girl, ellien (on the left) Micheal was out as well, but he took the picture as it was his camera, i didn't bother taking one out.

So the party at the beach is so much better, for a start there are different bars all the way along that play different music.

As you maybe able to see from the pics, there are bars that have a skipping rope on fire. Lots of people did it, most just burnt there feet. But this one girl. Wow she actually properly caught on fire. she was in pain, ouch. so people i guess who is was withtook her to the hospital.

After she was on fire the rope thing stopped. Not surprised.

There was also people with fire stick, twisting it round, that was good, well he was good. He was stood in a ring of fire to keep people from getting to close to him. Again pic above, but you can't make it out too good. Good pics i thought. Well done micheal.

So i did actually get another bucket, it is soo cheap, i kind of have to. this time i had my own, and i looked after it really really well. And i walked home on my own.

Good night indeed.

Is it just me or am i writing less and less. I suppose there isn't alot to do here, maybe next island.

Hope everyone is still ok at home, i will try to keep this more up to date, i am having problems remembering with all this drink.

Still haveing fun :)

27th July 2007. Koh Phangan

So i woke up with a big drug induced hangover. Not nice. So again i didn't do much till i had some food and chilled.

Went today, to get some tickets for a ferry off this island. thought it would be a good idea, as there are so many people here for the full moon, which is on 31st July Should be fun. I can't wait. Im told there should be about 8000 people. And this island isn't that big. so fuck knows how we are all going to fit on the beach. I will find out.

Anyway, got a ferry ticket. which has no date and is open ended, so may it doens't matter, and i hope i can get on the ferry. Got a ticket to Koh Tao, Which is meant to be the best island in thailand to dive. Yeah gonna learn to dive. Actually not booked a place yet, because i want to Make sure i can dive. I hear some people find it really hard to breath underwater.

So went and booked a discover dive. Im sure i will be ok, but better to be safe. Anyway that is booked for 30th July. I leave at 7:30 and get back at 14:00. Get breakfast and lunch. I can't wait.

At night, zee germanys. micheal, linda and i played poker. lost, i game 3rd, but still not good enough, hey at the end of the day it is just luck of the cards.

So i wasn't planning on going out., because of the night before, but i did. I went to the shiva moon party with 2 germanys, eddie and chris (not the one i am sharing a room with, another one) Daniella and Mela (austrian).

Got to the party, i was so disappointed, had to pay to get in for a start, only like 2 pounds, but still i haven't payed for any party yet. So got inside, it looked like a nice place, it was set in the jungle, which was differant. but there was only about 40 people there, so not alot. Plus i thought the music was crap, too techno for me.

Had a hotdog thing, had a few beers, then left really. SO i was there for a few hours.

26th July 2007 Koh Phangan

Another day on the beach, why not. did use the mopeds a bit, went and got some munchies.

Went out at night, this time with 4 germanys, a swedish girl. two austiran girls. one scottish guy and me.

Linda (swedish) and i got a bucket of vodka and redbull to share. Wow big mistake. It would appear after that, that it was spiked with something, i mean something strong. dont actually remember anything that night. well i have pictures. I remember sitting on a chair on the beach.

I remember micheal carrying me up a street, then i remember linda being on the floor unconscious. And thats about it.

However, micheal was kind enough to take pictures of me fucked, hugging the toilet. (see picture) isn't he nice. Thanks for getting me home though micheal. Big thanks.

So that was that day.

25th July 2007. Koh Phangan

Rented some mopeds today. Much much cheaper to get round.

Taxis cost a min of 50 baht a trip, and can go up to 150. depeneds how many people are in the taxi.

Where as a moped costs you 200 a day. Ben along time since i had been on one, but after 5 mins, it was like riding a bike. Just taking it slow. roads aren't amazing out here.

Micheal had never been on a moped before, so for the rest of the day, we just rode round to give him, and me, some practise.

The island is only small i think its about 20km by 12km. If my memory serves me correct. So we decided to do a little site seeing. And there doens't seem to be alot here. We did go to a waterfall, which was really shit. Im sure i could of created more of a waterfall from just pissing.

Oh well it was nice i suppose it was in some forests, so we got to see some trees !!!!!

Next we decided to get to the top of the island, We were all doing well, until we hit rain. And boy did it rain. (later found out the hostel saw no rain, dammit!!) So we managed to park up next to a house that was being made and stood under that for about an hour, (see pic of chris, not sure you can see the rain from this picture as it is not high quality on here, but you can in the original) then we decided as it had softened a bit we were ok to go again. Got some really nice pics. This island is so beautiful. Paradise.

Well certainly not basingstoke. I hear its still raining hahahahahaha !!!!!

So the day was ok, got to drive round and see some sites. Got back to the hostel and had a few beers. Played cards. Went to sleep.

24th July 2007

Wow got up today, about midday, didn't feel to bad, didn't do alot. Just chilled out on the beach. The water is still so hot.

It's a hard life !!!!!

23rd July 2007. Bus from bangkok to Koh Phangan

first things first went to see if i can get a bus. Yippeee i managed to get a bus from bangkok to Koh Phangan, with chris and micheal.

So we had 6 hours to loose. Chris went to get some suits and me and micheal just chilled out, we went round the red light distrect just for fun i guess we found out from the pic above. There was actually no one there at this time, which was a shame as we were told it is quite a sight to see during the night, but as i am getting on the bus at 19:00, we will not have time.

To be honest i didn't do alot, just walked round, found a park, but it was crap. There was just nothing in it, not like china at all. most upset.

So we got to the bus, wasn't the same as chinese overnight buses. On them you actually get a bed. Where this one was just like a plane and had reclining seats. It was a better ride then china, i wasn't getting thrown around so much but i still didn't sleep at all. Shame i only got abuot an hour on the bus. the bus also annoyed me aswell, because i wanted to read my book, but after 10 mins in to the journey, they put a film on and stopped all the lights, even the personal lights, which was a bit annoying.

