Guro and Caroline Blog

pandas and some clean air....

At last, can't actually see what we're breathing!! 1st time without smog in 16days :)
writing this in dali whilst being bitten to death by mosquitoes (who really don't seem to be bothered by deet) my bite count was 32 yesterday...
so; we left xian for chengdu by hard sleeper again, trying to convince ourselves we're hardcore backpackers whilst all agree thats really not the case. dreaming of being back on the russian 4 bunk trains with doors... the luxuory! not very relaxed catching the train.. trying to be cool and just walk into the station and onto the train we planned to leave 40mins before departure. however, a late pizza and a bit of speedy foil takeaway led to a hair-raising taxi ride across town (after the lovely driver saw our train time) us queue jumping about 100 people, mark nearly diving through the baggage scanner bags still atatched, running down the platform and onto the train which left a cool 2 mins later. tried to regain some pride on board but between dripping sweat and manic laughter that was never going to happen.
otherwise the journey was hassle free, almost. 17 hrs later a leisurely up and off to await our pre-arranged pickup.. which just wasn't there. guro possibly most gutted that she didn't get her name held up in big letters. a taxi had to suffice.
the mix backpackers was v cool if a little clostraphobic. settled in with a beer but then off for lunch (at 16.30 as seems to be becoming habbit) to the strangest and most fantastic restaurant yet. our trusted (weeell it sometimes gets things almost right) rough guide suggested a vegetarian place inside wengshu temple/monastry. the menu was a little confusing and again we ridiculously over-ordered but we ordered beef and potatoes, sweet and sour fish, double cooked pork etc. all made sense when the beef turned out to be soya meet (v beef like) and you'd be amazed what these monks can do with a potato. coolest of all was the fish - crispy coated mash in a fish shape. michelle (the veggie) so happy to finally try some of all the dishes. the monastry rivalled any we paid much more to get into in beijing and tickets at 5rmb each, total food bill of 46 (incl never ending tea) was the best bargain found yet.
next morning off to see the pandas! time and money meant not out to wolong nature resevre but instead to a breeding centre 8km out of chengdu, but it was fantastic. they had 4 3m old cubs in incubators on display. ridiculousy well looked after and older pandas so happy to pose bamboo in mouth for photos, of which there are many... also they had pickled panda bits in jars which were v cool and we saw a great video on panda breeding and conseravtion. new born pandas are ugly!! headed into town to try to repeat the hotpot experience for mark (feeling better now) but instead had a hideous fast food version. pushy waiters, overcrowded with spitting people and warm beer left us feeling a little jaded. at least by cooking the meat (??? animal) ourselves we avoided food poisoning.
our journey to dali was much more relaxed if a little less organised. when we finally conned a taxi into picking us up (he dropped someone off and we wouldn't let go of the door!) we caught the train no worries. only 27 hours later we arrived in dali.. one train and 2 bus journeys that is. and its all that we hoped. beautiful scenery, mountains and a big lake. blue skies finally. hope to do some hiking but a slight packing error leaves guro (big hips) and me (long legs) searching for hiking trousers in china.... and this is where we leave you. tomorrow we're going to see if we can hang out with some monks for a week or so, learn some tai chi and cleanse our souls (he he he) although guro just swatted a mossie and i'm sure thats bad karma? need a visa extension 1st so we'll let you know how it goes, don't worry parent types still planning on being in vietnam by early nov and oz for christmas.
congrats to nicole on new nephew, v excited for you!
love to all
me and her x

posted by Caroline @ 14:50