Where can we start?
NEW DELHI:
India is everything: mysterious, spirituel, dirty, beautiful, poor and full of scams. We arrived in New Delhi after a few hours from Dubai and the culture shock hit you straight away. We arranged a pick up with our hotel and it worked well, but when you arrive you already have this feeling of intimidation and fear to be perfectly honest. Anyway, the heat is unbearable, more than 40 degrees and worse than Dubai as you also got the sandstorms that hit you and the smell on the streets. On the way to our hotel we have already seen many homeless people, naked children crying on the streets, men washing themselves and women cooking on the streets. Yes, it is different here. We have never seen so much poverty in one place. The hotel we stayed (Legacy Home Stay/Karol Bagh metro station) was really nice though, good food and nice rooms with air-condition. However, the day after, when we decided to do some sightseeing it all went wrong and we found ourselves to be caught in a circle of scams. To keep it short: Scam1) We trusted our hotel who said they will bring us to the official tourist information and even showed it on the map. When we arrived we realised that this is NOT the official one so we left very disappointed after 40 minutes discussion why we did not want to book a 16-days tour. Scam2) A Rickshaw driver said "be careful with those agencies here, they just want your money. I can bring you to the official tourist info there are only 2 here". Well well, we thought he is a nice guy who wants to warn us and went with him. Only to be inside another agency who again, just wanted to sell us a tour. Angry and tired we went outside and decided we will go our own way to the train station where Lonely Planet said there is the official rail booking service. Scam3) Inside the train station we checked the 1st floor, could not see anything and a man who worked there said we should go to DTTS, the official tourist service center (as also mentioned in lonely planet) so we went again, with another car to DTTS near Connagaught Place. There it said "Government of India" and we were so happy. However, it seemed impossible to book a simple train ticket to Varanasi and Agra and again, we were supposed to go for a tour. Sceptical, we went outside to think about it and have a coffe. But also having a coffee seems impossible in New Delhi, as two guys talked to us and followed us to the coffee shop saying "do you mind if we join you, we can also help you with your travel booking". VERY annoyed we politely said that we will go back to DTTS again and they could stay having their coffee. Scam4) Back at DTTS we wanted to book the two tickets which already seemed a bit more expensive than Lonely Planet suggested. But suddenly the agent said that they cannot sell us 2 tickets we need to go for the car-train-hotel etc. combo. We started to doubt that this is the official agency and asked a few questions. After 20 minutes he got really upset and aggressive, shouted at us, threw papers around...so we left. Totally shocked, tired and I even started to cry and only wanted to go home. HOW THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GET A F***ING TRAIN TICKET???? We decided to go back again to the train station, there must be a way to find this stupid office! Back there we queued for 30 minutes only to be told this is the wrong counter and she referred me to the LADIES counter. WTF? Again, once I reached the counter I was told that this is not for future bookings and he mentioned to go on the first floor of this building where the tourist booking office is. Slightly going mad, we tried were on our mission to find this office and we got stopped twice on our way. Scam5) A man showing us his pass (railway ltd. etc) said it is round the corner. Not trusting anyone anymore we said we want to go back and check as we already seen a sign saying tourist office. Scam6) Just before we reached the stairs to the upper floor a man stopped us "tickets please. you cannot go upstairs with not tickets". Bullshit. Afer a few discussion we made clear that we CAN go upstairs and he got aggressive but we did not bother. Another half an hour passed and we could not believe it: WE FINALLY FOUND IT!! AFTER 8 HOURS OF BULLSHITTING AND SCAMS WE REALLY MANAGED TO FIND IT! What a day, what a country.
For this rather annoying and really messy start, we got back home with our train tickets in our hands, having had no food all day. Welcome to India.
Day 2 went much better and we managed to fall for ZERO scams. Just took the metro and made our way to see the Red Fort which was really impressive and our highlight was the Humayun`s Tomb which consisted of several tombs. A little sandstorm made us leave but we felt very successful and happy to see the other (good) side of Delhi.
On the next day we took the train to Varanasi and we were really excited about it. A few tourists warned us about the trains and said we should only go for the 2nd class, our ticket said 3rd. So we changed one ticket but could not change the train for Varanasi. Slightly worried we got on the train but felt suprisingly comfortable and safe. You sleep in a 8 bed compartment but the people seemed fine and the beds even more comfi than the ones in China!