Film was ok, it was once upon a time in mexico. i have seen it but wasn't a bad film. So the bus doesn't take us to Koh Phangan, as Koh Phangan is an island. duhhhh.

so we had a 10 hr bus ride and then a 4 hr ferry ride. Was really my first ferry ride, but i was ok, i thought i may of got a bit sea sick, but was actually a rather smooth ride. So we managed to land in Koh Phangan about 12:00. as we had to wait at the pier for 2 hrs until the ferry was ready. and they didn't serve hot food, just a roll. which was expensive aswell, but to be expected.
so we landed on Koh Phangan, wow it is paradise. Will put pics on at some point but i didn't bring my camera with me, as im sat in a internet cafe thing.

so we were all totally knacked when we got to the island, as we arrived first got food. then asked a taxi to take us to the hostel. silver moon. the taxi told us he couldn't as there is a road block and would drop us at the 7/11 and we can walk for 15mins.

Well as normal there was no road block. and it was not a 15min walk. We did walk for a bit, in the blazing sun, but chris and i wanted a taxi. Micheal didn't as "we are in the area". glad he was out voted, as it was more then a 15 min, walk. it was a 10 min car ride. And this is not flat land. big fucking hills.

Anyway got to the silver moon. You have to walk down a big steep hill, and with a bag it is not that easy. not looking forward to walking back up it.

the "hostel" is just 10 beach huts, nice though, we are actualy on the beach, and it is kind of private, which is a shame really. we wanted something more livey, and it meet people, but i think all the "hostels" are the same here.

Nice place, clean and we have a private shower, which is nice. sat on the beach most of the day. Wow the water is like 30C very hot to get in. and im a little disapointed as the water only come up to my belly. and i went out rather far.

Oh well i am only in this hostel for 4 days and then i have tofind another one for the full moon party. so hopefully that one is better.

So was planning on just chilling out today, as we all had no sleep, but we got chatting to some girls and playing drinknig games. Card game donkey, but if yo lost yuo got a letter and a shot. all we could get was gin. but it wasn';t as bad as i thought it would be.

Anyway we all decided to go to the beach party down the road, well a 10min taxi......

That was really really good, you can get a small bucket of vodka & redbull for 250 baht which is about 5 pounds. there are loads of different music places along the front, we tried a few places. There was limbo dancing under a bar which was set alight with fire, there was also a skipping rope on fire. I did the limbo on fire but only when it was obvious i could get under it, didn't fancy getting burnt on my first day. ouch.

Actually i didn't see anyone get burnt and i was quite surprised really. The bar did get rather low and someone nearly did, but he just fell to the floor.

Anyway made it back to the hostel at 04:00. micheal kept me going, i wanted to go back at 2am, but i did have fun. Thanks micheal.

We lost chris as he had pulled this women. but he did make it back to the hostel at 8am, i think. I was asleep and some of you may know i am a hard sleeper, so glad micheal heard him, as i was out for the count.

22nd flying out of hongkong to bangkok.

Not a lot of time today, i fly out at 15:00 and have to leave the hostel at 12:00.

And after the drinking last night, wow i had a bit of a hangover, so i didn't so anything.
Went for a Mc'd down the road. OMG they sell Mcmuffins at anytime of the day. how cool is that, i have always said that they should do that in england. they would make a killing.

So i had breakfast and basically went to the airport. Wow nice airport i here it is quite new. and boy is it big. There are 80 gates. so that shows how big they are.

flight was really good, i was flying with cathay pacific. and the service was really good. Got to watch south park and the office. so not bad and the flight was only 2hrs.

Landed in bangkok. couldn't find a taxi that would use a meter and it cost me 400 to get to the hostel. fucking rip off. it should of only been 200. nevermind at least i got there and it was not like my first day in beijing, i actually got the the hostel first time.

Life is getting easier. i think !!!!!

So got to hostel, meet some nice people, 4 germans. 1 scottish bloke. and just chilled on the roof of the building with a few beers. that was cool. i got my guitar out and a few of them play it. actually mike the scottish guy found out that the paint comes off the guitar. lol. nevermind mike. at least i know now thanks.

Oh well the guitar cost me 12 pounds. so yeah i can't complain.

I was going to stay in bangkok for 4 days, however mike and chris (german bloke) are going down to koh phang nan to the full moon party which i though i was gonna miss, as i was not meant to be in thailand this early.
So i am actually gonna leave bangkok tomorrow and go down with them. can;'t miss the full moon party.

Haven';t got a bus ticket yet and they have so, worried but yeah it will be fun.

Did manage to book a hostel over the internet, but we can only get one for 5 days, and we need to get one for a further 3 days. which is when the party is. but as you can imagine everyone wants to go, so we couldn't find a free one. There are lots that are not on the internet, so we are gonna take a risk and go find one we have a few days.

And fuck it if we don't there is always a beach or a tent if we can find one.

Let the fun begin.

21st Hong kong.

didn't do alot again today. it is so expensive here compared to china.

So explorer hong kong park that was nice. pic above is of a dragon fly i found, thought it made a nice pic, i know the pics on here are not very good, but it has come out quite good on the actually photo.

Honhg kong park was nice, not alot there, but it was nice to see some green. instead of tal sky scrapers. wow there are alot. this park had a little pond. and some fountains. not alot else. was nice to sit in some green.

decided i would go and explor kowloon. wow not a good time there, i was going for an afternoon but ended up staying there for 30mins.

The trouble was there is so many indians and they are all trying to sell me suits, watchs. and what really pissed me off was they were grabbing me, and i walked down 1 street and got grabbed about 6 times. was not happy, i am use to street traders, there are a hell of a lot in china. but these really pissed me off.

I even went into a shop to look at psp things. asked to borrow a calulator and the cheeky fucking bloke, made me say please, before he would let me borrow it. i was like you what i am a customer. the cheek of it. so i got out there pretty quick and thats why i didn't stay in kowloon.

I did however walk down the avenue of stars. which wasn't that impressive, i only found jet li. all the others i have never heard of. apparently there was jackie chan, but i didn't see them.

i did see the lots of bruce lee stuff, and thats where the statue of him above was.

As this was my last night in hongkong i thought i would check out the nightlife. Went to the only foreigner place. i can't remember the name, yeah its in chinese so i can remember.

That was nice, very very expensive, and i didnt actually buy a drink from the pub at all. i went to the local 7 11 and brought my beer there, i tell you what they must make a killing in that shop. everyone else does it.

I pulled a philipino (i still can't spell) and after meet her for about 10 second, and i mean 10 seconds she wanted to go party at my hotel, when i told here i have no hotel and i share with people, she was willign to go back to her friends house.

