Travels part 2

21st
This morning we went to the bakery to get some breakfast and tried to find the kowlon metro station, but we couldnt find it so we just got a taxi there. We got the metro to the disney stop which was very exciting. They have a special disney metro which is all decorated in disney style and the windows were mickey mouse shaped!!

We got our tickets and went into the park. We got a map and went to adventure land first. They didnt have many rides but it was still really fun. We went to tarzan's treehouse and then we went on a boat ride, which was really fun and the guy kept making funny jokes. Afterwards we went to see the lion king show which was so good, and they sang all the songs from the film. We watched the parade afterwards which was really good, we saw all the stars.

Before lunch I was very brave and went on space mountain. I was getting really nervous before I went on it, but it was fine because there were no loops or anything. We went and had a typical disney lunch afterwards - sweet and sour pork and wonton soup. We went on a winnie the pooh ride which was suprisingly good. William wanted to go on a car ride afterwards, and we had to queue for 45 minutes, and loads of chinese people kept pushing in which was really annoying. Then we went on our favourite ride of the day - Buzz Lightyear astroblasters!! You had your own little car with a gun and you had to try and shoot emporer zurg and all the targets - because we're cool and because it was so much fun, we went on it twice. After that we still had a bit of time before it closed so we went to watch the 3D orchestra.

When we got back we went to watch the light show at the harbour again and then we went to find something for tea.

22nd
We had a bit of a lie in this morning. We went to Lantau island today and got the cable car ride to Ngong Ping. This is a mountain that has an old village, monestary and huge buddha on it. The cable car was so long (5.7km) and you could see lots of really pretty scenery while it went up to the mountain. We had a walk around the village first (which was a complete tourist trap), and then went to look round the monestary. It was amazing, but there were lads of people burning insence and the smell was so strong! We walked up the 260 steps to the buddha next - it is the worlds largest outdoor seated buddha and it was amazing. Finally we had a walk along the wisdom path, which was large pieces of wood with chinese carved into it. When we got there a monk (or a man dressed as a monk) tried to give us something, but I said no because I knew he would ask us for some money afterwards. William didnt quite believe me and so we watched him approach two other western people and they took the thing that he gave them, and sure enough shortly afterwards the man was taking his wallet out to give some money to the monk!!

We were really tired so we went back to the hostel and had a little nap. Afterwards we went to find a payphone because william wanted to phone Nelson to see if he was free to meet for tea. He said he was so we agreed to meet him after we had got our boat tickets. However, it was a nightmare trying to find the ticket office and it was getting late, so william went to meet Nelson and I went to find the tickets. However when I eventually found the place it was closed!!! I went to starbucks and had a nice tea and then went back to the hostel

23rd
This morning we got up very early and went to get our boat tickets and get on the boat to shekou on mainland china. The boat was really quick, it took just under an hour. Rich met us at the boat place and we went to get a drink. We had a walk around shekou afterwards but there wasnt a lot to do and so we went and spent the day sat in the Irish bar. We had a really nice day, and it was nice to sit out in the sun all afternoon.

Later in the afternoon, William and I had to go to Shenzhen airport and get our flight to Guilin. The flight was very exciting, it only took 50minutes!! In Guilin we got a bus to the centre of town and then got a taxi to our hostel. Guilin was sooo cold and the hostel room was really cold too! But it was a really nice hostel and in a really good location.

24th
This morning we got up and packed our bags and left them in the luggage room at the hostel while we went for a wander round Guilin and tried to find a boat to Yangshuo. However we couldnt find a boat (we later discovered that there werent any at this time of year because the river is too low) so we just got a bus to Yangshuo. On the way there we saw some amazing countryside and went through lots of interesting little villages. We got there and went to find the hostel but the most annoying man in the world worked at the hostel. When we got there he told us that he was going to organise a bicycle tour for us to go on and then tomorrow he would book a boat ride for us. We told him we didnt want to and that we were going to get some lunch, but then he said there wasnt time for lunch because we had to go on a bike ride straight away. Eventually I got a bit cross and said that we werent going on a bike ride or a boat tour and we went to our room to leave our bags. But the annoying man followed us in and kept offering us lower prices for the bike and boat but we both got cross and then he left.