VARANASI
The journey went well and we only had one hour delay, arriving in Varanasi after 13 hours. Varanasi is quite a city. The rickshaw driver did not mess around and brought us straight to the hotel where we wanted to stay. Alka hotel is a very nice and clean place at the Ganges river and we were happy. Varanasi is another culture shock though. Millions of people, small alleys, cows on the floor, the smell of shit and piss with a mix of sweat and food. Not lovely but that `s how they live. The Ganges is full of surprises as well. On the first day we went to see the Cremation Ghat where they burn about 300 bodies a day (and they have 3 of these Ghats here in Varanasi) and when you see a few feet sticking out of the buring woods and somebody else throwing a dead body on the wood including some butter cream to make it burn better, you really wonder how the world can be so different. A man explained us the ritual behind it and how the families are celebrating a funeral. It is way different from our way and death is an open subject that belongs to your life. After they burnt the bodies they through the ashes and the remains (bones, skulls etc) in the Ganges river. About a few hundred meters away, children, men and women are washing themselves, bathing in the river. Some people even drink the water. Crazy world. We walked around Varanasi town but soon realised that it`s a bit too much for all our senses. The sounds, smell and what you see is just to much for us Europeans, but it also has something fascinating and beautiful about it. On the night we took a boat (with Babu) to see the Ganges by night including the daily ceremony to worship Shiva, that takes place every single night at 7.30pm. It was great to see the specacle from the boat on the river, hundres of people, candles on the Ganges and boats surrounding the scene. We really felt in a different world, we felt calm and happy. The next day, well let`s say at midnight, Raf surprised me with a lovely and delicious cake that had my name (correct spelling!) and two candles (27) on it! OH MY GOD!! How can I celebrate my birthday in a nicer way than sitting on a balcony with view to the Ganges and blowing the candles of my cake whilst Raf was singing (no comment) happy birthday!Absolutely great and although we had drinking water instead of champagne I thought it was one of the best birthdays I have ever had.
Unfortunately the room was hot like a sauna, as we thought we are fine with just a fan and no air-con, right. We changed it to an air-con room the next day and felt like a bit of normal life again. We have not done much one our second day other than spending hundreds (of rupies!) and buying tons of trousers...Our bags are now so full than you can barely put another piece of cloth in between. It was great though, we could relax really well and had a good experience here in Varanasi.
The next day we took the 2nd class train to Agra, totally excited about the 2nd class thing, as all travellers said they feed you every 30 minutes and it`s really nice to travel. Well, the beds were alright, we had an absolute little devil (5 year old indian boy) who was sharing all his thoughts with everyone, shouting and crying. BUT the food never came. In the end we needed to pay for it but at least we were not starving.
AGRA
After this rather exhausting journey we finally arrived in Agra. The station is not very welcoming and you see many things you don` t want to see. But in the end we got a Rickshaw that brought us directly to our hotel, Taj Plaza, which is a nice hotel, but unfortunately we had a room with no air-con. The big plus was that from the rooftop you can see the Taj and it` s really nice to sip your coffee and have this stunning view 24/7. We have not done anything on the first day apart from the sunset we have seen from the north gate. Unfortunately the ugly fence just in front of it hindered us from taking pictures that reflected the Taj in the river (plus the fact that the river dried up so not much water left!). However, it was nice to see the Taj so close. On the second day we visited the Taj at daytime, and it was - AMAZING. Nothing less. We cannot really say WHY this building is so amazing but it simply is. The whole marble architecture, the calm and religious mystic around it, and the thousands of people with saris was a really colourful touch. Because of the unbearable heat (it had over 45 degrees) it was not possible to do anything else than internet and having lunch. The night was rather horrible as it turned out that it was a very stupid idea to go for the "fan room" as it felt like in a sauna, so another sleepless night. On the next day we went on the worst journey in India so far, getting up at 4.30am, waiting at the station for 2 hours for the train to arrive and being in shock once you noticed that THIS is your couch. Full of people with the sun burning on the roof of the train, no air-con, only a few small fans. We had the upper beds as otherwise people would sit on your seat, putting their feet on your knees etc. The disadvantage was that we had about 70 cm between the bed and the ceiling and I felt like a roasted chicken, being grilled in slow-motion. Trying not to faint, we arrived after this 6-hours-grueling journey...Thank God we arrived and good luck to those who have another 7 hours to go.
JAIPUR
Our hotel in Jaipur was the best we had in a few weeks...It was clean, with air-con (YES!!) and large. We loved and and stayed in the whole day, watching movies and ordering food. It felt as if it was even hotter in Jaipur than any other place and when you took a shower in the non-air-con room next door you felt as if you were entering a sauna. On the second day we decided to go for a long sightseeing day, starting with City Palace, a Hindu temple and a bit of shopping! A rickshaw driver offered to show us round for a day for 1 Euro (yes that`s right) so we agreed. Obviously he also worked on commission for taking us to jewelery places and textile factories, which did not bother us as firstly we wanted to do some shopping anyway and secondly we could not be bothered to bargain and deal with the people from the market. So there we were - in the tigers mouth, buying silver jewelery, textiles, scarfs etc. It was a really nice day as we got all the shopping done, which meant all the presents, and all the souvenirs, THANK GOD THIS IS OVER! The hindu temple we saw and the City Palace were really impressive and the audio guide helped us to understand the complicated history of India. However, 47 degrees burning down on our heads in combination with no food since 8am, we just wanted to eat and return to our hotel. And there we were, exhausted, watching another movie...