Now i have meet friendly people, but that takes the biscuit. hooker. defo hooker. I either thought she was gonna take me to her pimp and he would rob me. or i would wake up with nothing. anyway made my excuse and left here pretty quick. told i her i was going to meet and friend and come back.

so that was the nightlife in hong kong. not bad, but bloody expensive. but boy was here some honeys around. lots with really old man, but hey, i should be ok then !!!!!

20th July 2007. hong kong.

Well still in hong kong. I decided to go to Ocean Park today, have been told you can swim with the dolphins.

OMG i got to the park and it was the shitist sea life park i have ever been to, there was a shark place, which had 3 sharks in it. and they weren't even that big. and there was a jelly fish. sorry in HK they are called "sea jelly", that was about the best thing, but then there was only 4 tanks of them with different colours underneath, to make them look pretty.

anyway i thought, if i get to swim with dolphins it will be worth it, the advert says (and i quote)

" dolphin encounter

if you have ever wanted to feed the dolphins, meet them up close, get in the water with them and hug them, now you can "

well just before i paid, and i tried to book this about 3 times. was getting told that i had to come back and there are limited spaces.

so anyway after i finally was told i cold book it. it turns out you don;'t actually get into the water with them, you stand in a foot of water and they come up to you, where you can stroke them and get a pic taken.

dam shame, i nearly paid for that. lucky i didn't.

so to be honest i wasted a whole morning in a shit park, and could't do what i went there for.

oh well there are gonna be ups and downs on this trip.


not did much for the rest of the day, went to a book fair, yes most where in chinese, but they did have english books. but i didn;t really find one i wanted. there was lots of harry potter, may give one of them a try next.

Speaking of harry potter, i went to see the new film in the local cinema. Yes its in english, and it has chinese sub's. i like that in china and they have chinese sub's. nice.

and wow what a film, the best yet. ( i agree clair). if you haven't seen it yet. go.

19th July, Hong kong.

I can now access my blog, but from this pc in the hostel i can't add pics as the actually machine is not visable. dam if it is not one thing it's another, will have to locate a internet cafe to add pics, which will come later.

ok so hongkong is just the same as england. it looks the same (obviously the signs are in chinese) has the same buses, drives on the left side. most people speak english. And it is also full of indians. lol. im not being racist.

well i got up today, was meant to hang out with a bloke called austin. but for some reason he came looking for in my room, but didn't find me, i can only guess i was in the shower at the time. oh well, had a day along. was nice.

So went to victoria peak today, actually i ended up in victoria park, as i wasn't read the map correctly. It was still nice a rather big park, has lots of football courts, tennis courts, grass to sit on, music stands and a pool for remote control boats.

So i started watching some chinese play football. wow they are shit, i mean im not good and i could of shown them a thing or two, was kidn of hoping as i was english they may offer me a game, but they didn't and anyway it is way to hot to play football. I have not had a day under 30C, yeah i now england its a hard life :). lol i hear you have had a "little" rain. hahahahaha.

so once i had realised i was in the park and not the peak. i treked off to the perk (sorry i wrote that and thought it was funny so i left it !!!), peak, Wow that was so nice, i got the tram up and at one point you are travel up it at about 50 degree angle. You get some good views on the way up, but nothing like the views when you are up there.

You get to see the whole of hongkong kowloon and all the surrounding mountains. What a sight. it is truely amazing to see this place from up here. ((shame i can't add pics) actually tell a lie i did one with my phone as it does panaramic views, not a great pic, but it the only one i can add at this time)

I actually spent the whole day up here, i went for a walk round the peak, which gives you even more spectacular views. and it was like walking through a jungle. strange really when i was just in the middle of hongkong and it feels like london so, many sky scrapers.

was really nice to watch the sun go down and the lights come up over the city. need to add pics.

other then that, not alot. take care england. :)

18th July 2007. traveling to Hong Kong from guilin.

Well day started out ok, went for me usual tomato and cheese sarny. yummy.

had to be out the room by 13:00, so didn't do too much, got breaky and changed some money to HKD (hong kong dollars)

actually nearly had a fight in the bank, bloody women trying to push in front, i'll show her the british way. bitch.

Sorry we had numbers for who was next, so thats why i started on her, and yeah she can't speak english, but i cant speak chinese and it was fun !!!! lol

so went back to hotel and played psp for abot 4 hrs. was told the bus picks me up from hostel. wrong, surprise surprise, nothing is simply in china.

Anyway it was ok, a bloke from the bus came and got me, payed for the taxi to the bus and showed me the way, thanks wang (no that is not his name i have no idea what it i, anyway )

but looked ok, but i noticed it had no toliet, hold on this is a 12hr jounrey im told (actually more like 15hrs) and there is no toliet, shit. and i meant that shit.
lucky for me i got a toliet before i we left the station, and as luck would have it they stoped after abuot 4hrs into it, for toliet and food, so wasnt as bad as i thought.

well what can i say, bus ride was horrible, bloody worst experiance yet, but yeh thats what im here for, all good and bad experiances, lets be honest they aren't all gonna be good. look at the first day.
anyway, not sure whaty type of "road" we was on, but seemed like a dirt track to me, i was getting flown all over the place, and a few times got flown in the air at least 2 inchs off the bed, how the hell is anyone meant to sleep on that.

thank good for PSP. that kept me busy and what a god send.

so i actually managed about 2 hrs i think on and off, on the bus. and oh yeah the bus doenst' take you to hong kong it takes you to shenzhu or something like that, and i had to find a way to hongkong from there was told a number 7 bus should take me to the train station, although the hostel told be bus to hong kong. bloody chinese!!!

anywa had some luck, when i got on the bus i was the only white guy on ther, im thinking great, but we stoped off on a village outside guilin and picked up some foriegners. actually some pretty hot irish women (yeah you know you are !!)

and when we stoped at shenzhu, we started talking, well one wanted a light, so we started talking and i actually got a taxi from shenzhu tot he train station and got the train with them to hong kong, which was nice to have some company. they got off at kowloon which is the other island to me, but hopefully we will meet for drinks. not like that england i am a gentleman. please.


so all in all a shit time traveling but at least i got to hong kong, and it wasnt as bad as i thought it was gonna be.


