,m Sean´s Shenanigans: March 2006

Friday, March 31, 2006

The Backdoor

Spent the last 3 days coming in through the so called backdoor to the Sichuan province. After leaving Shangri-La, we steadily climbed the Tibetian Plateau, going over a pass 4900m high on the morning of day 3. Its was very cold last night in the town of Litang, needed to have an electric blanket on all night. In all, it took about 30 hours to make the journey as buses only ran during the day (night was too dangerous to drive) and the roads for the most part were in pretty bad condition. On the day I left Yunnan, a bus went over a ravine in the north of the province, killing 28 people!
The police did a pretty thorough search as we crossed the Yunnan-Suchuan border. There were 3 cops and for the 19 of us on board it took an hour and a half for the search. They picked through everyones bag except mine and another girls - I was pretty glad. While I have nothing strictly illegal in my bag, the quantity of some items could raise some questions. While searching the locals, they found 20" plus blades on three of the guys.

posted by Sean at 4:57 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Camera Number 5

Bought a new camera today for 39 yuan. Its a 35mm Fuji Film Kaite Kt8008 with Sure Flash, ISO 400 film, and 27 pictures. I've insured it for 200 euro.

posted by Sean at 12:19 pm 0 comments

Shangri-La

Here in the town of Shangri-La/Zhongdian. Arrived here yesterday and plan to leave tomorrow at 7:30 for some place I can neither pronounce nor spell. Its took me two hours to travel the 2km to the city limits of Lijiang yesterday. First there was a problem with the clutch, then we got stuck in a traffic jam, and finally the bus wouldn't start when the jam eased up. Had to jump on another bus and it took a further 5 hours to get here. As the bus climbed out past Tiger Leaping Gorge, the scenery was great. Currently at an altitude of 3200m and its pretty cold here - having to wear two coats to keep warm.

posted by Sean at 12:07 pm 0 comments

Sunday, March 26, 2006

Farming

Have covered about 250km on the road over the last few days and have seen among the hundreds of workers in the fields, only 2 pieces of machinery (2 New Holland tractors with 3 sod ploughs - on the road). Otherwise, all the work seems to be by hand, there are alot of small trucks on the road that then bring the produce to markets.

posted by Sean at 4:57 pm 0 comments

Leaping Tiger

Currently here in Lijiang. Just returned from treking the Tiger Leaping Gorge over the last 2 days. Good fun and great scenery. The weather was pretty good, not near as bad as I thought it would be.
Not sure what i'm doing next. May head back to Kunming and then fly west to Urumqi or may head north and visit some Tibetian towns. They are not actually in the provence of Tibet, so I wouldn't need a permit.

posted by Sean at 4:36 pm 0 comments

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Dali

Here in Dali now. Took a 5 hour bus trip here last night, didn't find accomodation 'till 2am. Its called Dali Old City, but its a bit modern for my liking. Heading up to Lijiang tomorrow and will hopefully start the Tiger Leaping Gorge trek the day after. Its pretty cold up there, max barely over 0 and min -8. Still only have t-shirts, so may have to buy a jumper and maybe a coat!
We have traditional Chinese toilets here. Basically a drain passes down one side of the room about 2ft from the wall. There are then several partitions of about 4ft high placed along the drain. You are pretty much looking at the guy in front of you if you are looking the same way! God help you if you are at the bottom end after a flush.
For some reason I can't view my blog in China (only edit). The damn commies are tryin to censor me.

posted by Sean at 1:36 pm 0 comments

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Kunming

Arrived here in Kunming today. Crossed the border into China yesterday and took a sleeper bus to here. Never been on anything like it. It has 3 rows of bunk beds across the middle. Much harder to sleep that on a train because of all the turns. Hardly anyone here speaks english, so travel is much harder that in South East Asia.
Had planned to do some trekking in Sapa (north Vietman), but it was raining so cancelled it. Hopefully will so some here at Tiger Leaping Gorge (its 17 hours away by bus). Want to get a flight west to Urumqi, but costs $180, can get one for $115, but it would be a mighty rush to do the trek and then come back here in time.

posted by Sean at 4:32 am 0 comments

Monday, March 20, 2006

People's Republic of China

Capital: Beijing
Currency: Yuan/RMB
Exchange Rate: €1 = 9.1 RMB
Time Zone: GMT + 8
Population: 1.3 Billion

posted by Sean at 5:47 am 0 comments

Saturday, March 18, 2006

Ying and Yang

Had a great Paddy's Day. Drank at a Bia Hoi 'till 6 am and then went to Finnegan's pub. Prices were a bit steep (20,000 for a glass), but had great craic.
The 18th was brutal. Went to a club after Finnegans where I lost my camera somewhere. Its my 3rd digital camera to become a stranger on this trip! After that, couldn't find my hotel for an hour or two and when I did, I found that I had lost my key. That meant that I had to sleep on the hotel sofa till 1. After that they charged me an extra night cause I wasn't checked out by midday! Just found out that Ireland are playing tonite and not tomorrow as I has first thought, unfortunately I booked a train ticket north to Lao Cai yesterday for tonite. What a f*%kin day!