PUSHKAR
Another 2 hours later we already arrived in Ajmer with the best, most comfortable train we have ever been in India. It felt like home, and you forgot that you are actually travelling through India. We had leather seats, air-con and nobody was lying on the floors. How great it felt. From Ajmer we took a wedding-like-oldtimer car to Pushkar and arrived at Seventh Heaven. Quite literally, altough the name of our hotel as well. It is magnificent, the best hotel we probably stayed in the last months, apart from our wanna-be-posh-stay in Dubai. We were SO HAPPY! How nice it can be to travel through India (sometimes). And again, our routine of staying a full day at the hotel and doing sightseeing for only 1 day seemed to kick in again and all we did on day one was eating, drinking and sleeping. (are we getting a bit too lazy these days???). Pushkar is a very small town and the hundreds of temples and more than 40 ghats with the holy lake makes it a very spirituell place. We actually went straight towards a tourist trap in letting us show round the temple from a "pupil" of hindu religion who led us to one of the ghats with a coconut in one hand, a flowers, rice etc. in the other. So there we were - praying with a fake priest and blessing our family. Of course they wanted a "donation" at the end and we were laughed at when we proposed our donation of 2 Euros each. But we did not alter our plans (their suggestion was a contribution of 20 Euros each) and went away with a red dot on our forehead and a ribbon on our hands (which marks you as a stupid tourist you just fell for another scam rather than a tourist who received a blessing). Anyway, we decided to walk up a 30 minutes hike towards a temple where you can see Pushkar, but I only managed half-way and felt sick. Sun+Hike+no motivation = no movement. So we went back to town, doing the last bit of shopping.
UDAIPUR
Hesitating to leave our fantastic hotel, we went to Ajmer by car, where our driver crashed into another car (we could both see it coming as he never looked left or right but in the end BANG). The best thing was, that he got involved in a fight and a few people surrounded our car - with us and our backpacks inside. Great feeling of security! Anyway, after a few punches in his face he went on and we arrived (safely) at the train station. The train journey was about 5 hours and it very comfortable with air-con and seats, YES! We arrived around 9pm at the station and met Leigh, an English girl we met on the train. The three of us squeezed in a rickshaw and he brought us straight to our hotel, no discussions, no argument, no nothing. A miracle! Panorama Guesthouse had a really nice rooftop (hard to top!) and the rooms were alright. The two days in Udaipur were very relaxing as we were chatting to Leight for hours on the rooftop, sipping coffee and eating pancakes, wonderful! We went out sightseeing for a couple of hours and checked out the City Palace, a few temples and bought the last souvenirs. Udaipur is known as one of the most romantic cities in India and it is right that is has something romantic, especially when you are overlooking the lighten up city palace at night from your rooftop. Unfortunately the lake is totally dried up and apart from a lot of rubbish that you could not see if the lake is filled up, you cannot see a drop of water. Then you realise how hot it must be when a whole lake is totally dried up! From Udaipur we took the last train (thank God!) to Mumbai, which is 16 hours away. Luckily we had nice people on the train, but we really could not wait to be home. Counting the days...
MUMBAI (BOMBAY)
After 16 hours in the train and only one sandwich later, we waited for the taxi pick up of our hotel. When we approached Mumbai on the train we could already see thousands of slums, lined up next to the train station...people washing, going to the toilet, laughing, looking at the tracks...we were tired of all this poverty quite frankly, and we were in our own little world...dreaming of food from home, a nice bed with fresh linen, a shower where you don´t need to wear flip flops, a toilet where you always find your toilet roll, a garden with no rubbish lying around, tap water, to be able to leave your bag in your cupboard, to give all the gifts and presents to your family, to have your own flat....and so on...oountless things you were longing for. Once we arrived we waited for our pick up. We waited and called at the hotel, and waited and called. We went from one platform to the other and started to get quite fed up. After 1 hour and a half we finally took another rickshaw and as it turned out, the hotel guy stood at a different station. We arrived and were quite happy with our VERY last hotel. We watched the FIFA and did nothing else than the daily routine: Looking for food and taking a shower. The next day we went to town and checked out the Gateaway to India and a few other monuments and sightseeing point in Mumbai. The local train is another one of these "experiences". You are squeezed in with about a few hundred people too many on the train, people jumping on the train whilst it is already moving. We just tried to think of something else and literally "enjoy" this last bit of journey before we are heading home, to what we know as "normal" life. We were quite surprised about Mumbai though, it has a lot of old buildings, really beautiful and we realised that the area where we had our hotel, was probably on of the busiest and ugliest in all Mumbai. Back home, we met up for dinner with Anshuman, an artist who is involved in this year´s Contacting the World (Manchester) where I used to work. It was nice chatting to him and he took us out to a really nice restaurant "Banana Leaf" with healthy and delicious food. After a couple of hours we were back again and packed our stuff, took a shower and waited for IT!
BEING POSH
The moment came and we took the car to the airport at 1am where we checked in our bags and hoped to see them on the other side again. We could not believe what is happening, nor that we lost quite a few pounds, as Raf put on his old jeans and realised that his ass went missing:) The flight from Mumbai to Dubai was really nice, but we could not wait for the next plane, Dubai - Manchester, because we were checked in as BUSINESS CLASS.
Oh my God, Business class is quite something. Probably the first and last time we ever flew with Emirates Business Class but we really enjoyed every second. It was the first time where you CAN enjoy being on a plane...First thing we did is checking out the seats or rather beds and a few minutes later we found ourselves with a glass of champagne in our hands, looking at the slums in Mumbai airport, that approached the runway in about 100 meter distance. Weird feeling, and everything a bit surreal, at 4 in the morning, drinking champagne. We had a great menu to choose from, got served ANYTHING we wanted, we even had our own table cloth, real cups and even a wine menu to choose from. It was great and we had our posh moments. After 8 hours we arrived in Manchester. Strange to be back, but great. The driver waited for us and the bags arrived, we were just happy. We spent one night in Manchester, closed our bank account, went to Arndale and met up in a pub with friends at night, but realised we were so jet-lagged that we could only drink one beer and felt like being drugged. The next day we both went seperate ways, Raf back home to Italy and me back home to Germany. Quite strange not to see each other after being together 24/7! But I guess we really need this break now:) And only a couple of hours later and we were HOME. Eating the best food ever, sleeping in your own bed....with sweet little dreams from a long long journey.