HONG KONG

yeah you can tell im not in kansas anymore, sorry china. hong kong is so western, sky scrapers everywhere, just like the pics funny enough !!!!

meet some really nice blokes in the hostel, however they are gonig today, dam. oh well more to meet i hope.

just settled in today, went for a walk round causeway bay, which is 2 stops down on the metro from the hostel, basiaclly just lots of shops and was gonna walk down the sea front, but didn't make it as i saw a buy one get one free on beer. which guess what sold me. anyway that was kind of cool, got chatting to a bloke from croyden,, who was over here, guess what teaching english. he was nice, some british humor is good when your out in the wild !!!!!

so back to hostel and just gonna get some sleep, early night tonight, gonna get up and have a full day in HK.

dam is it expensive hear, not gonna stay too long hear, to put it in perspective, a 1.5ltr bottle of water in china cost me 2 yeun, here in china cost me 18 HKD, they are the same exchange rate.

Anyway maybe that was where i was, as it was near the star ferry cross to hongkong from kowloon. Ouch that was choppy but lucky that wasn't for long about 5 mins, so i can stomach that. lol thats funny !!! (yeah not really but hey im tired)

oh almost forgot, already had to complain in HK, was eating dinner and i was discussed by the , i way i was treated, just like a foriegner. yes i know i am, but its discusting, especially when they add a 10% charge for the hospitality, and they even did when i just ordered a beer earlier which i think is discusting.

Anyway, i had to sit at the waiting table and eat, when every chinese person came in sat at the waiting table and got a table within a min, where i had to stay there and eat, was not happy. plus i was tired, also what annoyed me was the women was indian so she was a foriegner, i thought she may understand, but no bitch !!!!!
anywa i started to "discuss" the 10% charge saying i wasn;t gonna pay it, and do i have to, she said some bollocks that meant yes, so i correct her, and said, so the answer to my question was yes then !!!! arghhhh. she was quiet taken back by my rudeness, go england go !!!
and she actually gave me 30HKD off, so that wasn't bad, maybe i should do it more often.

the cheeky, yes i am tired. but it worked.d actually i think that is the first time every i have complained, and i did it proper (that is so cockney propa) and did it at the end, she knew i wasnt happy cos i made sure she heard me say some comments when she was close. the chinese people behind her heard me.

Mental note must remember in HK they can speak english very well. must remember.

anyway good night all,

16th day .

Im not even sure where i am at on this blog. oh well fuck it. i know i have already missed days out.

haven't actually been doing alot the last few days, just chilling. done alot already and its the same old shit where ever you go in china, temple, relics. temples parks. blah blah blah.

gottta stop this day thing, im getting confused.

Next..

blog and comments....

Hiya everyone,

i am now in hong kong and i can read all the comments. nice one pep's made me laugh alot.

and nigel, yes it wasn't the first time i time i eat dog. but yeah you all have to do you duty for the ugly comunity, and you know you have !!!!!

Keep them cumming, i know i will !!!!!

thanks for all your support, see you next year.

BYE.

15th day, guilin.

I never seem to get up for breakfast in this hostel, so i found a nice little cafe that does a tomato and cheese sandwich, and yes i mean tomato and chesse not cheese and tomato. funny, but it tastes good. cost me all of 80 pence.

Took a bike out today, they dont higher electric ones like all the chinese have round here, so i had to get a push bike. Not as bad as i thought most of guilin is flat and if i saw a hill i went the other way. lol. Took the bike just a bit out of town, been told that the best way to see guilin. Was nice saw some great sites.

nothing too special, just the same old mountain thingys round here. Was on the bike for about 3-4 hrs. and it wasn't a mountain bike or nothing, just some shit thing, but it cost me 1.20pound for the day, so can't complain.

However as the other day, monsoon. yes i got absolutely drenced. it was horrible. i just happen to be crossing a bridge when the heavens opened. and by the time i found shelter i was so drenced it was shit. And the chinese people found it so amussing that i was wet. they laughed there heads off. Thanks china.

So took the bike back once it had stopped. It only took a few mins. for the rain to stop. by the time i had found shelter.

didn't do alot for the rest of the day, again just chilled had a walk round, internet cafed it for a bit. it was nice.

Oh yeah i have been told that people can't tell if i am happy here, well i am fucking loving this. :) so i hope that clears it up. hope everyones good back home. can't wait to read the comments, keep them coming.

14th day. guilin.

Sorry nothign to write today, just chilled out and had a walk round. found an internet cafe and chilled.

Oh i did go and buy die hard 4.0, for 40 pence. this was quiet a good film, better then number 3.

13th day, guilin. Elephant park.

went to elephant park today. Elephant park !!! these chinese make me laugh, they will turn anything into something. the first pic above shows you elephant hill, which is why its called elephant park.

I can see what they mean, but hey thats no elephant. its meant to be an elephant drinking the water. arhh aint it sweet. (puke)

It was a rather nice park, i climbed to the top of the elephant hill and it was a nice view (see pics) However while i was at the top. monsoon. nice, so i ended up going to a cave in the mountain and staying there for a while, it was ok. i didn't get that wet. i was sat with a chinese family, dont think there were too impressed, but i dont care.

Once the rain had stopped (well i thought it had) i ventured out of the cave and had another walk round. nothing special, nice little gardens and some stone elephants about.

Then it started raining again, wow it can rain out here. this time i got wet. so i stopped under a bridge with lots of other chinese and watched a few of them playing cards, no idea what it was looked like snap to me.

So the rain got a little softer so i thought i would grab this time to go back to the hostel. not my best idea, got half way down and it started again getting heavy.

oh yeah i found out the unbrella i brought leaks, yeah nice ah. not alot but it does leak.

So by the time i got back to the hostel i was soaked. got changed and hey it got sunny again, and never rained for the rest of the day. Shell's luck !!!!!

You will never guess how hard it is to find a chinese resturant round here, in guilin. Most just sell pizza's or pasta. Dam i thought i was in china, how hard can it be. Well finally found one, although i hear they have different menu's one for chinese and one for forigners, guess which one is dearer.

It's still cheaper then home, but still thats aint nice. anyway meal was nice, i had the beef and black bean sauce again. yummy. Not as nice as the one in beijing, but was tasty.

being a weekend i thought i would check out a few clubs. went into 3 that are around here, and there is no dance floor. WHAT is that about. no dance floor. How can a club have no dance floor. So i didn't teach guilin how to dance, just had a few drinks,. meet a brazilian. he was ok. we went a meet a couple of chinese women and played a drinking game. basically it is poker with dice. Stayed there for a few, and left him to it. and no they dont speak english and i dont speak chinese.

