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NEWBIRD's Travel Journals (18)
Hong Kong
July 9, 2005 - July 11, 2005
I arrived at Hongkong in the evening and visited the peak. I decided to skip sleep and went loitering around Causeway Bay instead. On the second day, I spent most of the time at Mongkok, visiting Nurenjie and Miaojie. I spent the second night at Mount Davis hostel and met backpackers from different countries. Well, that's about it. I returned to Singapore on 11th of July.
Guangzhou
July 8, 2005 - July 9, 2005
I did not spent much time in Guangzhou but went straight to the bus station to get a ticket to Kaiping town. Kaiping is a modern town with Macdonalds, KFC and Giordano. After spending so many days without proper bath and sleep, I 'spurged' 138RMB on a 2 star hotel. On the second day, I took a catamaran ride at Sanbu port for Hongkong.
Yichang
July 7, 2005 - July 8, 2005
Actually, I made an acquaintance with a Chongqing girl from my bunk. Both of us bought train tickets to Guangzhou from the ship's ticketing service. She got a seating ticket while I managed a non-seating ticket. Anyway, we walked around Yichang for a bit and it seems like a pretty nice place, clean and orderly. On the train, I went straight to the restaurant to spend the night.
Yangtze River
July 5, 2005 - July 7, 2005
I bought a non-stopping ticket to Yichang at 176RMB. The conditions of the 'ship' were quite bad, not that I expect much from the price. I kept to myself for most of the journey as all the people communicated in dialects. For the 2 days, I was bored, dirty (no baths) and hungry (2 pieces of bread). Personally, I was unimpressed with the 3 gorges and Yangtze.
Chongqing
July 5, 2005 - July 5, 2005
A more interesting route from Gongtan is to travel east to Huairou and take a train to Guangzhou. But too bad as I had already bought a train ticket. Actually, I made a silly mistake. I did not realise the train ride to Guangzhou is not 7 hours but 28 hours instead. I decided to return the ticket and travel to Yichang first via Yangtze river.
Chongqing
July 3, 2005 - July 5, 2005
Gongtan is a beautiful town overlooking the Wujiang gorge. I stayed 2 nights at Yangjiaheng, one of the traditional stilt houses along the old town. The people I met are friendly and despite my inability to understand their dialects, they tried their best to give me advice on the treks. This is certainly a place to visit but alas, according to the locals, the old town will be submerged next year.
Chongqing
July 2, 2005 - July 3, 2005
I woke up early and took a 5-hour long boat ride along Wujiang gorge to Hongdu. At Hongdu, I switched to a boat that is going to Yanhe but passing by the place I wanted to visit - Gongtan.
Chongqing
July 1, 2005 - July 2, 2005
Ah, I did not realise most Chongqing people could not speak mandarin. Now, I am verbally handicapped. Anyway, I first went to the train station to get a sleeper to Guangzhou. After which, I took a long bus ride to Pengshui town. Then I took a rather exciting motorcycle ride to Wulong village where I stayed the night. I was amazed to find a internet bar in the village.
Xi'an
June 29, 2005 - July 2, 2005
Took an overnight train with a friend who's also visiting Xian. We split and I went to Huashan. After visiting the 5 peaks, I was lazy to walk the same route down and took a cable car instead. On the 2nd day, I visited the Terra cotta warriors and Huijie. Of course, I tried the famous Yangroupaomou. As I was unable to get a sleeper ticket earlier, I took a morning flight to Chongqing.
Beijing
May 29, 2005 - June 29, 2005
Had a really good time with friends in my last month in Beijing. Some highlights include trekking from Jiankou to Mutianyu great wall, cherry picking and bungee jumping at Qinglongxia. We also went horse riding, water rafting and had BBQ lamb at Shidu.