When I left for china I had packed all my walking kit, because I really hoped we would go trekking for a least a week of our holiday.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that this was not going to happen 🙁

China is just not the place for long distance walking.

At first I was really disappointed BUT once I  realized this was a traveling holiday not a walking holiday, I was a traveler and not a walker the disappointment soon disappeared:-)

I feel very privileged to have spent a whole month traveling round china, an experience I shall never forget.

We visited…..

Beijing
Datong
Xian
Guilin
Yangshuo

All very different places , all offering something new and exciting 🙂

We met some extraordinary people, like the young guy who was cycling from the Uk to Singapore, Mr American over in china to meet his fiancee for the first time.

She spoke no English,him no Chinese ! They relied on a translator machine to communicate.

We stayed in some great hostels, made some good friends and ate lots of great food too.

Most of all we visited some totally amazing places.

I will always be great full to Geoff for giving me this fantastic opportunity and we can always go walking next year 🙂

My last day in china 🙁

We may have been good yesterday but today we have been very naughty.

First we returned to the Market so I could buy a pearl necklace.

Pearls are so cheap here it was just silly not to buy them.

I chose a long string of pink pearls,they wrap round my neck twice and match my earrings.

Geoff then insisted on paying for them so I was even more delighted 🙂

We then went off to the optician’s for Geoff to buy new glasses as we had heard they were cheap here.

Trouble is I tried on a pair too and it was love at first sight.

I bargained hard, real hard the girl was not pleased but I got them for £60.

We then had to kill 2 hours while our glasses were being made so …… We went for a massage.

I had a lovely full body massage with oil and could not resist having the cupping as well, needless to say my back looks a mess but I enjoyed it as much this time as I did last time 🙂

Time then to go back and collect our glasses,Suzena told me I was a hard lady but I think she liked me as when I asked if I could buy some glass cleaner she gave me a bottle for free.

Pleased to say my glasses are excellent and I am well pleased.

We then made the huge mistake of walking back past Cindy, the pearl seller.

Beautiful lady she called,you need more pearls,no no I replied

She then proceeded to get out a long string of White pearls and I made the mistake of looking.

Geoff could not resist buying them for me, so now I have a very long sting of White pearls too,which wrap round my neck three times.

Cindy said I was good friend and gave me earrings to match for free so now I can be called the Pearl Queen 🙂

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Today was Market day.

First it was the Silk and Pearl Market.

Do you know how to tell real pearls from fake ones?

Shopping in England will never be the same again.

I just love all bargaining and I drive a hard bargain 🙂

Finally it was Wangfujing night Market which is also an amazing food Market

You would not believe the things they eat over here.

I could not be tempted to try anything exciting, especially the things that were moving 🙁

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Back in Beijing now getting ready for me to return home 🙁

Few things to do first, most important was another walk along the wall.

They don’t really cater for people like us who want a real walk.

There are the tours to the tourist parts of the wall where you will find chair lifts to take you up and down.

All the other tours provide just 3 hours walking 🙁

Today we went off on a tour advertised as “The secret wall” walking along the real wall not the renovated wall.

It was actually the remanent sections of the great wall at badaling and very nice too but such a shame we could only have 3 hours walking.

At least it provided us with a nice 500 m climb and stunning views if a little misty.

Next job is to find Geoff a new camera.

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My birthday gifts from Geoff came from the silk factory.

One will keep me very warm during the cold winter nights to come.

I also got 2 silk pillow cases, they say sleeping on silk stops the wrinkles 🙂

A new scarf too that’s just perfect for me and will keep me warm during the long cold days

A very very lucky girl 🙂

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We had a fabulous last day in Yangshuo .

There are many advertised trips to water caves BUT only one of these is to the real water cave.

It took us some time and a task we would never have managed without David and Sakhi but eventually we were happy that we had tickets to the right cave.

We set off on the local bus to find the ticket office and from there it was another bus ride into the unknown.

Finally we arrived at the caves where all our belongings had to be locked away before we set off in a small boat.

The opening into the caves was very small and shaped like a half moon, we had to duck right down,but once in the cave it opened right up.

We soon left the boat behind and followed our guide around these magnificent caves,home to some wonderful stalactites and stalagmites.

Then the high light of the trip a swim in a rock pool followed by an amazing natural mud bath.

According to experts the mud is rich in 20 minerals,excellent for the skin and when you lie down in it you float,a totally weird experience 🙂

After all the mud it’s a quick shower before relaxing in the hot springs that flow from the cave seams.

A great way to end our stay here.

Mud photos will follow soon 🙂

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The weather has been fantastic here,so great to be out doors enjoying the sunshine.

We started with a 20 km bike ride round the Yulong river .

Passing rice fields , fish farms and water buffalo on our way .

We cycled up to the 600 year old dragon bridge , here we could have returned on a bamboo raft,which was very tempting.

As we wanted to swim in the Yulong river we decided to bike back down the river.

We soon found a great place for a dip, it was beautiful with the mountains all around us. It was not long till David and Sakhi joined us for a swim,once they saw how lovely it was they could not resist.

Five mins after leaving the river I fell off my bike into a swamp 🙁 luckily I was not hurt and thanks to my dry bags nothing was damaged.

I was just very dirty so back to the river to wash my clothes out.

We made it safely back into Yangshuo after cycling down the real road of death. The road of death in south America was nothing compared to this road.

Millions of bikes cars buses taxis all trying to get to the same place and there are no rules on the roads here. Ringing your bell or blowing your horn just means get out my way 🙂

It was amazing to experience and I swear at least twice a bus brushed the side of my leg 🙁

But we all lived 🙂

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Today we went for a ramble in the countryside.

First we had to get a bus to Putao, then finish the journey to Shitouchen, by riding pillion on a motor bike taxi.

No such thing as health and safety over here 🙂

Shitoucheng or the stone city as it’s called is perched on top of a limestone peak.

It was a steep 30 / 40 min climb up the hill to reach the old town where the wall begins.

We passed many interesting things on the way including fruit trees and paddy fields.

Most interesting was an old grave yard where all the graves were circular.

After a good 3 hour walk around the stone ruins, it was time to get back on our motor bike taxi and head back to Putao for the bus.

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