Do you like the chingrish sign, thought i was about time i put one on here to show you what i see all the time. funny as you like some of them, this one isn't the best but gives you an idea.

12th day, yangshou back to guilin.

not alot to say today, i took a bus from guilin to yangshou, it cost me less then a pound. was quite nice, lovely scenery again, but not like the boat, this trip took 1.5 hrs.

got back to guilin, chilled out read my book for a while. Then went for pizza. spoke on internet to my parents.

oh the one thing i would mention, on the way back from the internet cafe, i got offered a massage, i said no, then the women whispered to me, "sucky sucky". yes the first time i had heard it over here, normally they just say sex.

wow finally heard it this time. No 5 dollar but i have time yet to hear it.

anyway hope everyone is ok back home, and visa is still alive. I hear there are a few comments to read, but as i said can't access it from china, but i will be leaving china for thailand in about a week of so, so keep them coming i will have fun reading them when i get to thailand, been told the dog comment is quite good.

take care all. :)

11th day still in yangshuo. :)

Got up today about midday, i didn't feel to bad, seen as i drunk water before i got to bed, but everyone else was so ill. but we all agreed it was worth it as we had such a good night.

So decided we was going to go for some real food. Went for pizza in the local town back to west street. Had a little walk round, by the time everyone had felt better.

did nothing else during the day, maybe do more tomorrow.

I did manage to watch transformers the movie as danny brought it from a shop, like me he grew up with them. not sure the film is out yet, but it was quite good. transformers look.

So early night tonight, may jump on a bike tomorrow morning before heading back to guilin, so i can go out of this town and see more scenery.

Night england.

10th day off to yangshuo

So woke up today, dorm has no food to give anyone. nice. its 8am in the morning and most places aren't open, today i have a boat trip down the li river so need some food.

Managed to find a bakery and i brought what i thoguht was cheesey bread, but turned out to be an iced bun. Oh well its food and tastes good. Not the ideal breakfast thought !!!!

So got to the motor boat, not sure this is gonna fit 4 people and four bagpacks, but it does. actually there was a bag on the front of the boat, which was hindering the drivers view but he was happy.

Oh wow if anyone goes to china you need to get a boat trip down the li river, the normal boats take 5hrs, but our one took 2-3hrs. thats enough i feel. The area is so pictureques and as usual the pics above dont do it justice. Actually saw some wild buffilo swimming in the river, which was amazing to see in the wild (a first for me). At first i was takening lots of pics, but after abuot an hour i thought how many pics do i need of these mountains.

Boat was ok, the driver looked miserable as hell, but we did get a smile out of him when we were shouting and screaming yahoo at the other boats. he was ok thought, didn't speak a word of english. as most chinese.

Get to the hostel, it is just a house that a family of chinese run. really nice family father speaks very very good english. and they are all so nice. quiet smiley which is differen, not sure i have actually seen any chinses smile till now. Well expect the ones that what my money and i guess they do aswell.

Hostel is nice and clean we all have to take our shoes off when entering the place. so bearfoot all the way. room is excellent, again spotlessly clean, and shower works perfectly. however the hot and cold is the wrong way round from all the other places, and i didn't learn that till after my first cold shower.

When we got here, the wife cooked us some fried rice (all food is included in this hostel). that was really nice and wow what a plate i couldn't even finish it. All three of us (danny, amber, kacey (may of spelt her name wrong on the other blog oops, will correct it at some point)) saw on the wall "the real water cave". now i know i went to two caves yesterday but this one you can swim in it and they have a mud bath. oh yeah babe a mud bath. So first thing we do is go there. and a good price, it normally costs 160 it get in, but the hostel got us tickets for 60. nice one hostel :)

cave was actually different to all the rest, it was still a cave with rocks (that are all called something, mother holding baby blah blah, and no they dont really look like them)) but we got to the mud and that was really good. Feels so wierd to be swimming in mud, right dirty experiance, pic above (which is a pic of a pic so its not good quality) so i had to buy a pic from them, brought two one of all four of us, and one of the whole group.

After the mud it was more walking past rocks, which we had a women who didn't like inclosed spaces whinging that she only paid for 2 hrs and its now getting on three. well lady if yo donlt like places like that dont go down them, and she got a good deal, paid for half day and got a full day, stop complaining. actually amber being amber told her that. go girl.

got to the swiming bit, guide told us we could jump in, no one was willing to. Ian to the rescue. so i jump in first. no problem, didn't even touvh the bottom. so after that everyone joins in. was a really nice day.

Got back to thostel, had some lovely food. about 6 dishs just on a revolving table, but wow this wife can cook. seriously cook.

We then all decided to go out drinking down the local street (west street). Found a nice bar called legend. they had the cheapest beer 10 for a litre bottle (60 pence, nice !!!) That turned out to be a realy good night, we infact had the whole place to ourselfs, and even had a lock in with the staff. The staff were so cool, taught us how to play a silly chinese game like paper scissors, stone. it was ok fun at the time. then we were pestering the 17 year old waiter trying to get him drunk and stuff. actually the girls grabbed him and tried to force feed him, he w3as ok about it and knew it was just fun, another waiter did a magic trick and stuff. really good.

We also got onto the tequila, not sure how much we had but alot.

After the bar or after we had had enough, we went for a bbq with a couple of the waiters, 17 year old and a little cutey watiress (who was so scared of me, cos she asked what i liked i told her her, that was it she was so scared and stayed away from me the for the time we was with them) I say bbq, well a street bbq. wow it was soo good. probably anything would of tasted good at 4 in the morning with tequila and beer in me. Food was a little over cooked, but no problem, there, better then the other way.

So finally got back to the hostel again about 4. Had to carry danny home, but wow he remembers everything and knew exactly what was going on, impressive seen as he couldn't walk.

9th day, guilin. wow

Woke up early today, went down for breakfast, was told there was none i can have a sandwich or toast. Thanks.

Waiting for the toast, the waitres trys to bring me a plate of noodles. How strange, turned out it was for amber (girl i meet because of this) she had the last of the food. great.

Anyway amber and i get talking she is here with a boy friend danny. and we all decided to get a taxi to take us to 3 beauty spots round, guilin. the beauty spot, red caves, and the seven star park.