THE END (really?)
Thursday 17 June 2010
Dubai - Queen Mel and King Raf rule the world....for a few days at least
Oh dear-we are not sure if it was a good idea to go for a 4 Star hotel in Dubai when we know that we are leaving for India in a few days. It`s true that it`s hard to adapt to a standard that is below yours,but easy to feel comfortable in luxury. We are only humans! Anyway, the flight with Emirates was once again really relaxing and but when we arrived at Dubai airport, we kind of felt a little bit like criminals as they searched our bags TWICE and asked as "do you smoke? (no). You sure?". They even tested my German and Rafi got a few questions like "Why are you not married? Will you marry your girlfriend or someone else?". Rather strange. But hey, at least we got through the checks.
Although it has 40degrees and the heat is UNBEARABLE, we went for sightseeing and nearly fainted on the way;) We managed to see Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Lake Towers, the Mall of Emirates, Madinat Souk, Burji Tower, The Creek and the spice souk - all in one day and only by the newly built train.
Dubai is fascinating but not our cup of tea. We were wondering how people could live here,on a desert- surrounded by fake islands, purposly built malls and 40 degrees?? You must be mad.Or very rich. Anyway, our hotel is fabulous, we had our first continental breakfast for 5 months....
Raf and Mel aka. "from riches to rags"
Although it has 40degrees and the heat is UNBEARABLE, we went for sightseeing and nearly fainted on the way;) We managed to see Dubai Marina, Jumeirah Lake Towers, the Mall of Emirates, Madinat Souk, Burji Tower, The Creek and the spice souk - all in one day and only by the newly built train.
Dubai is fascinating but not our cup of tea. We were wondering how people could live here,on a desert- surrounded by fake islands, purposly built malls and 40 degrees?? You must be mad.Or very rich. Anyway, our hotel is fabulous, we had our first continental breakfast for 5 months....
Raf and Mel aka. "from riches to rags"
Wednesday 2 June 2010
Hong Kong - back to Erasmus!
How it feels great to have a bit of routine again in your life! 5 nights in one place really feels like we are actually living there...
Hong Kong is a great city - colourful, vibrant, big but still not as busy and pushy as Shanghai or Bejing. We have seen everything we wanted in 5 days, but this time, relaxed. We even felt like real tourists so we also bought a few souvenirs in markets and shops, oh how we loved it!
We are staying in one of the "mansions" called ChungKing Mansion, on the 15th floor in a 8sq bedroom+bathroom. It`s small, a bit like we used to live in our student accomondation in France. Taking a shower means putting one foot on top of the toilet lid, going to the toilet means putting your feet on the wet floor from the shower earlier. But the room is clean, the owners are nice and it feels a bit like a hotel (yes, our standards have changed!).
The first day we arrived, we went to see the daily "symphony of lights show", which is also in the Guiness World Records book as the biggest light spectacle. Various buildings are taking part and create a spectacular laser/light show on the waterfront. Nice to watch. We also found a cheap and clean place to eat - on the groudn floor of a big shopping centre, YES - we will survive the next days.
The following days we went to see the Big Buddha, located between mountains near the airport, where you need to take a "gondel" or lift for about 30 minutes to reach it.
It is really impressive when you first spot the statute from afar and it really has a mystical and religious calm. We also went along the wisdom path and checked out the temple on the hill, which was nice. We also went to see Soho and the Western District including all the various places such as the dried seafood or herbal medicine shops and the antique market. We also saw the worlds largest escalator, went on the peak tram to see the surprisingly called peak (wonderful view when all Hong Kong is litten up!) and checked out various markets such as Gold Fish market, Ladies market (poor Raf!) etc. in our area in Mong Kok as well as the Avenue of the Stars. Other than that we had a good time watching movies with beer and chocolate and having breakfast with iced coffee and a nice pastry from one of the "healthy food" shops. We also took a ferry to Lamma Island, only a short ride away from Hong Kong, which is a totally different area. Beaches, nice walking paths, little shops, no cars - a nice break from the buzzling city.
It`s now time to leave this place and fly to Dubai and then India (from one extreme to the other!) where we will try to fight the heat...and believe it or not - our journey is nearly over. Only 3 weeks to go and Europe has us back! Maybe a good thing....;)
Raf and Mel aka. "can you switch off the heat please?"
Hong Kong is a great city - colourful, vibrant, big but still not as busy and pushy as Shanghai or Bejing. We have seen everything we wanted in 5 days, but this time, relaxed. We even felt like real tourists so we also bought a few souvenirs in markets and shops, oh how we loved it!
We are staying in one of the "mansions" called ChungKing Mansion, on the 15th floor in a 8sq bedroom+bathroom. It`s small, a bit like we used to live in our student accomondation in France. Taking a shower means putting one foot on top of the toilet lid, going to the toilet means putting your feet on the wet floor from the shower earlier. But the room is clean, the owners are nice and it feels a bit like a hotel (yes, our standards have changed!).
