Off to the Tropical North, which was ‘enjoying’ an early bit of wet season weather excitement – but all was good for some reef, rainforest, skyline, scenic train and koala adventures….
Just 30 hours at the end of our Western Australia adventure to pack in the tourist bits of Perth – Fremantle and Rottnest Island – fabulous…..
Along with half of Perth, we made the Margaret River area our base for Christmas. Beautiful lodgings, fabulous wine, mad surfers, the hottest place on the planet on Christmas Day, Brussel sprouts on the barbie…
Some long drives but worth every mile to experience absolutely stunning beaches and towering trees. A shame we both had flu…
Sorry we’ve been quiet for a few months. Our travel was interrupted in Indonesia back in July by Steve being diagnosed with lung problems. It took a while back in the UK to complete tests and get stable on drugs but now we are back on the road and resuming our travels in Perth, Western Australia.
Our last stop in China was Hong Kong, which is very different and still has a very British vibe. We took the funnicular railway uo Victoria Peak and a 6km long cable car ride on Lantau Island to see the Big Buddha. Next stop Indonesia!
Guilin and Yangshou were our opportunity to get away from the big cities and see something of rural China. After one night in Guilin we took a Li river cruise downstream to Yangshou and stayed in an independent hotel where we relaxed and admired the river and mountain views for a couple of days before stirring ourselves to explore.
When we did get moving we managed a bicycle tour of the Yulong River and surrounding paddy fields, took a…
Chengdu, capital of the Sichuan province is famous for food and pandas. It should also be famous for the epic rain, which meant we didn’t get to see the pandas until our final day. We dodged the showers to explore the city, embarassingly over-ordered in a casserole restaurant and attended an over-priced cookery school. Next stop Guilin and Yangshou…
Although Xi’an in synonymous with the Terracotta Warriors, there is far more to see and do than this admittedly breathtaking sight. We also risked heatstroke cycling around the top of the city walls in 35 degree heat and ate our weight in dumplings.
A bullet train took us 800 miles to Beijing in just over 4.5 hours. Three days wasn’t enough to do all we wanted, but we did get to see the Great Wall of Ghina, The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Temple of Heaven as well as visiting the Hutongs and, of course, sampling authentic Peking Duck.