Taxi was really cheap cost us 50 yeun between us (4-5 pounds) for the whole day and the taxi waited everywhere we went.

Ok first was - beauty spot. not great especially for 50 yeun. but had a big mountain thing in the middfle which gave yuo a nice view, but you couldn't actually get a good picture of the "mountain" as it was surrounded by buildings or trees. shame it did look nice, but there are loads and loads of mountain round this area. so plenty of pics anyway.

next was the red cave (it wasn't called that but i cant remember what it was called so there !!!)

that was cool lots of different typs of rocks and they had different colour lights on there, which made them even pretter, (see pic)

next was seven star park. was bigger and better then the beauty spot, and cheaper. oh well never mind. park was really pretty had mountians again in the back, makes everything look so pretty. had some really nice waterfuls aswell (see pic, and wow what a pic must be getting better)

also had a (sad) zoo. i know i said to a few i wasn't going to go to one in china, but this was in the park and free, so why not. very sad they had, monkeys pandas, birds some animals i have never seen looked like a cross between a panda and a racoon. anbd was racoon size.

But it was sad thought these cages had nothing in for them to playw ith, they were mostly on there own. and looked very sad. poor thinks, wouldnt happen in england would have rspca in at once.

Was ok thought, panda was nice to see, but again alone and looked sad with nothing in the cage. But i suppose it was better then i had expected.

that night just chilled out, found out a girl from my room was going to go down the river li to yangshao (guilin but less touristy im told ) however she has booked a speedboat for like half price then a normal boat but needs 3 more. great there is three here, danny amber and myself. that shoudl be good, have been told yuo cant miss a trip down the river li.

sorry if this is bad to read and spell, i am in a hurry and will change it soon. sorry peps not got enough time to proof read. sorry.

8th day. flight to guilin.

got up today, and i am leaving xian, so can't do alot. Tried to book a train the other day, but was told i would have to wait 7 more days for a soft sleeper, and the train to guilin is 25 hrs, so best to get one.

However i checked flights and it is only 30 yeun more, which is 2 pounds to me and you. and flight takes 1.5 hrs.

will fly. first china flight. mmmmmm.

got to the airport, wow its really nice and so clean. should of taken off at 18:25, but was delayed 2 hours. what can i expect from china. I have been told that what ever you think it will be, times that by 4 and if it comes quick thats bloody good. So i suppose 2 hrs isn't bad

Couldn't get any food at the airport, i tried to get a hotdog and was told there was no buns, but i can have 2 sausages. no thanks.

Anyway got on the plane and i wasn't expecting food, as it was only an 1.5 hrs flight, but we did get some. Some beef and tomato with rice. Nice. better then england. much better.

Landed in guilin at around midnight, was worried the hostel would not have kept the room, but they did. hostel is nice quite clean. however i had to walk into a dorm with 5 people already and try to locate a bed, and it has to be the top bunk, and there is no ladder, great.
Actually i think i already woke everyone up as the door sticks and makes sure a noise, oh well.

7th day, evening.

Ok went out again last night. Steve, sarah and myself went to a club called 1+1. was good, played some proper clubby music, and even had three women sing a few songs.

People are so much nice in xi'an. I only brought one drink when i was out, i then sat down at a table with some chinese people and they supplied me with free drinks alnight. thought it was strange to start with and wondered what they wanted. but i tried to give them some money for the beer and they didn't want it.

Nice one china.

again had a really good night, nothing special. didn't dance this time the dance floor was so packed. it must of been a popular bar. and wow i saw an american in there that was at least 7 foot. he stood out big time. and everyone must be so shocked with him.

Anyway great night.

7th day - chilling in xi'an

so today. i will feeling a little tired, not use to all this walking, office boy remember. or at least i was.

so decided i would make a plan of what i am doing next. thought i was gonna go to chongqing (yes i wrote it wrong last post) with steve, but looking into it, there are no hostels in chongqing. just hotels. Now it looks nice and all that, but both me and steve decided that we wouldn't go to chongqing due to it being a hotel place and being more expensive then we had imagined. only £10 (like it im using the £ sign, the pc's are in engrish so i changed the keyboard, so much better, anyway) a night, but thats not what we are used it, and it would be harder to meet people, blah blah blah.

so we are gonna go are seperate ways, steve's going back to beijing and down to shanghi, and i will go down to guilin, see some nice views. I am getting alittle bored seeing temples, they all seem to be the same, so lets do something different.

off to guilin. i am leaving xi'an in 2 days, tried to get a train ticket today. ouch this isn't easy, apparently this time of year is busy, i believe chinese people travel aswell. so with 2 days to go i was gonna find it hard. anyway this hostel won't arrange if for me so i had to get a ticket myself. down to the train station. wow the queues are so so big. i was looking at a good 2 hour wait. however i went down with steve, and we both know that lots of chinese people don't queue. i was willing to being british, thats what we do, but i am glad i was with steve, because i tell you what he walked right to the front i mean the front, and no one said a word. he got serverd at the desk and he was done in about 5mins.

Me not so easy, i was being told there were no soft sleeps and my journey to guilin is 25hrs. they had standing room for the 9th. yeah ok im not gonna stand for 25 hrs. so basicly the nearest they can give me a soft sleep was the 14th july. wow a week away. not good. was thinking of doing it, but glad i decided to check out the flying side of it.

A train was gonna cost me 540 (£33.75) yeun, and i found out that flying was only 570 (£35) so sod it is saves me staying here for another week, which is good there is sod all to do here, really only a temple or two (again getting bored of them) and the warriers. was gonna go up the mountain thats here, still may do i have a couple of days left.

so anyway flying to guilin then not sure from there, possible kumning go and meet ben (amercian from china) he was a cool bloke.

so my feet are feeling better today. hope they are ok for tomorrow. although me and steve are going out to another club tonight. however the girls (jo and ruth ) aren't think we war them out yesterday. bah i am 27 they are 22 and im out doing them, thats not right. still they said maybe tomorrow. lets hope it was such a good time.

6th day. arrive3 in xian. terracotta warriors.

train got in earlier then i thought. ride was about 11 hrs.

and doh i left my towel on the train not happy about that, it was a good towel and special one that drys in about 10 mins out here. but im sure that won't be the only thing i loose knowing me.

got of the train. was ready to look for a bus to get to the hostel. however i got outside and there was a nice sign saying ian shell. wow. the hostel come and pick me up for free which was lovely.

so that was easier then i thought, so much better then beijing. and it was also sunny. which i am told was the first time for about a week, so hopefully i have brought the weather from beijing down with me.