The first day we arrived, we went to see the daily "symphony of lights show", which is also in the Guiness World Records book as the biggest light spectacle. Various buildings are taking part and create a spectacular laser/light show on the waterfront. Nice to watch. We also found a cheap and clean place to eat - on the groudn floor of a big shopping centre, YES - we will survive the next days.
The following days we went to see the Big Buddha, located between mountains near the airport, where you need to take a "gondel" or lift for about 30 minutes to reach it.
It is really impressive when you first spot the statute from afar and it really has a mystical and religious calm. We also went along the wisdom path and checked out the temple on the hill, which was nice. We also went to see Soho and the Western District including all the various places such as the dried seafood or herbal medicine shops and the antique market. We also saw the worlds largest escalator, went on the peak tram to see the surprisingly called peak (wonderful view when all Hong Kong is litten up!) and checked out various markets such as Gold Fish market, Ladies market (poor Raf!) etc. in our area in Mong Kok as well as the Avenue of the Stars. Other than that we had a good time watching movies with beer and chocolate and having breakfast with iced coffee and a nice pastry from one of the "healthy food" shops. We also took a ferry to Lamma Island, only a short ride away from Hong Kong, which is a totally different area. Beaches, nice walking paths, little shops, no cars - a nice break from the buzzling city.
It`s now time to leave this place and fly to Dubai and then India (from one extreme to the other!) where we will try to fight the heat...and believe it or not - our journey is nearly over. Only 3 weeks to go and Europe has us back! Maybe a good thing....;)
Raf and Mel aka. "can you switch off the heat please?"
China - part 2
Hello and Nǐ hǎo, welcome back.
We arrived in Bejing after a rather uncomfortable flight, as it was bumpy all the way through. We even got offered a full meal, but Raf refused - this shows how bad we felt, 2 nights no sleep and a bumpy flight.
Bejing is really overwhelming. When we arrived we only managed to buy our train tickets to Xian and go to Tianmen Square - the biggest square in the world - which took us 6 hours in total - is this normal?? It was impressive though, with big screens, thousands of people and massive monuments. One the second day we went on another tour (are we tourists or backpackers??? Hello??) as it sounded good value for money, to see the Great Wall of China, Badaling. We bought the ticket and walked away happily, when Raf noticed that we actually booked a tour, which meant to go to a Palace, jade factory and have lunch before we are heading to the Great Wall. Oh dear - maybe we should stick to our backpacker`s technique next time! In the end it was not too bad though. Well, the Wax Museum of the Ming Dynasty turned out to be the most boring thing we have ever paid for during our 4 months travel, the jade factory was nice to look at, but who needs jewelery as a backpacker?? and the food was horrible. In the end, we arrived at the Great Wall at 2pm and only had 2 hours to discover a few kilometers out of 8882km in total! - not that we were trying to do them all..;) It was very touristy as expected but in the end we have seen what we wanted to see and it is a very uplifting experience, walking along one of the most stunning world wonders that exist on earth. Oh my Buddha!
Later this afternoon we decided to check out some of the night markets that are supposed to sell weird food stuff. Weird? This is definitively underestimated. You walk through the market and think "WTF? IS THIS REAL?" They eat snakes, spiders, beetles, worms - anything that moves. It is unbelievable. If you are bored with the stuff we eat at home, come along and help yourself here!
On the second day we went to the Summer Palace, not expecting very much other than a palace - we were pleasantly surprised by this massive and beautiful setting of lakes, temples, pagodas, rivers, boats - just like in a movie. Not really astonishing that it is also on UNESCO`s World Heritage List. Situated on Longevity Hill, it took us more than 4 hours to check out the main buildings such as The Cloud-Dispelling Hall, the Temple of Buddhist Virtue, the Sea of Wisdom Temple and many others. We also managed to find a nice and affordable restaurant, so we did not collapse in the heat. All in all, we were really surprised by the beauty of the Summer Palace and had a very nice, less-hectic afternoon. On the third day, we headed to the Forbidden City (so-called, as it was forbidden to enter this area for more than 500 years. Everybody who tried got executed straight away!). The masses of people meant it is another one of "must-see" attractions in Bejing and it did not disappoint. Not at all. Nobody can imagine how big it really is unless you were there. It is a city within a city and the buildings, especially the Garden and the Hall of Harmony are masterpieces of architecture.
Raf did not feel too well, so we tried to be quick and squeezed through all Chinese tour groups as fast as we could. On the same day, we took an overnight train to Xi`an and we realized that it`s such a long time ago since we last took any overnight buses or trains that we were slightly demotivated to get on it! In the end it was one of the best journeys we had, also because we invested a bit more money this time to have soft seats rather than hard seats (what a difference it makes!!) and we arrived in Xi`an.