posted by Sean at 10:22 am 0 comments

Friday, March 17, 2006

Lá le Padraig

Had a big night here last night. You can buy a glass of beer (bia hoi) on the street for 2,000d (10c), its not the strongest stuff in the world, but quantity is the key - for the price of a pint back home, you can drink fifty of them! Went to an exclusive club last night with a couple of swedish guys, a bottle of whiskey was $17 - which I thought was quite steep. We were the only foreigners there. After that, we went to another pub, before finishing up around 4. Meeting up with an Irish guy and a few more around 2 this afternoon and going to make a good day of it hopefully. Its raining here - kinda getting homesick :)

posted by Sean at 5:02 am 0 comments

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Calm Restored

Went to the embassy myself to day and was told the visa fee (which would take 4 working days) was $30, which sounded ok. They swore blind in the hotel and travel agents that it was $36, and they only took a $1 commission - thieving Vietnamese b%&!*&#s. After handing in my application form, the guy behind the counter told me that they were close Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for some reason! Since my Vietnam visa ends on Wednesday, I had to get a next day visa for $50. I pick it tomorrow hopefully and then will try and get the Saturday night train north to Sapa.

posted by Sean at 1:51 pm 0 comments

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Raging

Here in Han Oi at the moment. Arrived here at about 6am this morning. Thought trip lasted 'till 9, so had put down 6 valium, couldn't even think straight when I got off. Got a moto to town which brought me to me senses pretty quickly - twas freezing and me only in a tee-shirt. Found hotel and asked them to wake me up at 9am so I could go to Chinese embassy - got the call at 10:30. Rushed to the embassy and missed closing time by 2 mins - but guy wouldn't budge (thought about bribing him but some of these commie guys take it as a great insult). Of course by coincidence, the hotel offers a service for $7 more. Had to come into an internet cafe to calm myself down before going back - don't want another HCMC incident!
The visa takes 4 days, which comes to 6 including the weekend - the last day of my Vietnam visa. So it will be a mad rush to border if possible. Could get a visa extention but would cost another $20, which seems pointless for just a couple of extra days.
Off now for a few polite words with the nice receptionist.

posted by Sean at 6:58 am 0 comments

Monday, March 13, 2006

Dodgy

Was looking for an internet cafe a earlier on. This local guy said he could show me one down the other end of the street. So I allowed him to take me along. He then turned into a smaller street and then a pretty dark alley. He kept saying "just here", "just here", but if there was one there, it was pretty badly advertised. Then I noticed two guys just appear walking behind me. Part of me wanted to keep going to see what would happen, but I had my camera and $50 on me - not losing that again. I just turned and made for the two boys behind, they got a bit of a shock and fled.

posted by Sean at 4:16 pm 0 comments

Hue

Arrived here in Hue this morning after a 3hr bus trip from Hoi An. Not sure about the place. Its got a famous Citadel, but to hell if i'm going to pay 55,000D to see another temple, and its also got the tallest flag pole in Vietnam! Left Mikey in Hoi An, he's off home tomorrow, so back on my lonesome.
I went by a free temple and decided to take a look. At the entrance, I got attacked by a dog and upon entry, witnessed a local taking a dump in middle - that was enough for me. Then it started to rain! Only reason I came here was to see the DMZ and tunnels north of the DMZ, will hopefully go tomorrow.

posted by Sean at 9:59 am 0 comments

Sunday, March 12, 2006

Hoi An

Have been here for the last few days. The big thing about here is tailoring. You can get anothing made. We got a suit each for $60 (which was the higher end of the scale), they can be got for as little as $20. All tailored to your measurements. Went back for a few fittings to fix a few things.
They have western catalogues in every shop (and there seems to be hundreds of them), and they can practically replicate anything in them. Also got a few pairs of runners/shoes. You can pick the style, colour and material. They then measure your feet and the pair is there waiting for you the next day. Got a nice pair of leather trainers for $12.

posted by Sean at 2:30 pm 0 comments

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Nha Thrang

Currently here at the beach town of Nha Thrang. Have been here since Saturday and will probably head north on a bus tonight to Hoi An. Have done nothing here but drink and lounge around the beach. Kinda had a big run in with a large Canadian guy last night and we got ejected from the night club - first time in Asia, but it was his fault according to Mikey. Went on a booze cruise around the islands the day before yesterday, which was good craic.

posted by Sean at 7:05 am 0 comments

Friday, March 03, 2006

Easy Riders

Arrived here in Dalat yesterday. The place has a very agreeable climate. Went on a tour around the area today with a couple of guys from a group that call themselves the Easy Riders - they speak good english and their bikes are a little bigger than everyone elses. Saw how rice whiskey was made, the story of silk from worm to garment (Mikey couldn't believe it came from a worm), and the biggest cement chicken i've ever seen! The trip cost us $19, which was a little expensive, but have been off the beer for the last 2 nights so that should cover it.

posted by Sean at 10:57 am 0 comments

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Mui Ne

Here in Mui Ne at the moment. Its a nice town with a 10km beach, but a little quite for us. Not a whole lot to do here bar lie around on the beach (which ain't so bad I suppose). The place is famous for its sand dunes, so we went to see them today around sunset. Off to the city of Dalat tomorrow. Its a bit cooler up there as its over 1600m above sea level, which will give us a break from all this heat.
The action in the picture ended in tears as my camera fell out and got covered in sand. Now my shutter won't close and there's sand everywhere inside!

posted by Sean at 2:45 pm 0 comments