One thing noticed straight away it is not as hot as beijing down here which is a god send, it was too hot somedays in beijing.

So on the bus to the hostel, with about 8 other people on the bus. the bus went to 2 hostels. i was the only one going to this one the HanTang Inn. thought oh no what sort of hostel i have picked. reached the hostel, not as nice i think as the last one. the last one was more like a 3 star hotel. dont get me wrong this hostel isn't dirty or anything like that, just not as nice.

So i did book a 4 bed dorm this time, thought i better try it, plus its cheaper. 2 pound 39 a night to be exact. cheap and nice. just like i like it.

got into the dorm, actually it was a 6 bed dorm, but not a problem. got there first thing i did was wake up one of the people in it. oops. she was ok with it. to be honest i hadn't seen her because she was on a top bunk. just getting sorted out and bloke called laden walks in. wow he was really nice so talkative. comes from australia sydney, he is over here to go work, aha but not as a teacher. he is going to a dig site up north in mongolia. wow that sounds good.

so talking to him and in about 30mins. he had given me all the information to get buses to all the nice places round here like the terracotta army. thanks laden. big help.

then meet everyone else in the room. 2 women from leeds, ruth and jo. again really nice people. i actually managed to hang out with them all day. and steve a american again so nice. another women who is chinese, she is going to school in xian, yes an art student. she has been in the hostel for 2 months.

So now i know how to get to the places by bus, i decided i was gonna go see the army. just happens jo and ruth are going so we go together. buses are not good, but hey there are 1 yeun, which is about 20 pence. you have to get a number 611 to the train station and then get a buss 306 to the warriors.

Warriers are nice not as good as i thought. there are 3 pits and a museum. basically some fisherman were digging a well for some water and found pit 1, which opened up to be what we see today. Pit one is good, see pics above (need to improve on my picture taken, thing is i was resting on something so it wouldn't be too blurry but still seems it). Lots and lots of warriers in pit 1, can't remember how many. pit 2 and 3 are a little disappointing, they are just holes in the ground.

Theres still have alot of digging to do, there was only a handfull of warriers in pit 2, and none in pit 3. still impressive when you think they were done 2000 year ago. and they are all unique. but still they are just statues.

musuem was better then i thought had lots of ceremic statues that were so beautiful, again made 2000 year ago and the detail on them was so amazing and colourful. (see pic)

got back to hostel. worked out how much it cost me. the whole trip was about 100 yeun. which is 6 pound 25 pence (incase you wonder why i right the word pound, they dont have the sign over here !!!)

wow how good is that, this is the life i tell you. just chilling out all day, no work, no nothing if i want. and spend about 7 pound for a great day out. sorry visa, but i don't miss the job. (big surprise !!!)

Meet up with steve from my room. had a few games of pool with a few other americans. kicked arse. then found out there was dumpling partyin the hostel, on the table next to me. Well it wasn't a party. there was 12 people, we sat round a table and they brought 3 plates of dumplings up. it was free so you cant complain. and it was my first dumplings. they are good, still not as nice as black bean sauce but edable.

Steve was talking about going out for some drinks, there is a night club, about 30 sec walk from the hostel.

got there wow, wasn't what i expected, i expected something really cheese. but it was all flashing lights, big place and normal dance music. justin timberlake came on just to give you an idea. and its free to get in. most important.

Well we tried to order a beer. but there was a johnie walker promotion going on and all you could do was buy a whole bottle, which was 400 yeun. again not bad for a whole bottle 25 pound and thats in a club.

Not wanting to pay or buy a whole bottle between the two of us, we decided we was gonna go back to the hostel and get a few more people.

Managed to get jo and ruth to come with us. wow what a night, the best so far.

and you know me england i like to rock my little socks off, so a few whiskeys later, downing a few aswell. gamba (chinese for bottoms up).

I had to get up on the table and show china how to dance. i think most people were well impressed i was getting cheers from some women, clapping and all.

i was stood on a table, which is in the middle of the bar, you can go both sides of the bar and within the squareish bar there are 4 glass tables. I only got up there because other people had i wasn't just gonna get up on a table unless i knew it was ok. dont wanna be thrown out off my first chinese night club.

so the night was good, finished the bottle of whiskey between us four and went on dancing till about 2am. i impressed myself, as i had only got about 3 hours sleep on the train.

got back to the hostel, went out on the balcony and cooled down. just chated. but was so nice. finally some english with the same sense of humour. nice. got comliments on my dancing aswell which is nice. never sure if i can dance properly or not, but girls were impressed.

everyone agreed it was a really good night. so hopefully we will do it again. infact maybe we will be traveling together or meet up later aswell. as most people go to the same places in china. I think me and steve are going to get a train down to chongcoing together, we just happen to be leaving on the same day, so may travel with him for a while. and maybe the girls will come, they haven't decided what they are doing yet, but was thinking about coming down to the same town, so i hope so. as they are really good people, and we had such a laugh.

5th day

typical im leaving beijing today, and actually found some english people. they were nice, i meet them while i was doing some washing. so while i was waiting for that we chilled. sat outside to hostel. they were lovely people, infact i have only meet one person who wasn't nice. he was over on a conferance. basicly told me to shut up as he was watching the film. which i thought was a bit nasty was only asking him basic questions. but hey not everyone is a saint like me !!!!

so did some washing. was ok. hoever the "dryer" doesn't actually dry them. so again lesson learnt don't do your washing when you have to get a train later that day.

Got the the train station wow it was big. nice place and really easy to get around. look on the big board, find your train number and go to a waiting room. they call your train and you go down to the platform.

trains are so nice. but i suppose i was in first class. again it was full of american kids, there seems to be so many of them over here. this group where actually a band camp on tour.
the soft sleeper i had was comfortable, there is four to a room, which is small but yeah i was only sleeping in it. I was sharing the room with a chinese person and 2 american teachers. they seems ok. gilbert pryer was one of them. he plays the trumpet and has played with people like barry white, so he must be pretty good.
One problem with the americans was they were still on american time. so they went to bed really earlier, while i was in the bar. i finally went to bed about 2am. they woke up at 4am, and talked. ouch again not much sleep. not sure i would of got that much anyway. i am not use to sleeping on a train, which is a little rough.