For the first time in ages somebody was actually waiting for us outside the train station...it is such a great feeling to see your name on a piece of paper - oh yes, I am Melanie Groeber and please pick us up!! The hostel, Xiangziemen Youth Hostel in Xian is just great. The rooms are clean, the atmosphere is amazing and the food superb. Yes, we are happy. The main attraction here is, of course, the Terracotta Warriors: world-famous and listed as the 8th World Wonder. We decided to go by our own this time, so no tour that drives us to places we don` t want to see. And it the end we had an absolute great day, no stress, no guides, just us and the army;) There are three pits in total, however, the first pit is the most impressive one. The terracotta figures, dating from 210 BC, were discovered in 1974 by some local farmers. The figures include warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians. After discovering around 8000 warriors and restoring some of them, many archeologists believe that there are many pits still waiting to be discovered. Definitively worth checking out in the future!
The second day was also called "the-day-we-did-nothing-absolutely-nothing", also the day called "oh-my-Buddha-we-are-slightly-bored!". And we could not believe it, we had no plans, only a great English breakfast which was definitively our highlight of the day.
And there they went: heading back to Shanghai on a 15-hour-train...to see the Expo! What were we thinking?? Are we sure we want to ge queuing up with half a million Chinese?? Well, we expected queues and lots of people but...not quite THAT! As we found out, it was even in the news that they had a record number of visitors on that day. Of course, it cound not have been any other day. And of course, we had 2 really bad nights in our hostel, due to very persistent and incredibly nasty mosquitos who bit you everywhere even when you also stuck your nose out the blanket! They even managed to bit me so my face looked like somebody punched me...
The Expo itself was great and a truly overwhelming idea to create a few dozen buildings and invest millions of Euros to promote and represent your country. A few pavillions looked rather odd but a few were absolutely stunning. Our favourite was the UK pavillion (not too impressive inside but the outside was really great!) and of course, the Italian, German and also the Swiss one. So after 8hours of queuing - including 2 hours for the Chinese pavillion, for nothing, as we did not even see the tickets we were supposed to get for the entry as they were "sold out" in seconds...- 30 minutes for India, 1,5h for Switzerland, 40 Minutes for Italy, 2h for Germany - amongst the most popular ones OF COURSE hehe - 30 Minutes for France and another 40 Minutes for UAE) - we were rather exhausted. Not only that waiting under clear blue sky and a hammering sun is not the most fun thing to do, also, the Chinese behavious or MASS behaviour makes you feel even more warm or..angry. Queuing really isn`t their thing. They try to sneak through whenever, wherever they can. Once you turn round you notice that you look at the person`s hair, who was behind you a minute ago. In the end, we were really impressed about the effort that went into the design and planning of this Expo. Denmark even brought the original Mermaid, that has not been moved for more than 100 years!! Crazy stuff...
We were actually really glad that we took a 20 hours train to Guanghzou (towards Hong Kong) at 11am, so we could lay down in our hard sleepers...And we cannot wait to stay in a place for a few nights..even Hong Kong is said to have the tiniest rooms ever...
Raf and Mel aka. Peoplemania!
We arrived in Bejing after a rather uncomfortable flight, as it was bumpy all the way through. We even got offered a full meal, but Raf refused - this shows how bad we felt, 2 nights no sleep and a bumpy flight.
Bejing is really overwhelming. When we arrived we only managed to buy our train tickets to Xian and go to Tianmen Square - the biggest square in the world - which took us 6 hours in total - is this normal?? It was impressive though, with big screens, thousands of people and massive monuments. One the second day we went on another tour (are we tourists or backpackers??? Hello??) as it sounded good value for money, to see the Great Wall of China, Badaling. We bought the ticket and walked away happily, when Raf noticed that we actually booked a tour, which meant to go to a Palace, jade factory and have lunch before we are heading to the Great Wall. Oh dear - maybe we should stick to our backpacker`s technique next time! In the end it was not too bad though. Well, the Wax Museum of the Ming Dynasty turned out to be the most boring thing we have ever paid for during our 4 months travel, the jade factory was nice to look at, but who needs jewelery as a backpacker?? and the food was horrible. In the end, we arrived at the Great Wall at 2pm and only had 2 hours to discover a few kilometers out of 8882km in total! - not that we were trying to do them all..;) It was very touristy as expected but in the end we have seen what we wanted to see and it is a very uplifting experience, walking along one of the most stunning world wonders that exist on earth. Oh my Buddha!
Later this afternoon we decided to check out some of the night markets that are supposed to sell weird food stuff. Weird? This is definitively underestimated. You walk through the market and think "WTF? IS THIS REAL?" They eat snakes, spiders, beetles, worms - anything that moves. It is unbelievable. If you are bored with the stuff we eat at home, come along and help yourself here!
On the second day we went to the Summer Palace, not expecting very much other than a palace - we were pleasantly surprised by this massive and beautiful setting of lakes, temples, pagodas, rivers, boats - just like in a movie. Not really astonishing that it is also on UNESCO`s World Heritage List. Situated on Longevity Hill, it took us more than 4 hours to check out the main buildings such as The Cloud-Dispelling Hall, the Temple of Buddhist Virtue, the Sea of Wisdom Temple and many others. We also managed to find a nice and affordable restaurant, so we did not collapse in the heat. All in all, we were really surprised by the beauty of the Summer Palace and had a very nice, less-hectic afternoon. On the third day, we headed to the Forbidden City (so-called, as it was forbidden to enter this area for more than 500 years. Everybody who tried got executed straight away!). The masses of people meant it is another one of "must-see" attractions in Bejing and it did not disappoint. Not at all. Nobody can imagine how big it really is unless you were there. It is a city within a city and the buildings, especially the Garden and the Hall of Harmony are masterpieces of architecture.