We went to get some lunch and then hired a couple of bicycles and bought a map of the surrounding villages. The bikes were only 20yuan for a whole afternoon - what a bargain!! We cycled for miles and miles (approx 25) and saw lots of nice mountains and paddy fields and little villages. I was getting so tired by the end of it though and it was getting dark so william was pushing my bike (while i was still sat on it) at the same time as cycling his, he's so nice. When we were back we went to book a boat ride for tomorrow (which was a lot cheaper than the price the annoying man at the hostel was offering us). We had a wander around the shops in the old streets and then we went to get some tea. The restaurant was empty and we had to wait quite a while for our food. And then a guy came into the restaurant with loads of take-away boxes, which were taken to the kitchen, put on a plate, and brought to our table. It was still really good food though.

We went back to the hostel to check our emails, but the computer was really slow, and the plug was sparking so we werent on it for very long.

25th
When I work up it was sooooooooooooo cold. We went to a bakery to have some breakfast and then we had a walk around a park which was really pretty. The weather was so bad today, it was raining and so cold. We left the park and had a walk to the river and wandered around the old bit of the town, but we got so cold that we went to sit in an internet cafe for an hour, and it was only 3yuan for an hour!! We went to KFC for a nice warm milky tea and then went to the travel place to go on our boat trip. But the woman said we were an hour early, so we went to the hostel for an hour to try and get warm. When we went back to the travel place the woman took us to the bus stop. We went on a "bus" (very old and small minibus) to a town called XingPing. When we got off the bus, the woman told us that we would have to wait a while before we could go to the boat so she took us to a little empty buliding where a couple of chinese people we sat around a little fire and we went and sat with them.

10 minutes later our "bus" arrived to take us to the boat - this bus was more like a golf buggy. We got on the boat and we were joined by en English man and his wife, and a group of young chinese people. We set off and the scenery was amazing!! The young people were taking lots of photos and the each asked to have a photo taken with me, and then they all wanted their photo taken with william. And then they started practising their english on us which was really funny, and one guy was teaching william chinese.

We eventually got off the boat and walked back up to the bus stop and got the bus back to Yangshuo. When we got off the bus it was raining so heavily and we ran to KFC to get a cup of tea. William very kindly offered to go to the hostel and get my umberella and put the heating on so that it would be nice and warm when we got back. We went shoping for a bit and then we decided to go to a restaurant and try some of the local beer fish. So we went to a restaurant that said beer fish outside it in big bright lights, but then when we were looking at the menu they didnt even sell it! So we had to settle for beer chicken instead which was very nice. We went to the internet cafe for a bit and then went back to the hostel. I had a nice warm shower and then went to bed.

26th
This morning we packed our bags and tried to find someone who was working at the hostel so that we could get our deposit back. But the woman was so annoying and spent ages searching our room to try and find something wrong so that she could keep our deposit, but she couldnt find anything so we eventually got it back. We went to a cafe for breakfast which was really good, and then we got the bus back to Guilin.

In Guilin we checked back in at the same hostel and then went to a park where they had a peak which we were hoping to climb. We paid 50yuan to get into the park, and then when we were inside we found that we couldnt go up the peak because aparantly it was dangerous because of the ice, the cave was closed, and so was the grotto. So there really wasnt much to do and it was a waste of money. We didnt do much today because it was really cold again and I was in a bad mood.

Earlier in the day we'd seen a restaurant called The Good Luck Restaurant so we decided to go there for tea. We had such a nice meal - honey roast pork, perch and chili cucumber, it was yummy, and i think they under-charged us too because it was so cheap.

27th
This morning we got on the bus back to Guilin airport and we were a little bit early so we went to get something to eat. But all the food there was so expensive so we just had a coke and some steamed buns. We went to check in and the woman told us that our flight had been cancelled - GREAT!! She said we could get on another flight though and she sent us to a different check in desk. When we were checking in I asked the guy when the flight was leaving and he said "now". So william and I panicked and quickly went through security, and ran to the gate. When we got there it said that the flight to Kunming was leaving from that gate so we went to ask someone and they sent us to gate 13. However that still wasnt our flight so we asked someone else and they said 13 was right and that we should stay there. But a couple of minutes later they announced that our flight was actually boarding at gate 15. It was so unorganised!!
But we got on the flight and 2 hours later we were back in Shanghai. We went out for a nice tea and then watched a couple of dvds.