5th day. summer palace

had a really cool night last night, (4th day) stayed in hostel, and hanged out with 6 spanish, 2 american, and 2 russian.

was cool i was translating between the russain and spanish. was a good laugh, stayed up till abuot 3am talking and that.

so when i got up today at about 9am i was feeling it a little. but nevermind.

Ok went to the summer palace today. OMG how big was it, i was expecting a palace and a few other builds, but it actually has about 100 builds and 3 acres of land.

took me about 6 hrs to walk around. but wow what a place. found a really nice garden that looked kind of japan like. (See pic) was lovely there was people playing the flute, so that added to it. i thin kit was called the garden of tranquil. i hoipe to take a pic of the map i got and post it next time.

anyway the palace is big, really impressive. (pic above) although i went in the front and there was soo many stairs. and then found out yuo can enter from the back and there are none, as it on a hill and you can stroll down the hill. doh !!!

not alot really in the summer palace, its just a big garden, but was really nice waling round it, the emperess used it for a garden.

went to the old theater why i was there, watched some shows that where put on back then 1000 years ago or something. which had dancing, then music, and then what i assume where chinese clowns. was nice it experiance what the emporess would of seen. Other then that its looking at more old artifacts. pretty standed stuff. bowls of jade, old swords. nothing too impressive really. they had better stuff at the fobidden city.

after palace i had arranged to go to the chinese arcobats. so went got some food before. oh wow. i had the best food i have eaten so far. it was just beef and black bean sauce, but wow it was so tasting. must have it again some time. i also had a plate of sweet cakes, which tastes like really really nice chips.

One thing i will say chinese don't have rice where there dish. they have the dish first and then rice if they are stil hungery to fill them up. although the resturant today had run out of rice. what is that about how can a chinses resturant in china run out of rice !!!!!

acrobat show was quite good, had seen most of the stuff before. alot of double jointed people, balancing in some wired positions. then doing it while balancing stuff on them, bowls, candles. then we had tow big poles come out and watched about 6 men, climb them at super spped and filp between the two without hold on by hands. rather good.

then some kids come out did there thing, that was cool. then saw loads of flips and stuff through hoops. was good.

And that is for today folks. not doing much tomorrow i think, as i am going on a 12hr train ride fown south to xian (terracotta army place) so will probaly just chill out round here, fo some laundry.

shame i did wanna go to the lama temple, (yes wez try to find larry (sorry peps private joke) ) there is 20 foot budda (sorry if i am repeating remember i can't read see my blog yet. bloody china)

ok well take care england, hope to write from stuff soon, probably not for a day or two.

i will tell you what the train jounrey is like. leaving bejing at 21:30 and should arrive at 09:00 next day. got a soft sleeper and i hope i can sleep, been told its quite nice. so we will see.

bye fornow.

4th day. forbidden city.

Hello england.

went to forbidden temple today. Wow what a place. spent about 6hrs walking round. I got a auto guide, which is just one fo those headphones things that talks to you. was really good though, it has GPS so it can tell you wher you are and will give information when entering a new area.

Took loads and loads of pics, there are some really nice buidling. pic's don't do them justice, and i won't put them all on here. Saw some really nice old things 1000s of years old. and it amazes me how they built this thing back 1000's of years ago. The actuall

y city has 9999 and a half rooms, which is a lucky number in china. apparently, numbers 6, 8, 9 10 are all lucky and anything with number for in is unlukcy.

Would like to know where the half a room is,, but i never found that out. This is probably more impressive then the wall. at the end of the day yher wall is a wall, but the city is made up of all colours, gold, green blue, red. and some of the rooms there, are so nice. I got to see a thrown, some of the concubine rooms and the things they wear back then.

It is so breath taken. Did this one on my own, and did get lost a few times. not sure how big the actually place is in foot. but bloody big.

Not really sure what else to say at the moment. would be better if i can post pics. Oh i did see lots of present that were given to the emporer. wow he got some really nice stuff. i think the most impressive. was some of the gold embilmend (engrish) and he was also given 100's of hand carved warriors all dressed up in battle (see pic above) which again seen as it was 1000's years ago, just so impresses me.

Oh yeah word of advise, if you go and do the auto tour, make sure you start at the south side, because it makes more sense, i was going north to south and you would get to an area, and guide recommends you go north, so the talking was a little backwards. but still enjoyable, and toaught me alot.

while i was leaving the city, 2 very pretty chinese women, called rita and serena (all chinese people get english names as well as chinese) started talking to me, serena was visiting rita in beijing for the first time, and rita was showing her around. They were just about to go for tea, and asked if i woulud join them. I thought it was strange they asked me, as most chinses don't talk to strangers unless they want something. I think they just wanted to pratise there english.

So went for some chinese tea. In stead of just trying one, we all had a tea celebration or something in which you get to try 10 different types of tea. was really really cool. they transalated everything the host was saying, explainng about all the different types of tea, and how they help you. Can;t remember all of them, but most where really nice. i espeically liked the flower, fruit and black tea. however i should really get some bamboo tea, because that helps smokers clear they lungs. Maybe we shoudl start selling it in england, now there is a smoke ban.

hahahaha england can't smoke, im in china and you can smoke anywhere, and i mean anywhere. they also have some strange customs, You can litter anywhere you want, and sort of incourage it, because everynight lots of chinese walk round with broom and sweep all it up. They also sort it out from what they can recycle and what can't. Which i think is rather good system. Saves me havign to recycle. Oh yeah the other weird one, is you can spit anywhere you want. if you are in a resturant and don't like what you have put in your mouth, you spit it out on the floo0r. even if it has carpet of not. Oh strange. ben has told me he was in Mac D's and block spat his food out and it hit is shoe. Not sure i would like that. I must admit some to the food here is really shit, so i have spat food out. not on the floor mind you. Im british !! lol

So 2nite not doing alot, just gonna chill out, wanna save spending some money, so will probaly go for a walk round, maybe play some psp. got 2 more days left in beijing before i go to xian. which is the terracotta arm. can't wait.

So tomorrow i will go for a couple of temples. yes the lama one wez. It should be good it has a 20foot budda in it. Also i will go to the summer place which is meant to be really good aswell.

Anyway. better go, gonna go for some food. Take care all. XXX