Raf did not feel too well, so we tried to be quick and squeezed through all Chinese tour groups as fast as we could. On the same day, we took an overnight train to Xi`an and we realized that it`s such a long time ago since we last took any overnight buses or trains that we were slightly demotivated to get on it! In the end it was one of the best journeys we had, also because we invested a bit more money this time to have soft seats rather than hard seats (what a difference it makes!!) and we arrived in Xi`an.
For the first time in ages somebody was actually waiting for us outside the train station...it is such a great feeling to see your name on a piece of paper - oh yes, I am Melanie Groeber and please pick us up!! The hostel, Xiangziemen Youth Hostel in Xian is just great. The rooms are clean, the atmosphere is amazing and the food superb. Yes, we are happy. The main attraction here is, of course, the Terracotta Warriors: world-famous and listed as the 8th World Wonder. We decided to go by our own this time, so no tour that drives us to places we don` t want to see. And it the end we had an absolute great day, no stress, no guides, just us and the army;) There are three pits in total, however, the first pit is the most impressive one. The terracotta figures, dating from 210 BC, were discovered in 1974 by some local farmers. The figures include warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians. After discovering around 8000 warriors and restoring some of them, many archeologists believe that there are many pits still waiting to be discovered. Definitively worth checking out in the future!
The second day was also called "the-day-we-did-nothing-absolutely-nothing", also the day called "oh-my-Buddha-we-are-slightly-bored!". And we could not believe it, we had no plans, only a great English breakfast which was definitively our highlight of the day.
And there they went: heading back to Shanghai on a 15-hour-train...to see the Expo! What were we thinking?? Are we sure we want to ge queuing up with half a million Chinese?? Well, we expected queues and lots of people but...not quite THAT! As we found out, it was even in the news that they had a record number of visitors on that day. Of course, it cound not have been any other day. And of course, we had 2 really bad nights in our hostel, due to very persistent and incredibly nasty mosquitos who bit you everywhere even when you also stuck your nose out the blanket! They even managed to bit me so my face looked like somebody punched me...
The Expo itself was great and a truly overwhelming idea to create a few dozen buildings and invest millions of Euros to promote and represent your country. A few pavillions looked rather odd but a few were absolutely stunning. Our favourite was the UK pavillion (not too impressive inside but the outside was really great!) and of course, the Italian, German and also the Swiss one. So after 8hours of queuing - including 2 hours for the Chinese pavillion, for nothing, as we did not even see the tickets we were supposed to get for the entry as they were "sold out" in seconds...- 30 minutes for India, 1,5h for Switzerland, 40 Minutes for Italy, 2h for Germany - amongst the most popular ones OF COURSE hehe - 30 Minutes for France and another 40 Minutes for UAE) - we were rather exhausted. Not only that waiting under clear blue sky and a hammering sun is not the most fun thing to do, also, the Chinese behavious or MASS behaviour makes you feel even more warm or..angry. Queuing really isn`t their thing. They try to sneak through whenever, wherever they can. Once you turn round you notice that you look at the person`s hair, who was behind you a minute ago. In the end, we were really impressed about the effort that went into the design and planning of this Expo. Denmark even brought the original Mermaid, that has not been moved for more than 100 years!! Crazy stuff...
We were actually really glad that we took a 20 hours train to Guanghzou (towards Hong Kong) at 11am, so we could lay down in our hard sleepers...And we cannot wait to stay in a place for a few nights..even Hong Kong is said to have the tiniest rooms ever...
Raf and Mel aka. Peoplemania!
Korea - It`s all about Soju!
With tears in our eyes, leaving Japan was not easy...but hey - the journey must go on!
The so-called "Beetle-ferry" ride from Fukuoka to Busan was really smooth. We arrived after a non-bumpy 3 hours-ride and took the metro to find our hostel. The hostel was okay, nice room, but unfortunately it stank like a public toilet, as the drains were broke or something. Anyway, we tried not to breathe in the toilet and used lots of Airwick to get rid of it. Still - we felt like we were back in "Sulphur-Rotorua" in New Zealand.
Busan is a really nice harbour city. We checked out the surroundings, the harbour bridge, the market streets with nice food stalls, Pitt Square, the (quite disgusting) fish market and a one day exkursion to the Geumjeong Fortress, an easy bus ride away from town. We did not plan any hiking on this day but once we arrived it said "6km to East Gate" - WHAT? A lovely Korean showed us the way as we got lost in the first place, then went on the 1,5 hour walk.
The landscape was absolutely stunning and although we were a bit annoyed at first place cause we did not intend a hike with jeans and one bottle of water in the bags, we realised it was the best thing we could have done. Lovely nature, the fortress seemed a bit like the "small" wall of Korea. After 3 lovely days in Busan we took a bus to Seoul.
The first impression was not quite what we expected, mainly because it was raining and it looked pretty grey and dusty. We checked in in our hostel, Mr. Kim`s Guesthouse - looked a bit like a big flat-share, and it was quite how it worked. No real rules, but everybody made you feel welcome. We stayed there for 4 nights in total, as we managed to get a pretty cheap flight to Bejing on the 22nd of May. 4 Days in Seoul is more than enough if we look back, well - at least we had to time to slow down a bit and just enjoy a few sightseeing bits, nothing else. We checked out a few places such as Hongik area (very studenty, lots of bars, nightclubs etc.), the Prison that was built by Japanese who tortured countless Koreans during the 60`s - a very bittercold truth about what happened between Koreans and Japanese, especially strange if you just left Japan...We have also seen two temples, Gyeongguksa - a massive complex of different temples, where we have also seen the guardian change ceremony on this day, as well as Jogyese Temple during Buddha`s Birthday (we happened to be there, AGAIN, when it is national holiday....), which had thousands of little laterns. Besides, we went to the War Museum, which was really interesting and explained a lot we did not know as well as Namdaemun`s Market, where you can buy tasty dumplings and lots of different accessories. We also had great food and one night we had a big BBQ at our hostel, where they filled our stomachs with beef, salad leaves, lots of sauces as well as vegetables and rice - they cooked the beef in a pan on the table, really tasty! Of course, drinking Soju, rice whiskey, contributes to a satisfied evening...However, we soon realised that this hostel is more a party place a la "spring break" for college students, rather a nice little place for couples. So the second night we got a bit annoyed of snoring girls and boys, druken and puking guys and people who just thought they are great because they are partying every day. No thanks, "go back to your room". ...The last night when we left, a friend of Mr.Kim happened to be a fortune teller (he inherited his gift/technique from his grandfather he said). Of course, we gave it a try and he read Mel`s fortune. With only birtday and time and your name he started to ask a few questions and hit it every time. We were impressed, scared and stunned. Overall, it`s looking good;)
So, the last 2 nights we slept for about 3 hours in total, which means that we boarded the plane to Bejing as two zombies, but hey - a backpacker`s life is not always fun and easy, that `s why we don`t call ourselves tourists.
Raf and Mel aka "please, no more sightseeing!"
The so-called "Beetle-ferry" ride from Fukuoka to Busan was really smooth. We arrived after a non-bumpy 3 hours-ride and took the metro to find our hostel. The hostel was okay, nice room, but unfortunately it stank like a public toilet, as the drains were broke or something. Anyway, we tried not to breathe in the toilet and used lots of Airwick to get rid of it. Still - we felt like we were back in "Sulphur-Rotorua" in New Zealand.
Busan is a really nice harbour city. We checked out the surroundings, the harbour bridge, the market streets with nice food stalls, Pitt Square, the (quite disgusting) fish market and a one day exkursion to the Geumjeong Fortress, an easy bus ride away from town. We did not plan any hiking on this day but once we arrived it said "6km to East Gate" - WHAT? A lovely Korean showed us the way as we got lost in the first place, then went on the 1,5 hour walk.
The landscape was absolutely stunning and although we were a bit annoyed at first place cause we did not intend a hike with jeans and one bottle of water in the bags, we realised it was the best thing we could have done. Lovely nature, the fortress seemed a bit like the "small" wall of Korea. After 3 lovely days in Busan we took a bus to Seoul.
The first impression was not quite what we expected, mainly because it was raining and it looked pretty grey and dusty. We checked in in our hostel, Mr. Kim`s Guesthouse - looked a bit like a big flat-share, and it was quite how it worked. No real rules, but everybody made you feel welcome. We stayed there for 4 nights in total, as we managed to get a pretty cheap flight to Bejing on the 22nd of May. 4 Days in Seoul is more than enough if we look back, well - at least we had to time to slow down a bit and just enjoy a few sightseeing bits, nothing else. We checked out a few places such as Hongik area (very studenty, lots of bars, nightclubs etc.), the Prison that was built by Japanese who tortured countless Koreans during the 60`s - a very bittercold truth about what happened between Koreans and Japanese, especially strange if you just left Japan...We have also seen two temples, Gyeongguksa - a massive complex of different temples, where we have also seen the guardian change ceremony on this day, as well as Jogyese Temple during Buddha`s Birthday (we happened to be there, AGAIN, when it is national holiday....), which had thousands of little laterns. Besides, we went to the War Museum, which was really interesting and explained a lot we did not know as well as Namdaemun`s Market, where you can buy tasty dumplings and lots of different accessories. We also had great food and one night we had a big BBQ at our hostel, where they filled our stomachs with beef, salad leaves, lots of sauces as well as vegetables and rice - they cooked the beef in a pan on the table, really tasty! Of course, drinking Soju, rice whiskey, contributes to a satisfied evening...However, we soon realised that this hostel is more a party place a la "spring break" for college students, rather a nice little place for couples. So the second night we got a bit annoyed of snoring girls and boys, druken and puking guys and people who just thought they are great because they are partying every day. No thanks, "go back to your room". ...The last night when we left, a friend of Mr.Kim happened to be a fortune teller (he inherited his gift/technique from his grandfather he said). Of course, we gave it a try and he read Mel`s fortune. With only birtday and time and your name he started to ask a few questions and hit it every time. We were impressed, scared and stunned. Overall, it`s looking good;)
So, the last 2 nights we slept for about 3 hours in total, which means that we boarded the plane to Bejing as two zombies, but hey - a backpacker`s life is not always fun and easy, that `s why we don`t call ourselves tourists.
Raf and Mel aka "please, no more sightseeing!"
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